Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

I was reading a blog by Matt Appling in which he wrote about parenting. Though he is an awesome school teacher and pastor, it's something he's never done. Instead of becoming a serial commenter on his post (3 or more comments on one post - you know like a serial killer: one that has killed 3 or more people), I decided to finish my thoughts in a blog. Everyone has had some experience with kids. We were once kids, most of us had childhood friends, maybe we are aunts or uncles, and a number of my readers have kids; some grand-kids! There is nothing like being a parent! I like what Dr. Phil says. "we are not raising kids, we are raising adults." That is the part that Matt got right, and articulated in his typical, but gently sarcastic style. What are the barriers to getting kids (and Christians) to grow up? -1 Poop:  That's right, in the hands of an infant, it is tool to control us. You think your done, and then you find out grandpa gav...

The number of the beast (Rev. 13:18) seemed to be a popular theme in 70s and early 80s rock-n-roll. Idealized by bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden , we got used to Satan Rock and backwards masking (the use of recording messages backwards during a recording). Possibly the adolescent passion of a misguided rockstar or a grand marketing ploy by corporate America, it was successful in bringing the number 666 into the minds of the masses. The evangelical church railed against the blatant and subliminal satanic messages from the pulpit and in books. Entire ministries were formed to combat the frenzied flow of evil.  Groupies of the these bands wore the number of the beast proudly on t-shirts and forever etched it on to their bodies with tattoos. You can easily find reproductions of those album covers on the 'Net today. I didn't really want to ascribe much credence to the whole thing. I honestly expected that the number of the beast was something that we wou...

I am still struggling to concentrate on writing, so here is another one remixed from the long ago archives. One of my favorite books is Like a Mighty Wind which takes place during the Indonesian Revival of the 1960s. I found it exciting as I read about the miracles that took place during that time. Those testimonies really increased my faith. When I looked closer at the actual events I saw that God was not just doing magic tricks via the Holy Spirit; no, He was meeting the needs of His creation through the church and his creative and supernatural power. When the Indonesian believers had a need they prayed and God met that need. Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. For a long time I wanted to see Jesus work in my life - not just in coincidental ways, but in His ...

For the first time I went to watch some of the 27,000 runners in the Boston Marathon. I have lived within a mile of the route for the last 5 years. It is held on an obscure Massachusetts holiday and I usually have to work. In the days leading up to this massive event, I have seen them setting up port-a-potties and placing skids of bottled water out along Route 135. On race morning there are police cars at every crossroad ready to close the intersections to traffic. As I make my way into the city, there are dozens of buses filled with runners heading out to the official starting line in Hopkinton - 26 miles from downtown Boston. My daughter dropped me off a couple of bocks from the barricades where a local bank was handing out cowbells and balloons - I thank God there were no vuvuzelas ! I waited in line for a complimentary cowbell, and then walked down to the T station for a view of a site I had never seen or imagined. A State Police...

There are those that think the Bible is a book filled with a bunch of religious sounding stories, some historical accounts and others tall tales or myths, and that it is at best the "wishful thinking" of the authors. I am not talking about skeptics or nonbelievers, these are committed Christians who are uncertain of both the historical accounts and I suppose the afterlife. I disagree with them. What if the Bible is true from Genesis to Maps? It is not my place to defend God or the Bible. That type of conjecture only causes people to be upset. The logical thinking process that substantiates this apparent theory, maintains it is all subject to faith, and therefore; can't be proven. Again, I disagree. One of the things that I find intriguing about the Bible is that there is a thread which runs through it connecting the laws and events of the Old Testament to the historical and spiritual events of the New Testament. As an example of this principal, let's look at this ...

A lot of people spend a lot of time talking about religious themes- and a host of others avoid them like the plague. Like politics, whether or not we participate in religion, it will eventually affect our lives. The truth is this: there are politicians that are elected and vote for laws which affect us, whether or not we ever give them a thought. In the same way, the principals of the Kingdom of God are at work as are the laws of physics. Kingdom principals will continue to operate for eternity. So why is it that folks get all wound up about religion? Here's my take. Because they try to understand God with their mind, while their emotions maybe saying something else. Even the most mature Christians step off into intellectual endeavors trying to make a case for a biblical world-view. The living God, however; is not going to be understood by the human mind. Memorizing Bible passages, attending a Sunday service, and spouting scripture does not, in itself, make us a Christian. Th...

That was my list of belongings the day I was discharged from the hospital: cellphone, glasses and underwear. It does go to show you what's important in my life. I haven't stayed in a hospital since I was 5-years-old. I had my tonsils out on the children's ward at St Raphael's in New Haven in 1963. I still can remember the smell of the anesthesia. I liked the hospital back then. There was a kid's room where I punched out paper animals from a book my mom had given me. As I worked, I stood them up on the table. I was hoping to get started on my airplane book when it was my turn for surgery. My mother was there, and I remember being hungry. They wheeled my down the hallway. I have no idea how long it was, but I woke up sick and in pain. My parents were there feeding me sips of of a cool drink. It was a week of Jell-O , ice cream and ginger ale. I was thinking about the disruption to my normal routine. That's my self winding watch up there - it just stopped t...

As you already know from my two anemic posts last week, I spent just about all of it in the hospital. Later this week I will post a more formal account now that I have had a little rest, and a chance to think. While I was laying there with IVs and monitors, I received a few visitors, had a few phone calls, and received lots of Facebook posts and a few emails. It is certainly at times like these were you need to count on a few friends, and your church family. Here are 5 1/2 reasons that you need friends! -1 Facebook: If you don't have friends, you can't have any pudding. (Obscure Pink Floyd ref) Without friends,  even cyber-friends, you can't tell anyone that things aren't going too good. Sometimes life is a little scary, and it helps to have some support and encouragement. If you are as lucky as I am to know Dave T. and Tony C , online relationships are more amazing than I would have thought. Tony is a listener and an encourager. And that ...

You would think that I have a lot of time on my hands here are the hospital. I guess I do; it is just filled lots of noise, bed-side alarms, creaking wheelchairs, clicking keyboards, talking nurses, the hum of medical equipment, and the sound of Velcro. It is not a place where I can easily sleep or write. Even with a sleeping pill I only got 6 hours and I know I could use many more. I long to be home in my own bed with my own noises, and my family. For a guy who's heart capacity dropped by 20% in a day, I'm tired. I am not feeling all that spiritual tonight, and in fact have no real message - it's just 5 hours from my next sleeping pill, and I am bored.. I have been thinking about my life spared - in fact probably due to my recent foray back into exercise that my heart was able to withstand the intensity of the viral infection.. In spite of the fact that I badly need a shower, I feel imprisoned, a...

Not long after I finished Monday's post I   contracted hellacious flu virus which kept me on the verge of throwing up, in bodily pain, and sleepless for four days. On the third day, Monday I had so much chest pain I thought I was going to die. My wife took me right to the ER - the  EKG went crazy! They gave me all the heat attack related drugs, nitro, aspirin and Plavix. The nurse worked quickly and efficiently, all the time assuring me and my wife that my vitals were good and that was a good sign. As the paramedics whisked me out the door she kissed me on the check and said "don't worry, God bless you." Sirens wailing, the paramedics raced me across town in the ambulance for an emergency catheterization at the cardiovascular unit in another hospital. They put me on the operating table, and within minutes were looking through my arteries for blockages - there were none ...

A few months ago the doctor gave me a rather stern warning about my weight and my current health issues that are related to it. Although my blood pressure has always been about 140 over something - hey I am mostly a Type A - he thought it should be lower. So at 276, 111 pounds more than I weighed when I graduated high school, I made a few changes in the way I ate. Then my wife asked me to join a sadomasochistic trainer to do circuit cardio twice a week. The shrink-wrapped 6-pack has to go! In the first In It to Lose It class, I nearly blew my cookies; God's way of letting me know that eating cookies was a large part of the my weight problem. (Actually in 2004, I had an injury to my foot from improper use of the treadmill along with cheap sneakers and I stopped exercising.) The class, however; it was pretty bad! I should have left my water bottle closer to the floor and brought an oxygen tank. The  one-to-ten  pain scale used in hospitals, now needs to be extended to ...

For years we have pounded the question into the hearts and minds of both Christians and pagans: WWJD? What would Jesus do? I'll tell you what he'd do, he'd do W hat T he F athers is D oing. (John 5;19) For even longer we've been told Jesus is our model. The truth is he didn't have a model, he had a relationship.He was not acting like someone else that he didn't know, he was carrying out instructions from his Father in heaven: the Creator of the earth. I don't know about you, but  am tired of hearing what Jesus would do. Jesus would feed the poor, he would be nice to gays, he would judge the US for being sinful and the list goes on. Whatever it is we feel motivated to accomplish in the name of Jesus, we want to ascribe a specific behavior to him that promotes our personal agenda. Some think he was a wimpy soft spoken nerd that only saves iPhone users. Others think that he is the thundering God who's voice shatters the cedars of Lebanon and whatever folk...