It is clear that success in prayer does not depend upon the assurance of the one who prays, nor upon his boldness, nor any such thing, but upon this one thing, that he opens his heart to Jesus. Ole Hallesby

Don't just stand there, ride something!

Discover commuting to work.

Why not try riding every street in your neighbourhood. Look around, see what's new, discover what is old, who's moved in where, what has changed.

Take your kids & their neighbourhood friends on a longer ride outside of your local area. Discover the beautiful river valley trails.

Plant seeds of health.

The doG of Peace...?

Even non-dyslexics need a reminder once in a while.

Romans 15:33
The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Philippians 4:6-9
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Take your medicine

2 Timothy 3
There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

generation gap?

Love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything.

Sing in the good times & the bad...

Acts 16
...The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas's clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.

Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn't believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.

Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: "Don't do that! We're all still here! Nobody's run away!"

The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, "Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?" They said, "Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you'll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!"

They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn't wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.

At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, "Release these men." The jailer gave Paul the message, "The judges sent word that you're free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!"...

Tanks for the memories, WINTER 2011

Last Saturday was a very warm day where a lot of my neighbours were out doing yard work & just enjoying the beauty of spring.

Late in the afternoon one of our neighbours strolled by walking her dog & said,

"Can you believe it's been only a month since we had snow?"

It did seem like we were now in a different world entirely than the crazy winter of 2011. What a battle it was!

Are you able to take time to reflect on life's changing season's?

Have you taken time recently to savor the good days you've experienced?

Do you have someone you can talk to you about the dark times, the ongoing 'dark night of the soul'?

Mind-blowing ideas from the Bible...

Ecclesiastes 12
The words of the wise prod us to live well.
They're like nails hammered home, holding life together.
They are given by God, the one Shepherd.

But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There's no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you're no good for anything else. The last and final word is this:

Fear God.
Do what he tells you.

And that's it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it's good or evil.

free radicals

The most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintegration of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment.

The Good News is no longer good news, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it is life enhancing. Jesus doesn't change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore, He changes them into 'nice people.' Mike Yaconelli

1 Timothy 1:7
God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

You are released...

Your faith is looking for some action!

Do the next right thing you know you ought to do.

1 Peter 3:13
If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off.

I feel fine...

It may seem like the end of the world as you know it, but there is a greater purpose.

1 Corinthians 13
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.

Weapons of boredom destruction

Help someone in need.

Volunteer.

Serve in your neighbourhood.

Forgiveness is an identity

When Jesus holds us the cup and offers what is in it as the fluid of forgiveness, he is not talking to people with a short list of minor sins. He is talking to people who will turn him in, who will scatter to the four winds at the first sign of trouble, and who will swear they never knew him.

He is talking to people who should have been his best friends on earth, who will turn out not to have a loyal bone in their bodies, and he is forgiving them ahead of time. Barbara Brown Taylor

How's your diet?

What about your current mental state?

If you hold back on the emotions—if you don’t allow yourself to go all the way through them—you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid. You’re afraid of the pain, you’re afraid of the grief.

You’re afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your heard even, you experience them fully and completely. Mitch Albom

"Blessed are the cheesemakers."

What's so special about the cheesemakers?

Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturers of dairy products. (The Life of Brian)

It's easy to fool ourselves into mishearing, misquoting or even misunderstanding what the essential message of Jesus is in order to further our own agenda.

This one is pretty clear though:

Matthew 5:9
You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

Peacemakers are usually a target...

If you read the Beatitudes, you see Jesus’ face and you see through Jesus’ face the love of his Father. Humble. Poor. Meek. Peacemaker. Hungry for justice and peace. It is so important for you to see that Jesus wants you to be more and more like that. That’s the image of God that appears in flesh among us. That is our way. Henri Nouwen

When we practice generating compassion, we can expect to experience the fear of our pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. Pema Chodron

Matthew 9
Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.

That's so cheesey!

To have what you love

OR

To love what you have.

What's it going to be?

What are you so grumpy about?

Don't use your anger as fuel for revenge.
And don't stay angry.
Don't go to bed angry.
Don't give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

I can see clearly now...

...the snow is gone.

I can see all the obstacles in my way.

Gone are the dark clouds that make me blind,

It's going to be a bright, bright, sun-shiney day...

Isaiah 61
The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace— a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies— and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them "Oaks of Righteousness" planted by God to display his glory.
They'll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage.
They'll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new.

Twits

2 Kings 2
Another time, Elisha was on his way to Bethel and some little kids came out from the town and taunted him, "What's up, old baldhead! Out of our way, skinhead!"

Elisha turned, took one look at them, and cursed them in the name of God. Two bears charged out of the underbrush and knocked them about, ripping them limb from limb—forty-two children in all!

Elisha went on to Mount Carmel, and then returned to Samaria.

Words to live by...

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."

Mother wisdom

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

May we all find strength during this difficult time.

Happy Mother's Day mom.

The unBeatitudes...

Congratulations to the entitled, for they grab what they want.
Congratulations to the carefree, for they shall be comfortable.
Congratulations to the pushy, for they shall win.
Congratulations to the greedy, for they shall climb the food chain.
Congratulations to the vengeful, for they shall be feared.
Congratulations to those who don’t get caught, for they shall look good.
Congratulations to the argumentative, for they shall get in the last word.
Congratulations to the popular, for this world lies at their feet. (Ray Ortlund)

Not sure I've figured out the public part yet...

... the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"

For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said,

"I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in.

Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me."

Vulnerability is the birthplace of joy, love, belonging, creativity, and faith.

Accept the gift of imperfection. (Brene Brown)

Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote,

God is there, ready to help;
I'm fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?

Do you harken back to simpler times?

Come to me, all of you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! Put on my yoke and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Progress?

Is everything modern good to embrace?

Just because we can drive anywhere at anytime mean that we should?

Psalm 23 Antithesis
The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest;
it makes me lie down only when exhausted;
it leads me to deep depression and hounds my soul.
It leads me in circles of frenzy for activity's sake.
Even though I run frantically from task to task,
I will never get done, for my "ideal" is with me,
deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me.
They demand performance from me,
beyond the limits of my schedule.
They anoint my head with migraines.
My in-box overflows.
Surely fatigue and time pressure shall follow me,
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the bonds of frustration forever. (Marcia Hornok)

I used to think I was a genius too...

but wearing my shirt inside-out burst my bubble.

How are you at putting up with the rest of us idiots in the world?

Only boring people get bored...

Get curious about life, about others, about serving & making a difference in this world.

Lose the entitlement.