JOSIAH Steps of Josiah’s spiritual triumph and his revival that inspired Israel 1. Influence—Each of us has had someone who has influenced our lives for God.   2. Inquiry—There came a time in Josiah’s life when he had to know the truth for himself.   3. Purging—Once Josiah knew what the truth was, he acted accordingly and took decisive steps to clean up his life and nation.  4. Commitment—Josiah committed himself completely to serving God.   Josiah's reforms are described in two biblical accounts, 2 Kings 22–23, and 2 Chronicles 34–35. Josiah became the sixteenth king of Judah. He reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem from 640–609/8 BC. The “people of the land” (2 Chronicles 33:25) enthroned him at the age of eight after the assassination of his father, Amon. No other king like him - father and grandfather were not faithful to God but his great grandfather was very faithful. Josiah’s Great grandfather, Hezekiah, was a Godly man and a great king. Hez...

What is a miracle?  A miracle is more than an action.  If it were simply a surprising outcome in a military confrontation, you could say Hitler’s blitzkriegs were miraculous.  I believe there are three intermingling factors involved in a miracle.  There is the purpose of the motivation, the action, and the effect of the miracle.  The purpose must be grounded in the hope that the first will be last and the servant of all and the effect must be to make the principle a reality.  By these two realities, the action gains its content.  In this way, the person who is healed of cancer may thank God for his mercy and the person who dies of cancer can thank God for the strength to endure the treatments for the purpose of a search for healing and the ability to sacrifice that doctors learn more in the quest to find a cure.  They both are benefactors of God's mercy.   The second has  received the power to lay down a life for another, and the first h...

The story of Moses and the burning bush is one of the widest known stories in the Bible.  Most of the time people approach this story, focusing one what appears as his hesitancy to follow God’s call to set the people free.  As a person who has lived the majority of his life based on God’s call I understand his interchange with God a different way.  The most important thing Moses says is, “Who am I?”  I believe everyone experiences a calling.  The context of the calling is challenging.  When you receive a calling it means you have to journey down a path that excludes the experience found on other paths.  You are confronted not only by what you might gain, but what you will sacrifice.  That reality spurs a conversation.  The struggle Moses experiences is no different than the one everyone experiences, and the struggle is necessary. As I write this devotion to God, I am surrounded by the new birth of Spring.  I am inspired by new leaves...

I had the privilege of coaching my first son’s five and six year old soccer team.  There was a small park in the neighborhood where the boys, their mothers, and myself would gather for practice.  There is something perfect and idyllic about a dozen five year olds chasing a soccer ball on a green field.  Suddenly, paradise was interrupted by a woman’s screams.  I looked up and there was a man without a shirt beating a terrified woman with a coiled rope.  Instinctively, I put myself between the boys and the horror and yelled, “Hey!  Stop that!”  The man hesitated and turned his attention toward me.  During that lapse of attention, the woman broke free and started running toward me.  She ran across the road, into the park, and ran to my outstretched arms with such force that she knocked me over and we both tumbled to the ground.  From my new vantage point, I focused my attention no the whereabouts of the man.  I now realized that he ha...

Moses witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew.  He decided he was going to put an end to this injustice so he looked around, and when he saw no one looking, killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.  The next day he saw two Hebrews fighting and  asked them why they were doing harm to a fellow Hebrew.  One responds instinctively saying, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”   Moses is faced with the reality that his deeds are known to a large number of people and most likely Pharaoh will know soon enough. I believe the most important messages are rarely discussed.  “Who knew Moses killed the Egyptian?”  The most logical witness was the man who was beaten.  Why didn’t Moses consider this possibility after he killed the Egyptian?  He never considered that the one being persecuted would endanger his rescuer.  Moses discovered that those he felt a need to free from oppression,...

Of all the features of the wild, the river is the one that most often impacts civilization.  While people find it important to control the effects of the wilderness, the river is invited to mingle with civilization, because rivers bring water of life.  People try to contain it, control it, but we are reminded constantly that the river has the power to bring unintended consequences, exercising unwelcome power over civilizations and altering their future.   The power of God’s Word supersedes the norms of culture.  I have always been surprised that the idea that Moses, “Born of Water,” grew up as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s Daughter, is given so little attention.  Pharaoh was schooled and immersed in the Egyptian religion.  Moses also was schooled by teachers groomed to inspire future kings.  The Egyptian religion was the means of internalizing the norms and aspirations of the civilization, and Egypt was the most prosperous of its time.  Yet for a...

How do empires come to an end?  In a way that is a misnomer.  Most often the people continue, but the people who ruled them change, and with the change culture is altered significantly.  We simplify history by focusing on a major battle or other theatric climatic event.  I believe the end and new beginning is more subtle.  I heard of an oil company that was taken over through a dispute between a brother and sister.  That dispute started with an act of cruelty.  When the children were young little sister was given a peacock for her birthday.  She loved that peacock, spending lots of time training her pet.  People were amazed at how the peacock responded to her love.  Little sister received lots of praise from her parents because of the responsiveness of her pet.  Older brother became jealous.    He would tease the peacock, throw pebbles at the bird, and torment little sister to tears. One day older brother reached across th...

But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.   Exodus 2: 3 The word ark does not mean ship.  It actually means box or a chest.  Ark is defined by what it carries.  It could be the chest that carried Noah, the chest that carried Moses, or the chest that carried the Word of God.  In every case the importance of the Ark is not the container but what it carries.  In every instance it is also not the physical substance the Ark carries, but the message of the contents that is important.  It is the same with every life and everything.  Our importance is not confined to our physical substance, but is eternal in the message of our life.  In the three references above, that message is defined by words like Faith, Hope, and Love.  We should ask, “What is the message of my life, and how does it measure up to the p...

So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”  Genesis 1:22 Here we see the apex of Pharaoh’s power.  After failing to get midwives to kill babies at birth, he put out a proclamation to the population as a whole to kill all Hebrew new born sons.  What a demonstration of the length people will go to remain first.  The midwives circumvented Pharaoh’s order because they were asked to destroy the joy of their life, helping bring new life into the world.  Pharaoh gives his second order to the entire population, knowing that the majority of the people will silently not heed his orders, being repulsed by the idea.  Pharaoh knowingly caters to a small but significant minority of the most evil people in his society, who will cherish the idea of drowning the life of a new born Hebrew child.   We began this discussion of Exodus with a warning about cultural forgetfu...

When something is pressed down it naturally moves toward the boundaries of societal life, looking for relief.  The wilderness provides this relief.  Power is concentrated in the civilizations  humans create, therefore it is natural for the oppressed to seek the periphery of society.  When healthy physical things are withheld people begin to seek spiritual things.  This is why oppressors go mad and become self destructive.  Oppression is like a dead end slough.  You exit the main stream of the river of life, thinking it will be an attractive diversion, only to find it abruptly ends against a dry bank without the necessities needed to sustain life. The Hebrew responded to oppression by becoming better human beings.  When deprived of physical luxuries, they explored spiritual luxuries, becoming more sensitive to the foundation of relationships.  When Pharaoh realized they became stronger under his oppression he decided to undermine their ...

 Exodus 1: 11-14 "Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.  But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.  So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor." Oppression is the evil counter point to God’s principle, “The First Shall Be Last and the Servant of All.”  The definition of oppression accurately describes the methodology of those who seek to undermine God’s principle.  Oppression is the violent pressing down of another.  Jesus gave a revealing indictment and definition of those who oppress others:  “ Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, an...

The Bible teaches us that God is a promise maker and a promise keeper.  Sunday night was a time to thank God for the fulfillment of His promise.  I enjoyed the first fruits of the Canoe and Outdoor Ministry   Twenty-two representatives of the youth ministry came for burgers, fun, and fellowship in the name of Jesus Christ.  When I looked at them playing and praying, my heart was inspired by the courage of those who choose the Way of Jesus Christ.  I thank God for Alain, Natalie, and their counselors, who inspired my faith with their example and their teachings.  I thank God for a Christian wife who finds joy in Christian hospitality.  I thank God for mud up to the waistline and quiet reflections upon prayer lanterns floating down the Trinity River.  This morning I pray for their endurance, and thank God for their ultimate victory.  For God is a promise maker and a promise keeper. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall in...

Most of us have been raised remembering the holocaust during and surrounding World War II.  A parishioner of my church was on location when Allied troops liberated a German concentration camp.  As an information officer, he had his own personal collection of horrific survivor photographs.  The images of  starving prisoners still affects my memory. Life is good in the United States and the communication industry provides more information than most people care to disseminate.  It is easy to be lulled into the attitude that the holocaust is part of the dust bin of history, never to raise its ugly head again.  When we hear words that dehumanize groups of people, we might say, “That is bad but it could never be a threat to the existence of those who are demeaned.”  Did you know? Today the following are experiencing ethnic cleansing:  - Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar t by the Buddhist majority - The Nuer in south Sudan  by  the Dinka major...

Most people confuse the wilderness as an uninhabitable place, a place of danger and death.  During the formative years of the Hebrew nation, the years upon which God’s Word was established, the Hebrew people were nomads, living in tents and tending their flocks.  They lived in the wilderness.  The biblical term most often used to convey wilderness is pasture.  Ancient Israel enjoyed temperatures that ranged from 40-85 degrees.  It was located in the fertile crescent and enjoyed two seasons; dry season and a rainy season.  This wilderness is “midbar.”  The relatively uninhabited wilderness or the desert is  “arabah.”  This is a sterile land, yet even the desert is a wonderful mouthpiece for the Word of God.   Today urbanization has resulted in 95% of the world’s population living on 10% of the earth’s surface.  The herd’s corral is becoming more crowded.  I believe this is one of the reasons so few people reflect in awe on the...

Words have many meanings.  Words are a pioneer's tools of exploration.  They explore tributaries, which no matter how far from the source are connected to the River of Life.  The word wilderness explores one very special tributary in the Song of Solomon.  Solomon is a preacher and teacher, as well as a king.  In his former roles, he seeks to convey the wisdom of God's Word.  In Song of Solomon 4:3 he uses the word wilderness to describe the mouth of his beloved. Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, And your "MOUTH" is lovely. Your temples behind your veil Are like a piece of pomegranate. NKJV The translation of wilderness as mouth is also translated speech.  Mouth is understood as the "organ of speech."  Wilderness is not a stagnant panorama, it is dynamic, moving, revealing.  The wilderness is an organ of speech, which God utilizes to communicate His truth into the lives of those who have ears to hear.  Jesus c...

“If” is a powerful word.  What does it mean?  If is a meeting place like when planets align and create a special moment during night time meditation.  In 2016, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury could all be seen through the same lens and I once saw a planetarium presentation that claimed the Bethlehem star was really the once in several millennia alignment of three planets, which caused the appearance of a brilliant star over Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth.  If is a meeting place that presents a gift of wonder that seizes consciousness and says, “Wait here a while and fill your life with possibility.” Possibility joyfully injects doubt into ones life.  People are so focused on building a track to run on that they may become railroaded into believing that yesterday is all there is.  Have you ever had someone come to you with a problem?  You invest time listening to their story and results that have led to chronic suffering.  As t...

Returned last night from another wilderness experience.  This wilderness experience was confined to the St. Luke’s Hospital in Lufkin.  The hospital is a wilderness that provides an encampment on the river of life.  The single focus of life is gathering the gifts necessary to sustain life and make it better.  It is a pure place, a place of gifting and a place of gathering gifts.  It is a place most suitable for a pioneer; accentuating the senses is essential.  Listening is the birthplace of understanding and new direction.  Scents stimulate the memory and provide havens of peace.  Vision is widened, prompting awareness of many healing avenues and the vast community who rest under  healing arms.  Touch opens the soul to the close proximity of suffering and hope.  Hearing opens the possibility of melodies that vibrate ear drums and melodies that vibrate the soul.  The hospital wilderness is a place where the traveler may experien...

The principle of reconciliation is the foundation upon which people of The Way confidently shake up the world, knowing the world will come together again.  Every time I drive into a large city, I visualize what that city would look like, in one hundred years, if people stopped city maintenance.  Have you ever calculated how much of your time and resources is consumed by maintenance?   Once upon a time I owned a commercial cleaning company.  We cleaned many office buildings in the Houston metropolitan area.  If it weren’t for the people who gathered and took out the trash everyday, those big "aquariums" would shortly become uninhabitable.  In contrast, the Wilderness contains a power that incorporates constant change with reconciliation. A river follows the down hill contours of the earth, moving with tremendous power toward the sea.  As the river travels it is constantly carving out earth, occasionally uprooting a tree or other clinger-on in specta...

There are very few things necessary for survival in the wilderness.  Wilderness  ventures demand simplicity.  Simplicity is the breath of freedom.  Physical survival depends on the possession of food, drink, shelter, sleep and oxygen.  The root of most of our actions is to secure and stabilize the acquisition of these survival essentials.  A journey through the wilderness demands we ground our actions in the consciousness of our connection to these essentials.  Simplicity feeds the awareness of times of security, rewarding our lives with an attitude of thankfulness.    An overly encumbered life creates a maintenance crisis that busies us into life absent the knowledge of life’s purpose.  It is purpose that inspires love, legacy, art, and all the other affections that make life abundant.  

The birth of Esau and Jacob and its application to the principle, “The First Shall Be Last and the Last Shall Be First,” (Mt. 20:16) focuses on the most powerful resource given those on The Way.  Reflecting that the little we know about the third child of Adam and Eve is he was named Seth after the Egyptian god of chaos, reveals that we are not afraid of chaos because the Word ends chaos. (refer to blog entries "SETH on January 30 and "PRINCIPLES" January 29) When we are liberated from the fear of chaos, we can be those who shake up the status quo.  The name Jacob means “heal grabber.”  I think you could add that to the top ten names not to give your child, yet it is a celebrated name today.  Why?  Because Jacob represents great hope for those who fall into a system set up to prevent them from realizing their potential.   Esau was born first.  Esau was his father’s favorite.  Esau guaranteed his position in society by the position of his birth a...

At first glance, the narrative of Abraham’s involvement in the selection of a wife for Abraham is alarming, but when taken in conjunction with Abraham’s decision to take a local native to be his wife after Sarah’s death helps focus on the intent of Abraham’s decision for his son.   Abraham obtains the oath of his most trusted servant to seek a bride for Abraham from the lineage of his father.  He specifically tells the servant he does not want his son to take a bride from the Canaanites.  The means of the servant’s selection of Rebekah identifies Abraham’s true intent.  The servant kneels out side the city wall and prays, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I w...

Have you ever scratched your head and said, “How does a person have an opinion so clearly based upon faulty evidence?”  A person’s perspective is governed by the lens they look through.  Physiological, environmental, and sociological factors, play a major role in the manufacture of every lens.  Because humans have the unique ability to process information and create on an unmatched scale, perspective has a amazing impact upon the future.  Let us pause and meditate upon this question, “What if I create a future that is uninhabitable?” The wilderness provides a pure lens, uninfected by the other’s perspectives.    Over a short time, this purity can wash away the role destructive perspectives have played in the manufacture of our lens.  Our mind is emptied of many voices, providing a moment of clarity that may gift the pioneer with the ability to discover “The Way” to an abundant life.  Abraham had a very special lens through which he discovered th...

Everyone has faith.  While canvassing a neighborhood I met a Nara.  She lived in a trailer and would only talk to me through the screen.  Nara suffered from Agoraphobia, which literally means fear of the market place, but more generally means fear of everything.  As I tried to be a good neighbor, Nara opened up, sharing a few details of her life.  Although she was this shadowy figure seen through a thick screen, I shared my concern about her ability to get something to eat.  She told me that she went to a twenty-four hour supermarket once a month at three o’clock in the morning. Even Nara had faith.  Nara was able to pinpoint exactly in what she had faith.  For her, exposure to the outside world was always a life and death decision.  It is the same for everyone.  What you truly have faith in is only revealed under extreme pressure.  At these moments your passion is revealed.  I define passion through the lens of Christ. ...

In the wilderness, animals attract mates through expressions of physical dominance.  Sometimes that expression is brute strength, and other times it is the demonstration of dominate unique features.  The peacock flashes feathers featuring eye spots.  The larger the eye spots, the healthier the male.  Guppies dance, deer are attracted to large antlers, and the giant tortoise of Galapagos with the longest neck are the most attractive.  All of of these physical attributes are projections of physical dominance expressed to control the future of a species.  The Bible reminds us that although we may be one with creation, we are special among all the creatures.  We have been blessed with the ability and the responsibility of stewardship.  God calls us to a higher level of existence.  Only humans can project evil intent upon their physical prowess.  Stewardship recognizes there are spiritual laws as well as physical laws.  Throughout...

The whole story of Sodom and Gomorrah is very strange.  People can get hung up on wether these cities existed.  Indeed, archeologists are working at locations around the Dead Sea.  One that is special is Tall el-Hammam on the Jordan River.  The remains of a massive city is being unearthed and could possibly be Sodom.  What interests me is how those upon whom God has his hand react to the events surrounding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the theme of the role of the wilderness in this story. First there is the contrast of the hospitality offered the travellers, now recognized as messengers from God, between  Abraham and the residents of Sodom.  Unlike Abraham, the residents of Sodom want to treat them as objects to dominate; all except Lot.  Cowardice is the consequence of unchecked fear.  The bully always acts out of fear.  The result of a bully’s life is destruction.   Lot and his family afforded the travelers hospi...

The wilderness is experienced on many planes.  From a mountain top the wilderness is enjoyed as a brilliant landscape.  It can be an ocean of textured green interrupted by outcroppings of rock and earth.  Distant rivers bring the depth of valleys with a thin blue line.  If you look from a hill you can enjoy the curvature of the earth and witness the world around you in more detail.  If you're a hunter, you can watch the pattern of your prey and calculate where you might intersect their path and secure the nourishment your family needs for survival. If you are on the trail, you are immersed under the wilderness canopy.  Everything is proportional and intimate.  The eagle you see in the sky is your eagle, the porcupine your porcupine, the trees your trees, the grass your grass.  Everything has a special identity as it enters your mind and your soul.  Everything is precious, and stimulates your gratitude and protective impulses. God tests Ab...

Traveling on a foot path, the wilderness most often is a perfect picture of hospitality.  The experience expands the human soul, the pure air opens an individual mind to claim a great dream, and the reality of how free God created us fills our being with words unspoken, “Thank you God for your hospitality.  Hospitality, in its purest form, frees the stranger to feel at home in another’s environment.  Hospitality empowers the stranger to express the very core of what is important to the traveller. Abraham is inspired by wildernesses hospitality through the appreciation of a Terebinth tree.  Old growth Terebinth trees are quite spectacular in their breath and color planted against the backdrop of an arid world.  They have red berries like small immature grapes and leaves constructed like feathers that change colors, displaying bright red colors that look like red coral.  This wilderness expression of hospitality inspires Abraham’s vision to stare in awe of ...

Aaron began to live up to his name before he was born.  His parents chose a name that meant “miraculous” to remind them every day of their gratitude for the birth of their son. Like many parents, Mother and Father shared their excitement about starting a family.  Night after night held each other and whisper about their future family, drifting off to embrace their shared dream.  After the second year of marriage, they became concerned and went to the doctor for advice.  After many tests, the doctor sat them down and hand in hand they listened to the doctor tell them, “It is impossible for you to have children.” Doctor after doctor told them Mother and Father the same thing.  Their problem was rare.  Father’s sperm count was very low and Mother’s fallopian tubes were blocked.  One of these problems was enough to prevent fertility but both potential  parents having such problems led every doctor to say, “It is impossible for you to have children.”...

Yesterday I attended a funeral for a friend.  Although I did not know Mike personally, knowing him through relationships with his family, he was a friend in my heart.  His funeral was  a most wonderful spiritual experience; a life that leaps out and grabs your attention and says, “This life is the embodiment of God’s Word.”  The hope and demand of his life’s testimony filled my life with God’s intimacy.  The flowers were situated so that, from my vantage point, I could not see the speakers, forcing me to focus on the sounds of their testimonies.  Instead, I focused on a large framed photograph of Mike, resting on an easel.  He was pictured in sunglasses,  wearing a t-shirt featuring an American flag.  He was s tanding on a hill overlooking a Cuban village, his face representing perfect content.  He stood there staring right into my eyes.  I spent the service looking at Mike while listening to the testimonies about his life.  He...

Daydream  Lord empty my mind affected by civilization's: Affronting annoyance of angry voice aggravation, Heated horns honking honing a momentary impression, Bitter bullies bludgeoning babies for brief glorification, ISHMAEL - GOD HEARS Lord guide me, mold me, what shall I do? “My messengers always with you, Rest and refresh by life’s spring, Daydreams are tomorrow's prelude, You are doing fine, I will hear you.” ISHMAEL - GOD HEARS Amen. Ishmael, whose name means “God Will Hear,” was a man for the wilderness and his life and trials give us the border understanding of the wilderness.  The wilderness is a place of refuge, a place away from bombarding human voices and pronounced agendas.  The wilderness is another place, a holy place, a place of clarity, a place of confidence that God will hear. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.  And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whe...

My youngest granddaughter’s name is Luna Maria.  Her name literally means “The Seas of the Moon.”  As you can imagine, looking at the moon has taken on new importance in my life. Since Luna’s birth I have noticed the Man in the Moon has looks more and more feminine.   During a recent camping experience at Llano State Park, my son and I were treated to nights filled with a full moon.  Nights were illuminated by the moon’s reflective surface so that it was largely unnecessary to carry a flashlight.  We spent a lot of time enjoying the moons brilliance.  My son asked, “Do you see the man in the moon or the rabbit?”  I was a bit shocked at the question.  I had never heard of the rabbit in the moon, but I could see he was serious.  He proceeded to try to outline the body and the ears of the rabbit in the moon.  Try as I might, I could never see the rabbit.  Indeed this morning, during meditation and devotion, I reviewed the many moon ...

Why do humans have such a tendency to pile upon each other?  Harris County, Texas has a population density of 2,402 people per square mile.  Polk County, Texas has 43 people per square mile.  People chose to live in Harris County for economic reasons.  There is greater opportunity for employment and the ability to care for your family.  It is quite reasonable to choose to live in a crowded area for this reason.  However, why do people drive so closely to one another on the highway in Polk County as well as  Harris County?  People seem drawn to the bumper of the car in front of them when they know it would be safer for their loved ones if they kept a distance.   It is natural for creatures to enjoy and desire the company of others, but only humans can make that decision for self destructive reasons.  Humans are the most dangerous animal in the wilderness because they share a gifted intelligence and is the only creature who kills for the...

The world is always on the go. River isn’t moving? Not a river, now a sea. Sea is always moving, filling the sky with wind swept clouds.   Wind can not find the cloud? Not a cloud,  now rain Creating rivers and lakes for plants and animals to drink. Nothing to drink? Plants and animals are on the go. Too hot too cold? Plants and animals are on the go. The world is always on the go. “Let’s go to Canaan,” Terah and his family are on the go. Terah dies in Haran,  death happens, it's part of on the go. "Let's go to Canaan," Abram and family are on the go. Trade God's promise for your disappointment, dry your tears Keep looking forward, we are on the go.  This time with God's promise, we are on the go. The world is always on the go. Abram built a  Canaan alter but in Betel had to live. Famine, another detour, we were already on the go. Danger eating in powerful sex trafficking Egypt, Sarai to Pharaoh’s bed, “Laws of C...