New Life'n

The turkey my wife married

Right after church Sunday, Brenda wanted to visit a friend of ours at Presbyterian Hospital uptown.  She didn't want to wait until after lunch, so we went.  After the visit I thought we might drive thru uptown and see if there was someplace we might want to have lunch.  I was thinking of Mert's Heart and Soul, but didn't know where it was. 

OK, let's just drive up Elizabeth away from the hospital and see if anything looks interesting.

There seemed to be a lot of traffic for a Sunday afternoon.  And then police directing things at intersections.  And groups of people walking in the same direction.  Oh yeah, Panthers game.

I didn't want to go west toward the stadium, but I thought we might make our way to South Boulevard somehow (which was west) where I was a little more familiar with places to eat.   We went north through uptown and just looking at the compass thing on the rear-view mirror, tried to make left turns to swing around the stadium traffic. 

I got totally lost.  Kept ending up going north or northwest.  I was getting frustrated.  And hungry.  Basically we're taking the back way to Statesville!  We weren't in a good area.  We passed an intersection and then went further into

Want to see hope, change, forgiveness and love?

It's amazing how their lives have changed, and that they're so transparent about it all.  But, that's what grace does.  Grace also flows thru unlikely people and things -- even radio stations...

How to build a mega-church from a hole in the ground

What Warren Smith saw in a small village in the sticks of India:

The pastor of the church came out to greet us and invite us in. We sat in plastic chairs as he told us, with the help of a translator, a remarkable story.

When he first came to this village to plant a church, he slept some nights out in the open as he went from house to house, distributing Gospel literature provided by the Believers Church. He met with much resistance, and once was beaten severely by anti-Christian radicals in the town. During that beating he had teeth knocked out, and his ear was nearly ripped off.

But the pastor persisted. And when the village began to experience a water shortage, the pastor prayed and drilled a well next to the road in front of the church.

“Everyone told us the well would not bring water,” he said. “But we prayed, and by God’s grace and for His glory the water came.” The pastor let it be known that it was Jesus who had brought the water, as it is God who brings all good gifts. He called the well the Jesus Well. He also let it be known that everyone in the village, even those who had beaten him, or who had been happy when he was beaten, could freely use the well.

“Seeing the water from the well changed the hearts of many people,” the pastor said. Soon, a few were coming to the Believers Church for services, and before long 30 and then 40 and then 50 people were coming. The pastor explained to these new church-goers that attending church does not save them. Only by turning from their sins and accepting Jesus, becoming “born again,” can they be saved. Eventually, 10 people make that decision...

Today, the pastor is all but healed. Only a scar remains to show where his ear was nearly ripped off his head during the brutal beating. The first 10 who were baptized were followed by more who made the decision to follow Jesus, and now, every Sunday, 65 people crowd into this small Believer’s Church for worship.

No, this is not a “mega-church” in the sense that we think of them in America. In fact, this is a typical Believer’s Church. On average, a Believers Church planted by Gospel for Asia has only about 60 members. But when you consider that each of these 60 members are newly born-again and baptized believers, and when you remember that there are 30,000 such churches, and that Gospel For Asia is planting churches at the rate of more than 1000 per year, you begin to realize that the 1.7-million members in these churches represent more real growth in the Kingdom of God than every mega-church (a church with more than 2000 members) in America combined.

Find out about Gospel for Asia HERE

Four steps to transform your life

I started doing this 10 years ago.  I would be a different man if I hadn't.

Before I reveal the four steps I want to reiterate that while the advice could transform your life, it most likely will not. As with most life-altering advice, it is simple, easy to implement, and even easier to ignore. Statistically speaking, the odds are great that you’ll ignore this advice. Therefore I encourage you to stop reading now; you’ll only be wasting your time reading further.

HERE'S THE 4 STEPS.

The "It's a Wonderful Life" guy

It's good to see that what we saw is what he was -- Much to admire, no dirt to find

Impressed, but changed?

Do you have a friend or family member or co-worker who just flat amazes you with some obscure talent (I wouldn't call it a gift)? 
One day out of the blue, Josh casually mentioned that as a kid he had a Super Bowl Highlights video that he watched over and over.  He said he watched it so much that without even trying, he could remember every single game -- all of them -- every Super Bowl score, year and number. 

Yeah right.  So I tested him:  OK, the Cowboys first Super Bowl win... He doesn't blink, "Super Bowl VI, 24–3 over Miami." 

Whoa.  Uhhh, Joe Namath...  Again, "Super Bowl 3, Jets 16, Colts 7, 1969."  Gulp.

Me: Mike Ditka...  Him: "SB20, 1986, Bears 46, New England 10."

Sam Wyche & the Bengals!   "1989, SB23, 20–16 49ers!" 

Buffalo’s four losses in order, Titan tackled at the goal line to end the game, John Madden, Steel Curtain, even the first Bud Bowl!  He did know them all.  It was almost supernatural.  Spontaneously out of my mouth flew the words Go away from me! 

And at that moment I had a miniscule inkling of appreciation of the reaction of a man many years ago when confronted with power and knowledge and diety far beyond him.

But HIS reaction didn't stop there.   

Do you have a friend or family member or co-worker who just flat amazes you with some obscure talent (I wouldn't call it a gift)? 
One day out of the blue, Josh casually mentioned that as a kid he had a Super Bowl Highlights video that he watched over and over.  He said he watched it so much that without even trying, he could remember every single game -- all of them -- every Super Bowl score, year and number. 

Yeah right.  So I tested him:  OK, the Cowboys first Super Bowl win... He doesn't blink, "Super Bowl VI, 24–3 over Miami." 

Whoa.  Uhhh, Joe Namath...  Again, "Super Bowl 3, Jets 16, Colts 7, 1969."  Gulp.

Me: Mike Ditka...  Him: "SB20, 1986, Bears 46, New England 10."

Sam Wyche & the Bengals!   "1989, SB23, 20–16 49ers!" 

Buffalo’s four losses in order, Titan tackled at the goal line to end the game, John Madden, Steel Curtain, even the first Bud Bowl!  He did know them all.  It was almost supernatural.  Spontaneously out of my mouth flew the words Go away from me! 

And at that moment I had a miniscule inkling of appreciation of the reaction of a man many years ago when confronted with power and knowledge and diety far beyond him.

But HIS reaction didn't stop there.   

Pot luck

Etch A Dora-Sketch -- And Sponge Bob and other Nickies

I wonder if she said yes -- Or he.  And how were they going to see it?...

Don't read this if you don't want to think about Iraq or the election -- "We think we can just call off the game early, and go back home and watch TV."

Why a cat's tongue feels rough -- what are those things, hairs?

WOW--inspiring -- "For a while, she wrestled with God. 'Why did you give me a talent that's so much about vanity?' she prayed. 'How can I serve you?'"  And now -- "They're armed with blow dryers, scissors, and nail polish...

Is God responsible for evil?

The match that lights the flame

Sometimes you’re THE FLAME.  When you're not, that part of you that wants recognition can crave it (while forgetting the burden of visibility, responsibility and blame that go with it). 

Sometimes you’re the match that lights THE FLAME.  No one knows who you are, but you’re forever a part of what comes after (and you may never know it)…

The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. Now, it is well that preachers should be instructed; but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was,…

The match and THE FLAME -- HERE

And, for Veteran's Day, HERE'S another match and flame

For the next three years (he) taught graduate courses in military history, strategy, and leadership in a “virtual” classroom located in the humid jungle of Panama. This classroom contained a single student...

I know what I'm not eating this weekend

It's amazing the expressions that are hidden in the human face, awaiting just the right motivation to be revealed.

Do you?

Brenda and I do.  In the car.  Walking thru parking lots.  And in bed falling asleep.  Not all the time, but regularly.  Her touch is gentle.  Subtle.  Receptive.  It feels like her.  And I think it makes my blood pressure go down.   But I never thought of holding hands as something that would (or could) be studied.  IT IS --

“Hand-holding is the one aspect that’s not been affected by the sexual revolution,” said Dalton Conley, a professor and chairman of the department of sociology at New York University.

And today, apparently, when all the other forms of intimacy have been worn out and lost their specialness, holding hands is the new intimacy --

Among more than a half-dozen students at the University of Maine, there seemed to be two universal truths: that hand-holding is the least nauseating public display of affection and that holding hands has become more significant than other seemingly deeper expressions of love and romance.

Libby Tyler, 20, said it was “weird that hand-holding is more serious,” but true. “It’s something that you lead up to,” she said.

And it not only tastes good, it's good for you, too --

“We found that holding the hand of really anyone, it made your brain work a little less hard in coping,” Dr. Coan said, adding that any sort of hand-holding relaxes the body.

“With spouse hand-holding you also stop looking for other signs of danger and you start feeling more secure...If you’re in a really strong relationship, you may be protected against pain and stress hormones that may have a damaging effect on your immune system.”

(Via EO)