Signs and Wonders.
Most of the time, our search for the signs and wonders usually result in sighs and worries. Most people do not realize just exactly how wonderfully subtle G-d's miracles can be.
An example? No problem.
Earlier this week I injured my back in a terrible, tragic and, regrettably, avoidable accident. (I fell while washing my dog in the bathtub.) At any rate, my first impulse, after screaming at the top of my lungs and panicking at the temporary paralysis due to shock was to ask my wife for help. She complied while exclaiming, "My G-d, Help us!"
Guess what? He did.
Now, in this case there was no flash of light followed by the crash of thunder that Hollywood likes to add at these points. Nope. In this case,
G-d put an inspiration into my wife's pretty little head to "call a local Chiropractor" instead of the more normal "call the family doctor." Since I was really in no condition to argue (I had recovered the use of my legs at this point, but was fundamentally unable to stand up straight) I acknowledged the soundness of her suggestion, took a pain pill, and went to bed.
This brings us to the next morning. What Doctor should we call?
Get out the Yellow Pages!
Now, my addled mind was trying to get me to my regular doctor which resulted in my calling said physician while my wife was checking our local listings. Naturally, The regular doctor is on vacation. Wife is now looking at me with a patient "yes, I know you are a stubborn man" look on her face and suggests a name she has found in the Yellow pages.
*Sigh*
So I pulled this random selection up on the computer and found the requested website. The doctor, whose website was small, neatly laid out and easy to navigate, was just down the street. OK, nothing bad leaping out at us yet. Phone in hand, appointment made. Panic begins to hover nearby...
As we walk into the office, two things are readily apparent: The Doctor hasn't been at this location long (panic is rubbing my shoulders at this point) and (trumpets sound) there is a picture of my Lord Jesus hanging from the wall ( panic mutters to itself and leaves). I am suddenly suffused with calm. As it happens, the doctor has been practicing his craft for a great many years and is quite adept at it.
And so, what had seemed to be a random string of events led us to a man who was quite devout in his faith and who praticed his craft based on this faith. My back was restored to functionality, and in the course of his examination and treatment, the doctor, at no additional charge(!) was able to repair other problems that had been bothering me for some time.
G-d is good.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
The Calender on the tool box
Something different happened.
I have been working in a shop that is very much a stronghold for the enemy and his forces that would govern this world. I had wondered for some time why G-d would put me in such a place.
For example, I had only been at this shop for a week when I was accused of stealing a rather expensive piece of equipment. Needless to say, I found this to be a bit discouraging. Even though the manager had told me to "go home", I was able to remain at the store and conduct my own investigation (as previously revealed, I had spent some time in law enforcement, and wasn't always "just a mechanic").
It was during the course of this investigation that two things (which I had thought were obvious, silly me) came to public light:
1) I didn't steal anything and was able to prove it rather easily, and
2) I was a Christian music minister and sometime youth pastor.
Now, the first factoid really surprised nobody. It was really quite easy to find out that the management team had been fed misinformation to draw attention away from the real perpetrators of this theft. It was the second that actually brought the most questions and revealed G-d's hand.
My co-workers to this point were, with one exception, all very young, between 17 and 25 years old. I have dental fillings older than that. These kids are full of the world and everything that it "promises". Before they found out some of the details of who I am, I had been regularly regaled with their, shall we say, recreational exploits, not to mention speech and "music" heavily laden with profane language.
And Then.... everything changed.
Suddenly, these same young people either were removed from employment (in part due to their involvement in the theft scandal) or became VERY subdued, especially around me. The new technicians brought in to replace those lost also made a point of "behaving themselves" when I was near. I was about to speak to one of them about this when they, in the form of a 25 year old journeyman tech, approached me.
What he asked was amazing.
"Why are you here, and how can I be more like you?"
Uuuuuhhhhh........ What? (Yoda would laugh at this point and say "Caught off guard, were you?")
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I was able to speak to this young man about his questions. It seems that he wanted to go into law enforcement, but had been stopped by outside forces at every turn. It also came to light that he was a young Christian who found himself caught up in the popularity contest that is the world and had given in to the various temptation the enemy has to offer. And he, this young man, wanted out.
I explained what it took to get into law enforcement and where he could go to get the training he sought. But, more importantly, I was able to share with him my story. His wasn't all that different from mine, and so I was able to connect with him and show him that G-d would, if asked, deliver him from the grasp of the enemy and the forces that held this young man in the corruption of the world.
For the remaining time he was at this shop (he has transferred to a shop closer to the school for law enforcement training) he refrained from profanity and the disrutive music and behavior that had characterized his daily routine prior to our short conversation.
G-d is good. All the time!
But it hasn't stopped there.
I have, on my tool box, a small flip-type daily bible verse calander. It gives me something to think about and study briefly before I hit the daily workload waiting for me. The calander had been there for a couple of weeks when I noticed something strange: Whenever I went on days off, the calender was always on the correct day when I came back to work.
Someone at the shop was reading the calender.
Now, it wasn't until very recently that a began to see who this might be, and may not have ever known had this person not come up and asked me another of those jaw-dropper questions.
He asked, "How do you become a Christian minister?"
Duh-uh....
What?!!??! This was a man who went out most nights with his buddies to have a beer (not necessarily a bad thing) and pick up women (hmmmm) at the local topless club (off the deep end).
It seems, once again showing G-d as mighty, that he has been hanging around with some of our mutual friends, when he wasn't at work, and that they had decided to get back to the things of G-d based on what my wife and I had been sharing with them.
He had been told by these friends that he needed to clean things up himself. It seems that these mutual friends had come to realize that, by surrounding themselves with things and people of G-d, they were better able to resist the temptations of the enemy. This is when my co-worker sought me out with his question.
Once again scraping my jaw off the floor I was faced with answering a question that would be a turning point in sopmeones life. Fortunately, G-d had answered that very question for me. "Go to the people of G-d", I said, "and seek to do what He would have you do. As you Grow in Him, others will seek this same knowledge through you. You will then find yourself in the role of 'minister'"
He has done exactly that.
My calender still gets turned.
I have been working in a shop that is very much a stronghold for the enemy and his forces that would govern this world. I had wondered for some time why G-d would put me in such a place.
For example, I had only been at this shop for a week when I was accused of stealing a rather expensive piece of equipment. Needless to say, I found this to be a bit discouraging. Even though the manager had told me to "go home", I was able to remain at the store and conduct my own investigation (as previously revealed, I had spent some time in law enforcement, and wasn't always "just a mechanic").
It was during the course of this investigation that two things (which I had thought were obvious, silly me) came to public light:
1) I didn't steal anything and was able to prove it rather easily, and
2) I was a Christian music minister and sometime youth pastor.
Now, the first factoid really surprised nobody. It was really quite easy to find out that the management team had been fed misinformation to draw attention away from the real perpetrators of this theft. It was the second that actually brought the most questions and revealed G-d's hand.
My co-workers to this point were, with one exception, all very young, between 17 and 25 years old. I have dental fillings older than that. These kids are full of the world and everything that it "promises". Before they found out some of the details of who I am, I had been regularly regaled with their, shall we say, recreational exploits, not to mention speech and "music" heavily laden with profane language.
And Then.... everything changed.
Suddenly, these same young people either were removed from employment (in part due to their involvement in the theft scandal) or became VERY subdued, especially around me. The new technicians brought in to replace those lost also made a point of "behaving themselves" when I was near. I was about to speak to one of them about this when they, in the form of a 25 year old journeyman tech, approached me.
What he asked was amazing.
"Why are you here, and how can I be more like you?"
Uuuuuhhhhh........ What? (Yoda would laugh at this point and say "Caught off guard, were you?")
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I was able to speak to this young man about his questions. It seems that he wanted to go into law enforcement, but had been stopped by outside forces at every turn. It also came to light that he was a young Christian who found himself caught up in the popularity contest that is the world and had given in to the various temptation the enemy has to offer. And he, this young man, wanted out.
I explained what it took to get into law enforcement and where he could go to get the training he sought. But, more importantly, I was able to share with him my story. His wasn't all that different from mine, and so I was able to connect with him and show him that G-d would, if asked, deliver him from the grasp of the enemy and the forces that held this young man in the corruption of the world.
For the remaining time he was at this shop (he has transferred to a shop closer to the school for law enforcement training) he refrained from profanity and the disrutive music and behavior that had characterized his daily routine prior to our short conversation.
G-d is good. All the time!
But it hasn't stopped there.
I have, on my tool box, a small flip-type daily bible verse calander. It gives me something to think about and study briefly before I hit the daily workload waiting for me. The calander had been there for a couple of weeks when I noticed something strange: Whenever I went on days off, the calender was always on the correct day when I came back to work.
Someone at the shop was reading the calender.
Now, it wasn't until very recently that a began to see who this might be, and may not have ever known had this person not come up and asked me another of those jaw-dropper questions.
He asked, "How do you become a Christian minister?"
Duh-uh....
What?!!??! This was a man who went out most nights with his buddies to have a beer (not necessarily a bad thing) and pick up women (hmmmm) at the local topless club (off the deep end).
It seems, once again showing G-d as mighty, that he has been hanging around with some of our mutual friends, when he wasn't at work, and that they had decided to get back to the things of G-d based on what my wife and I had been sharing with them.
He had been told by these friends that he needed to clean things up himself. It seems that these mutual friends had come to realize that, by surrounding themselves with things and people of G-d, they were better able to resist the temptations of the enemy. This is when my co-worker sought me out with his question.
Once again scraping my jaw off the floor I was faced with answering a question that would be a turning point in sopmeones life. Fortunately, G-d had answered that very question for me. "Go to the people of G-d", I said, "and seek to do what He would have you do. As you Grow in Him, others will seek this same knowledge through you. You will then find yourself in the role of 'minister'"
He has done exactly that.
My calender still gets turned.
Monday, June 27, 2005
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Welcome!
"Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"
I don't know about you, but I think that I must have heard this from every third teacher (whether I was their student or not) and just about all my Sunday School pastors! Uhg! Made me want to scream "can't you come up with something new?"
Sorry. Get ahead of myself sometimes.
The name's Brian D. I'm a music minister and sometimes preacher/teacher/whatever is needed at my local church. This church, while a wonderful fellowship, has become "stuck in the mud" of manmade traditions. They always sing the same songs, listen to the same sermons, "study" the same books as they always have.
This is, unfortunately, the way of the world.
So enters Double Portion Ministries, aka DPM! It is time for G-d's Kids, both young and old, to grow up! G-d didn't send His Son a couple thousand years ago to die for our "traditions"! NO! Jesus Died for Us! Not only that, but his followers, the original 11 (Judas bailed, remember) also, in most cases, gave their lives so that The Church (you and me) could grow and thrive.
Jesus told them, and now tells us, that he would send another, His Holy Spirit, as a comforter. When this happened in the Upper Room all those years ago, nobody in that room was left the same. Because along with the Holy Spirit came the spiritual gifts.
For some reason, though, these gifts seem to have been dismissed by the church (not you and me, but the one in Rome) as something akin to parlor tricks. And now, in these enlightened days, if it can't be measured in a lab somewhere it cannot POSSIBLY be real.
OK, I'll get off the soapbox now.
But here we are, just the same. I was personally healed of a rather nasty heart condition that kept me out of military service and pretty much framed my existence for 39 years. But then something "strange" happened. I was introduced to the notion that the G-d I had always acknowledged wanted to become more than a few words at mealtimes in my life. To show Himself both mighty and as a closer, more intimate friend and counselor, He bestowed upon me first a healing, then the gift of hearing His music.
Big Time Changes Occur At This Point.
I not only stopped having heart problems that required quarterly visits to the ER, (a soap opera all on its own) but I began to see G-ds hand in the lives of those around me. I could feel the presence of his messengers. My life was GOOD! Nothing could go wrong now!
Then two close friends died in the line of duty as police officers.
Ouch.
But.... G-d immediately showed himself mighty, even in this tragic time. A mighty Angel revealed himself to all who were on the central coast of California that day. I have a photo (posted on this sight somewhere...) that was taken just about the time the guys died.
Then the cross appeared on the sight where we found their bodies.
The investigation pictures taken at the scene have a beam of light that shines on the same spot, but this beam does not appear on the negatives.
(another picture posted...)
Nearly 2000 Officers came from around the world to the funeral for these two men.
Then the surviving family and co-workers asked me to drive the assigned patrol car of one of the two officers in the procession to the church.
I was the mechanic. G-d works in strange ways...
So now I, and my wife, have dedicated ourselves to breaking the hold the "traditional church" has on G-d's people, who are ultimately His Church! Jesus teaches, through his testaments, that we can have a real, physical relationship with Him! We do not have to wear a special robe or do some exotic ritual. All He asks is for us to listen, to give our lives to Him and He, in return, will guide us through life's ups and downs!
How bad would it be to live in a world where we only have to look into ourselves to see G-d?
How hard would it be to give someone a smile and encouragement instead of suspicion and animosity?
Is it possible to go to work not for a paycheck but as an example of G-d's love?
Is it possible to speak to another person without a profane word?
It is. And we can do it without some mystical training.
Find a Bible. G-d lays it all out.
I don't know about you, but I think that I must have heard this from every third teacher (whether I was their student or not) and just about all my Sunday School pastors! Uhg! Made me want to scream "can't you come up with something new?"
Sorry. Get ahead of myself sometimes.
The name's Brian D. I'm a music minister and sometimes preacher/teacher/whatever is needed at my local church. This church, while a wonderful fellowship, has become "stuck in the mud" of manmade traditions. They always sing the same songs, listen to the same sermons, "study" the same books as they always have.
This is, unfortunately, the way of the world.
So enters Double Portion Ministries, aka DPM! It is time for G-d's Kids, both young and old, to grow up! G-d didn't send His Son a couple thousand years ago to die for our "traditions"! NO! Jesus Died for Us! Not only that, but his followers, the original 11 (Judas bailed, remember) also, in most cases, gave their lives so that The Church (you and me) could grow and thrive.
Jesus told them, and now tells us, that he would send another, His Holy Spirit, as a comforter. When this happened in the Upper Room all those years ago, nobody in that room was left the same. Because along with the Holy Spirit came the spiritual gifts.
For some reason, though, these gifts seem to have been dismissed by the church (not you and me, but the one in Rome) as something akin to parlor tricks. And now, in these enlightened days, if it can't be measured in a lab somewhere it cannot POSSIBLY be real.
OK, I'll get off the soapbox now.
But here we are, just the same. I was personally healed of a rather nasty heart condition that kept me out of military service and pretty much framed my existence for 39 years. But then something "strange" happened. I was introduced to the notion that the G-d I had always acknowledged wanted to become more than a few words at mealtimes in my life. To show Himself both mighty and as a closer, more intimate friend and counselor, He bestowed upon me first a healing, then the gift of hearing His music.
Big Time Changes Occur At This Point.
I not only stopped having heart problems that required quarterly visits to the ER, (a soap opera all on its own) but I began to see G-ds hand in the lives of those around me. I could feel the presence of his messengers. My life was GOOD! Nothing could go wrong now!
Then two close friends died in the line of duty as police officers.
Ouch.
But.... G-d immediately showed himself mighty, even in this tragic time. A mighty Angel revealed himself to all who were on the central coast of California that day. I have a photo (posted on this sight somewhere...) that was taken just about the time the guys died.
Then the cross appeared on the sight where we found their bodies.
The investigation pictures taken at the scene have a beam of light that shines on the same spot, but this beam does not appear on the negatives.
(another picture posted...)
Nearly 2000 Officers came from around the world to the funeral for these two men.
Then the surviving family and co-workers asked me to drive the assigned patrol car of one of the two officers in the procession to the church.
I was the mechanic. G-d works in strange ways...
So now I, and my wife, have dedicated ourselves to breaking the hold the "traditional church" has on G-d's people, who are ultimately His Church! Jesus teaches, through his testaments, that we can have a real, physical relationship with Him! We do not have to wear a special robe or do some exotic ritual. All He asks is for us to listen, to give our lives to Him and He, in return, will guide us through life's ups and downs!
How bad would it be to live in a world where we only have to look into ourselves to see G-d?
How hard would it be to give someone a smile and encouragement instead of suspicion and animosity?
Is it possible to go to work not for a paycheck but as an example of G-d's love?
Is it possible to speak to another person without a profane word?
It is. And we can do it without some mystical training.
Find a Bible. G-d lays it all out.
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