The Hey You Lady

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by White Point. There I have a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean, the Palos Verdes shoreline, and Catalina Island, and nothing man-made to interrupt the scenery. Genesis 1:2 says that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Perhaps that’s why White Point is one of my favorite places to visit when I want to spend time with God. It had been a couple of months since I had taken the time to quiet myself and listen for God’s small, still voice. I wasn’t feeling troubled, but at the same time I didn’t sense the communion with God that I enjoy. As I stood at the railing over the bluffs, I wondered why I had allowed so much time to go by? I had been so busy with work, home, and church. I felt as though I hadn’t had any deep God time in so long. I hadn’t spent much time in prayer; hadn’t journaled; my latest blog posts were taken from journal entries that were months old. My God time had been limited pretty much to church activities, and singing to what...

Reflections on how it might have been after Jesus died ... from Peter's perspective: I’m thinking I should get a new boat. Not that there’s anything wrong with this one. I’ve had some pretty awesome experiences with Jesus on this boat. But now, my Lord is … dead. I never thought it would happen. Not like this. I remember the first time Jesus noticed me. It was about three years ago. I was on this same boat, cleaning my fishing nets. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I was ready to find out. I knew that there was something different about him, and it was something I wanted, even longed for. He loved people, more than he loved himself, it seems. I a while back, The Twelve, as we’re sometimes called, were with Jesus by the Sea of Galilee. We spent most of that day being followed by throngs of people, many of them wanting to be healed. And Jesus healed a lot of people that day. We tried to get away to a mountainside, just to get ...

My friend John asked for suggestions for blog topics. Knowing that he tends to have deep blog posts (with the exception of the Pirates song), I suggested "integrity" for his next topic. (Click here to go to John's blog. But finish reading mine first, ok?) Since I needed to post something on my blog as well, we agreed to blog on the same topic. And post it tonight. I suppose I could have backed out, and chosen a different topic, or not blogged at all, but then, what would that say about my integrity? Not quite sure where to start, I went to dictionary.com, and found out what "integrity" is, and found out that it's defined as: 1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. 2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished. 3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition. It came as no surprise that my picture was not next to the word ... I don't always stick to moral and ethical principles ... I'll be honest -- I...

Isn't it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping? Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you're at church, and how short they seem when you're watching a good movie? Isn't it strange that you can't find a word to say when you're praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend? Isn't it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel or ZANE GREY book? Isn't it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games, but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church? Isn't it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events at the last minute? Isn't it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to...