The Great Separation

Was that You, Lord?

Umm, where did that come from? - Christians do you ever get those nudges out of the blue to do something? The sort of thing that leaves you asking yourself, "Where did that come from?"

I certainly hope so.

The Lord speaks to us in number of ways; through His Scripture, through the Holy Spirit, and through fellow Christians just to name several means.

Today, on my way to my favorite writing spot, Panera Bread, I was passing a street and I got the nudge to turn and go and visit a local ministry to drug addicts. They also are a distribution site for Operation Blessing once a month here in my area.

I wish I could say that I immediately obeyed the nudge.

But I can't. I did ask myself, "Where did that come from?" It was a rather strong urge and out of character for me to want to do such a thing. I am an introvert and just dropping in on someone unexpected is way outside my comfort zone.

I did turn on the next street and tried to think through whether that thought and nudge to stop and visit was from me or from the Lord. I drove slowly down the avenue to the corner stop sign and looked down the street toward the building. I sat there trying to figure out just what I would say "if" I walked into their office.

"Hey, I had a nudge from the Lord to stop by and say hi."

Funny thing is, if someone had said that to me I would accept it and be thankful. But here I was trying to talk myself out of being the person to do it.

So I turned the opposite direction and headed back for my original destination of Panera Bread. After all, I had stuff to do.

Yeppers, I ran. Only on the slower than average drive to Panera I decided to ask the Lord if that was Him I heard.

I got silence.

Now, I'm not saying that I hear the voice of the Lord often. 99% of the time I don't get a verbal response to my questions and conversations with Him, but I know He's there with me. However, when I asked if it was Him I got the kind of silence I don't often here, the kind where the question reverberates back at you and exposes you.

That clearly said to me, "Yes."

So I swallowed my pride, something of which I know I have a too abundant supply, and I turned the truck around.

Parking, I ran through all the excuses I could use to stop by a place I really had no reason to stop by and visit. I came up with nothing and decided to just go with what I had: the urge to stop and visit.

There was just one fellow there who I knew. I walked in and explained that I just had this urge to stop by. We chatted about things going on in the center, weather, and with family. And I left.

Nothing earth shattering. No deep spiritual insight or movement. No, "Ah ha!", revelation stating that's why I was supposed to stop in and say, "Hi."

But I did sense that rightness of the act. Maybe it was just Jesus trying to get my attention and teach me to obey. Maybe the brother I spoke with needed someone right then in a way I can't perceive. I don't know. But I left for Panera Bread content.

I have been pondering obedience to the Lord over the last week. 1 Kings 13 started the rumination on obedience. It's a very strange chapter in the Bible.

Give it a read.

Poll that Shows America and 'Christians' are Confused about Faith and Religion.

More evidence of the season. - If you are a Christian in a leadership role in your church, you need to read this news item. I find it nightmarish and disturbing.

Religious Americans: My faith isn't the only way.

Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching. In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.

Reading further into the article it became increasingly obvious to me that a large portion of religious Americans (or at least those polled) are at best "Christian" in name only or at worse "lukewarm".

Jesus, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Re 3:15-16 NIV)

The Great Separation continues.

Persecution Blog has Exclusive Interview with Gracia Burnham.

They hate you because of me - For those of you with long memories, you may remember the name Gracia Burnham.

She and her husband, Martin, were kidnapped by militant Islamists in the Philippians. In June of 2002, after being held captive for 376 days an attempt was made by the Philippine military to rescue them. In the shootout that took place, Martin was killed.

His wife has a great testimony for all believers and her website is The Martin and Gracia Burnham Foundation.

That said, there is a short interview with her at the Christian Persecution Blog

Two Christian Persecution Items with a Common Theme.

They hate you because of me - Here's two quick news items I read this morning detailing some Christian persecution in Pakistan and India.

The common theme that caught my eye was the police involvement in both case being ineffectual or complicit.

Pakistan: 25 Christians kidnapped.

Unidentified militants kidnapped 25 Christians from Academy Town in Peshawar, sources told Daily Times on Saturday.

The sources said militants kidnapped them from the Banarasabad area of Academy Town from the house of Yousaf Masih.

Note they all were kidnapped from the same house, so one may make the supposition that a Christian meeting was taking place. The police report that the number was only around 8-9 kidnapped.

Pastors Seminar in India Attacked, Police Refuse to Take Action.

On June 17, a Christian training meeting attended by about 70 pastors from all over Karnataka was attacked by Hindu radicals.

The series of meetings between June 16-18 were organized in Varna village near Mysore, by Rev. Paul, a South Korean missionary. On June 16, a Hindu radical group named Bajrang Dal (Monkey Brigade) learned about the meeting, and about 100 members went to where the pastors were having lunch together.

The militants began to berate the Christians and eventually injured two. Many of the pastors fled the area. A number of the pastors were arrested and Christian material confiscated. In the end it looks as if one of the pastors had to pay off the police to make the whole thing go away even though they were the ones the police should have been protecting.

The Great Separation continues.

For further information on Christian persecution around the globe the Christian Persecution Blog is a good source.

Imagine Losing Your Job and Apartment Because of Christ?

They hate you because of me - Here's a quick news item that I was surprised to learn took place in my home state, let alone America.

WND reports:

For eight years Daniel and Sharon Dixon, apartment managers in Lake City, Fla., displayed in the apartment complex's management office a stained glass depiction of flowers with the words "Consider the lilies … Matthew 6:28" written in the lower left corner – an act for which they were suddenly fired from their management jobs and evicted from their apartment.

Click over for the full story.

Ambidextrous Baseball Pitcher Brings Game to a Standstill.

A curve ball for America's game - Here's a quick heads-up on a pretty neat sports story out of Staten Island.

The Staten Island Yankees, a minor league team, has an interesting weapon in the arms of Pat Venditte. Venditte is ambidextrous and pitches as a lefty and a righty. A fact that came into play the other night when he kept switching throwing arms when presented with a switch hitter who kept switching himself.

You can read the full story and the outcome here.

There's a link to the video too.

ACM Video Book Review: Wrestling with Angels by Carolyn Arends

For your reading pleasure. - Instead of writing a book review for this book I received through Active Christian Media I thought i would do a video review. Yeah, maybe I'm being lazy. But I also thought it would be neat.

The book is Wrestling with Angels: Adventures in Faith and Doubt (ConversantLife.com). And I highly recommend it.

You a Lonely Man? Here's Your Robot.

Um... Your Blade is Running. - Okay, here's a oddity for you that is very telling. Telling either of the culture in Japan or the state of manhood in the world. I've not decided upon which it is.

Either way my first reaction is to laugh. My second is to cry.

From Reuters - "Japan's robot for lonely men".

She is big-busted, petite, very friendly, and she runs on batteries.

A Japanese firm has produced a 38 cm (15 inch) tall robotic girlfriend that kisses on command, to go on sale in September for around US$175, with a target market of lonely adult men.

There's a video attached to the story. If I can secure it later, I'll post it here (Secured: see below). I had to laugh when they showed the attractive female telling how great of a girlfriend this robot made.

It's a creation of Sega and is named EMA.

Here's the video:

You may remember these two related items from that area of the world:
The Boyfriend Arm Pillow for Single Women.

First the Boyfriend Arm Pillow now the Girlfriend Lap pillow.

Hal's Father's Day Message.

Spoken word. - Well, it's not exactly a "Father's Day" message in as much as it's the message I gave on Father's Day.

If you read my post about the message I was giving Sunday then you know that I mentioned that if it got recorded I would post a link to that recording.

It is not a message specifically geared toward Father's day, if you haven't figured that bit out. The deal was that since it was Father's Day, either my brother or I would take the place of our father and give a "sermon." I volunteered.

Here's a link to the MP3. To download it just right click and select "save as": You are a Vessel of God.

Picture Perfect Friday: The Cat's Meow.

Snapped this. - Here's a shot I snapped a couple of months ago when I went to Busch Gardens in Tampa.

They recently rebuilt the tiger exhibit and I got to tell you it "ROCKS" now.