Does anyone have the vision that it’s someone else’s turn? Does anyone ever feel like the dial on their motivation is approaching empty? Is the Holy Spirit active in your life as He fulfills what the Lord has called you to do, or do you feel like you’re running on empty? Are you done with your assignment as a representative of the kingdom of God, or have you got miles to go?
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. John 17:15-18
I was reminded recently of a poem I wrote years ago that has a way of remaining relevant year after year. It’s all about how the culture influences our faith, and it remains relevant because culture — especially pop culture — is such a powerful force in society. Would that our faith was the thing that is influencing culture, but all too often it is the other way around.
Birthdays should be sacred. I come from a family that didn’t make a big deal about birthdays. That’s too bad. Marti makes a big deal, and as I reflect on that, she’s right. Birthday celebrations are tied to God’s creation. He made each one of us. He formed us in His mind. He determined the exact day we would be born. He put us in the family we were born or adopted into, and He has a reason for everything that happens to us.
One word of truth outweighs the world. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Today we interviewed Os Guinness for our BlogTalkRadio show primarily to discuss his 2022 book, Zero Hour America: History’s Ultimatum Over Freedom and the Answer We Must Give. In this book Os lays out his argument that we are a civilization in crisis. The loss of any mutual understanding of truth, extreme polarization of politics, demonization of the other side, no respect for anyone who disagrees, a total breakdown of trust, and no respect for the institutions of government — they have all been “weaponized” by one side against the other.
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8
No one was in charge of the Jesus Movement. No committee. No pastor. No central organization.
To be sure, there were authoritarian types who stepped up in certain areas of the world, even some cults were born, but the overall movement was widespread and under no one’s leadership but the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is unpredictable, like the wind.
It was THE question of the Jesus Movement. Marti used to ask it of at least one person she met at 30,000 feet on each one of her flights (she bid the short trips — five a day — so she could talk to more people). “Is there any reason you couldn’t ask the Lord into your heart right now while we’re 30,000 feet closer to heaven?” In three years no one turned her down.
Are you ready to meet the Lord?
In a recent interview with Noel Paul Stookey, he spoke of two divine interventions that shaped his life and career. The first introduced him to Jesus, the second provided direction for his songwriting and already well-earned public persona as a member of the iconic ‘60s folk group, Peter Paul & Mary. The second came by way of a couple who met him after a concert and said they had a word from the Lord for him. That’s pretty direct from the mouth of God, but the message was an unexpected one. The message was simply, “Don’t use my name.”
What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus freak
What will people do when they find that it’s true
I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain’t no disguising the truth
DC Talk
The “Jesus Freak” song, originally written and recorded by DC Talk in 1995 has revealed its genius by continuing to show up in the regular playlists of Christian rock stations around the country, but it may be more than that. Whenever I hear it in Chandler’s presence, I remind him that his dad was an original Jesus freak. That’s really what they used to call us, or probably more likely, what we called ourselves, for we were proud of it in 1970.
Some say He was an outlaw, that He roamed across the land
With a band of unschooled ruffians and a few old fishermen
No one knew just where he came from or exactly what he’d done
But they said it must be something bad that kept him on the run
from “The Outlaw” by Larry Norman
Just look at the titles of a few of our Catches a couple years ago during the pandemic and look for a trend.
“Jesus is the answer”
“The truth about Jesus never gets old”
“It’s still all about Jesus”
“In the presence of the Lord”
“Jesus unscathed”
“Do you know Jesus?”
“Looking unto Jesus”
John Fischer The Catch 