Reveration Blog
11/30/2016 0 Comments Staying Out of TroubleDo you remember growing up hearing the rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!?” The intent of that couplet is to steel us against teasing and badgering but, the reality is, words can internally leave nasty marks. Cruel, mean-spirited, or foul comments may inflict enduring damage and color the way we view the antagonist.
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2/11/2012 0 Comments Undercover BossThere is an insightful television program called Undercover Boss. Each episode, the owner or CEO of a company is disguised and then works for several days with different employees with differing responsibilities. Often the boss is inept at the tasks the employee is to teach him which puts pressure on him to do better. As he works with each selected person he also finds out what life is like in their shoes. Some are struggling financially or dealing with challenges that make life difficult.
3/27/2011 0 Comments AskingWest Point graduates celebrate around the world an annual banquet called Founder’s Day. Within this fellowship tradition is another tradition in which the youngest and oldest graduates in attendance are asked to give a short speech. Recently at a Portland, Oregon gathering, retired Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Knight, class of 1952, delivered the “old grad” speech. He shared a story of “but for God’s grace,” he should not even be in attendance. His soft spoken delivery gave all of us pause to consider the simple importance of asking the right question.
8/14/2009 0 Comments SavonarolaRoman Catholic monk Girolamo Savonarola, (September 21, 1452 – May 23, 1498), was shocked by the immorality in Italy and by the corruption he observed within the church. As a teenager, he walked beside the River Po where he sang to God and wept over the condition of the people. At the age of 22, he wrote “Contempt of the World,” comparing the sins of his time to Sodom and Gomorrah. Years later, while praying, the Holy Spirit gave him a vision in which he was told to announce to the people that hard times were coming to the church.
7/3/2009 0 Comments InsecurityNational holidays can provide a natural period for introspection. As we approach yet another celebration of our nation's independence, I think this year of the word insecurity. In the 1770’s when our forefathers fought for the freedom we celebrate today, they lived in a time of great tumult. Consider this: they faced an opponent far superior in wealth and military might; they knew starvation, harsh weather and disease; they lacked basic supplies in armament, clothing and supplies; and they did not always know who was truly for or against them. But in the midst of uncertainty, doubt and despair the trumpet call for liberty persisted. Men and women strove mightily to worship, speak, live and work upon the foundation of freedom. For that self-determination, insecure lives bled nobly; though pained, pilgrims refused to give up; trepidation clung to truth and the right to dispel tyranny.
4/28/2009 0 Comments RescueGreg is an avid kayaker. Along with his two sons, they decided to make a trip on the Tennessee River. Together they had a great day paddling until they hit a section where five-foot swells continually pounded them. His boys were in larger kayaks and had little difficulty cutting through the waves. Soon they were far away from Greg. But their dad hit a portion in the middle of the river where he could no longer cut through the waves and he began to take on water. With only a water bottle to bail he continued to sink. Calmly recognizing that his life was in serious danger, he prayed, “God, I need Your help, there is nothing I can do.”
4/10/2009 0 Comments RevealersWill was getting concerned. He had not received a response from the church where we were scheduled to bring a concert in Tracy, California. Finally, the night before we were to sing and share, he received a call from one of the pastors. An eight year-old girl from one of the families in the church was kidnapped and her body was discovered in a suitcase. Understandably, a broken-hearted church needed to cancel our appearance and meet the needs of a grieving family. Pastor Tim, our host in Sonoma, with only 20 hours notice, scheduled us to minister in his church. We had a fantastic evening of ministry and with the Sonoma church we spent quality time praying for our brothers and sisters in Tracy.
3/12/2009 0 Comments KneelingI’m sure you have noticed that the news seems to be getting worse by the week. Tonight I ate dinner with Ken and Brenda and their sons in Charlottesville, Virginia. They were telling me about all the people who have lost jobs in the Richmond area and how thankful they are Ken still has his job. Ken said it hasn’t been this bad in this area since the early 70’s.
3/5/2009 0 Comments Wisdom IIHave you ever had a period in life where you felt like an idiot and wish you could crawl in a hole and hide? I think I’m just emerging from the hole.
6/28/2007 0 Comments RestoringI am continuously amazed at how effectively Satan derails relationships among Christians through bad reports and conflict. Teams of people who functioned well in ministry become divided. Churches split. Friendships end often without either party working hard to find the source of the problem. How quickly we believe bad information about fellow believers without bothering to investigate the facts or appreciate the potential for misunderstanding. I realize why bad news sells newspapers—trouble is as attractive as a bug-zapper. But how sad it is that Christians so easily judge and condemn each other at the expense of God’s kingdom when we should be champions of forbearance.
7/28/2006 0 Comments SafetyThe Deschutes River in Oregon is 173.4 miles long. It runs through rugged forest and deserted desert sometimes cascading with terrific roar, sometimes ambling like some peaceful toddler. It is a great river to fish for steelhead and salmon. On the lower Deschutes people often come to whitewater raft. And for that experience, my son, Stephen and I, joined 17 folks from Southwest Hills Baptist Church.
3/24/2006 0 Comments BattleIt was early in the morning and Doris was cold. She asked Dan if he would warm up the house. So he got up and only barely awake emptied the ashes from the wood stove into the cardboard box and set it behind the stove. Then he built a new fire and went back to bed. It wasn’t long before he awoke to the screams of Doris yelling his name. Their home was rapidly filling with smoke. Dan ran into the family room just in time to see flames darting up the corner wall. Quickly he found the fire extinguisher but instead of attacking the flames he sprayed directly into the box below and the blaze was contained.
9/1/2005 0 Comments PremonitionsMeditation
Job 3:25,26--For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.I cannot relax or be still; I have no rest, for trouble comes. He was the picture of success, a blameless and upright man who feared God and shunned evil. He had ten children and was fabulously wealthy—the greatest man among all the people of the East. Job was so concerned about living a pleasing life to God that he would have his children purify themselves after partying and he offered sacrifices on their behalf in case they might have sinned. So why was this mighty man fearful that something bad would happen to him? 8/5/2005 0 Comments OppositionAngel started her job in July. She looked forward to the opportunity to share Christ with her new coworkers and to utilizing her cooking skills in the popular restaurant on the busy street of MG. A month later, she fought back tears—work was not going as she had expected. When the other girls on her shift learned she was a Christian, many were curious and began to ask her questions, but not Varuni, a tall, woman from Pune. She let Angel know in no uncertain terms that she did not care for Jesus chatter.
2/11/2005 0 Comments PersecutionMahesh and Seetha Gopal* were raised in Hindu families. They married and operated a successful business but their lives were unfulfilled until they met Christ. When they chose to follow Jesus they encountered much persecution from their relatives and countrymen. Eventually, they moved away to Wayanad, a city in the hill country of northern Kerala. They bought a piece of land and built a house. Seetha asked her new neighbors if she could draw water until they could afford to dig their own well. But they refused to share with her because she and her husband were Christians. So, everyday, the Gopals had to walk two miles just to get their water.
4/22/2004 0 Comments CowsMeditation
1 Samuel 6:7-9--Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way. Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.” 2/6/2004 0 Comments ScrutinyIt was 1:00 a.m. and the doorbell rang. I got out of bed, walked down the stairs, looked through the peephole and opened the door for a young police officer.
“Sir, we received a 911 call from your home.” “Officer, was the call from 620-4081?” “Yes, the dispatcher said all she could hear was static. She called back and left a message.” “I’m so sorry. This is the second time this week (midnight or later) this has happened. My computer is turned off and I don’t know how you are getting called.” I took him into my office and showed him the offending phone. “Okay, you might want to call your phone company and have them check this out.” “Yes, I will. I’m sorry you had to come out here.” “No problem. Hope you can get back to sleep.” 1/30/2004 0 Comments Cloud--God's PresenceWith celerity they moved across the desert, angry, with revenge burning in their hearts. Six hundred bully chariots commanded by officers led a thundering army across the hard rocky soil. Pharaoh knew his freedom-seeking slaves were trapped. Enraged by the death of his firstborn son and hardened against an omnipotent God Who had ravaged his country, he would make Moses and his pathetic people pay. As the Egyptian warriors approached the Israelites panicked. They turned on their reluctant leader and cried out, “Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:12).
11/24/2003 0 Comments TribulationMost American Christians are familiar with the term “rapture.” The belief that Christians will avoid living through the tribulation is largely attributed to 1 Thessalonians 4:17—“Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.” The fictional series Left Behindglamorizes this view and reinforces the notion that the church will escape the tribulation.
10/11/2003 0 Comments MaintenanceDo you remember the 507thMaintenance Company and it’s infamous soldier—PFC Jessica Lynch? She was badly hurt, the sole survivor in her Humvee which crashed into a disabled truck attempting to escape an ambush. Lynch did not fight the enemy as the media first reported. But another fellow soldier did—PFC Patrick Miller. He won the Silver Star for his valiant efforts and a Purple Heart. Miller was fortunate to have survived and later as a captive to be rescued by a Marine patrol. You see he and those who could fight almost all experienced jammed weapons. Their rifles barely worked because they rarely cleaned and maintained them. It had been seven months since Miller last fired his M16! Evidently, the soldiers of the 507th took their weapons for granted. Their primary job was to repair and maintain equipment in the rear. They did not expect to be involved in any fighting.
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Photo from Rachel Maxey Miles