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Reveration Blog

8/5/2025 1 Comment

Rescuers

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I was reading in my quiet time Jeremiah 22, and I was struck by how David’s message praising God’s actions in Psalm 146 was like what God, through His prophet Jeremiah, called the king of Judah, his officials, and the people to do.

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4/17/2025 0 Comments

He Loved Them to the End

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Leonardo da Vinci famously portrayed the Last Supper. At West Point, I was part of a group that reenacted this iconic scene. It was a sobering key event during Holy Week, preceding Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. During that final meal with His followers, Jesus demonstrated His immense love for them through His actions and message.

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3/25/2025 1 Comment

A Fabulous Debt

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Our dogs can be obnoxious.  Whenever our next-door neighbor’s kids or dogs play in their backyard, Sig and Uzi run along the wooden fence barking with some dog-only-knows obsession. When birds fly overhead or geese land on the pond, they race the length of the yard yapping, trying to create a “no-fly zone.” Phil and Julie never complain. Graciously, they say the noise does not bother them and they like dogs so don’t worry about it.

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8/11/2022 1 Comment

As Usual

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Mary Geegh is one of my heroes. She wrote a fascinating booklet called God Guides. Mary wrote, “I determined to listen to God for guidance in all matters, and I promised Him I would obey whatever He told me.”  Mary had a critical spirit towards a coworker, so, in line with her new conviction, she asked God’s guidance on how to repair the rift between them. God told her to give her colleague a fresh egg. Mary thought that would insult her and resisted God’s prompting. But later, with prodding, she did what God asked, and He used that egg to refresh the woman and to bring new love into Mary’s heart for her—all the friction was gone! Mary created a habit that would change her life and give her countless stories of God miraculously working in her and through her for His Kingdom. ​

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4/30/2022 1 Comment

The Purpose of Religion

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Cassandra was baptized in church on Easter in front of hundreds of cheering people.  Her testimony was amazing. She spoke of getting pregnant as a young teenager. She shared her struggles with shame, feelings of inferiority, and rejection. Then she testified how a stranger introduced her to Jesus but that she had not followed Him. She credited her husband with getting her involved with the right crowd of people who taught her what it means to pursue God. Now her life is on a heaven-honoring trajectory. She loves ministering to people and most importantly pursuing God.

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11/24/2021 0 Comments

Roles

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Ralph went to the National Training Center (NTC) in California serving as the Fire Support Officer (FSO) for an infantry battalion scheduled to be evaluated. Ralph looked at the terrain model as the battalion staff discussed what tactics they should choose on their upcoming day of battle.  He realized that it was very similar to terrain he had trained on with a Cavalry unit.  As the leaders selected their preferred course of action he disagreed and felt they were heading into a trap.  The battalion commander (BC) asked him to share his ideas.  So Ralph passionately laid out a battle strategy that he was sure would defeat the opposition.  His senior leaders agreed with him and the next day they won their battle decisively. ​

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6/15/2021 0 Comments

Suubi House

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West Point classmate Bill Bowman shared his story with the Long Eternal Line team who gather each Tuesday night for prayer. Bill suffered a bad car accident that crushed his back and should have left him permanently paralyzed.  While in the hospital Bill shared how Jesus held him and comforted him.  Bill apologized for not walking the right path and the Lord shared with him that his story was not over yet.  Miraculously, Bill and his wife were able to have a baby girl they named Sarah.  Bill nicknamed her Suubi—a name that stuck.

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10/10/2020 0 Comments

What is Worship?

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​Meditation
Jonah 1:8,9--Then they said to him, “Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we’re in. What is your business and where are you from? What is your country and what people are you from?” He answered them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”


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8/23/2020 1 Comment

Marking People With Grace

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Ron and Joyce York
At the age of 88, my dad is walking the final chapters of his life on earth still on fire to share the gospel with any and every person he can.   Mark Cahill wrote the book One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven and that one thing is evangelism.  Dad is making sure he maximizes now what he won’t be able to do once he is home.  
I’m working on writing a biography of his life and was challenged by an entry in his journal on October 10, 1983 while he was serving as the country leader for the Navigators in the Philippines.  ​

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3/16/2020 2 Comments

Corona Virus

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The numbers worldwide continue to rise: 181,377 cases, 7119 deaths, 78,085 recoveries.[1]  Worldwide reactions are dramatic: airline flights cancelled, large numbers of quarantined populations, countries with closed borders, bans on gatherings over 250 people, schools closed, colleges reverting to online classes, sports leagues cancelled, plummeting stock markets etc. Behold a pandemic!  The cause of this chaos is a virus named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes is called “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”).


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6/22/2018 0 Comments

Have You Fertilized It?

Meditation
Luke 13:8,9—He answered him, “Sir, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.  And if it bears fruit, well.  But if not, after that you shall cut it down.”
 
Jesus shared the parable of the barren fig tree to His listeners about a man who, frustrated with the fact that his fig three after three years was still not producing figs, told his vinedresser to cut it down.  The vinedresser was more patient and felt like corrective steps were necessary before just killing the tree.

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3/23/2018

Customer Service

​Christian Auto Brothers worked on our car recently giving it an overdue oil change and inspecting it to make sure it was okay before we went on a long road trip.  While I waited they asked if wanted anything to drink or snacks to eat. The manager came out and talked to me while I stood at the counter—showing true interest in me as a person.  The waiting room was clean and, besides having an assortment of great reading material, the atmosphere was friendly and relaxing. When the service was complete the mechanic gave me a free roadside service agreement in case we should suffer any kind of breakdown and need assistance.  As I always do when I left their building, I shook my head in amazement.

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3/11/2017

Yes is a Wonderful Word

​When I’m not home and I don’t have a lot of time, I enjoy a hot Egg McMuffin, potato cake and large glass of orange juice.   This morning I placed my order at McDonalds and asked the young man at the window if he would mind filling my mug with hot water.  He said, “No I can’t it is against company policy,” and he looked away and mumbled something about hygiene concerns.  So I thanked him and pulled up to the next window to pick up my order.  I asked the young woman if she would mind filling my mug with hot water.  She said, “Yes! Why of course.” Before I pulled away with food and a full mug she said, “Anytime you come by you are welcome to get hot water.”
 

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12/7/2016 0 Comments

Making a Difference

Meditation
Zechariah 7:9—“The LORD of Hosts says this: Make fair decisions.  Show faithful love and compassion to one another.”
 
It is cold outside—twelve degrees above zero.  Snow is on the ground and from inside my office window it looks beautiful.  It’s a matter of perspective.  December can be a wonderful time of warmth for many people; a chance to be with family, to take a break from work and to enjoy each other’s company.  But I could equally write that this month is a frozen, depressing period for many people; the reminder that loved ones are gone, unemployment a reality, and a feeling that few care or understand.

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9/25/2016 4 Comments

Six Benefits of Helping the Poor

I want to share with you a moment burned into my mind as a poignant testimony to generosity.  My daughter, Sarah and I, experienced this moment in the city of Cerro de Pasco, Peru, in 2002.  In the course of ministering to a small church in this town located at the top of the Andean mountains, we met street children who were collecting trash or anything of value they could find on the streets, in order to garner a handful of coins.

​Although home to one of the deepest silver mines in the world, Cerro de Pasco’s 70,000 inhabitants are mostly poor.   One would think that any money a child could scrape would be zealously guarded and used for food or clothing.  But these joyful children tithed from what they had in order to give to missionaries.  It was a demonstration of the poorest giving to the poor to honor and expand God’s work. Someday I hope to learn how God blessed them!

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4 Comments

10/14/2012

Cleaning Toilets

Meditation
Colossians 3:23,24—Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord.  You serve the Lord Christ.
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12/17/2011 0 Comments

Spiritual Worship

​What Christian is not frustrated in trying to live a godly life?  Why is it so hard?  For starters, we are flawed.  We enter the world dripping wet with a sin nature and from the very outset need God’s grace.  A baby’s temper tantrum was not learned behavior it was already ingrained.  We grow up enamored with the world’s offerings—what man is not drawn to lust after a sensual woman or woman drawn to the need for security?  We are stubborn, preferring to do what we want.  It is completely counter-culture to pursue holiness.  There is nothing easy about achieving purity and we are quickly frustrated by adversity, failure, and the clever attacks of Satan who will do all he can to disrupt us from fellowship with God.  

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7/2/2011

Wedding

​Our garage is full of boxes and items that we will transport to Champoeg State Park.  The weather forecast for Sunday is 72 degrees and cloudy—almost perfect!  The kitchen is stacked with boxes of food, prepared and unprepared.  Brenda, Kathleen’s sister, spent countless hours ironing tablecloths, dresses, shirts, etc.  Orange and purple flower arrangements dance in their splendid array.  Bridesmaids are making signs. Kathleen’s friends of countless weddings, veterans familiar in how these things go, are cooking, planning and helping us with all the logistical challenges (and I thought military exercises were complicated).  

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3/12/2010

Primary Purpose

​I read a fascinating article in The Oregonian.  The following sentences captured my attention.  
Having a sense of purpose in life seems to provide a shield against illness—particularly in old age . . . Those with the highest sense of purpose were half as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those with the lowest sense of purpose during seven years of follow-up . . . In an earlier study, the same group [Rush University Medical Center in Chicago] found that the risk of dying from any cause was nearly cut in half among women and men with a greater sense of purpose.*

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11/10/2009

Veterans

Meditation
Isaiah 42:13—The LORD advances like a warrior; He stirs up His zeal like a soldier.  He shouts, He roars aloud, He prevails over His enemies.
 
For those who believe the military is an evil profession or who decry the wearing of a uniform and the responsibility that comes with it, please consider these thoughts.

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