Factoid Friday

Wow - does time ever fly!!!!! I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. That is not a good thing for building loyal blog buddies. Perhaps I'm in a creative slump - perhaps I never had any creativity in the first place - perhaps I'm just a slacker - perhaps .... well never mind. I'll not bore you any longer with my delinquency and continue to bore you with

FACTOID FRIDAY!

Today's factoid has to do with local driving issues. Did you know that the 6th worst place in the United States for driving a car is (drum roll please) ..... Kansas City, Missouri! At least we aren't as bad at driving as the people in St. Louis, Missouri - they are the number two worst place. The worst place in the US for car crashes and reckless driving is Columbia, South Carolina. Because I don't want to leave you with a totally negative factoid to haunt your weekend, I will tell you that the best, safest, and most crash free city in the US is Des Moines, Iowa. Once again, folks, I don't explain 'em, I just report 'em. Have a great weekend!

Factoid Friday

After missing the last couple of Fridays because of my trip to Hawaii, it is once again time for

FACTOID FRIDAY!

Did you know that the human brain processes about 11 million pieces of information EVERY SECOND? That's lots of information, right? Now here's the really interesting part - only 40 of those pieces of information are processed consciously. That means that 10,999,960 pieces of information are processed by the unconscious brain! The implications of this information are - now get this - mind boggling. There is a lot going on in and around us that is completely beyond the scope of our awareness - and yet it impacts how we feel, what we think, how we act, what we do.


I have no idea what you are to do with this information - but I'm just committed to reporting the factoids - I'll let you figure out the implications.

Back in KC

Here it is Thursday and my brain has yet to catch up to my body - We left Honolulu at 6:40 pm Sunday (11:40 pm KC time) and arrived in KC at 11 am on Monday - that's 11.5 hours in transit. Sleeping is virtually impossible on an airplane and we promised ourselves that we would not go to sleep before the normal 10 pm on Monday - didn't make it! I think we finally gave up and went to sleep at 9 pm. The good news is that when we arrived in KC our daughter, Alicia, and granddaughter, Aria, were there to meet us. Then we had the opportunity to take care of Aria for the next 24 hours so that Alicia, Marisa and their friend Lindsay could have a little "girl time." We were more than happy to take care of little Aria - she was just wonderful!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I spent most of the day getting ready to teach on healing and communion. It is a great study in 1 Corinthians. I focused my study on 2 significant words from 1 Corinthians 11 - proclaim and examine. Time didn't permit me to do more than "proclaim" last night, so next Wednesday I'll focus on the "examine" part of the text. I shared that when Jesus told the early church to "do this in remembrance of me" He was not talking about a sentimental remembrance, but He was telling the people to "remember to proclaim everything I did for you in My death." That proclamation involved two elements - the broken body and the spilled blood. When Jesus said, "This is my body broken for you," he was calling attention to the words of Isaiah 43:4-5 which ends with this promise: "By His wounds we are healed." When we proclaim the broken body of Jesus we come face to face with our faith - do I really believe that His death provided for my healing? Every time I partake of the broken body of the Lord, I am proclaiming my trust in His promise - and I am bolstering my faith to believe it even more! I'll talk about the shed blood element of the proclamation later.

For now, I'm just enjoying being back in the prayer room!

Aloha Oi

Well - this is the last day for Hawaii - we head out this evening at 6:40 - that's 11:40 pm KC time. Arrive in KC Monday morning at 10 am after a stop in Houston. When I get home, I'll have a few more parting photos and thoughts. Hope you've enjoyed sharing in our little Hawaiian excursion - it's been fun.

Maui Wowie 6

Last full day in Honolulu! Heard that it sleeted in KC last night (Friday) and almost immediately heard some kind of voice calling me to stay in the islands. If I'm not back in place next week, you might want to check the beaches of Honolulu to see if I'm still hanging around here. Debbie is out buying last minute gifts - you know the kinds of things that people don't need or really want, but that give you one more opportunity to say, "Nyah, nayh - I got to go to Hawaii for 10 days and you didn't!" Anyway, that's been the point of this blog the last few days.

I would like to thank our friends who made it possible for us to come here free of charge! They covered air fare, hotels, car rental, and most of our food. God has certainly been good and He has used them as instruments to bless us. This is Debbie and Vickie at one of the fine eateries in a nearby hotel. We do not want to miss the opportunity to thank Him and them for this tremendous gift of love and kindness.

Here are a couple of parting shots. Forgive the grainy nature of some of the pictures - they are the result of 35 mm film going through the x-ray machine at the airport. I'm glad there was at least this much. The lady at the film developing store told me that they could have been completely erased. So - here ya go!

Maiu Wowie 5

Actually, we have left Maui and are in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu. This is an entirely different experience. Maui seems to cater to the "high end" folks - example, breakfast cost $25 EACH. So Debbie and I spent $50 each day just to eat breakfast! Today, we both ate for just over $15 TOGETHER. Honolulu is more touristy than Maui. We are staying right across the street from Waikiki Beach - and if you look really close, you can actually see the sand between the bodies. Debbie and I just got back from a walk and for some reason, I kept hearing Jimmy Buffett sing "Margaritaville" - perhaps it was the "tourists covered with oil" that triggered the memory. Anyway, it's going to be quite a different experience. Here are a couple of images from our "lanai" (for those of you who have forgotten or just checked in, that's a Hawaiian porch).

We did go to the International House of Prayer of Honolulu last night (Thursday) and had a great and refreshing experience. We met some great folks who have been going hard after prayer for a couple of years now. They are small in number but mighty in Spirit. A few of them have been to KC and one, Regan (not sure of spelling), the pastor/leader of the group plans to come to KC for a year beginning in about 4 weeks. He told me he plans on recruiting, so you might want to begin now praying about joining him in a year to help with the IHOP Honolulu! Well, Debbie is trying to get me to become one of those "tourists covered with oil" so I'll write more later!

Maui Wowie 4

Thought I'd take a minute to check in and share a few more photos with you. The sights, sounds, and smells are just amazing!

Today is a bit rainy, though, so I took some time to study. I've been working on some teaching I will do when I return. It relates to the celebration of the Lord's Supper and healing. I've been studying 1 Corinthians and I've discovered that we seem to have really missed the point of 1 Corinthians 11 related to self-examination, sickness and communion. It appears that the primary thrust of the text in conjunction with the focus of the entire book has to do with "discerning the body" in the elements. We have a tendency to focus on our own personal sins (which is necessary), but it really focuses on our understanding of our sins in relation to the entire Body of Christ. When we don't see how our personal sins impact the entire Body, then we bring judgment on ourselves in the form of weakness, sickness, and even sleep or death. I'll share more as I get more, but for now, you might examine how you really feel about the Body of Christ - the weaker parts, the unseemly parts, the parts who hold different doctrines from you, etc. I'm not at the point of conclusion yet, but I'm really intrigued by how different our western independence is from the image I seem to be getting from Paul related to the unity of the Body of Christ.

Maui Wowie 3

Please pardon the delay - I didn't post yesterday because there was a power surge and it knocked their server out for a while. All continues to go well. We went to a luau a couple of nights ago - wind blew like I was in West Texas again - major difference was there was no dust involved. It did make the luau a little interesting though. Part of the luau was entertainment by a local dance troupe. Check out the pictures!







Before the human entertainment, the sunset put on a pretty spectacular performance of its own. Nice, huh?





Today, we went to a Tongan Methodist Church and heard some great music by a brass band who just happened to be touring Hawaii from Tonga!


Of course no trip to Hawaii would be complete without a trip to the beach. Guess whose feet are in this picture? We're having a great time and look forward to sharing more as time goes by.

Maui Wowie 2

Well, we arrived safely yesterday - not one hitch in the process. Kudos to Continental Airlines for great service all the way. We were (and still are) tired - long hours of travel will do that to you, but it is well worth every moment of confinement in a tiny space with no leg room. However, there are advantages to being less (a lot less) than six feet tall when it comes to air travel. Anyway, we slept very well, and didn't wake up at 6 am KC time, but made it all the way to 6 am HI time - so I consider that a pretty big victory.

I wanted to give you a couple of shots of the view from my porch. They call is a lanai (I think), but to me it looks like a porch.

We had a great encounter with a woman in the airport in Honolulu while waiting for our shuttle flight to Maui. She is from Houston and was headed for Maui for her nephew's wedding. She shared that she was concerned that neither he nor his wife were believers and she was one of the only family members attending who was a believer, so she felt a huge responsibility to be there for them. She so wanted the new couple to know the love of Christ. It was moving that she almost broke into tears every time she talked about the couple. Debbie and I have prayed for her and ask you to do so as well. Since I did not ask permission to share this, I don't feel I can share her name, but that really isn't necessary. She's standing in the gap for these kids, and if you think about it, you might stand in the gap for her as well. It was also great to be able to share one of my books with her. She read part of it on the short flight between Honolulu and Maui and at the baggage claim she made a point of telling me how she had already been impacted and couldn't wait to finish it. Pray for her to deepen her relationship with Jesus even more as she encounters Him in Glad to Forgive.

Pray that we will have more of those divine encounters as the trip progresses!

Maui Wowie

Hold on fellow bloggers - tomorrow morning, Thursday, March 8, 2007, Debbie and I head for a 10 day all expense paid trip to Maui and Honolulu!! That's right, folks, 7 days in Maui - sailing, snorkeling, luauing, and just plain ol' kickin' back and relaxing. Follow that by a short flight over to Honolulu for the last three days which will include an excursion to Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial as well as a contact with the Honolulu House of Prayer. My goal is to blog each day (except tomorrow because I will be traveling all day) and try to create as much envy in you as possible - only for the purpose of exposing something that needs to be confessed and cleaned out. Of course my motives are purely pastoral! I'll keep you "posted" (get it? Posted? Never mind).

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:4-5

This is a call to be temple – a living temple – a living place of worship. This is the call to step into the role of priests. As you read through 1 Peter, you notice that prior to this call to be "living stones" Peter calls Christians to live as "obedient children" and "newborn babes." One of the most important things we note about this third metaphor is that you can live as an obedient child individually; and you can live as a newborn babe individually; but you cannot be living stones that are being built into a spiritual house unless other stones are involved. Even though the emphasis all along has probably been on the corporate nature of being a disciple of Jesus, it now becomes imperative. A living stone cannot be built into a spiritual house all by itself – it is the purpose of the Church, the body of Christ, to house this holy priesthood. It is the purpose of the Church to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. This necessarily makes this section missionary and evangelistic. The only way to build up the house is by constantly adding more living stones!

Hal Linhardt preached one of the most powerful and significant sermons on evangelism I have ever heard. The notes (For some reason I couldn't get the command to publish a link to work, so I'll just do it the ugly way - if you want to read the notes for Hal's sermon go to this link http://www.ihop.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000000380) for his sermon are nothing more than a list of scriptures that demand and motivate Christians to give up the fear of man and begin to rescue people from the jaws of hell. It is time for believers in Jesus to step into our role as living stones and minister to God in worship, to represent God to lost people, and to intercede on behalf of those lost people before the throne of God.

Factoid Friday!

Seems that I just wrote one of these, but once again it's time for

FACTOID FRIDAY!!!!

Did you know that if you have a persistent tickle in your throat that causes you to cough, you can stop it by scratching your ear? Strange but true. "When the nerves in the ear are stimulated, it creates a reflex in the throat that can cause a muscle spasm," says Scott Schaffer, M.D., president of an ear, nose, and throat specialty center in Gibbsboro, New Jersey. "This spasm [created by scratching the inside of the ear], relieves the tickle" and thus stops the cough.

Now, I don't advise using a drinking straw or even a cotton swab, but if you use your little finger and get it placed just right it actually works!

Giving a Final Exam

I'm currently waiting on my students to show up for the Final Exam to end this module of teaching. For some reason I had a really tough time with this class - I don't know if it was because I was teaching new material, or because the material I was teaching was difficult to teach, or because of ... hey, I haven't had time to process it yet. One thing I do know though is I'm tired. Motivation is at a particularly low ebb right now. I could really take a nap - but I've never been particularly good at napping - I tend to wake up feeling drugged - and then I don't sleep at night. But then you didn't pay good money to listen to me bellyache. Now that I think about it...you didn't pay good money at all...you get to read this great stuff for free! (I heard that "guess-you-get-what-you-pay-for" comment!)

Anyway, let's talk for a minute about "The End of All Things: Writings of Peter." 2 Peter is a kind of general letter written to a group of Christians that are facing a difficult time from inside the camp. A group of teachers has developed from among the faithful. This second of two letters says (2:1) that they have "infiltrated" the church with "destructive heresies." It seems that some stealth ninjas have smuggled in some ideas and concepts that are just plain wrong, and Peter is trying to give these Christians the "heads up." Words like "brazen" and "insolent" and "irrational animals" are used. My favorite, though, is when he calls these people "stains and blemishes." (2:13) You stain! Now that is an insult!

What seems to make matters worse is that these folks used to play for the home team , "through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2:20) And to make matters worse, they are still wearing the home team's uniform! (2:1) But instead of remaining faithful, they have "gone astray" by "forsaking the right path." (2:15) And they have taken it on as their personal mission to "exploit" anyone who will listen to their "deceptive words." (2:3) They will even deny "the master who bought them." (2:1)

As we come closer to the end of all things, we must be ever on the alert for those who teach contrary to the Truth. Let's agree to help and encourage one another - "...be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men and fall from your firm grasp on the truth." (3:17)

(illustration by David Newton, from a recent issue of Nature)

Giving a Final Exam

I'm currently waiting on my students to show up for the Final Exam to end this module of teaching. For some reason I had a really tough time with this class - I don't know if it was because I was teaching new material, or because the material I was teaching was difficult to teach, or because of ... hey, I haven't had time to process it yet. One thing I do know though is I'm tired. Motivation is at a particularly low ebb right now. I could really take a nap - but I've never been particularly good at napping - I tend to wake up feeling drugged - and then I don't sleep at night. But then you didn't pay good money to listen to me bellyache. Now that I think about it...you didn't pay good money at all...you get to read this great stuff for free! (I heard that "guess-you-get-what-you-pay-for" comment!)

Anyway, let's talk for a minute about "The End of All Things: Writings of Peter." 2 Peter is a kind of general letter written to a group of Christians that are facing a difficult time from inside the camp. A group of teachers has developed from among the faithful. This second of two letters says (2:1) that they have "infiltrated" the church with "destructive heresies." It seems that some stealth ninjas have smuggled in some ideas and concepts that are just plain wrong, and Peter is trying to give these Christians the "heads up." Words like "brazen" and "insolent" and "irrational animals" are used. My favorite, though, is when he calls these people "stains and blemishes." (2:13) You stain! Now that is an insult!

What seems to make matters worse is that these folks used to play for the home team , "through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2:20) And to make matters worse, they are still wearing the home team's uniform! (2:1) But instead of remaining faithful, they have "gone astray" by "forsaking the right path." (2:15) And they have taken it on as their personal mission to "exploit" anyone who will listen to their "deceptive words." (2:3) They will even deny "the master who bought them." (2:1)

As we come closer to the end of all things, we must be ever on the alert for those who teach contrary to the Truth. Let's agree to help and encourage one another - "...be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men and fall from your firm grasp on the truth." (3:17)

(illustration by David Newton, from a recent issue of Nature)

Just Saying "Hi"

I just wanted to stop by this morning and say "HI!" I've missed sharing with you lately, but I only have a few more days left in this teaching module (3 week intensive) and then perhaps I can stop by daily. Right now, I am studying like crazy. I joke (but it isn't a joke at all) that I'm just 30 minutes ahead of the students. I study, prepare, study some more, write, put together a PowerPoint presentation of the lesson and get that completed about half an hour before walking into class. I "dump the load" for 3 hours and then head home for more study, preparation, study, PowerPoint, only to head back to class for another 3 hour information dump. This goes on Monday through Thursday for three weeks. I'm not sure what the students are getting, but I am learning a lot! Perhaps in coming days I'll share a little - but I'll resist the urge to make it a 3 hour post.

Factoid Friday!!!

Well, it's that time again. Since I've not posted with any regularity lately, I'm a little embarrassed; but since it's only a little embarrassment, then I'll go ahead. If I were a LOT embarrassed, then I'd find another avenue of expression. However ... it's time for

Factoid Friday!!!

Did you know that it is easier to influence a person to your point of view after he (or she) has had a large dose of caffeine?

That's correct! Australian researchers apparently didn't have enough to do, so they gave participants in the study either a placebo (containing no caffeine) or a drink that contained the caffeine equivalent of 2 cups of coffee. Following the ingestion of the brew, the participants were asked to read a persuasive message stating an opinion which they had formerly opposed. The folks hopped up on caffeine were more likely to be persuaded to change their opinion than the folks who got the placebo.
Two observations:
1) I must stop watching the news while I have my morning coffee!
2) If I need to sell something, there are a few apparently easy targets in the IHOP-KC world.

Have a great weekend!

A Little Catching Up

On Valentine's Day, I reported that my wife left me. Well, I'm happy to report that she made it back safely. The return trip was not without it's hassles - her flight from Ft. Wayne was delayed, which caused her to miss her connection in Detroit, which required that she be re-booked at another time which put her back in KC about 4 hours later than expected - but she did arrive safely home! It is good to have her back.

In addition, I've been teaching from 1 Peter the last couple of weeks at Forerunner School of Ministry. Monday, we focused our attention for a few minutes on 1 Peter 2:1 - Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

In that study, we discovered that our calling as Christians is to "fervently love one another from the heart." (1 Peter 1:22) And now, reading 2:1 we have discovered that there are some practices that will keep us from doing what we are called to do. The first thing that will keep us from fervent love is malice. We learned that malice is really a desire for evil to come upon someone. We also learned that evil is not the opposite of God, it is the absence of God. So the desire for evil to come upon a person is the result of a void in a person's heart. If I have "malice" toward another person, it is a signal that an emptiness exists in my heart. The only explanation for a malicious thought or action is that I have an emptiness in my heart that needs to be filled.

After malice, there are other hindrances to love listed: deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all slander. Without going into any major detail, it appears that Peter has given us a progression that leads away from love. The progression goes something like this:

1) If the heart is not filled with the fullness of God, that void produces an evil, self-centered desire for self preservation and self promotion and will have no concern for any injury that may come to others (malice). It is truly animalistic.
2) A malicious heart attitude will produce an insatiable need to get ahead of others at all costs. At that point, deceit takes over and no deception is too low in order for me to get what I want by whatever means necessary.
3) I will then begin to play a part (hypocrisies) that is contrary to what I say I believe. I will sink into the depths of hypocrisy. It will be subtle at first and will appear harmless, but if I allow it to run unchecked, it will escalate.
4) In that condition, I will long for what others have (envies) – not just for the sake of having it, but because I will honestly believe that it is a matter of my personal survival – with such intensity that it will literally rot my sense of right and wrong.
5) At this point, I will have no hesitation in saying whatever I have to say, or doing whatever I have to do to displace anyone I perceive as a competitor (slanders). It’s the law of the jungle, kill or be killed, eat or be eaten; survival of the fittest becomes my motto.

So now the question must be, "How do I fill the void that exists naturally in the human heart? How do I fill the void that leads to this destructive progression?"

I'm glad you asked that question, because Peter gives us the answer immediately. In 1 Peter 2:2 he says, "...like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word..." The only way to fill the void is with the Word of God. When we long for the Word of God the way a baby longs for milk, then we will begin to fill the emptiness with the only thing that will be effective. So my prayer for myself and for my brothers and sisters in Christ is that we will have a longing for the Word of God - so that the empty places in our hearts will "be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)

Something New

In keeping with the latest trend in blogging - who am I kidding? I have no idea what is the latest trend in blogging. It's just that the two blogging gurus that I know (Randy and Shawn) seem to have some kind of special subject or quiz or give away or theme on Fridays. And to avoid doing my own creative thinking, I decided to simply mimic the big boys.

So here is the first (and maybe last) installment in my attempt to communicate through the written word.

Factoid Friday!!!!

Taken from the pages of my latest issue of Men's Health, did you know that socks may help you fall asleep faster? That's right, according to page 38 of the March 2007 issue of Men's Health Magazine, Dutch researchers observed 8 people on 6 different occasions. On each of those occasions, they changed what these people wore to bed and what routine they followed prior to going to bed. Then they measured how long it took each of them to fall asleep. People who wore socks to bed fell asleep 27 percent faster than those people who went to bed barefoot. There is one proviso: don't put the socks on until just before you slip beneath the covers. Apparently if you warm your feet too soon, it doesn't help.



Hey, I don't explain 'em, I just report 'em! So before you head to bed, don the socks for a good night's sleep. Seems to have worked for this guy.

My Wife Left Me Today!

Can you believe it? Valentine's Day and my wife left me. That's right - just got on a plane and flew off. She left me!

She left me with enough clean clothes for a few days at least.
She left me a few meals in the refrigerator.
She left me a five day supply of vitamins in a little travel case.
She left me a new bar of soap (because she knew I didn't have a clue where she keeps those supplies).
She left me a big bar of 72% Cocao Dark Chocolate (mm-mm good!).

She left me alright -
She left me with a new appreciation of all the things she does for me on a daily basis.
But most of all, she left me looking forward to Sunday afternoon when she comes back from visiting her mom, sister, and brother in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

I DIDN'T MEAN TO!!

Sorry! I didn't do it on purpose! I just tripped!

Do those sound like the words of a child who has just broken his mom's favorite antique punch bowl...or the words of a husband who was on his way to the toilet (in a big hurry - don't ask) and stepped on the laundry basket (placed strategically in the hallway between the office and toilet), strewing clothes everywhere and crushing (literally crushing) the plastic basket? By now, your votes have been cast and you've chosen option # 2 - the klutzy husband. And you are...drum roll please...absolutely correct.

What happened? I don't know - it was just one of those freak occurrences - I'm sure the phase of the moon and coming snow storm converged to create some kind of time warp vortex. Who knows? Maybe I'm just not as adept as I once was at leaping tall laundry baskets in a single bound. Whatever the cause, I'm now in the market for a new laundry basket.

Life goes on!