Inspiration for this short passage of fiction was drawn mainly from three different sources: James Joyce’s famous short story, The Dead, Luke 11:5-13, and my and Kathy’s personal experiences caring for mom during the last nine months of her battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Some readers try to read too much into a work of fiction such as the one found below. I thank you in advance for not being one of those readers. (Did I mention–it’s fiction.) Continue reading
Read John 7:37-39.
The Feast Of Tabernacles
It’s the last day of the feast of tabernacles. On this day, as they did the previous seven days, the people celebrated by Continue reading
That’s right, I’m not particularly good at what I write about on this blog, specifically Continue reading
And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34)
We know very little of Jesus’ life before he went public with his teachings and his miracles. We know something of his birth. And we know about the time his parents lost track of him when he was twelve years old, when he was hanging out in the temple. But that’s it.
Did Jesus Need the Holy Spirit? Continue reading
God was so good to us in 2014 here at God Running. The highlight for me personally happened when Kathy and I were able to meet up with a few readers on the other side of the country from where we live in Oregon. (If you’re interested, you can read about that here: Brothers in Christ)
Of course anytime you like you can see what’s trending at the present moment on God Running, simply by looking at the list of titles in the right hand column on the home page. But if you’re interested in which posts were the most popular for 2014, check out the list below. (not in reverse order–for your viewing convenience)
1) Steve Mays’ Life Of Suffering (And how God healed him) Growing up, Steve Mays was a good student and a well behaved son, at least until junior high school. That’s when he was molested, by a teacher. And that event changed his life. After he was sexually abused, Steve raged against any authority figure, including his parents. He struggled with drug addiction. He joined a motorcycle gang. The police were after him for murder.
Then God intervened.
2) The Holy Spirit: How to Know if You Have Him Easily the most popular post of all time on God Running.
If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you’ve received the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit (in the way Jesus’ disciples did when God used them to save the souls of 3,000 men in one morning) then this is the post that will answer your question.
3) Both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father–Genesis 19 Continue reading
The Problem With Poinsettias
The problem with poinsettias is you have to water them. Kathy was away visiting family and one of my jobs while she was gone was to water the beautiful live potted poinsettias she bought as part of our Christmas decorations. Some may find this hard to believe but–I forgot. It wasn’t until a few days before Kathy’s return that I noticed the poinsettias were looking pretty bleak. Again you may find this hard to believe but this was not the first time I forgot to water plants in Kathy’s absence. Having experience with this problem I used my go to recovery plan: dump copious amounts of water on the plant and hope it recovers before Kathy returns.
Well the plan worked and the poinsettias did recover. However in the process of picking off the dead leaves to make the poinsettias look better, I accidentally severed a branch. It’s the one in the photo at the top of this post. It didn’t fare well after it was separated from the vine. It wasn’t long before it shriveled and died.
In John chapter 15 Jesus says plainly, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
1) Practice His Presence
“…without Me you can do nothing.” And that brings us to our number one means of drawing closer to Christ in 2014: Continue reading
What a blessing it has been to write for our Father in 2013. I thank Him for the privilege, and I thank you for reading and for your support. I’m also excited about what’s coming in 2014, but more on that later. Below you’ll find 10 of the most popular posts of 2013, on God Running.
1) The Holy Spirit: How to Know if You Have Him
By far our most popular post in 2013. This article shows how you can know for certain you will receive God’s Holy Spirit baptism. Look for the book by the same title to come out in 2014.
2) The 5th Day of Creation–The Holy Spirit and Bearing Fruit
God’s Holy Spirit is also the topic of our second most popular post in 2013. This post explores God’s creation of marine life as it relates to bearing fruit by the Holy Spirit. It includes some surprising findings from the Census of Marine Life project, a ten year study with the mission of finding new species. You’ll see how scientists concede they grossly underestimated the quantity of diversity of marine life in the ocean. The rate at which the Census of Marine Life project has discovered new species is amazing. What does that have to do with God’s Holy Spirit? Read the post and find out.
3) Both of Lot’s Daughters Became Pregnant by Their Father
If you want to stay in your comfort zone, don’t read this post. Continue reading
Doormat
A Dormitory Door Mat
There are these two roommates Walter and Craig who live on the fifth floor of the Barnhart dormitory at the University of Oregon. Craig is on the football team. He’s pretty sure he’s one of the best athletes on campus. He’s really into his sport and his friends, like a lot of guys are during their college years. Two of his favorite hangouts are the weight room and wherever the current party happens to be. He’s a Grand Theft Auto and Madden NFL kind of guy.
But his roommate Walter is different. He’s kind of bookish, if you know what I mean. He’s a good student. He belongs to the college writing club. He’s watched all the Lord of the Rings movies multiple times—on Blue Ray. He’s an English major but he’s taking a physics class, just for fun. He’s more of a Minecraft kind of a guy.
Well one day Craig has a chance to move into an apartment off campus. The day the apartment comes open is the day before a home game, and he wants to move in right away so he can have a victory party after the game. He already invited a bunch of his friends. Getting people to come to his party was no problem. But getting people to help him move wasn’t working out. Not a single friend was available. So, even though he very much preferred not to, he asked Walter.
“Hey, I need you to help me move my stuff over to the apartment.”
“I’d like to but I can’t,” Walter said. “I have a midterm and a group project presentation tomorrow.” He also said yes to a request to give a presentation at his writer’s club right after the midterm. And his parents were arriving for a visit after writer’s club. But Walter was too embarrassed to disclose that to Craig.
“I don’t really see a problem,” Craig said. “I only need you for like, one hour.”
Walter didn’t respond but Craig could see the reluctance on his face.
“Come on Walter, don’t be selfish.”
For some reason every time Walter experienced a pang of guilt he thought of the dentist’s needle injecting lidocaine into his gums. Except instead of his gums, he imagined the needle penetrating his heart. And instead of pain followed by numbness, there was just pain. Craig had a knack for triggering that response in Walter. So did his dad. So did his mother. So did a lot of people.
And there was that word: selfish. A Christian can’t be selfish, can he? Continue reading
From the archives, one of our most popular posts:
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. -Genesis 1:20-23
Scientists are conceding they have grossly underestimated the quantity and diversity of marine life in the ocean. Research scientists from 80 different countries are undertaking a huge census of ocean life around the world. Called the Census of Marine Life, the census effort began in 2000, and ten years later, scientists continue to be amazed at the numbers and varieties of new species they’ve found. In the first three years of the study 160 new species of fish were found each year. That’s about 3 new species discovered every week. As the census has progressed, new species of marine life are being discovered at an even greater rate. One study found 700 new species of crustaceans in an area the size of a small bathroom. (Census of Marine Life) Continue reading
Pentacost by Jean II Restout (Photo Credit Wikipedia)
One of our most popular posts. From the Archives:
At church the other night our pastor directed anyone interested in receiving prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to go to the prayer room after the service.
I was amazed. Continue reading
