He Stinketh

John 11:39
"Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. "

Jesus then replied to her "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?"

How many times have we stifled God's willingness to make His glory manifest because we were afraid of the odor? Those raised from the dead surely do still reek, but can we not get past the olfactory discomfort to take in the incredible miracle that is a restored life?

Father, I pray that we will look beyond the natural, to see the supernatural transformations You are making everyday. That we can embrace those returned from the dead, annoint them and celebrate their return.

Beautiful Loved and Blessed

A couple of years ago, I was watching a Prince music video on TV at work and I know I was making some moral judgements in my head. The Lord spoke to me about Prince , "I have blessed him like no one since David" and that he will produce some of the greatest worship music of our generation. He even gave me a prophetic message to deliver to Prince. But, the problem is, I am a middle aged married man with 4 kids, and absolutely no connections to the man. But after a little research, I was directed by someone on a Prince fan club message board online the best way to get the message to him. I sent it off with no return address, so I knew it wasnt about me.
Other than my wife, I had only told 2 people about it, and a couple of months later, my friend Steve said, "Hey, look at this" It was an article in the newspaper about how Prince had renounced his "dirty" language and had become a Jehovahs Witness. I sort of laughed saying,
"Man, I should have been more specific" But as I prayed for him, the Lord told me that is exactly where he needed to be in this season and that I was to pray "Freedom" over him.
Last year, I was standing in the same break room watching some music awards ceremony, and Prince was given some award, and, his final word to the crowd? "freedom"
This past weekend, Prince was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and here is a snippet of the new song he performed.

When U found me I was just a piece of clay
I was 4mless, U gave me a new name
With the breath of life I now live abundantly
All I needed was the potter's hand
And the blood on Calvary (that's right)

But 2 much power (tell it)
Can can sometimes turn 2 shame 2 much desire
Sometimes makes U feel the same (come on)
But 4giveness is how U win the game
I begged 4 truth, now I know the truth
And that is when U came and said I was...

Beautiful, loved and blessed
I'm better than the day b4
Cause U made me confess that I am...
Beautiful, loved and blessed
When U're free U're really free indeed
All U gotta do is just plant the seed

Verily, Verily I say unto thee, if thou dost not readeth King James Bible, woe and ignominy on thee, for that ain't bible!

What's up with that anyway? Does that mean any translation into a language other than english is worthless? Aren't there much more significant issues we could be dealing with?

I know its not much of a post, but my wife was asking if I was ever going to blog again.
Maybe better next time.

Equal Opportunity

It would hardly be fair for me to blog about my daughters birthday without blogging about my youngest sons. He turned 9 today. We went to see Narnia today. He is such an expert on the books, that my wife and I asked him about all the things that were different in the movie from the book. Since he is 9, I will list the top 9 things I love about him. The only order they are in is how soon I think of them.

1) How you have conquered reading this past year. You have gone from barely knowing phonics sounds to reading C.S. Lewis

2) How you ask me funny questions, sometimes not even trying to be funny.

3) You are kind to your brothers and sisters. .. most of the time.

4) You always take things the 1/4 mile walk to the mailbox for mommy without complaining

5) How you love God's word, and can apply scripture to everyday living.

6) You are just as content playing legos alone in your room as you are runnng screaming through the yard with friends.

7) You still have a sense of innocence about you.

8) I love to hear you sing.

9) How you conquered the swimming pool. You went from not knowing how to swim to swimming a 100 yd IM at the big city meet in just 2 short months.


I love even more things about you... Happy birthday big guy!

Love
Daddy

How do I love thee?

Today my darling wife told me she loves me more than chickens love 3 week old cranberry sauce. Who says romance is dead?

Whatchu bloggin bout Willis?

Ok, I really had nothing new to say, but I thought that was a funny title. But, since my wife is about the only one who reads my blog, and she already rolled her eyes at what I thought was a hilarious title, I imagine I can just ponder about my favorite little 5 year old.

I am so glad you turned 5 today my little Pooh Bear! You were so sweet today at your birthday lunch at Steak N' Shake (Famous for Steakburgers), doling out the remainder of your french fries to vulture brothers. I enjoyed going to Home Depot (You can do it, We can help) with you to buy a mailbox then on to Wal-Mart (always low prices- Always!) to buy some basketballs. Thank you for loading me up with 4 year old kisses last night, and giving me the first 5 year old kiss this morning. I hope these product placements in my blog will help put you through "hair school"

Good night sweet princess!
Love Daddy