I'm a Witness

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Recently our pastor at Grace Fellowship reminded us that
God didn't call us to be His Lawyer. He called us to be witnesses.
Too many people try to argue everyone into The Kingdom usually
with bad results.

Of course some are really good at being God's lawyer. In fact they've built
an entire ministry around that idea. But even those people admit every one's
not the same as they are so they're going to be used by God in another way.

So I guess the bottom line is, be a witness. No one has to argue about that.
It's like this.

"Hey! I know God is the real deal. This is what The Lord did for me."

People can argue all they want. But they can't deny your story. You know it's true. And deep down no matter what they say they know, YOU know your story is true.

So what's my story?

God is not only the God of the second chance. He's the God of the third, forth and Nth chance. I know it's true. I'm a witness.

My life was a box full of broken pieces. It was a series of false starts and missed opportunities. Some things looked like I got them right and then I'd blow it again. To try and put it all together again right seemed impossible. And it was. For me that is, but not for God.

It was a little over a year ago I decided that I was going to commit to going to a local church. I was really going for it this time, broken pieces, issues, hang ups and all. If something came up, or if I messed up I was going to keep going forward. If people think I've got "freak" issues, so be it.

Besides it wasn't about me. There was my family to consider. And of course there's the fact that no one's getting any younger and what time is left over seems to be accelerating to warp speed!

Thankfully there were no freak issues. (Not yet anyway) And the family is coming along and becoming a part as well.

The tipping point for me was easy to mark. It was when I knew this really wasn't yet another false start. That was the day Grace Fellowship announced the launch date of their satellite church.

We were equal distance from both so for us it was a toss up. But as many of you already know when The Holy Spirit decides something for you, YOU KNOW IT!

All the broken pieces slowly started coming together in a way I couldn't have dreamed. It's not that I've arrived. (NO WAY)

This is the starting line.

LarryK12309
Grace North
Halfmoon NY

Keeping up with the Duggars and people like Them

I'm reading the book by The Duggar family. They have a reality show by the same name, "18 kids and counting."

My first reaction to their show was to imagine wives all over the country turning to their husbands and saying,

"Don't even think about it cowboy! You did not marry a baby factory!"

Then I tried to picture how a liberal might feel about the show. I'm guessing they hate it. It's not so much that Michelle has over 15 children, that makes them upset. It's that all her children have the same father! Not only that, but when Michelle first got pregnant she was already married to her husband Jim Bob.

How unbelievable is that!

But seriously folks even though my wife and I have the same core beliefs as The Duggars we wound up with opposite results. They have over fifteen children of their own, we have two, both adopted. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Once we realized the route we were supposed to take The Lord blessed us every step of the way. When a decision had to be made when a need had to be met, He was there with the answer.

The real shock came after both adoptions were finalized. All at once both countries we adopted from totally changed their adoption requirements. Had we waited any longer it would have impossible to adopt the way we did.

You see, keeping up with the Duggars isn't like keeping up with the Jones-es, or any other family for that matter. It's all about keeping up with The Lord. Follow Him, and that's where you'll find true fulfillment.

And even though we have a much smaller family, we're still getting allot out of their book anyway. ;-)

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• Adoption (fundable.com)

Our Blessed Vacation

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To call our latest vacation, "Blessed" is not to try and sound spiritual. It's because we really were blessed down at the Jersey shore.

First of all it really is possible to keep a covenant with your eyes even on a public beach. Granted the watchman may have to work overtime but it can be done.

Second there's God's protection. As any of you know who've ventured out into the ocean know,
even on calm days, the waves can be a bit rough. My daughter Katie and I were wading in shallow water when we got knocked off our feet by a surprise wave. That's when I felt Katie's teeth hit my elbow.

"Oh dear!"

Praise God she wasn't hurt at all. Just a tad shaken up. Granted there are first aid stations close by and I know she would have made a quick recovery, but I would have needed oxygen.

Finally there's the arcades. No trip to the Jersey shore is complete until you hit all the arcades on the Boardwalk. It's all about collecting those tickets and coupons for prizes. (Yes they're really cheesy prizes but it's the thrill of winning that matters!)

Right when my wife and I had just about had it with our two cranky kids, some nice people came by and just handed us all their arcade tickets!

"Sweet!"

This really was a blessed vacation!

My 35th Year

When I turned 35 in the natural I freaked! There were so many things I hadn't done yet. It was a real wake up call. Thank God 17 years later things are much better.

But what about when someone has been born again for 35 years. What are the expectations?

A quick scan of the bible shows that God's timetable is different for everyone. Sure the disciples were ready in three years for ministry, but how old were they when God called each of them? And what about the abnormally born Saul of Tarsus? Surely he was on a different schedule.

And what about the heroes of the old testament. How long before God used Moses, Joshua, Noah and old father Abraham.

How do we know if we're on schedule with God? Are you satisfied with where you are? Do a see a plan? Do you have a vision for your life?

Thank God. Thank God! Again I say THANK GOD!

Never have I been so sure that I'm on track with God. This does not mean that
I've arrived.

No way!

It only means I just found my starting line!

Filter Your Brain

There are people out there who claim to love God so much
they never have to worry about going to an evil website.
(Smut,hate, or otherwise)

With all due respect that's like saying you're so careful you
never need a fire extinguisher or a first aid kit.

I'm not ashamed to admit I'm glad we have an internet filter.
We like Total Net Guard. It works for us.

Too bad we couldn't get a filter for our brains.

My Birthday

It's time to take time out from promoting my humble little
blog to commemorate my birthday. Not the birth of my
spirit/soul container (10\05\56) I'm talking about the
day I was born again. (Aka "Born from above)

On June 25 1974 I received Christ as my Savior
and Lord along with a bunch of other kids at
the big Campus Life end of the school year
retreat down in Ocean City NJ.

Ever since then I've hated sin and have chased
after The Holy Spirit where ever He leads.

Granted it hasn't been a straight path as there
have been a few U-turns and golden calves
to be ground up along the way but
somehow or other God keeps working it to the
good.

Praise His Holy Name Forever!

Introduction

Larry the Lucky Loser


In the end we're all losers. If you're lucky you don't have allot of stuff
to fret over, because when we die, none of it is going to really matter anyway.


Introduction


If you have any kind of Christian background you've heard of The Beatitudes.
This is where The Teacher espouses all these virtues that are contrary to
what the world believes. Things like being in a state of mourning or
knowing that you're really broke. As opposed to always striving to be
rich with all your desires fulfilled.

To that end I'd like to add "Blessed are the losers for in the end
they'll meet the one who's already won."

God doesn't like poor people more than than the rich. It's just that
poor people tend to give Him more cooperation.

In the same way, it's never good when tragedy strikes. But it's
in those times we see how fragile life is as we gather around and
get closer to God and to our loved ones.

And God doesn't want us to fail all the time. Yet when we do fail
that's when we can really learn what to do next.

"Blessed are the losers for in the end
they'll meet the one who's already won."