You know how sometimes you ask a question that you think is just out of the blue and the answer you receive speaks to something inside of you?

Well the following lyrics was the response I received to asking “What Song Are You Feeling?” to a friend.

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by Kenneth Aveirls, Sr.

“Caleb stills the people and said,” Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, WE ARE NOT ABLE TO GO UP against the people; for they are stronger than we.” ~Numbers 13:30-31

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I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. ~ Matthew 10:16

“Chris is now taking over this division. He will be managing all of these activities from now on. You should know that he has a different management philosophy than what you may have experienced before. He has a biblical management philosophy. Chris, would you like to explain what they could expect from you in this regard?”

These were the words spoken to me by a non-Christian CEO recently when he decided to increase my responsibilities in the company. We had never spoken of spiritual issues before.

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“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 3:13-14

Five hundred years ago, Hernando Cortez sailed to conquer Aztec Mexico. Keep in mind the lengthy travails of an extended sea-voyage in that era. His men became disgruntled on the sea-trip, and some wanted to return home. They weren’t sure the promise of gold was worth entering the strange land. They finally arrived. When the supplies were safely unloaded on the beach – Cortez burnt the ships! This removed the possibility of quitting, and concentrated the energy and attention of his men on successful survival in the new land.

In Philippians 3 the apostle Paul made the same choice spiritually. His past, with its success and its shame, he chose to forget — he set fire to his ship! What mattered to him most was keeping his eyes on the goal of gaining Christ’s approval.

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Today, no organized (and maybe even long-winded soliloquy)…just an over-riding thought that just bears expressing:

My post: I Received my Song Today brings up the issue of “firsties.”

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If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. ~1 Corinthians 13:3-5 (NLT)

Gracious and Almighty Father
I just want to thank you for life, health and strength
You’ve been Provider, Comforter, Visionary, Friend
Your tender mercies just never end

When I act up
Your love is constant
When I give up
Your strength sustains me
When I’m afraid
Your love protects me
When I’m confused
Your mind instructs me
In all my phases
You’re there to bless me

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11:30 a.m.
I just received the mp3 of my first song written today via eMail. It was sung by the vocalist who will be singing it on the soundtrack. It was a bittersweet moment. No the deal didn’t fall through, as my ex-fiancé and mom expected, (“Because this music thing never works out for you.”)

So what was the problem exactly? Well…she hadn’t sung it exactly as I did. And she’d changed the feel of the song. (How dare she? What was the demo tape for, if she just ups and makes it her own?) Doesn’t she know it’s my song! She just gets to sing it first…that’s all.

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by Christopher Donaldson, Sr.

I know, my God, that You test the heart and are pleased with integrity. ~ 1 Chronicles 29:17a

God tests His children to know what is in their hearts. God’s desire for each of His children is to walk in relationship with Him, to uphold His righteousness and integrity. It is a high calling that we will fail to achieve without complete dependence on Him.

The greatest tests come not in great adversities, but in great prosperity. For it is in prosperity that we begin to lose the sensitivity to sin in our lives. Adversity motivates us to righteousness out of a desire to see our adversity changed. Prosperity fails to provide this motivation for obedience. We fall into a satisfaction and confidence in life that is based on our prosperity rather than on God.

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by Ken Aveirls, Sr.

Ezekiel 37:8-14

A “necrophiliac” is a person who is in love, or obsessed with a corpse; dead things. A spiritual necrophiliac is a person who has lost their “fire”, and has elected to embrace the dead areas of their life!

- In a relationship, that you KNOW will not be beneficial to you – DEAD!
- Employed on a mediocre job – DEAD!
- Blaming your parents, or lack of, for being the way you are – DEAD!
- Having to get “high” to get up, and excessively drink to get “down” – DEAD!
- Filled with lust – DEAD!

Before you write the obituary;
Before you purchase the coffin;
Before you make the tombs your place of residence;
Before you embalm your dreams;
Before you read last rites over your love life;
Before you lay down in the sarcophagus of sickness;

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Earlier today I saw a bedraggled, obviously down-on-his-luck man in town. Amidst the heat and bustle, he was crouched against a lamp post, the very epitome of a “man brought low.” Beside him was a can of God-knows-what.

My first instinct, to reach into my purse for two dollars, was curtailed when I remembered that I only had a ten dollar bill. If I gave it away, I’d be left with nothing. The thought quickly followed that I was on my way to pick up my mom’s prescription. I could charge that and get cash back. But…give away a whole ten dollars?

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