A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

What a pleasant evening it was last night. The recent storms have washed the air of the stifling humidity. I was surprised at how quiet the evening was. Not many people were out on their porches. It was not an evening of burning bushes, miracles and fiery chariots, but last night was more a peaceful walk with the Lord in the cool of the day. . . A couple of observations. . . I do not remember seeing clover so filled with bees as I did last night, since my childhood. Between Middlebury Street and the tracks at the street's headwaters, is a large patch of clover and it was noticeably filled with busy honeybees. Other spots of clover along the street were likewise being heavily worked by bees. Even in my own yard, with a bee hive only yards away, the clover is not so full of bees as what I saw last night. That gladdened my heart. Maybe feral bee colonies are making a comeback. . . I know my bees are laying down honey at a rate that I've not seen before. They are really f...

The following is an excerpt from a current news item about the convicted thief Bernie Madoff, who is in prison for swindling people out 65 billion dollars of retirement money, etc.: The inmate, who has witnessed the arch swindler's daily routine, also detailed how Madoff began attending sessions with a female prison psychiatrist last year after becoming depressed about a tell-all published in August by his former mistress, Sheryl Weinstein. "He was having problems with his wife [Ruth]" over the book's revelations, the inmate said. "He felt she might leave him." The book, "Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me, " details Weinstein's sexcapades with Madoff and how he screwed her out of her life savings. The shrink prescribed Madoff antidepressants, the inmate said. . . New York Post June 21, 2010 Yeah. . .the shrink prescribed antidepressants. . .Mr. Madoff surely needs to be anesthetized to feel no pain for the guilt of all his...

As an Atheist. . . As a Christian. . . I had no moral certainty. I have absolute moral direction. I had no sense of purpose for my life. I exist to love, to worship, to bring glory to God and secondly to love my fellow man. I felt greatly alone. I am never alone. He stands beside me through my darkest hour. I had pride in my honesty and righteousness, regardless how many promises I broke, or lies I told. I could convince myself that I was a good person, as long as I saw people doing worse things than I was. I cannot have pride. I know how far I fall short of true righteousness, for I follow He who never sinned. I require His grace and forgiveness when I fail. I had trouble forgiving. I would hold grudges for months or even years. I must forgive, for I require forgiveness. I was not happy. Happiness was forever receding into the future for some new goal and when that goal was achieved, disappointment soon arrived. I am filled with joy as long as I keep my eyes upon Him. Joy is only ...

It was a very muggy evening last night. It wasn't overly hot, but the humidity was quite high. My shirt was just soaked with sweat by the time I was done. For the first part of my walk, it seemed so very quiet. I spoke with only a few people last night, but I refuse to be discouraged at that, for I'm planting seeds in many different ways. It only takes one seed to sprout and grow, to make the evening worth every effort. The fliers are one form of seed, a kind word. . .a smile. . .a catching of the eyes. . .a mutual tear. . .joining hands in an offered prayer, are all seeds planted in hopes of finding good soil, sprouting and eventually bearing fruit. A great sequoia tree springs forth from a seed that is smaller than a flake of oatmeal. No fireworks span the sky upon the planting of a seed, which will someday grow into a tree 20 feet in diameter and over 300 feet tall. The planting goes unnoticed in the forest floor, but ages down the road, grand and glorious evidence s...

The following article is developed from a class I taught in the Elkhart County Jail June 10th, 2010. How we handle stress has implications for nearly every aspect of our lives. Our health, our relationships, our careers, our spirituality are all hugely impacted by the way in which we react to and how we choose to handle stress. In my own life, some examples of times where I have experienced high levels of stress: While in basic training in the Army, when going through my wife's labor and delivery, as a young parent with an ill child, different times when I felt overwhelmed by my bills, when I faced uncertainty in my job, when I found out I had to have heart surgery. . .and on and on and on. We all can surely come up with our own lists of times where we have felt stressed out. . . The word 'stress' is not found in the KJV Bible, but the word 'distressed' is found in 52 verses, in both the Old Testament (44 times) and in the New Testament (8 times). The first occur...

My Grandfather loved sailing or boating on big water. . .The Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Ocean. . . in a perfect world, he would have been the captain of a grand and dashing clipper ship, forever adventuring into uncharted waters. . .always seeking fresh winds to challenge and turn to his direction. . .One of his favorite observations or pieces of wisdom was that the color of the water was never precisely repeated on any one day to the next. Each day the color of the water was uniquely effected by sun, cloud, sky, depth, and ultimately by the water itself. The same surely may be observed by the days of our lives. . .in any case, each week's time of street ministry is always a new adventure, never repeated. . .always unique. . . Started out today with one of the regulars. The man is severely disabled with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ~ severe lung disease). In this heat and high humidity, he can scarcely muster enough breath to come to the door, but mo...

Several years ago at the jail, a man who had repented of his past life and had opened his heart to God, gave the testimony that the first meeting he attended at the jail, he came in the hopes of being able to steal a pen. . .This was a man, now on fire for God, now consumed with a deep love of the Lord, who fully admitted that he did not come to hear the preaching. . .He didn't come to pray or worship. . .He came to that meeting, as months later he later admitted to commit a crime, but along the way, his heart was touched by the Lord and his life was changed hopefully for ever. . . The second chapter of the book of Acts: Acts 2:1-6 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Hol...