A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

John 8:31-36 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;  (32)  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  (33)  They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?  (34)  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.  (35)  And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever.  (36)  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I'm reading a book about death:  The Grace in Dying .  I found this book at Goodwill (a shop which sells used goods) a few days ago.  It is written by a lady who works in a hospice and has been intimately involved in the final days of many hundreds of people.  There is much in this book that I would not have written, there is surely much tha...

My mother died on February 2nd around 4:30 a.m. We had the funeral service for her yesterday afternoon (Wednesday February 6th) at a local funeral parlor. What a tremendous day. All day long I was overcome with the kindness and love people showed for my family. What a holy day filled with love. Many many friends from my work, lovely brothers and sisters from church, family members whom I hadn't seen some in decades, staff members from Greencroft nursing home where my Mom had resided for nearly 8 months. . . even now. . . too much to think about. I replay the day remembering, savoring the tremendous kindness and love and ministering given toward we who needed it so dearly. I say it again. . . what a day. . . what a tremendous day. I believe that the ripples of this day will be felt for. . . in some cases for eternity. Numbers of wonderful things happened as a result of yesterday. My Mother's spiritual leader, a good friend of mine Kermit Weaver and his wife Mary were there. Kerm...

Lessons learned when you were four become much more meaningful. . . The temperature of the whole world chills a little. . . Toll House cookies are no longer merely a snack, but a monument. . . Mothers day changes from an obligation to a craving. . . Sometimes the air thins and you gasp for breath just sitting in a chair. . . Crying for Mommy returns after a fifty year absence. . . You lose something vast and precious that you didn't even know you had. . . You crave being held and hugged all the time. . . The last time you spoke to her is now at the bottom of a big ache. . . Tears are found in totally unexpected places. . . Never again. . . her magical home made vegetable soup. . . wonderful green beans, potatoes, and ham that aren't falling apart and soupy. . .meat loaf with just the perfect amount of ketchup on top. . . those just right crispy fried potatoes. . . never again. . . for ever. . . Your chance to repay an enormous debt is lost. . . You lose ...

My son, Colin, called Friday morning, weeping on the phone. His grandpa, my ex-wife's father, had died that morning and Colin had just found out about it a few minutes previous to calling me. This too was a blow to me as well. Richard was someone you figured, or maybe deeply wished to be invincible. In ones life, you meet a handful of people whose character is. . . I don't know to describe it. . . somehow above the rest of us. Richard was one of those very special people. I do not know of anyone who had an unkind word to say about Richard. I am sure that he was not perfect. I'm sure he was not without fault, but in any respect he was a wonderful man. Adrianne, my daughter; Colin and Rachael, his girl friend; and Kristine, my ex-wife and I met at the hospital. Richard was still in his bed. I'd never been present for this kind of thing before. I didn't know what to expect. He was in a double room, in the bed by the window. There was a fellow quietly watching TV in th...