Scrambled Eggs & Corn Flakes

Persecution: A program or campaign to subjugate or eliminate a specific group of people, often based on race, religion, sexuality, or social beliefs. Forgive me, because I plan on ranting today. I was reading online about a year ago, how in North Korea, 33 Christians were to be executed as enemies of the state. They had been planting underground churches (maybe 500) in one of the most repressive dictatorships in the world. They were involved in this knowing that death could be the end result. Yet, they went ahead following what God had called them to. Obedient to God, even if it means their deaths. Kim-Jong un, the dictator of this country considers them a threat, punishable by death. I am going to assume these people have been even tortured for their faith. They live under a regime, knowing this, and yet continue to work for the Kingdom. They suffer for following God. I have not been able to find out if these people were executed as information from North Korea is sketchy at best....

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11: 28-30. Lots of our lives tend to be hectic. Rushing around from place to place. Doesn't matter if it is work-related or our personal lives. We tend to be always on the move. Putting in long hours at work, rushing home for dinner, and get household chores done. If you have children, there is the added homework, school events, and extracurricular activities to add to one's schedule. It is fairly certain, that for a lot of us, 24 hours in a day may be too few hours. Because of this, our lives become rushed. Getting from place to place makes us impatient. We become frustrated with obstacles that keep us from our schedule. This could lead to anger and bitterness and place stresses on the physical side of life. We become slaves...

2015, where has it gone? As I write this journal, it is the beginning of November one day before my 45th birthday(when did I get this old? That's a different story) Still, Thanksgiving and Christmas to go before we hit the end of the year. It seems like yesterday that we were beginning the year, and then through the summer. Now, the air has a slight chill to it. The leaves are changing color and falling to the ground. A rainbow rain of sorts. Christmas music is playing the stores are already decorated and it's November 9th. I enjoy Christmas so I am pretty cool with it. Other friends of mine, not so much. Before we know it, 2016 will be upon us. That's what happens. They say time flies and they were not lying. Doesn't seem that far away thinking what 2015 would bring us. When the year started, I was in preparations for a missions trip to India. This was a major undertaking and a giant leap in trusting God. This was so far out of my comfort zone. There was equal part...

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people" Ephesians 6:18 Prayer is something I feel is very important. I don't do it as often as I should, but I still feel its important. It's a tough task I think though. We can easily find excuses not to do it. Our lives are busy and we run out of time in a day before we realize we haven't prayed. I have tried over the years to have a weekly prayer meeting at our church. At times, it was a difficult experience. We could get one other or maybe even two on some occasions. But most of the time, it was just my wife and I - or sometimes just me. I felt called to lead a prayer group, but there was no response to it. After a couple of years doing it, I finally decided to end leading the group. We have a church of hundreds and yet we were struggling to draw one person consistently. At times it became a point of ...