Tis the night before Christmas...

Thinking back on my childhood Christmas experiences

Bing Crosby...
Louis Armstrong...
Julie Andrews (joy to the world)...
Our old record player...
Making a fire in the fireplace...
Decorating the tree...
Setting up one of my many trains (I loved trains)...
Singing with kids Choirs...
Caroling...
Baking...
Canasta...
               ...And right in the middle of all my childhood Christmas memories is my parents, who always tried to make Christmas special for us... and to be honest, I think they did a great job at it!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

A couple of Days ago...

A couple of Days ago... I had the opportunity to talk with a co-worker who was raised Buddhist. She asked me if I had gone to church the previous Sunday, and I told her that I had. We talked for a few minutes about Church, Buddhism, Christianity, and freedom in Christ, she told me that she could not go to church any more because she is Buddhist, she showed me her green Buddha necklace and said she needed to go a the temple instead of a church. Before she left my department she asked if I went to a baptist church, and she told me that I sounded like a baptist, I laughed, but I'm not actually sure what it means that I sound like a baptist. After she went off to do her job I asked the Lord: "what would you say to a Buddhist?" And He responded with a verse: "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest..." So when I had finished work, and clocked out... I went and found her; I told her, Jesus said: "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest..." and she responded: "I know, that's why I came."

      Have a blessed Christmas!

                                                   Nicholas Locke

A sermon I did at IMI this last spring.

Good Morning!

Well good morning, It's a beautiful day, and I'm really enjoying it so far... It's Tuesday morning I had a wonderful thanksgiving, of eating! and then watching shoppers go insane for a few hours. I am reading a book on spiritual warfare called: Three Crucial Questions by Clinton E. Arnold, and I've been thinking about how horrible my piano playing was last night, lol - never play a piano by ear if it's not in tune... and don't substitute a major chord for a major 7th, it's all bad :) Everything went exactly as it should have though, I mean nothing worked out, the music was horrible, the teacher forgot to get pizza, the kids were a distraction, the parents were a distraction. But it was fine, somehow in the midst of all that I sensed that there was sweet fellowship of the Spirit, everyone walked away encouraged and blessed! So be blessed today, take a moment for a deep breath, and a prayer today...
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Everything...

I'm going to celebrate thanksgiving with a family I really don't know...
I just bought arts and crafts supplies and had a ball until 3 in the morning...
I thought I would be lonely here all by myself...
But I'm not lonely...
And I'm not here all by myself...

This year God gave me a car...
A place to stay...
Five jobs...
Really good friends...
Opportunities to grow and to serve like I never even dreamed...
Money at the perfect time...
The oil of gladness instead of mourning...
I'm just getting started...

What has God given to you this year?
have you told Him thank you?

Gripped by God...

Well last night I had a really neat experience. I had the privilege of playing the piano, and leading singing at the Gospel Mission. What was so meaningful to me, was that God was there, and we knew it, and so all of us got into the music, and into the message, and the prayer time; and God was able to speak, and move in the meeting. I went back to work and cleaned up the produce department, and put out as much product as I could with the time I had left.
Then I went home...
As I was finishing up work though, and as I was getting ready for bed last night, I had all kinds of troubling thoughts, mostly anxiety of what am I gonna do with "my" life. So I told God about it, and I was like, "God what am I gonna do with my life?" But He didn't answer, He just gave me the peace I needed to go to bed.
But this morning, I started reading in Romans 12, where Paul is telling Christians to live according to their calling and gifts; I felt like God was saying: "here, this is for you." The chapter really gripped me because, though I'm making mistakes, and I'm falling and failing, every day; I'm right where God wants me to be, and I'm living according to His gifting and calling for my life.

"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."
(Romans 13:14)