Tag: Dog Lovers

“What I want in a Micro/Simple Church” #3

Path Without End

9021 I have taken a pause before continuing this subject. A Fellowship member actually asked me if there was a reason that I had not published in a few days? The simple answer is “Yes”.

I mentioned last article that I had downloaded 6 books related to this new move of God. I have been searching the oceans for the Sea Change. I have known it is out there. I have known its wave is coming. God told me so. I have wanted to be a part of it, and so much so that we left the traditional church 3 years ago to begin searching and implementing our own version of it as best we could. But that has not kept me from searching for someone who already has it going. Someone of a like-mind as to what I have heard from God. And I believe I have finally found one! And it’s already helped me form our next big step!

I have 2 books I’m reading like crazy trying to get it all in me, and I already know this blog site will soon be reflecting our revelation in a greater way. One is a book entirely on “Elijah”, by A. W. Pink. It has been so excellent so far. But the other book is actually about a different form of doing church right here in the United States, and it has been already functioning and tested for ten years! I’ve read 50% of the book and highly recommend it! I have great expectations for the next 50%, too! I actually had to force myself to write this today, so as to be faithful to such readers as there may be. So I will end this article with what I look for in a Micro Church leader, but first I want to tell you a little about this book.

“UNDERGROUND CHURCH”, by Brian Sanders. I’m not going to try and explain much about their ministry, at least not yet, his book is so worthy of reading for yourself. They are located in Tampa Bay Florida area. At the time of the book writing, they had a little over 200 Micro Churches doing all kinds of different ministries in the name of Jesus! They are very “MISSION” oriented. And as I read the book, not even half way through at the time, maybe there is an anointing on this book, but I suddenly was literally led by God into an “encounter” that has shown me the outreach/mission ministry our small Micro Church needs to start! I have been praying for this for months! Suddenly, BREAK-THROUGH!

This micro group outreach and community “inreach” will also provide many exciting and interesting stories for future writings. I’m looking so forward to it! I’m hoping we can launch no later than October. All I feel free to say at this point is, it involves rescued dogs! So if you love dogs, you can expect our future here to involve stories and dog pictures of rescued dogs that will be used to rescue people in need! That is the dream. I believe God has given me the structure for how this would work. I can hardly wait to launch this, but first there are preparations to make, and we are on it!

So now… I must curb my enthusiasm just a little bit, so I can write a little on what I’m looking for in Micro Church Leadership. Here’s a few quick thoughts, the man I’m looking for, and the man I want to be myself, must be honest, true, kind, peaceful, and a love for simplicity. He is very naturally simple and deep, and not what we see so much of today, not complex and shallow. Oh! and no money seeker! No lover of money! Living high on the world’s hog! God will provide! Let your moderation be known!

Of course he must be “called” of God, and because he is open and available, it is easy to examine his life and see if he is or not. He loves the pure Word of God. He teaches exactly what is written, and the whole Word of God, not just his favorite parts. He is not afraid to be open-minded and have respectful conversations with all peoples, but he has an ability to share what God hath said without disrespecting sincere people. His words are graced with God’s love. The sword of the Lord must always be carried in a sheath of love.

He understands holiness without being judgmental. He has enthusiasm! A fire in his belly! A youthfulness and energy! He believes in pursuing God dreams! And as Brian Sanders put it in his book, his head is in the clouds, but his feet are in the fire! Yes!!!

There is much I could say here, of course, but the main thing is it is obvious to one and all God has called this person to a God-given assignment, now what is that assignment? Let’s figure it out and make it happen! For God’s glory!

Of course God’s Word gives us a description of qualifications. 2nd Timothy is excellent on this. It speaks of in a great house there are vessels of gold and silver, vessels of honor, and vessels not so honorable. The whole book is great on this subject. It speaks of the last days and how many will no longer desire the true Word of God. And 1st Timothy has a very detailed description of Eldership/Bishop qualifications in chapter 3.

I was going to say more on this subject, but it really is so basic and simple. It’s a matter of really knowing each other and promoting each of us into our obvious callings of God. I’m going to leave this subject at that and also repeat again, both 1st and 2nd Timothy are excellent of this.

Now just before I end, as I have been also reading the book on Elijah, one thing I have found myself pondering is how Elijah was actually praying for a severe drought! He was praying for poverty and hunger! The man of God, called of God, was praying for God’s hand of blessing to lift from the people of God! And he knew what he was praying would bring hardship and suffering on one and all, including himself!

He was praying for suffering, lack, hunger, poverty, judgment, hardship, even death on God’s people! Are we to seek the curses? Do you do that? Are we in such a time today? Can you picture praying for such a thing to come on yourself and all around you? This is certainly not what you hear megachurches teaching. Are the days of Elijah coming again? Dare we pray for such things? Are we selfless enough to do what’s best no matter the cost? Has someone already been praying it? Has it already begun happening? Have you ever seen such a time? And it is only beginning!

We will end here for now, with much still to think about, as I continue being excited about our future. Our micro group has always been dog-friendly from the very beginning, and now it appears we may be going to be even more so. Maybe God was giving us a sign! Praise God! Seek and save that which is lost!

“Learning to Share” Part 2

Path Without End

5738 So the REAL JESUS tells me I have to learn to share. Hhmm. If you read Part I, you know how I described my isolated and introverted childhood, not so good for learning to share. We also shared the analogy of the wolf verses the dog. The dog has wolf ancestry but chooses to love and serve a master. Dogs are such a picture of devotion and choosing to share.

Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth. Wolves shall not, but the lovable mutt that works their way into your heart will survive! In the above picture, my friend Jason recently took on a new member to his family. Meet Luke. A full blooded yellow Lab.

However, Jason already had one dog, a chihuahua named Zak. And now Zak, who had been an only dog, is having to learn to share!

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“And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.” (Acts 2:44-45)

This is the Jesus I kept bumping into in our large fancy modern Church buildings that cost more to run than what we probably feed the poor, or help our neighbor. I was in a pickle and didn’t know what to do about it. I feel sorry for Zak, but he may be doing better at it, than I.

So I began sharing this spiritual dilemma with our Fellowship we started. We left the modern Church system so we could be REAL, like the Jesus I kept bumping into. As you can imagine, we all three felt the strain of living up to what Jesus actually taught, especially his whole Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor in spirit? Well…maybe because they know what it is to lack, and need to share, in order to survive. Their hopes and dreams have been dashed so many times, now they are a broken vessel no longer prideful or attached to things. But what about me? I’ve always been lower middle class and never lacked. I also have stuff. Not just needs.

We know what it is to live from paycheck to paycheck, and barely squeeze by. But we have a small house of 1400 square feet in the big city. We have transportation, old though they be. We have food, heat, AC, medical if we need it, and a little extra for entertainment, and helping others, but the Jesus I kept bumping into wanted to take things to a much higher level! Because he is LOVE! And it seemed to be connected to COMMUNITY/ GOD’S FAMILY. And it’s all through our New Testament and early Church fathers. There is no denying or escaping it if your HONEST, and much of modern Church IS NOT!

I do love the wolf/ dog/ sheep analogy. They say sheep are the most stupid animal, but they happen to be smart enough to choose following a “higher being” than themself, known as man, also called a shepherd.

The dog also has chosen to follow a higher being, known as man, and master. But the wolf only follows another wolf. He is the alpha, small “a”, and he’s just another wolf.

The real Jesus says, “Follow me.” The real Jesus asked Peter, lovest thou these more than me?

Do I trust him? Do I love him? Am I making disciples? This Jesus tells me in Luke 14:33 that I cannot become his disciple without giving up everything I own. And I am to help the poor. The greater are always supposed to help the lesser, and there is always someone greater than you, but also having less than you. Those with less rarely can do much for those having more. That doesn’t even make sense.

So as I examined my possessions, I still have no real savings, not even a 401K. LOL. That got burned up in my back surgery. Our 2 vehicles are old and needed. The only thing leaping out at me is our small house. So I laid it before the Lord and asked, “What would you have me to do?”

This led to me, as the Bell Sheep of our Fellowship, this led to me sharing the vision of “what to do” with our small Fellowship, of which my wife is one, and Jason the other. Well… as you can imagine… I tried to blame it on the REAL JESUS… but somehow she kept looking at me.

This story will continue in Part 3.

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My dog, Shadow. We are dog lovers here.

My Dog, Shadow.

Path Without End

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Someone recently asked about my dog, Shadow, so before going on to new chapters of “Yinney the Sloth who needed to Poo”, here’s my dog and loyal friend, Shadow.

We were playing football the other day and I discovered she was cheating by using an under inflated ball! Deflate Gate!

What can I say? She was caught red-handed, nor did she try to deny it. She just looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, “Throw the ball!”

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She is actually a Lab and German Shepherd mix. Weighs around 100 pounds! She is so black she is invisible in low light. We have to keep a night light on where she sleeps because if we don’t, we have fallen right over her before! Thank goodness she didn’t get hurt.

She loves the water and I occasionally swim with her. Just got to watch out for those front paws when she’s doing the dog paddle. I learned that the hard way, trying to give her a hug in the water. LOL. Be sure you get to the side of the dog.

Fetching is her favorite sport. If you can throw it she will fetch it. A refrigerator, a live person, my wife’s yappy little white pomeranian, or even a dead person. If you throw it in the water she goes right in, so much the better. (Oh, that’s my 1990 Dodge Ram short bed truck in the background. Complete with Ram’s head on hood. Yes, I have a black dog and an old black truck. Sounds like a country song, but Shadow loves the truck as much as I do.)

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She’s not the fastest runner. My daughter has a sister of hers, and a cousin. They are smaller. Shadow stands head and shoulder taller. They outrun her to get the ball, but they better get out of the way when she arrives or they might get bowled right over. They swim faster too, but Shadow is a very strong and steady swimmer, just not so fast.

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She was the last pup left when I got her. The owners had nicknamed her “Hoss”, because she always tried to eat everyone’s food. They couldn’t fill her up. I’m sure if I let her, she would be fat and sassy. Lay around and not want me to throw the ball.

I’m so glad nobody picked her, nobody saw her potential. She is the very one I hope I would have picked had there been other choices, but maybe God was helping me get the right one? I like to think so. He that dwelleth in the secret place, shall abide under the SHADOW of the Almighty.”

So that’s my dog, Shadow.

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“My dog, Shadow.”

Path Without End

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Do you see that big black area, like a black hole in space? That’s my dog, Shadow. At night time wherever she is sleeping, we have to be sure we keep a small light on or you cannot see her! She is literally invisible! We’re always afraid someone will trip over her and be seriously hurt. Let me bring the camera in for a closer shot.

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Can you see her now? She’s very camera shy. She’s the hardest dog I ever seen to get good pictures of. When you point a camera at her, including all phones, her ears go down. She weighs in at 100 very solid pounds. Her mother was Labrador Retriever and her father was German Shepherd. (But she mostly looks Lab, and loves the water like a Lab also.)

My daughter had purchased a pup from the litter and by the time I got around to checking into it, there was only one pup left, and they had nicknamed her “Hoss”, because she had such a tremendous appetite! I guess that’s why she grew so large. She grew considerably larger than my daughter’s dog.

Shadow is my partner at Tumble Pigeon Farm as we are developing the Teepee and everything else. And just like the way she is curled up on the floor by my side as I write this article, she “shadows” me everywhere! She is my constant companion. Shadow is the perfect name for her. Every where I go, she quietly follows.

When I was painting the Teepee, of course she was right there. She ended up with white paint on her black fur and an orange spot on her nose!

This week has been a really tough one around here. After shoveling snow at the farm I got very sick. I ran a fever on and off for three days. I coughed so hard and deep I thought my toe nails would come up! I missed two days work and also had to delay a job interview at a Pet Store. If you follow this Blog you know I’m trying to move my life towards Whitestown Indiana, where we are building a spiritual retreat. We’ve also had wind chills way below zero and people’s pipes freezing. Its been really tough. Fortunately, my pipes have survived all this, and with as sick as I have been, I’m so thankful they have.

But today I was supposed to make that job interview after having delayed it. I was a mess as I crawled out of bed. I had not shaved or showered in three days. I’ve had very little appetite. I was weak from lack of food, no energy, still have some cough, especially if I breathe that cold air, and somehow I had to get to this interview? Could I possibly pull myself together enough to do a good interview? I was seriously worried.

Why is God’s will so hard sometimes? Am I sure this is God’s will? My heart says it is, but why is everything against me? If I were to simply go by the signs around me, I’d be convinced I must be on a wrong path, but my heart still says go! So by faith, I will.

I rose early and it took me hours to get ready. I managed to down an egg on toast and some coffee, and it actually tasted good. I got my vehicle warmed up and headed to the appointment. My coughing spasms have greatly decreased, thank goodness, but I did this interview entirely by prayer and faith. I was hired on the spot and begin training this next week. I won’t be pushing wheelchairs at the Airport much longer. My physical circumstances did not prevent God’s will from going forward, as long as I was still willing to step out in faith. (Even though I still feel lousy!)

Now I get to work in a field having to do with dogs, and other pets. I’m looking very forward to learning more about taking care of the health of my dog, Shadow. And soon we will begin preparing the shack we will move into on the farm. This will be the future part time home for Shadow and I, as we more and more develop Tumble Pigeon Farm.

So as my strength and health slowly returns, we continue in Faith Forward Motion that all these things shall be. Even though in my flesh I feel so very weak, my spirit man still burns with a vision that simply must be. It’s a beautiful vision. I have seen what I must do, and step by step we progress that way. Act III in my life will not be boring with such a vision to pursue.

Our progress may be slowed by such severe winter conditions as we are having, but progress is still progress. We are not discouraged by old age, sickness, freezing cold and snow, or anything of this physical realm. We have learned to walk by faith, and not by sight.

My wife has this virus too, and I told her, “Just focus on keeping breathing, dear. This thing will pass and bright skies will come again, if we just keep breathing, and then with that breath…live inspired!

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