Gone Fishin!

You really never know. I fly America's skies on a regular basis. I don't much care for it, the seats are small for the big man. Airplanes break and leave you on the runway for long periods of time, luggage gets lost and then there are the crowds...oh my. But every so often I find myself stuck in one of those seats that reminds me that God really does divinely appoint times, places a people in our lives. I flew back home from a retreat for the ministry I work for, www.davidjeremiah.org, yesterday. After a great event I was just looking forward to getting home to see my family. I was lamenting the fact that I had a late flight and would not be home till after 8:00 pm last night. I even thought of paying a change fee. I'm glad I didn't. I found myself next to a young lady from Idaho on her way back home from vacation. At 26 she recounted to me all the fun she had had in Florida and was not looking forward to the cold and snow of Boise. It reminded me o...

So, this morning I awoke to a cold crisp January morning here in the Piedmont of NC. I slept in a bit and headed directly for the kitchen to brew up some coffee. My immediate plans were to have my coffee and sit and read in a devotional book that has been a blessing to me over the years. Its a 90 day plan to praying through the Scriptures by Ken Boa called Face to Face. If you don't have it, get it...its amazing. Nothing but Scripture to pray. Now I know that distractions are a part of the Christian walk and overcoming those can be a challenge. That's where discipline comes in for sure. Most of the time my distractions like yours are usually the calender or the to do list. Those little things that wedge their way in between us and God. They become so urgent that we say, "I don't have the time to sit and read and pray this morning". I find that on those days, I REALLY need to sit and pray...taking the time to really hear what God wants from me and what I need...

Dave and his lovely wife Wanda   Hi folks and happy New Year Yesterday Tammy and I went Sanford NC for the funeral of my friend CH (LTC) Dave Spears. I worked with Dave at FT Bragg on my last assignment. He entered heaven on Christmas Day after a yearlong fight with brain cancer. At the funeral there was a host of friends, colleagues and even a general or two paying tribute to a life well lived but more importantly to a God who saves.  Dave loved to hunt, fish and make knives. He was not a touchy feely type at all! Probably why he made a great chaplain to the hardened men of Special Forces.  Dave surrendered his life to Jesus in the late 70's and not long after that gave his life to the ministry, bible college and seminary. He worked his way through both undergrad and his master’s degree with the ultimate goal of becoming a chaplain in the Army. He did so 16 years ago at the age of 36. Dave led countless soldiers to Christ, deployed 3 times ...

So today at 4:00 I was the Grinch. Seriously. Sometimes during this time of the year I get frustrated. I get frustrated with obligatory visits, the pressure to buy gifts, the disruption to life's normal rhythm and to be quite honest I'm not sure what any of this stuff at Christmas has to do with Christ. Don't you? Then I start thinking about it and I get mad, really mad. Your probably thinking, "Brad that never happens to me", well God bless you...you are freed from having to endure this post. But for the rest of you, hang on it gets better. My mom wanted me and the kids to roll down to Belmont to visit with our cousins Betsy and Lisa. Betsy lives in my Uncle Bill's old house on the same farm where my Granddaddy grew up and became the man we all knew and loved. I love going there. It conjures up so many sweet memories for me about being helped along in life by a great man. But today, I didn't want to go. It was just on...

I have been reluctant to commentate on all the "occupy" movements going on across America. I have done this for two reasons. The first is that I don't know the folks out in the streets protesting and its hard to get a handle on what it their collective protest is about. But the main reason I haven't commentated on it is, I just don't have time....because I have work to do. I am blessed with a great job and have had steady employment for the last 25 years of my life. But even if I didn't have a job there would still be work to do. There is always work to do. My dad and grandfather were big believers in work. I rarely got to sleep in as a young fellow. There was always something to do, mowing a yard, splitting or cutting wood, cleaning up a job site, work on our farm and this time of year the onslaught of the maples, red and white oaks and the poplars....leaves, millions and millions of leaves. And as a kid I grew to hate the thought of hours of raking, b...

Have you noticed the new TV shows about being a man this year, “Man Up” and “Last Man Standing”. Then there are the beer commercials that make fun of guys who don’t act manly…hilarious. But if art imitates life what are these media portrayals of men really saying. I think its saying that the attempt to make men what they are not has  failed and failed miserably . The emasculated metro sexual male inspires no one, leads nowhere and leaves men and women crying out “Where are the men?” Not the steroid freak, domineering man cartoon character, but a real live man who inspires and leads and says “I will stand here and hold my ground”. So this past weekend was huge, I mean huge. I have, along with a few friends, been planning a trip on the Appalachian Trail for the last 6 months. The biggest part for me was the fact that my son Jack was going to join us in his first “real man” adventure. The route was from Stacoah Gap, NC to Fontana Dam. It’s nearly 17 miles over some of the ...