Sounds of Hope

Sometimes those of us who come from a Charismatic/Pentecostal background are really quick to say that God told me this or that.   I was watching something yesterday. One by one, a person would come up and say The Lord would say to you…   I do believe in that sort of stuff. I also find that God speaks to me the most loudly in the everyday. To say that my oldest son was difficult to raise is an understatement. This child was forbidden from sitting in a Sunday School class when he was three.  For some reason or other he decided he was a dog and would only bark in the class.  Then he jumped up to the basement window and barked really loud.  He was in the principal’s office his very first day of Kindergarten.   One time he decided to practice being a knife thrower. He put his younger brother up against a door and threw my kitchen knives at him. Fortunately, he didn’t kill his brother. One day I went to church and as was often the case, someone said something...

I remember a long time ago reading a book, Prison to Praise by Merlin Carothers.  It is considered a charismatic classic. It has a simple message, thank God in all circumstances. It's been a long time since I read it, probably 30 years. Over the years, I can't say I've been good with this concept. I tend to be negative at times. I also find that there are times that while I know in my head that I have much to be thankful for, even in the rough times, I still need to vent sometimes. I need to express my pain. Have you ever noticed this in the Psalms? Many of them follow this pattern. I'm in a mess, I am in pain, everything has gone wrong, I have no friends, my enemies surround me and that it is as if the switch of faith gets turned on and you find the psalmist praising God. It is almost schizophrenic. I am sure that you have been watching the coverage of Haiti. Have you noticed the spontaneous worship services on the beach by people with nothing left? Have you noti...

I’m probably going to step on some toes.  I have thoughts, and since I put them on paper, I suppose it is inevitable to step on some ones toes. I feel I should apologize in advance if I do. Nevertheless, my intent is not to step on your toes but cause us all to have thoughts, thoughts about what it means to be human and to be Christian. I have seen a lot of prophetic ministry. I rather like it. I have had people speak into my life through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and it can be life changing. A word in due season, how good it is (Proverbs 15:23). I have ministered to others declaring things I only knew through the Spirit. I know it has blessed and edified people. There is another understanding of prophetic ministry.  I remember when I first considered going to graduate school. I was accepted at Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School. Over one of the doors, it says “School of the Prophets.” I rather laughed; I thought what do they know about prophets and the prophet...

I have moved too much in my life. No I’m not a military brat nor was my father or mother a hot shot executive. My dad was a janitor and my mom a homemaker. My husband isn’t in the military either. In comparison to many, we haven’t moved that much.   Yet, I’ve felt the impact of moving. Anyone who knows me knows that this latest move to South Dakota has been brutally hard on me. I make jabs and comments all the time. People have blasted me because they love South Dakota. Others have offered me sympathy. The best is when they offer to pray for me or offer to go to lunch with me. I started out in Brooklyn NY. I often wonder what my life would be like if we never left Brooklyn when I was a junior in High School. The rumor was that I married very young to an Italian police officer and moved to New Jersey. Hey, would I now be a real housewife of New Jersey now? Would I make wonderful calzones and baked ziti instead of the curry dishes and naan’s I make now? I’d probably have a son ...

God has done some amazing things for me. When I was an adolescent I happened to be in the middle of a prayer meeting. People were giving words to each other and doing the “sit in the chair so we can pray for you.”  After telling everyone else that they were going to do amazing things for God,  they realized that I was there. As sort of an afterthought, they decided to let me sit in the chair. I was thirteen. I wanted to hear like a friend who was a bit older than I was, that I was going to marry a godly man and be a missionary.  This friend did tell me afterwards to never repeat that to anyone. I don’t know who she married but I don’t think she was ever a long-term missionary. So as I waited expectantly for powerful words of my future, I just knew it would be amazing.  Maybe they were tired, maybe they thought I was young and insignificant but finally, someone, my youth pastor, said “Thus saith the Lord: I will never leave you nor forsake you....

God is big. I’ve tried to put God in a box and figure Him out. I can tell you, you can’t figure God out. I suggest you don’t try. I suggest you don’t try to put Him in a box either. He’ll burst out of it. Usually when He does, it leaves those of us who try to confine Him suffering from shock at the least. So how big is God? The best answer is much, much bigger than you can ever imagine. God has been huge in my life. I have seen Him heal, provide and astound me. I can be pretty weak in my faith at times and yet there He is, He shows up and does amazing things. Can you imagine what God showed how big He is by parting the Red Sea? We read those stories and even with the help of Cecil B. DeMille we still can’t fathom what that was like.  I’ve never seen anything like that, but I have seen hot dogs multiplied. We all know Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, but He can also multiply hot dogs. Several years ago the church I was involved with did an outreach. We had a hot d...

Coffee is a great thing. I love coffee. I used to own a coffee shop. Today my coffee tastes terrible. Not sure why. Is it just me? Is it the coffee? I don’t think it is the coffee since I buy huge amounts of whole bean Dunkin Donut coffee when in Tennessee and bring it back to South Dakota.  I have a great coffee maker so that’s not it either. I’ve been drinking coffee since I was a small child. My father always had to have a skvett of coffee before going out the door. A skvett  is like a splash or drop. The coffee was made in a small four cup aluminum percolator coffee pot.  Percolators are amazing things. I’ll bet some younger people have no idea what a percolator is or how to make coffee with it. It is a magical invention that somehow knows exactly when the coffee is done and stops the percolating action. Maybe that’s what I need to do, get rid of the Cuisinart and get a percolator at Goodwill. When my dad would have a skevtt of coffee, it was usually reheated coffe...