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September 4, 2008 Thank You for blessing me with one hour of prayer from 2:12 to 3:15 this morning. Father, at that time You impressed on me that You might want us to stay here (at the Drahner Rd apartments) for the year and let Steve and Robin come to Semloh. Allow me to know for sure that this is Your will by some spiritual fruit soon.  Jeremiah 24:8 to 10 The naughty figs (KJV)  The BAD I wills - make them a horror - the word horror is used just 29 times in the Old Testament and 17 times in Jeremiah! - Make them to be a reproach  - Make them to be a byword - Make them to be a taunt  - Make them to be a curse (a scattered curse at that)  - Send the sword upon them  - Send famine upon them  - Send pestilence upon them. Until they are utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to their fathers.  God (Jehovah) had given them the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.. But they had abused the privilege and thus, after nearly a millenia...

Wednesday September 3, 2008 At Pontiac, no make that Drahner Road apartments. Still in a bit of jet lag. Its 8:50 so I'm really late. But, Father, I need and want (because You let me want) Your direction for this day and the beginning of this year home.  My head is spinning. I know that there are many things that I need to be doing. And there are many things that will vie for my attention. My tendency is to allow the fog to take over my thinking.  9:35 later after several distractions!!  Wow! But it is early in my tenure here and there are many things that will take time to resolve. Thank You Father for being with me in and through them all.  Jeremiah 24:1-7 Jeremiah sees a vision of two baskets of figs: good and bad. The good are representing the exiles whom God has taken to Babylon. They are good in the fact that God has "rescued" them by taking them captive. "The LORD God of Israel" is the name God uses to speak to Jeremiah.  Jehovah, the God of Israel is My ...

I haven't written about this in two years and actually just this morning discovered that I had jotted down my thoughts over a period of several blog posts. Since that last post, Dawn and I have invested in six other properties. We currently have a total of ten single-family homes, one of which is our primary residence. Of the ten, six are owned outright and four have low percentage 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. So, how on earth does one come to own even more than one home? Let alone TEN! I've recounted some of my journey in the past posts and want to continue that story here. I have made some big blunders along the way, but I've also discovered that blunders are a part of the learning process. What blunders did you make, Mike? One of my first mistakes was that I didn't insist on raising rent on the house we rented while in Brazil. It is customary for a landlord to raise rent on a regular basis, especially over a period of 25 years. In my inexperience, I felt like I was ...

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

God Talked  Well, the new year is here and it's time to begin reading through the Bible again. It seems like I just finished Revelation, and it's time to start again. Are you going to read through the Bible this year? I hope so. Actually, I started a tad early and am already ten days into a reading plan. Which brought me to Genesis 25 this morning. While reading through this chapter, the following text caught my attention:  "And Isaac entreated Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she was barren; and Yahweh was moved by his entreaty. So Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, 'If it is so, why then am I this way?' So she went to inquire of Yahweh. And Yahweh said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger'." (Genesis 25:21-23 LSB) This is a crucial passage that explains th...

Isaiah 2:22 says Isaiah 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? The Prophet is saying that we shouldn't put our trust in humankind because they are so finite. They are not like God, who is infinite. People are fickle. They change their minds. They love you and then hate you in moments.  God invites us to trust him completely with everything that we have. He doesn't show himself to us physically or as a spirit. He demands that we have faith. However, he also gives us the faith to trust him.  The universe shouts "Creator!" and yet we often ignore the proclamation. This ignorance does not make God's creation any less a physical demonstration of his grandeur. God's boundless being becomes more amazing in his presence within us. How can the infinite God dwell in the mortals he commands us not to trust?  Jesus said, "with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible."