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  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod .Exodus 4:2 I'm a "walking-stick" kind of guy. I've always like to grab a stick when going for a walk in the woods and weeds. I have several right now on my back porch. The one that I cut just two days ago is green bamboo! Cool. In Moses’ writings we read about Aaron's rod, God's rod and Moses' rod. All were used in Power move situations. Have you noticed? On Moses’ first encounter with Jehovah God the question is asked, "What is that in your hand" and the response is, "A rod." However, when tossed to the ground that "rod" became a wicked looking snake. How do I know that it was wicked looking? Because an aged shepherd who had been working the "back-side" of the desert for forty years ran like a scared school boy when he saw it! The rod became leverage in the conversation with pharaoh. Don't you just know that Moses was chomping at th...

Exodus 18.9 When is the last time that you shared a blessing with someone. I mean that you literally sat down with a friend and shared the blessings that God has been showering you with. That is what happened in Exodus 18 when Moses met with Jethro his father-in-law. Can you imagine this scene with me? These two old men with their long beards are sitting on the ground at the table where they have been dinning. All the while Moses has been recounting what the LORD has been doing in his life lately. Man! A firsthand account of all of those miracles by none other than Moses. Here sits the entire family around the table recounting God's blessings. The result was that "... Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel ...". Interesting that word, "rejoiced". It means to " rejoin ". It has the sense of uniting, intertwining or connecting . I know that you have been in a situation like this. A friend is weaving a story and you a...

Camp was FUN! Thirty two kids and seven leaders had a blast living together and learning from God's Word. Our special guest speaker this year was none other than King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon! He shared his prospective on the life of Daniel. What made this story even neater for our kids was that one of them is named Shadrack! Ben Jacobs played the king and Ben Broyals played Daniel. They were perfect for each part. Except for the fact that both were blue eyed blonds! The kids were spell-bound as they listened to each installment of the story. We knew that they were paying attention because many questions were asked afterward and their answers were great. Some of them even earned a little of the king’s gold (chocolate coins) for their good attention. We broke into devotional groups in the mornings and it was great to be able to share principles of Reverence and Respect with my five boys. This year we had leaders in training: Amanda, Lucas and Dani helped Ben Broyals, Ben’s ...

Genesis 37 - 50 Moses in preparing his novel called Genesis relates some fascinating human interest stories. One that endears me each time is how Joseph saves the universe! What? You’ve never read that part? Well my friend it is there as plain as day in chapters 37 - 50. Joseph was a casula. Whoa brother you lost me there. Casula (ka-SOO-la) is a Portuguese word which usually means, “Spoiled rotten little brat”. Well... that might be the Amplified version of the definition. It actually means the youngest child in a family. The “baby”. Joseph being the casula got doted on by daddy. Jacob’s favoritism lead to such bitterness that Joseph´s brothers wanted to kill him literally. While planning to do just that Joseph was saved by big brother Rubin. That, “salvation” lead to a life of slavery in Egypt shortly after being sold to a caravan of Ishmaelites. Lovely little family tradition that. Let’s sell the casula! Yay! Sounds like something from Star Wars. Soon after his unexpected journey...

Zechariah 12 As a kid I often saw my dad sharpening a tool on his table grinder. The sparks that flew brought wonder. They were myriad and beautiful. When he was done there was a tiny pile of shavings that I could play with. I’d get a magnet and create fantastic miniature sculptures with the whisks. What is a spark? You might be surprised. Robert Hooke studied the sparks created by striking a piece of flint and steel together. He found that the sparks were usually particles of the steel which had become red hot and so melted into globules. These sparks can be used to ignite tinder and so start a fire. In colonial America, flint and steel were used to light fires when easier methods failed. Scorched linen was commonly used as tinder to catch the spark and start the fire but producing a good spark could take much time. A spinning steel wheel provided a good stream of sparks when it engaged the flint and a tinderbox designed to do this was known as a mill. In a modern lighter or...

Christmas on Sunday seemed strange didn't it? Several friends said that they couldn't remember the last time that it had. I Googled it and discovered that it was 2004. Not so long ago. Dawn and I brunched with coworkers Shaw, Donna, Andrew and Ana Shea Alexander. We then traveled to São Paulo where we worshiped with fellow missionaries Marv and Diane and Nathan and Diane Fray at their new church plant. Both morning and evening were sweet fellowship on the Lord's birthday. Sunday night after the service we traveled another half an hour to Camp Betel. Nathan Fray purchased a beautiful piece of property about five years ago. The property had several out buildings and a pool. It is also on a large reservoir which makes for a lovely camp setting. We spent Sunday night there and on Monday gathered with our fellow São Paulo station missionaries for our annual Christmas party.  We went back to camp and stayed Monday and Tuesday. It was great to get to know Marv and Diane better. W...

Genesis 7 I always think that Noah and family were safe and sound inside the ark with their personal zoo before the first drop of water hit that titanic ship. It may have been that way. However, the verse order in Genesis 7 makes me wonder. Have you ever noticed it? Look at verses 11 - 16.  11  In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13  In the selfsame day entered Noah , and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; 14  They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. 15  And they went in unto Noah into the...

Happy New Year Psalm 1 The New Year brings the possibility of being happy. We hope in the prospects that this unspoiled page offers. It seems a unique time for change. We stand at the beginning of something big, important and special. Tantalizing possibilities, adventures and solutions, that at other times during the year are invisible to us, seem do-able.  It is January 1. The psalmist has some advice for us as we enter the New Year’s door. He sees a fork in our way. Two paths lie before us. One leads to destruction and one leads to happiness. He starts and ends his short verse with a negative perspective. If we were to paraphrase the beginning and ending of this song it would actually look very positive, “Happy are they who don’t...die.” However, to have a happy ending we have some responsibilities. All of which are sandwiched in the middle of this chorus. So, here is a type of ancient mathematical formula for a really Happy New Year no matter what the following twelve mont...