Category Archives: Work

Latest Update

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been reading the story of Corrie ten Boom. I was surprised at the information told regarding Hitler and the Third Reich—from Corrie’s perspective. Back then they didn’t have up-to-date news as we do now, so the takeover of Hitler was quite a shock to the European people. Here are a few quotes.

  • A growing evil appeared on the eastern horizon…a socialism of the most heartless kind (this seems much like we feel now in America).
  • It is called the National Socialist German workers Nazi party.
  • They were called progressives (sound familiar?). In this Nazi party the poor, the old, the feebleminded, and the handicapped were enemies of progress. And soon the Jews became enemies too.
  • The leader among the Nazi party, Hitler, appeared laughable at first, comical, then maddening.
  • This man Hitler sounded like the devil himself…he was afraid of no one…he was diabolically shrewd.
  • They walked into Czechoslovakia and took over the entire country. They invaded Poland, Norway, and Denmark.
  • The Dutch people of Haarlem (where Corrie lived) walked the streets in a daze. Within two days the Dutch army surrendered.
  • The Germans were very well-organized.

Of course, the worst of it was quite hidden from everyone—the concentration camps and the brutal extermination of so many Jews. In my reading, I’m just getting into the parts when they were hiding Jews behind fake walls. It was quite an operation—a labor of love!

My Work

I just finished a long painting job, taking all of August and into Sept. The job had good points and bad point. I’ll get the bad points over first. There were a lot of high areas where ladders and roof jacks were involved and as a result I now have some rib injuries; but it is healing up. And painting the high fence around the yard was not fun—trying to get in behind the flowers and tall bushes.

But the good points I think far out-weighed the bad points. The people, which I have known for over thirty years, are very kind., They invited me for lunch every day, and they also were very complimentary of all my work and paid me well. I will keep them in my prayers as they are very old. I have been retired for a about ten years—but still working. Maybe now, after my rib injuries, I will start taking my retirement more serious

A Stronger Faith

Posted on by
2

It came to me the other day (about 5 days ago) what I should do about my fears and worries. For some reason fears and worries over many things tend to be stronger and harder to handle now than they use to be. I think perhaps the devil if trying to shut me down in order to take away my influence. And that is in some ways an encouragement, knowing that he thinks I have some influence in the world.

But anyway, here is what I have been doing lately: since these fears of mine tend to work on me during the night, I have started—just before I go to bed—to record a very specific prayer to God asking Him to give me whatever it takes (wisdom) to wipe out my fears and help me. I use James 1:5-7 as a promise, that if I ask believing He will give it to me. This is my stronger faith. It is a faith that will without a doubt work every time—because it is built on the promise of God.

Now I sleep better knowing that God is working all through my night hours to deliver me and to set me up for the next day—to be a victorious conqueror like Joshua—not being afraid or discouraged, knowing that the LORD my God is with me wherever I go and whatever I do (Josh. 1:9).

Other things

The Timberwolves won in the 7th game last night. Very fun!

My small painting jobs are going so well—especially since I have been praying in faith over them. It has always been very important for me to do good work—working for the Lord.

The writing of my book on heaven is going well too. I even have some ideas on a book cover—the first thing people see.

I’ve been struggling lately with what is now a teaching topic in our Sunday School class: all about discipleship. It seems to me that some people put too much emphasis on it and it is making many feel guilty if they are not “making disciples.” Any thoughts?

It’s All Good

Posted on by
Reply

Today two comic strips spoke to my heart and made me laugh. First, Dustin:

Sometimes, like Dustin and his dad, I want to find whatever refuge I can and hide from all the trouble. But instead of the pillow fort (pictured), a better refuge can be found in the Lord—in the “secret place of the Most High.” From Psalm 91:1-6:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge

and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Second, Hagar the Horrible:

I use to be this way in my painting jobs, saying, it’s all good. I remember the first house I painted. I didn’t know you were supposed to spot prime the bare wood first. The owner ask me about it and I said, “Everything’s good. With the super good paint I used, primer is not needed.” Of course, that wasn’t exactly true. I also remember the first time I wallpapered a bathroom. The guy said, “Aren’t you suppose to match the pattern?” I said, “Oh no, it’s all good.”

My attitude is so changed now. Now everything has to be perfect. That’s good I guess. But I think I am too perfect—too much of a perfectionist. I almost wish I was the way I use to be. But I know I can’t.  All I can do is ask God for His help to do all things right, and then He will make it good. He will give His angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways. Psalms 91:9-15:

If you make the Most High your dwelling —

even the Lord, who is my refuge — 

10 then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

Update: Mostly about Me

Posted on by
Reply

The biggest news is Trump winning big in the Iowa caucus. But it’s not surprising to me, even that people braved the cold. Hey, it’s Iowa; cold is normal there. Many are saying that he has already clinched the election and all others should drop out and support him.

My Reading

The last three books I’ve read are biographies—Heroes of the Faith: Tyndale, Eric Little, and just finishing Gladys Aylward. I had never heard of Gladys Aylward, but now I know she is definitely a hero. This small lady was so courageous in China. She did such good work at a time when China was at war by two forces: the Communists and Japan, during the 1930’s. The reading of these books have been so inspiring to me that I have decided to read all of them I have over again—about a dozen of them, from the 1500’s (with Luther and Tyndale) to the 1930’s.

My Writing

My writing is always a slow process—because I always do tons of research firs; and I only spend about a half hour a day on it. So, it’s a grind, but I still like it and it’s so beneficial to me. I would say that it is benefiting me far more than anyone else that would be reading.

Time Off From Work

I haven’t worked for over a month—at my painting. Even though I am retired I will still be picking up some jobs soon. People will call me as soon as it gets a little warmer—or I will call them. In the meantime I will do more reading and writing. And I go out to eat breakfast almost every day. I never did that before. Well, that’s retirement I guess.

What’s on my Mind? Biden, Jim Jordan, Faith …

Posted on by
Reply

First and foremost, on my mind is suspicion of Biden. I don’t trust him. He seems to be playing both sides. He says he is for Israel, but at the same time he is aiding Hamas and delaying Israel’s war effort. I think he is just trying to get votes from both sides. It is all political.

Second on my mind is why Jim Jordan is being stopped from being Speaker. I think he would make a very good speaker—but liberals won’t allow it. Do they know what they are doing?

Thirdly, and more personal, is my thoughts on the subject of obedience and faith. I give the credit to John MacArthur in his book, The Gospel According to Jesus. He points out that some say that obedience and faith should be regarded as separate, that obedience is works and should come after faith—something like that. But MacArthur makes the point that the two should always be together—as James points out, faith without works is dead.

And what is really coming to light for me now is that when we are disobedient to God, we are in sin; and so, this tells us that when we sin we are lacking in faith—or we are not trusting God. I know that we—even good Christians—will never be perfect in obedience and faith; but this is something we have to be constantly working on. I mean, we cannot let up in our effort to be holy and godly. And on the brighter side, when we are more obedient, God makes us happy (or joyful). And when we are obedient we have more hope and steadfastness and resilience in evil times. In short, obedience to God is the key to the victorious Christian life—because in our obedience we are trusting in Him.

Fourthly, as I trust and obey Him, I plod along with everything else. I have two books that I am editing. I am nursing a thing in my mouth called lichen planus (sort of a disease which apparently has no cure; but I am using mouth washes, aloe Vera gel and clove to try to get rid of it, or at least sooth it).

I am also reading two books; the one I mentioned by MacArthur, and a book by Bill O’Reilly, Killing the Witches. This book falls in line with the one I just read, Mayflower. The Mayflower arrived in 1620 and the witches tragedy occurred later at about 1680. I say tragedy because they were killing girls that weren’t witches at all. They were just suspected of being witches. It was much like the Catholic inquisition—burning Christians alive. Terrible!

My blogging has slowed down, but now that I am not working much, I will try to pick it up again.

Perfection

Posted on by
Reply

Been thinking about perfection. I always try to be perfect at my job—house painting. And at my publishing—getting things just right. But at other things like house cleaning, I know I am not too perfect at. My driving could use some improvement too.

I’m going through a real tragedy right now. The title of my new book is not perfectly centered. It’s driving me up the wall. And if I want to fix it, it will take two or three weeks for the approval process to go through. Should I fix it or just leave it be imperfect? Will anybody really notice—or care? Probably not, except me. Funny, that’s the same with my painting. If I make a small mistake nobody will notice except me—unless I point it out.

Some people are so meticulous at house cleaning and at the way they look. Everything looks perfect. But those same people might not be so perfect in their thoughts—in their moral purity. For them it’s all a matter of what people see. I think this is true for me too. People will see my book covers and my paint job, but they can’t see my heart. But God sees my heart and He is very concerned about what I think. All my sins are against Him. And that is the greatest tragedy!

How will I clean up my heart, make my heart more perfect? That was the concern and the prayer David had. He knew he had sinned against God and he knew his heart was unclean. So, he prayed for a clean heart (Ps 51).

Only God can clean our heart and make us more perfect, because he is perfect. He is absolutely perfect in every way. And some day—after daily washings—we will be so clean and perfect just like Him. No worries then. All will be right. Perfect.

Update: Working and Publishing

Posted on by
Reply

I haven’t been blogging lately because I have a job going–getting out early and too tired to do anything after work. And the days have been hot and humid. But I don’t want to complain. It’s good to be working, making money. But today, Saturday, I have free and back again.

I have a new book coming out soon–probably in September. The title is THE TRIBULATION. I’m going through the publication process now. I self-publish all my books (with the help of Lulu.com). Please look for it; and also please pray for the process of publishing to go smoothly.

That’s all for now.

This and That

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been reading Lewis and Clark: Partners in Discovery, by John Bakeless. Some of it is delightful reading. I have to chuckle at some of the quotes. For example, when Clark comments on the abundance of timber in Oregon; he said they made “the straightest and most butifullest logs.” Both Clark and Lewis were not the best at spelling and grammar. Yet I have to admire their courage and tenacity. When they arrived at the west coast they decided to rest through the winter before they headed back; and in just a matter of three or four months they built a total of eight good sized cabins. And they built them sturdy in order to resist any possible Indian attacks. The men, plus Sacagawea, were highly motivated to do everything they had to do to survive.

Painting. I’m back at painting. It’s good for me and is keeping my blood sugar level down—as I have diabetes.

Green. Everything is greener—wonderful! I was thinking about maybe picking up all the trash around this apartment building left over from the winter. A big mess.

Cousin’s Opportunity to Share Faith through Historic Comeback Victory

Posted on by
3

I was really inspired by a sports article I read in my newspaper today—all about how our quarterback, Kirk Cousins plans on using his comeback victory to share his Christian faith. Ya, in case you weren’t aware, our Minnesota Vikings got the all-time NFL record for a comeback victory. They were down 33 to 0 against the Colts at the half, but in the second half they somewhat miraculously got 39 points and held the Colts to just three points. The final score was Viking 39, Colts 36.

It turns out that the last comeback victory was led by Buffalo’s quarterback Frank Reich, against the Houston Oilers in 1993, and he is a Christian just as Kirk Cousins is! Well, the article tells how he has encouraged Cousins to use his comeback victory to share his faith just as he has been doing in the last thirty years.

I pray that Kirk will really take the opportunity to do it. God has given him a tremendous platform in the sports world. It is up to him to use it to glorify God—no pressure, ha ha.

God has given me a platform too—my painting business. Through my business I have found many opportunities to give a witness.

My Update — Three Things

Posted on by
1

I’ll start with a few complaints. Aside from an aggravating health situation, the weather here in Minnesota is most unpleasant. It’s dark, cloudy, humid, cold, and dreary. I don’t mind it being cold, but I like a sunny day. God, please give me a sunny day!

Respect for Marriage Act

Is that an oxymoron? If I didn’t know what it was I would praise it. Marriage is a beautiful thing. And though I am divorced, I still believe it is good—as is all of God’s creation. But this Respect for Marriage Act is a farce. It is telling us that we have to respect the so-called marriage between people of the same gender. Well, I don’t! True marriage is only between a man and a woman. Anything else is a perversion and is dishonoring of their bodies; they are changing the truth into a lie, and are changing what is natural into that which is against nature. Consequently, they do not like to retain God in their thoughts and they have given themselves over to a reprobate mind (from Romans 1:24-28). But marriage between a man and a woman is good and honoring to God. It is what God designed from the beginning—the two shall be one flesh.

My Reading

For some reason I have gotten into reading about African American history, and recently about Booker T. Washington. Wow! He was such a great man. He has done so much for his race and also for the poor whites and all people in the south after the civil war. He was a great educator. His emphasis in his college was to get his students working in a trade as well as into books. And so many from his college became great leaders and moral people, as they were trained also biblically and morally. And it was a hard task, because blacks coming out of slavery then were kept from any kind of education. Most did not know how to read or write or how to keep themselves clean or in good health. Hence when they came to school, Booker T. trained them in the art of bathing and brushing their teeth, etc., as well as how to read and write. And they were also expected to learn farming and building. All of their school buildings were built by the students. And they even made their own bricks!

Retirement

Retirement is a big change for me. Sometimes I feel that I am getting lazy. I think I need to force myself to walk more and work more—even though I am retired. I do like to keep up with my customers and paint for them when they ask me for work. Lately, I have been asking myself, what is retirement? What should I be doing? How should I be winding down? I don’t want to be like some who spend all of their time in front of a TV.