“HOME” was God’s idea! And He has given us all the info we need to build homes that are marked by “Shalom” peace. Home is to be a place of rest and refuge from frigid winds of everyday life in a world that can be less than peaceful!

As a church family we’re jumping into a three week focus we’re calling “LOVE in the house”! I’m praying that this focus will push the love levels in our home up and too the right! As I’ve thought about this theme it’s caused me to thank the Lord again for my mom and dad who worked and prayed to provide a home filled with the Shalom peace that God’s presence brings. He is the “love big” professor that will bless your home if you let Him – “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” – 1 Thess.4.9.

Have a great day loving big!

Jon

The Apostle Paul writes, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Eph.4.1). What would posses a guy like Paul to lock himself into a “prison”.  It’s all about who is with him there in prison. When you meet Jesus and experience His love and the joy doing life with him and the hope He offers…there is only one place to be… “leashed to Him”!

Each day we wake up we have the choice of doing life without Him or walking with Him. Leash me up to HIM every-time! It’s when I start living unleashed that I end up in the swamp of suffering.

I hope you enjoy “living leashed” today!

Jon

It all began with the dream of a cute little white puppy. Our kids wanted a dog. We did our best to delay the day. But all the hydraulic power of the Mississippi can’t touch the power of a daughter’s “Please daddy”! So we found a dog that was packing more than “cuteness”. It had an attitude. It bit Jessie twice. We weren’t playing baseball – 2 strikes was an out!

So what do you do with a heartbroken little girl? You get her a fish! But grandma came through with a cat. I didn’t grow up with a cat. Cats spook me. But this cat seemed to erase the memory of the dog and so we adopted it, named it Midnight (it’s black) and gave it a place to stay on the back porch.

Approximately four years later I’m here to tell you that cat is one of the coolest creatures I’ve ever met!

If ever there was a LOVE BIG cat…Midnight is it! It actually hugs Jessie when she holds it. Jessie and her friends would do the unthinkable… dress it up in doll cloths and push it around in the stroller… and the cat seemed to actually enjoy entertaining them! Midnight became part of the family.

But all good things come to end. We moved into a neighborhood that doesn’t allow cats to roam free. Jessie loved midnight and didn’t want to give it away. SO we opted to keep him on a lease in the garage. Thus, the cat on a lease… Jessie’s LOVE won’t let it go!

When I pulled into the driveway last night the cat was gone! Jessie in a moment of LOVE BIG passion made the decision to give the cat to a family who can let him run “leash free”!   Midnight never knew it could be so good! Thankfully Jessie has visitation privileges.

Question – What’s more messed up than a cat on a leash? Answer – a human on a leash! And I’m not talking about the kid at Disney. Full grown humans leashed up. Jesus points to the reality in John 8.34 – “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” As humans we’re born “leashed up”. But Jesus also said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Question – what are we set free to do? On Sunday we’ll be talking about it!

I hope you can join us as we celebrate our being “leash free”!

Jon