Author Archives: Daniel

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About Daniel

Follower of Christ, Author, Musician Though I have been a "Christian" for so many years, in many ways I feel life with Christ is a quest in with many troubles and dangers. It is frightfully more dangerous than anyone ever told me at the outset. Any "true" adventure would be, wouldn't it? This blog is about the adventure of discovery in this quest to follow the one who forged the path to life and true love so many years ago. I have found that the epic rescuing story of Jesus is far more relevant to you and I than we give it credit.

A message for young (and old) men

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Daniel

Dreams are one way that God speaks to me. Often what the Lord shows me in them are quite serious, sometimes life changing, sometimes they contain messages for the world (which I feel is my duty to share). The latter is what last nights dream was about. A message for men everywhere.

I was on vacation with my family. My girls were teens and we were on a boat going up a river. We arrived at a house by the river that we were staying at and two young men were there for our protection. There were nefarious forces (who I understood to be demons) seeking to do travelers harm and these young men were here to defend us in the house.

The problem was that one was falling asleep on the job and the other started to try to seduce my eldest daughter. I took a flat metal rebar and roughed him up a little bit and said, “If you try that again I’m going to have to put this through your chest. Don’t make me do it!”

I had the feeling in my dream that these young men were representative of all young men. They were called to be warriors, protectors, defenders who wage war against the forces of darkness. They were meant to be honorable warriors for truth, purity, and love. But they had lost the vision for their calling. They were bored and falling asleep. (And playing video games?)

Others have left from their intended role as defenders of truth and morality to being partners with the enemy they were meant to defend others from. They had given themselves to sexual vice.

How patient and long-suffering God is to us. How many times have my actions warranted a metal rebar being plunged through my chest? Yet he gives us time to repent. He doesn’t want to bring the judgement our sins deserve but would rather forgive and forget. He would much sooner redeem and transform our heart, restoring us to our true purpose and calling.

(Update: As I was pondering this blog post I thought I had wrote, “How many times has the LORD wanted to plunge a metal rebar through my chest?” Which would have been a gross misrepresentation of the LORD. (On par with Moses striking the rock twice in anger, for which he was denied access into the promised land). The fact is, God does not wish or want to bring anyone suffering. It is our own sins that do us harm, not the LORD. Judgement from the Lord consists of him allowing us to do as we wish. It’s a handing over process because we insist on leaving and love does not demand its own way. He lets you leave his loving care and presence and go into the darkness where there are a plethora of demons and evil spirits ready to torment you. Of course this hardly applies to those innocent who are victimized. To the victimizers Jesus has said that it would be better if a millstone were tied around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the seas. But even they (child molesters for instance) can find grace and redemption if they seek it. For God is not willing that any should perish but all to come to repentance.)

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you–even Jesus.” (Acts 3:19-20 NIV)

I am concerned for those who are pursuing their sins and refusing to repent. The sad fact is that people are using sin to reject and push away Jesus, and to reject your only Savior is what lands anyone in hell. To reject Jesus is to fire your only defense attorney who has never lost a case. And I don’t believe anyone has ever won a case in heavens court without him. We need to truly and humbly come to Jesus and beg his forgiveness and begin to honor him or face dire consequences.

Scripture says that those who continue in sin are storing up wrath on the day of judgement unless they repent:

“But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.” (Romans 2:5-11 NLT)

I am concerned about my daughters future. If Jesus doesn’t return for 15 more years, who is raising my daughters future husband? Are they honorable men teaching their boys to be warriors for purity, honor, and love? Or are they lost in a porn addiction and letting the demons have their kids as well?

John writes in his letter:

“I have written to you who are young in the faith
because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts,
and you have won your battle with the evil one.”

LORD, make it true of young (and old) men everywhere.

Categories: Dreams, Repentance | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Are You Strong Enough to Stand In His Love?

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Daniel

I was thinking about a particular lyric in a Jennifer Knapp song Hold Me Now (about the woman caught in adultery – John 8): “She is strong enough to stand in my love”.

Are You Strong Enough to Stand in the Love of God?

I have been asking myself that question, am I strong enough to stand in His love?

I recently encountered a story of a woman who encountered God and his infinite love. She says she was so drawn to his love and experienced it so fully and completely it “devastated her” in the most wonderful blissful sense possible. She trusted so completely. It was inspiring to hear her story

I want that.

I remember an occasion in a dream that I experienced his love like that.

The Dream:

It was simple really. I was just standing there looking at my dad. My brother was also present. As I looked at my dad I saw myself and my brother in him. We were the same. We were connected. Then God started to show me his love for my dad and started filling my heart with that love. The love grew and grew and grew and grew with such intensity it seemed to have no end in sight.

I willed myself to awaken when this infinite unconditional love seemed to never stop. I actually feared for my life. My ego felt very threatened.

At the time I hadn’t spoken to my dad for well over a year. I was bitter toward him for my parents divorce. I was also suffering miserably because of my unforgiveness.

Jesus set me free that night by the love he poured into me. Of course I forgave my Dad and I have loved him ever since. We talk every so often on the phone and enjoy a much improved relationship.

What I was pondering today was this:

What if I stayed in that love. What if I remained and let his Love “devastate me” as one woman reported happened to her? What if I was strong enough to remain in his love?

These kind of thoughts have been governing my thoughts and prayers lately. I have dared to trust and receive his love like never before. Try it yourself (but I suggest at least sitting or laying down first in case the Lord comes into your room and you fall – yes, I actually pray with this kind of expectation these days). Get alone and ask God to reveal his love for you. Say, “Lord Jesus I receive your love”. Say it again…

Lyrics:

From glass alabaster she poured out
The depths of her soul
Oh, foot of Christ would You wait
If her harlotry’s known?

Falls a tear to darken the dirt
Of humblest offerings to forgive the hurt
She is strong enough to stand in your love
I can hear her say

I am weak, I am poor
I’m broken Lord, but I’m Yours
Hold me now, hold me now

Let he without sin
Cast the first stone if you will
To say that my bride isn’t worth
Half the blood that I’ve spilled

Point your finger and laugh if you choose to say
My beloved is borrowed and used
She is strong enough to stand in my love
I can hear her say

I am weak, I am poor
I’m broken Lord, but I’m Yours
Hold me now, hold me now

Song inspired in part by:

John 8
New Living Translation (NLT)
A Woman Caught in Adultery

“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Categories: Dreams, Love of God | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Elisabeth Grace 4 years ago

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Daniel

from the vault:

Feb 1st 2010

Ellie in the BellyCatherine and I are about to embark on the greatest adventure of our lives. We are going to be parents.

I remember the day we went in for the ultra sound. After seeing the insides of our baby, it’s beating heart inside it’s small chest, it’s bones and spine all lit up on the screen, it’s tiny feet and tiny toes and tiny hands all curled up in front of it’s tiny face. We were then told we were looking at our little girl.

Of course Catherine always thought of “it” as a little girl and remarked about how it would have taken the remaining months of pregnancy to cope with “it” being a boy… if it were.

As we were walking out of the hospital I told Catherine that I would now have to come to terms with “it” being a girl. I told her, “Well, I suppose I will just have to take my little girl hunting and fishing, camping and canoeing, and teach her how to spear things.”

Catherine laughed hysterically as she said, “You don’t spear anything!” Well, it’s never too late to start I suppose. I had recently been watching man vs. wild in which Bear Grills teaches how to survive in the wilderness spearing fish and so forth. In one episode Bear Grilles is slogging through a bog in Ireland to retrieve a dead sheep. After wrestling it free he ate its raw heart and rolled its skin inside out for a bloody sleeping bag.

Twenty minutes later over dinner I had coped. In truth I was a bit concerned about having to teach my little boy a trade to make a living. This concerned me because I don’t know if music ministry really qualifies as a trade.

Girls, I realized, need to be taught how to be a good wife, if she decided to marry and this was something Catherine could teach her just fine. But then this got me to thinking about her future husband. I can’t believe I’m already worrying about her future husband. When I talked to Catherine about all this, she said to me, “What are you talking about a trade for, were you born in the 1800’s?”

Elisabeth Grace is now seven months along. She flips around in mommies belly and enjoys kicking daddy in the face when he tries to listen to her heartbeat. It’s hard to believe or even imagine how our lives will change in just a few short months.

Honestly, the world actually seems like a much safer place to me knowing that there are so many other parents out there. It’s odd but I already feel a sense of community with other parents.

I think about Ellie alot. I think about all the exciting books we will read together like C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and all the adventures we will have… like spearing things.

Categories: Comedy, Parenting | 3 Comments

Patrick Meets Jesus, Given a Message

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Daniel

Patrick  lives about an hour and a half from me over in Marshfield Wisconsin. He met Jesus (and his deceased father) face to face after a heart attack and is given a message for us from Jesus:

Message from Jesus via Patrick to all of us:

  1. Tell them there is an awesome heaven waiting for them when they die. We have a reserved seat for everybody. Everybody is invited to this party!
  2. Make everyone believe that there is a Jesus that loves them unconditionally no matter what they did on earth. I love them all with unconditional love. Make them believe.

So what do you think?

Categories: Near Death Experiences | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rebuild the Ancient Ruins

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Daniel

“They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations.” Isaiah 61:4

When I was about twenty years old I had a dream that helped shape my life. I was playing soccer on top of a hill and was busy retrieving wild kicks by whoever it was that I was playing with. Eventually the ball was kicked down the hill we were on and I went after it.

The entire hillside was covered with mature pine trees with no undergrowth. As I located the soccer ball, I looked around and noticed bibles everywhere strewn about on the ground. Three Bibles caught my attention each open to three passages of Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4, Jeremiah 23, and Isaiah 48.

I then noticed in this valley an ancient ruin of a stone synagogue. The roof had caved in and there were vines growing up over it. I ventured inside. I walked through a doorway and then through another archway into the sanctuary. As I entered the sanctuary I heard the sound of a camera behind and above me. I looked ahead and saw the Aron Kodesh (<– read more about the place where they keep the scroll known as the Holy Ark). This was how I knew it was a synagogue.

I walked up to and reached for the Aron Kodesh to open it and I heard the loud voice of someone in my life at the time startle me from behind. I turned and awoke… the end.

It was because of this dream I knew to be careful of any future distraction from laying hold of the WORD of God. There was something so significant and wondrous and vitally important about attaining what was inside this Aron Kodesh that NOTHING ought to be allowed to distract you from it. I desperately wanted to know what was inside.

Years later I was shown during a prayer time what was contained in the Holy Ark.

It is so surprising to me that God is ready for us at any time. You don’t have to attain some spiritual degree of awesomeness before you can come to God and be shown marvelous things. It is all just His pure gift to you right now… just as you are. He already took care of the rest. He’ll take you just as you are right now.

Here is what I was shown: In my mind’s eye I visualized the Holy Ark and reached out to open it and it was in fact a portal to another world. To the paradise of God.

Word of caution. Don’t let anyone steal your crown! (That’s straight from Scripture). Don’t let anyone keep you from discovering the truth as I have at long last. It’s your journey. It is your path to walk. It is your portal to paradise to discover. Don’t let fear-mongers cause you to doubt and abandon the pursuit of the truth.

I will leave you with one of the passages given to me which still amazes me at how relevant and pertinent (especially to the current times). Is anyone one else feeling this revival springing up? I can’t be the only one!

1 Thessalonians 4
Live to Please God

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. 2 For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

3 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. 4 Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— 5 not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. 6 Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. 7 God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. 8 Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

9 But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. 10 Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.

11 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. 12 Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

The Hope of the Resurrection

13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

Categories: Apocalypse, Dreams, Resurrection | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

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