The Melody of the Holy Spirit

Sitting on a Bench by an Athletic Field in the Confines of
Trinity College. October 1, 2018

The Lord let me know that He and I would meet at various and sundry places, such as St. Fin Barre’s in Cork and this place in Dublin.

We will talk as one man speaks with another, except I will be more engaged in listening than in speaking. I have a sense I will live out my life in this pattern. I feel this is what He wants, though He didn’t say it explicitly.

Lord, show me the places and the spaces where You want to meet with me one-on-one. Tell me, “Here it is. Pray here.” Let my life be one of praying at every turn.

Holly Bot is a woman and a felon who did nine years of hard time in a Minnesota prison. She refers to it as a living hell, until she met Jesus there. Now, her life ministry is to tell as many people as she can about her personal transformation for His glory. If God could change her, He can change anyone. You can find out more about her on https://hollybot.me/.

Part of her ministry is a podcast called From Surviving to Living. I’m going to be on her show today at 2:30 talking about my book, FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH. This is not going to be an on-line discussion. She only does in-person live interviews. So I’ll be driving into downtown Minneapolis to a studio on 24th Street, exactly four blocks from where I lived some fifty years ago. It will be an hour interview, and I’ll let you know later how you can access it.

My book is of interest to podcasters and those who want to know more about addictions and otherwise finding the safest place on earth by staying as close to Jesus as possible. The book is fiction, but the background of it is the hundreds of addicts I’ve met with one-on-one over the past 19 years and the thousands I’ve presented to in groups. If you want to discover more about the book or purchase a copy, you can do so at https://bit.ly/SafestPlaceonAmazon.

This is Holly’s statement of faith. Not bad for a felon who did hard time.

“Above all else, our desire is for each individual to leave here not only with knowledge about Jesus, but with a profound and personal relationship with Him. We echo the words of Jesus himself, who promised that those who love Him and keep His commands will be embraced by the Father, and that He will reveal Himself to them in a tangible and transformative way (John 14:21).

In embracing this relationship with Jesus, we acknowledge our need for His guidance, correction, and instruction. We recognize that His love compels Him to convict, convince, and discipline us, urging us to repent and realign our hearts with His will (Revelation 3:19).

“We celebrate the invitation extended to each of us by Jesus himself, who stands at the door of our hearts, knocking and waiting for us to open and welcome Him in. In doing so, He promises to enter into intimate communion with us, sharing in fellowship and nourishing our spirits (Revelation 3:20).

“We distinguish between merely knowing about Jesus and experiencing a genuine, personal relationship with Him. While knowledge about Him is valuable, it is through heartfelt belief and confession that we are justified and saved (Romans 10:9-11). We affirm that salvation is a gift of grace, received through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

“As we journey together in faith, let us hold fast to the good news of the gospel, proclaiming with joy that through Jesus Christ, we are redeemed, justified, and made righteous in the sight of God. May our lives be a testament to His transforming love, as we seek to live out His commands and share His message of salvation with all whom we encounter!”

I went to a No Regrets conference at my church a couple months ago, and took notes from a speaker named Kenny Luck about The Kingdom of Heaven.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is a supernatural kingdom alongside the natural world, come down from heaven.

“Christ followers advance the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the ministry of all believers. Kingdom men and women advancing the Kingdom in all the places and spaces on earth.”

How about you? Are you advancing the Kingdom of Heaven in all the places and spaces on earth? In God’s Kingdom, there is no sitting on the fence. You are either advancing His Kingdom or you are not.

This is an excerpt from my new book – FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH.

The First Lesson

After ten minutes of listening to the sound of si­lence, Jack heard footsteps entering the chapel. The footsteps stopped, and he felt the presence of someone standing next to his pew.

Jack dropped to his knees as a signal for the stranger not to disturb him. That didn’t work.

A cheerful voice said, “Hello Jack.”

Jack looked up and saw someone who triggered no prior memory of existence. He observed the phys­ical dimensions of the man as if he’d be filling out a report later for the civil police.

The intruder was about six feet tall and had a sturdy athletic build with broad chest. His hands were large and strong, like those of a football player. He had an oval face, a long straight nose with narrow bridge, light olive skin, and dark brown eyes set deep between a prominent forehead and high cheekbones. His curly, dark brown hair was medium cut, accompanied by a short well-tailored beard. He wore a light-blue wind­breaker and dark navy pants.

Jack was shorter by two inches and less defined in the body, like someone who’d maybe played sports in the past but spent too much time in bars of late. His face was somewhat square with a fleshy nose on the short side parked in the middle. His eyes were green and his hair was black, cut short, with no facial hair.

Jack pushed himself to the back of his own bench. The stranger sat down in the next pew forward, turned around, and looked at him with eyes that penetrated like lasers into the depths of his soul.

“I don’t know you,” Jack said, “but you seem to know me. Who are you?”

“Manny,” he answered, “and I do know you, but, as you say, you don’t know me.”

Jack’s face wore a look of perplexity. “How do you know me?”

Manny smiled. “That’s not important right now. What’s import­ant is that you have a troubled soul and came into this church to find answers to your perceived problems.”

And so starts the relationship of Manny and Jack, with Manny being a mentor to Jack. Do you have someone in your life you can go to for guidance and encouragement? Do you have someone to help you with your troubling issues and unpleasant circumstances?

On February 19 of this year, the Lord spoke into the interior of my being with His still small voice. The occasion was the morning after five days of intense work on two books I was publishing at the time.

“You say that you will follow Me, and then you don’t.

“You say that you love Me, but then you focus on the world and yourself much of the day.

“You say that I am your number one priority, but that’s really your books.

“Pick a side! Don’t default through the day. Choose Me!”

FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH is starting to draw attention. This Thursday at 10 a.m., I’ll be interviewed by Chris LaFreniere of Coffee on the Couch, a Christian podcast that features guests that have done or written something of note and are “generally interesting people” (blush, blush). The taped interview will be in-depth, as in an hour to an hour and a half, and will air some two weeks later. I’ll attach a link at that time.

Even Spider Man purchased a copy of my book on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/2kja6u7s and, as you can see, couldn’t put it down.

Link for March 6 Central Valley podcast

For those of you who missed the live Briggs on Books interview last week, here is a link to view it at your leisure. https://youtu.be/WMRoVCdNtCg

The apostles said they would not deny Jesus, but they did. In this verse Jesus says, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me.”

We deny Him when we disobey His commands, sin against Him, go our own way instead of His way, focus with intensity on anything more than on Jesus (I’m talking about money, jobs, worldly status, politics, sex, video games, friendships, wanting people to think well of us, anger … the list goes on and on).

The apostles weren’t prepared for what would happen later that night. Jack wasn’t prepared at the retirement party in London. He thought he had everything under control until something simple happened that he wasn’t prepared for.

How about you? Are you prepared for the unforeseen? Are you so close to Jesus that nothing can throw you off stride. The chapter entitled Oops, starting on page 164 in FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH, tells the story of Jack that fateful night. But it’s not just something that happened to Jack. It could happen to any of us at any time.

If you’re interested in the story, here’s a link for you to purchase the book:  http://tinyurl.com/2kja6u7s

On March 6 at 1:30 Central Standard Time, I’ll be on a 10-minute podcast called Central Valley Talk from Fresno, California. I’m being interviewed for my new book, called FINDING THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH. In my travels, I’ve found a legion of souls, who amidst all the dangers and problems surrounding them, would like to find the safest place on earth. It exists as surely as the sun comes up in the morning, but you have to know where to look.

I’ll be discussing what my standing is to write a book for addicts and those who love them and showing a graph that gets at the heart of the book’s message – staying as close to Jesus as you can possibly get. Who knows what else the host will ask me. I welcome as many of you to watch as can fit it into your schedule.

These are the sites where you’ll be able to catch the podcast:

Web Channel: CentralValleyTalk.com

  Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/CentralValleyTalk

Facebook Channel: Facebook.com/CentralValleyTalk.tv 

If you’d like to get a copy of the book and read it before the podcast, this Amazon Link will get you to the place where you can order one. http://tinyurl.com/2kja6u7s

I sat two rows behind Audrey at a morning service (called Matin’s) in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin eight years ago and talked to her for 20 minutes after the service ended. She was in her 80s then, wore an old shawl, and was the most humble person I’ve ever met. The following post is a remembrance of her in this year’s January 23 journal entry.

I thought of Audrey today and the Lucy of Wordsworth’s poems. Both unknown, save for a very few. No wealth, no fame, no power, no notices when they died.

Perhaps one day Audrey was taken with pneumonia (I think she lived on the streets or in a desolate dwelling), hospitalized, died, and was buried in a pauper’s grave. Now she is in heaven with Jesus, the lover of her soul.

I am publishing a 30-day devotional written by a woman named Madelyn, entitled

Embracing The Call

30 Days of Encouragement
for Military Spouses

This was her Day 2 entry.

The book of Ruth inspired this title. Ever read it? I encourage you to turn to Ruth in your Bible!

God provided for Ruth and took care of the needs of her and Naomi. Why do we doubt that God won’t provide for us and comfort us in moments of desperation? So far, I’ve experienced God providing me with two jobs and a few friends who truly love the Lord. They have already brought me comfort and support, and I must not forget that is a gift from God. How has God provided for you? Will you join me in giving our struggles and needs to God, believing He will come through for us even if it’s not as we imagined? Ruth exemplifies the “fruit of the Spirit”—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Naomi’s people became Ruth’s people, and Naomi’s God became Ruth’s God, which came about because of the woman Ruth decided to be. And let me tell you, as surely as God used Ruth, He will use us too if we let Him!

Pray with me: God, help me believe that You are for me, not against me, and will take care of me. I long to have a heart like Ruth, who made a hard decision and chose to comfort Naomi, and You took care of them and provided for them. I desire to spend time with You each day and to become the woman You have called me to be. Forgive me for not seeing all the blessings You’ve provided me. I pray for a godly community when I find myself in a new place. Amen.