"Of all essential things in a gentleman's bodily and moral training, this is really the beginning - that he should have close companionship with the horse, the dog, and the eagle. Of all birthrights and bookrights - this is his first. 

To all good and sane men and beasts, be true brother; and as it is best, perhaps, to begin with all things in the lowest place, begin with true brotherhood to the beast: in pure simplicity of practical help." Ruskin.

Here is a poetic way of saying it - 

Let the gentleman’s dawn begin

astride the horse, beside the hound,

beneath the eagle’s sovereign wing—

his birthright, sealed in earth and sky.  First, brother to the beast:

in humble hand and heart,

lift, feed, and follow.

 Halloween and the good news of the Gospel 

“No curse can touch Jacob; no magic has any power against Israel.-Numbers 23:23

“I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! -Jesus (Lk 10:18)

“Laugh at the Enemy” - Martin Luther

"Every October I am reminded to laugh, throw a party, eat too many goodies all in the light of the goodness of the gospel of Jesus that triumphed over devils, dourness and dobetterism.

It’s the time of year that I come to the realization that too many Christians still live under the law. I see it clearly in the way people start getting the jitters, begin judging or feel compelled to justify themselves during Halloween. Christians hiding their love of spooky things, the constant rebranding of everything that has a hint of frivolity and Frankenstein. The constant plungering of churchianity as it frantically seeks to unclog our culture of anything it perceives to be too worldly or wicked.

There’s an underpinning of anxiety and overtheshoulderism that haunts people who are living lives under the all seeing Eye of Sauron instead of the glorious grace of Christ. They are frightened by people without and people within the church having been whackamoled into submission to false ideas of sanctification and God honoring. They are less witnesses of the good news of Jesus and more testimonies of the terrors of hyper-fundi religiosity.

It’s a fascinating time to observe the conflicted and the condemning nature of so much of evangelicalism. This amazes me, in light of the fact that the reformation produced evangelicalism and that reform struck a pretty hefty blow to boogieman of superstition, man-pleasing and suffocating legalism. How could the sons and daughters of reformers like Martin Luther become so thin-skinned, pensively paranoid and hyper-guilty? When did bold and courageous freedom get exchanged for knee-jerk judgmentalism, persnickety piousness and cranky christianity?

One thing that Luther surely helped restore was the gift of satire and laughter to an institution that had grown so pompous and exalted in it’s own eyes, that it took a jolly, jesting, farting Monk to poke holes in its inflated ego. Luther’s antics, extremes and scathing hilarity helped dethrone saintly sourpussness and helped spring saints from their prisons of dead religious tradition and the heat lamp of breathless self-examination and self-loathing.

Martin Luther said: “A poor man, entangled in sin, death and hell, cannot hear anything more comforting than this precious, dear message of Christ. His heart must laugh deeply and become joyful about it...Sadness is hereditary to us, and the devil is the spirit of sadness, but God is the spirit of joy, who saves us.”

One of the main things that should be celebrated by those who have discovered the gospel is the joy of the defeat of Satan. Believers can be bold in their laughter, because Christ has set us free from the fear of death and evil!

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” -Hebrews 2:14-15

We have nothing to fear! Not the devil, Hell, Judgment for our sins or the tribunal of other people’s religious troubles, trifles and tantrums. Christ triumphed over all of them and set us free to live lives full of righteous liberty, festival and frivolity as only people set free from sin and death can.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them through the cross.” -Colossians 2:13-15

Evangelicals always seem to have to find a reason to justify having fun, as if God is not the author of laughter, giggles and the creator of all our toe-tingling endorphin pleasures. At the root of the problem is we don’t truly believe the gospel. We believe we are saved by what we do or don’t do or ‘how well’ we do it. We claim Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth and that according to Jesus “the prince of this world was cast out” (Jn 12:31) but then live in superstitious fear and missional anxiety about days, foods and a host of other things.

Colossians 2: 16,20-21 “So don’t let anyone stand in judgment over you and dictate what you should eat or drink, what festivals you should celebrate, or how you should observe a new moon or Sabbath days...You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?

To sum it up, Christ has set us free from the hamster wheel of trying to gain acceptance with God by being good enough or not bad enough. We have died to that way of life and have been born again into an abundant life of pardon, piety and pleasure!

“...if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” -Galatians 2:21

Such a path leads not to ungodliness but to Godwardness that produces people consumed with the wonders of Christ not swamp of self-introspection of brother bashing.

But unfortunately not everyone really understands the ‘good news’ of the gospel and many are still living in the shadows of a great deliverance, thinking they are still slaves to religious systems, the hammer of a distorted sin consciousness and fear of devils, destinies and diets!

1 Corinthians 8:4-7 “So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords.

But for us:

There is one God, the Father,

by whom all things were created,

and for whom we live.

And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,

through whom all things were created,

and through whom we live.

7 However, not all believers know this.

Martin Luther said: “Laugh at the enemy and find someone to whom you can talk... or drink more, or make a joke, some merriment or any other joyful thing. Sometimes one must drink more, play, make merriment and even risk a sin during all this, in order to show abhorrence and disdain to the devil, so that he is not given any opportunity to make a thing of conscience out of small matters...If only I had something like an obvious sin, just in order to annoy the devil, so that he realizes that I do not recognize, and am not conscious of, any sin!”

I know that reading that paragraph almost seemed sacrilegious to some still in the grip of the law and under the heel of a religious spirit that has them pinned to the ground in fear of fragile faith. They still think they are their own saviors and that their right standing with God is based on their own works instead of the grace of God. They think freedom is a license to sin, which in reality just exposes the false front of righteousness that hides their own lurking lusts inside. The law exposes and punishes sin, it doesn’t liberate or loose you from it. Often those who wail the loudest against sin or the dangers of it are the one’s in it’s grip the most. They see evil all around because their religious mindset is rooted in justification by performance and pacification of other people’s courts of conscience instead of the mercy and love of God.

“Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.” -Colossians 2:18-19

Paul goes on to discuss how to navigate people and their issues, their lack of knowledge about the full freedom of the gospel and how to know what to ‘keep to yourself and God” and what to refuse to ever submit to for the gospel’s sake. (Romans 14:9-10,14,22-23, 1 Corinthians 8:9-12 and Galatians 2:5).

We are called to love other people because love is higher than law, but true love, does it’s best to help others understand the beauty and benefit of the Gospel of Jesus. That means love might look outrageously obnoxious at times for the sake of the truth. It means freedom may call on you to laugh at the very things that pretend to exert such terror among us. Love may trespass where others cringe in perpetual deference to everyone else’s neurotic religiosity.

So this Halloween, let’s dare to laugh at the devil and all his lies. Let the celebration of Christ and His glorious gospel drown out all the barking, clucking and snorting of those who seem to be heralds of humorless holiness and the joyless Jesus of dogooderism.

“If you are moody, you shall remember that the Father now smiles at you.” -Martin Luther

Now go throw the best Halloween or Holywhatchamacallit party your pagan or pious friends have ever experienced and do it all for the glory of God!

 

Can you understand this quote?  

“Box your own lad’s ears the first time you see him shy a stone at a sparrow; and heartily, too; but put up, you and mother—(thank God for the blessed persecution),—with every conceivable form of vermin the boy likes to bring into the house,—and go hungry yourselves rather than not feed his rat or rabbit." 

This is a quote by George Elliot (1861) urging parents to discipline their children severely every time you see any form of cruelty to animals. 

"Shy a stone" means targeting a small, harmless bird. In rural 19th-century England, killing songbirds was seen as wasteful and morally wrong (sparrows were protected by custom and later by law).

But, recognize that having pets, of any kind, is a crucial part of childhood because it teaches them to love, to care and to nurture. So allow the child to explore nature, even if it means dirt, smells, and pests in your home including all kinds of creepy-crawly or dirty creatures (rats, mice, snakes, beetles, toads, etc.) And go hungry yourselves rather than not feed his rat or rabbit." 

 

"O Lord, take my heart

for I cannot give it;

and when Thou hast it, oh, keep it,

for I cannot keep it for Thee;

and save me in spite of myself

for Jesus Christ's sake." 

Fenelon. 

 

"He erred, no doubt, perhaps he sinned; 

Shall I then dare to cast a stone? 

Perhaps his blotch on a garment white,

Counts less than the dingy robes I own." 

George Houghton. 

 

"Not all who seem to fail have failed indeed; 

Not all who fail have therefore worded in vain;
For all our acts to many issues lead; 
and of of earnest purpose, pure and plain, 
Enforced by honest toil of hand or brain,
The Lord will fashion, in His own good time,
Such ends, as to his wisdom, fittest chime
With His vast love's eternal harmonies. 

There is no failure for the good and wise;
What though they seed should fall by the wayside
And the birds snatch it! - yet the birds are fed;
or they may bear it far across the tide,
To give rich harvests after thou are dead."
Charles Kingsley. 

The poem offers a hopeful and spiritual perspective on failure, suggesting that no sincere effort is truly wasted. Even if immediate goals aren't achieved, honest work contributes to a greater purpose, whether by benefiting others, aligning with divine will, or producing results beyond one’s lifetime. It encourages perseverance, faith, and trust in a larger plan, particularly from a perspective rooted in religious or moral conviction.

 

"Jesus didn’t heal everyone.

I’ve wrestled with that truth in the quiet places no one sees, in the hospital hallways where prayers echoed unanswered,

in the graveside silences where I begged Him to come late like He did for Lazarus…

and still believed He could.

He didn’t always stop.

He didn’t always speak.

Sometimes… He just walked by.

And that truth used to ache in me like a wound I couldn’t name.

I had this idea that if He could, He should.

That if He was near, He would fix what was broken. That if He loved me, He’d rescue me, quickly, publicly, visibly.

But He didn’t.

And yet… He loved me still.

I used to think miracles were the evidence of favor. Now I see, sometimes, the silence is.

Sometimes the “no” is just as holy as the “now.”

Sometimes the waiting is more sacred than the wonder.

Because the truth is, Jesus didn’t heal everyone.

Not every lame man walked.

Not every blind eye opened.

Not every storm was stilled.

Not every grave was emptied.

But He saw every ache.

He felt every cry.

He wept at every tomb.

Even the ones He didn’t raise.

I’m learning that His love is not proven by how quickly He answers,

but by how faithfully He stays when He doesn’t.

He didn’t always heal the body.

But He always touched the soul.

He always restored what mattered most.

And He always walked in love, even when His hands didn’t move the way I hoped.

So here I am, years into a prayer I’m still waiting on. Holding the tension between faith and fatigue.

Still believing He can.

Still trusting Him even if He doesn’t.

Still finding Him in the places I didn’t expect,

the long nights, the dry spells, the closed doors, the empty hands.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the deeper healing.

Maybe He walked past them so He could walk with me.

Maybe He withheld the miracle to give me more of Him.

Maybe the greatest healing isn’t in the answer,

but in the nearness of the One who holds me while I wait.

He didn’t heal everyone. But He never passed by the brokenhearted.

And I know now, He has not passed by me."

Gwen Brewster. 

 

I went to the downtown Mission today, which is located in the worst part of Portland, the very heart of human desperation. I walk two blocks from my car to the mission doors midst the most distressing sights of human degradation. The sun was shining and the weather was crisp on this beautiful fall day; such a contrast, skies clear radiating hope, a day for a daydream, but the streets lined with the wages of sin.   

I meet weekly with a man in the program and we had a productive visit, the Lord had me help him dodge a bullet with a woman of evil intentions. 

As I left he walked me to my car and as we rounded the corner, there was a woman sitting on her haunches, skin of dark ebony, clothes worn for many days with a shawl covering her head and face. It was just a moment, a few seconds passing her by, but something struck my soul so deeply, my heart said stop and do, but my steps continued past as our conversation distracted me. We said our good-byes and as I pulled out I looked for that woman where I saw her, but she was gone. 

My emotions were so strong for this faceless stranger. She looked so helpless, so lost, and I was so full of the Holy Spirit, but.....

I learned a lesson today, be prepared. The very least I could have done, even with just a moment, is to have given her a pamphlet on the Mission's brand new women's shelter where she could get free help, loving counsel, spiritual encouragement and support, three nutritious meals a day, a warm room and a soft bed with ongoing care to help her meet all the challenges of easing back into life clean and sober.   But I was not prepared.....

Photo of random person on the Internet. 

 Listen to this woman and her team that go into Strip-clubs and spread the Gospel, it'll set your heart on fire!!! 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/415130431358505

 My son shared this about the birth of one of his grandchildren --

"The morning that my granddaughter was born (5am)

I was awakened by some of the most strong and deep prophetic dreams, ministry and words of the Spirit between 4-6am.

One after another the words swelled like waves upon me.                   I was awake and then fell into dream-sleep over and over again.

I felt like I was on the shores of a Scottish Isle being battered by stormy seas of prophetic words.

After I got a phone call from my wife to see my granddaughter for the first time via FaceTime, I wrote this prayer/prophecy:

“Blessed be the Lord!

May she howl like a wild voice of the wind of the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord be magnified by the halo of His glory on her soul.

May she be unleashed on the earth like a stampede of sacred Stallions unleashing a mighty move of God.

Daughter of destiny,

handmaiden of holiness

and helper of man.

Bearing the crest of her fathers,

the breath of her ancestors

prayers and songs,

the hands of heroes,

heart of fire

and the feet of island stone.”

Isa. 59:21

“As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them:

My Spirit who is upon you,

and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth,

nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore”.

My wife told me that when she came out of the womb she was screaming and howling like a wild one."

The photo is a random pic from the internet.

 I like music, almost all music. I grew up with a love for the Blues and Rock n Roll, then when I became a Christian I was introduced to Gospel and "Spirit in the Sky." 

I ran across an old Blues singer today named Memphis Minnie. She was born in '35 and on one of her songs the lyrics caught me. 

"These strings ain't made for lullabies

They sharp, they cut, they bite. 

Cut so true you can hear 'em moan, hear 'em cry; 

Every note I pick is thunder from the sky." 

I love a good 'turn of phrase,' and these lyrics cry out to be preached from the pulpit today. As God has seen fit, He's opened the pulpits at the jail and at the mission, where I preach to those in crisis. Hardened souls, hurting souls, angry souls, and souls in anguish. The stories of the men and women remind me of the lyrics from another song --

"Well, I looked my demons in the eyes

Lay bare my chest, said, "Do your best to destroy me"

See, I've been to hell and back so many times

I must admit you kinda bore me."

To reach a heart like that the Lord assists me by giving me words with barbs as well as balm. Lectures and lullabies won't reach a hardened heart, it takes the soul piercing power of the Holy Spirit: which is where the lyrics to Memphis Minnie come in - These sermons ain't made for lullabies, they sharp, they cut, they bits. They cut so true you can hear 'em moan, hear 'em cry. Every word I pick is thunder from the sky. 

Once the wound is lanced, then the precious balm of Gilead is applied in lavish measures and the goodness of God and the Blood's cleansing flow leads even the hardest heart to repentance.