Happy First Year Kingdom Bloggers...for His name and for His glory.

There was a time not so long ago I had the feeling of being overwhelmed come over me.

But then...haven't we all?

I spent a few days in prayer looking for guidance, maybe even relief from God. I sat down on that Friday morning to meet yet another weekly obligation and write my KB post that was already late.

For a reason I may never know this side of Glory, I felt lead early that week to do a storyboard video using the song The Change by Steven Curtis Chapman. The song had come on the radio while I drove to work one morning and stuck with me. I didn't even have it on my iPod.

Video production isn't anywhere close to a developed skill for me. I laugh even thinking about that statement. But the feeling to do was there in my gut, so I plowed forward. Over the course of several days, I worked on the project when I could, and instead of frustration from the process...I was blanketed with a feeling of peace. The song wouldn't leave my head after continuously listen to it over and over for days, but I never grew tired of the melody, the lyrics...the message.

When I finished, the video was posted to YouTube where to date it has amassed a little over 340 views. A far cry from the almost 15,000 views of the Bugs Bunny clip I posted where he's being chased by the Mad Scientist in the episode Water, Water Every Hare, but that is far from being relevant to this story.

So there I sat on Friday searching for words to type as the clock continued to tick. With many things to do before the day's end, I began to feel a stress. Like the proverbial light bulb going off overhead, I remember the video. Now I had spent way more time on the video than probably all of my post on KB combined, but that wasn't the point...was it?

A few clicks and my first video KB post is complete. Each work day at some point, I close my door and spend a few moments in prayer. On this day...I spent that time in praise and tears. No obligation is more important in life than those we have to God. In a way, I believe I was softly taken behind the woodshed for letting my priorities get out of sorts.

Is writing for Kingdom Bloggers that important?

I'm not qualified to answer that question. God will use all things for His purpose, and He has blessed me beyond all measure in my association with this blog and my fellow KB bloggers. He has proven to me that His people can be brought together from anywhere in the world using the internet, and that His love can equally shine for the world using the same tool.

I will never again allow myself to feel bogged down doing His work. Be it writing, practicing/playing drums for worship, preparing for a Sunday School lesson or spending time with a friend in need of His love...it all makes an eternal difference. What a privilege to be able to offer back even a very small contribution to such a grand plan! Thank you God for using me and my brothers and sisters on Kingdom Bloggers. We will never fail to give you the honor and glory for all we do in Your name.

Also, thank you so much for the change You made in me...

Grateful that you've made me sharper

From the time I first read it, I've been captivated by this statement found in Proverbs 27:17 (NIV):

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

I'm captivated by this picture of how people can affect one another.

This year I learned that the blog-o-sphere is a place where this sharpening happens. Repeatedly as I've read the words of the writers here & on their own blogs, as I've participated in discussions on my blog, and as I've read the words of people out there in the blog-o-sphere, my thinking has been enlarged. I've been spurred on to asking more questions, looking at things from a different angle, and finding ever practical ways to put into practice what I believe.

I'm grateful that David, Tony, and Joyce let me join in with Kingdom Bloggers. It's been stimulating to participate here with my brothers and sister in the Lord who come from different traditions than my own, and who have had life experiences that inspire me. It's filled me with joy that we can respect our differences and give one another the freedom in Christ to belive exactly how he or she believes God is leading. I've treasured the opportunities to both give and receive prayer from this group.

For someone like me who was born in 1960 and grew up with black and white TV and typewriters, it's cool to see how God is using the internet and connecting people.

Shanghai Agent - Happy Blog-i-versary to Us!

It was a smoke filled bar in Shanghai named the Dixie. At a wicker table on the patio, there he sat, the operative I traveled half way around the world to engage. I leaned against the Juke Box, and it began to play Tiny Bubbles. Like a chess game, cautiously, we both made our moves; scanning the room for bugs, hidden mics and other signs of danger. Finally, sitting back-to-back at adjacent tables; him with and Elvis wig and shades, and me in my Hawaiian shirt - half talking over my shoulder in loud whisper I said: "Elvis is that you?"

He replied. "It's Hound Dog, Rick."

I inconspicuousy pulled off my shoe, and held a toe in my left hand, and grabbed my knee with my right.

Hound Dog, gave me the high sign by adjusting his sunglasses. He lit a cigarette pretending to smoke. He let out a loud cough, almost blowing our cover.

He slipped me a printed copy of the latest Tony C Today blog, and there is there it was scribbled on the back of a Hooters receipt between the pages, the email for Joyce, AKA Sunbeam. I went to the pay phone near the bar as I wondered how she fit into the plan. I called my office in California to run a background check. Norway, South Dakota, Connecticut, Tennessee - she had a long rap sheet. Pastor (not his real name) confirmed a meeting Jessheim, Noway.

I smiled at Hound Dog, tipping my head towards the door.

"Thank you very much." he said. Just as the shouting fans, aliens and scandal-sheet reporters began to fill the Dixie, I slipped out through the kitchen to alley.

I took a taxi to the airport and boarded my plane for Oslo to meet Sunbeam. We met in the oldest church in the country, and pretending to be tourists, we exchanged prayers. Who knew she'd appear again a few years later? That's that way it is in this business, agents come and go - a few finish the race.  We traveled with an unsuspecting group, speaking in unknown languages, and split up at various times so that we would not be found out.

I snapped a photo of her as proof that I delivered the message.

One day while I was on a secure connection t headquarters, Hound Dog sent me an encoded message. ycarT teeM - he knows I am dyslexic. I sent her a Facebook message through one of my many Farm Town aliases. I always wondered why she didn't use an alias - she's very bold. For the longest time I thought it was a pen name for Max Lucado. It was interesting she had hidden message in her blogs from G OD . Wow, she is connected.

Honestly, I am not so sure Tracy actually exists - hmmm...

For the past year we've been working for KB secretly sending messages of hope and love to our comrades that will one day be gathered by the 4 winds. It's too bad that a couple of our most beloved agents have fallen, but we salute them for their effort to win that war against S A T A N.

Disclaimer: most of this is not true. Well except for the snapshot of Joyce in Norway.


Romans 12:4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We made it! You can take the covers off the electrical outlets, and the safety-catches off the kitchen cabinets, Kingdom Bloggers is a year old. Many thanks to Tony, Dave, Michelle, Joyce and Tracy for all that you have offered us this past year.