The last couple of days have been dreary with rain.  Looking out the window and seeing the downpour puts you in a melancholy mood.  What is it about rain?  The sky is dark, the thunder clapping, listening to the raindrops hitting on the air conditioning. For some, it puts them in a depressed mood, for me, it makes me want to sleep. 

All in all, the rain is needed right now in Southeast Texas.  Our grass is parched.  It has been extremely hot and the rain brings relief.  Rain brings life to things that are dying.

So it is, with our spiritual lives.  Often we grow parched in Spirit.  We feel dry and when the heat is on, we feel as if we are going to wither.  Then comes the rain.  The rain of the Holy Spirit in our lives that brings refreshing to our drying soul.  We must get in the rain.  We must allow the working of the Lord in our lives. 

When we are parched, we must make the most of every opportunity to pray and spend time in His Word.  It brings life to our weary soul.  We must trust in Him at all times, even when we least feel like it.  We must cling to Him! 

Jeremiah 17 gives us a picture of the person who trusts the Lord.  “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:7-8

If we will trust in Him, we will be planted by the waters and we do not need to worry when drought comes.  He will sustain us and help us bear fruit, even in the midst of drought.

Here’s a great quote from Thomas Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, “Wherefore if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate.  All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself.”

Kempis is not saying that we should excuse sin and other’s sinfulness, but rather we should not look down on sinners.  For we ourselves are no better than they.  Apart from Christ we are nothing.  We should love them in spite of their sin and in so doing it is possible they will come to know the love of Christ.  It should be that we would point the finger more at ourselves rather than at others.

I got back last night from my prayer retreat.  I enjoyed my time seeking the Lord without distractions.  It is amazing how focused you can be when there is no interruptions, no phone, no Internet and no kids.  I didn’t even take a book to read.  I took my Bible, my study books and my laptop for Study Software.  I had a great time just praying and studying the Word.  I feel refreshed.

I went to Mardel’s on Monday and picked up a new Bible.  There is a relatively new version that is amazingly accurate to the Hebrew and Greek.  The ESV (English Standard Version)is very readable and I enjoy it for my devotional time.  I would suggest anyone picking up a copy of the ESV Bible.  I bought the single-column reference edition with wide margins.  I have never had a wide margin Bible but I love it.  Plenty of room to jot down notes as you read.

I would suggest people buy a new Bible version for devotional reading every couple of years.  It helps give a fresh perspective on the Word.  You can still  use your “main” Bible for study.

This morning I am leaving to take a couple of days away for prayer.  I try to go at least once a year by myself to spend time seeking the Lord.  I will be traveling to a cottage south of Houston that is owned by the Christian Radio Station KJIC.  They graciously allow ministers to spend time in prayer in this little cottage. 

I also read a great quote this morning in Gordan Fee’s, Paul, The Spirit and the People of God, “Everyone has a theology [that is, some rudimentary view of God and the world on the basis of which they live]; the question is not whether you have a theology – you do – but whether you have a good one.”

How’s your theology?

I was quite enlightened by my first trip to a dog show.  I love dogs but some people go a little over board.  I witnessed first hand: dog salons, dog jewelry, dog clothes and even a pet deli (a smorgasbord of juicy bones in a hundred flavors).  The pet deli was kind of like Baskin Robbins for dogs.  But my favorite was the pet psychic.  Yes, bring in Fido and we will tell his future.  We will see if he will have a long life and whether he will marry a Chihuahua or a poodle or whether he will end his life being caught by the dog catcher.  My amazement at this was that people actually spend money on this stuff.  It’s a dog.  Their future is to be man’s best friend:)

On another note: Pet Books.  I have been trying for several years to find a publisher for my second book. The manuscript is complete but the Christian Publishing World is hard to break into.  I decided that I will write a book on dogs.  If you want to be an author you have to go to where you can be published.  Dog book publishers will take about anything.  My favorite titles were, How To Raise A Jewish Dog; Animals And The Afterlife: True Stories of our Best Friend’s Journey Beyond Death; and Animal Reiki, Using Energy To Heal Your Pets.  Okay, the afterlife one kind of messed me up.  I am an admitted skeptic/discerner of alot of things.  Tell me how they knew what happened to the dog beyond this life.  I understand those (humans) who die and come back and share their afterlife experience, because they can actually talk.  How did they find out their best friend’s experience? Do they speak bark or did the Dog Whisperer translate for them? Wait maybe the pet psychic helped them out on this.  I wanted to buy the book just to see what it said.  Those were only a few of the interesting titles.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dog show.  Sonya watched me capturing pictures of the dog books and said, “I feel a blog coming on.”  I am not sure what she meant.  I guess she thinks I will find something to blog about in almost anything:)

Saturday we made our first trip to a dog show.  The Houston World Series of Dog Shows was at Reliant Stadium and we surprised Josh with tickets to go.  Josh loves dog and is on his way to becoming a dog expert.  He reads about dogs.  Studies the AKC regulations.  He loves dogs!

Josh’s goal in life, up to this point, was to pet a Mastiff.  Josh has tried to talk us into buying a Mastiff for a long time.  The problem with this impressive dog is that it weighs in at over 200 pounds and can get up to 300 pounds.  The largest dog in the world is an English Mastiff.  343 pounds.  I can’t afford to feed a horse/dog.  Josh’s dream came true; he got to pet a Mastiff.

We watched the judging of the Working Group dogs.  Mastiffs, Great Pyrenees, Great Danes, Siberian Huskies and more.  We also watched the flyball competition which was absolutely awesome.  It is like a relay race for dogs.  Then we watched the agility competition for dogs.  This is like steeplechase.  They have hurdles and obstacles to go through.  It was entertaining but also revealed how smart dogs are.  It also revealed that dogs are alot more trainable than cats:)

I felt the most sorry for the poodles.  Look at the picture:  They certainly have to have low self-esteem when they look in the mirror with the haircut they are made to wear.  I also couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Pekignese.  They were showing in the ring next to the Mastiff.  Can you imagine the pain they felt looking up at the Mastiff and then waddling around the carpet only 2 inches off of the ground?  🙂

Overall, our trip to the Houston Dog Show helped reassure me of how creative God is.  So many breeds of animals with distinct qualities and impressive grace, intelligence and agility.  That cannot happen by evolution.  We were able to see over a hundred breeds of dogs, which proves that God is diverse and plans creation. 

We did not, however, agree on the specific dog for the Cheney household.  Sonya likes the Old English Sheepdog.  My favorite is the Golden Retriever and Josh wants a Mastiff.  We will wait until we can all agree.  Maybe we will settle on a cat:)  Just kidding!

Sonya's Favorite

Many people have heard about the tragic crane collapse in Pasadena/Houston.  It happened this afternoon at the Lyondell Bassel plant where they were doing a shut-down.  My dad has worked at this refinery for over 35 years and was in the building about 200 yards from where the crane collapsed.  Four people were killed and 8 others were injured in this tragedy. 

He said that the mood was extremely somber at the plant this afternoon, as could be expected.  Please pray for the families of those who were killed as well as healing for those who survived.  Also continually pray for the safety of all those who work these dangerous construction/refinery jobs.

I’ve needed a little humor on this Friday morning and I was expecting a message from God, BUT.  Maybe He was trying to tell me something.  Maybe He was confirming His call on my life.  Maybe this means nothing.

As I was filling up with gas there was a piece of paper containing a work order with a post it note attached.  The post it note said, “John 1:6”  So I looked up John 1:6 in the Bible.  Now before you read it let me inform you that my official first name is John.  John 1:6 says, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”  What do you think?

It may be a stretch to apply this to me.  Then again maybe God was simply saying, “John (aka. Danny) I have set you apart as My servant.  I have called you into ministry.”  No matter what any of this means I know that I am a child of God who is loved by My Heavenly Father.  If nothing else, it means that I picked up a post-it note that let me know that John the Baptist was sent by God to proclaim His Son Jesus Christ:)