GLENN'S PODCASTS!

WALKING WITH A LIMP

If you've kept up with me you know I popped my foot hard running up a set of stairs recently. I'm about 80 percent healed, but am still limping a bit and probably will for a bit longer, trying to keep my weight off of the part of my foot that got injured.

When I was a new Christian, even about five years down the track, I thought that God was not only powerful and loving enough to heal all my sin and diseases, but that there would be a point where each and every tiny bit of a stain, of a memory, even of any element of "reaping what I'd sown" in my early years- would all go away. His power and love for me is real, deep, evident and everlasting. And yet...

I also thought that those who followed Jesus alongside me would of course become totally new people and never have any real sin "issues" again. Or at least I thought at some point along the path with Jesus (but while still in this present world) we'd just "get beyond" the echo of our past foolishnes and associated screams, so to speak.

As the years pass I don't wonder at sin. I rarely get "amazed" at the fact that nobody's literally perfect yet, and I mean nobody.

But there are those who indeed "fall seven times" yet also "rise up"! Perhaps none of them are David in terms of adultery and murder (then again...) but none of them often display the depth of power and trust in God David seems to have had either.

I don't. But it's not God's fault. I don't live in my past sad mistakes and sin, but there are still echos.

Don't get me wrong, any of us and all of us who truly -follow- Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior can and shall be healed. But many of may "walk with a limp". Thank God we can walk WITH Jesus and His people, not alone, helpless, hopeless in our struggles, sin and sometimes sadness about what should have and might have been.

One day we'll see Him face-to-face. Until then, we may show signs of wear and tear. You may "limp" in an area or three of your life, but the operative word isn't "limp". It's "walk"!

ONE OF THOSE DAYS

I heard a radio show the other morning where people were encouraged to phone in if their day had begun poorly. I listened to a few calls, then thought about all the blessings in my life (until I ran out of time) and headed off to work.

Today was often difficult. Up and down with either really good or rather difficult things happening with people I care a lot about. Regarding the negative stuff, nobody was too far gone to be helped, and I kept in prayer and tried to keep my composure which, for the most part, I think I did- praise God! But a number of pretty difficult situations rolled in, then out, all day.

Tonight I went to a birthday party of an old friend. All the guys shared a good, laid-back time. We watched a rough mafioso flick where all but one guy gets murdered in the end. I can't help being thankful where I am as opposed to where I could have ended up in my past life.

Suicide attempt, o.d.'ing, just feeling so lost and paranoid from dope all mixed in with laughs and a few thrills here and there... my old life before Christ was REALLY up and down, and mostly down as I got into my later teen years.

Tomorrow (Lord willing) I get to stand on a stage, sing and flail away on a number of guitars and blow a harp here and there. I get to share the Love of my life (Jesus) with people who have had varied sorts of days. I get to -try- to share love and hope, and maybe even be used by Him to inspire a few people to keep on keeping on, roller coaster or not, up or down. Tomorrow is indeed a new day, and His mercies are renewed EVERY morning.

Faithfulness. It's all about trust.

BONDING

From the 3rd to 12th grade (9-18 years old) I had a friend who I am certain would have taken a bullet for me. I would have taken one for him. We had fights now and then but few petty differences. I don't remember ever feeling a sense of competition with him nor he with me. We were simply genuine friends.

He happened to be African-American and I white. We shared love of fun, music, girls and in time stealing, dope and other things that didn't help either of us. We both paid our individual prices for sin. But we're both still alive and kickin'.

Patrick Sullivan and I had a re-union late last Spring after many, many years. He is married to a good woman, as am I. So we hung out for the better part of a day... and it was as if we had never been apart.

Bonding is like that.

When two people really care about, truly love one another, the petty stuff isn't allowed to separate them. Neither miles nor years affects their relationship. This is one really good reason to not care about things that aren't worth separating over.

So here's to my friend Pat, a dear and lifelong friend -no matter what-. We both chose and choose to love and respect one another regardless of those things that would otherwise separate us. Love is like that.

DYNE:BOLIC (GNU LINUX)

O.K., first, if you read my last blog you know I had to go get my foot checked, smacked it hard, but according to the x-rays, NO breaks, thank the Lord! Feelin' better too :)

More on that later, cuz it came to mind some think "socialized medicine" is purely a rip-off by lazy poor folks living off everyone else- which -can- be but just ain't the case for most folks who make use of it in the U.S. of A.!

I kept notes on my day at Cook County Hospital just for those who think it's a picnic and a "sponging off society" deal. More on that later. Now on to this cool new Linux distro.:

DISCLAIMER: several people at the core of design of the (GNU/Linux based) Dyne:Bolic distribution are Rastafarians. I'm not, and I 99% DISagree with Rasta teachings/lifestyle/position on things. If it's a stumbling block to you or those around you- DON'T go there!

Other than that, this is one of the coolest, free, "live cd" (but transferrable to hard drive) Linux operating systems I've tried yet. It's loaded with audio, video and art-focused programs, all 100% Free software. VERY cool stuff. A newer, update of this distro is supposed to be released in the near future, but search for dyne:bolic online and read a few reviews, then if you're interested, download and burn an .iso cd (bootable), boot your box and see how dedicated techies can rock your world- with very cool free software- and make many an old (or newer) computer quite a useful tool outside the virus-plagued mainstream.

SNOW OR NO

I had a very successful hunting season prior to and right after thanksgiving, and while in the woods that second season, took a few very cool digital pics of the woods at Cornerstone Farm- just full of beautiful white snow.

But it's all gone.

This time of year Chicago is usually REALLY cold with a fair bit of snow. No snow. But at least it's not rocking cold right now.

No Chicago Bears in the NFL playoffs after last Sunday... not a lot of kindness or humanity in the news today either.

Had a phone conversation and prayer with an old friend's sister. Gary is in hospital on life support and may not make it. He is with Jesus in any case and I know I'll see him again... but it's sad. Tonight I pray for my friend and his family.

The other night I was trying to avoid running into someone on the stairs, and smacked my foot hard, tripping and perhaps fracturing a part of the old foot... so tomorrow I get to do the clinic/xray thing... maybe a cast for awhile, maybe not!!

Whether life is beautiful (in the immediate sense) or not, God is present, love is real and I'm so very thankful and blessed to have Him and it!!

There are truly so many sad stories of misery in our world as I write this tonight.

But I thank God there is hope in Jesus Christ, for He is certain, unchanging, and His Good News is Good News indeed!

And so it's a beautiful night and tomorrow holds fresh promise of His love and His plan. That's the truth :)

GLENN'S JAN. '06 LINUX UPDATE

I've been really having fun with a newer variation of Knoppix (a very cool German-made Linux distro, don't freak, it's in English!) which is called Kanotix. I'm referring to Kanotix 2005-03 LiveCD. This and the current Morphix Lite GUI distros are pretty sweet, depending on your particular intrests/uses.

Both of these are free, "live" cds that install from a cd rom, just a matter of downloading them, burning an iso (you can find info. on the web how to successfully burn a bootable iso cd so I won't get into that here) and setting your computer to boot from the cd drive.

Anyhow, Morphix Lite is fairly basic but I like it a lot. Kanotix is crammed with a load of various programs so it'll run more molasses-like depending on your motherboard and ram (speed issues).

I still use and love Puppy Linux almost daily, fairly simple and great for most old "boat anchor" boxes (that's "old, slow, legacy computers" to you) but sometimes you need various programs or just like the look, feel and design of other distributions of Linux.

First time I put Kanotix in the cd drive and booted, I just let it go rather than messing with the options, and on this particular machine it installed into ram (memory) with no tweaking at all. After playing for a bit and really digging it, I used the supplied menu command to install Kanotix to the hard drive.

It asked a few basic questions which I answered, and in about 25 mins. Kanotix installed successfully to the hd. Understand, there are a lot of "live" distros that simply boot and load into your memory, never touching the hard drive. You can play around, even surf the web without affecting your computer at all- trust me, you just reboot into your usual operating system when you're done with the session, all is back to "normal".

What a few live Linux distros do (i.e., Kanotix) is offer an "install to hard drive" option. If you like the live cd, you can make it your permanent os with this.

VERY cool! Free. Nearly 100% worry-free regarding viruses. And if the specific distro finds and installs your network card, you get web, email and all the rest.

One thing few of the new live cds can do is find and access wifi cards. Having only done one test so far, my good buddy Jon Trott had his laptop online via wifi in about 5 minutes with Kanotix. Sweet.

I also have recently played with and enjoyed: Knoppix 4.0.2 (excellent but WHEW... SO many programs on the cd and ditto, bootable dvd), Slax Standard v 5.0.6 (I'm about to try Slax Popcorn edition, a bit lighter, less stuff) and Freesbie (a BSD distro also Linux-based).

Many thanks to them there German techies from Knoppix and all the other Linux teams with their cool Knoppix derivative distros such as Morphix, Kanotix and our Australian entry based on Knoppix, Puppy Linux :)

I personally believe the live cd approach to operating systems- and Linux in particular- is the coolest thing to happen in computing for the past 20 years. I won't qualify why here, but I have a small book's worth of reasons for believing so!

Have fun, learn, work well. Long live Open Source and Free Software!

REAL LIFE: WHAT ABOUT MY NEIGHBOR?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity".

So... what indeed IS "life" to you or to me? How -should- we define it?

I often wonder what percentage of Christians actually take such thinking as Rev. King's seriously enough to surrender their personal dreams and often highly individualistic goals to those causes which center us on the call of Jesus Christ.

It does seem that throughout history, calamity is often what turns hearts strongly toward or vehemently away from God and obedience to the Word of God, to God the Holy Spirit and His work of meeting the gaping wounds in humanity.

We are such creatures of comfort and conformty! Does it not seem many people who are true Christians otherwise live their lives fairly based on individual pursuits? "Finding myself", the world's definition of "success" and "fulfillment" orientation are often just as individualistic as raw, obviously hedonistic pursuits.

Dr. King was human, flawed, at times as sinful as any human being on planet earth. Mother Teresa, you and I are likewise! But there is in the life of people who inspire others, a set of core values that ring so true to the Good News of Christ, so counter-culture (and I mean -any- typical culture including those that talk without a corresponding walk of basic biblical discipleship) that in part due to their example, our lives are propelled far beyond our own individualistic tendancies.

For me and many others, Martin Luther King Jr. was one such person.

As it was for Dr. King, there comes a time when being still, silent and passive to real hurts and needs in those around us just has to give way to the overwhelming heart of God toward His children.

Action has to be taken for words alone cannot bring the life and freedom of the Spirit to those still slaves of sin and societies which condone it.

Oh for eyes to see, ears to hear and wills linked solidly to the will and mission of Jesus Christ!

Father, please let me be one of those who are graced with such clarity of focus and singleness of heart!

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH...?

In “The Cost of Discipleship” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: "Christians live like other men: they get married, they mourn and rejoice, they buy their requirements and use the world for the purpose of day-to-day existence. But they have everything through Christ alone, in him and for his sake."

For me, the following phrase is not a law but rather a plumb-line, a measuring device, a point of consideration that makes sense for nearly every decision and certainly the major ones-

What does -this- (fill in the ‘this’ with whatever you like) have to do with my relationship with Jesus Christ?

Another question might be “In what way does this truly bring glory to God”?

Fact is, we don’t often think like that. Most people, even genuine followers of Jesus are rather near-sighted when it comes to what they want to accomplish in an average day. What God is up to isn't so "up front" in our thinking.

Sadly, as the scripture tells us in context about unbelievers, the same can often be applied to we who believe in the Son of God for our salvation- God isn’t always in our thoughts though He is constantly focused on us.

I’m often convicted by thoughts like “which fruit of the Holy Spirit (see Gal. chapter 5) is surfacing in me with regard to THIS(?!)” and Paul’s comment “I do ALL THINGS for the sake of the gospel”.

I wonder just how much we do for the sake of our own feelings, for our personal sense of accomplishment, for pleasure only, simply because we’re “bored” or not the center of attention?

God isn’t only honored simply because we live. He is honored when our thoughts and actions more and more reflect His love, His Word, His will in a world that mostly heads in an opposing direction.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME :)

It's truly my birthday today, my 35th spiritual birthday.

God made Himself real to me in the Person of Jesus Christ at about 3 a.m. on January 3rd, 1971. I haven't ever "recovered" from that encounter nor the years of encouters I've had with Father, Son and Holy Spirit since then... and I don't want to either!

What a difference He has made daily in my life.

From the best wife I could have ever wanted/needed to beautiful children, sons-in-law and grandchildren, pastors and co-servants all of whom are friends... I have SO many people and so many blessings for which to say THANK YOU LORD!

Some folks look at life very much as a burden, a chore, maybe simply a series of duties or tasks to perform. I really don't think about life like that at all.

It's about relationships, first with God, then with all others with whom we have contact.

It's about family and of course, the family of God.

Jesus said (and I echo this statement) "Those who hear the Word of God and do it are my brothers, sister and mother". It's true, my family- both by blood, birth and spiritual birth though the blood of Christ are my brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. I have a hundredfold and there's no stopping the love, power and grace of God in the family where He is head. This I know for certain.

I do not expect this life to be pain free nor without "wrinkles" and "speed bumps". Indeed, life is laced with all sorts of things, but those who follow Jesus aren't alone in the storms.

We recently enjoyed a really special celebration of the Lord's birthday, I'm nearly at my 53rd, and today was as I say, my 35th year of being "born again".

Every so often I think I've learned a few things. Uhuh! Then the Lord and others bring more humility and conviction my way. I have SO much more to learn, need to grow in more godly attitude, character and heart. True servanthood is such a deep need lacking in the core of who I am. But I trust "He who has begun this good work in" me... And so the shared walk continues. I'm so very thankful for the day He called me.

Gloria Deo!