GLENN'S PODCASTS!

WHEN COLD IS WARM & SILENCE SPEAKS

Cornerstone Farm, where we do our annual festival of music, teaching, sports and fellowship to the brim is just sooooo cold and quiet in winter. It's just beautiful.

I recently spent five days there with my wife, eldest daughter and two grandsons. We had fun, the sledding expedition was very fun indeed! It was also a blast (for me) watching pro. soccer (the real football) on cable, in the indoor warmth when it's freezing outside!

But then, the outside always beckons me.

In mid-January the silent, cold, snow-and-ice covered lake, ponds, roads and woods were -in a much overused word, flat-out awesome.

There is something about the sort of clean cold weather that takes your breath away.

There is something about ice, snow and frost on everything (including my beard) and the dead-calm of those nearly seven-hundred acres that is exhilarating. God is there.

Even in taking garbage to the dumpster one afternoon I caught the sun shining off of low grass, weed beds and small trees, thick woods some sixty yards distant. Pulling out my digital camera it was time to snap some photos... low and behold, here came a parade of 10 healthy whitetail deer who had caught my scent and decided to run off to a neighbor's property. It's a beautiful memory from a cold winter's day.

Being alone for just a few minutes in such a stark, quiet setting is always intoxicating to me.

In such situations I find myself praying thanks and truly in awe of all God has made, of all that He has chosen to share with us.

Sometimes it may seem He's silent- but He's always awake, always working, always moving to help us get closer to Himself and more in line with His thoughts and desires.

God is so gracious, yes, even in the silent cold.

-Glenn

THE LEAST OF THESE?

This a.m. I was blessed to bring a morning devotional to Project 12 at the start of a trimester.

My message at core dealt with Jesus' words in Mt. 25, in essence, "as you've done it to the least of these My brothers you've done it to Me".

What I have been thinking about for weeks is that at times, your husband, wife, children, parents, teachers, pastor, next-door neighbor, and in the U.S., democrats or republicans may be -in YOUR mind on any given day- "the least of these".

I told our P12 people that there will be moments when I or any of our staff will be considered the least of these. They'll be tempted to think of one another in that way. At various times any of us may consider or -be- considered "the least". What of it?

We love Jesus no more than we love those we consider "the least".

Sometimes I ask people "How's the Lord treating you?" and most say "Really good". Then I sometimes add "And how are you treating Him"? Believe me, I ask myself the same questions and come up with the same answers! None of us treat Jesus anywhere near as good and lovingly as He treats us. Consider His suffering for us alone and that's clear!

It's equally clear that it's easy to say we love God when we consider various others "unworthy" of our love or kindness. Remember, tomorrow or the next day, you'll also be "the least of these" in somebody's eyes.

I suppose this is part of Jesus' thinking when He commands that we should "Treat others as you would have them treat you".