Friday, April 17, 2009

To Everything There is a Season...

Hey bloggers...as you know, I have created and have been maintaining a number of blogs for a while...not all of them are updated daily, but all nine of them are kept fairly current...

At the time of this posting, there are 360 posts on this original blog (this is the 361st), 102 posts on the blog for A Year In The Now , 46 posts on the 20/20 Vision blog, 45 posts on A Word For Winners, 22 posts on the "books" blog, 22 posts on the Now Ministries blog, 18 posts on the prayer blog, 12 posts on the LifeSkills blog, and 3 on the United Rockdale Summit blog...

Being a music lover, I've also compiled several playlists for some of the blogs. There is an eclectic mix of 100 songs on the regular playlist for this one (plus 120 on the Christmas playlist, 25 on the Thanksgiving playlist, 7 on the patriotic playlist...all of which have been used here...including one with classical music (11 songs), and one with songs by David Phelps (9) that I used when we were promoting the GPF last October. In addition, A Word For Winners has a very cool jazz collection of 70 songs, there are 26 meditative/worship songs on WHERE2OR3RGATHERED, and the Now Ministries and URS blogs share the same inspirational 10-song playlist. There's even a 37-song playlist of vintage TV and movie themes that I made for the short-lived nostalgia blog that I ran a few months ago.

As you can imagine, I've put a lot of time into creating all of this, and I've loved every minute of it. And I've already told you here on several occasions how much I enjoy connecting with all of you every day, and hearing your amazing insights and reading your positive feedback. I also love looking at the traffic feed, and seeing the different locations around the world from which people are logging on. No doubt, the internet is amazing...it is a cyber-world that is like what the Apostle John saw when he described a new earth with no sea to divide people (Revelation 21:1)...

That being said, I need to free up some time right now, and simplify things in my life a little. Several months ago I started posting excerpts from Matthew In The Now as I wrote it, thinking that doing so would be a good discipline to help me stay on task with it...and I have, in fact, completed 16 chapters of it. But I really should be much further along in the writing by now, and, as much as I subscribe to the idea that "the more you do, the more you can do", I realize that I need to focus and get this thing done. If nothing else, I want to at least paraphrase the four gospels (John In The Now is already published), but doing so is going to require a lot more unobstructed concentration than I have been allowing myself. So, for the foreseeable future, I'm not going to be posting on any of the blogs, so that I can use what free time I do have to finish MITN, and then go on to the Gospels of Mark and Luke.

You may wonder why I don't just delete all of the additional blogs, and go back to managing one, but I can't do that for two reasons. First, doing that still wouldn't free up my writing time, completely; and secondly, I've put a lot of work into the other ones, and I don't want to do away with them. I think that they should remain available online, in some capacity.

I will still communicate through Twitter and keep you updated with the tweets which already feed into all of the blogs, except for LifeSkills. I like the immediacy of Twitter, and appreciate it because it's concise and direct.

You can still post comments on any of the blogs...in fact, I hope that you do. And you can still post on the CITN blog. AYITN is also posted on there, daily.

Anyway, that's all for now...thanks for understanding, and for your participation...

I love you all!

35 comments:

Amalia said...

God Knows I know your dilemma.
We love you, too.

Northern Light said...

Yep Bishop,

When you feel what you must do, then that is the time to DO IT!

Thank you for all you've done with these blogs, it's not going to disappear and the community and family sense built is long-lasting.

Peace & Love,
Northern Light

Pamela H said...

Bishop - I am looking forward to MITN and the rest - I am signed on to twitter but they blocked me out at work - hopefully soon I will have an apple laptop at home so I can keep up with everybody. Thank you so much for the blogs - LOL

Anonymous said...

You can Twitter from your mobile phone.

Northern Light said...

I just watched the "Gratitude" Sunday Service (again)........and yes, Today is Enough !

Praise God.

Peace,
NL

Northern Light said...

So, now I need to learn how to Twitter !

Word ver......togicksl

I have no idea......but it's a funny and unusual grouping of letters.

Peace,
NL

Son of Zadok said...

Bishop no longer posting blogs...that's like the fat kid givin' up cake.

I reason that in whatever capacity you engage your time, it will be for all of our furthest benefit. Blog when you must.

Life around us is so full of inspiration and renewed expectations. To desire to be spiritual, described before as to live in the presence of God, that is what we all long for. I pray that everyone here find a fresh focus and refreshment in that place in every moment. And no matter what capacity we communicate by, we all live and feed from from the vine. The foundation here is strong, rooted bonds of grace and peace.

Many things revealed, many things still to be revealed. Many things to experience, many things to live.

Come good or bad, It only gets better from here on out.

Son of Zadok said...

Jesus wept.

Izumi/JOY said...

Bish,

Re: "Freeing up some time; simplifying things in your life & staying on task." - I get that. It would take as many posts to match, just to thank you for the topics & music playlists.

I think "Elle" mentioned that she sometimes mutes them. Confession: ditto that for me. (sometimes distracting) Conversely, there've also been days that I opened a few BITN windows and listened to different songs simultaneously. (wondering if that's how God hears)

If it weren't for your appreciation of music, I'd probably have never found myself strolling down grocery store aisles chirping, "Scooby oobey oobey wah, zabba da azoosa, great big wonderful God!" (my version of it, anyway)

I'm thankful every time I hear the line, "Let all the dreamers wake the nations," and, "It's Your Blood that cleanses me."

You've re-affirmed that the Kingdom can be found in everything. (while I can't prove it, recently discovered stone tablets reveal Krispee Kreme Doughnuts were the manna in Exodus 16.)

Because of your appreciation for art, I get to study creations I may have previously overlooked. Plus, I get to think about them. (sometimes, for days - aaack, make it stop!)

Thanks to you, I never watch, "The Green Mile" without appreciating the omnipresence of God.

"I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why.

Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?"

You're in, "Field of Dreams", "The Color Purple" ("I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it."), "Jesus Christ Superstar", "It's a Wonderful Life", the Jetsons, Archie Bunker, Batman, "Hee Haw", Flip Wilson, "The Jeffersons"...

Dear sweet baby Jesus, what's Roddy McDowell doing here? Huh?! (Lord, I apologize, please bless the starving pygmies...for the love of God, man, get outta my head!)

You've spoken the Word so often, that now, I sometimes recite Scriptures in my sleep. Besides your admonitions: "Read them in context! (the locust IS a BUG) and, "When you see the word, "therefore", you know what it means."

Because you celebrate your own backwardness, now I recognize my lefthandedness & right-brained thinking as a good thing.

Because you confirmed that life is more cyclical than linear, it encourages me to keep thinking "out there" thoughts. (though I may not blog those, regularly - my Eureka! armadillo cartoon was such a hit)

"To Everything There is a Season..."

You once described searching for a cd (think it was) but couldn't find it, anywhere. Later, you discovered it hadn't been made, yet. That stuff happens to me, too! One Christmas I requested Amy Grant's Greatest Hits.

The holidays rolled around & zilch. No cd. Fine! I'd get it myself. Called, web-surfed, went everywhere. Like family members apologized - it didn't exist. Yet. Two years later, Grant recorded it.

For your next phase of self-discipline (and discipleship), I anticipate more great (fresh) revelation.

Like you always say, "Everybody ready? Let's get started."

We speak to strongholds, be broken! Be free! YEAH... BE FREE!... YEAH!... BE FREE!

And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by your name.

(Isaiah 45:3, AMP)

PEACE

Izumi/JOY said...

(just in - Krispy Kreme reps & Moses can neither confirm nor deny the manna tip)

Lise said...

Izumi/JOY,
You ALWAYS make me smile! Moses and the KK reps fear misrepresentation, I guess! Those darned attorneys!

Bish, I ditto everything she said. Come back whenever you can... refreshed and eager to share. As always, we will be eager to receive!

Blessings and peace to ALL of you :)

Unknown said...

BITN by the numbers...impressive.

I'll be back when I can use a bigger screen & a less persnickety cursor.

For now, more MITN...yayyy!

Leesa said...

Bish,

Ok, may I just hang out at the "house" then?

Thank for all the insight, revelation, correction, adjustment, time, effort, energy. etc. You totally rock!

One thing I never doubt is that you are led by Him, so I'll just wait while you are doing what you need to do..looking forward to the manifestation of the rest! Love you!

Northern Light said...

OH C'Mon !

So the guy on the radio is just talking about the weather and says "in the now".......WHAT ???

I have never heard those words before except from/relating to Georgia.

Unbelievable....then again, perfectly believable !

Peace,
Northern Light

Izumi/JOY said...

"Elle" - darn! I was going for red-faced-can't-catch-your-breath-tears ruining the Maybelline-gut wrenching-make-her-stop-kinda laughter! (thanks!)

* Will be out of the area, but checking in periodically, to see MITN's latest addition. (and, of course, waves to blog fam)

G'night, beloved Universe!

River said...

Here a blog there a blog Everywhere a blog blog.

So many choices on the buffet line. Which one's shall I choose.
At least they are calorie free.
Their just full of nutrition.
A great source of life.

Anonymous said...

ACIM Lesson 109

I rest in God
We ask for rest today, and quietness unshaken by the world's appearances We ask for peace and stillness, in the midst of all the turmoil born of clashing dreams. We ask for safety and for happiness, although we seem to look on danger and on sorrow. And we have the thought that will answer our asking with what we request.
"I rest in God" This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek. "I rest in God." This thought has power to wake the sleeping truth in you, whose vision sees beyond appearances to that same truth in everyone and everything there is. Here is the end of suffering for all the world, and everyone who ever came and yet will come to linger for a while. Here is the thought in which the Son of God is born again, to recognize himself.
"I rest in God" Completely undismayed, this thought will carry you through storms and strife, past misery and pain, past loss and death, and onward to the certainty of God. There is no suffering it cannot heal. There is no problem that it cannot solve. And no appearance but will turn to truth before the eyes of you who rest in God.
This is the day of peace You rest in God, and while the world is torn by winds of hate your rest remains completely undisturbed. Yours is the rest of truth. Appearances cannot intrude on you. You call to all to join you in your rest, and they will hear and come to you because you rest in God. They will not hear another voice than yours because you gave your voice to God, and now you rest in Him and let Him speak through you.
In Him you have no cares and no concerns, no burdens, no anxiety, no pain, no fear of future and no past regrets In timelessness you rest, while time goes by without its touch upon you, for your rest can never change in any way at all. You rest today. And as you close your eyes, sink into stillness. Let these periods of rest and respite reassure your mind that all its frantic fantasies were but the dreams of fever that has passed away. Let it be still and thankfully accept its healing. No more fearful dreams will come, now that you rest in God. Take time today to slip away from dreams and into peace.
Each hour that you take your rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad, a bird with broken wings begins to sing, a stream long dry begins to flow again The world is born again each time you rest, and hourly remember that you came to bring the peace of God into the world, that it might take its rest along with you.
With each five minutes that you rest today, the world is nearer waking And the time when rest will be the only thing there is comes closer to all worn and tired minds, too weary now to go their way alone. And they will hear the bird begin to sing and see the stream begin to flow again, with hope reborn and energy restored to walk with lightened steps along the road that suddenly seems easy as they go.
You rest within the peace of God today, and call upon your brothers from your rest to draw them to their rest, along with you You will be faithful to your trust today, forgetting no one, bringing everyone into the boundless circle of your peace, the holy sanctuary where you rest. Open the temple doors and let them come from far across the world, and near as well; your distant brothers and your closest friends; bid them all enter here and rest with you.
You rest within the peace of God today, quiet and unafraid Each brother comes to take his rest, and offer it to you. We rest together here, for thus our rest is made complete, and what we give today we have received already. Time is not the guardian of what we give today. We give to those unborn and those passed by, to every Thought of God, and to the Mind in which these Thoughts were born and where they rest. And we remind them of their resting place each time we tell ourselves, "I rest in God."

Anonymous said...

I think it is better to do one thing well than many things inadequately. And we must have our priorities in proper order. This is the way God runs the universe.

Love ya bro.
Dennis

Linda Luke said...

We understand 'to everything there is a season'! God BLESS your 'NEW' season and all that you set your hands to!!!


Love to you and everyone here!

~God Speed

ronnielee said...

Bishop,
I can not put on my mascara before I stream you in on Sunday Mornings.
You are so dog gone inspiritional! This week I had been crying so many tears for all of the "Dreams that have gone by" Holy Spirit had me reading the famous story "Acre of Diamonds" byRussell H. Conwell. The word that came through you this morning was so personal to me from Father. When you spoke " I know where the treasure is hidden, I put it there, I know how to find it....or so something along those lines..I do not want to mis-qoute the Holy Spirit..However, my spirit absorbed that word like a sponge and I will order the CD. I sat here amazed and enveloped with the Holy Spirit through you. I have been so blessed and Inspired by you as I have been a beleiver in exile..I have not been a faithful blogger more of a blurker. I hope to meet you face to face one day and look you in the eye and tell you how you have been an oasis in the desert season of my life.

Northern Light said...

Bishop,

Today, near the end of service, when you prayed over and gave us all the knowledge and permission to use what "we" have and do all that we can do with it, I HEARD something.

Someone prophesied (sp?) about me and what my "hands" could/would do and be used for. It was repeated THREE times, perhaps she didn't think I heard her the first two times, perhaps my breath and response gave her that impression.

Wow.............I accept it. We'll see, now won't we ? Sometime.

Peace,
Northern Light

Northern Light said...

1,006,318.........that's how many "fans" Susan Boyle, the woman you showed the You-Tube clip of in service today, has at this moment on her Facebook.

Tears & Cheers to Susan. What grace, what strength, what a lesson many of us were taught, again! When "first sight" and "first impressions" STOP being what we really believe in, what a wonderful world we might all experience. People are different and people change. People also surprise and we can miss it.....let's grow up !

Peace,
NL

Son of Zadok said...

Wow the whole mustard seed thing.

Incredible.

Another great moment when you've heard something a thousand times, thinking you understand, but was never really understood until today.

Way to lift the people up today. Way to speak to the seed. That's the kind of empowering message that is going to change everything.

The glory is on you right now, just go with it.

Larry Usher said...

Today was one of those days where it wasn't so much what was said, as to the Spirit of the Words. Even when we don't "feel" "spiritual", the Spirit of God is still faithful to speak and do through us.
Once again, it is our destiny that we just "be", whether at the seed, sprout, sapling, bush or tree stage in our development. No sense in worrying about why we don't suddenly grow to "tree" status overnight, but just to rest in the knowledge that He who causes us to grow is neither too early or too late.
We are "right-on-time" people if we will simply be...in the now.

Bro Lar

word ver: LOOZAT- Still trying to loozat extra 15 pounds?

Larry Usher said...

By the by, remember the group rate tickets for the CITN Nexus outing- "The King Tut Exhibition", Sat. May 9th, 1pm at the Civic Center must be purchased by this Friday the 24th of April( 2 weeks in advance of show date). This event is open to all at CITN, not just singles- those who have already attended indicate it is fascinating and enjoyable for all.
I will be in the Narthex before & after Wed service if you would like to get on board. There were about 55-60 of us at the "Jesus Christ Superstar" event and it was a great outing for everyone and got us CITNers some kudos. These times are not just fun but are body-building as well.

Bro Lar

Anonymous said...

Dream big, then do it!

Anonymous said...

God never moves without purpose or plan.
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.

O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead,
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.

O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

Now I can see testing comes from above,
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.

O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

Anonymous said...

In the natural things could tend to look a bit gloomy, but in the spirit realm, "Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la."

Anonymous said...

Lord, we depend upen thee.

wv...upenthee

Anonymous said...

Bish, you are blessed in all things. Those who spoke so positively over you at and early age and those of us who have added our amen to them, in our own versing of a prophetic attempt to get bragging rights as being part of your success, are well pleased with your choices. Every good word spoken over you is and will continue to be fruitful and any evil word will fall on rocky ground to washed away from you.

Thank you for an excellent example of realness.

MITN and the other gospels are definately worth your efforts and will make a great difference in the gospel effectively reaching a world that is tremendously more intelligent than yesterday.

blessings,

JB

Northern Light said...

On a lighter note.......this MI gal and some friends ARE going to be in Atlanta this weekend.

I heard the word "snow" in my forecast here this morning and shut the tv off.....don't know if it's a dusting or a dump.....don't know when, don't care, won't hear of it!

You all will provide those Southern warm breezes and sunshine for us, yes ? Especially for a birthday wish. :)

Peace,
Northern Light

Water Walker said...

May I just go on record as saying, and I don't mean to whine, but I want to change your mind, Bish. You know you taught us to be persistent about worthwhile things and always ask the question as to why certain God's set aside ones didn't keep asking God, but instead gave up too easy, well that is not me. I have an attitude of persistence and I just want to say that this cyperspace congregation has been a lifeline for many of us and we need the daily sustenance as it feeds us much like our daily bread.

Now, please don't misunderstand, Bish, this is not a rebuke simply a gentle request,nooooooooooo!

All kidding aside, there have been siblings connected here, families became more unified, houses were offered, seeds were planted, networking took place, miracles manifested, the Holy Spirit spoke, the Holy Spirit speaks, prayers answered, true ministry happened, washing each other's feet in the spirit of course, true commune in the middle of this community, voices expressed, victories shown, so much encouragement, lots of agreement, crazy humor, faith stretching, ideas expressed, businesses started, blogs started, confirmation after confirmation, encouragement, lots of water walking, washing by the word, so much impartation from you and us that I can't imagine life without bloginthenow, the prayer blog and a word for winners (OMG).

Would you please consider just dishing us up at least one portion of our daily bread? Seriously Bish, this is important.

Please!!!!!!!!

I love you too, Bish
Water Walker

Son of Zadok said...

Still cooking yesterdays message inside.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, related to, the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand.

Powerful and enlivening thoughts indeed.

What is it about shoe polish and the glory? Remember the smiley face?

I think the level of consistent high quality content on this blog is staggering. It uplifts, it enlightens, it encourages thought.
But the Blog is in us all. I'd rather see a New Testament in the Now featured at my local bookstore for multitudes to bask and grow in, than to take away from the focus of that end, or something close to that end.
I said once here the world doesn't need any more books. I was wrong. Books are needed because words mean things. Words are important. They change things. And they're something we have everyday, whether it's words to ourselves, those we know or meet, or the black and white letters we take the time to share here. We all have the ability to hear the word of the Lord.

A picture is worth a thousand words and a blank canvas is a cloth for many colors.

Son of Zadok said...

All of creation is the Word made flesh.

Northern Light said...

Seriously......should my being confident that I get this "twitter" thing be so thought provoking ? It's probably simpler than it seems ? ugh

Peace,
NL