Been Busy Travelin' in the Southern USA

Hey everybody Just thought I would post a short note. I thought I heard some of you thinkin' "He's fallen off the wagon again... quit posting so soon after he was on such a roll." Well I have a lot to post about but not much time to write today. We are spending some time with friends here in North Carolina. It is a time we have set a part to meet with each other and the Lord. When I have more time I will explain this concept. It is something new we are exploring.

We are looking forward to our time in Lebanon TN this weekend. This is near to Nashville if any care to come to the meetings just write me an email. jmitchclay@yahoo.com We will be there Friday Night, Sat. and Sunday evening. After one more visit we will be going home to TX. Although we love traveling and seeing everyone like Dorothy says there is truly no place like home. When we return home we will have been gone 4 weeks. So this was a long time for us but it is so nice for Ranae and I to be together.

I look forward to sharing more here soon when I get home. Until then Great big Blessings to ya' and see you soon. Mitch

The Power of Our Perspective

Let's consider the word perspective. We heard people say oh that's your perspective or from that perspective I can see that. Perspective is just that, the way you see things. The way you see things depends on your current state of mind. I can just hear some of your thoughts right here, speaking of your state of mind. Consider this; a man is in the woods after 3 days of deer hunting without seeing any deer. He can turn a tree into a trophy 10 point buck. His perspective is that he has come into the woods to find and take a trophy buck. His mind is set. His anticipation is I have planned all year to hunt and find the big one. By the end of the third unsuccessful day, every group of tangled tree limbs turns into a trophy rack that he can hang on the wall of his den. His mind is so intent on seeing what he wants that it literally skews his perception. It does not affect his eye sight. It affects what he perceives from what he sees. That is the power of perception. It is the filter that takes the input of our senses and draws conclusions from the sensory input. Perception takes raw data and interprets into something useful, something helpful to us. We could put a starving man in the same woods looking at the same tangled tree limbs and he would turn the shapes into food shapes. His perspective affected the conclusions his mind came up with from the raw data that came to him through his eyes. Remember Jesus said the eyes are the window of the soul.

Think about the story of the three blind men and the elephant. These three guys all were touching different parts of the same elephant and coming to vastly different conclusions. The one blind guy based on his sensory input said, oh elephants are kind of like snakes long and thin with hair on one end. He was handling the tail. To this the other guy replied, what are you crazy everyone knows that elephants are round and thick kind of like a tree. He was touching the elephant's leg. The other blind guy just shook his head in disbelief, boy those guys are really missing it, my perspective is that elephants are kind of like stingrays large, flat and skinny. He was touching the elephant's ear. The truth is that if these three guys would have taken their collective perceptions they would have had a more accurate description of an elephant.

We should take lessons from these examples and understand how we come to certain conclusions and to begin to value what one another is saying. If we only listen to those who agree with us we will be skewed in our perceptions. Submitting ourselves to a variety of outlooks enhances our perception. It makes us question our position and then go through the process of weighing out why we believe what we believe. The problem so many of us have is our beliefs are shallow and fragile. They won't stand the test of the scrutiny of other view points. So we hide amongst those who agree with us and say yep we got it right all those others are wrong. We remain like the blind guys feeling only one part of the whole and being deceived into believing that what we are 'seeing ' is all there is. Begin to recognize our perspective is just that, our perspective. There are other perspectives out there. If we listen to others we may 'see' a bigger picture. Bless you as you move forward seeing all that God has for you. Mitch

I Am Not Hopeless

I am not hopeless. Sometimes we just need to release the words that are in our minds and the ones in our spirits. As I watched the evening news last night I saw a man in his fifties standing in his house in North Dakota. The waters of the Red River were threatening. While he was being interviewed he said we have worked hard to get all this stuff ( his word stuff) and now this flood is coming. He looked ready to cry. His wife was standing at his side while he spoke. You could tell these were good people who had the threat of losing it all, as we say. The strain of the moment was on their faces. The unknown, the what ifs ,and all those unanswerable questions were in their eyes and painted on their faces. In this moment of despair it was like a wave of understanding washed over him and with tears rolling down his cheeks he said but its all just stuff. He hugged his wife ,drew her to himself and said this is what really matters the rest is just stuff. This is the important thing. WOW what a statement. What an incredible message spoken, shouted ,proclaimed, right there on the evening news for all to hear. It is all just stuff and this is the important thing.

Folks this is the message. This is what God is saying to everyone who will hear. Stuff comes and stuff goes but what remains is our relationships with our loved ones. Those who are important to us. The wife pressed her face into his chest and wept. She didn't cry for her stuff I think she cried because she knew that no matter what happened she would have this man her husband with her. She might lose her stuff but the thing that mattered most no one could take it from her.

Think about your stuff today. Wonder if it was all taken away. What would you have left. We are living in days where hopelessness is abounding but we don't have to be without hope. We have someone to put our hope in. We have an eternal, unchanging Father who promised. He has never failed. That is not a typo, never failed. No, not once. He is our hope, in the midst of a sea of hopelessness. For this reason I can be hopeful in the midst of hopelessness. Not because I can but because the unchanging unfailing one CAN. Take courage today and hope in Him who has promised. God bless you as you ponder these words. Mitch

New post ....And only 13 days from the last post!! Imagine that !?!

Hey all

Well I wanted to share a little something to keep this roll going. Didn't want it to be a year between posts. We are getting ready to leave for a 4 week trip throughout the US. We will be in MO GA NC TN and back to good ole TX. We will be seeing lots of friends and hopefully meeting some new ones along the way.

God continues to speak more deeply about the necessity of knowing the truth. Jesus said if you continue in my word you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. Knowledge of the word will bring us truth that bring us freedom. The problem as I see it is that so many are walking in the doctrines of men and don't know it. Because there is a big crowd or plenty of money flowing in doesn't mean the blessing of God is upon something. The truth is God has revealed His truth in the word and has given us the spirit of truth to be able to find and know the truth. This knowledge of the truth makes us free.

The systems of men have a form of godliness but deny the power, the power of God Himself. When we cling to our tradition instead of the word of God we make of no effect God's word. In other words our tradition has more clout in our lives than the Word of Almighty God. We think more about doing things the traditional way rather than seeking God to know Him and His ways. There are many who are deceived but it does not have to be that way. The word says it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom. So by this we know that our inheritance includes revelation of the kingdom of God and the ways of the Lord.

Many people are bored with the current system called church but the truth is the ways of the Lord are exciting and not boring. The fulfillment that comes from finding and doing your God given purposes are beyond description. Search for the truth. Seek the Lord with all your heart and you will find Him, He has promised. Also make the decision to take a position of vulnerability by putting your heart and all that is in it on the table for examination. Let God sort through your beliefs. Let Him reveal how your ways and His ways match up. Remember the Spirit of Truth has been sent by the Father to guide us in ALL truth. He has power to accomplish this. Permit Him, make opportunity for Him to do what He has been sent to us to do.

Bless you all as you seek and find Him. I pray you have boldness and courage to make any necessary changes in your life. Abundant Grace and Blessings to all Mitch

I Know I Know the cabinets are in.....

I have heard from some of you, no names mentioned, that you thought the cabinets fell on me or something. Actually I am fine and so is Ranae. We are doing good and the house remodel continues.

I am going to begin to post again. Just got back from a conference in Wisconsin and had a tremendous time. There were some new themes explored and it kind of got my juices flowing again so I will try to communicate some ideas here. I will be sharing some personal information so you can keep up with Ranae and I but my primary focus will be to share ideas the Lord gives me. I am going to try to make some audio teachings available if I can figure out how to do it.

So please come along as we head out again.

Blessings, Mitch

The Cabinets are In

Well we had a great day watching our cabinets being installed. Just wanted to put up some pictures. We are working on the countertops this weekend see you then.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas .... DU WAH

I love pictures of snow and snowy weather. This one is really pretty. I can imagine myself being there. It is so quiet when it is snowing. Cold and still, the snow covering everything, changing it from brown and dead to white clean crisp.... Ah the memories. But then another memory begins to creep in, wet clothes clinging to my cold legs and feet. Fingers so cold I can't feel them any more. Oh yeah I remember it all now.

Isn't it great to just look at pictures of snow? I think it is really pretty just to look at.

Hey I am having another memory..... Yeah this is better warm crackling ahhhh....

Have a great Christmas with or without snow. Blessings to all in this Holiday season.