Morningside Devotionals

Oh gosh, don't you just hate the sweaty hot summertime? Heat so intense that you bust out a sweat going from the car to the house? Maybe it was such a hot time "in the old town tonight,"                 when a young lad, shocked at the accusations, against his favorite baseball hero asked with a cry in his voice- "say it ain' so Joe?" It's not dry heat here in the South of the U.S., so to my readers in the Greek Isles, China and Russia, folks you are better off there, than we are, here, in terms of heat. One time on a mission in New Orleans I was fussin' about the heat going into the worship service and Chris who was handling the reception desk said, "Ah Bray (Cajun accent a bit) ain nothin compared to Hell..." He was smilin' when he said it...thank God - or else I might've wondered... So you can tell I'm no fan of heat time- but it's here, and what I mean is, this blog may draw ...

Ever see a dog just relaxing in the shade, just, laying out relaxed and at ease, not bothered by anything, and find yourself saying to yourself, "its a dogs life?" We can relax far beyond any dog in the shade, we are held in the shade of the mightiest wings ever- and we are held in hands that never grow weak. Even a relaxed dog can awaken riled up, though, when someone or something that doesn't belong in the yard, enters. You've probably seen that, or been greeted by such a pup?  It's not fun is it?  We have a call to be ready alert at all times because we are aligned with the Master of all Masters, the one who makes all the towers over which we are Watchmen and guards. Guard your heart carefully that your inner peace doesn't get invaded by a presence which doesn't belong there.  That way you will feel a sense of peace without interruption. It might be a dogs life, and they might have it made, mine certainly does, and I wouldn...

It is a way of saying that you don't understand something, that it's confusing to you, or isn't clear, and so, you just don't know.  Ever find yourself in a situation which seems like it ought to go one way, yet goes another?  Ever face a foe that you aren't exactly sure how they are the enemy, they just present themselves as an enemy, they aren't clear cut about it, they are strangely and mysteriously cloaked about how they do what they do? That enemy leaves you feeling like you want to fight but aren't sure where the fight is at, dogged if you know? When this happens what do you do?  May I be so bold as to suggest that you bring the enemy out, and that when you go back and read the incident in the desert, you  now have eyes which see that Jesus, far from being invaded upon, had waited for 40 days to bring his true enemy out. Would you also indulge me the saying that enough is enough- there are and should be limits to what you allow...

It was the simplest command possible, in the worst movie (my opinion) ever made, Don Johnson, from Miami Vice fame, took a starring role in a movie called, "A Boy and His Dog," which was based in an after nuclear attack world, and his dog could read his thoughts (think that was it...).  So Don just called his companion, dog. Companion, dog, they do fit together don't they? When you think of an animal that is loyal to it's master, dog is one that might pop into your head?  Is it possible that one of the reasons that we believe this is that we have seen it so many times? The famous scary book author Dean Koontz, wrote a book about his dog, "A Big Little Life," and it's an amazing book.  The Koontz's support and got their dog, from the dog's who are trained to work with blind people, and also assist people with disabilities- these dogs, the Koontz's dog was a Labrador, are known for being especially well trained and...

"Gone to the dogs," another saying that we don't know the origin of but the suspicion is that dogs of the Germanic Europe weren't liked by the Roman invading armies, and so, they were kept outside the camps and when someone went outside the camp; you know, to do what they needed to do, the saying was they'd "gone to the dogs." It has come to mean something negative in our culture, when it shouldn't, my dogs behave far better than many of my so called Christian friends. You may have had a similar experience, which is unfortunate, have to admit it's rare, but there are too many times when my dogs seem to get the whole thing about loving, but Christian's?  Well you get the point. Right now Mopsey, who came to us as an abused dog, she weighed in then at skin and bones twenty pounds, most of her fur had been kicked or torn off, she looked like she had the mange- and so Debbie took her to the vet, and $150.00 later we found ou...

You're right, I'm not sure either, is it dog gone it, or, doggonit?  All that we can be sure of, is, we aren't sure of where it comes from- but we do know- what doggonit means. Alright, here is what it breaks down into- dog, yes, that's my basic friend to observe, gone, which is a state of not being where someone expects you ought to be, and it; meaning as Bill Clinton so aptly asked, "it depends upon what you mean by, it?" One of my closest associates has a wonderful dog, he is like me, getting older, and losing his hearing- and while it's sad; we've quickly got on the train of telling her, "we just have to be more careful with him, he will still have a marvelous and long life."  Which is true- about him, and about me- so my close associate is maybe listening- we sure hope so, because, for a dog this one has the amazing ability to bring other dogs into his act.  Ever know somebody like that- they get you into the s...

You and I and God all share a common hope, we hope; for a better world.  Given the end of the story, that is absolutely true; what we honestly waste our time here doing, is anticipating such; for just as we do not know the next heartbeat, we absolutely cannot tell, with certainty what that next moment will bring. Even though we believe we can read what John wrote about, when Jesus revealed the end to him, can we? Some diners at a cafe were enjoying lunch, they'd made their choices, probably some of the them were a bit anxious about the spaghetti, or, the fish they'd chosen. Maybe they were ready to get through the main course to get to that wonderful chocolate pudding; when the car broke through the glass- and they died.  Not how you'd like to spend the next bite on life, but who would ever think such could happen?  We call them accidents, but that may be a euphemism for, we don't know what to say, but we know what we can't say; that accidents don...