A Week at Home

 This past week has been a week at home with Debra, time in Scripture, Prayer and reading. I forgot to mention last week that before I returned from Vermont I went to visit my brother Robert and his family in Hull, MA. It was good to be with them overnight and catch up. Please keep my brother Robert in your prayers as he is still recovering from a severe head injury a year ago.  Here are some of the books that I have been reading this week.
 I have been reading my Bible and during the Sabbatical set a goal to read the entire Bible chronologically by OT & NT. I have already finished the NT and have been reading some of the 2nd century church Fathers who were discipled by the Apostles. In the OT I'm now into Kings & Chronicles. The Bible reading plan I'm using for a chronological order is organized by "Back to the Bible" and can be found HERE!  I'm doing this at an accelerated pace with about 1-2 hours of slow Bible reading a day.  While I was up at the Cabin I also began to use the Psalms in my morning, evening and night devotions by reading them slowly out loud. I have found this very effective and meaningful and have been reading out loud and slowly 5 psalms a day; 3 in the morning and 2 at night. Give it a try...but remember.... slowly and out loud.




















Some of the other books I have finished reading this week are:  The Source: James Michener: This is a historical novel of the history of Israel and was assigned reading for before going on our trip to Israel (as well as the 1st 5 books of Moses).

 The Philokalia (Lover of Beautiful). This is a compilation of the Eastern Orthodox Mystics and Spiritual leaders from the 6th - the 17th century. This is the book that the man was reading in the classic
Way of the Pilgrim. Its full of very profound spiritual insights.
Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ:  Jeanne Guyon. Also known as Madum Guyon she was a 17th century French mystic of profound significance. This book had a tremendous influence on Watchman Nee in China,  the Quakers, Moravians, John Wesley & Methodists, Hudson Taylor the grandfather of the Western missionary movement and more.
Dark Night of the Soul: St. John of the Cross: A 16th century Spanish mystic who helped reform the Carmelite order. This is deep reading but a Christian classic in finding God's love through and in the midst of the suffering and pain of our lives.
The Little Flowers of St. Francis: Yes, he did preach to the birds and the fish but the Fransician Friars believed in following Jesus completely. This is some of their stories.
The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi: St. Francis:  Not real inspirational reading but their love for Christ and level of obedience was astounding.

Black History Month t shirt

This week there have been lots of wonderful events going on for Black History Month at church. I'm  sorry I'm missing them but folks sent me a t-shirt (thanks so much) which I plan to wear Monday on my trip down south.
I'm also watching ROOTS again in honor of Black History. Its very profound and hard to watch due to the horrors of slavery. But its worth watching.

Finally I have spent this week going through all my preparations for the Everglades Challenge. Next Saturday Ben and I will leave the beach at Fort DeSoto State Park in St. Petersburg Fl to paddle (sail if able) 300 miles to Key Largo. I'm gotten my equipement, food and other gear all prepared and think I'm ready to go. Heres a picture of my kayak and gear in the basement where I was seeing if I could fit everything in. Yes it does.
Next week I will post some more details about this along with a link so you can follow us if you like. Please keep me in your prayers as I'll also be doing alot of driving ( over 4,500 miles) in the next 3 weeks.