July 29, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Whatever It Takes

Christian ministry is not a 9 to 5 job; it is not supposed to be a "job description" we aren't allowed to deviate from; it should not be based on what we want from God, but what God wants from us; our comfort zone should never come into play; and overtime should be the norm rather than the exception.
We all fall short, at times, when we have "worldly" desires, have not had enough rest, get up on the wrong side of the bed or are just plain not in the mood. But when something needs to be done, we should step forward and try to do it; when someone calls in sick, we should see if we can take their place, when we commit to a task, we should do our best to see it through; and when we give our word, we should honor it with our action.
When we do it as it should be done, God is pleased, and we are blessed. When we do it as it should be done, others are impacted, and we are blessed, and when we do whatever it takes, even when we don't particularly feel like it, we will reap rewards beyond anything we can imagine. God is Good.

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July 26, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Ah, The Simple Life

A home in the country. Forty acres and a mule. A house on a bus route. Guaranteed for life. Tax free. Sure sounds good. Ah, the simple life. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. In reality, it gets more complicated every day.
Karen and I are reasonably smart people. We manage to get along without a lot of the bells and whistles of the modern world. We don't Facebook, Skype, Instagram, Twitter, buy anything off EBay or use Craig's List. We don't use a Debit Card, get money from an ATM, use PIN numbers for anything, get any of the "but wait" offers from the TV hucksters, answer any of the survey questions on the phone, or have any frequent flier miles. When we had to replace Karen's phone this past Monday, because of a cracked screen, we saw a few new appliances at Best Buy which were beyond our imagination and far more complicated than we could comprehend. Her new phone, of course, required a new case, new screen protector, new charging cords, and is a little beyond our ability to operate and has a more complicated "rental agreement" with a host of documents we had to consent to even if we didn't fully know what we were consenting to. Our salesman, Luis, was a-third our age, more than 3 times smarter than us in the technical arena and made a complicated situation seem very simple. But simple it is not.
The world is moving at a dizzying pace and we can get caught up in the complexity of it and be overwhelmed by what we don't understand. Fidget spinners are the latest pet rock, hula hoop, mood ring, Rubik's cube, frisbee, hubba bubba, happy face, slinky, pacman, lava lamp, crocs, Elmo or a host of other fads which took our money and went away.
Just let me enjoy a simple life...........and let me be able to enjoy the screaming announcers and self-absorbed participants on American Ninja Warrior. Did any of this make sense?


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July 23, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Sabbath

When God created creation, He also created the Sabbath, a day He rested from His work of creation and asked us to do the same, Not all of us actually create anything, but we do do something and need to occasionally step back from doing it to renew our strength, rest our physical bodies and enjoy the "fruits" of our labor. Too many of us don't take enough time "off" and wear ourselves down, get tired of what we do and lose interest and sometimes even burn out and quit an activity we once enjoyed.
Today is the Sabbath. I didn't really rest very much today, but I did sleep an hour longer than usual. When I got up, I "picked up" the amphitheater, did some other Passion Play duties, came back to the RV and had my usual morning time with The Lord, journaling and reading devotionals and The Bible. By then it was too late to get to church. A Sabbath rest from church. That sounds like a bad thing, but sometimes we need a break from what is normally a good thing. I then did our family laundry and in the process finished up the PP cast laundry which was started by others after the performance last night. While that does qualify as work, it's not really strenuous, and does give a break to the others who work so hard during the week to keep our cast "in clean clothes".
Now it's time to blog, and I really don't know what to write about, so I'm propped up in bed, hoping to think of something to write. In the alternative, I may just close my eyes for a while and perhaps take a late afternoon Sabbath nap. The blog can always wait for later, but if I do fall asleep, I'll just post what I've written now and it can qualify as my scheduled blog. Writing can sometimes be hard work, especially on the Sabbath, when we are supposed to rest and not create, which is what a blogger does when he does blog. Yawn!!!

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July 20, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. How Hot Is It?

        At 4:45pm in Eureka Springs it is 94 degrees (feels-like 100, with a feels-like high of 107 earlier today).  We have been hot and muggy for the past few weeks and anticipate similar weather thru the weekend.  Much of the country is hot and some areas are under heat advisories and also experiencing out-of-control wild fires.  Unfortunately the hottest weather is yet to come for some areas.

        The secret to surviving the heat is to convince yourself it isn't really as hot as we are being told.  Some of us wear "biblical" garb during the day and everyone in the Play wears costumes which can be very uncomfortable or confining.  The Roman soldiers, Temple and Sanhedrin guards and many of the priests wear bulky costumes and heavy headgear.  For them, it is even hotter than for us in the "normal" roles.  The lesson here is that as hot as it is, it is hotter for someone else, and as hot as is is now, it could be a lot hotter.  After all it is 115 in Death Valley and we could be doing the Holy Land Tour in Furnace Creek instead of Eureka  Springs.  The best answer to the question "Aren't you hot in that costume?" is a simple "no" and then the caveat, "nothing compared to what we expect in August".  Mind over matter and accepting what we don't have any ability to control.  

         And, by the way, we had our mobile RV repairman, Bryan,  here today to service our RV AC and as I write it is a comfortable 78 degrees as I relax for this evening's over-90 start for the Play.  How hot is it?  It's "just right,  thank you".

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July 17, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Who Is The Greatest?

The Twelve Disciples were an unusual and motley bunch. They were in the presence of THE greatest rabbi, teacher, leader, prophet, healer and man who ever lived and they often argued and fought over which of THEM was the greatest. Jesus must have rolled His eyes, took a deep breath and continued with His rabbi'ing, teaching, leading, prophesying and healing, hoping that one day His followers would finally "get it".
Here at TGPP, we have five current and former "Christ Figures", men with different personalities, different gifts and talents, different roles in the PP ministry, and each has a right to stake his claim as the greatest to portray The Greatest, yet there is an air of working to advance the whole rather than the individual and an uncommon humility in their manner. I work most closely with Joe, a veteran of over 30 years here at TGPP, and Kent who is not even 30 years old. They are a riot to work with because of their different "approaches" to solving problems, and their tireless devotion to getting those projects done. They are two of the hardest working people I have ever known and it is a hoot to be a "fly on the wall" as they discuss the means to use in solving the problem at hand. Their love for TGPP is beyond measure, and if we could bottle that "love" WE would be the greatest ministry ever created. I know God smiles when He watches those two at work and will someday greet them with the hardiest of "Well Dones" as they keep on serving Him into eternity.
What a blessing to do what we do, to serve where God has called us, to look beyond the politics of life, the politics of religion and the politics of politics and trust and believe in THE GREATEST, our Lord and Savior...........JESUS CHRIST. Thank You, Lord.

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July 14, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Finish The Race

I think it was September, 1981 when I crashed in a bicycle race in Denver, CO and broke my collar bone, shoulder blade, shoulder socket and a rib. My first reaction was to try to get up and finish the race, but when I tried to get up, I realized that if I pushed too hard, the collar bone would have come thru my skin. So, I resigned myself to a DNF. It was to be the only race in an athletic "career" which went from grade school to well into my 40's that I did not cross the finish line.
Even if I was to finish last, my goal was always to finish what I started and I had that same mindset in all the activities I undertook in my life. There were a number of times that I failed, but I was always determined to get it right the next time. I mention all of this because this past Wednesday, Dick, our 89 year old Old Testament Tabernacle Priest fell down a flight of stairs in his house, breaking his collar bone and bunging himself up pretty badly. He is determined to be back teaching next Tuesday, and resume his duties which I "inherited" the past two days.
After my accident, I was in an upper body cast for nearly two months and had severe muscle atrophy to overcome when the doctors removed the cast, so I have my doubts about Dick being on the mend enough to maneuver with his walker and power scooter next week. It is also extremely hot and humid this time of year in Arkansas and it may be that he will be on the DL longer than anticipated.
For now I will fill in for as long as needed, pray for Dick and Joan, and ask that you pray for them, as well. God can heal our hurts and use us as He wishes to do His work. My hope is that God's plan for us and our adherence to it allow us to finish the race with grace and excellence honoring Jesus Christ with our full and complete devotion. Get well, Dick. Trust God for His healing, and the proper timing of it. See you soon.

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July 11, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Say What?

Karen and I took the day off from work at the Passion Play, and went to the VA in Fayetteville for some medical appointments. We should have known there was something amiss when our GPS told us we were about to arrive at the Virginia Medical Center on our right when it was actually the Veterans Affairs Medical Center on our left. I received my third "lifetime" pneumonia shot in the past five years and was told to return a colon cancer test packet which the nurse forgot to give me.
On the way home we had our perfunctory Whataburger and then stopped at Sam's to shop for a few items. Karen saw a sign for free Hearing Exams and we decided that we would take advantage of the offer, each thinking the other one would be the poorest "hearer". Karen went first and did pretty well, having difficulty with a few higher pitched women's or children's voices. The pressure was on and I was shown to have difficulty with lower pitched men's voices and only the highest of women's and children's voices. Both of us should be able to hear what we say to each other, but the test (in our professional opinion) is a bit removed from reality. Needless to say, hearing aids are not one of our " bucket list" items. We had fun with Kim, the audiologist and the only other customer who came while we were there, didn't listen to what Kim told him and went away disappointed that she didn't fix his hearing aid problem. She heard all his comments, but probably wished she hadn't heard his assessment of HER professional ability.
Like many things in life, we are selective in what we listen to, what we hear of what we listen to and how we process what we do understand of what was said. Does that make sense?.......or to put it in plain English............say what?

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July 8, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Who Are You?

Across the dashboard of our motor home are about a dozen caps which designate one of my "multiple personalities". No, I'm not Sybil from the movies. I'm letting people know that I am more than a single-faceted person, that I have done a lot of different things, have many different interests and cannot be dumped into a definite pigeonhole. The caps show me to be a Christian, an American, a worker at The Great Passion Play and Source of Light Ministries, a Vietnam Veteran, a soldier in God's Army and Revelation 22 Outfitter Made for Eternity.
At TGPP I wear a lot of hats, as well. When I dress for the Extended Tabernacle Teaching and Holy Land Tour people want to know "who I am" and they guess Moses, Aaron, Joseph, Noah, Eli or other Bible characters, and in the Play itself, I play multiple disciples, am sometimes a Jesus-follower and at others a part of the rabble yelling for His crucifixion or witnessing against Him before the Sanhedrin. On non-performance days, I do whatever needs to be done to support and advance the PP ministry.
In many ways I identify with Saul of Tarsus, a Jew, who becomes the Apostle Paul) and his comment in 1 Corinthians 9:22 ...... I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some". From my Jewish roots, I too became a Christian and seek to preach Jesus to all who will listen. I look back to my upbringing, my life experiences and seek to convey a transformed and fuller life through faith in and obedience to Jesus, my Lord and Savior. All to Jesus and all for Jesus. That's who I am. And, by the way.......Who Are You?

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July 5, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Facelift

As the 2016 Passion Play season drew to a close in October last year, there were a number of projects put on the drawing board for the 2017 season. The initial design and some of the preliminary work was begun before we left for Georgia, and there was a core group of "locals" who worked through the winter as time and weather permitted. The work continued when we returned in mid-March, but there was till much to be done.
As we get into July, the work has continued, but because of some 90 volunteers who descended on the property this week, there has been a very noticeable facelift which has taken place and these workers will still be here for another few days. There has been a marked change in the petting zoo, marketplace, front water-feature, buffet roof, walking paths, cleanliness of the amphitheater, flower beds, set improvements, grounds and weed control. With the painting done by prior volunteer groups, elimination of leaves and fallen branches, improvements made in drainage and eliminating water leaks, we have been able to minimize damage from the heavy rains and keep the water flowing where it needs to flow.
It's wonderful to see the physical improvements and know that we are laying the groundwork for the future by making more permanent fixes rather than just band-aiding our problems. We still have many volunteer groups coming the rest of July and we hope some of our past volunteers will return in the fall. It has not been easy work. There are some pooped puppies among the "regulars" and we still need fixes to our equipment, vehicles and infrastructure, but we trust God for the "gifts" needed to perpetuate this ministry, so that it continues to reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pray for God's will to be done here, that the laborers keep coming the clean amphitheater seats hold those God wants here to hear the message we are presenting. And for all that has happened, we thank God and give Him all the Praise and Glory.



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July 2, 2017. Eureka Springs, AR. Welcome Home

Karen went back to Colorado on May 12th to care for her sister who had surgery and then tooth issues, take care of her own annual medical appointments and oversee a number of projects at our house in Fort Collins. Missions Accomplished. She is back in Arkansas after six weeks away. It's good to have her back and she is readjusting to limited-space living and I need to readjust to having "company".
When Karen went back to Colorado for similar reasons in 2014 she was able to sell a car, buy a car, do her medical stuff, take care of household chores, including having a hail-damaged roof replaced, and a bunch of other tasks. This time she bought a stove, relicensed our car, had our backyard totally "de-junipered", a new fence installed, our front entrance walk replaced, had 11 tons of rock put where the junipers were, visited her 94 year old aunt in Utah, visited multiple friends and relatives, had our air conditioner and furnace serviced and drove almost 2000 miles by herself. It was far from a relaxing six weeks, but a very productive time. I'm glad she's back. So are all our friends here and her co-workers here at TGPP.
God has blessed us with an exciting and different life. He has provided us with the means to live as we do and certainly not as we envisioned when we met at Levitz Furniture in Lakewood, Colorado some 45 years ago. We couldn't have written a story like the one God wrote for us. It's been quite an adventure and we thank Him for it. We look forward, in faith, to what lies ahead in His plan for us.
Welcome home, Karen. I love you.


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