Winds of change

November 9, 1989 is one of the most important day's in all of history. That was the day that the Berlin wall fell. There was a lot of things that led up to it though. It was the beginning of the end of the cold war and the balance of communism was swinging back on itself. Communism was beginning to fall away through out the world because the oppression of millions of people can only last just so long.

Eventually when the desperation starts to take over, people will reach out to do the impossible. There were people that were so desperate that they would try to break through the wall and it's security perimeter only to die a sad death of being shot to death in cold blood. It was a revolution that was brought on by the oppression of the basic human rights to live, love, and worship.

I was stationed there as a young man in the military at that time and the excitement was in the air. The world was holding it's breath waiting to see what was going to happen. President Ronald Reagan had stood at the wall and had called for MikhaÃl Gorbachev to knock down the walls. That was not a popular thought in the Soviet world but no longer could the threat of violence hold people slaved in fear. There is a point when a person can no longer be threatened to keep them in control and in fear.

About that point in time a song came out by a group called Scorpion called "The winds of change" that held the embodiment what was going on at the time. The lyrics were a cry of a generation and spoke of what was happening not on in Europe but all over the world. Some of the lyrics went like this

"The wind of change Blows straight into the face of time Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell For peace of mind. Let your balalaika sing What my guitar wants to say,
Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams With you and me. Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow dream away in the wind of change".

That generation knew that they did not want their children to be born into communism and that they wanted their children to be free to think and to dream and to share ideas. They wanted what I had already had and I did not realize what exactly I had. It took seeing other people starving for what I had to make me understand what I really had.

Looking back in time I thought that I would never see anything more incredible than that but I have. I have seen that the people of God have been oppressed and not able to live the life that God had intended for us to live because we were all being held captive in our own hearts with our on "Wall of shame" keeping us stuck in a world of oppression where we are starving and cold and living a life waiting to die. But when we get desperate enough to want to get away from that life we will be willing to risk our safety to break through the barriers that hold us captive. We can not be stopped from reaching out to the one who can speak for us.

As Ronald Reagan spoke as the leader of the free world for the people who could not speak for themselves, Jesus Christ was the one who laid down his life for us. He went to Calvary which was a dark place of death much like the Wall of Berlin, so that he could carry our death sentence away by the sacrifice that only he could make. Looking at the picture here you can see the Crosses that were on the other side of the wall calling us to please come to the savior because he has already paid the price with his life for your freedom. Always on the other side of slavery andTierney is freedom and Joy. Psalms 68 says that God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Rest peaceful knowing that you will be singing when he leads you out, no longer living in a sun scorched land.

Ronald Reagan spoke for a portion of the world in one point in time, but Jesus spoke for the Whole World and throughout all of time. When you are desperate enough for that breath of freedom just cry out for Jesus and the "Walls of Shame" will crumble and fall. It did for me, and I can now say that there is freedom in my life now. This is one time when I can say that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.



Blessings.

Diary of hunter deer

Since hunting season will be coming soon I thought I would refresh your memory of what can happen at the deer camp.
Blessings,

Diary Of A Deer Hunter
1:00 AM Alarm clock rings
2:00 AM Hunting Partners arrive, drag you out of bed
2:30 AM Throw everything except kitchen sink into pickup
3:00 AM Leave for deep woods
3:15 AM Drive back home to pick up gun
3:30 AM Drive like crazy to get to the woods before daylight
4:00 AM Set up camp, forgot the stupid tent
4:30 AM Head for the woods
6:05 AM See eight deer
6:06 AM Take aim, squeeze trigger
6:07 AM Click
6:08 AM Load gun while watching deer go over hill
8:00 AM Head back to camp
9:00 AM Still looking for camp
10:00 AM Realize you don't know where camp is
NOON Fire Gun for help---eat wild berries
12:45 PM Rescued
12:55 PM Rushed to hospital to have stomach pumped
3:15 PM Arrive back at camp
3:30 PM Leave camp to kill deer
4:00 PM Return to camp for bullets
4:01 PM Load Gun--Leave camp again
5:00 PM Empty Gun on bug that is bugging you
6:00 PM Arrive at camp--see deer grazing
6:01 PM Load Gun
6:02PM Fire Gun
6:03 PM One dead pickup
6:05 PM Hunting partners arrive at camp dragging deer
6:07 PM Fall into fire
6:10 PM Change clothing, throw burned ones into fire
6:15 PM Take pickup, leave hunting partners & deer in camp
6:25 PM Pickup boils over due to hole shot in block
6:26PM Start walking
6:30 PM Stumble & fall, drop gun in mud
6:35 PM Meet bear
6:36 PM Take aim
6:37 PM Fire Gun, blow up barrel that's plugged with mud
6:38 PM Mess pants
6:39 PM Climb tree
11:00 PM Bear leaves, wrap gun around tree
Midnight Home at last, Falling on knees thanking God for safe delivery of situation.
Next Day Watch football games on TV, slowly tearing up hunting licenseinto small place pieces in envelope & mail to Game Warden.

Time of transformation

Hello, it has been a time of transformation in my
family this week. My father has sold his home in Florida and moved here to be close to his new Grandson. I have been doing a lot of shopping for him and found him a real nice 31 Ft fifth wheel RV to live in. It is beginning to be a very stressful time for me because I am spending his money for everything getting things lined out and it bothers me to spend a large amount of some one else's money.

I have not lived with or around my Father since I was fifteen years old and I have come to the conclusion that we are two completely different people. He stresses over everything and I don't stress at all, he smokes I don't, he is small and I am large, I am reaching out to do what God wants me to do and he just wants to follow after me, I am a leader and he is a follower.

Trying to find common ground is hard but I am not shrinking back from the challenge although I probably will buy some Tylenol. God has been faithful to me and I will not back out of this yet just because it looks like it is going to be hard to deal with. I am so glad that my son will have the time to spend with his Grandpa that I did not have. I want my family to be whole again. The pic is dads new camper. It has these things called slideouts that slide out to make more room in the camper to move around, so it transforms to make room so that you can live in the camper much like our hearts transform so Jesus can live in our hearts. Unlike our hearts the slideouts can only go so far but our hearts can keep growing for Jesus kind of like slideout with out limit. I hope that my heart can keep growing and make a mansion for Jesus. Silly I know, but please understand what I am trying to say. We all can take a little time to grow in God till the Day we move on be in his presence.

As a young pastor I know that my family must be in order and I know that God has delivered to me this opportunity so I shall go forth and make the best of this situation. I thank God that I am able to see this as one of the greatest things that has happened to me but if in the mean time you say hi to me and I snarl at you please don't take it personally my heart is sliding out and the hydraulic pump is out and I am having to manually slide it out a little at a time.

Blessings, stan

Looking back to the past.

Here recently I received a phone call from a director of a international Christian outdoors magazine called "the Christian Sportsman" letting me know that they published an article that I had submitted to them over a year ago. Well you could imagine my surprise when they called, I had almost forgot that I had submitted it to the magazine. When he told me that he had published the article which was called " Be still and know that I am God" I had to get back to my computer and reread what I had wrote.

I was surprised how much it ministered to me personally because I had wrote it in one the worst possible times in my life which I will not talk about right now, but I was amazed when I saw what God had done with my wife and I throughout that year. God had come in and healed a great loss in our lives and has blessed us with a new baby boy. He had taken our hurt and turned it around and gave us joy.

So when you look back at your painful times in your life, remember they come to pass not to stay. I have found God in my sad days and danced with him in my celebration days. If you want to see what God is doing in your present life and your future all you have to do is look to your past and see what he has done for you then and then you will see what he is going to do in your present and future life.

Blessings