tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.comments2010-08-21T20:58:54.233-07:00Michael's PondUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-40129577951570662402010-07-18T18:51:47.675-07:002010-07-18T18:51:47.675-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-62443010203796808212009-12-13T07:10:01.508-08:002009-12-13T07:10:01.508-08:00Quite interesting, Mike. I hope things are going ...Quite interesting, Mike. I hope things are going well for you. Love you man, BenUShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521062338899803380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-79075698257508941092009-06-13T21:55:26.127-07:002009-06-13T21:55:26.127-07:00Wow Michael you got a nice blog, similar to readin...Wow Michael you got a nice blog, similar to reading psalms.Well I miss seeing you and hear you read one of your poems. God bless brother.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12679097892553540054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-1148892364483875182008-08-13T00:49:00.000-07:002008-08-13T00:49:00.000-07:00can i just say...that im SO happy to be in this wo...can i just say...that im SO happy to be in this wonderful community/family with you guys!! It has been only a few months and the lord has taken through this fire/conflict to show us what it means to truly love one another in Christ. May we continue on this flow of grace and mercy, let it continue on into our past, present and future families.<BR/>So blessed by both your words.The Lord restores us.<BR/>Im back here in portland, sigh....and long for my sister and brother.sigh.<BR/>peaceGayle Weather thunder stormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06622891092249773731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-32905799118191254302008-06-27T20:28:00.000-07:002008-06-27T20:28:00.000-07:00Thanks a bunch there. That piece was the beginning...Thanks a bunch there. That piece was the beginning of thoughts about that very same stuff when I first got to the island. After reading the comment and reflecting upon the conversation that I have had and am having with Papa about this, I would agree with what you said. Thanks for leaving a comment and taking the time to care for this ragamuffin to be honest and real.ExiledAtraidezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11477811062820555173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-33237200374872728292008-06-25T13:58:00.000-07:002008-06-25T13:58:00.000-07:00So how do we make the transition from shallow comm...So how do we make the transition from shallow community to family?<BR/><BR/>Here's a few thoughts of mine, this is something I've been seeking and thinking about for a long time.<BR/><BR/>1. Depth is achieved through conflict, and<BR/><BR/>2. Real humility and real love are necessary for conflict to bring healing instead of wounding.<BR/><BR/>I have experienced community where there is love and humility, and also where there isn't. In both settings there has been the drive to go deep, be real with each other, see God bring unity, see sin brought to the surface and dealt with in each others' lives.<BR/><BR/>There's a song playing right now that says "I believe love is the answer." Yes! I love you, Jesus. <BR/><BR/>The first setting was a community I was a part of about six years ago, in Mexico. When issues were brought to the surface, there was not the love and humility to encourage me to pull through them. While there was the push to go deep and see things brought to the surface, it was more "in your face" like, "you have stuff, but you're on your own to work through it--just do this list of spiritual disciplines."<BR/><BR/>The second setting is my current Jesus family here in Hawaii and also in Portland. I thank God for them, especially a number of individuals who pray for me a lot, and call me up and see how I'm doing when I start hiding in my cave in Paradise Park. None of us are perfect, but there is the yearning to go deep, and the freedom to bring up the junk--and it's done in love and humility, true life involvement, and with Jesus as the center. I'd like to take a second and thank Noelle and Amber especially, two individuals who have been this for me and who I praise God for!<BR/><BR/>"Faithful are the wounds of a friend;<BR/>Profuse are the kisses of an enemy." (Prov 27:6 ESV)<BR/><BR/>Lord, Daddy, would you teach us to love in a real, demonstrated, sacrificial way. Like you love. Kill our pride and our selfishness. Please. We need you. Help us to receive correction and deal with conflict in a way that brings depth and unity. Help us to love like you do, like your Son does, in a way that causes people who see us to think of you. You are so good!Awaken_the_Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16492506012887970658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-37881582597121320432007-12-27T02:23:00.000-08:002007-12-27T02:23:00.000-08:00This is amazingly well written. My favorite phrase...This is amazingly well written. My favorite phrase? "With a new vigor, this ghoul of what was pulls through the hallway." That sentence is freaking awesome!<BR/><BR/>I have known that, theoretically, there are men that LOVE/NEED to write. After all, many of the most famous authors of all time have been men. So, there must have been/ must be men who are driven to write; there must be men whose souls long for the self-expression that can only be acheived by pen and ink... but I have never known any. Now, all of a sudden, I do and it is wonderfully bizarre and, truth be told, rather fascinating.MadamMimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922437103864723419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-43482099655757289592007-12-27T02:03:00.000-08:002007-12-27T02:03:00.000-08:00This one makes my little heart hurt. As I read on ...This one makes my little heart hurt. As I read on and on I had to read slower and slower as my empathy for this poor, broken man grew and grew. Every one of us knows at least a little of what it is like to feel these things. Wonderfully written, Bravo!MadamMimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922437103864723419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990170254536756560.post-50345179575450173282007-12-26T20:20:00.000-08:002007-12-26T20:20:00.000-08:00I am so guilty of these things, I know this phenom...I am so guilty of these things, I know this phenomenon well. I know the quiet longing of wanting just a word or a look from that one special person and the quiet heartbreak when you don't get it over and over. Is THIS how Jesus feels when I find "better things to do"? I am guilty of telling Jesus "Not now, maybe later.." yet, how can I look on Him as the lover of my soul and continue to do this when I know how much it hurts Him?<BR/><BR/>I have also turned away from people who just wanted a few words from me. Even when I know that they are lonely and desperate for any attention from anyone, still I have turned away. Sometimes I can't stand to talk to them BECAUSE OF that desperate lonliness; I feel them grasping at anything that fills their lonliness with a vice-like grip; I feel their desperate emotional neediness drain away my energy and I don't want to put myself through that. But isn't that what I do to Jesus? I run to Him all the time with the little things, the petty things, the whining and complaints; I go to Him with my fears and my tears. If He can do it for me ALL THE TIME, can't I do it for a few of His people just a little bit of the time? All it takes is grace, mercy, and true love, and I know where to get all three.MadamMimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922437103864723419noreply@blogger.com