tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389Mon, 21 May 2012 16:48:38 +0000Informal Reflections on Life and Ministryhttp://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/noreply@blogger.com (LunarWorld)Blogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-206029533756437758Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:14:00 +00002011-11-06T09:14:46.174-08:00Yesterday I went for a long birthday run on the beach. 54 and 4 miles in the sand feels good. It was a perfect day...sun on my shoulders, breeze at my back, and smile on my face. The cool water bathed my bare feet. It was as if the love of God was being set in front of me like 3 birthday presents. The first were 3 perfect shells...my trinity of shells...full of color and mystery and wonder and http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/11/3-birthday-gifts-from-god.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-186178660271470491Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:53:00 +00002011-11-06T19:45:22.177-08:00 I am nothing and you call me beloved, You are everything and I call you my life. I am weak and have need of everything, You are strong and have need of nothing. I am foolish and make stupid mistakes, You are wise and perfect in all you do. I am a coward and quiver in front of small challenges, You are courage and fear nothing now or forever. I am earth bound and locked into a calendar, You http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/11/birthday-poem-on-november-6.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-9127422085688976444Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:16:00 +00002011-10-21T11:16:11.071-07:00Stolen from my buddy Mike Goldsworthy's blog...but just as true on mine! This is exciting stuff that God is up to in our city and Mike and I are part of the team leading the charge: We have just a few spots left for this lunch event with Rick Warren and Miles McPherson. The details and the link to register are below. If you want to come and hear more about what we’re doing, I’d love to see you http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/10/vision-360.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-3420534121576607203Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:05:00 +00002011-10-12T08:11:12.531-07:00 I AM DEVOTED by Larry Walkemeyer I am devoted. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.I have but one life to live and I give it unreservedly to Him. I am not merely a fan, but I am a follower…Not a fair weather consumer but a fully consumed believer in Jesus.He is not my hobby, He is my life.I have taken my stand, planted my flag, and determined my course. I am devoted to one God, one Lord, one http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/10/i-am-devoted-spoken-word.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-9190331246602007565Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:49:00 +00002011-08-26T08:49:19.970-07:00(A much longer post than usual) A Good-bye Letter to Mom Dear Mom, I just wanted to write you a letter to say thank you for all that you were to me. You were amazing and I miss you so much already, even though only 2 months have passed. Your life gave me life. I was an infant conceived in your womb, carried lovingly by you for 9 months and brought into the world with great pain and joy by http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/08/good-bye-letter-to-mom.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-8444954345937138736Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:45:00 +00002011-08-24T08:45:31.040-07:00I like to work out at 24 Hour Fitness. 30 minutes of cardio followed by 30 minutes of weight lifting is a panacea for me. My muscles respond and grow if I am faithful at this. But there is a part of my fitness routine that I am woefully inadequate in....STRETCHING. My wife is a faithful stretcher and seeks to influence me in the higher ways of stretching. But I am a slow convert. It just seems http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/08/stretch-secret-of-effective-leadership.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-1038454137859554481Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:59:00 +00002011-08-22T15:59:10.807-07:00High in the mountains of British Columbia...learning, growing, breathing deep, looking down on my life, out of the trees and seeing the forest.  Just finished two excellent books from two radically different Christian writers. Eugene Peterson writes, "The Pastor" as an instructive memoir of his life. Bill Hybels, writes "Axioms" as the lessons of leadership learned from a lifetime of leading a http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/08/pastor-leader-papa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-1124063591432140035Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:08:00 +00002011-08-20T09:08:50.184-07:00There are few greater delights than having the "grown kids" around the table. We are 1600 miles from the realities of life and ministry in Long Beach. We are sitting at the family dinner table in our home away from home. After a great day of playing on the lake, a delectable pasta dinner, we are playing a crazy game of Dominoes and laughing...but there is a duet of laughter that sounds like http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2011/08/laughter-of-my-daughters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-5360679904742708147Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:56:00 +00002010-12-20T20:56:41.571-08:00I been through four tornadoes in my life. Four that were close enough to see them in their fury and feel them in their power. It's my legacy having grown up a Kansas farm boy. There is an interesting feeling in the middle of a tornado or sometimes even just a powerful thunderstorm. It's called the "eye" of the storm. I think "eye" is used in a comparison to the "eye" of a needle. The "eye" is http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/12/eye-of-storm.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-2775464354475190708Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:11:00 +00002010-10-05T22:06:21.335-07:00How do you anticipate and dread at the same time? How do you stand so joyful and sorrowful in the same moment? How do you send the dove soaring and yet know you are silencing the daily cooing you love so much. For me the final good-bye was the daddy-daughter dance at Lindsey's wedding Saturday night. I bawled like a baby through the whole time and spoke to her through the tears. I had joked http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/10/daddy-daughter-dance.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-1964116627114901499Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:33:00 +00002010-09-10T19:44:21.551-07:00Jesus lived in a culture filled with idolatry, imperialism, cultism, and occultism. However, he never held a "book burning". However, in Acts 19:19 the converted Christians who had practiced sorcery DID bring their books to a public forum and burn them. So the question, "Is it pleasing to God or offensive to God to burn the Quran?" Is that really the right question? Or is the better question, "http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/09/to-burn-or-not-to-burn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-8915837267519021062Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:44:00 +00002010-09-04T07:44:44.219-07:00In the small Kansas church I grew up in, I was known for singing real loud. I just always was convinced that what I was singing about was real and really mattered. One of my favorites was, "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand".  The older I have grown, the more I have learned, the further I have traveled, the more doubts I have about many things. I am not as http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/09/few-solid-rocks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-197088271630254105Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:05:00 +00002010-07-19T10:05:32.225-07:00I was recently praying with a girl who had a demon who had attached itself (himself\herself\itself? what do you use when speaking of unseen evil fallen angels) to her. She was fearful that she was possessed by a demon because whenever she prayed for deep inner cleansing from the Lord...something that felt like it was deep within her resisted her prayer. She felt something physically and felt as http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/07/wrestling-with-demons.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-7555211802205933018Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:51:00 +00002010-07-01T08:51:37.498-07:00I know blogs are intended to be original work, but David Burchett said some things I resonate so strongly with that I had to share them from site too...Read and enjoy the horsies and duckies of God's love On a recent flight home I spent a fair portion of the time just gazing out the window at some amazingly beautiful clouds. The sun reflecting off of the magnificent formations was spectacular. http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/07/duckies-and-horsies-and-jesus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-5918657927646315140Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:38:00 +00002010-06-08T21:38:15.888-07:00Learning to walk at 81 is no fun. After you learned to walk at age 1 you think that lesson is far behind you. But my father-in-law, Bill is learning to walk for the second time.  Without the ability to swallow, his meals consist of chalky protein drink pumped directly into his stomach. Without the ability to speak, his words consist of grunts and unintelligible vowel sounds.  The heart is http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/06/walking-at-81.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-394301578475142665Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:55:00 +00002010-06-04T15:55:14.082-07:00Ever feel like you are trying to explore a cave with only a match for a light?  At times life feels like that to me. Once in awhile the darkness is stifling.  Your questions gang up on you like storm clouds obscuring the sliver of moon.  Why now? Why them? Why this? Why his pain?  The bronze and health-filled teen who killed the young girl in Aruba flits around the world waiting for justice to http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/06/exploring-cave-with-match.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-4645502139337217004Sat, 08 May 2010 04:01:00 +00002010-05-07T21:01:03.932-07:00I just returned from Borneo and I have TB...TIRED BUTT syndrome. Imagine riding 4.5 hours on the back of a motor scooter...then do it behind a small Dayak tribal leader through dense jungle on a path marked by dips, hills, bumps, and narrow planks across marshy areas. At one point when we had left the other scooter far behind, a thought hit me squarely. Here I am in the middle of a jungle with http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/05/tb.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-7892333131955184884Sat, 01 May 2010 13:46:00 +00002010-05-01T06:52:37.768-07:00 This blog is now located at http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/feeds/posts/default. http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/05/this-blog-has-moved.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (LunarWorld)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-1615455349756578014Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:41:00 +00002010-04-19T13:41:51.848-07:005 Years ago today, I was anxiously waiting for my wife to emerge from major Cancer surgery. A radical, rare, and deadly cancer had attacked her uterus and the prospects were bleak. The whole church was praying. People around the world were praying. A pastor friend with a gift of healing had called from England minutes before they rolled Deb into surgery. We were pleading for God for a miracle. http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/04/5-today.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-6895312734965621139Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:32:00 +00002010-04-01T08:32:45.120-07:00Do you have a few prayers you have been praying for years? The kind you know you won't see the answer to for a long, long time? Do those prayers matter? Are there some things so big that you just must keep praying for them until you see the outcome?I just had one of those kinds of prayers answered and I must say...."How sweet it is!"; "Thank you Jesus!" When Deb found out she was pregnant we werehttp://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/04/announcement-based-on-lifetime-prayer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-4637314710715199510Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:53:00 +00002010-03-07T16:53:42.945-08:00One of my favorite movies is Mr. Smith goes to Washington...a classic movie about a bumpkin who goes to Washington D.C. only to be confronted by the twisted morals of money grabbing bankers and politicians. Although decades removed from the farm I often still feel like a country bumpkin, so it was with both excitement and reluctance that I went to Washington. When I arrived, I was confronted http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/03/mr-frost-goes-to-washington.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-6152629093649557844Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:29:00 +00002010-02-18T08:31:20.926-08:00Yesterday, we took the staff to hear some of the great leaders of our time. Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell, Microsoft's President, Zig Ziglar, athlete Michael Phelps, and others. It was inspiring to hear their tales of sacrifice, hard work, lucky breaks, dedication, and climbs to greatness. Two common themes I heard were these: Focus and Passion. Focus yourself on the goals that really matter andhttp://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/02/yesterday-we-took-staff-to-hear-some-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-4286035091016296454Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:42:00 +00002010-02-09T19:42:25.327-08:00 I was racing home from the gym with a front tire on my bike that was deflating faster than the U.S. dollar in a recession. I thought I could make it and was within a block of home. As I roared around the final corner by tire slipped off the rim, launching me head first over the handlebars onto the pavement in the middle of the street. Blood was spurting everywhere...I wasn't sure my left eye http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/02/ouch-bike-wreck.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-4238174931518898028Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:53:00 +00002010-01-30T17:53:14.657-08:00My strengths as measured by the Gallup Strengths Finder Test are clustered around "ACTION!"- Achiever, Activator, Maximizer, Positivity, Futuristic. I am the guy with the TO DO list. My yearly GOAL list is exhausting just to look at. I like the way I am wired. I like shooting for the stars, even if I just hit the moon. I would rather burn out than rust out. I often say, "I have all eternity tohttp://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/01/my-to-be-list.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5605674303251333389.post-630870225188980367Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:07:00 +00002010-01-26T22:07:45.319-08:00It's strange when it happens on your block, or at an intersection you cross daily, or on your bike trail, or on the airline you fly frequently. It scares you when it happens too close to home! A man was shot on our block. A man my age was killed crossing the street at a crosswalk I use frequently.  A young father of two had a fatal bike crash on our bike trail. An Ethiopian airplane, my African http://blog.larrywalkemeyer.com/2010/01/too-close-to-home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Larry Walkemeyer)0