Kingdom Culture – The Roseto Story

Kingdom Culture – The Roseto Story

ViticulteurThe men smoked unfiltered cigars and guzzled wine instead of sodas. They ate meatballs and sausages fried in lard with hard and soft cheeses.

No concept of the Mediterranean Diet here.

They ranged in age from 55-64. Many of them toiled in slate quarries where illness from exposure to gases and dust was expected.

But not these guys. For them, heart disease was nearly non-existent. They remained happy and healthy, though statistically considered a high-risk group.

Grilled chicken meat and sausages, pie and salad for dinnerIt was 1961. What was going on in this little town of Roseto Pennsylvania? Crime was rare. Applications for public assistance were few and far between.[i]

What was the secret to their security, health, and longevity?Continue reading

Drinking from Fire Hydrants

Drinking from Fire Hydrants

Ornate downtown storefronts in small town in the MidwestIn 1979, when we first moved to Bozeman, the police reports were comical and often ridiculous. For example, officers were summoned when a porcupine became stuck in someone’s spare tire! Even this week the report said a deputy responded to an anonymous call about a sad dog that howled a lot. “The deputy found the dog to be healthy-looking.” Seeming trifles, yet over the past few decades more serious crimes have increased in our area.

Even so, what if your town or suburb was the limit of your concern? Think of a ten-mile radius around your home or apartment. How many tragedies, crimes, and community problems would you endure over your lifetime? Maybe a few murders, a score of petty thefts, several suicides, a few businesses going bankrupt, some accidental deaths and crop failures. More than a stuck porcupine or a howling dog, but not more than you could handle.

A hundred years ago, that would’ve been normal life.

tv news media backgroundThe truth is, our sphere of reality is far greater now. Advances in technology and media have brought a boatload of problems into our living rooms—every day, all day. And as Christians, it’s as though we are asked to care and give money and pray for the whole world. As someone said, it’s like trying to sip some water from a fire hydrant.

But how many problems are we really designed to handle?

Some would argue that modern people have developed an ability to cope with many things at the same time. Yet, consider the fact that 60% of Americans are sleep deprived with emotional stress as the primary cause. Also, 70-85%Continue reading

A Single Word

A Single Word

I asked, and He answered.

God is more accessible than you might think. But how does communication start? How do you really know it’s God?

In my last blog, I encouraged you to write down three unresolved questions you’ve had on your heart. Then ask God for one word, a word that serves as a key, unlocking understanding and wisdom. A word that can encourage you or bring instruction. A word (if negative in connotation) that can reveal the needling angle of the enemy. It can start—with just a word.

“The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples,

That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.

He awakens Me morning by morning,

He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.”

—Isaiah 50:4 (NASB)

So after I made this suggestion to you, I took one of my own questions to God. Here’s what happened…Continue reading