Another dream

The other night I dreamed I was in a treasure store, full of gems and spectacular mineral specimens (don't forget, I collect minerals). The owner/manager of the store told me I should rescue as many as I could, because those I could not take would be destroyed. I started frantically gathering the "treasures" (he kept saying, "these are true treasures"), and woke up trying to figure out how I could rescue as many as possible.

Any thoughts on the meaning? I have some ideas.

Friends of God

I have been fascinated by the idea that we are/can be friends of God. The Bible teaches this, and several current songs celebrate it. I wonder whether Jesus had friends in his twenties (He must have) , what those relationships were like, and how they changed when He came out as God. But I aspire to be like Abraham, whom God called His friend. This seems like such an equal basis for a relationship with God.

Do you see yourself as a friend of God?

Prophetic dream

Sunday morning I woke up after having a prophetic dream. I was in my house, and a battle was going on. A lizard which looked like a Komodo dragon was attacking a man. I understood that this was clearly a dragon, a picture of Satan. I went over to him and tried to pull it off him as it wrapped itself around him like a snake. Next it latched onto me, and started to wrap itself around me. Then we both understood that I was the dragon/snake's target all along. I also realized that if it bit me I would be in trouble.

At this I awoke. I appreciate your prayer that all this is averted!

Ocean baptism in NJ

I have always wanted to do an ocean baptism, having seen photos of them from the Jesus revolution of the 1960's in southern California. We joined with a few other churches Sunday for a baptism at the Jersey shore in Avon beach.

It was a beautiful night, but two passing tropical storms had whipped up large waves, among the largest I have seen in NJ. It was hard to baptize people without getting knocked around by the waves in between prayer.

When the baptism ended, our youth pastor Obadiah pulled out his surf board and caught a few waves. He had several long rides- we were all impressed!

Town hall with Rush Holt

We recently attended a town hall on the topic of health care with our friends the Rounds in Middletown, sponsored by our Congressman Rush Holt (no relation to the more famous Rush!)
The overriding concern was the proposed health care plan. I was shocked by the size and intensity of the crowd. The hall was opened at 6pm, and full by 6:10pm. We got there about 6:40, and attended the outside meeting, where a congressional candidate had an open mike for anyone to share their opinions. There were about 600 people present, with my estimate of about 4 to 1 opposed to the Obama plan. Opponents were much more passionate than supporters.

Channel 11 covered the rally, but focused on the death of Kennedy (which happened the day before), and how he wanted this plan. Their coverage was disappointing, and pretty much ignored the rally and the disproportionate opposition to the plan. But it was a fascinating exercise in democracy.

Hawaii

Recently Louise and I went on vacation to Hawaii, to the island of Kawaii, the "garden isle", and the oldest of the islands. It took us 3 flights and 21 hours to get there (less to get back), but it was worth it. Unfortunately, it rained solidly the first 3 days due to a passing tropical storm. But after that we did lots of outdoor things, kayaking the Wailua river, hiking down (way down!) into Waimea Canyon with a naturalist, snorkeling, going to 4 gardens (some of Jurassic Park was filmed in one- the huge tree photo above is where the velociraptor egg nest was discovered) , taking a boat ride along the Na Pali sea cliffs (I felt seasick, not much fun), and attending the required luau (lots of fun and food- you haven't lived till you have tasted the ancient Hawaiian purple "poi"!)

Three interesting things about Hawaii-
1. More people drown there every year than anywhere else in the US. Those beautiful beaches you see in photos are full of rip tides, undertows, sharp lava, rough waves, and all sorts of things which make them mostly unswimmable. Coming from NJ, where you can swim at almost every beach, this is a shock.
2. The ethnic mix is amazing- lots of different Asian and other groups. Most of you know I love exploring different cultures. They have funky Japanese and Asian foods at 7-11- all sorts of noodle things (saiman is great!), bread-like manipua, and even a dessert named "chi chi dongo". I love this food.
3. Christian missionaries played a huge role in the culture, arriving in the 1820's. They were the first major western contact. Today there are still a ton of strong churches (many more per capita than in my part of NJ), but also a huge Buddhist and new age presence.

I am full of travel advice, if you ever want to go to Kawaii!