Last night, we had a prophetic workshop that focused on dream interpretation.

Before I talk about it, I feel I need to add all sorts of qualifications: Not all dreams are from God. Dreams can be from God, or from Satan, or simply from our own subconscious (I've had all three). Dream interpretation, likewise, can be godly or satanic (New Age or psychic dream interpretation falls into the latter category). Since not every dream is from God, it's important not to get hungup trying to interpret every dream and every object in the dream as significant.

People who don’t know God worship idols. There is no middle ground of non-worship, where I give my allegiance to nobody and nothing. As human beings we are made to worship, and we will worship substitutes if not the true God.

Idols can be many: in the Western world, not usually literal idols, but more often jobs, homes, money, cars, family, relationships, study, good health, beauty, fame, etc: the “good life”. We devote our time, money, energy and attention to procuring and maintaining these things, while God falls by the wayside and receives little or no attention. These “idols” are what we look to for life, security, and happiness, and we truly believe our existence is tied up in them. We manipulate them, others, and circumstances endlessly to ensure they will provide us what we seek.

I love summer.

I love flipflops and free, dirty feet.

I love hot, hot days and long sunshine.

I love fresh summery air.

I love peepers in the marshes screaming "Mate! Mate! Mate!"

I love ice-cream cones.

I love barefoot in the grass and fully-dressed trees.

I love wading in the surf at the edge of the ocean.

I love not dressing in fifty layers just to go to the grocery store.

This is my favourite time of the year.

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about legalism, due in part to reconnecting with an old friend and talking about his Christian college experience.

It’s a big subject, but here are some of my thoughts. I came from an environment which could be described as “legalistic”, and many of my friends, mostly from our homeschool affiliations, did too. These observations come from personal experience or the experience of people I know.

This will be in two parts: in the first, I’ll talk about what legalism is; in the second, the problems with it and what I think are the answers.

I promised to post a link to my pastor's excellent sermon on forgiveness. It's finally online:

The Importance of Forgiveness, Ian Ashby. Harbor Church Sunday March 17, 2007.

I'd recommend this to anyone, but especially if you're struggling with the issue of forgiveness.

Sick. When I ran a five-miler yesterday, I knew I was going to be sick today. My lungs ached and I had to stop to walk three times in that distance. However, the only alternative was to give in to a vague feeling that my body might be fighting something, and stay home on that chance.

Well, I've found out. My lungs ache and burn and when I cough, which I instantly regret, it feels as if they've been chopped up into mince-fine little pieces, which are all coming up. I'm chilled, sitting in a warm house wrapped in a fleece, and shivering uncontrollably. The toilet seat feels like an iceberg.

Lately I haven't felt much like writing, have in fact felt discouraged with the whole process of blogging. I suppose all of us who blog, if we're honest, envision a future in which crowds of readers flock to consume our wit, wisdom, and wordcraft. In reality, that happens to only a few. The truth about most of us is that it's the same handful of people reading, with a larger scattering of unique visitors who never return.