Birds of a Feather

There are many signs that the season is changing, especially fall. Temperature chages and leaves changing color (I wrote about that last time) are just one. Here's another sign. I almost ran into one last week!

Flocks of starlings gather during this time of year. The flocks can get so large that they can sometimes seem to come alive as a dark undulating cloud. This is called a murmur, or murmuration. The birds do this as they gather to roost for the night.

"Will somebody just land already? I'm getting tired!"

These murmurs bring to mind a question. How do these birds not collide with one another? Why are there not dead birds covering the ground?

It's a God thing.

You can also see this behavior in large schools of fish, darting here and there to avoid predators. There IS safety in numbers.

Have you ever been in a large stadium and someone, somewhere, starts "the wave?" Synchronized standing and sitting creates the illusion of a human "wave" circling the field.

If you trace these events back to their beginning, they all start with a single bird taking flight, or a single human directing the "standing up." There is a beginning and therefore an ending. Carried to their very inception, each on them has a creator. A thought.

There are several biblical analogies to behold in the example of a murmur.

"In the beginning," God created Adam, right? Out of one man the world's population has now increased to 8.2 billion inhabitants. If we all jumped at the same time, what would happen?

When God spoke to Abraham, He  said, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." - Genesis 12:2

By the end of the Book of Genesis (Exodus 1) the Israelites were a murmur unto themselves.

"The Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them." - Exodus 1:7

When Joshua and the Israelites conquered Jericho they all marched around the city then siddenly shouted. The city walls collapsed (Joshua 5:13 - 6:27).

A time is coming, and it is coming soon, when all God's children will be taking flight, just like those starlings. It will happen "in the twinkling of the eye" as Paul told the church is in Thessalonica. We will be like starlings in our coordinated flight up to be with Jesus.

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Let's murmur!

Starling Murmur

The Co-Op

Back in 2014 my friend Gayle had an idea. It was based on something the Cloe character came up with in the Left Behind series of novels. A Co-Op. A cooperative where people would barter and trade, give and receive, without the use of money. It's not really a NEW idea. It's in the Bible.

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." - Acts 2:42-47

My friend's idea has conjoined with my idea for a tiny home village into an actual company called Wee Build. Wee Build is more than a company though. It's an idea. Sharing the gifts that God has given us with others in our community. We do these things not to make us rich or to gain fame. We do ALL of this in the name of Jesus. God gets the glory. We get blessed. Everyone benefits.

You can do the same thing right there where you are! What are YOU good at? What are some of the things you can do? My friend Gayle was once a professional seamstress - making costumes for the actors at Busch Gardens. She now teaches others to sew and to make their own clothes. What can YOU do?

A friend of mine had a need for some house plans. That's something I can do! So I am drawing him a house . . . for free. They gave to anyone who had need. And guess what? My friend gave back to me. He gave me food to eat. He gave me the use of this home when it gets done. That's how the Wee Build concept works.

Is there a need in YOUR community for something like Wee Build? There is always a need for love and compassion for one another. Do something for someone today without thought of receiving payment. You will be blessed in so many ways. And whatever you do, do it in the name of Christ. You will truly be blessed beyond measure.

What's A Worker's Cooperative?

The Master Weaver

Do you think that God controls our lives? What about free will? Does God arrange our lives according to His purpose? If God moves through time effortlessly, He already knows the decisions were are going to make. Could He arrange things so the decisions we make line up with His original plan?

Usually we are too busy to notice the events and meetings that God orchestrates in our lives. They often pass by without notice, or thought. Sometimes we might utter a, "That was weird" when we experience some of these "coincidences" in life, but usually, we forget about them just as fast as they occur.

I am currently going through a series of events and meetings that seem as if they have been cleverly arranged, scheduled and woven together by some greater power. No human could have arranged these things.

Have you ever seem a weaver work their loom? It's all rather hypnotic, the way they throw the shuttle back and forth and shift the threads up and down, back and forth. So many things in motion, yet, in the end, one beautiful tapestry.

Right now in our community God is weaving something bigger than any individual. I am part of the tapestry but only a thread. Right now it's like God is placing all the threads on His loom. Each person a thread, each of us a different purpose. The finished design has not yet been revealed. It exists only in The Weaver's mind. God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah reminds us that he is WAY about our thinking here on earth.

"8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9

Is God working through you in your community to reach the lost around you? Where do you see God working? Why don't you join Him there? I'm sure He'd love to have you. :)

"13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." - Psalm 139:13-16

A Master Weaver At Work
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