Breaking Strongholds Aug. 2025

Many of the current words from the Lord for our congregation at Cornerstone have been about breaking down unhealthy thought patterns that keep us from God’s best. Here are two of those words that have led me to do some preaching around Colossians chapter 1.

From Carrie Hackett: Many feel unimportant and they are timid about going to the Lord because they feel so small and insignificant, they feel that what they have to offer the Lord is to small, but the Lord is saying give me the little you have just like the boy with the 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish,(he gave me ALL he had) and I will take the little and multiply it for my glory.

From Amanda Lillie:

GENERAL COUNCIL AND NATIONAL YOUTH CONVENTION DAYS 4&5

This post was started over a week ago when I was still in Florida. Coming back to Massachusetts and a rather unusual work schedule has made it hard to write.

One of the things I was most concerned with when I went to Florida for National Youth Convention/ Fine Arts was that I would lose the rhythm of the sacred office I practice. Honestly, I did not run into any trouble keeping the office until I came back. I expected coming back would be a piece of cake. I thought I would simply resume my old schedule which was pretty well established before I left. That did not happen. I will have to meditate on that and write more about it in the future.

For now, I am just looking back with fondness on those days in Florida in which keeping my sacred rhythm was surprisingly easy. I finished THE HIDING PLACE, by Corrie TenBoom and started this book by Joseph Castleberry on Wednesday and Thursday.

Amanda and I had an opportunity for an early lunch on Wednesday while Sadie and James went to the lazy river at our resort. We had fun taking pictures with Amanda scowling all week long. I will post this photo series we entitled “MURDERY ‘MANDA” at a later date. It started because I got a candid shot of her waiting in a long registration line at Fine Arts festival at the beginning of the week, and so we decided to make a series out of it.

Here is Sadie doing her best impression of Pennywise. Of course she had no idea who Pennywise was, this is just her looking “friendly”.

On Thursday we took the kids to Universal Studios.

While they road rides and shopped.I took some time to cool off in a shaded area of a cafe and pray the twelve o’clock prayer.