SUCH A TIME AS THIS

SUCH A TIME AS THIS

During my teen years in the 70’s/80’s, I felt like I was born out of time and out of place. In High School, it seemed like we missed out on all of the fun stuff, like bellbottoms and the hippie movement. We had some great music though that spilled over onto us from that movement and is still popular. Some of those lyrics are timeless. It’s one of the reasons I wear bellbottoms now when I perform. I take something from the old and add the new to it. The computer revolution was just starting, having one job/career for life was fading away, and just a lot of other changes. Some of what we were being told, by well-meaning people was becoming obsolete and wasn’t going to help us in our future. There are nuggets of wisdom to take forward, and some to toss in every generation.

I went into the Air Force for electronics, very briefly, with a medical discharge from Lackland Air Force Base in 1980. I came back and continued working for HEB. Then I tried all kinds of other things trying to find my place, oil field, air conditioning, building, sales, etc. It just seemed like I couldn’t find a steady foundation to get my footing. Things were shifting, not chaos, but TRANSITION, just like now!

It reminds me of a clip in the Superman movie when Clark took the crystal and threw it. The earth erupted as his new fortress came about. That’s the type of TRANSITION I’m talking about. There was a whole lot of shaking and movement to create the new. The old had to move out of the way for the new. Like separation in a rocket going into space. It served its purpose but became a hindrance to the new.

Little did I know that all of these job experiences would give me the necessary skills and knowledge to help me do what I do today. I was a jack of all trades and master of none to hear others tell it. That really hurt because it was spoken in a negative way. I tell young people today not to worry about what they are going to do with their life, especially by the time they are 18. Take each day at a time and treat it as an adventure. The Lord has His wonderful plans for us, Psalm 139, if we’ll just ask Him everyday. It doesn’t mean we can’t make long term plans, it just means that we need to be open to change along the way, TRANSITION. In fact, He knows all of the changes that will take place, so if we’re walking with Him daily, we’ll be ready for the change.

SUCH A TIME AS THIS | Chaos Or Transition?


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STORMS COME | HURRICANE BERYL | TEXAS

STORMS COME, USING OUR AUTHORITY

Sometimes storms come. It rains on the righteous and the evil. In some churches, when a bad thing happens to a person or family, the first question asked is, “What did they do wrong? Who sinned?” It’s a valid point because that does happen and the disciples even asked Jesus the same question about the man who was born blind. John 9:2, “…who sinned, this man or his parents?”

I heard a message yesterday about a passage of scripture that I knew but hadn’t seen in this particular viewpoint. John was thrown into prison awaiting execution and yet he didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, he did everything right. Jesus and his disciples were crossing the sea when a storm blew up. No one did anything wrong that we can tell. Jesus used the storm to show that He had authority even over the weather and He gave that same authority to us. We use it when we need to do so and have many times in our travels, especially.

One time, some years back, we were in North Dallas at a Best Buy. Dark, ominous clouds came over us as we were in the parking lot. We looked up to see a tornado above us. It was spinning in a large circle and coming down. His authority rose up in me and I pointed to it and commanded it to go back up and go away. It did! We walked into the store, got what we needed, and then left.

People perish for lack of knowledge. Even those who read the Bible over and over again suffer things unnecessarily because they don’t do what it says. Some think some things have passed away, so they walk through life not using the full armor that is available to them. It’s so sad, but don’t dare tell them anything or you might lose your head, so to speak. They’re not safe to be around.

Me, I want what all He has for us. We’ve been in numerous hail storms where we’ve prayed and it stops. Conversely, we’ve been in situations where nothing changed. The Lord reserves the right to override us when He has a certain purpose for it. Some storms are bad, but they are allowed in order to bring change. Some are demonically influenced and the severity can be tempered through the words of Jesus, “Peace Be Still!” It works because He gave us that same authority. Sometimes, the Lord in His goodness allows us to lose something in order to give us His best. Eagles start tearing apart the nest when it is time for the young eagles to fly. Ready or not, they’ll either fall or fly. Ready or not, we’ll either fall or fly. It’s the way of life. Some people will die in their comfort zone, like a frog in a slowly heated pot of water. They can’t see that danger is all around if they don’t change. Some people give up on life in their teens and their bodies slowly deteriorate over the years until they finally die physically, never having  really lived. I call this an “Existing or Living Suicide.” What we do with the storm aftermath is another choice to make. Go on or not. The storm forces the change and hopefully, we make a good choice in it so we can really live.

As I write, there is a storm outside heading our way. The eye of Hurricane Beryl is only about 40 miles away with 75 mph winds right now. The heavy rain is blowing against the windows.

This is a song I wrote after facing death in a medical storm regarding a seizure and aneurysm on March 8, 2024. There is more info in the music video about the journey.

As I was writing this post, the power went out and so I had to stop with the above section. That was Monday, July 8, 2024 and today is Saturday, July 13. Our power went out and I had no internet. The cell phone tower was down as well. I couldn’t do a Google Search, or get anything to load on the internet until our power came back on and evidently, the cell tower too. We were blind. The only people I could communicate with were my phone contacts and email, and I did. It was scary being in a dark hotel. Thankfully, the window in our room had a window we could open. It was hot! We had been in a physical storm, but now we were also in a mental storm with serious choices to make. Would we survive? What was going to happen in the aftermath and cleanup?
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TOUCHING HEARTS, CHANGING LIVES

TOUCHING HEARTS, CHANGING LIVES

Yesterday, as I was driving for Lyft here in The Woodlands and Conroe, I had the privilege of giving three college ladies a ride. I was taking them to a wedding which was a good distance away. We had some great conversations and laughs, and here is one convo I want to share with you. We were talking about Christianity and how it is perceived by others. We had a lot of fun even though some of the subjects were really deep and serious. One lives in Ft. Worth, one in Dallas, and the other in San Diego.

We were talking about touching hearts and how some Christians, (religious folks), tell people what they should be doing and sometimes they just plain judge them out loud causing even more pain to the individual. That’s just plain being the devil’s advocate and it can crush their spirit even more. That’s what he does to them all the time already. Are we going to add to the pain? They really need to know they are loved and need hope in that moment. Unless they ask for advice, it might be better to keep it inside until the opportunity arises, if and when it does. Perhaps we need a better relationship established before they let us in, if not, it could be like water running off of a duck’s back. It could also push them away from the One who created them and really loves them, giving them a false idea of Who He really is.

Do we remember where we were and how we were doing before giving our hearts to Jesus, Him filling us with His love, and changing us? Or, were we pushed at Jesus that same way in fear of judgment? I remember hearing a lot of hell, fire, and damnation and it took me a long time to get over the fear it instilled inside of me. I was afraid to come near Him for a long time and it took a lot to get past it. It is His kindness and love that leads us to Him and helps us to want to change our ways. It is His kindness that helps us know that He’s not going to smack us, but rather, that His loving arms are open towards us and His are the greatest hugs we’ll ever get no matter how far we’ve run from Him or what we’ve done. I wrote the song STILL from my own journey.

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STARTING OFF ON A NEW JOURNEY!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF JOSEPH JAMES!

Welcome friends, fans, and guests. I’m starting something new today and we’ll see how it goes. I might have to course correct along the way, but that’s the fun in going on an adventure into the unknown. It’s been a long time since I have seriously written in a blog and I’ve done so much since. So, here goes! Welcome to the journey! I truly hope it blesses you.

I have so many things to share with you so that I might be able to encourage you today, give you some hope, perhaps some tips to make your life easier, and maybe some stories to help you in your journey. I’ve been through a lot of stuff, traveled quite a bit, and accomplished a lot of things. So, here goes! Are you ready?

I’ve been given a new lease on life and it’s changed everything. I had a seizure and a minor vehicle accident on March 8, 2024. It stress-fractured five of my vertebrae. The good thing about this was that it uncovered an eight mm cerebral aneurysm in my head between my left ear and eye. I was a walking time bomb with it just waiting to explode and kill me. I lost two months of my life in and out of the hospital, five visits, twelve days, and am almost fully recovered. It’s all repaired now and I am free to continue my Life Race! I’ll go into more depth in my following posts.

Where are you at in your journey of life? Are you running for your God-given Life Dream? Are you in the throes of despair and depression? Are you in a romance or recently broken up? Is your heart in pieces or mostly healed and restored? Do you have your own business or perhaps no work at all? Is life easy for you and you have fun things to share or is life so difficult, you feel so overwhelmed? Read more