OUT OF THE BOX

Awake and Asleep At the Same Time When I was about 12 or 13 years old, one night during my sleep I woke up in the air, shocked to realize I had just jumped off the bed. When my dad was a child he walked in his sleep one night and threw his bed mattress and sheets out the upstairs window shouting “Fire, fire!” while his younger brother, my uncle Norwood, watched and laughed at him. It’s difficult to explain somnambulism to someone who has never experienced it. Sleepwalking is an unusual state in which a person is sound asleep and acting out his dream, sometimes getting out of bed and walking around. He is awake enough to navigate through his environment but still asleep and interacting with the imaginary delusions of his dream. I have done this many times in my younger days. Running From the Wrecking Ball A few years ago I attended a conference with a group of pastors. We rented motel rooms with double beds in order to reduce each man’s cost. My friend Ron was across the room fast...

[Below is a re-print of an earlier posting. The story is full of spiritual implications, but I will point out only a few of them. - Billy Long ]   "Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side...Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by."    Mark 6: 45-52 “He made His disciples get into a boat.” The “boat” is significant because it represents a context from which we can not easily escape. The disciples, on that small boat in the middle of the sea, could not simply change their minds and walk away from the problems and issues at hand. They could not escape the process; they had to ride it out. The Lord desires to work deeply and significantly in our lives, but He knows that human nature wants to run from the fire and will attempt to escape if it has the option to do so. We would rather s...

I have written a quiz to test your knowledge of the Bible. Choose the right answer(s) from the list below each question, and then read the Biblical reference to confirm your answer. You might enjoy taking the test. It's just for fun. But the Biblical references contain some serious lessons. Billy Long Gideon was… 1. A man who left Bibles in all the motels of Israel. 2. One of the judges who delivered Israel from the Midianites. 3. One of the neighboring kingdoms and a faithful ally of Israel. Judges 6: 11-16 Lazarus was… 1. The city where Jesus lived. 2. A friend of Jesus who was raised from the dead. 3. A prophet who prophesied of Jesus’ birth. John 11: 11-15, 12:1 The Apostle Paul was sent to… 1. North Dakota 2. The Gentiles 3. Jerusalem 4. Summer Camp Acts 9:15; While Peter was preaching in Cornelius’ household… 1. Everyone in the house mocked him. 2. Everyone in the house was filled with the Holy Spirit. 3. His sermon lasted ...

I am grateful for all of you who visit this site, and especially those of you who visit on a regular basis. I now have visitors from all over the United States and from many countries around the world. I would enjoy hearing from some of you and getting to know who you are and where you are from. It would be a great blessing to me if you would write me at the email address below and introduce yourself. Thank you so much. Billy Long    blong8@sccoast.net

“Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth…I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure…. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6: 26-28 “…I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4: 17-18 “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” Psalm121:7-8 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of go...

A good friend presented some questions after my last two posts. Below are some thoughts to help clarify some of the points I discussed. I have re-read my recent posts dealing with God’s judgment, and I am comfortable with what I what I presented, given the context in which it is given. The first motivating thought in my post is that there is a God, as opposed to the Atheist who thinks God does not exist and that He is irrelevant to earth’s events, and as opposed to the deist who thinks God simply walked off and left us to ourselves. There is a God who manages the affairs of earth, and we must acknowledge and call upon Him. When I say “nothing is out of His control” I am saying that nothing is “out of control,” that is, God is not helplessly standing by watching. I would not make a blanket statement saying bad weather is God’s judgment. The weather is like everything else in life, some of it is good, some of it is bad, some of it is a blessing from God, some of it is an attack f...

I n a recent posting I suggested that God is trying to get our attention. The calamities and natural disasters that have been occurring so frequently and intensely should cause us to fall on our knees and cry out to God for mercy and turn to Him in repentance and faith. In the late 1800s there was a major earthquake that hit Charleston, SC. People in the Longs community 120 miles north of Charleston were unfamiliar with earthquakes and many of them rushed to my great-grandfather’s home to find out what was happening. They responded by reaching out to God in prayer. Over the following decades they gathered every year at the little country Methodist church on the anniversary of the earthquake and thanked God for His protection and mercy. They acknowledged God and turned their hearts toward Him in that hour, and continued to do so for years afterward. When I listen to the news and hear of the intense natural disasters, severe earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, fires, fl...