Tag Archive for blowtorch

Welcome to “Turn it into a Blowtorch!”

Peace be with you!

It is awesome that you are here! We are excited that you found us!

We hope and pray that this website can help you on your spiritual journey in some small way and contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ.

We are in the process of building a community of believers in Jesus Christ the King who want more peace, serenity and joy in their own lives and those of those who are dear to them.

You already have faith, perhaps even a strong faith, but sometimes, when things are difficult, you wish it were stronger.  And truth be told, as you look to the future, it sometimes causes anxiety. The rate of change and turmoil in the world is only increasing. There is nothing on the horizon that indicates it will get better in the affairs of man any time soon. The future certainly does portend great upheavals from what we have known in the past.

But where suffering or chaos is present, grace abounds if we avail ourselves of it.  The other reality is that in our time of need, we cannot exercise a muscle we have never developed sufficient for the need at the time. It takes long hard work to build strong spiritual muscle and staying power – resilience.

The book and this web site have a single focus: to help you develop a deeper relationship and dialogue with the Person of Jesus Christ that has as its fruit greater peace, serenity and joy in your life. And by possessing that gift, attract others to that same relationship.

The book and web site are simply tools to show you a path you may choose where someone else has already gone.

My prayer is that through a deeper dialogue with Jesus Christ, you may come to know a peace, serenity and joy greater than you have ever known. And the flame of love for Him in your heart turns into a blowtorch so bright that everyone who sees you sees Him!

May peace, serenity and joy be yours as Jesus turns that flame in your heart into a Blowtorch!

 

Introduction. THE POINT. 2nd Point

THE POINT: Jesus loves you beyond anything you have ever experienced or can imagine. (p.14)

Jesus:

2. Are you open to loving Me, Jesus, in totally new ways beyond the ways you have before now? Are you willing to let Me show you those new ways?

My response to Him:

Jesus, of course You know all things and You know that I am open to loving You in totally new ways!

But as soon as I say that, I am brought up short, because You also know I have hesitated before, fearful that You would ask too much of me. That You would ask more than I could give. Or more than I wanted to give is closer to it. I have been the one holding back in this relationship, not You. You have and continue to give Your all, and I give so little.

The ways I have loved You in the past have been so meager and poor, I am ashamed to even confront the reality of it.

What an absurd fear I harbored! How could I have been so fearful of the only Person who I can trust completely with my very life?

Show me how to love You in new ways each day! To consider it brings joy to my heart and serenity to my soul as I know You will not deny my request!

Show me yet today how to love You anew, Jesus, and again tomorrow! In my family, at work, particularly with those I do not easily get along with, with others I meet in my life on a daily basis. And then there are those I am repulsed by in the media whose lives are in direct opposition to mine, and those who are persecuting the Church, as well as those with whom we are at war.

Now the loving is getting much tougher, the demands of love more piercing as I try to have compassion for them. Help me to love as You love, Jesus and not so selfishly as is my tendency. Help me to love generously and mercifully as You do.

May the flame of love I have for You in my heart be turned into a Blowtorch, that others may see it and come to know You!

 

Leading the way to the 33 Days

Frequently I have been asked when writing or leading groups to give some additional insights into the questions I pose to help the reader or participant in formulating their own response.

I have an inkling that the same is true with the 30 Days to Reignite your Spiritual Life program that is the implementation of my book, “That Flame in your Heart? Turn it into a Blowtorch!

With that in mind, the Spirit seems to be prompting me to do exactly that within the context of this guide, on the blog, at least in the near term. This is not something I would choose to do, as you might imagine, as the self exposure invites critical responses. How long it continues I will leave to His guidance to me, but I think as far as it goes, it will help the person who is engaged in the 30 Days retreat to get a sense of how a personal dialogue might unfold in their own life.

Thus I will endeavor every week to write a response to each of the questions posed in THE POINT exercises at the end of each Day (chapter) in the book. Remember, THE POINT questions are my questions, written in the first person as though they are coming from Jesus to help the reader / retreatant.

If you recall, while it is labeled as 30 Days to Reignite Your Spiritual Life, in reality, there is an Orientation Day, an Introduction Day and an Assessment Day, which gives you 33 Days for the retreat. As I mentioned in my book, the 30 Days took me years of prayer and contemplation to write.

The 33 Days is structured to be able to do it in 33 Days, but how long it takes you is between you and the Spirit of Jesus. I could also imagine it taking 33 weeks for a person who really wanted to take the dialogue with Jesus as structured in THE POINT exercises into deep prayer if they did a question a day.

The new “33 Days with Jesus Christ for Greater Peace, Serenity & Joy” Retreat Guides for individuals and groups will be available shortly elsewhere on this site along with other materials to supplement it.

As with any spiritual retreat, the secret is to be consistent throughout and let the Spirit guide you as He will. Oh, and if you have been on retreats before, you know to be ready for unexpected surprises, as the Spirit is wont to do! I am SURE it will happen for you on this retreat as well, because the Spirit is always consistent!

May peace, serenity and joy be yours as Jesus turns that flame in your heart into a Blowtorch!

 

Is “Turn it into a Blowtorch!” a diary or not?

I recently had a reviewer of “That Flame in your Heart? Turn it into a Blowtorch!” state that he was put off by diaries, even those of saints. Gosh, that excludes a huge part of Catholic tradition, even the Doctors of the Church!

I can see how the book could be taken as a diary.  (Next edition I will re-write the Introduction.) It is an easy mistake to make without an in-depth reading.

It is not.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this book, “Turn it into a Blowtorch!” has less to do with the author’s journey than the reader’s. It is in fact, structured as a 30 Day, or really 33 Day, retreat or journey into the interior spiritual life of the reader. More on that later.

I learned a long time ago as an officer in the Army, as a corporate executive, a trainer of thousands of people and a leader of hundreds of groups in the Church, to never advocate or expect more of those I lead than I am willing to do or have done myself. I have a miniature of the statue in front of the Infantry Headquarters at Ft. Benning, GA on my desk. The inscription reads “Follow me!” Jesus used the same words. (Mt 4:19. Mt 16:24, Lk 9:23)

I have absolutely nothing to gain by publishing a diary (proceeds go to charity) and everything to lose by exposing my interior spiritual journey. I do so only in service to the reader and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. I am simply pointing the way, providing the path in hopes of shortening the reader’s time to learn the same lessons.

As can be said in every age past and in ages to come, we are facing a time of great turmoil and upheaval. St. John Paul, before he became Pope, characterized the uniqueness of this time we are living in, however, as the “…. final confrontation” between the Church and the anti-Church, the Gospel and the anti-Gospel. He goes on to say it is coming upon us and is inescapable. You can find a link to St. John Paul’s speech as well as a column by Francis Cardinal George here http://turnitintoablowtorch.com/francis-cardinal-georges-prophetic-column/

By profession I am a corporate and individual growth strategies expert. The book was written from that fundamental orientation. I have never had an individual or corporation tell me I have helped them get ready for the next major change too early. I have had some regret that they did not heed my advice seriously enough or quickly enough.

I feel a great sense of urgency in my own life and also to help others if they so desire it, to be more deeply rooted in an active, meaningful, and ongoing daily dialogue with the Person of Jesus Christ. The fruit of which is a peace, serenity and joy that only He can provide a pure gift, no matter what is going on in our lives or what is about to happen. When you possess Him and that fruit, the flame will become a blowtorch! The icon of His Sacred Heart reveals His own blowtorch of love and what He wants for our own hearts!

The message of the book, “That Flame in your Heart? Turn it into a Blowtorch!” is very simple. Yes, I have walked through a proverbial ‘hell’ but managed to find peace, serenity and joy beyond anything I could have ever comprehended.

The reader can walk that path with someone who has already been there and discover it for themselves, now. While there is still time, before their own time of need is upon them.

And in doing so, they will attract others to an intimate dialogue with the Person of Jesus Christ.

We are at a tipping point, now is the time of preparation. We are in the “…final confrontation…” of St. John Paul II.

May peace, serenity and joy be yours as Jesus turns that flame in your heart into a Blowtorch!

The Emmaus Walk, Sorrow and Disappointment, Bitterness or Hope?

The sorrow and disappointment the disciples of Jesus felt as they walked the road to Emmaus is common to us all.  Hope crushed by overwhelming loss or tragedy is a normal human experience.

How we handle sorrow and disappointment is crucial to the spiritual life.  If we become bitter, then it is really our pride in control.  “I know better than God!” we are shouting within. We shut out what God wills for us, and we shut out His Mercy and Love, HIs Compassion.

The disciples reveal their humility in listening to what the ‘stranger’ is telling them about God’s will in their lives by explaining the meaning of scripture and how it applies to their current circumstances.

Thus, when Jesus finally reveals Himself, they have the openness to recognize Him!

They were humble: their hearts were open to the Word of God as it was explained to them. So much so that their hearts were “burning” within – like a blowtorch! When they recognized His Presence in their lives, suddenly their hope was restored, joy beyond description filled them and they risked returning to a Christ-hostile environment to share the Good News! Jesus has risen!

What we are thinking, feeling or experiencing at any point, even during our greatest disappointment, has no bearing on the truth and the reality: Christ is with us, Christ among us. Christ our hope and joy is present to us!

May our hearts burn with joy within us – like a blowtorch!

Peace to you!

May peace, serenity and joy be yours as Jesus turns that flame in your heart into a Blowtorch!