Dear Reader,
Thanks for joining us as a free subscriber to The Three Taverns.
A “tavern” is a gathering place. Staying connected in community is tough to do these days. Online community is too often a substitute for the real stuff. My goal with The Three Taverns is to constantly lead to opportunities for real connection, in flesh and bone.
It reminds me of a scared little girl crying at night because she thinks there is a monster under her bed. An exasperated Dad tells her, “Honey God is here with you!” And the little girls says, “I know, Dad, but sometimes I need God with skin on Him.”
This is what God knew about us. More than once in the Old Testament there were physical manifestations of God at critical moments. See Genesis 18, for example, where two angels and a man show up personally to Abraham. Notice how the man is referred to as the LORD.
God also came in the flesh to be the “visible expression of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15).
And He is now the ekklesia, the “called out”, the body of Christ. (I Cor. 12:12; Col. 1:18).
Only Jesus Himself can build his ekklesia (translated “church”). It is only the church that He builds that overcomes the gates of hell. Man-made institutions and organizations become like the very system they are meant to overcome. His Body, filled with His Spirit, responsive to His word, connecting in ligament relationships (Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 2:16-19) is the church He is building. Church is who you are not where you go.
Find ways to connect, to gather, to laugh and cry and tell stories, but also to be intentionally focused on that Other Person among us, Jesus Christ who is there when 2 or more gather in His Name.
HAPPINESS EQUALS...????
After 75 years and 20 million dollars, the results are in!
Robert Waldinger, Professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Marc Schulz, Professor of Psychology at Bryn Mawr College are the director and associate director of the world's longest running scientific study on happiness: for more than 75 years they studied a group of "Harvard men" alongside a group of men from poor, working-class neighborhoods in Boston.
Every two years they did questionnaires, surveys, blood tests, tested for cortisol levels in the hair, on and on.
The ONE VARIABLE that indicates the most significant impact upon human flourishing--across economic, racial, and other social variables turned out to be: Healthy relationships and friendships.
Loneliness has more negative impact upon life expectancy than obesity and smoking cigarettes.
The book published about the study is called THE GOOD LIFE and it ends with this conclusion....HAPPINESS EQUALS LOVE. FULL STOP.
Love is the force that holds the entire universe together, it is the magnetism, the gravity, the atomic cohesion because GOD IS LOVE. He defines what love looks like. It is quite different than the loosey-goosy stuff we see all around us and called "love." Hebrews 1:3 says Christ holds together and sustains the entire universe by the "word of His power." Ist Corinthians 13 is a great place to start.
Helping to cancel loneliness in someone's life is an act of God. It is acting in harmony with our very created nature. We can do this.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THE DYING DOLLAR?
Gold has had 5 record highs since NOVEMBER!
FIVE!
Why?
Wars, wars and rumors of wars.
Wars require money. The U.S. prints 1 TRILLION $$ every 100 days.
That means each and every dollar you have is worth less and less.
Therefore gold, which maintains its value, costs more.
Silver is being artificially manipulated and suppressed, but it will also explode against the dollar soon.
Time to get gold and silver as a hedge against the dollar-death going on around you.
I can introduce you to a way to buy gold and silver for the less than anywhere else on the planet.
Connect with me for more information. For a preview you can click the image below.
The first 4-minute video will show you what we have here and how you can gain access. We are growing quickly but we haven’t even hit momentum yet. The best is yet to come as we get gold, silver and precious metals into the hands of everyday people. No one can beat our pricing. And you are buying straight from the suppliers who will drop ship to your home or vault it for you. You owe it to yourself and your family to take action on this.
TAVERN TALKS TUESDAYS
Last week John Mathis shared his story with us. It was so encouraging. Each Tuesday morning a group of men gather at The Mission Cigar & Social at 7am. and as we gather we tell stories that show how God has intervened in our lives.
We tell stories.
We talk about life.
We give and receive prayer.
We talk about Jesus and life with Him.
Bring your coffee, your Bible, Febreze if you go to the office after, an open mind and open heart. You can purchase a cigar as well to enjoy your first cigar of the day.
Hope to see you there!
Looking Up! (Luke 21:28)
Tod Bell
Chief Tavern Host
P.S. This readership is full of firearms enthusiasts; armed in the Spirit as well!
