Beach or Mountains ??? which do you prefer ….?→~≈↔^/’…❓
Both places preach.. one with waves.. one with wind.. I’ve always been an outdoor sportsman.. at least I used to be.. These days work and ministry keep me busy.. but that part of me is still alive somewhere in there..
I lived in Florida for twelve years.. and I got used to the salt life.. I had a kayak.. and I’d fish the hidden corners of Tampa Bay.. mostly alone.. but sometimes with my friend Jimmy.. Bishop Harbor was my favorite.. I’d take whole weekends and just disappear.. camp on those tiny islands.. fish day and night.. no clock.. no noise.. just water and sky.. a kind of backwater solitude I still miss..
I also did a lot of freshwater bass fishing down there.. I’d bounce back and forth between saltwater and fresh.. Florida gave me both flavors.. and I never got tired of either one..
For a few years I even lived in a beach house on Anna Maria Island.. At high tide the waves from the Gulf broke about fifty feet from my back porch.. When I wasn’t working or fishing or swimming.. I’d sit out there.. play my guitar.. sing into the night.. and just watch the water drift through its moods.. In the dark I’d lay in bed and listen to the waves crash.. a steady sound that felt like the world breathing.. It was a sacred season in my life.. My roommate Nathan was there too.. a good friend.. He died of an overdose a few years later.. Good times.. memories I still smile about.. and I miss him..
But I also love the mountains.. I grew up fishing and exploring the North Georgia mountains.. Every summer.. me and my friends.. sometimes my dad or my uncle or both.. would drive ten miles off the main road on a gravel trail to get to our camping spot on the Tallulah River.. It was quiet.. beautiful.. hidden away from everything.. We pitched tents.. built fires.. fished.. talked.. laughed.. and mostly fished haha.. And yes.. I catch fish 😁🎣 Even when you don’t catch anything.. it’s still great.. but I always catch them.. I fish for people now …..t`
Up there we always ate what we caught.. trout for breakfast.. lunch.. and dinner haha.. By the end I didn’t want any more fish for a while.. but I always looked forward to going back.. year after year.. from a kid into an adult.. those mountain memories run deep in me..
So therefore I can’t choose.. I’m part tides.. part timber.. Both preach.. Both shape me.. It’d be like choosing between your mother and your father haha…
The Night I Almost Sold My Soul… To The Evil One…💥…🏳⚘️
…….†→’ …….↑†’…….~↷~’`°-\|~`¡’->*
It was Tuesday.. June 6.. 2o06.. around 9 pm.. eastern time.. in the small town of Locust Grove.. Georgia.. USA.. at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac.. a good neighborhood to grow up.. in a beautiful.. yellow..💥 southern home.. out of a magazine.. with white shudders and trim.. and an old style front porch.. that almost ran the length of the house.. lined with antique wooden💥 rocking chairs.. full with gorgeous flowers and potted plants of various kinds and colors.. my mother’s precious castle… her Kindom.. where she reigned… and I just happened to be there… sitting.. rocking.. playing my guitar and singing.. trying to write my song…..💥
I had been struggling with addiction.. somehow.. I decided in my mind.. that the drugs made me more creative.. I felt it made me a better musician.. a better💥 singer… I thought i could write better… I swallowed the lie wholly… one thing was for sure.. I enjoyed myself and my music much more while under the influence… this was the reason I used drugs… it💥 wasn’t to sit around and get high and act💥stupid and practice meaningless💥nonsense of no importance… I would make magic.. I was creating the world inside my head… singing and strumming the strings of my life.. the only way I knew how at the time…💥
I was high that night.. like the sky.. I was sitting at my computer.. I had been💥 performing live all day in an online music festival concert… I was a part of a group of💥worldwide musicians known as “The Pond”… and we were putting on a show that day… so i’d perform a song about every two hours… and in between that.. other acts would play…..💥
As I was waiting my turn… something came over me… a thought… a desire to be famous… a desire to be heard.. to be known.. to be felt the world over…💥to be loved by many… to be a rockstar… and then it happened… I began to speak to him… to the evil one.. the devil.. satan.. Lucifer.. whatever you want to call him.. he has many names… I told him that if he were to make me famous… and take me and my music to the top… take me to the highest level… that I would💥serve him… what happened next.. I wasn’t expecting and has been hard to forget……….💥
As I ended my words with him… something happened… I had his attention.. I felt his presence close.. I felt him💥listening.. I felt him speaking.. as if he was saying…. “”ok… it’s all yours.. what you ask.. what you seek.. what you desire… it’s all yours””… I finished the concert that night and went to bed.. exhausted and uneasy…..💥
Morning came… I awoke.. and immediately.. I remembered… oh no.. what have I done?.. I was sober now… I jumped out of bed… I was scared… I was a mess emotionally… I made coffee… I tried to think of my next move… I went to the garage… and I spoke these words out loud.. to him again… I told him to forget💥 everything I asked for… that I didn’t mean it… that I didn’t want it… that I could never commit to him… because I belong to💥CHRIST JESUS💥… that I would be following HIM and HIM only moving forward… HIM only will I serve… I💥recanted… I took it all back… I felt💥relieved… alive… delivered… forgiven… restored… renewed… what happened next has given me a few bad dreams over the years…..💥
As I finished telling the devil.. my new future plan… an evil presence rushed at me from across the room… it was angry and fast… I could hear the wind and💥motion as it approached me… it got right up close in my face… nose to nose… staring me down… it was the most💥intense… most intimidating… purest form of evil… it didn’t feel like a demon… it felt like the source… the one behind it all… the one that fell… the accuser of the brethren… the father of lies… the devil himself…💥 Lucifer… and he was in my garage… in my face… trying to start a fight…💥 or finish one…💥… that I started……💥
I was frozen in place… nose to nose… face to face… I had to do something… I started talking to GOD..silently… calling on HIM… HE showed up… I filled up on strength… I started rebuking the evil… commanding it with authority… it remained in front of me… something had to give… I couldn’t stand any longer in the presence of it… I ran in the house… and it was over… but it wasn’t over……💥
So since this experience… throughout the years… evil has tried many times to take my life… evil has made several attempts.. .. but GOD… rich in love and mercy… has kept me safe… HE has miraculously💥delivered me on occasions… when I call on HIM… HE comes after me… riding the wind… HE has been with me through it all… my strength–my source… it’s because of my GOD…💥that I write to you this night… and tell you of HIS goodness… and I only say this to you… HE loves you as much as HE loves me… and HE’S there… HE’S real… nose to nose… face to face… waiting for you…💥
Many people don’t believe….. I can’t help but to….. because of what I’ve been💥 through… I know the truth with certainty… I know we all only have two choices… and limited time to choose…..💥
‘O THANK YOU JESUS 💥💯
I leave you with these scriptures.. look them up.. it is my life verse given to me by the LORD…💥
Psalm 143: 9-12…. (143 is the numeric code for the phrase “I love you” 9-12 is my💥birthday… and the words inside… my life…… my story…….my GOD……💥`-!1~`-4/3_<9*,;:12’^”>t’…,,”…,’…,t’/_`-!’,-^-💥
“….I awoke last night to the sound of thunder… how far off… I sat💥and wondered… started humming a song from 1962… aint it funny how the night moves… when you just don’t seem to have as much to lose… strange how the night moves…💥with Autumn closing in….”…..,t’ `~-.i’!^_/
I’ll never forget the summer of 2o06…
“…oh the night has been won… and I shall overcome… yet not i.. but through CHRIST In me…”💥…………………………………………`☆
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…….^†^≈…….<^†>~’…….v↓†↓v’…….~°~†~°~’
…….↷→†→↶’…….→†→’…….|=†=|…….__†__’🏳
if your unfamiliar with the girl singing in the video?… that’s Jen Ledger… the drummer from the band SKILLET… I’m in love with her 😍😅.. she’s my honey…😁..💥
I just posted another short video of her playing drums… hard to believe that’s the same.. innocent.. precious.. sweet little thing singing in the other vid 😅… she’s a beast on those drums!………..💥
“” you can take my heart… you can take my breath… when you pry it… from my cold dead chest…”” ☝️💯
Fragments of Loia 