Dear Friends
It's about dang time you got around to reading this!!! (It's about dang time I got around to adding a new entry, truth be told!!!) Hope you are doing well.
Woke up yesterday to -24degrees and the first thought out of my sleepy head was: "This is the last-coldest day of the year till spring...can you tell what I have on my mind? I love being outdoors, especially playing golf and hunting. I am looking forward to another great golf season.
Had a great week with my sons in Nashville earlier this month. They are making music in Music City, and loving their Bohemian life style. I wasn't so sure of its glamour when it dipped to 38 degrees in their furnace-less house one evening! Survived the tornadoes thankfully. Took in some pro Basketball and Hockey, ate some tasty B-B-Q, heard some good live music (in their garage rehearsal space) and a smoky bar, and watched what in my limited memory was the greatest Super Bowl ever!
Have been busy with funerals, preaching, teaching and trying to advance the Kingdom in my little corner of the world. It is fun being a follower of Jesus.
A thought: "We Belong to Each Other". This quote has gotten under my skin...I really like it, though not sure exactly what it means. From George Bernard Shaw: "I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can." It was in the context of 'church' he wrote it, but I wonder if it might have a larger application. What of the community we live, what of our 'human' community? Knowing that we share life, might impact all we do. I have a good friend working on a dissertation right now that is addressing this very subject...I can't wait for the book! What do you think this might mean for your life? Our church? Our neighborhoods, our world? Keep thinking.
Have a great day. kermit

Dear friends,

Last week Susan (my lovely wife) and I experienced an amazing day in our lives. We made the final payment on the last loan we had. We borrowed some money to our kids dream, and made the final installment. There is an amazing sense of relief, and some embarrassment that it has taken until age 52 to finally be debt free. (Guess what I'm doing now??) Looking for a different truck! Stupid.

I mention this for a reason more than just veiled pride. Susan and I made a pledge to God before we married, that to the best of our ability, we would always have health insurance, and we would try to tithe all the income God would bring our way. I know we have failed at this numerous times, but we have to honestly say that through the years God has been more than faithful, and we have been blessed beyond what we deserve. We have come to a place in our lives where giving is a great joy...not just a joy, a GREAT joy! I don't mean to brag, but we are giving beyond our tithe, and it seems that the more we give, the more we have, and the more joy we find in simple things, in serving others, in enjoying family and friends. I don't know, but it just seems that God is taking care of us. I know that may have nothing to do with what or how we give...but it might! All we are; and all we have are gifts from God. We find generousity to be a value that works for us.

Please rejoice with our new found financial freedom, and do your level best to give all you can; to God, to God's needy children, and to Godly causes which touch your heart. I honestly believe that giving is our birthright, our heritage, our DNA, our calling, our privilege. Try it.

Maybe you'd like to share with me/others in the frogisphere how God has blessed you through your giving??

Thanks for checking in...I'll be more prompt with my next entry. If you have suggestions for subjects you'd like me to address...I'm open to that. Serving together, Kermit

Dear Friends,

Thought I'd take a minute to ramble about the recently announced intended congressional investigations of 6 "Ministries" in the U.S. Don't know if you have heard about this or not, but a Senator, from Iowa I think has introduced legislation to investigate the tax status and other fiscal dealings of 6 individuals/groups in the US. These groups include: Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyers, Creflo Dollar, Bishop somebody, and I can't remember the 6th, but it doesn't really matter.

Here is my take on this issue. Initially I find it intriguing that the US government which is so PC bent on keeping Religion seperate from government,schools, etc is now wanting to stick their noses into this religious circle, largely it seems because they are successfully raising $$ millions of dollars! Granted, if these ministries had nothing to hide there should be no big deal right? Yes, but where does this end? What prohibits this 'investigation' from targeting other ministries or churches because of not just their finances, but maybe their theology, or their social practices. It's another slippery slope I don't think I want to go down.

That being said, I do have my issues with these ministries and the multiple dollars they raise and spend in ways that seem superficial and self-serving to me. Big cars, fancy suits, large TV 'ministries' all smack of inauthenticity to me. Preaching a "Name it Claim it" theology seems rather ridiculous when you consider Jesus arrived in a manger and left via a donkey and a cross! I know there are verses that promise blessing, even prosperity, but there are many more promising suffering and sharing with the poor!

It will be interesting to see where this investigation goes. Just thought I'd share my thoughts at this point. Yours?? Kermit

Dear frog friends;

Hope you don't mind being dubbed 'frog friends', and thanks for readying and especially responding to these random ramblings.

A bit more about "names". 5 years ago while preaching in Santa Cruz, Bolivia I tried to make a joke (always a suspect endeavor while using a translator) about all the children running around Bolivia who had been named after young people from our former visits to Bolivia. The joke consisted of a remark about how next time I visit Bolivia, I expect there to be a little Kermit running around...no one laughed!

Following the service a young couple came forward to meet me, holding in their arms a little infant son. Through the interpreter they informed me their son had been born the day we landed in Santa Cruz, and 15 days later, they still had not been able to settle on a name! They told me they felt God was leading them to name their child "Kermit" after me! I immediately objected, but they overruled, and yes, there is a young boy, now 5 1/2 years old that bears my name in Boliva.

I have come to love that little child, (like I do all kids), but in a different way. There is something unique about knowing that another human being was named to honor you in some way. I know in this country and around the world many family names are passed down, but the rarity of the name Kermit (due to that dreaded frog) makes what this family did for me in Bolivia most remarkable.

I hope as 'little Kermit' grows in Bolivia, I might continue to pray for him and his family. I hope even more that my life might be lived in such a way that he would be proud to know his American Namesake is humbly grateful for the honor bestowed on me by his family. I hope for each of you that your lives (and your names) will be a rich blessing this Christmas Season...Maybe one more article on names...next time. Till then, I'm crocking on! K

Hey friends;
Did you like my first entry in Latin? Ha! Just a test. I'm finally getting around to entering this first blog. Thanks for tuning in! Welcome to the Frog Blog.

That name has caused a few raised eyebrows, so thought I'd kick this off by addressing it, and visiting just a bit about 'names'. My name is Kermit Culver. I was born in 1956. My parents have been accused of torturing me by giving me this name, the same year Kermit The Frog was created, but obviously they'd heard nothing about the little green cartoon monster. I'm not exactly sure the inspiration for the name Kermit, but it's been a good name. I guess I had a distant relative with that name, and Dwight D. Eisenhower had a brother named Kermit.

All that being said, it has been an interesting name. Through the years I've been teased about it, but mostly it's been fun, and makes it easier to remember: "Yea, Kermit, Just like the Frog." I've been asked by lots of little kids: "Is that your real name." I always respond, "Yes, who in their right mind would choose that for a nickname?" Being born the same year as KTF, has also opened up conversations along the way.

Some names have spritual meanings. I don't know where those definitions come from other than 'baby name books', but for what it's worth the name Kermit is supposed to mean, "The Lord's Free Man." I like that! I have been set free by the Lord, and I try to live like a free man. I try to live above the legalistic restrictions of the "Law", while not taking license to be a law-breaker.

So what about your name? I'd like to hear some responses to the meaning of your name, it's origin, and how it fits you. I have to admit that Kermit fits me just fine. Till next time...I'm still just Kermit