Encouraged through Trials

Back in March I told you about our family doctor (Phil) who had a son (John, 14 yrs. old) with cancer. John died yesterday morning after his bone cancer spread to his lungs. Typically you would think this is a tragic event. In the flesh, it is. This family has grown so spiritually minded about this that it's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's obvious that they've grown in the Lord. We've grown just reading the updates about John. The post on his web-site from yesterday announcing his death read:

John died this morning. For some reason Laura and I couldn’t sleep so we sat up and dozed on and off in the living room with John. He was sleeping more soundly than usual and suddenly he woke up bright and excited and said, "I’m going home now. It’s awesome. I’m going to be with Jesus." He was so happy about it. Then he fell into a restless sleep and died peacefully several hours later. God is so merciful.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7,8) Way to go John. I’ll see you in heaven.

Thanks for you prayers....Phil

Phil then posted again after that to convey funeral arrangemnts (times, locations, etc.) and said:

God’s peace is flooding our home.

What a testimony. If you have time, read back through some of their updates on the web-site. It will encourage and challenge you (and probably make you cry).

Blessings.

Tookie to Meet His Maker

As of 9:00 PM EST, Stanley 'Tookie' Williams will be executed at 3:01 EST on Tuesday morning at San Quentin State Prison. His only hope to receive an extension is through an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that was filed this evening. Things look bleak for Tookie. I have mixed feelings about this whole situation. There has been a lot of controversy over his death sentence. He has had a lot of media coverage in the last few months. In case you haven't watched or listened to the news recently and don't know who Stanley 'Tookie' Williams is, he is one of the founders of the street gang 'Crips'. The Crips, since it's conception, have been blamed for murders that number into the thousands, rapes, burglaries, vandalisms, etc. Tookie was convicted of murdering four people in two separate hold-ups in 1979. He has always denied the murders, despite the many witnesses that have testified on the contrary. Even after his arrest and imprisonment, he was very violent, attacking guards and other inmates. It was years later when he was in solitary confinement that he was given a dictionary and a Bible. This is when Tookie's life changed. This is where Tookie met redemption. He began to speak out against gang violence. He wrote several anti-violence children's books and was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. As if this wasn't enough to get him clemency, he has a whole group of celebrities crying out to spare his life. One in particular is a grown man that goes by the name of Snoop Dogg. Mr. Dogg is a proclaimed member or former member of the Crips. He has nothing but praises to speak about Tookie. Snoop Dogg is a gangster rapper whose songs are filled with gangster sex, gangster violence, gangster drugs and alcohol (so I hear). Obviously Mr. Dogg could stand to read Mr. Tookie's children's books. Doesn't make much sense that a gangster thug would turn out to be one of Tookie's biggest advocates. Those that oppose his execution do so because they claim he has reformed his life and that he can do more good alive than he could dead to help stop gang violence. That's one argument. What about the flip side. Let's say Tookie received clemency and got his sentence reduced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Now every gang member who commits a heinous crime like the ones Tookie is convicted of and gets caught has a map to follow. Get to prison, get redeemed, write a children's book and speak out against gang violence and you have your life spared. If he gets executed, it also sends a message. You do the crime, you pay the price. This is where my feelings start to get mixed. And it gets deeper. As Christians, how do we deal with the death penalty. Do we take someones life (not necessarily Tookie) who hasn't chosen to accept the Lord's redemption? He's had his opportunities, right? I know there are prison ministers. Certainly he had his opportunity. What if he “claims” he's been redeemed? Do we spare his life? And continue to pay for his meals and warmth? I can't justify that. Do we release him back into society on good faith? That would be insane! I know the “grace folks” and the anti-death penalty people say that we need to forgive and forget. I have no problem with forgiving if someone is remorseful. Then we need someone who can judge the depth of someone's remorse. Is it genuine? If we forgive, then what. Then release back into society? Once again, I think it's crazy the way we keep people locked up in prison for years and years while we pay for their food, clothing, air conditioning, recreation, cable TV, lawyers...you get the idea. But what do we do with these people. Even if I did not agree with the death penalty, I need to respect the laws of the land, correct? I'm not saying that I would be the one injecting the lethal poison into his body and say that I was just doing my job. I'm saying that if I or someone I know/love committed a crime that carries the death penalty, I need to be prepared to accept that punishment. Whether I'm saved or not.

What I can relate this to on a personal level is my wifes uncle. He lived like the devil for many years of his life. When he reached forty something, his body began to show signs of his past lifestyle. It began to shut down. He came to know the Lord about a year before he died. His body was already wasted. He lived a reckless life knowing what the consequences could turn out to be. God sentenced his body to death; a painful gruesome death. When he found redemption, God did not hand him down a reduced sentence. He had to pay the pre-determined price he had committed to pay. Tookie knew what the crimes he was committing could lead to. By committing those crimes, he committed to pay the price the law of the land determined any murderer to pay; life for life. Because he found redemption, do we hand him down a reduced sentence, or does he pay the price he committed to pay? Do we change in mid-stream because the circumstances "appear" to change? In Jesus' parable about the laborers, the workers who contracted to work all day for a penny wanted to change thier pay when they realized that others were hired to work for an hour for that same penny. Circumstances around them changed, but that didn't change what they already committed to.

I don't claim to be pro-death or anti-death penalty. I'm kind of a fence sitter here. I feel the legal and prison system is way out of kilter, but I don't have the answers to fix it. I hate to funnel money into people if they are going to sit in a prison cell, but I certainly don't want a hardened criminal released back into society.

Once again, I don't know if execution is the right answer. And I also don't claim that our system is a flawless system. I feel that Tookie needs to pay the price he committed to pay when he carried out the murders. If this makes me a hard person, then I guess I'm a hard person. I don't see any other choice. Just thank God that Tookie had the opportunity to find redemption and pray that he truly knows where true redemption comes from. Only Jesus can set us free. He has redeemed each of us, we just need to claim it. Let's hope Tookie has. And let's hope this doesn't turn into another Rodney King race riot in LA. We'll see.

God Bless!

A Challenge

The man on the left in this picture is Sir Edmund Hillary. The man on the right is Tenzing Norgay. These two men were the first two human beings ever to set foot on the summit of Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. They accomplished this in 1953. Many have done this since. Many more have died trying. Hillary typically gets all of the mention for some reason. We watched a National Geographic documentary on Hillary over the weekend that we checked out at the library. It told about his trip up the great mountain as well as his accomplishments in some of the villages surrounding Mt. Everest. He has done some amazing things for some of the underdeveloped villages of Nepal. He has built school-houses where there have never been school-houses before. He has built hospitals where there have never been hospitals. The fatality rate for children up through the age of twenty was astronomical before he built the hospitals. It is now a fraction of that number. His brother is a carpenter by trade from New Zealand. They built several buildings with their own hands and the help from some of the locals. The villagers literally treat him like a god. They invite him in, give him food and drink and shower him with gifts. They even honor him with festivals.

After watching the show, it left an empty spot in my gut. This man and his family had such a wonderful opportunity to witness to these people about God's goodness and his mercy. About the love that God has for us. About Jesus Christ and what he has done for us, and still does for us. I don't know if Sir Edmund Hillary has any sort of "religion" or a faith in God. I do know that he was participating in the annual festivals that they have. The festivals where they worship the mountains and trees. The festivals where they dress up as eight different gods and dance around to scare away any evil spirits for the following year. I just felt grieved for the whole situation.

I can't blame Hillary for not sharing the gospel with these lost people. If he doesn't know the truth, I can't expect him to share it. All he saw was a people with some physical needs. He may not even see the spiritual needs that they have because he has those same needs. And I do appreciate what he has given to these people. Maybe through his selfless giving, he has opened up an opportunity for missionaries to enter into this part of the world and share. I don't know how God will work it out. This documentary was filmed (I believe) in 1989. A lot could have happened in that time.

This definitely made me search my heart, though. Those people that respect me and look up to me; do I share with them the gospel? Do I just meet their physical needs (which is still very important). Am I missing out on great opportunities by holding my tongue? Even with my own children. They love to serve me like these villagers did with Hillary. They love to give me gifts. Am I missing opportunities with them? I have their hearts, which usually means I have their ears. What message am I sending if I'm not sending the gospel? Good works? "Oh, he's just a nice person". I'm know that I have missed opportunities with people. My family; my children; my friends; my co-workers. This is a challenge to myself. To meet needs where needs need met, but also to share the gospel with those who don't know. I didn't say to share the church. That has been my escape my whole life. "Hey, why don't you come to church with me?" in the hopes that they might get saved through that. What's the problem with me sharing the gospel. God has equipped me with a Bible and the ability to read it.

I pray that God would open my eyes to opportunities that I get. (Sometimes I seem to be oblivious to these opportunities until after the fact; then it's usually too late.) That I would share without fear and not get discouraged when rejection comes. This is the least I could do, isn't it?

God bless!

Checking In

Posting once a month kind of seems like a waste of web space, huh? Oh well, it's free.
Just a brief update:

• My family has been sick off and on (mostly on) for about two and half weeks now. It started as the flu and kind of went through the family that way. After we healed up it turned into the cold. My wife went to bed at six o'clock tonight with most of the children shortly after. Grace (our almost three year old) and I did the dishes for mom so she wouldn't have to face that in the morning.
• We did heal up enough to take a short family vacation into the mountains of West Virginia last week. We borrowed a pop-up camper from a "friend" so we could stay in a state park. We got to the state park and began setting up the camper only to realize that there were big rips in the canvas and the heater didn't work. Did I mention that it was below freezing and the wind was whipping like crazy? We huddled up in one end of the camper and it collapsed. We then huddled up on another bed to try to get through at least one night. At 1:00 a.m. Grace woke up and threw up all over the place. We went up to the lodge and asked if they had a room. Praise God they did! That's where we spent the rest of our vacation. It snowed about ten inches while we were there. When we went to check out, they discounted our room enough to make up for the campground lot that we had paid for in advance. God's provisions always amaze me.
  
• It was my turn to preach this weekend at our fellowship. It was my first time preaching here. It had been about a year since I preached last. There were the typical nerves to hurdle, but God got me through. My family couldn't make it because of sickness so I gave them a practice run at home before leaving for church. That helped a ton. I preached on a topic that has been with me for about a year now and strongly for about two to three months: making sure your heart is in a condition to be used (and even accepted) by God. I used many passages, but a few were the story of the rich young ruler. Jesus turned him away because something else had his heart (his possessions). Various pharisees, and also those that called "Lord, Lord" that he sent away.
• Had a brief discussion with the guy I work with today who is Methodist. I asked him about the lesbian Methodist pastor that they made step down. His response: "I don't know why they fill the news with this junk! This isn't news!" He was the first to jump on the band-wagon when the Catholic sex-abuse scandals were rampant in the news, bashing the priest and looking for someone to listen to the latest joke he had heard. He also stated "I thought we were supposed to be tolerant of those who aren't like us. Why are they doing this?" One thing to note: the Methodist do allow homosexual clergy as long as they are committed to celibacy. I found that interesting.
• God has been putting some families in our lives who seem to be like-minded and mostly without church homes. Not sure what's going on with that. Not all are too local to us, but some are. I have a hard time encouraging these people to attend our church because we are about forty-five minutes from church and further yet from most of the families of our church. I really like our church, but it's hard to establish a sense of community when you are so far away.
  
• Ross and I took the last air-conditioner out tonight. I always drag my feet about it. You never know when the Indian Summer might hit. It's now November so I think we're pretty safe. Actually for the last three weeks it's been more procrastination than anything else. We also got some wood cut up.
• We had to run out on Saturday to get some animal feed. When we got home both of our gardens were plowed up. We have great neighbors!

Well, that's enough rambling for now.

God bless!!

Chickens

This picture shows how our Saturday afternoon started out. We showed up to a member of our churches house at about 12:30 p.m. Our chickens had been delivered the night before by another family from our church. There were four church families there including us. We had been raising these chickens since the last week of July. After eight weeks and several hundred pounds of food, our 78 chickens were ready to be butchered. We made the first cut of a chicken at 12:39 p.m. By about 2:30 p.m. we were finished cleaning the last one. We soaked them in a large cooler over night and bagged them after church on Sunday afternoon. We got them home that afternoon and put them into the freezer. We now have half a freezer full of good, healthy, un-medicated, steroid-free chickens. Obviously, there is a lot that went on between that time (and we do have photographs) that I won't share. All in all, a very educational day. It's neat to work together with brothers and sisters in Christ. They didn't want paid for their services. They wanted to help. Allowing the church to help us saved us about $200 in processing fees. Plus, we learned to to clean chickens. We have pigs that will be ready to slaughter at the end of December/begining of January. Rumor has it, there's a family in our church that can butcher pigs and cattle. I'm not sure if we're ready for that. I'll keep you posted though.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a bit of a whirl-wind day. Our Abigail turned 5 years old. She wanted pancakes, sausage and bacon for her birthday meal. She got a bag full of things from her grandma. One was a bag of balloons. Her first activity was to hand them out to each brother and sister to share in the fun. She's a very sweet girl.

We also got some very good news on our house. We had it appraised last week. Without going into too much detail, let's just say that God is good!

The kids found a cat last Thursday or Friday and asked if they could keep it. It was obvious this cat was used to being around people. My wife said that she would have to call our neighbors and make sure it didn't belong to someone. No answer from one neighbor. It was obvious they were gone. There was no activity at their home for a few days, so my wife left something on their answering machine. We got a call last night that said it sounded like their cat. They had just got home from vacation and received the message. My wife told her that I would take the cat home to them. It was about 8:30 or 9:00 in the evening. The wind was blowing pretty hard with a cool/warm mixed breeze, like it was trying to kick up a good storm. It's pretty dark by this time. I walked out to get into the car and my wife said “Troy, their's something in with the chickens.” I squinted into the dark and sure enough, it's a goat. I gave the cat to my wife to hold and started to chase the goat around. That was not enjoyable. At one point I told the goat “If I catch you, I'm going to kick you...hard!” I eventually caught her, but I didn't kick her. I picked her up and dropped her over the fence. I see why in the Bible, they are the rebellious animals. I'll have to see where she got out today (when it gets light out). I fixed any damage she caused to the chicken pen and took the cat to the neighbors. When I got back from the neighbors, it was blowing even harder. My wife was outside looking around. I got out and started talking to her. Just then, the wind ripped off the roof of another chicken pen. I grabbed my drill and a box of screws and tried to put it back together the best I could. Then my wife expressed concern for the turkeys and guineas. They free-range and are only a couple months old. She wanted to put them into the chicken pen for protection. While I finished putting the roof on, she started chasing poultry; in the dark. She managed to capture the turkeys quite sportsman-like. I was impressed. Then for the guineas. They are fast, feisty and noisy. She caught a couple that were huddled in a group. We both had to chase down the last three. They kept circling and circling. I had to have Eshell block their path while I chased them into a corner so I could grab them. We managed.

We also found our first farm-fresh egg yesterday. It was small and broken, but we were excited none-the-less. I guess I'll be building nesting boxes soon.

Ahh, life in the country. Needless to say, I was ready for bed last night.

The UNITED States of America

There is something that is really frustrating me. Just like there will never be a universally agreed upon church, we will never fully agree on how to handle things; let alone run the country. This is not a political issue. This is more of a social issue. What frustrates and saddens me is the way this hurricane is tearing apart this country. Yes, the devastation was terrible. The looting despicable. I think the worst of it is the political games we play with it. Maybe President Bush should have reacted differently. Maybe not. Maybe FEMA could have been more responsive. Maybe not. Maybe Mayor Nagin or Governor Blanco could have been more pro-active. Maybe not. Do any of these accusations bring the dead and lost back? Does it save those that are still missing or stranded? Does any of this help the displaced that are in shelters like the Superdome, Astrodome or anywhere else get home...or bring back their ravaged homes for that matter? People are still stranded and dying and we bicker about who's fault this is. At least we can count on Jesse Jackson to point out that we should not be using the word “refugee” because it has derogatory racial meanings. Thank you mister Jackson! How many people did that help? For your information Jesse: if I'm stranded in an attic or on a rooftop for a week plus, I don't care what you or the media call me, just help me get out!! I truly believe that if things could have been done more efficiently, the strategy for the future should change. If things were messed up, people should be held accountable. Is now the time and place? Should we be dragging them through the mud now? Let's get the people safe RIGHT NOW. Let's get them the medical attention they need RIGHT NOW. We can settle up later. I know this strife isn't anything new to this country. I know it's intensified because of the media coverage of the hurricane. We have put this under the microscope to analyze. There is always the left and the right. The conservative and the liberal. The Republican and the Democrat. That won't change, either. Why can't we work as ONE when our country needs us so badly? Do we hate each other so badly that we can't work side by side to help out our fellow country-men? If so, we have arrived at a very sorry state. Woe unto us and God help us. I understand that much stress comes with disasters like this. Nobody wants to take blame for something of this magnitude. When we attack each other like this, we are no better than the looters. We are no better than those raping, murdering and pillaging in such a time of need as this. Those looting are looting for their own selfish gain. When our leaders attack each other, they do so to try to gain something. Gain popularity in the polls. Gain a reputation. Gain some sort of an edge over their opponent (enemy?). To those that are pointing fingers when we should be rolling up our sleeves and taking our turn manning the pump to drain the city, please step aside and sit down and let the rest work. To Mrs. Clinton, please sit down. To Howard Dean, please sit down. To Kanye West, please sit down. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, SIT! Rodney King said it best when he tearfully said “Can't we all just get along?”

God Bless!

Someone Special

I was in the pizza shop a couple weeks buying a pizza. There was a young man at the counter talking to, what appeared to be, his friends working the counter. I stood in line and waited. He realized someone else was in line so he moved over and let me take my turn in line. I told them my last name and that I had a pizza ordered so they scurried to get it. The young man, now standing off to the side looked at me and said “I think I know you.” I looked at him and didn't readily recognize him. “Is your name Troy?” “Yeah!” He then told me his first name and then it clicked. I said his last name as a form of a question and he excitedly said “YES!” He was a boy in the youth group that my wife and I spent a lot of time with a few years after we were married. The rest of the conversation kind of went like this:

Me: How are you doing?

Him: Good. I just got married last weekend.

Me: Great, congratulations! How's that working out for you?

Him: Great.

Me: What are you doing with yourself?

Him: Just working in a factory, for now. (he named our local factory)

Me: I worked in that factory for three and a half years.

Him: I want to find something else...something different. I just want to be someone special.

Me: Don't feel bad, I still work at a factory.

They called my name with the pizza so I turned around to pay for it, hoping I could talk some more with this young man. When I turned back around, he was gone. I wanted to encourage him further. Maybe invite him and his new wife out to our place for dinner. Didn't happen, though. It just bothered me what he said. He just wants to be someone special. I struggled to understand what he meant. Maybe I read too much into it. What does he want to be, a doctor, a preacher, the President, a professional football player? What's his idea of special? A dad? I don't think he had much of one growing up. We each have our own definition of what makes a person special. I work with all kinds of people from doctors/surgeons to company presidents to engineers to machinist to janitors. Each one may or may not utilize their God given talents and abilities. Does their occupation make them special? Many would say it would. Look at our celebrities. Our sports heroes. Musicians. Does it make them special that they are good looking and can memorize a script or a song? Does that make their opinion on politics, world peace or animal humanity/rights more special?

I can remember in the '90's, when I was looking for a job, that everyone had to have a college degree to get a decent job. I can remember the school's commercials. It showed someone flipping burgers with their sad face on. Then, after attending their college, he wore a business suit to work and a happy face. I was always thinking, “yeah right, what geeky actors.” But I fell for it. They showed how that would make me special so I thought that might work. I now know that I am special, but in a different way.

I was reading an article in Popular Science (I know, now I'm the geek). It is in the September 2005 issue and it's ironically titled “Super Human”. On the front cover it tells that articles within this issue will show “How science will help us live longer, smarter, stronger” with:

• A better brain

• Artificial muscles

• Smart drugs

• External wombs

• and Cures for everything

Talk about a special person! It even has a centerfold picture of a “Fully enhanced HUMAN 2.0”. Their idea of some of the equipment near future humans might be stacked with, like micro-chips in their brain to help them retain thoughts/memories; titanium hearts; the newest artificial lung; artificial spinal discs; cellphones that are implantable into your teeth; eyes that can see new colors that we have never been able to experience before and on and on. Some of these things are near future if not already available. Some are farther off. One article tells about drugs that some manufacturers are already working on. These drugs would not treat an illness. Like an athlete that dopes up his/her body to get the extra edge in their competition, these drugs would dope the mind. They are memory and thought enhancing drugs. Some are very specific. Want to feel a little more religious? Pop a pill. Want to be a little calmer and sharper for the test or interview you have? Pop a pill. Some of these medications were originally developed for Alzheimer patients, but they saw that they could “enhance the mind” of healthy people. Don't think that I'm anti-medicine. I occasionally take Advil for an achy back or a headache. I even encourage medicinal repair work. Bad knee joint? Get a new one. Bad sinuses? Get them fixed. If it's broke, fix it. But if it's not broke, don't try to manipulate it to make it work faster, stronger, harder. I personally think we run to science and medicine too hastily. There are is so much we could fix (I believe) with diet, exercise and discipline. Wow, sorry about this tangent.

If we only used our God given gifts and talents to love others, to me that makes a special person. I told my wife the other day that the reason God gave us so many girls is because she is good at what she does. She is an excellent cook/baker/chef. The house is always clean. Those are gifts/talents that need to be shared with them. I am guilty of withholding my gifts. I personally can't think of any talents I have right off hand, but I'm certainly blessed with God's gifts. I typically I keep them to myself. What a shame. What a sin.

Just being a child of God makes me special. The brother of Jesus. Being His servant makes me special. Being a dad who spends time with his children makes me special. Being a loving husband makes me special. Being a friend makes me special. Helping someone in need makes me special. Sharing about God's goodness with others makes me special. Being a pilgrim in this world makes me special. Don't think that I bragging on myself. I don't have these areas mastered yet. Some of these areas are pretty weak in my life. My goal is to try harder in each area. And this is not an exhaustive list. I'm sure I'm missing things. I also know that many would not agree with what makes a person special. That's why I'M writing this on MY blog.

I hope that God puts me in the path of this young man again. I would love to talk with him some more. We'll see. In the mean-time, I'll try to be special!

God bless!!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

Fast Pace

I know that I haven't posted in a very long time. Our life has been very hectic lately. Summers always get busy for us, but this summer seems to be the busiest that I can ever remember. We have been working on the house (paint, flooring, etc...), cutting trees for heat this winter, working a lot, having a new baby, building things for new animals; you name it, it seems to be going on right now. It doesn't appear to be lightening up in the near future either. We have a minister coming in this week to our congregation to teach. He is supposed to be a great teacher/counselor about the church, it's structure and relationships within the church. I plan on attending at least a couple evenings to hear him. I could use the encouragement. I haven't felt too close to God lately. I know He hasn't left or forsaken me. It kills me to realize that we are so far apart and to know that it has been me straying. I can also see the toll it has taken on my family. When the children aren't encouraged in the Lord, they get to be not-so-likeable....like me. It's terrible to say that about the beautiful gifts that the Lord has blessed me with. Just being honest. I know it's my lack of training, love, discipline and time spent with them. It takes a toll on my wife. She is such a peach to put up with me. When I'm in a slump, she more than takes up the slack. I appreciate her very much and don't often let her know that. I also know that my busy-ness is not an excuse to stray from the Lord. Why is it that when things get busy, the Lord is the first thing to go? I shorten up my Bible and prayer time to squeeze something else in. The time gets shorter and shorter until it is non-existent. Why is it that the one thing that we need to hold onto with a death grip is the first thing to let go...and so easily? It really frustrates me about myself.
I hope to start posting more frequently. I can't promise anything, though. I came across this picture again and wanted to share it. This baby could have been one of our preemies. Tiny little thing with lots of dark, fuzzy hair. In case you can't read the caption under the picture, it says: "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein (1879-1955) That's all for now.
God Bless!!

Christian Classics

I picked up a book last night to start reading out loud to the family. It was "Eerdman's Book of Christian Classics". I hadn't looked through it for quite some time. It's a compilation of excerpts from Christian writers through the centuries. It also gives a bit of history on the way. I know that I don't agree with all of the writers within the book, but I like the book. It's like a "Greatest Hits" album. You can get all (some) of an artists best songs on one album, tape, CD etc. I don't have to go out and buy each of these books by these writers to enjoy some of their best work. I'm going to share some of it with you. I might share more of it in the future.

Like the Gospel-writer Luke, the unknown author of the letter to 'Diognetus' wrote to explain the Christian faith to a serious enquirer. Its recipient was probably a pagan of high rank, possibly the emperor himself.

The Letter to Diognetus - 150(?) AD

You can't tell a Christian from a non-Christian by where he lives or the way he speaks or how he dresses. There are no 'Christian towns', there is no 'Christian language', and they eat, drink and sleep just like everybody else. Christians aren't particularly clever or ingenious and they haven't mastered some complicated formula, like the followers of some religions.

But while it's true that they live in cities next to other people, and follow the same pattern of life as they do, in fact they have a unique citizenship of their own. They are, of course, citizens of their own lands - loyal ones, too. But yet they feel like visitors. Every foreign country is their homeland, and their homeland is like a foreign country to them...They are nationals of various states, but citizens of heaven.

To put it simply - the soul is to the body as Christians are to the world. The soul is spread through all parts of the body and Christians through all parts of the world. The soul is in the body but is not of the body; Christians are in the world but not of the world.

This letter makes me wonder if I am not too comfortable with living in the world. Do I consider myself a citizen of this world? My town? My house? How would I react if it were lost or taken away? Maybe the problem is more like the letter. I like the letter and what it says, but maybe I mix into the world too much. Maybe my language is too similar to the worlds. Maybe my patterns and lifestyles too closely resemble that of the worlds. Am I trying to fit in or am I trying to make a difference? Typically we are comfortable in a group that we are similar to. A guy doesn't feel comfortable in a room full of ladies and same with a lady in a room full of guys. The same should be our lives in the world. Yes, we physically appear like the world. I do think our speech should be different. Our dress should be different. Not to make the world feel uncomfortable, but because we are supposed to contrast the world. Light in a dark world. People shouldn't jump to the conclusion that we are Christians because of what we wear and what we say, but I think it should different. Not for the sake of being different, either. I know this sounds confusing. I would not allow my daughter to dress like what I see many eight-year-olds dress like. Do I feel like one of a few lifeguards in a world full of drowning people? I have the ability to rescue people (with their willingness of course), but would I rather sit on the pier and count them as they go down?
True, I know that I have citizenship in heaven. Yes, I have no other choice but to be in the world. I do have a choice of where I put my treasures. Here on this foreign soil or in the safe homeland? Am I too comfortable on this earth? Let me meditate on that.

God Bless!!

Church Update: Blessing Others

⁴⁴ And all that believed were together, and had all things common; ⁴⁵ And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. ⁴⁶ And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, ⁴⁷ Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. - Acts chapter 2.

I told you that I would keep you posted on how our church experience was going. So far I've been pretty impressed. I know that it doesn't matter how I feel about it, but I'm certain that it is a body that truly glorifies God by it's actions and love. It makes me think of the above passage. Not that it fits them perfectly, because it doesn't. This group (in the Acts passage) was there because Peter and the apostles led them to Christ. They probably had very similar doctrinal beliefs. The church we have been attending all came together after they had been saved. They had their faith/belief established prior to coming. It's not a huge fellowship: maybe 10 to 12 families. Each one with a different church background.

The thing is that they all respect each others background. They follow biblical guidelines where things are clearly spelled out in scripture. Things that are gray, they go the route of least offense. Example: communion is a touchy subject from denomination to denomination. Some insist that it's taken every week. Other groups take it once a month. Some take it quarterly and some annually. With having families from every denominational background, we probably have some that believe in each of these scenarios. The men got together and decided to offer it once a month. If you want to take it more often (every week) you could do it at home. If you didn't want to take it every month, don't take it. Nobody is offended if a family doesn't partake in the “passing of the elements”. This is the procedure agreed upon by the men of the congregation and confirmed by the elder. The path of least offense. Every man takes a turn preaching, usually leaving hot, gray topics alone. Each family respects each other families belief.

Another area is the help they provide. What really led me to this passage was verse 45. To my knowledge, no one from the congregation has sold all of their possessions, but they certainly see to it that every man that has need, the need is met. We had meals provided to our family for a week after the baby was born. People traveled from Michigan (probably 60 miles or more) Ohio and Indiana to make sure we had a supper meal (usually hot) every night last week. What a blessing! Someone even called on Saturday to ask if we wanted meals for the following week also. We also had friends and family from the area provide meals to us that was a huge blessing. I have also heard story after story of families helping out other families. We have a testimony time at church when people share what the Lord has done for them in the previous week. It's anything from someone tilling someones new yard while the family was away to working concrete for someone who needs a barn floor poured. The person tilling the yard just stopped by, tilled the yard and left without leaving a note or message or anything. They saw a need and met it. God truly receives the glory.

We have been having water pressure problems in our house. Water just trickled out of the faucets some days. I called a plumber and he said it sounded like a well problem. He gave me the name and number of a well digger. He told me before he hung up the phone that “it would probably be expensive”. I was perplexed. I know so little about wells, pressure tanks and plumbing that I was afraid to try to look into it myself. I mentioned this at church at prayer time. I asked that the church pray for God to grant me wisdom on how to deal with this. After the service was over, I was approached by six men asking me the symptoms of the problem. I explained. Two of the men asked if I was going to be home later. “Sure” I said. They stopped in and found the problem. I don't think we ever had as much water pressure as we do now. It was a simple fix and very inexpensive. I told them that I felt bad the one had to come from Michigan to fix such a simple problem (I would have never figured it out on my own). They blew it off and said they were happy they could help us save some money. Most of the men there are either farmers or construction workers. I'm convinced that between those two professions, anything can get fixed that's needs fixed. Families have loaned vehicles to other families for indefinite amounts of time. One family left the Amish belief. They were getting persecuted by friends and family. They were actually getting death threats from some. This body of believers helped to move them out of their house in the middle of the night to help protect this family. One of the other families let them move into an empty house they had until they could get themselves established.

I don't mention these stories to brag or puff anyone up. To my knowledge (unless my wife has given this web-site to them) none of this church knows that I write this. I say this because: 1) I promised to keep you updated on our church experience, and 2) to encourage that there are churches who still believe in the old fashion ways. Neighbors helping neighbors. Families encouraging families. One of the families offered their 21 year old daughter to stay with us for a week or so after the baby came to cook, clean and help with the other children. I have been pleasantly surprised by this fellowship. Not just because we have benefited from it. I could just sit back and watch and listen to the testimonies given about how God has used a certain family or how someone was anonymously blessed by someone else. Without getting too sappy, I'll just say that it truly warms the heart, and the glory goes to God!!

God bless!!

Where You Came From

My sister-in-law was here visiting yesterday and before she left, she said something that has stuck with me. She was commenting on the baby and my wifes delivery and she said (paraphrased): “Don't ever forget how God has delivered you. Don't be like the Israelites and forget where God has brought you.”

First of all, I could not forget God's goodness and mercy towards us. When you have a need and ask in faith for God to meet that need, He does. Even if it's not a need. He has filled so many “wants” in our life. What my sister-in-law said applies to each Christian. We should never forget where God brought us out of or how He did it. At this time, being so close to Susanna's birth, it means so much more to us.

We had Ross, our first child, about a year and a month after we were married. Pregnancy was great. Eshell (my wife) did wonderfully through it all. We went through Lamaze and learned the breathing and everything. The doctor induced her two days after her due date because her blood pressure was high. It's amazing that was ten years ago! He is such a big help to me!

Brookelyn came along 22 months after Ross. 11 weeks into the pregnancy, Eshell started bleeding heavily. The doctor told us that she was carrying twins and that she had lost one. He told her to stop nursing Ross as this was possibly adding to the complications she was having (which we now don't think had anything to do with it). She ended up delivering Brookelyn seven weeks early. She spent some time (I think seven days) in the NICU at Parkview hospital. That was difficult. Not only seeing our baby in the incubator, not being able to hold her, but seeing some of the atrocities in the NICU. I saw another preemie in there who was (thanks to the mother) addicted to crack-cocaine. The poor thing just constantly shook as it was withdrawing from the poison the mother polluted it with. Of all the time we spent at the hospital while she was in (we practically lived there) no one ever came to see that baby. The nurses or doctors were not supposed to disclose information about the other babies in there, but most of them shared pretty openly with us. Some mothers would go home after delivering prematurely and say “Just let me know when I can come an pick up the baby” and the staff would not see the mother until they called. Sometimes it would be days or weeks. We got Brookelyn home and she is developing into a beautiful young lady.

Dylan was another 22 months after Brookelyn. He was a surprise. Some of the same complications came. Heavy bleeding which led to bed rest and many visits to the ER for ultrasounds. I believe it was with Dylan that Eshell had a condition called placenta previa (the placenta is situated over the cervix). Dylan was born six weeks early and was in NICU for 11 days (I believe). Dylan now has two speeds: sleeping and 140mph. 100% boy! I love it!

Between Dylan and Abigail was another 22 months. Same old routine. We were seeing a specialist this time. Eshell developed a placental abruption (tear) with this pregnancy which caused more bleeding and more bed rest. The doctor kept telling us that with the last two babies being premature and the high possibility that this would be also, our odds of ever having a full term baby in the future were nearly impossible. It was recommended by any medical professional and most others (friends/family) that we stop having children. The delivery was not a good one. One nurse tried to “help” with our other children by offering to call social services to have them pick our children up. That wasn't much help in the midst of a terrible labor. They tried to turn Eshell's labor off by giving her magnesium sulfate. She had a terrible and unexpected reaction to it. First, it made her hallucinate. Next, it's effects were delayed. Her labor showed no signs of slowing down. She continued to have contractions for several hours. After they realized that it wasn't working, they thought they would just speed up the labor by giving her pitocin to increase contractions. Just about as soon as they gave it to her the magnesium sulfate kicked in. Her body was now trying to stop the labor. No need to worry, though. Then the pitocin started working and her body slowly started laboring again. It was miserable. She delivered Abigail seven weeks early. Abigail spent 13 days in NICU. Another lovely young lady.

We had been talking a lot about having a baby at home using a midwife. I didn't have much faith that that would ever happen. Given our history in childbearing, the future of home-birth looked pretty bleak. By this time, we were committed to letting God plan our family size. We had listened to all of the risks and had taken it into consideration, but like I've said in the past, I really felt that God was to be in control of every area of our lives. All of our children and Eshell were healthy. Early deliveries and hospital stays were inconvenient, but the blessing far out-weighed this. Needless to say, Eshell got pregnant again. We were going to a different family doctor at this time. A very godly man whom we respect very much. I may be wrong, but I think the first time we met him was with this first prenatal visit. We expressed to him our desire to have the baby at home if she could make it to full term. I was expecting a negative response. He had her file. He was looking through our past deliveries. Instead, he was very supportive of us. In fact, he prayed for us before we left the office. He laid his hand on Eshell's shoulder and prayed that God would heal her womb; that she might carry the baby full term, and that God would honor our desire to have the baby at home. Eshell's early pregnancy was pretty rough. A lot of sickness. She would wake up in the night to throw up. We made contact with a midwife and explained our situation. She was very informative. She explained her situation. She would not be able to deliver a baby any earlier than 37 weeks. That was our goal to shoot for. Several nights I would lay in bed with my hand on Eshell's belly and pray for healing and that we could meet the required 37 weeks. 37 weeks came and went. We had Grace at 39 weeks; 30 months after Abigail! What an amazing experience. The midwife let me deliver Grace as she coached me. Very moving. Needless to say, we praised God! We're still praising God. Grace is now 2 and a half and has four older siblings that wait on her hand and foot. They all get along great.

After such a positive experience with Grace, when we found out that we were pregnant again, we didn't even consult the doctor. We went right to the midwife. From the beginning of the pregnancy I felt so strongly that God had healed Eshell, I may have gotten arrogant. Her pregnancy went very well with Susanna. At around 32 or 33 weeks, the devil started planting some fear and doubt in my mind. This is when Eshell labored with our preemies. God strengthened us through this time and brought us to (almost) 39 weeks; another 28 months after Grace. Praise Him for His goodness!! Susanna and Eshell are both doing wonderfully. I know Susanna will bring us as much joy as the others have!

We have not forgotten where we came from or how we got here. We do remember God's mercy to us. He knows our needs and is mindful, but he also blesses according to our desires. I pray that God is blessed and glorified by this family. I thank Him for giving us the strength to press on when the trip looked dark and painful. He was with us each inch of the journey.

I know this post got a bit long. If you stuck it out till the end, I appreciate it. It's a peek into our personal (and usually private) lives, but it's a story that is worth telling. I hope somebody else may be blessed by it and, once again, God might be glorified by it. All praise to HIM!!

God Bless!!

Baby Knapp

My wife gave birth to Susanna Joy on friday afternoon. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 20 inches long. What a blessing she is. The children are adjusting well. They can't hold and kiss her enough. She has other ideas. She would rather nurse and sleep. Rough life, I know. Baby and mom are both doing very well. I took this week off of work. I hope to be able to post a bit more than what I have been. Please keep us in your prayers as we are still adjusting.

God bless!

Whose Conviction Is It Anyway?

We heard a good message at church this weekend. It went along with something that's been on my mind for maybe a month now. He used Romans 14 as the text. The basic foundation of his message was that you cannot live under someone else's conviction. He elaborated on some examples from the text such as diet; specifically eating meat and honoring the “Sabbath”, whenever that might be. He certainly got into much more detail and used many more examples that I won't mention, but as I said before, the meat of it was that if you are living under someone else's conviction, you are binding yourself under law. This is an easy thing for me to do. I love to read or hear how someone got close to the Lord through some principle or some method. How the Lord is really blessing a family for their obedience in some area. I'm a man, I like road maps. I'm also an engineer, I like formulas. Show me the way. Point me in the right direction. I'm great at following instructions!

Your faith isn't quite like that. It's YOUR faith. I can't get close to the Lord on my parents' faith. My brothers' faith won't get me to heaven. I need to show the Lord that I trust Him by being obedient to Him. Not someone else's principles or convictions.

When we started getting close to the Lord, my wife and I searched out what was working in other peoples lives and tried to integrate it into ours. We weren't seeking the Lord. We were seeking men. We were seeking in the wrong place. We met a lot of godly people who really loved the Lord and were being used by Him. Regardless of how we mimicked them, it was someone else's life we were trying to live. We gave up a lot of things and took on a lot more. Most of the things we gave up were things that should have been given up. Some of the things that we took on was an unnecessary burdensome yoke. It wasn't until WE started seeking the Lord and His will and direction for our lives that He started showing us that the things we were doing were in vane. We had bound ourselves under someone else's law (or their conviction). A lot of the “convictions” we took on made sense. And like I said, it seemed to be working for these other people. Please don't misunderstand me, if the Bible is clear in stating something, we have no choice but to obey it. If something doesn't seem real clear in the scripture or the scripture describes something as being beneficial, allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and lead you in this area. I'm not sure why we would need prompted by the Spirit to do something with the promise of blessings or benefits, though (not that it's all about benefits).

One example was allowing the Lord to plan our family size. When we married, I told my wife that I wanted two children and no more. She wanted six. We settled on three. We started hearing about allowing the Lord to plan your family and I initially thought it was nuts. We started meeting more people with this mind-set. My wife was reading a book teaching this and she kept reading passages of it to me. Scriptures were being mentioned; “...be fruitful and multiply” and “Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them (children)...” I thought that maybe this is what “true Christians” were supposed to do. I jumped on the bandwagon. Although it didn't make me real popular, it did make me stand out. I thought I was pretty holy. I had the same “conviction” that all of these godly people did. What I actually had was their conviction! The Lord eventually touched my heart and told me that this is what He has for me and my family. I still felt more righteous than what I should have. I now had my conviction, but I thought everyone else should have my conviction. Not so. I love to see large families. I love to hear stories how God has touched the lives of those who have been faithful to HIS calling in this area. I didn't say everyone gets that calling though. Once again, don't misunderstand. I have a real problem with taking permanent measures to see to it that you don't have any more children. I don't think we should break our bodies for the sake of our own personal pleasures. It would be like me going to the doctor and asking him to take my tonsils out because they are taking up room. "I would kind of like that real-estate in there for something else". Sounds silly. To me, it is silly. It's silly to take our bodies and mutilate them for our own joy. The birth control pill is not okay either. It aborts your babies as opposed to preventing conception from taking place. If you want to control the number and timing of your children, there are natural ways of doing this. Just remember, God is still in control.

Some of the things that we added to or took away from our lives were a real struggle for us. We bounced back and forth. Like James says about the man praying without faith, being tossed to and fro like a wave of the sea. We finally had to step back and assess the situation. It was then that WE sought the Lord and searched out the scriptures. We waited on the Lord to give the go-ahead or the hold-back. He did both. Some things we gave up on. We concluded that the Lord was working on another persons heart by giving the conviction. It wasn't meant for us. Some things He told us to continue doing. When we got that confirmation, it was easier. The yoke became lighter.

One man I used to work with never wore a watch. He told me that he didn't think there was anything wrong with wearing watches, but he couldn't wear one. I asked him why. He said that he used to wear a real nice watch everywhere he went. He noticed how it really made him look nice. He began to notice it when he was worshiping the Lord. It was then that he realized that it was coming between him and the Lord. It sounds kind of weird and petty, but I admired him for that. If he truly thought that his watch was a wedge between him and his savior, he needed to get rid of it. I hope that I am half that sensitive to my own relationship with the Lord. I think that sometimes I'm oblivious to the large, obvious things that come between me and the Lord. May God soften my heart to this.

Just know that God loves us regardless of our lives. There is nothing that we could physically do to make Him love us more. He's already done the most He could do by sending His merciful Son to take our sins upon Him and become our sacrifice once-and-for-all. I do know that our obedience and our faith does please Him. If you see something in someone that seems to be working for them, pray about it. Take it to the Lord and see if it's something He would have for your life. Or if it's something that's blatantly obvious in scripture, don't even pray about it. Just do it! It's a pretty safe bet. Be open to the Lord's leading in your life. Do what He asks. And remember, He loves your brother as much as He loves you. Even if you are more holy.

God Bless!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend, we shan't be ashamed
To turn, turn, will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning, we come round right.

Simple Gifts was written by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr. in 1848. It was first published in The Gift to be Simple: Shaker Rituals and Songs. Simple Gifts was a work song sung by the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (more commonly called the Shakers, an offshoot of the Quakers). The bowing, bending and turning described in the song actually referred to the dancing that went along with many of their songs.

I sometimes catch myself feeling like the Shakers, Quakers and Amish. Keep it simple and basic. There is nothing wrong with a simple lifestyle, but I also catch myself finding comfort and security in this. I like to SEE that I'm doing something “for the Lord”. I know that many of the Amish today find security and comfort in their lifestyle. Why else would they continue in the inconvenience of no electricty...no phones...no automobiles if they didn't? Many of them don't act holy, but yet they continue with the outward appearance. I think many of them find their salvation in their lifestyle. Once again, I sometimes catch myself in this thinking. This thinking is not only inaccurate, but it is a sin and an insult to God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Reading through Romans this morning, I was reminded of my error. In Romans 4:4-5 it says: “⁴ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. ⁵ But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” I know that my works do not save me. If anyone asked me that, I would 100% of the time say “NO, a persons works can't save them!” (or something close to that). Why, then, do I find comfort and security in simplicity? Is it pride and/or self-centered-ness? Deep inside of me, I can't deny that I truly believe that this is right. That a simple life is better then a fast-paced, hectic life. Spending time at home with my family. Becoming less dependent on others (by way of gardening, raising productive animals, etc.). Trying to remove distractions like television and movies and constant noise like what we might allow radio and music to become. I'm not saying that all of these things are bad. If you could find something edifying to watch or listen to, I don't see a problem with it in moderation. The problem is convincing me that anything on TV is edifying.

I guess what it boils down to is that, to me, this lifestyle is a gift as the song states. I wouldn't trade my home and land for a big city home any day. Yes, chores in the country take time and energy. The benefits far out-way the work any day. This is not my salvation, but it is truly a gift from God.

God bless!!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

Church Visit

We hadn't been to church since early December. I was extremely frustrated with the church we were attending and found out some things about the church we were visiting that really turned us off. I had preached at this visiting church once and some of the members (actually more like one person) seemed to really be seeking the Lord. We stopped going there for some things we found out that we could not over-look. I have kept in some contact with the one seeking soul. Anyway, we started having church at home. I was preaching sermons or lessons after we sang hymns. Every once in a while I would find a good article or sermon from the old-time preachers on-line and would read/preach that for our service. We even delved into our vast collection of teaching/preaching tapes and CD's that we've collected over the years and listened to some of them. All was well.

I really didn't know what the Lords' plan was in all of this. Were we to stay home and worship alone forever as a family? I doubted that. Were we to start inviting others to our little services? Maybe.

Then I started getting lazy. The sermon tapes were coming out every week as opposed to once in a while. I was putting very little effort into church service. It kind of lost it's excitement. I feel terrible admitting this. I felt like I was allowing my family to spiritually starve. My own spiritual life started to grow weak.

My wife told me about a fellowship that met about 30 miles north of us a while back. She had gotten a name and phone number from a friend of ours who heard about it. Last week I felt that now was the time to call and find out about it. I got enough information about it to decide it would be a place that my family should visit, and that's what we did last weekend. Quite interesting. I wanted to share a few highlights and things that I enjoyed about this congregation and the way they conduct the service.

First off, they have one elder. They openly admit that this is not the ideal situation, but this is who the Lord has called to serve at this time. The elder told me that he has the authority to make the ruling decisions in the church, but if he did this, he would miss out on much godly wisdom the other men bring to the church meetings. They have men's meetings twice monthly. The first is a business meeting where they discuss business matters, finances and what should be done with tithes (more on tithes in a minute). The second meeting is strictly a prayer meeting. The congregation is made up primarily of farmers. There is no fashion show. Just conservative (mostly if not all) home school families. I don't believe that they are a “registered” church. That might be why, when I asked about tithing, they requested that we give cash. “There's a can that you can put it in. We prefer cash. That way the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is giving. You keep your own records at home. You are accountable to God if and what you give.” I appreciate that. Then I asked what was done with the tithe. They said that when they meet together, anybody that has a need or knows of a need will be brought up. Communion was unique. A big focus of this church is that the man leads the family. The men are responsible for the spiritual state of the family. I agree with that. The communion service went like this. A man got up and had a devotion. We sang a song. Then we meditated. When each family was prepared, the husband/father got up and gathered communion for his own family. He served his family and himself and then returned the elements to the table. I liked that, too. Each man of the church takes a turn preaching in rotation. It figures out that every second or third month, you preach a week. The elder of the church preaches every first Sunday of the month. I like that. The money a lot of churches spend on a full time paid minister could be used to help those in need (in my opinion). At the close of the service, they have a type of prayer meeting. You separate into your family groups. A man is in charge of calling on each family. The husband/father speaks on behalf of his family and makes any prayer needs known. After the family expresses the prayer need, each family prays for the need of that family. They go around the room like this until each family has an opportunity to express it's prayer needs and has been prayed for. On most Sundays, there is a fellowship meal that follows.

My wife and I really enjoyed the service. It wasn't so much the sermon, but the atmosphere. We felt comfortable and welcome there. A change for our family. We will definitely visit again. It encouraged me, also. Something I haven't experienced in a while (except by my wife). We really liked the family focus and the way each family was involved. It certainly keeps it interesting. I'll try to keep you posted on how things go.

God bless!!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

Babes on Milk

I had an interesting conversation a couple weeks ago. If the person with whom I had this conversation reads this, I mean no offense by this. I enjoyed the conversation. Quite stimulating. It was regarding someone who “got baptized” one or two years ago. His speech and actions don't reflect a baptism of the heart, though. This was mentioned to someone, who right away threw up the “he's a babe in Christ on milk” argument. “He needs time to grow and mature in the Lord before he's ready for meat.” This has been an excuse I've heard so many times it's not funny. So many times it's used to try to cover for a sin(s) in a persons life. I obviously can't judge this persons heart. Only God can do that. But for someone to excuse his actions because he's a “babe in Christ”, I think is unacceptable. No where in scripture does it say that it's acceptable to do this. Where it does talk about being a babe and needing milk, it is a rebuke from an apostle (probably Paul). Hebrews 5:

⁹ And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; ¹⁰ Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. ¹¹ Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. ¹² For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

The author of Hebrews is not excusing their state of immaturity. He says that "we want to tell you all the things of Christ, but we can't because you don't listen. You should be teaching others about Christ, but instead you need to be taught AGAIN the basic principles of Christ." I know that we all grow in the Lord. I know that every day should be a new experience with Him. I also know that your life reflects that growth. You don't add Jesus to your life. You give your life to Jesus. He will change it. He will prompt you to give things up. I am a firm believer that at the time of salvation, you are immediately a changed person. Back to crucifying the old man theme. Aren't we lucky that it didn't take Paul two or three years to mature in the Lord. It said that he spent certain “days” with the disciples at Damascus. Not certain years. Right out of the gates, he was on fire. That was verse 19. In verse 20 “Straightway” he's preaching Christ in the synagogues.

I think the goal of too many churches is to get someone into the water or to repeat a prayer. I've met some manipulative preachers who convince people to say a salvation prayer. Then they don't understand why these people so quickly fall away. Many of them just think, we've got to get them baptized. From there, we can wean the world out of them slowly, as not to scare them away. Or, just let the Lord “work” in their lives. Don't reveal their sin to them. Let them figure it out for themselves. That's why these people are stagnant. Because we don't reveal their sin to them. We don't encourage them to seek the Lord. We don't encourage a walk in holiness. “Here, just put on Christ, this will get you through...Oh, that one doesn't fit? Try another one. You know, one Christ doesn't fit them all!” Sounds like nonsense, doesn't it? It's because it is nonsense! But this kind of thing happens all the time. We are afraid to encourage holy living for fear of scaring people away. I say scare them away. Maybe when they're ready for a real change, they'll come back. I doubt it though. They will find somewhere that will pamper their lifestyle.

1 John 1:6 says: If we say that we have fellowship with Him (God), and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

It's doesn't say “aged” or “established” Christians. It says if we claim to have a relationship with God or Christ, and our lives don't reflect that, we are liars. And even children know where liars go. Remember that even Jesus turned the rich young ruler away. He refused to give up something in his life. There was one particular thing in his life that he wanted to hold onto. I don't think that it was just about his money either. He told another not to take the time to bury his family member. If you want to follow Him, it's right here; right now.

There was a young man in the church that we went to in High School. All of his brothers and sisters and friends were baptized at a young age. He waited; and waited; and waited. When someone would try to pressure him, he would say that he wasn't ready. I would not encourage his attitude, but I did admire him a bit. He knew this was a serious decision. He knew that changes would take place. I feel bad for people who know they need to do it, but put it off until a later date. He eventually “took the plunge”. I haven't talked with him for quite a while to see how his life is going. Hopefully his wait didn't disappoint him.

God bless!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

A Different Crucifixion

With this last weekend being Easter weekend, I did quite a bit of thinking about the crucifixion and the resurrection, obviously. My thoughts were on Jesus Christ and what He did for us by saving us from our sins. Not only saving us from the penalty of our sins, but for saving us from having to sin. I know we never have to sin, but we do. My mind was on the crucifixion of another person; myself.

Romans 6

¹ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? ² God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? ³ Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: ⁶ Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. ⁷ For he that is dead is freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: ⁹ Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. ¹⁰ For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. ¹¹ Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. ¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. ¹³ Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. ¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

I was never taught this growing up. I was taught that I will fight against sin and struggle with sin my whole life. I was taught that I will sin and, for the most part, there was nothing that I could do about it. The main scripture that I was taught was 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” A free pass to sin, right? And I did. I committed sins with every intention of asking forgiveness for it later. I felt this odd, but it went along with the teaching I'd heard. Had I ever been shown this passage in Romans (v.1), I would have known better (serves me right for not studying on my own).

I don't claim to be a perfect human. I don't claim to be sinless. With the death of Jesus, with me following Him into His death, He frees us from the bondage of sin. If He says we are dead to sin, do you think He expects us to have to conquer sin on our own. When we were resurrected with Him, we were resurrected with His power to combat sin.

When we do sin, we, being a new creature clothed with Jesus, take Jesus into that sin with us. It is not our “old man” sinning. Our old man is crucified and dead (v.6). The old man is not resurrected. If we say that our old man still lives, we say one of two things. We are not saved because we did not crucify the old man; or Jesus Christ's crucifixion was not sufficient and needs to be crucified again. We know this not to be true because of verses 9 and 10.

When we are under law, or our physical self trying to live a sinless life (or our sinful self), we are condemned by the law. We are married to that law. We want to be rid of that law and be under (or marry) grace, but we can't be married to Christ and His grace while we are married to the law. We need to wait until our first marriage partner (law) is dead. When the law is dead (allowing the old man to be crucified) we are then free to be bound to Jesus Christ and His grace. This is Romans 7:1-4.

This isn't difficult to comprehend, but it is contrary to what I have been taught. I find this right in scripture (as you see above). Jesus is not going to give me a commandment not to sin and then just leave me to figure it out on my own. He has taken care of it already. We just need to claim it. Why do we set people up to sin. Why do we expect it. It's because we have given them a free pass to sin by using the 1 John passage. This has been used by those who have tried to justify their own sin by saying we are all going to sin so get used to it; oh, and by the way, you're baptized now so here's your “get-out-of-jail-for-free” card. Yes, we are free to confess our sins to be forgiven, but this is not something we should be abusing, taking for granted or taking advantage of. This should be a rare occasion. Not something that we include in our form prayer every night before bed. This should be a sorrowful occasion. Like King David's confession in Psalm 51. He didn't weep just because he had been caught in a “big” sin. He wept and cried out to the Lord because he had sinned against God. No, this probably was not his first sin, but I'm sure he didn't hold on to the philosophy of 1 John 1:9 as a trump card either. I think we too often do.

These were my thoughts this weekend. We freely sin, hoping God's grace doesn't run out, rather than living holy lives. We want to hold on to the “old man” as a scape-goat. We need to wake up to the realization that Christ has already settled this. I think Satan makes us think it's harder than it really is. He puffs himself up by whispering to us that we have no power over sin. Sin is going to happen so just let it happen. Sin should not just happen. Our sinful self was crucified with Jesus. Let's act that way. Have you been crucified, yet?

God bless!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

My Daughter and Her Bible

My family and I were sitting on the couch having a spiritual discussion last night when one of the children asked why we don't let them do a certain thing. We tried to explain to them that we don't leave them unsupervised in public because of the predators that are out, and that they would like to hurt them. This, of course, led to more questions and to more discussion about molestation and rape. My eight year old daughter then brought up “the two girls in the Bible who made love to their dad.” I looked at her in a bit of shock. Then I looked at my wife to see the same confused look. I knew the passage she was talking about in Genesis, about Lot and his daughters. “Making love” is not a term that has ever been used in our house. Not because it's bad, but we just don't use it. I know for certain we would have not used it talking about this scenario. What went on with Lot and his daughters was not “love making”. When you get someone drunk to have sex with them, love has nothing to do with the act being committed (especially among family). This made me wonder where she would get this terminology and have it linked to this particular portion of scripture. I asked her where she heard that. It could have been something that we read to her at one time, but still would have not used “make love” in our discussion. She said that she had read it in her Bible. I asked her where her Bible was and she informed me that it was upstairs in her room. I asked her to go get it. Sure enough, that's exactly what it said. Genesis 19:33 says “That night they got their father to drink wine. Then the older daughter went in and made love to him.” Hmm. On one hand, I was very pleased that she was reading her Bible and retaining what she read. On the other hand, I don't want her to think this kind of sick perversion is Love. She was reading out of the New International Reader's Version “The Beginners Bible”. This is a Bible that her and her older brother received for Christmas a couple years ago from grandparents. Our oldest son's has already been replaced with the KJV. We have been putting off replacing my daughters for some reason. Looks like now is the time to get it replaced. I certainly don't want to discourage her from reading God's Word, but want her to get the real Word. Not something watered or dumbed down for kids. They know that if they don't understand something they read they are always welcome to ask their parents. That's not an issue. I told her not to read that Bible anymore. We have a New King James Version I told her to read until I could get her her very own 1611 Authorized King James Version. She'll love it. Her own “adult Bible”. This is one of the many problems I have with the various translations of the Bible. I know we've had this discussion in the past, and don't want to go off on it again, but this one hit pretty close to home. Maybe that's why there is no holiness in the churches today. There is no conviction in the churches. They are reading a watered down “feel-good” bible. I don't know. I'm confused and really kind of appalled about the whole thing. Maybe it's just me. Oh well. I just had to vent. I don't feel much better, though.

God Bless!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

Advice from a Martyr

I finished reading aloud the book Martyr of the Catacombs on Thursday night. Some of the dialog was above the heads of our children. I did stop frequently to quiz them on what was going on and they did ask questions. Once again, I think it is a very good book.

Just one conversation from the book that I wanted to mention. Marcellus, the Roman soldier, is so interested in the faith and peace of the Christians that he forces one of them to take him to the many living in the Catacombs. This is where he meets Honorius, the old, wise Christian. Marcellus accepts the Lord as his savior and resigns his position as a Roman soldier, despite the attempt by his best friend and superior, Lucullus, to change his mind. The persecutions increase against the Christians and Marcellus is caught and imprisoned, to go on trial the next day. Lucullus stays all night with him in his cell trying to, first, talk him into recanting his faith. Marcellus doesn't budge. After Lucullus realizes that he will not recant, he proposes to Marcellus to remain a Christian in secret. He could once again resume his position in the Roman military service and he would in turn, be able to help the Christians more by smuggling to them the food and substances they need for survival. He mentioned the other “Christians” who were living in Rome who “profess the religion of the State but in secret prefer the religion of the Christians.” He then asked “Do you call these men hypocritical and perjurers? Are they not rather your benefactors and friends?”

I fear this is the state of many of the “Christians” today. They are living two lives. Although we don't see this type of persecution on our own soil, we are afraid of the persecution of our friends and families. If we completely sell out to Jesus as Marcellus did (as we will see by his response), you can't live a double life. It's all or nothing. It's not three times a week. It's every day of every week. Although this is a fictional book, I can only stand in awe at the faith and steadfastness that these people portrayed. I've read enough accounts of the real martyrs that follow along the same lines as these. Once again...awe.

Marcellus responds. He says “These men have never learned the Christian's faith and hope as I have. They have never known the new birth, the new divine nature, the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, communion with the Son of the living God, as I know. They have not known the love of God springing up within their hearts to give them new feelings and hopes and desires. For them to sympathize with the Christians and to help them is a good thing; but the Christian who could be base enough to abjure his faith and deny the Savior that redeemed him, could never have enough generosity in his traitorous soul to assist his forsaken brethren.” He goes on a little later to say “My Savior cannot be worshiped in this way (hidden or in secret). His followers must confess Him openly. 'Whosoever,' He says, 'shall confess me before men, shall the Son of man also confess him before the angels of God.' To deny Him in my life or in outward appearance is precisely the same as denying Him by the formal manner which the law lays down. This I cannot do. I love Him who first loved me and gave Himself for me. My highest joy is to proclaim Him before men; to die for Him will be my noblest act, and the martyr's crown my most glorious reward.”

I don't think much has changed. There are still mass quantities of Christians who don't experience the change that Marcellus describes. They don't experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No new birth. No new divine nature. We may add Christ to our life, but we don't allow our “old man” to be “crucified”. No communion with the Son of the living God. We accept this as the norm. Just like Lucullus knew that there was a radical thread of the Christians, but he also thought of the “above ground” people to be Christian as well. He saw no problem with living a life honoring the ceremonies of the pagan Romans but being “Christian” on the inside. It can't mix. It's like oil and water. I know I sometimes try to keep my light hidden under the bowl. What a disservice and a slap in the face this must be to the one who created us as well as saved us from an eternal hell. It hurts me to think I may be hurting Him like that. I certainly have room to grow. This is not an excuse, but a challenge to myself. Hmm, taking advice from a martyr.

God bless!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14