Assurance

Persistent faith

Wise Friends are Good Coaches!

Psalm 148:13-14

Faithfulness

words2

My YouVersion Bible app verse of the day is Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

That reminded me of one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their need.”

Words matter.

I am thinking about words today.  Words are powerful.  Words can bring blessing and encouragement or words can bring discouragement and even curses.

I had to replant some grass in the back yard the other day.  Last winter with snow on the ground I cleaned my oil painting brushes in this spot.  I learned from Mr. happy trees, Bob Ross,  a fun way to clean your brushes----soak them in paint thinner and then beat them on something.

What I didn’t realize is that paint thinner kills grass.  It went down through the snow and into the soil and killed the area.

Words can do that.

I know that I have used words in the past that were like hitting somebody with a brush that had poison on it.  I regret that.  And my kids have had to forgive me for things I said that killed the green growth in their young hearts.  I am so thankful for forgiveness and grace.

I pray that God will enable me and empower me to use words that are full of grace, planting seeds of new growth in fresh soil in hearts of people around me.

Words are powerful.

As an internal processor, sometimes I can be a man of few words and brevity rules the day.  My friends have coached me, “use your words, Steve.”

May I encourage you?  Use your words.  And may they be full of grace, seasoned with salt, bringing blessings and encouragement into hearts around you today.

Boundaries and Borders

It has been SO very green lately.  I have been thinking about re-reading the book I wrote, BEYOND GREEN as I look out at the emerging life this spring.  Kristi inspired me to write it after we had a great discussion on appreciating and caring for God's creation as part worship....honoring the Masterful Creator.   It is so incredible the way God created.

Are you in the ranks of people who care about what God cares about, including His creation?

signs

Psalm 1

The letter H. What is your favorite word starting with an "H"?

FOCUS----Encouragement Blog 2

Heads Up

Nothing Political

I went to my first ever Caucus last week and was fascinated.   One of the speeches that caught my attention was given by a Lutheran Pastor.   I don't remember who he was speaking in favor of, but I remember his initial narrative.  He commented that some candidates are so popular right now because people want a king.  The fear, confusion, disillusionment, bad economy, unsafe world, threats to our national security.....the people want a strong personality who will take charge and turn everything upside down and fix it and rule and lead with strength.   The people want a king.

Sounds much like the Old Testament, doesn't it?  The people wanted a king.  So God gave them a king.  But the desire of God is to be our king.

So, nothing political here.   Our hope is in Jesus and Jesus only.  He is King.

Count on It

Some things are certain.   If you jump up you will come back down. Hitting your thumb with a hammer will hurt.  If you jump into a lake you will get wet.   There are equal and opposite reactions and water has a boiling and freezing point.   Some things you can count on.

You can count on the promises of God.

"Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed;  all came to pass."  (Joshua 21:45).

Not one word failed.  If God says it, it is true and certain.  Say it again.....

"....not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you."   (Joshua 23:14b).

The Bible is full of good promises.  What promises are you counting on these days?

Infections

“But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” 

~Galatians 3:22

I am still dealing with an infection in my toe from a dirty piece of wood that entered my foot while helping with  tornado cleanup in Oklahoma.  The wood was apparently  infested with  some kind of resistant  bacteria.   I’m on a second round of antibiotics and walking with a slight limp, inhibited from doing good things I’d like to be doing.

I am reminded of an experience when we served in Irian Jaya.   An Irianese man was carried by his friends to the clinic because a rival tribe had shot a wooden arrow into him while he was gardening.  The missionary nurse patched him up and provided medicine with specific instructions on how to care for the wound.  Those instructions were not followed, an infection spread, and the man died. 

Sad story.  I’m following instructions and taking my meds, the strongest antibiotic they could give me.

I remember my life before Jesus.  I was infected with the deadly resistant bacteria of what the Bible calls sin.  The only antidote and antibiotic powerful enough to deal with sin is the cross of Jesus Christ.    I was a crippled prisoner who now celebrates the promised freedom through healing faith provided in Him.  Far from perfect but continuing to receive the powerful treatment of forgiveness and new life.

Sin causes serious limping, prevents us from doing that which is genuinely good, and brings death.  Good news----the Bible provides life-giving instructions and powerful solutions.   Trusting in Jesus is the only remedy for the deadly infection that spreads when a person walks without God.

Father,  help those on the deadly path of an infected life to find the cure that only Christ can bring through faith.  

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

~1 John 1:9-10

Peace (Even in Oklahoma?)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

~John 14:27~

We watched a news video in church yesterday about Barbara Garcia, who lost her dog during the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. She was sitting on a stool with her dog in her lap when the twister hit. As she told her story, what struck me was the sense of peace revealed in her attitude and spirit. (YouTubeclip)


I heard somebody say recently that peace isn’t the absence of something, it is the presence of something. Peace isn’t found by getting rid of the enemy of it, but embracing something even in the presence of enemies. True peace isn't simply the absence of storms, tornadoes, pain, suffering, or conflict, it is the comforting presence of Jesus Christ in the midst of it. He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). 


Barbara described the moment after the tornado. As she was laying in the rubble, “Then it was light,” and she knew she was going to be OK. The light signaled that the storm was over, but her dog was gone.


During the interview, Barbara found her dog. She said that God answered both of her prayers, for her and for her dog. Peace and joy were manifest in her voice.

We have a team of 12-15 people headed to Moore, Oklahoma, departing this Sunday after church. Please pray that we can be God’s agents of peace and light in the midst of the devastation.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Sequestered

One of the definitions of “sequester” is to take legal possession of somebody’s property until a debt that person owes is paid.  It seems backward that a government would take possession of jobs by budget cuts for their own debt, but that is another topic.  The national debt may never be paid, it seems beyond measure, out of control, and the size of it it is incomprehensible.  Kind of like sin.

Being sequestered  was the best thing that ever happened to me.   The debt of sin had to be paid and I could never pay it.  Somebody without debt had to pay my debt.   Somebody without sin had to die for the penalty of my sin.  So, a transaction happened.   Jesus, God, the only sinless One,  died in my place to pay my debt of sin and rose again to give me life eternal.   The only appropriate response is to give him legal possession of all that I am.  That is a permanent sequester of a powerful, wonderful, divine nature.

“You are not your own;  you were bought at a price”  (1 Cor. 6:19b-20a).

The only debt remaining is the response of love.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8).

New Ministry

“He let loose the east wind from the heavens…” (Psalm 78:26a). 

God has provided a new ministry for us.   An east wind blew and we are headed west, thankful for God’s provision.   I will be serving in pastoral leadership in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and we are very excited about this new opportunity.

A key verse for us as we have sought God’s leading is Psalm 18:19…… “He brought me out into a spacious place….”   Council Bluffs is part of the Omaha area that contains over a million people, making it a “spacious” opportunity with a large urban center nearby in one direction and a rural environment in the other.  The church is in an ideal location, right next to a thriving college, also offering potential to impact students that could be “sent”  to places beyond.   It is a wonderful church body---we love the people there.  Thanks for your prayers as we have been on this journey of seeking the people and place of God’s calling.

http://www.sherwoodchurch.org/about-us.html

Sherwood Community Church

2109 Railroad Hwy  

Council Bluffs, Iowa   51503    

Deer Sirs....

      Good friends of ours, Joe and Pat, were suddenly awakened at 2:15am last week with a lot of noise in the downstairs part of their house.  What would you be thinking and what would be your response?    

      Expecting a burglar or other intruder with ill intent, his heart pounding and nerves on edge, Joe cautiously went downstairs with a defensive weapon in hand.

      What he found surprised him.  A large deer (a doe) was in the sunroom frantically trying to escape the confining place she had somehow found herself in.

      Joe, thinking wisely, retreated to the kitchen and ventured outside to open the sunroom door from the outside to provide an escape route for the captive deer.  By the way, that might be a wise approach in helping a friend who is stuck in the confines of an undesirable place.  Although direct and loving confrontation has its place, asking God to show you a door and escape route for them might be a wise strategy.  Perhaps more important in the immediate sense is not why or how they got there but finding the way out to the place of freedom in Christ.

      The deer failed to find that escape route right away, but headed deeper into the wrong place----right into Joe's clock repair shop.  Maybe she thought it was good timing to do that.  I'm sure Joe thought about clocking her a good one for taking the time to go in there.   Maybe she thought she'd rather have hands.   There is a time for everything, but the clock was ticking.

       With the doorway open to an escape route, they waited.   They called 911 and a state trooper arrived within minutes.  As they assessed the situation together, the deer bolted out of the clock shop, through the family room, into the sunroom, and out through the broken window from whence it came.  

      It was a scary situation for about 30 minutes, both for our friends and for the deer.  There was damage done, including broken glass and blood on the carpet and walls along with other evidence that the deer was frantically trying to find a way out of the trap it found itself in.  You can use your imagination as to why the deer would jump through the window in the first place.  Trying to escape an enemy?  She saw her reflection in the glass?  Something inside looked inviting?  There are also plenty of "what ifs."

     What would you say is an application and moral to the story, deer friend?