Identity

You've no doubt heard recent headlines or news stories regarding identity theft. One's life can be thrown into complete chaos in a matter a few keystrokes. Bank accounts are drained, credit is ruined and life becomes more of a struggle. One's identity can be put back in order after it has been stolen. But, it takes hard work, great expense and determination.

Have you had your identity stolen?

Think about it carefully. Mine has... and so has yours. A master thief has stolen your identity. In fact, he has stolen the identity of every person whoever has been on this earth. Through our sin we have had our identity stolen by Satan. Satan then wants you to believe this identity is now tarnished, destroyed and utterly worthless. If you believe this, then he wins.

So what do we do with our seemingly worthless identity. We take it to Jesus. It takes hard work to bring about changes in one's life. It takes determination to live out this changes in every day life. It also comes with great expense. When we take this broken and tattered identity to Jesus for Him to fix, He takes it to the cross. It is at the cross our old identity dies, it is at the grave it is brought to new life. But something changes, it is no longer our identity alone. We find that now our identity is with Christ, so that when others see us they see Christ. It is this new identity that God the Father sees when He looks at us. Christ paid the cost -- His life -- so that our stolen identity is made better than brand new. If you believe this, then you win.

Where is your identity?

Stains

Laundry day. Two words that make most people cringe. My wife and I share this duty in our household. Basically, the duty belongs to whomever the pile of laundry lands when it falls over. Recently the duty was mine. I strongly dislike doing laundry. It is an all day job. Separate lights and darks. Check for stains, which with two young children and myself, means quite a few stains. Load the washer. Wait... Load the dryer, unload the dryer and clean the lint screen, load the dryer. Wait... Check the clothes and add more time. Wait... Finally they are dry, but they don't fold themselves, and you can only go so many days of pulling a shirt out of the dryer to wear, so then comes folding. A couple of hours go by and it is time for bed. The folded clothes are still on the bed. Too tired to put them away they go back into the basket and are placed on the floor. After a couple of days they need to be refolded again. This time they are put away immediately. I hate doing laundry. Oh well, it has to be done.

The thing I dislike the most is folding and putting away the clothes, but since I can't really come up with a spiritual application for this (however, I reserve the right to come up with something in the future though), I will talk about stains. Which does come second on my list of what I dislike about laundry duty. Like I said between myself and my two wonderful daughters we go through plenty of stain remover. In fact I am thinking of buying stock in the company whose product we use. Stains sometimes get forgotten from the time they happen to the time they hit the washing machine. Have you ever missed a stain only to find it after the shirt is pulled from the dryer? Frustrating because now it is set and won't come out. Then the ones you do catch you just hope they will come out. Some do and some don't.

We are a lot like a pile of stained shirts. We can't do anything to remove the stain ourselves, the stain detracts from our inherent beauty, and we are not as useful with the stain as we are without. Sin, is our stain. But unlike us, God is a master cleaner. He misses no stains, they always come out in the wash, and He is proud to display us and use us for His purpose. The old hymn "Jesus Paid it All" says:

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. ~ Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)

Baby Ethan

I ran across a website today. It tells the story of Ben and Becky Powell and their little boy Ethan. Ethan was born on December 5, 2006 and was diagnosed with Leukemia on February 6, 2007. I cannot imagine the heartache and the emotional distress of this situation. It is truly a tremendous burden to carry. But here is the beauty of the situation Ben and Becky are Christians and just reading the posts on their website it is evident they have a tremendous faith. If fact they say "prayer works" and I believe and know it does. According to a counter on their website close to 900,000 people worldwide are praying for Ethan's healing.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:13-16

The Powell's believe exactly what these verses state: Prayer can bring healing to the sick. They are our brother and sister in Christ and they have come before us to intercede on their behalf. Please join us in prayer for Ethan's healing and for the comfort of his family.

You can visit Ethan's website by clicking here.

Flood

Sorry I haven't written anything recently, but it has kind of been a dry spell as far as creative writing goes. That is until last night. It was somewhat eventful, but not as bad a it could have been I suppose. However, I have learned one thing: That the words "Urgent" and "Care" should not be allowed to be used together. I also learned something else, but more to that later.

I received an email from my wife about 6:00 last night while I was at work. She stated that she was back from her walk and had fallen and hurt her knee. I immediately called her and while her words downplayed the seriousness of the matter, her tone of voice revealed the broader scope of the situation. I told her I would be right home to look at it (one of the great things about living one mile away from work). As soon I as I saw her I could tell she was in a great deal of pain. Looking at her knee I knew we needed to have it looked at by a doctor. I then announced we were going to the ER or Urgent Care. I looked up the info on the Urgent Care center and saw they were still open so I said let's go. Leaving home the car began to run rough while stopped at red lights. Then the check engine light came on. I thought, "Ok, what else can go wrong?" We made it to Urgent Care just fine. All said we were there for about four hours.

Four hours to think and pray, think some more, play some games on my cell phone, pray, watch people, make jokes about "urgent care," pray some more. But not once did I worry. Now, I am about to let you into a secret room of my life (those of you who know me well already know this about me), but I tend to worry about financial matters. Typically, I would be thinking, "Ok, this is going to be expensive, and the car too. This is great, just great. Not just one thing but now two..." I just kept saying over and over "I trust you Father, I trust you. You will provide, you will get us through this." Then God slowly began to show us that He would take care of us.

Turns out Emily only has deep bruising of the ligament in the knee, and not a broken knee cap. It will still take some time to heal, but she'll do ok. We are praying for a speedy recovery. The car is going to be fine too. The car ran just fine on the way home, but the check engine light was still on. However, after bringing Emily home, I had to go back out to get her perscription. When I started the car the check engine light did not stay on. God is good. And yes, He did take care of us.

One of the lighter things to come from this is that the song playing on Emily's mp3 player when she went down was "Flood" by Jars of Clay. Even more so, the line she remembers playing at the particular moment was "Lift me up so high, that I cannot fall, lift me up." Ironic, coincidental, weird? Yeah, maybe.

I think The Message sums up Matthew 6:34 the best:

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Typically, I would get all worked up thinking what is going to happen next? How much are the bills going to be? How much is the car going to cost to repair? What about this? What about that? Worry, worry, worry. What happened was a life lesson from my heavenly Daddy. He was asking, "Do you trust me?"

Yes, Dad, I trust you! Thank you.

Comfort Zone

Face it, we like to be comfortable, right? I sure do. When we buy furniture or a new bed for instance, what is one of the most important factors? Comfort. Even some thermostats have an area marked as "comfort zone." We like to be comfortable in all areas of our lives, including our spirituality.

I remember one day back in seminary myself and group of classmates were having a discussion while waiting for class to begin. Somehow we got on the topic of church size. Most of us agreed that church size was not a big issue for us and would not mind working in a large congregation. However, one gentleman adamantly disagreed. He, a pastor, stated he did not want his church to be more than 30 or 40 people at most. I was quite shocked by this statement and asked why. He stated he would not be comfortable with a congregation larger than this because he wanted know everyone. In other words he did not want to step outside his comfort zone. We cannot afford to allow our comfort zone affect how we serve our God.

I think back at my own life and wonder how many times did I choose comfort over potential. I then ask myself, "How many times has God opened a door and I close it on Him?" If I really think about I can come up with several instances. However, I cannot come up with one good excuse as to why I did not trust God. I became selfish with my life because I did not want to step outside of my comfort zone.

We need to look to the Bible for examples of men and women who stepped out of their comfort zone and allowed God to work in their lives. Noah built a huge boat while people laughed. Abraham left his home and went to a new land. David conquered a giant. Esther stood before a king to save her people. Peter and Andrew put aside their nets to become fishers of men. Paul was beaten and jailed numerous times and did not once stop preaching the gospel of Christ. It all comes down to this: Great men and women of the Bible and throughout the history of the church have one thing in common - they stepped out of their comfort zone. They allowed the Father to define the comfort zone.

Who defines your comfort zone?

Stepping Out,
Jeff

Where Does My Help Come From?

PSALM 121
A Psalm of Ascent

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Living in the Willamette Valley of Oregon has many advantages. For one there is the rich and fertile soil created from volcanic activity long past. There is the relatively mild climate. Then there are the mountains, to the west is the Coast Range and to the east are the Cascades. Mountains are beautiful and majestic. They rise up out of the earth stretching out towards the sky. Today, mountains for the most part don't pose much of a challenge. Superhighways have been carved out of the landscape and modern jets soar high above their peaks. But not long ago pioneers struggled to cross mountains on their pilgrimage to the west. Many dangers existed in the mountains. Wild animals, thieves, and treacherous terrain are just a few. This was nothing new.

The writer of Psalm 121 also recognized the dangers of the mountains. As often would be the case the Hebrews would have to pass through such hills on their journey to Jerusalem. The hills are thought to have harbored thieves, wild animals and shrines to pagan gods. I remember my Old Testament professor describing the journey. He stated the Hebrews would travel through a valley and as they lifted up their head the could see many shrines which had been erected to honor false gods. To the traveler they would seem to be surrounded by evil and trouble on every side.

Not much has changed in this sense. Today we are surrounded by evil and trouble. Sex, greed and power have become the false gods. Difficulties come at us from every conceivable direction. Where does our help come from? It comes from God.

I don't believe the author of this Psalm was crying out in desperation, but instead making a statement grounded in faith. Maybe he was looking up at the pagan gods on the hills, knowing that there is no real power or help in wood and stone. He was saying, "My help comes from the living God. He is my protector. He is my provider. With Him I do not have the fear the evil which surrounds me." Our God is with us on our journey through life

Where does your help come from?


Serving Yahweh,
Jeff

Conditioned to Complain

I was out with the family last night. We went out to dinner, and then stopped by a couple of stores to pick up some needed items. We walked into the first store (specialty type), and were immediately greeted by two store employees. One of them even greeted me with a handshake. Pretty cool. Every time we passed by an employee we were greeted and even engaged in a brief conversation at times. The employees of this store truly had a genuine interest in our being there and how they could help us. Anymore this kind of service has become a thing of the past. This was not the typical "Hi, welcome to (insert store name here)." And that is the last you hear from them. It truly was really great service.

This morning I called the store and asked to speak to a manager. Now, I will admit to having a little fun with this. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hello, may I speak to a manager please?
Manager: Yes, my name is Bob and I am manager. How can I help you.
Me: Yes, I was in your store last night and I have not received service like I did last night in a long time.
Manager: I am sorry, I...
Me: No, no, no. You don't understand. The service I received was extraordinary...

I went on to explain the great service I had received. I then called the corporate customer service number (they are a national chain) and the person I spoke to there also seemed surprised to be taking a call with a compliment.

This led me to think, "Have we become conditioned to complain?" The manager was ready to hear a complaint as was the customer service rep. We have become a society in which we live to complain. We say things like: "The food is cold." "The service is too long." "The music isn't the right style." "I can't believe they don't open more lanes." We don't we think to stop and say a word of thanks and gratefulness when we receive good service or when we appreciate something someone did.

"So encourage each other and build each other up. . . " 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

Make it a point today to build someone up giving them words of encouragement and appreciation. Let them know of a job well done! Let's become a society in which we are conditioned to encourage.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jeff

My Amazing Daughter

Like most any Dad, I like to brag about my kids. Tonight my six year old, Aimee, said some really profound things. My wife sent me the following email:

Tonight Aimee and I were at the table, working on math problems. I was sitting in my usual spot, she was standing next to me. Aimee backed up to walk around to the other side of the table, then screamed, ran around the table, and started crying. Autumn was sitting nearby, so I asked if Autumn scratched her. "Yes," was her teary reply. I said, "Bad kitty!" Autumn was surprised at that, she thought when I got up I was going to feed her! She cowered back a little, then came right back to me and rubbed against me, I guess to ask for forgiveness... I checked on Aimee and her ankle was bleeding a bit. So I got her a wet washcloth to cover it with. I told Autumn I hoped we didn't have to get rid of her, but I don't want a bad kitty in the house. Aimee said, "Mommy! It was probably my fault! I probably got too close to her face. It's ok, Mommy, she wasn't trying to be mean!" Then she said something that I really liked. Aimee said, "Mommy, it's like with God. Even though sometimes we disobey, he still loves us and doesn't want to get rid of us. So even if Autumn is mean sometimes, we still love her, and shouldn't get rid of her." Quite the insight from a little girl who just got scratched, unprovoked.

Wow... such insight from a six year old. But she is right, no matter what we do, no matter how badly we mess up, God still loves us! God could, and yes, should condemn us for some of the stupid things we do. But...

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1,2

Read that again. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!" Aimee had it correct. Even though we disobey, God still loves us and doesn't want to get rid of us. Read the rest of chapter 8 sometime today. Meditate on what Paul wrote. Who will you live for?

Forgiven & Loved,
Jeff

Mulligan

I like to golf. I am not the greatest golfer, in fact I am really not good at all. But I have fun playing. In fact I really don't play golf as much as chasing the little white ball. One of my favorite aspects of the game is the mulligan. Otherwise known as the "do over." Hit a bad shot, have a bad lie, hit into water... take a mulligan. I love the mulligan.

Life is a lot like golf. My intention is to play my best game, to always hit the perfect shot. I address a decision or situation and I aim to go straight. Swing. Disappointment. My "shot" goes far to the left. Sometimes I do make a wise decision, other times a foolish one. Sometimes my intention is to avoid sin, yet temptation leads me to miss my target. I give in, I take my eyes off of Christ. My life is out of bounds. But, here is the beauty of being forgiven. I can take a "mulligan" and start again. Because Christ died and rose from the dead to forgive my sin I have another chance, and another, and another, and another.

I don't always take a mulligan with every bad golf shot, sometimes I just play the ball from where it lies. Life is like this too. I am still forgiven for sinful decisions, but consequences of sin still have to be faced. Much like a sand trap, it is not impossible to get out, but just requires more hard work, dedication and better aim.

Hebrews 10:17 tells us God chooses not to remember our sins. "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." What an awesome God we worship and serve. A God who chooses to forget.

Life and golf... for me the connection is easy to make. Although I don't have a chance to play much golf (too expensive and not enough time), every day is a chance to play "life." To step up to the ball and hit straight.

Go with God,
Jeff

Photo Credit: http://www.sdyouthservices.org

Who Do You Serve?

Ask me this question and I won't be able to give you the answer I would like to give. The answer I would like to give and the answer I have to give are diametrically opposed. What I would like to say is that I serve God and God alone. The truth of the matter is in reality I serve myself. I live my life for me. I want this, I want that, give me this, give me that. No wonder where my kids get this, the watch me.

Jesus tells us in Luke 4:8, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ” Yet, it seems I get so wrapped up with the things and stuff of this world I lose sight of the One I need to serve. I become selfish and only interested in serving myself. This needs to change and given time and devotion to God's Word I will become the servant He wants me to be.

I have chosen the name Doulos-Theou as a reminder of who I want to become. The word doulos is greek for "servant" and Theou means "of God". I am therefore a "servant of God". God must be first in my life and everything else a distant second.

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." -- Joshua 24:15

Photo Credit: http://www.garychapman.org