Roaring Camp!

Hilary is in Fresno for the weekend for her 10 year reunion from Fresno Pacific College. She'll be serving as the MC for the event. Go figure. *smile*

I thought it would be fun to take the boys on a little outing to Roaring Camp. So we road the train, picked out some pumpkins from the patch that they have at the top of Bear Mountain (free pumpkins are included in the ticket price), and made it home about 10 minutes late for naptime.

I was so happy to make this daddy-time-weekend something special for my boys. And thank the Lord for the sunshine...

Tough Questions, Tender Answers

When people ask tough questions, giving honest, thoughtful answers can be a bit challenging. I’ve found that trying to feel what people feel (Rom. 12:15) is a great place to start. That helps me say stuff that's really helpful, instead of just saying the “right” thing (which is usually the last thing people really need to hear).

Below is an email interchange I had awhile back with someone who was asking some tough questions. I hope that catching the feel & flavor of my responses will help you in your interactions with hurting folks…

Dear Sir,

You said this weekend that God heals the broken hearted. Well, how’s He going to do that if...

I'm lost. I don't believe I've lost my salvation, but I have lost track of it. I don't know how much I have ever been 'on track' with God and salvation and all that. I know I'm starving for something, but I find it so hard to eat and digest what is spiritually nourishing. I find myself eating with great resistance. I want to be fed, but I fear it, too. I fear God, His people, failure, rejection and loss... These have been my experiences with God and His people in the past. Yet, it seems, I am constantly drawn back, like a wife who is beaten by her husband I keep hoping maybe this time will be different.

I am about the farthest thing from being a saint as a person can get, but I want something. I have great internal turmoil over just going to church. I want it, but it is sooo hard for me to be there, I feel so out of place. As if I don't belong. I have been removed from my "church family’ in the past for having [description of what happened]. I have not been too keen on returning to church, but something draws me to it.

I want to know more, it is going to take a lot to change me, I don’t know where to start and I don't want to start something if it can't be finished.

Any suggestions?

And my reply:

Hi there-
I think I can relate with some of how you’re feeling. When I first started coming to the The Coastlands in 1998 I was very hurt from previous experiences, too. I’m so sorry… I am definitely praying for you.

I know that the God you fear is not who God really is. Things have been said and done to you in His name that have misrepresented Him. He is a healer, restorer, and encourager. Think about the big picture of what He’s done -- He made you because He loves you. When you walked away from His love (as each of us has – whether consciously or unconsciously), He died to pay the price so that your relationship with Him could be restored. He exerts all His power and influence in a desperate effort to rescue us from the things that are hurting us. That’s the reason you can’t seem to finally turn away from Him – because He’s drawing you with an irresistibly powerful force (His love).

How very like the Devil, who is the father of all lies, to hurt you and then point the finger at God. It’s the oldest trick in the book… but nevertheless incredibly painful and confusing. Here’s God’s promise to you, “A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice” (Isaiah 42:3). Life has been very unfair toward you… but He’s going to heal you and turn all your pain into rejoicing.

My encouragement to you is to simply give God a chance to prove to you who He really is. Don’t worry that you feel lost. You’re not lost to Him. He’s already speaking to you and hasn’t let you go.

Warmly,
Todd

In a subsequent email, I helped this person get in contact with one of our ICU leaders who has helped walk them through a wonderfully life-transforming process. This person is happily serving God as part of our church family today. In fact, here's a quote from the email they sent me when I asked if I could use a snippet from our email interaction in this blog entry:

I am discovering how much I do trust Jesus and for the first time in my life I am not afraid of Him... I am grateful for the opportunity that has been placed before me at this time to truly know the deepest desires of my heart; which is to love Jesus
all the days of my life. I feel as if I have been released into a freedom I have never felt before.

Overwhelmed with Compassion

I could feeling it building all day yesterday... A sense of sorrow for people who are suffering. I could literally feel the grief of people in various situations. In particular:

• People who have been waiting and hoping for an answer that hasn't come yet. Or maybe the moment has already passed. You needed the miracle, but now it's too late. I broke down in uncontrollable tears last night during the 5:00pm service as I tried to speak hope and life to you. The story that was on my heart for you is in John 11 when Jesus purposefully delays, allowing Lazarus to die.
  
  The truth that you need to hear is that God wants to do something in your heart that's more important and deeper than we can imagine. Like He did for Mary & Martha, He wants to give you a hope that transcends life and death.
  
  
• People who have experienced massive failure and aren't sure they can continue. Shame and hopelessness want to take over your life and get you to quit. But God didn't allow you to fail to shame you, but to shape you. Don't allow your pride to rob you of the life He wants to bring you. It is incredibly painful to admit failure. Again, I fell apart crying in the 7:00pm service last night as I was speaking to this group of people. But you can embrace that pain and allow God to use it.
  
  What did God accomplish in David through his failure with Bathsheba? Would Peter have been such a compassionate leader if he hadn't come to grips with his own weakness when he heard the rooster crow? What was shaped in Moses during those 40 years in the wilderness after murdering the Egyptian?

I'm curious to see what the Lord will stir up for us in this morning's service... Also, I was interested to read Don Miller's column in the Sentinel yesterday. It lined up with what I was feeling for all of us. Sometimes God's plan involves suffering... but He wants to redeem that pain, bringing it meaning and purpose that will resolve into something beautiful.

A Trash Can Moment

I wish I had a photo of this one for you... but I couldn't get my phone out of my pocket!

I was bringing in the garbage cans from the street yesterday. Asher ran out to meet me so that he could help. It's our weekly pattern. He's actually close to being strong enough to handle one all on his own.

But this week was different. Ethan came tottering out to the end of the driveway, and with arms raised and a squeal of exuberance he made it clear that he wanted to help too! So I lowered the handle another 18 inches so that he could grasp it and the three of us slowly rolled that can back to its home.

I was loving every moment. A proud dad with my cute boys who want to help out. Even though my legs were burning from walking crouched and holding the can at that awkwardly low angle, I was happy right down to my toes.

Isn't that how God must feel about including us in His plans? Of course He could do it all by Himself! But where would the fun be in that?

Clean Sweep!

Yesterday our entire staff took the day to clean up stuff! We themed the whole day around TLC's TV show, "Clean Sweep!" We took several trailer loads of accumulated junk to the dump, a lot of stuff to goodwill, and also identified some old equipment that you might be able to pick up on Craigslist in the coming weeks!

Isn't it a great feeling to get rid clutter that hinders forward momentum?

The Lord has been speaking to me about the fruit that comes through pruning. In fact, with some trees, if they aren't pruned, they'll actually die! Wow!

Pruning means carefully assessing our lives -- analyzing and asking God to show what areas are "diseased" or non-productive. For plants, pruning is essential to maintaining their health and improving the yield and quality of fruit. Isn't it the same for us?

So I've been going through my personal finances (i.e. I'm pruning our vacation next year so that it will be just as meaningful and fun, but not as expensive) and our personal stuff (trying to finish a fairly long project list that's still lying around since we moved to our new home last Spring). I'm also looking for that added momentum to be added into our church life by listening for what things the Lord is asking me to seek after, to prune back in one area to encourage growth in another, or to remove that which no longer belongs.