Reflections from the Blizzard of 2010

After hours of shoveling and moving snow just to get out of the driveway, I sit by my fireplace with feet propped up, a hot cup of coffee, and TV tuned to the Super Bowl. 25 " of wet, heavy snow slammed our area. It would be easy to moan and groan about how much work the snow made. It would be easy to complain about standing in lines at the stores for food. It would be easy, as many have, to gripe about being housebound for 2 days because they don't know how to talk to the family they live with. But then I started to think about those who have a whole lot more to complain about then me. I remember a pastor friend of mine who lost his wife this week to cancer. I remember the ones with disabilities who can't hold a shovel let alone move snow with it. I remember the homeless locally and abroad who have no property to call their own.

So instead I choose to look at the positive-my sons were home to help shovel, my neighbor showed up with a tractor. We offered to help neighbors with our shovels.

But other things came to mind as well. We have heat in our homes, food in the kitchen, warm clothes to wear. I thought of those in Haiti that are using shovels, but moving rubble to uncover bodies and possessions. Thousands have made the streets their home because their homes were demolished by the earthquake.

As we go for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th drink while watching the Super Bowl and we eat our 3rd bowl of chili, maybe lift up a prayer for the orphan who is looking for his 1st meal and his first taste of clean water for the whole week. As we yell in celebration for our favorite team scoring a touchdown, maybe think about the last time the people in Haiti had anything to cheer about in the last week. As we laugh at the crazy Super Bowl commercials, maybe think about those who have shed tears in grief and could really use a laugh.

And in all of this contrast from the good to the bad, let's remember there is a Savior who loves all of us-He created us, He created the snow to remind us of His cleansing power, and He loves us, Oh how He loves us!

Gaining Perspective

As a pastor who has travelled to Africa and Haiti, and as a father who has a daughter-in-law serving in an orphanage in Haiti and three sons that travel worldwide as musicians and advocates for the poor with Food for the Hungry, I have been trying to gain perspective on the recent tragedy in Haiti.
After the 2nd major quake hit the island earlier this week, a friend and prayer warrior, Matt, sent me an email with some statistics that helped me grasp the magnitude of this event.
Matt is from Harford County, Md. which has a population of around 233,000. The closest city limit to my home has around 6,300 people. Recent death toll has risen in Haiti to 110,00 with numbers expected to be around 200,000+. Imagine waking up one morning and Harford County is gone. imagine for us Carroll County, Md. people that Westminster and Taneytown are now wiped out.
Here's another one Matt passed onto. the population of Baltimore City and Baltimore County is close to 1.3 million people. It has been reported that there are now approximately 1.5 million homeless people in Haiti.
I recently stayed up all night with some dear brothers feeding and clothing around 50-60 homeless people in Baltimore City Friday night. I know we made a difference, but it gave me a new persective on the amount of ministry that is needed in Haiti. Can you picture what it looks like to see 1.5 million people without a home?
God help the people of Haiti rebuild and may God hear the cry of His people as we pray and worship the Lord Almighty.

Hello from Haiti

Ever since the Tuesday earthquake rocked the Haiti community, all my family and church longed to hear was 'Hello from Haiti'. My daughter-in-law Kathleen is a missionary at an orhanage there about 100 miles SW of Part-au-Prince.
We saw first hand the power of prayer and the love of the Body of Christ through the anxious days of waiting.
With my sons (WILLET) touring in New Zealand, and Kat in Haiti, my wife and I began to pray. Two nights I prayed into the early hours of the night. The church prayed, old friends contacted us on FBook saying they were praying. I participated in an all-night prayer gathering in which hands were laid on me while praying for my family and the people of Haiti.
Special thanks to Geoff in New Zealand who called me with phone numbers to reach my sons and to all who have been great hosts for them while touring. Thanks to my many brothers and sisters down under who prayed and supported my sons during this waiting period.
Thanks to Pam and Fern from Mission Haiti, and to our freinds at Food for the Hungry for supplying any information they received.
Well its now Sunday, we still haven't heard "Hello from Haiti" by telephone yet because of communication lines, but we have recieved text messages, emails and seen FBook entries assuring us that Kathleen is OK and the other members of the orphanage, especially the children are all accounted for.
We experienced the comfort, strength and peace that only comes from Christ our Lord. Where does your strength and peace come from in unstable, troubled times? Who is it that holds you up when you feel like collapsing? If you are a believer in Jesus, do you praise Him in the storm as well as in the sunshine?
We do not hold our own destiny in this life-our lives are fragile and held in the loving hands of our Heavenly Father. Do you know Him?

Call to Consecration

Consecration is a word we don't hear too much anymore in our culture, but it is a word we desperately need to pay attention to. Consecration is more than service or duty. It is living a life of personal holiness. It is a life submitted to the power of prayer. It is through prayer that we can shake off the entanglements of this world and receive the power to endure. It is through habitual and effective prayer that we become more set apart in holiness. Perfect? No, but moving towards holiness? Yes!
It is a life of making right decisions and choices no matter what the circumstance and regardless of who is involved.
E.M. Bounds wrote, "Consecration is the setting apart of all we are, all we have, and all we expect to have or be, to God first of all."
Are you giving your all to God? Is your life one of consecration and separation? Do your goals for 2010 reflect a consecrated life?

By Faith

I have been slowly reading through Hebrews 11 and learning so much about faith. Almost every verse begins with "by faith..." What great stories of courage and willingness to be stretched beyond measure. But I was really challenged when I got to verses 17-40.
When Abraham was tested by God to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham remained faithful, reasoning that God could raise the dead.
In verse 25, Moses chose to be mistreated rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin. It says 'he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.' Then in vs. 35-40, men and women remained faithful even in spite of torture, of jeers, of floggings, of imprisonment. Some were stoned, others were sawn in two!
But vs. 39-40 blew me away when we read that "they were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned somethng better..." You see it wasn't about the reward or the prize they may or may not receive here on earth.
So I ask you the same question I asked myself after reading this-How strong is your faith? Are you obedient when God asks you to do something? Are you willing to be tortured, flogged, imprisoned or will you compromise your faith for convenience, favors, and affirmation?
These men and women were "looking of a better country-a heavenly one"(v.16). What are you looking for? Is this life all you need or want, or is there something much better ahead waiting for you after this life? If you believe we are merely aliens or strangers in this land, than our lives should reflect that. There is nothing here to keep us if God has a better place for us. How about living 2010 'by faith'? Because faith is about holding fast to Jesus-no matter what! Instead of telling others you have faith, let them see it in you this year.

Living it Out

Is it just me or is there a recent surge stressing the need for taking care of the poor? Is THE CHURCH really stepping it up like scripture commands us to do or is it now just cool to be about the poor? Was it because Bono made speeches asking 'Where is the Church?" Or is it because mega churches like Willow Creek and Saddleback are now pouring millions into missions and AIDS prevention and clean water efforts? Is that why it is cool-because the "big churches" are now involved?
I propose we need to be involved with fighting poverty and taking care of the poor first and foremost because we are commanded to do so, not because we are blindly following the efforts of another church or ministry. Fighting poverty is not a fad or passing church strategy that is quickly shelved when the next new concept of 'doing church' comes down the pike. If the Church is going to BE the Church, then, we that are the church, must stop just talking about it and begin to live it out.
We live it out by being among the poor, praying for the poor, sharing or giving of our possessions, supporting causes and ministries that impact the poor, and by making conscious choices in our own lifestyles. What do you do with your time? Where have you volunteered recently? Who do you support financially? Where do you send your checks? Who do you buy from?
With Christmas around the corner, everyone is shopping feverishly for that perfect gift. We rummage through all of the multiple choices we have at the mall, we battle for position in line at the register like a defensive lineman, we throw our plastic down-One Hundred, Two Hundred, Three Hundred... and worry about paying it later. We add more stuff to our living quarters, add more pounds to our waistlines, and count our blessings for how good we have it.
Meanwhile there is a man outside in the bushes trying to find refuge under his cardboard box to keep out of the cold rain. There is a family going to bed hungry because Dad still hasn't found work for the winter since budget cuts at the old job left him unemployed. There's an elderly person sitting by an open kitchen stove trying to keep warm because they can't pay their utility bill. Then of course there are the millions of orphans in 3rd world countries like Ethiopia and Haiti that I have visited that scrounge for 1 meal of rice today and walk miles to pour clean water into a container from a community well that was provided for by believers who sacrificed some money and lived out what the Bible commands.
It takes more than talk to make a dent in poverty. It takes sacrifice, planning, lots of prayer, commitment and living out what you say you really do believe. How strongly do you really believe? Your life will prove it.
As you prepare for Christmas and the hope that comes with the season, consider how you may provide hope for some 'of the least of these.'

With All Your Heart

A friend of mine recently gave us a scare with 70% blockage of an artery in his heart. After inserting a stent to keep the vessels open, he is now recovering at home. It caused me to think about my own heart and what it means when scripture says to seek the Lord with all your heart. Jer. 29:13 says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jesus taught in Matt. 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The writer of Hebrews in chapter 10:22, encourages us to "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.."
To love God with all our heart, to serve Him with all our heart, we must stay very connected with God. Perhaps that's why Jesus told us that the branch must stay close to the Vine. For our heart to be healthy, we must hear the cry of His heart. We must bring our desires into alignment with His and submit our agenda to His.
We must live lifestyles that keep our heart in sync with the heart of God. We cannot live as we want and then think we can just burst into his presence in times of crisis and tragedy. We need to stay in close relationship with Him daily so that when the tough days come our hearts are still in tune with Him in a deep, intimate way.
I do not serve a Santa Claus Jesus in which I only call on Him a few times a year and submit a wish list that I expect Him to deliver on. I serve a Risen Lord that desires a relationship with me that is real and a heart that is sincere. He does not want some half-cooked allegiance that only calls on Him in times of need. He wants a disciple that follows Him with all of his heart, takes up his cross and walks the path He has in store for each of us.