God heals

As I continue to do research regarding the craft of writing, I stumbled onto Brandilyn Collins' blog.  If you don't know much about Brandilyn, she is a Christian best-selling author with an amazing talent for writing suspense.  But she also has an amazing story about God's work in her life.

She's described it here.  See if the Holy Spirit tingles in your heart as it did in mine as I read this account.  

The stethoscope

Thanks, Marcia, for this clip!

Home

When my grandmother was gripped by the claws of Alzheimer's, she spent a few months in a nursing home. But every day her cry was, "I want to go home."

Finally my uncle brought her home and made arrangements for in-house care.

But Grandma kept wandering through her house of 20 years, saying, "I want to go home."

By this time she had forgotten her husband and didn't recognize any of her 11 children. At her funeral, her pastor told us through teary eyes that she had finally gone home.

This world has many joys and many troubles. Even in our daily schedule, do we cling to what the psalmist wrote?

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

Psalms 27:4

We know that God promises to hear our requests. Is this our request: to dwell in his house? Do I ask to move in, to risk the transparency of intimacy, so that I may gaze on his beauty and seek him?

Do I long to go home?

Looking back

When Russell and Maria carried their newly adopted sons from the orphanage in Russia, the babies cried. The boys didn't know that their days in a gray institution were over.They didn't know they wouldn't have to contend with flies on their faces anymore or lie in their own waste.

They didn't know that an airplane ride would soon take them to America where they would be part of a family. Meals would be nutritious and plentiful. They'd have their own room, their own toys and parents who would love and nurture them.

They were going to a better place but the orphanage was familiar and comfortable. They wanted to go back.

There are times, when God takes us as his adopted children, to a better place while we're crying for the orphanage. God's path is filled with adventure, color, nurture and fullness. But it's not always comfortable.

Next time he takes you out for a ride, don't cry for the orphanage. Hang on for what lies ahead because it'll be good.

(This story was developed from Russell D.Moore's new book, Adopted For Life, which I will be reviewing as soon as I finish reading it. But the nuggets in it are too good to wait til then to share, so I'll be sharing gems as I uncover them.)

699 million

Consider this:

There are 4.5 billion non-Christians in the world. Of those, 1.9 billion are unevangelized. In other words, they have no clue who Jesus is.

In the world, those followers of Jesus who know and attempt to obey his commission number about 699 million.

Those figures may challenge you or overwhelm you. After all, 1.9 billion people live in places that haven’t yet seen a missionary or heard a biblical text. And, of the 699 million Christians defined as “Great Commission Christians,” many are unable to go to an obscure place to talk about Jesus and his work.

But consider this:

After his resurrection, Jesus met 11 men on a mountain in Galilee. Some worshiped but some doubted.

Than came the kicker. Jesus sent these 11 men, even the doubters, to the world. They didn’t have 699 million other believers to help. They were sent:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations
Matt 28:19

How did 11 men make a difference in the world? That charge may have overwhelmed them like 1.9 billion overwhelms us.

But that’s looking at the wrong resources. Today, we look at the world and say, “that’s too big for me.”

But here’s what we need to learn. These 11 men, even the doubters, did change the world. How? Jesus went with them, just as he promised.

At Pentecost, the Spirit of God chose to live within those who follow Jesus. And look what they did.

When we look at those who have not yet heard about Jesus, the numbers can look impossible. But we’re looking at our resources, not God’s.

If 11 men could impact the world by trusting God’s resources, think what 699 million could do.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

hen Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

herefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

nd surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matt 28:16-20

Jose

When the revolution swept through Cuba, brushing aside the corruption but bringing a new form of dictatorship under Castro, Jose refused to buckle. He didn’t endorse the revolution and he spent 20 years in prison for his free-thinking.

Today, Jose is 70 years old and works quietly on his farm. He came out of prison with literally nothing and worked his way back with the help of God.

And Jose knows that God protected him in prison and has blessed him now. He takes pride in the animals on the farm – including a beautiful gaited black stallion – and wanted to share what he has with us when we visited the family farm near Havana.

Many, after 20 years in prison, would be bitter or broken. Jose is neither.

He reminds me of another Jose – Joseph of ancient times. That Joseph was unfairly imprisoned as well, accused of crimes he never committed. Yet God protected Joseph and used him to provide and honor others.

In a smaller scale, Jose has the same privilege. Today, he lives in the midst of a banana farm with fresh pineapple available for breakfast. He can pull mangoes from a tree outside the back door and he can work on the farm.

He is surrounded by family that he is influencing. Not all are believers but how will they resist his wiry determination?

Joseph named his first-born son Manasseh, because “God has made me forget all my hardship in my father’s house.” (Gen 41:51)

Today, Jose lives under a clear sky able to live and work with his family in a beautiful place. I think he would say the same thing about God. God overcomes our hardships. God can overcome a prison sentence and he can set us free.

Come

The questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by the words "Come unto Me." Not "Do this, or don't do that" but "Come unto Me."

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Blasted

After the black snake of destruction came the rainbow. After the angry cloud punched its way through a town, the sun came out.

Yesterday I tracked a storm that plowed through an area where friends and family lived. A tornado slapped a community hard, tossing chunks of roof onto lawns and twisting trees free from their roots.

Take a look at the destruction, only an hour from our home.

One person died, a man trying to run from the storm in his camper. A daycare of 150 children was in the path of the tornado but the children were rushed to a nearby basement and none were hurt. An office complex was ripped open but the employees had seen the approaching clouds and left.

What if the storm had hit at night?

Before the skies even cleared, workers appeared. Homeowners were hauling off shingles and trucks were backed up to houses to carry off debris.

Would you pray for these people in Weld County of Colorado, who were thumped by a swirly angry storm? And thank God that only one person was lost. The sun came out and a rainbow glimmered.

A party

Jeremy slammed the bucket in the corner of the shed and stomped out. He could hear the chatter of the cooks, excited with the party plans. Somebody was even singing.

Then his father appeared in the doorway. “What’s up?” he said quietly.

“He doesn’t deserve all this,” Jeremy said sullenly. “Look at him. He’s a mess. You’re telling him that it’s all OK, that what he’s done is no big deal.”

“He’s home,” his father said.

“But you’re rewarding his behavior!” Jeremy said angrily. “I’ve been here, working beside you. I’m the responsible one. I had to pick up his work when he left. And he gets rewarded?”

“All those months when he was gone,” Father said, “he was alone. People milked him dry. Some sold him pleasure just to take his money. No one loved him. When he needed kind words, I wasn’t there. When he needed wisdom, he was without help. I couldn’t rub his shoulders and wash his wounds.”

Jeremy glared at him. “You’d rather be with him than me.”

“No,” his father said. “We walk together in the cool of the morning, planning the day. We talk over decisions. Remember how we laughed over that idea for the backyard? While others picked away at your brother’s soul, you were with me.”

Do we treasure presence?

Isaiah promises that God will “bring them to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.” (Is 56:7)

Maybe you were expecting wealth or good health or a party? But God promises joy. Come to his presence and the joy will shower down. We’ll delight in presence.

The older brother of Luke 15 had presence and he wanted a big bash instead. Are we content with God’s presence or are we still holding out for something else?

California Fires

Here is a link to the San Diego Union-Tribune, which is working hard to keep current information about the California fires available.

Over at the World Magazine Blog, World magazine writer Lynn Vincent, who lives in the San Diego area, describes the scene as "apocalyptic smoke blanketing the sky in every direction except west."

Let's be praying.

Friday Five: the Bridegroom

My mind has been on the Bridegroom this week.

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Matt 25:1

How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!

Song 4:10

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

Song 2:3

I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

Ezek 16:8

How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

Matt 9:15

Reading too much and too little

Douglas Groothius suggests that we read too much and not enough in this country. His point is an excellent one: we often choose to feast on marshmallows and disdain broccoli.

I’ve been seeking out some vegetables lately and want to share a few articles that I’ve found. Like a good eating plan, however, you won’t find yourself hungry again at 10 am. These will challenge your mind and fill your soul:

Ben Witherington, considered one of the top evangelical biblical scholars in the country, examines a news report about God getting sued. His style is approachable and insightful.

Sarah Scott exposes biases she experiences as a student at Colorado State University while a follower of Jesus.

At Conservative Reformed Media, a group of bloggers revel in their name – a label thrown at them by some more liberal groups. They tag-team when writing topics, and this recent one about analogies and eastern religions is interesting.

Scott McKnight is featuring a series on Colossians at his Jesus Creed site.

Try some vegetables today!

Friday Five: Anthropomorphisms

Anthropomorphisms are figures of speech that apply human or earthly traits to God. They help us describe spirit in terms we understand. Here are five:

Warrior

Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
Take up shield and buckler;
arise and come to my aid.
Brandish spear and javelin
against those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
"I am your salvation."

Psalms 35:1-3

Shelter

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.

Psalms 57:1

Foundation

be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.

Psalms 31:2

Walker

I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.

Lev 26:12

Reasonable

"Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.

Isaiah 1:18

Now add some of your favorites.

Crashing

It was a blow that would have laid me out a few years ago. The anger would have gripped my day like a baby kitten latching onto a pant leg.

My laptop crashed on vacation.

Leisurely days of writing and of Bible study had beckoned on the horizon of our holiday. But it didn’t happened.

Now I face days of rebuilding. I have to re-install programs, locate passwords, download new patches.

My biggest grief was the loss of three years of journaling, my love letters to my Lord.

But I am not David, mourning the loss of a son. I am not Abraham, moving to a land I do not know. I am not Esther, facing possible death depending on king’s mood or Paul sitting in jail depending on the political winds.

God has been good to me. Virtually all my documents were on an external hard drive so I haven’t lost those. And I discovered a back-up of my journals from about 6 months ago, so I haven’t lost all of them. We have another computer at home for internet connections.

While we were gone last week, I opened a notebook and felt drawn to the book of John (more on that later).

I began a new love letter to my Lord and we’ll move forward. His presence, not a laptop, is all I need.

Making a name

“Let’s make bricks,” they said to one another. That wasn’t their downfall but a window into their hearts.

These were the men of Nimrod, men who had followed his kingdom march eastward to Babylon. Nimrod was known as a mighty warrior. He built many cities and established an emperor in his day.

These men had shown the prowess of their weapons and experienced victory at every turn. It was time to settle down.

It’s an strange thing: their desire to build a tower to make a name for themselves. They had a name, given to them by God. That apparently didn’t satisfy them. They didn’t want his name or his help.

They didn’t choose stones to erect this tower. They chose building material of their own design, plans of their own purpose. Instead of the stone and mortar commonly used in their day, they selected bricks and tar. Even today we know that bricks and tar will never hold like stone and mortar.

Their odd choice revealed their intentions: this tower was not to illustrate God’s creation (by using stones) but their own. They baked the bricks; they stirred the tar. They thought this tower would illustrate their own might.

Instead, they were reduced to a confused sodden group, their weapons wilting in the mish-mash of languages. They were scattered throughout the world because they could no longer communicate.

Our hearts, like theirs, long for a name, for recognition. Do we rush to our own creation? Do we devise our own strategies? Do we bake up our own plans like these men baked bricks?

These men, unfortunately, did make a name for themselves. But we don't call them powerful and strong. We call them foolish.

That is why it was called Babel --because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Gen 11:9

Dancing with the King

We danced last night. This is not unusual except we hadn’t before. We were at a wedding, the reception under the clear country stars and the music familiar. So we gave it a try, laughing at ourselves and remembering our last dance – in junior high school – and definitely not with each other.

After 17 years of marriage, there wasn’t a fear of stepping on each other’s toes. We’ve done that before. There was instead the freedom to remember the eighth grade embarrassments, the girlfriend he’d invited to the dance floor, the boys who hadn’t grown tall enough yet for me.

God created marriage before sin entered the world; it is not an idea flowing from the fall but flowing from the Creator. God’s original plan for union between a man and a woman involved two sinless people. Notice, however, that he did not nullify marriage once sin marred the Garden. Apparently it is possible to pursue a union involving two sinful people. (Whew)

Marriage is the supreme metaphor for the relationship between God and believer. In the Old Testament, idolatry was paralleled with adultery and, in the New Testament, believers are called the bride of Christ.

God makes covenants. He initiates them and he keeps them to a thousand generations. The covenant of marriage is a natural image of our relationship with God. The very idea of two becoming one is mysterious in reference to a man and woman, but even more mysterious when we think about joining our hearts to the Divine.

Marriage between a man and a woman is never perfect. There’s often stepping on toes. But it gives us a veiled image of the divine idea for union with God: one of love, covenant, provision, passion and uniting.

We are privileged to enjoy the metaphor of marriage – that dance with our spouse – and we plumb the image of dancing as bride of our Savior and our Lord. What a waltz!

I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine.

Ezek 16:8

I lift up my voice

Come, oh, Lord, and fill up my life

with the light of Your presence.

This is my heart's desire.

Oh, Father, come and let Your spirit abide;

I long for Your presence.

This is my desire.....

("Presence" by Newsboys)

Kidnapping a laptop

Who: one 16 year old daughter (names are changed to protect the guilty)

Where: at a summer leadership conference at a local university

What: E-mail updates

Why: we’ll talk later.

The first e-mail was unexpected: “Mom, I’m writing this in our bathroom on Steve’s laptop computer. I can only write until the battery dies because Justin snuck it out of their room and Steve doesn’t know he has it. Justin used it first and I don’t know what he did. We’re having a lot of fun here! Love, Kerry. BTW: Justin says don’t tell his mom what we’re doing!”

I wrote back: “Is this a joke?????? I think you and Justin are having TOO MUCH FUN!”

Later that day, she wrote: “Bad news. Steve found out we borrowed his computer and he is MAD! He threatened to tell Mrs. Blake and then we’d get sent home. So Justin tied him up and gagged him and put him in their tub til he promises not to tell. I miss you! The conference is really good and I’m glad I’m here. Love, Kerry.”

My e-mail probably scorched cyberspace as it screeched back to her with advice: “Don’t let her ship you home in a box. And be sure to FEED Steve. He could get hungry. Offer him some chocolate chip cookies – maybe he’ll forgive you both.”

The next e-mail was slower in arriving, probably because the watched Thunderbird inbox doesn’t boil. “Dear Mom, I’m glad you knew it was a joke! The college has a bunch of computers we can use and I wanted to practice some creative writing. [Where’d she get an idea like that?] I made it all up.”

Do you think God laughs with us? He must laugh at us sometimes. Can’t you just see him shaking his head, “Child, child, what were you thinking?”

Someone said that God must have a sense of humor or he’d never have created monkeys. I’m thinking that he must have a sense of humor or he’d never expect mothers to understand 11-year-old boys (or 16-year-old daughters).

My son recently told me that he likes the color purple unless it looks like pink.

I’m thinking God probably laughs, too.

It’s all about relationship. Remember when Jesus called the Father “Abba,” which means “Daddy.” Don’t we love a tender relationship? It’s the fabric of our lives. We’re torn if it is lost. Whether with family or with God, we love relationship.

Tend to the relationship and laugh with the Lord sometimes.

“He fell to the ground and prayed… "Papa, Father…”

Mark 14:35-36 (The Message)

Real relationship

It was an ugly line, coming from a man who pretended to be Truman’s best friend. The kids and I watched The Truman Show the other night, aghast to see Marlin assure Truman, cued through an earpiece by the producer of the show, that he was as close as a brother. “I’d never lie to you,” he lied to Truman.

Have you seen the movie? Truman grew up on a TV set, not realizing that everyone in his world (except him) was acting. He was the star of a fabulously popular TV show, but he had no idea. Instead, the artificial world as all he’d ever known. Seahaven was a pleasant town with blue skies, sunshine, friendly neighbors, and safety.

Christof was the designer of the show, the maker of Seahaven, creator of the world where Truman lived. He had great affection for Truman but he didn’t hesitate to conjure up a near-fatal windstorm trying to keep Truman from escaping. (The ratings were great for that episode.) He manipulated people in and out of Truman’s life for the sake of the story.

But the comfortable safe world that he created for Truman turned out not to be enough, for the young man walked away from all he had known in pursuit of freedom and reality.

The story makes me think about Adam in the Garden. Adam lived in a nice place too. There was plenty to eat, safety, comfort. But there were differences, too. Christof remained hidden away while he tinkered with Truman’s world. God walked in the cool of the evening with Adam and, moved by Adam’s need for companionship, formed Eve – flesh of his flesh, no actress sporting a glowing smile while collecting a paycheck.

Christof embodies much of others’ suspicions about God: a creator who is kind and benevolent as long as it suits him, distant and unknown while tweaking reality for his own purposes. Comfort trumps freedom, influence routs relationship in that worldview.

But while Christof surrounded Truman with a fake world – fake interaction, fake sand, fake smiles – God formed a world of fruitfulness and abundance and freedom for Adam.

Christof created Truman for ratings but God…well, he created Adam for relationship. The reality of sincere relationship was what Truman longed for. So do we all.

Our Creator longs for it, too. Not for what he gains, but for what he gives.

But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Romans 5:8

Practicing the presence of God

Brother Lawrence didn’t like doing dishes any more than I do, but he found pleasure and peace in the business. That catches my attention.

He lived in the 1600’s but he was searching for the same thing that we hunger for today: peace and purpose. He started life as soldier, fighting in the Thirty Years War for the French. He tried studies, civil work (he described himself as a “footman who was clumsy and broke everything”), and spent time living in the wilderness. Searching.

But eventually he washed dishes in a monastery and thought about the presence of God.

That may seem a little tame today with our insatiable appetite for entertainment and a new adrenalin rush. We avoid dull tasks, convinced that life has new zest in adventure. But we are a troubled people, anxious to find purpose and peace as we rush to new quests.

Brother Lawrence found it.

Through a quiet life that embraced menial tasks, Brother Lawrence remained in God’s presence. It didn’t matter the assignment. No matter how our head is occupied, our heart can be melded with God. Anytime. In any task.

If you haven’t read The Practice of the Presence of God, you’ll find it surprisingly refreshing.

Samples:

“We should feed and nourish our souls with high notions of GOD; which would yield us great joy in being devoted to Him.”

"He was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts."

“In his business in the kitchen (to which he had naturally a great aversion), having accustomed himself to do everything there for the love of GOD, and with prayer, upon all occasions, for His grace to do his work well, he had found everything easy, during the fifteen years that he had been employed there.”