It seems
that I lack any intellectual understanding. There are times when I just don’t get
it. As much as I love the country in which I was born and in which I continue
to live I wonder about our system. I believe in our representative form of
government and while it seems fair that the majority should rule with deference
to the minority, I wonder about our capability to govern ourselves. Our system
of government depends on an informed and intelligent electorate. Our population
while highly literate and generally educated seems to be fiscally and morally
irresponsible. Credit card debt is out ...<< MORE >>

1     The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. Habakkuk’s Complaint

²     How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!”

but you do not save?

³     Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.

⁴     Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous,

so that justice is perverted.

The Lord’s Answer

⁵     “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

The Holy Bible : New International Version, Hab 1:1-5 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984).

Fast forward, today:

“Ohio Teacher Reportedly Burns Crosses on Students”

“Two Year Old Boy Abandoned at Wal-Mart”

“Massachusetts Woman, Boyfriend Plead Guilty to Posting Pornographic Photos of 8 Year Old Daughter on the internet”

“Keirn Knightly: ‘I always bare my breasts’”

“Massachusetts High School Faces Pregnancy Boom”

“Extreme Torture of L.A. Boy Prompts Outrage toward State Agencies”

“China Admits to Burying U.S. POW”

“Czech Mother accused of Skinning Caged Son, Feeding Him to Relatives”

“Newlywed Charged with Murdering Wife While Diving at the Great Barrier Reef”

Are things any different than they were in the time of Habakkuk? I think not. Often when unbelievers question our faith they ask “where is God when all the bad things happen in the world?” “Why does a God who loves allow people to be hurt and killed?” “Why does God allow young children to get sick with horrible diseases and die? People point to these things and question the existence and nature of God. They ask “how can God be loving and good and allow these things to occur?”  Those are good questions as far as they go. The problem is that the first thing that we need to understand is that God is the creator, is sovereign, is in control, and has a plan. I will not try to prove the existence of God here. I believe that God is the creator of everything that has been or will be created. I believe that God is ever faithful and has a plan for my life. As it serves God’s purpose the plan is revealed. God is infinite and I am finite. God is the creator and I am the created. Just as my eighteen month old great granddaughter does not understand the things her parents have planned for her I do not understand what God has planned for me or anyone else. So perhaps the best course for me is to not ask why certain things happen the way they do. Perhaps the best thing for me to do is ask what God wants me learn from the thing that happen in my life. At the end of book Habakkuk prays in faith by saying

“3     A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.

²     Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

³     God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.     Selah His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.

⁴     His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.

⁵     Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.

⁶     He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

⁷     I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

⁸     Were you angry with the rivers, O Lord? Was your wrath against the streams?

Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots?

⁹     You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.     Selah You split the earth with rivers;

¹⁰     the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared

and lifted its waves on high.

¹¹     Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.

¹²     In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.

¹³     You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.     Selah

¹⁴     With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.

¹⁵     You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.

¹⁶     I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.

¹⁷     Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸     yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹     The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. “

The Holy Bible : New International Version, Hab 3:1-19 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984).

So what is the conclusion for Habakuk? What is your conclusion? I think verses 17 and 18 say it all, no matter what happens I will trust God. God is the Boss!

www.dreamnowactnowlivenow.tv

We don’t even think about going church on Sunday morning, there is never a question about where we will be at 9:00 AM. For us it is time of worship, fellowship, and learning about God. Our pastor is an anointed teacher of God’s word and we look forward to hearing what God has put on his heart. For some reason today started out a little different. Our worship leader shared about the recent loss of his father. His dad had been a preacher of God’s word for sixty some years. After a week in the hospital late one night he sat up from his semi conscious state and said “I see Jesus.” While it was several hours before his body finally stopped he was already with Jesus and that was a great comfort to David. David Reynolds shared such a wonderful and poignant moment with us this morning and the worship was outstanding.

Pastor Dave Rutherford taught about the structure and makeup of the Bible. He encouraged us again to be purposeful in our reading and study of God’s word. He challenged each of us read the whole Bible in an orderly fashion over the next 13 months. He admonished us to read with an open heart, a hungry heart, and an obedient heart. He encouraged us to sincerely seek what God has for us. Pastor Dave is such a delightful preacher.

After Pastor Dave had baptized several people he said that he had very difficult announcement. He was visibly shaken as he announced that a young member of our congregation had just passed away as a result of a very aggressive cancer. This young mother was very much loved by everyone who knew her. She left a 10 year old son, a recently adopted 3 year old son, and a husband. I don’t know if I have ever felt such sadness come over a group of people. Everyone just left in stunned silence. As Alice and I returned to our car we just sat there for few minutes without saying anything. I started to pray and didn’t have any words. I don’t know Scott and if I did I don’t even begin to know how to minister to him. Alice prayed that the people that are close to Scott would be able to come around him and minister to his sons and him. This was first service so Dave had another service to do. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to carry him through.

We know in our heads that God is sovereign and has a perfect plan for each of us. Our hearts are not able to understand how that plan can include situations such as this. As God says in Proverbs “Trust in Me always and lean not on your understanding.” At times like these the words seem somehow hollow. The thief thinks that he has won a victory, he is wrong because we will "rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice" in the victory of Jesus Christ over the grave. Tracy’s life will be celebrated. Our prayers are with Scott that he again raises his voice in the worship of God.

Let all who read this pray for Scott, his two sons, and the rest of Tracy’s family.

Now to the question, “why go to church?” Why do we expose ourselves to the potential for pain and grief? The answer is it is God’s will for his children to gather as family to serve and to worship Him. When we are obedient God blesses us in so many ways. Yes we experience the pain of loss. The joy of friendship and fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ far outweighs any pain we might have as we remind each other of God’s love for us. It is impossible for me to imagine going through the trauma of this life without knowing that God has put me in the midst of believing, caring, and loving brothers and sisters.

As you may know I don’t spend much time reading or following the news. There is rarely anything I can do about what I read and it is mostly depressing. For some reason a headline on the Fox news home page caught my eye. “Sex Offender Banned from Son's Graduation” the headline seemed pretty inflammatory so I read the Associated Press article date lined in St Joseph, MO. As the story is told a man was convicted of forcible rape of a 16 year old girl when he was 17. He served his full 5 year prison term, his debt to society paid end of story. Wrong. Because this happened in 1990 the man was not required to register as a sex offender and report in every 90 days. He is required to adhere to certain other regulations. The story does not tell how it happens that he has 13 year old son who is graduating from the eighth grade. One might guess that he got out of prison got married and started over with his life. I can only speculate about how difficult that has been.

The state of Missouri enacted a good law stating that convicted sex offenders cannot set foot on public schools grounds without permission from the school administration. While it makes sense to attempt to protect our children from known sex offenders there is the common sense provision that there could be exceptions. In this man’s case the school administration decided that rather than risk a mistake in exercising “judgment” on a case by case basis they would just not allow any variance. Bottom line, if this man attends his son’s graduation he will go to prison for 4 years. The sheriff says he will be there watching to protect the children from this man. How hard would it be to require supervision and allow this man to honor his son’s accomplishment?

Now why do I bring this up? Am I interested in showing leniency to convicted sexual predators? Certainly not! For the last year I have been volunteering time to teach convicted felons some techniques for changing their lives in a faith based program called the Entrepreneurial Training here in Fresno. We are teaching basic job skills in an effort to help our clients become productive members of society. Another part of my work is to help build a data base of employers who will take a chance by giving our clients a second chance. I am underwhelmed by the number who will help. The effect is that even after a person has been tried, convicted, sentenced, and has served the allotted time their debt is not paid. They keep paying for their crimes. Many of these folks really want to change their lives and are willing to do the work. One of questions I ask them is “Do you think society wants you to fail?” No, they say. These are folks who have had some very hard times, yet I have rarely heard anyone say yes to the question. I am surprised at the level of optimism I that find.

I get discouraged that the only jobs we can find for our clients are low paying and without much prospect for advancement. I really wonder at times why our clients even try. Why don’t they say just say “why bother?” I sometimes think that we really have de-facto capital punishment for every crime. Maybe if we were to be honest with ourselves we don’t believe that the convict ever really pays their debt to society. That is the way we act. Would we be happier if we were to cut off the hand of the thief or brand the cheek of the sex offender?

A friend recently sent me the address for a website that would show the current addresses for sex offenders in any given neighborhood. How does that help? What about all my neighbors who steal from their employers in one way or another. Or my college professor neighbor who was beaten to death by her own husband in her kitchen? He had no record and no one had any idea how sick he was.

So what is my point? Maybe we should be honest with each other and say that we do not trust God. We don’t really believe in the forgiveness of sins. Perhaps capital punishment is a kinder way. It seems to me that putting some one in prison for five years and telling them that they have paid the price for their crime is a lie. Do we really have a criminal “justice” system?  We merely identify some people who have demonstrated criminal behavior and “protect” ourselves (society) from them for a time while they are in prison. Then do everything we can to make life hard for them. In reality their debt is never paid.

I wonder what would happen if a believer came forward in the community for the guy in Missouri and said. “I will come along beside him; I will attend the graduation and make sure there is no inappropriate contact between the “convict” and any children.” Is anyone trying to help truly rehabilitate the convicted criminal? The government is totally ineffectual in the area of rehabilitation. The recidivism rate is in the area of 75 percent for state operated prisons (75 of 100 convicts who serve their terms will return to prison). Society’s answer is to build more prisons. How smart is that? Faith based programs have a much lower recidivism rate and yet the many liberals cry out that we must maintain the separation of “Church” and state. The opponents in many cases are very ones who protest against capital punishment. Perhaps it is time take on chance of the power of God.

Let me ask you a question, when was the last time you read a book seven times in seven days? Likely never right? I’ll start here to explain what led to this question. Three things have recently happened in my walk with Christ, maybe four.
 
First I attended my first Promise Keepers event; it was awesome to see 25 to 30 thousand men worshiping God in one place. There was some good teaching and great fellowship with other men from my church. One of the values that I brought away was the importance of time in God’s word.
 
Second Alice and I listened to an Audio Book (I heartily recommend www.audiobooks.com. Alice and I listen to books together when we travel or walk.) “ One Tuesday Morning” by Karen Kingsbury. Karen is a superlative story teller and this is a timely and compelling story about how six very believable characters are changed by the events of September 11, 2001. The thing that impacted me was the life changing value of one man’s annotated Bible, his journal, and quiet faith. Because of this gentle giant of a NYC firefighter his widow came to saving faith, his 4 year old daughter was given the strength and faith to survive the loss of her daddy, a look a like stranger’s faith was revived, strengthened, and his failing marriage is saved, a wife and mother clear across the country got the husband of her youth back, and a ten year old boy got the father that he had never had. I brought away the importance of prayer, making the study of God’s word a priority, and keeping a journal.
 
Third in September I embarked on ten week journey moving deeper in my relationship with God. I started the BattleZone ministries study and learned so much about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit and myself that I can’t even begin to share it here. Check out Michael Pouliot’s anointed ministry you will be blessed. Contact me when you are brave enough to go deeper with God and confront the issues of your life.
Fourth our pastor David Rutherford at Northside Christian Church, Clovis, CA started a teaching series on the God’s law found in the “Ten Commandments.” Quick where are they found in your Bible? The series has been convicting, enlightening, and empowering. I’m sure that it will be available on CD when David finishes the series. The take away again has been learning the importance of writing God’s word on my heart.
 
And fifth (sorry I lost track) I just happened to come across a little book on our bookshelf written thirty years ago by an obscure author. God is so good I’m amazed and blessed every day. “ How to Study the Bible for Yourself” by Tim LaHaye (I was kidding about the obscure part). There are many whole Bible study plans available and this is my experience with one. God finally has me where I am able to grasp what he has been teaching me in the forty-seven years since I came forward and invited Jesus in to my life. It is said in the world that most people don’t plan to fail they just fail to plan. Tim provides a simple three year plan of spiritual growth through studying the word of God in a logical order with an intensity that will change your life. I’m only beginning this leg of my journey and am excited to see where God is leading me. I invite you to join me. I know that you and I will be blessed as we go deeper with God writing his Word on hearts as we go. I am sure that you will be affected much the way I was reading First John seven times in a row. I certainly thought that it was an odd method and I have already been rewarded by a deeper understanding of and confidence in my salvation.
 
I'm always blessed by the gentle and loving way that God continues to weave the fabric of my life. God is always faithful, always there, and always God.


"But as for my and my household we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

Hello I’m going visit with you about three things with which I have had first hand experience. First I’ll tell you about my time as an outside linebacker for the Denver Broncos. Second I’ll share my experiences as NASA astronaut. And last I will regale you with my experience in natural childbirth. You might believe that I could have been a professional football player; it’s possible that I could have been part of the space program. None of you really know my history. You all know that I have no first hand experience with natural childbirth. So my truthfulness is very likely in question.

Ok let’s start over and I’ll share some experiences that I have lived and some things that I do know about; choices, “blue haired ladies”, and the faithfulness of God.

I have no memories of my life before I was about two and I been told that some of it was not very good. Some time before I was two my parents split up and I was given to my father. For several months he and his uncle cared for me with help of several teen aged girl “friends”. I was adopted by my dad’s older brother and his wife and things kind of got better. There are lots of details that I’m sure had an effect on how I turned out. The bottom line was that I never felt like I was enough.

When I was sixteen my dad (uncle) died and all of the well wishers told me about this wonderful God who took my dad. It took my nearly thirty years to get over being mad at God about that. Then I learned the difference between receiving and taking.

My experience with the Methodist church was that of being taken to Sunday school occasionally and feeling lost and embarrassed because I didn’t know anything about the Bible, God, or Jesus. As I grew older and got interested in girls I learned that they liked going to church and generally liked guys who went to church. So being the bright guy that I was I started to get involved with Sunday school and youth group. I didn’t much care about God or His son and certainly didn’t think that I was a sinner who needed to be saved. It was purely a social event.

Enter the “blue haired” ladies, I didn’t know anything about them till years latter and they were so important in my life. Eaton, CO was a town of about 1500 people in the late 50’s. Everybody knew everybody and their business. When you are nine years old you are not very aware of all those “old folks” around town or at least I wasn’t. I knew the first names of about three parents of my school mates and along with my mom and dad that was the extent of my knowledge of the people in “my town.” As it turns out a fair number of the “blue haired” ladies knew me and were quite ready to rat me out when I misbehaved (a regular occurrence). I thought that mom really did have eyes in the back of her head as she seemed to know about everything I did.

These women played a very important part in my life even though I knew none of them on any kind of a relationship basis. These “blue haired” ladies literally saved my life. You might ask how that can be. They were women of God valiant prayer warriors to the core and they were praying for me behind my back. Pretty sneaky don’t you think? I believe that they were the proof of God’s word not returning void. These ladies were praying for my salvation and God answered their prayers in spite of my worst efforts. I was in the youth group for all the wrong reasons. And when the opportunity was presented to travel to Salt Lake City for youth convocation my thoughts were centered on getting to know more girls not on meeting Jesus. God had a better plan. I did meet a new girl and that was good. Annie Lewis was a wonderful person and I didn’t treat her very well. God bless her where ever she is. But God’s plan was for me to meet Jesus in a real way and I did.

I met Alice at California Silver Sierra CFO. It was not love at first sight though we were mutually interested.<< MORE >>