January 30, 2015. Madison, GA. Taking it for granted

We are a spoiled and pampered nation. We take for granted that there will be enough of whatever we need, there will always be easy access to materials, food, water, fuel and so many other things we assume will always be available before we run out of what we have. We have more than enough clothing for every weather condition and we can even choose the styles and colors we most desire. In every aspect of life we take it for granted that we will never do without.
The other night, we were watching our one television station, enjoying the warmth of a space heater in our motor home, and about to heat up some food in our microwave. Suddenly there was a "pop"; the tv went dark, the heater shut off and the microwave stopped microwaving. A breaker had been tripped and while we still had lights we were lacking three things we have always taken for granted. In a regular house, we can run virtually everything electrical at the same time without hearing that "pop". This time, the breaker wouldn't reset for quite a while, but it finally did and all was back to normal.
How many times do we hear that a computer is down, our records are not coming up at the utility company, or our bank account shows a zero balance? How often do we find the item we want at the store is on back order or the doctor can't see us for 2 months and we are sick now? When we think back 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 or.........(you get the point), we did without a lot of the things we now take for granted, and we managed to survive without it and now when we have to do without it, well, we are in a panic - what are we going to do?
Just for a moment, imagine some countries around the world, where they have no idea of what we are even talking about when we talk about computers, vehicular travel, electricity, clean water, adequate shelter, shoes, three meals a day, parents, school, hope.......(you get the point). Yes, we are a spoiled and pampered nation. Help us, Lord, to be more aware of the needs of others, the abundance we enjoy, and how You would have us do something to close the gap between them and us.

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January 27, 2015 Madison, GA. There is no Away, but.........

There was a time when a lot of people became concerned about what was happening to the stuff we thought of as garbage, junk, unusable items, the things we were told to just "throw away". When it became obvious that there really was no way to permanently dispose of things, just hide them or make some other unwanted item from them, we began to see that we were going to be stuck with a lot of obsolete things. Some people stored the stuff in warehouses, held on to certain things to try to sell them later as "one of kind", antiques or "collectables". Some people just became hoarders, polluting their neighborhood with piles of junk, or built cabinets, drawers or racks to keep their things in some kind of order.
Here at Source of Light, there are literally tons of things in a host of locations and it is amazing what has been saved and how often there is a present need and use for something which has been in the same place for years. If I started to list the "inventory" of this facility, the list would go on forever. There is a fine line between being a keeper of things and a good steward of the resources we have in our possession. What to keep, what to sell, what to donate or what to dispose of are everyday decisions we are all faced with.
Jesus had times in his earthly ministry when He tried to get "away" from the crowds, the constant demands on His time and healing gifts. But the crowds pursued Him, sought His presence and His attention. There was no "away" for Him either, and when He did go to the Cross in obedience to the will of His Father, He still was not able to stay away for long. He promised that He would never leave us or forsake us and He has been true to that promise and every other promise He made. Jesus is, and never has been away, but is in fact, The Way to God The Father.
For those who are Born Again, cleansed by the blood of Jesus , there is no present "away" either and for that I am grateful, but I am looking forward to that day when Jesus returns to take us all to be with Him forever in the place He has prepared for us. Away from the world, but present with The Lord. Come, Lord Jesus, Come. Take us away to be with You.

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January 24, 2015. Madison, GA. Living with Purpose

"The Daily Bible Devotional" by F. LaGard Smith was very insightful this morning. It spoke to the mystery of why we were born when and where we were, why we had the parents we had and what we are supposed to do with the "life" we have been given. A brief quote from the devotional: "We do not live without purpose. Whatever our circumstances of birth, Scripture gives us abundant reason to believe that we too have been raised up so that God might show us his power, and through us, in some way unique to ourselves, to proclaim his name in all the earth."
I think of famous lines like, "I coulda been a contender", or "I yam what I yam and tha's all what I yam" or a high school friend whose mother dated Kirk Douglas, and remarked that she could have been his daughter if her mom had married the struggling actor instead of the lawyer/DA her mom eventually did marry. We don't have a lot of "say" in the details of our birth, but we do have a lot of control over what we do with the "hand we have been dealt". We can become victims or we can become over-comers by the choices we make along the way. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ and give Him our lives for His purpose and direction, we don't limit our choices, we actually expand them and can truly live with purpose and freedom. I see it more clearly every day as Karen and I pursue our Ministry of Miles, look back on the past thirteen months on the road, our time at The Great Passion Play and our stay here in Madison at Source of Light Ministries. We witness lives changed by this ministry and the lessons it distributes. We are moved by the "retired" missionaries who come here to keep serving The Lord when their physical abilities have waned, but they still have a purpose for getting up every day.
We live in a tough world, with major problems and some strange ideas of what is important and what we need to spend our time and money pursuing, but when we commit to working where God is at work, we can truly see what living with purpose is all about, and we can know "who we are and whose we are". Thank You, Lord for our identity in You.


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January 21, 2015. Madison, GA. No topic

Usually I have an idea of what I want to write when blog-day comes around. But, today I went through the day concentrating on the tasks at hand and didn't let my mind wander to a blog topic. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 60's and a great day to be outside, even if our main task was physically demanding. We were taking down a fairly good sized tree to clear a path for a road to a future water well site. We met some challenges with a tangled and extensive root system where we need to dig a trench for a culvert and the chain saws were less than cooperative. The tree needed to be guided away from a telephone line and some of the cut pieces needed to be moved in the bucket of a Case tractor. We were also using a 1967 Chevy dump truck with no power steering. The job will continue tomorrow afternoon, after we work in the print shop in the morning.
In spite of the difficulties, Hugh and I left the shop tired but satisfied that we had made it safely through our work day. It's gratifying to know that this ministry is blessing so many people here and around the world. Our lessons are reaching thousands of people who are hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ for the first time and are eager to know more about Him and grow closer to Him in a personal and intimate relationship. To be part of that makes our work worthwhile. We can't all be missionaries, but we can be on a mission to do God's work where He calls us and in whatever role adds value to the lives we impact. What a blessing to not have a topic, and still praise God for allowing us to work in His harvest with others who love The Lord and wish to see His Kingdom come and His will be done. Worn out in the service of the Lord - it feels good.







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January 18, 2015. Madison, GA. Why so many churches?

Last night a group of us were invited to dinner and we met a couple who had just arrived here at Source of Light to volunteer for a month. Drew's sister, Roxie, had been here volunteering and left to visit her daughter in Hawaii. Karen had been working with Roxie, Drew and Evie the past week and it was fun to meet at dinner and exchange our "journey with Jesus" stories. When Drew and Roxie told us they had pastored in Dansville, New York for ten years it
was another of those "coincidences" since my parents and brother Phil had lived in Dansville in the '40's before I was born. We had traveled through Dansville in August, 2013 on our way from my 50th high school reunion to Niagara Falls, and saw where my family had spent a few years, and were even able to find the house they lived in there. This morning, we went to church with Drew and Evie at the church Roxie had been attending and had a very pleasant morning, a pizza lunch and watched as a new Elder was ordained in this three year old church plant.
Here at Source of Light, one of the visions for the ministry is planting churches in the countries where our missionaries distribute the lessons we develop and print here. Church planting in many foreign countries is essential to the Gospel being preached where it has never been preached before. But in the United States where there are more than 350,000 churches already, I have always wondered why we need more churches. Can't we all find a spot in an existing church? Are we creating division in Christianity with so many denominations, so many minor differences in theology and doctrine, overlapping of programs, outreaches and personal preferences in worship formats and a host of other issues? And then I realize, Karen and I are members of Shiloh Christian Church, a church plant in Colorado. We had a wonderful experience this morning and will probably attend Remembrance Community Church for our remaining stay in Madison. Why so many churches? I really don't have an answer, but pray that as we Christians face more opposition and criticism from a variety of directions: courts, government regulations, taxing authorities, other religious elements and special interest groups.......maybe more will somehow be better, God will use each church for a unique purpose, and we will find a way to "unite" in our Lord and Savior, the truth of The Gospel, the promises of a loving and faithful God and the hope of a brighter and better future.
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Ark applicants

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January 15, 2015. Madison, GA. The Ark

It's raining again. After the last period of heavy rain, then the sub freezing stretch for four nights, we are now back to rain. This trip has witnessed quite a bit of rain wherever we have been. The locals remark how wet it is has been here in Madison. In Arkansas, the locals told us it was an unusually wet summer and we have encountered rain (or some form of precipitation) virtually everywhere. Our motor home, does look kind of like an Ark and we have befriended a lot of animals, domestic and otherwise. A lot of people have told me I look very biblical with my longer hair and facial foliage, but I usually get called Moses rather than Noah. I do answer to both, however. Right now I feel like Noah.
Our work this week and last were mostly indoors because of the weather and the prospect for tomorrow is more of the same. We may see the sun over the weekend, but we'll probably stay close to The Ark in case the animals come a callin'. We are still enjoying the life on the road even though we haven't been on the road a whole lot the past 8 months. We will be staying here in Georgia until mid-February and then heading to Florida for about a month. Plans have a way of changing and we're just following the cloud. Thank You, Lord.


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