Jim

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Dana

The first time I wrote about Jim was in September 2001. The roller coaster of addiction has been quite a journey the twenty plus years we’ve been friends, but this week marks three years clean.

Sunday, several of us gathered to praise God and encourage our brother. As you know, the encouragement works both ways as we each run the race God has given us to run.

Mary Grace is a friend of Jim’s who has also suffered the repercussions of drug abuse. Next month she celebrates twelve years of being drug free. No person was more faithful to Jim than Mary Grace while he was homeless on the streets of Atlanta. She would bring clothes, food, and a little money to help Jim know he was not forgotten.

Several others of us would pray constantly and occasionally go searching the dark places to see if Jim was ready to come home. Sunday we recounted the ways God worked supernaturally to bring about what He desired. To look back and remember builds faith in all of us.

Sunday, Mary Grace shared with tears her gratitude to God and His children. Others shared the things Jim has taught us as he has persevered, worked hard in a physically challenging job, and kept us all laughing with his uncommon sense of humor.

I was reminded of the old hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for sounds of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.

O to grace, how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:23-25

(Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing written by Robert Robinson in 1757)

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tents

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Dana

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”

I read these words from the Gospel of John at the funeral of a friend this past weekend, words that Jesus spoke to Martha. Pat Rising is a child of God, a loving husband, a great father, and a wonderful grandfather… and he loves Jesus. I use the present tense, because Jesus says he still lives. How can this be?

“Do you know what Jesus said next to Martha?” I asked the congregation. “He asked, ‘Do you believe this?’” There, in front of a few hundred people, I asked myself: “Do I believe this?” Martha gave an instructive reply that didn’t really seem to answer the question but was accepted by Jesus: “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

“Here’s how Pat still lives,” I proposed. “Pat Rising lives in Christ. When he passed away from this earth, he still remains in Christ. Since Jesus lives at the right hand of the Father and Pat is in Christ, Pat also lives.”

Paul wrote: “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…” Ephesians 2:4-6

After the funeral, all were invited to go to the fellowship hall of the church building for a meal. Wonderful reunions took place and all the family members were encouraged. People hung around for quite a while. As I was getting ready to leave, a friend of the Risings, older and wiser than me, shook my hand. “I loved what you shared about Pat being alive in Christ. Here’s another thought: our bodies are just tents. Pat’s tent was in decline because of cancer but his soul was always alive. And his soul lives with Jesus today.” Praise God for His great love!

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

“Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
II Corinthians 5:1-10

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reaping

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Dana

Reaping is the fun part. Preparing the soil, planting, tending, weeding, watering… these are reasons people don’t plant gardens.

John and I planted a garden last spring at Taylor’s house. He has a great location in his backyard where the previous owner was known for growing prize vegetables.

Not so with us. We started off strong with rows of tomato plants, peppers, and squash… we dreamed of the harvest. Taylor watered the garden faithfully and when little green tomatoes started showing, we all got excited.

wp_20150617_17_44_02_ProThe problem came one summer day when I noticed a large green tomato half eaten. “Taylor, we have a problem,” I moaned. The next time I visited I saw a critter running away from our plants. John had the solution: “Dana, we gotta get a trap.” So that’s what we did and the next day Taylor sent me a picture of the defeated culprit.

“Great job, men!” I encouraged, but sadly our enemy had friends and before we knew it, 90% of our tomatoes were gone. We were disheartened to say the least. To make matters worse, Kinsey sent pictures of several nice tomatoes she and Jordan grew in their backyard in Birmingham.

img_2500Our experience makes me not take for granted my parents’ wonderful summer gardens. When we visit and my mom asks me to go pick some ears of corn or okra or tomatoes, I have a renewed appreciation for the work that took place before the reaping.

Jesus used such language to talk about the Kingdom of God: “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefit of their labor.” (John 4:35-38)

God wants us to do our part. If we are to sow His Word, we should share with faith, love, and enthusiasm. If we are to water, we should realize the necessity of our assignment and be faithful. If we are to stand against the enemy, we should pray in the Spirit with God’s armor in place, knowing the devil wants to destroy anything that leads to the Father. And if we get to reap, we should remember that others have participated in the harder parts of the process and that God deserves all the glory.

“Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers…” I Corinthians 3:7-9

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sowing

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Dana

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)

As a junior high disciplinarian I can honestly share with students that poor choices eventually lead to destructive consequences. I need to also share the positive aspect of sowing and reaping.

Throughout his letter to the Galatians, Paul teaches how to sow to please the Spirit:

  • “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
  • “Live by the Spirit.”
  • “Let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
  • “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.”
  • “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.”
  • “Carry each other’s burdens.”
  • “What counts is a new creation.”
  • “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Paul’s secret was to know that when Christ died on the cross, Paul died. “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with…” (Romans 6:6) Now Christ lives in us!

On earth, Jesus was led by the Spirit. He listened to His Father and obeyed what His Father told Him to do. With all the fruit of the Spirit, Jesus found His joy in His Father’s will. “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” (John 4:34)

As children of God, we have been given the Holy Spirit. So let’s fearlessly follow the Master!

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15-16

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heartshot

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Dana

My friends Troy and Tammy, their four daughters, and twin sons moved to Iowa a year and half ago to continue a ministry Troy’s dad Dave began. An avid outdoorsman and hunter, Dave loved to share the Lord with younger men. Using archery and hunting as connections, Dave’s outreach resulted in beautiful fruit.

I stayed pretty close to Troy the months after his dad died suddenly of a brain aneurism on the way home from a cold January morning of hunting with a friend in 2014. Jesus, the Author of faith, hope, and love, has given comfort and direction to Troy and his family through many answered prayers and through countless acts of kindness from the Body of Christ.

photo2The ministry, Heartshot, has two major goals. The first goal is to use archery as a platform to teach God’s principles for living. A heart for God is our aim is the motto. People of all ages come to the range to enjoy a sport and to hear God’s Word explained in practical ways. The second goal is to invite anyone to join Heartshot team as they serve widows in the area.

Of course Troy’s ‘favorite’ is his own mother who he says helps him more than he helps her. Seeing his mom in the distress of loss, Troy understood clearly the reason for God’s instructions to care for widows and to help those in need.

Each member of the Heartshot leadership team is one of the men mentored by Troy’s dad. These are ten rugged guys who put their Christian faith into action by serving others. In times of need, many in their church and many from the community who visit the Heartshot archery range join to serve their community in the Name of Christ.

photo1Eleven-year-old John and I visited Troy and his family this past weekend. Troy’s mom treated us to dinner the evening we arrived and later we got to meet many of the friends who shine the light of Jesus in this part of our country. Of course we also experienced the subzero temperatures of the Midwest. The day we left, it snowed several inches and Heartshot pulled together four teams to shovel the driveways of widows and to help anyone else they saw in need.

I was reminded once again of the beauty of the Body of Christ. When we let Jesus shine in our lives, people who may not even know God at the moment give thanks and glorify our Father in heaven. “You are the light of the world…”

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

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