Standing in the Gap

In a few minutes, I would like for you to watch this video.  It is called “The Battle at Kruger.”  If you haven’t seen it before, go ahead and watch it now or you won’t know what I’m talking about.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=RjibWWTevdA.  After going to the Single Parent Family Ministry Leadership Summit a few weeks ago, I saw it from a different perspective today.

Notice that the water buffalo calf is with at least two adults.  One is a very large bull and the other appears to be a female (probably his mother).  I don’t know the mating patterns of water buffalo, but for the sake of the illustration, let’s assume the bull is his dad.  When the lions attack, what does dad do?  HE STINKING RUNS, leaving the calf as an easy target for the hungry lions.  In our society, at least 40% of dads have done the same thing.  They have run, leaving their children vulnerable as an easy target for the enemy, the devil.  As a result, the children have been left devastated.  There are a lot of statistics, and I will be sharing those over time, but the one that sticks out the most right now is this:  70% of long term prison inmates grew up in homes of divorce.  Most of those, without a dad around.  Instead of standing and fighting for their children and their marriages, men are running and the lions are attacking ferociously.  I Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”

Even with this sad illustration comes one of hope.  When dad took off and the lions and crocs began to gnaw on the poor defenseless water buffalo calf, the herd began to step in.  They all surrounded the lions, but it was the bulls that took charge and one by one fought off the lions.  I get a real charge out of the one bull hooking the lion and throwing it in the air!!  This story has a good ending because the calf was saved.  What if the herd represents the church and the bulls the men of the church?  I get chills thinking about it!  Church, we need to stand in the gap for single parent families, especially for the sake of the children.  Through the community of believers, we can help share the hope that can only be found in Christ.  The single parents I know are very capable, but this isn’t a job that was meant to be done alone.  Let’s not leave it to government programs to help them see their way through.  This only perpetuates the cycle.  It’s about building godly relationships.  These boys and girls especially need godly men, but also godly women to stand in the gap and fight off the enemy.  These families need people to come alongside them and share the love of Christ.

This morning, in my worship time, I read Psalm 147.  Verse 3 says, “He [God] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”  As I was writing this, I read in Psalm 146: 5-9:  “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord, who remains faithful forever.  He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.  The Lord sets the prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.  The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.”  Let’s follow that up with James 1:27:  “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit widows and orphans in their distress…”  WOW!!!  I won’t even pretend to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar, but I do know that God cares for single parent families.  So many of them are among the wounded and hurting, and this breaks the heart of God.  He wants to restore them to Himself, and I fully believe He intends to use His church to do this.  What an incredible opportunity we have to minister to Christian and non-Christian single parent families.  This ties into what I read in I Peter 2.  We are to be living stones – living monuments of who Jesus is.  We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, so that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light for once we were not a people but now we are the people of God and once we had not received mercy but now we have received mercy.  God saved us through His incredible grace and mercy and he wants us to take this message to all people.  For Paul, the mission was to take the message to the Gentiles.  For some the mission is to a remote tribe in Africa.  For me, the mission is to single parent families.  Who will stand in the gap with us?  Who will take this message with us to the hurting?  Who will help give these families hope?  I, for one, will not run, but will stand in the power of God to fight off the lion.  I have seen it work when men will stand up and fight for the fatherless.  In fact, as we approach Father’s Day, I will be honoring some of those men who stood in the gap for me.  I have a renewed passion and vision for this mission, and I will be sharing in the days to come.  May God bless you today and may He show you the mission He has for you!

 

If You Have Tasted the Kindness of the Lord…

This is another entry from our trip to Colorado.

We had a little bit of free time after dinner the first day we were at the Lodge, so I read 1 Peter 2.  This is the first of a couple of entries that will discuss this passage.  I really dwelled on verses 2 and 3 for awhile: “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” (NASB)  In other words, if we have experienced the kindness of the Lord, we should long for the spiritual nourishment of His word as a newborn baby longs for his mother’s milk.  Just like a baby will only grow if he has his mother’s milk, we will only grow as Christians if we have God’s Word.  That’s were I was at.  I was experiencing the kindness of the Lord.  The day before, I told you in my blog “Love From the Heart,” that God had showered His love upon me as I sat in my Prayer Garden.  Then, although I only had 3 hours of sleep, I wasn’t sleepy as we drove 9 1/2 hours to Colorado.  In fact, I was still going strong that night.  On the way (pretty desolate stretch of highway), God gave us a beautiful snow shower that didn’t affect the roads.  Although we were in a fairly old church van, it ran great.  Once we got to the mountains (which we couldn’t see too well for the snow and clouds), we saw two “snow-capped” mule deer by the side of the road.  When we got there, there was a nice warm fire and warm, friendly people to greet us.  The Lodge was a beautiful, serene place to be.  After our first session, I looked out the window and there were several elk grazing in the field closeby.  Our host said that was a rare treat.  After all of this, I just couldn’t resist spending time in God’s Word.  Can you imagine my joy when I read that passage.  I had been tasting the kindness of the Lord all day, and where did I end up?  In His Word, spending time with Him.  I normally spend time with God early in the morning, but at that moment I had a longing for being with Him in His Word.  My heart was full of worship.  Words cannot describe how good and free I felt at that moment.  What was the result?  I grew in my salvation and knowledge of who God is - just like the passage said I would.

By the way, I tasted the kindness of the Lord all weekend.  The next day was my birthday and I can’t imagine a better place to spend it.  When I got up (I made myself stay in bed until 5:30 to keep from waking others up, though I had been awake praying and worshipping in my heart most of the night), the sun was shining and I discovered that we had an incredible view of Pike’s Peak!  Even though it was about 20 degrees F, I took a short hike and breathed the fresh mountain air.  I stayed outside a good hour.  I don’t know how many pictures I took of the mountain.  Even though I have seen Pike’s Peak many times, it was like seeing an old friend that I had not seen in a long time.  For me, the mountains offer a refuge and a place where I can spend time with God like no other place I have ever found. 

How about you?  Have you tasted the kindness of the Lord?  Do you crave the nourishment of His Word?  Put God first and see if He doesn’t shower you with His loving kindness.  May you taste the kindness of the Lord today!

Dreams

Dreams are an amazing thing.  I don’t mean the kind of dream that comes to you in your sleep that you may or may not remember.  The dreams I’m talking about are those that would be defined as something greatly desired.  You know – those things you can’t get your mind off of; those kinds of things that you would sacrifice and work for.  Robert Lewis says that having the right dream is one of five ”work energizers.”  His definition of the right dream is “Something I can do and want to do that accomplishes something worth doing.”  Lastly, he says that the more our work integrates with our dreams, the more energy we will have for what we do. 

This is the first of several entries I am planning regarding our trip to Colorado.  On this trip I had the opportunity to be connected to two people who are living out two separate dreams of mine, and they are neighbors, although, unfortunately, not neighbors of mine!  Of course, both have dreams of their own, and they are definitely stepping out in faith.  One is a friend who I’ve known for several years now, another is a man I just had the opportunity to meet.  

I’ll start with a little bit of background information so you know where I’m coming from.  About six years ago, my wife and I tried to purchase a ranch.  Our intention was to turn it into a bed and breakfast where people could come for spiritual renewal.  Our main goal was going to be to use it to minister to single parent families.  We couldn’t sell our house in time, and someone came in with a full offer on the ranch.  We had first choice to buy or not because of the contingency, but didn’t think it was wise to take on two mortgages.  Ever since that time, the dream has never died.  Sometimes it’s stronger than at other times, but it has never gone away.  While in Colorado we were connected with our good friend, Gary Sprague, President of the Center for Single Parent Family Ministry.  He and his family are living out this dream.  Through the ministry, they are leasing The Lodge at Elk Valley, and they have a dream to raise the money to buy it.  Through it, they are able to minister to single parent families.  The place is awesome!  It is a beautiful log cabin lodge with a perfect, unobstructed view of Pike’s Peak.  When we were there, there was a herd of elk closeby.  They can host in the neighborhood of 20 people at a time.  I would love to someday be able to minister to people, especially spiritually, through a place like that. 

Before I introduce the second person, let me give you a little more background information.  I have always had a love for dogs, especially working dogs.  My favorite books as a boy were those written by Jim Kjelgaard.  I also enjoyed The Call of the Wild and White Fang.  My favorite movie of all time, though, is Iron Will.  I have had a deep down fantasy of mushing a team of sled dogs.  Now, maybe you’ll understand my excitement in meeting the second person I’m talking about.  His name is Kurt Reich with Black Diamond Sled Dogs of Colorado.  When I was at the conference this past weekend, I was outside and heard what sounded like a wolf or coyote pack.  I asked Gary’s wife if one of their neighbors raised dogs or if I was really hearing wolves or coyotes.  She told me about Kurt and that he is training for the 2009 Iditarod.  My eyes probably bugged out of my head, and I asked if I could meet him.  I had the privilege of meeting him, seeing his dogs and getting to hear about what he does, including his dream to race in the Iditarod.  I was totally impressed with him as a person and in how he was taking care of his animals.  He wants to race to raise money for charities, especially those that help children!  Now, that’s what I call having a greater purpose that extends beyond oneself!  Of course, even with this dream and the sacrifice it will take, being a father is number one, and I admire him for that!

Now, I don’t know where all of this is going, but it did my heart some good to be around these guys.  They both have incredible dreams.  They are living an adventure!  They are both stepping out in great faith.  Neither one of these guys are like the boat sitting in the harbor that I talked about in an earlier blog – they are like the ship at sea.  Neither knows where the money will come from, but they believe it will be there when they need it.  They are both praying for God’s provision.  If you are interested in knowing more, you can find links to their websites here on my blogsite. 

Why did God have me meet two guys who are living out my dreams?  Maybe so I can be a part of it through prayer.  Maybe for other reasons.  I’m just excited to see what God is going to do.  I will be praying for these two guys, and I encourage you to, too.  May God give you a dream bigger than yourself that will bring Him glory and will draw you closer to Him!

Back from Colorado

I feel so incredibly refreshed after being in the mountains for three days.  We had a great conference, and I will share what I learned over the next few days and weeks because it is more than I can put into one entry.  I was able to spend some great time with God, and my wife and I had some much needed time away from the kids and the busyness of normal everyday life.  Although, it was a leadership summit, I turned it into a time of retreat, as well.  There is nothing like fresh mountain air to clear the mind and free the heart!  Some of my best “listening times” have been in the mountains, and this time was no different.  Be watching for future entries!