He hears our prayers...all of them.

1 Thessalonians 5:17             "Pray without ceasing"

If I was sitting in a room with all of you who will ever read this I would love to ask for a show of hands for who feels like they pray enough. Without a doubt no one would, or very few would, raise their hand. I would be right there with you all.

Ever since I was a little kid, I felt like I was always such a bad person because I did not have a big huge prayer list that I would spend an hour or more a day kneeling with folded hands, eyes closed, bowing in prayer. I thought there must be some special level of Christianity where this would finally happen for me. I waited patiently for the day when I would find myself in this place. It never came, so I waited some more, then more.

Because of my desire to have communication with Jesus who saved me and a longing to know him more I would just talk to him in my head like he was right there with me. As the years went by I would talk about my struggles of the day, I would praise him for something awesome I saw or experienced, I would ask him to take care of or be with someone I loved and cared about. I often would voice frustration with him, feeling like he was too far away, why he never talked back, why he allowed hard things to happen to me or others I cared about. I would pour out my life guts to God every day many times a day about everything.

I had been married for a year or so and my wife said to me that she wished that she could pray like me. This was strange to me because all my life I had been hoping for the same thing, more of a prayer life. She said that she was amazed by how I had prayed for her before we even met each other and how I had prayed for buddies of mine who had addictions and God had changed their lives. She went on and I sat and felt like I did not do some amazing thing, I simply talked to my savior and friend about things that mattered a lot to me and I guess I did it a lot. I finally saw that God had wanted all along to have communication with me and to see me cry out to him about all things. I got to know him in those times. It all became very real to me. I saw that there is no secret formula or some great moment of maturity for me. I simply had a relationship with God.

If I never talked to my wife or if the only time I did was with the lights dimmed and candles lit and me smelling all clean and stuff, oh boy I would have trouble in my marriage.  We all know, or should know, that a real relationship with good communication is spontaneous, often, and come as you are. God desires the same kind of thing. Just talk to him. He hears, listens and it does not go in one ear and out the other. Prayer is powerful and can change lives.

Just talk to him, he listens, and unlike everyone in our culture, he will not cut you off and spout his opinions on everything and correct you before you are done. His answer may not be in your time but it will always be in his. After all he gave a whole lot more for us than we ever did for him so it is obvious he cares, he wants that communication and he wants it always. Give it a try.  You don't have to pray out loud or in public. God said to pray with the windows closed so that no one will know you are doing it so as to not seem self righteous.

If you ever had the pleasure of knowing my mother and have been around her much you will most often hear her uttering words to her Lord. As long as I can remember she has prayed without ceasing, and she must have rubbed off on me. Thanks, Mom, for your influence. May God be the glory in our lives and may we give praise where praise is due and pray without ceasing.

Farther up the Path

 It has been some time since I put down any thoughts on here and for that I apologize. I needed to spend some time reflecting on what I was really doing this for. What was my root reasoning for pouring out myself for the world to read? I wanted to make sure it was not for selfish gain or that my heart wanted to hear the praises of the world. I needed to set my course, find a bearing point and head for it, straight and true.

This last year was a bustle of new blessings and challenges but in both came the shaping and molding of a life devoted to following Christ. We smile at the moments of joy and new life and we groan and mourn during the times of loss and death, yet in both comes the peace and rest only found in Christ.

One of my favorite singer/songwriters is Josh Garrels and he has a song called Farther Along. In the song there is a line that says "I fall but get back up from the joy that overflows my cup." What a simple but smack on way to explain a life following Christ. We strive to live in a way that honors God but we are not perfect and we all fail. We fall flat on our faces and yet when we are down we feel this drawing to rise again. Often times I have questioned why we get back up. It cannot be of our own strength, but yes it is being drawn up by the indescribable hope and joy we find in our Savior. I rise because I cannot live without Him. I will not wallow in my failures because I am reminded that he paid the price and only when I live in the forgiveness he gave is his death justified. He new we would fail and he wanted to be the savior, He wanted to be our hero that we cannot live without. This is my life! I am a professional face-planter, an all-american digger-taker, an epic fail. Yet the farther along I go, through the mud and blood on my face from it all, you will see a smile because of the Joy that overflows my cup.

To God be the Glory, Forever!

Here is a link to the song "Farther Along"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1wy6MGoG7Y&feature=related

Romans 8:31-39

English Standard Version (ESV)

God's Everlasting Love

 ³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be^[a] against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.^{[b] 35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,    “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
   we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These days . . . gathering Words

There are times when… silence is wiser than speech.

We should be better … if we were more alone, waiting upon God.

And gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service.

We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. . . .

Why is it that some… make but slow advances in the divine life?

Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word.

They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it.

From such folly deliver us, O Lord. . . .”

~ Charles Spurgeon

These days, I watch Ben read, and read, and read.

These days, I watch Ben pray, and pray, and pray.

These days, Ben has reserves of grace born of the Word

that he shares with me and those around him.

He has been silent here in this space,

but he has been meditating, gathering, drinking . . .

and out of the overflow of the heart,

his mouth speaks

Words of Life

into our kiddos

and me

and the men who work for and with him.

Gather some Words of Life

and speak them into someone -

one of the someones God has put into your care

or onto your path today.

In so doing,

you will not only bless your hearer

but you, too will be blessed.

~Elizabeth

The oasis in the Fire

The past two weeks have been some of the most mentally taxing weeks I can remember having in a long time. Combine a bad economy, hard hit housing market, people concerned about their money and tight banks and you make my job very very hard. I have decided that instead of lamenting the difficulties and wallowing in the hardship that I would instead find the oasis of God's peace and bask in that place.

Back when I was a firefighter I worked on a large fire in the Payette National forest in Idaho. I was brought out there to work as a sawyer (chainsaw operator) constructing helicopter pads high in the mountains for long line drops and personnel shuttling. It was a very large fire that while I was on it was surpassing the 65,000 acre size and had near 1,000 firefighters on it. You can imagine the logistics of getting people, gear, food and water up into the mountains to sustain fire operations. The days were filled with high stress and exhaustion. Fire activity was very strong and unpredictable which made for many near escapes and high intensity days of work.

I had been working for 14 days straight which is the cut off mark for a required RNR day before they can put you back to work. I was very much looking forward to a day of letting all my senses rest and being at peace. I was approached by one of the fire's division supervisors and asked if I would be willing to travel up the Salmon River ahead of the fire and meet up with some US army soldiers who I was to use to defend a pear orchard that had some historical significance. If you are a wildland firefighter from Minnesota and you are out west you automatically get the label of water handling specialist because we have much more natural water to utilize and train with than the western states. I was the specialist that was supposed to take a bunch of army soldiers who had never seen fire before and hold a position at the head of the fire and protect an orchard. Adventure, risk, and you never say no on a fire. My day of RNR was spent riding a jet boat up the Salmon River gorge en route to the orchard. Much of the ride was through burned parts of the fire inside the fire's perimeter. It was smokey and uncomfortable with the swarming wasps and hornets displaced and bothered by the fire. 

During the ride I was trying to clear my head and prepare myself for my coming mission. I was overwhelmed, tired, and simply shot. I had seen noting but black ash for two weeks, I had blisters on my feet that reached the bone and I had very little left in me. As we rounded a bend in the river after an hour of boat time or so we came upon a green lush corner of the river with water mist flying all through the air and many small buildings strewn about. We stopped and tied the boat off. Unknown to me, part of the plan was to stop here and give us some time of rest. It was a small time-share resort still fully green from sprinklers running around the clock to keep it safe. Everything was lush and alive and we were served a gourmet meal and served fresh fruit off platters at the river docks. I was completely convinced I was in a dream so much that I forgot to take a single picture of the place. It is forever stamped in my memories as an oasis, a place of rest and safety. We enjoyed our afternoon there and that evening continued on to the orchard.

As I reflect back on that experience and the impression it left on me I am brought back to my current place and the continued struggles of life and how we long for times of rest and reprieve from the stresses of life. God always provides an oasis from those things and that is His favorite place to meet us. We are worn tired and have nohting to give and He comes in and can give peace in storms, rest in trouble, joy in hardship; but in order for this to happen we need to be willing to be in the moment. If we are constantly striving to make our lives better for ourselves and remove all hardship we will never find peace and rest because it is just life. Life is not easy and we all have our own struggles and stresses and if we think they will someday go away, we will be waiting a long time. We need to find refuge or our oasis in Him.

In Psalm 91 it talks just of what I am referring to. It does not promise that we will be free from trouble, it says that He will be our refuge and our fortress. Why would we need a fortress if there were never going to be attacks?

I am going to focus on the oasis in these times and not just call for the rescue boat and hold on. If we find it we can live in peace and joy in this thing called life and that is where God wants to meed us.

To God be the Glory.

Psalm 91

 ¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.² I will say of the LORD,

“He is my refuge and my fortress,

   my God, in whom I trust.”

 ³ Surely he will save you

   from the fowler’s snare

   and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,

   and under his wings you will find refuge;

   his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,

   nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

   nor the plague that destroys at midday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,

   ten thousand at your right hand,

   but it will not come near you.

⁸ You will only observe with your eyes

   and see the punishment of the wicked.

 ⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”

   and you make the Most High your dwelling,

¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,

   no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you

   to guard you in all your ways;

¹² they will lift you up in their hands,

   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

   you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

 ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;

   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;

   I will be with him in trouble,

   I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him

   and show him my salvation.”

To Be A Parent

 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.   

Proverbs 22:6

I have been feeling insignificant lately when it comes to ministry and being involved in a church, Bible study, leading a group or something of that nature. We have been unplugged from a ministry setting since last July and recently I have felt like I was needing to be involved in some giving kind of program or something.

The last four churches we were members at we had some kind of program or something that we gave much time to lead. It was just what we did when we got involved in a church. Constantly going to programs and services and studies and and and and.... Oh and where were my kids during all of this? Don't worry about them, they are fine. They go to Sunday school and Wednesday night kids' programs and they have Christian baby sitters and more sitters and we make it a priority to sit down at dinner time a couple times a week to spend some quality time with our kids. God will take care of them.

Has anyone else seen the massive decline of morals and standards in our culture? I hope so. Movies, music, advertising, technology, fashion, glorification of athletes, singers, actors, political figures. It's rancid! I am only 31 and I cannot believe the decline since I was a teenager and I think of my kids and what they are going to have to face in our world, and I am sorry, but same old same old will not work in this generation of raising kids.

The priorities in my life are first my relationship with God, then my relationship with my wife and then raising my kids. As much as it would puff me up in the Christian world to be leading missions or study groups or youth groups whatever else, it would be out of order to put more time into those things than my children. I don't care what you try and tell me about how God will take care of your kids while you go off and get your scout badges in church involvement and job involvement and community involvement. GOD GAVE ME THESE KIDS TO RAISE UP IN HIM AND TEACH THEM HIS WAYS! An hour or two each day does not cut it. Playing video games with my son does not cut it. Getting my daughter in every activity that all her friends are doing does not cut it. I need to spend time with them.

I will even go beyond church involvement and step into my work life and social life. Work cannot come before my kids. Time with my friends cannot come before my kids. My hobbies cannot come before my kids. It is simply God, wife, kids and all else falls behind them.

I have to fight to make this happen in my life and it is not easy. Everything in our culture takes away time from raising kids. Sometimes it feels like we are just holding on to eat, sleep, and be quiet in public. When we allow ourselves to put other things before our children we completely loose sight of what we are suppose to do with the little time we have with them.

I was thinking the other day about standing before God and what it would be like if I had a whole list of great things I had accomplished in my life like leading others to him, service in the church, successful businessman, missions, BUT my kids are lost. My kids conformed to the wold because they were influenced by the education system and their peers and culture. I did my best though Lord. The one thing God gave me to be responsible for other than my wife and I let it go. Why? I was too busy.

When people find out how little my kids are involved in their age appropriate social groups and activities they always tell my wife and I, "oh they need that social interaction so they will be able to be a contributing part of society" PISH POSH. Are you kidding me? My six and seven year old just yesterday while we were at a state park made me stop at the ranger station while leaving so they could go in and thank the ranger for taking such good care of the park and to tell him about all we had seen and done. How many teenagers that you know would have wanted to go and do that. NONE!

It takes sacrifice, a lot of sacrifice, to raise Godly kids in this world. I have come to the conclusion that the next twelve years of my life are going to be given to my kids and my wife. They need it, they need a lot of time in learning about Scripture, God, how to be a person of character, how to communicate not using txt msg. It is going to take effort and commitment to continue to use every opportunity I can to spend time with them. Becoming close to them and loving them. I believe you need to be a father and a friend to your kids and you can be both. Kids see through better than we give them credit for all the excuses we give them for all our time at work and other things that we put before them. Then we expect that they will honor us just because we eat dinner with them and give them spankings. They see what is important to us. I found out when my wife did a random survey for her blog a couple years ago and asked my kids what dad did the most and they said work. I have changed that.

It takes allot of our time to raise Godly children that will stand up for God in this world. Let's not be overcome with culture and the distractions of this world so that we leave our children to fend for themselves. God is persistent with us and He has given some of us a huge responsibility to raise up these kids in Him. We should examine our lives and see how much we are giving or not giving to our kids. I want to love the next twelve years with my kids.  I have realized that our kids can be testimonies of our love for the Lord and our faithfulness to him just as well as we can ourselves. I want my kids to be a blessing to others and to grow up to love and fear the Lord and I want them to learn what it takes to raise a family and be someone who makes a difference in the world. I want God to be glorified in my kids and to smile down on them. In the end, may my bones be worn but my spirit be strong from the time spent raising my children. To God be the Glory.

Living in His Shalom

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

I work every day in an environment of stress and pressure. I am a contractor and along with that job comes enormous pressure and difficulty. It is clear to me why it is so. I build homes for people who have saved and dreamed their whole lives for this pinnacle of the American life, and when it comes down to getting it done and making is happen in a way that fits their dreams it can be a mountainous task. 

I learned early on in my career that when you become a contractor it is not just about how well you can build something, and actually that is the small part which is overwhelmed by the customer relations aspect of the job. Our company takes great care to have good interaction and relationships with our customers throughout the project. The jobs last several months and you get to know people well and spend much time with them. Because of the large investment involved for the customers and money being the root of all evil, that is commonly the issue during many jobs. 

This is where the stress comes in. I have to coordinate many employees, sub-contractors, distributors, bankers, real estate agents, inspectors and of course the weather to make a smooth running machine that puts this whole thing together. On top of that usually the customers marriage gets significantly stressed during the process which is also usually my problem to deal with. Needless to say sometimes I have sleepless nights feeling stressed about my work situation and in general my life seems not so peaceful. 

In the opening verse from John14:27 Jesus says He will leave His peace with us and give us His peace but not as the world gives to us.  What does this mean not as the world gives to us? The world wants to tell us that peace is found in finances and man made securities. Jesus is telling us just the opposite. He will give us His peace for all situations so we are not to be troubled or afraid. He would not have added the troubled or afraid if it just meant all nice cars and money. It was a comfort during times of trouble or fear. In spite of what of lot of preachers are teaching, God did not promise lots of stuff. He promised lots of peace. The Bible is full of passages about His peace. That is the blessing of a life in Christ, His new shalom. 

 I have grown to find great rest in anticipating God's peace or "shalom" every day. It has given me a way of just letting God handle things and knowing that He is in control. Just the other day I was up almost all night and I was fighting anxiety with a project I am working on with a "high risk" customer. I was playing bad scenarios over and over in my head. I was getting so worked up until I remembered what my mom taught me about being up at night-"if God is keeping you from sleeping, it means He wants to spend time with you." So I decided to pray every time I was jerked awake with a stressful thought. God and I had quite the chat that night. By the end of the night I was wishing God could just come down and I would make some popcorn and we could play a game of Settlers and chill out together. It was constant! I ended just saying "God please give me peace tomorrow" over and over until I fell asleep. 

The next day I was given God's peace in an awesome way and had a great day. He cares so much about us and he wants to commune with us and be a blessing to us in our lives. I love God's shalom and living with knowing that, no matter what, this world is all His and I am here for the ride. Think of what great examples of God's grace and glory we can be when we surrender our worries on Him and live in His peace. He promises He will give it and He does. Ask for it, seek it out and face your stresses and pressures each day living in the new shalom, and the Glory will be to God.

Prepare to be ridiculed

Romans 1:16

"I am not ashamed of the the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes"

It is the weekend and you are out to dinner with an aquaintence that you are just getting to know and things are going smooth. The conversation is enjoyable and you are thinking this is just how you were hoping to finish out the week. It is a packed house and lots of background noise yet you can hear much of what surrounding guests are conversing about. Your dinner guest makes a demeaning comment about God or those "religious people" and instead of blowing a fog horn on the evening you give it a light laugh and continue on. 

It is the first week on the job and you are feeling out the "pecking order" amongst the crew. Everyone is putting their preferred foot forward and you don't want to single yourself out. During break someone makes a comment about the the guy that just quit and how he was a "Bible thumper" and everyone laughs in pleasure of having him gone from the crew. You smile and laugh with the rest because you need this job.

Why is it so hard to stand up for the God who has redeemed our lives and who gave His Son so that we could live free from the punishment we deserve? What cowards we are. I know I have been in many of these scenarios in my life and more times than not I have been the coward. Most often I later regret it and feel guilty that I did not even utter a word about how God has SAVED me.

Before Christ's arrest and death He told Peter that he would deny Him three times. Peter forcefully said he would never do such a thing, yet when the time came he did forsake the Jesus he walked on water with and was with in person. Peter saw the miracles and he knew that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet when the time came he was fearful of the outcome for his own life and he disowned his savior and friend.

In the past few years I have been embracing the promise of Scriptures that we will endure ridicule and persecution for our love for the Lord. 

John 15:20-25

^"Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.'

This is just one example of many where we are told that the world will hate us for our love for Him. As I have read more about this and reflected upon it I have found myself anticipating it and when it comes up it does not catch me off guard and I have responded diffrently. I have seen that God will give me situations where He wants me to stand up for Him no matter what anyone will think or say. I think Jesus gave us this warning so that we could get ready and have it on our minds that our purpose is for something different than most people can see or understand. If God wants to use me and like Paul I can "rejoice in sharing in His sufferings" than I want to be ready and not ashamed to share the truth when I have an opportunity.

 Kids have no inhibitions about what others will think of them. My two kids will share how much they love God with anyone. They have no concept of what the fear of feeling rejected is about. If someone doesn't agree with them they have compassion on them and tell us later that they hope that person will know Jesus some day. We all need to have this same idea of "it doesn't matter what other people think of me. I love Jesus and I don't care if they think I am strange or stupid for it." Jesus has renewed my life and given me more than I even remotely deserve and He keeps on giving and giving. 

I LOVE JESUS. He is my savior, my father, my friend and I need to be ready to stand up and take the riducule and the jeering. We all should be ready, and if you don't think you are, you need to think about it and ready yourself. He has given everything for you and all your muck. Prepare yourself to give Him something. Prepare to be ridiculed. Ridiculed for the Glory of God.