“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.” – 3 John 2-3

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It’s once again Open Enrollment time for enrolling in a Health Plan. During this time I assist people in choosing the best Health plan option for them.

While in the public work settings I do not openly proselytize. I do not hide my faith but I am discreet, looking for God’s leading. (Perhaps a little too “discreet”?)

Recently, I was serving as a broker in an Enrollment Site located in a town library. There were three Enrollment Specialist employees manning the site. They work with the customers to complete their application before sending them to me to select a plan. The three employees obviously had worked together for some time and I could tell they were supportive friends.

When I first walked into the site I heard some beautiful and familiar music playing. I thought it was piped in from the Library but then realized it was coming from the woman named, Sandy’s phone. It was worship music from a popular Christian artist I had just been listening to in my car. I declared, “I love this song.” With that our familial connection in Christ was established.

Early in the enrollment period there is some down-time and it became clear to me that Sandy was taking time to share her faith with Justine. Justine is a young, single Mom to a young boy. She had to break family ties with her dysfunctional and abusive parents – now on her own and struggling to make ends meet. Sam was boldly and openly sharing her faith with some intimate details. I have to admit it was awkward for me. It seemed forced and uninvited – an imposition.

Still, I tried not to judge and prayed that God would use it and occasionally I jumped in to comment in support of the Gospel message Sandy was sharing.

As the 2 ladies were talking I heard Justine share that she did not know how she would even have the money to buy her son a gift for Christmas. The light went on in my head. I had purchased a gift for someone’ s child last Christmas. I thought the child was a boy and bought a robot toy. It turned out that the child was a girl so I had to get something else. (Forgive me for my politically incorrect use of pronouns) The robot sat in my garage for this past year collecting dust. I was planning to bring it to my church this Christmas for a wonderful inner-city youth ministry that gathers Christmas gifts for the parents to give to their kids.

But, now I knew who it was for. The next time I came into the site I brought the gift. At the end of the day I asked Justine to come outside with me to my car. She immediately thought she had done something wrong. I assured her that I just had something to give to her. She came out and I gave it to her. She was so excited. I said a quick prayer and told her that God loves her and has even greater gifts in store for her and her son.

Justine walked away beaming as I drove off. Later, I was stunned to hear that this was the first gift her 3-year-old son will have ever received. Little did I know that this was one of a sequence of events that God was revealing His love to Justine in support of the Gospel message that Sandy had been sharing.

The Greatest Gift

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He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. – Daniel 3:25

I recently attended our church annual Men’s Retreat. Over the past 36 years I have only missed a handful. For me, each year is different but it’s only because God presents Himself differently every year. In other words; God shows up each year in unique ways to powerfully impact the unique needs and desires of the men who show up.

I’ve mentioned my friend Pete who has been leading our Saturday morning men’s prayer group. For years we have prayed for each other’s family and the particular issues that our kids have been dealing with.

Now, several decades later, I find myself at Men’s Weekend in a breakout session with a group of guys (Dave D, Keith, Tim, Terry, Stephen, Albert, me & Andrew). Andrew just happens to be Pete’s son who we have been praying for for decades.

Also in the group was Albert, Andrew’s boss and spiritual mentor who had driven Andrew up to Men’s Weekend. All along Albert was praying that God would do something powerful in Andrew’s life.

As we circled together on the lake shore and shared some of our struggles, Andrew made a bold admission, “Just yesterday I had a needle hanging out of my arm. I’m struggling with drug addiction and I want it to be done.” We came around Andrew and prayed and poured God’s love into him. As we were praying an image came into my mind.

Taking the Plunge:

I saw Andrew step up to the water’s edge. He was fully clothed but with his body hot from fire within. He was reluctant but drawn to wade into the water. He took a few steps in and the water filled his shoes. The cool liquid refreshed his feet. It beckoned him to go in further. Slowly, he walked into the long shallow shore until he was hip deep. Would he go in further and get completely soaked? He knew he needed to take the plunge. He flopped into the water and felt the coolness cascade over his body, sizzling as it put out the fire.

I shared this with the group as part of our prayer. It occurred to me that this image may be something that God wanted Andrew to actually do. I offered, “Hey, Andrew, Jesus did some crazy things as a part of healing people. I know it is a cold Fall day in New Hampshire but what do you say we go walk into the lake and take the plunge? Let’s do it now! I’m in if you are.”

I learned later from Albert that God had prepared Andrew for a growing sense of God’s reality. Very early that morning many of the men had gathered on the same beach for prayer. Andrew was there but he was experiencing a deep throbbing pain in his back. The group prayed all together and then broke into smaller groups to pray for one another. Andrew testified that as they were praying, his back pain vanished. God was showing up to Andrew in a very tangible way.

Now, as I asked Andrew to walk into the water with me, he hesitated. But, there was something in his look that said, I want to do this. The problem was simple – he hadn’t brought a change of clothes. However, he did have a pair of shorts. I said, “Let’s go get changed and I’ll meet you back here in 10 minutes.” He agreed. Terry, one of the guys from our breakout group joined us. Albert and Pastor Dan who has also invested years in praying for Andrew said they were going in – fully clothed.

We lined up with Andrew in the center and slowly marched in. Just like the image, it was a long gentle slope so it took a while to get to hip-deep water. We turned around facing the crowd that had gathered on the shore.

We prayed for Andrew and we told him that God wanted to bring new life and refreshment to him so let this cold water put out the drug-induced fire and let the refreshment from God bring healing to his body and soul.

How do you put out the fire? By taking the plunge into God’s living water.

The five of us counted off to 3 and then fell back into the water. I was expecting my system to go into shock. It was cold but what I felt was refreshment sweeping over me. We all came up with arms raised and the guys cheering from the beach. I looked over at Andrew and he didn’t stop. He kept getting up and flopping back into the water. He wanted more – more of the physical, emotional and spiritual refreshment that this plunge was offering.

We headed back into shore and Andrew was pumped up. As we were drying off on the shore I asked Andrew if he was ready to take another plunge; to make a personal commitment to live for Jesus. I asked, “Have you ever done that before?”

He squinted and thought about it with a look that said, I’ve said some words to that affect but I’m not sure I really have. I looked at him, “If there is that much hesitation, it probably means that you have not.” He had to agree. I asked, “Do you want to do it now?” Still, he shook his head.

I said, “Andrew, this is why God has you up here in this place to make Himself real to you. While you’re here spend time treating God as if He is real and ask Him what He wants for you. God will keep showing up and you decide when you are ready. Any one of the guys here will be thrilled to pray that short, honest prayer of surrender with you.” He agreed to be open to the reality of God in this place.

I’ll be transparent, I spent the rest of the weekend with Albert praying for the opportunity to lead Andrew into God’s fulness of grace – chasing Andrew. What were God’s words He could give me or someone else to break through the final wall of resistance? Several of the guys were sharing with him what God had done in their lives. I know of at least one brother who shared the message of salvation and what Andrew needed to do. But, he decline.

It just seemed to me that in Andrew’s withdrawal-filled state that reciting the 4 spiritual laws and telling Andrew what he needed to do, or has to do, or must do (while all true) was not going to break through. What were the words from God that could trigger his heart to spark a desire to do it?

For the rest of our time, I felt like I was chasing Andrew all over the campground. I would see him and then go to stir up a conversation and he was gone. Yet, I still did not feel like God had provided the opening and His words.

The weekend speaker offered several opportunities for guys to make a commitment to follow Christ. A number of men responded. It’s always a glorious culmination of God moving throughout the weekend. But, on each occasion Andrew was not present.

For the speaker’s final message Andrew was there. The speaker shared about the figures from chapter 3 of the Book of Daniel – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being in the fire and Jesus being there with them. The weekend concluded with that tremendous worship song – There’s Another in the Fire.

At the end of the weekend’s agenda, Pastor Jeremy strongly urged the men not to run off but for the breakout groups to meet one last time. Yes! We gathered and decided to focus our prayer time on the guys “In the Fire”. One of the guys was going home – going into the fire – to a crumbling marriage and we prayed for him. The other guy was Andrew – right at the moment in the fire. We gathered around him one more time and prayed for God to do a new work in his life.

We concluded and the guys shared their phone #’s to stay in touch. They began saying their goodbyes before scattering to go home.

(BTW – This group has been faithfully texting and supporting each other since returning home. In fact we recently all celebrated as Stephen took “the ultimate plunge” and was baptized)

God’s setup was just too perfect for even me to miss. I pulled Andrew aside and said, “You’re in the fire.” I pointed out to the lake. “The refreshment God provided for you in the water was real. That’s what He wants to bring to your life. It’s now as simple as this; all God wants to do right now is to be in the fire with you. But, you’ve got to invite Him to join you and then let Him do what you cannot. In Psalm 139 the Psalmist writes, If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

“Here’s the deal. God is the eternal gentleman. He won’t impose himself on you. You have to invite him in. Do you want that? Are you ready?”

With certainty Andrew nodded, Yes. I called the guys back together and we all joined with Andrew as he prayed that short, sweet prayer of surrender.

It was Awesome and it was genuine and it was real!

Andrew came back home a changed man. He was sharing his new-found faith with everyone he could while chucking aside a lot of the darker things in His life. There is no doubt in my mind that Andrew is now eternally secure in Christ.

Thank you God for your plans, for your words, for your ways and for your loving pursuit of us!

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“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28

Considering what horrible experiences many humans have to endure in their lifetime, I have lived a life relatively free of major pain and suffering. Certainly, it has not been without my share of heartbrake, difficulty and anxiety but mostly in the context of a safe, rich and full suburban US existence.

Next to losing a brother to suicide, one of the most painful experiences I’ve had was losing a dear friend (more like family) in a traffic accident. Though this, I do not believe, was an accident. She was run down on a well-lit, wide-open stretch of rode in the early morning hours by either a drunken, careless driver or a sadistic sociopath who pointedly gunned their car at her destruction. The thought of it, even right now, brings a dark anger upon my soul.

Poor Cici was our beloved 2.5 pound Yorkie. Just about the cutest/smartest little dog on the planet. I did not grow up with dogs but they came with my marriage to Eleni. None of our dogs over the years, however, drew out my affection like this one. She was special. But, while we were visiting my daughters’ family she disappeared.

From the guilt of negligently letting her somehow slip away, to finding her body crushed in the middle of the road, something inside of me broke. Why God? She was there, then she was gone.

Even now it sounds pathetic. The pain and depression was like nothing I had experienced before. I had to keep slapping myself to say this was not a child or a spouse or a friend or a relative or even another human being. It was just a dog.

What kept circling in my mind was Jack Nicholson’s character, Melvin Udall in the film, As Good As It Gets. Udall is forced to care for the neighbor’s dog for an extended period of time. Udall hated the dog. But, when the dog’s owner finally comes to take his dog back from Udall, the seemingly heartless and insensitive character begins to cry. Surprised by his rare emotional outburst, he chokes out, “Over a dog… over an ugly dog!”

When it happened, later that morning we had to face my 2-year-old granddaughter Stella to explain that Cici will never be back – she was there, then she was gone. It was heartbreaking. Ever since then both our Granddaughters include Cici in their prayers. We never encouraged it. They just started doing it.

The loss was particularly devastating to Eleni as Cici had become like another appendage, going everywhere she went. And, drawing crowds wherever she went. But, we chose to press in toward God and did not retreat. Still asking, “Why?” Yet, something lingered in my mind. Was this anything more than just a stupid consequence from living in a fallen world? Could God make something good from something that felt sooo bad?

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Now, 2+ years later we are back once more visiting our daughter and her family. We came to stay with the Grandkids while their parents went off on vacation. But, before the parents left we were blessed to be a part of our Granddaughters’ Dedication Ceremony at a special place called Family Church. A church not unlike our own wonderful home church. Seeing this body of believers come around our family, committing to support them in their Christian walk was awesome.

That evening, Eleni and I prayed with the kids as they were going to bed. Cici was again included in their prayers. We mentioned what a special event their Dedication was and that we hoped to see Cici again when we go to heaven. (Hey, it’s my hope and you’ll have to prove otherwise) I thought we were all done and left the room. But, Eleni stayed answering Stella’s questions about Cici and heaven.

The conversation led naturally for Eleni to pray a certain prayer with Stella. They both then marched downstairs to where I was sitting. Eleni asked her to tell me what she had just done. This precious little girl sweetly announced, “I prayed for Jesus to come into my heart.” I melted.

It took me back to the day we prayed the same prayer with Stella’s mom as a young girl. As Christians it is everything that we hope and pray for, for those we love – to enter into and enjoy a personal relationship with the living God.

Two + years ago, it was nearly impossible for me to think that any good could come from the random loss of that cherished little friend. How could I know that Cici’s life and death (a death not of God’s doing) would be used by God to trigger questions about life and death and eternity-with-God in a little girl’s heart leading to spiritual rebirth. Wow!

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 9 Jesus and the Disciples come upon a blind man and the Disciples ask a theological question – Jesus’ disciples asked, “Teacher, why was this man born blind? Was it because he or his parents sinned?”

I like the CEV translation best – “No, it wasn’t!” Jesus answered. “But because of his blindness, you will see God work a miracle for him.” John 9:2-3

In other words; Forget about what happened to make this man blind. Focus now on the goodness and power of God to restore this man.

For Cici, God was whispering in the midst of our pain, Don’t dwell on the evil in this world, but trust in my righteousness and power to make something good from it.

Thank you Jesus for your loving sacrifice to save our souls and for your masterful handiwork.

And, in memoriam I thank Cici for her sacrifice that God used to birth eternal life into our Stella.

For the love of Cici.

Until we meet again my little friend.

 

 

 

“In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:23–24

I’ve been on several Short-Term Missions trips with my church and have concluded that there are 3 reasons to go (Besides the overarching call of the Great Commission) 1. To love-on and share the Good News with the people of the region, 2. To encourage and support the Missionaries in the Field and 3. To experience God while stripped of our familiar and comfortable surroundings.

I’m not sure we put as much value to the 3rd reason as we should. If we desire to see God in fresh new ways this is powerful stuff. Why?

My theory is that in the US our spiritual lives struggle to break through the layers and layers of materialism, comforts, pressures and distractions – worldly stuff. When we go off to a 3rd world-like place with our focus on God’s Kingdom much of that is stripped away leaving the spiritual realm much closer to the surface. (Just my humble opinion)

This past January, my Brother-In-Christ, Albert joined a short-term missions trip from our church. The following is his story.

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Guest Blog Post by Albert Choi

I have been on a personal journey to learn about and to experience God’s power to heal and restore.  Coming from a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) academic discipline focus, it was something that challenged me on many levels. Recently, my friend Eric approached me in church and asked if I’d join him on a mission trip to visit his daughter, Becca serving in Nigeria. I prayed about it and called him back to say “yes.” On the phone he somewhat sheepishly replied, “I hope the fact that I won’t be going won’t change your mind.” Hmm? – the old “Bait and Switch.”

Our mission team would visit Missionary Peter Fretheim to explore and support the many wonderful ministries they have serving the Nigerian people. I knew relatively little about their ministries but had developed some expectations based on the anecdotal stories I had heard as well as Peter’s own description during a visit to our church.

Our team of a dozen arrived in Nigeria. The itinerary was filled with a Vacation Bible School, visits to a prison and a number of orphanages.

We were also blessed to be there for the arrival of the new bunkbeds provided through Becca’s efforts to answer God’s call to meet this basic need. Each experience was tremendous for different reasons, but due to time constraints, we were somewhat limited in how much time we could dedicate to each visit. I felt a growing desire to more directly minister to the Nigerian people.

The last day involved another quick visit – this time to a Women’s Health Clinic. We had perhaps 30 minutes at most to observe the work there and contribute as we saw fit. I’m a bit humbled to say that I wondered, “Why are we even bothering?” There was no real plan to do anything there and what could you do in 30 minutes anyway?

We arrived at the clinic and walked through. I was told that there were typically about 100 women receiving care, but today there were only about 20 women.  Our pastor asked one of us to share a devotion through our interpreter named, Patience. When our allotted time concluded, I sensed an urge to minister individually to these women so I asked the interpreter, Patience, “Do any of the women want us to pray for them now?”

She left to ask the women and returned to me and answered, “Yes.”

I was a little confused, “Yes, what? How many want prayer?”

She shrugged, “They all do.”

Oh! So, the team agreed to break up into small groups and each group pray for a few women.

I connected with a young, energetic teammate named Chris. We walked over to the first woman and asked what was wrong. She had a headache and stomach pain. We each prayed a short prayer for healing. I then asked how she felt. She smiled and said, “I feel better and the pain is gone.” We looked at each other and grinned. Cool!

We went to the next woman. She had bad knees. We held our hands over her knees and prayed short, simple prayers for God’s healing. When we were done, I asked her to do something she couldn’t do before we prayed. She then dropped down to kneel on the concrete floor and then jumped back up. She beamed, “I could not do that before.” She was healed.

Chris and I were excited – 2 for 2!

We went to the next woman. She had bad back pain. Something I had learned from prior experience was that bad back pain may be due to a difference in leg length – one shorter than the other. I asked her to extend her legs with her back against the wall. We looked and clearly one leg was about ½ inch shorter than the other. We closed our eyes and prayed commanding that the leg would grow like I had seen other ministries do numerous times before. When I opened my eyes, her legs were now identical length. The woman declared that her back pain was gone.

Amazing!  God was really rolling. Tears began streaming down my cheeks at the reality of God’s handiwork.

The last woman was a bit resistant, but she still wanted prayer from us – we learned that she is a Muslim. She had trouble with cloudy vision and pain around her eyes. We prayed in Jesus’ name and the pain began to subside, but her vision was still cloudy.  We prayed again and she then declared that the pain was gone but her eyesight was still cloudy. We left praying and trusting that God would finish the job. (When home a week later we heard from Becca that the woman’s sight had been completely restored.)

Chris and I were in a state of wonderful shock. This was new to the both of us. We had never experienced God responding so immediately and in such a rapid-fire way to our prayers for healing. Our faith had now become evidence for our belief.

We returned home from a fruitful trip, supporting amazing missionaries and their ministry and for me to observe first hand, the wonderful power of God.

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who expect and look and long for Him!” Isaiah 30:18

Follow-up to Albert’s story:

Months later I returned to Nigeria with a medical team that has been faithfully going to Nigeria for many years. The team was to perform hundreds of medical and dental procedures bringing hope and healing in Jesus’ name to many. Another tremendous ministry!

About 20 years ago, this ministry added a Prayer Tent that required every patient to receive spiritual counselling and prayer as a part of the overall medical treatment. The tent is manned by the pastor from the largest Evangelical church in Nigeria and prayer warriors that travel upwards of 3 hours to pray for patients.  I spent a fair amount of time in that tent and witnessed deliverance and miraculous healings. Hundreds were healed over the course of several days and three people actually raised from wheelchairs that they had occupied for years (including one pastor).

I spent some time with the pastor asking him about God’s miraculous power and sharing a little about seeing God do miracles back in America. He was surprised. I was confused. I asked, “What are you surprised about?”

He replied, “I have never heard about miracles happening there. I thought that this just does not happen in America.”

Now I was the one surprised! I smiled and assured him that God uses people and places in America to move in this way.

So, this past year I have been blessed and privileged to see and participate (in a brand new and exciting journey) with God working in many ways, in different ministries, in the same country, and yes, even in America.  Ministries that are being faithful to God’s calling of how he wants them to minister right where he has planted them.

Perhaps one of the lessons about God doing the miraculous I have learned is this:

God is the same everywhere – it has almost nothing to do with the “where” we find ourselves, rather, it has everything to do with trusting in the “who” – the one who gives us authority as His children.

I learned that God doesn’t need a fancy agenda or a half day in-depth game plan.  I think he just needs us to listen and to have confidence in what we hope for and have assurance in things we don’t yet see.

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I would say that Albert’s experience was summed up well by the writer of Romans who said,

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen,”

*** ANNOUNCEMENT ***

JUST RELEASED – my newest short novel (novelette) of Historical Fiction, entitled:

The Battle of Mohegan Bluffs.

It is an account pieced together from various historical sources chronicling the fight between the Block Island (Manissean) Indians and the invading Mohegans. This battle led to the naming of the Island’s famous bluffs located at the Southeast corner of the island.

This book is Part One in a series of novelettes depicting the major events that led to the eventual founding of Block Island, RI. Many believe that Block Island was the first true Democracy in America. These pioneer settlers sought to escape Puritan oppression to establish a loving Christian community that would allow each resident to freely worship God, or not, as their conscience led.

The events in this story predate European settlement but involves the native Indian’s universal struggles over good and evil and the fight for freedom. In an earlier post, I included a Lakota Indian prayer (Nice Country, America! – July 2, 2019) that highlights what many animist tribal people groups also attest to – the evidence around them that there is a Supreme Being who is active in their lives.

If you are a Block Island lover or just interested in early American history brought to life, you may enjoy this fast-paced read. An excerpt from the book is included below. The action takes place on Block Island (Known by the Indian natives as Manisses). It features an exchange between Asesakes, a young Manissean brave and Jacquantu, the tribe’s old sachem (chief).

Available for purchase on Amazon as an E-Book or in Paperback.

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“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” – Psalm 29:3-4

The Western Adventure continues:

Moving south from Big Sky Montana we headed to Idaho and Wyoming to visit the ‘Hope Diamond’ of National parks – the great Yellowstone. Secondarily, we would visit the adjacent Grand Teton Mountains.

In spite of all the information and maps available, I thought the RV Park we were scheduled to stay at in Eastern Idaho was most central to both National Parks. It wasn’t. We were a bit deflated when we realized that there was going to be a lot of backtracking and wasted time to get into Yellowstone.

Spending time in Yellowstone was supposed to be the crowning jewel and culmination of our National Park visits. What would we do? We rearrange our schedule. While in Idaho, we

took advantage of what was there and drove through the beautiful Mesa Falls scenic by-way and hiked through its magnificent upper and lower waterfalls. The next day, instead of tackling Yellowstone first we spent the day at The Grand Teton Mountains. I’m embarrassed to say that I knew little about the Tetons.

What can we say now of the Tetons? Jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, magnificent, stupendous and every other superlative that cannot begin to capture the majesty of ‘0nly God could come up with this’ phenomenon.

As we drove through and hiked different locations, every new angle revealed God’s glory even more majestically than the last. Later in the day we stopped for a picnic and a swim at Jenny Lake under the shadows of the hulking Tetons.

Driving out of the park we stopped at the log cabin ‘Chapel of the Transfiguration’ with its sanctuary looking out at the breathtaking Grand Teton. The chapel has continued to serve the surrounding community since the early 1900’s.

It was a truly fantastic day that concluded with Independence Day fireworks at the Jackson Hole Ski Mountain.

On To Yellowstone

The next day we had to tackle how we would best capture all of Yellowstone – covering a landmass roughly the size of Rhode Island in 2 days. We decided that the first day we would drive back north 2 hours to enter through the town of West Yellowstone, spend the day covering as much as we could in the park and then see if we could find an available hotel room in jam-packed West Yellowstone. Miraculously we did.

That first day we entered into the massive park and had to decide which way to go. We said a little prayer and headed south. The first thing we did was drive into a little one-way road and then took a short hike to the location known as Virginia Cascades.

The Miracle at the Cascades

The Cascade is over 60 feet of loping, gently descending waterfall on the Gibbon River. It creates a small gorge that cuts through a heavy woodland. The sun was shimmering on the bubbling water. It was so peaceful and serene that we sat and enjoyed the surrounding in spite of my impulse to move quickly to capture as much of the park as possible.

Then the Miracle Happened.

As you might know by the very purpose of this blog that I’m a believer in a living God that desires to be active and interactive in our lives. A God that shows up to the point of doing things beyond our imagination. Personally, I don’t like to overuse or exploit every natural occurrence as a miracle but I’m starting to consider if I should more often.

I don’t expect that anyone else might see this as a miracle but as we lingered, the name of the location circled in my mind – Virginia Cascades. Hmm, Virginia?

I turned to Eleni and asked, “What day is it?” She checked her phone. It was July 6th. I followed up,”When is our neighbor, Virginia due to be induced into labor?”

Eleni jumped up and shouted, “Oh my gosh! Today!”

We lifted up a prayer for our neighbors. Eleni took a video of the waterfall and we sent it with a text to let them know where we were and that we were praying for them.

Why do I consider this a miracle?

If you are familiar with my previous posts then you may remember my post back on January 15 entitled, Laying hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold OF me. It was about these same neighbors who had experienced the tragedy of an intra-uterine fetal death with their first child – delivering their baby who had died the day before in the womb.

In spite of that traumatic experience, God was gracious enough and they were courageous enough to almost immediately get pregnant again.

Before we left on the trip, they gave us the date when they would be induced – July 6th. We were so focussed on our trip schedule that the date had slipped by us. What did God do? He frustrated us into changing our schedule so on that morning we would be in this relatively obscure location in this massive park. The place called Virginia Cascades.

God knew what was on our hearts even while being so self-absorbed, managing our tight schedule and totally focused on our time and resources in the midst of enjoying God’s creation. He broke through to faithfully create the opportunity for us to remember.

We spent the rest of the day traveling through Yellowstone praying for our neighbors and checking in as the time clicked by. Given their previous experience we prayed that God would be generous and faithful to His word. Please God, not another disappointment.

Enjoying the Great Yellowstone

For the 2 days we drove and hiked our way through Yellowstone enjoying sightings of Bear, Antelope, and herds of the massive Bison. The mountains, valleys, waterfalls and deep gorges were spectacular. ‘Old Faithful’ blew his stack for us highlighting the fact that most of Yellowstone is a volcanic cap where two thirds of the entire world’s geysers let off steam. If/when this volcano blows it will take out most of the Western United States. How’s that for a bit of sobering news? (Hearing that made me wonder if we shouldn’t move a little more quickly through Yellowstone?)

Thinking about that drew me to Psalm 29 referenced above where it says in verses 4-8 – ‘The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. . . The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;” If/when that cataclysmic event ever occurs it won’t be man-made. It won’t even be a ‘natural’ occurrence. It will be by the power of God’s voice.

Back to the Miracle of Virginia Cascades:

On that first day as we moved through the park we anxiously waited to hear back from our neighbors. It took a while. We prayed through our fear that it was indication of something wrong. Finally, we received word that a baby girl was born and that both mother and child were doing well.

Speaking of “Old Faithful”! How faithful and reliable is our God? Thank you God!

Psalm 29 continues in verse 9 to say that “the voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth”. It is the power of God’s voice that can make this all happen. Even while it shakes the foundations of the earth and “strips the forests bare” His power brings forth new life.

Psalm 29 concludes – “And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!” The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, And the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”

We pray for this strength, and blessings of peace for Fiona and her parents. The same blessings her older sister, Olivia now enjoys with our loving God in Heaven!

And in His temple (of which the Beauty of the Great Yellowstone and Majestic Tetons might just be a small sampling) where the Lord sits as King forever . . .

everyone says, “Glory!”

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From there we headed further south back through Wyoming to Colorado and to Rocky Mountain National Park. My Nephew’s wedding in Breckenridge awaited and we fully expected that this Cascade of adventures would continue.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” – John 1:50

Our Old West trip has continued with God’s blessings along the way. We have passed through Wyoming stopping to see the town of Lead, where the greatest amount of Gold has been mined in the US. The gold mining has long since stopped leaving a huge hole with the town hanging on the precipice.

From there traveling the byways cutting through amazing rock formations mountains and lush green plains it’s not hard to imagine Indian camps and settlers struggling over and through these impassable barriers.

In Montana visiting the Little Big Horn and being educated on Custer’s Last Stand. A story that drips with the raw brutality of the Old West and a testament to the downfall of man driven by ego and pride. Then a day spent exploring the Big Horn River and parklands.

Then on to Montana’s Big Sky territory and settling into a stay at a vintage western Dude Ranch. Hiking, fishing and horseback riding through the Montana mountains just north of Yellowstone Park. We were being transformed into Cowpokes.

While at the Dude Ranch, a family mentioned they were going back north to see the Livingston Roundup Rodeo going on from July 2^ndto the 4^th. It has a long and colorful history, dating back to the Roaring 20s. We thought, Why not get the full cowboy experience?

This would be our first rodeo!

It made me think back to the first time I heard a particular phrase. I was trying to explain something to someone who knew more about what I was explaining than I did. He cut me off saying, “This ain’t my first Rodeo!” In other words. I’ve been here before and I know all about it.

We drove up to Livingston not knowing exactly where we were headed and if there would even be any tickets available. It was opening night and it was cold and rainy. As we were driving up to the venue we prayed a little prayer for God’s favor and guidance.

We pulled up and asked the parking attendant if he thought there’d be any tickets and he rolled his eyes and shook his head. Still, we parked and just as we walked in totally overwhelmed by the unfamiliar attack on our senses, a young lady asked us if we wanted 2 tickets for the ticket price. The lord sent angel Kaitlyn with our tickets.

The skies cleared and we then sat down with her and her party. Kaitlyn included us and coached us through the whole evening of riding and roping. It was a hoot! Being July 2^nd the rodeo concluded with patriotic music and awesome fireworks. A fantastic old western, Independence Day experience!

While this was literally our first Rodeo, I thought of it in spiritual terms and it was just another (seemingly inconsequential) step in praying and trusting in God for the little things as well as the big things. God has kept showing up and providing all along for us this trip. With regards to expecting God to show up, this “Was not our first Rodeo!”

Jesus’ teaching regarding faith being like a mustard seed is that it’s about the DNA of something small growing into something very big. Trusting and believing in God for little things – God responding – and then believing in God for even greater things.

I believe that God would be totally blessed if when someone asks us to pray for some seemingly impossible thing that we would turn to them and say (perhaps in a cowboy drawl),

“Hey, this ain’t my first rodeo! I done seen it before and expect it agin!”

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Postscript:

Now, in Estes Park, Colorado. Once again their annual Rooftop Rodeo just happened to be in town during our stay. So, we attended our second rodeo last night. I went to the ticket counter and the gal asked me, “Is this your first rodeo?” What a perfect setup!

I had to smile, “No Ma’am, this ain’t my first rodeo!”

Next, we’re on to Idaho and back into Wyoming for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Go West Young Man (and Woman)!

“Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:10

My wife, Eleni, and I finally embarked on our long awaited RV adventure to America’s Old West. Trekking across Rout 84 to route 80 to Route 90 we landed in South Dakota. From there we will cover Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, before heading south to Colorado. We’ll be visiting all the National Parks and Memorials we can manage.

It’s not exactly what we envisioned. Instead of traveling in a spacious, all amenities, RV we are enjoying the road trailing our little 13 foot SCAMP. We call it Scglamping. Not a lot of room in this little baby. But, it’s cozy!

Now a week out and we have made our way through South Dakota and into Wyoming. We have seen the Black Hills/Needles, Badlands, Custer State Park, the incredible Mount Rushmore and the stupefying Devils Tower.

But, what I have been most awed by is what I consider to be one of the truly great sites and human endeavors – the in-progress mountain carving of Crazy Horse.

The project was started by the Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and continues as a family passion/mission. It is far from completion but if completed as designed, it would become the world’s second tallest statue, after the Statue of Unity in India.

Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. The sculpture is the memorial to the western Indian nations. In the museum the Native Americans danced and taught of their beautiful traditions.

(I will not take this occasion to judge the horifying brutality and inhumanity the US Government/Settlers or the Natives perpetrated on each other. At it’s core it is a testament to the degradation and sinfulness common to all men.)

2 powerful impressions from this monument:

Firstly, I was saddened to think of the attempts – many humble and Christlike, while many more brutal and oppressive to “win” the native people to Christ. Going back to the Puritans and even further back to the Spanish explorers, an expressed purpose for conquering/settling these new lands was to convert the natives to Christianity – their Christianity. Many of these oppressive attempts sought to obliterate the Indian culture and past.

Is it surprising that a desire would burn to recover their heritage and reject the western ‘culture’ of Christianity that was imposed upon them? However, not in all, but certainly in many tribes there was a knowledge of a supreme being.

As the writer of Romans indicates in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen,”

I was blessed to find this old Lakota prayer as confirmation of that truth in the museum gift shop. These people understood from the evidence around them that there is a Supreme Being who is active in their lives.

As is the inclination of many men, we get stuck looking to creation rather than beyond to the creator. Further in Romans 1:25 the author writes, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator”

It is a reminder to me that we as Christ-followers are charged to allow God’s truth and reality to be revealed through us – not imposed by our own strength, cleverness and connivery. This is a true path to lasting faith in Christ. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Secondly, the persistence, perseverance and fortitude of the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski is awe-inspiring. His willingness to engage in this effort so massive, that he had every reason to know from the start that he would never live to see it’s completion. When it is all said and done, many of his children might not see the project to it’s completion.

When Korczak died 7,400,000 tons of granite had already been removed from the mountain. In terms of volume, the entire project is the equivalent of moving a mountain. Jesus was recorded as saying in Matthew 17:20, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

I don’t know where Korczak’s faith lay, but he certainly understood something of the Character of Christ with His passion for honoring others in a work that was bigger than his lifetime on earth.

I wonder about my own willingness to step up to answer the call for some effort to honor and serve others that I may never enjoy seeing to it’s completion? Do I have the perspective of Moses, who never got to enjoy entering the earthly “Promised Land” but who now lives in eternity enjoying the Heavenly Promised Land?

Well, for now we continue enjoying this Promised Land. This vast landscape, with amazing God creations – some built by the hands of men and women – the good, the bad and the ugly. The rugged old West. What a history! As my good friend Dimitrios says in a thick Greek accent, “Nice country, America!”

God’s fingerprints are all over this land. Job declared in Job 12:7-10 to see God’s creation is to see God. “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”

As we can assuredly attest; God has truly Blessed this land called America!

Thank God for your freedom and independence this 4th of July.

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BTW – Thanks to Missionaries, Dan & Krista Brown for their infectious enthusiasm about visiting our National Parks. It inspired us to get the National Parks Pass and we’ve been wearing it out. Thanks Guys.

Flip to the Spiritual H.G.T.V. Channel and Hear God’s True Voice

 

In a daily devotional by Carter Conlon entitled GOD HAS NOT WRITTEN YOU OFF, the author writes:

“Remember, Christians do make mistakes. One such mistake is substituting human reasoning for divine counsel. When you and I pray, ideas will come into our hearts. However, we must remember that they are not always from God even though we are praying.”

My Buddy-in-Christ, Dave S used this teaching to challenge my personal conviction that God speaks to us when we pray. Knowing Dave S like I do, He was having a little fun, poking at me and saying, “What do you have to say about that, Tucker? You can’t trust what comes into your head! After all, Conlon is Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in NYC! Who are you?”

My initial response is, “Yeah, but he’s Canadian! Who trusts Canadians, Eh?”

My next response to Dave S is targeted to totally deflate him – “I completely agree!”

When Conlon says that while we pray ideas come into our “hearts” (I understand what he is saying but I choose to identify it as our “minds”) they may not always be from God. I’d say, from my experience, that more often what comes into my mind/heart is likely not from God. Even while I’m praying. What swirls in my mind is more likely what’s next on my schedule for the day, or feelings about current issues in my life, or what’s next on my prayer list, or what I’m going to have for breakfast, or a host of personal desires, hopes and plans that continue to pop into my head.

If we are looking for God to respond to our questions, concerns or wishes why should we trust that what we hear isn’t being polluted by our own desires?

Can we push aside our own desires, interests and imaginations to actually hear God speak the truth?

I don’t believe Conlon is saying that we can’t ever trust what comes into our minds is from God even while praying. If he is then I don’t agree. For myself, what I have come to understand is that there is a lot to overcome in order to hear God’s voice.

On the popular HGTV Channel there are a myriad of shows all about home reclamation, renovation and restoration. We enjoy watching how in 45 minutes’ time living spaces are completely transformed. It looks so easy. The truth is that it isn’t really that easy. As a part of connecting with God in true relationship for Him to do the reclamation, renovation and restoration work in our lives we need to hear His voice. But, it’s not that easy. Building a healthy relationship of any kind is not easy.

I don’t doubt there are some Christ-Followers who are uniquely skilled or adept or maybe even ‘gifted’ at hearing God’s voice. It comes almost ‘naturally’ to them. But, for most of us spiritual poor schleps, hearing God’s voice is ‘unnatural.’ It actually requires intentionally exercising things like desire, discipline, belief, humility and faith. If all those things sound like work – it is. it’s real exercise.

Growing as a Disciple of Christ requires exercise. As for hearing God’s voice, it only ceases to be work when you’re actually realizing you are hearing God’s voice – engaging with the living God!

For those who truly want to hear God’s voice you will likely have to exercise:

1. Desire to engage God more deeply
2. Dedicating time to quiet the world around you
3. Belief that God is big enough and real enough to be able to speak to you
4. Cleansing ourselves of sin and the selfish desires of our heart and
5. Faith that it is God, in fact, who is speaking while testing it with scripture

But wait. Still, how do we know it is God’s voice? Is it a certain sound or timber or accent? No, it’s simply thoughts that come into my mind forming into images and words. Rarely, have I heard an audible voice.

If you want to make sure what you are hearing is God’s voice the best test of all is to compare what you hear to God’s written word (The Bible) and most importantly compare it to the Character of Christ as detailed in the Bible. There are a number of key verses to rely upon but here are 2 I consider most foundational:

1. 1 Corinthians 14:3 – “But he who prophesies (to declare a thing known by divine revelation) speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.” Under the New Covenant, God’s voice is about building us up, encouraging us to move out and assuring us that He is with us. (Anything that sounds like condemnation and judgement is not from God)
2. Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” God cannot fail to live up to the standard He sets for us.

If what someone hears does not line up with both of those scriptures then best to throw it out.

Can we ever absolutely KNOW that what comes into our mind is from God?

After we have put ourselves in a quiet place, acknowledged our own desires and feelings, cleared away the obstacle of admitted sin and received His forgiveness, resolved to only hear what God has to say, trusting that what you are going to hear is from God & tested by scripture, and then finally, by faith, accept what you are hearing is actually God speaking – can we then Know with certainty what we are hearing is from God?

By its very definition, that last part of exorcising faith means that we don’t “Know” with absolute certainty that it is God’s words we are hearing. God requires that we act on faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Can we ever KNOW? Of course. We know when, in faith, we act on what God has spoken and it bears out to be Good, Righteous and True. Furthermore, in my humble opinion, the more you exercise this communication activity, the more you grow in your ability to hear God more clearly and more often. As with most exercise, things that were difficult become less “work”.

What if we fail to hear God correctly?

Oh no! I listened and humbly shared with someone else what I believed I heard from God. But, I got it wrong!!! How terrible? Let me just crawl up into the fetal position and suck my thumb!

I have to tell myself to, Get over it! Making mistakes is part of any growth cycle.

Even when we practice the process I outlined above, can we still get it wrong? Absolutely! If we are honest about all this then we have to humbly acknowledge that we are flawed human beings with poor spiritual communication skills. Even when we are totally sincere we can get it wrong. But, getting it wrong or failing while acting with the heart of Christ still demonstrates to God and ourselves that we are willing to step out in faith. God will reward us even when we get it wrong. When we press on through our failures, God uses our failures to grow us even stronger in Him.

Hebrews 11:6 does not say that God is a rewarder of those who get it perfectly right all the time. It says, “that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

I know that there are many Christian leaders who are fearful about the idea of whole congregations of people running around claiming that they hear God’s voice resulting in all kinds of craziness.

Ultimately, we don’t trust people, we trust God. But, we can also trust that God speaks to those people who have proven to be trustworthy in exorcising genuine desire, discipline, belief, humility and faith when seeking to hear God’s voice.

Back to the words of Carter Conlon, “When you and I pray, ideas will come into our hearts. However, we must remember that they are not always from God even though we are praying.” We should not trust that everything that comes into our minds even while praying is from God. We trust God but should have very little trust in ourselves. It should always be tested.

However, if we choose to believe that God never really speaks to us for fear of getting it wrong – that we can’t trust God is speaking, then we risk being in a relationship with God that will never be as vibrant as God intended for it to be. Imagine the kind of relationship where one person never speaks and/or the other person never listens.

Jesus repeatedly cried out, “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear!” Give it a try. Tune in to the spiritual H.G.T.V. channel – God’s Reclamation, Renovation and Restoration Channel and Hear God’s True Voice.

“And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. . . And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:1,7-8

Recently our Pastor Steve preached an awesome sermon on Matthew 10:6-8 involving Jesus sending his disciples out and challenging them to freely give what they had received to those they minister to. The question is, What was it they were being freely given that they could then freely give?

Jesus had just led the disciples through a number of powerful healing experiences where He had exercised power to heal and restore. He then goes on to instruct the disciples to go out and freely give what they have been freely given.The premise was/is that there is a direct correlation between what Jesus had freely given to the Disciples that would then be freely given from them to those whom they minister to. That would be a pretty safe assumption to make when interpreting/deciphering these scriptures.

So, if you are looking for a one to one correlation, what was the “it” that was received to then be given?

Pastor noted that even as Jesus healed and restored, the disciples were not the recipients of that healing so that was not what they received to then be given. He taught that it was likely what Jesus healed the Disciples of, that they would in turn freely heal others from. For instance, Peter had anger issues, Jesus could freely forgive and heal Peter and Peter could then turn around and freely forgive/ heal others of their anger issues.

This is an awesome teaching point for Christ-Followers. What God has healed us of is likely the most powerful thing we could then reach out with understanding and compassion to heal others. This is a tremendous example of God’s ability to take that which was intended for evil to use for His good.

He Gave Them Power

Without taking ANYTHING away from the truth in that message, I would only include my belief that there is another possible direct correlation that could be made between what Jesus had freely given to the Disciples to be freely given to those whom they ministered.

When Jesus speaks of “Freely you have received” what might He be referring to? Looking back a few verses to Matthew 10:1 it says that Jesus gathered his disciples together and “He gave them power”. The Greek word here for gave is Didomi and it is the same word used when Jesus then tells his disciples to “freely give.”

So, what is it Jesus freely gave in order that his disciples could freely give to others? I would make the case that it could be “Power”. But, the word Jesus used here is not the power we most often think of in the Greek – Dunamis representing God’s enormous strength and awesome ability.

The word Jesus uses here is Exousia which more closely translates to Authority. Jesus was extending his “authority” as the Son of God to His disciples so that they would be empowered to preach and to heal.

Some of you who have been following my blog might say, “Wait a minute, Dave! In the past, you stated your opinion that while on Earth, Jesus had emptied himself of His Godly powers (Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence) and only was empowered by the Holy Spirit and led by the Father?”

That is truly what I believe.  But, my “opinion” is that even while emptying himself of his Godly powers, Jesus never gave up his authority.

Edward VIII became king of the England following the death of his father, George V, but ruled for less than a year. He abdicated the throne in order to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. By abdicating, Edward gave up all the power of the throne as well as his authority as King.

Jesus, came down to become a man, emptied himself of his Godly powers (Philippians 2:7) but did not abdicate his authority. Jesus was, is and will always be the Son of God and has always maintained his authority even while a man walking the earth.

• Matthew 7:29 – For he taught them as one having authority (exousia), and not as the scribes.
• John 17:2 – “For you granted him authority (exousia) over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
• Matthew 28:18 – Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority (exousia) in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

So, the stream of thought in Matthew 10 could be interpreted to be this:

1. Jesus gave authority to save and to heal to the disciples
2. The disciples freely received the authority to save and to heal.
3. The disciples were now empowered to make disciples and to freely give the authority to save and to heal.

Jesus freely gave – the disciples freely received – The disciples freely gave

Just this past Sunday, Pastor Dan highlighted an example of the Disciples turning around to freely give what they have received. It’s found in Acts 3:6 – Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have (possess) I give (Didomi) you: In the name (power) of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

I’m confident that Jesus freely gives. But, the question that comes to my mind is, Am I freely receiving so that I can freely give?

There are a host of scriptures that identify the authority we have in Christ. Authority to do amazing things that we could never have the right or the power to do in our own strength. Even to bring healing for that which we have been healed of.

Honestly, I’m quite certain I don’t come near to realizing the full authority we have in Christ over the things of this world – authority over sickness, evil and death – the things that are intended to rob, kill and destroy people. Those things that stand in the way of the saving work of Jesus Christ to enjoy a relationship with God and the abundant life He spoke of.

Ultimately, the power/authority is not the focus of Jesus’ purpose. Those are the means to an end that people would be restored to an intimate/eternal relationship with the living God.

Jesus said this in Luke 10:19-20 — “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Today let’s pray and ponder about the power/authority Jesus wants to give us. Whatever that is, let’s receive it and . . .

“Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8b