If you are afraid then….

July 2, 2010 by Sam

During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.  If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah …”  Judges 7:9-10

So back to Gideon for a minute.  Let’s run it down real quick…

winepress hiding…Great Warrior…Who me?…offering…fire…wow….Altar of Baal…Asherah pole….Broken down…burnt offering to the Lord…..who did it….let Baal defend himself….Midianites….Amelakites….Spirit of the Lord…fleeces…32,000…10,000…300 and here we are. 

God wants Gideon go after more than 100,000 with 300 and IF he is afraid God has an even better plan.  Walk into the enemy camp, just two of you.  I have no idea how difficult it would be for the Midianites to recognize two Jews among them.  Regardless it doesn’t seem like a great plan to me.  But often God calls us to walk into and through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  It is there in that valley that we can receive the greatest encouragement.  It is there in the valley that our faith is affirmed.  I think of David and Saul, Daniel and the lion’s den, three young men and a fiery furnace

 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.  Judges 7:12

“As thick as locust”, most of us have not had a opportunity to see a locust swarm utterly destroy an entire agricultural area.  I have seen videos but I am sure it cannot compare to feeling of the locusts beating against your body as you desperately try to salvage the crop that is your life.  This would have been a very pointed picture to the people of the day.  It alludes to more than just the number.  Locusts are incredibly destructive and in this time period the people had no defense.  I can almost hear Gideon describing the Midianite army to his grandchildren and their squeals as he describes them as a huge swarm of locusts.

   Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”  His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”  When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”  Judges 7:12-15

God supplied exactly the encouragement that Gideon needed and he supplied it from the mouth of the enemy.  God has it ALL under control.  Trust Him and he will demonstrate it over and over.  Gideon’s encouragement came from the object of his discouragement.  God recognized Gideon’s fear, drew him to it and then blew it away.  If we trust Him with the object of our fear and discouragement, He will blow it away. 

 

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Wow What a Day!

July 2, 2010 by Sam

Another awesome day at the Lewis House.  It started off a little rough with Allana down with a bad cold.  She is still wrestling with the sniffles now but looks and feels better.  Stacey, one of the full-time workers here, took Robert (instead of me because of Allana’s condition) to Sydney (I don’t know if I spelled that right) to stop at a ministry that helps to supply our foodbank here.   We were getting a little thin in the pantry.  I know this is a big problem for  food driven ministries now.  Fishes n Loaves in Adrian is running low on food also.  So if you have extra or want to donate to a food pantry now is a good time.  There is almost certainly some sort of Organization helped to feed the poor who could really use your help.

So since I did not go to the foodbank, I got to move furniture and sweep floors.  We prepared the floor in the  fellowship hall to be power washed which we are doing tomorrow.  Sami and Emily did an awesome job carrying about 100 chairs up two flights of stairs from the hall to the auditorium.  George and I stacked tables and swept.  George had previously finished putting the plugs in for the lighting.  As we moved the furniture we planned out our plan of attack tomorrow.  By the time we were done the place was ready for powerwashing.  This is a very different face of ministry.  Yet it is ministry.  We need to stop narrowly defining what is and is not ministry.  I believe at least in part this was Martha’s issue in Luke 10.  Martha thought she had a lock on what the ministry should look like, and she WAS ministering.  Her mistake was thinking that Mary had to be serving in the same way.  You may be called to be Martha and called to be Mary all in the same day.  We were blessed to be Martha this morning.

Later in the day one of the regular attenders to our Friday night meeting brought in a homeless man whom she came across in the Kroger parking lot.  George was busy so I put together a food box for him and prayed with him.  God said love him…so I did.  It was a learning experience.  Don’t judge…love.  Don’t assign blame for his circumstance…love.  Don’t be the cynic…love.  It felt good.  I may try some more of this loving the people that God loves even when my flesh wants to be cynical thing…It feels good when you can feel God smile.

Dinner was a potluck affair with some of our regular Friday night crew and people from the neighborhood.  WHAT A BLESSING!  We had a great night of fellowship.  Relational ministry, love the people that God love’s.  Definitely the lesson for today.  Love the unlovable.  Love that family member who is a pain.  Love your neighbor.  Love the little kid down the street who is desperate for any kind of attention.  Love the brothers and sisters in Christ  who are all around us. 

Robert had an awesome day on his trip.  He has been so awesome with the kids here.  Plus they got chickens, not frozen oven roasters, real live chickens.  You can see a picture of Emily holding one of the chicks in my facebook mobile uploads album.  The kids in the neighborhood when wild.  They mobbed Stacy when she pulled back into the neighborhood.  She had called one of the Mom’s and let her know that live chicks were coming.  Stacy spent time letting them all see the chicks.  Relational ministry, Love them.  Love the little children who mob you.  Love their silly questions.  Show them God in action.  It requires love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  Hmmm I think I have heard that somewhere before.  I guess I need to do more than memorize it.

Pray for Allana that she feels better soon.  Pray for the people in our neighborhood, that they would know Jesus!  Pray for the people in your neighborhood, that they would know Jesus…then show him to them.

God Bless and Goodnight

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One Day

June 30, 2010 by Sam

We arrived here at the Lewis House Monday afternoon (following an awesome meeting with our new Children’s Pastor-jumping the gun a little on that but I feel pretty good about the match). I wonder how many go on a missions trip and expect an Angelic Fanfare as they arrive or the heavens to open and the HS to descend in the form of a dove. I arrived with a quiet peace that we are doing God’s will for us and knowing that he is going to bless it. I have no idea what that is going to look like but I trust Him and know that He is faithful.
We had a wonderful afternoon of fellowship with George and Sarah. We pieced together a plan for this week and then I had an great night at Everfree.

Tuesday we got to work. George installed a washer and dryer in the basement for visitors to use and then we gutted the room. They had previously installed a furnace there, which included cutting through cinder block. Anyone who has done this will appreciate the mess. Allana and the girls tackled the nursery, going through donated toys, tossing the ones that were not appropriate , cleaning and organizing.
Everyone pitched in and worked hard. I am very proud of all of our kids and my lovely wife .

After dinner we hit the streets. Sami and Emily went with Erin and Naomi and found that ministry can be FUN! George, Robert and I walked the neighborhood. Allana and Chayla went with Stacy on BUNNY DUTY.

We had prayed beforehand and God had laid on George’s heart finding someone under a tree. I had gotten a strong impression of moving shadows. As we turned the corner onto Sylvania we saw a woman sweeping the sidewalk under the shadow of a BIG tree. She is a single mom with three boys under the age of 4. George asked her if we could pray for her and she asked us to pray for her family. We did and then I invited her to the BCC single Mom’s event coming up. Surprise Surprise , her Mom lives in Temperance and she was excited to get more details (which being men we did not have so Allana and I will be headed back there today). As we walked we met kids, parents, young men, old men, young women and old women. They all had one thing in common THEY DESPERATELY NEED JESUS! We prayed for some, chatted with others. We invited some and just opened lines of fellowship with others. Tired but blessed we returned to the Lewis House.

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that YOU will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Philemon 6

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Email test

June 27, 2010 by Sam

When blogging by email it is best to make sure you put the correct address into your address book.  We won’t discuss how long it took me to figure this out (a couple of weeks),how many times I sent a test email (hmmm I wonder where they went???) and how much time I spent scouring the help pages of WordPress to figure out what I was doing wrong (more than I care to think about, but it was some interesting if unhelpful reading…they should put on the very first page about this function:  Make sure the address that you are sending to is correct!).  Well one dilemma solved…time to head home and chill a bit before heading out to BCC to greet and be blessed!

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It is all about Two Girls

June 26, 2010 by Sam

It is all about the two girls. Two little lost and hurting girls God sent our way as an opportunity to serve Him, love the Lost and serve others. We were tired, hot and honestly thought that nobody would show up for our youth and Children’s ministry. We had actually planned to return to the BLock Party that we helped set up at BCC when no kids showed up but God had other plans. So there they were two little girls who desperately need the hand of God in there lives. No miracles were performed, no great sermons preached, none came forward for salvation but I could feel God SMILING over my shoulder as he said, “I told you so.” I have been studying Relational Ministry but He taught me more tonight than in all the studying. Tonight it was all about the two little girls. Keep your eyes and Spirit open because tomorrow It’s going to be about…well I just guess I will Keep my eyes open and my heart in tune and He will let meknow ..

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Summer!

June 25, 2010 by Sam

I am so excited for what God has brought to myself and my family this summer.  Last week I had the privilege of sharing BLAST with a great group of leaders and junior highers at BCC.  This week Allana and the kids are having a blast at Sonquest Rainforest VBS.  The blessings have already started to rain down and the summer is barely started.

Monday we head to Toledo and The Lewis House (www.mylewishouse.com) .  We are ready for God to do great things and are excited to spend this time with our family in Christ there.  God has been amazing as he has opened the way for us to serve Him.  At the end of July we head out for our great western sweep.  It will be an exciting time of seeing friends and family but even more Allana and I believe it will be a time of ministry.  We are looking forward to sharing our faith and taking hold of ministry opportunities that God puts in our path.  I am sure after our month at The Lewis House we will be Spiritually pumped and overflowing with joy to share both with those who don’t know Him as Lord and Savior and with our brothers and sisters in Christ!  We are ready for all the “outrageous” things God has for us! (ok..so maybe with the help of the Holy Spirit I will be ready for all the OUTRAGEOUS things God has for us!)

AMEN

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I Serve an Outrageous God- Repost

June 15, 2010 by Sam

Continue Reading »

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So What do you do when God says, “Send your army home”?

June 11, 2010 by Sam

I find the fact that God is laying Gideon on my heart a little concerning.  I don’t want to send my army home.  I want to rely on my talents, skills, intelligence and education to do the things that he has called me to do.  I am finding that there is a great but often unrecognized difference between using your God given gifts and relying on your own resources.

As I begin this summer of service to him I find myself staring at that dividing line.  Sometimes it seems precise and clear.  Other times it seems blurry and tenuous.  I find myself praying, “Lord help me send the army home and rely on YOU! AND help me use the GIFTS that you have given me to bring your KINGDOM to the very best of my ability.”  I am excited that even at this late time in my life and after years of relying on myself God has given me great opportunity to serve HIM.

OK ARMY, I guess it is time for you to go home….

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The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,

June 11, 2010 by Sam

I have been thinking about Gideon lately.  God has me running Judges 7:2 over in my mind. 

 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,

I am ever amazed at the unity of a book written over a period of millenia. 

If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about–but not before God.  Romans 4:2

 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are,  so that no one may boast before him.  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the LORD.”  I Corinthians 1:27-31

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

God wanted to save Israel by faith.  So he reduced her to the point that there was NO salvation except by His grace.  Here lies the tension between faith and works.  Gideon could have all of the faith in the world but if he had not stepped out in obedience to God, it would have been dead faith.  This is what James is talking about in James 2.  When we accept our own absolute inability to contribute in the slightest bit to our own salvation and step out in faith because he said to, that is when God says ok, now I will do it because in this you will know that I am God.

  When we send the majority of our force home, when we stand facing the Red Sea with Pharaoh at our backs, when we step onto the stormy sea because He said to….then we say with David “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalms 18:2).  When God asks you to give up your advantage, take the risk, it is because he is preparing to do great things.

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The Blend

May 25, 2010 by Sam

Life is such a blend.  The good, the bad, the indifferent all swirling together.  That has certainly been true for the past couple of weeks.  As we plan our missions trip for July to the Lewis House it has been joyful as the pieces fall into place.  We also are looking forward to a long trip that has come together by the grace of God (and many awesome christian family members and friends).  Enter the flu.  Enter family tensions.  Enter life milestones that we would just as soon forget.  Enter unexpected financial stress.  Enter allergy season.  As much as I try to keep my focus on the good and great things that God is doing in my life, sometimes I lose my balance in the swirl.

As it would happen through this time I have been reading Acts.  Talk about the swirl!  Pentecost and Healing/Threats and Persecution – Fellowship and Unity/Deception and Death – Salvation/Martyrdom – they all swirl through the story.  I think that it is all summed up in Paul’s defense before Agrippa:

So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.  First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.  That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.  But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike.  I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.  At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”    “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied, “What I am saying is true and reasonable.  The King is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him.  I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.  King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?  I know you do.  Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”  Paul replied, “Short time or long- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”  Acts 26:19-29

Acts is full of these speeches (I think that several of them may make their way here).  Peter, Paul, Stephen, all preaching their hearts and souls through the Spirit of God.  Paul here actually begins his defense in his past and follows the swirls through the sorrow of being on the wrong side of things, to the joy a relationship with Jesus to obedience in the midst of persecution.  He doesn’t give the detail of the beatings and imprisonments but they lie just under the surface of his words.  Then comes the big BUT…. “But I have had God’s help to this very day…”  Sometimes when I am caught in a swirl it seems that God’s help is far away but I can always look back and say “I have had God’s help to this very day.”   The response is to be expected.  “You are insane!”.  It hurts when it comes from the lost, but it really hurts when it comes from those that you think should understand.  Yet we see Paul’s heart and what should be ours, “Short time or long- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”  And there is the kicker, as Paul is speaking he is standing before these two great men….in chains.   

Lord help me keep my eyes on the goal, on you, no matter how violent the swirls become!

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