Learning to Listen (Part V)

The next day we decided to go on a nice little hike of 5 miles.  The sign said it was a moderate trail.  We started off with the two kids in tow.  About half way through the hike we were stopped in our tracks by what looked to be a nasty storm.  It started out with some light rain but quickly changed into a gully washer.  We had no rain gear with us and no where to hide.  Soon the lightning was hitting all around us.  The kids were terrified.  Laura picked up Joshua and I carried Samuel.  We ran for some time until we decided to take some shelter under some low evergreens (and yes I know you aren't supposed to do this but at the time it seemed safer than being out in the open).  Now remember this is high elevation so physically we were quickly exhausted, especially when carrying the kids.  Eventually the lightning eased up, it was still raining heavily.  We started back down the trail and found a way out off of the trail (this wasn’t the end just a access point),  We found a small kiosk with a lady ranger inside.  She took pity on us and let the kids and Laura stay inside while I went after the van.  Which happened to be 1.5 miles down the road with the rain still coming down hard.  I got the van came back and picked up the Laura and the boys.  We left the park as quick as we could and found a quite spot to pull over.  The kids were both out so we decided to take a nap.  Exhausted, wet and hungry we too were quickly asleep.

After about an hour we woke up and asked each other if we were having fun.  Well the answer was a resounding NO!  Right then and there we decided to go back to camp, pack and leave. So as if to make sure I got the message load and clear to listen to God next time and every time, just a few minutes after we started breaking camp the thunder storm found us again.  I got Laura and the boys back in the van and began to through things unpacked into the back of the van as quickly as I could.  It wasn’t quick enough.  I had just barely began to dry off while I got drenched again.  The rain never let up even after we left the campsite.  Tried, wet and hungry we went back for one last meal at the Mason Jar.  We pulled out of Colorado Springs at 8:30 PM headed for home more than 20 hours away.  I will pickup on the story next time – the adventure is far from over yet.

sherman

 2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

Learning to Listen Part IV

The next morning we left the hotel to find our perfect camping spot.  After several attempts we finally found what would be our camping spot at 11 mile Reservoir.  It was uphill from the car and far away from other campers with a nice view of the lake.  I quickly set about reading the tent and unpacking all of our gear.  It all seemed so nice, the temperature was about 85 degrees.  After setting up camp we went off to town to find some fun.  The kids loved going to Santa’s Workshop, a local theme park for kids at the base of Pike’s Peak. We found a nice restaurant called the Mason Jar, the best chicken fried steak – their claim to fame.
By the time we got back to the camp ground it was getting late and getting cold.  This was the first time we had spent much time at high altitude and didn’t realize how easily it was to get overexposed, yes we were all sunburned. But as night drew in the temperature dropped down.  I was prepared for this but my dear wife wasn’t so she ended up with my sleeping bag and long johns while I curled up with a couple a thin blankets and all my clothes on to stay warm. So in one day we have frozen and burned, the worst of both worlds.  But I do have to say that I have never seen stars so bright and clear as I did up on that mountain.
The next day we get up and have some coffee.  The kids are playing in their heavy coats with hands black from the soil.  I head down to get a shower only to find out that it is 25 cents a minute.  Well this was the first time I had seen a place where you had to pay for water, we were already paying for camping.  At this point we decided the grubby kids could go without a shower today and later they we each get a quick turn under the water to rinse the dirt off a bit.  This was the day we decided to drive up Pike’s Peak. 
At this time the road was unpaved most of the way up.  I drove our full size van up the paved part thinking this isn’t so bad.  We kept seeing little flashes of light up on the mountain in the clouds wondering what it was.  Could it be cars? No. No one would be that stupid to drive that high up.  As we pass a coffee shop and a small lake the road gets unpaved and narrows.  No shoulder, no guard rail as we climb higher and higher and the air gets thinner and I get more tense.  Did I mention that I hate heights?  The make me feel sick to my stomach sometimes. Did I mention we paid $10 to do this?

No where to turn around, not enough room in my mind for two vehicles to pass. People behind me are getting impatient.  I am thinking we are all going to die falling off this mountain to our deaths all by my own stupidity.  People pass me around blind switchbacks at high rates of speed (over 20 mph).  We are higher than the clouds .. this isn’t good. I watch as the small rocks fall over the edge of the road, thinking we are next. Thinner air equals less oxygen we equals less clarity of thought which results in near panic. About a mile from the top I see an area just big enough to execute a three point turn.  You might think so close from the top why did you turn around…because I could and would have done it sooner.  The road wasn’t getting any better.  After we turn around to head back down my wonderful wife makes the mistake of asking if I would like her to drive down. Instantly I say yes to her now petrified look.  I tell her oh by the way you can’t use the brakes too much going down as they will over heat and fail.  She obediently pumps the brakes as we make the long journey back down.  Ever so slowly, backing up traffic we finally make it back to safety.  Its at this point I lose everything in my stomach.  The kids were totally unphased by this adventure, but I think it took five years off of my life. Are we having fun yet? Oh why didn’t I listen to God? Why did I insist on having my own way. Wait there is more.  It only get worse from here.

sherman

Hebrews 14: ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,nor be weary when reproved by him.⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.¹² Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Learning to Listen (Part III)

Well after taking a bit of a break in this tale it is time to get back to it.  We leave from the town in New Mexico and proceed to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Upon arriving there we head over the Air Force Academy base MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) to rent a camper and find a nice campground.  Well all of their campers were rented out and all of the campsites were full.  This wasn’t going well at this point.  We did bring our own camping gear so it wasn’t a total failure.  We proceeded to check out the available campgrounds in the local area.  The local KOA had people right under each others armpits so that one was ruled out rather quickly.  Then we began the process of elimination.  Some were to expensive, some were full and then we stumbled on to a beautiful remote area.  We are talking one port-a-potty and a water buffalo (portable water tank on a trailer).  The river running by the place was gorgeous so we got out and checked it out for a bit.  This area was beautiful but at the same time very creepy, I just had no peace about it so we left (at least I had learned to listen a little bit by now).  It began to rain on our way back to town.  It was getting dark and we still needed a place to stay.  After looking around at several hotels we finally found one that was nice and reasonably priced, God had more mercy on us.  Now the boys were very tired and hungry so we headed to a nearby golden arches with a indoor playground.  Now these were very new and infrequent to find.  So the boys got really excited.  We went in got our food and the lock the playground up.  That was the last straw for Samuel, he became hysterical and began uncontrollable crying.  The poor worker that just locked the door was the center of all his attention.  She didn’t know what to do or say, but then she unlocked the door and told the boys they had 10 minutes.  We thanked her and briefly explained our adventure up to this point, she seemed to understand a little bit.  Well we got everybody fed and went to sleep wondering what lay ahead for us tomorrow.  All the while I was thinking it couldn’t get any worse, boy was I wrong.

sherman

I want to end with a funny story that occurred shortly after we found a camping area.  There was a young boy that rode his bike up a large hill and an older man took the bike and rode it back down the hill past us.  Well Samuel being very observant assumed the man had forceful taken the bike from the younger lad.  So as he rode by us Samuel said very loudly “THAT MAN IS UGLY!”  That man had such a horrified look on his face.  He never said a word but must have thought something like this; “I know I am no longer young and have a few miles on me but am I really that repulsive?”.  Well I guess the meaning is all the context and your perspective.

1 Peter 3:8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.

Learning to Listen (Part II)

Well back to our story.  We are ready to leave on our family vacation.  Camping gear, kids all loaded in the van.  So off we go onto the highway.  We had no problems the first few hours as we drove through Texas on I –20 and then head north to Oklahoma on I-35.  It is here where we picked up on I-40 and proceeded to drive toward Amarillo TX.  About 75 miles outside of Amarillo we hit the worst rain storm I had ever seen.  It was practically raining sideways.  The wind was blowing from  the south rocking our van.  The visibility drop to about 10 feet  in front of the van.  I was driving in the fast lane because so many people were just stopping in the road and on the shoulder.  I was afraid of getting rear-ended if I stopped completely.  So traveling at about 35 mph out of nowhere our van was hit by a tremendous force of wind carrying our van from the passing lane to barely on the shoulder.  This would be hint “1” that going against what God tells you to do is a very bad idea.  After we all calmed down somewhat, I was still shaken inside, we traveled on into Amarillo and stopped at a new McDonald near the outskirts of town.  I think about this episode every time we drive past that store.  Turns out a tornado passed right over the section of I-40 in front of us.  If we had been just a bit further down the road there might not have been any of us left to tell this story.  Well God had gotten my attention, at least a little bit, I was thankful he spared us but I missed the main point – “GO HOME” so onward we pressed.  We had to make it to Tucumcari NM by night fall.  We pulled into the Holiday Inn and collapsed for the night wondering what laid in store for us tomorrow. 
Next time we will pickup as we head in to Colorado.
sherman
PS:  Although this story has a good ending and some funny lessons listening and obeying God is a serious thing.  God definitely took we to the woodshed but He was very kind in the way he dealt with my stupid and stubborn heart.  It is my pray that others might learn this lesson without having to go through something like this.  God loves you too much to just let you walk away.

Psalm 81:8-16

⁸ “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! ⁹ “Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. ¹⁰ “I, the Lord, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. ¹¹ “But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. ¹² “So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices. ¹³ “Oh that My people would listen to Me,That Israel would walk in My ways! ¹⁴ “I would quickly subdue their enemies And turn My hand against their adversaries. ¹⁵ “Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him, And their time of punishment would be forever. ¹⁶ “But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Learning to Listen

The next few blogs will recount our family vacation to Colorado in August of 1996.  The story begins even before we drove away from our home in Bossier City LA. At this point I was an E-5 (Staff Sargent) in the US Air Force working in missile maintenance at Barksdale AFB LA. Laura and I began planning a family vacation.  The first real vacation we had ever attempted to take.  Normally our trips involved going to see either friends or family never just going away with no other purpose than to go away by ourselves.  so we set our eyes on Colorado.  So many people at church had gone there on vacation that we thought it must be the right place for us.  We had recently purchased a 1990 full size Chevy conversion van and we intended to put it to good use.  At this time we only had our first two children, the oldest Sam was not quite five and the youngest Josh was not quite three.
At the very start of planning this adventure I had an uneasiness in my heart.  God gave me no peace about the trip only concerns.  But ahead we pressed on with our plans.  We had been camping several times throughout our marriage, but not too many times with the kids.  We decided to make this trip more economical we should stay at campgrounds while in Colorado, this would prove to be one of many bad decisions.  We didn’t have access to the internet like we do today so I planned on finding a place at the visitor’s center once we came into Colorado or Colorado Springs.  Anyway how hard could it be there were several military bases in the area that should have campgrounds or even travel trailers that could be had.
About two weeks before the trip I told my wife that I really felt that God did not want us to take this vacation.  Not at this time or this place.  So what did I do – pressed on with my plans not His.  You might ask at this point what was I thinking and I would ask myself the same question.  To clearly know that God was telling me not to do something – yet doing it anyway doesn’t seem like the smartest thing today.  Trust me –it wasn’t. 
This reminds me of a section of scripture that deals with a man after God’s own heart.  Someone much more faithful to the Lord than myself.  King David  decided to take a census of the people.  You may remember that God commanded Moses to take a census of the people in Exodus 30:11-16, but He also said that a ransom was to be paid for each so that no plague would ensue. This is an implied command against numbering the people.  Motivation is everything, a matter of the heart. In other words to count what you have and sit back and place your trust or confidence in your possessions is akin to not trusting God.  David against the advise of Joab (he was fearful of tempting God’s wrath) the census was preformed and the judgment soon followed. You can read the whole story in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles 21.
So why did David do what he new was wrong?  Why did I do what I new was against what God was telling me?  Why do we disobey the clear teachings of God and follow our own desires if we really belong to Him?
I don’t know the answers to all of these but I can tell you that God disciplines His children (you can find that in Hebrews).  And after going through the calamities of this vacation I can tell you that I have learned to listen to God, to not only hear but to heed.  Its about learning to please God not ourselves.  Loving God more than ourselves.  Learning that His way is best and blessed.
Next time I will introduce you to the first few hours on our drive to an unforgettable vacation.
Sherman

Washing Away Sin

Most people recognize this problem called sin.  All men (including women) suffer from this blight.  An article in the Canberra times caught my eye last week.  The name of the article was Where rivers and holy Hindus meet.  The Hindus had traveled great distances to the Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers during the Maha Kumbn festival.  The paper refers to these pilgrims as naked, ash-smeared saints.  An estimated 40 million pilgrims with 20 million taking a quick dip in the polluted waters.  All for what purpose? so that by dipping in the fridged waters that are cleansed of their sin and frees them from the cycle of reincarnation (go through life over and over again till you get it right).  Wow all you have to do to be right with the gods is to take a dip, believe it and be forever changed.

Many of these people have traveled great distances on foot just to go through this ritual.  Many will remember the tsunami of Dec 26 2004. Some pilgrims at a similar ritual bathing met a deadly fate on that day.  So what is about this activity? The waters in the rivers are polluted and filthy from people and industrial waste.  It can’t be about physical cleansing.  Really it just comes down to what we all know some how, that there is a creator and somehow we all fall short.  People throughout time have sought things that they can do to bridge that gap.

People realized they are lost , helpless and hopeless.  They like the Pharisees have sought a righteousness not of God but of themselves. (Romans 10:1-4).  Christ was the only one to come and do what we cannot do for ourselves.  It took God coming in the flesh to fix what man had destroyed.  He offers salvation to all who will come to Him, come to Him right where you are.  You don’t have to travel, only cry out for mercy.  He will truly change your heart  and your desires.  It is about following and obeying because of what He has done for you not because of what you can or have done.  It is done in spite of our sin, failings, rebellion, fleshly desires.  He gave His all so that all He has could be yours while you leave behind the worldly things that perish.  Come and see, taste and know that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8 ).

Getting in a river gets you wet, in Christ is life everlasting.

Sherman

1 Peter3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

The Why

Many people haven’t been so thrilled with the outcome of November 6th.  Why did their candidate loose?  What does it all mean?  I have my own opinions and thoughts on the matter but that has nothing to really do with the answer.  I am not really going to address the Why so much as the What.  So many “Christian” people seem to put all of their hope in the political/economic systems of this world.  With that point of view comes much worry, stress and anxiety. 

Neither the democrats or republicans can save this country, nor can they send it to hell.  It is the people of this country that are charting the course we are following.  We are following the way of the world which is contrary to the way of God.  It is a heart that seeks to fulfill self gratification and greed.  Hearts seeking their own way not God’s way.  Well I guess I did sort of answer the Why.  But how about the What.

The What is the reason followers of Jesus Christ have been left in this world.  It isn’t about comfort, finances, health, prosperity or self actualization.  The What is the thing God has left you and I here to accomplish – His way.  The church has spent so much time trying to follow and ride on the trends and fashions of the world they have lost their true message.  It is much the same reason there is so little difference between the candidates/parties.  The republicans have been trying so hard to give as much as the democrats, to tax and spend, to pander to special interest they have lost their true message.  You can never out do the other guy at what they excel at doing.  There has to be a stark contrast.  If the republicans want to garner support they have to stand for conservative values and offer a clear choice.  They still may not win elections if the majority of people have shifted to thinking more liberal, but at least they will stand for what they say they believe in.  It is the same for the church – this is the real point I want to get to.

The church has become so much like the world people just don’t see that much difference.  There should be a stark contrast between what the people of church believe and practice and what is seen in the world around us.  We much like the political parties have lost our foundational principles to try and draw in more people.  It is a thing called SALT and LIGHT in scripture.  The gospel has never been popular, rarely has it been without a high cost both to preach and to follow.  Why should we think a different message or approach would work better than the simple pure gospel that God has ordained to reach and save the lost.

The church has become weaker and more ineffective the more it has tried to conform to this world’s trends and ways.  It is time we start living what we say we believe and believing what God has declared.  We may not be popular with people but we will be pleasing to God.  Let the love of God’s mercy and grace in your life over flow and touch the lives of the lost and hurting.  Share the gospel, be a living message of love.

sherman

1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God  and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.