Wed, Nov 22nd - 9:07PM

Dirt Biking and Thanksgiving Mission to Indians

Young Ben Reynolds, prospective missionary to Brazil with his wife, Marlene, called me the other day and asked if I'd like to go dirt biking with him.  I said, "sure!" and He asked if I'd like an easy or an intermediate trail.  Brave old man, and ignorant, never having ridden on a dirt bike before, I replied, "Give me all you got!"  And he did.  During our ride on the trail above our fair city of Colorado Springs, I seriously wondered if Ben would have to go to prayer meeting alone that night and report that brother Mike is still out there somewhere on the mountain, hopefully alive.  It may sound humorous, but had I know how precarious our little excursion would be, I think better judgement would have restrained me.  Ben is much smaller than me, though as strong and I'm sure twice as agile.  Riding that giant 200cc Suzuki up that converted bobsled trail (so it seemed to me, anyway) was much worse than my first experience on a bicycle a thousand moons ago.  It was downright dangerous, folks!  I really think the reason the Lord kept me alive yesterday was that He's not through with me here yet.  Praise His Name!  Anyway, I can't remember whether I had three or four crashes.  I broke his right tail light off on one, and the mirror on another.  We had to push my bike up gravelly grades a couple of times after my spills cause the battery was too low to start it.  My last crash was just before I was about to go between two pine trees close together on the way down a steep slope and my throttle seemed to stick.  I don't know how or why I dumped it, but my elbow still hurts.  You all didn't know you were dealing with a real "thrill-seeker," did you?  Grand Canyon, with rockets on my back, here I come!

Well, tomorrow I'm due to ride down to New Mexico with Ward and Naomi French from church to a Navajo Indian reservation.  Ward was involved (and still is) with Indian missions down there for many years and has desired to take me on one of his excursions there.  It looks like I may get an opportunity to preach and minister however the Spirit may direct.  I've heard many stories about the work down there, the successes and the failures as well.  It promises to be quite an adventure.  Since Ward's daughter from Alaska visited here this past summer and showed no interest in me as we were hoping, I'm sure he thinks the Lord may have an Indian lady down there for me.  I'm quite doubtful of that, but the older I get, the more I distrust my own desires and judgment.  Anyway, I'll take this little laptop with me, and if, perchance there are hours alone for me on the desert there, I'll try to inspire myself to write another chapter about little Grace in the Valley of Contentment.  I don't know how many have been reading it, if any, but a few have encouraged me to bring it along to completion.  I'll try to journal a little as well.

You all have a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones!  Don't forget to recall how much we have to be thankful for!

Your brother in Christ,

Michael

Mon, Nov 20th - 10:03PM

Grace in the Valley of Contentment

Chapter Seven:  The Mission

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  Mk.16:15

          That glorious ship of summer, had come to the Valley of Contentment with her cargo of treasures for the inhabitants there.  The men and women of the valley were working with all the strength that nature could supply them.   The children of various ages, likewise played and adventured and worked with a vigor that only the warmth and beauty of summer could inspire under the loving eye of the Shepherd.  The earth was tilled and seeds were sown in it.  Animals were shorn and butchered and their carcasses converted into products fit to eat and wear.  Men worked the fields while the women cared for the homes and the little ones found their proper place of service in that rural setting.  The sun seemed to stay high in the sky and radiate its brightness for a longer season than usual as all busied themselves with the tasks before them.  Grace’s was just one of many families that found purpose in living a simple life serving their shepherd with joy in their hearts.   But the course of this family would soon take a strong turn in the middle of this glorious season, a new direction given them by the great Captain of their destiny.  Let’s look and see how this change of direction came about.

          The time for David’s summer task up in the mountains was very near when Grace and Susanna came home to Susanna’s house one afternoon.  They had intended to ride Susanna’s Welch pony, Betsy into the hills, and stopped to get a snack to bundle up and take with them on their afternoon’s journey.   As they approached the house, they heard several adults talking in the living room.  Gently closing the back door, they tiptoed through the kitchen to the threshold of the dining room, doing all to conceal their presence.  From there they could see Grace’s father, David, kneeling on the floor in the center of the living room.  Several men were gathered around him laying their hands on his head and shoulders, and were praying aloud.  Abigail and Susanna’s mother, Esther were kneeling off to the side.  The prayers in the room were a symphony of deep groans by the men, and higher pitched, though subdued cries by the two women.  After a moment or two, Samuel, Susanna’s father, his face lifted upward, and eyes shut tightly lifted his voice above the others in a moaning, desperate petition:

“O gracious and merciful Father, The great need of this world is to know the Shepherd, Whom Thou hast sent to be the Saviour of all men.  We confess our laziness and selfishness in not going forth to proclaim His great salvation to others beyond our little valley.  Forgive us, we pray, and send David, your servant out from here to spread the message of life to those who are dead in their sins, to give sight to the blind and set free those bound in darkness.  Give him the compassion of the great Shepherd as he seeks out His lost little lambs wherever he may go, to guide them back into your heavenly fold.  In the Shepherd’s name and for his sake I pray this...”  

 The other men also prayed, each in turn asking for special protection and guidance for David as he prepared to embark on his holy mission.  The praying became more intense, some weeping loudly as they besought their Lord, knowing the dangers that were surely before David.  The girls watched for a while, then, silently tiptoed back through the kitchen and out the back door.  They ran all the way back to the stream behind the barn behind the house, and across the bridge to the old willow tree where they often played.  There they stood on the bank of the stream beneath the willow and were silent for several minutes. Grace was staring straight out across the field as Susanna held her hand looking at her with wondering eyes.  Finally, Susanna broke the silence.  “What is this all about, Grace?”  she queried earnestly.  Grace heard the question, but could not answer.  Her mind was back at that place in time, just a few weeks ago when her family was walking down the mountain from their Lord’s day outing.  She remembered asking David whether he would ever leave the family for a long time.  His reply now stood out in her mind, “not unless the Shepherd asked me to do so.”  The realization came upon her that the Shepherd had, indeed asked her father to go away for a time.  Her first thought was that she absolutely would not accept this.  What if something bad happened to him while he was away, ministering in the worldly cities?  Perhaps he would never return to Grace and her family.  She just could not allow him to go away.  The thought of losing her father was more than she could bear at that moment, and, of a sudden became so intense that she collapsed onto the ground.

Susanna’s voice began breaking through to Grace as she lay fainted on the earth.  It was getting louder and louder.  “Grace, Grace please tell me what is happening in all of this!”  she implored with fervent tears running down her cheeks.  Suddenly, Grace awakened and sat up.  Startled and dazed for a moment, she came to her senses and began weeping aloud.  Susanna embraced her and they wept together for a good while.  Finally, Grace raised herself to her feet and summoned a resolve that her little soul had not previously attained.  “Let’s go on our outing as we planned, Susanna,” she said, trembling, but leaning in her mind on the Shepherd.  “I think that’s what we must do today.”  With that the two girls went strait to the barn, saddled Betsy and led her out across the field to a hidden glen between two high ridges that was a favorite place for them to meander in when they took her out riding.

That evening a sullen atmosphere pervaded the gathering at the supper table at Grace’s house.  It was time to share all about the mission with the family, and David struggled with the hardest task, it seemed he had ever been called to undertake.  Just as little Grace had fallen on the Shepherd for help in the realization of her father’s forthcoming departure that afternoon, now David did likewise as he summoned the courage and words that must come to his lips.  “We all need to go into the living room for a little time of sharing together and prayer,” he said as the eating fairly well was completed.  David led the way followed by Abigail and the children.  When they were all seated opposite him, looking intently at him like students waiting for an assignment, he began to make known to them the mission that the Shepherd had placed upon his heart.  At first he stumbled over his words, but the grace and strength he needed soon arose in his voice and the authority of the Shepherd came through.  Grace sat up and gazed straightly at him.  “The Shepherd has asked me to leave you all for a while; I’m not sure for how long.  There is a mission I must undertake down in the worldly cities to find his lost sheep.”  Grace felt that same weakness she had experienced earlier in the day when she had fainted before Susanna.  But this time she was able to endure through it consciously until her father had finished speaking.  At that point the girls bolted to him hurling questions like snowballs in a mock winter battle, not waiting for responses.  As David tried further to convey the vision he had received from the Shepherd to his family, their hearts warmed in sympathy for the lost souls of the world.  This loving concern for their fellow man mixed strangely with their sadness for the separation they were soon to experience.  Finally, all retired for the evening, exhausted in their emotions, like a bunch of long-legged mosquitoes that had danced on the surface of a pond all day.  (Or so Grace might say it.)  But they were, nevertheless satisfied that their father and husband was being obedient to the heavenly call given him by the Great and Good Shepherd of their souls. 

As David tucked his little darling into her blanket she wrapped her arms around his neck and he gently kissed her forehead.  “The Shepherd spoke to me today, Daddy.  He said we won’t be apart as a family for very long.”  “I know, little one.  We’ve got to trust Him!  Sweet dreams as you sleep, my little lamb.”

Sun, Nov 12th - 10:29AM

Call to Sonship

Arise, Beloved Child!

For it became him, for whom [are] all things, and by whom [are] all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  Heb. 2:10

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  Isa. 60:1,2

          Jesus Christ, the Son of God, perfect in all of the attributes of God came as a Man to the earth and achieved a perfect salvation for those who were called out of this world to be children and fellow heirs of God with Him.  The way He took in accomplishing this work was the way of the cross, the path of suffering and shame and ignominious death.  Death was the way into resurrection life for the Son, and is, likewise the way to life for His brethren.  His death was both physical as well as spiritual.  He was separated from His physical body by death, and from fellowship with the Father also by death.  We, who are called to be children of God and fellow heirs with Jesus in the glory of His eternal kingdom have been united together with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection.  (See Romans chapter six.)  This union is essentially a legal, spiritual joining of the  Caller with the called, the Justifier with the justified, the Father and the Son with all of the sons chosen out of the race of Adam.  These newly designated children of God have been thus, freed from the curse of their former parentage in Adam, and delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  (Rom. 8:21)  Their way into this kingdom has been secured by their Lord's suffering of death on their behalf.  But as their Master suffered for them and provided an example of suffering, so they must suffer with Him on their way in a completion of this mystical union of Son and sons.

          A knock comes at your door.  You open to an angel with an envelope in his hand.  You take the envelope, open it and read its contents, which is a statement from the word of God informing you of this fact of your calling and election to sonship in Christ.  You thank the angel, close the door and go about your business as usual during the course of your day.  In the following days you read the statement in the envelope again and again, trying to absorb the weight and gravity of it.  You pray for wisdom to understand its full ramifications, and you try to adjust your life accordingly.  Gradually you begin to see the value of what has been given you and your heart responds with joyful obedience.  Your life begins to change both in its course, and in its inner purpose and motives.  Circumstances come to test your resolve to follow the way given you.  Sin lurks at your door, always seeking to ensnare you and recapture you for the master you once served.  But grace manifests in your heart and mind as you meditate on the call and all of the promises associated with it in the Bible, and you resist.  At first you fail, but that grace faithfully appears again with forgiveness and hope.  So you try again and you succeed.  You journey on toward the light of this wonderful glory.  It is an adventure, often a struggle that seems to overwhelm.  But Jesus, your Captain and Shepherd and Friend leads you along through it all.  There’s more to see, to do for Him, to grasp, to understand, to follow, to obey, to achieve along the way.  The end is near, but seems so far.  He is here and gently holds your hand. 

          “Awake, Awake! Beloved child!  Arise to the fullness I have for thee!  A prince and no longer a pauper and slave art thou.  Cast off thy rags and put on the royal garments made for thee!  Take hold on what I have given, granted and bestowed.  Rise up, shine!  For thy light has come."

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.  Isa. 60:19