Retreat

I had the privilege of spending the last three days alone in retreat at Mi Dacha in Hudson, MI. It was a delight!

Some of the highlights:
1. Quiet
2. The Holy Spirit providing clarity as I studied scripture.
3. Lots of reading.
4. The voice of the Lord. Our conversations were needed and blessed.
5. Fishing. I caught like fifty bass. Seriously!
6. Watching three fawns, still sporting their spots, and their mama come to within about thirty feet of me.
7. Enormous butterflies. Multi-colored dragonflies. Myriad birds.
8. Campfires.

I had a strange experience, too. I had built a fire and placed a larger log on it in order to strengthen it. As I was doing this, suddenly a large ant ran directly into the flame and was instantly burnt to smithereens. I wondered why s/he had done that. Didn't seem prudent. I shrugged it off.

Later, I was reading as I sat near the blaze and noticed one of those large, flying grasshoppers inside of the fire-ring. This seemed strange in light of the significant heat from the fire. I concluded that the hopper had simply wandered too close by mistake. This was confirmed when it wandered back out of the ring soon after.

I was shocked, then, to see the deluded grasshopper back in the ring not long after. In fact, in a sort of bizarre act of apparent suicide, it darted directly into the flames! I guess it changed its mind at the last moment, however, and popped back out, flew over to, and sat on a rock.

At this point, I figured the hopper was fried so I went over to look at it. It was alive but not moving I much. I reached down to pick it up but it flew away instead. I thought to myself, "You scared it. It flew away. You helped save it from itself." I went back to reading yet contemplating what the attraction of the fire was for the grasshopper.

A couple of minutes later, I noticed that my friend had returned and was headed for the flame again! I could not believe it. Somehow s/he ended up on a grilling grate that sat quite near the fire and was surely very hot due to its proximity. Sure enough, the hopper kept lifting its tiny legs in a peculiar dance as if keeping them on the metal was just too much to stand. It looked like a firewalker.

A short time after, the hopper apparently concluded that fire was dangerous and flew off permanently.

The story is not over yet, however (sorry!).

Within ten minutes a juvenile sparrow had flown down from a tree and hopped right up to the fire. It hopped into the fire-ring and was within a foot of the flames. This happened a couple of times. It also made an appearance on the grate as well before its parents called it for supper.

Perhaps I'm just paranoid but after observing these strange occurrences I thought maybe the Lord was trying to tell me something. It struck me that these animals experiences of fire are not so different than human experiences with spiritual fire. We often conceive of hell as being a fiery place where God angrily tosses us when we have been naughty. But we also know that the Lord desires than none of His children would perish. Not one. He is full of compassion, you see.

It strikes me that it is instead our indiscretion, pride, and belief that we can handle our lives on our own that leads us into the flames, just as these animals I observed made their own way into the campfire. We in essence throw ourselves into the flames. God does not do it for us. Despite His gentle warnings and loving nudges, We choose the burning flames over the comfort of His arms.

If we are full of compassion, we will continue to befriend and love ones who venture perilously close to the fire. Perhaps our stories of what the Lord has done for us will help them to choose Life as well. Perhaps our abiding support will make an impact.

We cannot prevent anyone from throwing themselves into the flame but we can encourage a different way.

~ Just musing away


Jeff

The Next-door Neighbor?

We had a good weekend in Middlebury with Phil, Shari, Rachelle, and Ryan. They took really good care of us! We also were able to listen to Ron Guengerich, formerly of the Zion church, preach on Sunday morning at Silverwood MC.

This evening we were at Archbold Elementary School for the beginning of the year open house. Savannah and Therin are quite ready for their return and got juiced even further by the visit to the school.

After this evening, Kathy is ready for them to go back to school as well!

**

I recently read a rather provocative article about Rob Hawkins in a magazine. Few of you, I predict, recall that name though I am betting that many of you would have been briefly familiar with it in the middle part of last December via the media.

The article related the story of Rob's early life, how he was born to parents whose bitterness toward each other was more important than nurturing their infant; how he was neglected for much of his childhood, finally ending up in foster homes; how he was ultimately not wanted by anyone; and how he was even set up to fail by the child welfare system that was supposed to protect him from further hurt.

Woven within this tale was the not-surprising information that Rob had terrible difficulty in school, a raging temper, and practically no ability to display empathy toward others. He could not hold a job after high school nor follow through on commitments. He was a drug addict. He struggled mightily in relationships. Surprise, surprise.

I wish I could say that the end of the story was triumph from tragedy. Alas, the end was entirely too predictable as well.

On December 5, 2007, nineteen year-old Rob Hawkins stepped into the Westroads Mall in Omaha, NB with his step-father's AK-47. He went to level 3 and mowed down eight innocent patrons. He completed his rampage by blasting a teddy bear and then taking his own life.

In Matthew 8, Jesus meets two demon-possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes (v.28). They were known for their violence so no one would go anywhere near them (v.29). Jesus does not run away from them like all the others, however, instead commanding the legion of demons into a herd of pigs that subsequently hurled themselves down a steep bank toward a lake and there drowned (v.32).

We do not know what became of the newly healed men but we can guess that they were able to begin living new lives amongst a community that once feared them so greatly. Jesus' compassion gave them a chance to live free.

Even in an insulated region like Fulton Co, OH there are Rob Hawkins' lurking in the shadows, oppressed by evil and pain, and hoping for new life. Yes, in their fear they instill fear. Yes, they stir the quiet pot of our communities. Yes, we want them to go away or someone else to help them or for them to just stay in the shadows.

I think Jesus has a different idea.

You see, He grants us strength by the Holy Spirit and an enormous storehouse of love to bring healing. He empowers us to do as He did! I believe that He desires for us to take the love He has lavished on us and to pour it out on little ones who are in danger of becoming traumatized like Rob Hawkins. I believe He will show us ones who are deeply wounded as well, ones He will desire for us to befriend and minister to. Jesus loves Rob Hawkins and ones like him so much and He is waiting for us to courageously reach out to them.

Our prayers for ourselves and ones like these will lead us into ministry to them. Are you ready?

In Christ,


Jeff

Michael Phelps

I have been watching the Olympics every night just to make sure that I do not miss another swim by Michael Phelps. He is a tremendously gifted athlete who also has the corresponding desire to compete at a very high level. He reminds me of a slightly wetter Michael Jordan.

His desire to win is gigantic; almost scary at times. As evidence, with several swims remaining, he has already harvested five gold medals. I suspect that he is a monster when he plays Monopoly, too!

Phelps has used God-given equipment to reach the apex of the game he plays. He is perhaps the greatest competitive swimmer to ever hit the pool.

It is a relative certainty that none of the rest of us will win five gold medals in a single Olympics. Almost none of us will appear on American Idol (in Hollywood), be elected president of the United States, star in a Batman movie, become the next Billy Graham, or cure cancer. Of course, the Lord is not necessarily looking for stars that are already shining, especially ones who think they have gotten themselves to where they are. Instead, He is seeking any dim old lamp that is willing to be lit and shine for Him.

Peter was just a regular fisherman when Jesus hollered at him. He willing followed at a surely high price and the Lord did wonders through him. I am sure that when Peter understood what was required of him he said within himself, "I can't do it!" He was right. He could not, and that is the key understanding. When we know we are incapable, God can then get some things done through us.

You see, the Lord can do all things. Believe it or not, he is even powerful enough to overcome our deficiences!

There is only one thing that stops God from doing miracles through any one of us dimsters: our saying "no." We decline His invitation to be used spectacularly for a variety of reasons but all of our excuses are ultimately born of fear. We are afraid of losing our freedom, of being made to look foolish, of seeming different, of not being able to do what we want to do, of failing. And our fear puts the brakes on God's plans for us.

A true exercise in faith, then, is saying "yes" to God when He asks us to do something we know that we cannot pull off. It is then that we learn to depend. Let's all pray for new-found courage to trust.

***
Besides Olympics, most recent days have been spent writing devotional, doing small home projects, reading, and just hanging out. Compared with the activities of earlier in the summer it is rather dull. I love it!

Late tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) we will be headed to Middlebury, IN to spend time with Kathy's sister, Shari, and her family. We look forward to being there through the weekend. Kathy and Shari will sing together during the worship service at Silverwood Mennonite Church in Goshen on Sunday morning.

All for now!

Jeff

A Bass

Last night Kathy and I went fishing at the south Archbold reservoir. Savannah was with a friend at Good Shepherd Church for bible school. Therin was with Brandon Yoder. London was at MYF. It was therefore just the two us; a chance to hang out alone on a beautiful evening.

I did not expect much fishing-wise from the excursion. The dog days of summer are just not the best time of year to angle. So I was not surprised when the first hour of our time was fruitless, at least as far as catching fish goes. Of course, that was not really what the time together was about.

Before we left for home we decided to head down to the dock and throw our lines in there for a few minutes. The sun was going down, there was a light breeze, and there were no mosquitos. It was just perfect. I could have stayed there on the dock for several hours with or without fish. (I probably should have grabbed Kathy for a romantic moment but I forgot.)

Kathy wanted to at least catch a bluebill before we left. So I put a very small artificial on her line and she began dragging it along close to the dock. After a few minutes, I took a look back at her and noticed that she had gotten a bite. I figured it was just a wee little bluegill so I began to turn back around to return to my useless lure-chucking. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I noticed that the wee bluegill had leapt out of the water and had made an awfully big splash for such a diminutive fish. When my synapses started firing again I realized that Kathy had not hooked a bluegill but instead a rather robust largemouth bass. Because of the shallows, she landed it quickly and we both stared at it in wonder.

Because of her success, I think Kathy ought to go on tour with the World Bass Association (or whatever) and fish tournaments for a living. She could even wear those big funny sunglasses and spew, "I tell you what!" with abandon.

Silliness aside, the unexpected bass is a reminder that a moment of ministry may come from out of nowhere as well. It seems important, then, as a people of faith, that when we awaken in the morning, we say a prayer something like this, "Lord, give me courage to form new relationships with others. Keep my eyes open today for opportunities to minister. Prepare me for that which I do not anticipate." Of course, we need to know that He will take us up on this offer!

As Christ's children we are not commissioned to fill up church chairs, but we are commissioned to invite and love people into His kingdom. The harvest, y'all, is plentiful. Are we willing workers?

Jeff

Saturday in Archbold

Today went like this:

1. Husk sweet corn (high-quality Zaerr corn).
2. Work on devotional.
3. Carve sweet corn off of the cobs.
4. Clean up the mess (from the sweet corn, not the devotional).
5. Go for power ride on bike.
6. Return exhausted.
7. Work on devotional some more.
8. Etc.

Not a half-bad day. Kathy worked much harder than I did!

I have been reading Bill Hybel's Just Walk Across the Room (a gift some time ago from Linda Nafziger!). It is a book that encourages all Christians to seize opportunities to form relationships with those who are not Christians because the Lord just may use those relationships to bring folks into His fold.

I have been thinking for years now that it is important for me to have some context in which I am able to form just such relationships because the reality is that I mostly hang out with people of faith. I must confess that I have failed in this regard. With the help of the Spirit, that can change.

Many of you work or live in places where you have regular encounters with those who do not know the Lord. How do you develop relationships effectively? How do you share your faith without scaring people off? How do you suspend judgments and continue to accept folks even when they are not open to hearing about Jesus?

I'll await your wisdom...

Your brother in Christ,

Jeffrey

Archbold

The clock struck midnight and we found ourselves in Archbold. The Lord protected us and provided for us in amazing ways as we traveled. Hallelujah!

Jeff