"The Whistling Wind of God"

It's been a  while since my last post, and I apologize!  I have never been a fan of excuses (no pun intended).  In fact, my high school basketball coach would always say, "Excuses are the testimonies of failure!"

However, we did recently move to Oklahoma City "Where the WIND comes sweepin' down the plain"  to take on a new position in The Salvation Army.  So maybe that's a good explanation as to why!

One thing I have noticed in the last few hours is the WIND!!!  We first noticed it walking off the plane, we could feel the WIND ripping through the cracks on the terminal ramp.  Then when we got out of the car, the door closed on it's own, thanks to the help from the WIND!  All through the night we could hear the WIND whistling through the trees and even as I sit here on my back porch in the smoldering heat I can feel the force of the WIND moving the trees back and forth and back and forth.

There has been a lot of bad WIND related weather lately in the country.  As I was thinking about it this afternoon, it reminded me of the way WIND was referenced in scripture to display God's power.

  "The LORD does whatever pleases him,
   in the heavens and on the earth,
   in the seas and all their depths.
  He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
   he sends lightning with the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses."

  (Psalm 135:6-7)

I am amazed every time I witness the power and majesty of God through His creation, whether it be the beauty of the mountains, the colors of fall, or the power of the WIND.

We serve a powerful God......The Creator, Preserver and Governor of ALL things!

In scripture we also can recall the story of how God uses WIND in a different way to demonstrate his power.

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

 ³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

 ⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

 ⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” 

(Mark 4:35-41)

So the next time you go outside and you feel the cool breeze on your neck, or the forceful blow of the Oklahoma WIND at your back, remember the awesome God who is the architect and orchestrator of it all!

Blessings!

"Etch A Sketch for your soul!"

One of my greatest joys is working with the men, women and children that come through our Emergency Shelter.  We see on a daily basis so many people who are at the end of their rope, without hope.  One of the things I try to convey to each person I deal with is that no matter what has happened in their past, no matter what circumstances have led them to our doors, to this place - There is hope!

The thing I find that is so common with dealing with someone at this point, is that they almost feel like they have done it wrong for so long, there is no way they can get back on track.  They oftentimes have severed any ties or relationship with family and have usually burned numerous bridges.

The most amazing part of my job is to see someone at this point come to the realization that with God, all things are possible and that there is hope and that they can be made new!

2 Corinthians 5:17 says this...

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 

One of my favorite toys growing up was the "Etch a Sketch"  I loved making intrique designs then being able to shake it up and start over.

No matter your mistakes, no matter your past, Christ provides an "etch a sketch" for our soul!
Why not allow Him to make you a new creation!


Blessings!

"What about the roof?"

There are two things that I have to constanly remind myself:

1.  Faith is willing to do the unorthodox.

2.  Faith does not stay in a rut. 

The usual way to enter a house is through a door, never through the roof (excluding my time as a firefighter, when I often entered homes through holes cut in roofs.)  

But for the men in this story, that was the only way to get to Jesus, and so as unorthodox as it was, that is what they did.

¹ A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:1-5)

A church that is stuck in a rut, or a church that sits around saying, "We’ve never done it that way before," or, "We tried it once & it didn’t work," will never succeed in its God-given tasks unless it dares to try something different once in a while. 

I've often wondered which one came up with the idea or if it was all of them.  I'm sure there was one guy who must have spoken up and said; "Wait! What about the roof?"


The example of these men teach us that faith will always continue trying, no matter what the obstalces or oppostitons are; no matter what the bi-laws or traditions are, and no matter what has always "been done in the past!"


What kind of faith do you have?  


The kind of faith that turns around when you see a crowded house and a blocked door?

or the kind of faith that sees a crowded house and an empty roof?