Seeing Past the Prison Bars

  Ever find yourself in a place you don't want to be? Life has many unexpected turns leading us to places we didn't know existed and were not on any maps we owned. God is still God when we come to those places. In the Old Testament we read of a man of impeccable character being put through a series of trials and broken relationships to get him to the place God had prepared for him..... a place of difficulty, but also a place of destiny and deliverance.

  God deals with the big picture. He loves people.... individually and also significantly peoples plural. Sometimes that love brings correction and discipline. In Psalm 105 and verses 16-21 we read of how he worked his providence through Joseph and the people of Israel. "When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.

  Obedience and following God does not immunize us from suffering, pain, turmoil or trial. Joseph was God's man but he went through rejection, pain and many dark nights of the soul on his way to victory and ultimate triumph.  It's through faith ....... and patience that we inherit the promises of God. (Hebrews 6:12) God is taking us somewhere.... and he can be trusted that indeed he knows where he is going and who he is making us to become.  History is not just about events and outcomes. History is also about the shaping of men and women's souls. Romans 8:28, 29 informs us about God's ultimate desire for all of us in life's events, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance and he chose them to be like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters."  God first has to 'call us out' before he can call us into himself. Here Joseph experiences suffering and separation so that God can use him in his perfect plan of redemption for his family and the nation of Israel.  The primary cause of the universe is not our comfort but God's glory. For the believer, the blessed assurance is not a life of ease and comfort, but a life of meaning and purpose under God.  The waiting for God's purpose and plan is often referred to as a test.  Tests reveal what we know.... or what we don't know.  The God kind of test reveals much about who we believe God to be and who we think we are.  We often don't know something until the fire of pain, difficulty, uncertainty and darkness envelopes our soul.

  In Psalm 105 vs 20 we see that there does come deliverance, "The king sent and released him; the ruler of the people set him free.  In God's foresight and providence there does come release and provision. The struggle of waiting and trusting and releasing that timing to him is our paramount test in life. On the other side of the test for those who remain faithful is promotion and fulfillment of God's plan for our lives.  In verse 21, " He made him lord of his house and ruler of his possessions, to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.

  Adversity is a great teacher. When we yield our pain to a sovereign God we gain the fruit of wisdom and preparation necessary to fulfill our purpose in life.  We might not know the future, but we can know the One who holds it firmly in the grip of his will and plan. The character and faith we need to fulfill our destiny is often forged in the hard places of life. We need to hold onto the God who promises to never leave us and never forsake us. He's always on time, never late. He can be trusted.

Jim

Healing Rain

I live in Mobile, Alabama. We are normally one of the rainiest cities in the U.S. There's something about rain that brings a sense of relief in so many ways. Rain brings life, cleansing, growth and refreshing. In a spiritual sense, rain represents the coming of God the Holy Spirit into our lives. When God comes with his presence we are revived, restored and healed. God's Spirit draws near and brings the life we so desperately need. Our daily lives drain us and we all experience times of spiritual dryness and even long standing periods of drought. We lose the sense of freshness that rain brings. Trials produce heat, friction, tension and fatigue. We become worn down....and often worn out. We need to pray for healing rain to pour into our lives. You were meant to be dependent on God for life itself. That thirst your experiencing on the inside is proof that you need a deep and ongoing connection with God. The Holy Spirit is God's great comforter and counselor and he comes to us in the midst of our ongoing struggles and hard times. We need to pray for God to pour out a storm of His presence in our lives.
  After long periods of drought and dryness we can begin to lose hope for rain to come. We need to wait until he comes.... wait in prayer, wait in contemplation, wait in expectancy. We learn much about ourselves when we are not hearing and obeying God actively. Life without God is a barren dessert of progressive danger and distress.
  You were meant to be refreshed by an ongoing revelation of God's love to you. God's rain comes in so many diverse and wonderful ways. A still small voice telling of his love.... an unexpected provision in a time of desperate need.....a kind word from a stranger.....a good report from a Doctor when all seemed lost.  All of these and more are the rain of God coming into your life.  Your body, soul and spirit need a daily 'bath' in God's rain of love and inspiration. God is deeply in love with you. His words tells us that his thoughts about us are innumerable....they can't be counted.....they outnumber the sand! (Psalm 139: 17,18)
  It's time for all of us to cry out in expectancy for God to 'let it rain' with healing refreshing and encouragement for our lives. The world breeds pessimism and death. Heaven breathes life, hope and love. Breathe it in and open your face upward into the rain storm of God's unending love. He loves you, he really does.

Jim

Intimacy and Sexual Purity

  Walk through any bookstore or drug store magazine rack and you are stunned by the multiple publications and articles on the topic of sexuality. But seldom will you see the two words intimacy and sexuality juxtaposed within the same heading. Modern society has increasingly attempted to separate the physical side of sexuality from the relational, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of the topic. Somehow in a "modern" society we are supposed to enjoy our liberated mores and participate in sex regardless of its impact on every other area of the human personality.
Sex was never meant or designed to be enjoyed with such a naive and narrow view. For our sexuality is such a powerful physical, emotional, mental and spiritual experience that when acted upon in the wrong time with the wrong person for the wrong reasons we can destroy ourselves in the process. On the other hand sexuality is one of the most powerfully enjoyable and life giving experiences within the boundaries of the right person, for the right reasons at the right time in life. This introduces a lot of questions such as: How do I know its the right person? What are the right reasons? When is the right time?
God created Sex. And it wasn't just to populate the planet. It was also to enable us to enjoy the pleasure of committed intimacy. Sexuality was never meant to be separated from a deep and meaningful relationship developed out of the context of trust and respect. The whole concept of marriage flows out of a divine revelation: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame." (Genesis 2:24,25)
Sin introduced shame. Selfishness and rebellion (sin) violated and damaged the relationship between men and women and it still does. Separation and confusion in the relationships between men and women that resulted from sin have caused untold misery and disappointment to develop in an area of relationship meant to convey joy, peace, excitement and pure pleasure. We are in deep trouble in the human race and no area is more troubled than sexuality. If knowledge was the answer America would be the most satisfied nation on the planet when it comes to this topic. But clearly knowledge alone is not the answer. The assumption in the modern era is that prudery has kept us in the dark for too long and the way to sexual satisfaction is more education and freedom to "just do it" with whom we will. Sexual disease and death aside the freedom to "do what you want" has neither satisfied nor improved the quality of relationships.
A river without proper boundaries is a flood that kills and destroys. A river flowing along its proper course with secure boundaries gives life and sustenance to a community. God in his mercy and love provides sexuality with boundaries that ensures it brings life and not death. Let's take a look at just a few ways that scripture can instruct.
God created sexual expression as the ultimate act of self giving and revelation to another person with whom we become ONE in every sense of the word.... a mysterious and satisfying sharing of life in the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual sense. When we physically unite with someone outside of the committed context of a life long relationship we damage one another instead of giving life to one another.
Right now we live in a society that modern sociologists call a "pornified" culture. Pornography misrepresents and damages intimacy in both our view of ourselves, others and even the concept of marriage. The ability to be satisfied sexually becomes increasingly difficult to the point of obsession, addiction and perversion. The whole concept of monogamy and faithfulness is ridiculed and our heroes are celebrated for the opposite: infidelity and sexual brazenness. But are we really satisfied or has lust created an insatiable appetite and thirst?
Jesus understood this well and confronted his culture as well as ours, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery', but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." The issue goes so deep that it is an issue of the heart way before it becomes an action. You will NEVER be satisfied sexually until you are first satisfied spiritually and content and satisfied in a relationship with the very real and righteous God. I am not talking about being religious and weird. If you know the truth about who God is and know his love you will TRUST HIM and be free. Free to enjoy sex with the right person (your husband or wife) at the right time (after marriage) for the right reasons (to give yourself fully to your spouse as an act of love and intimacy). We have not in any way tapped the great reservoir of joy in sexuality as a society. Instead we have weakened and diluted it with our unbelief and lies about the God who created it.
The religious traditions of men have given God a bad name in the area of sexuality. Satan loves to push people to one perverse extreme or another.... sex without boundaries and love or sex stunted by fear and regret. There is a better way. When will we really walk in a relationship with God enough to ensure that we live sexually pure within a life long committed relationship called marriage? "For it is said, the two will become one flesh..... Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man or woman commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.
God is not trying to deprive you of any good thing. In the right time, with the right person, for the right reasons God will satisfy those who will wait and trust him for a sexually satisfying and intimate relationship. When you take your body and give it to another apart from the boundaries of a loving God, you are playing a dangerous game of fantasy. Don't trade pleasure for a season for a lifetime of intimacy without regret.

Jim

Giving and Receiving

Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35)  I get that. I have been intensely blessed as I have sought to help others in life. Whether as an R.N. helping to establish an eye hospital in northern Pakistan or in the ministry of Friends of Internationals & All Nations Community Church in Mobile, Al, we have lived a blessed life of service and caring. Nurses and Pastors are shaped, trained and empowered to give and attend to the needs of others. I have seldom been physically ill. I have been in excellent health for my entire life. Several days ago something changed. Last Saturday afternoon an Optometrist and then and Ophthalmologist looked into the back of my eye and told me a sobering truth, I was deeply in need of help. I had gone to get a new pair of glasses or an updated prescription prior to an upcoming missions trip to Nepal. But I left the Doctor's office knowing I had a much deeper need.
  I am beginning to realize that I have developed a weakness of the soul that needs healing. While my right eye has developed diminished vision from a tumor there is something else that needs healing on the inside of me. The ability to put my hands together and receive from others is underdeveloped and lacking. Yesterday while undergoing testing on my right eye the vision in that eye became even more limited through the effects of dilation drops and also the never ending bright lights and probing exams. Mary had to lead me by my hand through the streets of Birmingham, Al toward lunch.  She had to describe the terrain under my feet and the ebb and flow of traffic. I was dependent. I needed to receive. I was not in charge. I was receiving and it wasn't very comfortable at all.
  Paul the apostle had some familiarity with the need of balance in the area of giving and receiving in his life. Paul had a brilliant mind and a strong leadership gifting. Paul also found himself thrown into jail and restricted in his ability to move around freely. In his letter from jail to the church in Philippi he said this about his circumstances, "Yet it was kind of you to share in my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.  Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus, the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
  Life is all about relationships. Healthy relationships are built on mutual giving and receiving.... sharing life together. I need to be more comfortable and open to allow others to give into my life and the life of my family. There is a time and a season and a purpose for everything in life. As I sit here struggling to type this note with one eye hazy and cloudy I know that it's a time to receive. Your love and care for me and my family at this time are an extension of a divine reality.  There are few things that last forever.... but love is one of them.  I open my hands up to you..... all of you.....maybe for the first time. I am ready to receive.
Much love;

Jim

Blind Spots

Too often we take vision for granted. For 5 years I worked in an eye hospital in the mountains of Northern Pakistan. I saw so many tragic situations involving loss of vision through infection, accidents, disease and aging. I've always had good vision. Last Thursday afternoon I noticed a change in vision in my right eye while attending a cross country racing event at Langan Park in Mobile. Everything seemed a little hazy and my eye seemed uncomfortable. Being a nurse I started to do a little 'self exam' when I got home and it made me nervous. I noticed that I had developed a 'blind spot' in my peripheral vision. I simply could not see much on the right nasal field of vision of the right eye. I have studied ophthalmology and I was concerned. I initially didn't tell Mary what was going on. We were both scheduled for a trip to Nepal and I knew that if the symptoms were for real that trip might be cancelled. I quietly mentioned I would go in for an eye exam on Saturday at America's Best on Airport blvd to see if I might need a new glass prescription. When I was being examined by the Optometrist who had dilated my eyes for a look at the retina in the back of the eye, his face grew noticeably pale and he began dialing a number for an on call Ophthalmologist. His first thought was I had suffered a retinal detachment which might require immediate surgery. I called Mary and told her I had a serious problem and she took me over to see the retinal specialist who immediately upon examination told me I had a large tumor in my right eye and that I had probably had for a long time. To be honest I wasn't completely surprised. The symptoms I had been having since Thursday were unusual and not good. That blind spot was a sign that all was not well with my vision and that my life was about to change.

  As I write this I do so with my left eye doing most of the work. God is a good engineer and creator and he has built redundancy into the physical masterpiece of the human body. We have two eyes for a reason! I am awaiting more medical appointments and counsel regarding what to do with the tumor in my right eye. I don't know what is going to happen. I have complete and total peace about it. My faith is that God is in control of my life. There is nothing I have not surrendered to him. I trust in him completely and I will be looking for him in every aspect of what will come going forward. God is good..... all the time.

  Whether your eyes are perfect or not we all still have a tendency to have blind spots in our lives. One of the effects of sin in our life is that we don't see our failures and imperfections very easily. We tend to magnify others failures while minimizing our own. We can have blind spots toward what we say, how we  act and in our attitudes. The ability to see clearly is not just a physical reality...it's often a matter of the heart.  In Jesus greatest sermon he mentioned attributes that illustrated a blessed and meaningful life and one of those involved a vision of the heart. Jesus said this in Matthew 5 and verse 6, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

 I am praying and asking God to heal my physical vision. I recognize the precious gift that physical sight is to my life.  I need to see. But there is a deeper need in my life and your life that we too often don't recognize or acknowledge.  We need to see God. We need to experience that inner transformation that allows us to have his peace, joy and love at work in our souls. God knows our blind spots and he wants to heal them and transform them for our purification and his glory.  Would you pray with me for God to open the eyes of our hearts? Yes, I want a physical healing but I don't want to stop there. I want to see what God sees, feel what he feels and hear what he is speaking.  Life is all about relationships.... and the greatest lover of all, God,  is someone I want to see most of all.

Jim

Wounded Healers

  In a world of broken people, the thought of being used by God to heal others is intimidating and overwhelming. We know too well our own failings and weaknesses. Surely God will find someone who has their act completely together to bring healing and hope to the hurting. We believe the myth of spiritual super heroes whose feet never touch the ground as they sail through life as special delivery agents of God's miracles of power and grace. The reality is that the people God uses to heal and deliver us from evil are made of clay.... that is weak and subject to being broken! We are told in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 7, "But this precious treasure---this light and power that now shine within us----is held in perishable containers, that is in our weak bodies. So that everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own."

  In a world desperate for healing and hope it is up to us to recognize that God wants to use wounded people to perform his wonders. When we can fully recognize that every good thing in life is a gift from above, we become less self absorbed and more God dependent. It's all about Him..... and not about us!

  2 Cortinthians chapter 4 and verse 5 remind us, "We don't go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are you servants because of what Jesus has done for us." When we get out of the way and surrender to the amazing grace and power of a Savior who has conquered death itself, we can be used to heal others.....even while we ourselves are being healed.....from the inside out.

  There is a powerful temptation to wait before we will allow God to use us to help others. And in that hesitation is a powerful and diabolical deception.....that somehow faith is primarily a personal and private expression of belief. If the father of lies can separate and paralyse our 'faith'  to quiet closets of sentimental beliefs, he can keep us wounded forever. The reality is that the things we do for others out of a pure heart heal our own broken places. We should not wait to be healed to love others! God uses the imperfect and the incomplete....we truly are wounded healers.

  Forgiveness and the grace of God in salvation initiate a process of ongoing healing and transformation that are meant to heal not just ourselves but others. God's calling to wholeness is meant to heal not just individuals but communities of people who will walk together in transformative grace.

  In the year 1624, the British poet, John Donne said, "No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." By this we understand that our healing and wholeness are interdependent. In order for my own healing and wholeness to be complete, I must not be paralysed by a solely inward gaze. When I cease to care for others, I cease to be fully human and thus healing eludes me. We need God, and we need one another to be whole and well in this life.

  Healing goes so far beyond a particular surgical or medical intervention. While modern medicine offers physical healing there remains a peculiar relational aspect to healing that integrates both soul and spirit. Surgeons can clear clogged arteries and staple fractured bones....but they cannot release forgiveness or restoration to a wounded and abused soul. For that we need both the unconditional love of God displayed so extravagantly by our wounded Savior on the Cross and also jars of clay....people like you and me to carry the message.....while we ourselves are still on the road to complete healing. Will you be a 'wounded healer' to carry the message of God's healing and saving love? It's in the going and dying to self that we truly find healing. Truly, no man is an island..... we need one another so desperately as we travel the road to that forever place we call home, where our healing will be final and complete.

Jim

The Living Dead: My Year of Darkness and Transformation

1979 was the hardest year of my life. I was 20 years old and living in Anchorage, Alaska. I had a challenging job working as a Medical Lab tech for the U.S. Air-force at Elmendorf Air force base. The toughest part was the shift work. I worked from around 3:30 p.m. till 7 a.m. the next morning. That is a long shift. Since I was single, our Senior Master Sergeant had the idea that having me work nights would ensure the married guys had a better quality of life..... I sure hope they did... it was killing me.
Over time I became more and more tired and disgusted by my life. I didn't mind being a lab tech. I just minded not having any thing else in my life. The military doesn't guarantee a 40 hour work week. They "own" you. Yes, there are benefits. They provide housing, food, educational benefits etc.... and 30 days vacation a year.... if they can spare you. Really my problem wasn't with the military. It was with me.
On the inside at the tender young age of 20 was a dead soul. I really had everything that I needed to live. Food, housing, meaningful work( perhaps too much!). But my soul was dead. At one point I remember going to the cafeteria in the hospital where I worked and remarking that I felt like the food was 'killing' me". I was sitting with a bunch of my co-workers and they looked at me with consternation. The main course that night was 'liver' and it tasted like rubber. After a while the food just didn't seem to taste like anything at all. I was dying from the inside out.
I gradually became more and more cynical and rebellious...and arrogant. I was a scary guy to be around. When people saw me heading to work in the evening they would sometimes cross the street to avoid coming face to face with me. If you had access to some old photos of me you would be surprised to see my face. In the summer and fall of 1979 I looked at least 35 and not 20. I was hardened. My heart was stone cold dead.
Once your heart stops beating and your lungs stop breathing you have approximately 4 minutes until your brain begins to suffer irreparable damage. If you are fortunate enough to have someone do CPR and provide advanced life support you might just survive. But there is another kind of death and its far too common. It's a sad reality for many that death is already close at hand. The living dead are those who get up in the morning and move around on the outside but are dead on the inside.
Every single person on the planet lives in 3 dimensions: Body, Soul & Spirit. We are taught to eat right, exercise, search out purpose and meaning in our work etc.... But there's more. We are meant to connect with something eternal... someone eternal. I'ts not about religion. Religion more often than not will kill you before it heals you. Religion lays down rules, regulations and restrictions designed to bind you to others in a prison of control. No, what we need is life itself...which comes through an amazing display of love in Jesus. Grace is something we must embrace before we can really live in this world of the living dead.
To be free on the inside....to be forgiven and to forgive is to come fully alive. That feeling of dissatisfaction and emptiness you're experiencing right now is something I can remember too well. It's a heavy load to carry through life for even one day. For me the backpack of boulders fell off on August 2nd , 1980. On that day I found out about a forever love that accepted me, forgave me and ultimately saved me. It's good to be alive. Jesus is real.

Jim

Transition: Coping with the Stress of Change

If one word could characterize the reality of the times in which we live, it would be 'transition'. We are all being moved from where we were, to somewhere we've never been. It makes for some unique challenges as we face the uncertainty of unfamiliar places. When the world changes rapidly around us, our emotions, our thoughts and our beliefs get shaken to the core. While we scratch our heads in bewilderment, we feel our 'gut' grow queasy and our jaw tighten.  Just what in the world is going on?

The cliches of 'positive thinking' and shallow faith don't cut it in times of raw adversity and fear. Just what is real and stable when the world you know comes crashing down around you? We often don't realize just how shallow we really are. When we try to condense truth into a top ten bestseller, we realize that the world doesn't publish the best of advice for real word brokenness and pain. Sometimes the truth just won't sell. Uncertainty and hard questions seldom make it to the publisher.

While we try to figure out where we're going, we forget to look around and see "WHO" we're travelling with. The reality is that the who is more important than the where on this pilgrimage better known as life. We're all on a journey to a forever place. The passages, the transitions, the things we do are all so temporary that if they become our focus we might just miss the reason for it all. What a tragedy to live and never know the awesome reality that life is all about relationships.

While we seek for greatness, meaning and significance we might just miss the One relationship that is meant to define all others. The invisible everlasting Father.... the God of the universe waits for us to open our hearts, our minds, our ears to the voice that makes sense in the midst of confusion.  Three words call us continually from the place just beyond the horizon. The Father speaks them in an ongoing chorus of certainty and persistence, "I love you". While we seek for a job.... a place, a title, a mate, a retirement plan, a whatever...... God offers us to himself and we often spurn that everlasting sustenance for a drive through mirage made of sand. How terribly sad!

So often we waste our sorrows. We expend our depression, our grief, our disappointment on a temporary high or experience that can never substitute for a forever love. The God who created us displayed his love in an unconditional abandonment that can never be equaled or surpassed. He took your broken soul and laid himself on a cross to heal you..... to forgive you.....to restore you.

While the world trembles and fears change, God offers himself to hold onto through the turbulence.... the pain, the tears and the fears. Transition isn't meant to destroy us. It's meant to cause us to look beyond the face we see in the mirror. Yes, we're broken. But the God who loves broken people is looking out through the other side of the mirror with a face of acceptance and not condemnation. He's smiling.... and waiting for us to come home to the place that never changes.... to his house. Sit down and rest awhile. He's got time.....lots of time. He's got forever in his hands and plenty of room for you.... for me.... for all of us. Welcome home to forever.

Jim

Intimacy Killers: The Spirit of Control

To be loved for who you are is the most essential human need. The development and growth of intimacy in our relationships demands maturity and selflessness. It's difficult to find deeply satisfying relationships, but easy to have shallow and frustrating 'friendships'.

 Due to our own insecurities and fears we often resort to ineffective and fatal behaviors in our relationships. Perhaps one of the most fatal of all is the manifestation of a controlling spirit. True love inspires, enables and empowers freedom of choice. All true love is rooted and grounded around the ability to move forward and maintain the relationship based on freedom and trust.

When we try to take control of another persons choices in relationship, we ensure the death of any possibility of true intimacy. A spirit of control closes the human spirit and damages the soul. We were not born to be 'controlled' and manipulated....we were born for real love.

The worst form of counterfeit love and intimacy is rooted in a horrific mutation of love known as narcissism.... the pathologic love of self. The narcissist doesn't love the other... he or she seeks to smother...to suffocate....to shape the other into whatever brings the ego the greatest pleasure of the moment. The root cause of a controlling spirit is the worship of self. The controller must be satisfied above all else...above all others. The partner of a controller is a slave of whatever they want: sex, attention, adulation, conversation, money or someone to hurt deeply.

The tragic end of someone dominated by a controlling spirit is the destruction of all their relationships and ultimately themselves. When we don't allow others to be free to love or reject us.... to set up boundaries in relationships based on trust and the natural patterns of growth over time that intimacy demands... to that extent we enslave ourselves to faux relationships based on lies and deception.

The more we attempt to squeeze others to conform to what we want....the more we dishonor them. People are made in the image of their creator who describes himself for us with three simple words, "God is love". God's image in us is honored and respected when we allow others to choose in relationship. God's great love doesn't demand a response....it wins a response through proving his love. You can't love someone you don't trust. You can't be intimate with someone who seeks to use you for his or her own selfish desires.

Intimacy demands freedom. Do you seek for deeply satisfying relationships? Begin today to set others free in your life. Stop demanding what you want and start giving who you really are... no strings .... no chains. Real love is both a choice and a gift. You can't demand it...but you can give it and receive it from a God who is true love personified.

Mission to Nepal!

On October 31st, Mary and I will travel with several friends to the beautiful country of Nepal. It will be my third trip to Nepal and Mary's second. Since 1999 we have developed great friends from Nepal right here in Mobile, Al through our ministry to internationals known as Friends of Internationals. We made our first trip to Nepal in the summer of 2007. Each time we have traveled we have ministered with our friends Sudip and Anne Lise who oversee Compassion for Asia (www.compassionforasia.org) They have an amazing ministry that cares for widows and orphans and also provides spiritual care through churches, Bible training and related outreaches throughout the nation of Nepal. We are blessed to be a part of a team of 10 people with varying gifts to offer in service to the people of Nepal. This year we are bringing two medical physicians who will be providing some medical care but also surveying  and preparing for future medical outreach. We will also minister in local churches that are affiliated with Compassion for Asia and participate in a leader's conference. We also hope to visit with some family members of students we have met over the last decade here in Mobile. To put it simply, we love Nepal! The Nepali people are some of the most kind and endearing people I have ever met. By God's grace we are able to be with them for about 10 days in early November. Will you pray with us about this trip?
In going to Nepal our goal is to undergird and support the Khada family. Sudip began his ministry in 1999 as a young single man but was blessed by God to marry Anne Lise who is from Norway. They met while studying in Pensacola, Florida for ministry. They now have two children and have dedicated their lives to blessing the people of Nepal with the good news of Jesus Christ and humanitarian assistance.  Nepal is a nation of 30 million people with 1/3 living on less than $1 a day! There has been tremendous political instability over the last decade and a horrific civil war that left so many people displaced and 13,000 people killed. Nepal's population is one of the world's youngest and fastest growing. Most live in rural areas, deprived of education and opportunity. Illiteracy is widespread.  Young people are vulnerable to exploitation, sex trafficking, drug abuse and radicalization. We are praying  for opportunities to offer hope and a future. A ministry like Compassion for Asia is offering real hope and vision for the next generation of youth in Nepal. The ministry has huge potential but it needs support and increasing partners to get behind it. This is one of the main focal points for our travel to Nepal. By bringing this team we hope to become ambassadors for both the nation of Nepal and the very vital role of service that Sudip and Anne Lise play in that nation!  Every student who graduates from Sudip's bible school is equipped to communicate hope and vision to the people of Nepal. Attending church in Nepal is thrilling! You see such a fervency and dedication to make a difference! Mary and I would like to ask you be in prayer for us for this trip. We believe God has called us to go but we recognize that we are in need of help from people who have a  heart for the nations. We have for years been dependent on God's people to lovingly pray and give to meet our needs while we serve him. Thanks for standing with us as our partners in the ministry of God's love and mercy!
We love you;
Jim & Mary and family

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A Surrendered Life

Surrender can be a scary word. It means to abandon oneself to an influence, to give into, to yield control to another. We need to be careful to whom we might yield ourselves in life. Not everyone is worthy of trust or surrender. In our search for direction and in our desire to meet our own deepest human needs we often yield control to people who can harm or injure us for their own selfish interests. We do need guidance and direction in life. There are just so many choices we must make in life!  But in the process of seeking direction and guidance we need to exercise caution and develop the gift of discernment to help us know whose voice to trust and whose to run from. The word discernment means the ability to judge well.  Discernment is exercised with the goal of obtaining direction and understanding. There are so many voices calling to control the direction of our lives. Those voices are often contradictory and confusing. Just which way should we turn at a critical juncture in our lives?
  For many years now I have worked with college age young adults from all over the world. I have found that it really doesn't matter if you're from Iraq or Illinois....we all have the same basic needs and desires for life. There are two fundamental needs we have as humans that relate to how God has shaped us and formed us. We all have a need for significance. We all have a need for security. Our significance is rooted in becoming someone who can make a difference... whose life is more than a sand castle washed away by the next wave. We were made to make a mark on eternity.  Our security is rooted in our need for being loved for who we really are.....right now....unconditionally. So much of human love is conditional and  transient.... and thus insecure.  I will love you if..... you lose weight....get a better job....make better grades.....change your eating habits......move to another state or country..... you name it the conditions are numerous and often inconsistent.
  But what if you had a relationship with someone who loved you right now....right where you are and that love promised to be forever? How would that impact your sense of security? Is there such a love available? Many profess love. The world is full of romantic song, poems and stories. We never tire of hearing about love. Worldwide our cultures are saturated with tales of love. But there is one love story that reigns supreme. It involves sacrifice, passion and even sacrificial death on your behalf.... and mine. We are told an amazing story of beauty being exchanged for ashes at a critical time in human history. God took upon human form and spoke out about a never ending love in the clarion call of the gospel of John, " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
  Our need for security and significance drive all that we do. We don't want to die... to perish.  We were made for love.  We were made for relationship. We were made to live and enjoy love forever. And God comes to us and offers us just that kind of life. When we connect with that love and begin to believe in it, we go from existing and taking up space to living and making a difference.
  Faith is a reality we all are immersed in. We all believe in something. What we trust....what we yield ourselves to ..... what and whom our lives are guided and steered by helps us understand our destiny. Our choices day by day determine the direction of our lives in the here and now and ultimately in the there and then beyond our human comprehension. Who do you trust?
  When we open ourselves up to the love of God we begin to discover a life of surrender is actually a path of joy and peace.....not an absence of conflict or difficulty....but the presence of a real and tangible love that never leaves us....ever.
  One of the wisest statements I have ever read about surrender comes from the Proverbs of the Old Testament chapter 3 and verses 5,6 " Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him,  and he will make straight your paths."
  When you surrender to a faithful and ever loving Savior you're set free from so much fear, strain and uncertainty.  A surrendered life is a beautiful life. It's not a life without sorrow....but is a life where not a single tear drops goes unnoticed and not a single sorrow is wasted. Today, I encourage you to begin to ask God reveal himself to you for who he really is. He is love.  He is faithful.  He is worthy of your trust.
It's time to surrender....it's a wonderful life.

Jim

Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

 When tragedy strikes our first emotional response is to ask the question, Why? Pain and suffering produce a loss of control that we desperately want answers for. When the answers are hard to find and uncertain it breeds an increasing pressure and emotional pain. The prevailing assumption is often that we suffer as a result of wrongs we have done...that there is a direct correlation between our sin and whether or not we suffer in this life.

  In trying to answer the why questions in life we often wind up with more worries and frustration. It seems as if the trials, tragedies and turmoil of life leave us searching for easy answers. There has to be an answer to the problem of suffering....doesn't there?

  I have long struggled with whether or not I should in the midst of a catastrophe or trial to ask the question why. Counselors are almost unanimous with their advice to not ask the question.... at least initially. I tend to agree. But I want to dig a little deeper today. Just because a question is difficult to answer does not mean it should not be asked. I think it's more important to probe a little deeper and ask, "Why, do I need to know why?"

  I think I have an answer for the motivation and consuming desire to know why we are undergoing suffering and tragedy in life. The answer lies at the heart of who we really are. When we look in the mirror we see our physical self (for better or worse) but inside of all of us lies the real person. We are made up of body, soul and spirit. Our spirit and soul connect with an eternal reality that was created to live forever in harmony with God. We can't articulate that eternal consciousness in words but when we are ill or broken in any dimension of our lives we feel a disconnect.... we simply know, "something isn't right."

In the beginning God created us..... and it was good.....all good. Something obviously went wrong somewhere. The Bible clearly tells us what happened but we wax and wane in our actual belief in that revelation. The devastation wrought by sin is immense. We are all being deeply impacted by a cosmic rebellion on earth. So why should that effect me? I want to do the right thing. I believe in God..... I love people......I want peace in the world!

  John Donne the poet put it this way, "No man is an island, entire of itself.....". Our lives are deeply intertwined. Your suffering, your brokenness, your happiness, your blessing, your wealth, your poverty.....are all mine as well. Truly, not a single one of us is an island cut off from the other. No matter how high the walls we build around our castles of prosperity we are all subject to pain and suffering of every conceivable kind. So in the light of this truth, how do we then respond when tragedy strikes?

In the gospel of John chapter 9, Jesus was asked by his followers about a man they saw who had been born blind, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" What a tragedy to walk through life being judged for something we have no control over. In our broken world we have to be careful we don't put people into categories and write them off based upon what we can see with our limited and finite human senses and resources. Jesus answer to this question should bring you great liberty and freedom in dealing with our own faults, trials and uncertainties.... listen carefully to his response. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, Jesus answered.  This came about, so that God's works might be displayed in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

  Jesus then proceeded to heal the man born blind and the rest of the chapter shows him dealing with the deceptions and hardness of heart of the prevailing religious culture of his day. The truth is that God is light. In the midst of a broken world he is wanting to heal, restore and bring hope. Religion keeps people in boxes of guilt, despair and darkness. The religious mind set wants to have an overriding simplistic approach to suffering in this world that is grossly and tragically wrong. The rain, Jesus said, falls on the just and unjust. In our times of brokenness, the only proper response is to allow God to come in and work his will into our lives. When we surrender to God in the midst of the unknown outcomes of tragedy, light begins to dawn in amazing though unpredictable ways.

  In case you haven't realized it yet, we are not in control. No matter how intricate and detailed your preparations and plans, life throws curve balls! In tragedy, the most simple and heart felt prayers produce the best results. I find that crying out, "HELP!" has been quite effective in my life. I know it is not the most profound prayer but it places me in line with the deepest understanding of God and myself I have received thus far, "God is big..... and I am small."

  Are you struggling with a personal tragedy in your life?  Perhaps you or someone you love is ill, depressed or in a serious financial crisis. I have heard it said that we are all either moving in the direction of a trial, in one now, or just coming out of one. May God grant us the faith to understand that when bad things happen to us he has not stopped loving us. Tragedy can either embitter us or make us better. The choice before us is one burrowed deeply into the will of our soul. The one word that determines everything in our times of trial is SURRENDER.  Surrender of control needs to be based upon a revelation that is both profound and deeply moving, God is love. I cannot reveal that to you. But I can tell you that I have known and experienced that love in the midst of dark days and sleepless nights. Weeping may endure for the dark night of our souls.... but joy comes in the morning.

Much love;

Jim

When Love Calls Your Name

A lonely place, a hidden hope. A distant thought, A broken part.

From deep within I listen hard, for one true voice to touch my heart.

I'm hoping for a brand new start, I need to know there is real hope.

A whisper speaks, it calls me out. I know your name, I know your heart.

The broken place begins to stir, it hears His voice calling out in love.

Come alive, I know your name, it's love I hold within your frame.

I feel the pain, I shed the tears, but still I hope, I hear my name.

The truth becomes a part of me, I am loved in spite of pain.

I begin to stir in places deep, I feel the power of love's pure rain

I come alive, I grow within, in spite of pain, I hear my name.

The beauty of his deep pure love sets me free from where I've been.

I'm coming out of my dark cave, I hear the voice that knows my name.

He sees inside my darkest place and still calls out, I know your pain.

The choice is his to love me still and call again, I know your name.

The light begins to dawn within, I'm coming out to trust again.

The hope we need is not for sale. We can't buy or grasp what heaven gives.

The purest love is what we need, to set us free from life's dark hate.

We all can be, what we desire, when heaven calls our souls alive.

The secret place, the hidden faults, the pain and brokenness of all our hearts

Is healed, when love calls our names

Jim

Overcoming the Spirit of Quit

  Ever feel like quitting? Every significant commitment to succeed in life will at one point or another face the temptation to quit before achieving it's goal. As I look back on my life I can specifically recall moments where part of me wanted to give up and another part of me wanted to hold on.

  When I was 14 years old I joined the outdoor track team as a freshman. My father and uncle were both very good runners in school and they had taken me to track meets since my early childhood. I knew I wanted to run but I had no idea how much training and pain were involved! A day or two into the season my legs hurt so badly that I could not walk down the stairwell in our home. I had to go down the steps backward to lessen the excruciating pain in my calf muscles. As I went out the door on my way to school I informed my dad that I would quit the track team that day. My dad had a very serious look on his face as he gave me this advice, "If you quit now you might regret it the rest of your life. The pain is temporary. Hang in there and you'll make it through." The pain spoke very loud but my father's words rang true. I didn't quit and went on to run all 4 years of high school and developed a life long love of running that continues to this day. What if I would have quit?

  When I was 17 years old and fresh out of high school I signed up to join the United States Air- force. At several points during my 4 year commitment I wanted to quit. But the Air-force doesn't just let you quit. I learned through the discipline of the military a lot more about commitment and working through very hard times. After 3 years in the Air-force, I surrendered my life to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What if I had tried to quit the military before that time? I would have lost the opportunity to experience the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ meeting all my needs during some very dark days.

  When I was 34 years of age I was living in Taxila, Pakistan seeking to gain 'hands on' experience working at an eye hospital. Prior to opening the eye hospital in Gilgit, we needed experience and advice from people in Taxila who had been operating their eye hospital for decades. Our experience turned out to be less than ideal and we were not treated well by some of the staff there in Taxila.  During one long dark night of doubt I had tossed and turned unable to sleep. I woke up Mary in the middle of the night and told her I thought we should quit in our efforts to continue to establish the hospital. Mary challenged me to really pray and surrender to God. I needed to face my doubts and surrender afresh to God's strength. I needed to hold onto faith and not surrender to fear and doubt. Over time I have continued to have to face down the overwhelming desire to quit many times and in many places in life.

  What are some keys to overcoming this spirit of quit?  First we need to recognize that as human beings our soul is prone to both emotional highs and lows. There are times when we feel like we can do anything and often at the beginning of a major challenge we are 'high as a kite'. But those times of emotional exuberance and excitement do not last forever.  There are also times when we feel like we can do nothing! The key in dealing with our emotions is to recognize them but not necessarily surrender to them.  There are many reasons why our emotions swing so much.... some of them are physical (lack of sleep, poor health, mental illness etc...) We should not ignore how we feel. We need to own our emotions but not be enslaved by them.

  When we are feeling overwhelmed by our commitments we need to recognize that God calls us to himself in relationship as a way to share our burdens with him. Jesus said this, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28) When you surrender your commitments to God in prayer, you enable a supernatural strength to be activated in your life. The temptation to quit doesn't evaporate but there is a new found internal strength available to those who simply ask for it in faith.

  Along with the unique important empowerment of strength we can receive from God, there is also tremendous help available from people who love us and are called to help us in life. We need help in the journey of life from others who can help us refute the temptation to quit before we achieve our destiny.
  Hebrews chapter 12 offers us some sage advice about the importance of faith and endurance in achievement. In verse 1 we read, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

  Our modern society is shaped by the message that more is better and now is the time. The concept of waiting for fulfillment and enduring suffering to yield a higher call is not something we are comfortable with. We want it all and we want it now! However, the culture of the kingdom of God calls for the surrender of the temporary to obtain the forever. If we are to overcome the spirit of quit we must recognize that the truly valuable things in life are never truly easily obtained. The next time you face the temptation to quit think hard and long before doing so. You might miss what you really want in the temptation to escape temporary pain. Before we arrive at our God ordained destiny you can be assured you must overcome the temptation to quit. You need God's help. You need the help of committed friends. You need to understand that pain and discomfort are part of the cost of getting to where you really want to go.  Count the cost and move in the direction of your destiny! Don't quit.

Jim

Embracing Grace

  Grace is such a beautiful word. It's a word that is spoken by poets, lovers, theologians and the broken. It's meaning though is often misapplied and misunderstood, is the basis for all the virtues of life. The grace of God is as the famous song tells us plainly, 'amazing'.

  God knowing who we are.... and being who he is, knows that apart from his choosing to pour out his favor on our lives, we would have no hope. We desperately need all the unmerited favor that God has to offer us in this often tragic drama we call life.

  For those who have been humbled and broken enough to see their need of grace, there is a deep vein in heaven full of the river of grace. When we cry out from the center of our souls, God meets us with all that he is. Grace is a river fillled with the fullness of God's person and power for life.

  Tragically, grace has its imitators. For many people grace is a 'work' to be imitated and faked by a lifestyle of outward conformity without inward transformation. For the 'grace fakers' it's all about the do.... the actions which can be imitated for exterior show and human rewards. The realites of grace are never known without an inward new birth. We have to 'die' to our own attempts at religiosity and appearances to receive the miracle of new life.... the grace life.

  For many of us the opinions of others rule supreme in our decisions, desires and ultimately our destinies. We are so insecure that we can never fully grasp the liberating freedom of amazing grace. We choose to remain in the 'outer court' of religious conformity.... we know nothing of radical trust, intimacy and healing. If Jesus is not at the center of our soul we ensure our bondage and imprisonment to a cheap imitator....fake grace.

  After Jesus rose from the dead he confronted a wavering disciple, Peter. Peter had always struggled with relationship. He was intensely jealous of John's intimacy with Christ. Jesus didn't scold him for what he hadn't done.... for how he had betrayed and left him..... no, Jesus called Peter back to grace....back to relationship. In John 21: 15-19 we see an amazing interchange between the risen Jesus and Peter. Jesus wanted to know one primary thing from Peter, "Do you love me?"

There is no deeper reality of grace than to experience and relish the love of God. If love is our aim....our center.....our everything, then grace has done its deepest work in our hearts.

  When we fake grace we look for our identity in what we do for God.... we want titles and recognition...more than we want God himself. Jesus wanted Peter not to do for him primarily..... no Jesus wanted Peter to be with him, "Follow Me!" were Jesus final words of this dramatic conversation. The God of the universe.... the God of all grace is calling you and me to himself. We need to stop faking grace.

Jim

Loving Immigrants in Alabama

The state of Alabama has been in the news recently as a new immigration law has been enacted which has been billed as the nations toughest. Immigration has been a controversial issue for many years in our nation. When our economy was good the opportunities for unskilled labor boomed and literally millions of people from Mexico and other nations came to find work to support their families. Over the last few years as our economy in the U.S. has weakened the issue has now become very heated and emotional. Our federal government which legally bares the responsibility for the issue has not addressed  in a systematic way what to do with the issue of legal and illegal immigration. As someone who ministers to international students at a University in Alabama I can assure you that every aspect of immigration in our nation is dysfunctional. You can do everything right and still find yourself waiting for years and expending huge sums of money to work and reside legally within the current system. States including Alabama have grown extremely frustrated and have resorted to unilateral legislation to deal with the issue. It remains to be seen if states can effectively deal with the issue of immigration without meaningful cooperation and assistance from our federal government. While politicians can enact laws and law enforcement seek to uphold them, the reality remains that immigrants are people too.
  How do we treat the immigrant population living in our country? As we move about in daily life, how does one tell if someone is legal or illegal?  Christians are commanded by God to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. How does that play out in a situation like Alabama is experiencing? There is a great deal of complexity in dealing with any situation involving people.... and especially families who are living in America as illegal immigrants. It's not uncommon for some of the family (especially children) to be born here and be legal citizens while their parents are not. If we reflexively respond, "KICK THEM OUT" without understanding what that means to their family dynamics we are not really loving them. We need to find a way to advocate for immigration reform while also understanding the ripple effect in every area of our society. I know some legal immigrants who simply because of the color of their skin are being mistreated and harassed in the environment of fear and anger created by this unresolved issue.
  I respect and support our government. But at the same time I do not support an approach which does not really resolve the issue at large. The immigrant population is on the move in Alabama to neighboring states.  Perhaps this can be viewed as a 'success' by our state legislators and Governor. It might force the hand of our negligent federal government. However, if in the process of driving illegal immigrants from our borders we allow our own hearts to harden that success will be a hollow victory.
  Jesus summed up his entire ethical teaching in the gospel of Matthew chapter 22 and verse 37, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
  What does it look like to love a neighbor who because of poverty has been living in your neighborhood illegally? Do we kick them out?  Do we offer them a meal on the way to their car? Do we view them as our enemy? The teachings of Jesus are simple to teach in a safe, clean, Sunday school classroom. But when we take those teachings out of the classroom into a world that is clearly broken we might just find it harder to live than we realize. Alabama and indeed our nation as a whole is being tested like never before. My prayer is that we will pass that test. May the love of God be our guide.


Jim

The Prison of the Past

  No one wants to lose their freedom and be confined to a prison. A prison is a place of restriction and confinement. In a prison you lose freedom of movement. Someone else makes the decisions for you. You are told when you will eat.....when you will sleep.....what you will eat and with whom you will live.  What you can see, taste, feel and experience is largely outside the ability of your will to choose. Prison is meant to be a punishment for the violation of societies laws and interests. You are placed in prison to protect the welfare of those who choose to live within the lines of moral constraint. Paint outside the lines of society norms, and you risk living in a place where all the lines are painted for you.

  There is another kind of prison that many of us live in that has no physical bars to control us. Many of us live in a prison of our past failures and mistakes. We live in a place of confinement known as 'regret'. We place the handcuffs and shackles on our minds. We forfeit freedom in the name of self punishment. We lose the ability to hope. We chain ourselves to those we have failed and disappointed and cease living forward looking lives.

  To be forgiven for all our failures and sins is a difficult concept to accept and receive. The message of the world is 'someone must pay' and we naturally agree with this to the point of self destruction and abasement. Often the most difficult person to forgive in life is ourselves.  We cry out for forgiveness but our emotions are often overwhelmed by what we've done.... and by what's been done to us. We wonder when we will 'feel' forgiven and obtain peace on the inside.

  Being set free from the chains of our past is a journey of faith and grace. There is a grace walk of transformation of our thought life.  In Paul's letter to the church at Phillipi we hear the heart of someone set free from the prison of his past by a living Savior, "God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection of the dead."

  We need to be raised from the dead many times in this life.  Death is not just a physical event. Death is something we experience every time we come face to face with the results of our own sins..... and the sins of others. The wages of sin is death.... a death of what we expected, wanted or desired from life. Until we experience the life that is in Jesus Christ, the one who conquered death for ever, we will never overcome the inherent crippling power of death. When the storms of life come, we are overcome with despair. We might continue to breath..... to sleep.....to eat.......but we lose any sense of satisfaction and peace. We consign ourselves to the prison of our own discontent. We become a part of the endless train of humanity known as the 'living dead'. How do we come out of the imprisonment of our past?

  It's important we understand that the walk out of the prison of our past is a process.  Paul continues in his letter to the church at Philllipi, "I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize  for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven." (see Phillipians ch. 3)

  Grace has the power to heal and transform our memories. The question is not, 'will I ever forget?'. The question is how will I choose to interpret what has happened to me and through me? God's grace  enables us to move past our pain and suffering to see that 'God meant it for good'. Part of our healing is released when we make the decision to lean forward into the future with God. We 'forget' so that we can receive the future marked out for us. This is not mental trickery. You are not obliterating the past by a spiritual lobotomy. You are instead receiving a revelation from God about how indeed he causes, 'all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." The path of Christ followers is not an easy path or one without thorns. Instead it's a path where not a single thorn is wasted in the transformation of our souls.

  Are you living in the prison of the past? Are you 'stuck' in despair, pain and disappointment with how life has treated you? Today, I urge you to allow God to pour out grace into your prison of regret. Jesus has defeated every form of death that exists in our world. When we choose to receive his forgiveness for what we have done..... and to forgive what has been done to us.... the doors of our prison can spring open.

  There is still so much left of life for all of us to experience..... to share and to love. Come out today and be set free from the prison of your past. A new day dawns just beyond the doors of our broken places.  Jesus died for your freedom.  Don't waste another moment of life in torment or despair. Grace is calling......welcome home.

Jim 

Building a Life of Intimacy

 We all want satisfying and intimate relationships. We were born to love and be loved. But the achievement of satisfying relationships often seems elusive and frustrating. What are some of the essential ingredients in building a life of relational satisfaction. If we know how we have been made.... who we are at our core, we can lay the bricks that build a lasting bridge toward relational intimacy. The first book of the Bible reveals something about our inherent nature and personhood that we must understand. In Genesis chapter 1 and verse  26, "Let us make man in our image , after our likeness."
  We are more than our physical bodies. When our heart stops beating it doesn't mean we cease to exist. Our spirit lives on.... the eternal ME, our personhood needs to be understood before we expect to build deep and lasting relationships. Our spiritual self relates to our deepest desires, meaning, love, purpose and worth.
  All of us have two real and profound needs which must be met before we can experience intimacy that lasts. The image of God is reflected upon us through those two needs. God is a personal being who in his essential nature is LOVE. God is also a creator of design and purpose and the author of meaning for all of us.  We too are personal beings....but we are limited, dependent and sinful. God is love..... we need love.  Whatever God produces and empowers is significant. It's in knowing God that we find deep love and significance. Let's take a closer look at our two essential needs as human beings.
1. Security: a deep understanding of being unconditionally loved without needing to change in order to obtain that love.  To be loved by a love freely given, not earned and impossible to lose.
2. Significance: when we realize we are engaged in a life that is truly important, a life whose significance will not evaporate with time... but will last throughout eternity. This life will have a meaningful impact on another person and fit who I am as a person. (Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
  The foundation stone for acheiving intimacy is Truth. In a relationship with God in Christ we can live satisfied.... knowing that we are at every moment eternally loved and genuinely significant. As Watchman Nee says so well in his commentary on Ephesians (Sit, Walk, Stand), "Christianity begins not with a big DO , but with a big DONE." In other words, cease striving..... and begin to really live by grace and love available to you through God's finished work on the cross of Christ.
  When key relationships falter and cause me to feel insecure or less significant, I can continue to hold firmly to the fact that in Christ I am always and forever a worthwhile person. God's first call is not to a religion or system of belief. God's first call is always to himself.... to relationship, to an intimate knowledge of his love and person. That kind of love never disappoints. He's calling you to know him....really know him.  Answer the call to relationship.

Jim

When Dreams Collapse

 We are built to believe, to hope and to dream. All of us universally are created with a capacity to create and shape our futures. Right now, our world is experiencing a world wide recession. We seem to be moving backwards on an escalator out of our control. Our dreams are collapsing personally, nationally and internationally. Just what in the 'world' is going on?
  The concepts of economic and political unity which have forged a European Union and even a United States of America are fraying and faltering. Today, we are hearing of the likely collapse of Greece due to its overwhelming debt. What often starts as a grand vision of hope and excitement often collapses somewhere along the way.
  The concept of unity offers so much to those who will agree to key unifying concepts related to values and goals. But the unification of people is a very difficult thing to achieve without deep commitment and effort. Politicians can't create unity over the long term.  Democratic freedoms are dependent on an inner sense of morality and a commitment to a cause greater than oneself. Selfishness leads to an eventual collapse of a society and economic and moral chaos .
  Dictators and despots arise at times such as this. Adolf Hitler arose in a time of economic disaster and hopelessness. He offered a false sense of national unity and pride and his guns and butter philosophy set the table for the destruction and death of millions. The times in which we live could likewise produce another false hope.
  What or who are you hoping in? What are you dreaming about? There are false messiah's in every realm of life. When you put all your hope on a person or a politician you will inevitably be disappointed. The chaos we are seeing in our world today is at its core a spiritual struggle. There is real evil trying to overcome good through deception and an appeal to our sinful nature.
 The false god of wealth is not doing so well in our current climate of economic uncertainty. Money in and of itself is not evil. Money is an exchange for time.... for life.  What we do with our wealth reveals much about what we worship and what we value. When we recognize that life is about relationships and keep that front and center in our priorities we preserve and honor truth. Jesus told us clearly that a man and woman's life does not consist 'in the abundance of their possessions'.
  There is a time and a season for everything under heaven. At present we are all experiencing an economic recession or contraction. Don't waste this recession! Evaluate your priorities, your dreams and your hopes for the future.  Are your goals too materialistic? How would your dreams fulfillment impact the relationships in your life? Would your dream bring honor and glory to God?
  We are all in a time of change and transition. We're all headed somewhere and now would be a good time to decide where you want to go with the rest of your life.  As for me and my house....we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

Jim
  

This Marathon Called Life

In January, 2010, my son Joshua and I completed a 26.2 mile marathon in Mobile, Al. It was a challenging day. The temperature at the start was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit with a lot of wind. We had trained a lot for this race but there are always elements in every challenge in life that we are not in control of. To run for that distance it is critical to stay hydrated and it was amazingly hard to drink the equivalent of 'ice water' in spite of thirst. The cold water seemed to trigger nausea for both of us and from mile 15-19 or so we both felt it. At mile 15 they were "out of water" at the rest stop and I was really upset about that.... I was thinking how can you be out of water at a water stop? So I trudged along and began to feel like I was not going to make it to the finish. I grew increasingly despondent. I was cold and my legs didn't want to move very well. But I continued onward slower and slower. I knew that my friends and family were manning the water stop just past the 20 mile mark and I thought I will make it to there and throw myself into the arms of my merciful wife who would understand if I stopped and did not finish.
As I approached the 20 mile water stop I saw my friend Ben Brenner who was shouting encouragement and began to run alongside me. His words to me and his presence alongside impacted me immediately. I felt my mind and body feeling better. He told me I was going to finish... and I believed him. I had heard many similar voices from people all along the course but none of them impacted me like Ben's. I knew Ben... this wasn't some random voice saying things it didn't mean. Ben knew me... and believed in me. Not only did Ben encourage me with words but he began to lead a cheer for me as we neared the water table... all my friends and my wife began to shout my name and I felt a wave of love hit me on Spring Hill avenue. At that instant I felt better than I had in several miles. I did not ask him too but Ben ran with me for quite a while through the water stop and beyond and illustrated with me that actions are even more powerful than our words. Many will say they are with you in trials, storms and difficulties but those who run or walk with you through those times have an amazing power of influence. I also had many who were praying for me along the journey. Life is a journey of amazing highs and lows and it's easy to get discouraged in the 'middle miles' when the finish line is not yet in sight. That's when we really need our friends and family (community) to believe in us, walk with us and encourage us to live the life that God has planned for us.
Running the marathon in Mobile I learned  a powerful lesson that the power of encouragement is a unique gift that can be exercised by anyone willing to draw alongside people going through the challenges of life. Your words and your presence carry a power that can help others finish and not quit what they have been called to do. Sometimes the most powerful words are simply, "You can make it!"

Jim