Little Children, Large Faith

Sometimes, children make really good leaders.  Children can teach us to play, laugh at little things and think bigger than we would have on our own.  This is happening right in our midst at ValleyLife.  Just a couple of weeks ago, a discussion began with some of our children about giving a gift to a needy family somewhere in the world.  With that conversation, someone found Hiefer International.  Hiefer offers a 'gift catalog' where you can give an animal to a needy family.  The family will be trained in the care of the animal and promises to give away some of its offspring to another family so they too can enjoy the benefits of what it produces as they pass on offspring as well. 

With this in mind, some of the children's leaders thought, 'let's but a Llama ($120.00) or a sheep ($150.00)', but the kids (and Jesus) had another idea.  Each of them really had their heart and mind set on buying a cow ($500.00) for a family.  Little children, large faith! 

Jesus endorsed children and even infants taking the lead from time to time in our midst;

15 The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David." But they were indignant 16 and asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" "Yes," Jesus replied. "Haven't you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, 'You have taught children and infants to give you praise.' "

To kick off this fund raising project, we are going to BBQ burgers this Sunday night at the church building.  We will be providing "High Quality Burgers", chips and bottled water.  In return, we are asking you to bring a financial donation to help us reach the children's goal of $500.00 to buy a cow through Hiefer International.

After we have had our fill of "High Quality Burgers" and chips, we will gather together to share stories, worship together and pray for Jesus to raise up workers for His harvest fields around the globe.  I hope each of you will choose to join us Sunday evening at 5:00pm.

Here is a short 1 minute video giving you the key ideas of Hiefer International...

If you have any questions, e-mail Ed Waken or Debbie Waken.

Feeding Your Soul

Jesus taught that He sends His children out as sheep in the midst of wolves (Matt. 10:16).  My friend Neil Cole puts it this way, "If there is darkness, run to it and be light because it is more fun to light in the darkness than to be light in the light."  Many followers of Jesus are aware of these marching orders from Jesus but many do not obey them.  One of the key reasons for people not following Jesus' instructions is because they do not feel equipped to be light in the darkness nor do they feel they know enough of their Bibles to be sheep in the midst of wolves.  I would like to briefly address these reasons and a remedy.

First, we should daily remind ourselves that God has made every believer a competent minister of the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6). You are, right now - actually since the day you become a follower of Jesus, competent to represent Jesus in any situation.  How or why is this true?  Because the Word of God says it is true in the verse I cited above.  If you want an example of this read Mark 5:1-20.

While it is true that we are competent ministers of the New Covenant from the moment of our salvation, we also need continuing education or continued time spent with Jesus.  Currently, some leaders at VLC are putting together a simple format to provide you with additional tools to help you get more comfortable with using the Word of God.  Please begin praying today about possibly being involved in learning these simple tools to help deepen your interaction with the Word of God. 

While you wait for more details to be rolled out in a few weeks, you can begin by gaining a introductory level of understanding as to how the Bible fits together by reading Max Anders book, 30 Days to Understanding the Bible.  To make the process easier, you can click HERE to purchase the book online.

Let's Travel Together

Last Sunday night was wonderful!  The Lord revealed Himself through many people and in various ways, my spirit was encouraged.  One of the highlights was having six Grace Brethren Missionaries with us from all over the world.  These men gave a short report on the region of the world they are from.  The director of Grace Brethren International Missions (GBIM), Dave Guiles, then encouraged us to move forward in our support and interaction with a foreign land by praying together for 60 days, asking God to show us where He would like us to focus some efforts.  We may choose to have all of our organic church work together in one locale or God may direct each organic church to do something different.  The key is to pray together asking God to reveal where we should focus.
 
GBIM has developed a tool to help guide us in our prayers (see a short promo video below).  I have ordered some Global Prayer Walk Booklets and once they arrive, we will make sure you get them on Sunday nights or through your organic churches.  We would like for each family to pray together daily for different portions of our world through this guide, being aware of the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  There is a children's section for each day so that families with smaller children can participate in the process as well.  
 
On January 1st, we'll have an International Day and share lot's of food, talk about how the Lord is leading us and decide how to proceed from there on touching the world together.  I have already heard from many of you about wanting to begin this experiment.  Be looking for the Global Prayer Walk Guide soon!  Let's travel together!   
 
You can find out more about GBIM HERE and you can learn more about Global Prayer Walk HERE.
 
 Get out there and cast some seeds! 

Staying Strong When You Aren't

The bad news kept coming.  A friend is battling for their life, a low tire ended up meaning I needed two new tires at the cost of $400.00, my wife was having some health issues that were bothering me, a ministry that I am mentoring is having some relational difficulties and I am really tired from a month of strong travel and ministry.  I was not feeling particularly strong in my faith on Monday.  The last of the bad news came when I had to spend another $50.00 to get my car aligned.  Deb and I were in the alignment companies lobby when I stepped outside to make a phone call that I didn't want to make (my attitude told me I was not strong).  After the call, I stepped back into the lobby to find Debbie and three men talking about Jesus.  What should I do?  Should I put on a fake, 'christian' attitude?  Should I just sit down and ignore their discussion (rude)?  Should I politely listen and nod?  Should I pretend to make another call?

In times like these, we really don't feel strong and probably are not strong in our faith.  For all of us, our faith can take radical turns for better or worse when life goes in unpredictable ways.  These feelings can last for seconds or years.  If we let the curves of life control us, we will be mostly out of sorts much of the time.  Staying strong and consistent in our faith and lives is the best answer, even when things are rough.  A question many will ask at this point is how can we stay strong and focused?

Here are five helpful principles that I apply to my life to help me stay strong when I don't want to be strong;

1. Stay Faithful

Remain faithful when things are smooth so that you'll have plenty of reserves when things get rocky!  This is more of a prevention against the temptation to wallow in bad times.  Staying strongly engaged with Jesus through prayer, the Bible and in community with others is vital.  Jesus told us to 'remain' or 'abide in me' (John 15).  When these basic Biblical disciplines are maintained in ones life, it will serve as an anchor when the seas of life begin to swell.  Many believers choose to 'coast' when things are smooth only to drain them of their strength instead of building up reservoirs of faith that will need to be called upon at some point.

The years of 2009 and 2010 were really awful for my family and I.  My wife went through breast cancer (she has no evidence of disease today!) and our church community went through hell (no other word for it).  These two events happened simultaneously.  The only way I made it through with strength, grace and faith is by accessing the years of strength and provenness that I built up in my life. 

2. Embrace Realities

People who come to Jesus often think that everything (or most things) in their life should go smoothly.  Somehow this false doctrine has crept into the minds of saints especially in the Western church.  Many believe that if they read the Bible enough, pray enough, fast enough and do enough christian things that God is then obligated to takes the bumps out of life.  This is really bad theology.  You cannot come up with one person in the Scriptures whose life went smoothly.  When you add to your life the desire to live fully for God, well, the heat seems to be turned up a notch or more.  Quick cures never resolve deep damage that has been done to our souls.  Life is often laced with confusion, doubt, fear and a variety of struggles.  Believers need to know that God is good even when things are bad or confusing.  God is in control even when life seems to be out of control.  We would do well to embrace the realities that invade our lives and know that the path to life comes through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23).  Dan Allender puts it this way, "The obstacle to life is the conviction that God will damage us and destroy us.  The problem is that the path [to life] does involved His hurting us, but only in order to heal us." (italics are my addition).

Why not begin a journal and jot down a sentence or two a couple of times week.  Write down what you are feeling, and some of the prayers that you are bringing to God.  Be honest and transparent in your writing and you will probably see more and more realities being embraced by your soul.  Know that living spiritually strong lives is costly and will be challenged by your flesh, the world's values and the enemies lies.  The reality is that you are in a war and you are on the front line.  The war is for souls and an allegiance to Jesus.  Expect opposition when you choose to live for the King.

3. Believe the Truth.

For too many people, believing lies and doing little to dismiss them is the norm.  The truth is that people get comfortable beating themselves up, allowing excuses to keep them down and feeling like the whole world is against them.  When this cycle happens, selfishness sets in people begin to live out the lies about themselves that they willingly entertain.  Instead, we should believe the truth that God says about us.  Some of these truths are that He loves us, He created us in His image (and God said it was good), that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ, that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, that Jesus will never leave us nor ever forsake us, that Jesus came to gives us life etc.

Jesus has taught us that the truth will set us free.  If you find you are one who dwells on negative things, find a friend and confide this habit and ask them to help you to begin the process of changing your thinking.  Find out together what the truth is that you should believe and dismiss the lies when they creep in.  Ecclesiastes teaches that 'two are better than one'.  Philippians 4:8-9 gives us some good things to dwell upon.

4.  Be Selfless

When people are not feeling strong in their faith, the last thing usually on their mind is being selfless and others centered.  When we are not feeling strong the temptation is often to become self-absorbed in our own world (entertainment, work, sleep, rest, complaining etc.).  Being self-absorbed will only serve to take you down a few more notches in your spiritual vitality.  The Scriptures teach us to treat others as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2).  When we aim to be others centered, we find meaning or purpose outside of our selves.  The giving of our self in being others centered actually breathes new life into our spiritual lungs. 

Be bold and start with a small step like a phone call, an e-mail of encouragement, a text or a short cup of coffee with a friend.  Ask God who could use some encouragement and then serve it up!  Ask about how they are doing and reserve your story to when they ask and then be brief.  I know you'll find that Jesus will fill your soul and strengthen your weak knees.

5.  Christ is our Life

I saved the best for last :-)  Over the past couple of years, I have had to make a conscious decision to believe that God is good all of the time.  Life often doesn't make sense.  It is in times like these that I find I must remind myself and be reminded by others about all that Christ has done.  My wonderful wife often reminds me with statements like, "Which of God's provisions have not been adequate?"  In 2 Timothy Paul says that "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13).  The next verse says, "Remind them of these things...".  In Colossians 3:4 Paul tells us that Christ is our life, He is our true identity.  Our faith and journey is all because, and all about Jesus.  He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12).  The more intimate and trusting we become with Christ, the more He will become our life. 

Stay faithful, embrace realities, believe the truth, be selfless and allow for Christ to really be your life!  What if every believer engaged life's challenges with these concepts?  How would the world be different?  Christ is our leaning post, the only one who can keep us strong when we don't feel like we are.  Christ is before all things and in Him all things hold together (Col. 1:17).  You can be strong through Christ, even when things are really hard.  That is what the world is desperate to see, the strength of God flowing through people and being different enough to make a difference.

I would love to hear your thoughts if you would like to share them.

Does God Care About the Grind of Life?

Are we to feel spiritual in our everyday work?  How can we worship God when our lives are so mundane?  What value is there in the everyday/week/month/year grind of life?  How can we see our jobs as more than a paycheck?

Do those questions ring a bell of familiarity within you?  Many cannot see their vocational life nor their routine life as spiritual in nature.  I want to assure you that your job is certainly a spiritual experience and can be used to worship God in powerful ways.  It is also true that God loves us to worship Him when we are bored and feel that our lives are simply a pattern of repeated steps.  The mundane pattern of life is actually the bulk of most people's experience.  It simply makes sense that God knew this and desired for us to engage and worship Him with largest part of our existence.

Colossians 3:23 says this, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men..."  Notice this verse says that 'whatever you do'.  God loves zookeepers, animators and molecular biologists.  God sees value and beauty in each vocation.  God also loves call center workers, dancers and financial planners.  The point is that whatever vocation we choose in life, we should know that God wants to be honored (worshiped) as we work and in our vocations. 

The Colossians passage teaches us that our work or vocation is to be done as if Jesus were our boss and standing right next to us.  We are to our work 'heartily' or 'energetically'.  The word used for working heartily is a command.  This adds to the truth that our work/vocation is blessed by God not matter what our work is.  

We are told in Colossians 3:17 that "...whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."  Here we find that not only our vocation is involved but everything we do...whatever we do is holy and should be done in the name of the Lord.

But what about when life becomes repeated steps of getting up, going to work, coming home, cleaning house or yard, watching T.V. and going to bed?  May I suggest that you begin by thanking God and then go through the routine of your day offering up shout outs to God or small thoughts of adoration to Him or even short bursts of requests and even complaints.  Take notice of the small things in life like the good taste of Iced Tea or the convenience of communication today or how about that your feet don't hurt (assuming they don't :-).  

No matter how rugged, smooth or powerful or boring your life may seem, God is interested.  God is interested in helping you through the issues and to use you and develop you through them.  God wants you to bring more joy, color, fullness, wholeness and faith to the people you touch.  God has created you specifically for what you do so that you can bring a deep blessing up on the world in small and large ways.  

As a believer, everything you do is spiritual because the Holy Spirit lives in you.  Everything you do is holy, because God resides in you.  You are important, your life is important and your vocation is important so do everything as you would if you were serving Jesus...because you are!

I'm So Proud of You!

"Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf.  I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction."  2 Corinthians 7:4

The world needs what you are giving away!  We live in a broken world that seems to continue to be dismantled by many different forces.  The heartache of life seems overwhelming and even suffocating at times.  The world may be broken, but you and I have the tools to help bring restoration to her people.

Over the past few weeks and months, we have been enjoying many small stories in our organic churches and our corporate gathering times.  Any one of these stories would seem insignificant.  When you hear about one person helping a single mom fix some things around her house you may smile at the nice jester and quickly forget about it.  But what happens if that becomes the normal way of responding to situations (James 2:14-17)?  What happens if a whole neighborhood takes on a positive, godly perspective of helping others (think Zac and Melissa Robinson in Youngtown).  I believe the fragrance of Christ begins to swell the nostrils of people and puts a smile on their faces.

I am seeing this type of love flow from your hands and lips all around.  When strangers visit a widow in the hospital, the smell of Christ begins to waft in the hallways.  When an older man chooses to spend time with a teenager, teaching the teen about a skill, the aroma of Jesus gets a little stronger.  When people get involved with helping others move in the hot Phoenix summer heat, the refreshment of Jesus begins to roll.  When young men choose to become serious in their pursuit of Jesus by not only reading their Bibles but applying what they learn, the presence of Jesus becomes more and more tangible.

For these and many other reasons, I want to say that I am very proud of you as a community of Christ followers.  Of course we are imperfect with many flaws and weaknesses.  We have much to learn.  The difference is that Christ is in our midst and we are each straining to listen to Him and follow His instructions.  This causes our gatherings to be sweeter and something to look forward to.

I am seeing dozens of people in our community being transformed.  I am seeing dozens of people in our community live out the integrity of Jesus.  I am seeing the miracle of men and women, boys and girls become more and more like Jesus and I am very proud of each of you.

Together we are making a strong difference in our communities, workplaces and neighborhoods.  Keep up the grand work you are doing for Jesus.  I believe He is smiling and enjoying watching you walk out your faith (3 John 4).

Looking Out for Each Other

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”  This rhetorical question from Cain (who had just killed his brother) to God is a hint of how sin will usually point us in the opposite direction God desires.  Cain was trying to push off any responsibility for caring for his brother.  In the simplest of terms, Cain was selfish and self-absorbed.  Selfishness is certainly the opposite of what God intended (love).  We were created in God’s image and in part, this means that we were created to be in community, in relationships, deep relationships.  This imitates the communal relationship of the Trinity.  In the western culture today, faith is often viewed as being personal.  This makes sense in the west and especially in the USA because independence, individual freedom and consumerism (what is in it for me) are some of the highest touted values.  This all must be changed and we ought to begin looking out for each other, especially in our spiritual lives.

Now what I am not talking about is being in each others business and details of life unless invited.  What I am talking about is a strong love and concern for each other with an eye towards encouraging each other to be more and more like Jesus.  The book of Hebrews has a bunch of good things to say about this topic.  Let’s take a peek at Hebrews 3:12-14

12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

What I learn from this verse is that everyone of us is daily tempted to be slowly moved from a soft moldable heart to a hardened heart.  I learn from this that we alone are not adequate to protect our hearts from the danger of hardening.  We need to be encouraged ‘daily’ so we are not deceived and so that we finish the race with confidence. 

12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.  Hebrews 12:12-13

In this passage we are urged to have a strong ‘constitution’, that is, a strong persevering spirit that doesn’t take their eyes off of the prize (Jesus) or give up.  The reason for not giving up is to help our fellow strugglers to not stumble and to become strong.  This is an ‘others centered’ perspective and it indicates that again, we need each other.

The world is full of challenges.  The Devil seeks to devour and destroy.  Our flesh is always raging against the Spirit.  We certainly do need each other but what might this look like? 

Philippians 2 gives us some good insights.  We should treat others as more important than ourselves.  This may include regular phone calls of encouragement, being honest with a few about our temptations, having regular conversations about where life may be eroding our faith, spend time together laughing, dreaming and invigorating one another to live life in large ways for Christ. 

I think one thing we all need is to act courageously and lovingly to develop conversations with people beyond the surface issues of life.  We should be ready to take risks in our relationships because we truly love them and want the best for them.  Doing what is right is always worth the risk...love requires it.

I would love to hear how you would suggest we live out these principles?