“God’s Word is True”

It is the day after Thanksgiving. It has been a long day, and I am feeling pretty introspective, just thinking about things.

I am thinking about Thanksgiving. I really like that we have a holiday that is specifically for expressing gratitude.

I am thinking about all the that I am thankful for.

I am thinking about something that I had the honor to witness recently. 

Last week, we had our annual Thanksgiving Dinner at Cottonwood.  Levi and Kasha Lewis were at the dinner, and had been asked to share a short testimony. Levi and Kasha are 30 years old, parents of a two year old son and infant daughter. Just 4 weeks ago, Levi went to the hospital with a severe headache and found out that he had a tumor, which tests showed was cancer. The tumor was removed, but further testing showed that the cancer was melanoma, and the doctors have said that the melanoma absolutely will come back. Everyone who has had melanoma in the brain has had it return. Levi is considering possible treatments, but the prognosis is bad. 

So, last week the whole church family was moved just to see Levi and Kasha walk to the stage.  Levi spoke with such courage and confidence about the great, amazing grace that he has experienced.  He is confident that God is fully in control.  Even when the circumstances seem hopeless, he is full of hope because his hope is in God.

As Kasha began to speak, she was a little shaky, seemed nervous, and trying to not cry. She shared that, as we come close to Thanksgiving, she was considering the things that she is thankful for. Every year, she is thankful for her family, her husband, and her beautiful children. This year, she is thankful for those things. Her voice grew stronger and she spoke with deeper conviction as she said, “This year, what I am really, really thankful for, is that God’s word is true. God’s word is true.” As this young woman faces a trial that none of us is prepared to face, she is holding firm to the fact that God’s word is true. She continued with great strength and conviction, “God’s will is perfect. God’s will is perfect.” GOD’S WORD IS TRUE. GOD’S WILL IS PERFECT.

So, as I have prepared for a big Thanksgiving feast with my big family, as I cleaned house and cooked turkey and ham, as I visited with my parents, children, grandchildren, siblings, and so on, as I cleaned up after the dinner, and now as I still am thinking about all that Thanksgiving means, I am rejoicing in the fact that God’s word is true, and , no matter what I see, I can be sure and confident that God’s will is perfect.

Fighting Human Trafficking; here and there

HERE

This Sunday, at Cottonwood, we are planning a special day to find out how we can help fight human trafficking in simple ways, every day, right here at home.

In America, we are able to purchase goods at extremely low prices. One reason for this is that we import goods that are very cheap. The sad thing is that many times, we unknowingly are buying goods that are made by slaves; yes, men, women, and children who are slaves; who are paid nothing for doing very hard work in incredibly difficult and unsafe conditions. Or, maybe they are paid, but they are paid only pennies a day for long hours of labor. We abhor the thought of exploiting people who have no hope of a decent life. Yet, we often have no idea what to do about it.

On Sunday, November 21, at Cottonwood, we will have a Fair Trade Meal, serving only food that is grown using fair labor practices. After the meal, a speaker will share practical ways that we can purchase every day items that are guaranteed to be produced or manufactured by people who are paid a fair wage for their work. We will get more information on Co-operatives such are Fair Trade, Equal Exchange, and Trade as One which work to

• Employ the poor with dignified work and a living wage       
• Eliminate abuse and slavery
• Eliminate child labor
• End dependency and poverty

THERE

My daughter Katy is right now in Greece, with a group of women serving with the  A21 Campaign, which helps to fight sex trafficking of girls and women in Europe. They work to rescue the victims, and provide a safe, loving, and comforting environment, access to medical care and psychological assessment, vocational training, assistance in university education, life guidance/counseling, and access to legal assistance.

Katy’s husband heard from her this evening. The group has arrived in Thessaloniki, Greece.She said a woman was rescued from the red light district and taken to their shelter while they were eating dinner. Praise God!

Orphan Sunday

This is not original. I took this from my daughter Libby’s blog. Most of you know her, many have already read this post, but it is worth reposting. She is one very committed advocate for the orphan. I hope you enjoy her post about “Orphan Sunday”.

Somewhere between 147-163 million orphaned children around the world including

500,000 children in the US living in foster care

with 120,000 of those children legally available for adoption
Just reading the numbers makes you numb.  Can you really even comprehend those statistics?

Mike and I have traveled to several countries.  Just between the 2 of us we've seen first hand rows of orphaned babies in a nursery in Korea

63 children with 2 adult caregivers living in a concrete orphanage in Haiti,

orphans in Puerto Rico

orphans in Costa Rica

orphans in Nassau

orphans in Nicarauga

orphans in Jamaica

watched and prayed as our beautiful neice went from being a foster child to a forever child of my sister and her husband......we

know the reality of orphans! 
You know, there is a very interesting few verses in the Old Testament.  God had set up a way for the Isrealites to take care of the needy.
Deuteronomy 24:19-22
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
I wonder, what if we all followed this principal today?  What if every person who claims they are a follower of Jesus Christ didn't go back over their harvest and glean?  What if they always saved the surplus from their jobs for the poor, the orphan and the widow? BUT, here is the reality.....we don't have a dime to spare do we?  We spend every bit we make on US.  Not only do we spend every bit we make, but we overspend and charge beyond what we make(believe me, I'm preaching to myself here, we don't have any left either!!!).  We can't care for the poor, the fatherless, and the widow because our cars, houses, over fed bellies, and giant inflatable Santas riding Harleys in the front yard at Christmas
cost so much.  Have mercy on us Father God.  We are consumed with ourselves.  Forgive us!
I'd truly love to hear from some of you about what your church and/or orphans ministry did for Orphan Sunday.  Leave a comment or email me.

Celebrate Recovery is Messy

Celebrate Recovery is an unusual kind of ministry. We reach out to people who are the most in need of help. We focus on people with addictions, depression, anger, relationship problems, chronic illness, stress and anxiety, grief, insecurities, fears… In Celebrate Recovery, we try to be real. We try to not hide our faults and our fears. We encourage people to open up and share their struggles. 

We believe that it is path to healing and freedom. The problem? The problem is that healing and freedom don’t always come fast or easy. People make progress, then sometimes they stumble, and they may fall. Hopefully, they get up and try it again. Just about every day, I get a phone call or email concerning a minor emergency or “situation”. I don’t feel equipped to handle all the things that come up. I have never experienced a lot of the things that the C.R. family has had to deal with. I don’t have any training in recovery programs.

At Cottonwood, we just felt that God lead us to start Celebrate Recovery, so we did. Now, after a year, we truly celebrate the great things that God has done. It is messy, but that is not bad. I have taken care of my home for many years. The worse messes we ever have around the house is when we are making some major improvements. When we have remodeled, we have had to live with messes for a number of weeks. When I see the mess and I feel frustrated, I have to remind myself that the final result will be worth it, and it is.

Celebrate Recovery is a wonderfully messy ministry, and the mess is worth it.