Whenever I make a post there is always a conflict, and on many levels: is it to shocking; will it cause too much controversy; will I get embroiled in a defense of my post, is it in good taste without hiding the realities of the world we live in and minister in?  With this particular photo I'm up now at 3:00 A.M. because I awoke with her image haunting my mind. Many thoughts have been circling my mind; one is, "when we think of soul winning do we think of those like her?" Then I considered the family of this woman, if she has any, and either how glad they would be to find her because sometimes a family member just disappears, leaving so many unknowns. Or maybe they never sought to find out where she was, and in seeing this photo they would be shocked and shamed by their lack of concern. Then of course there is the shock value of this photo, it shames us as a society; it saddens us as a fellow human beings; and it motivates us to do what Paul commanded us to do, and that is "meet the pressing needs." She is our neighbor, although many hide their eyes from these harsh realities. This is a national disgrace to me, certainly a national disgrace for Christians; here certainly is the "least of these" and surely this is "an angel in disguise" and surely we will meet those like her on judgment day; and hopefully this woman will strike the heart strings of some young Christian woman seeking the Lord on how and where she can serve. This woman and I'll call her Grace, should serve to remind us the battle is hot; the times are evil; the workers are few; and the tears should flow for her and those countless others like her. When I was working at the mission this wasn't an uncommon thing; Extreme Complex Trauma causes so many mental problems, as well as addictions, and suicides. This woman, and many like her live on the streets all alone, and with that comes abuse, violence and judgment; but little mercy. So I hope this photo goes viral, and serves to admonish and motivate every Christian that sees it to be involved in the pressing needs of our generation. The most troubling thing is by far the majority like her are Christian brothers and sisters; and that is to our shame. So to me, what's not appropriate about the photo is that it exists in America where many name the name of Christ.

My son Pastor Eric, made a comment when I posted this on Facebook, I think I'll include it because it hits the mark in my estimation. 

"In my experience working with the homeless this is not a statement about those things but a statement about the brokenness of our society: sin, soul, home, community and the systems intertwined. Abuse, addictions and mental health are at the epicenter as well, because of coping or just mixed in the madness, it’s all wrapped up into one tragic mess. This is or was someone’s daughter. God helped her is my prayer. May she be clothed in her right mind by the power of Christ and reclothed in dignity and modesty by the good work of those serving the lost and broken to the glory of God and the revival of goodness, truth and beauty in our cities." 

Back in the early 80's before all the scandals; I bought this T-shirt at a Jimmy Swaggart indoor camp meeting. It was the only time I heard him and not long after, he fell. In those days in Portland, Oregon I wore this in public without any negative comments. Sadly, times have changed, and I wonder if I'd get comments today?

 We all have people in our lives that truly offer nothing positive and we really need to end the relationship. A friend shared with me what was said to a person like that; I thought it was done lovingly, tactfully, but honestly. 

"I have felt for some time that there are parts of you and your story that have been off limits to me. And that's fine. I don't need to know it all. I have told myself that maybe you are totally open with a parent or a therapist, or with one of your women's groups. (Or maybe my conception of vulnerability in friendship is off base? That could very well be a big piece of all this.) It felt like the right and gracious thing to not pry into what it is you struggle with or what keeps you up at night. But when it comes to someone that I am going to invest time in and stay in touch with, I feel like I need more for it to be a mutual endeavor. I know some people try and juggle dozens of friendships, but I have decided that is not my speed. -So for me, I made a value judgment to phase you out of my life for those reasons."

 One of the most racial harmonizing experiences of my life has been working an International Hotline; where I'm sure I've chatted with every race represented in this picture, but of course, because it's all done by messaging, I never know what they sound like or look like; I communicate  only with their souls. I see posts that say, "we all bleed the same color." I can testify that all souls are the same. There is no divide ever when you talk soul to soul. What a blessing it's been. 

What did Jesus draw on the ground?

Here's George Matheson's response --
"Now Moses had written on stone his law of death against unchastity. Jesus by his gesture said: 'I write this day another law, a higher law. The law which I write on this pavement is "none but the pure can sentence." I demand a new jury for the old law of Moses - a jury of the first born in heaven. Shall this woman be judged by men who have avoided her temptation only be a counter sin -- who have escaped the overflow of feeling by suppressing feeling altogether!
She has done wrong to society by too much passion; have they done right by too little! Are there no poor around their doors unfed, no sick before their gates untended, no souls within their bounds untaught!" And He lifted up his eyes and said: 'Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone!'
I do not for a moment suppose they were convicted of hypocrisy, nor that they had been guilty of hypocrisy. The sin of the woman had never been their sin; their indignation, so far as it went, had been sincere. But it had not gone far enough. They should have asked if their own passionlessness had not been responsible for this woman's passion, if their neglect of the poor had not caused the poor to grow up vicious. They did ask it now, with that blazing eye turned upon them and that piercing glance penetrating them. They asked it, and they fled from the answer.

 This really struck me, it's so real, so common among those who struggle with depression. I think it's almost impossible to get out of depression alone; it haunts and robs the joy of living. Self care is so important for each of us. But it takes motivation, and depression robs us of motivation. When dark depression overtakes us, just getting out of bed is a major accomplishment; and getting out of bed is the first step of self-care. Oh but one person, just one, that befriends the person in depression can make a huge impact.

 Depression is the most common problem I deal with on the Hotline. Most often it is caused by adverse childhood circumstances like- parents divorced, gross neglect, verbal, physical and sexual abuse and domestic violence. So this picture isn't meant as humor, truly, the light of Christ brings us out of darkness, but this is how it starts for many, from thoughts of suicide to only feeling a little down. 

 Here's where the heart is open, the bond is deepened, and the Christian values are passed on from generation to generation. 

"Come mothers and fathers - (and Christians)
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
Dylan.

The message of Christ is the same today, yesterday and forever; but the messenger must meet the challenges of each new generation, and if he has ears to hear, the Lord will be faithful to raise up messengers with New Wine methods. He certainly did in the seventies with the Jesus Movement. 

 When I saw this photo it struck me on so many levels; whatever each persons thoughts were, they were all listening. So many expressions to try and interpret, but all engaged. I don't know what faith the man is, but with Bible in hand he's there, and they are listening to him because he came to them. I'm sure they care not he has a cigarette in hand because he has them in his heart. 

The title of this photo is, "I'm Fine" but we can clearly see she's not.  
I doubt there's one among us that wouldn't run to someone's aid who we found in the condition pictured here. The sad part is, often, those in her condition inside look like the girl pictured below on the outside. 

 All my Christian life, (51 years now), I've heard those whose primary interest seemed to be determining when the end will come. Christendom has spent the wealth of kingdoms on End times teachings over the airways and behind the pulpits of church, seminar and convention. Had we spent the last fifty years busy about the Father's work we would have benefited the world and glorified Christ far more in my opinion. 

 I don't know what's going on here, all I see is a fella that is blessed with good friends that are thinking not just about themselves. 

The times, they are a changing....

When I saw this picture it reminded me of when I first read the words of Christ and they penetrated my heart.

I realized I had been going the wrong way and was in desperation. I knew nothing, but this, I'm changing my direction and I'm following Him, I don't really know what it means or where it leads, but where I've been has nearly drowned me.

Mercy, this just can't be allowed; we must not let our children isolate and withdraw. If they are, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Parenting requires faith, diligence, insight, wisdom and most of all time spent listening.

 

Hypocrisy

 Woe to you Christians, witnessing and professing you know the only way, hypocrites! For you go to church and offer songs of praise, you tithe and memorize scripture, you warn the end is near, never daring to utter a curse word; but inside you lack compassion. Robbers! You rob the poor, destitute and oppressed by spending what could be given to them on luxuries, feasting before your big screen TV! You feel justified because you pay your tithe and offer a lukewarm prayer for them. You blind Christian, first develop a charitable heart, filled with mercy, love and compassion for the downcast, and then the rest will be clean. 

That's my loose translation of Mt. 23:25, and it cuts me to the core.

"Of sloth comes pleasure, of pleasure comes riot, of riot comes disease, of disease comes spending, with spending comes want, of want comes theft, and of theft comes hanging." 
The Imperial Highway. 

Children - Tips on good parenting.

I chose this picture because this is a teaching moment; children have little patience for lectures and catechisms; but if we capture moments, like pictured here, we can bring truth and education to life and have their full attention.

"In vain shall you preach of industry and the value of practical matters to the child, until he learns of the bee and the ant;
Dimly will he think of his soul, until he understands the marvels of the acorn and the chrysalis:
He will fear God in thunder, and worship his loveliness in flowers;
And parables shall charm his heart, while doctrines seem dead mystery.”

How to get rich

"A large manufacturer from Manchester, England, on retiring from business, purchased a large estate from a noble lord, and it was part of the arrangement that he was to take the house with all its furniture, precisely as it stood. On taking possession, he found that a cabinet which was in the inventory had been removed, and on asking the former owner about it, he said: "Well, I certainly did order it to be removed, but I hardly thought you would have cared for so trifling a matter in so large a purchase." "My lord," was the characteristic reply, "If I had not all my life attended to trifles, I  should not have been able to purchase this estate; and excuse me for saying so, perhaps if your lordship had cared more about trifles, you might not have had occasion to sell it." 

Ha! I just love that!....

"Of sloth comes pleasure, of pleasure comes riot, of riot comes disease, of disease comes spending, with spending comes want, of want comes theft, and of theft comes hanging." 
The Imperial Highway. 

Variety in reading

I'm reading a chapter in The Imperial Highway, and this chapters' on reading, and these quotes are encouraging us to vary our diet. 

  "It is still further true that change and variety in study are sometimes quite as beneficial as steady devotion to any single branch of intellectual effort.  
It's not necessary to be always pounding away on one corner of an anvil, in order to be busy. 
A mind that does a great deal of thinking needs to spend some time gathering the raw material for thought; it must ruminate and browse among books, and more than this, it must be turned over occasionally like summer fallow, and allowed to lie exposed to the various fertilizing influences which, like winds, sweep over it from the great worlds of nature and action lying outside." 

Indecision

I found this quote about indecision, the plague of the late teens and early twenties, but we all struggle with it at times, and occasionally, we miss a great opportunity because of our indecisiveness; and there are some, that go all through life revolving from one plan to another. 

"A man so various that he seemed to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome; 
Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong,
Everything by starts, and nothing long,
But in the course of one revolving moon, 
Was chemist, fiddler, statesman and buffoon." London Spectator. 

Anointed Preaching

  The following piece is about anointed, Spirit filled preaching presented as eloquent as his point. Not an easy read, it took me a number of times through to draw out all the nectar. 

"Come, I will tell thee of a joy, which the parasites of pleasure have not known, Though earth and air and sea have gorged all the appetites of sense.

Behold, what fire is in his eye, what fervor on his cheek!
That glorious burst of winged words! how bound they from his tongue. 

The full expression of the mighty thought, the strong triumphant argument, the rush of native eloquence, resistless as Niagara, The keen demand, the clear reply, the fine poetic image, 
The nice analogy, the clenching fact, the metaphor bold and free,
The grasp of concentrated intellect wielding the omnipotence of truth, The grandeur of his speech in his majesty of mind! 

Champion of the right, -- patriot, or priest, or pleader of the innocent cause, 
Upon whose lips the mystic bee hath dropped the honey of persuasion, Whose heart and tongue have been touched, as of old, by the live coal of the altar, How wide the spreading of thy peace, how deep the draught of thy pleasures!

To hold the multitude as one, breathing in measured cadence, 
A thousand men with flashing eyes, waiting upon thy will; 
A thousand hearts kindled by thee with consecrated fire,
Ten flaming spiritual hecatombs offered on the mount of God; 
And now a pause, a thrilling pause, -- they live but in thy words,--

Thou has broken the bounds of self, as the Nile at its rising, 
Thou art expanded into them, one faith, one hope, one spirit, 
They breathe but in thy breath, their minds are passive unto thine,
Thou turnest the key of their love, bending their affections to they purpose, and all, in sympathy with thee, tremble with tumultuous emotions; 
Verily, O man, with truth for thy theme, eloquence shall throne thee with archangels." Martin F. Tupper.

Tell me about Jesus.

I was chatting with a young woman from the Ukraine today and when we ended our chat, she sent me another message later; it simply said - "Tell me about Jesus." She is a Christian but struggling with her mustard seed faith; this is what I wrote back --

"Tell me about Jesus." Oh I love to tell the story!

You know, the Bible is a strange book, filled with so many wonderful, frightening, mysterious, threatening, intimate, compassionate and loving things. I know some struggle when they read the things that are threatening, and I get that, but I never have. I was not looking for Jesus when He came and found me, when I opened up the Bible and began to read about Him all I heard were His words of love, compassion and as each story unfolded where He would touch someone with His compassion and love I formed my indelible idea of who He is and always will be.

Now I suppose I struggle with the Christian life as much as anyone, but He has never let me go, never ceased to show me mercy; and I have fallen many times, hurt many over my life and gone places I never thought I would, and because of that, at times I found myself miles from Him, and the emptiness was unbearable. But in some way He would always rescue me, draw me back to His breast and hold me and reassure me that He loved me still.

He would direct me to look at the birds of he air, that they do not sow or gather into barns, but He feeds them, and am I now worth much more than they?

Oh I love to tell the story, of Jesus and His love. So when I read a verse or a story in the Bible that makes me fear or unworthy, I just run back to him, and like one of my favorite authors said -

" Oh, what a tender and sympathetic God has come for us. I do not ask you to lay hold of him. Perhaps you are not strong enough for that. I do not ask you to pray. Perhaps you are too bewildered for that. I only ask you to let go and fall back into the arms of everlasting love.” T. DeWitt Talmage

This is the Jesus I know, the Jesus I trust with my soul and the Jesus I never fear will let me go.

WHY IS THERAPY SO IMPORTANT?

This quote from Diane Langberg, PH.D. who specializes in recovery and healing from abuse in all its forms explains why we need help.

 "To experience an atrocity like child abuse is to live the unspeakable. It is unspeakable first because its horrific nature is so staggering that words are woefully inadequate to communicate what has happened. Second, words fail because such an experience silences, isolates, and renders us powerless. How is it possible then, for one who has been shut up, alienated, and made helpless to speak, when the very nature of the monstrous event renders such speech impossible? The paradox, of course, is that in order to heal at all from such violence, one must learn to speak the unspeakable. What is too terrifying to hold for long moments in the mind must be remembered and reflected upon. That which is utterly impossible to put into words must finally be spoken about again and again. Not only must the indescribable be described, but that which so powerfully isolates one human being from others must be uttered within the context of relationship if healing is ever to occur. Why is that? It is because those things that the atrocity crushed: which are, Voice, Connection, and Power. And this is the essence of personhood. If they are not restored, then the one who has been so horribly crushed remains silent, disconnected, and helpless -- a grievous distortion of the image of God in humanity."

Diane M. Langberg,  "Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse."   

   "The most practical views in religion are those which awaken the loftiest sentiments and touch the noblest springs of action."
William Ellery Channing.

I was a slow learner and it's taken years to awaken in me the importance of recognizing every opportunity for good. It makes no difference where we are or what we are doing, having a mind like Jesus, seeing every need, no matter how small, spreads His fragrance. 

"There are plenty of people who are ready to talk about, and even attempt to perform some "big thing," some huge, glorious, magnificent enterprise (or ministry), but when they come right down to the small and practical details of the undertaking, they are disgusted with everything that looks like details, and so they turn away." 
God usually prepares us for ministry by working in lowly positions first, and usually in another's vineyard to see if we will be faithful in small things.

Here's the hope of America.... 

"O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works." Ps. 71:17