Walking With Andy

My husband and I have been on the road since Aug., 2010, spreading the gospel predominately in North and South Carolina, as well as several other states. We started out by being obedient to what God asked of us, which was giving up our house and all it’s furnishings. When our car died a few months  later, things changed dramatically. Our journey got harder, but we didn’t stop-we went wherever God would have us go, and He always provided for the journey. He called us to individuals where we would stay for a short period of time, do whatever work He had brought us there to do, then move us along to the next community or town.

In the last two years, we have been to 32  churches (so far), in 5 states, and stayed in some rather uncomfortable places. Some physically uncomfortable; others spiritually so. Sometimes our peace was not welcome, and we would move on as God directed. Earlier this year, he led us to camp, to have a 'rest', in a local national forest, where we are still staying right now. For the first time in a long time, we have peace and prayer time with the Lord. We rest from our labor without the stress of being under a stranger’s roof. It is wonderful! It gives us a glimpse of what Adam must have experienced while he resided in the garden.

The Lord has put some wonderful people in our life that understand what we’re doing. Not everyone is called to minister to people on the 'street level', but that is where He has us right now, and we have planted a lot of seed, watered some that others have planted, and even got to see some harvest. There are others that call themselves Christian that try to take advantage of us because of what they consider our ‘lack.’ Those are the people that are in our prayers, because they think they are doing the right thing, but it almost always ends up being some sort of selfish motive that has caused them to act, not in their desire to see the kingdom of God grow.

When a person has been on the front line, fighting powers and principalities continually, meeting perfect strangers and taking up residence with them, it can create a loss of identity. In the forest, with no stress, no deadlines, no undisciplined children, no disobedient Christians who think they are perfect, it’s just us and God. We can walk and talk with Him, and are guided by Him without any outside worldly influences. Just like the old song says, we are walking with Andy:

In The Garden

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Words: Charles Austin Miles (1912)

The Stoning of Mary

Monday, 27 October, 2008
An Islamist rebel administration in Somalia has had a 13-year-old girl, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, stoned to death for adultery after the child's father reported that she was raped by three men.
The Guardian, Sunday 2 November 2008

This is a horrendous crime, and this blog will not do it justice, but after finding it my research, I had to include it. If for no other reason, to make people aware that it still goes on, as well as to exemplify the following observation.

Something like this could have happened to Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was a teenage girl, living in a strict religious society. She was poor, she was unmarried, and she was pregnant. By law, she could have been stoned, but Joseph cared enough for her to hide her away privately, as he was no longer obligated to marry her. It was the visit from the angel that told him what was really going on. (Matthew 1:19-20) Basically, he was told not to condemn her, because God had a plan.

Here in the western world, it may not be so strict as to the actual stoning, as in the case above, but there are still religious zealots that condemn because they think they have the right to. There are many, in the name of religion, that would rather condemn an unmarried pregnant woman than offer her a word of encouragement. Granted, none of them are 'with child' with the Savior, but that does not mean that the life within is any less precious.

Custom, tradition, the law--all these called for the condemnation and murder of Mary--in the name of religion. But what did God say about her? The angel said 'You are highly favored, the Lord is with you, you are blessed among women....Do not fear, for you have found favor with God.' (Luke 1:28,30)

   

So, the very person the people would have stoned for shame and disgrace was highly favored and chosen of God. How many religious people, bent on keeping up with custom and tradition, tear down the very people whom God has chosen for a special work?

Not long after my older daughter turned 18, I had to take her to the emergency room for a panic attack. She could not breathe, her heart was racing, and her skin was clammy. It was not her first, but the worst by far. I had watched her for a year or more, date guy after guy,  only to have them fail after a very short time. But, this guy she had dated for a good while, and now he'd broken up with her. It was her or drugs, and the drugs won.

So, to her, she was being abandoned-again. I had divorced my girl's dad when she was 5 1/2, and even though he lived very close, he was very much an absent parent. The man in my life at the time showed us nothing but violence. She had already been struggling with depression, and this was pushing her over the edge.

She would not date anyone that she had gone to high school with-she knew all the skeletons in their closets. So, standing there in the emergency room that day was the last straw for me. She desperately needed a divine intervention, so I prayed for God to 'send her someone here, but not from here.'

Within 3 weeks, God had sent a young man from 3 states away, in town visiting a brother that he had not seen in several years. My prayer was answered-the two were inseparable. Then in the spring of 2008, she became pregnant. I had several people, spouting their religion, ask if I was upset with her. My answer? 'I prayed it on her; how can I be upset with her?'

That was the best thing that could have ever happened to her. Emotionally, she was sinking fast into the dark world of depression. My grandson was born in December 2008. God used that baby to save her life. There are those that would not agree with me--those same people would have also stoned Mary.

Whether it's a real stone, or negative words out of the mouth, they are meant to kill. But God is about life. That unmarried girl might not look right in the eyes of the religious folk, but to God, she is carrying precious seed. She won't be carrying the Savior as Mary was, but it might be the very thing God uses to settle her so that she can turn to Him.

Let him among you without sin cast the first stone.

Pride and the Law of Gravity

When I was in my middle 20's, I was living in a rebellious state, apart from God, and His will in my life. After being a stay-at-home mom for three years, I was ready to get back into the workforce. I did not have a vehicle of my own, so when I bought a little car I quickly became full of myself, relishing the freedom that it brought.

As spring turned into summer, my new job and new freedom made me feel invincible. But, spiritually, I was crashing. I was so focused on myself, and all the new experiences I was having, that I did not pay attention to the things God was requiring of me. So, one afternoon, being filled with all my 'plans', I loaded up my two very young daughters and headed into town. That was my plan. God's was somewhat different.

At the end of the gravel road on which I lived, two other roads intersected into it, but there were no stop signs on either road. The grass in the fields on either side of the road was fully grown, so I did not see the car turning down the road that I was coming up. In my haste to get where I was going, I had drifted over onto the other side of the road as I made the left-handed turn. I hit the car head-on. I had slowed down enough to stop if I had seen another vehicle, but the tall grass blocked the car from view. But, as I was on the wrong side of the road, that didn't matter.

After making sure my kids were okay, I jumped out, ran around between the cars, wailing about my busted grill. The driver, a man, got out and asked if I was alright, and walked over to look in the window at my girls in the backseat in their car seats. Standing there, thinking how was I now going to get around, I realized how I must look to the passenger in the other car. Guiltily, I walked over and asked the woman if she was alright. I left the accident with a ticket, and a distinct feeling that something inside me was terribly wrong. My selfish reaction to the wreck stayed with me for years. God used that scenario to bring me down a few notches.

After that, my life continued to spiral down, until I returned to the Lord, submissive and obedient, several years later. The pride, the self-centeredness and self-righteousness, that I used to lift myself up, God used to bring me down.

Pride works in the spiritual body the same as the law of gravity works in the physical body. It puffs us up, so that we think we are above others, but like the gas in hot-air balloons, when it runs outs, we come crashing back to earth.

Scripture is full of examples of what pride will do to us if left unchecked. Here are a few:

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 29:23 One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”

Matthew 23:12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

1 John 2:16-17 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

So, the thing that we believe is lifting us up is actually the force that brings us back down. Even the law of gravity states that 'what goes up must come down.'

A Door of Hope

Last night I watched 'Hope Floats' with Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr. I know it's been out for a long time, but I had never seen it. In the movie, Birdee (Sandra Bullock) finds out on national television that her husband has been having an affair with her best friend. That brought back a lot of memories for me; my ex-husband had bragged about his 'other women' so much that almost everyone else knew about it except me. I knew exactly what Sandra Bullock's character was feeling.

In the movie, she went back home to start a new life, but I chose to stay and try to make a life with another man. He never cheated, but his anger was out of control and sometimes I wore the evidence of it. Like Birdee's daughter, my two daughters were young, and in their innocent wisdom questioned "why?"  I can't say that I knew the answer; not fully, anyway. I have learned over the years that, in order for the Lord to bring a person to the end of something, they must first go THROUGH something.

Some things the Lord has brought me through: a cheating husband, a cancer scare giving me 3 to 5 years, an abusive relationship, a suicide attempt, my grandmother's death, facing the demons from my childhood and dealing with the people who let it happen. These are all things that are finished and accounted for on God's tally sheet. There are still things yet to go, things that are fresh and recent......

Lately, I have been questioning my purpose, and what it is exactly that I am accomplishing in my walk right now. Unlike the name of the movie, I feel my hope sinking-not rising. Some years ago, the Lord gave me the scripture of Hosea 2:15, when it seemed my world was collapsing around me.

"And I will give her.....the valley of Achor for a door of hope...." What is the 'valley of Achor?' Literally speaking, it is the place the man, Achin, and his family and all that he had, was stoned after he took the 'cursed thing' from Jericho after Joshua's army conquered it. "Achor" is translated from Hebrew as "Trouble." So, the Lord was telling me that out of 'trouble' He would bring hope. There would be a door presented-all I had to do was open it.

But, what is hope? Hebrews 11:1 says hope is the substance of faith. That means it is the ingredient that makes faith faith. What is faith? The same verse says that it is the evidence of things not seen. And what is the evidence of unseen things? The belief that the unseen things will manifest into the seen, from intangible to tangible. As the chapter goes on, the list continues naming the people in our spiritual heritage that believed, even though everything (and sometimes everyone) spoke out against it.

Someone once said, "One with God is the majority." This means that if God has shown us a truth, a prophecy, or something He means to bring to pass, and we are the only one he tells, we must believe it. We must be on the side of faith, not on the side of sight. There might be times when He takes us through such a dark place that we can only see from one day to the next, and barely that. We may feel as though there is no hope.

Paul sums it up in Romans 5:1-5, where we get a glimpse of why things happen to us the way they do. 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.'

So, even if we feel like our world is falling out from under us, that God is so far away, and there is nothing worth pursuing another day, listen to this song, and know that there is a reason He has us where we are.                                                    

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

In the midst of our trouble, God will open a door of hope. All we have to do is walk through it.





Jesus and The Fifth Element

Back in the 1997, a movie was released called 'The Fifth Element' starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Ian Holm and Gary Oldman, among others. The movie is science-fiction, set in the future a few hundred years, but deals with that age-old dilemma of good vs. evil. This movie is an allegory of created man, and Satan's attempt to stop God's plan to bring about Jesus as the Savior. The following is an excerpt of conversation between the Cornelius the priest and the president. (The priest represents John the Baptist, proclaiming who Jesus was and trying to convince those around him of it: Matthew 3:11~As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.)

CORNELIUS: Imagine for a moment that this thing is not anything that can be identified, because it prefers not to be. Wherever there is life, it brings death... because it is evil. Absolute evil.

PRESIDENT: One more reason to shoot first.

CORNELIUS: Evil begets evil, Mr. President. Shooting will only make it stronger.

PRIEST: Go with God. Be safe from evil.

CORNELIUS: The goal of this thing is not to fight over money or power, but to exterminate life. All forms of life.

PRESIDENT: So what you're telling me there is nothing that can stop this?

CORNELIUS: There is only one thing...The Mondoshawan have in their possession the only weapon to defeat evil. Four elements... gathered around a fifth... A supreme being, the ultimate warrior, created to protect life. Together, they produce what the ancients called the light of creation, able to bring life to the farthest reaches of the universe. But, if evil stands there...

PRESIDENT: Then what?

CORNELIUS: Then light turns to dark... life to death. Forever.

The Fifth Element comes from outerspace (Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.) to to save the earth from the evil 'Mr. Shadow' coming to devour the planet of all life. (1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.)

Meanwhile, Mr. Zorg has made a deal with Mr. Shadow to retrieve the stones needed to give him, Mr. Shadow,the power to grow even more evil, or the Fifth Element to save the world. The stones represent the earthly, human form of Moses, and the devil trying to make use of him. (Jude 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!) Mr. Zorg represents a type of Judas Iscariot, who was 'numbered among them', aligning himself with evil for his own selfish and greedy gain. Mr. Shadow represents the evil that Paul speaks about in Ephesians. (6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.)

In the end, when it is time for the Fifth Element to take her place so that the power can flow through her, she says it is not worth it. She has seen the evil in the human race, and knows they continually hate and kill one another.

Is this how God felt in Genesis 6:5-6? (Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.)

But the cab driver steps in and tells her that love is worth saving, and helps hold her up so that she is in position to receive the power. (1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.) The cab driver represents the love that held Jesus to the cross.

I'm sure the person/people who wrote The Fifth Element did not have the biblical history of the human race in mind when the words were penned. But it is depicted perfectly, from God repenting for the creation of man to Jesus saying 'It is finished.'

It was love that caused our Savior to come and die-to stop the evil running rampant in the world (John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.) We have to have that same love for our fellow man. (1John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.)

And that is neither science, nor fiction!

Let the Healing Begin

When my grandmother died in 2004 from ovarian cancer, a piece of me died with her. Out of all of my (huge) family, she was the most positive and supportive of my emotional and spiritual growth. For nearly a year afterward, I found myself trying to visit, only to get partway there and realize she was not at home. Many times I picked up the phone, then have to stop in mid-dial, remembering that she would not answer.

She had died in October, and when what would have been her 91st birthday came around the following August, I did something she had always encouraged me to do. And that was to always pursue my dreams, so on her birthday, I started to write. Three weeks later, I had completed a ten-chapter book, a romance of sorts, that I called 'The Healing Garden.' In the story, a garden was used to heal the heroine, and through writing the story, it healed me. By the time the first anniversary of her death came a few weeks later, I was able to let her go.

Listening to Matt Maher, I realized that a garden is an important feature in living for the Lord. It does not have to be a literal garden, although that heightens the experience of going somewhere peaceful where a person's heart and mind can commune with God. After all, was that not part of Adam's job-to dress and keep the garden-so that it was peaceful and serene for his walk with God in the cool of the day?

Six years after writing this (purposefully unpublished) book, I was pleasantly surprised while visiting Charleston, South Carolina. On the campus of MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) they had just finished building and dedicating 'The Healing Garden' with the very same concepts that I had written in my story. I'm sure there are 'healing gardens' all over the country, but this one had the same name, and was dedicated to those that had died from cancer. It brought a certain closure, because once I wrote the story, I wanted to actually build the garden, but it was not possible for me to do that. God let me see that He had given my vision to others and turned it into a reality.

Tenth Avenue North has captured the healing process beautifully in the following song. Also, I would encourage all who are dealing with the pain of loss to find a garden to walk through. The sights and sounds of God's creation can be soothing as we commune with Him, and let the healing begin.

Eve and Little Red Riding Hood

A few weeks ago, I helped my 2nd-year college student with a term paper she had to write at the end of the semester. I've  always loved to write, so to me, this was not a daunting task. (For her, not only was it dreaded-she hates to write-but ALL her irons are in the fire with working two jobs, going to school full-time, and being in the National Guard.)

When she told me the subject matter on which her 4-page paper had to be written (Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault-1697) I was somewhat dismayed. A fairytale? What could possibly come out of that? Of course, I had read only the children's version some thirty-plus years ago. Her paper had to be presented as an argument. Wow! Thirty-plus years later,  raising my two daughters as a single (divorced) parent had prepared me for that argument.

As I began to write down thoughts that would help her in writing this argument, I found myself passionately protesting-not only the moral of the story, but also the 'facts' that lead up to it.(Moral: Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.)

As I read through this story, I realized the little girl never had a chance in escaping the big, bad wolf because she had never been warned, according to the facts of the story. (The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf...) I was shocked! How could they possibly blame Little Red Riding Hood for getting eaten by the wolf when no one had shown her what a wolf looked like?

Then I began to think about the majority of youth in today's society, not having the sufficient role models from the adults in their lives to make informed decisions about their future. My husband, James, and I (domestic missionary evangelists, on the road for the last 2 years) have seen this stigma over and over again in our travels.

Then I began to think scripturally, about blame, facts in stories, responsibility, and the misguided social statuses based on blame instead of responsibility. That brought me to Genesis chapter 3. The facts are, as the Bible portrays them, that God told Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. After this, He created the woman. Even though she knew what God had told Adam, she had no idea of her location when she accepted the fruit. (In verse 3, she knows not to eat the friut in the midst of the garden, but obviously didn't know that was where she was standing.) So Adam had not shown her the tree, he had only told her about it.

We can only presume that he had ample opportunity to show her where the forbidden tree was standing. Like Little Red Riding Hood, she had been tricked by the wolf (the serpent) while the woodcutters (Adam) stood by and did nothing.

The story could have ended differently. Little Red Riding Hood's mother could have stood up responsibly and admitted not showing her about the dangers in the wood. Adam could have spoken up and admitted he never showed (the still unamed) woman where the forbidden tree was located. Instead, he blamed her for the deed done, and God for giving her to him.

Today, in the so-called Bible belt, there are way too many Adams going around blaming the Eves, and God, for their lack of responsibility. One of the consequences of action that God put on Eve was that she would be in subjection to her husband, and he would rule over her. If there is any understanding of this fact, it would seem to me that before 'the fall' she would have been Adam's equal. Otherwise, the punishment would not make sense.

When Jesus came, he lifted the curse that God had placed on man (Heb. 2:14-17) thereby restoring the woman (and the man) to their their rightful places. Our walk, through Jesus Christ, restores our fellowship with God, so that we can walk with Him 'in the cool of the day' (Genesis 3:8). Not with the woman walking behind as slaves and servants were required to do, but in pace with God, and Adam, as they walked, conversed, and probably stopped to smell the roses.

Let's not send our children through the woods to grandma's house without first warning them by pointing out the wolves.  But if any do, don't blame the child for being careless. And let's not throw blame toward anyone who is pursuing the call God gave them, regardless of gender, if we are in a place if disobedience ourselves. Some things, once done, cannot be undone-like the death of Little Red Riding Hood, or the ingestion of forbidden fruit.

The moral: Blame is of the devil, responsibility is of God.

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault02.html

also see

http://processes.org/self-help-resources/parenting/parenting-guidelines/

http://roypetitfils.com/2011/02/we-are-all-responsible-for-all-our-children/