A Brief Reflection on Jeremiah’s Life

The Flight of the Prisoners, c. 1896-1902 , gouache on board, 8 15/16 x 11 5/8 in. (22.7 x 29.7 cm), Jewish Museum, New York, NY. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jerusalem Model, Temple of Herode Deutsch: Jerusalem Modell, herodianischer Tempel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Jeremiah Dictating His Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem to Baruch the Scribe,” oil on canvas, by the American artist Washington Allston. 89 3/8 in. x 74 3/4 in. Yale University Art Gallery, gift of Samuel Finley Breese Morse, B.A. 1810. Courtesy of Yale University, New Haven, Conn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem” by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Jeanne Adams 

(written from Jeremiah‘s perspective)

I was named Jeremiah by my father, Hilkiah. I was born into this family of priests in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. I have forgotten much about my life until the days of my youth when G-d spoke to me!

He told me He knew me before I was even formed in my mother’s womb! The wildest moment came next when G-d appointed me as a prophet to the nations!

As you may imagine, I was afraid and tried to dispute G-d. But He promised He’d rescue me. Then He put His words in my mouth. These are the words that you read if you’ve ever read ‘Jeremiah’, which many people think is all doom and gloom, but you need to look deeper.  It was actually my friend, Baruch, the scribe, who recorded the words G-d gave me.

All my life I have loved worshipping the LORD, even in the midst of trouble inside me and around me. One short worship song I wrote is ‘Lord G-d! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power & by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, who shows loving-kindness to thousands!’

It is true that I spent most of my life telling people about coming destruction. It was terrible to see what was ahead for us and have everyone else denying it. Because people wouldn’t listen to me, I spent a lot of time crying out to G-d. I wanted to escape this great calling because of the rejection, but I was so full of the wrath of God I couldn’t contain it. Of course, because I didn’t say the flowery lies people wanted to hear, they tried to kill me, and they plotted against my life. This made my life full of pain.

God did rescue me from a murderous end, but the people still managed to imprison me for telling the truth officials didn’t want to hear- that Judah was going to be taken over by Babylon and they better surrender if they want to live.

Sometimes, I didn’t like my job as a prophet. One day it was so bad, I even cursed the day I was born. The nice thing is, G-d always listened to me, even with all my crying. And He answered me.

Even though I was close with G-d, as His spokesman, I was very lonely at times, especially because God had told me not to take a wife or have children in Judah. So I spent a lot of time in Jerusalem and at the Temple, speaking with kings and warning the people (often from prison).

Several times I had to do strange visual aids for the people to get the point across (like break jars, bury underwear in the river bank, and wear a yoke), since apparently G-d’s words weren’t getting through to them. AAAAH!

Let’s just say I am no stranger to suffering. Not only did I serve jail time, I was beaten and put in stocks overnight. Another time I was thrown into a cistern, only to be rescued by an Ethiopian eunuch (It seems God likes using Ethiopian Eunuchs Acts 8:26-40).

I lived in Jerusalem while it was besieged by Babylon for 2 years, and people were starving to the point of eating their own children! I had to live through the defeat and destruction of my city, while most of my friends and family were exiled or killed by the sword or famine.

Then my own people took me captive to Egypt, even though I warned them of our imminent destruction there.

In the midst of the almost half a century that I was prophesying, I also got to see a glimmer of hope that kept me going in the midst of deep darkness. I saw G-d’s heart to restore my people—His people—to our land and to make a new and everlasting covenant.

He made this by giving us a new heart and writing His law on our hearts. G-d is faithful to His covenant and He has been faithful to me throughout my tumultuous life. I know I won’t get to see this restoration before I die, although G-d did tell me to buy land from my cousin in Anathoth as a sign that He would bring my people back to Israel.

I know that what G-d has spoken will come to pass.

 

Scripture References for My Story:

Dad- Hilkiah (1:1)

Priests in Anathoth in land of Benjamin (1:1)

628-586 BC Prophesied (1:2-3)

God knew me before I was formed in the womb (1:5)

God appointed me as prophet to the nations when I was just a youth (1:5-7)

I was afraid but God said he’d save me and then He put words in my mouth (1:8-9, 15:20-21)

I cried a lot to God because people wouldn’t listen to me (4:19-22, 8:21-22, 12:1-4)

I wanted to get away because I was crying (9:1-2)

I was full of the wrath of the LORD (6:11)

I loved worshipping the LORD (10:6-7, 17:12-15, 32:17-27)

I had a hard life with lots of pain (10:19-20, 15:18)

People tried to kill me (11:19)

I had to do strange things for visual aids for the people (13:1-8)

I spent a lot of time in Jerusalem and at the Temple (26:2)

I spoke with the kings (22:1)

God told me not to take a wife or have children in Judah (16:1-2)

I was lonely (15:17)

Sometimes God told me not to lament or console Judah (16:5)

God told me not to go into a house of feasting (16:8)

Sometimes I didn’t like my job (18:20-23)

I even cursed the day I was born (20:14-18)

I had to confront false prophets (29:21-22)

There were glimpses of hope (29:11, 31:3-4)

I was in a city under attack from a superpower (32:2)

I bought some land (32:9)

I saw my home destroyed (39: 1-2, 52:1-7)

I was imprisoned for telling the truth the officials didn’t want to hear (37:15)

I was thrown into a cistern (38:6) and then rescued by an Ethiopian eunuch (38:12)

My friend, Baruch, a scribe, wrote these prophecies down (36:4)

I traveled to Mizpah to join Gedaliah, the overseer appointed by King of Babylon (41:5)

Then I was taken captive to Egypt by my own people (the remaining remnant of Israel)! (44:1)

I have lived through famine (52:6)

I was beaten and put in stocks (20:2)

Here’s another Prophetic act (27:2)

We’re going to France for Outreach!

France…

• Evangelical Christian believers account for only .8% of the population.  The countries–Pakistan (1.5%) and Saudi Arabia ( .9%) have more Evangelicals per capita.
• Church attendance is one of the lowest in Europe (6-8% compared to the USA’s 44%).
• 80% of French people have never owned or even seen a Bible!
• There are approximately 50,000 full-time practitioners of occult arts (tarot cards, fortune-telling, psychic healing, etc) who easily outnumber the 35,000 full-time Christian workers in France.
• Muslims make up approximately 10% of France’s population (compared to 1.5% in the USA). This is the highest percentage in any European country.

…stands poised for revival.

Related articles

• France’s new President Francois Hollande gets a kiss from his girlfriend (thesun.co.uk)
• France’s Muslims can learn from France’s Jews (haaretz.com)
• France: Muslim cleric calls for women to be “whipped to death” for adultery (iranaware.com)
• Europe’s Road Toward Economic Ruin (gratiaetnatura.wordpress.com)
• Nicolas Sarkozy Out in France – Socialist Wins (thegatewaypundit.com)
• Who invented tarot ? (articles4friends.com)

Responses from Sharing Jesus Stories

4/11/12

It was a perfectly cool day as we set out along the forest trail.  We were abuzz getting out of the classroom to walk and talk like Jesus did with His followers…

At the first bluff overlooking the Red River and luscious green fields and trees, I stopped and had everyone gather around so I could share my story about John the Baptist making the Lord’s way straight (John 1:19-52).

After I shared how John told his followers, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  I finished by telling them how Jesus called his first 6 disciples, ending by telling Nathanael, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God‘s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

After sharing, I asked another staff, Andrew, to role play with me.  So I asked him 3 questions + a follow-up question:
How do you see Jesus in this story?
How do you think the people in the story felt/what do you think they were thinking in response to Jesus?
How do you respond to Jesus in this story?  Have you ever responded to him before?

He in turn shared his story, about Jesus at the wedding of Cana turning water into wine, and then asked Jeanne the same questions.
This continued until all the students shared and questioned each other.

So… the other Thursday we went to a Festival in Clarksville, TN to do our Bible reading (we read 1 Samuel on the lawn of the city hall), and then went in pairs to find someone we could ask to share our Jesus story with.

Some of them took video of their interaction, and others wrote it out.
Enjoy reading and watching how 4/5 students shared below!

 

by Jeanne Adams

“On my way to Starbucks, I prayed that I would meet someone I could share the story I chose (the wedding feast at Cana where Jesus turns water into wine–John 2:1-12).

I was sitting in the comfy leather chairs talking on the phone when a guy sat across from me. When I finished my phone call, the guy asked what I was up to. This began quite an amazing conversation. This guy is in the military and has been struggling with finding friends that enjoy wholesome activities. After some time, I asked him if he went to church anywhere (he dropped a few slightly Christian words like ‘blessing’ and ‘miracle’), and found out he attends a local church. He continued to tell me that he wants to be good and do good to others (“I’m not a jerk”), but that he should probably read the Bible.

Well, I couldn’t have asked for a better opening to ask about sharing my story with him. After he agreed and rested back in his cozy chair, I shared how Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine. I asked for his response, and he immediately said he might need to see it to believe it, which led into discussions about everyday miracles.  A bit nervously he asked if that was the answer I was looking for and I assured him I really was interested in his genuine reaction.

Since we had shared a bit about our lives and he knew I traveled and visited many churches he asked me the perfect question: What do you see as the most important thing? Happily I shared that it was about believing that God came as Jesus to die on the cross to forgive our sins, and rise again to conquer death.

It wasn’t about doing good works, the good work we do comes out of the love we have from God for others. This flowed so naturally and wasn’t awkward or forced. I encouraged him that God had designed this meeting and wanted him to read the Gospel of John (he’d never read a gospel before). So I know God is working on his heart and setting him as a light in the darkness!

So, I encourage you, if you’re reading this, to also read John. It won’t take longer than 3 hours–and you know that you have the time.”

By Jordan Keener (from Lancaster, PA)

Last week, we had the tremendous opportunity to study the book of John in-depth. I gained so much insight from John – things that I had missed countless times in reading it before.

One exercise we participated in as students was picking a story from the book of John that we would share with others on the streets of Clarksville.  It is very easy in such an intense Bible school to become very inward and to lose track of reaching out to others – our very role as missionaries and as the Church! This was a great opportunity, in the midst of a busy schedule, to purposefully set aside time to talk with people, telling them the wonderful story about Jesus that we had been learning.

The story that I picked was that of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. A great opportunity to tell of the life that Jesus wants to give us! I was able to talk with two young men at a festival in Clarksville. Both were not very open to receiving a word about Jesus, and I was never able to tell them my whole story.  But I did get to tell each of them that God was thinking of them that day — a seed for Christ was within them!

Though it is difficult sometimes to share with others when we are rejected, I have found that obeying God when He asks us to speak to someone is our only job. The work of salvation and causing growth is God’s.  We never know what lasting impact our few words can have on a lost soul.

 

Shalyn Lenaghan (from Des Moines, IA) in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYuw96e3tmU&feature=youtu.be

 

By Junior Dugan (from Mexico, MO)

I stopped by Target Thursday and saw a guy pushing carts.  Well, I get out of the van with my bud Chris Adams to go and talk to him.  I had picked a story from the Gospel of John to tell someone.  I chose the adulteress woman in Chapter 8.  I asked Curtis if I could tell him the story and ask him 3 questions.

“Sure,” he replied.

After sharing, I asked, “How do you see Jesus in this story?”

“Well, if a girl doesn’t have a ring on her hand she can do whatever she wants.  She is a grown woman and she knows what she can do,” Curtis responded.

Interesting response, I thought, but continued with my next question.  “How do you think the adulteress woman felt in this story?”

“She was happy that Jesus just said to her to go away and to sin no more.”

Lastly, I asked him, “How do you relate to this story?  Have you ever responded to Jesus before?”

Curtis (now age 26) began, “I have known the Lord since I was 13 and given my life to follow him a few times.  I have also been going to church since then.  I have a 3 ½ year old daughter that my ex-girl friend just took away from me 2 months ago, and I really miss her.  I think she’s just trying to get back at me because she thought I was closer to our daughter than she was.”

He continued, “I go to church but I still have a lot to work on.  I’m not always walking where I should be.”

Now this blew my mind, because a lot of people who go to church will not say that.  So after Curtis said we could pray for him, we prayed that his ex and daughter would return to him as he prayed for them, served them and walked by the Holy Spirit in the way of the Lord.

Changing Perspectives on Deuteronomy’s Laws

BibleSPaoloFol050vFrontDeut (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Moses Pleading with Israel, as in Deuteronomy 6:1-15, illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Aleppo Codex is a medieval manuscript of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), associated with Rabbi Aaron Ben Asher. The Masoretic scholars wrote it in the early 10th century, probably in Tiberias, Israel. It is in book form and contains the vowel points and grammar points (nikkudot) that specify the pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew letters to preserve the chanting tradition. It is perhaps the most historically important Hebrew manuscript in existence. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Jeanne Adams

4/28/12

When I was younger, I thought the laws were extremely boring & pointless, often resulting in brutal punishments. Seriously, isn’t it a bit extreme to stone your son to death for rebellion (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)?  As a parent, would you actually carry out this disciplinary action? Other laws seemed ridiculous, with no reasoning to explain why it had to be done this way. For instance, why can’t you wear clothing of material mixed with wool & linen (Deuteronomy 22:11)? Of course, there are the main commandments, the 10 (Deuteronomy 5:7-21), which make sense since the 10 commandments are the basis of western culture .  However, there is still some misunderstanding about how to keep the Sabbath holy & what is taking the LORD’s name in vain.

This past week studying Deuteronomy has deepened my appreciation for these laws, no matter how bizarre they are to my 21^st century mind. As I reflected on the laws, to interpret the principles behind them, I realized many laws that seemed distant from my life could actually have some practical applications now.

One, in particular, that seemed inapplicable to me, was from Deuteronomy 17:16 where God commands the king not to multiply horses for himself. What could I possibly learn from this, I wondered. In the Ancient Near East, the world’s kings showed their power through the size of their army & number of chariots. Back then, horses pulled chariots, so the multiplying of horses actually meant they were multiplying chariots. God wanted the Israelite army to be distinct from the other nations. In fact, God was the head of the army, so they were to trust him for victory, rather than relying on their own strength or numbers. From this command, I learned that God wanted me to trust in Him rather than storing up money, houses, goods or titles that were important in the world. I realized I truly need to trust God rather than trying to do it on my own.

Another important lesson I learned from this week is that God gave Israel these commands to follow in order to show their love & obedience to Him. The result of obedience was blessing.  God wanted to bless Israel by multiplying them & their possessions so they would enjoy a good life. Even today, He wants me to obey Him to demonstrate my love for Him.

Meet Loyal—Red Vest Bar owner

2/12/12

Back to the Red Vest

Two weeks ago after lunch, Dain and I went to the Red Vest Bar in Rockford to meet the owner.

Ever since God led my wife and me into the Red Vest to find a place to sleep for a homeless guy (Norman Vines) before Thanksgiving, I’ve strongly felt that He wanted us to go back and pack food there for Kids Against Hunger.

(To find out what happened to Norman, read:

http://heavenislike.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/two-amazing-things-happened-sunday/

Note: Norman Vines did not sleep at the Red Vest!)

As Dain and I pulled up, the owner was just coming outside.  We introduced ourselves, and he said,

“Hi, I’m Loyal.”

I had actually asked him if we could post our Kids Against Hunger (KAH) brochure for “Christmas in Haiti” after our Thanksgiving event.  As he had happily agreed before, he gladly agreed again now, welcoming us inside as I asked if we could come and pack food for KAH at the Red Vest.

“That sounds really great that you guys are doing this,” Loyal continued. “When do you want to come?  Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday would be best. We can give it a try and see how it works out for everyone.”

I was surprised he was so wide open to us coming.

He asked us what the food packing was for.

“We have been sending food down to Haiti since before the earthquake in Jan 2010.” I replied.  “And any food that Riverworks (local food shelf) needs we are also happily contributing.”

As Loyal took us back by the Karaoke stage (Dain might do some stand up there if you ask him nicely) to show us where we could set up the tables to pack food, I asked if we could pray for him and his business.

He looked a bit surprised.

“Yeah, you can pray for me… thanks.  When I was in Jr. College I wrote a short essay, in which the last paragraph makes the statement, ‘God is universal consciousness expressed individually, merging with the wholeness of all.  I believe that God is in everything and everything is a part of God.’”

“Oh, so you’re Hindu?” I asked.

“No, no, I’m not talking about reincarnation.  I mean like this pool table.  It’s made out of elements of wood and metal, and God made those things, so it is a part of God.”

“But God didn’t put a spirit in the pool table like He did in me and you.”  I responded.

“I know, but he made these things, so He is in them.”  Loyal continued.

“But inanimate objects don’t contain God, because they can’t have a relationship with him,” I said, trying to understand what Loyal believed exactly.

Loyal led us back over to the bar so he could serve his few customers milling about.

After telling us he was a Christian, it came up that we worked with YWAM (Youth With A Mission).  He couldn’t believe it.

“No way!  Sometimes when I drive the back road to Buffalo I see that blue Youth With A Mission sign.  I was going to donate money to you guys.  I believe the youth are the future, and you guys have a mission!”

Dain and I continued listening as Loyal told us how a company scammed him out of some money over many months last year as they told him they had people wanting to invest in Rockford.  They had him filling out stacks of paperwork and were talking over the phone regularly as well as online.  They said he had to form his own Foundation and to pick from local non-profits to invest in.  He tried calling, but hasn’t heard anything from them since July-2011.  He was pretty bummed because he really wanted to rebuild his kitchen to get the “Grille” going again.

But he thought it was so cool that we were with YWAM.

“Yeah, and now you get to help us out after all,” I encouraged him.

I could see Loyal had a really fatherly, compassionate heart.  He cares deeply for his customers.  But he didn’t really like his name when he was a young child growing up because kids teased him.

But I encouraged him, “I think your name is great because it represents who you are.  You are loyal to people and loyal to the things you commit to.”

He then went on to tell us about his soft spot for animals, and how he liked to play guitar and write an occasional tune.

He definitely had Dain and me laughing.  The whole conversation was rather comical.

Once again, God was showing me that He loves hanging out in the places where some people seem intimidated to go.  I felt so welcome and at home sitting at the bar talking to Loyal.  Looking at the well worn faces of the men across from me that I had never met, Loyal made us feel like we were sitting around the family table and talking about the good ole days.

I’m excited to go back and help pack food on President’s Day—Mon, Feb 20th!

Want to join us?

Sign up:

For the 4-6pm or 7-9pm packing slots.

And please consider bring $30-$50 as that is the average people pack during
the time.

Or you can help set-up & hang out from 3-6:30,

or hang out and tear down from 6:30-10pm.

To sign up
Call or email Kristy Monday before 10am

763 477 6777

KAH@ywam-mn.org

Now that’s Good News

…the Good News Club at Rockford Elementary school…

At the beginning of November, two brothers joined us: Jordan (4th grade) & Jonathan (2nd).  Their parents are Laotian, and I had talked with them once last year to invite them to join for homework help (which a YWAM team does on Tuesdays where they live at the Corcoran mobile home park).  After asking their parents twice this year, they agreed to let their boys come to the Good News Club.

Last week, as we were driving them home in the van, Jordan was doing a crossword.  One of the clues was, ‘the Natives believe these protect them.’  The answer was “spirits.”

I started telling him, “Actually, the only spirit that is good is God’s Holy Spirit.  Do you know how you can receive His Holy Spirit?”

“No, how?”  Jordan queried.

“Well, when we say sorry to God  and surrender our life to follow Him, He gives us forgiveness and His Holy Spirit.”

“How do I do that?”  He further questioned.

“We can pray,” I responded, excited by all his questions.

“Can we do that now?” he asked.

“Can I too?”  his brother Jonathan piped in, as he was listening behind us.

Sure,” I said, surprised by their eager desire after such a short time of coming to the club, but thankful the Holy Spirit was drawing them to know God.

I explained to them again about what Jesus had done and how we could say sorry to God and ask for forgiveness through Jesus.  At this point Bryan (Manuel’s 2nd grade brother) joined in, saying he had seen the Passion of Christ.  “Yeah, they beat him with that thing (“the whip” I interjected).  Yeah, and they put the crown of thorns on his head and blood came on his face.”

I was surprised that Bryan had seen this movie at such a young age, but happy he joined in sharing the story with Jordan and Jonathan.

“So did you guys ever do anything bad, like tell a lie?”

“No, I hate lying,” Jordan replied.  He is such a sweet kid that I actually believe him.

“Well, what’s something you did as a kid that you know is wrong?”

Jonathon responded, “One time I didn’t share.  But that was before I knew that was bad.”

Jordan remembered, “One time I didn’t listen to my mom.”

“Okay, so we can say sorry to God for not listening and sharing and ask Him to forgive us for everything we’ve ever done that is wrong, and ask Him to help us obey our parents and listen to the good way.”

After answering a few more of their questions, I asked,

“Would you like to pray yourselves or repeat after me?”

“Repeat after you” they said simultaneously.

“Okay, let’s close our eyes and fold our hands to focus on God” I explained.

The boys were very excited and we told them to share with their parents and have their parents give me a call if they had any questions.  We said we would love to join them any time to talk some more.

“Do you like Laos food?”  Jordan asked.

“Sounds delicious!”  I responded.

As we were pulling into the mobile home park this week, Jordan was telling me, “I have the Holy Spirit.  He told me to listen to my mom when she was asking me to brush my teeth.” (Sounds like every parent and dentist would want their kids to receive the Holy Spirit if that’s the kind of work He is doing in them : ).

Jonathan & Bryan both said they had the Holy Spirit too, which I was surprised to hear Bryan say, since I didn’t hear him praying out loud with Jordan and Jonathan the week before.  I encouraged them to keep listening to the Holy Spirit and do what they think Jesus would do.

Please pray Jordan will read Luke & Acts to Jonathan and they will continue to learn about God and fall more in love with Jesus this Christmas.  And pray we can meet with their parents for a meal some time to answer any questions they might have about the God whom their children are falling in love with.

Two Amazing Things Happened Sunday

Amazing Thing One: Norman Vines & the Red Vest

As Jeanne and I were driving home from our church’s monthly gathering for small group pastors, for some reason we drove an extra block and crossed over the other bridge in Rockford township than the one we usually drive over.

As we drove over the river, I saw a big old man bundled up wearing a reflector vest and pulling a dolly behind him with lots of plastic bags walking across the bridge.  Figuring he was homeless, we drove back around the block to ask him if he had a place to sleep that night (it was 16 degrees!).

“No, and I’ve been walking since 1pm from Minneapolis.  How far is that?”

It was now 9pm.

“You walked about 40 miles!”  We responded.  “Why don’t you come sit in our car while we figure out a place you can stay (unfortunately we have a studio room and the YWAM campus has a policy not to let strangers sleep over night to protect families and students).  What’s your name?”

“Norman,” he replied as I reached back to shake his hand.

I could tell he had a very gentle spirit, a strong southern accent, and he was extremely grateful.  Seeing his grey hair as he removed his hat, he looked to be in his 60’s.

“Thank you so much.  My hips and legs are really sore.  I’ve been praying all afternoon that someone would help me.  Nobody even stopped today.  How far is St. Cloud?  I have some friends up there that said I could stay with them.  I was just planning to find a place by the river to sleep that blocked the wind.”

“It’s probably another 40 miles.  And I don’t think you should keep walking there tonight or sleep outside.”

So, while I called our pastor to see if he knew any places around for Norman to stay (he said the church would cover our costs), Jeanne walked in with Norman to the Red Vest bar to see if anyone could help.  The crazy thing was, just that afternoon we were telling some friends how we thought it would be great to hang out at the local bars in Rockford to get to know people and pray with them, but how we were probably not the ones to do that because we might stick out a bit too much.

I had even been praying the day before as I drove through town that God would bring some people to be like Jesus to any hurting people at the bars.

Jeanne later realized that how we felt about going into a bar is probably how most people feel about going into a church.  But much to our surprise we found “church” in the bar…

From the moment Jeanne walked in and asked for some water for Norman, the bartender, Kelly, was encouraging and loving as Jeanne explained his situation and asked if there were any places for Norman to spend the night.  She explained he was trying to get to St. Cloud so Kelly asked one of the local’s, Bill * (who had just come in before us. * name change), if he would give Norman a ride.  She even offered to pay for his gas!

Bill looked to be in his late 40’s, with long, dark, curly hair, rings on all his fingers, and a trench coat.  As I came in he immediately started talking to me and dug right in to his life story.  Meanwhile, 2 guys at the end of the bar wanted to buy Norman a drink.  He said, “no thank you I don’t drink,” so they bought him a coffee with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream.

Kelly brought him a hot plate of food and was just beaming with excitement,

“Sometimes the people here in Rockford make me so proud.”

What we thought would be a quick conversation turned into 2 hours.  While Jeanne got to know Norman and Kelly, Bill began to share with me how he had lost his $30K chopper because of a DWI and prison time.  He showed me a tattoo on his breast of a naked woman on the chopper, and kept talking about his issues—anger towards his ex-wife, his struggle to find a new wife.  Seeing the tatoo, I knew his issues were much deeper.  As he kept talking, the question that kept coming to my mind was,

“Do you know the Lord?”

At one point he started talking about God and how he made everything (which he would later go into great detail to justify daily smoking weed as the “herb of life”.)  Then he cut himself off,

“But you can’t talk about religion in the bar.”

Since he brought God up, I asked the question that kept going through my mind.

“Do you know the Lord?”

“Yeah, I know the Lord,” Bill responded.  And that led down a whole other path.  After a while of talking some more, He asked me, “Are you born again?”

“Yes.”

And then continued (paraphrased) “I can see in your eyes you would like to ask me more about Jesus.  But in the bar, religion and politics are the two things that can get you beat up.  You have to be careful who you talk to about those things.”  Of course HE went on talking about God and his beliefs for the next hour, even getting down on one knee confessing he believed in Jesus Christ.

It was sad to hear Bill say all these things, while he also tried to justify his weed addiction by saying he didn’t drink alcohol anymore because it was devil’s juice.  He also told me how he was just trying to find a wife, but seemed like he would sleep with anyone who went home with him in the process.

I told him I saw a pastoral gifting in him (because he was so relational, could read me so well, and desired strong intimacy).  Bill said, “I better clean up my act then.”

“Yeah, that would be good,” I responded.

I know Satan tries to use our giftings to destroy other people and our relationships with them, and I could clearly see the lies Bill was believing about daily smoking God’s “herb of life,” while “trying to find a wife,” by sleeping with any woman he could win over.

I listened for a long time, and was barely able to squeeze in a few questions here and there.  He asked me to come back again on Thursday or Friday at the bar to talk some more after I had “absorbed” this conversation.  Because he shared so openly and because he responded well to my encouragements, I felt like I needed to challenge him.  I was really trying to be led by the Holy Spirit by what I said and by the end, I just needed to tell him some strong truth.

“Bill, I believe God will give you a wife.  But you need to take a few years to heal your heart and get involved with a healthy community where you can serve that will love you.  You’re desecrating women right now.  God created them and made you to be with one person.  When you have sex you’re starting a life long commitment.  It is the last step in a process that takes time first getting to know the person emotionally, spiritually and mentally.”

I think he got upset with me after that and wanted me to come outside with him.  I didn’t know if he wanted to smoke, tell me something more privately or punch me, but as I started following him out, Norman stopped me and started thanking me again profusely.  I asked him,

“Did Jeanne get a chance to pray with you.”

He said “yes, but I always like more prayer.”

So I asked him about his family.

“They’re back down south.  My sister doesn’t want anything to do with me.”  From his strong Southern accent and the noise in the bar, I couldn’t understand what he said about his brother.

Jeanne told me later that he was Pentecostal and his family was Baptist, so they didn’t get along.   : (

She said he seemed like Forest Gump, and his family didn’t know how to help him.

As I was praying for him to get a job and plant roots with this family he was trying to find in St. Cloud, Kelly had pulled Jeanne into playing foosball with Leo, another guy at the bar.  So after praying they egged me to come over.

After the first game Kelly had to make sure the other 10 people in the bar were good on drinks, so I got to know a bit about Leo.  After 2 games, we prepared to head out.  Bill had come back in the bar and came over to watch us.  I apologized for not coming out with him and he said,

“Don’t worry about it, I was just getting a little too upset.”

As we tried to leave once again, Jeanne mentioned to Kelly about our food packing service (Kids Against Hunger) at church Thanksgiving Eve and invited her to come.  Kelly was excited once again, and even though Jeanne hadn’t even talked to her at all about God, Kelly said,

“I think God brought us all together tonight.”

Bill agreed and I said, “Yes, it was a team effort.”

Kelly said, “Maybe I can close up the bar and bring everyone to church to pack food on Wed.”

That was exactly what Jeanne was thinking, and we excitedly agreed,

“Yeah, that would be great!”

I asked Kelly if we could come pack food in the bar sometime.

“Yeah, sure!”

“When would be a good time?”

“Anytime I’m working.”

This whole experience was so surreal.  We don’t know if they will actually come to this Wednesday night service at our church, Village.  We’re going to drop a flier off, and we stopped back at the bar last night and got Kelly’s number from another employee to call her and find out if Bill brought Norman and if he found his friends up in St. Cloud okay.

I hope to go back to talk with Bill some more, and we also plan to have a packing event at the bar one of these weeks!

Please pray that God will bring fruit out of these new relationships and lead us in continuing on with them.  Also pray:

• that Bill will be convicted by the Holy Spirit to recognize how he is hurting God, himself and women;
• that Norman Vines (truly his last name) will abide in Jesus, get planted and rooted where God wants him to be.
• That Kelly will bring the guys to the Wed night service, and/or help us plan a food packing event at the bar.
• That God will open the doors to the other 2 bars in Rockford as we’re faithful to follow up with the people from this experience.

Wednesday, November 23rd

To continue the story, even though no one from the bar came to pack Wed night at our church, we actually brought some leftover pie back to the Red Vest from the Thanksgiving Eve Service.  Kelly, the bartender was so thankful.  She also said Norman made it okay to St. Cloud!

As Jeanne was talking to her, Kelly was telling another woman sitting at the bar,

“Something special happened here last Sunday night.”

The other woman replied, “Special? But Sunday nights are always boring.”

“I know,” Kelly responded, “But when they came in, everybody wanted to help Norman.  I was so proud of our little bar that night!”

What Kelly may not have realized was the Holy Spirit is in us and was apparently giving us great favor and moving everyone to want to help out of our little act of compassion trying to find Norman a place to sleep that night.

As Jeanne reflected on the experience the following night, she started crying.

“I think Norman Vines may have been an angel.  He was so sweet, honest and gentle.”

I just couldn’t believe it took a homeless guy for God to get us into the Red Vest.  It’s amazing what it takes for us to be willing to be an answer to our own prayers.

And now we’ve had 3 people offer to go back to the bar with us to pack food and 3 others want to go talk to people!

So that was the first amazing story.  The second is just as good.

Amazing Thing Two: Tommy learning about the Holy Spirit

That morning, Jeanne and I were co-teaching Sunday School at Village church.  I help Forrest with the 3-4^th graders and she’s with Michael and the 5-6^th graders.  In my class with Forrest, one boy brought a friend, Tommy, from his hockey team to church.  We were talking about the Holy Spirit and what Jesus says about Him in the weekly lesson and I thought, “He might not understand this if he hasn’t made a decision to surrender his life to Jesus.”  So after the lesson I asked him if he ever decided to follow Jesus.

“It’s okay if you haven’t, we’re just trying to learn more about you.”

After thinking about it, he shook his head, ” No.”

So I asked, “Tommy, do you go to church?”

“Sometimes I go with my grandma.”

“Do you know Jesus is God?”

“Yeah, well, No.”

“Do you know what He did for you?”

“Yeah, he died for my sins.”

“Do you know what that means?”

“No.”

So then I asked the other kids to explain as best as they could why Jesus died for our sins and what that means.  It is awesome to hear kids explain the gospel in their limited understanding.  The other teacher and I filled in

“Whatever we have done or will do in our life that is bad separates us from a relationship with God.  But because Jesus took all the bad things (our sins) on Himself when He died on the cross, He can now forgive us when we receive that gift from him.  It’s like God giving us a present on Christmas, but if we don’t open it, then we can’t really receive or know the gift.”

One girl, Angela said,

“I know a verse that goes with that!  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23.”

“Yes, that’s great Angela.”

I saw AWANA had paid off for her!

“So Tommy, would you like to surrender your life to follow Jesus?”

He shook his head up and down, “yeah.”

Okay, I will pray and everyone can repeat after me.  Let’s all do this together to help Tommy.

“Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me.  Thank you for forgiving me of all the bad things I’ve done.  I’m sorry I hurt you.  Thank you for your Holy Spirit coming into my heart.  Please pour out your Spirit on me now and fill me up with your love.  Help me to follow you all of my days.  Thank you God.  Amen.”

God still speaks?

I wrote this in July 2007 when Jeanne and I were staffing the DTS (Discipleship Training School thru YWAM) in Lausanne, Switzerland:

I believe God wants to use us mightily in our neighborhoods, and I believe He wants to tell us that personally. Try asking him.  I did.

This past week’s lecture has been on hearing God’s voice, and I am so thankful to Him for speaking so clearly and for wanting to speak so often to us. I just never really believed He did before. I mean, I did believe after I learned for the first time that God likes speaking to me in my DTS in Adelaide Australia in 2003.  But then I doubted for a year, then I believed again, then doubted, but now I don’t think I will ever doubt that God is speaking to me anymore.  It really helps to be around others who believe and practice hearing His voice as well.

Reading John 10, I see how Jesus says “My sheep hear my voice and they listen.”  The Bible is littered with conversations of God speaking in so many creative ways at all times of the day and night to all sorts of people!

You might be wondering, “How can I hear the voice of God?”

Well, some of the prophets in the Old Testament told how God would give us a new heart with his commands written on it, and that He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and that He would not hide His face anymore (Ezek 36-38, Joel 2).

Then, Jesus explains how we will always be able to hear His voice, which is the voice of our Father,

“If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! … But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” –Jesus (Luke 11, John 14).

So, yeah, if you can’t tell, I’m really excited to hear God’s voice again by realizing He’s speaking thru His Holy Spirit in me.  He’s speaking so clearly and I’m just practicing listening to His good voice and His encouraging thoughts as I talk to people or spend time alone with Him–it’s so exciting!!!

As Paul says in Corinthians 2:16, “For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Anyway, I believe God wants to use us to bring His Living Water into our neighborhoods by His Spirit in us.  I believe if we call out to Him, he will answer us! He wants us to share His love.  We are so dear to His heart, and He is so passionate for us to seek after Him with all our heart so we can know Him more personally!

I believe really strongly that God is calling out to us to know Him more intimately.
Will I respond?
Will I keep asking Him questions?
Even though we may not believe Him, he strongly believes in us!

Hot Chocolate from Jesus

So we have another awesome DTS (Discipleship Training School) here at YWAM this fall.  Besides 2 South Africans students, a Haitian, a Netherlander, and a Korean American , we have a family with 3 kids (ages 5, 3 and 1), and a lovely woman (age 58) doing this school–so a variety of ages and nations.  Plus, our friend Lara from Chicago joined us!  It’s so great to have her living in community.  If you want to hear first hand what it’s like for a DTS student you can read her blog http://lmpetrone.wordpress.com/

But what I really wanted to tell you is how excited these students are to share the love of Jesus with people in Dinky Town at the University of MN this past Sat night when we did a treasure hunt (explained in my 1st blog)…

Some YWAM schools have been pretty timid to go out (most Christians have never really talked to friends or strangers about Jesus), but these guys actually initiated asking when can we go downtown to meet people?  As we returned Sat night, everyone was sharing stories of people they got to talk to and pray for and some asked, can we do this more often?

So two cool stories to illustrate the evening. 

Story 1:  I’ll start with the end of the night first for those with a shorter attention span.

Walking back with Jim (see story 2), I found everyone in a circlish spot on the sidewalk playing guitar and talking.  They had met some other Jesus lovers–Ben and Bear.  Ben had got saved literally from a drug overdose and was out for the evening hanging with people and sharing about the God who had saved him through his musical improv.   Bear (African, Mexican, Indian), who looked like a short bear with a beard was just as engaging.  As we were worshipping with them, another group of Christians joined us (from Bethany College of Missions) for a few minutes to exchange stories.

Several people were drawn in by the music and hot chocolate, and one girl in particular (carrying all her belongings in her purse and her guitar) was hungry for love and attention.

“What’s all this about?” She asked, as she walked through the middle of us.

“Jesus.”  Ben responded, strumming the guitar.

“This is f–ing awesome,” she replied, “I just met two Christians around the corner.  One gave me this peacoat and the other gave me her leggings so I won’t freeze tonight and they prayed for me.  Do you guys want to hear a song?  One I wrote or a knockoff?”

“Let’s hear an original,” Ben replied, “Can I play with you?”

“No cause you don’t know it, but you can play one for me after.”

After telling us the best songs are written in pain or when you’re high, she started singing, “What’s in your pocket?  It’s a simple thing to ask.  But can I really trust you’ll tell me the truth?  … It’s 4:44 and I just can’t stop thinking about you…  All I want to do is hold your hand…”

After her song, someone offered her hot chocolate.  “I’m a vegan.”

So Bear walked down to the corner and bought her a bag of bananas.

She quickly engaged two of the girls on our team and proceeded to tell them all about her world travels, bad relationships, and stinky life situation.  An hour later they exchanged contact info (when she’s able to get to a library for email since she’s currently homeless).

My heart really went out to her.  It was so cool to see how the love of Jesus in our midst, hot chocolate and some worship music  drew different people to us through out that time.

Story 2: Jarrod, Brenden and I were walking and praying outside of the magic witchcraft shop.  As we rounded the corner to where I felt I should sit on a bench (I had talked with a Native American guy there the last time we went out), Brenden saw the Pedal Pub across the street (people provide their own beverages and pedal power while this guy just steers–seats about 10).  “We should go talk to that guy!”  He was waiting while his group was inside at a bar.

Jarrod and Brenden headed over while I sat praying for them on the bench.

A minute later a student pulled up to lock his bike.  Clad in a black hoody covered with buttons, big glasses and a bit larger, I told him we were out praying and talking with people and asked if there was anything I could pray for him about.  After exchanging words and praying, he headed into the Kitty Kat Klub to work after taking a smoke with a coworker.  He was looking for a church with his girlfriend who was in law school.

Meanwhile across the street, a big tall guy with a mohawk and glasses took a few photographs of Brenden and Jarrod talking with the Pedal Pub guy.  As Mr. Mohawk meandered down the sidewalk, I felt I should go talk with him.  After catching up to him as we strolled under the shadowy evergreens towards the “mall” (grassy area in the center of the U of MN campus), I explained what we were doing and started listening to his stories.

He laughed when I asked if there was anything I could pray for him, but proceeded to share many stories about his time going to undergrad (in ’79) and finishing law school in 2000.

He said back then you would see the same guys “rented out” as protestors for people who were protesting in the mall every day, which really irritated him. He liked walking through that area to class, but not with people making a racket every day!

After a while of listening to his stories–how he read through the prophets every winter, took the best photos of his life of the rich and poor grave stones at the Potter’s Field in Winona, and had a God moment when he made eye contact with a rat and felt it’s fear–the Lord gave me an idea to share with him.

“Have you read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?”  I asked him.

“The what?” He responded.

“A book by C.S. Lewis?

“No, but someone told me to read C.S Lewis before.  Why?”

“Because the animals talk in that book.”  I answered.  Jim started writing the title in his Ipod saying he wanted to read it.

“And another question,” I continued, “Have you seen Jesus revealed as the promised One the Jews were waiting for as you read through the Prophets every year?”

He smiled, “I think it’s better that Jesus remains as a mystery.  The mysterious vagueness of the prophets makes them more interesting.”

“Well, there are many mysteries that will remain but one mystery I really believe that God wants to reveal is Himself to you in Jesus.  So as you read through the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, see the Lion as Jesus, the witch as satan and yourself as Peter (I meant to say Edmund, so I’m hoping he emails me to follow up).”

“Okay, thanks for saying that,” Jim responded.

I asked to give him a hug, which he accepted, and we walked back to Dinkytown together where I found the rest of the team sharing Jesus and hot chocolate.

Since he said he only comes to the U of MN to visit twice a year, I really believe God connected us for that hour of encouragement and revelation.

Entering the Blogging Realm–What does it look like to see the kingdom of Heaven on earth?

Here goes my first attempt at a blog.  It only took 3 years and a half-dozen people to say “you should write a blog.”  I don’t know how often these manuscripts will come out, but this is my way to communicate what I see the kingdom of heaven to be like here on the earth.  It’s living in fresh ways Jesus’ style.

I’d love to hear responses, stories or simply a note like this:

“I read it, I like it, keep writing.”  (You can even copy and paste this).

Here’s my first story from this July:

The last few weeks we’ve been going out with the students to do Treasure Hunts.  If you haven’t heard of Treasure Hunts, we ask the Lord to give us “clues” through pics, words, verses, names, clothing to find different people (His treasure).  When we meet people we say something like, “Hi, we were praying and asking God to show us His treasure and we got (something that relates to that person).”  Or, “We’re offering to pray for people around here today and we were wondering if there is anything we can pray for you or your family?”

 

Sometimes people say, “no thanks,” others may tell us about a particular family member.  Usually people don’t share personal requests.

 

So, a really cool story from 3 weeks ago:

 

After having some worship at a park in Buffalo, MN we asked the Lord for clues, and went off two by two in search of some treasure.  After Jeanne partnered with Kallie, Jeanne started talking with the woman who was grilling chicken and steak under the shelter by the tables where we were praying and worshipping.  Jasmine and I started talking with her 6-year-old son and a neighbor girl.  Then the mom asked us if we wanted to join them for prayer, so we stood holding hands in a circle.  We prayed for her older daughter to come back home to work things out with her parents.  

The cool thing about meeting her: she is from Guyana and we just had a team go down to Guyana for outreach this past April and May!  Jeanne nor I had ever met anyone from Guyana before (and we’ve met people from most nations)!

Later on after Jasmine and I had talked with two boys near the skate park, and prayed with a mom who was waiting for her daughter, we saw everyone gathering back near the shelter.  Jenesa is one of the students who went to Guyana, so she was super excited to talk with the Guyanese woman.  When Jeanne went back to talk with her, she kept inviting us to eat chicken with her (she had probably made about 30 wings and legs).  After a few MN nice responses, “Thanks, but we have food,” Jeanne finally gave in and had the rest of us come over.  The woman said it was her first time grilling there in the park, and she was happy to feed the 8 of us.  

It was cool because another student, Becca, had prayed saying, “God, I really don’t want to eat sandwiches tonight.  Can we please have something else?”  So God answered Becca’s prayer!  We also had spaghetti, rice, cucumbers and cherries with the tasty grilled chicken!

A huge rainstorm came through, keeping us at the shelter longer, and the Guyanese woman said, “Please wait so you can meet my husband.”  As we were there for a while, I asked her what her spiritual background was.  She is of Indian descent, and grew up in a Muslim family in Guyana.  Her husband was Hindu, so after marrying him, she decided to become Hindu so they could share one faith, even though he never asked her to convert.  Then, after living in MN the past 10 years, part of her husband’s family living here had started going to church, and his mom asked them to come.  So now they’re both Christians, and it was very interesting listening to him talk about how the the Hindu holy books recorded the end times similarly to the Bible…  We had a great conversation! 

God’s treasure is everywhere if we’re only willing to “dig” a little by taking time to ask people if we can pray for them, or simply by asking questions.  Most people really like to talk about themselves, and I’m surprised how much people open up and share their lives with a perfect stranger.  I guess that’s the power of the Holy Spirit living in us.