Red Letter Words

Mondays are usually days that mean rest and reflection. God is doing so much on this earth today, every Sunday when we come together to worship Him and in serving whenever the need arises. The pace in the twenty-first century has definitely picked up! Miss one thing and you really miss big things!

I got the title for this blog when I was in church listening to P. Jeff bring his message. Can't do justice in telling you what the worship was like Sunday. Just tell you, be there to see and hear for yourself. Jesus Christ reigns! His power is present to meet our needs, every time! I began to write down words from Jeff's message and thought these words are so important for the Church today, in our ministry to our families and our serving everyday. So here are some important red letter words: moved, give, energy, heart, stewardship, created, Jehovah, gift, follower, worship, cheerful, warfare, possess, turmoil, tithing, rearrange, priorities, forgive, purpose, serve, multiply, leader, life, pray, wrestling.

Not one of the red letter words of Jesus are static (at rest). All are living, vibrant and creative. His words are rhema, so alive that we are changed when we let His words into our hearts. The important red letter words above will change your life if you believe. Every word is a doing word. That's who Christians are, we are doers! Every word above takes a personal decision to make a change and move in a new direction.

P. Jeff related the story of Jacob and the wrestling match he had with the Angel of the Lord. Jacob did not give up, he wrestled all night until he got what he wanted, blessing. His life was changed thereafter, even his name was changed to Israel. "Your name will no longer be Jacob, the man told him. From now on you will be called Israel because you have fought with God and with men and have won." Gen. 32:28. An open door for TRC to serve Asia has opened up. Through some missionary friends of P. Jeff and P. Melinda, we will be sending funds to dig wells for those who have no clean water.

Red letter phrases from Sundays message: "To be Christ-like, you must give." "Settle who the real owner is of all things." (Ps. 24:1). "Quench continues! Wells are going to be dug in Asia!" "Wrestle so we may believe." "God, make me a giver in this place."

Enter through the open door.

Michael and the Grace of God

I mentioned the unknown in the first blog about Mike. The unknown is that place of either wild and vain imaginations which lead to a dark pit of depression, OR it is the open door to the grace of God. We have a choice, one or the other. In His mercy, God led us to His grace. A much welcome late night twitter from a granddaughter came tonight with a message that she had read the blog about Mike. It was time to finish the story of Mike.

Mikey was a little boy that early on was a defender of the weak and anyone who seemed to be the under dog. Nothing seemed to hold him back when he helped someone, not even fear. As he grew older, sometimes that defensive mode got him in trouble, but a world in pain needs its defenders. We loved him for it.

One of the people he was defensive of was a young woman who was 21 years old. Her name was Mary and she lived in a nursing home. Every day in a wheel chair. She couldn't speak, but had a voice for yelling and when she yelled, her face showed pain and frustration. I think this was the motivation for Mike when we visited her. Our church had a ministry at this home and Mike loved going there. One Sunday we were on our way and Mike asked what he could do to make Mary feel better. He was 10 years old at the time. Had to think about that for awhile. We had plenty of people who layed hands on her and prayed for God to heal her, but I knew God had something else for Mike to do. He had just learned to stand on his hands, he did a great job at that, and his determination was very entertaining. So I suggested that he stand on his hands for Mary. His eyes lit up knowing he had something to help her feel better. We walked through the door of the nursing home and there she was, right by the front door. Mike greeted her and said he had something to show her. Mary wasn't screaming, just watching Mikey. First try, he gets up on his hands, legs straight up in the air and he just stood there, upside down. All of a sudden Mary began to clap her hands and give this funny laugh. Her whole demeanor had changed. Someone had stopped and focused on her. A little boy from the kingdom of God.

Mikey stood on his feet, red-faced and said, "did ya like that Mary?" And she clapped again. God's grace is so good. Many, many ways to serve in this world.

Life with Mike was one adventure after another. Our lifes mission was to love and keep him on the right track, and most days it worked. One day when over night it seemed, Mike was a young man of 6'3'' and 16 years old. In his 16 year old way, he let loose with a smart mouth toward me and I reached out and swatted him on the butt as he passed by. He looked and smiled at me and said, "mom, you hit like a marshmallow!" That got me fired up for sure. The swat hadn't work, what to do? No cell phones, XBox to deprive him of, and he wasn't that crazy about t.v. so the next best thing was the two month old can of whipped cream in the fridge. It had to be sour by then. Mike saw "the look" I gave him and started the retreat. By this time I had grabbed the old whipped cream and I got his whole body down on the floor because I knew where his tickle spot was, about the third rib down. It worked! I sprayed and I sprayed until air came out. His whole face was a mess of old cream.

Mike led an up and down life in his adulthood. Encouragement would work for awhile. He would come for prayer and how grateful we were for that. He stayed with a good job that had responsibilities but the next thing we knew, he had quit and got a job as a bouncer at a club in Seattle. We would hear from him occasionally by phone, letters. He always, always called me on mother's day and his birthday, August 19. Mike doesn't call me anymore since that last call.

Over the years, God sent His times of grace to heal. How good it is. The thing hanging over was the unknown. Is he dead, is he alive? The unknown is hell to live in. Here comes God's grace again and many times in between. He opened a giant door to The Rock Church in Monroe. Life hasn't been the same since then. We jumped into everything we could. God was healing many places in our hearts and we yielded one at a time.

About 2 or 3 years ago the unknown was creeping in again. The wondering. Would I ever get another call? Pastor Jeff would occasionally pray for wandering children. That told me there were other parents who knew how we felt. God's grace moves in marvelous ways. I had been in this place of the unknown for about a month this time and Pastor Melinda brought a message one night on how God communicates with us and she used the scripture from Jude about "the only wise God." Jude 25 NKJV. That phrase alone came like a bolt of light in my soul and I went somewhere with the Lord while He healed me. I knew, I knew, I knew (three times, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved in this one!) without a doubt that God knew where Mike was. In fact, God is omnipotent. He alone knows everything about Mike, now it's ok.

Years ago we dedicated Mike to Jesus and that's what we intent to live in. His grace is that unmerited favor when we know God truly does reign supreme. We could never in this world work that into our hearts, He did it by His grace.

Michael: The Early Years

Recently our third son Michael had a birthday, August 19. He was born in Anchorage, Alaska in 1965. That would make him 44 years old on this past birthday. We celebrated his life in quiet ways, but, we wern't able to have a birthday party because we don't know where Mike is, and we haven't known where he is since 1992. We spent a few years doing everything we could think of to find him, and always ran into a brick wall. For another few years we quietly lived with the unknown. God changed all that; living with the unknown, three years ago. I'll tell you that story a little later in the blog.

Mike was the fifth child of six. He was born three weeks early and picked a time to be born when his dad, Jim, was in the bush of Alaska working. He came into the world weighing 9 pounds and 9 ounces, 22 3/4" long, lots of dark hair like his dad. First thing I noticed about Mikey was his love of the attention he got from four older brothers and sister. Michael Lee Woods early on established his position in the birth order. He knew how to keep up with his older siblings, he could go sledding on the Mormon Hill behind our house. That was a kid named hill, just because it was owned by the Mormon church in our neighborhood. He could stand as long as the rest of them at Summit Lake to fish, even though his fishing line had gotten tangled up, he didn't care, he was with the crowd he called his family. Mike love going clam digging at Clam Gulch, until one day when he was three years old, he got stuck in the mud. The look on his
face told me he thought he was going to be in the muck forever. We got him free out of his boots and used the clam shovel to dig the boots out. Silt in Alaska is like gooey cement.

Our favorite place in Alaska is still Homer. Camping on Homer's Spit in those days was like being in the wilderness. Quiet. Just the sound of bald eagles and ocean water coming in. We had a canvas tent that fit all six of our kids and a cousin or two. I think we built the biggest bon fires on Homer's Spit ever! Mike like all of our kids, entered in with all kinds of energy. Then there were all those long daylight hours in the summer! The light always seemed to make up for the cool Alaska summer air. Freedom was going all night with activity, not once did the kids ever hear, "time for bed!" The first night we would clean a bunch of huge razor clams and make a big pot of clam chowder on the beach. Every child knew how to clean clams at some point in their lives. Work, then eat!

These are just a few of the early memories of Mike's life. Let's do this a little at a time.

When God Stirs

"I have riches and honor, as well as enduring wealth and justice." Proverbs 8:18

Sitting on my patio swing, enjoying the sun, the quiet and God's blessings. But I have to laugh out loud. Twitter has been going crazy the last few weeks, since "Night Out Against Crime". People are stirred up about serving!! It's like we have been to the pool of Siloam, meaning SENT!! (Found in John 9:1-41 The complete story). Jesus saw the blind man and declared that the works of God would be revealed in him. Jesus spit on the clay (that would be DNA) and places the mixture on the man's eyes and when he washes in the pool, he can see! His neighbors are astonished, they know him only as "the man who sat and begged". Yes, it is he, and now he is stirred with the command to go and tell everyone the wonders of God in his life. He doesn't stop telling the story, he who was once blind, now sees.

Blindness is the story of our lives before we met Jesus. Our meeting with the Son of God is the stirring that compels us to tell and tell and tell what He has done for us. The truth we tell will be rejected, mocked, distorted. It will make people angry, jealous and fearful. Some will revile us, and the name of Jesus, but some will listen and will see for the first time.

We bear the DNA of Christ in our lives. P. Travis and P. Jeff have both talked about this. Christ resides in us through the Holy Spirit and we need nothing more to be stirred in doing His will on this earth.

In this season of stirring let everyone of us lay aside everything that has hindered us from fully doing what God has called us to do. Pray for the sick, give generously to the God who daily gives generously to us, reject fear and have confidence in our faithful God. Stir your hearts today to give as much as you can for school supplies. If you walk in the parade you will never forget the happy faces of kids who will be ready to learn because you helped and gave! God's enduring wealth is for the benefit of His people to use, this has been my prayer this afternoon that His wealth will be poured out on His Church. We are not as the man who sat and begged, our God is the God who has enduring wealth! Not just earthly wealth, but spiritual wealth for our benefit!

This is the season giving, for serving. Do it with all your heart because you love Him.

Sauerkraut 2

No, I don't eat sauerkraut. No matter how it is served!

Sauerkraut

sau.er.kraut (sour'krout') chopped cabbage fermented in brine.

The one word title of this blog is sufficient. Sauerkraut. With the title comes the complete essence of the sauerkraut experience; limpness, pungent smell, after-taste and the wondering how long it would be before the next sauerkraut dinner. For fear it would be soon.

The experience of sauerkraut deserves a blog picture, but since I'm still having trouble attaching pictures to my blog, I'll do my best to describe this Old World delicacy in words. Too bad blog doesn't have smell capacity. Sauerkraut contains vinegar, cabbage, and brine. Brine is so salty it smells like ocean air when you are close to it. The key word in the definition is FERMENTED, thus, the descriptive prefix, sauer. This plentiful garden vegetable (equivalent today would be the zucchini) is then lovingly shredded into slaw-sized lengths and soaked in wooden barrels filled with brine for as long as possible.

Can't you just see the Old World ships coming over the sea with unnumbered wooden barrels of sauerkraut next to the barrels of dill pickles? Never mind the family heirlooms, the sauerkraut and pickles go over with us. They'll love it in America!!

Somehow, this German inspired dish made it over into the Norwegian culture, probably through marriage. In Rothsay, Minnesota where my brothers Larry, Bob and I spent our summers, the German Lutheran church was one block from the Norwegian Lutheran church. (They finally joined forces in the 21st. century). The Germans had their sauerkraut, the Norwegians our lutefisk. Lutefisk is the survivor fish of Norwegian culture and is worthy of a blog on its own. Let me write, I'm ever grateful to God for hardy Norwegians who figured out how to preserve the ever-plentiful cod in Norwegian waters to supplant the birch bark soup they made in tough farming times in the homeland. The Lord was their Provider.

The combination smells of lutefisk and sauerkraut at Christmas time in Rothsay must have been something as it hung in the icy winter air. This little town of 359 souls (still under 400 population today) all gathered at separate churches to enjoy their yearly feast. By the way, each church claimed Martin Luther as their own.

We Hamar Lutheran kids always knew there would be a table full of buttery, gelatinous lutefisk that moved like jello. We held our noses figuratively as we passed the lutefisk on the way to jello. Jello. The most inventive food group! The bowls danced and sparkled like rubies, emeralds, amethysts on the table. Next stop, lefse table!

Recently, we had our every decade meal with sauerkraut. It provided a very nice picture there on the grill. Perfectly seasoned bone-in pork chops, grilled to juicy perfection with a small clump (would that be klump in German?) of sauerkraut on the side. Just nothing like a happy husband having one of his favorite meals.

Possibilities for meals with sauerkraut are endless. Country pork ribs, sausage, hot dogs, pork chops, pork roast, etc. Sauerkraut is one of those veggies (really?) that your mom would say, "c'mon, try just a spoonful." The look told us it wasn't a friendly request. Lesson: be thankful for all things. Who knows, there may be a sugary jello later to make the fermented, salty taste go away.

Enjoy life whatever it brings.

Vision

Still thinking about vision. Doing errands, vision. Watering thirsty plants, vision. Making dinner plans, vision. Without vision, we perish. With vision, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Know how we, the Church, fight the warfare we see going on everyday in the world? Vision. We stay focused on vision and we do not remain in a place of fear, disappointment, mistrust or illusion. We fight the good fight of faith every day in the power and might of the Holy Spirit. We stay obedient to the word and call of our God with our whole hearts. We love the Lord our God with everything in us AND our neighbors as ourselves.

We have been in both places, without vision and with vision. Remember the dry land that Noah built the ark on? That's a visionless life, dry land. We first came to TRC in 2003 on Main Street. We have seen many since then just like us. Christians, yes. But so lost without vision. We were perishing. We were blessed with the goodness of God in our children and grandchildren, we had all that we needed in this life, but without vision. One of our grandchildren kept looking at us with his big, bright blue eyes and kept asking us to come to church, and we did. First invite came in 2003, and it kept coming. Pretty big vision at that time for a three year old huh? Thank you buddy for keeping the faith. God has huge plans for a young man who is faithful to His vision.

What we were looking for at the time was integrity. What we saw at TRC was the heart of integrity. A church that had the mind to press into the kingdom of God and be willing to pay the price. We all must count the cost of going to war, or building a tower. (Luke 14:27-33). TRC was showing us that all of us were going to finish this to the end and along the way we received ALL these other blessings. A church full of babies and children being brought up in the Lord..great work families!!! An awesome band that gives it all every Sunday to lead us in worship and praise. Pastors who pour out their hearts for God's people. A pastor in P. Jeff who preaches his heart out because he loves God and His people. Elders who are given to minister to the church without end. The authority in TRC has a great responsibility, watching over our eternal souls. They have willingly taken this charge. We are a blessed people!

When we knew integrity was in the heart of the church, didn't take long for two broken people to lock in. It was the praise and worship that broke any and all resistance we had. It was like the Holy Spirit came and melted our hearts. Jim grabbed my hand, (spiritual leader) and I knew everything would be ok when we started out on this journey at TRC.

First things first, start tithing!!! And never give up!!! Follow your heart in offerings too. That way, it's given to God and given in love. Next thing we did was take the newcomers class, couldn't wait to tell people we were members of TRC! We had already been baptized as adults, but if you haven't made that adult choice, check with the church on how you can prepare for the water baptism at Lake Tye this Sunday the 23rd, at 6PM. If you just want to come and observe, do that! It would be great to have you there. Next thing, since we already knew we had the gift of hospitality, we sent in a note on a card for volunteers to help with the Guest Services. God taught us a lot by watching Susan and Terry, love you guys.

If you are looking for acceptance, immerse yourself in God and the vision He has given to TRC. Know above all else, we are accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6). You have a secure place in the vision, come on, take that leap of faith!! You'll never regret it. Vision is good for the soul, we can't live without it.