Vicki and I had a chance to spend a little time with our granddaughter, Rilyn, over the weekend, and because she had a fever and cold-like symptoms her parents wanted to give her some medication. Well, wouldn’t you know it, even though the little tyke was feeling miserable, she refused to take the medicine.
At first Mitchell spoke gently, trying to convince her that the medication would help her feel better and that if she didn’t take it, she would only be hurting herself. When that didn’t work, he tried bribing her saying, “If you take your medicine I’ll buy a Porsche for you when you get older.” For some reason, that didn’t work so he played the “threat” card. “OK fine, if you don’t take your medicine, I won’t ever let you date anyone.” She still didn’t care; however, after some persistent words of encouragement she finally took her medicine.
Sound familiar? Yes, we’re all like Rilyn aren’t we, we’re sick and hurting in so many ways, and God is constantly offering remedies of love that would help alleviate the pain and provide healing, but we refuse to open wide and swallow the medicine.
Apparently, such was also the case with the Apostle Paul. In sharing his testimony with King Agrippa, Paul was telling how at one time he was so spiritually sick, in fact he was so sick he admitted to being obsessed with persecuting Christians—and by punishing Christians he actually thought he was earning God’s favor. Now that is sick. Here Jesus had come to set him free from trying to earn God’s favor, but he refused to accept God’s gift that would spiritually heal him.
Paul tells the story in Acts 26 this way, “12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
Here, Jesus confronted Paul with the foolishness of kicking against the “goads”. An ox goad was a stick that was used to help prod the cattle in the right direction. Jesus was saying, I’ve laid down my life in order to get you going in the right direction, but you keep resisting; you’re only hurting yourself.
As I watched Rilyn refuse to take her medication, I began to reflect on how many times my Heavenly Father patiently and lovingly offered me some spiritual medication. More than likely it was in the form of a golden nugget of truth, and yet I folded my arms and stubbornly refused to accept his help. But then like Rilyn, in most cases, I would eventually give in, open wide and swallow. (I say in most cases, because there are still areas of my life where I foolishly and pridefully kick against the goads).
And how about you; in what ways have you resisted God’s efforts to get you going in the right direction? In what ways have you been fighting against God’s effort to bring revival and healing in your life? You’d rather eat with the pigs than come back home. You’re going to hang on to your right to get revenge and you’re not going to forgive. You’re going to keep making work a priority over family. You’re going to continue to resist or quench the voice of Truth.
May it be said of us that we would humble our stubborn hearts and that we will be quick to open our hearts wide in order to receive the medicine of God’s goodness and love. And then like Paul, may we reach out to our friends and neighbors, “18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus” (Acts 26:18). Under His mercy, Mike

Oh, I feel so much better after a few good nights of sleep. See, after several sleepless nights as America inched closer and closer to plunging off the fiscal cliff I had become exhausted. I couldn’t imagine the horror of what life would’ve been like having to pay eight dollars for a gallon of milk and an extra two thousand dollars per year in taxes.
I was gripped with fear thinking about how plummeting off the cliff would’ve affected the giving in our church—it wouldn’t be long before there were no funds to pay the pastor. And because all of the businesses in town would also be suffering, I wouldn’t be able to find a job.
A momentary glimmer of hope set in as I thought about the possibility of getting some government assistance; however, that hope quickly faded as I imagined how everyone else would want some assistance as well. I was consumed with the unfairness of it all, I’m an American and I’m entitled to a life free from inconvenience and pain—our government owes me!
Feeling so disillusioned and downhearted before the House of Representative vote on Monday night, I finally drove over to the bridge on Highway 75 that crosses over Interstate 90 to see if there was a good place underneath where Vicki and I could find some shelter in case we did go off the cliff. And yep, there was a pretty nice spot under the north side.
Two things come to mind as I’ve been reflecting on all the hype around the fiscal cliff and the polarization of our government leaders. First it’s easy to point fingers at who’s to blame, yet as long as American’s maintain their selfish attitude that the government is responsible for helping every person maintain a certain level of lifestyle, our financial crisis is only going to get worse. The good news—there’s room under the bridge for you too.
Second, our future hope is not life on earth in America, but rather when heaven and earth are reconciled and God comes to dwell among us again. And no matter what happens in the future we have no reason to fear—be still and know that God’s not worried either. Feeling fearful, discouraged, disillusioned…, let me encourage you to find a quiet place (maybe even under a bridge) and mediate on this Psalm for a while. It sure helped me.
Psalm 46—The Message
1-3 God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in sea storm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains. Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, GOD-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city, this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe, God at your service from crack of dawn. Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten, but Earth does anything he says. 7 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, GOD-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of GOD! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” 11 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, GOD-of-Angel-Armies protects us.
Grace to you, and peace, Mike

I recently had the opportunity on my day off to do some welding. It wasn’t that big of a deal, other than by the nature of the project I had to do a lot of “tacking” rather than “continuous bead” welding. If you know anything about welding then you know it’s a lot easier and quicker to place a tack without the use of a welding helmet; you just simply close your eyes before you place the tack.
However, even though I shared this priceless information with you, I wouldn’t actually recommend welding without a helmet, especially if you’re going to do a lot of tacking. See, the danger is that the electric arc creates ultraviolet radiation at high levels that can result in severe burns to your face, many times without warning. Infrared radiation is also produced by the welding arc and may cause thermal burns from heating the skin surface and tissues immediately below the surface.
Why am I telling you this? Well, you guessed it; I got a good superficial welder burn on my face and all the skin on my forehead and around my eyes and nose began to peel. It looked terrible. I began to wonder if I should buy some of the Neutrogena Deep Clean Invigorating Foaming Scrub to exfoliate my face in order to remove the dead skin. I decided not to, and thank God, after a few days he gave me a new layer of skin to cover up my foolish mistake.
As I was looking in the mirror realizing that welding without a helmet wasn’t the smartest thing to do, I thought of the many times in my life that God has made a way to recover and renew. In fact one of my favorite verses is Isaiah 43:18-19a, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing”.
See, whether we’ve enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity or are recovering from a season of heartache and pain caused by our stupidity, I believe God is always ready to do something new in and through our lives. So you had a life changing moment back in 1999 when you experienced God in a powerful way, forget about the past, God wants to do a new thing in your life! Or, so you’ve made some bad choices recently that have been very costly; quit dwelling on the past, God wants to do something new in your life in 2013!
The question is, are you open to it. Are you ready to throw off everything that’s been holding you back and are you ready to run the race that’s marked out before you?  If so, let me encourage you to offer this prayer. I’ll go first.
Thank you Father for the many ways in the past you have helped me recover from bad decisions. Thank you for the times of peace and prosperity, but I’m ready to forget the past and now I’m eager to follow you into something new and exciting. Lord I give you permission to do a new thing in me in order to advance your kingdom. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Happy “God’s gonna do a new thing” Year,  Mike

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I like to do things differently because you never know when change might make this world a better place to live.  For example, Vicki’s 50th birthday was on December 9, and rather than doing something special for her, or getting her a birthday gift, I decided to buy gifts for my two sons and daughter-in-laws.  And then on top of that I bought my dad and his wife some gift certificates to their favorite eating places.  And then finally, because she is so special to me, I bought my little granddaughter a new Tonka road grader and pay loader. (Mitchell is trying to get her interested in concrete paving. J)  And then I invited all of them to come to our house so I could give them the gifts that I bought them in honor of Vicki’s birthday.  I was having so much fun watching everyone open the special gifts I bought for them.  Everyone was so excited to receive a gift on Vicki’s birthday; in fact everyone thanked Vicki for being born so that I had a reason to give them gifts.  And although Vicki seemed a little confused and disappointed for the lack of attention, I’m sure she was pleased that I bought everyone else gifts in honor of her birthday.
Ok, so I’m kidding, but do you ever wonder why we give gifts to other people when we celebrate Jesus birthday?  Wikianswers.com says we give gifts as a symbolic gesture of remembering the gifts that were given to Jesus by the Magi as well as in thanks to God for the gift of Jesus.  Or we give gifts because we wish to show appreciation for another person.
Well, if that’s true, then shouldn’t we still give Jesus a gift in appreciation for what he has done for us?  In fact have you considered what you’re going to give to Jesus for his birthday?
Here are some suggestions according to Matthew 25.  If you know of anyone who is thirsty, give them something to drink.  If you know of anyone who is hungry, give them something to eat.  If you know of someone who is homeless, give them a place to stay.  If you know of someone who needs cloths, give them some.  And if you know of someone who is sick or in prison, go and visit them.  For Jesus said, “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.”  One of the greatest gifts you can give Jesus is meeting the need of someone who can’t help themselves.
Many of you have asked if there is a way to help the people whose stories we have been watching on Sunday morning.  You can find out more information by going to www.live58.org.
As you celebrate Christmas with family and friends, let me suggest you set up two additional chairs, one chair representing Jesus, whose birthday we are really celebrating, and the second chair representing your desire to help “the least of these.”  Then maybe you have a discussion about the real purpose behind our gift giving.  May it be said of us that we are like the wise men who considered it an honor and privilege to give Jesus their finest gifts.
Have a blessed Christmas, Mike

One day this past week I was watching the news on HLN and they were reporting the story of a waiter in a Las Vegas restaurant who labeled the three women he was serving as “fat.” Yes, they showed the ticket, and sure enough, right on the bill on the line where it says table, the waiter typed in “Fat ladies.”
Well, of course when the ladies got their ticket and saw that they had been labeled as fat, they were furious. In fact the three women raised such a ruckus that the waiter was put on probation and was in jeopardy of losing his job and the owner made a public apology and promised this kind of malicious thing would never happen again.
As I was reflecting on the story, I wondered what the big deal was. See, I’ve learned through our Emerging Journey that God is actually looking for “fat” people to join him in his redeeming work—yes, God is looking for men and women who are faithful, available, and teachable. Being F.A.T. is simply our response to God’s shaping work in our lives. From our Emerging Journey we have learned that we must be:

1. Faithful-Are we growing in reliability, loyalty, and trustworthiness to God and others?  Whether we engage in small, unnoticed tasks, seemingly insignificant matters, are our attitudes and behavior characterized by trust and dependability. Evangelist Paul Rader once said, “God is looking for men and women on whom he can lay a burden without a thousand objections.”

2. Available—Are we increasingly open and present to God and others when needed?
When I think of being available, I think of Mary. Out of nowhere, an angel announces to Mary that she had been chosen by God to bring the Christ child in the world. And although Mary had some questions about her assignment, in the end Mary was ready and willing to be used by God saying, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”

3. Teachable—Are we open and willing to learn? In athletics we call it coach-ability; a player will either listen and learn from the coach or he/she will stubbornly insist on their way of doing it. When I think of some who learned to be teachable, it was the Apostle Peter. Whether wanting to call down fire at inappropriate times, arguing over who was the greatest, or making proud claims about his commitment,  Peter eventually learned how to walk in humility.

As far as ARC is concerned, I praise God for all the F.A.T. people I have come to appreciate. And may it be said of us that we are wholeheartedly growing in faithfulness, availability and teach-ability.
As far as the women in the news story, well, like it or not, by Webster’s definition, they were …  🙂

Grace and peace, Mik

Sometimes it seems if it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any at all. I just received word from a company that I do business with that a portion of their computer was criminally attacked and they believe because of the attack that some of my personal information was “compromised” (nice way of saying it was stolen). They went on to say, “Protecting the privacy and security of your information is a top priority for us, and we want to assure you that we have taken the steps that will prevent this type of attack from happening again.” Well, howdy-doody, if protecting my information was such a priority, why didn’t they take those preventative steps before their computer was attacked?
Oh, but here’s the good news; they’re “not aware that the hackers have misused my information yet”—oh yes, that makes me sleep good at night.J Plus they have taken other measures to help ensure that my identity won’t be stolen.
I figure, oh well, wouldn’t be the first time my identity was stolen. See, actually before I was even born, my identity was stolen. It says in John 10:10 that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Having been born with a sinful nature, I was stripped of my significance. I was easily susceptible to feelings of rejection. And rather than feeling secure, I struggled with insecurity and fear. Maybe you can identify.
The good news, of course, is that God has also taken measures so that I could recover my lost identity. It says in Luke 19:10 that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. It’s through faith in Christ that I can walk confidently in my new life in Christ and enjoy the inheritance that’s mine as a blood bought son of God.
So how about you, have you recovered your stolen identity? And do you live with confident assurance that Holy Spirit has sealed your identity? May it be said of us that the following verses define who we are!
I am accepted…
Jn. 1:12 I am God’s child.
Jn. 15:15 I am Christ’s friend.
Rom. 5:1 I am justified.
Eph. 1:5 I have been adopted as God’s child.
I am secure…
Rom. 8:1-2 I am free from condemnation.
Rom. 8:28 I am assured all works together for good.
Rom. 8:35-39 I cannot be separated from God’s love.
Col 3:3 I am hidden with Christ in God.
2 Tim. 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
I John 5:18 I am born of God; the evil one cannot touch me.
I am significant…
Jn. 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed and to bear fruit.
1 Cor. 3:16 I am God’s temple.
Eph. 2:10 I am God’s workmanship.
Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Accepted, secure, and significant, Mike

“That just doesn’t fit into my world right now.” That’s a phrase a friend of mine uses when she just can’t pack any more into her busy schedule. I sometimes feel the same way and I’m guessing you can identify with her as well. How is it that we fill our schedule so full that we just can’t pack one more thing into it? Or maybe a better question, why do we fill our schedule so full?
The Advent Season is an exciting time filled with parties and gatherings with family and friends as we celebrate the birth of our Savior and anticipate his second coming. What amazing love that God would send his Son to bring light into our darkness—to bring hope and healing to our broken hearts. I just love the way John 1:14 is translated in The Message, “The Word [Jesus] became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”
Three things I am praying for you this Advent Season: First, that you’re schedule doesn’t become so crowded you don’t have room for Jesus “in your world.” Second, that as you welcome Him into your world, you experience the life-changing hope, joy, peace and love that only He can bring. And third, that you welcome Him into your neighborhood and family gatherings so that they can meet Him too.
Below are the lyrics to one of my favorite Christmas songs. May God richly bless each one of you as you welcome Jesus to your world.
Welcome To Our World by Chris Rice
Tears are falling, hearts are breaking. How we need to hear from God.
You’ve been promised, we’ve been waiting. Welcome Holy Child, welcome Holy Child.
Hope that you don’t mind our manger. How I wish we would have known.
But long-awaited Holy Stranger, make Yourself at home. Please make Yourself at home.
Bring Your peace into our violence. Bid our hungry souls be filled.
Word now breaking Heaven’s silence. Welcome to our world, welcome to our world.
Fragile finger sent to heal us. Tender brow prepared for thorn.
Tiny heart whose blood will save us. Unto us is born, unto us is born.
So wrap our injured flesh around You. Breathe our air and walk our sod.
Rob our sin and make us holy. Perfect Son of God, perfect Son of God.
Welcome to our world.

With Love and Glad Tidings of Great Joy,
Mike and Vicki

I was recently visiting with one of our members who had just completed a stress test to see if there was anything wrong with his heart. If you’ve never had a stress test, then know that they strap you to this tread mill looking machine and then they turn it on with the intent of getting your heart to beat so fast it almost explodes. Well, maybe not that far, but I think when I had my stress test a few years ago they wanted to get my heart rate to 170 beats per minute. But because I was having trouble getting my heart rate to go that high, they kept putting more tension on the machine and they kept raising the incline. It wasn’t long before the muscles in my legs began to burn, I was gasping for air, my throat was parched, and my heart was pounding. I thought to myself, funny that they should try to kill me only to find out the condition of my heart. I began to wonder how they would explain to Vicki that they killed me when all they were doing was testing my heart. J
Hey, did you know that God is also in the business of doing stress tests in order to find out the condition of our hearts? Yes, Moses tells us about it in Deuteronomy 8. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
Did you notice the means and purpose of the test? “How the Lord led you all the way in the wilderness…causing you to hunger… to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
God’s stress tests most often involve leading us into desert experiences where everything is stripped away in order that we may acknowledge we are totally dependent on him. The expected outcome of God’s stress tests is that he would find humility and faith and gratitude in our hearts. The purpose of God’s discipline is to strip us of our pride in order to help us realize that he is our ultimate source of life.
As I was reflecting on the testimonies Wednesday night at our Thanksgiving service, I thought about how each person shared how, through their “stress test,” they were humbled and how they learned to depend on the spoken word of God. God doesn’t want us to find our identity in our jobs, in our own strength, in our children, or in our wealth. God took each one of them into a wilderness experience in order to test their hearts. And I praise God for how each one of them is passing the test.
I would encourage you to read the rest of Deuteronomy 8 (you’ll also find peace for your financial situation). And may it be said of us that we are a people who have passed the test; a people who, out of the overflow of a healthy heart, walk and talk with humility as we live a life of gratitude and obedience in response to God’s love for us.
Grace and peace to you, Mike

Next week Thursday we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. While our whole Christian experience is lived out of gratitude, it is so good to stop and reflect on the many reasons we can be thankful. If you’re like me, then you have learned that being thankful is a matter of perspective; either we can see life’s blessings as a gift from God, or we can perceive those blessings as something God owes us.
Below is one of my favorite stories that affirms the truth that being thankful is a matter of perspective. I’m not sure who sent me the story; the title at the top of the page is “The Rich Family in Our Church” by Eddie Ogan (From Wit and Wisdom- June 1998).

I’ll never forget Thanksgiving 1946, I was 14, my little sister Ocy,12, and my oldest sister Darlene, 16. We lived at home with mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died 5 years before, leaving mom with seven school kids to raise and no money. By 1946, my older sisters were married and my brothers had left home.
A month before Thanksgiving Day, the Pastor of our church announced that a special Thanksgiving Day offering would be taken for a poor family. He asked everyone to save up and then give sacrificially. When we got home we talked about what we could do. We decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a month. That would allow us to save $20 of our grocery money for the offering. Then we decided that if we kept the electric lights turned out as much as possible and didn’t listen to the radio, we’d save money on our electric bill.
Darlene found as many house and yard cleaning jobs as possible, and both of us babysat for everyone we could. For 15 cents we could buy enough cotton loops to make three pot holders to sell for $1. We eventually made $20 on pot holders. That month was one of the best of our lives. Every day we counted the money to see how much we saved. At night we would sit in the dark and talk how the poor family was going to enjoy the money the church would give to them. We had about 80 people in church, so we figured that whatever amount of money we had to give, the offering would be 20 times as much! After all, the Pastor reminded us every Sunday to save up for the special offering.
The day before Thanksgiving Day, Ocy and I walked to the grocery store and got the manager to give us three crisp $20 bills and one $10 bill for all our change. We ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene, we had never had so much money before. That night we were so excited we could hardly sleep; we had $70 for the sacrificial offering. We could hardly wait to get to church.
On Thanksgiving morning, rain was pouring. We didn’t own an umbrella, and the church was a mile from our home, but it didn’t seem to matter how wet we got. Darlene had cardboard in the bottom of her shoes to fill the holes. The cardboard came apart and her feet got wet, but we sat in church proudly. I heard some teenagers talking about the Smith girls having on some old dresses, but I looked at them in their new clothes and still felt so rich.
When the sacrificial offering was taken, we were sitting in the second row from the front. Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of us put in a $20 bill. As we walked home after church, we sang all the way. At lunch mom had a surprise for us, she had bought a dozen eggs to go with our fried potatoes.
Later that afternoon, the minister drove up in his car. Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came back with an envelope in her hand. We asked what it was, but she didn’t say a word. She opened the envelope and out dropped a bunch of money; there were three crisp $20 bills, one $10 bills and seventeen $1 bills. Mom put the money back in the envelope, we didn’t talk, and we just stared at the floor.
We had gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor white trash. We kids had such a happy life that we felt sorry for anyone who didn’t have a mom and dad for parents and a house full of brothers and sisters and other kids visiting constantly. We thought it was fun to share the few pieces of silverware we had and who would get the fork or spoon that night. We had two knives which we passed to whoever needed them. I knew we didn’t have a lot of things other people had, but I never thought we were poor, we were just thankful for what we did have. That day, I found out we were poor. The minister had brought us the money for the “poor family,” so we must be poor.
I didn’t like being poor, I looked at my dress and worn out shoes and felt so ashamed that I didn’t want to go back to church. Everyone there probably already knew we were poor! I thought about school, I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class; I began to wonder if the kids at school knew we were poor. I decided I could quit school since the law only required going through the eighth grade. We sat in silence for a long time; and then we went to bed.
All that next week, we girls went to school and came home, and no one talked much. Finally, on Saturday, Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money. What did the poor people do with the money? We didn’t know, we’d never known we were poor.
We didn’t want to go to church on Sunday, but mom said we had to. Although it was sunny, we didn’t talk on the way. Mom started to sing, but no one joined in and she only sang one verse. At church we had a missionary speaker who talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun-dried bricks. He said $100 would put a roof on a church.
After the missionary finished speaking, our Pastor said, “Can’t we all sacrifice and help these poor people?” We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week. Mom reached in her purse and pulled out the envelope. She passed it to Darlene. Darlene gave it to me and I gave it to Ocy. Ocy put it in the offering. When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was a little over $100. The missionary was excited. He hadn’t expected such a large offering from our small church. He said, “You must have some rich people in this church.”
Suddenly it struck us! We had given $87 of that “little over a $100”. We were the “rich” family in the church! The missionary said so. From that day on I’ve never been poor again. I’ve always remembered how rich I am because I have Jesus.
“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge your harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God… Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. II Corinthians 9:10-11; 15.
May God be praised as you and I reflect on the blessings he has so abundantly poured out on us, regardless of whether we perceive this past year as good or bad.
Happy Thanks-living,  Mike

I just finished reading your $20 Stories, and on behalf of the Deacon’s I want to thank you for partnering with them in investing in the kingdom. I praise God for your discernment of where to give your $20. I praise God for your creativity, and in some cases extra generosity in multiplying your gift. Again, as I said in the message prior to handing out the $20, I realize many of you have already developed a habit of lavish sharing—you are constantly looking for opportunities to bless someone. On the other hand, maybe for some of you, this was the first time you experienced the joy of God working though you to meet another person’s need. The point of the exercise, of course, was to model the power of koinonia.
As I reflected on the joy I was feeling knowing how our congregation was actively seeking to be a blessing to a watching world, I was reminded of the joy Jesus must have felt after modeling to his disciple’s how to love and serve others. A passage that has grabbed my heart this week is from John 13 where John records the story of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. And the question I have been meditating on is when Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you understand what I’ve done for you?”
See, I think what makes this question so powerful is, the more we understand what Jesus has done for us, the more eager we are going to be to serve others. The greater understanding you and I have of Jesus’ gift of forgiveness, the more willing we will be to forgive others.  The more we understand that everything we have is a gift from God, the more excited we will be to share it. The more we understand that following Jesus means laying down our lives for the good of others, the more attentive we will be of the need around us.
As you and I grow in our understanding of what Jesus has done for us, I hope we find great joy in lavishing God’s love on other people. And so in the midst of all the pain and brokenness around us, “may we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scoring its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And may we consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3).
Again, thank you so much for wide variety of ways I see you investing in the kingdom. As Jesus said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Seeking to understand, Mike