A House vs A Home

Investment is the difference...  (I apologize for all of the graphic changes. I'm still trying to find what will look the best for the blog!)

As we continue to organize and shuffle boxes around in our new house, the comfort level of being there has really increased over the last few weeks.  I'm making a conscious effort to notice this because in the beginning, our house definitely did not feel like a home.  It's an old one, built originally in the late 1800's, with many creaks, noises, and other points of character that come with a 130 year old property.  Since I've been observing our transition, it has really had me thinking on what makes a home.  I'm finding the more we invest our time in the place, it becomes innately ours.  If you've ever moved to a new location, you know the feeling of uneasiness that comes with change and the slow comfort that comes as familiarity creeps in.  We're still getting to know the place and our roots have yet to really dig in to the soil of our new location.  I'm finding what makes a house, and the shell that it is, in to a home and the warmth that it brings.  For me and maybe for you, it's the people, the objects imbued with memories, and the love shared throughout.  

Our modern view of gathering together in the Lord's name for church has had me thinking lately on where my heart is in relation to the comparison of a house vs. a home. Sometimes I find that church has become more of a scheduled activity rather than an anticipated opportunity to worship and gather with like-minded people.  Like many, I consider myself a member of my church, but do I consider myself a part of it?  Church attendance is more than a chance to check off a good deed for the week and to many has become more a religious activity than the fulfillment of it’s original design.  Outside of teaching and hearing the Word of God, coming together in the Lord’s name in church is to be a refuge for the weary believer who has endured the world and needs to gather with other Christ followers to be encouraged to continue on and to find that we are not alone.  We are to have hearts that are knit together closer than even our own families because the blood line we share supersedes our earthly ones since Christ's blood is eternal.  I like to tell my friends that if they are in Christ, then they can’t escape me because I am in Christ and I will literally know them in a million years.  Imagine that!  Yet, we do not typically see our own brothers and sisters in Christ with such love, let alone the lost of this world. Christ prayed that we would have this kind of heart for each other in John 17:20,21.

John 17:20,21

I do not pray for these alone,
but also for those who will believe 
in me through their word; 
that they all may be one, 
as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; 
that they also may be one in Us, 
that the world may believe that You sent Me.

I recommend reading the whole chapter.  It's beautiful.  Christ prayed that just as He and God were one, we would be also so that the world would believe in Him and see Him in us.  Purposeful love together is what draws more people in to a relationship with the Lord.  This is the love that goes beyond ourselves and serves others so that they may feel loved and not just us being enabled to feel like good people.  I realize this calls for so much humility and obedience.  However, the house of God won't feel like a home until we've invested in each other in such a way that we are exposed and even open ourselves up to being hurt in the name of loving for His sake.  Isn't the Lord worthy that we may embody Christ's prayer?  The heart of the church should be a commitment to each other in the name of Christ and not merely a commitment to an organization at large.  Otherwise, what's the difference between a church and other community social groups like the Shriners or the Lions club?  

Prayer:  Lord, please open my eyes to the true calling of your Church.  Help me to see past my own selfish reasons for church attendance and look to minister to the hurting people I'm surrounded by so that they may see you in me and I may have the honor of serving you.

All flesh is grass...

Our front pasture...

                               Also see below for a homemade cough medicine recipe!

Isaiah 40:6-8

6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

From a farming standpoint, grass is life. A famous contemporary farmer, Joel Salatin, who has been made famous by such recent documentaries as Fresh and Food, Inc proudly states that he isn't a cattle man despite having hundreds of cattle, or a poultry farmer despite having thousands; he is a grass farmer. Grass to most is the green jewel of manicured lawns and the bane of gardens everywhere, but it is so very necessary since it is the natural food of just about every piece of meat that we consume. It is a staple of survival, yet more often than not I used to view it more as a chore than a blessing.  So, if we are what we eat then truly all flesh is grass, I suppose.

In Isaiah 40, our mortality and fragility in this life are compared to the grasses of the fields. As I look out over my field, I see that the grass has turned golden, brittle, and yet still beautiful. In August before the hay was cut, I remember seeing some of those stalks at eight foot tall! How the mighty have fallen! The Lord provides such an important reminder to us in this scripture of our limited time in this place and how we must take seriously His calling of obedience to be a witness. Notice also how the flower of the grass fades because the glory to be had in this life apart from the Lord is for naught. It truly is a fleeting gesture of short lasting importance. Does this mean that all is for nothing and that we shouldn't waste our time? If we are merely grass, should we seek to rise above the ground? Absolutely! I would say to you what I would always say to my class of young men in the youth at church, “We are involved in the only calling that can actually affect other people's eternities.” It is so extremely encouraging that the Lord would allow us to seed and water His fields. It is the highest honor bestowed upon a person that we may not only serve the true and living God but also reveal Him to hearts darkened by the sin in this world. So, my challenge to you is not to see our lives as grass that will wither as a negative thing at all, but a call to leave a grass stain on this Earth that will exalt and glorify the King of Heaven and Earth!

Prayer: Father, please help me to wrap my heart around knowing that what I do with the limited time I have here is of eternal importance to myself and other lost souls out there. Please, Lord, help me to see that the glory that I claim for myself will dissipate in the wind like a dandelion's puff, but if I look to you and have your kingdom in mind, my actions can echo in eternity. Thank you for showing me who I am in you and please give me the heart to be in your Word and even more so live it.

Also, recently a cough has been going around and I have found a remedy for alleviating it.  If you are interested, please see the recipe below.  It helps stop the coughing and breaks up the yucky stuff in your throat.  It’s especially helpful before going to sleep so you will not cough your head off. See below:

Ingredients:
Apple Cider Vinegar ½ cup
Lemon Juice ½ cup
6 tablespoons Honey
Teaspoon Cayenne
Teaspoon Ground Ginger

Simmer ½ cup apple cider vinegar and a ½ cup lemon juice then mix in the rest of the ingredients and stir well.  We store ours in a pint mason jar and it should keep on your shelf for a long time.  It has quite a kick when taken by the spoonful so I mix mine with a glass of water.  It actually tastes great in hot tea or hot apple juice/cider!  I would recommend the same recipe minus the cayenne for a cold preventative tonic too.

Iron Sharpens Iron

As Iron Sharpens Iron...

I've found over time that I'm not alone in this being my favorite verse.  I've taught on this scripture many times and it, like many other lessons, is one to be reminded of from time to time in order to take stock of where we are and what influences are affecting us.  I've always had this mentality  that I should get a wiser and more experienced person's perspective when making decisions concerning things like building something, taking on a new responsibility, making financial decisions, and especially to my view of scripture.  I couldn't tell you if it's humility that has caused me to err on the side of safety or a lack of confidence, but I figure it's somewhere in between.  I know that I've been saved from making costly mistakes by inquiring of someone what their experience has taught them and I continue to do so because of that.

Let's get on to the scripture... As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

This scripture is, like most proverbs, pretty straight forward, yet, is so revealing if we can take a moment to dwell on it.  At times while meditating on a recent lesson or some scripture, I will ask myself, "Why do you think this way about this scripture or what is affecting your mood towards this person or situation?"  More often than not, the most affecting things in my life are the people I surround myself with.  Just as iron can sharpen iron, it can also dull it if not applied correctly.  For example, while in the military I had friends that were very dear to me but because they were not Godly, despite their best intentions, I was dulled in my Christian walk in some ways by associating with them so much.  This isn't to say that I should have avoided them, but it does mean that I should have sought more Godly influences to encourage and exhort me unto being more Christ-like.  In the same vein, just as people influence our decisions in life, they also influence our interpretations of the Word. I'm not speaking against sharing with friends, on the contrary, I highly encourage it, but always with the consideration that what they say may not be exactly correct.  In my life, I have some very strong influences concerning the interpretation of the Word of God but should I blindly accept everything that I hear?  I don't think so.  The bible says that everyone should work out there own salvation with fear and trembling.  Philippians 2:12 This tells me that my salvation is my very own and I have to take responsibility for it.  It is not dependent on my wife, children, whether my grandfather was a preacher, etc... it is dependent upon my falling in love with the Lord and being obedient to Him alone. This shouldn't detract from my previous statement concerning fellowship with respected brothers and sisters in Christ.  By all means, seek them out and be the blessing and encouragement to them that you would desire for them to be to you.  Oftentimes, you will find that when you lift them up, it pulls you up along with them.  I would like to strive to always be an instrument for sharpening my brothers and sisters that we all may grow closer to the Lord and desire Him all the more.

Prayer: Lord, please help me to always be a benefit to my brothers and sisters in you.  Please let me not make them stumble but always lift them up.  In the same way, I pray that you will give me the wisdom and discernment I need to make wise decisions about with whom I associate and which counsel I take.

Why We Want to Farm

We subscribe to this magazine and I'm a veteran, so we considered it quite providential that we received this specific copy while closing on the farm.  

                                                      Image courtesy of Organic Gardening

                                                       

While there are a number of reasons Bekah and I want to farm.  I’m confident we agree on a few. Hopefully…

A few reasons we desire to slow down a bit and live a more agrarian style life are that we enjoy eating food fresh from the garden, milk fresh from the cow, and meat freshly slaughtered.  While it may seem to be quite a raw viewpoint of food, not everyone understands that every bite you eat came about because something had to die.  It could be as simple as a leaf of spinach picked by hand to a thousand pound yearling bull that although now looks like a tasty burger at a Five Guys restaurant, was walking around not too long ago.  You see, we’ve become so far removed from the emotional connection once held between the land and the landowner that to think of a chicken nugget as ever being anything but that is quite foreign to children and to many adults.  In fact, one of the most visceral experiences of my life was when I helped a friend slaughter a cow about ten years ago.  There was a moment when the animal in front of me was alive and then another moment when it wasn’t.  There’s an impact of consequence provided when you are standing in the presence of something like that.  If you hunt, then you are probably very familiar with the feeling, but imagine you raised that deer from birth and then harvested it.  It brings life to the forefront of your thoughts while you are in that moment.  That is what I want for my family and me.  I don’t want to be so distanced from the realities of sacrifice that we take for granted the lives that must end so that we may continue our own. 

I’m not advocating that everyone should go out and buy a farm.  Honestly, I can’t even claim to be a farmer… at this moment, we are only remodeling what once was a farm.  The farming has yet to really begin and the test of our resolve to do so is yet to come.  I do know that what I have experienced has left an indelible impression on me.  It’s for that reason that I always tell people that they are welcome to visit anytime.  I call it our open barn door policy. This is especially true if we are working...  I want what has inspired my heart to do the same in others.  I have a vision for the farm but that vision has many untraveled roads for us within it.  Bekah consistently is helping me to be reasonable because I have such plans to do this or that and we haven’t even moved in yet!  One example that makes me laugh and I will mention later is that I want to grow our own wheat.  Not just so we can make our own low gluten bread but so that we can live out the lesson of separating the wheat from the chaff.  Well, before we've even moved in to the house, I've already invited the Sunday school class we teach over to help separate the wheat from the chaff next year.  We don't own a single wheat seed...  I just get so excited and love to involve others in what gets me going!

This brings me to probably the most important reason I want to farm and that is I want to experience the Lord through His creation.  I've learned so much from just my simple experience with helping keep bees at my grandfathers and how they will literally work themselves to death so the hive can survive.  I truly believe there are some great biblical principles there and know from experience they can be found all over the place in creation if we can just slow down to observe them.  Growing wheat to see things like separating the chaff while winnowing, keeping sheep and observing the innocence of a lamb, and planting on different types of soil to see how it grows will enable us to better understand the parables Christ so often used in His teachings.  This is why we want to farm.  We desire to understand and hopefully draw closer to the Lord and to be a blessing to our community.  We will have an open barn door policy because we want you to be involved with us so that we can, together, exhort one another unto Him, fellowship unto His glory, and ultimately grow closer to the Lord.

As always, if you have any comments you want to leave I encourage you to do so at the bottom.

Prayer: Lord, please help us to be better stewards of your creation.  Help us to slow down and consider it and the beautiful revelations you provide every day.  I pray that we will, through this farm, be a blessing to our friends, family, and community that in some way they will see you and draw closer to your heart and come to the knowledge of your salvation and redemption.

The Pigs Got Out...

The Pigs Got Out...

Our escapees...

     Last Friday, I had recently left the farm and hadn't been gone 5 minutes before Bekah called me with a frantic voice exclaiming, “The pigs are out!”.  So, I quickly turned around and sped back to the farm, all the while thinking how difficult it was going to be to herd three “normally” cooped up pigs back in to their stall.  Well, after driving around to the barn I could see her standing in the back yard surrounded by three white piggies.  I have to admit that I enjoyed the sight.  They seemed to be generally disinterested in their new found freedom and were just walking around like nothing ever changed and their whole world was not much different.  Just a few minutes before, I had called for reinforcements because I knew from experience how wriggly and strong little pigs could be; however,  these guys had doubled in weight since I last handled them and would be impossible for me to really wrangle with just my strength.  So, we ushered them to a muddy spot by the barn and there they wallowed and dug with their little noses looking for bits and snacks in the dirt.  After only a few minutes, help arrived and we all fanned out swaying our hands, wooing them toward the barn and finally back into their stall.  I’m sure we looked positively sane during the wooing process.  We searched around for an explanation of how they escaped and found they had pushed a hole through a poorly patched section of wall and it was through there they had designed their escape.  Although inconvenient, I had to admit that this was part of the adventure I had signed up for when we bought the farm.

     This situation, somehow remind me of a song I had heard recently by Big Daddy Weave called ‘Redeemed’.  You know, sometimes in our lives the pigs get out and wallow in the mud.  In doing that, these 'three little pigs' can inadvertently reveal a weakness and show the shame or guilt that we  have tried to keep pinned up in our barns.    I have yet to meet someone that does not wrestle with some hidden sin or struggle in their lives behind closed ‘barn’ doors.  You see, I did not even know where my weakness was before the pigs got out.  Maybe you can identify.  The trouble with me and I can only assume many other Christians is, we all want to assume or even just pretend that the barn structures of our lives are completely sound.  That’s not the point of Christianity.  Christ did not die so that we could accept Him and then try to appear perfect.  He died so we could display our imperfection and shame and despite that WE CAN STILL CLAIM WE ARE REDEEMED!  This displaying of His love for us will draw other broken people to Him as well.  In essence, we can be the most freely broken and imperfect people in the world and in that even more so be glorifying Him!  All too often I’m discouraged by the cracking and breaking apart of the mask of having it together  that I try to hide behind instead of glorying in the fact that the revelation of my imperfection should reaffirm that He can be glorified in me spite my imperfection.  So, the word is out, I suppose.  My barn is imperfect and I needed outside help from a neighbor to corral the pigs back in and deal with the issue.  The question I would pose to you is, would you be willing to do the same for someone else and, even more importantly, would you be willing to expose your imperfections so that others may see that in spite of them Christ is still redeeming you?  

Prayer: Lord, please reveal to me my own heart.  Please help me to understand that my redemption and position in you is not based on my perception of my perfection.  It is based on who I have placed my faith in, which I pray is you.  Please help me to learn how to fall evermore in love with you that this world may see your great glory and grace through my life.

As always, please leave any comments in the comments section below.  If you have any ideas or suggestions for topics or anything else, please share them.  

A Season for Change, in Me..

As we enter into the changing of the season, I can sense it is a season of need. And as the coldness of winter creeps into my view, I am reminded of the frailty of life by the fading colors once so vibrant all around me. This is typically a time of withdrawal from some of the busyness of life as the cooler temperatures usher us indoors. The leaves begin to fall away from what once were luscious, green landscapes, the flowers fade, and the birds don’t sing quite as merrily as they do in the spring. Around this time, I can tend to start to move indoors and embody a form of hibernation of my own, a cocoon of sorts away from the world. In doing this, I cut myself off from the fellowship of others. In consideration of the scriptures, though, let me not retreat for the coming months but be a source of warmth to those around me. There are great needs in the community around me and a great many worthy causes that could use not only our money but our energies. Let me be challenged to carry the light of Christ to those that are homeless, fatherless, and alone. Sometimes, I step outside on a chilly night and take in the coldness of it. I imagine if I could not escape back into the warmth of my home. This is how the homeless live around us. They have no warmth to escape to and it breaks my heart. Also, I try to imagine being alone for the holidays and what a blessing it would be to feel included. These are the fatherless and the alone. In a similar vein, let me also bring that attitude of consideration to work that is such a blessing to those around me in order to foster that sense of community we all enjoy so much. Considering all this, it seems like a tall order to just give and give in life, but I’m sure you know from experience that we’ve never looked back and regretted giving of ourrselves out of love for those without.  I’ve regretted not giving more of myself, but never giving less.

James 2 explains so well how faith without works is dead. Please read it to better understand this devotional. Truly faith without works is as dead as the winter appears, but just as a small candle can light up a dark room, the love of Christ radiating through you can provide more warmth to a cold soul than a thousand fires and more hope to a lonely heart than the dearest friend. Christ is at the very center of our faith and I hope to display Him that he may be honored and glorified above all. Let me remember this during this difficult season. My time and presence is much more valuable than my donations and gifts. A dollar bill doesn't carry nearly the same weight as my presence with someone when their heart is broken or they have a need.  Why, I can't think of anytime in the Bible when Christ did not minister to someone in person when he ministered.

Please, if you have any suggestions as to how to minister to people during this season, share them in the comments section below! Maybe you will inspire someone or me!

Prayer: Lord, please open my eyes to the needs of this world. Help me to learn that to truly worship you is to love others more than myself that they may see you in me. I pray that whatever I do, I remember that you alone are to be glorified. Thank you Father for putting this heart within me, now please help me to use it for the furtherance of your kingdom.

The Trouble of Remodeling

The Trouble of Remodeling

At the end of August this year we purchased a farm in South Clinton, Tennessee.  I really have to admit that it has been quite a trial from the beginning.  Although we have desired a farm for quite some time, we have yet to finish the remodeling and feel that we are in a constant position of limbo since we can not seem to be able to complete projects.  I believe the phrase one thing leads to another fully explains our circumstances. For example, I've spent two days putting up half a room of sheet rock this week alone.  This is a perfect example of this project.  While we haven't been short for help and have proved many friends and family members faithful, we still have yet to complete our home...

I really feel this journey has some spiritual parallels that speak to more than just the difficulty of the journey. Since I have been enrolled in a masters program since we purchased the home, I have been inundated with the 'busy'ness of life.  My typical day will send me to work until 5:00pm, work on the house until about 8:30pm, and then I will spend about an hour with Bekah and Lilly, then homework until bedtime.  I don't explain this in order to complain because believe me I know that I am blessed indeed. I just have to say it to get it out.

Bekah and I had recently been expressing our frustrations with one another and we found that our struggles and stresses reminded us of what the Israelites must have gone through on their journey through the wilderness.  For forty years their lives were in limbo between belonging and not belonging to a place. Their hearts must have been constantly churning and seeking to have a place of their own. I wonder if the Lord was delaying their arrival to their 'promised land' until their hearts arrived at the place where he wanted them to reside.  You see, often I see the struggles of this life as a physical obstacle to be overcome, pushing and pulling, removing and building up, and trying to fix or create things to accomplish what I see as His will.  It reminds me of Exodus 33:3 when the Lord told Moses, "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people."  You see, the people weren't seeking the Lord and He was tired of it.  That's where our story parallels.  The farmhouse has been my Canaan, or promised land, yet, achieving deliverance in to this land has been my goal and not going with the Lord specifically.  Canaan should not be my goal in life, but having a heart that desires only the Lord should be.  While Canaan was promised to the Children of Israel, it was also a test of sorts because it showed the Lord that they desired His blessings more than Him.  My thinking is the same could be said about a spoiled child.  When it comes to the Lord, I don't want to be a spoiled child.

Outside of our circumstances, whether we are delivered to Canaan, or out of sickness, in to prosperity, away from heartache, or in to love with someone, let us first desire the Lord and His will be done in our lives no matter what happens to us.  When we seek Him first and love Him above all, we find that those other needs were never important in comparison.

Please feel free to leave any comments below if you can identify with this! You may inspire others!

Prayer: Lord, please have mercy on me and teach my heart how to fall in love with yours that I can love this world in such a way that they see you and you alone are glorified.  Help me Lord to understand that I can not and will not arrive anywhere worth being until my heart has aligned with yours.