I stand amazed.

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”  Psalm 8:3-4

Have you ever looked really closely into the bathroom mirror in the morning after stumbling out of bed when your eyes are still a little puffy, your breath smells like Lazarus after a week in the tomb and your mind asks the question “how can God use me?”  After all that our Triune God has accomplished and continues to do on this earth, who am I to think that my words matter to Him?

Look into the faces of the six children in the attached photo.  They attend the Lutheran school in the border town of Ouanaminthe in north central Haiti.  If you think that your life matters or is even remotely important to our Triune God; what about their lives?  I imagine that most of these children live in homes with dirt floors, are wearing one of the two sets of clothes that they own, don’t have a doctor or a dentist, don’t have air conditioning or running water in their homes; how could our Triune God possibly use their lives?

For a dollar and fifty cents Trinity HOPE will feed these six children at their school; most likely their only meal for the day.  Your donation will be taking part in His plan for them, and also His plan for you; you amazing morning, sleepy, stinky mess.  Amazing how He has accomplished His work through shepherds, fisherman, virgins, carpenters, tax collectors, prostitutes, liars, thieves and children throughout the Bible and now, well now He is ready to use you.  While out for a walk on a hot day recently I listened to the song ‘I stand amazed’ by Squire Parsons Jr on my mp3.  When I consider how God is using me, and you and these kids in Ouanaminthe; well my friend, I too stand amazed. 

“When I examine that old rugged cross the mighty gulf did span; it reaches down to the brinks of hell, to heaven's golden stand.  I stand amazed, I stand amazed; of the love that has sought me, saved me and bought me.  I stand amazed.  When I imagine in glory that day, when all of heav'n stood still as God, incarnate, the Savior of man, died upon Calv'ry's hill.  I stand amazed, I stand amazed; of the love that has sought me, saved me and bought me.  I stand amazed.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Shout to the Lord!

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”  Psalm 95:1-2

A member of a different mission organization doing work in Haiti once ‘chided’ me for sharing with them photos of healthy and happy children living in Haiti; they were looking for more of the downcast children.  The verses from Psalm 95 explain the reason for the smile on the face of the child in the attached photo who attends the Lutheran school in Cap Haitian.  I have heard this child ‘Shout’ and ‘Rejoice’ when asked if she knew of the Triune God and if she loves Jesus; not just a monotone North American ‘yes’ but an enthusiastic “OUI”.

I am sure that there are times when you, me, and she, do not feel like praising God enthusiastically, and certainly not out loud.  It seems too easy to focus on our hurts, pressure from this world and the vodou priest down the street.  Doubt, fear, defeat and hunger become the enemies of joy and these four elements can bring a suffocating grip of depression.

Consider the joy that this young girl now has and what her face reflected while still living under the chains of the vodou priest before coming to know Jesus.  Think of how listless her eyes and smile were like before she began receiving daily nourishment from a Trinity HOPE donor like you.

We all must be reminded to raise our hands and our head and look again at whom our Triune God is and what He had done for us.  We must remind ourselves that He is our Savior, comfort, shelter, refuge and our strength.  No one can ever compare to our powerful and loving God.  Alexa played a song by Randy Travis recently and we did a duet to ‘Shout to the Lord’ and the words to that song, the face of that little girl and you came to mind.
“My Jesus, My Savior, Lord, there is none like You; all of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love.  Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing.  Power and majesty, praise to the King; mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name.  I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand, nothing compares to the promise I have in You.  My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength; let every breath, all that I am never cease to worship You.  Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing.  Power and majesty, praise to the King; mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name.  I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand, nothing compares to the promise I have in You.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Carry me home.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9

The children in the attached photo are attending this Lutheran school in Haiti and the vast majority of them, have never opened the Bible before coming to this school, heard the good news of Jesus Christ, understood the need to confess of their sinfulness or probably had not even thought that they were living outside of God’s commands as they only knew of what the vodou priest had told them and their ancestors.

Then a person like you came along, brought the good news of a loving and forgiving God and the promise of a meal where there was none at their home and the understanding of the difference between right and wrong.  The Holy Spirit worked through people like you to touch lives such as these.  These children now accept the Bible as their authority and have learned to confess their sins and how important that is and how important it is to know that our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ. 

Confession is so important for those of us who profess our faith in the Triune God.  We still stray at times as do the children attending Christian schools in Haiti, but we confess and are forgiven.  What will happen on the day when those still locked into the chains of the vodou priest meet our Lord Jesus on Judgment Day?  I listened to an evangelist recently telling about what will happen when we meet Jesus and have to account for our life and then turned the radio dial and listened to the song “Please carry me home” by Jessi Colter; must have been a God moment in my time.

“When the blood curdlin' scream of the fear in my veins pierces the darkness circlin' my brain.  When the pain in my soul is too great to explain I reach out for you, I'm callin' your name.  Lord, please have mercy on my troubled soul.  You keep me together when there's nothing to hold.  Lord, please have mercy, I've nowhere to go when the temptation is over, please carry me home.  Would the jewel of deception rest in the crown upon the heaven, the tempter who's hand keeps me down.  Living so carelessly, so easy to do.  But now that I'm paying, I running to you.  Lord, please have mercy on my troubled soul.  You keep me together when there's nothing to hold.  Oh, Lord, please have mercy, I've nowhere to go when the temptation is over, please carry me home.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

A new tent.

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,” 2 Corinthians 5:1-2

Have you ever yearned for your Heavenly home to come quickly?  Oh yea, how many times.  Have you ever been in a situation where another human was lying in a hospital bed or in a nursing home asking you why Jesus doesn’t come and take them now?  Yes, been there too.

The woman in the attached photo is lying on a wooden bench in the waiting room of the Lutheran medical clinic in Cap Haitian, waiting for her turn to see a doctor from an American medical team.  She has been there for at least an hour.  It is hot and humid and she is in pain and the board she is lying on is hard and she may be wondering “ki le Jezu Cris vini?”  When is Jesus coming?  Her child is being brought up in the Lutheran school at the same location and is receiving a daily meal; they will do fine; when will she meet her Savior?

Physical death for Christians holds the promise of a new, perfect body in heaven where we will live eternally with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am fairly certain that each of us has a hole in the heart that only God can fill; hope that it is not just me.  So many of us reach a certain age when we become homesick for heaven.

The words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians are pure wisdom.  Our Triune God created us to be homesick for heaven and we will never be at peace until we share eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The words from a song by the Hoppers titled ‘Yes I am’ are such a great reminder of how we each should feel about our Heavenly home. 

“I'm gonna leave some glorious morning; yes I am, yes I am.  I'm gonna cross the chilly Jordan, yes I am, yes I am.  Though the water is deep and the river is wide I'm gonna stand on the other side; I'm gonna live in the heaven someday, yes I am, yes I am.  I am waiting at the stations listening closely for the call; I have made my reservations through the one who paid it all.  Not by might, not by power but in Christ and Christ alone.
I'm leaving any moment praise the Lord I'm going home.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Great things are coming.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”  Isaiah 43:2

I’ve grown weary of politics and most sports and have turned off the television and have turned to the radio and reading and writing to fill that vacuum of time.  I was listening to Charles Stanley on the radio a few nights ago and he was talking about the mob yelling “crucify” and how Pilate had conducted business on that dark night during Holy Week.  Then I started to think about how good it would have been if after Jesus was resurrected how appropriate it would have been for him to appear to Pontius Pilate or some of the guards who has scourged Him and yelled “TA DA”; not in God’s plans.  TADA was the best story of 2021.

God’s plans are always far greater than what this world would have scripted; His plans turn this world upside down.  God the Father brought Him back on the road to Emmaus to walk with two whom He had walked with before and they didn’t realize ‘who’ they were with.  This happens to us as well; we never see the Savior in the person that is helping us or correcting us or bringing us a smile on a dark day.  We don’t imagine He is here.  We can’t imagine that HE will bring much needed BIG changes to Haiti.

There the disciples were, walking along, and Jesus was walking with them. It's a reminder to us that at all times, even when we don't realize it, Jesus is walking with us.  The child in the attached photo attends school in Merrotte and she is enjoying her noon Trinity HOPE meal.  She is experiencing a great thing and is walking with Jesus.  You may be the person who donated the quarter for her meal; you are walking with Jesus and your small gift has done a really great thing for her, and for Jesus.

We might as well be walking on that dirt road to Emmaus as we don’t often realize that we are walking with Jesus, we always are; He is there right beside us.  We may only think that he sits next to us in our Church pew, but wherever we go, here in North America or in Haiti; He is there walking with us.  The Bishops recorded a song titled ‘Great things’ and the lyrics bring a wonderful closure to this message and hopefully you will look a little harder the next time you are walking down that dirt road.

“Peter and John saw while walking along a lame man begging alms by the gate.  Straightway they told, “We’ve no silver or gold, but for you a great treasure awaits.”  Now such as I have give I thee in the name of the Lord, rise up and walk.”  And be not amazed that a crippled was raised it’s through Jesus we do great things.  Great things are in store for the child of the Lord when he walks with the King of kings and each word that you say when you kneel down to pray will be carried on the backs of angels wings.  When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things.  Now we have big dreams when we’re younger; it seems of a life where we do great things.  But life finds a way of taking our dreams away when our plans unravel at the seams.  And though you feel small in God’s eyes you’ll stand tall if your footsteps are faithful and true for the same power that raised Lazarus up from the grave is the same power Jesus gives to you.  Great things are in store for the child of the Lord when he walks with the King of kings and each word that you say when you kneel down to pray will be carried on the backs of angels wings.  When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things.  I won’t worry if I’m never famous, or for those worldly pleasures I’ve missed.  For Jesus gave me sweet peace like a river.  Tell me what could be greater than this?  Great things are in store for the child of the Lord when he walks with the King of kings and each word that you say when you kneel down to pray will be carried on the backs of angels wings.  When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things.  When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things.  Great things; great things.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

You are saved.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." John 10:27–28

Look deeply into this Haitian child’s eyes and know that she has confessed that Jesus died for her sins, rose from the dead and has prepared a mansion in Heaven for her.  You and I can and prayerfully have made that same statement of our faith.  But there are days when the challenges we face may cause us to doubt what Jesus did for each of us.  I have had them and she has too; it’s what satan does to us…lies.

Heavenly Father, loving Lord, the beauty of the natural world and all of its elements that never rebel, remind us that we're serving a living Savior. These things tell us that You are very much alive and in full control.  The life around us reminds us that Your Son has been raised from the dead.  The world around us testifies to Your working in the world as well as Your care for Your creation.  While all this should soothe our doubts about You, Your promises, and Your power; too often, it doesn't.

We come today on this last day of July, with a desire to be renewed within. We are totally dependent upon You to do that, to effect within us that which we cannot do within ourselves.  Enlighten those dark shadows and give truth where now ignorance, superstition and fear reside.  Replace our countless doubts with the assurance of our great salvation; increase our faith.  May it not be dependent upon the flimsy and fragile web of feelings we have, but upon the solid rock of God's truth.

And then having done that, give us a song that brightens our day and brings a ray or sunshine into our path.  Help us to live in Your truth that removes our burden of doubt.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Regrets?

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”  1 John 1:5-10

Back in the day, there is a song with the lyrics “Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again, too few to mention.  I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption” that was made famous by Frank Sinatra.  This sinful world that we live in has many different words for sin and most of them are used to mask the real meaning; almost making sin feel okay.  There are three definitions for the word ‘regret’; to feel sorry and sad about something previously done, used as a polite expression of sorrow when making an apology or to feel sadness about something or a sense of loss.

Satan delights when we use words to mask sinful acts and place the blame on others instead of ourselves or him.  Make no mistake, the child in the attached photo may appear to be innocent but she is a sinner.  If you can see a reflection in your monitor, that person too is sinful and unclean.  We have all had a lot of regrets, too many to mention and we continue to do things for which we are hopefully sorry each day.

The girl from Gonaives and you and I have a Savior whose death on the cross has redeemed us from our sinful activities.  Regrets?  I wish that I would have skipped dinner last night and gave the TWENTY dollars to help feed EIGHTY young missionaries in Haiti.  Thank you for joining me to help prepare more missionaries in Haiti to bring more generations of people still  trapped in the lies of the vodou priest to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Being in Christ.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 8:1

What do you suppose the Apostle meant when he talked about being in Jesus?  I grew up and lived in Nebraska for six decades and some might call me a ‘cornhusker’ and that is okay.  I also live in the United States and there were people in Haiti who referred to me as an ‘American’, a blan American when I lived there.  There were times when they called me that and it was not in a good light as they were upset because I might have been sharing some of my cultural ideas that conflicted with their Haitian culture or as I would learn from Dr. Doug Rutt later, conflict with their African culture.

The children in the attached photo attend the Lutheran school at Bergeaud which is located in the Les Cay District in the southwest part of Haiti.  These 37 lives, you and I are in Christ Jesus and consequently we are called ‘Christians’.  When we arise in the morning we awake as Christians.  When we go to bed at night, we pray the Lord Jesus our soul to keep.  Being referred to as a Christian is certainly more important than being called a ‘cornhusker’.  There are people either living in or from Oklahoma that will tell you that it is much better to be called basically anything than a ‘cornhusker’ but that is another story. 

Nothing in this world can be more important to us and to the children in Bergeaud than being in Jesus.  The hymn ‘Blessed Assurance’ which was written by Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) provides an excellent response of what our hearts should proclaim every morning upon rising and every night before retiring.

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!  O what a foretaste of glory divine!  Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.  This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.  Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight; angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love.  This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.  Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love.  This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

A great makeover.

“Therefore, we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”  2 Corinthians 4:16

While looking at a photograph recently of me holding my grandson, ten years ago, my ‘brilliant mind’ reminded me that I am getting old; wasting away, more wrinkles and unmistakable appearance of additional white hair day by day and muscles and joints that have to be soothed and coaxed while in the process of getting up in the morning.  If the direction of our culture is correct then I am in desperate need of a makeover.

We live in times where plastic surgery, botox injections, artificial joints and facial wax and creams are what will keep us the way this world insists we are to look and act.  We even have makeovers for our houses, interior and exterior, pets and automobiles.  Giving in to the ‘wisdom’ of this world of makeovers reminds me that you are never too old to learn something really stupid.

I am thinking that this world would certainly not hesitate to tell Trinity HOPE that the kitchen at the school at Bas de Sceaut is in need of a makeover.  Really, a makeover…look at the photo; do you agree?  Cooks should not be made to squat over their pots of rice and beans over an open fire; the dirt floor is another bad mark and look at those walls, they have to be bug magnets.  The children attending the Lutheran school there will tell that they don’t need a makeover; they just need Jesus and food.

For a disciple of Jesus Christ, the desire for a makeover has taken place on the cross.  Our life and the lives of His children in Bas de Sceaut have been transformed by the most important makeover on this planet; our thoughts, words and actions are His as we take the news of our risen Savior to the lost. 

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay

Words of wisdom.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” 2 Timothy 3:1

It seems like the sand in the hour glass that measures our time on earth is running like a raging river as we listen to the news accounts of what is taking place on this planet and in our country these days.

A friend sent me an E-mail recently with some historical facts and quotes from Thomas Jefferson and one of them was recorded in 1802 and he said “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.  If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” 

It seems like the sands of time are swiftly passing before our eyes and as we slide with it; the children in Poteau are waiting to hear more about Jesus and our Triune God is calling upon each of us to ‘go and make disciples’ with their lives.  I listened to song while driving home recently that was written by Ricky Skaggs, ‘Are you afraid to die’.  Thought about the words and while I am not afraid to die, I do fear for those children attending school in Poteau and continue to pray for them and the feeding program in their school.  As you read through the words, think about what is taking place in our country and Haiti and then consider the urgency of sharing the Gospel message to the ends of this earth.

“Are you a stranger to God; carried away with your pride?  Tell me sinner, do you ever stop and think; are you afraid to die?  Are you afraid, are you unsaved, are you afraid to die?  Call on Him while he is near; moments are swift passing by.  Will you seek Him while He still may be found?  Are you afraid to die?  Are you afraid, are you unsaved, are you afraid to die?  Are you too wicked to cry; would you to Gods’ bosom fly?  Soon He’s comin’ like a thief in the night.  Are you afraid to die?  Are you afraid, are you unsaved, are you afraid to die?”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you…Jay