Revenge?

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  Romans 12:17-20

Revenge!  Last week, I read in The Guardian that the National Human Rights Defense Network found that as many as 148 people had been killed during intense battles between the 400 Mawozo and Chen Mechan; two feared rival gangs since the middle of April.  On one night alone, gang members raped women and girls and burned people alive and in one neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, the gangs killed 47 people before burning 17 of the bodies and burying the rest in mass graves.  Gangs taking revenge when another gang brazenly entered their ‘territory’.

Have you been wronged by anyone recently or have you been on the other end of a bad situation where you are tempted to enact revenge?  Our Savior instructs us to just suck it up and realize that it is satan causing the problems.  Don’t seek revenge, be nice to them.  It was our Savior who turned the other cheek.

While reading this scripture from Romans 12 the song “love lifted me” came on the computer radio.  If you didn’t know by now, I am a Southern Gospel junkie; when you get to Heaven and can’t find me, head over to the Southern Gospel arena and I will either be singing or sitting and tapping my toe.  The words from this song give a nice response to the Apostle Paul’s words.

“I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more, but the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry, from the waters lifted me, now safe am I.  Love lifted me! Love lifted me!  When nothing else could help love lifted me!  All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I'll cling in His blessed presence live, ever His praises sing, love so mighty and so true, merits my soul's best songs, faithful, loving service too, to Him belongs.   Love lifted me! Love lifted me!  When nothing else could help love lifted me!  Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves, He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves.  He's the Master of the sea, billows His will obey, He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.  Love lifted me! Love lifted me!  When nothing else could help love lifted me!”

Sometimes it is hard to think about being lifted by love, His love, but it happens every day throughout our lives.  It is happening now in the life of the child attending Mammou Lutheran School in Port-au-Prince in the attached photo.  Consider the last verse that Paul wrote above ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’ and know that while she is a sinner, she is not evil.  Satan and the vodou priest don’t want her in school and don’t want you to even consider helping to educate or feed this one small child; that is evil and this world has plenty of that kind of thinking to go around. 

Thank you for resisting satan and this world’s directions.  Thank for you supporting this child, this school and the other 52,000 children attending Schools in Haiti with a Trinity HOPE feeding program.

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

Bless those who...

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.”  Romans 12:14-16

Much of this text that was written by the Apostle Paul goes against the grain of our fallen world today; bless those who persecute me and bless, don’t curse?  Have you watched the television, read the newspaper, been on social media or sat in a public gathering recently?  Have you noticed the leaders in our State and National offices? 

As Christians living in North America, we have our struggles and these precious children attending the Lutheran school in Mammou also have their struggles with simple things like having to listen to the vodou priest down the street sacrificing animals, late at night.  There is a song ‘He is Here’ by a Gospel group called the Talley’s that reminds me that God is in fact here in our neighborhood and also in Haiti and throughout out our fallen world and is calling out to each of us; every day.

“He is here! Hallelujah! He is here! Amen!  He is here, holy, holy, I will bless His name again; He is here, listen closely; Hear Him calling out your name; He is here, you can touch Him; You will never be the same!  I sense an awesome moving of the Holy Spirit; I see His countenance resting on your face; I know that there are angels hov'ring all around us, for the presence of the Lord is in this place.  He is here! Hallelujah! He is here! Amen!  He is here, holy, holy, I will bless His name again; He is here, listen closely; Hear Him calling out your name; He is here, you can touch Him; You will never be the same!  I searched for peace among the shadows dark and lonely, gave up on finding that strong and lasting love; I tasted all the things that sin could think to offer me, but today, I feast on manna from above.  He is here! Hallelujah! He is here! Amen!  He is here, holy, holy, I will bless His name again; He is here, listen closely; Hear Him calling out your name; He is here, you can touch Him; You will never be the same!”

Rejoice with the children at Mammou, knowing that our Triune God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to rescue us from the lawlessness and sinfulness of this world.  He is here, with us every day and the ‘high and mighty’ of this world cannot separate us from our Savior.

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 called?

“Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”  Romans 12:9-13

There are people in this fallen world that always seem to know where they need to go and what they need to do and know only one speed; full speed ahead.  They epitomize the saying “lead, follow or get the hell out of the way” that was credited to Gen George Patton.  And on the other end of the spectrum are those who cannot seem to make a decision along their long  journey, reluctant to go, unsure that their spiritual gifts are sufficient for the task presented to them.

The attached photo was taken at Mixte Lutheran School in Port-au-Prince.  These children are eating their noon meal; for many of them, their only meal of the day.  A Trinity HOPE donor felt the nudge to feed these kids and did just that.  In the early 1990’s my church in Lincoln, NE was introduced to a new song written by Daniel L. Schutte in 1991; if you are sitting on the fence and not sure of where God needs you, please read these words and pray about your future.

“I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.  All who dwell in dark and sin, My hand will save.  Here am I, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night.  I will go, Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.  I, who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.  Who will bear my light to them?  Whom shall I send?  Here am I, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night.  I will go, Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.  I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain.  I have wept for love of them.  They turn away.  Here am I, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night.  I will go, Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.  I will break their hearts of stone, Give them hearts for love alone.  I will speak my words to them.  Whom shall I send?  Here am I, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night.  I will go, Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.  I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will send the poor and lame.  I will set a feast for them.  My hand will save. Here am I, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night.  I will go, Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.  Finest bread I will provide, 'til their hearts be satisfied.  I will give my life to them.  Whom shall I send?  Here am I, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night.  I will go, Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.”

What is your reply when our Lord calls you in the night?  There are twenty hungry children sitting around each of the two tables in the photo.  Is the Lord calling you to help?  You don’t gather wood, haul water and cook, you don’t have to get a passport and a bunch of shots and travel to Haiti and you don’t have to buy a bag of rice and beans and put them into a cardboard box and mail it to Haiti. 

Five dollars will cover the meal of every child in the attached photo for this particular day; two dollars and fifty cents for each table.  It is almost too easy to say “Here am I, Lord, it is I Lord, send me!” 

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

Lord Jesus, use me.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.  For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”  Romans 12:3-8

These words of the Apostle Paul should be on my bathroom mirror, my refrigerator door, on the visor in my truck and in my heart to daily remind me that God is intending to use me to do His work, His way and in His time; and not revel in the meaningless paper accomplishments this world gives to me.  As Rick Warren writes; “God has a plan for you.”

Is your gift listed in the above verses?  It must be there in those choices that Paul provides.  If you think that your mind, hands, eyes and skills you have been given cannot accomplish any of those choices consider the attached photo.  This is the bathroom that ‘somebody’ constructed at Petite Paridis Lutheran school in Port-au-Prince.  It may not look like much when compared to the standards of North America but it is a blessing to the children attending school there as they don’t have to go outside and squat in a nearby ditch.

For the children attending school here, you are the blessing, your blessings bring them food to eat each day as they are learning about a gracious God who is preparing each of them to go and do His work with what they have been given at birth.  Thank you for answering His call and using the blessings He has entrusted with 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

A living sacrifice.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Romans 12:1-2

Mother’s Day was celebrated a few days ago and these verses from Romans 12 had been part of my scripture readings last week and the lesson from the Apostle Paul just seemed to be appropriately matched for today.  On Sunday, Pastor Wirsing reminded us that we may not all be a mother, but all of us have or had a mother.  Whether you are a mother or a father or childless, Paul encourages each of us to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to our Triune God.  This fallen world gets into the way too often as we are told we are supposed to be happy, supposed to get our way and we absolutely have a ‘right’ to be given more than we have.

The hymn “The day of resurrection” was sung recently and I found it online today.  It was written by Henry T. Smart 1813-1879, and its words tell of what the blessings await at the end of our journey.

“The day of resurrection!  Earth, tell it out abroad; the passover of gladness, the passover of God.  From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky, our Christ hath brought us over, with hymns of victory.  Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright the Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light; and listening to his accents, may hear, so calm and plain, his own "All hail!" and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.  Now let the heavens be joyful!  Let earth the song begin!  Let the round world keep triumph, and all that is therein!  Let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend, for Christ the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end.“

The attached photo is of the cook at Mixte Lutheran School in Port-au-Prince.  She had been laboring over a pot full of rice and beans on this particular morning in a hot kitchen, bringing food to children who have most likely had none this day.  Her humble service is God pleasing.  No matter what your task on this day, healing, cooking, cleaning, plumbing, building, checking computations or teaching young children; may your work be God pleasing and may your life serve Him and not the desires of this fallen world.

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

Walking closely with Jesus.

“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.” Psalm 139:1

Imagine for a moment what has transpired throughout your life since your conception.  When and where you were baptized; where you went to school, what your favorite subjects were and how closely you walked with Christ during those years; if you were like me your path was full of zigzags that took you off course for a period of time.  There were many lessons learned in our early years, how to crawl, walk, eat, talk, read and trust.

Now take a good look at this child who attends the Lutheran school in Ouanaminthe.  Imagine what has taken place in her life since conception.  Her steps have been no doubt been different than yours but still very similar; we all have strayed now and then away as we are tempted by this sinful world.  Each of us in not an enigma to God; He has known each of us since before our conception and consequently, He does not reject or despise us.  Rather, He begins now to re-create each of us in His own lovely likeness; we are His children.

He placed you here to read this devotion and think about sending a quarter to Trinity HOPE to feed this child for one day as she learns about a loving Triune God who cares deeply for her.  At this point in your journey, He has presented you with an opportunity to feed this child, or a couple of children or perhaps their school.  It is amazing to see how the hand of God has touched our lives and we in turn will accomplish His work by touching the life of this child in Haiti.  I close today with the words to the hymn ‘Take my life and let it be’ which was written by Frances Havergal in 1874.

“Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee; take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.  Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love; take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.  Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King; take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee.  Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold; take my intellect and use every power as Thou shalt choose.  Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine; take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne.  Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure-store; take myself, and I will be ever, only, all, for Thee.”

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

Count your blessings.

“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.  We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Decades ago, the men’s chorus at Christ Lutheran in Lincoln, NE sang a song titled “Count your blessings” and the words were written by Johnson Oatman Jr. in 1897 and the version we sang was arranged by Rev. Harold T. Stelzer, our director.  The words are as follows; “When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.  Are you ever burdened with a load of care?  Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?  Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, and you will keep singing as the days go by.  Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God hath done!”

Have you ever spent some time at the end of the day, sitting down and writing out the blessings you’ve been given during your waking hours?  The two women in the attached photo are the cooks at the Lutheran school called Mammou in Port-au-Prince.  They have it pretty good; they work in an airy kitchen, have a place to sit when they need to get off their feet, casual dress code and believe me, everybody at Mammou loves these two women when it is lunch time.  They work for minimum wages by our North American standards, no health insurance and no paid holiday or sick leave; they are so thankful to have a job.

I love to share photos such as this with the cooks in North America; it really makes you appreciate what you have and think about what life is like in different parts of this world.  Count your blessings!  Count your MANY blessings.  When we choose to count our blessings, we are telling God and the world that we value them. 

The number one blessing that we have is Jesus Christ.  When we count our blessings, it should begin with Him; however, it cannot stop there.  By counting every single blessing that God has placed in our life, we discover evidence of the Hand of God in more places than we originally could see.

The cooks at Mammou have a job and their lunch is provided; they are blessed.  The children are blessed at Mammou as they have Jesus and food.  You are blessed as God has provided you with an opportunity to share His blessings through you to them.

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

What's really important?

“The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.”  Psalm 67:6

When you read this verse from the book of Psalms, your North American mind may start to consider what you have; the stuff in the asset column of your life’s ledger.  Important, well yes, but since Easter morning, I have been saying ‘Christ is risen!  HE is risen indeed!  Hallelujah’ and that is really what is the most import thing in our lives. 

We are so blessed by what Jesus did on Calvary.  Bottom line is God blesses us today and will again tomorrow with all that we need; never fails and more importantly He has a home waiting for all of His children in Heaven that will put our possessions here on earth to shame.

The attached photo was taken at a Lutheran Church in the Plateau Central somewhere near a fence row of cactus about twenty minutes east of Hinche.  This group of people was the wedding party that had just concluded at about 9:30 in the morning.  There is no AC in this church and the morning air was slightly cool.  I can’t tell you who are the bride and groom or parents or attendants, but they are happy, they seem to be blessed with happiness and fine dress clothes.

As you can see, they had prepared for an overflow crowd as there are chairs set outside.  Those chairs are certainly not like our North American padded folding chairs, those chairs can get very painful on a soft Nebraskan derriere after a two-hour long service.  Those chairs are a blessing as the alternative is sitting on a board that is suspended by a few sturdy tree branches.

God truly blesses us, every day, in so many various ways.  I hope and pray that when you are sitting in the pew in your Church tomorrow, this photo will come back to haunt you.  Blessings from our Triune God can and are taken for granted so often throughout our life’s journey.  A daily meal of beans and rice for a quarter is such a blessing.  Two hours of singing and listening to a message is a blessing if you have spent a couple of hours walking to your Church; why would you want to leave after just an hour?  Count your blessings dear brothers and sisters in Christ.   

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

Green thumbs.

“(Jesus said) "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15:2

My grandmother Ada and her sister Esther were born in the Gerkensmeyer clan and they both had green thumbs; flowers or vegetables, didn’t matter, whatever they planted it grew.  Their parents brought their green thumbs from Germany.  My father was a farmer and mother had a large garden that fed our family.  I don’t understand why my thumbs are not green.  My daughter Deidre plants tomatoes and cucumbers in containers on my deck so I can eat a fresh salad during the summer.  She plants them, because if I did, the only thing in those containers would be dirt.

The attached photo is of school children attending the Lutheran school in Merrotte which is in the Arcahaie District and is about a mile from the ocean.  Behind the children is a plantain crop that is flourishing and will provide a wonderful harvest.  This is a meaningful photo as it ties into the scripture reading from John.  We too are like a fruit tree, meant to bear fruit and we get pruned from time to time so that our lives will be more productive.  The children attending this school are also like little fruit trees; being nurtured with God’s Word and a Trinity HOPE meal at noon so they too will bear much fruit for the Kingdom.

These children and each of us receive pruning from time to time so that our lives can accomplish much for our Heavenly Father.  Thank you for sharing of your fruits with these children as they bring more souls from Haiti into the Kingdom.

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

Rejoice and be glad.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  Matthew 5:11-12

These verses in Matthew are the culmination of the beatitudes that I’ve shared with you the past several days. The verses above are basically an extension on what Jesus had said earlier but here in verses 11 and 12, He elaborates on persecution.

Persecution can take many forms ranging from a mere insult to fearing for your life.  I heard that yesterday, May 4th was Star War’s day; “May the fourth be with you.”  That was a mild form of persecution.  The evil foe has found multiple ways to try to discourage the church in this fallen world of ours but unfortunately those being persecuted fail to realize that the more the church is persecuted…the more it grows.  Several decades ago while in Haiti with a Trinity HOPE mission team, I was asked by a Haitian pastor in the company of witnesses to bring a request to a mission society in North America for him.  I did, and the Haitian pastor later recanted the request when he feared that he would lose support in Haiti and insisted that he had never asked this request and called me a liar.  Another Haitian pastor and a North American pastor joined in the accusation and prepared for a battle with me.

Rather than fight the accusations, I chose to turn the other cheek and indulge in their accusations.  In our country, there is no legal way that we can be sued or fined for being Christians; although there are those being hassled for showing that they are believers.  We are all sinful human beings, and there is a saying that sums up what this fallen world may think about your words and actions, “the last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list.”

The evil foe wants nothing more than to discredit the ministry of Trinity HOPE and snatch the spoonful of rice and beans from the hand of the child at the Lutheran school in Ouanaminthe shown in the attached photo.  There are people in this sin filled world who will say it is more important to use the funds designated for food for school children, to instead be used to purchase trucks, buildings and fund salaries for church workers in Haiti.  Rice and beans or blocks and mortar; walking and sharing the love of Christ with the lost or riding in a fancy new truck.  When serving the Lord, continually ask yourself “is this direction God pleasing?”  We sinners should rejoice at persecution and one day, we will receive our reward for it and meet this child from Ouanaminthe in Heaven.  Thank you for staying the course and doing His work no matter what the world tells 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