Thanksgiving- Admist Defeat, Retreat and Despair

"The reason they endured--the reason they believed in God's deliverance--was simple: they could believe, because their General DID believe!"- from the book "Light and Glory" by Peter Marshall and David Manuel

The first thanksgiving held in the new country of the United States of America occured on a cold winter day on a open field covered in snow in November of 1777 as General Washington led the Continental Army to its winter quarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

It was a army of 12,000 men that had seen many defeats against the armies of the British Empire. Their uniforms were tattered, threadbear and worn to pieces, 1/3 had no shoes, they were starving, they had little food and Washington himself was fearful that the army would soon dissolve away with the snow come spring.

So in the darkest period of our nation and in the lives of our revolutionary soldiers they turned to give THANKSGIVING to Almighty God. General Washington went privately to the woods and as he knelt in the snow he poured his heart and soul out to God- crying out from the wilderness. He prayed for his men and his new nation and God soon blessed our General and our Continental Armies with stunning victories though the road ahead was long and still gloomy.

In the depths of despair, remember to give Thanks to God and thank Him for all He has done for you and will do for you even if you don't see it. Like the exhausted men of the Continental Army- keep Hope alive and trust in God. Winter is just a season and the cold gives way to the warmth and rebirth of Spring!

Blessings over you during the Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas season.

Screwtape Letters- Nephews or Sons?

I recently posted on Facebook that Adella and I would be attending the theater version of C.S. Lewis novel- "The Screw Tape Letters" at the Majestic Theater in Dallas. It was a phenomenal performance and one that clearly presents the reality of spiritual warfare and that you are in combat whether you believe in it or not. (And beware to those who don't believe that Heaven or Hell exists- let alone God or satan)

For those of you familiar with the book, Screw Tape is a Chief Demon, and his name is fitting after that of a worm, a parasite that lives off others. And it is written from the view point of Evil and how they perceive the "Enemy" to be followers of the Light, those who believe in Christ. And it follows the course of letters between Screw Tape and his demonic follower and charge who lives and works "up above on earth" to keep the "patients" as they call humans- from finding the truth that God is Love and wants all to go to Heaven through His grace and mercy.

Screw Tape would always sign his demonic letter with "Your loving Uncle- Screw Tape". Being a deceiver he never means love in the sense you might and he waits for his nephew to stumble as he also is on alert his nephew is also trying to get his Uncle's position in hell.

There are many points I could make from the novel and the play (and probably will bring up in the future again) but it struck me that those who follow the "Father of lies, the Great Deceiver" can strive to be called no higher than "a nephew".

The contrast is that Christ calls those who accept and follow Him as- "Sons and Daughters of God!" What an incredible difference between light and dark, love and hate, evil and good. Despite our sins, our vices, our horrible actions and shortcomings we can be called "Sons and Daughters of God!" Thank you Lord for you mercy and grace and unending love!

Galatians 3:26- "For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ"

"Occupy Heart" Movement- First!

There has been a lot of protests and political rallies and movements across this country that we have seen demonstrated by masses of people in attending Tea Parties or camping out in the "Occupy Wall Street" movement that has seen several US city squares filled with people calling themselves the "99%".

Victim Relief Ministries maintained a low key mission presence on request of the Dallas Police and worked in support of the Dallas Crisis Intervention Department.
We walked the tent areas in the "Occupy Dallas" and talked to people. Many shared a passion on several ideas, many expressed frustration and anger over "the system", many want to affect change for the people, fight for social injustice and many other reasons articulated good, bad or vague- but they wanted to "Occupy the Streets to make a statement".

I thought about all I experienced personally and all that I read about the "Occupy Movement" and all that I watched or heard on the media, and I reflected on in it in Spiritual ways.

I want to call attention to the founding parable of Victim Relief, and the statement Christ said in regards to the Great Commandment- "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind- and you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

As a follower of Christ I think the best place for me to fight for change is to surrender my heart to God, let God and His Spirit and His Love "Occupy" my heart.

In doing so I will follow the commandments of the parable, and as I have seen demonstrated by VRM volunteers and other Christians- I will love my neighbor, I will feed my neighbor, I will protect and serve my neigbor I will do the things that God wants me to do in reflecting His love.

Lets start by letting "God Occupy" us first and then "Occupy" our homes and families and then our schools and churches and work and then we will "Occupy" main street and then our neighborhoods, cities our capital and then the world! Peace and love!

Japan- Half A Year Later! Continue to Pray

Gene Grounds and I recently returned from what is the third trip into Japan. As the photo attests to, the debries and shattered remains of cars and boats and foundations of homes and buildings have been scrapped up, collected and put in organized piles and categories.
The people for the most part have been placed in small but comfortable housing units stacked side by side.
Highways are open, people are traveling to and from. Life looks "normal" on the outside, but there is a "new normal" on the inside.
Nuclear Radiation continues to show up in water tables and in agricultural fields, there are few fishing boats in the devastated ports as nearly 97% of the fleets were destroyed or sunk, the area relies on fishing and tourism, and very few tourists are coming in to areas without hotels- the outlook for the economy is rather bleak.
VRM continues to work in partnership through the local churches and pastors in the northen prefecture of Iwate and with Somebody Cares Japan and other ministries, bringing in donated funds and focusing on teaching on grief and trauma and encouraging the local church community.
But as I wrote on the 6th month anniversary of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake- Giants are roaming all over Japan bringing a sense of hopelessness, despair and bleakness. Suicides are a cultural norm and the rate is on the increase. So as debries are cleared, and people are housed- please continue to remember the people of Japan through your prayers on their behalf and as Doug Stringer of Somebody Cares often says- "That the Land of the Rising Sun will know the Risen Son!"