God never said the weapons wouldn’t form.

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Weapons. They are a hot topic today. They are used against us and they are used to protect us. They are necessary and they can be detrimental. I am not here to debate gun control except to say I would be happy to have a weapon to defend myself and my family if it came down to it. I pray that right is never taken from us!

Last November, in the three simultaneous terrorist attacks in Paris, one occurred in a cafe. Absolute chaos had taken over as people scrambled to escape. Some were hiding under tables, chairs, under the counter, wherever they could find a place of escape. One woman was hiding by the front door when one of the terrorists approached her with aAK-47 and he put it to her head and pulled the trigger.

It did not fire.

In stunned disbelief, he lifts the weapon away from her, instead of firing again, and walks away as she runs out the door.

At the end of that day of carnage, 129 people had perished.

No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, says the LORD. Isaiah 54:17

Just reading this scripture, we could surmise that what that woman in Paris experienced that day is what every Christian would experience and benefit from every day of their life.

The verse doesn’t say the weapon won’t form, it doesn’t say it won’t be put to the test, or that the enemy won’t come after us with his fiery darts. No, it says the weapon will not prosper.

Let’s look at that as well. If we took that at face value, we would say or assume that a Christian would never be killed by the enemy or a terrorist or anyone else. That God would intervene and jam the chamber on every weapon. But we know that doesn’t happen. We know bad things happen to good people, the righteous have been crucified, the disciples all gave their very lives, and many thousands of Christ-followers since then have perished.

So, what does it mean?

I think we have to look at the verse before this one to break it down.

See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc…

Who is in control here? The One who created the blacksmith that forges the weapon for the work! And that craftsman is under the Lord’s control. He ultimately decides if and when a child of God is taken out of this world and no matter the weapon, if it is not God’s time, it won’t happen.

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible, says it well:

Behold, I have created the smith – The sense of this verse is, “Everything that can effect your welfare is under my control. The smith who manufactures the instruments of war or of torture is under me. His life, his strength, his skill, are all in my hands, and he can do nothing which I shall not deem it best to permit him to do. So with the enemy of the church himself – the waster who destroys. I bare made him, and he is wholly under my control and at my disposal.” The smith who bloweth the coals, denotes the man who is engaged in forging instruments for war, or for any other purpose. Here it refers to him who should be engaged in forging instruments of battle to attack the church; and why should it not refer also to him who should be engaged in making instruments of torture – such as are used in times of persecution?

I have created the waster to destroy – I have formed every man who is engaged in spreading desolation by wars, and I have every such man under my control (see the notes at Isaiah 10:5-7; Isaiah 37:26-27; Isaiah 46:1-6). The sense here is, that as God had all such conquerors under his control, they could accomplish no more than he permitted them to do.

So what is it in your life that has you in turmoil? Are you facing persecution? Is your job on the line? How about your health or that of a loved one? Relationships? Children away from God? Anxiety? Insomnia? Worry about the future? The state of the world?

It may seem as if the enemy is having a field day, so to speak. But he can only do what God gives him time and space for and just like Job, he cannot take our lives, only God has the power to do that. Does that mean we are completely out of danger because we walk with God?

Christians die too. We are all appointed to leave this life at one point in time but the good news is that we don’t check out until He says so! He is ultimately in control! He not only decides whether the weapon is used against us, He decides who forges the weapon! And that enemy, that weapon, can do nothing unless God says so.

If that doesn’t bring comfort to you, I don’t know what will. Our God is sovereign and yes, even though we live in a broken and sin-filled world, and we will until Jesus comes, that is the hope…that He will come again, we will have a way of escape whether it is here in this life or in the catching away…we win because He won.

The shop class tool box: Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

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I’m sure you have all received them if you have been a parent for any length of time. When they are just old enough to go to Sunday School or even in daycare, one of the first things your little one makes for you is their hand print. Many of you have a picture of that in your head right now and could go to a box or a plastic storage tub and pull out Johnny or Susie’s classic piece of art.

They graduated over the years to nicer items such as clay ash trays, wooden tie and belt holders, maybe a pencil holder or a shelf. Homemade gifts from your children, it truly doesn’t get any better than that!

I remember, in particular, one of My Three Sons brought home his first attempt at wood crafts. (For this post, the crafter shall remain nameless. We will let them decide if they want to take ownership or not.) The fact that he was even taking a class of this sort must have been a requirement; he was not one to sit around thinking of things he could make with his hands.

Whether this was a Father’s Day gift or not I do not recall but I do remember him bringing it home and having that dejected look of “This is the best I can do”, when in reality it was sturdy, heavy and not too crooked at all! It had been stained super dark and he had made it with his own hands.

Now, to wrap it for Father’s Day.

The Sweetheart has received tons of gifts over the last 42 years of marriage and 40 of being a father. Some he still has, like the toolbox, others didn’t make it into a storage tub for one of our many moves. He learned from the time they were old enough to stand there with their arms outstretched, presenting their gift, that it was the biggest deal in the world to them and he had better act like it was to him, too.

And it was.

That toolbox was filled immediately and to this day it still has hammers, screwdrivers, nails and other important go-to’s for any household. It served a purpose then and even now, years later.

This Father’s Day, it is a sturdy and strong reminder of us bringing our gifts to our Good, Good Father, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes our gift giving, our prayer time, turns into our give me time. Did you know that the Hebrew word for prayer, tefillah, means to self-evaulate? To the Jewish people, prayer was not a time to just ask God for things, they truly examined themselves! This meant admitting their actions, behaviors and attitudes and comparing them with their holy God. Standing in His presence will cause you to look at your heart!

To us, as 21st century Christians, the word pray means to ask or maybe even plead. We lay out a list of things we need or want God to do and then start begging Him to reply. But what if we evaluated our hearts first? What if we checked our motives first? What if we prayed, “Not my will but thine be done” and just offered our toolbox, our lives, as a living sacrifice?

Do you bring Him praise, adoration, worship and glory with your prayers or are they all filled with “I need, I want and please hurry!” He hears you regardless of how you pray, or what you say, but He is most pleased when it is a sacrificial giving of the heart. When you understand that all things are in His control anyway and that surrender is the ultimate act of worship, you then acknowledge that He alone is able and He alone is worthy and your giving takes on an entirely different meaning…and approach.

Imagine yourself bringing your tool box to your heavenly Father. It’s a part of you, a difficult part, but you want to give it back to Him as a gift of surrender and humility. It’s sort of like this, “Lord, this is just for You, I’m giving you all of my difficult attitudes, all of my heartaches, confusion, misunderstandings. Could you help me with these things and fill up that toolbox with more of You so that I might take those tools and be a representative of You to a lost, dying and hurting world?”

He will do that. He will take the broken and make it whole, pliable and workable in the Kingdom. Giving gifts to your good, good Father, yielding in total surrender and then taking what He gives you as tools to help others…that completes that perfect circle. He’s good like that.

This Father’s Day, don’t forget to tell that influential man in your life what he means to you. Love on those that you value so much and don’t forget to reach out to others who might not hear the words, “I appreciate you.”

Happy Father’s Day to The Sweetheart, such a rock to me for over 40 years. I love you and thank you for being such a good, good father to My Three Sons, for loving our daughters-in-law and adoring our precious grandbabies and spoiling ME and providing for us all so well.

Happy Father’s Day!!

What if we loved like Dzintra?

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What if we loved like Dzintra? We are finally in Riga, Latvia, back home, so to speak. We haven’t been here in three years and the waves of emotion were overwhelming as we flew over the country yesterday. Driving down the streets? More memories, more emotion. So many good things happened in our time here, a few hard times were experienced as well but they were life-changing and hopefully molded our character for the future.

We have rented another airbnb for our stay in Riga. Insert shameless plug here: If you haven’t tried airbnb, you must! We have had total success with it but I venture to say that is because I go by REVIEWS; I read them all. And I pour over their pictures, enlarging them if I have to. Yes, I am that person. But I digress.

So, this particular rental is another where you rent out the entire apartment or home. You don’t want to share with a stranger but some do not seem to mind that. I would definitely mind. This lovely couple here in Riga actually has two homes on this property that could be divided up into four! One home was their parents, now deceased, and the other is their own. They live upstairs in one and rent the downstairs and we are in one next door and have an entire apartment and garden, patio, etc., to ourselves. Two bedrooms, an office, beautiful bathroom with double rain shower, large living room and fully functional kitchen. It is just perfect, so clean and very comfortable. Why would you get a hotel when you can have an entire apartment?!

Upon our arrival, we met Dzintra, who is Russian. She didn’t shake my hand, she hugged my neck and I knew right then we were going to get along fine. I cannot get over her infectious smile and the way we were greeted even though we were total strangers. How did she know we weren’t crazy Americans that had flown across the ocean to steal her blind?! Okay, a little much with the drama, but still. It is a lot to allow people you do not know to stay on your property and come and go as they please.

Back to Dzintra. She hugged me and then clasped my hand between hers and with that smile again, said, “I am so very happy to have you here with me!” And I knew she meant it. This is an older couple, persuaded by their son, who lives in Prague, to open their home as an airbnb. Did he ever nail retirement for these two; it is their calling. You can genuinely tell they enjoy what they do and look forward to interacting with their guests.

But it was that smile, that make-you-feel-at-home smile that has me writing today. Watching her greet us as if the way she treated  us decided her internal well being made me consider a few things:

  • When we meet someone for the first time, do we react as Dzintra?
  • Does the smile on the inside ooze out and spill over to the outside?
  • Do we greet newcomers in our church the way Dzintra welcomed us?
  • Do we make them truly feel that they are not only wanted but that we will do everything in our power to see them connect and succeed?
  • Do we make it easy for them to come back or do we make them uncomfortable because, since we don’t know what to say, we don’t say anything and we make the situation totally AWK-ward?
  • Maybe most importantly, do we truly care that they have come to our church, or just entered our world, and do we show to them that compassion, concern and care?
  • This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18

Perhaps you have been in the newcomers shoes. It is difficult enough to be the stranger, everyone stares, that is a given. Then you make the uncomfortable stroll toward the greeter, praying they are not too friendly but that they don’t give you the dead fish handshake either. You are just silently praying they will not overdo it but won’t leave you feeling worse than when you arrived.

So, what if we greeted others at church, or meeting them for the first time, as Dzintra greeted us? “I’m so very happy you are here…you are going to love our church and our people. How can I make you feel at home today? What can I get for you and your family? I will be here if you need ANYTHING.”

And then, mean it. Do it. Own it. Like a boss.

Check on them again, and again without smothering them. A good hostess does that. She comes back instead of just saying, “If you need anything, let me know!” She actually makes the effort to return and see if she missed anything or if the guest thought of something they missed or needed answered. The good hostess tries to anticipate what the guests are thinking and knows that this is a situation that will pass but it is crucial that she treat them with love and respect.

Friend, if you are going to be a greeter, BE a greeter. Don’t stand in the doorway where they can’t get in without having to brush up against you…yikes! Don’t give them a fish handshake. Just don’t. Grip it firmly and quickly, don’t hang on to their hand forever. Welcome them, smile and mean it! If it is your job to make sure they have a visitor card, help them with those things but don’t throw so much of the welcoming kit at them that they can’t carry it and don’t expect them to stand there in the doorway and fill out the card. And then point them to the right direction. If they have children, they are wondering where to take them. Maybe they don’t know where to sit, greeters and ushers should be all over this!

One of the worst things about walking in a church for the first time is running the gauntlet. Yes, it can truly feel that way since some churches not only have a greeter but the greeter has friends that hang around and hang around the front door talking with the greeter about their weekend and if the visitor is fortunate, they will stop long enough to say, “Welcome to First Church” and then right back to the hole in one they didn’t get or the fish that got away. Then you have to make your way past ten limp handshakes and half-hearted and awkward “hello’s”. Ugh.

Of course it is not the easiest thing in the world to meet a stranger or have conversation with someone you have never met before. And, it is not the sole responsibility of the GREETER to befriend a newcomer! It is the responsibility of us ALL to make sure anyone and everyone is comfortable worshipping with us.

But if you ooze Jesus, if that Christ-like spirit that dwells on the INSIDE cannot but help to spill over to the OUTSIDE, others will be drawn to you, as we were to Dzintra. And you will just know that even though this new journey might not be easy, you have at least one friend who is going to do everything that they can to make it smoother for you and you are going to be loved to pieces in the meantime.

Doogalas (The Sweetheart) was trying to convey to Dzintra that we were leaving to go for dinner and would be back shortly, how do we open and close the gate, what about the key, etc., etc. He was throwing way too many questions, and talking way too fast, for her to understand his English. I could see the bewilderment on her face and when he finally stops talking she looked at me and said, “My English is not so good, but he speaks too fast for me to understand. But do not worry, I will get it!”

Yes, she will. I have no doubt.