How God Works

HOW GOD WORKS – For those of you about to get all excited about getting some special insight into discovering God’s will for every aspect of your life. . .I’m sorry to disappoint you. This is more of an after the fact recognition than a prior revelation.

Many of you know that my daughter, Julia, has a passion for children. So much so that she asked everyone to send her to Romania to work with abused and abandoned children as a graduation present from MTSU after Christmas. Hopefully she will finish up her fundraising in the next week or two, but that is just the first part of a story that none of us knew the end of until Tuesday. Well, really, we don’t know the complete end yet, but it appears to be quite a masterpiece by our God.

I make an attempt to attend the luncheon sponsored by Highland Park Presbyterian Church on the fourth Tuesday of each month. There are about 25 pastors who attend, and Ken Lane from Mexia and I usually ride together. This past Tuesday there were three international pastors there, two from Africa and one from Moldova. Never, heard of it? Me either!

We go around and introduce ourselves each time and tell something that is going on in our lives or the lives of the congregations we serve. I told about Julia’s upcoming trip and asked for prayer concerning the completion of her fundraising. When the introductions got around to the opposite side of the table, the pastor from Moldova told about his work there trying to save children from child pornography rings, being harvested for human organs sold on the black market, and rescue them from the slave trade in general. Heartbreaking work! He spoke to the group but looked directly at me.


Immediately after our meeting he headed for me and said, “Tell me about your daughter.” I told him how she had spent all her Christmas money last year taking Christmas presents to the impoverished community of Orange Mound, a predominantly black neighborhood in Memphis. I told him about her trips to orphanages in Mexico and her internships on Native American reservations in the Northwest. I told him about her desire to go to Nairobi and work with HIV/AIDS children last summer and how it saddened her when it couldn’t come to pass. His response? “You are a blessed man!”

Yes, I am! The Holy Spirit watches over me far better than I deserve. Now, in addition to the stop in Romania, Julia has an invitation to visit the neighboring country of Moldova and see the work that is being done there. Who would have thought? Who could have known what God would be doing through "chance" meetings like this one.

Think about it, all the little pieces of the puzzle that came together on Tuesday. The fact that I had skipped the last several meetings at Highland Park, but Ken had called me and said, “Let’s go!” The passion Julia has to be an example to non-white, suffering children wherever she can find them. This pastor from Moldova who had also been invited as a guest to the meeting at Highland Park. The fact that Julia had a prayer need of meeting the travel needs for her support, and this was mentioned. All this leads to the possible call of God to what might be a lifelong mission. The puzzle has been more than 12 years in the making since her very first mission trip, but when that one piece is put in you realize the awesome beauty of the picture our God has painted.

His eye is certainly on the sparrow, but He doesn't take it off you or me either! AMEN.

Pastor Craig

PS - The picture is from the Moldovan national capital.

GOD’S BLESSINGS

Thanksgiving is still several weeks away, but this week’s passage from Joel 2:23ff certainly put me in the mood and reminded me of the blessings I have. The passage is all the more marvelous when we remember that Joel writes to the people of Israel as they are under God’s correction, held captive in a distant land.

The words Joel uses don’t seem to match up with the feelings the people of Israel probably experienced.

REJOICE – There just seems something out of place when we begin to talk about rejoicing during or through correction. When I think about times in my life when I received a needed correction, I fail to come up with one time that also was one of rejoicing. We can rejoice in the opportunity to set things right or the fact that the correction may not have been as severe as we had anticipated, but we fail to rejoice until the correction is over.

ABUNDANT – Abundance is something we can rejoice about. We usually think of it as a blessing when we have an abundance of money, an abundance of love, or an abundance of talent or skill in a particular field. God’s blessings are never simply sufficient. They are abundant!

FILL/OVERFLOW – Most of us settle for our cup of blessings to be filled. Joel speaks for the blessings as overflowing. God doesn’t stop when it reaches the brim of the cup. He never does anything part way. When He says He will bless you, He makes sure that you are totally blessed. He doesn’t want there to be any doubt in your mind as to the sufficiency of His grace and strength in times of need.
PLENTY – God’s blessings are not rare commodities. Some of think we go through lean times. Probably, the truth is closer to the fact that there are some times God blesses us more than other times. Those times of lesser blessing may find the bills a little more difficult to pay, the menu slightly varied, our trips or vacations closer to home, but the truth of the matter is we are still well fed, well compensated, and well rested when we realize the wonders our Savior sends our way.

The key verse here says, Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord, your God, and that there is no other; Our Heavenly Father chooses to bless us in such a way that we will never doubt the source of our blessings or the existence of the one who sends them our way.

Regardless of your situation, regardless of how far down you feel right now, regardless how far you are held captive from the place you call home, your Heavenly Father promises a time of blessing – blessing greater than sufficient, greater than full. Blessing abundantly overflowing and bringing a time of great rejoicing. You will know your Heavenly Father has brought this for you, to you, and through you. God will pour out his Spirit upon you.
Pastor Craig

Are You Afraid?

C. S. Lewis wrote a classic sci-fi trilogy during his lifetime. In the first chapter of the second book, Perelandra, the narrator comes face-to-face with an eldil, but not just any eldil, the Oyarsa of Malacandra (what we call Mars). The eldils are spirit beings, and the Oyarsa is something approaching divinity.



The narrator comments, My fear was now of another kind. I felt sure that the creature was what we call “good,” but I wasn’t sure whether I liked “goodness” so much as I had supposed. This is a very terrible experience. As long as what you are afraid of is something evil, you may still hope that the good may come to your rescue. But suppose you struggle through to the good and find that it also is dreadful? How if food itself turns out to be the very thing you can’t eat, and home the very place you can’t live, and your very comforter the person who makes you uncomfortable? Then, indeed, there is no rescue possible: the last card has been played. For a second or two I was nearly in that condition. Here at last was a bit of that world from beyond the world, which I had always supposed that I loved and desired, breaking through and appearing to my senses: and I didn’t like it, I wanted it to go away. I wanted every possible distance between it and me.


How like that are we? We long to know more of God, to experience His presence in a more real way, to know Him even as He knows us, if that is possible. However, when the Triune God shows up with even a small peak of His glory, we find ourselves reduced to a sniveling lump of flesh. I assume that is the way it is based on what we know from the encounters we read in the Scriptures.


We simply can’t handle the direct interaction with God. We need it through a Burning Bush (which is scary enough, by the way) or a storm and earthquake or anything but the Holy Other, infinitely personal Creator of the universe. Elijah did not back away from the storm and the earthquake. It was the still small voice that made him want to hide within his own mantle. It was the voice of God from Mt. Sinai that prompted the people of Israel to beg Moses to serve as a mediator between them and God, so they would not have to hear it themselves.


Jacob, had the benefit of darkness when he wrestled with “the man” beside the river Jordan. Would he have been so bold if he had known just who it was he was wrestling with?

The fearful thing, at least I would think this would be it, is the extreme vulnerability. All our sins are exposed; Our deepest and darkest secrets are known completely, not just as a possibility, but in all their ugliness. Every aspect of our being is laid bare before the one who made us. It is then that we realize just how far short we have fallen. The enormity of the gap is overwhelming. We recognize that we have no right or place before this one. It is at that very point that our Savior steps to our side and welcomes us home. Glad to have you home. Dad and I have been waiting up for you!

Pastor Craig

Saved!

  Saved! On Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week many of us were watching eagerly to see if the band of highly skilled personnel in Chile could actually pull off one of the greatest rescues of all time. We were shocked a couple of months ago to find out that 33 trapped Chilean miners were even alive. We had presumed they were dead after 17 days. We waited, not really expecting total success as the holes were drilled. We wondered how long those men could stay alive down there. When would hope run out, even if the food didn’t? But, one by one they rode that tiny capsule back into light and life.

What will the future hold for these guys? According to the news reports, some of them already have book and movie deals waiting, one of them has a television offer, one will have to deal with the wife AND the girlfriend that were waiting for him, and all of them will be on David Lettermen this coming week.

Hope is an amazing thing. It can keep people alive when there is nothing else that can. As Scarlett said at the end of Gone With the Wind, “After all . . . Tomorrow is another day!” The whole idea of there being a tomorrow gives us a sense of starting over, of leaving the bad behind and reaching for that which is better. Those miners began tomorrow last week.

Some of you have been waiting for tomorrow. You may have been waiting for it for quite some time. You have struggled through tomorrow looking a whole lot like the yesterday you were hoping to leave behind. You struggle through the life events that show you your checking account is still in the red, your loved one’s health continues to decline, your marriage is still going to end, you continue to be anxious about your children and the direction they seem to be headed.

May I offer you a few words of hope? Jesus Christ made tomorrow. Only because of Christ can something be different. No, unfortunately, I can’t promise you that it WILL be different. You already know the prayers you have offered and the times you have pleaded with God to change your stars. In all of this, most of us are running from something – pain, humiliation, loneliness, fear. It hasn’t worked, has it? Maybe you’re running in the wrong direction, or maybe for the wrong reasons.

Try, instead of running from something, to run to something. When times go bad on you, as they do for most of us sometime during our lives, we let our fear and frustration get the best of us. What Christ asks of us is to, in these times, rely totally on him. Only as the arms of the Holy Spirit wrap around you will you fully realize that your running days can be over, that tomorrow has arrived bringing hope with it.

Peace,

Craig Krueger

Letter From Home

Letters From Home - Recently, I was contacted by a high school classmate of mine. We have not really kept up with one another over the years. We weren’t best friends in high school, but I do consider her one of my friends and was glad to hear from her.



We reconnected, as so many people do these days, through FaceBook. She contacted me because she knew I had sons in the Marine Corps. Her son had VERY recently enlisted and was headed off to Parris Island. Obviously she was interested in the point of view from a parent who had already been through this process. Whenever I have the opportunity to talk to parents of anyone going through basic training in any of our armed service branches I tell them two things. First, do whatever you have to do to get to their graduation. I never had the opportunity to go through basic training, and I am probably worse off for it. However, I do have some idea of the effort and commitment these young men and women put forth to make it to graduation. It is a wonderful accomplishment to share with them if you can. Secondly, I tell them to write to their family member. There is nothing like a letter from home to keep up their spirits and encourage them through the trials of training.



In Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah is writing to the Israelites who have been taken captive and hauled off to Babylon. They are far from home. They are in a strange land, among people who have different customs, worship different gods, and don’t have the strict dietary laws to which the Israelites are accustomed.



This is what Jeremiah says - Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your son and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I (Yahweh, God) have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper . . . When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.



What comforting news! What a gracious letter from home! I wish you well. I hope you prosper. Have a great time. I’ll see you soon! Isn’t that just what we want to hear when we are far away?



Jeremiah knows the people are homesick. He knows they want to come back. He knows they are remorseful about the events that led up to their being carried into exile. He tells them, “Don’t punish yourselves anymore! Get comfortable. Buy a house. Get married. Have children and grandchildren. Live life!



It is amazing how much our God loves us! Even in the act of correction He takes time to remind us that we are loved and care for, that He is eager to have us back, and that He will be the very one that will make sure we get home safely! Live life! Love your Heavenly Father, because he certainly loves you!

Pastor Craig

What Does God Want?

What does God want you to do? Oh, you know the big stuff. Don’t murder. Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t commit adultery. Those we know, the ones that are the clear right and wrong issues. Now, we don’t always do them, but we do know them. They have been drilled into most of us from Sunday School and VBS years ago.

The ones we have trouble with are the ones that are less clear cut. Sometimes it is a choice between two rights, or good things. Other times it is attempting to make the best of a bad situation. What do we do when we are presented with two excellent job offers or are choosing between two worthwhile charities? For those of us who take our faith seriously, this is still a serious decision. We want to do what is right, even when there is not a wrong decision.

I am one of those who believe that there is a perfect path that God lays out for us. I also believe that I tend to stray off that path on a regular basis and am in need of regular confession to be restored and allowed to salvage what I can from the journey I have messed up. It’s sort of like the time my Dad jackknifed our camper less than 50 miles from home at the start of a coast-to-coast summer vacation. We salvaged a good time from it, but we still had a dent in the rear fender of our station wagon for the whole trip!

I learned a similar lesson almost 20 years ago. I was exploring multiple vocational choices. I desperately wanted to make the correct one. I prayed and agonized over it for as long as I could. God was silent. Well, let me just say that he wasn’t speaking in a way that I was listening. The choices ranged from places in Hawaii to South Carolina, from South Dakota to New Jersey, from Chicago to Kansas. It was a nice, but frustrating position in which to be.

Finally, it dawned on me. What I really wanted from God was for Him to show me the easy path. What he really wanted from me was faithfulness regardless of which path I chose. I didn’t find the easy path. It was a long and uphill journey, but it wasn’t the wrong way because my Savior was with me every step of the way.

In the choice you have to make this day don’t look for the easiest path. Don’t expect God to show you the downhill, smooth, and broad road. Simply know that Christ will travel each path with you if you invite Him along.

Pastor Craig

Though It Linger

Though it linger, wait for it – Certainly you remember your birthday and the excitement that day held for most of us. Fortunately, most of us have even greater memories of nights which seemed to drag on forever as we waited to see what Christmas morning would bring. I remember one year wishing we could skip through all the days so that it would be Christmas again more quickly. My request was met with a “Be careful, or you’ll wish your whole life away” by my grandmother’s husband, Gus. However, at that point I didn’t seem to care. A few days of life would be worth wasting to get to Christmas again.


We also have times of anxiety, times we wish something was over. These might be times of grief, loneliness, financial hardship, or spiritual trial. The possibilities for “wishing portions of our life away” are enormous!

The bold words that begin this short essay are from Habakkuk. The prophet is bemoaning the prevalence of evil and how it seems to take over everything and be everywhere. In the first chapter of the book he cries out, "Why do you make me look at injustice!? Why do I have to even look at it God? Why?"

However, we know there are some things worth waiting for, like birthdays, Christmas, and REALLY good vacations. But, most of all – God’s justice. We have all experienced some form of injustice and unfairness in this life. We have suffered through trying times, events, people, and situations. In some cases, our involvement at all seemed an injustice. This fight is between these two people over here, why do I have to listen to, much less be a part of it. It just doesn’t seem to make sense. When will our suffering stop, O Lord?

Though it linger, wait for it – When God’s justice, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion seem miles and miles away – wait for it. When the Scriptural encouragement about not being tested beyond what we can bear (I Corinthians 10:13) seems like a cruel joke, and the time of deliverance is non-existent – wait for it. When you want to take the advice Job’s wife gave to him during his trials and “Curse God and die!” rather than earnestly pray for it all to make sense by some future day – wait for it. Waiting is hard. It does not come easy for us. Isaiah encourages us differently – Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him! Amen!



Pastor Craig