Sherri's Blog

Pleasant Grove This Spring

2011-05-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Speech Given to Pleasant Grove First Baptist Church Last Spring:

2011-05-04T08:09:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of voices out there. The world tells us it’s all about us. You deserve a break today. You’re worth it. Do whatever you feel like. Nobody will ever know. Isn’t that what they mean when they say “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”?

And Satan, himself, will tell you all kinds of lies like “Well, you’ve blown it now. You’re not good enough. You’re not worthy. What would God want with the likes of you?”

Or, sometimes, “You’re good enough. You don’t need Jesus to be saved. There are many ways to heaven, and besides there’s no hell anyway.”

Lucifer became Satan when he came against God, because Satan means adversary. To justify himself, he accused God, thus becoming the devil, because devil means accuser, and that accuser is out to steal, kill, and destroy that which does not belong to him, us, for we are God’s workmanship. We are His creation.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve chose to listen to the voice of Satan, God’s adversary. God had clearly told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, one commandment, just one, and they couldn’t keep it.

Do you realize we never had to have the knowledge of evil? If Adam and Eve would’ve obeyed, none of us would have ever seen evil, destruction, or despair. If Adam and Eve would’ve obeyed, we would have known only that which is good. And, if they had obeyed, none of us would have ever had to die, not Bronner, not Nick, not even Jesus.

God had said to his creation, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

You shall surely die, not maybe and not probably, but surely.

You idiots! How could you mess up perfection? How could you mess up in the Garden of Eden? You got to walk with God everyday in the cool of the day. You knew God. It’s not like you didn’t know Him. You knew and had seen God, and you listened to a stupid serpent?

None of us would have ever done that, would we?

Or, would we?

Isn’t that what we do all the time? We know God, but we choose to shut Him out. We won’t listen. We think we know better than God how to live our own lives, and so we choose our own way.

And the world goes right along with us. It says, “Don’t limit yourself to Jesus. That’s old fashioned. Try something new and hip from the eastern religions like Budhism, and if you’re really daring, why not even Islam? God is God, right? Doesn’t matter what you call him?”

People will say, “Homosexuality isn’t a sin. You were born that way.” Or, “What man can stay faithful to one woman his whole life? Everybody has affairs; you shouldn’t feel so guilty about it. And to his wife, “girl, you know I wouldn’t put up with that. You need to just go on and leave him.”

So many voices.

And in the midst of it all, there’s a still small voice deep in our hearts beckoning, “Come. Come to me and I will give you rest.” “Cast your cares on me, because I care for you.” “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” “I am the bread of life. Take and eat of me and live forever.” “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on our own understanding, and in all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

Listen. Listen for God’s voice. He will help you. He will direct your paths. Listen and trust Him. You can trust him, no matter what life throws at you. Don’t let Satan tell you to give up. Press on. Fight the good fight. Run your race, and in the end you will be more than conquerors in the fight. You will win, if you do not give up, the crown of righteousness and gain eternal life.

What is not worth that? Nothing. I can endure. I can stand. I can because of Christ.

Abraham was a man who trusted God even when God asked him to sacrifice his own son, the same son God had promised to establish his covenant through. Abraham didn’t wait either. He knew God’s voice and he trusted Him, so he got up early in the morning, the bible says, to go and do exactly what God had told him to do. He didn’t want to. He loved Isaac. He had waited a lifetime for him. Isaac was the son of promise for Abraham, yet he was willing to bind his own son, lay him on an alter, and draw up his knife to slay him.”

Rick said, “God didn’t ask us before he took Bronner, and it’s a good thing too, because I don’t think we would have been so faithful.”

God says, “Trust me.” “It won’t always be like this.”

Satan will come to sift you like wheat here in this world. But there’s someone praying for you, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, Jesus. Jesus is praying for our endurance. That we will be able to stand against Satan’s scheming and when his fiery darts come our way, that we will hold up the shield of faith and fight, that we will press on even as the pangs of Sheol encompass you.

Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”

An angel stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son on the alter, but there was no angel there to stop the hand of God from pouring down his wrath upon his own son with whom he was well pleased, the son he loved. No angel stopped the Roman soldiers as they beat and mocked and nailed Jesus to the cross. No angel stopped the plan of God that was formed before the foundation of the world.

God, himself, was the one who made skins for Adam and Eve in the garden, killing an animal to clothe them. The first sacrifice was made by God himself, and so was the last. Jesus offered himself up on the alter of sacrifice as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

When God took my son, my sweet baby Bronner, I kept saying, “But we were so happy. We were so happy God.” And He said, “But I want you to be holy.”

God wasn’t so interested in my happiness here on earth but in my holiness forever. He lay this cross upon me to test me, to try me in the furnace of affliction. He wanted me to suffer as Christ has suffered. But why?

The bible tells us in Romans 8:17 that anyone who is to be glorified with Christ, at his second coming, must also suffer with Christ, now.

And 1 Peter 4:1 says, “let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing so.”

Then in 1 Peter 5:10, God’s word says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

“In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, Jesus has overcome the world.”

Now let’s go to 1 Peter, chapter one, and read together verses 3-9:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

God in taking my baby wanted me to see the world for what it really is, fallen and cursed, but that one day the curse will be lifted. This world, as it is, is not heaven, no matter how hard I tried to make it that. Life here on earth isn’t perfect nor can it be, not now. God didn’t want me to set my hopes on what I could see but rather on what I couldn’t see.

I can’t see Bronner anymore, but I know him. I had touched him and loved him and kissed him. I know he’s real. I’ve seen him with my very own eyes, and because I know Bronner’s real, that makes the place where he is and the person he’s with that much more real to me too.

God wants us to know He’s real, and that His inheritance far outweighs any suffering we experience now, and that his abode, heaven, is worth waiting for.

The heroes of faith from Hebrews 11, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses… "all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better county, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."

The Apostle John said, “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'”

It won’t always be this way. Jesus is making all things new.

So we wait for it with patience knowing that although God won’t always shield us from the storm, he’ll be there waiting it out with us, and when the wind and earthquake and fire are gone, we’ll be ready to listen for the sound of a low whisper.

I heard God speak to my heart so many times in the days and weeks and months following my life’s most terrible storm. That very night he assured me that this was his will. I heard him pray through me, not my will but thine, oh Lord, be done. I didn’t pray that, but it came just the same. It was the Holy Spirit within me because all I wanted was my baby. And I was begging, prostrate, laid bare before the Lord, begging for my son’s life to be restored as Isaac’s had been, and then I heard within my own soul “Not my will but thine, Oh Lord, be done."

God had a purpose and a plan in my baby’s dying, and no plan of God’s can be thwarted. I knew this was God’s will, and I had listen for what He was going to teach me through it.

The next day I heard him say to my spirit, “Rick is not your helper. You’re his.” I had not even thought about that. But God came before me. See ’cause He knows me, and he knew that in my flesh, I was going to start blaming Rick for not being there to help me with our three boys that night. But God was taking me to a new place with him, a place led by the Spirit, who knew this had nothing to do with Rick or with me or with anyone else I might try to blame.

God had plan and a purpose in my baby’s dying, and no plan of God’s can be thwarted.

God gave Rick a dream and in it, he was battling a demon. He was screaming scripture at what looked like a woman dressed as a gypsy, and she was screaming back at him. And he fought with this demon for what seemed like hours before he grew tired and had to sit down, but when he sat down, I stood up, and started battling the demon in his place.

God was showing us that Rick and I are a team, and when one of us gets tired, the other will be there to pick him up. Our marriage is stronger than ever and God is using us together to fight against evil.

One day, I received a book in the mail, and on the back, there was a bio of the author. It said he was pastor at such and such place, he went to such and such seminary. He had a wife. I can’t remember her name, and four children, one of whom has gone on to be with the Lord. His son drown just like mine had.

I read that and burst into tears, and I started pleading with God to tell my why. "Why the children? Why so many children? Why do you take the children of people like this pastor who had given his life for you, God, and why Bronner, a baby who couldn’t have been more loved or more wanted in this world. Why? Why the children?" And I said, “God, there is nothing worse than losing a child. Nothing.

I know you lost your son, but you got him back after three days. Three days!"

And he said to me, “But what about the others? All my children I have to send away from my presence for eternity. You’re going to get a glorious reunion with your son, but not all of my children will I see again except on that day when they rise again only to die a second death.”

We’re all God’s creation. It’s His breath that gives us life. We’re all His, and God saw fit to take my happy life away from me - for a time - in order that many lost souls would be turned to Him, that he wouldn’t have to send them off to die a second death but that through the testimony of a small child named Bronner they would live forever.

See ’cause death has a way of waking people up to the reality of itself. And they start asking questions like “What if that had been my child? Or, what if it had been me? What would happen to my soul if I died today?"

God had a plan and a purpose in my baby’s dying, and I had to get on board with it, so I could help carry on to completion what God had started.

I had a dream of Bronner swimming through the water. All I could see was Bronner and water, water above him and water below him. But he was swimming through that water with a huge smile on his face and he was beautiful. He didn’t have on any clothes, and he looked like a little Valentine cherub with his milky white skin, red hair and red lips. And he was happy.

I had that dream on a Saturday night. And on Monday, I received another book in the mail. It was from a woman from Dothan whose little son Luke had drown the day Bronner was born.

I started reading Within the Gates, a little book written over a hundred years ago, and there I read about a woman getting her first glimpse of heaven and she was swimming through the River of Life... water above her and water below her and she felt exuberant.

I knew what God was saying. He was saying "Bronner came to me through the water, not the water in your backyard, not the water in your pool, but he came to me through the waters of the River of Life, and he’s alive just as Jesus is alive and they are in a place where the River of Life flows through and no unclean thing can ever enter there."

Bronner’s more than o.k. He’s exuberant. He’s surrounded by the glory of God and he is filled with joy. And I know he’s running though heaven with reckless abandon, because that’s how he is. He was my runner. He loved to run.

Still, our family wanted to reclaim that water in the pool in our backyard. We wanted to overcome evil with good, so we planned a baptism in the pool in our backyard. Our son, Brody, was six almost seven at the time. He had already asked Jesus into his heart and wanted to be baptized anyway. So we planned a ceremony for April 26, 2008 in the pool where his brother had gone to heaven three months before.

That morning as I was preparing everything, I blew up about 50 balloons and in each of them I placed bible verses and prayers or praises. We were going to release the balloons at the end of the ceremony to lift our eyes heavenward. We hoped that Bronner could see them. But as I was taking them through the door to take them down to the pool, one of the balloons popped, just one, and a bible verse fell at my feet. It said, “I will fight for you, you need only be still.”

I felt God had given me that verse to tell me He was there and he was fighting for me. He wanted me to be still, to rest in him. He is for me, so who can be against me? Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus, my Lord.

After the ceremony, I found another little scrap of paper that had fallen from where one of the balloons had popped in a tree, and all it said was “love.”

About that time, I started noticing dragonflies everywhere, and they were always this baby blue color that made me think of Bronner. I saw them at his grave, around the pool, at our farm, everywhere, not just a few but hundreds of baby blue dragonflies so close I could reach out and touch them.

I felt like God was trying to say something to me through those dragonflies, but I didn’t know what. I thought maybe he was letting Bronner come sit with me for a while. I didn’t know, but my friend, Brenda, told me that after her dad had died, she kept seeing these little yellow butterflies. She didn’t know why either until one day she was walking into a church and she saw a little caterpillar crawling around in the grass, and it hit her why God kept sending her the butterflies. “We, here on earth, are like the caterpillar, but her dad in heaven is like the butterfly.”

"That is an awesome message, Brenda, but why does God keep sending me dragonflies?" She didn’t know, but she did know it was the Lord’s comfort, meant to show me and teach me something.

I didn’t know anything about dragonflies, so I looked them up on the internet, and I found out that a dragonfly goes through a metamorphosis just like a butterfly does, but dragonflies start their life out in the water.

Now that made sense. God wanted me to know that Bronner’s life didn’t end that night in the water. It began.

A dragonfly lays its eggs in the water, and when they hatch they’re a little nymph that lives in the water for up to three years, and when they’re ready, they climb out of the water on a reed or a stick and when their skin touches the air, it begins to breath and through a little slit on their backs out comes the full grown dragonfly, wings outstretched in the shape of a cross.

I also found out that there are about 500 different kinds of dragonflies, but the one I kept seeing, the baby blue one, is called a blue dasher. How appropriate for my little runner, my blue dasher! Isn’t God cool?

Then, we started noticing sevens. Bronner was the seventh member of our family. He had seven letters in each of his names, William Bronner Burgess, 777. He was born May 27, 2005. May’s the fifth month, so numerically, it’s 5-27-2005. Add the five and the two in front of the seven and the five and the two in the back of the seven, and you’ve 777. He lived 2 years, seven months, and 23 days. You already have one seven. Add the 2 two’s and the three together and you have another seven. The last full year of his life was the seventh year of this century, 2007. He even had three sevens in his social security number.

Seven is the number in the bible that represents perfection, fullness, completion. It stands for the seven days of creation, and it’s mentioned upward of 50 times in the Book of Revelation, the completion of God’s plan and purpose for the earth as it is and ushers in the new heaven and the new earth.

God wanted us to know that Bronner’s life on earth had been complete and perfect at 2 ½ years. He had fulfilled the purpose for which he came. God himself had formed the days for Bronner when as yet there were none of them.

I talked about the sevens in a speech I did that August, the year of Bronner’s heaven-going. It was my home church, Shades Mountain Baptist, and I got a call that afternoon. They had taken up an offering for Bronner’s Memorial Fund that day, and they had collected $7,777. One woman had written a check for $1.23. Do you realize what a miracle that is? How God had to work in the hearts of everyone there to come up with that amount.

God’s confirmation…

But, you won’t believe when I tell you. It happened again. Betty Bussey and I spoke the next August, August 2009, at Frazier Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery. They took up a collection, and Betty and I were still there having some lunch after we talked and the Women’s Director came and told me that they had collected more than $7,000 for Bronner’s Memorial Fund. She was excited because she thought that was a large amount, and I said, “Seven thousand what?” She said, “I don’t know exactly, but I can find out.”

I told her the reason why I was asking. She had no idea what had happened at Shades. But she left the room, and when she came back, she said, “The collection was $7,777.77.” And 77 cents. God is real. God is real and He is working among his people. Look around, you’ll see him. Listen for his voice, and He will speak.

Tune in. He has something to say to you.

You’ll know when God speaks, and you’ll know the other voices, too. We know who’s speaking to us. We’ve eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know the difference. We know the difference between good and evil, and we have the same choice to make that Adam and Eve had to make. Are we going to listen to the voice of God, or are we going to listen to the voice of the serpent?

Every day we choose to live either by our flesh and the desires of the flesh or to live by the Spirit of God which brings peace and power and wisdom.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Follow Jesus to the cross right now. Cast your cares on him, because he cares for you.

Jesus came not to condemn the world but to set it free from the law of sin and death. He brings life and light. He is Jacob’s ladder to heaven. He is the door of heaven. He is the narrow way. The Spirit of God testifies with our spirit that Jesus is the only way no matter what the world says.

And we are called to follow Jesus no matter where He takes us. Follow Him. It’s not easy road that Jesus traveled. No, The Lamb of God was slain, and He tells us to be slain also. Die to yourself; live for God. Love not your life so much as to shrink even from death.

I’m studying the Revelation in Community Bible Study right now, and I see it over and over and over again in that last book of our bible. People choosing what is temporary over what is eternal. The world offers a lot right now, wealth, fame, education, entertainment, and sometimes even happiness.

Choose holiness. Choose the eternal. Choose God. He’s already chosen you.

Come to Jesus, right now. Listen to his voice calling you. Come. Come to me all you are weary, and I will give you rest. I am the bread of life. Take and eat of me and live forever. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Some of you may need to say to God, I’ve accepted your free gift of salvation, but I want more of you, God.

Some of you may be in the midst of a great trial yourselves and want to fall at the feet of Jesus and give it all to him.

So, I’m going to ask all of you to come and pray at this alter. As many as can, come and pray. Whatever God has laid on your heart today, tell him, talk to him. Pray to him and listen for his answer. I’m going to give you a few minutes alone with God at the alter, and then I’ll voice an audible prayer including a prayer of salvation to close us. So, come, pray at this alter right now.

Sometimes, I know it’s not easy to take that first step alone, so here’s what I want you to do, look to the person sitting next to you and say, I’ll go with you. I’ll go with you.

(Time of Silent Prayer)

Lord God, thank you for your presence here with us today. Thank you for loving us and sending your son to pay the penalty for our sins on the cross. We know that the penalty for sin is death and that Jesus died for us so that whether our bodies are asleep or awake we might live together with him. Let us not be content with the things of this world, but let us have a passion for what is to come. Let us be eagerly awaiting the day you come for us, Lord Jesus. Set our minds on things above not on earthly things, and give us peace that transcends all understanding, and we will rejoice in you, Father. Lord, I pray that if there are any here today who aren’t sure of their salvation, who have never accepted the atoning sacrifice of the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, that today will be the day they make their salvation sure. Pray with me right now: Lord, I know I am a sinner and all my righteousness is like filthy rags compared to you. I confess my sins before you and ask for forgiveness. I believe that you, Jesus, are the Son of God, that you bore the wrath of God upon yourself, and that you died and were raised on the third day. I pray to receive you as my Savior and my God. I pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the comforter, to help me abide in Christ always and that when I come to die, I will be with you forever. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, if you prayed with prayed that prayer with me just now, just look up at me for a second. Acknowledge Christ before men, and He will acknowledge you before His father. So, look up.

Know that this is just the beginning of your journey with Christ, and you’re going to need help. Get involved in church. Get involved in bible study. And never cease to praise Him. Praise guards your heart from losing its joy. Sing praises to him. Get some cd’s and sing in the car. And pray. You can’t establish a relationship with someone unless you spend time with them. Spend time with the Lord in prayer and reading the bible everyday. I would recommend getting to know the person of Jesus Christ first through the gospels. The Gospel of John would be a great starting point, and then I’d go on to Romans which is the most complete statement for the basis or foundation of our faith, a very important book of the bible.

Now, lift your head if you have determined today to listen for God’s voice and His leading in your life, that you will trust him no matter what life throws at you, and that you will walk the path that Christ lays for you knowing that life with Christ brings joy and peace but that sometimes it brings sorrow as well and when it does you are determined to endure it, to stand, and press on, running your race until it brings you to the gates of heaven.

That should be everybody…

Let’s commit together today to listen more, to not run aimlessly through life checking off boxes in a to do list, but stop and listen and look around for what God has for us, that we will be still more before the Lord and that we rest in the hope of his salvation.

God bless…

Seasons

2010-12-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

Just before Thanksgiving, I was driving along on a familiar stretch of road near my house and was captivated by the beauty around me. The colors I saw were bold and bright in their rustic and earthy tones as the leaves of the trees had morphed into what many believe is their most magnificent hue. I began to wonder about the season we call “The Fall” and how it so represents that infamous biblical event with the same name.

When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in the Garden of Eden, they “fell.” And, from what heights they did fall! They were created for relationship with God and with each other. They were created for eternity. But, our sovereign Lord knew the choice they would make and also what He would have to do to rectify their sin. God sent them out of Paradise into a world filled with thistles and thorns, with heavy labor and pain, but… not devoid of ALL that is good.

Even in this fallen world, we see beauty. It isn’t constant, and it is never perfect, but there are glimpses of Eden here and now. And, with every little glimpse of goodness and light, color and joy, the warmth of the sun or the crispness of fall, we see God. He reminds us everyday, “You’re not alone.” He screams it in the sunset, “I’m here!”

“I’m with you!”

“I love you.”

He sends us gifts like snow in winter to cover the nakedness of the leafless trees and lifeless fields making what is barren beautiful. God is good and mysterious and wonderful. I’ve sung about white Christmases all my life but never imagined that it might really happen here in Alabama, but it did. Life is so like that, unexpected. On Christmas Day in Alabama, it snowed. It didn’t cover the ground, and it was mixed with rain at times, but it snowed! The first snow in my 40 Christmases spent in Alabama. I wondered all day about it. Why is it snowing? What does it mean, God?

My Bronner had gone to heaven on the day of the first snow in Alabama in six years, January 19, 2008, and now it was snowing on Christmas Day 2010. Another friend of mine buried her adopted daughter on a snowy day in February 2009, and the snow comforts her. She has always seen it as symbolic of the purity, the innocence, and the goodness of her sweet Emme. Snow is never comforting to me. It’s beautiful to me, and as I have watched it fall, I have felt so many emotions from peace to melancholy to even joy.

I truly believe that everything matters, everything, and that God is speaking to us all the time and in every possible way. I, for one, want to listen. I want to know what God is saying to me through the snow mixed with rain. Maybe He was saying that the cold, dark days I’ve spent here on earth since Bronner’s been in heaven won’t last forever and that the many tears I’ve cried have all been kept in His bottle. Maybe He was saying that goodness and light can fall on a fallen earth and that something else is on the horizon, the dawning of a new day when tears will never fall and winter will not bring death.

God has a plan for redemption, for restoration, for life.

Fall becomes winter, and winter… becomes spring. And, spring brings life. If all was not lost in the fall, then all is not lost in winter either. The cold, dark winter of our souls bears a seed that in springtime will awaken. If fall represents the dying (and we all are, both fallen and dying) and winter represents death, spring is the resurrection of all that is good. Spring is life and brings life. And, we know that it is coming, so in that, we take comfort, and we bide the fall and the winter with the hopes of spring.

But, the seasons are not only for biding. There is a purpose for every season under heaven just as there is a season for every purpose under heaven. So many people say that fall is their favorite season, and rightly so in a way. It is the here and now. It is what we can see, feel, and touch. It is a reminder that all is not lost. There is so much to be thankful for in the fall. Here is the harvest, a time to bring in the crops, a time to work. Most of us aren’t farmers, but even in my little garden, I found that there is so much work to do when the “crops” come in. For instance, corn comes in all at once. You have to either eat it, dry it, or freeze it right away, because it doesn’t last long. Time is imperative with a crop like corn.

We must remember to work in fall, to help bring in the harvest for God, the harvest of souls searching for the seed to resurrect their spirits in springtime. Everyone wants to live. We were created that way. We were created for life, for God, for something each one of us knows deep inside is there… Eden, Paradise. We’ve never been there, but we remember it somehow. It’s deep within us, and all of us are searching for our way back. Some have found the way, the truth, and the life, and those who have, have to show the others. It’s required. It is not suggested, but commanded. But, even this is a gift.

What are we doing with the time God has given us to live here in “The Fall?” Are we bringing in the harvest of souls put before us? Are we praying for spring? Are we working as if time was of the essence? Are we reminded of God’s plan and purpose for man and the earth with each coming season? Do we take time to reflect on and ponder God’s goodness and grace?

Every night is dark, but every morning is the dawning of a new day! Everything in nature and in time testifies to the resurrection. As the caterpillar inches his way into his own tomb only to come out a new creature, more vibrant and beautiful than before, so will we. Just as dying brings death and winter brings the cold, Jesus brings life. Jesus walked out of that tomb on Easter morning. He was dead, and behold, He is alive forevermore, and He is making ALL THINGS NEW.

So, when springtime comes, dance, and when summer is here, rejoice! Work in the fall, and reflect in winter. It is all from the Lord, and He is perfect. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Drink in every new day with expectation, the expectation that God will speak, the expectation that there are gifts around every corner and that with every new year, there is growth within the Kingdom of God. Grow your gifts in this New Year, seek the holiness and mystery of God Almighty, and challenge yourself to see what could be. Spring will come. Let us prepare ourselves for it, for Him who is coming to revive our souls, to wipe away every tear, and to make all things new.

Happy New Year, my friends!

With love,

Sherri

Speech to Christian Women Job Corps (given Nov. 8, 2010)

2010-12-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hi, I’m Sherri Burgess, and I am thrilled and honored to be here in Huntsville today. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be upon us all.

Well, my story is story of hope. As a young girl, I remember looking up into the sky and wondering what life was all about. I had the same questions I’m sure many of you have had. “What am I doing here?” “Where are you, God?” “Why can’t I see you?” “Do you see me?” “Do you love me?”

I knew Jesus had died for my sins. I had heard that for as long as I could remember, but I didn’t understand why He had to die. Couldn’t God forgive us of our sins without having to crucify His son? And, a big question I had even as a young adult was “Is Jesus the only way? Would God really send all those other people to hell?”

See, I didn’t know God, so I didn’t understand Him, but thankfully, the bible tells us that if you seek God with all your heart, you will find him. All those questions I was asking weren’t stupid. They were good, because the bible also tells us that if anyone lacks understanding he should ask God. I can’t tell you how many times I prayed for wisdom. I wanted to know the answers, and I found them and I keep finding them… right here.

This Word is truth. It’s the only truth… and it is absolute. The God of the Bible is God. How do I know? Because, now, I know Him. I’ve talked with Him, and He has talked with me. He has given me of His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who searches and reveals all things.

Have you ever seen someone at a potter’s wheel when they have the wet clay and they start shaping with their hands something from the clay? Well, God is that for us. He molds and shapes us into what He wants us to be.

For a long time in my life, I think I just sat there on the wheel, this big lump of wet clay. The potter’s wheel may have been spinning, but God’s hand wasn’t upon me, so I was being made into nothing. And, I sat there a useless lump of clay for a long time.

But, then God’s hand touched me, and that lump of clay that was my life started to take shape. He smoothed out rough edges. He added vibrant color and precious gems, and anyone could see that what God was making was very beautiful. But God, in His infinite wisdom, looked at the vessel of clay he was making, and said, “I can do better.” So, he took all that he had been building and smashed it back down to the wheel. The life that had been was no more. It had been crushed, taken back down to nothing, but…

God’s hand gently touched the clay once more and He started sculpting something else, something very different from before… something sure, something useful, not quite as vibrant or beautiful anymore… just a humble pot filled with tears and marked with sorrow, but a pot who now knows who is doing the building in her life.

When you come face to face with death, you realize you have no power over it. You realize that you are in control of nothing and that God alone gives life or takes it. He is power. He is might. He is sovereign Lord above all things, and we… are clay in His hands. He does what He will among men. And once you realize and understand how great God is, then you’ll have gained a real jewel in your crown, humility. You’ll understand as Job did that naked you came from your mother’s womb, and naked you shall you return. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.

On that day when God took my baby, Bronner, I knew God, and I knew him to be good. I had tasted and had seen the Lord’s goodness. He had lifted me up out of darkness, out of the miry clay, into the light. I could see, and I knew where my help comes from. So, I ran to my Father, and that little girl in me came out again and asked those same questions I had asked so many years before.

“Where are you, God?” “Why can’t I see you?” “Do you see me?” “What am I doing here when my baby is there?” “Don’t you love me, God?”

And, He had to answer those questions all over again for me.

And He said, “I am on my throne, and you will see my face. I love you with an everlasting love. Those I love I discipline and reprove. I don’t give as the world gives. But, I bind up the brokenhearted and comfort all those who mourn. I give them a beautiful headdress instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

“Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

I said to God, “But, we were so happy. We were so happy, God.” And, He said, “But I want you to be holy, set apart for my good purposes.”

And, again, I said to God, “There is nothing worse than losing a child. Nothing! I know you lost your son, but you got him back after three days. Three days!” And He said, “But what about the others? All those I have to send away from my presence for eternity. Those who breathe the breath of life I have given them. They are all mine. You are going to get this glorious reunion with your son, but not all of my children will I see again except on that day when they rise only to die a second death.”

Then I understood from God’s perspective, and I had compassion for God. He loves each person and desires a relationship with us all. I could see that God saw fit to take away my happy life, for a time, so that some others of his flock could come home. I could also see that I was losing my life here on earth, so I could gain it for eternity.

Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Jesus is coming again. He’s coming for us. And, I believe that it’s soon. No man knows the hour or the day, but Jesus Himself said, “Behold, I am coming soon.” “Surely I am coming soon.” “I am coming soon.”

This is our great hope. Do you realize that? Our hope is in eternal life with God. If this is all there is, then we are to be pitied. But, it’s not all there is. It’s not. We do have hope.

Romans 8:24-25 say, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Does that mean we just sit around and wait for Jesus to appear in the clouds?

No… we are to be about our Father’s business until that day.

And, just as John the Baptist was a herald of his first coming making straight the way of the Lord and crying out for people to repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand, we should be shouting from the rooftops the same thing. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

If John the Baptist was a herald of his first coming, we who are His children now are to be heralds of his second coming.

John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Let us also say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Jesus is alive, and He is saying to us in this generation, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.”

Wake up from your slumber and behold the living God.

Behold Him, have him in your sights, and Trust Him no matter what life throws at you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. I have said that to myself over and over and over again. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and in all thy way acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

We’re all going to trials and tribulation in this world, but in this we rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, we have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of our faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

“And after we have suffered a little while,” the bible says, “the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.”

So, stand firm. Fight the good fight, run your race, and in the end you will be more than conquerors in the fight. You will win, if you do not give up, the crown of righteousness and gain eternal life.

What is not worth that? Nothing. I can endure. I can stand. I can because of Christ.

I say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet shall I hope in Him.” Even if He kills me, I will still hope in Him, because God is our only hope. We live in a world of hurt, of sickness, of pain, of turmoil and strife, but it won’t always like this.

The heroes of our faith from Hebrews Chapter 11, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joseph, Noah, all these died in faith, the bible says, not having received the things promised but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

John saw that city. He said, “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Jesus will make all things new. I will see my baby, Bronner, again. I will hold him in my arms, and I will raise him up on a perfect earth where there will be no sickness or pain or even sin.

And, when that happens all my suffering, all these days without Bronner, will fade into a distant memory as this slight momentary affliction will have prepared for me an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

And, since I know what’s coming, I have the strength to hold on until that day. I can endure this life, because I know in whom I have believed. And, not only can I endure it, I can be useful in it. I can be used of God. My son, Bronner, the baby, the one that brought us so much happiness was taken from us for this purpose, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, that all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That is our great hope, eternal life there with Him. Even though we die, we live. That’s the gospel. And I am ambassador in chains for it.

“And the rain fell, and floods came, and winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.”

Let’s pray:

“Father God, thank you for being with us today, and thank you for the hope we have in Jesus. I pray, Lord, that if there are any here today who don’t know that kind hope, that today will be the day they find it. Your word tells us to seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened unto you. It is my prayer that your Holy Spirit will convict each of us of our sin and that we will turn from it and seek a life fully devoted to you, Lord. Let us walk as children of Light and as heralds of Your return. We know that you are coming for us, and we welcome you, Lord Jesus. But, until that day comes, God bless our state and our nation in order that we may shine Your light to ends of the earth. In Jesus name, Amen.”

On Mission in China

2010-10-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

I recently received this e-mail from a family friend, Anne Marie Musgrove, a young woman who along with her husband, Chris, has chosen a life of service to the Lord. They are only home for a few months - long enough to have a baby. They plan to take his passport photo on the day he’s born, and when they receive it back (maybe four weeks more), they’ll return to China where they’ve been for the past two years working with college age students sharing the gospel of Christ.

Dear friends and family,

I wanted to share a snippet of my heart with you and two reasons why it is heavy this morning. I went walking a while ago, like many other mornings, which serves as a great time for me to think / process life / pray / etc. Towards the end of my walk, for some reason reality began to sink in for the first time of what is going to happen in a few short weeks. We are about to have a baby… and then shortly after take that new born on a 15 hour plane ride across the world. My mind kept playing scenarios of what the day is going to be like when me, Chris and Maddox say goodbye to our support system here and board the plane at the Birmingham airport… I got really sad. Not necessarily because I am afraid to take baby Maddox to China or that I don’t think that with God we can handle living in a 3^rd world country as first time parents with a new born. It was more of, hey this is gonna be so much harder than I have let myself admit, and now I’m admitting it. I felt so overwhelmed at that moment. As my train of thought was ending, I rounded the corner and as I looked up I saw an Asian mother with her little girl walking toward me. I began to weep uncontrollably. All at once I felt the weight of a lost nation desperate to hear about the saving power of Christ. It was like God put those two people in front of me to put everything in perspective… to remind me and reassure me of his calling in mine and Chris’s life, regardless of how uncomfortable or difficult it is or will be. This is what I want my life to be about… dying to myself and my ultimate comfort to bring others life.

I totally believe that the Lord is completely sufficient for our journey ahead. (and is even okay with me having occasional breakdowns…as he is faithful to remind me of truth.)

But, as tears kept coming I began to think about the magnitude of what has to happen for us to even be able to return to China – the place we feel that God has called us for the time being. How in the world are we going to raise almost $2000 more monthly in the next 2 months? To be honest, right now it seems impossible. BUT, I know that we serve a faithful King who provides for his children, and has provided for Chris and me for a long time.

I write this to you as my closest friends and family so that you would pray with us that in the next 2 months we would see our support come in and that we would continue to trust in God’s provision for us as we take Maddox to China.

Love,

Anne Marie

“This is what I want my life to be about… dying to myself…”

Let the words of this sweet 20-something-year-old girl and first time mom sit on your heart for just a minute.

“I totally believe that the Lord is completely sufficient for our journey ahead.”

I’ve been reading Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, lately, and in it Stearns reminds us over and over again that we are to be the hands and feet and mouth and heart and every other bodily part of Christ in this world.

Some will be called to far away places like Anne Marie and Chris, and some, like Rick and me, will be called to battle here at home, but I’ve seen what it’s like in some of these far away places. In Stearn’s book he tells the story of a woman named Margaret who was maimed during an attack on her village by rebel’s in Uganda. While they hacked Margaret’s friends to death with machetes, they let her live because she was pregnant, yet they cut off her nose, ears, and lips and left her to die. She lived and had her baby, James.

Stearns writes that for most of us, “There is nothing in our frame of reference that allows us to understand such brutality.” While that is true, there is something in my “frame of reference” that sees what Margaret may have looked like after that attack. I saw a woman in India at the Mother Teresa Center for Death and Dying who didn’t have a nose or eyes. When I first saw her, I thought maybe she had leprosy since that is still a common disease in India even though great strides have been made toward wiping it out. But, when we saw a baby on the subway whose face was mutilated, someone in our party explained that the baby had probably had acid thrown in his face by a jealous boyfriend or husband.

That made me think of the woman with no eyes or nose and wonder what had really happened to her. I have to say that I don’t agree with some of what is written in Stearns’ book. I think he writes from his own experience and from what he has seen. I believe he writes from his own heart, but I do agree with him that the church in America has to wake up and see their role in this world. We are blessed beyond measure. “Our cup runneth over.” I believe God has blessed us in this way in order to help others. If we can help someone else, why wouldn’t we? If we can share the gospel of Christ, why wouldn’t we? If we could give, isn’t that what we should do?

There is much suffering in this world. We all suffer, and we can’t compare suffering. My heart breaks everyday not only because of my own loss but also because I have seen real evil in this world. My heart breaks over the sin and suffering and pain not just in India or in China but also for the girl in Helena who has had her only child ripped from her arms. It’s overwhelming when you think about the fallen state of our world and what it could be and will be one day. The contrast is too great to really even comprehend, a world without evil, sin, or death… We’ve never seen that, but we will if we continue in faith, love, and holiness as we eagerly await our Savior. One day our faith will become sight, but it takes endurance and patience in order to wait that out. But, as we wait, let us not be idle, and when our Lord comes for us, let Him find us doing all that He has bid us do.

Let me blow your mind one more time. Think about this… In spite of all the pain and suffering that goes on in this world that none of us is immune to, God’s way is perfect. He does absolutely no wrong. All His ways are good and perfect and just.

So many ask, “How can a good God let this or that go on?” But, I say maybe the answer is… TO GIVE YOU A PURPOSE. If you see devastation and ask, "How can God… ?" maybe you need to ask yourself, "How can I… ?"

“Trust and obey,” the hymn says, “for there is no other way.”

God has made each of us for a purpose. Maybe the dying woman in India was made to receive my compassion, and I was made to give it. The giver nor the receiver is better in God’s eyes, but He has caused it to be so according to His will and His good purpose that we may never see, know, or understand.

I know a woman who adopted a little boy who had been so severely abused by his biological mother that he is paralyzed from the waist down. That happened in Mississippi. But, even in the life of this beautiful woman who took this handicapped boy into her life and heart and made him her own, life wasn’t perfect, and she was not immune to marital problems and even divorce.

Life here on earth stinks sometimes, and all of it weighs heavily on me at times. I don’t like it, but God has shown me that I must endure. I can’t leave my wall halfway built. I’ve got to keep building, climbing, reaching ever higher. It’s hard. The way of the Lord isn’t an easy one. When we choose to follow Christ, we follow Him wherever He takes us. He’s taking Anne Marie and Chris to China, and they are dependent on Him for everything.

But, if Christ lives in us… they are dependent on us.

If they are willing to go, then we should be willing to send them.

I’m asking you to join me in sending Anne Marie and Chris and little Maddox to China. Anne Marie and Chris work for an organization that requires them to be at full support before they leave. They will not allow them to go to China with their newborn unfunded, and they must raise their own support.

If you would like to be a part of spreading the good news of the gospel to the future leaders of China, please help Anne Marie and Chris raise the money they need to go back.

Here’s how:

Click on my blog link titled "Send Anne Marie and Chris Musgrove to China." This will take you straight to their giving page. Their names may not be on the page, but 0544888 is their staff account number which is what comes up. Anything given here will go into their staff account. When you click on "give a gift," it will take you to a page where you can type in the amount and whether you want to give one time, monthly, etc.

Thanks for caring, sending, loving, supporting, praying, giving, going…

But, most of all thank you for being in love with God and for answering His call to action. I know this has not been a first for you, and I know it will not be the last my dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.

I pray for compassion to continue to dwell in our hearts for all people and for God’s strength for the battle.

With love and hope and faith,

Sherri+

TEN - THE NUMBER OF WORLDLY COMPLETION

2010-10-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

It is made up of the sum of the World number, 4, and 6, the number of Man. It is probably based on the decimal system, suggested by the 10 digits of hands or feet. It was looked upon as a complete number and was used as such in the Ten Commandments. In the parable of the Ten Virgins it gives the legal number necessary for a Jewish function. In the Ten Toes of Nebuchadnezzar's Image and the Ten Horns of Daniel's "Fourth Beast," that point to the Ten Kings, or Kingdoms, typified by the Ten Horns of John's "Beast" (Revelation 17:3, 12), we see the summing up of Gentile power in Ten Federated Kingdoms, which will be the completion of worldly Gentile rule, and which will be destroyed by the "Stone Kingdom" of Christ. Then we have the Ten "pieces of silver" in the parable of the Lost Coin from Luke 15:8 and the Ten servants to whom were entrusted Ten pounds and one rewarded by being given authority over Ten cities (Luke 19:13,17) also the Ten plagues of Egypt and other uses of number Ten scattered through the Scriptures.

(taken from Dispensational Truth by Clarence Larkin, 1920)

I didn't notice when 7/7/7 (July 7, 2007) came and went, but now I know how significant that day was. We were wrapping up our beach vacation at Rosemary Beach. It would be the last time I would be there with Bronner. Sometime after Bronner went to heaven on January 19, 2008, we started noticing sevens as you may have read or heard about before. Each of his names, William Bronner Burgess, has seven letters for 777. His birthday was 5-27-2007, 777. He was the seventh member of our family. The last full year of his life was 2007, etc. Seven is the number of perfection, completion, fullness. God was showing us that Bronner's life was complete and perfect at 2 1/2 years, and now I believe that 7/7/7 marked the beginning of our last days with him. God had ordained his life. After trying unsuccessfully for about a year, I began to fast and pray for a child, and on the third day of my fast I realized I was pregnant. How's that for answered prayer? But, God had also ordained the day that He would bring him to Himself. So, I am determined not to let this day 10/10/10 pass without my notice. I do believe that we are living in the last days and that Christians everywhere should assume their role as heralds of Christ's return. As John the Baptist was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord," we should be crying the same thing. Let's cry aloud, "Prepare Your Hearts for the Lord." On this tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, let's set aside worldliness and determine ourselves to live lives holy and acceptable to the Lord. Let's be bold and ON FIRE!!! Let us cast off the lukewarmness of our generation and open the door to a knocking Savior who wants to rejuvenate and empower His people. Arise, church... awake from your slumber... YOUR KING IS COMING!!!

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations...

2010-09-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

This passage of scripture is among the most amazing, miraculous, and beautiful of all scriptures, yet it is so humbling at the same time. This passage of scripture not only gives us hope but also gives us purpose. To think that the old sinful self that was me is no longer, that it’s gone, passed away, and that who I am today is a completely new creature, pure, holy, and beautiful in the sight of the Lord is to think of God’s great mercy and grace. And, to think that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me, is to think of a love that surpasses comprehension. So undeserving are we of Christ’s beauty and grace, His great love, His sinlessness, His righteousness, yet He has freely given all these to us limitlessly.

But, maybe even more humbling than all of this, if that were possible, is the fact that those of us who have been reconciled to God through our faith in Jesus as Christ and Savior is the fact that we have now been given the responsibility to act on God’s behalf in the world. We are “ambassadors for Christ.” And, He has “entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Wow! God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation, God reconciling the world to Himself, and doing it through us! Us! Unbelievable! Not only am I awestruck by the trust God has given to me and to others like me who make it our aim to live for Christ, but I am also humbled at such a daunting task. Do you really trust ME, God, to deliver your message of hope and grace and love to the peoples of the world? I want to be found trustworthy. I want to be found faithful. I want to be found being about my Father’s business, my Father’s business.

A few week’s ago, a guest preacher spoke at our church’s Sunday morning service, and he greeted us in this way, “Good morning to all my Father’s children.” That statement in and of itself is so profound. When we begin to see God as our Father, someone to love, someone to share our hopes and dreams with, someone we know cares for us, someone we can trust, someone who knows us and loves us like no other, then we begin to really care about Him, too. We begin to care about the things He cares about. We begin to care about the people He cares about.

Most of my good friends have children. I may not know their children like they know them, but I know my friends, and I care about what they care about. If one of Susan or Julie or Linda’s children needed anything, anything at all, and I was able to give it to them, I would. It would bring me pleasure to do so, because I love my friends, and I know that my friends love their children more than almost anything at all. Their children are their treasure. Their children are their joy, and if one of them is in need, then their mother is in need.

This is so for God.

God called Abraham friend, and we are friends of God when we love, trust, and obey Him. We bring joy to the Lord when we are what He calls us to be… Ambassadors for Christ.

Lisa Ann Muir-Taylor is a woman I’m getting to know better and better all the time. She inspires me, because she is the Ambassador for Christ God has called her to be.

I know Lisa Ann because our children go to school together. Her daughter, Sophie, was in Brooks’ class the year he lost his little brother, Bronner. Lisa Ann came to the memorial service, and she heard the passionate cry of a man who knew he had lost his son because of the sin of the world. She heard the Holy Spirit take over as Rick began to speak words filled with urgency for the message of the Gospel of Christ. Rick gave statistics that day that revealed a church satisfied with itself, a church not on fire for sharing their faith but more like the Laodicean church written to in Revelation that God says He will spit out of His mouth for their lack of zeal.

Something in what the Holy Spirit cried that day through Rick’s words went straight to Lisa Anne’s heart, and she began to pray for God to use her. This former nurse asked, “How can I share my faith with a lost world?” And, she heard God’s answer to her. It was hard for her to believe, though. Was she hearing Him right?

“Are you serious, God?”

“Yes,” He confirmed. It was so clear.

Lisa Ann knew God was calling her to start a CLOTHING LINE! Crazy, yes, but true.

Lisa Ann is a mother. She has four children. Sophie is her youngest, so she knew what was out there for teens and young people. Some of these stores that target youth are offensive to even walk into for a person of God. The advertisements are selling one thing, sex, and the more provocative the better. That is just not okay for a 15-year-old girl.

Where is the Godly alternative?

There wasn’t one.

But there is now.

Nations Outfitters was the answer to Lisa Ann’s prayer, “What can I do, God?”

“This whole thing has been so God directed,” Lisa Ann said. “He has even given me the designs. I can see them. I know this is a vision from God, and I know this is what He wants me to do. I would have never thought of myself as a clothing designer, but I guess that’s what I am. It’s just amazing where God can lead you if you really listen.”

Lisa Ann says, “It’s what you do in your clothes that makes you beautiful.” Nations emphasizes inner beauty, a beauty that gets outside yourself and thinks about others. She wants to help teens and young people realize their worth and their true potential as children of God. “It’s a lot easier to get out there and help somebody than you might think,” Lisa Ann said.

She organized a Habitat for Humanity Day this summer where students from around Birmingham came and helped build a house for a family in the Wylam Oaks Community in Fairfield, and she hopes to continue to do more and more community projects. Go to her website at www.nationsoutfitters.com and you’ll see photos of high school and college students on mission trips, doing volunteer work, and giving of themselves. “That’s the kind of person we want to highlight,” said Lisa Ann.

To top off all of that, the clothes are awesome! They’re kind of funky and fun. There’s lots of color and movement. It’s the kind of clothing young people like to wear. It’s just a new a way of thinking about your clothes.

It’s not an in-your-face Christian clothing line. Everything is done subtly. The name, Nations Outfitters, comes from Matthew 28:19 which says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The logo, a descending dove, represents the Holy Spirit who helps us to do the right things of God, who comforts us in trial, and who strengthens us for battle. But, the best thing, to me, is that there’s a bible verse inside each garment. I’m wearing a Nations shirt today that has this verse pressed inside, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

Lisa Ann came to know the Lord as an adult. She was at a Rolling Stones concert when someone handed her a little slip of paper with this verse written on it, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; and Hebrews 13:5)

She wanted to know who it was who would never leave her nor forsake her and so began her journey in pursuit of the Lord.

"Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7)

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The word of God cuts through to our hearts, so, yes, one verse can make a difference in someone’s life. Lisa Ann hopes her clothes will be used to help expand God’s Kingdom directly through the truths shared in each article of clothing but also indirectly by highlighting good works and by enriching the lives of those students who have already begun their journey with Christ.

I remember when Lisa Ann first told me about this vision she had. It was about a year after Bronner had gone to heaven. We went to lunch, and this woman of action had already laid the groundwork for her new company. She had sketches of clothes for me to see. She had already hired someone to help her. She was getting ready to go to a fabric show. She had the name and the branding ready. She was well on her way. She told me she had waited to tell me until she knew for sure this thing was really going to happen.

But, she was very excited and wanted me to be excited too because she saw Nations as a part of Bronner’s legacy. She gave me a determined look and said almost sternly, “I want you to know this wouldn’t have happened without Bronner.”

I was at her house this week trying on the “Sherri Shirt” from the new fall line and gave her a picture of sweet Bronner. She wanted one for her office. She never really knew Bronner, but she knows that my sweet baby, God’s baby, is a bold pattern in the tapestry God is weaving through her life. And, I’m so glad. So many people told me after Bronner went to heaven that God had changed them through Bronner’s story, but with Lisa Ann there’s something a little more there. God has not only impacted her personally through precious Bronner and his story, but He has used him in Lisa Anne's life to begin a whole new ministry. There’s just something wonderful in that, and it makes a momma’s heart so glad to know that her child can be used of the Lord is so many unexpected ways.

So, I am Lisa Anne's biggest fan here on earth, but I know there are some bigger fans watching from above. And, I know Nations Outfitters is going to make a difference in this world for young people, because God is behind it. And, when we give God control of our lives, there's no limit to what He can do.

Allied Women

2010-08-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

In my last blog, I told you about a story in the bible in which a good king seeks God’s help and receives it. God says, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) I told you that I had noticed a pattern from the Old Testament of how Israel usually follows their king. If Israel has a good king, the people are good, but if they have a bad king, they follow his evil ways and go after other gods. There’s a lesson in this for us as Americans.

If we elect Godless leaders, then our nation will become Godless, but if we elect Godly leaders…

Someone has said, “So the laws go, so the culture goes.”

When Roe v. Wade legalized abortion…

When prayer was taken out of public schools…

America as a nation has been on a downward spiral away from God for a long time now. It certainly didn’t begin with the Obama Administration, but hopefully we have reached the climax with him and can turn the nation around and begin a march back toward our roots as a Christian nation.

Some friends of mine and I began praying during the last Presidential campaign not really believing what was happening. We prayed 2 Chronicles 7:14 a lot, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

I realized during that time that this verse was talking to me and my friends and others who are called by the name of Christ. “If MY people who are called by MY name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from THEIR wicked ways, then…”

American Christians, in general, aren’t on fire for the Lord. We’re weak in our faith and strong in the world. And, frankly, we’re too nice. Sometimes God requires a fight. Our apathy and our worldliness have gotten us where we are right now. It’s time for American Christians to be bold, to fight, and to put our working shoes on.

Another pattern I’ve noticed from the Old Testament is that when God makes a promise to Israel, it doesn't always happen right away, and many times it requires some effort on their part. Case in point, when God first gave Israel their promised land, it was inhabited. God had said it, so it was theirs, but they still had to fight for it. So, they marched into battle and won their land away from the wicked people who had lived there before them.

That's what we need to do, draw up a battle plan, bath it in prayer, and march into battle against the evil that is trying to destroy us.

Here’s what my friends and I did. First, we got ourselves educated about political issues. We have a conservative think tank here in Birmingham called the Alabama Policy Institute, so we met with its President, Gary Palmer, to talk about what we, as concerned citizens, could do. We learned that taking back our nation doesn’t begin with the White House, top to bottom, but rather with a more bottom up approach.

He advised us to work to develop a strong state government that could defend itself against big government ideology coming down from Washington. State government also feeds itself into the federal government. Governors become Presidents, and State Legislators become Congressmen. One of the big problems we have, Gary told us, is that good people are hard to come by. They just don’t want to get involved in politics. We need people to be willing to run for office. It’s icky out there, so I understand. But, in order to make the changes we need and want, then we’re going to have to put ourselves out there.

But, if you’re not ready to run for office yet, like me, there’s still so much that can be done. What we did was form an organization called Allied Women. We are a grassroots organization dedicated to changing the political landscape of Alabama in order that our home state can help change the political landscape of the nation. Our aim is to educate and to encourage activism. We have also set up a PAC in order to support candidates we feel reflect our conservative Christian views. We feel we can be the most effective in the November 2010 election by trying to overturn the Alabama State Senate.

Here’s why: Although Alabama ranks as the most conservative state in the nation, we rank 4^th in the nation for political corruption. There’s really something wrong with that. The people of Alabama are for the most part conservative Christians, but the people we elect aren’t always. There are some good politicians here. For example, Governor Bob Riley has served this state well over the past eight years and goes down in my book as the best Governor our state has seen in quite some time. First, he fought against illegal gambling in our state. He fought because no one else would. He stood alone on the front lines of the battle many times. He also organized a great team to bring new jobs to our state. His economic developer, Neal Wade, is ranked as the top state economic developer in the nation.

But, Riley’s type of forward thinking and active approach to governing isn’t the norm in Montgomery. Gambling money runs deep into the pockets of many in our State Capital as does money from special interests groups like A.E.A. And, money gets people elected for some reason. Believe it or not, advertising works.

The Allied Women PAC has identified some key races in the 2010 election that we’d like to help influence. Top on our list as a “got to go” guy is a State Senator from Cullman named Zeb Little. He’s the kind of person who helps Alabama get that #4 ranking in political corruption handed down by the United States Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. The ranking is based on the number of Alabama public officials who have been convicted of crimes. I personally have on file the newspaper article detailing Little’s D.U.I. He was arrested April 4, 2009 for driving under the influence, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, violation of the open container law, and driving with an expired license.

One of my good friends’ brother-in-law is still recovering from a coma one year after he was hit by a drunk driver. A couple who came to Date Night at the Grand, a marriage retreat Rick and I spoke at last month, told us they had lost their 18-month-old daughter due to a drunk driver. Then, there’s Siran Stacy whose wife and four of his children were killed by a drunk driver. We could go on and on and on about drunk driving… We all know this is bad. But, it’s not just that Zeb Little has been convicted of a DUI that Allied Women would like to see him de-seated.

We want to see Alabama State Senate seats filled with people who will fight for truth and transparency in government, who really care about the future of our state and our nation, people who stand for the conservative Christian values that we believe in, who aren’t controlled by special interests groups like A.E.A and those who want to see Alabama become a new Nevada. We hope to put through candidates to the Senate who will protect and preserve what is good about our state and will move it forward in an ethical and honest way.

One issue we are particularly concerned about is gambling. Here’s why… There is really no end to the money these people have to target our state, and once they’ve got us, they rule us. What I mean by that is that one of the biggest things you have to worry about when you legalize gambling is corruption in government. They start buying people off, buying votes, making things go well for themselves. This is what I mean by special interest. If a politician is concerned about what the guy over at Country Crossings wants him to do then his judgment can become skewed and he no longer has the best interest of his constituents as a whole in mind.

And, what do I mean by transparency in government? Well, take PAC-to-PAC transfers, which are currently legal in our state despite the fact that a bill to ban them has been put through the Alabama State House of Representatives for years now only to get torn apart in the State Senate, for example. Currently, one PAC can give to another then to another and then somewhere along the line the candidate will receive a donation. Following the money trail here in Alabama is almost impossible with that kind of behavior going on. The candidate will surely be informed of who is giving him or her the money, but John Q. Public will never know who the candidates he’s voting for are beholden to. This is one of the reasons it’s so important to overturn our liberal majority Senate in this November election, so it will stop stifling ethics legislation that could help Alabama turn around that #4 in political corruption problem we have here.

For these reasons the Allied Women PAC has identified 10 candidates for the Alabama State Senate we hope to support and elect come November. They are:

Paul Bussman (against Zeb Little) in District 4 which includes Cullman, Lawrence, & Winston Counties
Clay Scofield (against Tim Mitchell) in District 9 - Blount, Madison, & Marshall Counties
Gerald Allen (against Phil Poole) in District 21 - Hale, Pickens, & Tuscaloosa Counties
George Flowers (against Harri Anne Smith and Jennifer Adams) in District 29 including Dale, Geneva, & Houston Counties
Paul Sanford (against Jeff Enfinger) District 7 - Madison County
Bryan Taylor, Goveror Riley’s Policy Director (against Wendell Mitchell) in District 30 in Autauga, Butler, Crenshaw, & Elmore Counties
Tom Whatley (against Ted Little) in District 27 – Lee, Russell, & Tallapoosa Counties
Danny Joyner (against Marc Keahey) in District 22 which includes portions of Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, & Washington Counties.
Phil Williams (against Larry Means) District 10 - Cherokee & Etowah Counties
Greg Reed (against Brett Wadsworth) in District 5 - Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker & Winston Counties

We would sure like your help in this.

Allied Women is hosting a Nuts & Bolts Workshop on August 28^th from 9 a.m. until noon at Cahaba Grand Conference Center on Highway 280 in Birmingham. We’ve partnered with American Majority, Eagle Forum, and Alabama Policy Institute to bring you up to speed on everything you can do to make a difference now.

Lamentations

2010-08-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

I was driving through a quiet neighborhood in my community today on my way to pick up my boys from a little summer camp they were doing at a friend’s house when something caught my eye…

Old Glory, The Stars and Stripes herself.

It was a one of those surreal moments that seemed almost in slow motion, and it brought tears to my eyes. It was just a normal size flag someone had mounted onto a tree in their front yard, but it wasn’t faded, torn, or tattered the way so many are. Its colors were vibrant and majestic, and the flag swayed ever so gently in the summer breeze.

As I drove the 25 miles per hour demanded on this little road, I passed by quaint houses in rows on either side of me. There was little activity going on since it was midday neither were there many other cars on the road. I began to think about the people who live in those houses. I wondered about their lives and how they had come to live in that quiet and picturesque neighborhood. And, then I began to wonder if their lives were about to change. I had an e-mail I had received earlier this week on my mind.

Here’s what the e-mail had said:

Subject: Chilling News From Ohio

Just thought I would share with you a little bit of what we heard at last night's Republican dinner here in Crawford County, Ohio. John Kasich (running for Gov. of Ohio) was the keynote speaker. Also present were many politicians, most notably, Bob Latta, our U.S. Congressman.

Mike and I walked up to Bob and thanked him for his conservative voting record and voiced our concern about what is going on in Washington. He made some funny botox remarks about Pelosi and then agreed with us that we have every reason to be concerned. As there were others waiting to talk to him, our time was brief, but what took place later that evening should make chills run up and down everyone's spine to hear.

The congressman had asked to speak a few words at the end of the night. Latta went up on stage and proceeded to tell the crowd how bad things really are in Washington. He said he only had a few minutes to speak, but if he could tell us even half of what the agenda is and what this administration plans to do to our country we couldn't sleep at night. He said he only gets about 4 to 4 1/2 hours of sleep a night and worries constantly about what they want to do to this country. He said that Pelosi, Reid and Obama have to be stopped.

This was his quote, "You know, you always hear this is the most important election blah blah blah, but I am telling you people...whatever you have to do to wake people up you need to do! We have got to vote them out in 2010 or with the things they have planned for this country we won't even be a country by 2020.”

Ten years! You could see the look of almost desperation on his face. He talked about the huge debt. He talked about how the CBO gets their "figures". He sits on a finance committee of some sort and listens to the ramblings of Geitner and Bernanke. He said, "If you think that the Chinese won't hold this over us with all our debt you have another thought coming. Our children will have nothing. I don't care if you have to go out door to door, tell at least 10 people who will then tell 10 people. We have to do this. This is the single most important election ever in the history of this country. The change that Obama promised us is NOT the change people thought he meant."

Chilling.

Chilling indeed. It’s all eerily reminiscent of the story in the Bible of the nation of Israel being carried off into Babylon as captives. Ever read Lamentations? It’s a book of the Bible written by Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. He wept for good reason. What he saw happen to his beloved country staggered his imagination.

Jeremiah begins lamenting over Israel like this, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.” (Lamentations 1:1)

The prophet mourns over his country like this, “(God) has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.” (Lamentations 3:4-6) He goes on to say in verse 17 that he has forgotten what happiness is.

“But this I call to mind,” says the prophet, “and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:21-25)

I’m reading through the bible with Brooks and Brody this year using a daily bible that includes a reading for each day of the year. Everyday, we read something from the Old Testament, something from the New Testament, and something from the Psalms and Proverbs.

I’ve noticed a pattern. When Israel has an evil king, the whole nation, besides a few, always turns away from God, but when Israel has a good king, they turn back to God. When they are seeking God, they find Him, and He lifts them up and blesses them. But, when they turn their backs on God and begin to worship idols and worthless things, God’s favor is taken away. When God is with Israel, they win battles. When God is not with Israel, they lose and sometimes even become slaves.

We can read about one of the good kings in 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20. The king’s name is Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea.” Jehoshaphat was afraid, the bible says, so he set his face to seek the Lord. The king proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, and all the people assembled together to seek help from the Lord.

Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, and prayed this prayer:

“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and who they avoided and did not destroy—behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Then the word of the Lord came to the people and was spoken by Jahaziel who stood in the midst of the assembly, “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”

The king, Jehoshaphat, told all of Judah and Jerusalem, “Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established.” He appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army saying, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir causing them to fight against each other. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and they were all destroyed. Not one of them had escaped.

“And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”

Let us Americans use this model given to us by God in His word of the good king Jehoshaphat and all of Judah who set their faces to seek the Lord keeping their eyes on Him and knowing that they were powerless without His help. Let's trust the Lord for our own salvation and give Him thanks and praise for what He will do for our nation when we believe in and honor Him.

To Be or To Do? That is the Question.

2010-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

I ran into a group of girls yesterday at the nail salon who had met each other at a Christian camp for girls in the Carolinas a few years ago and had become friends. The camp took up five weeks of their summer. It had been a good five weeks when they were there, but the girls’ summers had gotten too full to do the camp again. They were opting to go visit in the homes of each girl one week every summer instead. Last year, they spent a week with one of the girls in California, and this year, they are in Birmingham.

I was sitting next to a girl from Mississippi who was telling me their story. She had said they were having trouble finding things to do in Birmingham. Their host had even told them, “There’s really nothing to do in Birmingham.” I told her they should try to get golden tickets seats at the Rick and Bubba Show. She, having no idea that I was Rick’s wife, said, “I’ve heard of that.” I also told her to go see Vulcan, it being the second largest statue in the United States and the largest cast iron sculpture in the world. “Try a hike or canoeing at Oak Mountain State Park,” I said.

But, after I left the girls, I thought, “Birmingham really is more about being than doing.” I’ve heard this complaint before, “There’s nothing to do in Birmingham.” I live here in Birmingham, and I’m doing something ALL THE TIME, so there must be something to do here. But, the city really is more of a living city than a visiting city. If I were going on vacation and I lived somewhere else, I don’t think I would pick Birmingham either. We’re not a flashy town except I guess for Vulcan, but we are a vibrant, healthy city filled with families going to school and church and playing ball. We’re a community, not a destination.

I thought about Brandi and her friends when she comes home from school in Philadelphia. She and “The Tribe,” as they call themselves, like to go out to eat lunch or dinner together, shop, go see movies, but mostly they like to just “hang.” You know, just hang out together and talk and catch up on all the happenings at their various college campuses.

I have a friend who used to live in San Antonio and has lived in other parts of the country as well. She said it really was culture shock to come to Birmingham. They used to take their out of town friends down to the River Walk and the Rodeo and to Six Flags and to Sea World San Antonio and Splashtown, but when they moved here, they were like, “You want to go to a movie?”

I told her, “Well, when Rick and I want to do something with friends, we normally just invite them over for dinner. We eat and talk and have coffee while the kids play.” We really are homebodies, and I guess that’s the way we like it. I say all that in the midst of a summer vacation for my boys that has included a trip to the beach, Vacation Bible School, an Auburn football camp, the first day of guitar lessons, and a speed and agility camp at the high school they’ll be attending in a few years, and they’ve only been out of school for TWO WEEKS!!!

We do “do” a lot, but our favorite times are when we’re just together maybe at the farm fishing or picking blackberries or at home for family movie night with a bowl of popcorn to share, playing games together, or going for a bike ride or for a swim. Being together is the most important thing no matter what we’re “doing.”

I wonder how those girls will do this week. I suspect they’ll do just fine. They sure looked like they were having fun just getting their nails done together, but my prayer is that this week they will just be, be together, be friends, be kind, be light in a dark world, be Christ. They did meet at a Christian camp for girls. And, I hope they find that being is always better than doing. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

This summer, I hope to find time to be still before the Lord, to rest, to rebuild, to rejuvenate, and get ready for more kingdom work. I’m just as guilty as everyone else in the busyness category. We’re all always worried about what we are going to do when we really should be more concerned with who we will be. My prayer for us all, especially those of us here in Alabama where I believe there are almost as many churches as in the entire Northeast, is that we will be light in a dark world and in an ever-increasing dark nation. Don’t let the light be darkened. But, let the light shine in the darkness piercing it and eliminating it.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-21)

Just being…

Sherri+

Brooks & Brody on the Farm

2010-06-16T09:10:00.001-07:00

Bronner's Birthday Blue Dasher

2010-06-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

This baby blue dragonfly greeted us as we arrived at Bronner's grave on his birthday. I had already dropped the flowers by that morning, and the whole family went together later. When we arrived, we saw this beautiful blue dasher who had lit right on Bronner's flowers. The baby blue also lit on the balloons we were planning to release that day. I had dropped off seven balloons that morning, because that's how many people would be there, Rick, me, Brandi, Brooks, Brody, Nana, & Pop. Blake was meeting us at the beach later. But, when we arrived one of the balloons had popped just like before when we were releasing them following Brody's baptism in the pool. When we released the balloons, I knew why. There were only six balloons to fly into the sky that day, and as I watched the six of them fly away, I thought about the rest of us left here, Bronner's family, his mom and dad and brothers and sister. We'll fly away to him one day, but our seventh member, our baby blue, is already there. Our seventh member has already flown away, and, as King David said, he shall not return to us, but we WILL go to him.

Bronner was born this day in 2005

2010-05-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

Today is my baby's birthday, May 27. He would be five today. I'm not really sure how old he is in heaven. I think he's probably still two. I hope so. I have this dream of raising him up on the new earth, Rick and I together with our little Bronner.

We wanted to do something really special to honor Bronner today, and I believe we have. The video we've posted today not only honors our sweet baby, but I see it as a sermon in and of itself.

(Click here to watch: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1495122219857&ref=mf )

We had a beautiful baby boy, and we loved him with everything we are. He was taken from us. We praise God anyway. We suffer as Christ suffered, and we are assured of an eternity not only with Bronner but with Christ Himself. Jesus has promised us life everlasting if we put our faith and trust in Him. Our faith not only sustains us and comforts us but empowers us to testify to the goodness and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know Him in a much deeper and more intimate way than we did before our suffering. We have been tried in the furnace of affliction, and as Job said of Himself, "We will come forth as gold." We can never be what God desires us to be without being humbled under the mighty hand of the Father, but... in this we rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, we have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of our faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

And after we have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. (1 Peter 5:10)

Death has no victory here. Our Bronner lives just as our Lord lives!

Happy Birthday, baby. Mommy and Daddy will be there soon and very soon.

Freeset Bible Study

2010-05-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of my trip to India was the great privilege and honor of being able to lead the morning devotion time for the women of Freeset. As I spoke to the women through an interpreter I saw at times sympathy in their eyes. They were connecting with me and were getting what I was saying. I was overwhelmed by God’s grace and goodness toward me. He has shown me His great love and trust. He called me to women even before I lost my sweet Bronner, and since my little one has been in heaven I have spoken to numerous women’s groups here in Alabama and Georgia. But, to be able to give a talk to women on the opposite side of the globe was just not on my radar, but it was amazing. I am so very thankful to God for that opportunity. I basically said to them the same things I say here just in a little more condensed and simplified version. Plus, I wanted to give them the courage to stand up against evil. There seems to be a prevailing fear of the gods there in Calcutta especially of Kali, the god of death and destruction. I wanted them to understand that one day death will be no more, that this world is not our home, and that one day all of our suffering will cease IF we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Here is what I said on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. to 150 Bengali speaking Indian women:

Good Morning, friends. It has been so good to be with you this week. We, Americans, came here from very far away because of our great love for Jesus, and because you are his children, we love you, too. God created each and every one of you. He is the one who knit you together in your mother’s womb. He knows your name, and even knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows your every thought, and He cares about you. He knows every tear you’ve ever cried, and one day He will wipe them all away.

I have a little baby who is in heaven with Jesus. I was very sad when he died. He was two years old and very beautiful, but God comforted me in my grief and spoke tenderly to me. I was very happy before my baby died, but God spoke to my heart and told me that happiness isn’t as important as holiness. He wanted me to be holy like him, set apart for the good He could do in this world through me.

He told me to rise up and stand on my feet. He was going to send me into the world to teach about Jesus. He wants all people to turn from darkness into the light. He wants the world to know that evil will not always be so they will be brave enough to stand up against it. Jesus is more powerful than any evil. Even his name is more powerful. We say the name of Jesus to cast out darkness. He is that mighty.

There is evil in the world today, but it will not always be here. God, the maker of heaven and earth, will cast out all evil spirits and all those who follow them. And death will be no more.

One of Jesus’ apostles was given a vision of that time. John said in Revelation, Chapter 21:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.”

There is coming a day when everything will be made new and good and clean, and there will be no more death or dying or evil or sin. But, only those who worship the one true God will be there. We must accept Jesus in order to live forever on that beautiful new earth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the father except by me.” Jesus paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross for us. He shed his blood for you, because He loves you very, very much. And He grants to you eternal life forever in his presence.

And, if he loves you that much, you can trust him, even when bad things happen. Our bible tells us all things work together for good for those who love God, even the bad things. We can endure any hardship, difficulty, or pain because we know that our life here on earth is only a short time, and then we go to be with Jesus where he is, and after some time in heaven, God will make the earth new again, and we will live here with him forever.

So, trust and believe in God. Don’t rely on your own understanding, but wholly lean on Jesus and his teaching in the bible. He will lead you down right paths. He has already led you here. He has given you this job, and he will give you so much more if you wait with patience for it. He is good and will do good to you.

Wrapping It All Up

2010-05-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 7, 2010

It’s Friday here in Kolkata, and we are about to leave for the airport. There has been so much happen since I last blogged. We just spent the morning at Freeset. I sat and worked with the same group of women all week, so I feel like I’ve made some new friends. Annapuna, Rina, Anjolie, Joshna, and Pritty are my newest pals. I will never forget them. They “tell” me today, “You come back. Bring husband, children.”

Annapuna is only one year older than Brandi. She spoke the best English in the group, so I guess I got to know her the best. She was absolutely beautiful, inside and out, and I am so happy that she has a productive job right in the middle of the largest red light district in India. When I left today, we hugged many times and kissed each other on both cheeks. I told her she is beautiful, and she said, “You too.” I am sad to leave, but I am so looking forward to seeing Rick and the kids. I heard Brody was a smash hit in his church play. I can’t wait to see the video of it.

But, leaving this place is harder than I expected. There’s just so much work to be done in Calcutta (Kolkata), India. I met and prayed with so many people this week, and I have felt used of the Lord. It hasn’t been an easy week, but it has been a productive one. Eyes have been opened, mine especially, and I hope that my life leads me back to these kind and beautiful people one day.

Friday, May 14, 2010

I’ve been home for several days now, and I am still not feeling back to normal. Our group decided that we had thought that jetlag was something people made up, but we stand corrected. I’m a little better now, but sitting down at this computer to try to wrap up my thoughts on India was difficult since I felt like I was spinning every time I would begin. And for all that caution at not getting parasites in India, wouldn’t you know that it would be when I got home that I would catch a stomach bug? Brody had first caught it at school while I was in India. Then, Rick got it and passed it to Brooks. Brooks was still feeling bad when I got home, so I caught it from him. So, getting back to normal is something that has eluded me as of yet, but maybe I’m not supposed to get back to “normal.” Someone posted a comment on my last blog entry that included Psalm 119:37, “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.”

On the flight home I watched a few movies, and yesterday when I was too weak to do much of anything because of the stomach virus I had caught I looked at a Far Side book of Rick’s we had picked up at the beach one year, a pretty worthless thing I guess. I hadn’t watched anything on the way to India but mainly read and studied my bible in preparation for the mission I had been called to, but we were so emotionally drained on the flights home that we just wanted to watch a few funny movies to lighten our mood. In light of that verse, however; I’m not sure that was the right thing. People talk of spiritual highs and lows. I don’t want to “come down” from my spiritual high. I want to remember and process what occurred in India, and I want to continue to be led by the Spirit to things and places unseen.

But, if it has been hard to describe what I saw in India, it would be even more difficult to describe the elation I felt as I was driving down Indian Crest Drive on my way home with all the green trees and green grass and everything so clean and beautiful. It was like a dream. The contrast from where I had been and where I was going was stark and drastic and surreal. When the church van dropped me in front of my beautiful, clean, and well landscaped home, I just couldn’t believe it. I felt relief and excitement and just plain gladness of spirit. I was so happy to see Rick. I felt so appreciative for him and the way he holds me in such high esteem. That is just not how it is in Calcutta and probably not in all of India. Women aren’t valued around the world the way they are here in America. My husband values and cherishes me, and his friends treat me with respect. I am not made to feel second-class. I have worth. I wonder how many Indian women have that.

I told Rick that in light of all I’ve seen and heard that I realize that he is unmistakably one of the great men of the world in this generation. I believe that with all my heart. I didn’t get to see Brooks and Brody until the next morning as we arrived in the middle of the night on Saturday night, but I was there for Mother’s Day!!! And, I couldn’t get enough hugs.

“Mom, you were gone for so long,” Brody said.

“We missed you so much,” Brooks said.

Our reunion was so sweet. I snuggled up my boys and was just so, so, so glad to be with them. After only ten days away from them, holding them in my arms again was so wonderful. To be separated from the ones you love for any amount of time is hard, but the coming home is almost worth it. I remember when Brooks and Brody were just little guys, Brooks only about two or three, my parents keeping them for a weekend. I can’t remember where Rick and I had gone, but my dad said after watching me love my little ones so much, “It kind of makes you want to leave just to come home again.” That’s just how good it feels, so I cannot even begin to imagine what my reunion with Bronner will be like. I’ve been separated from him for over two years now, and there’s really no telling how many more years I will continue to be so. So, if coming home to Rick and Brooks and Brody was as sweet and glad as it was after just ten days, I can’t begin to imagine how wonderful it will be when I see Bronner again. I hope it will be then as my dad described those many years ago, a reunion so sweet that the separation will be almost worth it.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

While my life here in Birmingham, Alabama has certainly not been one without difficulty or pain or trial and even heartbreak, as you know, the living conditions are overwhelmingly better than those in Calcutta, India. Even in the midst of great trial, I experienced both beauty and comfort, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and the peace of God filled my spirit having been given the knowledge of the purpose of my suffering.

Early Thursday morning in Calcutta, Freeset Founder Kerry Hilton took all of us on a walking tour around his community and down by the Hooghly River, a sacred river for the Hindu religion. There were gods everywhere along that street, some set up in a little temple where they could be worshiped and given gifts and others discarded or laid in trash heaps after being sunk in the river. I don’t know how they know, but when a god leaves an idol, they sink it in the river as it is of no longer use. I saw children playing on some of the discarded idols. There were people bathing in the river and living in little huts along its bank. We saw some business going on. For instance, some men were unloading hay that had been brought there by boat. There was some other cargo being hauled from the river into the city. We saw mortar and garlic and rice. This is the day we stopped to have chai on the street in what Kerry called a teahouse but what was really not much more than a little shack. Many of the businesses we saw had a back wall and maybe a sidewall and a roof but no front so that it was open to the street. This walk was where we saw some of the strangest sites of the whole week. I still can’t understand how people can just lay around in the street. Yes, there’s overpopulation and not enough housing, but my goodness, I wish they could do something besides just lay there in all that filth.

On this morning, I saw a grown man lying flat on his back on the side of the street with a shirt on and nothing else. He was completely exposed. Apparently that didn’t bother him a lick, because he was sound asleep. It was utterly unbelievable, but I am beginning to believe. We saw things this week that made us all weep. I think I saw each person in our mission team cry this week. We were emotionally assaulted. It was horrible. I looked along that road by the Hooghly River with all its idols, trash, poverty, and squalor and was struck by the thought that the difference in Calcutta, India and Birmingham, Alabama, the only difference, is Jesus. Jesus is the difference. We know and love God, and they worship what is no god. They know not what is good, but it has been revealed to us. Our ancestors fought and died in order that they and their descendents could worship the only true king, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And, since we have been given the knowledge of truth, it is our duty and our privilege to take it to places like Kolkata.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

We had visited some of the other ministries and businesses trying to lift these impoverished people up out of their blindedness like Freeset was doing. There were several like the one who had hired women to make journals and cards from old saris. They were beautiful. I love my journal I bought from them. Another was a daycare for children whose parent or parents had AIDS. Grandma’s is an organization started in Ireland to help families affected by the disease. The woman who started this facility had worked with Grandma’s there for several years before being led to Sonogacchi. Her building was painted white and had baby blue banisters and even had a tree! We went on top of the building and looked out at its neighboring structures. It was like an oasis in the middle of a dry desert, a place of light in the middle of great darkness.

This was not my favorite place simply because I was thrust in the middle of a bunch of children Bronner’s age. I was assigned a little boy just his age and was told to help him cut out his Mother’s Day card. When Sumit (Soo-mitt) was finished with his cutting exercise, he pulled out some wooden puzzles and started playing with them. I was there by his side offering encouragement, but it was so hard for me. I remember so distinctly being in Bronner’s room with him and the two of us playing with wooden puzzles. These two years I’ve tried to avoid preschoolers. It’s just too difficult for me. But, here I was at a preschool even though it was such a good thing and the circumstances very different from a regular preschool it was a preschool nonetheless, and my heart had not been prepared for that. But, it was good. I made it through even if I couldn’t hold back my tears.

And, I’m so glad I met the sweet young woman who founded this facility. Emma said she had a vision of Jesus walking through the streets of Calcutta lifting one by one by one up out of the pit of destruction and despair unto Himself. Emma was the one who told us that Calcutta had been named for a god named Kali who reigns here. I asked her what it was, and she said, “Death and Destruction.” That made a lot of sense. Calcutta definitely fits that description. If we were to paint a picture of what we saw in most of Calcutta, India, Death and Destruction would be an apt title for the painting. But, again, in the sea of all that fear and despair, the light of Jesus flickered in various places, and I hope Emma's "picture" of Calcutta visualizes as Jesus walks those streets picking up one by one by one.

I pray for the little baby we saw sitting on a mat outside the BMS where we were staying who as we walked by held out his hand. This baby couldn’t have been more than one year old, maybe less. He didn’t appear to be walking yet, but he had already been taught to beg. I pray for the little children who walked around naked making the streets their home. I pray for Sumit and all the children at Grandma’s and for Annapuna and the rest of the girls at Freeset. I pray for their safety and for their continued growth. I pray for the little boy who came up to the window of our taxi asking for a handout who knew the words to "Jesus Loves Me." I pray for Namun (Na-moon) at the Mother Teresa Center for Death and Dying, and I pray for all in Calcutta to hear the great name of Jesus.

Aside from the spiritual depravity there in Calcutta, with their archaic religious beliefs, I learned there is a societal reason for all the poverty there. I sat by an Indian man on the plane from Mubaii (formerly Bombay) to Istanbul, Turkey who was well dressed and friendly. He asked me where I had been in India, and when I told him, he said, “Oh, you need to see the rest of India. Calcutta isn’t an indication of what India is really like.” He seemed almost ashamed of it. I asked him why Calcutta is so different from the rest of India, and he said that it began with labor unions and strikes. He said the environment became so hostile toward industry that they all left. The city’s government is socialist, he said, whereas the rest of the country is not. Calcutta is one of the world’s largest cities with more than 15 million people living there, but the government doesn’t seem to be doing anything to help them. I saw no visual signs of a sanitation department anywhere, and given the many pickpocketers that by the way were successful with one woman in our party law enforcement is lackluster at best.

Raj, the man on the plane, told me that the new Nano car that is sure to be a sought after automobile in India given its low price of only about $2000 had tried in recent years to set up a plant there in Calcutta because of its high population of jobless people. He said that the government had been so hard to work with that Nano gave up their idea of setting up a plant in Calcutta and went to the Western part of the country instead. Raj told me the rest of India is primarily progressive and the way he described the two predominant political parties there sounded very much like our Republican Party.

Kolkata is located in the Indian state of West Bengal which is the world’s longest running democratically elected Communist run government. Raj believes the reason is that the government swoops in during election and gives hand-outs for votes enslaving the people to their rule. I happened to meet Sarah Palin on Tuesday night as she was in town to speak at a fundraiser for Rainbow Omega, a group home for adults with developmental disabilities. I told her that I had just returned home from Calcutta, one of the poorest cities in the world, and that its government is socialist. She said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if more people made that connection?”

As Brooks would say... true that.

Raj also said that Calcutta, as he still called it, is “very conservative.” I knew what he meant by that. He meant that they are still very religious, and I got a picture in my head of the scene down by the Hooghly River with all its idols and gods. Yes, there’s a governmental problem in Calcutta, but there’s an even worse spiritual depravity. I would love to see Calcutta come to the Lord, rid itself of its idols and the Communist party, clean itself up, and rise to a better standard of living. I know this world is not our real home and that heaven is where our citizenship is. And, I am well aware that suffering isn’t for naught, but for my friends in India, I can hope for a little peace and a little beauty even here in this fallen, fallen world.

Images From Calcutta, India

2010-05-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

Getting Settled In

2010-05-07T01:49:00.000-07:00

Tues. / May 4

Today was such a good day. We felt like we were really on a mission trip today. After working at the Mother Teresa Center for Death and Dying, we went back to Freeset. But, today, we actually worked there. Yesterday was just meeting and touring. Today, we sat down and worked just like the women who work there do every day. I sat in the middle of about four women who found me the funniest thing they had ever seen. I was such an oddity. They could speak a little English since the people who founded and run Freeset are from New Zealand, an English speaking country. So, we could communicate surprisingly well. We were measuring and cutting strips of old saris to be sewn onto the bags they make there, just one step in the process.

They taught me a little Bengali. I can count to ten in Bengali, sort of. But, the best thing I learned was that the way they nod their heads for “yes” and “no” is different from our way of doing it. For “yes” it’s a slight tilt of the head to the right; for “no,” it’s right then left, not back and forth like we do it. It kind of looks like a bobble head toy. I’m learning that Indians really have a sense of humor, and they are very affectionate. They are very touchy-feely. They really are sweet once you get to know them. My first impression of India was horrific poverty and overwhelming needs. I still feel that way, but I’m seeing that there is much more to it than that.

The women I was sitting with, Annapuna (I know that’s spelled right, because she wrote it for me), Josna, Rina, and Anjolie (or at least that’s what it sounded like) were fascinated by my wedding band and my cross necklace. They had never seen diamonds before. Annapuna said she wants a diamond. They giggled about that. I told her that men in America give their wives diamonds to show love. She took her nose ring out and said her husband gave it to her as a wedding gift. They were singing, so I said, “I sing for you.” I sang “You are My Sunshine,” and they thought that was too short. So, I sang all four stanza’s of Amazing Grace, not the Chris Thomlin version, but the one I learned growing up, and that just caused a huge commotion. Everyone on that floor wanted to hear. They sing there in the mornings, but they sing in Bengali. So, I’m not sure how much singing they’ve heard in English.

They wanted to know all about me, my kids, my husband. They knew what radio was, so they were very, very impressed that my husband is on the radio. They were really so much fun to be around. I loved being with them. I tried to keep it light tonight (we worked to 7:00), so they could just get to know me. I am hoping I’ll get to lead their morning devotion one of these mornings. That was kind of the plan before we left, but we have had to be very flexible since none of us have ever been here and because the culture is so different from ours.

When it was getting close to closing time, 7:00, I asked them if they were getting ready to go home. They weren’t. I think they, like me, could have sat there all night. They were having fun. I asked them if they liked to be at work or at home better, and they all said Freeset.

Annie, the owner’s wife, took us around Sonogocci, their community which is India’s largest redlight district. We saw women sitting outside their doors waiting on customers, but my group didn’t get to go down the main street where I’m told they stand shoulder to shoulder. Some others in our group did, but Annie didn’t want to take us all to the same place. She took Ashley and me basically around the block and through some extremely narrow and very dirty alleyways over to a friend’s house. Annie has been living in Sonogocchi for a long time now. I know they’ve lived in India for 13 years, and I think Freeset is two years old. Kerry and Annie live at Freeset in a very small but hospitable apartment. We ate there tonight in fact. This “friend” is, of course, a former prostitute. She lives in Sonogocchi, right? She is 25 years old and has a daughter who is 12. You can do the math. But, she was beautiful, both of them actually. We walked into her home which was only one room, but there was a large bed in it, very tall, that she motioned for Ashley and me to sit on. I was a little hesitant to say the least. Then, she offered us tea, which we were also a little hesitant about. “Westerners,” as we are called here, can’t drink India’s water, only bottled water. We even brush our teeth with it. We have been told very sternly that we should not even get the tap water in our mouths at all. I have been very careful even in the shower to make sure my mouth is shut tight at all times, and here I was being offered tea in the very worst part of Kolkata. Annie told us that since it was hot tea and had been boiled we should be fine. So, we drank it. Tomorrow we’ll know if we have parasites or not. I’m kidding. I really think we’ll be fine.

But, this woman was so sweet and kind. We learned that she worked at another “business” like Freeset that hires these women to do something to make them proud of themselves. In her factory, they make blankets made from old saris. If I haven’t said before, a sari is the brightly colored traditional clothing of Indian women, so the designs are very lovely. She showed us some of the things they had been working on. I told her I would love to have one. Maybe I’ll be able to before the week is up. Her daughter showed us her school uniform. A New Zealand family sponsors her to go to school. In that little one room home, there was so much hope. She had a picture of Jesus hanging up, and we prayed together, four women and one little girl, all of us so very thankful that Jesus had pulled their family up out of the pit of sin and despair into the light and is giving them hope. This young mother’s face shone with the light of Jesus. You could see it. She couldn’t understand a word I said when I prayed, but there were tears in her eyes when I finished. Annie said they are moving to a little nicer place soon. They seemed so glad to be getting out.

My heart felt so glad to know that in this city with so much poverty and so much despair, the light of Jesus is shining. I saw hope and love and joy today. What a blessing to be a very small part of the good that has been done in Kolkata, at least for today.

Mother Teresa Center for Death and Dying

2010-05-04T00:39:00.000-07:00

We have spent the morning at the Mother Teresa Center for Death and Dying, an experience I will NEVER forget. The images I saw there are ingrained in my mind. I spoon fed milk to a woman who appeared to have leprosy. She had no eyes nor had she a nose but only scar tissue where they should have been. She could have possibly been injured in some other way. I'm not sure. I fed another woman eggs who didn't want to be fed. She kind of reminded me of my Grandmother Susie who liked things the way she liked them and didn't want anyone forcing her to do anything. I guess I got a little kick out of her as she fussed and pushed us away, but not quite as much as another woman who was doing a little better off than these got out of me. This one was sitting instead of lying on a bed and could have a little more than eggs and milk. I fed her chicken and rice, potatoes, and a mango, and she was loving it. She couldn't have weighed more than 50 pounds, but she ate a whole plate of that food. I kept thinking, "Where is all this food going?" And, every time I fed gave her a mouth full, she would laugh. I don't know if she was laughing at me, or if she was just so happy to be being fed. I couldn't figure it out.

I sat by one woman for a long time who was very young and appeared to have AIDS. I didn't feed her but just sat there with her keeping her company which is really all she wanted. She seemed so sad and so lonely. I've never seen eyes quite so sad as hers. All of our hand signaling led me to believe she was 20, Brandi's age. I could have been her mother. Maybe she wanted her momma to stroke her hair and tell her everything was going to be okay. I hope I was what she needed for that moment in time. She was as thin as anyone I've ever seen. Her ribs were sticking out, and her arms were tiny. She would point to her arm and shake her head. She hated the way she looked and fought back tears about it. She told me her name is Namun (sounds like Na-moon). She pointed at my hand and then rubbed her head. She wanted me to rub her hair. When I massaged her back, she smiled and nodded yes. She pointed at her water bottle when she wanted me to give her a drink. She even asked me about my babies. I held my arms in a rocking position and pointed upward to tell her I had a baby in heaven. She understood what I was saying. She pointed to herself and held two fingers up. I pointed to the sky, and she nodded yes. She apparently had two children who had gone on to be with the Lord. I sang to her and prayed with her, and I hoped for heaven for this poor soul. "How happy would she be there," I thought.

Others weren't as sad as Namun. As I walked through another section where there were chairs instead of beds, the women were congregating together and seemed to be enjoying each other. I saw some smiles. One woman took me by the hand and led me to a picture of Jesus. She pointed to it. I nodded and said, "Yes, Jesus." She nodded back, and we both smiled a smile of sisterhood. She was so glad to know Him. Another woman stopped me and held her hands in a praying position. She wanted me to pray with her. I prayed as fervent a prayer for her as I've ever prayed for anyone. She noticed my cross necklace and wanted to kiss it. She kissed it a couple of times, and I hugged her knowing in my spirit that I would see her in heaven. Many of the women did the sign for Jesus pointing to their hands and feet for the nails of the cross. These people had hope and joy and hearts filled with love even in that place of death and dying. I feel so blessed and honored to see what God can do even in the very worst of circumstances.

The volunteers spent lots of time with the residents of the Center for Death and Dying, but we also did other jobs like laundry and washing dishes. The laundry was so much fun. We did it in assembly line style washing and ringing and rinsing over and over again. There was a wall of sinks that we would put the clothes that had been hosed off and disinfected into starting with the first sink dipping and rinsing. The next person would ring it out, and then it would go into the next sink, and that went on for about five or six sinks. We were so wet after that.

I was standing in the laundry line by a young woman from Mexico who had been volunteering there for several weeks. Paulina was kind of showing us the ropes that day. She told me she had grown up Catholic but that she really didn't have a religion anymore. She admitted that she was seeking truth and wanted to know about all religions. She said she had met people of many different faiths and was trying to decipher which parts of all of them she wanted to make as part of her own faith.

Paulina began to ask me about Baptists and what we believe. She loved how I described our baptisms. I told her that immersion is a picture of Christ's death and resurrection. She wanted to know about salvation and asked many questions about it. She was so pleased to hear how Brooks told me at six years old, "I don't want this black heart of sin anymore." I told her we don't baptize children until they make their own mind up about Jesus.

She was loving everything I said up until I answered her question, "Do you think that all other religions are wrong? Do you think the followers of those religions will go to hell?"

It was a very straightforward question, and I gave it a very straightforward answer. She did not agree with me on that one, and the smiles began to fade. Then we were called inside right afterwards. I was so disappointed. But, thankfully, I was able to talk with Paulina again after we left the Center for Death and Dying walking back to the Mother House where we began our day with bananas and bread, chai and prayer.

I told Paulina that the thought that there is only one way to heaven, through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who ransomed our lives for God by dying on the cross for the sins of all who would believe, may seem harsh at first, but that God set it up this way to test people, to grant salvation and eternal life only to those who really wanted it, who desire a relationship with God.

"We choose to follow Jesus," I said. "We choose to love Him and live with Him forever. Some people don't choose God. They would rather follow their own hearts and desires."

Paulina asked me, "But, what if someone has never heard of Jesus?"

I told her that that was our job. "That's why I'm here in India, because of my great love for Jesus. He told us to take the good news of the gospel to all the nations."

She pressed on, "But, what if you don't make it to everyone?"

I told her of stories I had heard of people having dreams and visions of Jesus in the Middle East and that upon waking they went to find out more.

She asked, "But, what if you don't have a dream or a vision?"

I said that the bible speaks of a time when God overlooked ignorance and that maybe He still will. Then I remembered something Rick likes to say, "But that doesn't really apply to you, does it? You've heard the gospel. How are you going to respond?"

I told her that there are rewards in heaven according to what we do here on earth and that I believe there are also degrees of punishment. "I believe it will be far worse for those who hear of Jesus and reject Him than for those who have never heard."

That really seemed to stir something in her. She said, "I didn't know there were degrees. I've never heard that before."

I told her that if she's not ready to make that decision right now as she had told me earlier, that I would recommend she read the Gospel of John.

She said, "I've read the bible before. I know what it says."

I responded with, "It doesn't matter that you've read it before. You need to read that gospel right now while you are seeking truth. Read it and see what it says to you."

She said she would. She even said, "That is really good advice."

When we arrived at Mother Teresa's Home for our tour, it was closed. I said goodbye to Paulina, and we embraced hopefully not for the last time.

I really have hope for her. She seems so much like I was at her age, a very compassionate person who didn't want to think of God sending anyone to hell especially those who seem so devout in their own faiths. I remember asking Rick about the same thing when we first got married. He read to me John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

That's all it took for me. My own husband reading me the Word of God. I believed from then on that Jesus is the only way. I guess that's why I'm so evangelical minded, and I told Paulina that.

I said, "If I really believe that Jesus is the only way, then shouldn't I be very adamant about telling people about the gospel?"

She thought that was a good point. She was very young but very smart. She was asking all the right questions. I am hopeful for her that all her searching does lead her to the truth.

Paulina wasn't the only young volunteer I talked with this morning. On the walk to the Death and Dying Center, I met a young man named Eric from Georgia. He was Catholic and deciding on a life as a friar. A friar is very much like a monk except friars do not live in a monastery.

"They're more with the people," Eric said.

The way he described life as a friar seemed very much like a Baptist Missionary except for one very big detail, a life of celibacy. As we walked, I was able to describe to him the benefits of marriage. I told him that I am my husband's helper.

"God made woman out of the rib of man," I said, "and there are a lot of men walking around with a missing rib."

But, we did discuss the benefits of being single as well.

"I can't stay in India for as long as I want," I said. "I have to go back to my husband and children to take care of them, but you can stay as long as you want."

A single person has the liberty to serve the Lord in a very free way. "You can go wherever and do whatever the Lord calls you to do without having worry about your family back at home," I said. But, we know that a life of celibacy is very difficult and many who choose that lifestyle fail.

I told Eric that failing as an unmarried person in a leadership position within the church is so much worse than getting married. He completely agreed and was very torn. I told him that if God was truly calling him to a life of celibacy, then God would give him the strength to walk in it, but if not, then he should get married. We both agreed that marriage is holy and that God uses men and women together to do his bidding. Eric read to me from the bible and seemed very well versed. He seemed to truly love God and His Word. I was impressed with him and told him that he would make someone a very good husband if that is the way he chooses.

I thought we had said everything that had needed to be said, so when we arrived I walked ahead to where the women were going. But, he called me back and asked me to pray with him saying, "I may not see you again."

So, I prayed for his decision, and I continue to do so. He seemed very special and good and had so much heart and love to give. Whether all that love is poured into a wife and family one day, I may never know, but Eric will love and care for God's people either way. I am sure of it.

A First Glimpse of India

2010-05-03T02:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 1, 2010
(First day in Kolkata, India)

Oh, Jesus… now I know why you love the poor so much. I know why you brought me here. Father… bring your Spirit into this land I pray. Give unto this land your mercy and grace. Please Father, touch and heal. Restore a right Spirit unto this land. Dispel the demons here, I pray. Send them out of this land. Take away the idols and give unto India the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

My heart is so full of the sights and sounds. We have just landed in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. Getting off the plane, there were several men who just walked ahead of us instead of letting us get out of our seats into the aisle of the plane. There is such male dominance here, and we have already seen it. Men here are the exact opposite of men in America. I think of Rick who would never stay seated while a woman was standing. He would always give up his seat for her. Men here would make a woman sitting get up to give him her seat. When we left Mumbai this morning on the other side of India where we had stayed the night, all we saw were men along the streets going to work and such. There were men everywhere. But, then just now when we landed, we walked into the airport and saw a sweet family who wanted to take their picture with us because we are so different. We wanted our picture with them, too. One of them told Kristi as she touched her arm, “You are so sweet.” It seems our hearts are already mending together with the women and children of India. I looked around in the airport in Mumbai and saw beautiful Indian children smiling and laughing and playing. But, as soon as we walked out of the airport in Kolkata, the scene completely changed. We walked quickly to the cars that had been arranged to take us to the Baptist Missionary Camp, and as we walked young men, maybe teenagers, walked alongside us, probably looking to pick-pocket. We were surrounded for a moment until they realized that we were on to them.

But then… my eyes looked down for a moment and met the eyes of a little girl who had walked up to me. She was holding out her hand and saying “Please.” We had been told this would happen, but I guess I wasn’t expecting it so soon. Everything had been an adventure until then, a layover in Amsterdam, Indian food on the plane from Mumbai to Kolkata, the nine of us deciding on buying saris to wear while we’re here, but everything stopped when I looked into the face of this beautiful child with dark skin and dark eyes saying to me, “Please, ma’am. Please.” We had been told not to give handouts, so my heart just broke in two for a moment. I looked at our team leader with tears in my eyes and just said, “Kristi.” I wanted to know again why we shouldn’t/couldn’t give to them. I already knew why, that we had come here not to give anyone a temporary fix or a handout but to change lives, but I needed to hear it again that we don’t want to encourage begging. That should not be a viable life-style. I know in my heart that Jesus can and will lift some of these street beggars up out of the pit they are in unto Himself, but those big brown eyes and that sweet voice… I just wanted to pick her up and take her away with me forever.

She stood at our van window while our bags were being loaded, and “Fish” talked with her so sweetly and played with her for a few minutes. Fish had some chocolate in her purse from the plane, and I had some raisins I had brought from home. We waited until Kristi got finished talking to our contact here in Kolkata and asked could we give her those, and she said that we could. So, as we were driving away, we handed the little girl raisins and chocolate out the window. That seemed to satisfy her. But, my heart was broken. Then, as we drove through the streets to the mission camp where we would be staying, the sights were completely unbelievable. It’s hot here, very hot and dirty and exotic in that it’s completely and utterly different from anything I’ve ever seen or imagined. I’m not sure I can adequately describe to you what we saw. There were women washing their clothes in water that bubbled up from some sort of faucet in the streets, their children splashing in it. There was trash piled up along the road with little hut like shacks where people were selling things, and the people… We saw naked children standing on the sidewalks bellies extended, maybe from malnutrition. Jennifer said, “Did you see that naked man?” Thankfully, I did not. She also had seen someone urinating on the street as we zoomed by. I thankfully didn’t see that either. Our driver took us through a little alleyway “shortcut” and what we saw was just unbelievable. I looked over at “Fish,” and she was crying. She had been here before a long time ago, and when she saw a woman holding the hand of a little girl, memories started flooding back in. She said, “My friend I told you about… I got to leave, but she had to stay.” Everything is so old, run-down, and dirty, but these people are some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen. I kept thinking about Mogli from Jungle Book.

We’re at the mission camp right now where it is clean and cool, but right outside our windows lies a slum, a slum filled with not only an earthly poverty that is almost indescribable but also a spiritual poverty. Jesus is not known unto these people. There are only about 2% of Indians who are Christian. We want that to change. We are praying for Jesus to lift these people out of this pit of poverty, idolatry, and sexual immorality, for we know there is nothing impossible for the Lord, absolutely nothing.

I noticed in my travel book some very old sculptures that are extremely erotic. There’s a naked woman with her legs wrapped around a standing, almost squatting, man, others in provocative embraces and poses, and a woman with one hand covering her private area and one hand covering her mouth almost in a coy way. The travel book says they date back to the 10th century and hails them for their “immense outpouring of creativity, devotion, and sensuality.” We have come here to work with women who had formerly been trapped in the sex industry. There are about 35,000 sex slaves here in this city. They stand along one particular street almost shoulder to shoulder there are so many of them. Some of them are mere girls sold into this by their own families. We are going to go on that street to see them and hopefully talk with them. But, from my perspective so far, there seems to be an ongoing thread here from the seductive saris the women still wear to the erotic sculptures to the huge red light district. There seems to be a long-standing demonic stronghold upon this land that is sexual in nature. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus to take away that stronghold, and I ask that you pray along with me for that.

I need to rest now. There will be so much more to say as this week unfolds I am sure. We don’t know what to expect, but we have come here as willing vessels to do or go whatever or wherever the Holy Spirit leads us. We are clay and pray that Jesus will mold us into whatever he needs us to be. We have asked for malleable spirits and know that Jesus will lead us all the way.

…after resting a while we went to dinner and rode a little motorized vehicle to get there, but we could not get one for the ride back. So, we walked, and again the sights upon those streets were strange and sad and severe. There were goats and little dogs along the sidewalks and people lying asleep right in the middle of the sidewalk, garbage heaps, sewage running down the sidewalk in places, dirt, piled up bricks, and old, dirty, and dilapidated buildings. The nine of us women walked in a very purposeful way back to the Baptist Mission through those dark, dirty streets. We were power walking in a single file line trying not to make eye contact with anyone. It was so hot and humid that all of us were soaking wet with sweat by the time we got back, but, you know, it was kind of fun. Our meal was good, and we got a kick out of this woman sitting next two us with another woman and two men, two couples out for dinner. She was the first woman we had seen that seemed completely confident in herself. She would tell the waiters what to do and laughed and talked with the others at her table. We saw nice families eating together. All are not impoverished. Some Indians seem to have a fairly nice life despite having to walk around in filth. This has to be THE nastiest, dirtiest, stinkiest place any of us have ever seen. Even the poor places I’ve been in the Western Hemisphere like Jamaica are nothing compared to the conditions here. Their poor are nothing, nothing like this. If you want to get an idea of what it’s like here, watch the movie Slum Dog Millionaire. In it, children are maimed and blinded in order for them to get more money while begging. That is what really happens here. I think that has to be one of the most evil things anyone could do, gouge out a child’s eyes just to get more money. I would rather starve to death. Nothing could be worth doing something so horrific. There is such a weird mindset here. They worship everything and anything, and they want to make sure they don’t get one of their “gods” upset. If a child is exceptionally beautiful, they might maim or cut his or her face so the “gods” won’t think they are more beautiful than they are and get jealous and hurt them. So, they go ahead and hurt them first? What can they think they are accomplishing by doing that? These lost and spiritually blind people need the truth so desparately. They need to be set free, and that is exactly what the missionaries we will be working with are doing, trying to set these people free, free from the demon gods they worship, from the poverty they have lived with all their lives, and bondage to sexual slavery they have been in for so long. Only Jesus can do all of that, and we are His hands and feet in this world. I pray for my own hands and feet to be those of Jesus this week. Will you pray that along with me as well?

Sunday, May 2, 2010

We went to church this morning, and it was just wonderful. We went to the William Carey Baptist Church founded by the first Baptist Missionary to India. It was so wonderful to see Indian people worshiping God and singing praises unto Jesus. We ate the Lord’s Supper with them and celebrated a couple’s 50th wedding anniversary. The sermon was rock solid preaching that I enjoyed and praised God for. Interestingly the pastor had been born in India but his ancestry is Chinese, and he had spent the last 20 years in Canada. I love the Chinese. There’s something really wonderful going on in that land. I hear of person after person in China coming to know the Lord. You don’t hear of that here. There is no revival going on in India, but there are a few Christians who are working in this dark place. My prayer today is that the William Carey Baptist Church can spread its light beyond its church walls. The church itself has a cross steeple on top with the words “Jesus Saves” in big, bold lettering just under it. The grounds are fenced and gated, but the gate was wide open on this Sunday morning in Kolkata. And, as soon as you walk into that place painted in crisp white, you feel peace and joy and love and excitement. After the service, we stood around outside talking and meeting new people and taking pictures. I walked to the roadside to take a few of the people outside the walls, and as soon as I passed over the threshold of that place into the street, everything changed. My light heart dropped a million miles. The men on the streets looked at us with hatred in their eyes knowing what we were. You could feel the change from light to dark so quickly, and my happiness and elation from the worship service turned to sadness almost immediately.

We walked those streest to a Kentucky Fried Chicken of all places for lunch, and after lunch the missionary women who make their home here in Kolkata took us shopping for some Indian clothes and for coffee in a place comparable to Starbucks. Its is utterly amazing that you can be in a nice bistro one minute and walk outside and see street people lying around everywhere right outside the doors and immediately be hit with the stench of garbage and sewage. Being jet-lagged, the shopping wasn’t good for me, and after trying on a few things and going into the bathroom of a department store in the nicest part of Kolkata where the smell was even worse than the smells on the street, I became dizzy and light-headed. But, our team leader had no sympathy for me. I told her I was going to start calling her the sleep nazi, because she would not let me go to sleep. But she was right. I held up until about 9 p.m. and went to sleep and had the best sleep I’ve had since we we’ve been here.

Now, it’s Monday morning, and we’re about to go to our first real work. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Monday, May 3

Today was our first day at Freeset, and it was such a blessing. We participated in their devotion time in the morning. We didn't understand a word of it because it was all in Bengali but we clapped along when they sang. We were able to meet and talk with the women throughout the morning. They were so happy to see us. They loved shaking our hands and trying to learn our names. One hugged me for a very long time. They were playful and happy for the most part. They have been taught a skill and have value and worth for the first time in their lives. There are about 150 women who work there sewing handbags and t-shirts that are very well made. We watched them sew, and they really do a great job. They can't speak English, and we can't speak Bengali, the common language of India, so there was a lot of hand motioning going on. But, love is a language that can be spoken in smiles and through the eyes and through touch.

The women who work at Freeset are all former prostitutes, but not by choice usually. They may have been sold by their families or taken, but most of them belong to someone else and have no way of breaking free. But, Freeset is doing that. We are just amazed at the vision of these wonderful families who have devoted their lives to helping break the cycle of prostitution here in Kolkata. Getting to know them has been a real treat. The boys wanted to teach me to play cricket, Aaron and Adam, boys about Brooks and Brody's age that I got a huge blessing out of being with and talking with today. They told me all about cricket at lunch but when we were just about to go out for a game, our team had to leave in order to go sign up to work at the Mother Teresa Center for the Dying tomorrow. I have been told that this is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have.

The Father of Mercies and God of All Comfort

2010-04-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely blown away by God. His love for me overwhelms me. This past Saturday night I sat in a little church in Union Hill, Alabama where I had never been before nor even knew existed. I had thought I was going to Arab, but God knew exactly where he was taking me and who would be there to hear me speak. I was having a little quiet time with the Lord before I spoke there that night, and I just was amazed at how God could take a Mommy like me, humble me to a point of nothingness, and sweep me up out of the ashes and make something useful out of me.

Here I was about to speak to a group of women at this church’s first ever women’s event. I was scheduled to visit with a family on Monday whose two-year-old daughter had been plucked from this earth two weeks ago, and I was to leave for a 10-day mission trip to India with some of the most Godly women you could ever meet on Thursday. And, I was filled with wonder at how God could love and trust me so much. We sing a song at church about that. It goes, “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He would give His only son to make a wretch His treasure.”

I am nothing, but the God of universe who created everything from dragonflies to flowers to clouds and rain to mountains and streams and puppies and lions and everything else in all creation loves me. I know God loves me. He shows me His love for me everyday. I have seen and heard and witnessed and been a part of miracle after miracle, and that amazes me and humbles me and makes me stand in awe of a great and mighty God who is completely powerful yet is also gentle and kind and compassionate. God knows my name, and He knows your name. He knows every name and everything about everyone. He knows what we need, and He will meet every one of those needs if we’ll let Him. And, if we’ll listen, He will speak to us.

In my talk Saturday night, I told the story of how we started noticing sevens after Bronner went to heaven. We had never thought about it before, but one Sunday morning in church Rick handed me some scribbling he had been doing during the sermon. He had written Bronner’s name, William Bronner Burgess, 777. All three of his names have seven letters in them. Bronner is the seventh member of our family. The last full year of his life was the seventh year of this century, 2007. His birthday is May 27, 2005 or 5-27-2005. You already have one seven. Add the five and the two before the seven and the five and the two after the seven, and you’ve got 777 again. He even had three sevens in his social security number.

Seven is the number of perfection, completion, or fullness in the bible. It stands for the seven days of creation and is mentioned upwards of 50 times in the Book of Revelation, the book of sevens because it is the consummation of God’s plan and purpose for the earth as it is and ushers in the new heaven and the new earth. We realized God had given us those sevens to tell us that Bronner’s life had been complete and perfect at 2 ½ years. He had fulfilled the purpose for which he came. God, Himself, had formed the days for Bronner when as yet there were none of them.

I told the women at Union Hill that I had talked about the sevens in August 2008 at my home church and that on that day the church took up a collection for Bronner’s Memorial Fund.

It had totaled $7,777.

“One woman,” I said, “wrote a check for $1.23.” I asked them if they realized what a miracle that was and how God must have worked in the hearts of everyone there for that to just happen to be how much money they collected that day.

And, if they weren’t yet convinced that God is real and that He is working among His people, I told them that it had happened again exactly one year later at Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery except on that day, God had added 77 cents for a grand total of $7,777.77.

That certainly wasn’t my whole speech, but it was part of it. I talked through weather sirens going off in the middle of my speech and through a woman passing out at the altar. I had driven through torrential rain to get there and after leaving that night had to take an alternate route back home in order to avoid tornadoes. We had had such bad weather forecasted for that day in Alabama that no one would have blamed me if I had cancelled.

But, the Lord wanted me there if for no other reason than for one woman, a young woman, who looked like she was in her early to mid 20’s to me. She came up to me after the altar call while everyone else was still getting back to their seats. I normally ask everyone to come pray at the altar to tell God anything that might be stirring in their hearts at that moment.

She said to me through tears, “I thought you would think I was stupid for writing that amount, but it was all I had. It was me. I wrote that check for $1.23.”

I grabbed her up so quickly and just held her for a few minutes while we both stood there crying in amazement at what God can do. Then, I told everyone what she had just said to me. I told her, “God brought you here tonight so you could hear that story and know how special you are to God. He loves you so much.”

And she answered me, “Obviously.”

Those were the only two times this young woman had heard me speak, once almost two years ago in Birmingham and this time in a small church in a small town in North Alabama. How amazing is God?

I was still glowing from that miracle when on Monday I experienced another one. A miracle is something only God can do, and only God could do this. I told you about my dragonflies and the message God had for me through them, but I don’t think I’ve told you about that morning some time after Bronner had gone to heaven that Rick went out by the pool early in the day and saw doves all around it. He came back in to get me so I could see it too. When I walked outside with Rick, the doves flew away. Their wings reminded us of angel’s wings fluttering by. But, that wasn’t the last time we’d see our doves. They actually started nesting in a tree by the pool. One of them likes to sit on the very tip top of our house.

We see and hear them all the time. Their mournful cooing is what gives them their name, the mourning dove. Our doves aren’t just any doves. They’re mourning doves mourning alongside us waiting as we wait with eager longing for Christ’s return, for the redemption of our bodies, for the time when all things are made new, when everything is as it should be, and especially when Bronner will be in our arms again.

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” (Romans 8:19-24a)

I know the coo of a mourning dove very well now, so it was easy for me to recognize it when I got out of my car and walked up to the front door of the house of the family who had lost their daughter on April 11. I heard the dove coo twice before the door was answered. Only God can do things like that. Only God could send a bird to a home to mourn with them, but he did, not only with us, but with this family as well. God isn’t just speaking to me and to Rick. He’s there for all of us all the time if we’ll just listen. If we’ll open the eyes of our hearts, we can see and hear and know and feel God’s presence all around us.

I leave for India in about seven hours. I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do there. I’ll keep you posted…

Sherri+

Letters To God

2010-04-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to see the movie, Letters to God , and it was so perfect. I wanted them to see how God can use even the worst things to change people for the good, and I wanted them to see that we’re not the only ones. You know how kids are. They don’t want to seem different… although they should. We should be different. The world thinks in the exact opposite way as God. But, my boys completely got the message of the movie at ages 8 and 11, and our whole family was in tears by the end. What a story of hope and courage and transformation. One little boy, Tyler, makes such a big difference in the lives of so many others. We can relate.

I hope you will all go see the movie. Rick said, “It just felt good to be in a movie theater and not have to think ‘Well, that was a good movie, but…’” We always wonder why they put in foul language or sexual content when the movie would have been so much better without it. Sometimes we think they do it on purpose just to smut it up knowing that it’s not adding to the movie. So, Letters to God was such a breath of fresh air. There was absolutely nothing offensive in it, which is rare for a movie theater movie, and the acting was really good we thought. But, the best thing about the movie was its message that there is purpose and hope and peace even in the absolute worst of circumstances.

What a contrast to another movie we watched put out by Hollywood about a girl dying of cancer. In that movie, no one seemed to know why. No one could make any sense of it at all. But, in Letters to God, they could. It reminds me of a time that I met a Muslim taxi cab driver in New York and struck up a religious conversation with him. He drove us to the airport, so we had a lot of time to talk. I won’t go into all the details, but that conversation really impacted me. It was clear that he didn’t have any answers. He didn’t know God, but what became even more clear to me after that cab ride was that I did. I do know God, and I do have the answers. We, who know Jesus as Lord, have the key. We hold the answers to life and death. Shouldn’t we be telling it more often? Shouldn’t we be shouting it from the rooftops? I mean, if there were a fire…

Well, I guess there is a fire. And that’s what Letters to God is all about, rescuing people from not just a fire but THE fire and providing answers to the questions we really want to know, like the biggest one of all, “Why?” When bad things happen, don’t we all just want to know why? Like that would make us feel better just by giving it a reason. Well, purpose does make us feel better. Giving a reason for suffering makes all the difference in the world.

The contrast between the two movies, My Sister’s Keeper and Letters to God, is just like that. One asks the question, “Why?” And the other one answers it. We, as Christians, need to see that the world is asking, “Why?” And, we need to tell them. Jesus holds the keys to life and death, and we hold Jesus.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

God has entrusted US with His message of reconciliation, God reconciling the world to Himself. There are reasons. There’s a reason why Christ had to suffer and die, and there’s a reason why we suffer and die too. Isn’t this worthy of discussion? Isn’t this a worthy message to spread? What are we so afraid of?

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18)

Fear not!

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified." (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Stand firm like the Apostle Paul who wrote to the church at Corinth, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the knowledge of him everywhere.”

Everywhere!

One man spread the gospel to almost the entire known world in his generation.

One man!

What are we doing to spread the gospel in our generation? Most of us aren’t doing a dang thing. We’re living our lives for ourselves and not for God.

I know. I was one of those people, too. I had everything going for me. Life was good.

Well, life’s not so good anymore. God had to make me a little less comfortable in this world in order to light a fire under my lazy…

Well, I’m not so comfortable anymore. Everything’s not perfect, but the fire has been lit. I stand here and say, “Here I am, God. Send me.”

The big question is… ARE YOU WITH ME?