Hosea for Today: Part III of III

Prepare for Harvest Time

 

“Come on, Man! Let’s return to God.

    He hurt us, but He will heal us.

He hit us hard,

    but He’ll put us right again.

In time we’ll feel better.

    By His return He’ll have made us brand-new,

Alive and on our feet,

    fit to face him.

 

We’re ready to study God,

    eager for God-knowledge.

As sure as dawn breaks,

    so sure is His daily arrival.

He comes as the rain,

    as spring rain replenishing the dry ground.”

 

“What am I to do with you, false clerics?

    What do I make of you, ecclesiasts?

Your declarations of love last no longer

    than the morning mist and predawn dew.

That’s why I use prophets to shake you to attention,

    why my words cut you to the quick:

To wake you up to my judgment

    blazing like a laser.

 

I’m after love that lasts, not mere religion.

    I want you to know Me, not show off at prayer meetings.

You broke the covenant—just like Adam!

    You broke faith with Me—ungrateful wretches!

 

“Washington has become Crime City—

    Bribery on the streets, money in the palms.

It used to be robbers who mugged pedestrians.

    Now it’s gangs of poli-ticks

assaulting the righteous on their way to Shechem.

    Nothing is sacred to them.

 

“I see shocking things in this country of liberty:

    Celebrants in a religious whorehouse,

    moreover, clerics in the mud right there with them.

 

“You’re as bad as the worst of them, Judas.

    You’ve been sowing wild oats. Now it’s harvest time.”

Pray. Repent. Seek Me.

Hosea for Today: Part II of III

You Wouldn’t Recognize God If You Saw Him

 “Listen to this, you Oligarchs!

    Attention, citizens of America!

SCOTUS —all ears!

    You’re in charge of justice around here.

But what have you done? Exploited people of faith,

    Turned your back on the unborn,

Destroyed the integrity of free elections.

    I’m going to punish the lot of you.

 

“I know you, America, inside and out.

    Yes, Leftists, I see right through you!

False believers, playing religious long enough.

    All America is thoroughly polluted.

You couldn’t turn to God if you wanted to.

    Your evil life is a bad habit.

Every breath you take is a whore’s breath.

    You wouldn’t recognize God if you saw me.

 

“Bloated by arrogance, big as a house,

    you’re a public disgrace,

The lot of you—Liberals, Leftists, Socialists—

    lurching and weaving down your guilty streets.

When you decide to get your lives together

    and go off looking for Me once again,

You’ll find it’s too late.

    I, God, will be long gone.

 

You’ve played fast and loose with me for too long,

    filling the country with your brainwashed, entitled offspring.

A plague of locusts will

    devastate your violated land.

 

 “Blow the whistle on the stolen elections,

    Play Taps in Congress!

Signal the invasion of Sin City!

    Scare the crap out of your imported Squad!

Your grain fields will be laid waste,

    a lifeless moonscape.

I’m telling it straight, the unvarnished truth,

    to the citizens of America.

 

Congress is full of crooks and thieves,

    cheating the people of their Natural rights,

And I’m angry, good and angry.

    Every cell of your bodies will feel my anger.

 

“Destroyers of citizens’ Rights will lose theirs—

    a taste of their own medicine!

You were so determined

    to do it your own worthless way.

Therefore I’m pus to Leftists,

    dry rot in the house of RINOs.

 

“When the DNC sees it is sick

    and RINOs see their termite dung,

You will be running to China,

    Praying for help to Mahdi of Islam.

But they can’t heal you.

    They can’t cure your oozing sores;

Your rotting heart.

 

“I’m a grizzly charging sold-out politicians,

    A grizzly with cubs charging Soros.

I’ll rip you to pieces—yes, I will!

    No one can stop me now.

I’ll drag you off.

    No one can help you.

 

Then I’ll step far away from America

    Until, perhaps you come to your senses.

When you finally hit rock bottom,

    perchance you’ll come looking for me.

Thus, seek me with your whole heart.”

Hosea for Today: Part I of III

My Charge Against America

We Can Live At Peace With Each Other

I am honored to be serving on staff of Pacific Justice Institute who defends religious freedom, parental rights and other civil liberties without charge.

In this post-Christian world we are being pressured (in some cases, forced) to set aside strongly held biblical morals which have guided life and livelihoods for generations – nay, for ages. We are expected, not just acquiesce to, but fully accept whatever new cultural dictum is put forth. Even to the point of losing our own personal liberties and possessions to judgments from an amoral court system.

If truth be known, standing on one's faith in living out a biblical lifestyle does not always equate to intolerance or hate of another's life choices – as many charge us as doing. Most people of faith I know desire to accept others and learn to make reasonable accommodation for other's beliefs – as this 72-year old Washington businesswoman sought to do for her longtime LGBT customer. One must only listen to her appeal to know her heart when faced with the choice of accepting a light judgement:

"Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important. Washington’s constitution guarantees us “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.” I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.

I pray that you reconsider your position. I kindly served Rob for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so. I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case. You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating, and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business, and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process."

Her plea reminds me of the scripture verse in Romans 12:18 which admonishes: "If it is at all possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

Perhaps if we were slow to assume the worse in each other, and took the time to hear each other out before forming baseless opinions or judgments, we would be able to live out that scriptural directive of living at peace with ourselves and each other.

Read the full article here:

Shame on the Silent Christian Leaders Who Refuse to Stand Against Tyranny

STOP YOUR CHARITY!

After considering a Facebook friend's much deserved rant about an overly-expectant charity I feel a post emerging from my sluggish pen (i.e. keyboard) about our charitable giving . . . STOP! JUST STOP! Yes, I said STOP!

For just one month - for January 2017 - stop all giving (except your church tithe; yes, your first 10% should go directly to your place of worship/prayer/place of faith).

Why stop? To fast. Fasting makes you slow down . . . I guess that's a pun. Slow down and think, pray, feel. About your charity - your time, talent, and treasure. What is your purpose in sharing those three most valuable personal commodities? What impact are you making with them? Is it even measurable? Does the charity even measure its impact or success and communicate that to you?

What is your mission in giving (again, not just money). That's right . . . What's your end game? Make you feel okay about yourself? For a pat on the back? Get on the major donor list? Recognition at the annual gala?

Or to make others feel good - or maybe just better? Does your effort enable the suffering of others or actually develop the person and the community? Are you in it for the short or long haul? A quick fix or a relationship? For life or legacy?

What is your mission as a steward of what you've earned or been given? Remember, its not just money, your time (which some consider more valuable), and talents. What will your legacy look like? Yep...when you're dead and gone? What will you leave the world besides your ashes? Will you steward from beyond your grave?

So stop giving for a month and fast...think...feel...pray...meditate on your God-gifted Time, Treasure, and Talent. Then write your Stewardship mission statement for 2017, and whatever exists beyond it and your life's legacy to the world. What, why, when, how, how much, for what end, and how will you know you did well in doing good?

Then, and only then . . . Give . . . As a Steward.

Steward your life, wholeheartedly and with godly joy.

Here's a link to a short post to help with your meditating and to create your mission statement to make a lasting, Kingdom impact through stewardship.

Outline your Stewardship

How one church became hospitable to their homeless neighbors

HIS House (Homeless Intervention Shelter) was founded by members of Placentia Presbyterian Church in 1989.  To the north of the Presbyterian Church stood an old two story farm house that was built about 1910.  It had three bedrooms and one bath and tenants passed back and forth over the years.  As orange groves gave way to housing in Placentia it was used as a sorority house for California State College Fullerton students. Then it came into the ownership of the Knights of Columbus, who built an adjacent hall onto the house.  However, in 1988 the Knights found the maintenance of the building a burden they could not sustain, so they put the property up for sale.

Alerted to the availability of the house, several members of the Session, the elected administrative body of the Placentia church, believed it an opportunity to buy the property and thereby provide an area of possible expansion for the church.  A further consideration was to prevent the land from falling into the hands of owners who might develop it for housing that would have been incompatible with keeping the area close to the church in harmony with its buildings.

Some resistance on the part of Session members to the purchase of the property surfaced. Members expressed doubts that the church, which had just finished a building program that caused it to assume a debt of $900,000, should not put itself into still greater indebtedness. Nevertheless, a majority in the Session supported the purchase of the property and in March 1989, at a cost of $360,000 the transfer was finalized.  The Session authorized the borrowing of a temporary loan from the Presbyterian Synod. It was still undecided how to use the house and upon inspection, it was found to be in need of serious repair. Plumbing was especially in poor condition with a large sunken tub that could not be drained.
For several months the house at 907 North Bradford remained empty while interest payments came due on a regular basis. In fact, financing became such a critical issue that in February 1990 the property was listed for sale.

In the meantime at another meeting of the Session, one of its members, Denise Eastin, active in the Featherly Park ministry, urged that the house be opened for the Drapers, a family living at the park.  The wife was soon to give birth and the baby would have to return to a tent in the park with winter approaching. The Session agreed to Ms. Eastin’s request and allowed the Drapers to move into the house. Volunteers commenced the arduous task of cleaning and making repairs so that the structure would be fit for habitation. Once Christopher Andrew Draper was born, the family continued to stay there until they found a place to live.

Development of HIS House

As it is today, in 1990 there was no lack of needy people seeking shelter. Orange County had only 500 beds (today they have 3500 beds) for homeless individuals. The Bulmaro Herrera family, comprised of fourteen members, was threatened with eviction onto the street in September when Placentia city housing inspectors declared their rental house unsafe and unsanitary. The family was ordered to leave but they had nowhere to go and not enough money to pay for an apartment. Happily, Orange County Housing officials knew that the Presbyterians had offered shelter to others in their Bradford Ave house, and the Herreras were invited to move in.  The Herrera’s became residents and the once empty house filled with the cries and laughter of the eight Herrera children.  During 1990 a total of seventeen adults and twenty five children were sheltered at HIS House, the name given to the facility.

It was now evident that a purpose had been established for HIS House, but for Session members the future still looked bleak. The church found the interest on the loan and utility bills worrisome. The HIS House committee, twelve in number and chaired by Denise Eastin, oversaw the activities at the facility, but it was difficult for them to be on call whenever something was needed at the house. The committee members would handle emergency calls. No one had experience running a shelter, yet the committee felt their ministry had to continue. To quote the late Elaine Van Deventer “Prayer was used to finance the house.”

The real estate was still listed for sale in July 1991 when a stroke of good fortune came in answer to those prayers.  The HIS House committee discovered that the California Emergency Shelter Program offered grants to run a shelter for the homeless provided that there would be a commitment to offer services for a number of years. An application to the state was successful, so the property could be removed from the market, as the grant paid a substantial portion of the church obligation to the Synod.

With the state grant in hand, the committee could now look for additional community support. They learned of an organization called Home Aid. This was a consortium of about 900 building contractors and suppliers who donated their services to assist various non-profit organizations that needed assistance. The director of Home Aid found HIS House was exactly the kind of project that met their goals.

After the renovation the shelter could house 25 individuals, couples and families.  In 1996 another grant was applied for and received to expand again.  This time 15 more beds and two additional restrooms. The capacity is now 40 beds.

In 2002, the City of Placentia purchased a home two doors north of HIS House with Redevelopment funds.  They were looking to invite a low-income family to inhabit the property. However, HIS House found out about the property and offered to pay the yearly taxes and invite graduates of the HIS House program to spend an additional “Second Step” while paying a program fee.

What HIS House offers its participants:
We offer a safe and homelike atmosphere where residents can have their own guest room, share baths and kitchens with others while looking for employment and participating in our classes. We offer no-cost housing for 4-6 months. Each week residents participate in life skill classes and an additional class of either parenting, budgeting, a mentor meeting and career development.

Each participant meets weekly with a case manager where they prioritize expenses and save money for permanent housing. Each resident receive a new pillow, toiletry basket (from the Placentia Roundtable women’s club) gas and transportation vouchers, individual counseling and two months of subsidized childcare.  Children receive a quilt from the North Cities Quilt Guild and a welcome basket from the Placentia Roundtable. Each month birthdays are celebrated with cake and ice cream (sponsored by the Placentia Roundtable) and gifts for adults and children are given.

HIS House continues to exist with the assistance of government grants, private donations and fundraisers. The generosity of our community and volunteers help make HIS House a successful program.

This year we are initiating a strategic plan process for organizational reorganization as a solo 501(c)(3), as well as a funding plan in order to deepen, strengthen, and expand our services. We would appreciate your prayerful investment.

Learn how to help here:

Lessons in a Tree Stand

Sitting in a tree stand, waiting for deer, is a difficult task (especially when it's real early on an icy 20° morning). Not necessarily the waiting; but my thoughts. Rather than allow myself to completely 'be' in this moment, I'm mentally doing a myriad of things. My mind is wired for analysis. My patience is fleeting. 

Similarly difficult for me – for which this solitary environment provides an ideal moment – is having a quiet, devotional time with God (praying for prey doesn't count). But rather than allowing the beauty of creation and nature's orchestra to embrace and lift me, I'm contemplating my calendar, career tracks and past mis-cues. And in contrast to the stillness, unmitigated static from tinnitus* competes with the sounds of birds and raindrops on leaves.

Past thoughts invade the present moment; replaying various innings of my life. But unlike the annoying video challenges in football and baseball, there's nothing that can change the outcome for me.

It recalls my past life of editing our pastor's Sunday messages on reel-to-reel tape for radio broadcast. I meticulously removed every 'uh', stutter, or cough. He never sounded so professional as he did on-the-air. It was a tedious task when his delivery was off. Listen, pause, rewind, pause . . . spinning the reels back and forth, listening where to mark and trim the bloopers from the reel.

But real life doesn't allow video challenges or post-production cut-and-tape. As with live broadcasts, what we say and do is out there for the world to see, hear, critique – and judge.

Where live productions succeed is in pre-production. That requires the study of scripts and screen plays, blocking, staging, memorizing lines and cues. If not, at least you had better be really good at ad lib and improvising.

Our personal and spiritual pre-production comes together best in our quiet times. No devotions = no preparation for success. Thus, for the unprepared pragmatists as myself, our daily improvising is sorely tested. We pray for the video challenge, and post-production editing, and then beat ourselves up for not studying the script or recognizing the cues.

But here in this tree stand – if I force myself to become quiet enough and become willing to embrace the thoughts that come – I may start to sense the Producer at work in nature and in my life. I may begin to feel, see, and hear His hand in the next act . . . and his Spirit happens to be a great Director.

Perhaps spending more time studying His script, screenplay and cues for this next one, I won't want so much post-production analysis. And waiting for prey is always a good time to pray.

I just heard a confirming voice of thunder telegraphing the advancing rain. "Break a leg!", I think as I scramble to descend ahead of the danger of lightning. But hopefully not from falling out of this tree stand. (PS. I didn't get my deer)

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 42 ESV

* Tinnitus (TIN-ih-tus) is noise or ringing in the ears.