Black Like Me

This is Sterling and Emily, who are also on staff here at the Journey Church.  They've both become great friends of ours, and we (the whole team) give Sterling a fun-loving hard time because he's the only black member of the team - in fact, the only black member of our church (the only black man in Conifer?).  He has an awesome character and walk with God, in spite of a very tough upbringing.  I told him recently that he's like an "anchor" in this team - always there, always steady; he the kind of man who adds stability and safety in a team.

This morning I showed him a picture and told him that he's no longer the only black member of our team.  He looked at the picture for several seconds, and finally said, "Who is this?"  "It's me - I was working on our fireplace yesterday".  I was cutting the damper out, knocking out the wind shelf (concrete), and just making the opening large enough to put in the liner for the wood stove.  At one point I climbed out of the "cave", and Daphne took one look at me and ran to get her camera.  "Oh, I hope that all comes off!" she said.  "Why, what's wrong?" I asked.  Of course, I couldn't see my own face, so I had no idea how all the soot had transformed me into Michael Jackson in reverse.  Anyway, I had to put this picture in the blog.


Daphne's parents - Felix and Valerie Posselt - arrived last night from England to spend two months with us.  Her Dad is 82, and her Step-Mom is.... younger than that.  We hadn't seen them for over a year, since just before we left France to move to Colorado.  They've both been like little kids in a candy store since they arrived, as neither of them have ever been to the U.S. before.  They arrived in the dark, and this morning they were greeted to the incredible view we have from our living room windows.  Val kept saying this morning, "I just have to keep pinching myself - I can't believe we're really here!"  They were treated to a special mountain welcome last night when a beautiful mule deer buck crossed the road in front of our car as we climbed up Shadow Mountain towards our house.  They haven't seemed to be negatively affected by the altitude so far, and we hope they'll adjust fine.  We keep trying to impress Daph's Dad the necessity of drinking lots of water, but he's not convinced.  The problem with drinking large quantities of liquid is that it all has to be evacuated sooner or later.  Oh well, he'll adjust as he goes I guess.

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I've been thinking lately about all the promises in Scripture that speak about how God will provide for us, that He offers a life free from worry and anxiety, and that we can trust Him daily to answer our specific prayers.  Unfortunately, for many of us these promises are pie-in-the-sky bye-and-bye: nice to read and certainly comforting, but far from our daily experience. Why?  My guess is that we generally have no urgent needs, as most of us have money in the bank and probably a healthy balance in our IRA, as well as having health insurance, life insurance, and savings accounts.  When it comes down to it, we really have no genuine NEED to trust the Lord at all.  I should probably qualify what I've just written, as there are believers around the world who have to believe God for the impossible every single day - it's just not normally our experience in the West.  There is something deep in my heart that desperately wants to put God to that test - you could call it a spiritual longing to trust God for my daily bread, because only then would I be in a position to see His supernatural provision.  I suppose we could say that God has already provided through our employment and our retirement income; and yet, Jesus said on many occasions that we shouldn't "store up" treasures for ourselves here on earth where moth and rust destroy, but to store up treasures for ourselves in Heaven.  In Luke 12 Jesus actually condemned the rich man who wanted to hoard his riches: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’  So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”  He then immediately exhorted His disciples not to worry about life - food, shelter, clothing - but to trust that God knows of their needs and that they can rely on Him to provide.  Even more challenging is His conclusion in verse 33: “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

I think of men like George Muller from 19th century England, who made a willful decision to trust God alone for his every need - and God provided and intervened supernaturally on what seemed to be a daily basis.  George had such an intimate walk with God that He KNEW God had already provided even before the need was met.  But what is most amazing is that George chose this life of daily trust of his own free will - rather than being forced into such a lifestyle by life's circumstances. I was just reading an excerpt from an article on Muller's life:  "Muller was a man of fervent prayer, who believed that spending time with God should take priority over all other tasks one might have on their agenda.  To this end, Muller himself got up early each morning at four o’clock to spend time in prayer before he started his day.  Never were his days too full to spend ample time in prayer each morning.  In fact, he was often heard saying that if someone only had five hours to accomplish a task, then one would definitely accomplish more through one hour of prayer and four hours of work than through five hours of work alone. This was especially true for those involved in full time Christian work.  Muller warned ministry leaders everywhere he went to not let the work of the Lord prevent someone from spending time with the Lord in prayer." 

I find it humorous to note that almost every time I bring up George Muller's example in conversations with other Christians, there is an almost instant emotional reaction - "George Muller had exceptional faith" or, "God isn't asking everyone to live like that!"  Maybe he isn't, but why the instant, emotional rebuttal?  There's something in Muller's example that strikes a deep chord in our hearts and we long to see God working supernaturally - but the price we would have to pay is simply too great.  I'm not there either.  But I find my mind and my heart turning more and more in that direction, almost like Daphne's parents longing to visit America... and hardly believing that they're actually here now.