The Bear That Jesus Sent

What happened today was no coincidence.

I was in a meeting when someone stood up and said, "We have this safety app that tells us when there's an active shooter situation. I've just gotten an alert that says there's a bear outside. Please don't go out right now." 

We sat, dumbfounded for a moment, and stared at him.

He read the message again, then looked back up at us. "At the end, it says, 'This is not a joke.'" 

We sat there as long as we could. You probably know what happened the minute our speaker finished her talk. A roomful of doctors stood up. "Let's go see the bear."

We headed out. I'm not exactly sure why we decided we should cut through the finance department of this large ministry, but we stampeded them. "We want to see the bear."

The finance people had a great view. Unfortunately, the bear had already been tranquilized, caged, and transported to his next destination. I was determined to have a picture of the bear to send to my son, Ryan, so I asked around the department.

One of the ladies offered to share her bear picture with me, and we struck up a conversation. She tried to send the photo to me but the email wouldn't go through. We chatted some more as she tried again. I don't know where the bear pictures went, but they never made it to my computer.

The delay, however, allowed us to get acquainted. She noticed the MD on my name tag. I told her about working with Global Outreach and the Untapped Power Grid project. "That sounds like something my mother would enjoy," she told me. Her mother is older and had wanted something purposeful to do. We exchanged email addresses. I promised to send some information.

"It's kinda crazy how God used that bear to connect us, isn't it?" I asked her. 

She nodded and grinned. "Yeah. None of the doctors ever come in here."

"You never had a bear come visit before. Especially one that was a servant of God."

We laughed, but it was the truth. If the bear hadn't come, we wouldn't have left our meeting to find it, and we wouldn't have stampeded the finance department, and I wouldn't have pestered everyone about a photo, and wouldn't have met my new friend, or told her about my project, or recruited her mama to pray for my missionaries.

There is no one, and no thing, God can't use. From bears to cranky email servers, He will accomplish His purposes. I saw that truth all over again today.

No matter what you're facing, consider the bear that Jesus sent. If He can use a  bear to recruit an elderly prayer warrior, there's no telling what He can use to meet your need. 

Today, let's offer our needs to God and invite Him to do whatever He chooses in our situation. However He chooses.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 nasb

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In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. 

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: When Faith Gets Real: Loving Like Jesus with Skin On
#bearatFocus #faith

When Belief Gets Real: Loving Like Jesus with Skin On

The Gospel of John is intense, and sometimes it's knock-your-socks-off hard. Today is one of those times. 

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on Him." John 3:36 nasb

John tells us that the one who chooses not to believe Jesus enough to obey Him in what He says will miss the abundant life that's blessed by God. But there's more. The one who chooses not to obey Jesus will also find themselves in the unenviable position of having the wrath of God (anger with punishment) directed toward them.

In case you're wondering, the wrath of God is nothing you want directed at you.

If we're wise, we'll choose, right now, to obey what Jesus said. He summed up the entire law in two concise sentences. 

Love God with all you have. Love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself. 

It's agonizingly hard, and incredibly sweet to obey like that. 

It's inviting the man, whose false teeth fall out while he's eating, to sit at the big table for dinner. It's sitting down in the grass beside the homeless girl to find out more about her. It's giving the coat with the fur collar to a person who's cold when you kinda wanted to keep it for yourself. It's giving-the-extra-dollar-that-means-you-can't-buy-gas-to-go-to-work-unless-God-does-a-miracle kind of obedience. 

It's doing the unthinkable with joy just because Jesus asked it of you.

If we believe the words of Jesus, we'll obey. Even if it's hard. It's that simple.

If we don't obey, there will be a price to pay. It's that clear.

This is not country-club religion we're talking about here. This is down and dirty, touch-the-leper religion that transforms our lives and reveals the hard fact that we, too, are lepers. We, the unlovely, touch the other unlovelies because Jesus first touched us.

It's not popular to love this way. We'd rather send the love of Jesus electronically than get dirty for Him, but there are no substitutes for love with skin on.

Today, let's admit the fact that believing Jesus is more than a promise. It's an action, and that action is love. Boundless, limitless love. But let's do more than admit it. Let's do it. 

Let's do love with abandon. In ways we don't even expect of ourselves. Give freely. Reach out. Love like Jesus. In big ways and small. 

Let's love like Jesus with skin on. 
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Photo above - the Moses seat. It's where the men sat to read Scripture. It's a place of authority. Kinda like the authority with which John wrote these hard words.

In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. 

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: When the Light of God's Truth Shines on the Darkness in My Heart
#loveall #Jesus 

When the Light of God's Truth Shines on the Darkness in My Own Heart

I read through John 3 several times. It just wasn't sticking this morning. "Lord, what is wrong with me? I can't focus. This passage isn't speaking to me at all. It's the very words of Jesus. I should love this."

I read it again.

Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus. (Leanna paraphrase here) "It's the ones who don't believe Me who will be judged. Now, let me explain about the judgment. I brought the light of God to the world, but men love darkness instead of light."

All we have to do is look around us and that's obvious. We (as a world) love the things of darkness more than we love the light of God. 

The reason for that, Jesus said, is that the light of God shines on our evil deeds and exposes them for what they are. I can agree with that, especially when it applies to someone else. 

The very next thing Jesus said caused an alarm to go off in my brain. "He who practices truth comes to the light." 

If Jesus is the truth, and Scripture tells us that He is, doing what He said to do brings us closer to Him. 

Obedience moves us toward Christ. Rebellion moves us further away.

I read that and thought, "I feel far away from you this morning, Lord."

Rebellion move us father away from Jesus. Those words began to echo in my heart. Then, I knew. 

"Okay, Lord. Where have I not obeyed?"

He shined light directly on my sin. It was an ouch moment. I have an acquaintance who's moody. I never know what response to expect. Friendly and cheerful or grumpy and snappish. 

I find the unpredictability very unpleasant, and I had begun to grumble to the Lord about it. That grumbling had led me to embrace a judgmental, critical spirit.

A judgmental, critical spirit will spread through your heart like wildfire, and the spreading had already begun. I was on the brink of being a grumpy, complaining, critical person myself. If the truth be told, I was already there in my heart, and it was alienating me from Christ.

I sighed and apologized to the Lord, then asked for forgiveness. Most days, I wonder if I'll ever learn to act like Jesus consistently. "What now, Lord?"

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

In this situation, loving my neighbor as myself begins when I quit complaining to the Lord about the moodiness and stop rehearsing the offenses in my mind. 

It means that I overlook the behavior and look for the pain behind it. 

That I'm kind in the face of unkindness. 

Loving in the face of rejection. 

Patient in the face of impatience.

The light of God shone on the darkness in my own heart, and showed me the very sin that had pushed me farther away from my Lord. Repentance brought me closer.

It's not obedience that's caused the distance between us and God. It's the darkness in our hearts. 

Maybe you, too, feel far away from God. Today, let's take a step closer to our Lord by asking Him to shine His light of truth in our hearts and show us the sin that needs to go. 

When He does, let's not waste time by justifying our sin. Let's just agree with God, ask for forgiveness, and choose light instead of darkness. Truth instead of lies. Christ instead of the world.

Want to move closer to God? Repent and obey.

"He who practices truth comes to the light..." John 3:21 nasb
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In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. 

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Beautiful and Broken
#sin #truth 

Guest Blogger Ruthie Howard: Beautiful and Broken

My island home is a beautiful place. 


I know my (biased) opinion is shared by others, since visitors also make the same observation.


Imagine a tropical island with diverse trees and flowers, profuse birds and interesting wildlife, puffy clouds liberally painted across an expansive canvas, cooling breezes blown off the vast lake, views of incredibly striking sunrises and sunsets - each one taking your breath away. 

Night skies are studded with precious age-old "gems" - seen more clearly above when away from city lights. 


Lapping on the beaches, the lake water is an ever-present source of one of earth's greatest treasures - life-giving water, which is such a precious resource here. 


There are no cars and motorcycles (except one rarely-seen cycle) and thus no artificial pollution and annoying traffic jams, unless you count the cows, goats, and chickens loitering on the walking paths. 


The island villages seem quaint with their narrow meandering paths, twisting between the crowded grass-thatched mud houses. Bright-eyed children with big smiles play here and there, creatively recycling discarded items for their playthings. 


Many agree the island is a beautiful place. 

But, like the rest of the world, the island is also marred and broken. 


A forest of trees has been slowly reduced for more urgent needs like firewood and making charcoal to cook food to fill hungry stomachs. Poor planning means replanting has not taken place. And, without the plentiful trees, less rainfall means the island is drier than it used to be - and gardens, animals, and people suffer. 


Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world and Africa's largest, is far from "fresh" or "clean." Human pollution has contributed to extremely high levels of e coli and other harmful bacteria. Wading and swimming risk exposure to sickness or disease-causing parasitic worms. 

While the removal of the forests made way for more gardens, an on-going struggle exists between the farmers and the apparently richer and more powerful animal owners. Hungry cows and goats can easily decimate an acre of crops, which took a family days and weeks to cultivate. Local leaders' laxity and corruption stifle justice and fairness. 


Health care is limited or non-existent on many of Buvuma's 52 islands. Simple, preventable sicknesses and injuries may go untreated, becoming gravely serious. At times the wide-eyed children display signs of malnutrition and worms, with their unnatural orangish-brown hair and swollen stomachs. 

Adult supervision is limited as siblings only a few years older are left in charge of younger brothers and sisters, ensuring they are fed, taken to school, etc. Consequently, child predators or those seeking sexual satisfaction take advantage of loose moral codes, offering paltry payments in exchange for stealing virginity, introducing life-altering diseases, or causing unwanted pregnancies. Girls and young women are often seen as commodities in the villages. 

As reflective of the greater culture, men dominant in the islands - taking the women they want as "wives," until another catches their eye. Domestic abuse and violence are more common than not. 


Most children grow up in mixed and fractured families, with siblings of different mothers or fathers. Larger families are often parceled out, with kids put in the care of an aunt or grandparent, whoever is deemed more able to feed and care for their basic needs. 


Selfishness, ignorance, poverty, disease, abuse, exploitation, injustice…the wretched effects of sin...these comprise the underlying reality of the islands... 


...of the world... 

...of my heart... 

...apart from the Gospel. 


Every day I desperately need the Gospel of Jesus; to embrace the fact God loved me, though unworthy and deader than dead in my sins, and not seeking Him in my sin-blinding stupor. 


God saw us as beautiful, but very broken. His incredible love took action, sending His precious and holy Son Jesus into such a broken, sin-wracked world to a life of humility and humiliation. God sent Jesus to buy us back - to redeem us from slavery, from darkness, from sin, from death, from separation from our Heavenly Father. 


The powerful, redemptive Gospel of Jesus is for my heart, for your heart, for your neighborhood, for my neighborhood. Yes, the world is very broken, deeply scarred by sin, but it is not beyond God's amazing redemption. 

In the split second after the Fall, God enacted His redemption plan, relentlessly and passionately pursuing His image bearers - for thousands of years, even in this very moment and the next one. He has not given up, nor should we. At times, the situation of the islands (and the world is general) is overwhelming and discouraging, but God asks us to continue living and declaring the Good News, until He says "time's up." 


And, until the time is up, we must embrace the God News, believe it, apply it, share it, declare it, shout it. We must live it and proclaim it every day, to every person, in every possible way. 
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This post was first published in June 2016 at the “Journey of Faith” blog (www.journeyoffaith11.blogpost.com). The author, Ruthie Howard, originally from Northwest Oregon, is working on her 7th year in central Uganda, East Africa, where she lives and works in the Buvuma Islands on Lake Victoria. She is privileged to serve with an amazing ministry family in Shepherd’s Heart International Ministry (SHIM), a project of Global Outreach Uganda. Ruthie’s passions are young people, discipleship, teaching the Word of God, and seeing lives transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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n case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. 

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: You Don't Have to Understand to Believe
#Uganda #Jesus #globaloutreach #SHIM

You Don't Have to Understand to Believe

I'm not sure why I tried to explain the internet to Sam, but my effort was a total flop. How do you explain the way an email or a text travels through the mysterious world of digital to land in an inbox on the other side of the globe in a way that makes sense to someone who has never used a computer? 

I can't do it. That's for sure. Maybe my failure to explain cogently is because I don't understand the internet myself. 

The good news is that understanding the internet is not necessary in order to use the internet.

My very flawed explanation was still on my mind when I read John 3. Jesus told Nicodemus that he would have to born again. Nicodemus heard those words and was skeptical. (Leanna paraphrase coming up.)

"Yeah, right. I'm a grown man. How am I going to get back inside my mama and come out again. That is so not happening."

"That's not what I mean, Nick. There's physical birth and spirit birth. You need spirit birth."

"I can't understand this at all. It doesn't make sense. I can't believe this."

"You don't have to. You don't need to understand to believe. You believe in the wind, but you can't see it."

"I don't know about that..."

"Nicodemus, if you can't understand earthly things enough to believe them, how will you believe heavenly things enough to believe them?" 

And then...

Jesus decided to tell Nicodemus a heavenly thing, anyway, and give him a chance to believe.

"God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to save the world and give them eternal life. And here I am. Right here, Nicodemus. You can see me, and I've come to save you."

It's a heavenly thing that's hard to understand, but it's no less true because of the difficulty. Nicodemus didn't believe that day, but one day, he did the hardest, yet simplest thing of all. He let go of his need to understand and accepted on faith the words of the One he'd struggled to understand.

That's how it is for us, too. We will never understand the ways of God. We're not good as He is good. We don't love as He loves. We don't give as He gives. Our inadequacy doesn't make Him less good, less loving, less giving. 

He's God and we are not.

He gave because we could not.

That's what's hard to understand. It's why belief is a choice we make. 

Do we want to have eternal life or not? Good deeds can't give it to us. Neither can lots of donations, or being kind to strangers, rescuing orphaned children, preaching sermons, or sacrificing everything for another. 

There's only one way to have eternal life, and that's through Jesus. If we want eternal life, we choose to believe in Jesus. It's that hard. It's that simple.

So what about us? Do we want eternal life in heaven? There's one way, and His name is Jesus. Let's be sure we've placed our faith in Him alone to save us.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 
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In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. We're making good progress. More than 300 pairs of boots have been given so far. 10% of the need has already been met!

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: The Redemption of a Wrecked Reputation
#Jesus #salvation

The Redemption of a Wrecked Reputation

When I was a girl, an unplanned pregnancy was a big deal. It was generally hushed up by a quick and quiet wedding, followed by reports that the baby had arrived "early". 

In the time of Mary and Joseph, it was not just a "big deal"; it was catastrophic. Harsh penalties. Public scorn. 

Jesus was born when Mary and Joseph were "espoused". I don't know if they had a wedding or not, but it would not have been the joyful occasion of the wedding in Cana.

You know how people are. We watch someone make a series of bad choices in their youth, then help the story of those choices follow them for years. Even when they have a turn-around and make good choices, we still recall the bad.

I've often wondered how it was for Mary, the mother of Jesus. She didn't make a bad choice. She didn't have a moral failure. She was the chosen one of God to serve as mother to the King of Kings. 

It was a place of incredible trust, but, to the world, it must have looked much different. People would've talked. They would've shunned. They would've kept their young daughters away from her, lest they "do what Mary did." Maybe they excused her because she was young, but that's not the way of humans.

Something turned, somewhere, during the next thirty years.

By the time we get to the miracle of Cana, Mary is more than a guest at the wedding. She's in charge of the servants in the kitchen. I don't know if she was there as a caterer or as a close family friend, but she clearly had a position of responsibility and trust. Hers is not the role of a "failed woman", but people probably still remembered.

What I realized today, for the first time ever, is that Jesus' miracle likely restored Mary's reputation in a way all her "good deeds" and acts of faith could never do. 

She'd likely protested her innocence, but you know how rumors spread. If she told a friend that she was carrying the Messiah, that friend likely told it, too. I can imagine it spreading like wildfire through the village. I can imagine people laughing at her for her grandiose ideas, her wild lies.

If I'd been one of the servants who topped off the wash water pots with water and carried a sample to the wine taster, I'd have told everyone I saw that it turned into the best wine of the day. You probably would have, too. 

That news spread. We can be sure of it, because it's human nature to talk about something so exciting. As it spread, the thought that Mary might have been telling the truth all those years ago likely spread with it.

She said she was carrying the Messiah, and now that child had turned wash-water into wine. No one who sampled that wine ever forgot the taste of the` excellent vintage. Nor the One who created it. Nor His mother, who'd been right all along.

I love it that Jesus' first public act of ministry helped His mother. I love it that His initial demonstration of power helped restore her wrecked reputation. Made her proud. Gave her joy.

I believe God has a special place in his heart for women in a mess (whether of our own making or not). We can be sure of it when we look at the women in Jesus' life. Mary Magdalene. Martha. The Woman at the Well. He loved them, changed them, kept them near as trophies of grace.

No matter what mistakes we have (or haven't) made, Jesus loves us. He cares about us. He longs to change us and make us more like Him. In a moment's time, He can move in such a way that He silences all the whispers, quiets the storm of public condemnation, redeems the years of a wrecked reputation. 

Have you made mistakes? Do you stuff your shame deep inside, hoping no one can see? Hoping no one remembers? Today, why not give it all to Jesus? Today, no matter what burden we carry, let's let Him forgive, cleanse, redeem.

"Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten..." Joel 2:25 nasb
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n case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. We're making good progress. More than 300 pairs of boots have been given so far. 10% of the need has already been met!

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Five Characteristics of a Miracle
#Jesus #redemption

Five Characteristics of a Miracle and One All-Important Requirement for Having One

I was exhausted from 12 and 14 hour days, and increasingly desperate for a miracle. I wanted it now. I wanted it big. I did not want to wait one more minute.

I'd worked as hard as I could, as long as I could, for as many hours as I could. I was so far past exhaustion that I was to the point of collapse. Finally, the dogs and I walked across the levee into the pasture on the other side. I needed a few minutes to myself. No interruptions. No one wanting more.

 I'd planned a peaceful ramble across my land. As I rounded the corner, I started to weep. Big, heaving sobs. Rivers of tears. Loud cries to God. I sank to the ground, shocked by the intensity of my emotion, and let my tears mingle with the parched dirt.

When I was cried out, I walked for a while, numb with fatigue, frustration, and uncertainty. I'd done what God said. He'd done what He'd said He would, but He hadn't done what I thought I needed the most, and I wasn't happy about it.

The next morning, I opened my Bible to John 2 and began to read. It was the story of the miracle at Cana. Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine. His mother came to him and said, "They're out of wine." She clearly expected Him to do something.

In the margin of my Bible, written twelve years before, was the answer to the question I hadn't realized I was asking. 

How can I make a miracle happen?

I can't. It's that simple.

Here's a few facts worth remembering about miracles, drawn from the margin of my Bible:

1) Miracles happen on God's timetable, not ours.

2) The purpose of a miracle is not convenience, but to manifest God's glory and draw people to belief in Him. 

3) Miracles usually come when we have nothing of ourselves left on which we can rely, and no way to procure more. (Yes. When God is all we have left, we find He was all we really needed.)

4) Jesus' miraculous provision is better than the best the world can offer. 

5) Jesus' miraculous provision is always abundant. Water to 120 + gallons of wine. Five loaves to enough for thousands. It's always more than enough.

There's only one thing we must do to have a miracle. Obedience, especially when it doesn't make sense.

Topping out the ritual wash-water pots didn't make sense at all when they needed wine. Without the obedience of pot-filling, though, they'd have missed the best wine of all.

Is God asking you to do something that won't make sense to the world? Do it. 

Are you desperate for a miracle? Take your need to Christ and do whatever He says. It's that simple. It's that hard.

Obedience. Never easy. Always worth it.

"This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory and His disciples believed in HIm." John 2:11 nasb
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In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. We're making good progress. More than 300 pairs of boots have been given so far. 10% of the need has already been met!

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: The Sorry That Can Take You Straight To Hell and here's the link to this week's guest blogger: I'm Fine and Other Lies
#miracle #Jesus