Author: Wick

Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, Writer, Poet, Friend, reader, coffee enthusiast, hockey Wing-Nut, musical participator, etc...
Posted in Different Scriptures

hearing strange things from God’s Word…

Posted on by Wick

Sometimes God doesn’t make sense. (says the human) One of my favorite stories of such a time, is found in 1 Kings 18, when the prophets of Ba’al square off against Elijah. The King and his people have been doing what they wanted for a very long time. Little by little, the people and followers of God have simply become a people who follow a lot of different things, along with God as a guiding side-dish. As Elijah enters the scene, he calls it like he sees it, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left…” Compared to the 450 prophets of Ba’al, it certainly doesn’t look good. But Elijah’s purpose is clear – remind the people of who the one God really is.listening

Then they have their famous showdown. They both have an altar with sacrifice on it. The first altar to be set afire will be proven as truly divine. Elijah politely allows the prophets of Ba’al to go first.

From morning until noon, the prophets of Ba’al shout and dance, but to no response. Elijah responds with the sarcasm of a modern MAC vs. PC commercial, “Shout louder, maybe he’s gone to the bathroom!” Sure enough, the people respond by shouting louder, slashing themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed.

You can probably bet that their altar had all the right conditions for a fire to blaze. If a piece of flint had set off a spark nearby, I’m guessing their entire altar would have grown into a towering declaration for all to see. If you had a checklist of all the things that are required for a successful sacrifice by fire, every single aspect had been checked twice. Yet still – nothing.

Then comes Elijah’s turn, and he does something that doesn’t make any sense according to the ancient editions of “How to Build a Fire”. He orders 12 large jars filled with water to be poured all over the altar, to the point of soaking and filling trenches that he’d dug around the altar itself. The wood, the sacrifice, and the ground are soggy, definitely not the tinderbox of fire-to-come most of us would have thrown together.

The ministry leaders of Elijah’s day would have quickly counted him out. After all, don’t we want everything we do to set God up for success? Doesn’t he depend on us to set the stage for him well with seamless service-flow, perfect powerpoint, and pitch-perfect voices? How do we expect God to do anything incredible, if we’re not 110% on our game, devoting our every thought to how we can help God show up in a big way….whether it’s on stage in a church service, or in the midst of our every day parenting journeys.

Into the midst of the sea filled with all of these pressures and more, the story of Elijah stands as strong as Moses approaching the Red Sea. The anxieties and pressures are cast high and away, leaving dry ground for us to cross on. Ground that reminds us – God is not dependent on us “setting Him up for success”. There may be places in our lives completely soaked to the bone with something we would call “fire retardant”. But in the name of Jesus, anything can be transformed to just the right place for His Glory to be revealed in a powerfully unexpected way…will you offer Him your altar today, no matter its’ condition???

Posted in Adoption Journey, Uncategorized

longest. advent. ever.

Posted on by Wick

So here’s another official adoption update without much officially to update.  We’re still “next on the list” for a child who meets what we’ve been approved of.  We’ve even been able to extend the age a bit, because we began this process with a younger youngest child.(Illinois doesn’t generally allow “artificial twinning”, which means adopting a child the same age of your children.)  We’ve gotten e-mails in recent weeks that are exciting, and we’re hearing of sibling sets, and twins, and girls the age of our kids being adopted.  This is great news, as children who need a forever home are being connected not only with shelter, but in many cases with a home centered on Jesus, and God – the ultimate Father.

There are new posts on a regular basis by this author, or that news source, or this organization.  Many of them sounding the alarm about corruption in the adoption system.  Some saying international adoption misses the point.  Some simply trying to educate.  Others processing their own guilt publicly, after not asking questions in their own process of bringing home a child.pinkdrc

So much of the conversation continues to distract us from the truths.  Soooo many children are dying, and in need of being cared for.  So many women and children are being abused, forgotten about, and fought over.  The war in Eastern DRC continues to move toward the edge of who knows what, as UN Troops arrive in the next month or so for the first ever offensive action aimed at controlling the M23/rebel forces.

And in the midst of it all, it seems the brokenness of our creation offers a possible volcanic eruption.

I listen to NPR…probably too much.  It’s at the point now that when I read a book that talks about something thought provoking, I hear the voices of prominent NPR reporters reading me the text.  I hear stories from all over the world, and I realize there are so many important things happening.  But when I see or hear an extended report on something I feel like has gotten way too much media attention, I can’t help but feel the sting of injustice, when I know the current homeland of my daughter is enduring so much suffering.  I’m reminded that this…right here….this lump in my throat.  This filling of my eyes.   This emotion that rises when I read another report on the abuses against the people of the DRC….this is one of the reasons we’ve been called on this journey.  To have our hearts broken by that which breaks the heart of Christ.

Before we began traveling this road, I could hear reports from all over the world, and maintain my waffle square.  Safely compartmentalized in my Midwestern US world.  Now, my eyes and heart are being changed.  Already in the midst of wanting to “rescue” my daughter (I realize some bloggers challenging the evangelical adoption movement don’t like that word…deal with it.)…she has already begun to rescue me from what had become an all too localized world-view.

All of that to say….please continue to pray with us.  Not just for our daughter and family, but for the people and nation of the DRC.  May God come, and begin to set things right even now…

Also, we’re still raising funds for when that e-mail/call comes, and we begin the journey to actually bring her home…if you’d like to give, click here.  Thanks so much!!!

Posted in Different Learning, Different Thoughts

free.

Posted on by Wick

Last week, we gathered a group of mostly senior highers together from all over Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois.  The goal was to take 36 young people through a few days of learning about our history as the Free Methodist Church, hear what God is currently doing through us, and look forward to how they fit uniquely into the future directions of our movement.  It.  Went.  Awesome.

Seriously, better than we could’ve planned. (we’re not great planners, admittedly)

One of the “Group Times” involved students taking important dates from our timeline, and important aspects of what defined us as we began the FM Church – and finding unique ways to remember them.  Here are a few our group came up with:

1. BT Roberts was an MVP, or “Most Valuable Preacher”.  Michael Jordan was also an MVP, and his number was 23.  BT Roberts was born in 1823.  Boom.

2. Heinz 57 Sauce is red, like a stop sign.  It was in 1857 that BT Roberts was told by his church to STOP some of the stir he was causing toward certain freedoms he believed were vital to the life of a Christ-follower.  Just one year later, in 1858, his ordination and credentials were removed.

3. So, since his church had “86’d” his role as a minister, he began a new movement by inviting like-hearted followers of Christ.   He began “Peeking” into a NEW movement (denomination) in 1886 in Pekin, NEW York.

4. From the very beginning, this movement embraced 5 essential freedoms along with the ordination of women:

S- Slaves should be freed!

P- Pews should be free! (Many churches in those days had begun “renting/selling” pews, with more expensive seats toward the front.   So an unofficial “caste” system had developed within the churches, leaving many people without a place for worship.)

E – Freedom of Expression in worship.

W – Freedom from the trappings of the World/Wealth.  (Freedom from Sin)

S – Freedom from “secret societies”. (Much drama was being caused in the church by members uniting in a secret society, and then approaching the church with a desire and ability to control what was happening within.  BT Roberts himself was falsely accused of this.)

Yup, that’s right….just about every one of the 7 small groups of teenagers came up independently with the acronym “S-P-E-W-S” to remember the 5 freedoms we embraced from the very beginning.  There was a beautiful moment on one of our last evenings out on the town, where our teens were approached by a stranger who asked what group we were.   They told him “Free Methodist Youth”, and he was confused.  He’d heard of Methodism, but not the “Free” kind.  They proceeded to explain to him, using the very elements listed above.   The teens thought perhaps we’d planted him in the crowd to test them!  It was great confirmation of wickrobertsthe importance of what we’d been doing all week!

Later on, we discussed the 9 points of emphasis our church is currently embracing here in the US.  Many of the teens were freakin’ out, because they’d talked earlier in the week about what they really want changed in our church, and this was almost an exact list of what they’d come up with!  Just another reminder for us not to simply give nods to our young people, but to listen to what God might be speaking through them.

Oh yes….and BT Roberts was often sporting a neck-beard.  I happened to have an NHL play-off beard that needed shaving.  It was perfect timing to illustrate what a neck-beard would look like in person…..