Tag: Hope

Posted in Different Moments, Different Scriptures, Different Thoughts, Uncategorized

memories.

Posted on by Wick

There’s one from the Mercantile in Oklahoma. We went there as a family in the middle of winter, on our way to speak at a church in Kansas. We were raising funds and prayers as we became missionaries to Hungary. The church didn’t offer any financial support, but they did take us out for Mexican food. We were thankful we worked in a fun family side trip to see “The Pioneer Woman”, because otherwise that trip would have felt a bit disappointing. We trusted God and traveled anywhere someone would invite us to speak. He provided, and we were thankful to go and minister in Hungary as long as He had us there.

There’s another from “Wheel of Fortune”, as I was a contestant on the show in 2007. You should definitely go if you ever get the chance; it’s worth it. When I graduated from college, I hadn’t only learned Greek. I’d also learned how to use a credit card. The habit cost us deeply in our first years of marriage, and 5 years later, in 2007, we were spinning our wheels in mud trying to pay it off. I went on the show and won just enough to pay off the credit cards (and buy a dishwasher). We were thankful that I also won a trip to Vegas and a trip to Hawaii. We will always be thankful for how God used this show. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to afford adopting our daughter or living as missionaries for a season. Don’t go into debt on purpose, but always know God’s resources are way beyond what we may ever expect.

There’s a purple ornament from Olivet Nazarene University. I remember going to ONU when I was a high schooler to compete in “talent competitions” called “Celebrate Life”. I didn’t appreciate it much at the time, beyond a great social event, but God was offering me a vision of the extended family a connectional church provides beyond the borders of cities, states, or even countries. Olivet ended up being where Sarah and I dated and began living as a married couple, and where our oldest daughter attends even now. It became my first “home away from home”, a respite from rough seasons of life, and a source of family in so many healing ways. I know no institution run by human beings is going to be without faults, but we really are thankful for ONU and the ways it continues to bear fruit.

There’s a picture ornament with photos of our family in Paris. More than just a “fun vacation” we took on Sarah’s birthday, we had no idea the precipice the world was on during those days. We were based in Hungary as Free Methodist missionaries, but flew (European flights between countries are very cheap sometimes!) from nearby Vienna to Paris for a few days. While we were in Paris, the world closed its borders in response to the growing pandemic. We made it back to Vienna, but were pretty much “smuggled” back into Hungary past army tents where foreigners were being detained. I’ll never forget our driver pulling over to call his wife and tell her what he was about to try and do…not knowing what would happen to any of us. We were so thankful to finally get “home”. Thus began a season of ministry overseas that would continue to both test and shape our family’s trust in the God we’d felt called by and sent to serve.

There are many more ornaments, from each of our lives as individuals, as well as family moments we remember together. As we decorate the tree each year, we don’t stop to tell all the stories, as that would take forever. But we’re blessed to pause here and there, as someone in the family says, “Hey, remember this?”

God has been good. God is good. The promise of this season of Advent is that God will be good also. We can trust in Him, not only because we have no other option. We are blessed to be able to place our trust in our God, who has revealed Himself as a loving Father. He invites us today, no matter what our experiences have been in the past, into a renewed experience of walking in loving attachment and being attuned to His face, which lights up with joy as we turn toward Him.

I look forward to all the ways we will remember these current moments in our walk…as we hang ornaments commemorating what God will do this next year.

Posted in Different Moments, Uncategorized

donuts from Jesus

Posted on by Wick

I was able to take a friend out for lunch recently who has visited our church for many years. He is still exploring faith and has some intellectual disability, causing him to ask many of the same questions as a 7-year-old. It can be frustrating at times but also incredibly wonder-filled. We went out to a Mexican restaurant, where he ordered a burger and French fries. He was laughing about how funny it was to order a cheeseburger at a Mexican restaurant. He smiled big when the food came and laughed when the waiter brought him a refill of his Pepsi, committing to drink it all or take it home in a “to-go” cup.

As we sat and ate, conversation wandered all over the map. We talked about things of great and little significance, and I shared scriptures with him about the love and authority of God in his life. He has a lot of questions about spiritual powers and the forces at work behind what we can see. I continue to invite him to know Jesus in a relationship and to walk in the light God provides still today by His Spirit. We agreed that many things in this world are confusing.

I asked him what other things in this world are confusing, and in the midst of his response he mentioned “donut boxes”. “They’re so hard to put together. They’re flat, but you’re supposed to put donuts in them. I just don’t even try.” It was a humbling reminder for me of the simple things we take for granted. I pointed out there was a Meijer right across the street, and I’d be happy to take him over there and do a quick lesson on donut-box-assembly. He smiled big again, and agreed that would be a great use of our time together.

We slowly assembled a good 6 or 7 boxes, putting them up on the donut case afterward for other people to use (hopefully). Then I asked if he’d like some donuts. His eyes got big for a moment, but then he responded calmly, “No that’s okay. You bought me lunch already, and that’s enough.” I told him, “Well, this time it’s not me. Jesus wants to buy you the donuts, He just wants to buy them through me.”

He chuckled a bit. “Jesus doesn’t have any money.” I explained to him my belief, all resources belong to God. God can use anything, big or small, to accomplish His purposes, and in this case it meant getting him some donuts. He reluctantly agreed to let Jesus buy him some donuts. He picked a couple apple fritters, a chocolate glazed, and a cinnamon donut.

I scanned the barcode. It was $3.95. Without thinking, I entered my phone number for the “Meijer Perks”, because I do it whenever we shop there. Immediately the screen popped up: “You have $4 in your Meijer Perks Account. Would you like to use it now?”

Even my eyes grew big this time. We hardly ever shop at Meijer, because it’s on the other side of town. I looked at my friend to make sure he noticed what was happening. “Do you see? Not only did Jesus want to buy you donuts, but He wanted you to know it was Him…not me.” He couldn’t believe it either, and we both walked out feeling like God had offered us a wink in the form of a donut. He sees us, and cares about our day – even the seemingly insigificant moments.

I don’t think my friend is ready to put his entire life into the hands of Jesus yet, but it was a fun memory to be a part of. It’s one more moment nurturing the seeds of faith. May we all look for more moments of joining (or becoming aware of) the Love of Jesus. His Love is working even now, to draw us all into greater awareness if we’re willing to take notice…

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3

Posted in Different Scriptures

from the furnace…

Posted on by Wick

(Read Daniel 3:24-30 first)

Whew. Even though we knew what was going to happen, it’s such a relief to arrive at this point in the story. Notice how often all 3 names of the men are used (Babylonian names that give credit to false gods, instead of their Elohim-honoring Hebrew names). As Israel passes on the story, they’re remembering the names (and truths) Babylon attempted and failed to declare. It’s a reminder to God’s people living in exile across all time – the faithfulness and authority of Elohim remains, even when Babylon seems to have renamed reality.

The passage begins with Nebuchadnezzar being astonished/alarmed, and rising up quickly. He asks for confirmation of reality, because what he sees does not match what he knows to be true.

When’s the last time what you perceived did not match what you knew to be true?

Often what we know to be true is due to the perceptions we’re used to using. We build our conceptions of reality based on what we can see, hear, and sense. We base our expectations off what we’ve experienced previously.

Because of that, it’s so important to exercise our imagination with God regularly. We are Kingdom citizens who know Jesus is on the throne already. We know Love is the language of this new Kingdom, and forgiveness is possible because of how we’ve each been forgiven. But so often we forget these realities, because of what we see and hear and perceive as reality in the world around us. So we meet regularly for worship and the Word each week. We draw together during the week in relationship and prayer, to encourage one another. We need these moments of being formed in the unseen realities of the Kingdom becoming visible through us.

God’s realities are being revealed as Nebuchadnezzar looks into the furnace. This is often the purpose of God doing something miraculous like this. Not to preserve the lives of these 3 young men indefinitely. Eventually, they all end up dying. We’re not even sure what happens beyond these moments. But in these moments, all Israel is given a vision they needed to see in the midst of their exile (or return from it). Every miracle (including the miracle of being the body of Jesus as the local church) is a window through which we glimpse the realities of God’s Kingdom. Every miracle is an apocalypse (literal meaning: an uncovering, a revealing).

I want us to focus on a few particular things, as God gives us here an apocalypse, a window into His Kingdom realities through this passage…

  1. There were four men. Nebuchadnezzar asks for confirmation – “We threw 3 guys in there, right?” He sees four men, and the fourth he describes with words that mean “he looks like a divine being”. Some believe maybe this was Jesus who came physically even before he was born to Mary. Others believe it was an angel. No matter who, it was the presence of God with these 3, and in a way that was embodied. The Kingdom of God is revealed as physically and relationally present in suffering.
    Surely, they would have been happy just to not be burned alive. They would have known God’s protection was with them. But the way of God’s Kingdom is to be physically with those in suffering. As a church, it’s good and responsible stewardship for us to send financial support to organizations that do good to alleviate suffering in our community and world. But it’s the way of the Kingdom for us to go out into the lives of our neighbors, and join them in their moments and areas of suffering as the embodied presence of Jesus.

2. They were unbound – even in the fire.
In verse 21, they bound the men. Once again, I’m sure the men would have been incredibly happy simply to not die in the fire. But God desires to go a step further here, revealing something important about the ways of His Kingdom: Sometimes instead of delivering us from the fire, God delivers us in the midst of the fire.
Remember the story of Jesus on the boat with His disciples? Matthew 8:24b says, “But Jesus was sleeping.” In a panic, they woke Him up afraid they were all going to drown. It’s true, Jesus could have helped them avoid the storm in the first place. Just like He could have healed Lazarus before He even died. But for whatever the reason, sometimes God brings His peaceful presence through us right in the midst of the suffering and storms. You may be living in a situation, or experiencing a furnace that cannot be changed right now, or that you cannot see a way out of. My prayer is that even now you would find comfort, knowing God can bring you freedom even in the midst of the furnace.
I can’t explain the mind of God, but I do know that if God always rescued us from having to be in storms, or be in fires, or experience death….we might continue to fear these things as if they were something that held power. Which leads to our 3rd point.

3. The fires of Babylon had no power over them.
It’s interesting the story doesn’t just say “they weren’t burned”. It doesn’t say they weren’t hurt, or stop with saying “they were saved from the powerful fire”. It very intentionally uses the phrase “the fire had not any power over the bodies of those men”.
As with many stories in scripture, this is not prescriptive, but it is descriptive. It’s telling us a story about this particular situation, where a miracle occurred in order to reveal something important about the ways of the Kingdom. The revelation here is that even the dangerous forces of the empire have no actual power or authority over someone who is set apart for God’s purposes.
This does NOT mean you will not get burned! That’s what we mean by being “descriptive”. It’s describing this particular story, where a window was opened to see how the Kingdom works. God’s authority is more powerful than anything the forces of empire might attempt.
Last week I smoked pork chops. Even smoking pork chops, when I came inside I smelled wonderfully like smoked meat. After washing my hands, that night I remember smelling it on my arms before going to sleep. It seems a bit unnecessary for God to keep these men from even smelling like they’d been in the fire. So why include that detail? Why go to that great length?

There’s no secret Ancient Near East meaning for the smell of fire, and there’s nothing obvious theologians agree on here. But it does show us the extent of God’s power in ways that might speak to something we’re aware of today – the impact of suffering. Sometimes referred to as “trauma”, even if we survive a difficult moment these days, it stays with us in ways we are still learning to understand. The power and authority of God revealed in these moments show us He is even able to deliver us from any ongoing impact of these furnace moments of life. What furnaces have you gone through in your past, where the smell of that fire hangs with you? It’s no longer an active presence of a threat, and yet you continue to walk around as if the fire remains. Allow the truth of scripture today to invite healing, or even the hope of healing. God is not only able to deliver us from the furnace, but from any impact the furnaces of our lives have left on us.

Nebuchadnezzar makes a decree including, “There is no other god who is able to deliver/rescue/save in this way.” This is a defining nature of God, revealed with the same root word back in Exodus 3:8. In those moments, God reveals His desires for the people of Israel in ways that echo through the rest of scripture. “I have come down to deliver them from (sources of enslavement) and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”

God not only desires deliverance for you, but He has provided that deliverance. Not only from the furnace, but into His New Creation Life. By His Spirit, He transforms us as a community into a place/people where others might discover that same deliverance. A place where God becomes physically present with us and through us. A place where we become “unbound”, even in the fire. A place where we’re reminded – there is nothing with power or authority over us, but God himself.

Will you allow God to set you free? Jesus invites us to step forward into His freedom…