C.A.S.T.

Manna-it literally means…what is it?  The Israelites ate when they did not know

what it was.  They ate what they could not comprehend.  They ate what they were confused by.   They ate this food, this manna…they ate the mystery. 
Ann Voskamp

I am a Trauma Consultant for a medical device company.  I represent the company that creates and manufactures the plates, screws, nails, rods, pins of internal and external fixations that hold a fracture together until it heals.  Many of the broken bones that come into the hospital are very severe…multi-fragmented…they have to be pieced back together by master surgeons and held in place with these devices.  This is not always the case.  Many patients come into the surgeons' offices, and they only have a sprain.  They just need a friend or family member to help them around for a few days or even weeks.  Then there is the majority…the moderate or moderately-severe fractures.  They need a cast to hold the bone in place for a few months until it heals.  The cast is then removed so the person can slowly begin moving their bones, muscles & ligaments on their own until they are fully functioning again.

The church is a hospital…full of trauma…full of broken people.  Sometimes these broken souls need a master surgeon; a pastor or even a mental health professional.  Sometimes it’s just a sprain and they need a friend to help them around for a few days or even weeks.  Then there’s the majority…those that have moderate or moderately-severe fractures of the heart/soul and need a cast…someone to come alongside and hold them up until the fractured soul heals enough to stand on its own.

C.A.S.T.  Care Advisors of South Tulsa.  These are people formally trained with 50 hours of time-tested tools to come alongside a hurting person and in the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God…like a cast…they hold them up and encourage healing until the person can stand on their own again, and serve the Lord in wholeness.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn” Romans 12:15

Manna-it literally means…what is it?  The CAST training is very unique.  These Care Advisors are trained to be caregivers…not cure-givers.  They know that there is only one cure-giver, Jesus Christ.  They are trained to come alongside a person devastated with life circumstances that force the questions…what is this?  How do I comprehend this?  Why am I forced to eat this “manna” that I cannot understand?  The Care Advisor walks alongside and instead of trying to answer the questions…he or she simply agrees…this is incomprehensible…this is chaotic…this is confusing…this is…a mystery.  

The Care Advisor courageously walks down into the pit, the valley of the shadow of death with the hurting person.  There is one distinct difference, though.  The Care Advisor is firmly rooted in Christ, His Word, and the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Care Advisor, surrounded by and rooted and grounded in accountability/advisory groups and time-tested training, reaches one hand into the care-receiver’s darkness while firmly gripping the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ.  The two hold the “manna” together.  They mourn together.  But ultimately the Care Advisor is ever-pointing to hope, to joy, to revelation, to wisdom, to healing, to transformation, to restoration, to salvation, to Jesus Christ.

Have you ever reached out to someone, helped them, and walked away full? 

Jesus said he had manna that we did not know of, and His meat was to do the will of the Father.  When we enter into the life, the pain, the pilgrimage of another and make the decision that, yes, whatsoever we do to the least of these, we do unto Him…we encounter the living God, Jesus Christ in such a way that can be found in no other place.  He has manna that satisfies…fully.  His manna for us is to do the will of the Father.  The will of the Father is to bear one another’s burdens.

“He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light.”  Daniel 2:22

In this life I have suffered greatly, and I know many others that have, as well.  But in the times of greatest darkness, I have discovered the greatest light. I believe that by reaching into another person's heart and life of suffering, we are not only filled with His manna, but we penetrate deep and mysterious things…things that lay hidden in darkness.  In the darkness, He reveals His secrets…the secrets of His marvelous light.  He gives us hidden manna...we see and we behold the face of God!

Members of C.A.S.T. give because they care.  But because they care…they receive…

God's Alchemy

“May I become a weapon in your hand, fashioned by fire, sharpened and hammered to perfection, to slay the principalities of darkness and wickedness.”

I would like to say I was deep in prayer on the mountain of glory, kneeling before the throne of God, hands lifted in exultant joy and Godly fervor when I wrote this prayer but that would be a lie.  Truth be told, I was sitting at the kitchen table, 3 a.m.ish., lost in a dark, spiritual fog, struggling with sin, tormented with a difficult situation I was in, and seemingly dead to, and a million miles away from my Lord!

It is an excerpt from a prayer that I had written early that morning on a paper towel that was laying on the table.  My wife and children found it the next morning still laying there.  They loved it, and decided to make it into a huge wall hanging as a Christmas present for me.  They bought a canvass, wrote the prayer out in script, decorated it with cool, artsy colors and various other "unique items"....even used some burlap sack and barbed wire!  It now hangs in the middle of our living room as a testament of who we desire to be.

It was the best Christmas present I had ever received!  My family is amazing and they saw my heart in that prayer and desperately wanted to make it as a tribute to their Dad/Husband.

However...a deep, painful, difficult valley wrought with spiritual deadness, temptation and prayerlessness does not really seem like a thing to create a shrine or “testimonial” piece of art out of, and then hang on the living room wall!

Or is it...?

Do we really want to follow Him?  God is tender.  He loves us...deeply...we really are the object of His passionate affection.  He holds every one of our heartbeats and cradles them intimately in His Heart.  He is painting eternity for us right now, with joy unspeakable quickly approaching!  I tremble at the thought of the ultimate doom of those who have tormented His children through the ages.  He loves us and defends us with passion that rises from the deep...very...very...deep places.

Alchemy-the process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

He loves us...and like a sword we are hammered, folded, twisted and burned of our impurities, tempered only under the most extreme heat...he looks and searches for the perfect ingredient that would complete us...and shape us into the extraordinary man or woman of God He has called us to be.  His alchemy is perfect.  His love is unfathomable.

He loved me that early morning two years ago.  I wonder if He found the perfect ingredient He was looking for.  I may have been dried up and struggling, but that prayer was squeezed out of me because that prayer is exactly what he was doing in that moment. Forging me...for a future purpose.  I wonder if He found the perfect ingredient He was looking for because I can pinpoint to that day a major shift in my walk.  I can pinpoint to that day the beginning of a real steadfastness in my walk that I had been seeking and longing for. I had been through many valleys and struggles the 18 years I had been following Him, and I still stumble. I still struggle. But there has been a deep trust, a deep confidence, a deep awareness of His "ever-presence" that I have been enjoying for over two years now...since the morning of this prayer...a certain level of completeness and abiding joy.

Below is the full prayer.  I encourage you to pray it.  I won’t make any prosperity-gospel promises but I will say it was a definite turning point in my walk!  I walked away from the kitchen table that morning thinking…I’m done!  I’m done wallowing around in the muck and mire and the “valley of indecision”.  I walked away thinking I have one shot at this…one shot for all eternity to walk by faith and allow myself to purely be a weapon in His hand to slay the enemies of God.  Why wouldn’t I want to defend the purposes of Him who loves me so deeply?

God, please make me your instrument.  May this life not be lived in vain.  May I become a weapon in your hand, fashioned by fire, sharpened & hammered to perfection, to slay the principalities of darkness and wickedness.  Out of my weakness and your strength, cause enormous faith to erupt from within me.  Help me to slay my dragons of fear and confusion.  Cause me to ride forth victoriously with valor and vision at my side.  Rescue me from my impurities.  Cleanse me of my sin.  That I may see you & behold the one I desire above all.  My longing for the light of your countenance, the deep wealth of your word spoken, and the rich fragrance of your presence are almost too much to bear.  I remember how you visited me through the day always close…surrounding me.  Your words impregnated my soul without relent.  Worship was my every thought, my every breath, and my steadfast response.  I pray for a new chapter to begin.  Perhaps something deeper, a rekindling,. Perhaps this is a new invitation…to your altar, the secret place.

Distinctly Suffering, Ever Perceiving

When you feel as though you are the only one in the world, in fact, the only one throughout time that is going through what you are going through, suffering what you are suffering, and hurting to the extent you are hurting…and you feel as though nobody can completely understand or appreciate the complexities of your problem and the depth of your desperation; just know one thing...You are absolutely, one hundred percent correct.

Nobody is, and nobody ever has distinctly suffered in the way you are right now in this moment. Nobody has been granted the gift of distinctly suffering with Christ, in Christ, on the cross, in the Holy Spirit...in the way you are now. Do not let anyone ever take that away from you. Do not let anyone ever tell you that you are not the only one going through what you are going through! These people lack understanding! And unknowingly they rob you of the right to hurt. They rob you of the journey to experience Christ at new, untold depths through the avenue of distinctly suffering.

Minimizing your suffering robs you of the opportunity to experience His love, His comfort, His hope, His healing, His restoration and most importantly, His heart. At times, His heart…the untold depths of His heart…can only be found through suffering with Him and embracing Him at the cross. Your loss is no light matter...no light affliction. Be affirmed in your pain that it is real...it hurts...it is breath-stealing...but also be affirmed that in this breath-stealing journey through loss....the incarnation of Christ in you and with you… and Christ on the cross...is there to be breath-reviving...breath-giving and glory revealing.

There are times when I feel I don’t even want to attempt to fully explain suffering that I have
experienced in the past or even suffering I am currently bearing because I fear the listener might be tempted to minimize my struggle; therefore robbing me of the sacredness of what is happening to me in the moment. This is where it takes a true man or woman of God. This is where it takes a true Christ-embracing, burden-bearer to join in the holiness of your journey. 

It takes a very special person to enter into or even desire to enter into sharing with you a few moments of your pilgrimage. It takes a man or a woman of true wisdom and Godly insight to recognize that we as Christ-followers were appointed to suffer. It takes a person of experienced desert-dwelling to be able to recognize the brother or sister's sacred thirst and to be able to gently point the way to live-giving water. It takes someone of deep understanding to recognize disorienting loss in another and to be able to offer the mystery of embracing the cross and perceiving His glory...through the groaning...through the agony.

Many times there is no explanation for our suffering. It just sucks. It's just plain horrible. But He is not. And His purposes are not. He is good...really good...really perfect. We just cannot see.

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinth 13:12 NLT

What an amazing promise...what hope this brings.

Doesn’t this bring to rest, at least, a few questions...clear up a little confusion?

A few days ago I dropped my IPhone and shattered the glass. I haven't replaced it yet and it’s proving to be quite a challenge to see clearly through all the cracks. It's actually quite frustrating trying to maneuver the screen to make out certain words and numbers. It’s not totally shattered...just enough to still be functional but in definite need...to see clearly. I’m currently writing this entry on my broken phone, struggling in my attempt to see through the shattered puzzling pieces.

We see imperfectly! Did you get that? We see imperfectly! Our knowledge of life and God and how things work...how the cosmos work...is partial and incomplete! The events that are taking place in our lives are like puzzling reflections in a mirror! They don't always make sense. Things don't always work out like we think they should. The prosperity gospel is a farce!  The only victory we can claim is the fact that our lives have been transformed and translated into His Kingdom of light...and we have been invited to walk by faith! We can't see. We can't see clearly! We can't walk by sight! We walk in the mysterious realm of faith!

Distinctly suffering, ever perceiving. Things are not as they seem. Jesus suffered completely. We have been invited to perceive, to grow, to experience, to allow life and truth and faith to unfold until we know completely as we are known. I have found my God, my Father, my Lord Jesus Christ in the heights of joy and in the depths of agony, in great moments of enlightenment through His word and through frustrating moments of confusion.

I would trade away none of it…for in so doing I would trade away the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ.

United with Him in suffering; encountering Him in glory.

Beautiful Sons Beautiful Daughters

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."  John 3:8

Have you ever listened to the wind on a quiet afternoon when you’re sitting in the privacy of your home?  Have you listened to its strength, its fierceness as it blows against the house?  Have you listened for what it has to say?  Have you listened to its screams, its cries? Have you wondered where it came from or where it is going?  Have you felt its omnipotence as it surrounds your house?

The sons and daughters of the Most High God!  I marvel at them!  The beauty of God they display!  The mystery of the Holy Spirit they emanate!  While the world glitters with gold and fame, the children of God, the anointed ones, quietly but stunningly shine like stars in the universe against a blackened sin-ridden, dark world!  What breathtaking power they contain!  What hope radiates from their hearts as heaven dances about them.  If their suffering hearts only knew!!!...what awaits them…what surrounds them…what enfolds them in every moment.  Praise awaits you oh Zion, City of God!  Bride Eternal!

Everyone born of the Spirit is blown about by a mysterious wind…the Holy Spirit.  You may not be able to tell where they are coming from or where they are going.  You may harshly judge, falsely accuse, inaccurately critique, but mark my words…or better yet, His words, “the wind blows…you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going, so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

It is so easy to harshly judge our own actions or the actions of others.  Sometimes it might be necessary to take a step back and look at our brothers and sisters in Christ, and ourselves and realize that the Holy Spirit is doing a mighty, eternal, mysterious work in each one of us.  It might be necessary to take a step back and instead of judging the pilgrimage of others we might invite God to reveal the amazing secrets He has in store for the hurting persons that offend us.  

“the Lord will perfect that which concerns me”

"but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me"  

Sin is the struggle of every man.  Hurt is the burden that we all carry.  Our souls magnify Him in one breath and agonize with Him in the next.  It’s called living in a fallen world.  Our faith is a journey and an act of war.  No brother or sister is exempt.  We may look upon another or even ourselves and see chaos, confusion, poor decisions or “unusual choices”.  But mark His words, “everyone born of the Spirit…cannot tell where they come from or where they are going”.

“judge not lest ye be judge”

"He must increase, I must decrease"

Do you have a son or a daughter?  Think of the work you are investing in them.  Think of the hope you have for them.  Yes, you know every fault, every blunder…but what they are becoming!...Magnificent!

Magnificent are the holy ones, the chosen people of God, the kingdom of priests born from above, those that carry His Majesty, the Ambassadors of an invisible, eternal Kingdom!  Dare not dwell upon their flesh but instead marvel at who they are and what they are to become…in this life and in the life to come.

They are blown by a mighty and mysterious wind that does not blow against physical houses as mentioned above.  They are blown by the Holy Spirit!  They contain the power of the Most High God…the power that, like the early apostles contained, has the potential to “turn the world upside down”.  Mighty are the glorious sons and daughters of Israel.  Let them march and go forth in Christ Jesus, calling upon the Spirit of God and the gifts of God they have been given.

“not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit”

Do you feel it?  Do you sense it?  The power of His Spirit…the only force to overcome the treachery of this world…follow it…trust it...trust Him…ask Him to show you the beauty of walking in His Spirit.  Ask Him to show you the beauty of His people who surround you…it’s easy to see their faults…ask Him to show you their magnificence…their glory…their radiance…the magnificence, the glory, the radiance that comes only from Him, Christ our King!

“love those who hate you”…I’m talking about those in the Body of Christ.

Witch Hunt

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."  Ephesians 4:3

Why do we slay one another?

What are we doing to each other?

Why are we not linking arms together in this fight?

We're in this together!

The enemy is picking us apart!

We are picking each other apart!

The setting in Arthur Miller's, Crucible, was the Salem witch trials of 1692.  Miller used these witch hunts to draw a parallel to McCarthyism in the 1950's.  In both cases whether it be paranoia of witches or paranoia of communism, people were found brutalizing one another for unfounded reasons.

What about Christians brutalizing one another in the church?

We set ourselves up as gods judging and critiquing how the object of our obsession should act, live, love or "follow Jesus" better.  We see minor faults and move in for the kill...slaying our brothers and sisters in Christ...friendly fire...only not so friendly.  It could even be a simple glance, a miss-spoken word or even worse, someone actually sinned!  They actually did something wrong....messed up...stumbled and fell! 

Now we've really got reason to nail them to the cross!  Oh and just to make sure, let's call up a friend and gather up some ammo and make sure there's nothing left of our offender!  Let's make sure there is nothing left of our offender's character.  Let’s make sure there’s no hope of restoration.  Oh it’s gonna feel so good!  It's gonna make us feel so good about our own filthy rags of righteousness as we discuss the intimate details of their inadequacies!

I was having coffee with a friend a few days ago and this subject came up.   Why do we slaughter each other in the church, and worse yet why do we slaughter those that don't know Christ but might actually want to?  Why do we make it so difficult for the homosexual, the sexually immoral, the drug addict, and the "not-so-perfects" to sit in our pews?  Ya know, the ones that might actually need him?

The two of us had several ideas (I'm sure there's many) but after thinking about it a little more, I believe I've discovered the core issue...

Lack of depth....our walks are shallow.

If we were consumed with Christ, with our affection fixed on Him, enamored by His presence and entrenched in His word, then the faults of others would pale in importance.  They wouldn't stand a chance vying for our attention. Our attention would be locked on to the one who is locked onto us...the one who is in love with us.  The only attention we would give to the shortcomings of others would be to allow it to remind us and call us to repentance, in our realization of our own sins, and intercession to hold up those who are falling.

I love it when Job said the lord will perfect that which concerns me.  The lord will perfect that which concerns us.  We are the lord's workmanship…not each other’s. Sometimes I wonder if our shallowness breeds boredom, and our boredom breeds gossip, slander and judgment.  I wonder if our emptiness and lack of depth in our relationship with God breeds a fleshly desire to raid the lives of our fellow Christians.  Instead of getting away with god and peering into His mysteries we are busy getting away with gossip buddies and peering into the personal failures of others.

Tears May Fall

O little ones, can't you see how much I love you
I've placed upon your head a crown of gold, a crown of glory
And though sometimes it seems a crown of thorns, a crown of pain
I will give you strength, I have come to give you my love

O little ones, can't you see that I'm not angry
Come rest in me, I long to whisper what you mean to me
I've given you everything and I give you love that will last forever
O child of mine, a King has come to bring eternity

Tears may fall, but it's the hope that leads you on
Tears may fall, but it's the hope that leads you on

Tears they'll fall, but it's the hope that leads you on

Today is Christmas...a day of incredible HOPE!  Do you know what hope is?  It's an incredible power that rises within us...knowing that Christ was born into a dark world and born into the darkened hearts of lost mankind...for those who accept Him and receive Him as King!  It is an indescribable, majestic, mysterious power that resonates deep in our hearts...a fire that burns in the cold nights...that says He Is Coming!  He is coming very soon!

True hope is a vision that never dies...a vision of eternal glory, eternal purpose, infinite and unhindered fellowship with the lover of our souls!  Hope says He loves us...He loves us in an unimaginable way!  Hope is that unexpected power that wells up within us, when it seems we haven't the strength to go on.  Hope is that mysterious fire that burns within us when life deals us the worst imaginable circumstance... When life deals us a death blow...when unforgiving pain plagues us...when terror paralyzes us...when sadness seizes us.

Tears may fall...tears they will fall.  I wrote this song not too long after I was released from one of my first stays at the hospital.  Tears fell.  Many.  Anguish suffocated me. Depression pressed down upon me like black gravity poured straight from the clouds. But hope won...every time...every single time...its power filled my lungs and gave me breath. Hope sustained me through every onslaught of every power of darkness that waged war against me.  The hope of Christ and a supernatural life here on earth, and an eternal calling of priesthood serving Him, was enough to thrust me forward through any darkness that came my way.

It's Christmas.  Maybe tears are all you think you have tonight.  Well, it is not all you have.  You really do have hope.  He really does love you and desires to share His heart, His secrets with you.  Maybe the pain seems too great...divorce, a lost child, loneliness, sickness, disease, no job, no home...these and many other difficulties may be plaguing you, stealing from you, even destroying your Christmas.

Don't give up!  Keep going!  Take one more step.  Even if it's small.  One more step for me led to one more step, and that led to one more...eventually I was miraculously released from the hospital.  You will be released!  You will be restored!  Joy really does come in the morning!  Real joy that is ALIVE!  Don't quit!  Christmas is here and it is about our Savior who promises SO MUCH!

Tears may fall, but hope leads you!  Pulls you.  Cleave to its strength!  Follow it!  "Forget not all His benefits", He redeems your life and will never forsake you.  That is Christmas! Celebrate it every day!  Celebrate it now!  Tears may fall but there is hope!!!

The Servant Tree

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

Symbols are powerful.  They express our hearts.  Nations rally around them. Men and women sacrifice their lives for what they represent.  Some symbols express eternal truths, and help anchor us as we journey through unknown lands.  Our pilgrimage is surrounded by an invisible world that is either waging war against us or coming to our continual aid and rescue.  What is invisible came first.  God spoke what we see into existence. And all around us are physical evidences of invisible realities.  They speak to us...though it seems silent...they cry out to us.  They beckon us to see and realize that our lives in this present world system are not the ultimate goal of God's eternity.  All creation is groaning, agonizing in eager expectation that we would grow into what we are to become...mature sons and daughters of the Most High God...the Church prepared for the Groom...the eternal enterprise of God in Christ.  “Wisdom cries out from the street corner”...but can you hear it?  Are you listening?

A mile down the road from where I live stands "The Servant Tree".  I drive by it almost every day, and one day I decided to name this tree.  To me, it represents God bending down, arms stretched forward and scooping me up to be my "ever-present help in time of danger".  He reaches down to lift me up; everyday as I head into life...as I head to the battlefield...the tree represents God carrying me through it all.  It reminds me that even though I can't see Him, he is there.  His presence enfolds me and all of nature and all the company of heaven, the great cloud of witnesses is working and laboring to see me finish the race!  This tree represents a great eternal, invisible reality!

The world, the flesh, and the devil seem to show a lot of expertise in the area of deception. The world system has a way of engulfing our minds, screaming for importance.  Its attempt is to scream so loud that we can't hear our God speak.  Its attempt is to engulf the eyes of our hearts and minds so much that we cannot see the things that are “not of this world”.  There's no thought of peering into eternity when our temporal pursuits have courted us into slavery.

The natural realm is powerful...it comes natural to us!  We can touch it.  We can see it. We can taste it.  We were born of flesh.  That which is of the Spirit must be fought for...the spirit and the flesh are at enmity with each other.  Symbols help draw us out. They help deliver us from this present evil age.  They help ground us in the divine. They help lift us out of the mundane...even help transform what seems mundane into amazing living...divine living!  And as the scripture above says, it is God's creation that makes His divine nature obvious.  Like the Servant Tree, I often find signs and symbols in nature that not only remind me of eternal truths, but they help take me deeper into experiencing these truths they represent.

Sometimes....when the world and it's worries are bearing down on me...when it barely seems I can breathe or make it to the next day...if I can find the strength to just look up...just glance at this tree or another sign or symbol that represent why I'm really here...I can find new strength, a refreshed vision...my sight is restored, and I can see, once again, who I am in Christ and what my true purpose is, in light of eternity.

Are you surrounded by signs and symbols that assist you in peering into the unknown? Take a minute to look at nature around you.  You might find something to help you dive deeper into His word and gaze deeper into His eternal truths.  You might find something that will help you understand the amazing reality of why you are here… your eternal calling in Christ as eternal servants, kings and priests unto our God!