Road Trip!

By Liz Cowen Furman –

We recently drove our middle son out to California to start college at California Baptist University. (Amazing place!) But before we could leave, l had to drive the eight hours from our motel in Dubois, Wyoming, home to meet up with my hubby and son to start the journey. Then on the return journey I left him in Conifer, Colorado, and drove back to Dubois for the last week of our season and to close the motel for the winter. The total miles traveled in one week and three days was 2,648 through six states. Whew! Good thing I love road trips.

On our journey, I discovered some amazing things…here are the top ten.

10. Sunflower seeds, cinnamon discs and singing loudly work well to ward off drousies while driving.

9. August might not be the best month to travel from Wyoming to California and back. Hotter than Hades.

8. Southern Utah is a beautiful place.

7. Oceans are one of God’s coolest inventions.

6. Israeli Melons! Yum!

5. Rainbows – we were chased all the way across Utah and then again at the beach by the most gorgeous rainbows which we decided were a sign of great things to come for our son. (Wish I could include pictures with this article, they were AMAZING.)

4. While Vegas is touted as a very FUN place I found it to be desperately lost and so sad. Not to mention dirty and unbelievably HOT.

3. 113 degrees + 80 miles per hour = melted tires. Oops.

2. Older motels run by families are a blessing.

And the number one thing I discovered on this most beautiful trip?
Leaving a child at college states away from home is not for wimps… Gasp, sob, smile because I know who has him in the palm of his hand.

We had a great time with Matthew on the way there and are so thankful God has his back.
As He has ours. We can take this promise to the spiritual bank. Check out Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5, NIV)”

A Spiritual Lifeline

Rosemary Flaaten –

Struggling in the churning water, my tattered lifesaving vest threatened to disintegrate with each wave slamming over me. My eyes, clouded by the sea water, barely distinguished the sailors feverishly trying to get close to me. With full strength they threw the rope and despite my fatigue I caught it and held on. Just as hope started to surge, a wave hit with unbridled fury. The lifeline that had promised to draw me to safety, instantly snapped and I was engulfed by a wall of water. That’s when I awoke.

Such nightmares highlight the feeling of being lost and our need for a secure and trustworthy lifeline. As we go about our daily lives we put our trust in many things. We trust that if we drive defensively, we won’t end up in an accident. If we raise our kids right, we hope they’ll mature into upright citizens. If we stick to our Bible reading plan we’re confident we’ll measure up as a good Christian.

But when a wall of tragedy slams against us, do these lifelines hold or do they snap? Are we relying on our good Christian works to secure us in the storms of life?

The writer of Hebrews gives what he calls “an unbreakable spiritual lifeline” (Hebrews 6:18 TM). He outlines several attributes of God’s character that if held onto will become a lifeline that will never break in the fury of life. What is it that is so completely dependable and completely trustworthy?

God has made us a promise that He will never leave us or forsake us and that His purposes will be fulfilled. God has a plan for each of our lives and it is a future with goodness, hope and prosperity. And how do we know that this promise can be trusted? Because God has given His word. He has made us an oath and it is impossible for God to lie.

Therefore, be encouraged today. Grab hold of the hope God offers. It is an unbreakable spiritual lifeline.

PRAYER: Forgive me for my apathy and doubt and instead help me to grab hold of Your promises and to place my full trust in Your goodness.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

When There’s No AAA

By Peter Lundell –

My friend, Ron, along with several other men was driving through the African nation of Burundi to meet local people about orphan assistance projects. None of these Americans spoke the language. Their radiator erupted, and steam billowed from the engine.

Ron automatically pulled out his AAA card. But he was in Africa. Then a boy came by with water on his head. Out there, water is a precious commodity for which people commonly walk long distances.

With a hole in the radiator, the car broke down about every two and a half kilometers. Thirty-eight kilometers lay between them and their destination—all of it through rural areas. And AAA was half a world away.

The car broke down twenty-four—yes 24—times. Imagine your car breaking down that many times on one trip. And these guys were doing this for God.

We might ask why God would allow such trouble to people traveling to the other side of the planet to serve Him. Why wouldn’t God provide something else, like a better car? Or why wouldn’t He supernaturally prevent the engine from continual breakdown? Because this problem provided a graphic illustration of something more important: Every single time the car broke down, God provided. Each of those breakdowns happened by a stream, a pond, or as someone generous to give their water was walking by.

Which do you suppose is more important to God: (A) Making our lives easier so that we no longer need Him—and forget about Him. (B) Showing faithfulness in meeting our needs and drawing us closer to Him when we’re in trouble.

You also may have experienced this sort of thing. Think how God works in your life: He loves you so much He’ll let you have trouble. And He’ll meet you in the middle of it.

“My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NIV).

“Father, You are the one who meets my needs. I commit to grow my attitude and trust You rather than get upset when things go badly. Meet me and grow me and draw me closer to You in the midst of my needs.”

How Effective is Gospel Tract Saturation?

By Jennifer Slattery –

Hyper-Calvinism says all we need to do is share the gospel, share the gospel, share the gospel and zap, the Holy Spirit reaches down and brings man to salvation. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s some truth to that in that apart from the working of the Holy Spirit, man cannot come to Christ. However, this approach, what I like to term gospel tract saturation, fails to take into account human reasoning. And a great deal of the Bible.

I believe the Holy Spirit works in conjunction with the intellect, penetrating through the darkness that keeps man in rebellion against God while illuminating truth. Belief is assent at a heart and intellectual level. Taking both aspects into account strengthens our message.

Effective evangelism occurs in relationship

Dropping a gospel tract at countless doorsteps won’t cut it. Oh, sure, perhaps five percent of those visited might make a confession of faith, but likely because someone already laid the groundwork, and you just happened to be there to reap the harvest.

Notice Jesus’ instructions to the disciples when He sent them out in Luke 9:4

Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.

When they reached a new village, they were to stay in one house. I believe this was to establish community. Perhaps we need to spend as much time relationship building as we do proclaiming.

Effective evangelism adapts to the listener

One of my favorite examples of this is in Acts 17. When speaking to the Romans, Paul reasoned with them, displaying the coherency of God.

“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there” (Acts 17:16-17 NIV).

And notice what God says in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (NIV © 1984).

Throughout Scripture, we see the Holy Spirit working through human logic. This is not to say the gospel message is adapted, but instead, how it is presented is. To be effective, we must take time to learn the unique barriers to faith held by each individual so we can prayerfully and patiently address those barriers.

Effective Evangelism Takes the Time to Understand Their Audience

Notice the passage in Acts. When Paul entered the city, he observed the culture of the people around Him. He noticed their idols–their barriers to faith–then addressed those barriers in his message, demonstrating the superiority of the gospel message.

Have you ever talked with someone and felt like they didn’t hear a word you said? Or asked a question only to have them provide an irrelevant answer? Does it make you want to hear more or walk away?

Effective evangelism speaks with humility

No one wants to feel stupid. No one wants to be cajoled into faith. Truly, most people want to feel as if they’ve arrived at the conclusion themselves. Our goal then is to gently guide our listener or reader into discovery, asking thought provoking questions and pointing them to the truth of Scripture. In essence, we walk beside them, ever alert to their pace and committed to the journey regardless of how long it takes.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you agree or disagree? What are some effective ways you believe to reach others for Christ?

A New Season of Life

By Diane Mayfield –

I hoped, foolishly, by the time I raised three children and had been married for thirty-five years I’d have this life down pat. Well, I don’t. Once again, I’ve entered a new season of life. It’s one I don’t know. I often feel powerless, helpless, and invisible.

Here’s the scenario. I have three adult children. My oldest two are married and my youngest is not. I also care for my widowed mother who is in the moderate stages of Alzheimer’s and lives in an assisted living community. I am the primary caretaker for her needs. Now you might say, “What’s the problem with all that?”

With my adult children, all I can do is listen. My role is to support and, of course, pray. I am second in line, which is as it should be. Except that I was their mother for eighteen years and had a huge voice in their lives. The bottom line is that I want to tell them what to do, which is not my place any longer. I must decrease so they can increase.

Emily, the middle child, married a great guy last May. They now live in Houston and I’m in Fort Worth. I raised her to fly away, be her own person, and create her own life. She is doing that and doing it beautifully. I miss sharing daily life together. We can’t have lunch once a week. I didn’t get to help her move in to her new house on moving day. I didn’t get to put the shelf paper in her new cabinets. I know these are petty things, but they are the experiences that I cherish. Get over it, the Zac Brown song says.

A friend brought this home to me when she told me her son was moving to Somalia as a missionary, permanently. Boy, did I stop my whining.

Sarah, my youngest is quite an accomplished young woman. She owns her own house, is a CPA, and has a group of friends that she enjoys and they adore her. She longs to find the right man to build a life with, but she has not met him yet. I want God to move on this and He has not done so yet. I feel powerless.

My mom doesn’t think she has memory issues. After all, she plays duplicate bridge and, in her words, you have to have a good memory to do that. Forget the fact that she’s played bridge for sixty years. Alzheimer’s disease attacks the short -term memory, not the long-term. She doesn’t count the fact that she can’t remember her grandchildren’s names or what I said to her five minutes ago. Parenting someone without her acknowledging her need exhausts me.

I must keep my mouth shut and I’m used to opening it. My power is in prayer and serving. That’s not the position I’ve operated in most of my life. Obviously that’s exactly where God wants me. I’m grateful the Holy Spirit showed me that this is part of God’s plan in this season of life.

His word for me is, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

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