~ Dr. Larry Crabb in 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God that Invites You into His Story ©2009

On Saturday, our retreat leader instructed us to take a paper and pen and spend the hour before lunch in solitude with our Lord. I left the Great Hall to spend my time outside on the porch overlooking the Frio River. The trees were bare and the sunshine sparkled on the water. I remember leaning on the rail and asking God to speak to me. Nothing seemed to come to mind and I found myself thinking, God’s probably not going to speak to me.

And then I began to write little bits of what I saw and felt as I moved about enjoying the beautiful day. At the end of the hour, I read the bits I had written and discovered that my Abba (Daddy) had written me a love note—a poem.

Each time I face life’s struggles and challenges, my Heavenly Father is always there to pick me up and love me back to wholeness. A message from Abba is always waiting for us when we turn around and look at the face of Jesus.

A Message from Abba

Experience all the colors of my love,

Flow with me.

Be laid bare like the trees in winter and gain strength through me so you may blossom again.

You must be willing to be set aside and withered like the

the driftwood so you can again shimmer like the water in

sunlight.

Experience life’s contrasts with complete trust in me.

Abide in me.

Die and mourn and laugh with me.

Sing to the world my love song. Sing and joy and dance!

See life and beauty in the dead trees…they are not dead

but gaining strength.

Look above and see me clearly.

Grow lush like the ivy by the water’s edge.

Be still and listen to my voice in the moving stream of life,

and move and laugh and love.

Walk the path with me.

I will guide and guard your steps.

Be thankful for my warm and gentle touch.

Take time to bless and be.

Accept it all.

Accept me.

In early November 2009, I slipped on a throw rug and broke a bone in my right foot. Fortunately, I knew of an orthopedic office with a small emergency unit. After taking X-rays, the doctor confirmed the break and told me that it would be difficult to treat and slow to heal as the site received little blood supply. I was placed in a fiberglass cast and given an appointment to see my orthopedic surgeon in two weeks.

At that appointment, my doctor said he’d have to do surgery and place a screw into the bone as the bone was not healing. I had the surgery on December 2, 2009. From then on, it was wait and hope that new bone would fill in around the area where the screw was implanted. I was mostly homebound, lonely, and frightened.

At the next follow-up appointment with my doctor, he said I could put weight on the right foot while wearing an air cast. That was good, but he was cautious because only a little bone had begun to show up on the X-rays taken at that visit. I couldn’t drive much, but I managed to get to close places.

One Saturday I decided to write to Fr. Chip and see if he would accept me back at All Saints. He was more than welcoming. On that Sunday, Bishop Bena was there. It was a glorious service and a blessing to return to Holy Communion. After the service, Fr. Chip laid hands on me and prayed for healing of my foot. I appreciated that and hoped it might help.

After several weeks it was time to see the surgeon again for yet another follow-up on January 27, 2010. I knew folks at All Saints had been praying for me. The sense of God’s presence was strong within—something I’d never truly experienced for any length of time—and so I knew good news would come that day. The doctor came into the examination room and said that the bone had healed 90%—a miracle for that sort of surgery. I could tell he was amazed at what had happened; he even showed me the x- rays. Moreover, I could now wear both shoes!

All of this is God’s doing through prayer and faith in His mighty Word!

It is also a new birth for me in the Lord. I thank Him for his mighty deeds, His love, and His caring for me despite myself. It is good to come home to All Saints and be with such a marvelous group of people whose faith in God is so strong and sure. The words from a Psalm come to mind: “I will thank thee O God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!”

Bonus Reading: II Chron. 36:16

Just read the official Air Force news release detailing how witchcraft and druidism have been codified at the USAFA.
 
Unbelievable. How our nation has drifted from its roots.

Our Air Force limits Christians, even chaplains, from public expressions of their Faith, while endorsing Hinduism, Islam and, now, Wicca. What’s next? Voodoo? Outright Satanism? Native American peyote rites? Bacchanalian orgies in base chapels? And how did we come to this?

When I travelled to the nation’s capital last summer, I took time to visit as many historical sites as possible. Without exception, they were marked with Judeo-Christian Scripture or symbols…or both. Ditto the writings of our Founding Fathers. When I see this kind of pluralism among our nation’s best and brightest in the training grounds of our military leadership, I’m chilled and alarmed…and for the first time in my life, a little ashamed of the Air Force uniform I wore for 25 years. Consider this prayer and commentary, from the first Continental Congress, taken from parishioner Bill Wimp’s Facebook page:

At the first meeting, September 1774 Rev. Jacob Duché read Psalm 35 and then gave an extemporaneous prayer that began, “O Lord, our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings and Lord of lords, Who dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers of the earth, and reignest with power supreme and uncontrollable over the kingdoms, empires, and governments, look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection.” He ended “in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Savior. Amen.”

Remarkable, that some believe today that these men were not Christians and did not want God and prayer involved in government and public places. In fact, this is what our nation was founded on. Our only hope for our nation is to change and to return to our Christian faith. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

The current sorry display of basic values demonstrates a lack of Christian spiritual understanding and underscores the need to pray for our leaders…and to engage our elected representatives and military leadership to express our concerns. The looming reason this is going on is that the Church is not engaged, but is a sideline in our society—when it once was hugely influential. The task falls to us to change that.

But, as we learned in the Gospel on a recent Sunday—the parable of the workers—it’s never too late to go to work for the Kingdom in this life—and get the reward. Our second reading teaches us that God will eventually deal with those who don’t listen when His people speak. So, this is a call to action for the Church.

WE CARRY THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE. For it to compete, we raise the banner of Christ—it’s our job. We have to pray. We have to fast. We have to carry His Word into the marketplace of ideas, even it’s not popular—or even allowed. And, to do that, we have to know what He says, abundantly in our hearts, so that means we have to study, fellowship, worship, and make His Kingdom a priority. That’s why Jesus told us that we are the Light of the World. Let’s flip the switch on…and keep it on. And Lent is the ideal time to think about that…is our light  switch on, off, or on “dim?”

May the God of all Glory wake the Church Irrelevant to become the Church Militant!

Victory in Jesus,

Chip+

What: Holy Spirit Day: a mid course all day session that asked the questions

1. Who is the Holy Spirit?
2. What does the Holy Spirit Do?
3. How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Where: Faithfille Village on Route 46 in Comal County

When: Saturday, February 20, 2010

So, speaking of challenges, here are my six Lenten challenges for you:

CHALLENGE 1: 40 days of prayer—not the abstract vague type of prayer, but very specific prayer. Pray for yourself, not the normal self-serving type, but one that asks for a closer, more intimate relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Use the prayer of confession and substitute I, me, myself in the place of we, then use the Trinity 21 Collect for absolution, again substituting I, me, myself in place of the corporate. Now follow with supplication, asking for the deeper relationships.

CHALLENGE 2: Go buy the small book The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and read it. This small book contains fewer than 100 pages, and the language is simple. It is available for less than $5 on the Featured page of the All Saints Amazon Bookstore, and The Brother Lawrence Collection, which also includes Spiritual Maxims of Brother Lawrence and a biography of Brother Lawrence, is available in the Church Fathers section of the bookstore. Practice being a pot scrubber and gofer during this time of Lent.

CHALLENGE 3: Football is over. Make a commitment to be at Wednesday night potluck and teaching followed by Compline during the short period of Lent.

CHALLENGE 4: Attend Passover with Beth Simcha downtown the Saturday before Easter Sunday. You can start planning now to make the $25 ticket price manageable. If you save $25 a week starting now, you could afford six tickets. A family of six could be blessed by this historical event that has been celebrated for more than years. Passover commemorates the deliverance from Egypt by the Angel of the Lord. What a wonderful, joyous celebration this is with food, fellowship, dancing, singing,and listening to the Word of God.

CHALLENGE 5: Pray for the discernment of the Vestry as they work on how to proceed concerning the need for larger worship space, education space, and fellowship space.

CHALLENGE 6: Take advantage of the opportunity that Holy Week gives us to participate in the PASSION OF CHRIST. The week is filled with acts of service: Wednesday night Tenebrae, Maunday Thursday Holy Communion and foot washing—following Christ’s example of washing the feet of his disciples, the Stations of the Cross at noon and 6p.m. on  Good Friday, Saturday night vigil prayer and the Passover celebration, followed with sunrise service and then the grand worship on Resurrection Sunday. What a privilege we have!!!!  Let us rejoice! Again I say, Let us rejoice in the Lord, Who has made heaven and earth and all that is in it. Glory be to God!