Update from Travels |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on May 15 2006 at 8:19 PM |
Sorry it has been so long to get an update. Since the last week in April
(Nampa event), we have been on the go. Following the event in Nampa we
went straight to the Frank Church wilderness area with a group of the
bull riders for a men's retreat. Dave and Julie Oerke provided this
retreat and my Father Terry was our cook. It was a time of deepening
of relationships and encouragement on what it means to be a "Man of God"
who lives out his priorities. It is a beautiful thing to see a group of
men who all love Jesus and each other. I try to imagine what it would be
like if we could live daily in that kind of fellowship and openness. I
guess that is what the early church experienced as they lived simple
lives and shared all they had with each other. (Read Acts) I am
convinced that if men could become real with each other on a continued
basis the way these men did, then our Sunday meetings at church
buildings would be an entirely different experience. I believe it would
be a family meeting where people would gather to praise their Father as
a whole and anyone outside of the family that observed it would be
captured by their love for God and one another.
This brings me to the next great experience we shared. Following the
retreat, Brooks, Mike Lee, Dusty Lapp and myself went to Medford, OR. We
had been asked to
speak at three different functions. The first was a once a month men's
breakfast. It was organized by a man named Rance Smith and was part of
the Christian men's network. Again, it was a bunch of men who came and
let their masks come off as the Lord ministered to each of them on a
personal level. As you know, I love the unique diversity I get to see in
the many people I meet. But what I enjoy the most is when you get a
group of very diverse people together and see them all become refined to
one beautiful family who loves God and desires to become more like their
Father. In this particular meeting we had everything from professional
cowboys,businessmen, laborers, teachers, ranchers, and even the
Governor elect. But what the Spirit of the Lord will do is create such a
level of freedom that each man is brought, for a time, to a place of
unity of the faith. We need more of this in Jesus name.
The next meeting we served at was a cowboy church up in the hills of
Medford. This was another picture of what can happen when real people
come as they are to share and love on one another. It began with a
potluck diner and lasted about five or six hours. See, people are
starving for and will make the time for a place they can go and be loved
on and shared with as they are being encouraged and inspired from the
word of God. At this little barn in the hills, I experienced what
happens when the love of God has covered all the sin and made it
possible for a group of sinful people to worship in Spirit and truth as
they ate, sang, prayed, and confessed. Although we were the ones in
front, what people were experiencing was freedom in Christ. Even the
ones that came to meet the world Champ had to be amazed as Mike spoke
from his heart and talked about his heavanly Father and never once
mentioned bull riding or a world's championship. I am sure they expected
to hear about Mike the bull rider and instead they heard from the heart
of a man in love with God. To make it even better, he had them laughing
and crying throughout the whole thing. When it was my turn there was one
young couple in particular that kept getting my attention as I spoke. At
the end of the service I had Brooks and Dusty come back up and lead some
more worship songs. I approached this young couple and began to pray
with them. When we were finished I asked them to look around the barn
and tell me what they saw. The young man could hardly speak but he
finally got out the words "I want it". What he was referring to was that
he wanted to love and believe the way they did. They were not singing
about a God, they were expressing their hearts to their Father. I asked
him and his wife to say yes to the Lord. They looked at each other and
said "Yes, Lord!" They embraced each other and began to sing. Later that
night, this same young man told me he feels like he could run forever
and never get tired. He said he feels so light and free. He doesn't know
anything about church so he is not limited by what he doesn't know at
this point. All he knows is God showed him how much he loves him and
that his life was now about Jesus. Father, forgive us as we have been
deceived by missing the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. (2
Corinthians 11:3)
The next two weeks I will be ministering to my wife and three children.
Pray for us. In the service of the King, Todd and Leslie
