Reveration Blog
5/27/2006 0 Comments Long SufferingRecently, the Vietnam Traveling Wall (the 3/4ths replication of the amazing black wall in Washington D.C.), traveled to Portland, Oregon. Etched in somber stone is the name of every veteran killed in Indochina. During the opening ceremony I represented the 104th Division. Afterwards I was invited to a dinner with the special people from the cemetery that planned the event.
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5/11/2006 NothingRaul lives in Chinandega, Nicaragua and serves with our First Cause team by translating Reverations into Spanish. Recently Raul* lost his job yet needed funds to help pay his school tuition and for a training conference with Timothy Academy in Honduras. I wired Raul money based on the bank instructions he gave me. But when he went to the bank they said no funds had arrived. For three weeks this went on—each time Raul went to the bank they reported no money. Yet on my end I had a receipt showing $146 was wired. Raul believed me and I believed Dolex Dollar Express and we both trusted God but Raul had no funds.
7/9/2005 0 Comments PressureThe top supervisor position in a Brigade I will be commanding opens at the end of the month. A team of four of us conducted interviews with three job applicants. One of the individuals on the hiring team, Jack,* clearly favored one of the applicants and pressured the rest of us to hire her. His choice did the best job fielding questions and technically seemed the most competent for the job. By the end of the interviews the team leaned towards hiring her. Inwardly I did not feel comfortable selecting her. It felt like we were rushing to make a hire—squeezed by time and loyalty to select a woman who had served in our organization a long time. I silently asked God for His help that we would do the right thing. Instead of immediately offering her the position I gained approval from the other three leaders to conduct a more thorough background check.
2/18/2005 0 Comments JosephJoseph is one of my favorite Biblical characters. He is such a great example of what it means to trust God though times and circumstances may be trying. I believe there are three key lessons we can about God from Joseph that will help us in our daily living.
8/29/2003 0 Comments ElianaShe is beautiful. Her serene, unblemished face is a remarkable sight. Her tiny feet wiggle to the tickling touch of her mother’s loving fingers. Her black hair is thick and astonishingly full for a newborn. But inside this lovely baby rages some unknown storm that throws her into seizures and more than once has arrested her ability to breathe. The doctors have no answers. Meanwhile, two hearts burst in agony. Henry and Melody helplessly watch their first child not knowing . . .
8/24/1999 0 Comments DiligentThe Kahiltna glacier feeds the broad Kahiltna River that in turn is joined by the clear running water of Peter’s Creek. Where the fast-moving milky river and the rippling creek meet is a place where thousands of Silver Salmon leave their river highway from the Pacific Ocean to return home and spawn. On the northwest side of the watery marriage high above in a birch tree is an eagle’ nest. Eaglet’s cries pierce the valley as they screech for food.
7/14/1999 0 Comments LimitationsHe rolled up to the sidelines in a wheelchair and I couldn’t help but wonder what thoughts crisscrossed his mind. Soccer is not a game for the lame. Yet he came out to watch perhaps wistfully at what he could no longer do, or at peace—able still to enjoy an event in which his friends were engaged. He reminded me of Bryan, my 12-year-old hero.
3/28/1999 Patience“I don’t get it,” she says. Her eyes finish a sentence bereft of words. She cannot understand why her morale seems as withered as the orchid that drops its petals before a gray sky. She thinks the mark of spiritual authenticity is the ability to call on God and experience His resolving touch to her whatever problem. But when He does not come or meet her expectations her forbearance slips another notch. It’s as if He does not care.
If prayer seems as useful as removing weeds by hand, patience seems as valid as turtles trying to fly. The driver to our right cuts us off and we fume. The boss treats us unjustly and we cry to God “FOUL!” We wait for recognition that never comes. We sing our hearts out before a microphone turned off. What good is it to serve when things do not turn out right? So we bow to the beat of the temper tantrum. 2/14/1999 0 Comments WaitingThe subway trains at SEATAC Airport run every two minutes connecting terminal to terminal. They are efficient, effective and psychologically comforting to those who dread the thought of missing their flight. After all, we live in a culture that does not like having to wait.
10/9/1998 0 Comments PurposeTwice in my life I have experienced occasions where I had no clue what God’s purpose for my life entailed. The first time this occurred, I had graduated from seminary firmly believing that God was calling me to the mission field. He did not. He blocked the door and called me into launching a church in another state and pastoring it—something for which I had no experience. I spent a restless year before the Lord made His purpose clear that I was to pastor.
5/20/1998 0 Comments ComplainingMeditation
Numbers 14:1-4--Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt. 2/9/1998 1 Comment MeditationDennis the Menace and I would have got along great when it comes to our dislike of bathtubs. He didn’t like to get clean, I don’t like the time it takes to wait for a tub to fill up. I’d rather be in the shower, get clean and get going. Maybe that’s my problem—I’m always in a hurry to get to the next thing.
8/17/1997 0 Comments Critical SpiritMeditation
Philippians 2:3--Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. |
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Photo from Rachel Maxey Miles