It's worth THIS just to know Jesus...

Jeff, Scott, Dad and Grant (Scott's son, my nephew) took off this weekend in search of a few gobbling Toms- I won't spoil the surprise and tell you that they tagged out- but I will tell you that honey is headed home tomorrow! They asked me to fill in once again on the blog- hope you don't mind!


This excerpt is from a phenomenal writer, who I admire a lot. I have recently been dealing with a difficult situation that is close to my heart. The pain is strong, the hurt is real. When I read this it just fit- it was such a great reminder. I really don't have much more of an explanation than that. My hope is that it touches you, or someone close to you in their time of trial.
 -Mindi




"...It's worth THIS just to know Jesus..."


That was the spoken words of a woman who was in an accident and has lived the rest of her life in a wheelchair.


My mind went back on the things in my own life - those things that have seemed too hard to live through - those things that hurt the most, emotionally often times...


My mind tried to wrap around the undeniable truth that God is the God of my yesterdays and He orchestrated them yes! No, He didn't fall off His throne during those times and give a blind eye to my circumstances, but rather was the God of them.


I have had moments of struggle, still do, where my mind fights the naggings of wanting to re-do, re-live, re-write, OH, to have those years the "locust seem to have eaten!" along the way. The fleshly nagging of "WHY?" The self-pity of hurting, saddened fleshly heart.


Sometimes, the pain of the past is too great to even contemplate. It just brings too much emotional pain. Feels like too much loss, too much regret, or maybe just too much imperfection?


AND YET, for me it has been the pain of yesterdays that has brought me to know my Savior much, much more than I did. And I will, I do say, though weak in heart at times, but Jesus knows I believe, "It's worth THIS/that just to know Jesus."


OH, worth it just TO KNOW JESUS!!!


-----------~ ~ ~


Which brought me to another day, another moment with Him this week where I was absolutely blown away by HIS knowledge of me. Reading in John 2, verses about in the twenties I think...


It says Jesus knows ALL about all people. No person is excluded from his knowledge, and no part of our life is excluded from his knowledge.


He knows everybody—and everything about everybody.


Here’s what Jesus says later on in John 6:64: “There are some of you who do not believe.” And John adds, “For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.”


It's a striking thing to realize even the heart of Judas was open before Jesus. Jesus was not surprised when his betrayal came. Judas was not a surprise to Jesus.


There is nothing in us that is a surprise - He knows all about us.


I had to just let this truth about Jesus sink into my heart. Not that I haven't known and believed this, but there are times where a truth known before becomes more to me... it moves to a deeper level in me.

"If you have ever been impressed with any man’s knowledge about people or wisdom in discerning motives and explaining actions and predicting behaviors—if any character in fiction or person in history or living counselor or scholar has ever impressed you, the knowledge of Jesus should be infinitely more impressive." J. Piper


Discernment is a very important quality to me, and something I admire greatly when I see it in others. It is something I admire more than a lot of qualities. And in my flesh, the lack of discernment - well, there is little that turns me off more.


And to think, God is beyond discernment. He is ALL KNOWING.


I really don't think I, humans, get any sort of grasp of that unless it's supernatural revelation.


The person who matters most in the universe knows most about me! Wait a second. I need to reread that.


And what really does this mean?
It means that there are no complete secrets in my life.
One may have succeeded in hiding something all their life from everyone on this earth.
But it is not hidden from Jesus.
The person who matters most knows most.
The person whose judgment about me and that which is all important, knows all.


I sit here and want that to sink in all over again. I am totally known. Totally.
There is not the slightest part of my heart unknown to Jesus, at this hour, and every hour.


This means that there is always at least one person I must relate to who knows everything about me. This should shape my relationship with the Lord. There is One, who when I look Him in the face - He sees totally through me into the heart of me.


When I relate to Jesus do I relate to Him as one completely laid bare before Him? Totally known?


If so, what an amazing relationship!


So often I feel I want others to understand me, to know me for who I am, to BE understood and not misunderstood, to be seen not through their eyes of judgment, but of love and understanding.


There is One, and only One, who totally knows me. Nobody else even comes close. Nobody.


I like how one preacher put it: "Your spouse’s knowledge of you, or your best friend’s knowledge of you, compares to Jesus’ knowledge of you like first-grade math to quantum mechanics..."


I am fully known by one person, Jesus Christ.


Therefore, I always have someone to go to for help in knowing who I am. Jesus Christ.
There is always one person who knows my heart perfectly. Knows it better than I do. Jesus Christ.
Therefore, I always have a person who is willing to love me, knowing absolutely everything about me.


Jesus Christ.


“To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).


If you have received Him - you are His child, there will always be one person who will love you knowing everything, absolutely everything about you. You can say with the disciples in John 16:30, “We know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”


I have felt a passion this week to pray, to want, this glimpse of the glory of the All-knowingness of Jesus Christ... and that it would move me to admire HIM more than anyone, and love and trust Him and follow Him with all my heart, soul and mind.


-A. Ann

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That's it?

I find this excerpt from Desire fitting as we enjoyed our first 70 degree day of the year this week! We're turning the corner! 

Forever and ever? That's it? That's the "good news"? And then we sigh and feel guilty that we are not more "spiritual." We lose heart, and we turn once more to the present to find what life we can. Eternity ends up having no bearing on our search for life whatsoever. It feels like the end of the search. And since we're not all that sure about what comes after, we search hard now. Remember, we can only hope for what we desire. How can the church service that never ends be more desirable than the richest experiences of life here? It would make a HUGE difference if you knew in your heart that the life you prize is just around the corner, that your deepest desires have been whispering to you all along about what's coming. You see, Scripture tells us that God has "set eternity" in our hearts (Eccl. 3:11). Where in our hearts? In the desires of our hearts.

The return of spring brings such relief and joy and anticipation. Life has returned, and with it sunshine, warmth, color, and the long summer days of adventure together. We break out the lawn chairs and the barbecue grill. We tend the garden and drink in all the beauty. We head off for vacations. Isn't this what we most deeply long for? To leave the winter of the world behind, what Shakespeare called "the winter of our discontent," and find ourselves suddenly in the open meadows of summer?

( Desire , 111) 

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a wife's perspective

What does faith in the field look like for a woman? A wife? A mom?


Sometimes faith is just that. Having the faith in my man that he is making the right decisions for our family. The right decision when it comes to being outdoors for the right reasons. To seek God. To look inside himself, search out the good and take hold; find the bad and let it go. To be able to come home rejuvenated with the Spirit; ready to scoop us all up in his arms. Ready to tackle the tasks that accompany the titles "husband" and "dad" with more enthusiasm than he left with.


Faith for me is understanding that this is a ministry and that sacrifice is needed on my part to ensure that God is glorified and Satan is defeated at his attempts to destroy.


To be honest, being a stay at home mom is tough! I love my little chances to get away. So whenever an opportunity arises that I can take, I jump on it. And then, when something pops up to threaten it, I don't respond too well. I've gotten better... a LOT better (hopefully if you asked Jeff, he would agree) :) But it's through times like these, when I don't get my way, that I realize God has a better way. God's way is always better. He is continually teaching me that my "field" is right where I am: being wife and mom to three handsome men. Raising up little boys to become men of faith, men of honor, warriors- what a phenomenal calling. God has placed me in a position to nurture their hearts, flame their spirits, and let them soar. To assist my husband in these responsibilities is a blessing. God thinks I am able, now it's my job to have faith- that I have what it takes. Underneath all the toys, food, stains, toothpaste, diapers, and disasters is God at work in my life. Dying to self is a beautiful thing... it means that God is glorified through those who I am serving.


Finding purpose,
Mindi

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I will never back down.

Many of you are basketball fans, and some of you may have seen this video on during the NBA all-star weekend, but as I watched this again the other day it hit me...this is how I want to be, how we ought to be as Christians. Don't back down, don't apologize, don't be shy or timid, don't be ashamed...be bold, be fierce, and let Christ EXCITE your life. I need this reminder...we all do. BE BOLD.

If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

For all you Blake Griffin fans...enjoy....

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Update From the Field

Well, it has been a little over a year since Jeff and I got this Faith in the Field thing going and we wanted to give you an update on what is going on.  But first we really want to thank you for your support.  It is pretty amazing really, that a little over a year ago we put this blog and our email list in motion with just some family members and friends on the list and it has grown to over 300 people in a years time.  The responses we've gotten from several of you through email and the conversations with many of you that we've been fortunate to meet have been really inspiring and has helped keep this dream alive.  So thank you for your support and for your prayers.


When we got started Jeff and I both said that we wanted to create the vessel and then let God captain the ship.  We knew we wanted to make hunting videos that would not only show hunting from an everyday outdoorsman's perspective but also share from a Christian perspective all of the things we enjoy about about spending time in God's country.  God has blessed our efforts and "Seeking the One 10" is selling faster than we anticipated.  Thank you again for your support!


But there is more we felt God wanted to do and our hearts were stirring with ways that we felt He might be leading us into more of a ministry focus.  Specifically God was going after some buried desires that I had deep in my heart that I walked away from years ago.  I went to college and recieved a degree in "Youth and Family Studies/Psychology".  I had dreams of becoming a school resource police officer, a gang intervention officer or something along those lines working with troubled youth.  But the demands of life and the pursuit of a management career with better and quicker earning potential lead me away.  Abandoning that desire has caused me a lot of frustration over the years.  It is really just in the last 4-5 years that I've realized what this discontent with my life was over and I as I began to take it to God and walk with Him closer than I had in the previous 10 or so years He really started leading me back to what He created me for.


And the doors are now opening!  Through putting Faith in the Field out there we have met some great guys out in the McMinnville area who God had been leading in ways that were just as unique to them.  He brought us together through email and we started discussing ways we felt God was leading us to use our outdoor passions and pursuits as a ministry.  Long story short we've been meeting with these guys and we feel like God is asking us to step up the ministry side of Faith in the Field.  Here is what is happening....


-We have established a board of directors.
-We are completing the work I started a year ago to submit forms to become a   501c3 non-profit organization.
-We have a group of guys working on starting a ministry for fatherless and troubled boys where we will get them outdoors to enjoy fishing and hunting as well as be mentored by Godly men who can point them to the true Father who will never abandone them.
-We have a team working on a program and developing materials for fathers to get their sons and daughters outdoors and lead them into adventures but also lead them into a deeper relationship with Christ and help them to discover the desires that God has placed in them.
-We will continue to make great outdoor videos that fit our vision of "Introducing people to Christ through the glory of creation."


We are really excited as we move forward with where God is leading us.  Support has already been pretty amazing from peple saying that they have land that a kid could come hunt on, guys saying they have LOP tags that they would donate to kids in our program, a few people have said they would support us with money, and we've had a few people say that they would like to be a part of the ministry.  Lots of evidence that God is at work here.  EXCITING!


Things will be changing a little over the next few months. We will be introducing our board of directors to you and we may be able to get them to write a blog from time to time so you don't have to keep hearing from me and Jeff every week.  Our website will be changing soon. We are talking about changing the logo a bit to include a young person standing with a man or men by the cross.  And we are hoping to bring you some stories very soon of young people whose lives will never be the same as a result of meeting Christ in very real ways while involved in one of our programs.


Now more than ever, please keep us in your prayers.


Seeking the One,

Scott

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The End Of The West?

I just finished a fascinating book on the life and tragic death of Pat Tillman.  If you remember he was the defensive back for the Phoenix Cardinals who in the aftermath of 9/11 put his career in the NFL on hold to join the military.  I finished the book last night and in the postscript I was struck by some truth in the midst of some of the propaganda.

In 1992 Francis Fukayama wrote an artical that stirred some major political contraversy called The End of History and The Last Man.  He basically wrote that modern democracies, education, the desire for more material possessions and meeting our own personal needs has become the new way of life.  And he states that the higher educated among us will not risk our lives for a cause because history has taught us that it is pointless.  In the modern age men will be content to sit at home and congratulate themselves on their open mindedness and lack of fanaticism. 

Lee Harris, in his book "The Suicide of Reason" argues,

The Problem is not that Fukayama is dead wrong; the problem is that he is half right.  Unfortunately for us, the wrong half.

In the West we are perilously getting down to our last man.  Liberal democracy, among us, is achieving the goal that Fukayama predicted for it:  It is eliminating the alpha males from our midst, at a dizzyingly accelerating rate.  But in the Muslim societies, the alpha male is still alive and well.  While we in America are drugging our alpha boys with Ritalin, the Muslims are doing everything in their power to encourage their alpha boys to be tough, aggressive, and ruthless....We are proud if our sons get into a good college; they are proud if their sons die as martyrs.

To rid your society of high-testosterone alpha males may bring peace and quiet; but if you have an enemy that is building up an army of alpha boys to hate you fanatically and who have vowed to destroy you, you will be commiting suicide...

The end of testosterone in the West alone will not culminate the end of history, but it may well culminate in the end of the West.

Pretty Strong words!  And scary even if only partly true.  And I think we may even be closer to the "Last Christian Man" than the "Last Man".

We have an enemy that hates us more than the Muslims do.  And he and his army are taking out masculine christianinty in wholesale droves.  We've sort of been left with this 'religion' of do's and don'ts and being nice and polite and wearing a big smile.  But when the trials come we fall apart.  Or when things are going well we get distracted and start following the world.  We start seeking selfish desires.  Our sons need engaged fathers who will model for them and lead them into an authentic masculine relationship with Christ.  But instead we leave it up to their Sunday school teacher or their mother to do this.

You look around at christian men held up in your church as examples to follow.  Are they men who draw their sword and go into to battle to rescue someone who needs it?  Are the fierce?  Or are they just nice men?

We need a cause to live for.  We need to be sold out...to be a fanatic.  And we need to rescue our boys before it's too late.

-Scott

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The power of your actions

The law of unintended consequences is as applicable to human nature as it is to science.  We recently received this story of a young man and the results of his simple act of friendship:


One day when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school.  His name was Kyle.  It looked like he was carrying all of his books.  I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all of his books on a Friday?  He must really be a nerd.”

I had quite a weekend planned—parties and a football game with my friends on Saturday afternoon—so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running towards him.  They knocked all of his books out of his arms and tripped him so he landed in the dirt.  His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.  As he looked up, I saw terrible sadness in his eyes.  My heart went out to him.  I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.  As I handed him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks.  They should really get lives.”

He looked at me and said, “Hey, thanks!”  There was a big smile on his face.  It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books and asked him where he lived.  As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I hadn’t seen him before.  He said he had gone to private school before now.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.  He turned out to be a pretty cool kid, and we hung out all weekend.  The more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends all felt the same.  Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

Since Kyle was the valedictorian of our class, he had to prepare a speech for graduation.  I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak!  Kyle was one of those guys who had really found himself during high school.  He’d filled out and actually looked good in glasses.  He’d also had more dates than I had, and all of the girls loved him.

I could tell he was nervous about the speech, so I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!”

“Thanks,” he replied.

A few minutes later, he cleared his throat and began his speech.

“Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through the tough years—your parents, your siblings, maybe a coach . . . but mostly your friends.  I am here to tell you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give.  I’d like to tell you a story.”

I listened in disbelief as my best friend told the story of the day we met.  He had planned to kill himself over that weekend.  He spoke about how he had cleaned out his locker so his mom wouldn’t have to do it later . . . that was why he was carrying so much stuff home.

Kyle added, “Thankfully, I was saved.  My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”

I heard a gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.  I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling the same grateful smile Kyle often displayed.  It was only then that I realized its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.  With one small gesture, you can truly change a person’s life—for better or for worse.

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