The Shack Attack

Okay, so i have heard so much about this book "The Shack" that i am sick of it and must say my piece. i never get to write in our blog anymore because i work two jobs (make that three as i just picked up another one), so this is exhilarating.

i am not sure where all the confusion is coming from and maybe i am being to simple, but this book is simply not worth entertaining. The formula for truth is such: 1) Take anything you encounter and weigh it against Scripture 2) If it does not agree, THROW IT OUT!!!

Don't fill your mind with worthless material that does not honor God nor make room for God to make you more like Yeshua. This i a war, not a rehearsal and our time is something we do not get back. The enemy wants you dead and he will stop at nothing to get you off track.

Deuteronomy 28:11-15
11 "The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
12 "The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13 "The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully,
14and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Consequences of Disobedience
15 "But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

This book offers nothing in the way of helping you obey all that God has commanded us. God is not a self-explaining black woman. He is Spirit and no man has seen the living God except in the person of Yeshua who is the radiance and exact nature of God (Hebrews 1). He offers no explanation for His ways because they are higher than ours (Isaiah 55) Allegory of the likes of C.S. Lewis (which does not alter Scripture or expound on it unnecessarily) is one thing, but this book pretentiously places characteristics on the Trinity that they themselves have not allowed for in the Bible.

What saddens me is that i feel the people who are being duped by this book are the very ones who know very little about THE BOOK (Bible). When you have Scripture hidden in your heart and are seeking to obey and align yourself with the will of God, His word is your only ally and protection against the lies of the world. Scripture is very clear about what happens to those who lack the knowledge of God's word:

Hosea 4:5-7
5 So you will stumble by day,
And the prophet also will stumble with you by night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me;
I will change their glory into shame.

This passage deals with false prophets and God's people who are lead astray because they did not remember the commandments of God. God loves all His creation, but not all of His creation are loved as sons and daughters of the King. God is not a universalist and not all will be saved. Not my words, but from His word.

You must hear and obey like Abraham because he is the father of all who are of the faith (Romans 4). The way of salvation started in Genesis:

1) God intervened into Abraham's life (see Ephesians 2 for our story)
2) Abraham heard God's voice and believed (Genesis 15:6)
3) Abraham obeyed and left his homeland for somewhere he had never been (Matthew 28:18-20; pay attention to verse 20 for the obedience part)

Wheewww! That was a keyboard full and i won't bore ya'll any longer. Bottom line is that "The Shack" is a dangerous book for those not versed in Scripture and not something unexpected in these last days when men will want their ears tickled rather than hearing truth (2 Timothy 4:3). Test everything and you will be fine.

On a lighter note: the third job i am getting is as the Religious Director of Education for the Naval Air Station here in Fort Worth. Sweet! i get to work in the chapel and hag out with chaplains. The kids are doing great and getting so big. Pray that God grants us the strength to prepare them to stand in the gap for the dark days ahead. God bless and shalom!

Short Update

Just a short post for it is time to go to bed so i can wake and run 10-12 miles. The kids are at grams in Austin so Chloe is hamming it up being the only one. She seriously has no concept that she ever had siblings and may even be mad when they return. She is Army crawling everywhere and starting to pull up on things. She looks too small to be doing these things, but she has been an overachiever from the womb. She loves the Johnny jumper that we hang from the door jamb and she may even give Luke a run for his money at bouncing and swinging in it.

Seminary is tough and i have to spend about four hours a day cramming all the aspects of the Greek language into my head. i just got hired on with UPS to work in their hub from 3am unto 8am with 100% of the benefits paid for my entire family so that is a blessing. It will be my second job and i am not sure how i am going to do it working at Office Depot and UPS, but God will sustain or i will go to glory early.

We are still look for a church home so pray that God will guide us where He would see fit to use us or let us rest at. We had a great visit with Michelle when she returned from Zambia and got to see God working in Stephen's life as he talked non-stop about what God was doing in Zambia. i told Michelle that he had never talked to me that much before. It was very exciting to see the passion in him.

i don't know what the weather in Austin is like, but it has been hot as hell up here. That word is in the Bible so no gasps. i am growing used to being wet everywhere i go in my car and i continually get the "I don't know how you do it." from my co-workers.

Here are some pics:

Turbo Greek is not for wimps

i am in Turbo Greek now and that means six-eight months worth of Greek done in Two Summer months. It is extremely demanding but i am learning a lot. The family is doing good and it is hot as hades up here. My car a/c does not work and i am learning to get to work like a nomad (no work shirt or shoes on the way there). i am trying to get a job closer to the house because gas is outrageous.


i think our entire family is learning what it means to go and take nothing with, not even an extra tunic.


Mark 6:7-9
7 And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;
8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff--no bread, no bag, no money in their belt--
9 but to wear sandals; and He added, "Do not put on two tunics."


The LORD provides our daily bread:

Matthew 6:11
11 'Give us this day our daily bread.

i have heard it said that He provides just enough for us to not be tempted to steal to eat and not more than we need so that we do not forget the LORD as the nation of Israel did when they were prosperous (unfortunately, we forget the LORD also when things are well and remember Him when times are hard). Thank God that He is merciful and loves us as a Father would.

Here are some new pics:

The Sound in All of Us

i have been listening to the new Leeland album (Thanks Corey for introducing me to this band) and there is a song called "let it out now" that is exquisite. i will share the lyrics in their entirety:

It’s like you got to walk like him
Got to talk like her
Got to be like them
Everybody knows you follow the crowd
Or get singled out
But God says who you are
Not the world or movie stars
Don’t you know He holds the answers in His hands?

We’re stuck in a system
Is there anybody different?
Is anybody listening?
Is anybody listening?

Everyone has their own sound
Let it out now, let it out now
There’s nothing wrong with living loud
Let it out now, let it out now

I’m drawing the line between
Being them or being me
I’m not ashamed
To call myself one of Yours, Lord
But it’s a narrow path
I’ve got to break from the pack
No turning back
No turning back

Yes, God’s looking for a people
With a passion in their hearts
We’re God’s children
We need to shine bright
We need to shine bright

Everyone has their own sound
Don’t you know all
God’s children have their sound?

What a beautifully contradictory idea to what we are taught in Christianity today; that we all have to look alike and follow the same rules if we want to please God. Only one problem: that idea is not in the Bible. No where does God create robots that worship the same and serve in the same manner. Each of us has a unique fingerprint of God on our lives. Many think they have to be in the ministry to be spiritual or only pastors are close to God because of their calling or training. A pastor just sings one of the notes in this symphony to God called the Body of Christ.

Each is to serve in their unique individual giftedness and make beautiful music to our King. If you have not read it already, read "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper. Pay attention to the music he hears while in heaven. A symphony of uniqueness yet harmonizing in praise of Elohim.

Let your song out
Let it out now!
Let it out now!

Here's the You Tube Acoutic version of "Let it Out Now" by Leeland:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgqUrti0ZgE

Psalms 66:1-2 . . .

The most amazing things have happened in the last few weeks. I've just wanted to shout from the rooftops about how wonderful our God is -- I keep asking Jason, "Have you blogged about this yet?" and he keeps saying no. It's driving me crazy 'cause I just want everyone to praise God with me! I think this may be his attempt to get me to start adding my thoughts to this blog -- so I guess his procrastination has worked in his favor 'cause here I am posting my first-ever blog.
Anyway, for starters . . . someone (and you know who you are -- thank you!!!) bought us a new mini-van!!!! Did you read that correctly? Yes, someone (anonymously) bought us a mini-van! For those of you that don't know, we lost our Odyssey because we were not able to make the payments -- BIG, HUGE, humbling experience! Anyway, we were making due with Jason's car and hanging around the apartment a lot. Jason mentioned this to one of his professors and he gave him a suburban that we all lovingly call "Joseph" 'cause it is the suburban of many colors. I was so grateful to have it and was determined that we were going to do something memorable in it (although driving with the windows down - no AC - and having stuff blow all over you and the children is pretty memorable. . .) It's just the way things were and I wasn't going to grumble. I was happy. THEN, what seemed to be a random, rainy, Monday afternoon I got The call. I was only half-way listening to a girl that said her name was Shanna. I was waiting for her to get through what I assumed was her sales pitch when I started picking up on parts of what she was saying. It went something like, "You don't know me but we have a mutual friend and this friend has just bought you a mini-van." Excuse me?!!! After she repeated herself (laughing -- can you imagine how much fun this must have been for her!) and gave me the name and phone number of a guy at a dealership. I figured out that we really had a van -- wow! Are you getting this?? I'm still jumping out of my skin -- God bought us a van!!!! It may not seem like much to you but I'm just amazed that the God of the Universe saw fit to give us a van! I mean, really -- He tells the stars what to do and here He is thinking about getting my children to the grocery store and church and the park . . . I had wheels -- Joseph's wheels were old but they moved and I was grateful. Case closed -- or so I thought. No, the God we worship didn't just give us basic wheels -- He gave us a van with AC and cruise control, a gas-gauge that worked . . . . Our God is extravagant. I was already feeling pretty loved but now I'm just in "Wow!" mode. Are you saying "Wow" with me? I mean, really -- Praise our God -- He is Amazing.
Here's a kicker -- my kids were like, "hum -- cool, a van." Don't get me wrong they really liked it but they weren't turning cartwheels the way I was (or at least I was in my heart -- I never did learn how to those things.) Finally, a day or so later, Abigail said something about this van going away, too. That's when it hit me. She was too afraid to get excited about our nice van 'cause she was afraid it would be gone, too. I had tried to explain the first day that this was ours and that someone else had bought it for us but apparently it didn't sink in. Poor baby! I told her, again, "No -- all the payments have been made on this van for us. We did nothing to earn it but it's ours and can never be taken away." Finally, she got it and her smile was beautiful. You could see the relief and, at last, the excitement. Then we had a wonderful talk about how Christ purchased us on the cross and how we don't deserve salvation or being allowed in the presence of God but that Christ made all the payments for our sin and it can never be taken away. Wow, such peace. Someday, when Christ calls her name, maybe she'll remember. Right now, it's so beautiful to see how He's laying out the path for her to follow.
So, are you wondering what happened to "Joseph?" Well, I was talking to a group of neighbors trying to find someone that could use some dishes that had been given to me (thinking I could find someone that could use them.) I mentioned them to one women and she said no. Then, without even thinking, I said, "Well, do you need a car?" This is such a God-thing! She started crying and told me that when they had their next baby in August that they would no longer have a vehicle large enough for their family and they just didn't know what to do about it. Her husband later told me he had only told God of their need and was just amazed at His answer to their prayer. We decided that someday we would be in the position of having to tell others that God can be trusted and to encourage others to know that He is alive and active. If we had not experienced this for ourselves then it would just be theology. But, we have -- and we KNOW.
Well, I guess since Jason has finally got me writing on this blog that I will have to continue (later.) This is only the tip of the ice-burg (although, a large tip) at what God has been doing since we've been here. I'm still just as convinced as when we got here that this is where God wants us. He's such a great encourager -- and creative, too. Who would have guessed a van?
Love to you all!
mickie

Survived

So the semester is done and i am registered for the summer and the fall already. we were given a suburban from one of my professors and it is properly named "Joseph" as it is the suburban of many colors. we are going to take a picture of it with the family and i will post it. We survived our first semester of Seminary and are looking forward to brighter days. The family is rolling along and Chloe is turning into a little chunk.

She is already 16 pounds and has cut her first tooth at 7 months. The other three did not reach 17 pounds until they were a year old. And they did not cut their teeth until about that time also. She is shaping up nicely to be able to defend herself from her siblings.

Here are some updated pics:

Home Stretch

The end of the Semester is right around the corner and the days are a blur right now. My head is filled with questions about the authorship of the Gospels, how i am going to pay my rent and my tuition, what classes i can afford and handle this summer, and will we ever see just a little prosperity during this season? i find myself not necessarily wondering if God will provide, but what we are to learn as a family being this far down the edge of the cliff?

God is ruining our dependence on finances and i believe He is doing it on purpose and with a future purpose in mind. mickie and i have always been poor to some degree all of our thirteen years together, but we are hitting an all time low. Now please don't misunderstand; we are not poor at all compared to the world, so i mean lack of money only. It would be ridiculous to not recognize how overwhelmingly blessed we have been in all areas aside from finances. Praise be to God cause His ways are higher than our ways!

We are blessed in what i consider to be the things that really matter:

1) Children

Psalm 127:3-5
3 Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

2) My Beautiful Spouse (i am not speaking for mickie causes the LORD knows i ain't beautiful!!!)

Proverbs 18:22
22 He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the LORD.

Proverbs 12:4
4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.

3) Most important is a growing relationship with Yeshua our Messiah

Philippians 3:7-9
7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

O' LORD let that be my aim today, tomorrow and forever; to forsake all things for the surpassing greatness of knowing You. Let me never grow distraught for not having the things that the world seeks after. But instead let me remember what is important to Your heart. May You be glorified in all we endeavour to do and say. By the blood of Yeshua in the power of the Spirit and for the Glory of the Father, Amayn.