torch bearer
bringing the light of Jesus to a dark world John 8:12

Outta the Comfort Zone

5/30/2007 11:12:00 PM
Instead of the comfort zone, sometimes life feels more like the Twilight Zone! This last week, I have started a somewhat part-time job. This job is helping a guy make high end cabinets. I will allow those who know about my construction/craftsmanship skills to catch their breath after gasping. God has gifted me in many ways, the above mentioned not being on the list. I have worked for him before and it was easy. Moving cabinets around, a little sanding here and there, nothing big. Oh, no. Not so this time. This time it involves measuring to a 1/16 of an inch, cutting, jointing. Things that require more skill than I have. I am way out of my comfort zone. It is one thing to screw up on a woodshed in the back yard, and another thing to screw up a $40,000 project! But I'm doing it. Not screwing up the project, that is. God is teaching me something in this. I can do things that I never thought possible when I put my trust in Him. Every time I get a new assignment at work, I have to ask God to help me. Guess what? He does! I see this to be true in every aspect of my life. When I put my trust in Him, His power fills me, and I am able to accomplish what He has for me to do. Something else I have learned. It is actually fun to be stretched. Doing something new is a blast. I think I am getting hooked on being stretched. I honestly want God to ask of me the impossible. I don't know what He will ask of me next, but I hope I'm scared to death to do it.
Read On 3 comments

Listen to Warnings

5/22/2007 01:33:00 PM
"Why are you so angry, " the LORD asked him. "Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it." Genesis 4:6,7

It amazes me how God loves us enough to even warn us to watch out for sin. We just have to listen and respond in the right manner to His warnings. Here God is warning Cain that sin will overtake him. Cain will kill Abel. God warns him, tells him to respond correctly, and tells Cain that he must subdue it. Cain must come to God with a right heart. Cain must gain self-control. We know the story goes on and Cain doesn't respond to God correctly. Today, listen to the voice of God. Listen when He warns you about the next step you are taking. Then, respond correctly. God always gives us a way out.
Read On 0 comments

Obedience

5/16/2007 03:41:00 PM
As I was going through my office this morning, and if you have seen it recently you would know what a chore this is, and I came across something that made me pause. I came across an envelope with my tithe checks that go to the NW Ministry Network. As I saw this, I was reminded of my time in prayer this morning. I was praying about my families financial situation, which can be kinda scary sometimes. The Lord quickly told me that I need to be obedient and send that check off because I was not walking in complete obedience. I, of course, came up with the great excuse of, "well, it is a cashiers check and so I technically have paid it already, I just haven't mailed it." Well, this was not the answer that God was looking for. It was very clear that He was not amused by my wonderful explaining away of disobedience. See, I realized then that it does no good to only be half-way obedient. Honestly, God doesn't care about the money, He cares about my walk with Him and my complete obedience to His Word. Unfortunately, we often times do this to God. We do just enough to make it look like we are being obedient to the will of God, when what we are doing is not only being disobedient, but also trying to lie to God. My mom always told me that slow obedience is still disobedience. Ouch! This obedience that I am talking about can be anything that the Lord is asking of you. Is it how you are spending your time, is it reaching out to your friends with the Truth, is it a habit that God is wanting you to give up, or is it the tithe that He is asking from you...whatever it is, are you walking in complete obedience, or have you not gotten around to mailing that envelope on your desk? Well, I gotta go...to the post office!
Read On 2 comments

Follow the Leader

5/11/2007 11:35:00 AM
Within the last few weeks here in Northport we have had some "excitement" at our school and therefore in our community. There was a young man who had been playing a graphic online video game that spilled over into his real life which came out at school one day. The school made decisions that were not all that popular with part of the community and it led to a community wide meeting on Wednesday. I prepared this statement for the meeting and I thought that there was a lot of truth to be gained from it. Not just as a Northport community, but also in any area in life. This is especially true to those on the journey of following Jesus and where He leads. Trust me, even when you are in leadership, there are still those you have to follow, and to be a good leader you must know how to follow well. There are those in my life that lead me and I want to publicly says thanks for making tough decisions and sticking to them. I most certainly want to thank my Lord for His leadership that never fails. So read on and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you and reveal to you want He wants said. Blessings to all.

Often, during times of confusion, strife, anger and turmoil, many feeling and actions are displayed. This is a normal, and often, healthy form of dealing with radical change in our lives. As a town, we have gone through a time of turmoil in the last few weeks. We have been thrown into the headlines of many news organizations, we have lost some of our innocence, and we have had an opportunity to come together as a family and community.

The unfortunate part is we have not used this opportunity for good. Instead of really coming together with support for the families involved and for the leadership of the school, we have torn both down. The gossip mill that has its ugly talons sunk deep into this community has once again dictated us. We have gone with the story that best tickles our ears, sounds the juiciest, or that would cause the most harm to someone that we may not personally like.

Often times the truth may not sound as exciting as gossip, but it will never cause the damage that lies do. To make personal attacks and come up with out and out lies against the leadership of the school during a time like this is shameful. These are not the lessons we need to be teaching our youth. They need to see how to trust people, how to support people, and how to deal with conflict in an appropriate manner.

In any form of leadership, whether it is being a parent or a school administrator, we are given knowledge and information that we know is either not appropriate to share with those we are leading or at least should not be shared at that exact moment. We are faced with the decision of discussing all the issues right away, or using judgment to wait until an appropriate time. The leadership of the school used good judgment by using the TRUTH that was known and deciding to not publicly share those facts until an appropriate time. When we look just at the facts that were known at the time, and these are still the same facts now, school leadership did what was right according to policy. They advised the proper authorities, handled discipline in an appropriate manner and gave the correct amount of information at the correct time to the public.
This all comes down to one basic concept so horribly lost in today’s culture…TRUST. We have lied to ourselves for too long saying that we can’t trust anyone but ourselves, especially any leadership. I’m not advocating blind trust or leadership without accountability. I am saying, however, we need to trust that the leadership of our school has, and will continue to, do what is right. It is also important to note, that it is always easier to do a job well when you have the support of those you are leading.
Read On 2 comments

Now blogging...mr eldon sir!

5/09/2007 11:49:00 AM

Well, here is my first posting. I always thought it would be too much work to do a blog, and then I started reading some of my families and friend's blogs and realized that they only post, oh say...occasionally at best. Then I knew that even a guy like me could do this. I hope is that on this blog I can post the thoughts that come into my head, and share them with those that read this. I often times will write something and email it to our church, but not everyone is on that list and now people can come here and check stuff out.
The reason for the name of the blog has a great story of God's hand in my life. Several years back, God spoke through a great friend of mine George Beers. He said that I would be a torch bearer. I have held on to this and believe it to be my mission in life. As time has gone on, God has continued to bring things of fire into my like. Like burning my face in Kansas, dreams of fire and just this passion to share the light of Jesus with a world who needs to see things more clearly. I have had the privalege of doing this in many ways both here in Northport as well as around the USA. This picture is one that weas taken in Othello by my mom during an Xtreme Team outreach. Yes. That is nails, a cinder block, and a man with a sledge hammer. Some times it takes xtreme things to reach an xtreme world.
Well, I hope that the Lord my God blesses you today as you serve Him, and if you haven't made the choice to do that....today is a good day to start on the best journey you will ever take.
Read On 4 comments

Subscribe Now: Feed Icon

About Me

My photo
Asotin, WA, United States
Follower of Jesus, husband, dad, and called to be His torch bearer to the world.

Blogs I Read

Followers