Galatians 6:10 (ESV)

At the recent Westminster Seminary California faculty conference, Mike Horton said -

“God doesn’t need your good works, your neighbor does.”

In the spirit of this truth, I’m asking you to help a neighbor some of you have never met.  Michael Spencer (aka “the Internet Monk“) is a pastor and writer living in Kentucky.

While I’ve never met Michael personally, I call him friend. Our relationship began some time ago when I discovered his blog and then began to grow when he allowed me to do the re-design of his website.

Michael is an outstanding writer, devoting his blog to “dispatches from the post-evangelical wilderness” and writing eloquently on what he terms “the coming evangelical collapse.”

First and foremost, his writing is about developing a “Jesus-shaped spirituality.”

Michael and his family need our help. This past Thanksgiving, Michael suddenly became violently ill. On Christmas Eve, surgeons removed a small brain tumor.

Tests revealed that the source of the tumor was colon cancer. Michael has just completed a round of radiation therapy and is now facing a grueling regimen of chemotherapy.

Employed at a small Christian boarding school in Eastern Kentucky, his job was eliminated in late January. His employer-sponsored health insurance is due to expire this month.

His only hope of maintaining insurance coverage now rests upon the generosity and donations of his Christian family.

I encourage everyone to visit his website – the Internet Monk – and to make a donation of any amount. There is a PayPal donation button at the top of the page.

In addition, Michael’s publisher has announced that his forth-coming book is now available for pre-order. Michael has requested that all pre-orders be made through Amazon.com.

Michael’s blog is alive and well. During his absence, Mike Mercer is doing the heavy lifting by filling in with regular posts, updates on Michael’s condition and re-publishing many of the Internet Monk’s classic posts from the archives.

The Internet Monk has touched and influenced thousands of lives and his blog is among the most visited Christian blogs online.

This is an opportunity for all of us to show generosity to one of our own and to be faithful to scripture - “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” – Gal 6:2

I would ask you to visit Michael’s blog and to prayerfully consider making a donation or pre-ordering a copy of his book.

Crank up the volume.

Amazing Grace Techno – Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

After shooting the guard who stood at the entry to the women’s cafeteria, the only obstacle barring his entry into the room containing some 400 women was the janitor.

The janitor refused to let the gunman pass.

Maybe you’ve been experiencing a spiritual battle. Maybe some tough times. Possibly you’re wondering where God is right now.

I’ve been told on a number of occasions, by a fairly large number of my Christian friends, that there are times when they just don’t sense or feel the presence of God in their lives.

Perhaps you’ve experienced this as well. I know that I have.

I think it’s vital that we understand that these feelings are really pretty normal for all of us at one time or another. We find ourselves in some sort of crisis and we cry out for God.

And for whatever reason, we feel that we are really distant from His presence.

During those times, I take comfort in remembering a story I was once told whenever I brought this subject up to a good friend.

I’ve since retold the story to others, and now I’d like to share it with you.

There is a legend that tells the story of a young Indian brave as he goes through his final test of initiation as a warrior.

For this final test, the young brave is taken deep into a forest at night. Blindfolded, he is totally unaware of where he is.

He is directed to sit on the ground and to surrender all his weapons. He is then told that his final test is to sit in this one place with the blindfold on. He is told that he is not to remove the blindfold until he feels the warming rays of the morning sun.

He is instructed not to move or to cry out.

And then, he is left alone.

As the night passes, he can hear the sounds of wild animals as they come near to him. Trembling at the unknown, he maintains his posture and his silence. As the night hours seemingly extend without ending, he grows ever more fearful as the sounds of the unknown seem to come close upon him.

Yet he knows that he must not move or cry out. To do so would mean his failing to attain warrior status.

As the hours drag on, he wonders if his trembling is due to the sense of fear or the chill of the night air. His mind races as he tries to determine what the sounds are that seem to be incessant and ever closer.

At long last he feels the warming rays of the morning sun.

Slowly and deliberately, he removes the blindfold.

It is only then that he discovers that seated on the ground across from him is his father, who has watched over and guarded him throughout the night.

I am nourished by this story. It gives us an example, in parable, of how our Father is always there.

Sometimes, it seems that it is only in retrospect that we can know that God was there throughout the whole ordeal. Watching over us and guarding us.

I’ve since worked hard on changing my thinking. I’ve resolved to understand and to know that God is there, especially in those times that I don’t sense His presence.

For those times that cause you to wonder, know this – He is always there, whether we can feel His presence or not.

What started out as a short break suddenly mushroomed into an extended sabbatical and I just realized how lame that is.

The fort has not been deserted, I’ve just been at the outpost for a bit.

For the curious among you, a quick update on some of what’s been happening:

Hard to know where to start there’s been so much going on.

For starters, there’s been a higher than normal amount of warfare. Perhaps a sign of the times? I don’t know, really, just that it’s been ongoing and seemingly from every conceivable (and some not so) angle. More on that later.

Spent a considerable amount of time in designing and getting a new joint venture launched. Finally online, and seems to be drawing lots of viewers. One of the primary offerings is a series of mobile apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It’s been a fun time, but it’s also been extremely time-intensive.

If you own an iPhone, drop me a line and I’ll send you the code to download an app or two for free.

You can see the new site  here. Take a look over the apps and let me know which you’d like. (A quick disclaimer – we only get a limited number of download codes from the Apple store.)

Had the privilege of re-designing Michael Spencer’s website, better known as the Internet Monk.

Spent a fair amount of time reading some Tozer – one of my favorite authors.

Would definitely appreciate your prayer support. We have a family member that currently lives in another state with an addiction problem. He is going to come and stay with us to go through the detox and rehab here in Indy.

Along with all the physical and medical aspects we’re expecting a major spiritual battle. This enemy we face doesn’t give up his captives without a fight.

Even though we’re expecting that this could get ugly, we also know it is an answer to our prayers for another’s  salvation.

And that’s exactly where we were just a few years back. As it often does, the situation we were in had been thrust upon us without any warning.

I had gotten the call while at work. My mother was having severe chest pains. She had called me right after talking to my sister. And then my sister called.

All of us agreed that I should head over there since I was in closest proximity to where they lived on the lake.

While on the way, my sister called again and we agreed that she should call for an ambulance – just in case.

Yes, it was a heart attack. The local hospital managed to get her stabilized and then arranged to transport her to one of the major medical centers in the area.

She was scheduled to have a heart cath the following morning.

And that’s when things went from bad to worse. Following the heart cath, the decision was made to rush her to surgery for a coronary bypass. From there, she went into the recovery area.

Late that day, one of the nurses came out and expressed concern over the fact that she wasn’t waking up as she should. The nurse asked if she had ever had any type of seizures. Just the question itself was deeply disturbing.

It seems that she had had a couple of “minor” seizures and a neurologist had been called in to evaluate her.

On the next day, the news got even worse.

She had started to “posture” and was now “guppy” breathing. We were told that these were some pretty bad signs.

Posturing is an involuntary motion the human body sometimes does as a reflex action in cases of a severely damaged brain; and the guppy breathing is so named because it is similar to how a guppy out of water gasps for breath.

In other words – death throes. The combination of the two usually means that life is about to end and end quickly.

The neurologist told us that a CT scan had been done and that it showed conclusively that she had either had a massive stroke or possibly an outburst of numerous small strokes.

Having spent 20 years in a related medical field, I had learned all too well to recognize the patterns that showed on that CT scan.

And I knew from experience – people just don’t recover when the scans look like that.

I had fully expected him to ask us to remove the life support – but he didn’t.

My thoughts were that that request was inevitable and that he was giving us time to prepare for the worst.

My mother’s sister was there with us shortly after we had gotten this news. Her response to the news sort of caught me off guard.

She said – “We have to pray.”

Now, you need to understand a thing or two. At this point in my life, I was very much like the prodigal son and had really strayed away from the Lord.

Needless to say, I felt that my prayers were not very likely to get much of an answer.

That night I did pray, though. As distant from the Lord as I felt, I simply recited the Lord’s prayer and then asked for the Lord to heal our mother.

At the same time, I prayed “nevertheless, let Your will be done.”

I’ll be the first to admit that at that point my faith was a lot less than the proverbial mustard seed. Yes, I really hoped for a miracle – I just didn’t expect it.

Later the next day, the nurse came out to tell us that our mother’s breathing pattern had changed.

It had returned to normal. And the posturing, which had been constant, had abruptly ceased.

Her expression revealed her puzzlement at these events.

On the following day, the neurologist had a repeat CT scan done.

I’ll never forget that session when he came in to tell us the results.

We really didn’t know what to expect and most of us were prepared for more bad news.

He sat silently across from us for what seemed to be an awfully long time. My thoughts were racing headlong towards an ever-worsening scenario.

When he started to speak, he actually stuttered at the beginning. “I – I – I – just don’t really know what to say.”

“We did another scan just a little while ago, and I’m at a total loss. I can’t explain it. I’ve never seen this. Never.”

Our impatience was at it’s height as my sister asked, in a quiet and husky voice – “What ARE you talking about?”

“Her new scan,” he said, “it’s clear.”

“What do you mean – clear?”

“It’s normal.”

It was totally silent in that room as he got up and walked out. All we could do was look at each other in wonder at what we had just heard.

Our aunt showed up shortly after this exchange and we told her of the meeting. Bless her heart, she knew exactly what was going on.

“It’s God, it’s God!” she said. “Oh praise God – He’s answering our prayers!”

Over the next 2 or 3 weeks, our mother went through what seemed at the time to be a fairly slow recovery as she would lapse in and out of a coma, never seeming to be fully conscious.

As we walked in to visit her in the intensive care unit one morning following that 3 week process, she was sitting up in bed.

Fully awake. Fully alert. And no memory of what she had just been through.

Her last memory was the vague recollection of being taken into the heart cath lab.

It wasn’t until some time later that I was personally able to fully reconcile all that had happened. The realization and acceptance of these events took me some time to fully grasp.

As I consider these events, I came to the conclusion that it was most likely due to my lack of faith at the time. I just wasn’t ready to fully believe.

There is a scripture that pretty much explains it:

John 11:40 -

Jesus said unto her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Yes, God had heard our prayers.

And gave us a glimpse of His glory by delivering a miracle.

Yes, again.

And I really say that with just a bit of reluctance. I actually liked the old design, but I had begun to notice some things about it that you kind readers were far too polite to mention.

It was just a little bright. I didn’t really think so at first, but over time I noticed that it seemed to be just a bit glaring on the eyes. Or, maybe it was just a case of my eyes starting to get a little weaker than last year.

It really didn’t matter – the change was inevitable. The old theme I had built the site upon had outlived its usefulness. And I really did like that theme (yes, that was me sighing).

With the advances that WordPress (that’s the publishing platform this site is built upon) has made over the past few months, the old theme just couldn’t keep up. So, I opted to pick up a newer version built on the same framework, one that is up to date and much more likely to stay current with all the features that WordPress has.

Here’s hoping you like the new look – I tried to retain the essence of what was here before. At the same time, I felt that some changes in the color scheme (or the lack thereof) were definitely in order.

My primary aim was to make the site a little friendlier on the eyes without going overboard on the colors.

The other benefit is that I can now continue tweaking here and there to take full advantage of all the new features in WordPress. Nothing too striking or severe from a reader standpoint – although the new threaded comment feature  really is pretty neat.

Overall, you’ll notice a few things that are just a bit different and there are a few little bells and whistles scattered about that weren’t there before.

These changes should make for a better experience for both of us.

It certainly is no secret that our economy is, at the least, a bit troubled right now. Banks in trouble, government bailouts, record unemployment levels and a stock market behaving like Chicken Little.

And the whole mess triggered by massive failures in the mortgage industry.

So – we bought a house.

In the middle of the housing crisis, right in the middle of one of the country’s hotspots for foreclosure.

Since moving to Indianapolis several years ago, we had rented a house on the west side of the city in one of the outskirt communities. When we first moved here, we noticed that there was an alarming number of houses for sale in the Indy area.

And that sure seemed to smack of an unstable market to us. So we made the decision to rent.

About a year ago, our landlord defaulted on his mortgage and the bank began the foreclosure process. We managed to contact the attorneys handling the foreclosure and they agreed that our continued presence in the house would help to protect the bank’s property. The initial filing for the foreclosure process started in March of this year.

As the process was winding down, we knew we would have to move.

Talking with our next-door neighbor, we asked if their landlord had any other rental homes. That’s how we met Barry.

Barry came by and told us that he didn’t have any other rentals available, but that he would be happy to help us find a house to buy. Aside from a few rentals, Barry made his living as a realtor. More importantly, he was a Christian and sincerely dedicated to serving his clients. ( Was this a chance encounter? No. Remember – nothing “just” happens.)

We weren’t particularly interested in buying. If you’ve followed this blog at all, then you know about a couple of the incidents that have occurred (you can read about it here, and here).

Aside from the enormous spiritual growth brought about from these incidents, there were some pretty dire financial consequences as well. Huge medical bills for stuff not covered by our insurance (thank you, Hillary – but that’s a topic for another time).

Paying off those expenses had been a strain and several accounts had gone into collection. While we had always paid our obligations, we also knew that these collections had probably not been good for our credit rating.

So, we didn’t pursue the purchase option. After all, if you watched the news, it was almost impossible to get a mortgage today. Instead, we just concentrated on trying to find another rental.

And we did. Finally finding a place that would suit us, we agreed to sign a lease and get the move over with.

As we were literally walking out the front door to go sign the lease, Barry pulled into our driveway. Explaining our credit concerns to him, coupled with the fact that getting a mortgage was all but impossible, he nevertheless convinced us to take a few minutes and go meet with the mortgage company he used.

We sat across from the loan officer as she entered our information into her computer system and then submitted it.

Instant approval. Time to go house shopping.

Barry sold us on the idea of looking for a HUD house. It seems that Indianapolis (and the state of Indiana in general) was loaded with HUD foreclosed houses. As a result, HUD had some pretty interesting programs designed to move these properties.

We were “first-time buyers” under their program. That just meant that we hadn’t owned a home in the last 3 years. As a result, HUD had a real promotion available. Buy a house for $100.00 down – and HUD will pay you a $1,000.00 bonus at the closing. Pretty hard to beat.

After looking at 20 or so houses, we finally found one that we liked. Situated in a neighborhood about a mile from where we lived, the house was in a subdivision of houses that sold from $120 – 170,000. (You can still buy a lot of house in Indy for under $200K.)

The house was 6 years old, 2 stories with about 2300 sq ft (+ garage) and HUD’s asking price was $99K – it was priced to sell.

As we sat down with Barry to prepare our bid for the house, we had a lot of discussion as to what would be the best way to approach the bid process. As Barry and my wife were discussing possible bids to enter, I blurted out -

$96,210.00. (Now where did that come from?)

And that was our bid. We entered it on the last day of the bid process. The following morning we got word from Barry that we were the successful bidders.

(About 2 weeks later, I checked the HUD website – just out of curiosity. We were the successful bidder by $160.00.)

We moved in the first week of October.

Shortly after moving in, my wife and I were discussing the amazing twists and turns we had just gone through in winding up in the new house.

It was then that I mentioned to her that I had this really strong urge to host a Bible study in our new house. Her jaw dropped and she looked at me and said, “You too?”

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It’s so easy sometimes for us to forget that God wants to bless His children, even in the small things. I’m the first to admit that it wasn’t until the last few weeks of this experience that we really began to seek the Lord’s guidance in directing our course.

Even though we didn’t think we were “hearing” His response, the incredible timing and the subtle, yet amazing, twists and turns that we wound up taking were clear evidence that He was involved in even the smallest details.

Throughout this process there were timetables that seemed impossible to meet, schedules and concerns that simply couldn’t be handled.

Once we  recognized that we in the midst of experiencing God’s favor, we just stepped back and watched in amazement as every timetable, every schedule, every deadline and concern just melted away. The incredible timing of every event left us shaking our heads in wonder. The timing was never early – it was always just in time.

We really need to get better at getting out of the way.

It seems that they had been running a promotion and she was to receive a gift card from the bank in the amount of $900.00. Rather than spend the money on ourselves or on Christmas presents, she felt led to donate it to one of the local shelters that has a special place in her heart. It’s an organization called Sheltering Wings.

Tucked away in an outlying area of Indianapolis, Sheltering Wings houses women and their dependent children who suffer from domestic violence and abuse. Just this year, they were honored by the White House Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. You can visit their website and see their award-winning video here.

When the gift cards arrived, she called and made an appointment for us to deliver them. The facility itself is highly secure and it helps if they know you’re coming.

Before we left the house, we said a simple prayer of thanks for our being able to be a blessing to others and asked the Lord to multiply our gift.

Following a tour of this incredible facility, we had presented them with the gift cards. My wife mentioned that we had prayed over the cards asking God to multiply the gift.

We really didn’t give it much thought after that. Until the phone rang about 10 days later.

The lady that we had presented the card to was on the phone. Crying. Tears of joy.

It took her a while, but she was finally able to relate to us the series of events that had just taken place.

Just a day or so after our visit it seems a lady from here in Indianapolis had traveled to Chicago to visit the Oprah show. While there, she was chosen at random from the audience, along with a group of others, to receive a $1,000.00 gift card.

These gifts carried a condition – the recipient had to spend it on someone else.

This lady chose to spend it on Sheltering Wings. She called the facility and got the coat sizes for each of the shelter’s occupants and then she went shopping to buy winter coats for them.

Visiting a local department store, she soon discovered that there wasn’t nearly enough to buy all the coats that were needed.

As she expressed her disappointment to the store’s clerk, the general manager happened to come over. Upon hearing her story, the general manager told her to continue her shopping spree and get coats for everyone.

The store was going to make up the difference. She was also told to be sure to pick out new hats and gloves to go with the new coats.

After making the delivery to the shelter, this lady returned to work. It seems she was employed by a locally based company that is well known for philanthropy.

Overjoyed with the events that had just taken place, she related the story of the department store’s generosity to everyone that would listen.

It only took a short while for the news to reach the company’s management. A couple of quick phone calls were made, and then – the company wrote out a matching check and asked her to personally deliver it to the shelter.

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It sure is tempting to want to interject something about how this relates to the troubled economic times we are going through, but I’m going to spare you.

I think it’s enough for us to recognize that God is the one really in control of our economy – yours and ours. And if we stay obedient, He will take care of us.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Through a recent experience, I had the opportunity to watch those words come alive and to get a glimpse into how God’s economy can sometimes work.

Several years ago, I was a partner in a small auto dealership. One of our vendors held a contest and as one of the winners I was given the opportunity to choose a gift from their prize catalog.

For some time prior to entering the car business, one of my true passions was cabinetmaking (furniture-making for those of you unfamiliar with that term). I had always wanted to return to this field so I was really pleased to get to choose a new table saw from the prize offerings.

Time constraints and the pressures of trying to build a business kept me from even opening the box.

Yet there was something that kept me from ever getting rid of the thing. I had countless opportunities to sell the thing, to give it away or just throw it in the trash.

But I didn’t. There was no rational reason to keep it – there was just this “something” that wouldn’t let me get rid of it.

So I just kept lugging the thing around – for over 10 years. Still unopened, although the box was really starting to suffer from 10 years of moving, neglect and more than a few re-tapings. With each move came a new resolve on my part to get rid of it.

It just occupied a place in the garage.

And then, several months ago, I happened to come across a post on one of the few forums that I occasionally visit.

It seems that a Christian brother had asked the forum members for some advice. He was in the midst of going through a bankruptcy and had several questions.

Now, for some 10 or 12 years, that was my job in the car world – helping people through bankruptcy. As a result, I had learned a bit more about this than I really wanted.

So I contacted him and we started to communicate over his questions.

Without any prompting from me, in one of his emails he relayed his story of what had happened. Leaving a position in the millwork industry, he had ventured out on his own and started his own company.

And then the housing boom went bust.

Returning to his former trade as a finishing carpenter, he had been able to get occasional work but was unable to accept a lot of the job offers he had been receiving.

You see, when his business venture turned sour, he had sold most of his equipment to raise cash.

He had been forced to sell his table saw.

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I heard back from him not long ago.

It seems the new table saw worked just fine even though the taped up box had seen better days – and he now had more work than he could accept.

If he doesn’t wear it out, he’s got plans for the table saw when he finishes with it.

He’s going to ask God who he should give it to.