Tooth Fairy Letter

Mary lost another tooth.  This makes number nine.  She lost one at the dentist so the letter explains it all :) 

Some day he would be a wonderful preacher...

The other day I was having a conversation with my 83 year old father.  I was troubled in my heart as there had been some misunderstandings that were weighing heavy on my heart that was over the spiritual direction Rich and I have taken.  You see my husband and I have left the church system.  Not our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ but in how traditional church has been done in our culture.

To back up a little bit I need to tell you that my father is not only my physical father but also the planter of my faith in Christ.  He and my mother planted the seeds of truth in my life as a young child.  It was more than the sinner's prayer, it was a world view... what the world was like, what God was like and how we were to navigate ourselves through it.  Our navigation instruction came from the Bible and my folks talked about the Bible a lot.  They not only talked about the principles of the Bible but they lived it.  No, they were not perfect and made mistakes but their hearts were true. 

My dad came from an Amish home.  The roots of the Amish came from the time of the Reformation when people began to leave the power and control of the Catholic Church.  Some of the Reformers were Lutherans keeping with the church pattern just changing their tenants and some practices, then there were the Anabaptist that were considered radicals.  They began to read the New Testament for the first time in their lives and realized how far the organized church had drifted from the pattern and truths set up by the Lord.  So they shed the church system and began meeting in homes.  There were leaders among them but for the most part everyone was treated and respected as equal.  They were heavily persecuted by the organized church and many became martyrs for their faith.  To say the least there was no financial gain in following their faith. Many lost all they had in this world but it was worth it to them as they had gained a treasure that moth nor flame could destroy.  They began to have congregational singing for the first time and everyone had a voice in the gatherings and fellowship.  They were a humble and simple people.  The Amish were a splinter group from the Mennonite people, all were Anabaptist believing in adult baptism after a confession of faith.  The Amish became more strict in pulling away from the world and damaged their ability to evangelize in the process.  But they still retained basic truths of the Anabaptist movement.  They were the plain and simple people pulling away from the material things of this world.  Their pastors were chosen by lot and it was a life time position and had no salary.  They did not have church buildings only met in homes.  The groups remained small and only grew to the size that would fit in a home.  If it grew bigger then a new group would be formed.  My dad left the Amish when he was 15.  He was disillusioned with the religion as it had no heart, no relationship with the Lord that changed you from the inside out, making your heart new.  

 My mom's family were believers that had roots in the Anabaptist movement too.  My great grandparents were Brethren.  The Brethren church was formed in Switzerland by the Anabaptist.  They called themselves the brethren because that is how the Apostle Paul addressed the believers in his letters to the churches.  My mother's mom was filled with the Holy Spirit in the 1930's.  She was sincere in her faith, humble and obedient to the Lord and the Word.  She was not flashy or flamboyant as some were doing.  She knew the Bible account of the Day of Pentecost and wanted to walk in all that God had for her.  She experience several miracles in her life and many answers to prayer.  She raised all of her 9 children to serve the Lord.  So my mom grew up in a home where there was power, faith and a changed heart from within. 

When my parents met and married it was a powerful combination.  My dad brought with him the plain and simple life and my mom brought spiritual power.  They both were born again before they met and walked together in their faith.  I knew that in the early years of their married lives my dad felt a calling to be a preacher.  In fact my mom's sister had met him first in one of her Bible classes and had told my mom about him and that he would be a wonderful preacher.  I know she did not say this because she thought he was a highly influential person, a real social kingpin and could naturally get a lot of people to follow him.  On the contrary, my dad was humble, not self assertive and he was honest and looked at the scriptures for what they said.  He had a very keen mind and a desire to share the truth.  According to the scriptures, not the world of man, my dad had all the qualifications but he was stuck in the church system.  He was not in a fellowship of believers where all were equal and operated in the gifts of God of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher as the Lord willed.  Nor in a group where the Lord was the head and no one lorded it over the other.  Where each person comes with something to share, a song, a scripture, a teaching and so on.  This can only happen in a small group and is practiced in token in the church system today but it is not the main practice.  So my father had that in our home.  He taught my mom and us kids.  One of the teachings my father gave us was,  "Who is Israel?" It is not the geopolitical nation of Israel that is set up over there in the Middle East now, but it is all those who have believed in Christ from the beginning of time.  He did not believe in the dispensational doctrine that was being heavily taught in the churches of pre-trib rapture and then going back and dealing with the Jews in Israel in an Old Testament way so they could get in another way outside of Christ.  Israel has always existed of all those who looked forward to the cross until the coming of Christ and all those who look back to the cross.  Either you are grafted in or you stay in by accepting Christ, otherwise you will be put in the fire and burn.

When I began to share with my dad of what Rich and I have felt the Lord is leading us to do, he was in agreement.  I told him about small groups of people meeting in homes, all sharing and contributing and having a host or overseer with a seasoned walk with the Lord and not paid to do it.  Walking in the Spirit on a daily basis not a hour or two afterglow meeting once a month when they tell the Holy Spirit that he can come now but a lifestyle and walking in humility and power.  Putting away the material things of the world, not seeking financial gain becoming poor in this world so that the whole truth of the Word can be taught and compromise not coming in because of large church buildings and paid staff that has to be maintained.  Being able to go against this world without the need to please the culture to keep the people.  Being full of love and the Spirit, preferring one another and not honoring one above the other because of the position they hold in the organization.  I then reminded my dad of the words of mom's sister, "Some day he would be a wonderful preacher"  He began to weep and said that is what he has always longed for and has not seen it.  He said that he knew God could use anyone at any age but he thinks that he may die and not see this kind of work.  My dad has been discouraged for many years spiritually.  He was so hurt when my mom died and now he is in a situation that is very difficult, especially spiritually.  It brought so much joy to my heart to see a fire is his heart for God again.  People may think that what we are doing is insignificant, just a phase we will get over, or will never work because you have to have an organization and hierarchy to accomplish things.  Some think we are being open to heresy and deception.  I am already seeing deception and heresy in the church system today and it is gaining momentum as the return of Christ nears.  I see from national polls that the young people are vacating the traditional church system in epidemic proportions and not returning.  They are more open to small group settings and home meetings where they see true love and living out your faith in a real way.  The Lord has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the wise.  We need to cling to the truths of the Bible and remember all of Christ's words, not just the easy ones, and the ones that go along with our culture.  For the power comes from being obedient and then the Lord will confirm you and it will be a witness of the resurrection of Christ.  This is what is needed in the disillusioned young culture of today.  A reformation is needed, going back to the basics and becoming weak that He might be glorified.          

Halloween

Here is the link to the video: http://animoto.com/play/hC39fXEAL53Rc8qkkGhMzA

 

Home Town Buffet

In our little corner of the world there is a restaurant called Home Town Buffet.  It is an all you can eat place across town that we frequent quite often.  It all started last fall when Rich and I were trying to start our lamp business.  Finances were tight and his folks blessed us with an invitation to lunch each week.  We looked forward to spending some time with his folks who are getting on in years.  They enjoy the simple things of life of just sharing a meal and the events of the week and of course time to see and love on Mary, their youngest grandchild.  The food is good there and we all get to have something that we enjoy but we discovered more there than just the food or seeing Rich's folks.  You see, we always went at 2:00, the time the senior discount was available.  There is a long table in the middle of the restaurant that is filled with regulars, friends of Rich's folks, Dan and Mel.  There is "Little" Bill whose wife recently passed away, Charlotte who loves to watch ball games on TV, "Big" Bill whose wife is not well and has a son who is pastor of a local church, Violet who loves to talk a lot and always has a sweet smile on her face.  There are others too that sit at different tables, there is Forest and Delores who are farmers and come down out of the Applegate to do business in town and eat lunch, there is Pat and Lee who go to the Presbyterian Church in town and always join in with us when we pray over our meal.  Then there are the sweet gals who pick up all our dishes and clean up the tables, Janice, Jennifer and Jolene.  Jennifer is a young gal that loves to take her break with us and have her lunch.  She is a people person for sure and is always waving hello or good bye to the guests that come and go.  She makes over the little children and asks the manager, Bill, if he can retrieve a stuffed animal using the claw in the game room for Mary or one of the other children.  He is an expert and can get one with one try.  Mary loves Jennifer and gives her big hugs hello and good bye.  Jennifer plays air guitar with her by laying Mary over her arm and strums imaginary strings on her tummy and she gets peels of laughter from Mary every time.  Little Bill usually comes by our table and asks Mary,  "How come you are so pretty?"  She always says, "Because I am a girl!"  Then he says, "Oh that's right, your a girl!"  Charlotte goes out front to have a smoke on her cigarette and then comes back into talk to Dan about last nights ball game and what he thought.  She always admires what Mary has on and then asks Mary if she thought that she could fit into her outfit and maybe borrow it some time to wear?  Mary always says that it is much too small for Charlotte and it would not fit.  She tells her she should go to the store and see if she can find it in a bigger size.  Charlotte always smiles with a twinkle in her eye and says, "You really think so!"  Mary turns to me and says, "Mama is Charlotte teasing me?"  I tell her, "Yes, sweetheart." 

These are the people of Home Town Buffet.  Even though it is a national chain of restaurants, it is a local cafe and restaurant of our town.  There are lots of people coming and going there: young families, single people, people with See and Eye dogs, sports teams and large crews of fireman but the regulars are older people with simple joys.  Coming to get lunch there so they don't have to eat alone and they can enjoy familiar faces and making friends.  My mind drifted one day, thinking that I could see our Lord, Jesus coming there.  Getting something to eat, helping some one carry their plate, saying hello, sitting with people, touching the lonely and troubled hearts, telling them things that no one else knew, healing a person who was on oxygen and couldn't walk on their own anymore.  He would touch them in a way that no one else could.  Then I heard a gentle voice say, you are my witness in this world and you have my Holy Spirit in you. You are an earthen vessel with a great treasure inside.  ^"Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.  Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you
ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."  John 14:11-15