Contrasts

For the last week and a half, our family has been on a trip through Canada and Washington.  Today we were driving through the northwestern part of Oregon and into Walla Walla, Washington.  As we were driving, the landscape drastically changed.  From tree-covered slopes and beautiful grassland, it changed to the brown of the high desert.  Now this is my favorite type of scenery.  I absolutely love the high desert, with it's sand and scrub brush.  As we were driving through it today, I was trying to figure out why I like it so much.  Is it just because it reminds me of warmth, and cowboys riding horseback and watching the cattle on the plains?  Or could it be the contrast that the brown has with the green?  I can't think of anything that looks more picturesque than a large, southwestern house, with large, beautiful, vibrant green lawns surrounding it, with sprinklers watering it, and beyond, the dry, brown, scrubby brush high desert.  It makes the green seem so much more green, the lush seem so much more lush, and beauty seem so much more beautiful.  That is probably the reason why I love this type of landscape so much.

And as I was thinking about this, something else came into my mind.  The world is so barren, so stark and dry and ugly.  But because of it's "brownness", because of it's death, because of it's ugliness, it makes the Christian stand out all the more.  It makes the "greenness", the life, and the beauty of the Christian so much more apparent and appealing.  And that's the way it should be.  We are called to be lights, set on a hill.  What makes the light so inviting but the blackness of the night all around?  So it is with the Christian.  The blacker the night, the more barren the landscape, the more brilliantly we will shine forth.  When the people of the world will see us, they will "take knowledge of (us), that (we) have been with Jesus".

God Alone

Dear friends,

For worship this morning we were reading the story of the children of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt towards the promised land.  As they were nearing their destination, suddenly the cloud turned South and led them towards the Red Sea ~ and away from the land of Canaan.  The people murmured, but God had a lesson He wanted to teach them ~ and us.

God changes our plans, leads us in the "wrong" direction, and brings us into a hopeless postion so that we can learn that He is our shepherd, our leader, and our deliver.

He wants to make the situation so hopeless that He, and He alone, could have delivered us.

“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17

Of Runways and Faith...

Knowing that I am interested in flying, a friend recently forwarded an e-mail to me with pictures of some of the most challenging runways in the world. The pictures reminded me of my own experience as a 4 year old flying into the old Hong Kong International Airport. It was night as I recall, and I remember sitting in the 747 as we made the final approach. The pilot banked the plane sharply to the right, the wing nearly touching the skyscrapers below us. I don't remember much else from the landing, but one thing that I have remembered is the fact that it was one of the most challenging runways in the world. I actually just looked up some information about it, and stumbled across a newsletter and pictures from a pilot who used to fly into that airport. He says that the runway was incredibly short and that you had to do a hard bank to the right and dive. That's about how I remember it. :) But one thing about it, we had to have confidence in that pilot. Almost all of us have done it at one point in our lives or another. Even when we can't see the outcome, we still have to ahve trust in the pilot.

This whole topic has made me think about how we need to trust our heavenly pilot. Even when we don't see what the outcome may be, we need to trust Him. He knows what is best in our lives. And even when we are so banked in with fog and clouds of doubt, He is still leading and guiding us, and we will make it to the other end safely. God had promised that He will not lead His children in any other way than the way we would have chosen ourselves if we could but see the end from the beginning! What a blessed promise! So even if we're struggling with decisions that will affect our futures, we can rest assured, knowing that God is leading and working everything for our best good, and someday, someday soon, we will be able to stand on the sea of glass with the redeemed of all ages, and falling on our faces before Jesus, thank Him for guiding us safely home! What a day that will be!

Keep courage, my friends! The end is just in sight!

A day well spent!

The sunset was painting beautiful pink hues on the clouds as I settled back in my seat for the two hour drive home.  As I sat looking out the window, my mind relived the events of the day.  We had left home at 8:00 and driven the two hours to the mountains to sled and snowmachine with some friends.  I remembered the tedious snowmachine ride from where our friends' travel trailer was to where we went sledding.  Caleb at first tried to ride in the pile of sleds behind the snowmachine, but because of the bumps, he kept spilling and we'd have to stop and wait for him to catch up again.  Finally, we all just piled on the snowmachine and I held the pile of sleds behind my back - a very uncomfortable position to say the least.  Then there was the first sled ride down the mile-long slope we had just come up.  I will admit that I wiped out quite a few times on the way down, but it was so much fun!

There was the time that we were riding the snowmachine up the hill, and it tipped over on me...  That kind of hurt, but I survived. :)  The other thing that scared me at first was when we'd go up these hills that I didn't think we could go up without flipping over backwards, and then as we'd get near the top, Mr. Ueeck would give the snowmachine a little more gas and bring the front end up.  My heart would jump into my throat, but I finally got used to it. :)  And then there was that inner tube.  Heather and I attempted to slide down this extremely steep hill on it several times before we figured out a way to stay on.  And then Heidi, Charity, Heather, and I piled on it so we could be pulled behind Mr. Ueeck's snowmachine...  And then he got too close to the other snowmachine and the inner tube popped, making those of us riding on it hit the ground pretty hard.

And then after supper we decided to go on a snowmachine ride way up into the mountains.  It was so much fun standing on the summits of several of them, where we could see for miles in every direction.  Oh, the beauty and glory of God's creation!  Then on the way back, getting the snowmachine that I was driving sort of stuck.  Mr. Ueeck came back to help, but on the way, he tipped his snowmachine into a creek.  Then, when trying to see which was the best way for our snowmachine to go, he buried his in snow that was up to my waist.  So we had to spend a little time digging it out.

I smiled to myself as I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes.  It had been a wonderful day.  What would I do without my friends and family?  Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled forward as Seth slammed on the brakes.  My eyes popped open, and I saw a moose crossing the road just in front of us.  Just then her baby started crossing the road as well.  I could hear our tires squealing as we skidded to a stop just inches from the moose's back legs!  God had protected us once again!  As we began driving again, I again thought about the day.  Yes, we were all very sore, sunburned, and exhausted, but it had definitely been a day well spent!

Welcome Spring!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything!!!  Time has flown by!  Spring is finally here I believe, although winter's been trying to convince us otherwise for the last couple days.  It's been getting close to 60 degrees during the day for a week or so, but then 2 days ago it started snowing again...  But thankfully the sun has always been able to melt all the new snow by evening.

We've been working on shooting a short film over the last month or so.  It's been a lot of fun.  If you'd like to hear more about our progress on that, check out the official Revised Register blog.

We have been very busy with the Delta Christian Drama Association as well for the last month and a half or so.  I am playing the part of the villain of the story, the Irish mayor Seamus Kelly.  It's kind of a terrible part, if you ask me.  But I guess every story has to have a villain.  And I get hung (not shown, but implied) so at least justice is done!  But it has been a lot of fun, and the play will be a blessing to many people, I am sure.  It's a Zacchaus story set in the ficticious town of Jericho, Nevada circa 1876.  It is about the transforming power of God, which is an amazing theme!!!

Well, I guess this hasn't had much of a theme to it.  It's been kind of a scattered post letting you know that I haven't fallen off the edge of the Earth yet!  But with spring here, it reminds us of new life springing forth after the hard, cold winter.  A good friend and I were talking the other day, and she was mentioning the fact that the sun is shining, melting the snow and warming the earth, and making new life spring forth.  Just like that, we should be allowing the Sun of Righteousness to shine on us, melting and warming our hearts, so that the fruit of His Spirit can spring forth in our lives!  What a promise spring has!  I pray that each of you will join me in allowing Him to cause His grace to grow in our hearts.

Worthy the Lamb!

My family bought me the latest CD by the Gaither Vocal Band, "Reunited", for Christmas.  I absolutely LOVE all the songs on it!  Today I was listening to my iPod as I was outside cutting wood (something that makes it somewhat bearable in 0 degree weather). :)  It played the song "Worthy the Lamb" from the new album, and that got me thinking.  The song describes the hopelessness of Satan's captives, kept in chains that have no key.  And the question is asked, "Is there no one worthy to set us free?"  Then the song describes the glorious scene presented in Revelation chapter 5.  Jesus Christ is found worthy, and so the anthem swells "Worthy, worthy, worthy the Lamb that was slain!"  Then the scene switches to that glorious day at the end of time, when the angels and the saints, holding their crowns in their hands, swell the glorious anthem again.

Can you imagine that scene?  Standing in the Holy City before the throne of God Himself!  Around us stand an innumerable company, the redeemed of all ages, our friends and loved ones from earth; and beyond them, the angels, cheribum and seraphim, greater in number than the sand of the sea and the stars of the universe put together.  Trillions upon trillions of them.  And beyond them, the surpassing glories of the New Jerusalem.  Gold and silver in abundance, reflecting the dazzling glory of God.  Then suddenly, we hear music.  The great angelic orchestra playing music sweeter than we have ever heard.  Then the voices of that inumerable throng join together singing "Worthy the Lamb that was slain!"  The music swells as the voices and instruments reach the climax.  "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"  And then the refrain, "Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!"  Oh what tongue or pen can tell of the glories that we shall experience!  As the last echoes of the beautiful music fade, the entire company casts their crowns at His feet and bow in worship.  As they try to recall the troubles and heartaches of earth, they seem so small and insignificant in comparisan to the eternal weight of glory all around them, that they shout "Allelujah, heaven is cheap enough!"

Very soon now, Jesus will be coming to take us home.  How often we get discouraged by the things of this life, but rest assured, heaven will be cheap enough!  If we would ever keep in mind the sufferings of our Saviour and the glories of the home above, we would never fall to temptation!  We must look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, "Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."  He is there now.  He is preparing a place for us!  Won't you join me in a commitment to keep our eyes on Jesus, count the things of this world as rubbish, and press toward the mark of our high calling?  If so, I'm looking forward to joining you in that chorus, "Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!"

The Story of Christmas

Imagine a world where there is no sin, no sadness, no guilt.  Where the sun never rises to a day filled with pain and never sets with the dark clutches of death.  Where love fills everyone's hearts and motivates every action.  Where God Himself walks and talks with human beings, sharing the great mysteries of eternity.  Where loved ones never have to say goodbye, and friends are never parted.

This was how our world was at the beginning.  It was created to be a paradise for our enjoyment!  But then sin entered.  It began in heaven and spread to earth.  Suddenly, love turned to hate, selflessness turned to selfishness, and God became an enemy to be feared and hated.  But God knew what would happen, so long before He created this earth, He had a plan.  And in the Garden of Eden, talking to Satan, God promised a Redeemer!  He said “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”*  Oh glorious promise!  God promised to send a second Adam, to reclaim what the first Adam had forfeited!  And so, from the moment Adam tasted of the forbidden fruit, the Plan of Salvation swung into action.

During the darkest days of Israel's history, God gave some of the most precious promises of a coming Redeemer.  Isaiah prophesied “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel....  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”*

Finally, at a time when the world was at its darkest point, when Rome's tyranny was at its strongest, God Himself, wrapped in human flesh, came into our world as a helpless baby!  "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."*  That's what Christmas is all about!  God Himself, coming to die for our sins!  A verse in the song Welcome to Our World says it so well: "Fragile finger sent to heal us, tender brow prepared for thorn, tiny heart whose blood will save us, unto us is born."

Why did God do this?  There's a song that Danny Shelton sings that asks the same question.  The answer?  "Heaven is not Heaven when loved ones are not there."  God wants us, His children, there so bad, that He was willing to give His only son to rescue us.  What love is that!

33 years later, on a hill outside of Jerusalem, a cross was raised with the Prince of Life hanging from it.  As He hung there, a world was in the balance.  When He was sealed in the tomb, Satan sent his most powerful forces to guard the body, and keep Christ buried forever.  But praise God!  An angel came speeding from heaven to earth, clothed with the panoply of heaven.  At the sound of his approach, all the demons fled in terror.  Chills go up and down my spine as I imagine the angel raising his arm to heaven, and saying with a commanding, trumpet-like voice, "Son of God!  Your Father calls You!"  The earth shakes as the Prince of Life steps out of the rocky tomb, and with a voice that sounded like the sweetest music, proclaiming "I am the resurrection and the life!"  At that moment, Satan knew he was defeated.  It was finished!  Heaven had won!

Christ soon ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for His children.  Soon, very soon now, He will be returning to take us home.  Ellen White gives a vivid description of the moment when the two Adams meet.  “As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration.  The two Adams are about to meet.  The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race – the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Savior’s form.  As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!”  Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.”*  This is the moment which God has been looking forward to for so long.  This is why He sent His only son into our world!  This is the story of Christmas.  “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”*  This is why we celebrate.  We are celebrating a major mile-stone in the great conflict between Christ and Satan.  Sometimes the story gets lost in all the tinsel and we stick Jesus in His manger under the Christmas tree and forget about them, but this is the true story of Christmas.  Because of this, because of the great love God has for us, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”*  This is the story of Christmas.  Will you join me in commiting to spread the news of a crucified and risen Saviour who is coming back soon to take us home?

Merry Christmas!

Joel







*Genesis 3:15
*Isaiah 7:14 & 9:6
*John 3:16
*The Great Controversy, page 647
*John 3:17
*Hebrews 12:1 & 2