INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators committed the systematic murder of over six million Jews. The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was Nazi Germany’s “Final Solution” for eliminating all Jewish people within Nazi Germany’s grasp. By the end of this heinous act, roughly two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population had been murdered. The United Nations General Assembly’s resolution 60/7 designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day on November 1, 2005, during the 42nd plenary session. So join us on January 27 for International Holocaust Remembrance Day when remembering the Nazi’s act of genocide so that no one else will suffer like that again.

My wife’s great-grandmother observed these atrocities firsthand. Maria Madi was a non-Jewish physician living in Budapest during World War II. In her diary, she recorded her observations of life in wartime Budapest, including the persecution of Hungarian Jews after the German invasion in March 1944. Madi was not only a witness but also a rescuer; during the war, she hid three Jews in her apartment to protect them from possible deportation.

Many times, people wonder with a circumstance this large, what can they do? Here are three suggestions:

1. Visit a Holocaust Museum

   Holocaust Museums are located throughout the world with several in the U.S. The United States Holocaust Museum is located in the National Mall in Washington D.C.

2. Donate to a Holocaust Museum

   Museums of any kind are valuable parts of any society. Supporting Holocaust Museum with donations helps ensure their important information stays available to all.

3. Help a Holocaust Survivor

   According to The Blue Card, a nonprofit organization for survivors, one third of the 100,000 survivors in the US live below the poverty line. Any survivor will be elderly and needing help. Give someone a hand and buy them some groceries or fix their fence. Show then the kindness they never knew before.

Give me a heart of compassion

This morning I was in worship and directed to read John 8:3

"The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?"

My eyes fell to that first part…"the Pharisees led in a woman." But not as a teacher did they lead. Not as shepherd. But as judge.

I considered my self righteous assessment of what I see going on around me and cringe at the similarities of my life and theirs. Perhaps that is why the sermon yesterday impacted me so much.

Ty Saltzgiver shared on Jesus in the temple and spoke to His fiery desire to remove any hinderance for those coming to encounter God and how He did everything he could to clear away the hurdles. I even thought of the finishing touch — tearing the curtain top to bottom at the point of Jesus sacrifice in the cross. No barriers. No hurdles. Nothing to keep people from encountering Jesus.

So when I see someone that may not fit my idea of tribe…political, sexual preference, age, career, and then decide they are excluded from the Kingdom of Papa I am just as proficient at segregation as those men so long ago. May it not be. May it never be.

Another point. I realized my Pharisaical actions are rooted in my own desire and pride, the point that I can do it myself thank you. I can't do anything myself.

I see someone else and their sin (or liberty) and decide they need to "get it right" before they come before the king. Not so His way. He wants us to come as we are and I place hurdles in the most ridiculous of places. The dinner table (you guys should stop eating pretzel bites because I have only had one) and other completely ridiculous statements. I prayed asking God to help me not hold others to the unattainable law that I have for them.

Oh to grace how great a debtor.

Joy—the hallmark of the children of God

For Jesus, the author of joy, lives! And his dwelling place is the hearts of those who welcome Him. For the joy set before him he endured the misery of the cross—fully aware of its pain and agony.

So what was this joy? The RE-UNION of my soul with His! The restoration of mankind with the father. The rescue and redemption of his bride to his side.

The joy of sacrifice resulting from the path of suffering outweighs the temporary pain of loss. Jesus knows this, for he walked it!

The storm is trying to win...

"It seems as I get further away from the Toth weekend the "glory" is fading. Life is screaming for attention and I am unable to quiet the storm.

Fortunately, Jesus is in the boat.

And he is awake.

And he has awakened me, too.

"Nothing to fear," he says. "Quiet" he says. And the waves have no choice but to obey. The wind must become mute.

And peace is restored as the King of peace has proclaimed who He his to this storm.

My first 5k and other ideas...

So I just ran my first 5k today. It was quite the spectacle. So many people showed up that the parking down by Monument Valley park could have been sold to the highest bidder.

This run was to help out some friends of ours. Holly Aldridge lost her husband on Dec 21, 2012 as he was jogging to work. This man who was a lover of Jesus and friend to everyone he met was simply promoted from this world to the next in a blink of an eye, doing what he loved to do.

He left a wife and 3 kids. He left a workplace that loved him. He left a whole cadre of friends that, quite frankly, are pissed that he's gone.

But I digress. Today we participated in this 5k in his honor, all proceeds going to Holly for her support. I heard that they raised over $10k to help with costs of living etc. and I could not be more pleased. I think Dave would be happy, too.

As I was walking/running with my son, I realized again how precious and short this life is. Sometimes it passes by far too quickly. Other times it drags along at a snails pace. But whether or not we have a short time on this chosen planet or a full and long life, I've concluded that with Jesus is the only true fulfillment once can receive.

Piles of money will not make you happy. A grande house will not make you happy. A bottomless checking account won't either. But time with Jesus and his love is a new thing. In Him is fullness of joy and peace. In him is the hope that only he provides.

And that is something my friend lived for. I hope to do the same!

Follow the Master

So there I was last night, sitting down after a particularly grueling day. Keeping in mind there are souls at work for the kingdom right now that would chuckle at that description of office work, I was still bushed from the work I've been doing at the office.

It was just before bedtime and I was talking with my bride. I say talking, but it was more of a complaining session.

She asked a very compelling question. Do I think God's next step for me was to change the work I was doing where I am or to send me to a new place to do something completely new? I pondered my response and stared blankly when I clearly heard this phrase in my soul, "Follow the Master."

Simple, right?

There was a time, early in my walk with Jesus, when I wanted to follow Him everywhere. My life was full of direction and, dare I say, adventure. The tasks I took on were simple, full of meaning and purpose. Not because the tasks were so great but because the Master infused every element of the task.

Then I grew old. Not only physically, but in my faith. I put my ship on autopilot and began to coast. The vigor began to dry up and the work became tedious and more complicated.

Fast forward to my conversation with my bride last evening. Once she had spoken and I had sensed the voice of the Master in my heart, I felt young again. I recalled the early days of a simple faith, those times of adventure and of fear--of not knowing the exact outcome. To borrow from the vernacular of chess, every move had been planned and endgame was reached.

So this morning I was reading in Matthew and came across this passage:

""Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace." click to read 

And I thought deeply about my response. If my life is not my own and I am truly to follow the master, the purest and best method is to be tuned into Jesus, simply allowing Hime to visit His grace on me.

Let's see where this leads...

I'm hungry

So I've recently been reading a couple of blog posts, pondering a few deep thoughts, following some very gifted thinkers in the ever expanding twitterverse and I'm beginning to see a pattern. I'm hungry.

Yeah, I know--but this is not just another post about about my daily caloric intake. It's occurred to me that I am genuinely hungry for the things of God. Golden clouds, dreams, or visions not withstanding, I am mostly seeking a deep and abiding experience with God Most High. These things I'm reading, following, or discussing are reminding me of something far too important to miss.

I recall times when I have feasted on the Lord...really focused intentionally on the Wine of the Word and drinking to the last dregs the truth of He who is the Word. I would scrape every last crumb of the Bread of Life off of the table and then, like Oliver Twist, ask for more.

My days consisted of sweet communion with the Lord and waking and spending much time with Jesus. I would go out with a song in my heart from that place of mystical union and dwell with Him the whole day long. Each moment was filled with the potential of knowing Him and His character in my life. I was full.

Then something happened. I became sleek. I think the old English word means to grow fat. I no longer sought Him as I once did. Other things began to take my attention off of Jesus--the real food and drink--and I began to consume things that were not good for me.

It has been a slow drift, and I'm keenly aware of my smallness in all this.

I compromised on the “best foods” and began to fill myself with junk. Though beautiful to see and sweet to to eat, this food holds no nutritional value. And yet, I consume so much of this I've seemingly forgotten what real food truly is.

And I've become lazy--unwilling to change my diet or do anything that would put me back on the track for spiritual health. Slowly, I've lost my appetite for things of the Spirit.

How have I so quickly moved away from that which provides such great benefits? Why have I moved so rapidly from that which promises wholeness and health? How deceived and prideful must I be before I realize the “weight” I carry around is not required?

So for the last week or so, I've consciously been “eating in.” I'm doing what I must so I can be what He desires. I'm trying to not fill my shopping cart with junk but I am genuinely soaking in the truth He has placed in His word, that He has displayed in His creation, and shared in amazing conversations with friends and colleagues.

Sometimes I begin to believe that eating-in is boring...sometimes I sneak a sweet treat and feel sick after. But always the Feast is prepared before me in the presence of my enemies.

I Guess I still have a ways to go. But I'm not discouraged. Wanna know why?

I think I'm getting hungry again.