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How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him! (1Kings 18)

But the people were completely silent.

It was only a few hours later that the LORD completely consumed the water-soaked alter with fire. The people, the very ones that were silent, fell down on their faces and cried out, “The LORD – he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!

Even after 10 years of following Jesus, the same question Elijah asked is asked of me.

How much longer . . . ?

If the LORD is God, follow him!

But if your ambition is God, then follow it!

But if a good job is God, then follow it!

But if you are God, then follow yourself!

But if seminary studies is God, then follow them!

But if facebook is God, then follow it!

But if your fears are God, then follow them!

But if your worries are God, then follow them!

The LORD – he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!

All our lives they told us “You better watch the market. You better pay attention to your investments. You better know what’s happening with your investments.” Well, what now? The financial system’s shot. We built our lives on this thing. No one ever told us “You better trust in God. You better believe in him.” Did your financial advisor ever tell you that? But, here we are and it’s all we’ve got. The answer is faith.

Each week during the summer I meet with the girls one on one. We talk about how they are feeling about life and check up on their progress. During these meetings, I give them a new verse from the scriptures to be memorizing through out the week.

This week it’s Psalm 37:4.

Me: Here you go, Rachelle. Write this verse down in your notebook. It’s the verse of the week for you to memorize.

Rachelle: Ok.

[Rachelle pulls out her notebook and starts to write. A minute goes by.]

Rachelle: That’s bribery.

Me: What?

Rachelle: Bribery. What this verse says. It’s bribery.

Me: What do you mean?

Rachelle: It says that God will give you what you want if you love him.

Me: . . .

Eventually I was able to get my thoughts together and help her see this verse (and hopefully God) in a non-coercive, non-manipulative context. Just another slap in the face reminding me of the type of relationships in which these girls have been conditioned to function.

In the end, said Brother Lawrence, it doesn’t take skill or a high IQ to come to God — just a heart totally sold out to the Lord, devoted to him alone.

From day to day sometimes we wonder if we are really doing any good at all. Then, we get a message on facebook from a girl who left our care a few months ago:

Subject: God

“I miss you talking to me about God everyday and saying the bible verses… I never really do anything like that here… I stopped going to church for a while to but now I go every sunday and wednesday!! But yeah… I miss it.”

By the way, I’m a grandpa again! Fabian arrived yesterday evening and weighed in at 8 lbs. Also, he is 22 inches long.

Here is a list of things that I believed at one time or another about God and myself. Some are of more consequence than others.

What about you? Share some of your busted myths in the comments.

- God isn’t cool with having fun.

- God expects me to get dressed up for church.

- Knowledge of the Bible equals a relationship with God.

- I should say ‘bless you’ after someone sneezes because ‘That’s what Jesus would do.’

- I can be good enough.

- If I don’t capitalize the word ‘God’ I will be smote.

- If I don’t read the Bible and pray everyday, God gets mad.

- I have to earn God’s acceptance and love.

Merry Christmas amigos!

Sophia is enjoying her first Christmas in the good ole’ USofA. We hope that, this Christmas, God helps you understand just how cool he thinks you are.

Me showing Sophia how it works! That thumb is precariously close to getting popped!

The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

You have too large an army with you. I can’t turn Midian over to them like this — they’ll take all the credit, saying ‘I did it all by myself’ and forget about me.

- Judges 7

Gideon had it tough. It’s one thing to say you trust God. It’s a whole other thing to march into battle with an army that had been whittled down from 32,000 to 300. God was teaching Gideon about trust, but there is something else going on here. It seems that God is wanting more than credit or even for Gideon to trust him. God wants to be known by him. Maybe God puts us in tough circumstances that force us to rely on him simply because he wants to be close to us and he wants us to learn to be close to him.

Think of it this way. I want Sophia to learn and grow and become strong. I want her to learn to walk on her own and feed herself and speak. But, at the same time, I long for her to be close to me, to need me. Yes, I want her to learn how to walk. But, when she comes upon a particularly precarious bump in the road and she looks at me and reaches out her hand for my help, I get this top-of-the-world, how-can-life-get-any-better feeling. Why? Because she is my child, and I want her to be close to me, to rely on me, and to need me.

Shepherd of the Ozarks is amazing. I can’t think of a better setting for a retreat.

The weekend was really really good. It is amazing to see so many kids together. Kids that, most people would say, didn’t/don’t stand a chance. But, look what God is doing in them. It is really breathtaking and humbling to be a part of it.

Also, Sophia loved it. She got to pet a donkey and a deer. What more could a little girl ask for??