The Most Surprising Uplifting Part of My Day

If you are reading this I beg that you will not just hear my words, but my heart that underlies the words I am using to describe this surprising, uplifting, and paradigm shifting experience that I had at a nursing home today with a group from the church.

First, a little background is in order. As I was growing up I only knew three grandparents, my two paternal grandparents and my maternal grandmother, and both my paternal grandparents spent their last years of of their lives in nursing homes. My grandfather was stricken with Alzheimer's disease around the time I was coming through middle school, and sadly after a couple years he lost the control of his faculties and my family was without alternative for his care but to put him in a nursing home.  My grandmother fell to a couple of strokes and was put into a nursing home with control of her faculties just unable to fully take care of herself on her own and was placed in a nursing home until ultimately a massive stroke took her life.

Because of these experiences a nursing home is not the kind of place I enjoy going and to be honest with you I have a jaded perception of because of my history with them. My family basically visited my grandfather and saw with each visit a man further and further gone mentally, physically, and emotionally even though he sat just before us. Even to a lesser degree the manor that my grandmother went to while great and incredibly helpful was ultimately reduced in my mind to the place my "Buddie" went to ultimately die.  This led to a more than apprehensive feeling toward leading worship services at the Magnolia Manor of Marion County as a part of Mount Carmel.

Today was the day for the Mount Carmel family to go the nursing home and for me to bring a sermonette for the residents who would come to the chapel service, it was also the first time I have been to a nursing home since my grandmother passed away several years ago. I've kicked around for weeks in my head what I might say, and prayed constantly for God to speak to me so that He might speak through me for these disabled men and women who in my opinion, however coarse, were just waiting to die.

Well as usual God provided right on time, He directed me to a wonderfully encouraging passage from Phillippians chapter four and laid wonderful music on the hearts of the teenagers and some of the others who went along to love on these people. This trip that I had been aprrehensive about at best and dreading at worst turned out to be one of the most uplifting worship experiences of my life. These folks whom I had prematurely written off as waiting to die were full of the life God has left them to live and were excited about people, especially young people coming to see them and even more excited about the ability to sing the praises of the Godd through whose hands passed their afflictions. 

I know that God had this day marked out for me specifically for the purpose of reforming my hard heartedness toward these wonderful people who happen to be disabled. I had gone wondering how God would be able to use me, someone who honestly did not like nursing homes to bless those "stuck" in one, and came away completely uplifted by their joy even among physical problems and the loneliness that must be a part of their living conditions. While I went striving in spite of myself to be a blessing God used a group of people many, including myself, would have only have pity on, to bless me and the group from the church beyond anything I can ever remember.

I beg those of you reading this remember that the ways of God almighty are not our ways and are far better,  those we mean to bless may very well be the ones who bless us mightily. Those whom you might not be able to see a purpose for may fulfill their purpose to have an enormous impact on your life, for God is perfect in His wisdom, and mercy, and love for us and works all things together for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purposes even when we couldn't think of any way he could.

Dinner with a Perfect Stranger? A good Idea

Dinner with a perfect stranger is a great little book that is similar to The Shack in its premise but without the nonbiblical ideas.  David Gregory does a very good job of exploring apologetics in a way that promotes evangelism.

A great easy read I would recommend this book for readers of all levels and every person in the church from a youth to an adult could benefit and enjoy this read.

I received this book fro free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Love and War: A Battle To Read...But worth it!

Love and War is a collaborative effort by John Eldredge and his wife Staci to write a book for couples looking to strengthen their marriage and commitment to one another. I have read some of John's other writings and have enjoyed and was blessed to have learned a little about myself, specifically from his book Wild at Heart, but I just could not get into this book.

I am a 29 year old man who has been married for almost 3 years and have a three month old son, this book was pointed to me and people like me and yet it just did not hit its target with me. The chapters tackled great issues, and contained some great insights to the importance of marriage and the spiritual battles that ensue because of marriage's most important symbolism, but the writing seemed choppy and with the switch back and forth between the husband and wife perspective just seemed to break it up even further.

All of my criticism is stylistic, substantively this is a very good book that deals with one of the most prevalent issues in western society, marriage. I would recommend it for all married people and even for those thinking about getting married in the near future so that they might know just a little better what is in store for them.

I received this book from WaterbrookMultnomah for free in exchange for this review.

My Son In Whom I Am Well Pleased.

On June 7th of 2011 at 12:56 pm, my baby boy David Samuel Jenkins was born.  Born into a year that has great highs (Auburn winning a National Championship) and lows (unemployment, and the loss of Granny Womac) he has been the greatest high of them all and I don't see anything in the last three months of this year improving on him making his apprearance.

As his middle name suggests "Sam" is the boy his daddy (and mommy) prayed for, healthy with all his parts in their respective places and as much a bundle of joy as everyone says babies are.  I confess that I could not be prouder of him and the family God has given me.  Mommy has proved during labor and since that she is strong beyond measure and is a terrific mom, even if she does think I am a little rough when I play with Sam.

Now I know that you could not care less about my reflections of my wonderful son and family, (or maybe you could), so I will struggle to stop doting at only two paragraphs.  But I would be remiss if I did not share with you the thing that has struck me the most about having a son.  No it is not being peed or pooped on for the first time (what a great first Father's Day), or the fact that my son has a smile for me every time he sees me.  It is the fact that God gave His one and only Son for me, a weak fallen individual who continues to struggle with the same sins God has called me away from.

How completely amazing is the love of God towards us sinners that He gave His only begotten Son that we could believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.  I have only spent 12 weeks with my kid and I can tell you I would not give him up for any one.  There would be no Spiderman-esque dilemma about who would I save Sam or a group of others, Sam is saved everyone else fends for themself.

Now contrast that with God who was with Christ in eternity past and is actually one with His Son freely gave him to be beaten and killed for you and me, people who at their very best rebel daily against Him.  I used to think I comprehended that sacrifice as much as anyone could, but I was wrong I could not comprehending trading my son for a friend or a family member much less those who would turn on me daily, just goes to show how Great God is in every way and how long I have to go in trying to be like Him.

Right now I can say like God once said of Jesus, that Sam is my son and I am well pleased in him, but I doubt I would ever be ok with giving him over to death for others but God in his love for me at just the right time sent His son to die for me and millions like me throughout history.

Once again I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me a sinner condemned unclean, when I would not give my son for the best of humanity let alone the worst.

Just my first thoughts of fatherhood on the Rural Route, may the peace and hope Christ fill you and move you to action on whatever Route God has placed you on.  

Been A While....

Well I realize it has been several months since I have posted but things have been busy on the Rural Route lately got a 12 week old son and have had a lack of internet connection, but now we are back and as opinionated as ever. So climb on in and buckle up and we resume our trip down the Rural Route to Righteousness.

Should we be celebrating Bin Laden's death?...Well, sort of

Yesterday was a day that will forever live on in the minds of those who experienced the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole and the tragic, cowardly attacks of 9-11-01. The best of the best, the Navy SEALS, killed Osama Bin Laden in a compound where he appears to have been living the good life of a rich Saudi Prince.  There was immediate acclaim for this symbolic victory of the west in the War on Terror. People were proud and celebrating that this man, who was responsible for the killing of so many innocent people, had died. To be perfectly honest I was excited and glad to hear that this evil man would have no more opportunity to do harm to people anywhere. As I started to process this information it evoked within me a couple of different reactions first as a Christian, and then as a fireman, and then as a Christian again.

While I was immediately proud of my country and relieved that this evil man was no longer able to hurt people, it struck me that this evil person was now in a place of eternal damnation where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where there is no presence of God because God Himself restrains it, and I was slightly saddened.  Granted there is some justice as the world sees it in this man's death but I do not know that we as Christians are to be encouraged by such low standards.  While I believe the NAVY SEALS, who risked their lives to accomplish the mission placed before them, were completely righteous in their actions I am not sure we should be so happy about it.  While in Psalm 116:15 says that precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His godly ones, but in the same Bible it says, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  This evil man is dead, and I would say deservedly so, but now he has learned the hard way that his faith was misplaced, and has no chance to ever leave his eternal damnation.  So it brought about a conflict within me, glad that this man would no longer would be able to hurt people, but saddened that he would spend eternity in fiery punishment devoid of the goodness that comes from God.

As a firefighter as I thought back to the images of that September morning where so many police officers, and firefighters rushed into a building burning and soon to collapse to try and save as many as possible, and was enraged that this man fostered and helped fund and prepare for these cowardly acts and was glad he was dead. Almost immediately I was again conflicted should I take joy in the death and damnation of someone no matter how much I am enraged at the indvidual.

In response to the conflict within I turned to Scripture and found a great deal of help and instruction on how God would have me to respond. While there is a great deal of justice and capital punishment withing the Old Testament there is an even greater amount of forgiveness and grace in the New Testament. I am convinced that as a Christian Firefighter I should be relieved over Osama Bin Laden's inability to hurt anyone ever again, but should also be saddened that Bin Laden will also be unable to escape the eternal damnation that he is now in. For while we have all been hurt deeply by Bin Laden's actions, I am convinced now as much as ever that we as Christians should never wish hell on anyone one, not even our worst enemies, nor rejoice in anyone's damnation.

Just my take on the whole matter, relief that he is no longer able to hurt, saddened that he will hurt forever.

The Walk...Is it worth taking?

I have been reading The Walk by Shaun Alexander lately and really enjoyed it.  As a great football fan and a striving to grow Christian it intertwined two of my greatest passions in life and helped me to further process and evaluate where I am and where God would have me to be both spiritually and physically.

The way the book is laid out follows a progression, "The Walk with God" while somewhat oversimplified at times, I think the book does a good job of taking the reader from where every person starts with their interaction and relationship with God and shows how they can grow and how others before them have succeeded in the same walk even in the same types of trials and traps in their way. 

The book could of been strengthened with a few more specifics, as it dealt mostly with generalities but that could be by design as it makes the book more likely to impact more people.

I would recommend this book for just about anyone, a dad new to faith or just searching, or a young man struggling to find out what direction God would have him walking. While it was written by a football star I do not believe that this book would be too "jockish" for a girl or even a woman seeking to get deeper into her relationship with God and His path for them.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Over all I think this walk was well worth taking with me on the Rural Route to Righteousness.