New Mercies

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Do not show favoritism

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ,

don't show favoritism." James 2:1 (New International Version)

We enjoyed a lively, enlightening and convicting discussion in Tuesday morning women's Bible study class on James 2:1-7. Our ladies shared about ways they have been both the recipients and givers of discrimination. Some of us grew up in an era when many churches believed they were "the only ones" who would make it to heaven. We participated in a weird sort of evangelism that looked down its nose at anyone who wasn't "one of us". We had difficulty separating the "sin" from the "sinner" in those days.

Other women shared stories of racial discrimination--parents who did not want their children playing with little girls of different ethnic backgrounds.

We talked about the social isolation caused by poverty, when people are trapped in a certain neighborhood and don't have the means to get out. Even grocery shopping becomes impossible for a mother with little children and no car to carry the groceries home in. Artie Padilla of everyneighborhood.org had explained to us about "Food Deserts", places in the inner city where a grocery store that carries a healthy variety of fresh produce and dairy products is not within a 2-mile radius.

So, you ask, what are we doing about all this?

I'm glad you asked! We divided up job assignments for a Thanksgiving basket for a family on the Westside of the San Joaquin Valley, devastated by the economic downturn and left with no place else to go. We are sending the ingredients for making tamales for the holiday. Mae and Doug Pafford, who lived and worked in Dos Palos for years, will deliver the basket on Saturday, November 17.

And for those of you who want to study the book of James but can't come on Tuesday morning, join us on Wednesday nights, starting tonight, November 7, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Come at 5:30 p.m. for dinner. Men and women are both welcome in the Wednesday night study.

--Posted by Mama O.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Election Day

Thank you, Jason Locke, for giving us a much-needed reminder of God's powerful hand in the affairs of the nations on Sunday. As we go to the polls today, we can remember that we serve a God who takes ultimate responsibility for the world and for our personal lives. He asks us to obey him, to respect government authority as long as it does not require us to disobey God, and to be humble, remembering that it is not our job to "manage the universe". God is taking care of that one.

"Help us not to take ourselves too seriously," Jason prayed, as he quoted the words of the psalmist in Psalm 46:

"Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see the works of the Lord,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he beraks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress."
(Psalm 46:6-11 New International Version)
--Posted by Mama O.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Saint or Sinner?

We've been enjoying a great discussion on the life of Jacob in the Ocheltree Group on Sunday mornings. Yesterday, we explored the difference between a "Saint" and a "Sinner". Both Jacob and Esau sinned. In fact, Jacob's sins were more obvious than Esau's were. So what made Jacob a "Saint" and Esau a "Sinner"?

It's how they responded.

Everyone sins and everyone has sins committed against them. It's part of being human to be lied to or lied about, to be betrayed, to have people break promises they made to you, deceive you, forget to do things for you. And it's part of being human to be the one who is lying or deceiving or forgetting or failing or showing weakness instead of strength.

The "Saint" takes ownership in their part of the problem. They recognize their own responsibility and confess to God, and, if necessary, to others. Then, they allow God to chisel away at them, removing all the stuff that does not look like God, so, eventually, a "Saint" begins to look more and more like the One in Whose image he is formed.

The "Sinner" allows a bitter root to develop (Hebrews 12:15). Instead of owning his own responsibility, he blames other people or God. Instead of allowing sin's consequences to chisel away his own self-reliance or negativity or bad temper, he allows the pain to fester and absess, creating a pocket of impurity that can spread sin's infection to following generations. Esau's line was known for violence, self-reliance and godlessness. They sided against Jacob's descendants in conflict. Eventually, Herod the Great, the notorious King who ordered the "slaughter of the innocents", or mass destruction of all of Bethlehem's baby boys when Jesus was born, would descend from Esau's line.

"Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its environs, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the magi. Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,

'A voice was heard in Ramah,

Weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her childrern;

and she refused to be comforted,

Because they were no more.'"

Matthew 2:16-18 (New American Standard Version)

Interesting, isn't it? While better judgment kept Esau from killing Jacob when he returned 20 years later, his bitter root lived on in his descendants. And this prophecy of the "slaughter of the innocents" mentions the murder of Rachel's children--Rachel was Jacob's beloved wife--the one he would meet as a result of running away from his brother's murder threats.

Jacob acknowledged his need to respect the commands of his godly parents and flee from Esau's anger. And God met Jacob, as he was suffering the consequences of his own sin--separation from his family. God promised Jacob his own presence on the lonely 600-mile journey and back to the land God promised to him and to Abraham and to Isaac. (Genesis 28:13-15)

So what's the difference betwen a "Saint" and a "Sinner"? Well...

It's not so much what we do, but what we do with what we do!

--Posted by Mama O.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Thank you for giving to the Lord!

We heard today in class from people who worked on our Service Saturday at Rescue The Children. It was a blessing to be together as family, working, getting better acquainted with one another, and doing something for the Kingdom of God in Fresno. Most of the people on our work crew had not seen the facility before.

"I was impressed by how nice it is and how much work has already been done to the place," Amanda Ellington commented. Jeremy joked, "We've already put in an application to live there!"

Rescue The Children, formerly The Vagabond Inn at Clinton and 99, is a completely enclosed facility, with only one entrance. Inside the facility are lawns, gardens, pools and lots of shade trees and sidewalks. It is a very safe and peaceful envirnoment for these women and children, many of whom need a safe haven from abusive backgrounds.

"I like the way the kids are able to run around and have fun in an enclosed area and their mothers don't have to worry that someone is watching them through the fence," Jeremy Ellington observed.

Stephanie Spencer-Norby, who worked at the facility earlier this year with the youth group, said, "It's a great place! God is doing amazing things down there!" She is impressed with the wisdom of the staff who require the women to receive training in nutrition and cleanliness before they are allowed to have refrigerators and microwaves in their individual apartments.

With 22 volunteers on Saturday, we finished all our painting projects in record time and didn't even need ladders to paint ceilings, thanks to Sean Gresham and Jeremy Ellington!

Steve Ocheltree shared a little with us, this morning, about the miracle of the financing for the purchase of the property. We are happy to be a part of the many miracles happening there!

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40 (New International Version)
--Posted by Mama O.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Service Saturday!

"...his faith was made complete by what he did."

James 2:22b (New International Version)

Kyle Mason mixes paint

Chase Pafford

Grace Pendleton and Pam Caples

Mercedes Garcia and Angelica Tejada, students in
Lori Herb's Peer Counseling Class at
Central High School

Lori Herb

Kyle Mason and Sean Gresham

Jeremy Ellington, Zach Pafford and Luke Teixeira
(students at Buchanan High School)

Kelly Gresham (freshman at Clovis North High School)
and Amanda Ellington

Stephanie Spencer-Norby

Marcos and Tiffany Miranda

Steve Ocheltree experiences the effects of Service Saturday

Saturday, November 3, 2012, 22 of us met out at Rescue The Children, on Clinton and 99, to paint storerooms and sweep up construction debris. The newly opened facility is run by The Fresno Rescue Mission, and offers housing, counseling, spiritual training and education for women who come from abuse, addiction and incarceration. The goal of Rescue The Children is to rehabilitate and retrain the women during an 18-month program so they can be productive, healthy and self-supporting in society. Young children may live with their mothers at the facility and attend the nearby elementary school. The facility will eventually provide these services for more than 100 women.

It was a glorious day, sunny, clear and cool. And it was a glorious start to our Service Saturday tradition! We hope to host a Service Saturday about six times a year, or every two months.
God bless and see you at our next Service Saturday!
--Posted by Mama O.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Jacob's Ladder

What a time we're having as we discuss the life of Jacob in our class discussion time on Sunday mornings! Our discussion last Sunday of Jacob and Rebekah's deception of old Isaac reflected the confusion found in the story itself, where everyone is lying to everyone. It's a crazy, dysfunctional scenario--hard to see where God would want to have anything to do with any of them! And yet, three of the four people in that drama are hand-chosen by God to bring his people, the nation of Israel, into this world, and ultimately, Jesus, the Messiah, and Savior of the entire world! Whew!

So, what have we learned so far, in a nut shell (appropriate terminology for dealing with this dysfunctional group):

Week 1--Jacob and Esau's birth (Genesis 25:19-26)

Principle: God is sovereign and has a plan for the lives of his people. But men and women have a lot of freedom to choose right or wrong within that plan.

Week 2--Esau sells his birthright to Jacob (Genesis 25:27-34)

Principle: God not only wants, but requires, that he be at the center of our lives. We must value what God values.

Week 3--Jacob deceives his father to get the blessing (Genesis 27:1-40)

Principle: God's plan will not be derailed by the sins of his people or by the sins of the unrighteous.

On Sunday, we will tackle the story of Jacob's fleeing from his brother Esau's murder plot, and of his stopping for the night, resting his head on a rock for a pillow and dreaming of a ladder that reaches from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it. God met Jacob there and affirmed many blessings and promises to Jacob.

So what will we learn from the story of this lying, manipulating fugitive on the lam from his older twin brother's (rather justified) murder plot?

Week 4--Jacob flees; dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven (Genesis 27:41-28:22)

Principle: The consequences of our sin can chase us right into the arms of God!

Pull up a chair, or a rock, and join us for a good discussion of one of God's good men.

--Posted by Mama O.