Clay Feet

Two weeks ago, I titled the message "Clay Feet." This was my image. This a reference to a passage in Daniel that I wanted to expound upon slightly. 

Daniel 2:31-45

“You were looking, O king, and lo! there was a great statue. This statue was huge, its brilliance extraordinary; it was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, the king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory, 38 into whose hand he has given human beings, wherever they live, the wild animals of the field, and the birds of the air, and whom he has established as ruler over them all—you are the head of gold. 39 After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything, it shall crush and shatter all these. 41 As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever; 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.”

This is a great image! It is meant to illustrate a weakness or character flaw. 

And it is this image that see Solomon. The great and wise Solomon, who has never had an equal before or after in regards to that wisdom, did not stay the course in his relationship with God. Instead, he listened to his 700 princesses (wives) and worshipped their gods. In doing so he broke the commandments in Deuteronomy 17. Go ahead. Read chapter 17 and then read about Solomon. He does everything that he is not supposed to do according to the Law. 

In 1 Kings 9:6-9 we see the pronouncement of what will happen as a result of Solomon turning away from God. 

Look at your feet. Are they clay? What character flaw have you been ignoring, are you blind to? 

How is that keeping you from living the life of a conquerer? Read Revelation 2 below:

 4 I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this is to your credit: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. 

Shake the dust and clay off your feet. Come back to you first love. Repent and come back to God.

The Cali Experience 2013

It has been almost a month since we got back from our trip to Cali. I wanted to put into words some sort of wrap of concerning the trip in its totality.

A lot of what you hear when you get back is, "How was the trip?" And to be forthright, it is hard to answer that. How does one sum up an experience as full as a two week trip to another country.

I know my propensity to be verbose when I talk. I like to tell stories. I am aware of the problem so I tend to want to be sure that I am answering what is truly being asked.

So when I answered that question it was mostly to respond however I was feeling at that particular moment. You know. The short answer.

I had one person ask to meet with me over lunch and talk about the trip. Of course, I felt bad for them because I was still in the throws of being EXHAUSTED. So I don't even know if I can recall any part of that conversation. I hope I was coherent!

In short, I would say that the trip was incredible! I would say that it was eye-opening and heart-opening. I would say that it felt so good to be a part of a church, however briefly, that could teach me so much about prayer. So much! About what it is. About what it isn't. How to pray! Oh. Bless Nineje for being the prayer admiral she is!!

My expectations for this trip were to learn about the Master's Plan, help build a part of church (to bless them), and tell one person about Jesus Christ. If you have been reading this blog you know that all three of those were given to me in amazing ways. And there was so much more God had for us.

The hand of God was on me (us) the entire time. He moved in our hearts to refresh us (me) He rejuvenated me. Specifically, we got to be a part of a God movement that has been 30 years in the making. In some ways, it was like being brand new to the team and you get put in for the last quarter of the game. And yes! You get to be a part of the team that is winning the game.

I have felt in the past that I was sitting on the sidelines. Watching the game. Hoping to play. Hoping to make a difference in the goal of this team we call disciples. And to be in Cali for those two weeks was such a gift. We were just visiting, but we were in the game. God used me while we were there. He showed me and taught me.

And some of those things that God taught me, while it might edify others, are so personal that they won't be typed or listed here. My journal has daily entries about God's glory and his provision for me.

I will share this from a journal post on September 24th. I was reading our devotional book for the Cali trip and I started noticing some "themes" that God had been doing a work in me. Here are the themes that He gave me.

God is my Revealer.
God is my Redeemer.
I am to be a Life Builder.

He gave me these verses in Psalm 37:
          Our steps are made firm by the LORD,
    when he delights in our way;
    24      though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong,
    for the LORD holds us by the hand.

And this from Psalm 100:
          Know that the LORD is God.
    It is he that made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

And this from Luke 2:
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

I am God's child. And my primary purpose to be on this planet is build life into others. That is a Life Builder. That is my role in being a disciple of Jesus. In being a parent. In being a husband. In being.

In summary, I loved going on this trip. And if you ask me, "How was your trip?" I will answer that it was fulfilling. Because on it, God filled me up. Infused me. An experience that I wish for all of you.

Start saving now. Go on a Work and Witness trip. You will never be the same.



If you would like to see some of the results of what we did in a concrete, analytical view. Go here!

The Journey Home - Cali Edition 2013

Tuesday morning was a very, very early morning! We had to be at the airport by 5 am. But even more important than that was that we get to go to 4 am prayer at the church. We didn't want to miss it!! 

So we got up at 3:15 am and got our bags downstairs to be ready to load. Then we walked to the church to pray. We climbed into the van and, after hugs, said goodbye to Vince.

After the van ride to the airport we got in line to get our tickets and board the plane. And said goodbye with hugs to Sandra.

After going through Immigration (Customs) with agents and guards, we found ourselves by an Oma Coffee Shop waiting to board. I could not go without trying a coffee from an actual Oma Cafe. After all, I had Oma coffee in my suitcase!  I got a latte de arequipe which is a caramel latte. And just so you know, very good!

After the plane took off we got some great pictures of the mountain ranges we were flying over! I think they are called the Faraliones de Cali and the Cerro Calima.

We were all exhausted but between the customs form, the juice cart and the breakfast meal going through the cabin I wasn't able to sleep any. I don't anybody else in our group got any sleep. I don't sleep well on planes! Never had. I was slightly jealous of the two asia girls in the seats behind me. They were zonked out the whole time!! 

After we landed, some of us (ahem, Ron!) got to go straight through from the airplane to the next boarding area. All the rest of us had to go exit the terminal, get our luggage and then go back through security. I think it was God showing Ron that he doesn't have to be too concerned about international travel, because with God all international can be easy. 

It was difficult (again, read frustrating) to have to do all that again, but we got to where we needed to be with a little extra time. Since we were all going back to our respective home arenas, Genell, Steve and Bob were headed out on a different airline at a different time. I think their layover was only 2 hours. The rest of us had a six hour layover. Which was fine. 

This is a good time to mention what the effects of those little bugs from the day before were. I do not and have never liked mosquitos. I hate the idea of mosquitos. I don't like that they transmit diseases. You get the idea, right? Well, I will take mosquitos over those little bugs anytime! Those of us that had bites were itching intensely!! All day long, beginning when I woke up, they itched!!! Bad! 

And the only thing I had to put on them? Sanitizer!! It would do some good for a while but ultimately all it did was sting bad enough that I forgot about the itching. 

Genell let me have some hydrocortisone to rub in and it did almost no good. So I just put up with them. (Edit- They finally went away three days after this!!) 

Then, it was time to say goodbye to our friends that were leaving early. Again, hugs went around. I will miss them. But I know I'll see them again at various district events. So only shortly parted. : ] 

While we were waiting we got an email from Vince about the house. The price had started out about twice what they could afford (found this out on the way to the airport in Cali) and by the time we were in Miami and waiting to board the plane, it had dropped to about 40% of the price! It was the elusive extra 10% that was not happening. But what a major drop in price! God was working!!

Time passed and we got on the plane. I know I was seriously dragging. But yet, wide awake. I think Ron was too. : ] 

We got to our seats and it was time to close the hatch. Yet, strangely, the back row of the plane was vacant. Hmmmm. So Ron and I asked to move to those empty rows. Accepted. Happy! 

The flight was not very eventful and I still couldn't sleep!! But we were getting closer to home!!!!

After landing and then getting our bags, it was once again time to say goodbye to each other. Ron, Bill, April and I gave hugs and said our farewells. What a trip together! God was so very good to us.

Turning my phone off airplane mode yielded an email from Vince! The price had dropped down to exactly the price they could afford! It could still be a little cheaper but what an amazing answer to prayer! Look what God did in only 36 hours!

My original plan was to stay at a friend's house in Minneapolis and then drive home the next day. But I felt pretty awake and after a sandwich I decided to hand on home. I mean, I was this close to my family. I think Ron inspired me, as he did the whole drive home thing too and he had even further to go than I did. 

I got pretty tired around Rochester and had to pull over for some milk and those awesome Hostess chocolate donuts. You know the ones I mean!! Goodness in a row.

About five minutes from home, I debated whether to text Alissa and tell her. I decided not too. What are the chances she would even be awake at 2 am?

I drove up and the house had the extra lights that my wife leaves on when I am not home. I got my stuff and as quietly as possible I entered the house. 

I think I freaked her out a bit. Fortunately, I was NOT hit over the head with a baseball bat and am currently writing this, so you know I survived. 

But man, it was so good to be HOME. I crashed. At the time I arrived home, I figured out that I had gotten something like 6 hours sleep in 48 hours. And I needed to get up in 4 hours to help get the kids ready for their day. WOW. I was so tired. 

But that is for another post, another day. I plan on doing one last post that sums up the trip for me and the recovery time. As for this series, it is almost over and I am so glad that it may help you or entertain you or at the very highest of goals, inspire you to go on a mission trip of your own. 

May it be so.

(Will post a video of the trip home when I have more pictures to complete it.)