The Faithfulness of God… My prayer

Psalm 132:10-18

10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body [1]
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.”

13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.”

God you are a faithful God who always keeps His promises, yet my heart tends to be one of doubt. You promise to provide, and I doubt. You promise to feed and I doubt. You promise victory and I cower. I am so very weak and little in faith, God won’t you make my heart grow in belief, seeing your hand of provision? I don’t know what it will take to teach me to trust, what crutches will have to be kicked out, but I will hold on to Your sovereignty. I will bank on Your proven faithfulness, and thank You for those who have gone before me. Their examples and lives are a reminder of Your faithfulness and grace. I have seen the fulfillment of the first part of this promise to David, in the cross of Christ and I am blessed to believe, how much more is David blessed to have believed without seeing. I want to trust You the way David did, and yet my flesh fights against the adversity of life that reveals You faithfulness. My flesh longs for ease of life and prosperity, but I know, that will not produce a complete character. The complete and mature believer is proven in the heat of the furnace of adversity, not on the beach of prosperity. I am not ready in flesh, but I want to be in the spirit. May my heart trust You implicitly in the face of adversity, storms and rising waters.

If you call the tail a leg, is it a leg?

This past Sunday I celebrated the completion of my 38th year of life, and while that is normally a day of rejoicing (because God has been gracious to spare my life for another year) this year’s party, was dampened by the lawmakers of this great state that I live in. July 24th 2011 was a day that will go down in history as a key turning point in this nation, and specifically in the State of New York. It is the day that Same-Sex marriage was legalized.  For the first time in the history of New York, same gendered couples could apply for a legal document that would declare them married.  At first glance, this may seem to be just a matter of semantics, and many Americans are left wondering what the big deal is.  I have heard some ask, “What difference does it make what they call it? They’re going to do it anyway.”  This war is far greater than just semantics, this is a war for the gospel!  The Good News that Jesus Christ saves!  For some of you that may seem like a giant leap. To go from allowing marriage to be redefined to an attack on the gospel, but that is exactly what it is. Let me explain.

We as Christians often go to Ephesians 5 for assistance in learning how to treat our spouses. And well we should, for there is a great example to be followed here, but what we often miss, is the greater picture.  As the old saying goes, “we miss the forest for the trees”. The greater picture here is not husband wife relationships, it is the Gospel message.

Eph 5:22-27
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
ESV

God did not use the gospel to teach us how to treat our spouses, and He did not randomly select marriage as a good illustration for the gospel. Rather, God CREATED marriage to be a picture of the gospel. Just as the Old Testament sacrificial system was a picture of Christ’s sacrifice, and Isaac was a “type” of Christ, so too marriage is a picture of our union with Christ. The church is the bride that is being readied for marriage by the Spirit – purified. Christ is the Bridegroom, sacrificing everything to reveal His love for the bride.  When we get married we image forth the gospel message. When we stay married, we image forth the gospel message. But when we distort marriage (homosexual, polygamy, polyandry, bestiality) we distort the gospel. And that is exactly what the enemy wants.  It is also what man wants, because the heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it? (Jer. 17:9)  “…people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

Our government officials have overstepped their authority and sought to redefine what God defined. This causes my heart to sorrow, and gives me pause when I contemplate the lasting effects from this decision.  Far greater than any of them can imagine! But I take comfort from an old joke that our 16th President shared. As the story goes, Abraham Lincoln asked an unsuspecting friend, “If you call a sheep’s tail a leg, how many legs does a sheep have?” The unsuspecting friend responds, “five.” And Lincoln then corrects him, “No, four. You can call the sheep’s tail a leg, but the sheep will still only have four legs!”

You can call homosexuality marriage, but it doesn’t change what marriage is.  God has built authentic marriage into the fabric of creation as one man and one woman for life. No matter how we attempt to distort it or define it, it will always be one man and one woman. You can say that marriage is one man and one man, or one woman and one woman, or one man and many women, or one woman and many men, but it doesn’t change what marriage is.

I am praying that God would raise up a generation of leaders who would fear the Holiness of God more than man. For we are entering the final stages of depravity, where we practice evil, and call it good.

Rom 1:28-32
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

The Results of Unbelief Part 2…

I want to continue to look at the results of faithless prayer today, so that we might avoid the mistakes of others, and become mighty men and women of faith.

Matt 8:23-27

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

ESV

We are going to start here, and then springboard to some other passages.

This event occurs right on the heals of the great Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had just finished speaking to His disciples and a multitude of followers on a wide variety of topics, and those who heard Him marveled at the authority with which he spoke.

After speaking, He immediately is confronted by two men of faith. The first one, a leper who understood that healing was subject to the will of God.

Matt 8:2-4

And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

ESV

Immediately following this leaper’s healing came the Centurion – the Roman Soldier. He understood that the power of God was not limited by proximity. Desiring to have his servant healed yet understanding the Holiness of the One to whom he was speaking, consider how he responded to the Lord’s intent to come to his house to heal the young servant

Matt 8:8

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

ESV

Then Jesus entered the house of Peter the disciple and healed His mother-in-Law along with many others. The disciples, who were walking with Jesus step by step witnessed all that the Messiah was doing. Yet in the next verses we see the disciples sailing across the sea, and stricken with panicked fear when their boat is swamped with water. They rush below, and wake the sleeping Savior, fearing that they will parish.

Matthew 8:25-26

And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

The disciples had Little Faith…

Little faith leads to Fear, Doubt, Improper Focus, and Feeble Strength.

I) Fear of Surroundings

The disciples knew there was something different about Jesus, that’s why the followed Him. They watched Him heal the sick, cast out demons from the possessed change water into wine and perform other miracles. But now in the pressure of the storm, they feared.

The feared the Storm more than they feared the God who caused the storm. Oh how often we fear the storm, more than the One who brings the storm. We are happy to pray and exult God and walk by faith, until the storm comes. Then we become so focused on our surroundings that we forget the Savior. Rather than waking Christ the moment the weather turned sour, they waited until the storm had nearly sunk the boat, and when they finally went to Christ it was the last ditch effort to save their hides! They had tried everything they could to save the boat themselves, and when nothing else worked they went to Christ.

He answered their request, and the seas that were tumultuous just seconds before were stilled by the Word of LORD. The disciples response to this answered prayer? Astonishment! They were astonished that He could do what they could not.  They were astonished that He would answer their request. They were astonished at the Man in whose presence the stood.

Isn’t that they way it is with us?

We wait so long to go to God for our needs, and when we do, it is because all else has failed. Shouldn’t we rather go first, and if God fails, then concern ourselves with the dangers of our surroundings? If we took that approach, we would never fear our surroundings, but we would always fear the Savior!

Because Jesus never fails!

I think that’s where I will leave this for now. Fearing the Savior requires time to meditate on His sufficiency and character. So I will leave you to do just that.

The Results of Unbelief…

It is sad to say that today when we talk about prayer, it is often little more than just that, talk. We would rather talk about talking to God than actually talk to Him! Far too many Christians have calloused hearts, and soft knees when we are supposed to have soft hearts and calloused knees. How are we going to trust God in times of trouble, have faith during the uncertainty of life, and expect God’s Spirit to move when we don’t plead with Him?  When we don’t take advantage of the torn veil and enter the Holy of Holies.

When our church was on the threshold of a major step of faith, we looked into prayer, and evaluated our prayer life. As I led our church in this study, I found that most Christians are good starters, but fall short of completion. We start out with great commitment, but as the days turn to weeks and the weeks to months and the months to years, we tend to lose faith. And prayer without faith is a dangerous thing. Sometimes our prayer request become so common that they are almost forgotten – prayed for but not expected – I think at that point, we are on the edge of praying without faith. Oh, we believe God COULD provide, but I’m not sure that we believe that God WOULD provide.

As I assessed the prayer patterns of the average Christian, I categorized them three ways.

The First is…

-       Anorexic

• They pray so rarely that they have lost even the taste, desire, and longing for prayer
• Wondering if prayer really matters
• Justifying it theologically with “Sovereignty”

-       Bulimic

• They have prayed faithless prayers
• Vomiting up what they just petitioned God for with their doubts and fears
• To the point that their prayers are ineffective, no matter how much they pray

-       Narcissistic

• It’s all about me
• What I pray for
• How I pray
• When I pray

None of these prayer patterns lead to strong faith! We want to think that we would have been the leper who boldly asked Christ for healing right after He finished the Sermon on the Mount. We want to believe that we would have been the centurion who trusted Christ to heal his servant from afar. The blind men who persisted in crying out to the Son of David, or the women who believed that just touching the tassels of Jesus’ clothes would heal her. We want to believe that if we had been in Peter’s shoes we would have kept our eyes on Christ, and stayed on top of the water, but more than likely we would have been described by the words “O you of little faith”.

So, over the next couple of blogs I will look at Matthew 8:23-27 and 4 results of faithless prayer.  It is my goal to learn from the mistakes of others, and become a man who prays with mighty faith.

Matt 8:23-27

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.  And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”  And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

ESV

Lambing… By my daughter Kate

Here is my daughter Kate’s personal account of the birth of lambs.

“I am about to tell you about an event that I will remember for the rest of my life. It all happened on January 30, 2011 at about 5:00 P.M. but it had started much earlier. It was a cold, overcast day when we got the call at 3:00 P.M. to come and dry off a lamb that Schylar’s sheep, Gloria, had just given birth to. We rushed out the door and sped to the barn, arriving about 20 minutes after receiving the call. Schylar walked to the barn while I ran to the house to get the lambing kit. The lambing kit contains an old 16 oz. soda bottle with a nipple, iodine for the umbilical cord, and a cup to milk the colostrum into. The colostrum is the milk that contains all the nutrients to build an immune system for the lambs because they are born without one. (That means that they don’t have the ability to fight off any diseases.) Running back to the barn, I grabbed more towels from the milk house and ran to help Sky. While he rubbed the little lamb dry, I milked Gloria. Sky really wanted a ram lamb but it turned out to be a ewe. He said that he preferred the rams to the ewes because they are easier to handle; I disagree. Abigail, Ethan, and Dad got bored after a while and went home at about 4:00 P.M. Sky, finally getting excited, wanted to stay a while longer to see if his little lamb would get up on her own and nurse from Gloria. Gloria seemed really restless and she didn’t seem to care that she had a lamb. Knowing that she is one of the best mothers on the farm, we were puzzled at her behavior. I had given her some hay and she ate a little but after that she just trampled it. She walked around in circles in her little pen, stepping on her lamb, on me and on Sky. Mr. Clark called and asked how we were doing. When Sky told him how Gloria was acting, Mr. Clark thought that she might have another lamb inside her. He told me to check. I washed my hands and put some special powdered lubricant on them. I had Sky hold Gloria and got on my knees. It was very interesting. When I stuck my hand in, I came upon a lump; I squeezed that lump but only felt liquid. I tried to feel around it but it didn’t seem to end, so I kept searching. I finally gave up and declared that Gloria was just crazy and fat. I was wrong. At about 4:45 P.M., Gloria finally lay down and seemed calm. She had drunk 1\4 of her water and nibbled at her hay. I walked out of the pen to give them some privacy. All of the sudden Gloria started to grunt, groan, and push. Sky, who was still in the pen, looked over to see if there was anything coming out. Gloria was in a corner so it was kind of dark. Sky said that there was nothing and left the pen. We walked up and down the middle of the barn trying to get warm. Finally Sky said that we could call Dad and tell him to come and pick us up. Just to be sure that the afterbirth hadn’t come out, I walked back to check on Gloria. It was now 5:00 P.M. What I saw will stay with me for the rest of my life. I walked into the pen and looked back, I didn’t see anything at first but as I was turning, something caught my eye. I looked again. There was a little black sack with something white inside it. I told Sky to stop dialing home and call Mr. Clark. This was definitely not the afterbirth. I knelt down and felt the sack. I felt hooves. At that moment Mr. Clark answered and I told him what I saw and felt. He said, “Pull it now!! You have to pull it NOW!!” I pulled and out came a perfect lamb; a ram lamb just for Sky. Sky’s excitement was growing. He got some towels and started drying the ram off. As I turned to pick up some stuff off the ground, out of the corner of my eye I saw another little sack, just like the first. I said to Sky, “Sky, there is another lamb.” He responded with, “No. No, there isn’t. Check again.” I felt the sack and sure enough, I felt hooves. Just like the other lamb, I pulled. But instead of seeing a head, I saw a tail. I began to pull even faster. When I pulled the lamb out, its head just flopped over. I became worried. Grabbing a towel, I quickly began clearing the mucus off the lamb’s nose. When it didn’t respond, I rubbed its entire body vigorously, hoping to get some sort of response. The rubbing did the trick. The lamb sneezed, coughed up some fluid, and then took a deep breath. It was going to be o.k. Sighing with relief, I checked and told Sky that it was another ram. NOW he was over the moon. Both the rams should have been stillborn, suffocated because they were in the birthing canal too long, but they were alive and well. Sky and I were both smiling while we worked. After we had dried them off and put iodine on the umbilical cords, Sky called Mr. Clark and told him the news. When he heard that we had triplets he said, “Oh.” But when Sky said that they were alive and well he said, “Wow!! Alive!? All of them?” We told Mom and Dad and they were equally thrilled. Unlike the ewe lamb, the rams tried to get up as soon as we had the mucus off them. We got plenty of colostrum into them and even got one of them up on his feet and nursing from Gloria. Gloria was now back to her characteristically calm self and helped us dry off her babies. While we were working with them Sky said, “So Gloria is just FAT, huh?” We laughed and he vowed that he was never going to trust me again when I probed ewes. Mr. and Mrs. Clark arrived at 5:30 P.M., just as we finished feeding the lambs. We helped with the chores, and then the Clarks took us home at about 6:30 P.M. In all, it was a fun filled day. It made my week until on Saturday, my friend, Emily, informed me that she had been at the barn on Wednesday when another ewe had had twin rams. It had taken us four years to see a ewe give birth and she saw one in her first year. Despite that, I am proud that Sky and I, all alone at the barn, had birthed two rams that should have been dead. My first lambing experience will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Trinkets of Inspiration…

It’s funny how things that didn’t seem to have much importance at the time they occurred come back years later to reveal the Sovereign hand of the Divine Planner.  As a child growing up in a military family we lived in many places, and visited even more.  So trinkets, souvenirs, collectibles, gifts, and other dust collectors were common in my bedroom.  It seemed that everyone who would come to visit would bring us something, and any trip that we went on would always result in a truck stop spending spree, buying a collectible spoon or shot glass (I was convinced that they would be worth BIG money one day… if only I could find them).  Most of those things today are worthless junk destined for a yard sale, or the dump, but there are a few trinkets that I would love to find, and if found I would treasure them for life.  They are the little wooden elephants and dolls that my missionary Aunt brought back from India.  Kathleen Bowser spent 40 years serving the Lord faithfully in the ministry of the Gospel to the people of India, and every 5 years she would return for a year furlough.  I was only alive for the last couple of those furloughs, but I remember them well.  We would travel in from wherever we happened to be living at the time to visit New Kensington, Pennsylvania and my Missionary Aunt.  She would always greet us with a warm embrace, and some trinket from foreign climes.  I have to admit, that I haven’t thought much about those little trinkets for the last 25 years, but something occurred this past week to bring them to memory.  My Aunt passed away.

This blessed saint fought the good fight and finished the course, it was time to celebrate her life, and lay her 90 year old body to rest. It was during the funeral that I remembered these little trinkets, and realized that they were some of the first tools of inspiration that God used to direct my steps.  These little, seemingly insignificant, wooden carvings pricked my interest in foreign lands.  They would expose me to the excitement of serving the Most High God.  That same God would use these little trinkets, and this faithful lady as the first sounds of calling in my life.  He would continue calling , and eventually His voice would sway my heart to leave for the mission field some 15 years after my Aunt retired.  What a mighty God we serve, His thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways.

I cannot express to you the honor I felt when I was asked to to serve as a pallbearer in the funeral service.  The privilege to carry the body of a serving saint to its resting place is one I will not pass up.  Her body will rest in a hillside cemetery in Pennsylvania until the return of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  May I be so faithful, to serve for a lifetime before entering my rest, and perhaps… inspire a few others to follow, serve, and love the Sovereign Savior.

Reed Review 2010 (written by my wife)

As 2010 comes to a close, we reflect on a year intermingled with much joy and sorrow. I find it difficult to convey all God has been to us in those moments, but humbly declare with the psalmist that we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

Our children have grown physically and are maturing in ways that cause great joy as well as humbling challenges for us as parents. Schylar turned 15 in June and in September began his junior work with the hopes of enrolling in a 2 year course next fall that would allow him to graduate with a bachelor’s degree at the end of his senior year. He has achieved much success this year that began with the birth of his twin ewe lambs, Molly & Gertie. He would go on to show in various sheep shows and win many awards. Most notable would be Master Sheep Showman at our county fair and his 1st place finish for Novice Showman at the State Fair. His 4H public presentation would be another successful venture, earning him a 2nd place finish at the State level that was commemorated with a silver medal. Schylar successfully completed a tractor safety course during spring break and enjoyed his biology labs that involved dissecting a frog and fetal pig. He participated in the Word of Life Teens Involved competition in quizzing, expository preaching, drama and vocal duet. Wins at area and regional events would earn him a spot at the international level that took place during a week of camp on the Word of Life Island. With a loaner guitar, Schylar was able to teach himself how to play this year. We look forward to seeing how he will use this talent for the Lord in the upcoming year with his Christmas present, a Dean acoustic guitar with amp.  He continues to love soccer and achieved success with the two teams he played for. The Mohawk Valley United team won 1st place at the NY State Homeschool tournament in Binghamton and Sky was chosen for the Messiah Academy league’s all-star team for his leadership and playing abilities. Hunting season would also prove to be successful with a button buck on opening day and then a spike horn to fill his tags.

Katelyn is now in the 8th grade and has enjoyed a milestone year with the celebration of her 13th birthday. Getting her ears pierced, attending a ladies retreat with me in Lake Placid and spending her birthday week on the Word of Life Island were just some of the ways we marked this special event. Her passion for all things horses has found her spending every spare dollar on acquiring proper riding gear for her much coveted trail rides with Oliver. She has found that although she likes soccer more than she thought, she’d much prefer to be in Dr. Clark’s P.E. class which involves saddling horses. Her flock increased this year with the surprise birth of twin lambs, Taylor and Teddy on Easter weekend. Sadly, despite excellent care, Teddy would not live for more than a week. On a happier note, Katelyn would go on to win Supreme Sheep at the Farmer’s Museum’s 4H Junior Livestock show in Cooperstown as well as take top awards in the various shows she participated in throughout the summer months. One would be a herdsmanship award at the State Fair that along with her brother, Schylar and friend, Emily, she worked hard for. She took a hunter safety course this spring and despite being unsuccessful, enjoyed hunting turkey and is looking forward to being able to hunt deer this fall. She continues to enjoy knitting and won a blue ribbon at the local and State level for her roll-rimmed hat. This year has also brought more opportunities for her to use her gifts and abilities with the church’s all-girl sign-language group. They have been asked to perform at area functions as well as bless our church with seasonal performances. She enjoys singing and competed in the Teen’s Involved vocal solo and duet category in addition to being on the quiz team and part of the drama group. She joined the rest of our family (minus myself) in performing with the Community Singers in West Winfield for their Christmas Concert on December 5th. She continues to take piano lessons and hopes Schylar lets her play his new guitar so she can add that to her list of instruments played. (Ed hopes Sky shares with him, too!)

Ethan turned 11 on June 18th and as a rare treat got to celebrate in Maine with his birthday buddy, cousin Eli, in a joint party with Nana Blount who turned 60 on the 17th. He is in the 6th grade and continues to enjoy playing Little League baseball and soccer. He took first place for running in the Little League Hit, Run & Throw competition and was chosen for the all-star team but decided not to play. The highlight of his year was attending the Word of Life Family Campground while the older two were on the Island. He commented more than once, “This is the best vacation ever!”He enjoyed being the oldest and having the freedom to ride his bike around with new friends and attend the older teen group during the adult sessions. He would get his first experience at paint ball and relished staying up until midnight for a pool party. When Sky and Kate drove off with Ed for the all-night Word of Life Superbowl in November, Ethan took great delight in telling me that next fall he would be able to attend for the first time! I was stunned at the thought and replied, “You aren’t old enough!” But alas, he quickly did the math for me and not only will he be able to attend but will be old enough to join the youth group at church as well! I’ll be honest, I’m not over the initial shock… He enjoyed going out hunting with Ed and this year saw his first deer “processed”. He enjoys being pen-pals with friend, Seth, and loved seeing him briefly in person last February. He continues to take piano lessons and can be found most weekends with his friends playing Legos or with Nerf guns.

Abigail is now 7 years old and in the 2nd grade. Her highlight of the year was playing t-ball. She was a favorite with the coaches and is already talking about playing again this year. She put together a public presentation on Abe Lincoln all by herself in response to seeing her older siblings present at the local 4H level and was able to present it at our county fair to be judged. She is taking piano lessons as well and loves to sing. She is sporting gaps in her mouth as she has begun to lose her baby teeth. She equally enjoyed the week at the WOL Family Campground and loved having her own special group where she met new friends and learned new songs. She was able to celebrate her birthday during our church’s annual camping trip at Gilbert Lake in August and shortly after was able to move up in the homeschool soccer league to the next age group.

Ed has had a busy year. In February he spent a week in the Bahamas with pastor/friend, Ed Hart teaching at a discipleship school. Christian Bible Church signed a land lease on the 12 acre property at the beginning of the year which would mark a period of long and laborious months of getting the existing garage renovated for use. We were able to officially move into the unfinished building in July and immediately began construction on an addition for the much needed space for a bathroom and heating system before winter. In spite of various challenges, God was faithful to provide the necessary funds and even provided us with a partial parking lot unexpectedly. We prayerfully await God’s continued provision for funds to complete the septic and parking lot this spring. With our new property, we were able to host a 4th of July fireworks outreach, a Community Day in September complete with chicken barbeque and hot air balloon (that never fully went up but was fun just the same!)and most recently a Christmas program that saw our little building maxed to capacity. A vivid reminder that the building we have is really just temporary until we can put up something that will equip us to minister more effectively long term. Ed has been able to hand off the youth ministry to a couple in our church which allowed him time to teach through a Fundamentals of the Faith Bible study this fall. He cherishes his monthly pastor’s fellowship and is excited to be able to host them at our new property this spring. He continues to substitute in the local public schools when time permits and worked as a census worker during the spring and summer months for extra income. He competed in his very first sheep show taking 3rd place in the “over-the-hill” showmanship class amidst steep competition. We enjoyed an extended visit by his parents and grandfather in July and were blessed to have them be present for our first service at the new property. Ed enjoyed coaching Ethan’s baseball team and attended his first ever PGA Tournament with the boys in August. He enjoyed hunting season as well this year with a nice buck in November and in December he was able to use his new muzzleloader to shoot a big doe in our back yard.

My year began with an emergency trip to Maine to be with my Mom while she spent a week in the hospital battling Crohn’s Disease. Soon after we returned, I was blessed to meet up with sister, Crysten, in Missouri to help friend, Liz, after the birth of her 7th child. I led a ladies Bible study which ended with our annual ladies retreat in Lake Placid in May. Ed and I would enjoy a 2 day retreat when we had to return to Lake Placid to pick up my car that had broken down. June found us traveling to Maine again, this time to join my sister, Melissa, and her family as they buried my niece, Ivana, who was born into the arms of Jesus. The garden proved to be my best one to date and would consume my every spare second during the summer to keep up with canning and freezing all the produce. Ed and I celebrated our 16th anniversary in August and enjoyed spending time with family and friends in NH for a mini-vacation in October. We have just returned from our 35th Christmas on the farm with 50 precious family and friends—soon we’ll be having a New Year’s Eve party and the start of a brand new year. As I contemplate the past year I am ever mindful of how dependent we are on our great God to guide and teach us in the way we should go. Our heart and flesh fail us but God is the strength of our heart; There is no one in heaven or earth that we desire to know or have our children seek after. Our prayer is that 2011 would find you seeking after this same great God – the source of lasting hope, love, joy, and peace!   Ed, Jennifer, Schylar, Katelyn, Ethan & Abigail Reed

Reeds 2010

The Cataracts of Introspection…

Ever notice how easy it is to see the faults of others? That, almost without looking we can see the areas that our brothers and sisters fail.  I’m not talking about the hypercritical that go about searching for flaws in others just so they can exploit them, or use them to justify their own sinful behavior.  I’m thinking more about the flaws that are so evident, that you wonder how it is that a person could go through life and not see it.

Years ago as a high school student, I had a classmate who came to school everyday with classic bed head.  You know the look, where your hair sticks out in every direction, as though a rat has been stirring about seeking a warm place to nest. I often wondered why he never combed his hair, but rather than ask, I just chalked it up to laziness.  Clearly he was just too lazy, or simply didn’t care enough to brush his hair. One day another fellow student plucked up the courage to ask him why he never fixed his hair, and the answer astonished me.  He emphatically assured us that he did fix his hair for school, but to avoid getting up quite as early as the rest of us he would save time by fixing it the night before!  But didn’t he understand that this didn’t work?  Surely he must have walked past a mirror at some point in the day and been able to see that the fruits of his labor were a tangled mess thanks to the slumber of the previous night.

That’s how I feel about so many aspects of the Christian life.  We seem to be able to see with acute clarity the flaws of our fellow Christians, but somehow develop cataracts when we look in the mirror of introspection. I can see so many of your faults, but am so blinded to my own.

I guess that’s why we are not to run the Christian race alone.  God has given us the Church, so that we might see through the eyes of a loving brother, the faults of our own sinfulness.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

There is great friction created when two pieces of iron are rubbed against one another, but there is also a removal of the bumps, lumps, and nicks of impurity, ending with two useful tools.  As Christians rub together there is also great friction generated and sometimes, with the cloudy effects of cataractic introspection, we rebel against the counsel of others.  This results in accusations, disputes, and even church spits.  But when we bear with one another through the friction of critical counsel, we are able to see the bumps, lumps and nicks of sinful conduct that we need to change.  And when we heed to the critical counsel of the insightful brother, that friction shaves off the impurities of sin, sharpening the countenance of our character.

Oh that we might recognize the cataracts that cloud our introspection, and take heed to the counsel of others.  And might we learn to gently, and lovingly speak the truth to others so that we all might change to the glory of God. Otherwise we will all walk about with rat nests on our heads, fraudulently convinced of our own beauty.

2009 Reed Review (by my lovely wife Jennifer)

It’s December 28th and I’m sitting down to finish writing our Christmas letter. It seems anticlimactic to be writing after the tree is already down, we’ve been to Maine and back and the gifts are all unwrapped but as I contemplate not writing one after 15 years of recording our yearly events – it seems worth the effort to look back and see how God has again proved He is faithful and worthy of our thanks for the events of 2009….

The year 2009 will be the year of ‘firsts’ for our eldest son, Schylar. He was able to go on his first short term missions trip with his dad to Guatemala for two weeks and work with the poor and needy in the city of Antigua and outlining villages. It was a life changing event. Schylar’s ewe, Gloria, gave birth to twin rams on New Year’s Day and he named them Billy and Bob after his grandfathers. He would go on to show them and win at the 4H Junior Livestock show in Cooperstown this past July. One of the highlights of the summer was the showing season at which he was able to enter a costume class dressed as a civil war solider with mule, Bea, placing 1st. Schylar’s spring turkey hunt proved to be successful once again, bringing home another prize winning tom. However, his big thrill was being able to finally hunt big game this fall, shooting a 155 lb, 6 point buck. Schylar continues to love to be involved in organized sport and was able to play soccer for 2 teams this year – coming in 1st and 2nd place in each of their respective divisions. Sky played on a local Babe Ruth baseball team and enjoyed having his dad help coach. In June, Schylar celebrated his 14th birthday and was able to finally start wearing contacts. We were able to make his dream visit to Gettysburg a reality in April and even got to visit Washington, DC as well. Having Nana along for the trip was an added highlight! He is currently working on his sophomore classes as a freshman and has dreams of completing enough high school credits to begin taking some on-line college courses by his senior year.

Katelyn has had a full year as well. She turned 12 in June and continues to be passionate about animals – especially the equine variety. She has had many opportunities to ride this year and even competed in a hunter pace and won 1st place. Katelyn loves being in the barn to help with lambing and although her own ewe, Terry, did not have any offspring to show, she was given a Southdown lamb named, Tonya, to bring into the show ring. Having her cousins, Megan and Carissa, come and help made it memorable. Katelyn put together a 4H public presentation entitled, “From Sheep to Sweater – Working with Wool” and scored a perfect 100. She was also able to compete in a draft and mule show at the Cobleskill Sunshine Fair and won 2nd place for her “Juanita Valdez” costume alongside her favorite donkey, Sam. She continues to be passionate about dyeing, carding and spinning her own wool and has been researching a spinning wheel to purchase to develop these skills. She has made various knitting projects over the year and never ceases to amaze us at how quickly she can put something together. She is currently in 7th grade and is taking Spanish I with Schylar. She has enjoyed being a part of an all girl’s sign language group that have beautifully performed over the past year in church. This fall marked her first year in the youth group at church and her first all-night Word of Life Superbowl event. She enjoyed participating in the annual live nativity – this year with her own sheep, Tonya.

On June 18th, Ethan turned double digits. He celebrated his birthday with a 2 day trip to Darien Lake where he conquered his fear of heights…or at least tried. He enjoyed playing Little League and was chosen for the all-star team which made for a long season – going from April to July. He played soccer in the spring and fall with the homeschool group and enjoys playing with his friends. Ethan has grown quite tall this past year and is anxious for the day when he can work as the older two can. He did get a chance to enter the show ring this summer and placed 3rd in the Junior Showmanship class. He was able to attend Mrs. Upson’s horse club classes this spring and enjoyed practicing all he learned at Otter Creek where we spent the day trail riding. Ethan was able to try his hand at shooting clay pigeons while in South Carolina this August and learned he is a pretty good shot! He is currently in the 5th grade.

Abigail has really changed this year and has finally turned the corner where we all have hope she’ll survive her childhood! Or maybe…I’m the one who will survive… She has graduated to the older class in the homeschool soccer league and is very athletic. She can outmaneuver me with the soccer ball…and I’m really trying! She was ecstatic about showing sheep for the first time this summer in the Little Britches category and was awarded for her efforts with a yummy milkshake. She began to ride her bike without training wheels this summer–she didn’t even have to practice! She loved to go with us on bike rides and could be found keeping up with us at Gilbert’s Lake. The hills at Nick’s Lake proved a bit too steep in June when we visited with her Aunt Krystal and Uncle Kenneth but that didn’t deter her from riding in the parking lot while the boys played garden cricket. She turned 6 in August and celebrated at the Cobleskill Sunshine Fair where Katelyn and Schylar were competing. She enjoyed riding the rides with Ethan as a special treat and sharing her cake with the Clark family. She is a daredevil and could be seen crying at Darien Lake when the adult roller coasters were off limits for her…she really loves going fast and furious! She did well at the 2nd annual Snow Pond Olympics where she ran to 1st place in her flip flops against her cousins. This fall marked her first official year of schooling and has exceeded my expectations thus far. She loves to read and writes very well. She is currently the only one of my students who seems to love it when I say it’s time for school… I’m sure it’ll pass..

Ed has had a busy year. He enjoyed his trip with Schylar and loved the people and culture of Guatemala. He began to substitute teach within local school districts in an attempt to be more in our community and has thoroughly enjoyed it. I often comment that he has never offered to substitute for me! He meets monthly with a group of local pastors and joined them on a trip to New England this May to visit some historic sites of great preachers whom God saw fit to use mightily. Ed was so encouraged by the installment of another elder at the start of the New Year and was privilege to attend the Truth for Life Leadership Conference with Mr. Brewer in Ohio, giving them an opportunity to really seek the Lord regarding the direction of our little fellowship and sit under some excellent teaching. The Lord has been burdening Ed’s heart regarding our location and although this year has been the most difficult financially for our little fellowship, God put a 12 acre piece of property in front of us to purchase that would be a much better location. With no money in the bank, Ed and John, went by faith to the owner to ask if he would consider a land contract deal that would allow us to purchase the property without going into debt by paying a monthly amount over the course of 5 years. With confidence in God Who had directed us to this land, we agreed to pay a deposit of $12,000 by the end of September. At 5:30 pm, on the final day, Ed was on his knees in the bedroom closet pleading with the Lord to provide the full amount to confirm His direction. With only $690 short, it seemed odd that God would come so close to providing and yet not 100%. At 6 pm, the phone rang, “How much are you short?” …God provided! The current status of the property is still with the lawyers and we have been waiting to sign on it for over a month, however, the real test of our faith will be when that takes place as we will continue to need to rent until we can turn the current garage on the property into a suitable building to meet in. Ed is asking the Lord to provide the needed remaining $47, 000 to own the property outright by March 22nd. We’ve seen God do a miracle with the deposit for the land and are confident in the Lord’s provision of our daily bread as we seek to rent and pay on the property during a very lean time for our fellowship! We have been excited to see the Lord increase our faith and can attest with Hudson Taylor that we don’t have ‘great faith’ but ‘faith in a Great God’. We were able to join Ed’s family for his parent’s 40th anniversary celebration in May. He always looks forward to coaching the boy’s baseball teams and was even spotted showing a lamb or two during the showing season! He underwent minor surgery to remove a fatty tumor (he prefers to refer to it as his ‘skinny tumor’) from his back that had become bothersome and is thankful for the Lord’s provision that allowed him to do so. This fall, Ed has begun to develop a youth program for our church and is currently working with the leaders to get it established as well as seeing our Sunday School program complete its first year. Ed was able to sing with a local group that put on a free Christmas concert for the community in December as well as participating in our Christmas program at church with 2 of the 12 dramatic readings from Back to the Bible’s “The Twelve Voices of Christmas”.

My year has been busy as well with teaching a ladies bible study, attending a ladies retreat in Lake Placid, hosting family and friends throughout the year, assisting the elderly and shut-ins God has given to me, driving the kids to their various sporting, working and recreational activities, teaching Sunday School, helping Ed with church related activities, going to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert for my 35th birthday, celebrating 15 years of marriage to my husband while with our church family during the annual Gilbert Lake camping trip…(yep, it was romantic!), going to Curves, putting up a big garden of yummy veggies, raising chickens and selling the eggs, driving to New Hampshire to meet up with my mom, 2 sisters and friend, Deb, for a Christmas shopping trip, and of course, all that comes with preparing and celebrating Christmas – my favorite holiday and time of year!

As we look back, we are humbled by all God has done for us and in us and look towards 2010 as an opportunity for more of God’s character to be reveal ed as we seek to see and savor Him in every aspect of our lives.

Merry Christmas!

Ed, Jennifer, Schylar, Katelyn, Ethan & Abigail Reed

The Reed Family August 2009

Gratitude to Greed part 4… Turning Greed into Gifts!

On the calendar Gratitude and greed are separated by less than 24 hours as we shift from Thanksgiving to Black Friday!  But in the heart of man the distance is far less.  We are grateful as long as we are getting!  In this last blog segment aimed at reversing the trend of Gratitude to Greed, I want look at generosity.  It is paramount for us to understand gratitude.  If we are not giving, then we cannot truly be thankful.  So today we look at turning greed into gifts.

Greed into Gifts

We are a me-centric society, always focused on number 1! World Magazine had a political cartoon in its November 29^th, 2008 issue that I think depicted the state of our hearts. It was a sign that read America, but all of the letters had fallen to the ground, except for the M and the E. As I looked at it I thought that’s it, our nation could be pronounced aMErica! Because we are so concerned with ourselves!  We spend our time, talents and treasures gratifying ourselves. So much so that giving is almost non existent for some, and when others give it’s with the hope of what they will get back.

Some years ago we were celebrating Christmas with wife’s family, taking part in the traditional exchanging of the gifts. As part of the family tradition we sit around open our gifts one person at a time. With 40 some people it can take a long time to get through everyone. AS I sat there I noticed that the mountain of gifts under the tree was getting smaller, and I still hadn’t received my gift. One by one the gifts continued to be handed out, and as it neared the end I found myself battling with my greedy flesh.  I had not received a gift and my flesh began screaming out, “I did my part, I bought someone else a gift, so where is MINE??!!??”

And when all the gifts had gone from under the tree and not even a lump of coal with my name on it, I found myself needing to crucify my greedy flesh with its passions and desires. In stead of allowing my flesh to demand gratification, I began to thank the Lord for the opportunity to learn the importance of genuinely giving so that I might see that it truly is better to give than receive. This was such a trivial thing and yet my flesh wanted to get more than give.  It was a good lesson to learn in such a trivial environment, so that later when the Lord would burden my heart to give for a far greater need, I would not be hamshackled by the lust of a greedy heart.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians in…

2 Cor 9:6-9

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ESV

This passage has been grossly misappropriated over the years. Some have wrongly taught that is a grantee that if you give a lot of money, God will give you a lot of money back! Yet that is not at all what the passage is talking about. Paul is teaching that Just as a farmer on reaps from the seeds that he sows, so we only reap blessing from the seeds that we sow.  If we are selfish with our time, talent and treasure, and sow it sparingly, then we should only expect a sparse harvest. But as we generously give to the Lord all that we have, and all that we are, for His use and Glory withholding nothing, we can expect a great harvest! Treasures beyond imagination!  But not necessarily treasures here, that can be lost, stolen, or destroyed, but treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy, and were no thief can break in and steal. The treasure of God Himself for all of eternity.

As far as our needs here in this life? His grace will abound, and overflow toward us being sufficient for all of our needs. God is sufficient to supply everything for life and Godliness, whether it be food and clothes, or forgiveness and peace.

Far too many Christians are concerned with their own needs first, and others after. God says that we are to give generously to Him with a cheerful heart, and He will cause us to overflow with good works! He will take care of our needs. And as we learn the principle that Our Lord taught ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35) we will learn how to move from greedy to Grateful.

As we contemplate the greatness of God and Exalt Him, We can’t help but be grateful for our redemption. And as we learn Worship God in all things, recognizing them as good our hearts will be radically changed and transformed by the Spirit of God.

Some of you can’t experience that heart transformation, and you don’t really understand the greatness of God, because you have not yet experienced regeneration. You’re still dead in you trespasses and sin, and therefore incapable of entering into the presence of the Holy God. I want you to know, that Christ has shed His blood to redeem and regenerate sinners like you and me, so that we can be reconciled to God Almighty. All you must do is receive the gift of God.  Receive God’s forgiveness, Spirit and Lordship by exercising the gift of faith that He places within your heart, and be saved!