The old English proverb “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” is similar to the statement “God cannot heal you without your permission.” A man can go to church every Sunday and not to be touched by the healing hand of God only because we do not talk about or share our own broken lives.

To allow God to heal us requires that we compare our father’s parenting to God’s fathering of his children. Depending on your experience with your father, the transition can either be a cake walk or a giant leap of faith. My experience is a giant leap of faith.

In order to give God permission and submit to healing, we need to know where and why we are broken. When I look at my own life, I see two obstacles to healing and becoming a son of God. The first obstacle is easily removed by God. The other requires the need for me to understand what kind of person God is working with.

The first obstacle: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. This obstacle is cleared away by Jesus himself. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Also in Romans 12:1 it says: “..but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This also comes from God because it does not say that we need to renew our mind; it tells us to be transformed by the renewal that has taken place from his Holy Spirit.

The second obstacle to becoming a son of God is me. We can all admit and are reminded on a weekly basis in church that we are broken by sin and that we are sinners. But rarely do we look at the extent to which we are broken. The word of God tells me I am broken. What it does not tell me is how badly I am broken. A broken bone is a broken bone but there is a difference between a simple fracture and a compound fracture.

In my reading of self help books, I discovered Dr. Edward Khantzian’s (a clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School) research that led to him to focus on men’s brokenness by describing four cardinal areas of dysregulation.

· Difficulty in maintaining self esteem;

· Difficulty in regulating one’s feelings;

· Difficulty in exercising self-care;

· Difficulty in sustaining connection with others.

You can also find four corresponding cardinal areas of discipline in the word of God.

· “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3

· “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

· “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself”. Ephesians 5:28

· “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2: 19-22

Our own personal story, the experience with our family of origin and their belief system, impacts how we view both the area of our dysregulation and the biblical discipline found in the Bible. For each and everyone of us our story is different but the path to healing is always found in our relationship with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

I share my story starting with the letter written by my wife to the doctor when I decided to commit to the healing process.

November 18, 2003

Dear Doctor,

I am writing this letter concerning my husband, Glen Aus, because I love him dearly and so much want for him to be accurately diagnosed and treated. After listening on many occasions to Glen share with me about the events of his childhood and after several discussions with his mother concerning the same, I believe it is accurate to say that Glen experienced a very difficult childhood. He was the one "targeted" out of four children by his father, receiving almost constant emotional and psychological abuse. His father used anger, intimidation and demeaning words and actions towards Glen. He was often unpredictable and he withheld approval and acceptance of Glen as his son. He also blamed Glen and others for things.

Glen's father in his later years, was diagnosed with a "severe personality disorder" and due to severe depression, anger, and psychotic thinking, was on anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-psychotic medications. It wasn't until about three years before his death in 1997 that he became almost pleasant to live with. His brother apparently had similar struggles. They were sons of an alcoholic father.

Throughout our almost eighteen years of marriage I have seen Glen go through "cycles" of depression, times when he felt low and discouraged and felt angry and negative toward himself and other people. He has put out so much energy trying to be a good husband and father, working toward an ideal that was not modeled for him by his father. I believe that Glen's relationship with God, our strong encouraging relationship with each other, and his own goals for himself have helped him become the wonderful man that he is. But he is too tired now.

He and I both believe he needs help. He has been depressed, angry and negative, and his moods have been quite unpredictable for quite some time now. Expending so much energy battling his background, his negative thought processes, his anger, his depression, and trying to be what he desires to be has "aged" him. He often doesn't have enough energy left to enjoy life or invest much in his children.

In comparison to his father's diagnosis, I believe Glen does have depression and anger and he often mentally and verbally "replays" the harmful treatment in his childhood, his envy of his siblings and his current struggles, especially those involving individuals who portray characteristics that remind him of his struggle with his father or people who "feel sorry" for themselves.

As far as I know, Glen has only had one panic attack and that occurred several years ago. When Glen is depressed, he sometimes has misperceptions about himself and others but does not seem to have the psychotic thought processes that his father had (i.e. "someone was 'bugging' his bedroom" and that "everyone was out to get him").

I have wondered how much Glen's anger and thought processes (especially those against others) were learned from his father's example and how much is his own internal struggle. I hope that this information will aid you in your efforts to help Glen come out from under the "cloud" that weighs heavily on him.

Thank you,

Respectfully,

Lee Anne

My mother’s response to her husband’s abuse is one of the reasons why I am a Christian. In spite of creating additional conflict, my mother still took us to church faithfully. The actions of her faith were non-negotiable.

My father and I came by our abuse honestly. This is not a rant against my father because I am commanded to forgive others. But I want to understand why I am broken in order to be healed by a faithful God.

The seeds for abuse from my father were laid long before I was born. The history from my father’s side of the family involved embezzlement, alcoholism, mental illness, anger and lack of food during World War II. A professor of history explained it this way. When the Nazi U-boats started sinking supply ships, food that needed to be imported was no longer readily available.

To understand his personal experience, I dug up some family history and discovered that my father’s experience was against him. He was born in Norway in 1930, joining his 2 brothers and his two sisters. He lived through the occupation of Norway by the Nazis between the ages of 10 and 15. During the war, when the Nazi invasion of Russia went bad for the Nazis, the Nazis started requisitioning material from the Norwegians.

My grandfather developed a serious alcohol problem after he lost his job as director of the telegraph station in Honningsvag because some money had gone missing. This forced the family to move south to Oslo. To make matters worse, without consulting his wife, grandfather went to grandmother’s older half-brothers for a loan against her inheritance to cover the deficit. Grandmother could not forgive her in-laws and severed all contacts with them. My uncle, the oldest boy, had to fetch his drunken father and carry him home on more than one occasion.

Also, my grandfather would come home and beat his wife on a regular basis. That is until my two uncles took their turn and beat their dad up. During the war, granddad would come home and feed his lunch scraps to the dog in front of my father who was hungry.

My Grandmother and her sister maintained a stormy relationship throughout their lives, not being on speaking terms for long periods at a time only to become friends again. Grandmother also had this kind of relationship with her oldest daughter and did not attend her oldest daughter’s wedding because they were not on speaking terms at the time.

I have come to the personal conclusion that the following scripture is true.

“The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” Numbers 14:18

I am the fourth generation and I neither asked for or wanted this curse.

In spite of or because of my experience (I can’t figure out which) I am learning to enjoy and can look forward to having a relationship with God the Father. The possibilities are endless because God gives us confidence, includes us in his life and gives us what we need for a relationship with him.

Here are some examples.

As any good father would do, God inspires confidence in us when he says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" in Hebrews 13:5.

God the Father and Jesus, his Son work together by including us in their home when Jesus says in John 14, “In my Father’s house are many rooms…..I am going there to prepare a place for you.” And he says “I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am.”

God is a giving Father because, “He did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline,” as stated in 2 Timothy 1:7.

God is doing everything and more than a good father would be able to say and do. And our brothers in Christ remind us of our purpose in becoming sons of God.

Our brother, Paul in 1st Corinthians the 14th chapter encourages us to, “stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.”

Peter, another brother in Christ, reminds us to grow up by saying, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good,” in 1st Peter chapter two.

And the ultimate encouragement is found in Philippians 2 and Ephesians 2. “Therefore, my dear friends,…..continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” because “….it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

For those whose fathers were like God, the Father, I would ask that you be considerate of those of us who do not find it easy to become sons of God. For those of us that were wounded by our fathers to the extent that we are afraid or unwilling to approach God the Father, let us take our eyes off ourselves and start walking toward God. He will greet us with open arms.

The Tiger in You by Paul Edwards

Prior to this recent series of revelations, there wasn't a man on the planet who in some sense didn't want to be Tiger Woods. Tiger is good looking. He'sphysically fit. He's a world-class athlete. He has a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids. He's rich beyond anyone's wildest imagination. He had a father who loved him-not just in words, but in action, pouring himself into his son, building a love that survives to this day, in many ways making Tiger the man he became. Try as we may, there aren't too many men who can lay claim to all of these elements of success at once. Tiger has it all, and it wasn't just handed to him. He came by his success through hard work and discipline. He earned it. In recent weeks, however, Tiger's personal life has become the stuff of tabloid journalism. While details remain unclear, it appears his beautiful wife may have used one of Tiger's own golf clubs to knock him senseless when she discovered he only had eyes for-at last count-nine other women. It could have been worse. Tiger could have been an abuser: an abuser of controlled substances or an abuser of his wife. There's no evidence of any of that. He could have been an embezzler. Not satisfied with having it all, he could have stolen even more. He didn't. Like another famous athlete, he could have struggled with jealousy, flew into a rage, and killed his wife. Didn't happen. Tiger Woods isn't as bad as he could be. But neither is he the role model he appeared to be. He's not a thief or a murderer. He isn't an abuser. Tiger is simply a serial adulterer. He enjoys being in the company of a variety of women. Tiger has just this one quirk, one besetting sin, one shortcoming, yet that quirk was the trip wire over which his entire world has come crashing down. There isn't a man on the planet who in this sense isn't Tiger Woods. There isn't anything in Tiger that isn't in you. None of us are as bad as we could be, but the propensity for lust, lying, anger, and unfaithfulness are all there - hidden in a heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. There isn't any one of us who is not capable, like Tiger, of saying, "It's only this one time. No harm." A moral code can keep the tiger in you in check for a time. The fear of getting caught is a restraint that keeps most men within the boundaries of their marriage. I'm sure it was that way for Tiger Woods. We have admired him as a man of disciplined perfection. But that discipline, that self-denial, which was so characteristically on display in Tiger's athletic prowess, failed him with immeasurable consequences in his personal life. When push came to shove, Tiger had a great fall. Discipline, apparently,isn't enough. Neither is the power of the law and the fear of getting caught enough to restrain the depravity of the human heart, and yet that's all most of us are counting on to keep us on the straight and narrow. No man, no matter how disciplined, has what it takes to keep himself from falling. Every man has an untamed tiger within, waiting to pounce at the first sign of weakness. The moral of Tiger's tale? If you're looking for perfection, you won't find it within yourself. Discipline and restraint are in themselves never enough to produce perfection, because all that is in us is depravity. Failure is inevitable. But failure is never final. There is hope for overcoming failure. But it isn't in you. And it obviously isn't in Tiger. It's in a Lion: Jesus Christ-the Lion of the Tribe of Judah,introduced to us in the inspired writings of the Bible, whose birth we celebrate this month. This Lion has prevailed over our untamable propensity for sin and failure. He has triumphed over every enemy poised against us for our personal destruction. He did it by taking on himself the likeness of our weak, vulnerable and sinful flesh in his incarnation in Bethlehem, living a life of perfect obedience to the demands of the law, becoming obedient to the point of death, thus procuring the perfection that all of us long for and which God demands. http://townhall.com/columnists/PaulEdwards/2009/12/08/the_tiger_in_you

Divine Conspiracy - The Lord's prayer

"We should understand that God will usually spare us from trials, especially if we are living in the Lord's prayer. And we should also understand that, when trials are permitted, it only means that he has something better in mind for than freedom from trials." The Diving Conspiracy by Dallas Willard.

Black Friday

Had to see it myself to believe it. Went to work out at the gym on Black Friday at 6 am. Drove through the parking lot of Target. And yes, people were shopping at 6 am in morning since Target had been open since 4 am. Also saw people standing in line at Office Max. Why?

The 2010 NW Regional Men's Conference

The 2010 NW Regional Men's Conference begins on Friday, January 29th (from 7:00pm-9:00pm) and resumes on Saturday, January 30th (from 8:00am-12:30pm).


This year, the conference will be held at New Hope Community Church just off I-205 across from the Clackamas Town Center in Clackamas, Oregon. This will be the first year that New Hope has hosted the conference and their Men's team is excited to be this years hosts.

New Hope Community Church11731 SE Stevens RoadPortland, Oregon 97086503.659.5683 www.newhopecommunitychurch.org

President Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize

President Obama may deserve the Nobel Peace Prize but he did not earn it. The other three sitting Presidents helped resolve conflicts: Teddy Roosevelt (Japanese and Russians) and Jimmy Carter (the Palestinians and the Israelis). Woodrow Wilson worked on the creation of the League of Nations after WWI. President Obama has the opportunity to earn the Nobel Peace price and I wish him the best of success. I believe he was awarded the prize because the European community is impressed with his rhetoric. President Obama could demonstrate his strength of character by declining the award and waiting until he earned it as the prior 3 sitting Presidents did.

Why Multitasking Is Good For Men!

One particular Sunday morning was turning out to be quite pleasant. The bible class about leaving a spiritual legacy to our children was encouraging and I had just enjoyed 2 crème filled donuts because it was “Unity Sunday” at the Metro church. Metro has two services and once a quarter the 2 services are combined and donuts are served for an opportunity for fellowship between class and the worship.

I was also looking forward to delivering my prepared communion talk that morning. After the announcements, the worship leader got up and led the first song. Just before he started the second song, he asked for patience from the congregation when he expressed that he was struggling a little bit with leading singing and using the remote to move the PowerPoint presentation along at the same time.

I was impressed with his “confession” and wrote him the following note: “Chris, Leading singing and using the remote is called multitasking. (Men doing
two things at once). Good job! Keep up the good work! Agape, Glen."

When it was time for me to deliver my communion talk, I gave him the note on my way to the podium so that he would be encouraged during services and not after.

Personally, I enjoy doing communion talks because it allows me to multitask simply by having to think and talk at the same time and it gives me the opportunity to express my faith in a public forum.

Had I known he was going to share my personal note to him with the entire assembly right after communion would have made me reconsider my timing.

Afterwards, I went up to him with a big smile on my face and said: “If I had wanted to embarrass myself I would have done it on my own during my communion talk.”

We both had a good laugh because it is standard practice in our society to humiliate men for the perceived inability of being unable to do two things at once.

This teasing is done at the personal level but we don’t treat our sports figures the same way. NFL Football games require multitasking. Look at NFL quarterbacks and their receivers. As the ball is snapped on a play to the quarterback, he now has the responsibility to look for an open receiver in a limited amount of time while at the same time having to be aware if the 250 pound plus linemen from the opposing team have broken through his offensive line in their attempt to sack him. The receiver is also multitasking because he is now running down the field to position himself to receive the pass at the same time trying to out distance himself just enough from the opposing team player so that the play can be completed.

Here are but a few quarterback to wide receiver passing combinations that give lie to men’s ability to multitask. Johnny Unitas to Raymond Berry – they are both in the hall of fame. Troy Aikman to Michael Irvin - a Dallas Cowboy dynasty. Jim Kelly to Andre Reed - even if the Buffalo Bills could not win one, these two men led the team to four Super Bowls. Steve Young to Jerry Rice and Joe Montana to Jerry Rice for the 49ers and most recently, Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison who together have secured every single QB to WR major record.

No one would think twice about ridiculing these men about multitasking.

And in a number of ways we multitask in our daily jobs. To me multitasking for men comes under ridicule in our spiritual lives. In Chris’ comment about my note, he mentioned that multitasking is natural for women. Women will come together in a group and start sharing and communicating. Two men will get together; introduce themselves this way: “Hi, I work for living, what do you do?” Reply: “I also work for a living.” And they are done talking until they find a common interest outside themselves such as fishing, hunting and sports.

The need is not that men need to “get in touch with their feelings” or “communicate better”. It is about communicating the most important things. Yes, shared interests are the starting point of relationships between men but only a starting point. I believe we have the responsibility not only to “look after our own interests but to look after the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4.) This command is not limited to the physical world but has its foundation in the spiritual world.

To me, multitasking is simply a man not only having his faith but acting on his faith. Hebrews 11 gives by name those who had faith and acted on that faith in God by doing the following: leaving his home, offering his son as a sacrifice, building an ark or choosing to live as a slave not as a slave owner. Please read Hebrews 11 and consider just who Abraham, Noah and Moses were thinking about when they acted on their faith.

We are also called to act on our faith. Our actions may not rank on the level of the three men just mentioned but our actions still have profound effect on those around us, regardless if it is in our family, church or work. Fortunately, we asked to start out small – serving communion, leading singing or performing a communion talk. In all of these actions we are expressing our faith in God to the congregation we worship with.

And as we perform these small public actions, we are then encouraged to multitask through the Holy Spirit to look at our heart so that our personal lives are equal to our public lives. Peter reminds us in 1st Peter chapter 1: “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.”

But do not lose heart at this command because Paul also tells us in Philippians that we are not alone when we attempt to multitask to become like God. Paul speaks from experience when he says: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed….continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

I challenge you to not only examine your faith but begin to act on it since God is with you.

Shame and Grace

Lewis Smedes, a professor in Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary wrote "Guilt was not my problem as I felt it. What I felt most was a glob of unworthiness that I could not tie down to any concrete sins I was guilty of. What I needed more than pardon was a sense that God accepted me, owned me, held me, affirmed me, and would never let go of me even if he was not to much impressed with what he had on his hands." - Shame and Grace.

By the numbers

The “By the Numbers” series by Bobby Ross Jr. concerning the growth and decline of the church prompts me to share my perspective on this issue. Discussing the decline of the church is a challenging opportunity and is a multi-faceted issue. I would like to look at what I believe are two root causes for this decline.

One is the overwhelming societal changes that have happened over the last 40 years and second; why the church has not been able to respond effectively to these monumental changes.

It can be stated that the downfall of society started with the banning of school prayer in 1962 but that is how we state the issue from our perspective. To understand the issue differently, look at it from the opposite side of the fence. With the banning of school prayer, we no longer needed or were expected to pray to God. In 1973 with Roe vs. Wade, the issue became a woman’s “right to choose”. The gay agenda is rooted in the Declaration of Independence phrase “and the pursuit of happiness.”

A believing Christian will understand and state that we are called to pray, that we belong to God; not to ourselves and that the Bible does not tell us to look for happiness here on earth.

A non believer will deny all three issues based simply on their world view. Not necessarily from in-depth study of their worldview but from the input of the issues presented to them repeatedly by the media; be it the movies, newspapers, television and now the internet.

The promoting of the “Jesus Seminar”, the acceptance of religious plurality and the ability to advertise and promote any lifestyle is the norm for what we pass off as information/entertainment.

Why the church is struggling

As a child I was given a brand new General Electric transistor AM Radio; which in the early 60’s was high tech. I also have a shoulder carried Panasonic Video Camera that was made in 1985. For me to continue to use these tools in the face of the technological advances made in the last 40 years would be completely laughable. Especially from a younger generation that is fluent in technology.

I believe the same situation exists in our church. We have not responded well to the societal changes around us. We continue to be on the defensive with our doctrine when in reality we are no longer being attacked on the doctrinal front. The younger generation has recognized this fact by either leaving the church or starting other churches that reflect the church of Christ name. In the Portland, Oregon area this includes but is not limited to the Agape church of Christ, http://missionagape.com; Renovatus - www.renovatus.com and the Portland Urban Ministry Program (PUMP) http://pumpchurch.org.

I asked one of the church planters why are they planting a new church when the established churches are already hurting. He replied: “New churches reach out to new Christians, established churches reach out to established Christians.”

The non-believing segment of our society is just bypassing the church; an island in our society that is fortified by God, washed with the blood of Jesus and the one place where the name of Jesus can be praised.

It is similar to the U.S. military strategy of ”Island Hopping” in the Pacific theater of World War II. This strategy employed by the U.S. military was to bypass heavily fortified Japanese positions and instead concentrate the limited Allied resources on strategically important islands that were not well defended but capable of supporting the drive to the main islands of Japan.

Instead of attacking the church, the secularists go after more open targets whose world views are not completely Christian and are subject to outside influence. They are using the courts and the media to advance their own agenda. The law of the land is being modified to fit a secular world view and to negate the impact of a Christian world view.

There is and will continue to be much debate over how the church should respond to what is going on in our society. And that is part of the problem. Less debate and more action is necessary at this time.

And the action we need to take is clearly stated in Matthew 25: 35-36. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

In order to influence our young people and the world, we need to keep our doctrine in our hearts but also create opportunity for ourselves to serve society on their turf whether we are in a “new” or “established” church. We have thought critically, now we need to act critically by showing our children and the world around us that we can serve God sacrificially, with joy and truly have an impact on our “post modern” world.

An open letter to the Churches of Christ in the Pacific Northwest

It is a very painful experience to see a Christian College in the NW close for a second time.

But now is not the time to react emotionally and hurl accusations at either Cascade College or Oklahoma Christian. It is now time for open dialogue between all interested people.

I have contacted two different people about Cascade’s closing. One person on the Cascade College Board and one on the OC Board of Trustees. Given my experience in the business world and my own biases, I did not get what I expected. But what I was told is not my story to tell.

Instead of reacting out of raw emotion because our expectations have not been met or because of our experience with Columbia Christian College, I would recommend that you contact Cascade College with an open mind and an open heart.

The fact that we need a Christian College in the Pacific NW will always be true.
Also, the fact that we had a catastrophic failure with one college will always influence our perception about any similar efforts.

As I see it, the actions of OC to close Cascade College at this time prevents a repeat of the slow lingering death of Columbia Christian College that many people will always remember and do not want to experience again.

There are many hard questions that we must ask. Not questions to Cascade or OC but among ourselves as the Churches of Christ in the Northwest. I believe that some have taken for granted the blessing of Cascade College but have failed to realize the cost of such an endeavor. Much in the same way most of us take for granted the security our jobs provide us but are shocked when that security is threatened by layoffs or downsizing.

I believe these are the questions we must ask ourselves. Both on the personal level and on the corporate level of the church body. The questions will remain the same, the answers will always be different.

1. What is your vision for the church of Christ in the Northwest?

2. What is the vision of your church to impact society with the message of Jesus Christ?

As new churches such as Pump, Agape and Renovatus have been planted in our area, someone asked this question: “Why are we planting new churches when the established churches are struggling?” I heard the answer from one of the church planters. “New churches reach out to new people. The established churches reach out to established people.”

Joshua offers this challenge that we are all familiar with in the 24th chapter: "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

We can all agree that we desire to serve the Lord in whatever we do. Please let me be so bold as to paraphrase the challenge so that each of us can define our own personal vision, our collective vision within our own local church and our vision as the Churches of Christ in the Northwest.

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether it be the established people in the established churches, the new people in the new churches, the young people in our colleges or the people all over the world who have not heard the message of Jesus Christ.

As Jesus himself said “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Glen Aus
Portland Oregon
gwaus24@msn.com

An open letter to the Board of Trustees of Oklahoma Christian University.

I am an avid supporter of Cascade College and have two of my sons attending as students. Jon is in his third year and David has just started his first year. I was shocked at the news of Cascade’s closing planned for the Spring of 2009. After the news broke, my brother, who is on the Cascade Board, emailed me and said if I felt like talking, feel free to call. I emailed him back and said: “What is there to talk about? OC is only doing what Daimler did earlier this month.”

I also work for Daimler Trucks North America LLC in the Portland area and they recently announced planned plant closures in Canada and Portland with additional layoffs in the Corporate office located in Portland. They, like OC, are working to maintain a viable business and are taking steps to ensure responsible management of their assets. I do not know how this will impact my future at Daimler but I commend Daimler’s efforts and the efforts of OC in this regard.

But this is where OC parts ways with Daimler. Daimler’s desire is to build trucks and make a profit in the process. OC also has to make a profit; no one wants to put their money into a losing business. But here is where OC is different. Not only does OC need to run like a business but the business of OC also involves impacting the lives by sharing the message of Jesus Christ to a world that desperately needs Him.

It is not just about Christian education, it is about using the venue of Christian education to let people practice their Christian beliefs in front of the most impressionable part of society, our young people.

The Northwest does need a Christian college. Except for two years in California, I have lived in the NW all my life. My family lived in Portland for about 1 year in the early 60’s and during that time my mother took classes from a professor at Columbia Christian College. We eventually returned to Seattle, Washington but from her time spent in Oregon, her desire was to send all four of her children to Columbia Christian College.

She succeeded and we have all been blessed by a Christian College in the NW.

I am also tired of living on the “Left Coast”. Yes, Oregon is beautiful but the populace has and practices a liberal bent. We are hard pressed to mount a good offensive for Christian living without a local college. Cascade College has been and is providing that support to our local churches.

As for the support base in the NW, it is there but it is nothing compared to what OC has built and is maintaining in Oklahoma.

I would ask you to prayerfully reconsider your decision about closing Cascade College. OC can provide for the churches in the NW what is so desperately needed, a collegiate venue by which the name of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed to a younger generation.

Glen Aus
gwaus24@msn.com

The 2008 Olympics

The 2008 Olympics have come and gone! Where the fastest, strongest and quickest people competed for the top prize -a gold medal. Where performance is measured in 1/100th of a second, the farthest distance and highest height. Michael Phelps has a record 8 gold medals and Usain Bolt secured the traditional title "World's Fastest Man" by completing the 100 meter dash in 9.69 seconds.

We also measure our sports teams the same way. The best of Seven, the Super Bowl and the World Series.

We thrive on our sports team when we rout for winners who year after year show us why they are the best.

I believe this attitude makes it difficult for us to live the Christian life as it is meant to be lived. Because as Christians, our performance is not measured on a yearly basis if it is measured at all. It is measured over a lifetime.

But there is a game plan for us found in the bible:

Practice - Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9

Running - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

Perseverance - Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

Keeping our faith - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2nd Timothy 4:7

A Crown - Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1st Corinthians 9:25

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 1 Peter 5:4

As you reflect on the Olympics and rout for your sports teams in your favorite sport, I would also encourage you to apply the same rules to your spiritual life. Imitate the discipline and focus found in the Bible so that we may continue to be people of God.

Father, Please give us the strength to run the race you have set out for us. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Dachau

Dachau - From a big plan

to the smallest detail - an electrical insulator.

It was hard enough to think about what they did to the people but I thought about their plan.

The map shows their big plan.

The picture of the fence shows the details of the plan. Look at the small insulator.

Someone had to order that insulator and install it. That is detail.

Someone had to order and build the fences, the wall and the towers because of the plan.

And if Dachau was a planned tragedy, where is the good plan?

God has a plan.

Acts 17:30-32 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

John 12:32-33 32But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." 33He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Ephesians 1:11-12 11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If you would remember Dachau, remember also that God has a plan.

We are God’s detail.
Our singing, the preaching, the praying, the giving. These are the details. I challenge you to realize that you are a part of God’s plan.

April 23rd in Germany

This picture is misleading. Click on it for a better view. Yes, it is a 'benzine' station but let me translate.

The 1.44 represents 1 and 44 euro per liter. 3.79 liters equals one gallon (US). So for a gallon of gas it is 5.46 euro. The exchange rate for the dollar and euro is $1.58. 5.46 times 1.58 gives me $8 dollars and 62 cents. A picture is worth a thousand words. $3.50 for a tank of gas looks real good from here.


My German colleague had me as a guest in his house for dinner.This is a picture of him and his wife. I met his wife and two daughters. The girls are 14 and 12. They were shy but I knew their english was good. So I said to the oldest, if I speak in German will you say the same thing in English? She said yes. I said "I kann nicht Deutsch sprechen."



The young woman looked at me and said in flawless English: Do you want me to say 'I cannot speak English or I cannot speak German?' I forgot it is better to know my place than to be put in it.

And at least two times this week, I have been approached and a person would start asking me a question in German. All I could do is look at them and say in English, 'I'm sorry.' They would just walk away without trying English.

Our training group went out to dinner tonight to the Einhorn restaurant. It has a wine cellar with this sign that says: 'Our wine cellar is 700 years old and becomes each day one day older!!'


You can look at my Facebook space for more pictures.

I only have 1,885 pictures left to take. I wonder.........

8 AM April 21st Germany

I have been too narrow in my focus about Germany. Being born 13 years after WW2 ended, having a father who exprienced the occupation of Oslo first hand and being raised on 'The Great Escape' and 'Kelly's Hero's' has blinded me. As I toured the town of Esslingen am Neckar I saw buildings dating from 1513 and the 13th century and least 3 large churches with towering spires.

This country was settled long before the West Coast was even explored.

Think about it as you read Thomas Friedman's book, 'The World is Flat'.

April 20th in Germany

As I write this, it is 10:55 am in Portland, April 20th and it is 7:55 pm April 20th in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany.

i am here to tell zou that the kezboards in Germanz are different from the kezboards in the usa.
Translation: I am here to tell you that the keyboards in Germany are different from the keyboard in the USA.

Guess which keys.

My ten hour flight was uneventful, ate well but did not sleep much. I think I have had maybe 3 hours of sleep in the last 24.

It was cloudy in Frankfurt but the sun was out when I rode the train.

I have put a few pictures on Face book. Did not see downtown Stuttgart, felt so in need of a shower I came straigth(?) to the hotel (almost but don't ask).

Robert Loffink will be glad to know that I should be asleep by 9 pm(German time) and that I should be adjusted to the time difference. (I hope)

More later.