Christmas Greetings to YOU!

Immanuel, God with Us-Wherever We Go

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).  

Matthew 1:23 NIV

One Christmas, I awoke alone in a foreign culture to a gray morning and a cold apartment, devoid of gifts, festivities, and companions. Loneliness and isolation reigned.

I pictured my family celebrating Christmas on the opposite side of the globe: the breakfast buffet, gift wrap strewn about, pajama-clad relatives. I tried to shake thoughts of family and prepared for my 8 a.m. class.

Teaching English in China had required a riveted focus on the One who called me to serve there. Challenges with language, food, and culture, although often frustrating, became exciting because God revealed Himself through His work and His presence. As I taught my classes and lived among the Chinese as the only American in my corner of a city of five million, I relished the comfort and joy of Jesus’ sweet whisper to me daily, “I am with you wherever you go . . . I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God’s desire for us to know His presence is evidenced everywhere in scripture. On the first page of the New Testament His desire became flesh. The baby Jesus, Immanuel, is born. His life from the manger to adulthood emphasized His driving passion: to be in relationship with people, to be with us.

And then Jesus did the unthinkable. He offered His body as blood sacrifice to tear down the barrier of sin that kept us from experiencing Immanuel. Jesus’ passion for us did not stop there. Upon His return to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. No closer communion of spirits is possible than God in us so that God can be with us.

As I walked to my classes that Christmas morning in China, my focus slipped from Jesus and His presence. I wallowed in self-pity, and I prayed, “Lord, help me to know you are with me today. I miss my family. I feel alone.”

I pushed the classroom door open. An unusual silence enveloped the room. Sixty students sat motionless with their eyes riveted on my face.

Then I saw it. In the corner of the classroom stood a Christmas tree, draped with lights and decorations! I gasped, and the pent-up emotion of the day was unleashed. The children had handmade each ornament in preparation for a holiday they did not understand and had never celebrated. I blubbered away in the beauty and love of the moment. Again in that Chinese classroom I heard His sweet whisper, “Dear child, I am Immanuel. I am with you.”

Are you lonely this holiday season?

Listen. Immanuel is whispering, “You are not alone. I am with you wherever you go.”

Excuse My Absence. I've Been Buried in a Book.

I lost November.

I've been buried . . . in a book.

The month of November slipped into oblivion, and Thanksgiving appeared rather suddenly, turkey, apple pie, and all. I've tried to write two blogs a month, but I guess I knew somewhere in my subconscious when I started my blog that there might be a time when I wouldn't make the goal. Voila! Here it is.

But I had good reason to lose the month and my faithfulness in blogging. I had a job!

"Retired?" you say.

 "Nay, changing focus," I reply.

God, who with His usual grace and mercy placed me in the teaching profession for over thirty years, just keeps loving on me. And He tossed another career, albeit part-time and free lance, into my corner of Layton. Who would think it? Certainly not I, but here I am . . . editing books.

In the first week of the month I downloaded Covenant Teamwork by Dr. Guy Henry, and I've spent the remainder of the month wading through periods, commas, quotation marks, parentheses, subordinate clauses, compound sentences, semicolons, and exclamation points. The publishing company offered me the book with a three week deadline. I've been consumed.

Its intensity became obvious this past week when I attended a church meeting for small group leaders, and as the young pastor scrolled his power point across the screen, my only concerns were the words he failed to capitalize and the end marks he forgot to use. Oh dear! Great grace was lost to grueling grammar, and a young pastor's excellent words of encouragement were sucked up in minutiae.

"Get a grip!" I reminded myself. "Cook a turkey or something."

Dr. Henry's book has a riveting thesis. I read it four times. I think it's the kind of thing I could read every year for the rest of my life. Dr. Henry explains the principle of covenant, the unbreakable bond that God has formed with those who accept and believe in Him. Because of Christ's sacrifice, He has formed a blood covenant with us which He will never break.

Dr. Henry explains covenant in the introduction of his book like this, "Covenant is the term God uses for commitment and everlasting relationships. With covenant there is no turning back. No matter what happens, I am with you to the end. No matter the cost, we are in this together. It is this type of commitment that is the missing piece in teamwork."

That covenant relationship between God and forgiven man is the same type of relationship that Dr. Henry says we should have with any person with whom we are in relationship: spouses, children, other believers, fellow team members. Can you imagine how our relationships would be changed if we took the covenant approach? "I will protect and defend you. I will love you with a selfless love. I will consider you as more important than myself." Is it any wonder I need to read this book every year?

Geese encourage each other to keep going. "Have you ever heard a flock of geese? As high as they fly, we can still hear the 'honk, honk, honk' as their "V" formation passes overhead. What we consider honking is actually the cheerleading squad at work. It seems they honk to encourage the one in front of them to keep going and not slow down." Covenant teamwork works in nature.

Dr. Henry has been a missionary in Honduras since 1996. He has established a ministry called Tree of Life and a school called Plan Escalon. He heads a team there of twenty-five pastors and over 600 live-in students, ranging in age from elementary to high school. Over seventy-five mountain villages are consistently reached with the Word of God and physical necessities as well as visits from medical and dental teams. Their goal is to change Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, through the love of Christ. Their motto at Tree of Life Ministry, "Feed the Need, Meet the Need, Change the Nation."

The ministry runs on the principle of covenant teamwork, and . . . it works. It's God's plan for relationships. It could change every relationship in our lives. It could change our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our communities, our states, our country, our world. And I think we could use a healthy dose of world change.

The book will be published by January, 2014, and you can purchase it on Amazon then.

So if I should disappear off the blogging radar for awhile, be assured, there must be a good book in the works. Interesting how God moves. I always thought I would be the writer, not the editor. He has a surprise around every corner. I wonder what wonders December will hold? (Where's the editor to fix this final redundancy?)

Good Fathers . . . and the Steamtown Marathon

Two lines in this week's newspaper set me to thinking about good fathers and races.

The newspaper published the finishing times of the runners in the Steamtown Marathon, held on Sunday, October 13th (not on Layton). I combed through hundreds of names in the paper to find friends I knew who were running, silently cheering for their success. I spotted Leo, Taryn, Paul, and Jerry in the list and hoped Tom and Beth were there too. Completing a marathon warrants praise. It's a monumental accomplishment.

But these two lines in the finish results jumped off the page:

Brittany Spears, 20*, Scott Township, PA     3:13:51     5:00:40    4:58:31   
Anthony Spears, 43, Scott Township, PA       3:13:51     5:00:41    4:58:32  

Anthony "Tony" Spears, a former Marine, served in Iraq and other overseas theaters. Tony has run many marathons.He could have done better in this race. He could have exerted his usual strength and endurance and pushed ahead. Instead, he chose to finish one second behind his daughter, Brittany. 
Brittany and Tony Spears run the distance together.

Brittany ran her first marathon. Like all events in Brittany's life, dad trained, encouraged, and set the standard and pace for her long distance run. He ran with her, just one second behind, close enough to yell a "keep on, don't quit," close enough to notice her weariness, close enough to catch her if she tripped in any pot holes. One second behind, ever present, ever watchful, faithful father.

Next month, Brittany will marry her high school sweetheart. Dad, her trainer, coach, and encourager, will pass the job of long-distance companion along to Brittany's new husband. 

Fathers, like Tony, who know the value of setting the pace and standard for their children, who train them with discipline and with one-second-behind love, give a treasured gift to the world . . . great kids who know how to run the distance. 
Steamtown Marathon, October 13, 2013

Of course, thinking about one-second-behind love invoked thoughts of my dad, who has run the distance with me for sixty-some years, and thoughts of my sons who areright there in the race now with their children, keeping up marathon stride and accepting the challenges of trainer, coach, and encourager.

Our Father reminds today's fathers that in this race they should forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, pressing toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called them. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Thank you, Lord, for young fathers and old ones who follow your example and remember your promise: "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Trev, a great long distance coach

Encourager and trainer, Bry runs the race well.

The team: Bry and Trev with their sons, running the race together.

The Raminator

Mark Hall and his monster creation, the Raminator, visited the Domiano dealership (off Layton) in September. Mark is part of the Hall Brothers Racing Team from Illinois. He built the Raminator, and it was the 2012 Thunder Drags National Champion. Wasn't this a wonderful way to spend an afternoon with two grandsons who love trucks? 

RAMINATOR

Teeth-rattling engine,

Ear-deafening roar,

Car-crushing tires,

Rubber-smelling screech,

Window-smashing crunch,

Fender-bending power,

Gear-shifting grind,

Dirt-eating wheels,

Metal-smashing monster,

Pavement-munching king-of-the-hill,

Little boys’ dream.

Raminator.

J.W.

Thank you, Lord, for a great afternoon with these boys, and when I feel weary, let me remember that with You I can face life with the strength of the Raminator!

God says He will not grow weary or tired. "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:29-31.

Old Friends

This has been a great week for old friends here on Layton.

Justus, this small farming community that grew up on Layton in the first half of the twentieth century, fostered solid friendships. When people work, worship, and worry children into adulthood together, friendships form like the bedrock on which this community rests.

In the late 1920's and early 1930's the Evans, Evans, Jones, and Davis families settled into rural life on the mountaintop in Justus. Though in its waning days of production, coal still dominated valley life, and these valley families wanted elbow room. The head of each household had spent plenty of dark, dirty time in the mines, and they sought fresh air and wide open spaces, away from the hustle of life in the busy mining towns of the valley, like Olyphant and Throop. Justus began to explode with these valley kids let loose in the country. Friendships developed on the dirt roads and in the fields and forests.

Jack and Lucy Evans' boys, Jack, Bayard, Dick, Gordon, and Donnie, attended the small one room school house across from their home and romped the countryside with the Von Storch and Lewis boys.

Jack Jones and his wife Winnie brought their son Joe and daughter Betty up the mountain to the great outdoors away from the heyday of the coal mines in Blakely.

Bill Evans, who became the community's first constable, moved his wife and daughter Annette from the congestion of North Scranton. And the Davis family brought Bill, Janet, Margaret and Myfawnwy to their new home on Layton.

The children did what children do best - they played, and as they grew into adolesence, their childhood friends became their dating arena and eventually their choices for love and marriage.

Joe Jones fell in love with the skinny, little beauty, Annette Evans, and Jack Evans fell for the laughter and mirth of Janet Davis. The men shipped out to WWII; Jack to the Pacific theater and Joe to North Africa and Europe. Annette and Janet wrote their love letters from Justus and waited. The end of the war brought the boys home to Layton, their best friends, and marriage.

Annette Evans and Joe Jones (1945)

Jack Evans and Janet Davis, best friends on Layton

The two couples raised their families on Layton, attended church together every Sunday at Mt. Bethel, Justus' community church, celebrated every New Year's Eve in one or the other's living rooms, and took their burgeoning families camping each summer. When the kids were raised and most had flown beyond life on Layton, Joe and Annette and Jack and Janet moved together to retirement heaven - Myrtle Beach.

That brings us to 2013, over eighty years from those early days. Joe is 93, and he returns to spend much of his time here on Layton. He continues to grieve the passing of his Annie in 2009. Janet said a final goodbye to her Jack this year. She lives in an assisted living home near her son in Bethelehem.

Janet and Joe had an "Old Friends" reunion this week. Theirs is an 80-year-old friendship.

This week we visited Janet, and she and dad (Joe) spent the afternoon as they always enjoyed - eating (although in much smaller quantities), talking (although some of the conversation was repeated), and laughing (with the same old sound and enthusiasm). It was a good day for old friends.

This reunion set me to thinking about old friends. So I invited nine of them for a picnic on the porch last Saturday. The rain came down in sheets, ruining my plan for a fire pit evening, but it didn't spoil our laughter. We couldn't go inside because one of my friends is allergic to cats, so we hooted and hollered some more about that as our backs started to get soaked, and the candles flickered in the rising wind, and we huddled up in blankets.

Old friends braved the rainy weather on the back porch and laughed the night away . . . on Layton.

Old friends bring a comfortable camaraderie, a history of relationship, and plenty of good laughter and joy in reminiscing.

As I thanked God this week for our precious "old" friends, I remembered my oldest and dearest Friend, Jesus. He has known me forever. He knows all my quirks and faults and disappointments and fears. He knows my needs and my wants. He's been faithful in walking the journey of life with me, never leaving me alone or lonely.

He and I have a history of relationship and a comfortable camaraderie. He's comforted me in my tears and laughed joyfully with me. He is my treasured and best Old Friend.

No doubt about it. It's always a great week for old friends here on Layton.

Guest Blogger: Author Hope Flinchbaugh

Welcome to Hope Flinchbaugh, guest blogger. Hope is the author of three novels about China, Daughter of China, Across the China Sky, and I'll Cross the River and a nonfiction book called Out of North Korea. All are available on Amazon. Hope and I became friends at the Montrose Writers Conference two years ago. She invited me to produce a Blog Talk radio show, "The Voice of Hope," which is broadcast weekly in English and Mandarin. Meet my friend Hope . . .

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert

Posted on August 27, 2013by Lift the Cross of Jesus!

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners (Isaiah 61:1). 

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert is a book that was recommended to me by my good friend and partner in Chinese radio ministry, Jo Ann Walczak.  Jo Ann lived in China for more than a year and taught children there.  She is now the producer of our Blog Talk radio show that is in both English and Mandarin, "The Voice of Hope."

As Jo Ann and I prayed about where God would lead us in upcoming shows, He made it more and more clear to us to share on love.  And that’s why she brought up this book by Rosaria Butterfield—she said it was a great read. Rosaria shares how people did not keep telling her about the gospel but loved her over and over again. She even said that if people would have kept telling her how to be saved and pushed her on that, she would have never been born again. Rosaria was a lesbian who taught at a large university. What spoke to Rosaria was the love shown to her by Christians.

I’ve been saved since the womb, I think (not true, but feels that way), so I oftentimes wonder what a person who doesn’t know Jesus thinks about.  How does he or she feel or process what we say when we share the gospel?

Love.  They need to feel love.  Matthew 24:12 says, “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.” Times will be difficult. Families will divide, two against three and three against two. Some Christians, even the elect, will fall away, and “men’s hearts will fail them because of fear.”  That does not sound like good news to me. So how do we share good news in the era of COLD HEARTS?  We love them. “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

How do we love the lost? I don’t know. I think love has many different approaches and nuances. Love meets needs.  Love gives and serves.  But most of all, the purest expression of love comes from a person who is connected to and in conversation with the God of love.  Am I connected to God today? Are we talking right now, checking in with one another? Do I look heavenward and ask God, “What’s next?  How can I help you?  What can I do for you right now?”

God is love. That’s it.

And as far as our Blog Talk radio show, "The Voice of Hope"?  Well, we’ve laid quite a foundation of scripture since our launch date 11/11/11!  We’ve read over the internet radio the books of John, Acts, and Ephesians from the Bible, and now we’re recording Romans, too, in both English and Mandarin.  We’ve done a number of music shows and broadcast a commentary on Ephesians. It’s exciting to work for the king!  But love . . . Jesus loves the Chinese people. Jesus loves ALL the people of the world.

Love is a force.  Love is something you do on purpose.  Love shakes off offenses and forgives. Love clings to truth or it is not God’s love.  Love . . . Father in heaven, help us all to love you and to love the person in front of us today.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Free Downloads!

Listen to the Gospel of John read in English and Mandarin on Voice of Hope Blog Talk Radio.  Listen to the Book of Acts, Romans, and Ephesians read in English and Mandarin from   Voice of Hope Blog Talk Radio.

Listen to the Voice of Hope Music shows from   Voice of Hope Blog Talk Radio.   

About Lift the Cross of Jesus!

My day job is writing--I'm an author and publisher of a number of books. More on that later. But there is nothing of greater importance to me than the early morning hours I spend with the Creator of the Universe. Although He knows everything there is to know, His greatest delight isn't to give us knowledge, but to give us love. My highest joy is to watch the sun rise with notebook in hand and write the words he speaks to my heart. I want to share some of those words with you here . . . words on the cross.

View all posts by Lift the Cross of Jesus! →

"What's in a Name?"

"What's in a name?" Juliet bemoaned to her lover, Romeo, in Shakespeare's classic play, Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo's family name, "Montague," caused much chagrin for Juliet's parents because it represented an unacceptable union for her with a despised family. Juliet tells Romeo,

"O, be some other name!

What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."
 (Act II, Scene II, Romeo and Juliet)

What Juliet meant is, it only matters what something or someone is, not what they're called.

True, Juliet, but "name" still carries a boatload of significance.

Little Jo Ann of the Yi people in western China

Some boys are named after their fathers, and they bear the tag "Junior" or "III or IV." I even know a family whose son is called "Bob 5,"  fifth of the Bob line. Girls are sometimes given their mother's name.

I have had the unique privilege of bearing the names of both my mother and father. Joseph married Annette, and the union produced their first of three daughters who was named "Jo Ann," a little of mom, a little of dad.

The name "Jo Ann" never caught on in American culture really. As a school teacher for many years, I had thousands of students, including an abundance of Jennifers, Emilys, Ashleys, Megans, Sarahs, Amys, Amandas, but I can't remember even one Jo Ann. The name lacks the star quality and pertness of a "Jennifer" Anniston or "Sarah" Jessica Parker. Cultural "name" trends, spurred by Hollywood, produced only "Joanne" Woodward, and the "name" stopped there.    

Our family has done well by the name. My son and daughter-in-law did a wonderful thing when their first daughter was born. They gave her the name Anna, after Grandma Jo Ann and Great-grandma Annette. Anna is a much lovelier form of the name.

ANNA, third in the "Ann" family line.

Through the years the name "Jo Ann" has been a source of continual frustration when it comes to spelling. "Joanne, Jo Anne, Joann" are a few of the variety of ways the name can be spelled. Employed for 27 years in the same school district, my employer spelled my name incorrectly on my retirement certificate. A close family relative has yet to get my name right on gifts and birthday cards.

Imagine my surprise last month when I opened an email with the above photo of a Chinese girl holding a sign with my name . . . spelled correctly! This child lives in an orphanage in western China. A friend of mine worked at the orphanage for six weeks this summer among a minority group called the Yi people. Because Chinese names prove challenging for the Westerner, my friend gave the children English names. She named this little Yi girl - Jo Ann. No cultural pressure for trendy names there! And small chance that I will forget to pray for my  namesake on the other side of the world.

Yes,  a name bears connection and identity.

Nowhere is that connection and identity of name more significant than in God's Kingdom. In Isaiah 43:16 God says, "I have summoned you by name: you are mine." God knows our names. More than that, He knows the essence of who we are. He KNOWS us.

I love Isaiah 49:15-18: "Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I'd never forget you - never. Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands." Imagine that. His blood has tattooed our names for eternity on His hands. Simply wonderful.

Your very special name is also recorded in heaven. Those who acknowledge the sacrifice that God made of His Son Jesus for our sins are eternally remembered in the "book of life." Revelation 3:5 says, "I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life but will acknowledge that name before my Father and His angels."

And Revelation 21:27 continues the reminder, "Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in."

What's in a name? The sweet grace of our Father's love . . . no misspellings, no mistakes.

Your name - whether a Yi orphan in the remote parts of western China or a retired grandmother in suburban America  . . . on Layton . . . preserved forever with God.