Friday, December 31, 2010

The last day of the year.

The Lord got me up early this morning…about 3:45. It's been good.

It's been a good year, living deeper with the Lord than I would have imagined. But I'm not interested in the "year in review." My heart and thoughts are being led forward.

I don't know, but what if I have 20-30 more years of service? In joy it makes me think…and I sense the Lord is in this…to strive forward. I need to learn Spanish, I need to memorize the Gospels, I need to keep learning and allowing Christ to form my heart.

I met an old guy yesterday at McDonalds….75 and lost and needy. I helped, but the after effect is, I could look that good at 75, and be that strong. The guy had just walked 5 miles and walks about 15 a day. (He’s also pretty loopy, but not because of walking.)

And I want to love God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I want to be led each day by the Spirit because all who are led by the Spirit are Sons of God. I want to abide and be in love with Christ and see fruit and make disciples and see the lost saved and Glorify the Father and prove, humbly that I have been saved by and submit to following Jesus.

In finishing up my reading, I noticed for the first time…and I've been doing this for 16 years…that Revelation closes with two appeals to Isaiah 55…come and get water for nothing.

Isaiah 55:1 "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

To think that the final words of the Word are for the lost, and for his drifting disciples, to come and receive what only He can give, be satisfied from the only thing that satisfies…and it's free, well, actually someone else paid for it. But it's free for us.

I've had it in mind to memorize this chapter. I guess, while I'm still 55, it's time.

The first verses I ever memorized back in 1975 were Isaiah 55:10-11. I never realized the importance of the Spirit bringing those verses into my life or how they would mirror or shape my walk with Christ. The Word. Let's see if I've still got it.

As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven (it's thundering and raining outside right now) and returneth not hither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth from my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing where to I send it.

The italics are what I forgot. The parenthesis are the weather report.

So years ago, I made a little glue-in card for the inside of books I read saying the book belongs to me. As I finished my Bible reading this morning, I went to the beginning of my German one year Bible to begin again tomorrow and there is the card. The symbol I used and the little saying on that slip of paper says….kayruxon ton logon, Preach the Word.

Helena gave me a gift one year, I think it was Christmas of 2001, a craft project…a stepping stone with concrete and you had to take broken, colored pieces of glass and do something "crafty." And I felt bad because other stuff the kids had given me in this genre never got done and in all of the sickness with Beth I let this sit, so I did it in 2003…an open Bible with a flame in the middle and below the Bible, kayruxon ton logon.. and this, of course, is the key verse and motto of Dallas Seminary.

All to say, it's time to memorize Isa 55. And it is time to strive to the end to love the Living Word, the Word made flesh and follow His Spirit and preach His Word, and bear fruit for the Glory of the Father, until He comes, or takes me home.  

Isaiah 55:1 "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Revelation 21:6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes, take the water of life without cost.

Taking a Walk thru 2011. Want to come with?

So why read the Bible every day?

I guess there are thousands of things to be said for that question, but three things are immediate.

Read the Bible?

Read the Bible every day?

And, do I have to read the Bible every day or at all?

I'm going to use Jesus' own words to hit all three of these.

Luke 6: 46 "Why do you call me `Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock;

Luke 8:18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."

Luke 8:21 But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Matthew 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

John 14:21 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

We read because of faith, because of submission, because of humility and weakness, because of Love for Jesus, because of wanting to abide in Him, because of need, because of raw obedience.

We read the Bible over every other devotional book, because it is the Word that is alive, from the mouth and Spirit and heart of God.

We read it every day because we want to live with Him every day, hear Him every day, receive His guidance every day. Besides this we acknowledge we are needy, spiritually bi-polar, needing every day His touch, His Word to balance us, help us. The power of sin may be broken but without His Spirit guiding us and us following as we read and understand by the Spirit to walk by the Spirit we cannot go on to anything but ruin, deception and stagnation, living, as the lost do, in the futility of their minds.

So I'm going to try to encourage anyone who wants to, to put the Lord to the test this year and read the Bible with the goal of drawing closer to Christ as a follower.

Just going on Jesus' words, He invites everyone to come to Him. First offer. Then learn of me. Our way doesn't work, His does. How do we learn His way other than His Word. Second offer. This is closeness and intimacy. But without faith, it really doesn't work. We have to believe the offer is valid and that the reward is true, and it has to be "worth it" to us. That third seed still haunts me, the one thrown among thorns, so taken up with the issues of life, the desire for other things that that root out of dry ground attracts no attention and we choose not to look to it because so many other things demand our attention and attract our interest.

God made Him a "root out of dry ground" for a reason. Only faith seeks Him and cannot live without Him.

I'm going to recommend a One Year Bible. I've been reading one for 15 years. I know that people say they feel distracted by the OT and then the NT and a psalm and proverb. My experience following Christ and as a pastor trying to get people into the Word is that there is a need to find something simple. Most people will not read their Bible through any other way. There is nothing easier than picking up that Bible and finding the day and reading the passages for that day. This isn't Bible Study. It is spending 15-20 minutes sitting before the Lord, listening. 

So, I'm going to walk through my reading this year, writing a short, focused, discipleship guide as I go. The focus will be following Christ as a disciple, thinking of the words and application and how to look for things that connect the Word to our hearts as we love Him and seek to make disciples who make disciples.

If you're up for it, let's do it together starting January 1.

Looking Out for Number One, Chapters 24 & 25

Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

I hope you’ve enjoyed this story. I’ve enjoyed sharing it.  The guy at Crossway told me back in 1994 that all the editors liked it, but the thing back then was romantic, historical novels.  The glowing sword exempted this from consideration.  Today, it’s too hard to get anything published and really, who cares.  If you’ve been touched by it to be more daring, courageous or sacrificial in following Christ, this yarn has served its purpose.

The title was inspired by a song by Wayne Watson.  So, at the end of the story, imagine you’re sitting in movies and the final scene fades and the credits begin to roll with a soft, flowing instrumental in the background.  You watch the credits for a minute or two as the bulk of the crowd gets up and leaves.  As you stand and put your coat on, credits still rolling, the background song changes.  If the link at the end of this post works, this is the song by Wayne Watson.  If it doesn’t work, you can find it somewhere…Looking Out for Number One.
For the King!  Enjoy.

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Looking Out for Number One, Chapters 22 & 23

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapter 21

Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Merry Christmas and Chapters 19 & 20

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters 19& 20
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Chapter 18

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapter 18
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Gentle Demands? Chapters 16 &17

This morning I was reading the last part of the Sermon on the Mount. In a way, it is not for the weak of heart. Following is not easy and there are some demands. So how does that fit together with, "I am humble and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls?" (How does that fit into the my reading in Zechariah and Revelation this morning?)
I think that in discipleship you always follow Jesus. Kind of simplistic to say that, right? I think the Love for Him overwhelms our fears or the contradictory, paradoxical demands of following in grace. Love gives you wings. We don't have to read our Bibles, but we do have to. We don't have to reach the lost, but we do have to. We don't have to, once saved, seek Christ and His Kingdom every day, but we do have to.
So what makes the demands "easy." It must be sitting with that person you deeply love and listening to them and talking with them. This is what the twelve had every evening. This seems to be the passion of the hardest working apostle of them all….I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me His own.
So where does that inner tension come from? I think it must be realistic relationship. Even with Jesus loving us as He does, there are still commands. So when we don't obey or when it is hard for us to do what He says, there is naturally tension, but there is not the deep condemnation, not the final failure. God knows and has everything in control, so he presses us but if we decide not to follow, it doesn't become a permanent failure in eternity…He still accomplished His will. And there will be the day of repentance and there we will find full and complete acceptance and love.
It seems to me that at every point, even where we are highly striving in following, we find rest in Christ, not in accomplishment or goals. Goals change and not all given goals will get done. Christ is the one who we seek after and even here, there will be levels of what has been asked. But we should never not seek to strive or follow, because in not doing this, we are saying we do not trust his gentleness or the rest he'll provide. We are saying the safety of not obeying and hoping in his grace is better than trusting His word and the care He promises when we sit with him. Funny that the paradox of not striving to follow, is never truly finding His gentleness and lowliness of heart.

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters 16 & 17
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Looking Out for Number One, Ch. 15

Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis
Enjoy.

15. TO WALDHEIM

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Looking out….chapter 14

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapter 14
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

A Paradox in Following and Ch. 13

Reading Jesus’ words this morning….for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
That’s a great offer.  So how does that fit with the wise man who dug deep and laid a foundation on rock.  That’s work.  Does following Jesus mean work or doing nothing or something else?
And then there’s the paradox of not following Christ, which ends in work and slavery, whether you know Him or not.
I think the answer is in How you follow.  Loving Christ is different than doing duty, either for Christ or for an idol.  Love gives strength and passion and energy that takes you through the rough spots.  The focus of following Jesus is love for Jesus.  To lose sight of Him and falling out of love with Him, leaves you work and burden, like the church of Ephesus in Rev.  Religious duty transforms Jesus into a religious task master.  And then, moving away from those duties and burdens to the “freedom” to do nothing, leads to bondage to things and the nagging feeling that there should be something more, which can also be oppressive. 
O wretched men that we are (and women), what shall deliver us?  Falling / staying in love with our savior. 
Love shares love with the lost.  Love rejoices in the one who loved and lived and died and lives again.  Love sees that baby in the manger as a humble, gracious, loving Savior and Lord .  Love covers a multitude of sins and keeps forgiving and showing mercy because our love is alive in Him and His love and is in love with Him.  Love is not focused on duty and law, but is energized in the Love of Christ as we love Him.
And the paradox is you work like crazy but it’s not compulsive and it’s not work or a burden, because you’re in love.

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapter 13
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Reflections on a Friendship, and Ch. 12

My own reflection on this day is one of gratefulness and knowing that even in this world of death we are given blessing and allowed to grow, not apart from, but through our weakness. Christ makes that possible because of His life and death and working in us as we read His Word and closely follow Him through this ruined land.
We rejoice in His resurrection because it is our hope, of being made whole, finally free of this incurable spiritual disease. And we rejoice too in knowing God is not the God of the dead but of the living. With Christ we will meet new friends, but what a special thing to look forward to, to meet very special friends who have walked with us here, shared their lives and love with us and made us what we never would have been without them. A special thanks to Beth, for 24.5 years of a very wonderful marriage and 27 years of life-changing friendship. Praise Christ. And I'm looking forward to seeing her again when this work is done.

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapter 12
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis
Probably my favorite chapter.

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Waiting in Joy, and Chapters 10 & 11

This morning I was reading in Habakkuk and toward the end are those well known verses 3:16-19
Habakkuk 3:16 I hear, and my body trembles, my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones, my steps totter beneath me. I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. 17 Though the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like hinds' feet, he makes me tread upon my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
The first thing that struck me was the waiting. More and more I understand that waiting is a normal part of striving for the Lord in the Harvest. It is needing the Lord for a door or a person or for protection. I don't understand life without waiting on God, asking Him to make a heart soft or to grant an opportunity, to see people saved and to see disciples make disciples who make disciples….
Then at the end, verse 18, makes me think of something I wrote before…rejoicing in God is the default setting in waiting and trouble. Our salvation is set and secure and is the, really, only great thing about us, but what a great thing. It is a security greater and deeper and stronger and more eternal than anything going, besides God. This morning I read, "And no one know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom He chooses to reveal Him. Come to me…"
Laura and I are waiting for some stuff, the right stuff, and none of it is coming easy, but it's coming. So we're on our knees and waiting…with joy, rejoicing in the God of our Salvation.

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapter 10
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

LOOKING OUT …Ch 8 & 9

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters 8 & 9             Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Rejoice, on Purpose and Chapters 6 & 7

I wish I had 550 years of experience walking with the Lord, but I thought last night, "I just need to use what I have, and I have the Holy Spirit who has an awful lot of experience." I think 550 years gives you, among other things, the benefit of seeing yourself in a similar situation 1000 times and seeing yourself make the wrong decision 1000 times and finally saying, "It's not worth being dumb one more time." So last night I hauled myself out of a self-piteous mood and salvaged the night and my sanity. It felt good. I've been there before and know the danger of being stupid on purpose. And I know the joy of being joyful in the Lord on purpose.  I choose joy.

So, if we're seeking something from the Lord and waiting, we have the choice of how to wait. We can wait with joy or with the other thing. We can relax in knowing the Lord is in charge and you can't rush what's in His hands, or you can get into a depressive, religious punk. I think if we asked God how we should suffer or wait, He would say the default setting is "Joy and Hope." We mess with the settings too much. If we are really striving for the right stuff and seeking Him in prayer and the Word, when we put those down, there should be joy and abandon in His pleasure in us.

I used to ruin myself in Germany, basically get myself into a bad mood and make myself, and family, suffer because I wasn't being useful enough for the Lord. What a dummy. Given the weight of a dying world and our striving to serve Christ, plus all the things of life and family and non-functioning things we own, the joy of our salvation has to shine through or it is all a sham and a shame. I see more & more that surviving the waiting and preparing for the race for the prize is joy, not, religious, self-imposed melancholy and guilt. I think 550 years of experience following Christ would prove this right, but here we are grunting along getting old and grumpy and when the Lord is saying, "Bring your heart to me and seek me, and now rejoice," we say, "but it seems more religious to be grumpy."

So this morning I was reading in Micah and was reminded of the great things the Lord said through him. And in all of those verses, the message to hold on and wait on the Lord.

Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

And salvation came. The angels said, “Rejoice,” so rejoice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjaVfT6eBuw

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters 6 & 7

Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Looking Out…chapters 4 & 5

LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters Four and Five
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

In making this story public it can be shared. That's what I want. What I'd ask is to respect the "copyright" and if you "share" it, do it by pointing people to the blog to read it, or at least give credit where credit is due.

Obviously, don't steal it and publish it under another name. Ultimately, all we do belongs to God and His Spirit stirs our hearts to come up with some pretty interesting stuff sometimes. The reward is to give glory to Christ and see the lives of His disciples stirred aflame to stir others.

Toward the end of chapter 5, the scenes following the line, "The remembrances stopped and new scenes came before his mind" were inspired by a great song by Wayne Watson, "Would I Know You Now?". The words are great, and in fact, if you know Wayne Watson's music you'll see that the title for this book is taken from one of his songs.

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Hearing and Sharing in the Harvest, and ch. 2&3

This morning going over the parable of the sower, I was struck by the importance Jesus put on understanding, straining to understand and then, having understood, to share. A light is not to be hidden but put on a lampstand so that all who enter might see it. That means what we have understood is to be shared, not covered. We are to be careful to listen and understand with the promise that more will be given. Maybe there is an additional promise that if we strain, the Lord will give us understanding (as Paul tells Timothy) because nothing has been hid, except to be revealed, nor made secret except to be brought to light. The Lord stands ready to give understanding to those who strain to gain understanding.

Interestingly enough, just before this section on putting your "light" on a lampstand and straining to understand, is the man who hears the Word and welcomes it and understands it and holds it fast in an honest and good heart and bears fruit with patience. Understanding the Word, straining to understand leads to putting it on a lampstand and it, in us, leads us to multiply and make disciples who make disciples (bearing fruit, John 15).

I wonder, if we don't share, if we truly understand, and if we don't share, if we damage our ability to truly understand more, and therefore, more is not given to us, but we live the same old tired easy truths of the faith year after year after year.


LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters Two and Three
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

Sharing a Story and the reason why

When I was at the CEF thing last week, I was thinking about teaching some of this stuff to our people. It isn't just passing on information or techniques, but what you pass on is more a heart for working with children. There is so much to teach people about, that is just fun stuff, but what you teach, hopefully, becomes a heritage and a part of their family.

I thought of passing on the idea of beginning a lesson with a story. You don't do that all the time, but sometimes it gets the children’s attention and eases their hearts into learning. What you also want to teach is how to come up with your own stories, from life, that somehow apply to the lives of the kids. I remembered the first story I heard at a daycare. I was going to teach the lesson on Elijah, but a woman got up after the lady who did the songs and she told the story of "Fluffy." What a funny thing the Lord did. Fluffy became part of our family and over the years, as was needed, Fluffy's friends joined us. There was his sister Suzy, and two stories with his brother Oscar and then there some stories with Browny and Sparky and Sally Robin and Mary Appletree and Little Boy Donut and Little Robby Ranger…am I forgetting anyone? And not only our family, I've told these stories in German in churches and camps.

So what do you do with all this stuff? Well, it's been fun, but mostly as I've used them and shared them and if a parent got the bug and got motivated, they could tell stories to their kids, right out of their day, right to the life and heart of their kids. But it all has to be shared. Someone shared "Fluffy" with me and I've used Fluffy countless times to tell kids about Jesus.

Then it hit me, I just need to share this stuff. If the Lord were to "graduate" me today, it would all go out the door with my computer…hidden in a folder, deleted with the touch of a button.
So, for this Christmas I'm going to give anyone reading a gift. It's not a children's story…those will follow later.. but a story I wrote for … I don't know, teen guys. But the story is a parable, like most stories are. Since this story is short, the parable isn't too subtle, but I tried also, not to be preachy. The story is ok, but not a classic of American literature, and I'm a pastor, not an author.
I realize in making any of the stories public they can be shared. That's what I want. What I'd ask is to respect the "copyright" and if you "share" them, do it by pointing people to the blog to read them, or at least give credit where credit is due. Obviously, don't steal them and publish them under another name, but if you do and you actually make money on them, at least help me fix my car.
Ultimately, all we do belongs to God and His Spirit stirs our hearts to come up with some pretty interesting stuff sometimes. The reward is to give glory to Christ and see the lives of His disciples stirred aflame to stir others.

The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Out-Number-One-Kachikis-ebook/dp/B00ZQ1OA7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434483586&sr=8-3&keywords=looking+out+for+number+one

December 2010

This year Laura and I are coming to Christmas with a year of "challenge" behind us. There is nothing wrong with hard work and challenge, but it isn't something you usually choose. I once heard a Texan utter sage wisdom, "A dog could eat a skunk, but why bother." Given those choices, I'd probably be happy with Puppy Chow. I wouldn't call this past year "the year of the skunk" (Chinese calendar?), because we made the choices that brought us here. Those choices all had to do with one thing: believing that the Lord wants us to lead a church that reaches the lost, making disciples who make disciples who make disciples. I've explained this to people and they look at me like I'm wearing camel fur and eating honey-roasted grasshoppers. But one thing is undeniable: The Lord has given Laura and me the same deep sense of conviction and leading (having had the same rocks fall on our heads, apparently).

As a result of these challenges, we've both been in the Word, together, praying and seeking God. We've seen the Lord close doors, open others and provide at just the right times, sometimes in the 15th hour. We memorized Psalm 27 together and each time we review it, it becomes more like a prayer. I was praying the other day, very aware that the Lord had worked carefully to get us to this place of heart and mind (and finances and broken car and desperation) to really have to depend on Him, to wait on Him and to be patient and faithful in all things. I remember thinking, "This is where the proof of your love for Christ and trust in His leading is shown for what it is." "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," sounds funny followed by, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas," but it might have more to do with Christmas than I realized.

Here are some things for news and prayer.

Janae sounds like she is making a good, slow, blessed transition to ministry, Germany and God's generosity. Since leaving in August, she's been in Holland, Germany, Malta, England, Helena and Gary's apartment and now in her own apartment. The Lord just gifted her with a kitchen and appliances and all sorts of stuff. It's neat to see the Lord bless like this.

Gary and Helena and Carmen and Jonas and Juliette have a very exciting life…everyday. Besides this, the Lord blessed them with a very good Transform 2010 outreach. "Blessed" is a good word considering that so many things went "wrong" to the very end. But this is how the Lord teaches patience and trust and all those other faithful follower things. What a blessing they didn't give up. Now they are in swing to lead Transform 2011 and keep learning to be a couple and a family and followers in the middle of an exciting life.

Alisa probably wouldn't call her life in Atlanta exciting. Sleeplessness and routine and busy are more descriptive of her residency at Grady. But we are all proud of her and extremely amazed to have someone in the family who does C-sections (my little Alisa) and someone we can call for medical advice.

Greg is in Dallas putting on a tough front (ha, ha, ha…that's who he works for, "TUFFRONTS"), slaving for a living. We're looking forward to seeing Greg and Alisa for a "Kachikis Christmas in Kansas."

At New Song we're praying and planning to begin reaching out in a local elementary school. Eight of us have gone through training with CEF to do afterschool clubs and now we'll get ready to begin in January. This is exciting for a couple of reasons. First, we want to have a helpful impact on our community for Christ and this is a great way to do that. Second, we want all of our life groups to be outreach / project oriented. This is our "beta" life group and it's the way to begin if we really want outreach and service to be a part of our DNA. Pray for us. We've done some great learning in our "beta" discipleship cell. There's nothing like reality to confirm conviction. We're launching a Life Group, reaching out, trying to hook up to the Acts 29 church planter's network and praying like crazy that the Lord would allow us to see fruit and see a culture of disciple-making grow in the center of Olathe.

Just in time for Christmas I memorized Isaiah 53. We're told to imitate Christ (Eph. 5:1) so I thought it might help. Who in their right mind would want to imitate Jesus? Obviously, you can't imitate what He did, but Paul (& the Holy Spirit) both think we can serve as He served. And it all involves choice and risk and work and loss and a focus on loving God and being willing to die so that others might live. That's what Christmas is all about, but that's also what life should be all about for those who know Christ.

"Christmas" was a lot of work for God. "Christmas" meant a lot of sacrifice for the Son. "Christmas" had a huge price tag to buy something that is precious to God and impossible for us: our salvation, our redemption, our adoption as children. The verse in Isa. 53 that gets me is, "He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied." When Jesus sees the redeemed, He thinks it was all worth it. Will that be any different for us? Those who hunger now will be satisfied. Those who work and sacrifice now so that the lost can know Christ will celebrate, even now in trials. That's Christmas and we're living it.

May the Lord grant you a mega celebration of the coming of Christ as you let others know why He came and what it means for them.

In Christ,

Dan & Laura

P.S. If you have any CEF material, flannel graph stuff, illustrated songs, etc…you're not using, send it our way. Also, as our activities kick up, so are our expenses. As a baby church with no mommy, we can use all the help we can get, so if it's prayer, please pray, and if you are able to give, it would be deeply appreciated & well used.

“Aged” in the Harvest

So what is it about age? I have a friend who has been forced to change careers. The biggest problem is that he's over 55. This is not the place to be an adventurer, nor are companies looking for old men. In fact, believe it or not, many churches wouldn't even look at me because of my age. Fifty-five is ancient and old fashioned and not “positioned” for the future….except for a future of nursing homes and death.

Jeff and I went to the Acts 29 thing in St. Louis where thirty-something, spiked hair and dark, plastic framed glasses are marks of the new Christian intelligentsia and the modern, connected, friend of lost humanity. The two problems I have here are as follows: First, it took me forever in the 70's (19, not 18) to lose my plastic dark-rimmed glasses. I can't believe they’re back. Talk about unfair. Then, who said, insinuated, or otherwised, that 55 is old?

I know that I'm trapped in the "body of sin," and subject to its decay. But 55, or 60, or 70 is still not old spiritually. Adam and those guys lived well into their 900s! Oh, someone might postulate and interpolate that 55 equals what they would have looked like at 550, but not in terms of experience. I would love to have 550 years of experience walking with the Lord. This 55 years is great, honestly, and so much so that you couldn't pay me money to go back to 20. I love this, and as hard as our outward circumstances might seem and regardless of how I feel the challenge, at 55 I feel like I'm finally getting my "legs" following Christ. But 55 is still being a baby compared to 900. Imagine the guys sitting around the fire at night. There's a guy who is 921, and another who is 879 and a couple of youngsters who are in their 400s. And there you sit at 70. The baby of the group.

Actually, when we read Job we might get the ages wrong. Job, we guess, lived after the flood but before Abraham. People back then were still living 500 years. So Job's friends come and exhaust themselves doing Satan's work to destroy Job and finally that young "whipper-snapper" Elihu speaks up. So, how old was he. He said he was young, but we think of “young” through our grid. If Job and his friends were 300 +, Elihu could have been 80 and still have been a "kid" in comparison.

So I'm refusing to get "old." I'm resolved to the fact that my body is going down, but I'm planning to live forever with Christ, so I'll just deal with that on the outside and be me (+Jesus) on the inside. I want my experience on this earth to be in my eternal Savior, not in worrying about the body of death and getting an ancient earthly culturally locked mindset. The "earth game" says I have to accept hardened arteries, but not a hardened attitude. If getting old means you have to put up with younger people thinking you're ancient, so be it, but we serve an "ancient" master, who is younger of heart than we can imagine. And, the Harvest is on, so we run with spirit and joy and hope and strength, not in ourselves, but in Christ. I'm glad I'm 55, but even more that I belong to the Ancient of Days and can use all of this experience to follow Him in the Harvest.

Hearing in the Harvest

I'm in an interesting place in my quiet times. I'm going through Psalm 119 for the second time this year. Over and over David mentions God's word & statutes & commands. He was in trouble and had lots of enemies, but he focused his mind and heart on the word.

In the middle of the harvest it is more important than anywhere else, to hear God. Not just for opportunities, but to keep our hearts fresh in His love and alive in faith & joy & hope & trust. I know how easy it is to slip into reading the Bible in a sort of mindless way. That's bad enough, but then I got convicted.

Reading in the gospels I came to the parable of the sower. This isn't a portion I've “dwelt” on in the past 35 years. I sort of know it and since I'm already saved, it only, sort of, applies to me. Along with this parable is Jesus' insistence that "he who has will get more and he who has not will lose what he thinks he has." Jesus really seems serious about the necessity to strain to understand. But is that only for belief, and then afterward we're allowed to let down and not treat His Word (listening and understanding everyday) seriously? It's been all cooking together in my mind.

So I'm really feeling bad because, like the fool in Proverbs, I'm seeing that I am he and me is in every seed. And don't laugh, you may be too.

The first seed falls on the path and is trodden under foot and then (in that order) the birds come and eat it. I always felt bad for this guy because, in his helplessness, the birds came so quick, but not so. First it got disregarded. Earlier Jesus warns about putting the word before dogs and pigs….they will "trod" the truth. Salt that has no salt also gets the "trod." The "trod" is hearing the Word, hearing what God is pointing to, and not hearing, just disregarding, allowing disinterest and distraction to let what He's saying become useless. Oh, I know this seed in the parable is definitely a lost guy, but now, even as a child of God, I'm guilty of the same thing. If Satan snatches the word from my heart, it's because I disregarded it first. I'm sitting during my quiet time noticing how little real concentration I give what I'm reading. If I was in Iraq and needed those words to keep me alive today, I'd pay closer attention. Actually, I'm somewhere, spiritually, worse than that and people are depending on me. Lord forgive me for being such a dipstick.

Then there is the second seed, deep in what others think and what pleases them, but not deep in himself. At least, that's how I process this guy and see it in myself. The next seed is lost to idols and stuff, but this seed is lost to a definition of himself in others. Who am I? I am he who pleases you. What, you don't like this? What, you'll hurt me? What, you'll take my job? What, you'll call me a booger-head? Ok, I'll worship Jesus underground, silently, invisibly (doesn't He say something about going in the closet [KJV]?). I don't know about you, but I'm fighting this one all the time. If I really believed the truth of what God says is true, I have to believe I wouldn't spend as much time cowering from what people think of me while people are walking over the edge into hell.

The third seed, I really hate this one because…. I can't help thinking about what to do with the van, probably just give it away because is it really worth fixing?…even when I'm reading something I know I should pay attention to…I wish I knew if we were staying in this house because there are things I'd like to do, like getting that radiant gas heater at the antique store, but they want $60 for it and it looks great but I really think they should come down on the price. Lord, if they would bring it down to about $30 I might see that as your will….ah, ok, where was I?....oh yeah,…even when I'm reading something I know I should pay attention to it seems that my concentration is not really focused for long enough to get something in my….oh, nuts, I forgot about the sale Office Depot was having on Norton…I hate that….and when am I going to get the Christmas lights up? Last year I was kind of down because of the church situation and had to force myself to get them up and it was kind of late but you know, "better late than never." Oh well, this year will probably be the same. Need I write more?

The fourth seed is where I want to live. I see now, after following Christ for 35 years, this is what I'm after and will always be after. But the trick is, it is not the duty to bear fruit as much as it is the love of the Savior and the desire to hear Him. Look at these words:

Luke 8:15 And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Bearing fruit is part of hearing properly. Are those words much different than these? Luke 6:47 Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

Or these? John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

I feel like the Lord has done some major surgery though His Word and I'm sore, but I'm hearing what He's telling me and sensing that this is a good thing and exactly what I need in the harvest.