Melanie's Impending Surgery

Many of you know that Melanie has had serious back problems for several years now. She has had multiple operations. The last one was when she fractured vertebrae when she vomited after eating spoiled food in a restaurant. It hasn’t been easy.

Well, the good news is that I think her troubles are soon over. I’ve been reading about a surgery that I think I can do myself. I read on Wikipedia that a doctor in Switzerland developed it. I won’t try to explain it here but it involves making an incision in her back three inched wide and two inches deep. Then there’s tapping the vertebrae back in place with a small hammer, sort of like a geological tool. I read on another medical (well, actually holisitic health) site that there’s a special bone adhesive you use. I can buy the glue from that site. I don’t have every single detail figured out but I think I’ve got the idea well enough that once we’ve bought the necessary supplies, I’m going to take the scalpel and go in! We’d appreciate your prayers.

Are you okay with that? Well, relax. It’s not true. I’d be an idiot to think I can understand back surgery by reading Wikipedia and a few web sites by people who are generally opposed to surgery. Everybody would see through that it in second.

On the other hand, the same can’t be said about theology. I’m amazed by the number of blogs, Facebook posts and comments I read in which somebody professes to be solving problems and giving exact answers about theology that have been debated from the very beginning of the early church. How’d they come up with their definitive answers to age-old questions? Wikipedia. Or their favorite preacher’s blog. Or their next door neighbor’s nephew’s pastor, who reputedly told the nephew the answer before it was passed back up line to them.

And the amazing thing? People buy it. In fact, they repeat it. Like parrots in a pet store, they all start screeching the same thing. They haven’t studied the Bible to come to an answer. Why should they? They learned what Trinitarianism is from Wikipedia! They understand the whole issue of hell because they read online where (insert name) explained it. They heard a guy say that he knew a guy who saw a guy embrace that doctrine and it wrecked his family’s life!

In today’s religious climate there are two dangers, coming from opposite extremes. The first is rejecting something we hear because it is new to us. The other is embracing something we hear because it is new to us. Some people seek to preserve tradition and are threatened by ideas that contradict what they’ve always believed. Others, who’ve been burned in the religious world, impulsively jump on any new idea they believe is a slap in the face to the tradition they have heartily renounced.

Paul commended the Berean Christians by saying, “These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so” (Acts 17:11)  Listen to those you respect. Read the blogs. Check out the FB posts, but at the end of the day, study the Bible for yourself. None of us are 100% right on everything we say. We’re all in process. We certainly can learn from each other but we each have the duty to study the Scripture and see what The Teacher says to us about the things we’ve heard and read.

I need to go now. Melanie’s back hurts and I have a knife, hammer and glue to purchase.

Grace Walk for 2.99 until February 18

Awesome news! From now until midnight, Feb 18, you can buy the e-book edition of my best-selling book, Grace Walk for 2.99!  Go to http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=grace+walk+by+steve+mcvey&sprefix=Grace+Walk+%2Caps%2C262 or whatever your favorite online bookstore is and buy it now! My publisher is allowing this to help promote my new book, "The Grace Walk Devotional." Will you buy both while you're online? Help me spread the message!

Forgiven!

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When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he wrongly assumed His God would be angry but instead God came looking for Him to take His regular evening walk.

When Abraham sent his wife, Sarah, into Pharaoh’s tent to protect his own life by allowing her to have sex with another man, God told Pharaoh that he was on dangerous
ground and that he’d better get her out of there right now. The next words out of God’s mouth to Abraham were to reassure him of the covenant He had made with him. Not a word about his sin.

When Elisha was depressed and afraid and angry and prayed to die, God sent an angel to feed him so that he might regain his strength. No shame or blame.

When Peter denied Jesus, our Lord made sure when he arose to mention Peter by name and said to make sure he knew Jesus was alive. No reference to what Peter had done.

These were giants in the Bible – giants who made horrific choices. In each instance, the love of God swallows up their sins and foolishness in one great gush of grace. It's absurd. What have you done that causes you to think God may be disappointed or perturbed toward you? Whatever it is, you need to set it aside because that's what He has done. As absurd as it sounds, God isn't interested in what you've done in the past. He lives with you in the now and wants you to live in this moment of grace and accept His forgiveness.

Jesus showed us our Father’s heart when He had the Father of the prodigal son throw him a party when he returned home without so much as a mention of what the boy had done. That’s your God.

Refuse to accept His acceptance and you’ll lock yourself inside a prison of your own making. Accept His acceptance and you’ll run in the joyful freedom only known by those who know their sins never appear on God’s radar – never.

You’ve messed up? Welcome to the world of great children of God. It happened. So put it aside now. Don’t insult the finished work of Jesus on the cross by insisting on trying to share in dealing with it through your own gnawing guilt and spiritually suicidal self-consciousness. You are forgiven. You are free. You are one with the One who keeps no record of wrongs and promises to never remember them again.

So dance. Run. Laugh. Play. Celebrate. That’s what the Father, Son and Spirit are doing and He asks you to join in right now.

Message to Hearland Vineard This Past Sunday

This teaching was shared via video with Heartland Vineyard in Cedar Falls, Iowa. I love Pastor Dan Paxton and all the people in that great church!

A Parable About Fathers

A Dad took his children and put them in the house and told them to clean it. And he told them, “You are free to eat anything in the refrigerator; but you must not eat from the soured chocolate pudding in the refrigerator, because it will definitely make you sick.

Now the neighbor child was more sneaky than any other kid in the neighborhood. He said to the younger sister, “Did you Dad tell you that you couldn’t eat any of the food in the refrigerator?”

And she answered, “No, he said that we could eat from any of the food in the refrigerator but not to eat the soured chocolate pudding or we would get sick.” “You will not get sick,” the neighbor answered. “Your Dad knows that when you eat the chocolate pudding you will then be like him, being able to enjoy everything that is there.”

When the young girl saw that the pudding in the refrigerator looked and smelled delicious and would be enjoyable to eat, she took some and ate it. She also gave a bowl to her brother, who was with her and he ate it too. Soon the stomachs of them both became nauseous, and they realized they were getting sick; so they began to look for any kind of medicine that would keep them from vomiting.

Then the brother and his sister heard their Dad driving up the driveway that evening, and they hid from him in the bedroom. But the Dad called out to the children, “Where are you?”

The son answered, “I heard you in the driveway and I was afraid  because I got sick, so I hid.”

“How did you get sick?” the Dad asked. “Have you eaten the pudding in the refrigerator that I told you not to eat?”

The son said,”The girl you left here with me, she gave me some pudding from the refrigerator and I ate it.”

So the Dad said, “Because that grocery store sold me soured pudding, it is the worst store in town. It will end up failing in business and I will tell all my friends to never shop there again.”

To the sister he said, “I will take you to the hospital where they will pump out your stomach and it will hurt severely. Recovering from this won’t be easy for you.”

To the brother he said, “Because you listened to your sister and ate the pudding from the refrigerator that I told you not to eat, “The next week will be very hard for you. You will hate chocolate pudding from now on. The very thought of it will make you sick.

Did the Dad punish the children for eating the pudding?

Why did the children become sick? Did the Dad make them sick?

What was the curse on the grocery store?

Did the Dad reject the children when they disobeyed?

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Genesis 1 -->

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 1:15-16

Genesis 3

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring^[a] and hers;
he will crush^[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.

Did God punish His children for eating the fruit?

Why did they die spiritually? Did God kill them? What did?

What was the curse on the serpent?

Did God reject children when they disobeyed?

Our God loves humanity. Always has, always will. It is sin that brings despair and death. Our God brings only restoration, healing and life. 

Edgar Hernandez in Guadalajara

Edgar Hernandez is a great man who is proclaiming the message of grace in Mexico. After being forced of out of a large church, having been told, "Teaching grace gives people a license to sin," he began to share the message with a few individuals this past May. Today he meets with a crowd of hungry grace walkers in rented space every week. "I'll preach this message the rest of my life. This is the gospel," he told me today. This is the kind of person God is using Grace Walk Mexico to reach...

God Knows

As we move into the new year, this poem speaks to the core of our journey. When we don't know what's going on or where we're headed or how things are going to work out, one thing is for sure: God knows.

God Knows

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.
                                 --  Minnie Louise Haskins, 1908

(Thanks to Aron Cooper for sharing this on his FB page)

The Opposite of God

HOW MOST PEOPLE SEE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN

 

 

 

THE WAY IT REALLY IS

What is the opposite of the word, "God?" There is none. The dualistic belief that God and Satan are counterparts to each is an insult to Elohim - the One who created and sustains all that exists. When Emmanuel came into this world in a manger, the world was given "good news of great joy for all people." Our God has loved us with an everlasting love and has given Himself to us as an assurance that we eternally belong to Him and nothing can change that fact. Not even Satan himself.

Are We Forgiven By God Even Before We Ask?

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27).

These words of Jesus tell us how we are to treat those who reject and oppose us. Nobody would argue that this instruction only applies if our enemies first ask us to forgive them. No, we are to act this way even while they are behaving with contempt toward us.  That’s what Jesus taught. The clear teaching on the subject confirms, “by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:20). So we are to love,  and bless people whether they accept it or not. We aren’t to wait for people to ask for forgiveness before we extend it.  We forgive because it’s who we are as those joined in union with Christ. Forgiveness is an expression of grace. It is an undeserved and unilateral experience.

If you accept that the Bible teaches we are to forgive people even before they ask, consider this question: Has Jesus already forgiven those who reject Him even though they haven’t asked? Or has He given us instructions to do something that He won’t even do? Of course, the answer is that He has forgiven everybody.  God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them.

Does that suggest that everybody enjoys that forgiveness and walks in harmony with Him? To answer that question, consider this one: If you forgive somebody who has done wrong to you but they still reject you, does that mean you haven’t really forgiven them? No, of course not. You have forgiven that person regardless of his response to it. However, unless he receives your forgiveness,  that does prevent him from experiencing the benefits of your forgiveness. The same is true with mankind and God. We have all been forgiven but unless we receive it we won’t experientially know its benefits.

“But doesn’t suggesting that all are forgiven mean that everybody is going to heaven? No, it doesn’t. People don’t’ go to heaven because their sins are forgiven. They go to heaven because they trust Jesus Christ.  Sin doesn’t keep people out of heaven. Sin has been dealt with in totality by the cross. Only rejecting Jesus Christ and His work on the cross can do that.

The proclamation of the gospel is the proclamation of the forgiveness of sin, not a promise of the potential for forgiveness based on us and what we do.

One thing is certain: Jesus didn’t tell us to love our enemies while He won’t love His own. He has loved and so we love. He has forgiven and so we forgive. Thank God, grace doesn’t require an invitation. Instead, it rushes right into the place where it is needed simply because of love.

What I've Been Reading Lately

Paul Gray sent me a copy of his book, The Fish Net Experience, the story of Ronnie Self, a jazz musician who experiences success but is plagued by doubts and internal accusations. Self lands a job at the Grace Hotel where he meets a mentor who teaches him the true meaning of living by faith in the grace of God.

The book is part fiction and part autobiographical. The author's own life story is an unusual but exciting story of how our Father works to lovingly bring us to Himself. Gray's own history flows from a night-club owner to his role today as a local pastor. He founded and led jazz group, The Gaslight Gang and performed on national TV, radio and toured the United States. 

While playing five nights a week for three years at the Vista Hotel in downtown Kansas City, Gray came to realize that his business and musical pursuits had left him spiritually empty. He started getting to know Jesus Christ simply by reading a Bible and asking God to speak to him. The rest is His-Story.

The Fish Net Experience and its story of Ronnie Self's journey to the Grace Hotel and to the grace of God will encourage you about your own life and about the lives of others whose lives you want to see transformed by His grace. I'm very happy to recommend it and know you will be encouraged by reading it, as I was.

Randall Arthur sent me a copy of his newest book, Forgotten Road. I first was introduced to his books years ago when I read, Wisdom Hunter, a great novel that addresses the issue of legalistic Fundamentalism.

Forgotten Road is the story of Cole Michaels, a Nashville recording artist who gains "the American Dream" only to experience catastrophe and abandon his faith. After his son is killed in an accident and his wife commits suicide, Cole begins to drink excessively. He then makes the mistake of driving his car, leading to the death of a young mother and her daughter.

While serving in prison, Cole meets Chaplain Duke Parker and, through his ministry, finds his faith restored. When he is released from prison, he chooses to forsake the pathway of fame despite a multimillion dollar hit song. Instead, he takes to the road on his motorcycle with a group of friends, generously meeting needs and blessing others from the income his hit album produces. 

There are twists in the book that will draw the reader forward in eager anticipation. The story is a strong voice reminding us that our lives are grounded in Christ and challenging us to avoid the trap of materialism that is so prevalent in our culture. I recommend this book with enthusiasm.

........................................

Right now I'm reading, Who Switched Off My Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf. I've just begun the book and so far, so good. The book addresses the importance of taking charge of our thoughts and ridding ourselves of toxic thinking.

But The Bible Plainly Says . . . !

Did you know that the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible didn't use punctuation? Translators and editors of all modern versions have added that. Consider this example from a modern situation to see why there are so many people who have different opinions while all saying, "I just believe what the Bible SAYS!"

An English professor wrote the words: "A woman without her man is nothing" on the chalkboard and asked her students to punctuate it correctly.

All the males in the class wrote: "A woman, without her man, is nothing."

All the females in the class wrote: "A woman: without her, man is nothing!"

Believing what the Bible *says* isn't enough. That's why we all grapple at times with what it *means.* It's not enough to argue, "But the Bible SAYS!" The real issue is, "what does it mean by what it says?" And therein lies the discussion!

Fishing And Faith

I love being around water. In fact, it's a part of my most treasured memories. In my mind, I can go back even now to the 1960s, lying on an feather stuffed matress . . .

It was four o’clock in the morning and my granddaddy is leaning over me trying to coax me out of the bed where I slept. As a child, I was a hard sleeper, especially at that time of the morning. "Get up son, we’re going fishing!" 

Sleepily I stumble to my feet and put on my clothes. That would be the last time he would ever have difficulty getting me out of bed to go fishing with him. I was about to meet a mistress who would capture my heart for a lifetime.

We drive the ninety minutes from Savannah, GA to Pomona Lake. My cousins, Eddie and Mike, are crammed into the front seat with my granddaddy and me. The back windows in his blue Plymouth Valiant are rolled down. Bamboo poles wrapped with lines and adorned with red and white floats stick out of the car. The back seat is filled with trot lines wrapped around square wooden frames. There is a big galvanized tub in the trunk of the car to bring home the treasures we will pull in from beneath the still waters of the lake. An adult man may earn a lot of money in his lifetime, but one has to be a young boy to possess this kind of wealth.

After arriving at the lake and setting our trot lines in the water, we return to our campsite at the water’s edge. The crickets, frogs and katydids who welcomed us a few hours earlier are now hushed by their anticipation of dawn. In those ephemeral moments which are neither night nor day, we four sit together on the dock talking and laughing and waiting for the sun.

Our conversation might appear to be superficial to the casual observer, but something is happening at a deeper level that took me many years to understand. In that isolated setting at those moments in time, we shared our lives together. It was communion pieced together not through words, but a union forged by three young cousins receiving unconditional love from their granddaddy. We had nothing to offer in that context except our childlike ability to receive from a man who found great joy in sharing himself with his offspring.

That interaction pictures the essence of our walk with Christ. It isn’t the rote prayers we mindlessly recite which connects us to God. Nor does our religious activity join us to him any more than three boys trying to fish bound them to their granddaddy. It is the willingness to simply receive his unconditional love. There will be both words and actions, but the essence of the relationship is in our receiving all that He offers.

We had no resources to offer our granddaddy when we fished. We ran over trot lines with the trolling motor. We tangled our fishing lines. We turned over the minnow bucket. We dropped his reel into the lake. It was quite obvious that our granddaddy just wanted our company, not our abilities. (That’s how it is between God and you.)

With the rising of the sun we boarded our little fishing boat and with the help of a small trolling motor inched our way toward the trot lines. We were seldom disappointed when we checked the lines. "Look at it! It’s a big as a baby!" my Granddaddy exclaimed as if were the first time in his life he had seen a big fish.

Four decades later, I still smile about it - not the big fish, but his response to sharing the experience with us. I’m sure he wouldn’t have reacted the same way if he had caught the fish while he was alone. He took pleasure in our joy while himself being the catalyst, if not the very source of our joy at that moment.

I have come to discover that same quality in my heavenly Father. He often takes me to the place of blessing, sets me in the right place to be blessed, baits the hook, tells me to pull in the blessing and then becomes deliriously happy right along with me as I enjoy the benefits He has provided! On days I don’t catch any fish, nothing changes between Him and myself. Catching fish may be my priority, but just being with me is His.

I didn’t know in those days that God was beginning to teach me about Himself through the water, my granddaddy and my cousins. Of the four of us, two have since gone on to heaven, but I’ll never forget the elements of an authentic life that began to be gently laid within me in those days.

I must admit that the days of youth are gone. Now I’m a man rushing toward the 60 year mark. I battle lower back pain and an expanding waistline. Many years have passed since the intuitive insight gleaned at that lake has become actual knowledge in my mind, but the matrix for understanding unconditional love was partially formed there. Thanks, granddaddy.

Will you pause as you finish this article and reflect on the great love your heavenly Father has for you? You bring Him great pleasure. What He wants more than anything from you is just you!  Don’t worry about how many fish you catch or how many times you knock the minnow bucket over in the boat. Those aren’t the big issues to Him. He just wants you to enjoy being with Him. Your Father has an exciting journey awaiting you, so just relax and enjoy the day He has planned.

To Be Like Jesus?

Back in the day when I tried to be like Jesus, I felt like a spiritual failure most of the time. It was a caricature of me trying to be Him.  Then a time came when I realized I don't have to try to be like Jesus. It's too draining. Besides, I am like Jesus. I am one with Him. We live in union.

That reality suggests something even harder to conceive: Jesus looks like Steve too. Jesus living out life through a 58 years old guy, who in this single week has been a physically challenged, Sarah McLachlan loving, James Bond Watching, Mannheim Steamroller concert attending, groaning, complaining and feelings scared guy, then laughing and loving and trusting God.

The way I am hardwired - my humor, personality type,my love for words, both thinking about them and profusely expressing them, my mix of sometimes gentle encouragement and sometimes bowl-you-over "prophetic opinions," my deeply pensive moods and my times of laughing with my wife, children and grandchildren until we're all crying.  It's just me. It's just Him. Although I drop the ball on my end sometimes, we make a good pair. Jesus/Steve: Now Appearing Together Daily.

No, I don't have a Messiah complex. Just some insight into an eternal reality that is just as true or you as it is me. It's true of you. IT IS TRUE OF YOU. Own it. Really, act like it's real (because it is) and watch what happens. I dare you to write me after a month and tell me you don't see a difference. It will be a good difference too. An understanding of identity and union that will blow your mind and change your life. Sound New-Agey? Well, it sort of it, but not the way you might think. The better description would be New Covenant. Or to quote the Apostle Paul: "Christ in you, the hope of glory"

It Is Thanksgiving And I Am Thankful

 

Yes, I am thankful. I am thankful for…

A loving God whose ways are so far above my thoughts and understanding that I never tire of exploring His depths. I can say with honesty that at this point in my life few things actually lift me to a place of transcendence anymore. Sometimes great music will do it. Occasionally, a good play or film can do it.  However, there are many times I often literally feel the thrill of citizenship privileges in His kingdom as revelation that produces overwhelming transcendence settle into the space within my spirit and mind. It is at those moments more than ever that I realize I am not created for this world. It really is just a stopover.

A loving wife with whom I have shared the most intimate matters of life for almost 43 years. We dated for three and in July will be married 40 years. I know her and she knows me. None but my Creator know me in greater authenticity and intimacy. Yet, like Him she loves me with a depth that nurtures fresh life into me at every moment. When she lays her hand on my head at night as we lie in bed, I feel the hand of Jesus. There is no other way to describe it. It’s miraculous. What did I ever do to get this woman???

Four children whose hearts are “after God’s own heart.” My oldest, Andrew, is compassionate, kind, wise and an avid student of eternal truth. He is the son I pray with when I want prayer. My oldest daughter, Amy, wanted to be a missionary when she was a child. Now as a mother of three, husband on one and friend of many, I’d give her my vote for “Missionary of the Year” any year, every year. Her transparency, vulnerability, authenticity and boldness for Christ is unrivaled by anybody I know. She is the child I talk to when I want wise input. My youngest son, David, is passionate, articulate, visionary and resolved to live the dream God placed in his heart.  He is the child I talk to when I want encouragement that makes me believe again. My youngest daughter, Amber, is gentle-hearted, caring, affectionate, and verbally affirming. She volunteered for Hospice just to have an outlet to show love. She’s the child I talk to when I need loving words.

My son-in-law, Cliff, is a wonderful gift to us. I think he's the best Dad I've ever known in my life. Much better than either I or my Dad were. And he loves my daughter more than his own life. What man wouldn't love a son-in-law like that. Son -in-law, huh? No, I'm not under the law on this. Cliff is another son in this family. That's just how it is.


Jessica - the new Mrs. McVey in our family. Married three weeks now to my son, David. I've loved Jessica since I met her. How can a man not love a woman who loves his own son so much? They adore each other like you'd think newlyweds would. Jess is a nurse and has the heart for it. And the best thing I love about her right now? She loves little fat babies. That's what she said. My son, David, agrees. That agreement points to a hopeful future for this old man who is ready for his fourth grandchild. (Right now only Amy and Cliff have children.)  Jessica is the kind of girl I knew David would marry - kind, gentle, caring, funny, emotional and madly in love with him. I look forward to a lifetime ahead with her.

And what man in his right mind can fail to acknowledge grandchildren? I have three who brighten my life more than they could possibly imagine at their ages. Hannah just turned 15 last week. She is beautiful – in every way. She has a great sense of humor and a wisdom that is beyond her years. From the moment I laid eyes on her when she was born, I find it impossible not to smile like I’ve won the lottery every time I lay eyes on her. Jonathan is twelve. With a mild form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome, he is the quintessential boy with that challenge. Unlike some with his giftedness, he is very outgoing – extremely affectionate, very talkative, laughs at his own jokes even if others don’t and is completely hilarious without even trying to be. He gives great hugs and can remember where an insignificant item was placed two years ago. He is indeed a gift to our family. Jeremy is our youngest grandson. At eleven, he loves sports and is a seriously good baseball player. He pitches a mean fastball and does well as a catcher too. The highlights of our weeks are watching him play ball. He is an exceptionally bright child and is loving and articulate. The important thing to remember here is that I am not at all prejudiced about my grandchildren. Not all all.

My younger sister, Jan, is my only sibling and is the most authentic Christian I’ve ever known. Our parents are in heaven and I’ve known Jan longer than any other person still in this world. She is real, with no pretension at all.   She’s at one time an explosive bundle of laughter, compassion, love, poise, spirited opinions and mystical experiences which have forged her into a New Covenant “Jan the Baptist” who many aren’t sure wouldn’t actually eat wild locusts on a dare but are sure she’d be willing to be beheaded for the Christ she loves. I want to be more like Jan when I grow up, even though she is six years younger than me.

My friends are an eclectic group of people consisting of wild-eye-charistmatics and staunchy-liturgicals; rabid Republicans and dazed Democrats, millionaires and Medicaid recipients, people who shout “That’s right!!!” when I teach and others who whisper, “God, help him!” when they hear some of the things I say.

Some have moved in closer to me this year and others have become strangely quiet. Some I know well, intimately well. Well enough they could hurt me with others if they told everything they know.  They’ve seen me at my worst and still love and accept me. Some I’m getting to know better and enjoying it after meeting through ministry opportunities. We’re trusting each other more and more as time passes. Some are Internet connections but they truly are friends. They’ve encouraged me, prayed for me, written me in private and dialogued with me. I don’t know what else to call them but “friends” and I hope that word will have increasing meaning for them and me in the days ahead.

I’m thankful for my Grace Walk Team. These guys actually threw in with me to do something that from the beginning has run great risks. Their gospel and my gospel is the same gospel. They go with boldness, sharing with vulnerability yet boldness what God has put in their hearts. Contrary to what the public tends to think about people in ministry, they fret and pray and worry and trust and wonder and believe that their financial needs will be met. Just enough to pay the bills this month. They all, without exception have seen their personal income decrease this year, but here they are – ready to turn around and do it again this next year. There is no team of people involved in any ministry that I love or respect more. They aren’t only colleagues. They are friends, partners, and confidants. They are family.    

Yes, I’m thankful. In the ups and downs of life I’ve faced lately, it is this list of God-given assets that have sustained me. It is these who make me love, laugh, hope, believe and anticipate a future that can only be designed by Pure Love Himself.

Dead Cats

Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here,

my brother would not have died (John 11:21).

I recently read a story about a little boy whose pet cat was killed one day while he was in school. His mother was very concerned about how he would take the news. When he got home, she explained what happened. The little boy turned away and began to cry. "Don't worry," the mother said reassuringly. "He's in heaven with God now." The little boy whirled on his mother and with desperation and anger in his voice yelled, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?"

That's how we all feel sometimes, don't we? We know God has the situation in His hands, but from our perspective the outcome seems final and the whole thing appears to have a finality to it that is completely unacceptable to us. Despite the fact that we know it’s in His hands, we want to scream, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?!" In other words, "Why did it have to end this way?"

Mary and Martha felt the same desperation when they buried their brother, Lazarus. Martha spoke for all of us during the times when our crisis doesn't seem to end with a miracle, but with a misery that screams despair into our emotions and thoughts. Martha said, "Lord, if you had been here!" Do you feel that way about situations in your life? Does it seem like there have been times when Jesus wasn’t in town when you needed Him the most?

At times it is impossible to understand the divine reasoning behind God’s actions or, more often it seems, His lack of visible action in our circumstances. In John 11, the Bible shows that Mary and Martha faced this very dilemma.

The text says, “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."

The reasoning of Jesus in waiting two more days before coming to Bethany makes perfect sense to us now, since we know the whole story. God received greater glory by raising Lazarus from the death than he would have by healing him. That possibility wasn’t one that would have occurred to these two sisters at all so how could it make sense to them? All they could see was that Jesus wasn’t coming through for them when they needed Him the most.

We all feel like these two at times, don’t we? You may have faced situations in your life where you have struggled to understand why your prayers about the matter seemed to be ignored. It seemed to you that, at a time when you most needed divine intervention, God was inactive.

In moments like that it is important to remember that your perspective is limited to what you can see at the moment. Mary and Martha couldn’t imagine how their situation could possibly have a good ending, but God had one in mind all along. You can be assured that the same God who raised Lazarus from the dead is fully aware of your problems.

From your finite understanding you too may not be able to imagine how your situation could possibly end well, but remember this: You don’t see things from the eternal perspective. Your Father does, so trust Him. He has not forgotten nor is He ignoring you.

There actually is an answer to the question, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?" He may resurrect it. Dead things don't deter God. He can put life right back into something that is already dead. Hope isn't gone just because a situation appears to have ended.

God may not resurrect it, but may instead redeem it. In other words, He will use the disappointments and devastations of our lives to accomplish a greater purpose. We don't know what's good and what's bad for us. Only He does. What we do know is that our Father loves us. He isn't sadistic, but gently and tenderly loves us at all times. Never do we need to believe that more than when life makes no sense.

When circumstances spiral downward and God doesn't step in to change them, He can use the outcome in a positive way. We don't have to see how He plans to use it for that fact to be true. Faith means that we trust Him even when our senses tell us all hope is gone.

Our faith is in our God, period. Faith doesn’t require believing that we will get what we want. Instead, it knows that we get what God wants and it is being willing to accept that and rest in it even if our emotions and thoughts argue.

So, “what's God gonna do with a dead cat?” Whatever He wants. His role is to be in charge. Ours is to trust.

This blog is a devotional from my book, The Grace Walk Devotional, to be released by Harvest House Publishers Feb 1. To preorder the book and receive it in January, click here: www.gracewalkresources.com

Grace Walk Australia

Grace Walk Australia is off and running!! 

Learning To Live With Imperfection

We all have an ideal in mind concerning the things we do in life. We have been taught to be conscientious about what we do and to strive for excellence. There is certainly nothing wrong with that philosophy of living. It is admirable and serves as a good baseline for everything we do.

            There is, however, a dividing line between being conscientious and being a perfectionist about what we do. A person can be conscientious and recognize a job well done without it having to be perfect. Perfectionists always sees the shortcomings in a finished task, even if they are insignificant enough that nobody else would even notice.

            Sometimes there is a need for a person to adjust her ideal to a level that is more realistic in terms of the capability she actually possesses. Things can be good, even excellent, without being perfect. Learning to live with less than perfect is important for peace of mind because nobody ever achieves perfection.

            Even God doesn’t look at your lifestyle and expect to find perfection in everything you do. The Psalmist wrote, “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14). To put it another way: God knows that you are only human. Do you know that or do you place expectations on yourself to be superhuman and then feel frustrated when you see that you aren’t?

            A grace walker is one who finds fulfillment in having done her best, given the limitations that life imposes on her. When God had finished creating, He looked at what He had done and said, “It is good.” He wants you to be able to say the same about what you do. In fact, to be able to say so is a godly quality.

            Does it really matter if some things go undone or are postponed? Is it worth sacrificing peace of mind, emotional stability, and being physically exhausted in order to accomplish it all? Does it really matter that much when put into the perspective of the big picture? These are questions that merit serious consideration.

            Learning to live with results that are less than perfect may be an acquired skill that the Holy Spirit wants to teach you. The next time you look at a finished job and are tempted to nitpick and judge it through the lens of perfectionism, don’t be surprised if you hear Him say, “Let it go. It is good.” When you hear that still, small voice, listen and do it. In the long run, you will discover the grace of fulfillment instead of the guilt of self-imposed laws that condemn you over what you’ve done.

(This blog is an excerpt of my book, Wives Walking In Grace, to be published in 2013 by Harvest House Publishers)

Saint Sam

I am Sam. Saint Sam I am.


Would you, could you keep the Law?
I would not, could not keep the Law.
Does that seem odd?
Not to God.

Would you, could you not then go sin?
I would not, could not then go sin.
Would sin not win?
No, I’m in Him!

Would you, should you go to school
And learn to keep religious rule?
I would not, should not go to school
To learn to keep religious rule.

Won’t you go wild?
No, I’m God’s child!
But sin is stronger.
But I want it no longer.

But the Bible says to run the race,
It also says I’m under grace,
But you must run!
But to run is fun.

Does your church have a steeple?
No, the church is the people.
Do you say your prayers each day?
I walk with Him and always pray.
Do you witness to the lost?
I simply glory in the cross.
What about daily Bible reading?
I just follow the Spirit’s leading.

But aren't you scared that He’ll be mad?
No, my God is always glad.
Even when you commit a sin?
He still loves me even then.
Even if you shame His name?
He still loves me just the same.
When you have lied?
That’s why he died.
When you fall down?
He is my ground.
When you’re two-faced?
Even then I’m graced.

I must get off of my treadmill,
Trying to climb this religious hill,
You can stop. It’s not a test.
Life in Him is just a rest.

And you’re sure that won’t insult His name?
No, my friend. That’s why He came.
I want to know Him like you do,
Well, He knows you through and through.

And you say He loves me just this way?
Then I’m going to trust in Him today.

Congratulations, my dear brother,
You’re going to see there is no Other,
Who loves you like He always will,
He took you off that tiring hill,
And now you'll finally know His rest,
That’s how we live life at its best.

You will learn and see in time,
That life in Him is so sublime,
This is not religious talk,
Welcome to the grace walk.

Steve McVey, 2012
Yeah, like you’d want to steal this.