Whoops... been a while

Wow, it has been a while since I posted. Please forgive me. God has been working in my life more than I could ever have imagined.
I could not say that God has commanded me to be silent. It just seems to have worked out that way. I got a gentle nudging to post so here I am.

There has certainly been a lot going on. Our church got its tent up and we have been meeting there on Sunday Mornings. The service has changed to 10:30 AM (was 9:30) due to the cold weather as we need to warm the tent up hours before starting service. Last Sunday we could see our breath as we sang! Brrr! Don't think I have seen a pastor with a beanie and gloves on while preaching the Word either!
There was a terrible forest fire near us in August. There were two huge fires that threatened the Aeneas Valley for over a month, the Tunk complex and the Northstar complex. Both were south of the valley, but from the east and west sides and were about to meet. God showed up. The firefighters were amazed that the fire would threaten the ridges that would allow the fire to overtake the valley and the flames would die down as if not allowed to go further. Many of us evacuated as the valley was on level 3 evac notice. That means get out now.
We left and gave it to God. Our travels are a story in and of themselves which I will not go into here. Let's just say that God was with us in every step, along every mile and with every situation. Praise the Lord! All is well in the valley as the fire went around the sides of us. Others were not so lucky and need our prayers and help.

Frontier Hubby (FH) and I took a break from Growth group meetings. These are discipleship meetings to help others grow into small group, home-meeting leaders. Awesome time of fellowship and learning how to incorporate God into our lives!

We are starting growth group meetings again. Just one. We said we had thought about it and a bunch of people said, "How about Thursday?" People are hungry for God and fellowship.

In the next few months, FH and I are looking to start a marriage solidarity group. It's purpose is to bring couples together stronger than ever. It is a Christ centered ministry. FH and I have experienced a tremendous leap in the strength of our marriage (it was spiraling downwards) as we have put God first and gotten some good information. This helps to mend us more and more into the oneness mentioned in the Bible. We expect the sessions to be about four months long if we meet weekly for 2-4 hours. No start date or curriculum is finalized.

There are announcements being made this Sunday at the church. Important ones. Please be there if you can. For location and other church related info, visit avefc.org.

May you find all things new in Him, Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving

Snowy Day Proves it is Not Spring Yet

Silly conclusion isn't it? Looking at a day in time does not prove the season. Yet that is how science makes conclusions now and usually how we make conclusions too.
Is the Bible true? This is an eternal questions with eternal consequences. I do not pretend to be so knowledgeable to give a grand and fully reasoned answer. All I can offer is my experience (in a very shortened version) and another question.
I had my doubts. I thought maybe God's days were longer than ours. I have reasoned that God uses parables to teach and that maybe the Bible was just a collection of stories. Maybe God is so distant from us, that we don't matter to Him, it's just us against the world.
Then, I found some teaching that presented the Bible as fact. They read the stories as if we were a part of them. What were the people in the stories thinking, experiencing? How did they feel and what did they do right or wrong? Easy to see when sitting in a pew, but what if that was us? It's like the difference between playing football and sitting on the couch telling the players what they should be doing. The stories such as Jonah came to life like a movie and Frontier Hubby and I would talk for hours, sometimes days afterwards.
OK, if you are bored jumped down to the section after the line to read the second question.
There is a whole 'nother discussion about creation vs. evolution that I cannot do justice. It boils down to your underlying belief system. Science in no way disproves God. It totally depends on your basis of belief. In fact, there are a lot of scientific proofs for God and creation. Here is a website that discusses scientific finds from both perspectives. creationrevolution.com
I loved physics and biology in school. Loved them. I was fascinated by how things worked and getting down into cell structures and reproduction, how muscles worked, how the body was put together and all that was of great interest. I liked physics for how it showed how things worked. It also showed me the difference from hypothesis (educated guess), theory (testable guess) and law (proven consistency when tested). I could apply laws and theories to things in nature and get an outcome. Cause and effect. Story of my life in a way.
Now, I see these words tossed around like people do not understand their meaning. The "Big Bang Theory" can only be a hypothesis since it cannot be tested, but hypothesis does not sound strong enough.  Global warming can only be a hypothesis too as it is a suggested conclusion to some facts that many scientist (even some who worked on the project) do not agree with. The world goes through heat and cold cycles over years. In the 70s we were told an ice age is coming and that no one could live north of California by the year 2000. Doesn't that sound silly now? But it was what the people were told to get laws made and give the government more control. Same 'ole same 'ole.
So what has all that to do with the Bible? I believe God shows Himself in His works. Go out and visit the mountains, deserts, beaches, rivers, valleys and such where there is little or no sign of man. Wow, it is breathtaking. Look in a microscope at a cell reproducing. The complexity of all things individually and then together, shout there is a God.
Spiritually, I have had a couple of scary moments that I could only describe as spiritual attacks and the instant I finally got the name "Jesus" out of my mouth, the attacks were gone.  That convinced me right then and there that there is an unseen world.
Now as I read in the Bible, I can see God is consistent, yet surprising. He is loving, yet just. He had a plan from the beginning and it works.
I read a book, Cold-Case Christianity, that was written by a guy who was actually out to prove Jesus didn't exist and even if he did, Jesus was not the Son of God. He was a cold case detective and started reading the first books of the New Testament. He used his skills from his job to read the testimonies of the gospel writers. What he did convinced himself that Jesus was real and that God is the one represented in the Bible. He states that you have to go into any evaluation with an open mind and let the evidence take you where it will. Deciding beforehand that someone is guilty, does not bring justice. It only brings your own desires into play. There are a lot of stories about people who set out to disprove God exists by reading the Bible and God shows up. It's awesome.
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So why did I write all the above? Because of the second question I have. We ask ourselves this at church and growth groups (small Bible studies that review Sunday's sermon.)
"If the Bible is true, what does that mean to us?"
If God is God and he is the personal, caring God that the Bible represents Him as, shouldn't we somehow change? That question has rocked my world. I want to just fit Him into my life and keep on doing things my way, but that question makes me stop and wonder what it is that I have to change to fit better into His world.
How have the changes that I have been making affected me?
1. My marriage is better. Frontier Hubby was a diehard atheist and even he came to see the reality of God through Jesus since we have been in Aeneas Valley. We both have made Biblical principle based changes into our marriage. Our fighting is reduced to about 10% of what it was and is less emotionally harmful to each other.
2. We have a lot of friends. Now, understand I have had a few friends all my life and make new friends fairly easily. Frontier Hubby does not like people that much. In fact, we moved here to "get away" from everyone. But God in His infinite wisdom has put us in a place that has a multitude of exceptionally bright people in similar circumstances. They have built, with God's help, an extensive community interwoven with folks of different backgrounds and skills that help each other and get along fairly well. They are a blessing to us!
3. I am growing emotionally and spiritually. I look to God much more often. I love people more than ever. I am so grateful for what I have and no longer feel like I need more to be happy. These are all works in process and I feel like I am improving in so many ways I cannot write about them all.
If you are interested in learning more about God but have been put-off by hypocritical Christians, find a church that isn't put-offing. They are out there like AVEFC. It is worth the effort!
Are we going to change our life to be more like what God wants us to be? How? Each lesson we learn helps us do just that and that is the purpose of this blog, to share what I am learning.
May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving

Can God be trusted to make all things work for good?

Any small community has pros and cons. But how about a church full of professing Christians, me included? One would think the love of Jesus would rule our lives, and it does to a point. Because we are all human, we naturally lean to our own understandings, forgetting about God. We fumble around and there are the inevitable bumps in the road. Can God be trusted to make all things work for good like the Bible teaches?
We love our congregation at AVEFC. Not just as a "feeling" but in real ways such as concern, helping, being available when called. How do you love them all when one is doing something that may hurt another person? For me it is not making judgments, and knowing God is big enough to handle the tough situations. I pray to be in His will. Sometimes that becomes awkward so I keep moving forward so that He can work things out. That has to be God, because my nature is to not get involved and stay hidden. He gives me strength and love. I must rely solely on Him.
At one point last year, the church leadership at AVEFC realized that as we grow, the church will get messy. What does that mean? Well the Aeneas Valley is a small population base and their backgrounds vary a lot! And there are many broken people in this valley.  As they all come in to be part of God's family, we need to love them. PERIOD. Let God work out any flaws in their lives as He works out the flaws in ours. Its a process and we will always be in process until we get to heaven. We very much expect messiness from a group of people who have different belief backgrounds, such as Catholic, Lutheran, Assembly of God, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Messianic Jews, and even non-believers just looking to see what we are about. Frontier Hubby was a diehard atheist until attending this church and meeting Jesus in a new way. AVEFC wants to be a place where people can learn about God in a non-judgmental environment. A safe place. I hope that can become the reality. All Christians are in the family of God. Let's take keep our eyes on Him and not ourselves. In the scope of eternity, denominations and other differences should not keep us from loving one another with agape love -- no judgments, no expectations, no grudges.
If you are curious come check us out. It is a different experience from most churches. The people are real, the preaching is different, the Word of God is explored, and hopefully, then applied to our lives. Bring a teachable spirit. It does not help much if you come in already knowing everything. We all have much to learn. See more at avefc.org
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Frontier Hubby had a really tough week last week. He was preparing to give a teaching Sunday morning on a chapter in the Firm Foundations series. As a new Christian, only 3.5 years old, his depth of knowledge is limited, but he is truly searching out the Word and has been successful at getting the lessons across. This is not a pastoral thing, but as Frontier Hubby has a background in teaching, he is comfortable being up-front. As a teacher/seminar leader, he was an expert in his field. Now that 'expert' prop is gone, he is learning to rely on God -- a difficult lesson for a lifelong, self-reliant man.
He was preparing his teaching and smack in the middle of the week, he was exposed to a horrendous scene of a video on the internet sent via email. It was a sick violence that disturbed him to his core. He could not unsee it. There was an instant hatred that entered him. He began praying about it and God gave him much relief. Over the next few days, his hatred turned to prayers for the people involved. God is showing him how to love those who we would normally hate for their actions. That has to be divine as Frontier Hubby is not one to just love and forgive his way through life.
With all that going on, Frontier Hubby was having problems concentrating how to give his presentation. On Sunday after the service, it was Frontier Hubby's time to talk. We had some great discussion on the scripture and its interpretation, mostly on legalism. He ended his session by talking about his week and how this video affected him and how God was blessing him through this time. His final statement was awesome, "Jesus is enough for me."
The congregation was clapping when it was done. That rather shocked Frontier Hubby as he hardly knew where the words were coming from when he spoke. I think God was helping him to say what He needed to be said. There seemed to be a shift in the room as God touched the hearts of people.
Pastor Shane often tells of problems that come up during the week that relate to what he is preaching about on Sunday. Ken is now learning that God works like that in his life too. Their messages are so much stronger and real when they share what has been going on during the week. It is clearly a God thing to make it so relative to the scripture to be covered. How does He do that? Guess because He is God and He does work all things out for good. Just sometimes we don't always see the good, but it is there.

May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving 

Follow Me - Authority of Jesus

We were out of town for the week of Feb. 21-22. The rest of the week filled up quickly with another trip on Wed-Thurs. We are finally catching up to ourselves and getting rested. If you are interested in the sermon from Sun, Feb. 22, you can go to HisPlace.org, scroll down to the service dated 7/5/14 named The Word Became Flesh (Follow Me 2) video and watch it.
Yesterday, Mar. 1, was back to Pastor Shane Freese doing the sermon, as part of the series "Follow Me". It will be posted on Vimeo tomorrow, Tuesday. My posts, although based on the sermon, incorporate my thoughts as well, so to see the video of the sermon is recommended.
I was really moved as we learned about the authority of Jesus. As we continue to delve into scriptures word by word and verse by verse, we as a congregation seem to be transformed in our understanding and how we apply our new knowledge to our lives. Wow! God continuously makes Himself new to us as He allows us to see Him more clearly. The negative of that is the more one knows, the more we are held responsible to make it change ourselves: our hearts, our minds, our interactions with others, everything! Following Jesus brings a lifetime of learning and changing. I pray to be up to that challenge and for those reading this to also be strengthened by God to allow His Spirit to touch your lives and make things new.
The scripture started with Mark 1:21-28. ". . . he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law." So imagine you are sitting and listening to a new rabbi who does not speak as you have heard before, but speaks with the authority (higher knowledge and experience) of the one who wrote the scriptures. There is a new perspective and with it more revelations. It would feel odd and certainly get your attention as it did the rabbis who heard Him. The people were amazed. The rabbis were incensed.
It was probably much like the sermon on the mount where Jesus repeated many scriptures, and added nuances that gave them newer, more intense meanings such as Matt 5:21-22 where Jesus said comparing to the law against murder, ". . . anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." That is spoken from authority, as one who knows the intent of the law and the only one who does that is God.
What type of people do other people tend to follow, generally those with more knowledge than themselves. Why do they follow someone with more knowledge? To learn more, gain a better perspective and possibly get some experience with their new found knowledge and skills. What is a sign that someone has more knowledge? They speak with authority on subjects, understand the principles behind the knowledge and do things far superior to others. Jesus did just that and gained a following of not only disciples, but of people who saw and heard Him. Being separated by many generations, we do not get see Jesus like they did, nor even get the direct stories of what He did and said. But that does not change who he is and we can experience him directly. We need only ask it of him.
How did the Pharisees respond? With grumbling and anger. They were the authority, until Jesus showed up. Did they accept His authority? For the most part, no. Do we accept His authority? Sadly, for the most part, no. We are a rebellious people and do not like authority over us. What is the best type of authority? A benevolent dictator. One who always has good intentions and the power to make it happen. People cannot do that. We use power to get our way even if only some of the time, it is enough to make bad outcomes. God is the only one who can be trusted to not abuse His power, but to always do good with it. It is ourselves who invite bad things to happen, with negative results from selfish things we do.
We, as people, think that if circumstances were different, things would be better. That is a rather unlikely scenario as we are always present in our circumstances. Shane said he has a lot of car problems and "changes cars like socks" and there are still problems or opportunities for growth as we like to call them.
It was joked that it could probably be said that those here in Aeneas Valley would probably be more rebellious than most places, since we moved here as a type of rebellion against the main direction of society to live in cities, under the watchful eye of the government, neighbors and other authorities at all times. Thus, it is reasonable to consider us a bit more reluctant to give up our "authority over ourselves" in our Christian walk. That is what is meant by dying daily to ourselves so we can Follow Him.
Our goal is to be open to let God change us through Jesus into holy vessels. Holy, not always happy. But the reward is in heaven for the times we are unhappy in circumstances. So, do not despair, He is with us always.

May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving

Follow Me

Sunday's service at AVEFC was actually a video of a service by Doug Weiber, from His Place Church in Post Falls, as the first in a series about following Jesus. The series started last summer and is continuing still. To see the video we used today, you can go here and scroll down to the video (or audio if you prefer) Follow Me 1 dated 6/29/14.

Today was from Mark 1:14-17 where Jesus calls for Simon and his brother Andrew to "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
The message, the start of a series, was that to follow Jesus, we need to be in His will, walking with Him, in His footsteps. How do we know if we are in sync with Him? There is a test!
1 John 2:3-6. We know we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says "I know Him." but does not what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. but if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.
Doug described how we must look at our relationship with Jesus using the DTR process. What is DTR? It is a term used when a couple takes time to Define The Relationship, often thought of as when one person asks the other where they see the relationship going.
So, where do you see your relationship going with Jesus? Are you just dating casually or maybe going steady? Are you seeing others or have a friendship with benefits? If you have learned the Bible is the true word of God, what does that mean to you? Are you ready to make a full-time, all out, commitment to the God of the Universe?

What are some of the negatives? Well, if you are used to thinking in terms of "me" then you may be worried that all the worldly things you have gathered and loved, might have to go away. Are you afraid where God might take you? What He asks of you might be embarrassing? Is there a sacrifice He can ask of you that is greater than what He did for you on the cross? No!
After the video, Pastor Shane lead us in a discussion about what the message meant to each of us and what stood out. We left with the instruction to ponder where we were in our relationship with Christ. Are we ready to commit or have we already taken that step? Can we go further? There is no test here at church. The test comes on Judgment Day when we are either accepted into His kingdom or told to depart, He never knew us. Where do you want to stand on that day?

May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving

Growth Group

We attend a very small frontier church (imagine that) here in Aeneas Valley. For over a year now, they have instituted a small group study based on the sermon the previous Sunday. Our group has 5 adults attending regularly. This intimate group allows for some deep discussion and vulnerability between us. The activity is very useful and there is much growth and a bonding in fellowship.
There is another small group meeting at the far end of the valley with the same basic discussions and hopefully similar outcomes. If you would like to see the video from last Sunday, we post sermons weekly on Vimeo click here.  It would be the one dated 2105-02-01, We are currently going through Mark a few verses at a time. Last Sunday was Mark 1:14-20. The church's website is at avefc.org
We had a great discussion in growth group on a question that asked if the way Jesus calls us today is any different from the way he called His disciples to become "fishers of men" and how it is different. It generally ran that there is no difference, but then nuances started showing up. There was no right or wrong answer, just discussion to see how everyone thought about it.

Before long, we ended up in a discussion about healing from God. A friend is very sick and in the hospital. We pretty much agreed that it was something we were interested in being involved in and prayed for God to show us more in this regard after praying for our friend who is 24 and has cancer. (We love you M.)
Long ago I was told a person's faith is all it takes for a healing to take place. I think there is more to it than that. God is sovereign and his will trumps all. A friend stated that the eulogy at her husband's funeral was the key to the conversion of a number of people to Christ. Although she wishes he was still here, God knew that in her husband's death, the eternal importance of salvation trumped his healing.
Still, I feel there is something I am missing and maybe part of that is my own feelings of getting in the way or fear that God won't show up. These are things for me to pray about and learn to get over myself. I think God has much more for me than I have any idea about. That is exciting!
May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ frontierChristiaLliving.blogspot.com

Love by Choice

Love is one of the most overused words around. What meaning does it hold? Is it a feeling? Is it measurable? Does it come and go?

Yes and no.

I first thought love was a feeling, and it is. I thought love was commitment. It can be. I thought love was forever. Not the kind of love I had then. I thought I loved more than anyone else, but that was not enough. I thought love was freedom without bounds. It is not without bounds.

We love so many things such as:  our spouses, kids, pets, sports teams, ourselves, trees, homes, cities, collections of this or that, even money. Some of the things we are related to and others we relate to. But what would you die for? Anything?

That is a way to measure love. I would die for my family. I would not die for much else. To describe something we need adjectives and analogies. To measure something, we need a standard to measure against. To really understand something we need to experience it.

God is all of these and we need to experience Him to get to know Him.

We are to love the Lord our God. Wow, how is that possible? Without knowing God it is hard to simply love Him.

One of my first lessons learned is that to love God is to get to know Him. As I learn about Him by reading His words in the Bible, He ever so slightly uncovers the mystery of Him. The more I learn about who He is, the more He reveals Himself and the more I can love Him.

Is God only love? No. He has all the emotions we do. He certainly has different motivations than we do. All His emotions have to be contained within His goodness. He has no evil in Him. He is just, which means there are consequences. He shows mercy when we ask for mercy as those consequences were completed with Jesus on the cross. We only need to believe that, and ask God to show us mercy and forgive us for the unlovely things we do. Repent. That means asking for God's mercy and forgiveness with no hidden agendas or intentions to ever do it again. As humans, we tend to lean toward doing stupid things over and over. He knows that and every time we come to Him through Jesus with repentance in our heart, He is true to His word and forgives us.

Picture from clipart in Office

Here is my analogy. Many of us have chosen to have cats for pets. We desire our cats to choose to "love" us back, but cats are very independent. They want us to do all the work and, if they feel like it, they come love us back with rubs and purrs. Young children often want to make cats love them back. The children pick up a cat and hold it tight making the cat want to break loose. The relationship with cats is like what we have with God. He does all the work and we sometimes choose to acknowledge Him and love Him back. He does not force us to love Him but desires for us to talk to Him and spend time with Him. He wants relationship and is waiting right now for you to turn to Him and love on Him. He will return your efforts more than you can imagine.

God gives us choice, always, even when we tear up the curtains or "miss" the litter box. Love out of choice is so much more meaningful than if it is forced.

Choose to show love to others, without judgment, and do for them as we would like to have done for ourselves. Have you ever needed help and wished someone would just help you get through something? Start helping others get through their needs and you will find others helping you, too. 

God made us to willingly love Him and each other. Don't hoard your energy and love. Give it away, and it is returned to you many times over. 

 

In Him,
Frontier Woman @ frontierChristianLiving.blogspot.com

Not Another Blog

Why in the world would I start another blog when I don't really even have a following for my Frontier Living Today blog? Good question and I don't really have a good answer. Just 'cause I felt lead to do so.
I have been learning a lot in the last 4 years. I have been a Christian for 30 years, and was wanting to be closer to God and more Christ-like when I converted. It was a gentle slide toward believing in God and who Jesus was to asking Him into my heart. No big fireworks, nor did I have any demonic exorcisms. A few years later I got a divorce after my then husband had his 2nd affair since we had been together. (That was a long story made into a sentence!)
I stopped going to church (we had moved) and went through a time of experimentation. Although I still believed, it was pushed aside for a couple years of fun and games. I went through another serious relationship that bombed and I left it. I then moved again.
I decided to learn to be a masseuse. There wasn't enough money to pay for the certification, so I signed up to work off the tuition. I was good at office work and computers. Doing massage was enjoyable and I kept the new age, open-yourself-up mindset to a minimum. It made me very uncomfortable. I gathered a few Christian clients and worked for two chiropractors.
I started going to a small church. The people lived the message they taught. It was a chance to start learning again. Over the next couple of years, I switched churches 3 times and moved. Then I got married and moved again. I willingly became unequally yoked to a non-Christian man. Another long story made short.
I then didn't attend church for years. I did keep my faith and prayed a lot including for my husband's salvation.
A few years ago, we felt an urge to move to the country. We had gotten tired of city living. An ad for property in Aeneas Valley caught Frontier Hubby's attention. After a few months of looking around, we bought a parcel. God was placing us exactly where we needed to be but we didn't know it yet. (Long story made short #3)
In 2010 we moved up here, living in a shed we had built for storage. We made it livable with insulation. It was a place to sleep and keep warm. Hubby saw a sign for a local church and said we should try it sometime. I was very happy to hear him willing to do so. A new friend of ours also invited us to attend, so we did. We have been going there ever since. A few months later, hubby went from being a diehard atheist to a Christian. (My fourth long story made short.)
Our learning seems to be accelerated to a daily occurrence. God is blessing us as we move to seeing the world through His eyes and understanding more about Him. We have made many friends through the church and neighbors.
Frontier Hubby and I have lived a rather volatile life arguing almost endlessly. Most of the stuff was minutia. Our walk with God has brought us closer than ever and the problems are much fewer and far between.
Every day the beauty surround us gives me pause to thank God that we are here and to see what He has created. There is no way to capture it all. May you enjoy the small moments in pictures that we do capture.
This platform is for me to bring up whatever I am learning. Even if I think I have learned something, God manages to show me there is a long way to go. I am so grateful for His patience with me and that He not only allowed me to marry Frontier Hubby, but brought hubby into the family of Christian brothers and sisters who love the Lord and show us love and grace.

In Him,
Frontier Woman @ frontierChristianLiving.blogspot.com