Forgotten

Have ever thought about how much stuff we have forgotten.  From the trivial things of our youth like your favorite baseball players batting average, to the important dates like your spouses birthday.  We live in a time of knowledge and information to the point of overload.  We often consume enough information in a single conversation to fill a page worth of notes.  If you wish to you can pull information of the Internet at any moment on how to bake an apple pie or repair the toilet that wont stop running.  A single newscast today contains more information and statistics than most minds can comprehend.  The bad thing about all this information is that it distracts us from facts.  The fact is that there is a reality to knowing that today 6,000 people will die of hunger related issues.  There are no names to it.  There are no faces.  Until you know someone suffering of malnutrition or have looked into the eyes of the hungry, numbers are easily forgotten.  You see God didn't look at the overwhelming number of people that where sinning.  He looked into the eyes of the children He created.  He felt the burden for those condemned for there own actions and knew He had to do something to give hope.  He sent His son to make a way for you and me.  You see when we take time to look past stats and information we might find something in ourselves.  When we step into a nursing home and see the faces of the forgotten.  When we walk into the orphanage and smell the neglect for ourselves.  If you walk into the home and see the holes in the roof and the empty pantry something inside will change.  It is wonderful that there are so many programs here in America,  but while we plan and organize and have grand parties for fundraiser's.  People are starving, freezing, dying.  I herd it said that  all we talk about anymore is Honduras, and that may be true. The faces are all I can picture.  The people who have no food, no where to go work.  I have come to the point in my life where I am ashamed.  Ashamed of what I have, what I do.  In the book Radical by David Platt it talks about how as a whole Christianity has walked away from the truth of the Gospel.  We have watered it down to make us feel good and justify the American dream.  Reality is the American dream is all based on self and I.  If we read the Gospel we see that is in contradiction to what we are called to be.  When is it time to put aside the wealth of knowledge we have and get our hands dirty meeting needs.  Feed the hungry, cloth the naked, shelter the homeless, love the hurting, or just pray to the Father.  The truth and knowledge that we find in God and His word is not something to be read and stored away.  Let it be the compass of your life, spend less time on the blackberry and more time digging into the truth of the Word.  Find the forgotten around you and serve them.  The single mom who just needs a break.  The lady in the nursing home that never has a visitor.  The orphan laying in the crib that needs a bottle.  What did God design you for?  We are called to honor and praise Him, but above that you where masterfully designed for a specific purpose.  I pray that God reveals that to you this Christmas.  Seek Him in prayer and through His word. 

3 John 1:4 What brings Him joy?

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

John is writing to the church and speaks words straight from the heart of the Father.  What better joy than to see a child walking in truth.  Anyone who is a parent cannot explain the feeling of seeing there child honor God in there life and daily walk.  Yet sometimes we forget what it means to God to see us living our lives as examples of truth, and Gods word.  Its so easy this time of year to worry about making a lasting impression of what the Christmas season should be for our children.  It is honorable for parents to want this time of year to be memorable for there children.  We all want better for our children.  That is not something that comes from us, this is something that was first shown to us from God.  He wanted something better for us, therefore He sent his son to save us from our own sin.  He wishes and hopes for us to walk in His truth.  This Christmas the greatest gift you could give would be to walk in His truth.  This not only honors God but will show your children that you value what God has done for you.  We all learn best not only by hearing but seeing it done as well.  If you wish to place an importance on the things of God let your children see you live it.  Not only will this please God it will show your children, and the world Christ is not about just knowledge it is about relationship.  This Christmas give a gift to God, honor Him in all you do as you celebrate His sons birth.

What a day.

Dec 15th was such a blessing.  It was an honor to see Gods people gather together to serve the forgotten at Christmas.  We where able to join with Barnardsville Baptist in providing smiles through gifts for some of the forgotten of Western North Carolina.  Once a year Craggy allows home made food inside there walls for the prisoners.  Each Christmas churches and ministries across WNC come together to bake items to put a smile on the face and some sugar in the bellies of the often forgotten souls that may have made a mistake in there life.  It was an honor to see the love poured into these 25 bags that will go to people who in Gods eyes are important and need love.  Psalm 50 talks about the restoration that David sought.  I pray that these bags and notes of encouragement will be a show of Gods love that points them toward Christ this Christmas season.

We where also able to put together over 30 backpacks full of items to go to nursing home residents.  We all know how busy Christmas can be and often times these precious elders can be forgotten in the busyness of the season.  Asheville is the home to many transplants and business people, both of which are sometimes away this time of year.  Please remember to take time to give the most precious gift this season, your time.  A smile, hug, or a kind word is often all these wonderful people would like for Christmas.

We also received a call tonight from Honduras letting us know the rough grading was finished and ready to go.  Next step digging footers.  We are awaiting the cost estimate for this stage.  This will include the digging, rock and block 18 inches deep, and all the labor to put it in place.  This will be a considerable cost that we must take care of before March.  Please consider us when making your Christmas gift list this year. $5 dollars would go a long way if we all gave. www.youtube.com/user/thecarpentersheart#p/a/u/1/APAf2cWE-S0

Why do you go?

Church in Sanfrancisco De Yajoa

Typical house in Sanfrancisco



Crib in orphanage.  Why I go



Had a person today ask why I went to Honduras.  Simply said, I was called.  There are many times in my life that I have ignored God calling in my life.  From raising my hand while worshipping in church to refusing to help the man on the street.  For once 4 years ago i said yes.  My walk has never been the same.  I still say no more than I say yes but the truth is.  My heart has been broken for the people of Honduras.  I cannot understand why God blessed my to be born in a country where food, water, and shelter are a given.  The only purpose to it that I can see is that I am supposed to help.  So that is why I go.  God willing that is why I will continue to go.  I feel that I am a better person for getting to meet and serve the wonderful people of Honduras.  In fact I know it has even encouraged me to do more here in WNC when I have returned.  So my question to you is "What has God called you to?"  Say yes this Christmas season it just me the greatest gift you have ever received.

What is the perfect Christmas?

Have you ever thought about the perfect Christmas.  Maybe you picture the family gathered around the fire sipping eggnog as the children open presents.  The picture perfect meal has already been consumed and has been cleaned up and put away.  Family from far away has travelled in and smiles and old stories are swirling around the room. 
Does this sound like what you are expecting?  We all dream of this picture perfect holiday, but is it realistic.  Lets look at the arrival of Christ  and see just how ideal the first Christmas really was.  As Jesus' family travelled the countryside to reach Bethlehem the rumors of the woman with child before she was married.  The husband was trying to move his family to be counted by the tax collector.  A lady nine months pregnant who has been riding a donkey is not quite the picture perfect arrival.  Home was a carved out piece of rock that was home to sheep, cattle, and other livestock.  What a cozy place for the a birth. As the couple tryed to get ready for this grand event I am sure Joseph was so proud that his new bride would be giving birth to there firstborn in a cave shared with livestock.  There where no family present only a few shepards, the trash collectors of biblical times, to share this joyous occasion with. 
So when you are travelling this Christmas remember the perfection of Chrits birth isn't in the atmoshpere or the decor.  The meal isn't what makes the day.  The imperfection of Christ's arrival magnifies the perfection of God and the life that Jesus lived.  We are not to focus on the surroundings or even the beauty of this season.  We are to focus soley on the fact that Jesus came to come into this imperfect world to live the perfect life and die on theh cruel Roman cross for us to have a chance at living in that perfect place at one with God. 
I pray that we all have a wonderful Christmas and that everything falls into place to make this a Martha Stewart Christmas.  When that doesn't happen I pray we understand that our sins cause this imperfect and fallen world to be less than we expect. That is why we have Christmas, the birth of the perfect sacrifice freely given to us on that first Christmas.