News from the ranch!

We need prayer! It seems as though everyone is catching the "bug!" Staff and students alike. I am one of the fortunate ones not to have caught it yet; though my wife is sick now so I am sure it is only a matter of time.

Coming up very soon is Spring Leave. The boys will be sent home for eight to ten days depending on their standing here at the ranch. It is a time for mom and dad and us as well to get a good understanding of how much of the boys growth is real and how much is being in a different environment. The same can be said of the parents.

I would ask that you pray for safe travel as some of the boys have to travel some distance. Also, that when temptation comes they will be able to be strong, and would remember the truths that they have all been taught.

Pray too, for the staff as this is mostly a relaxing time, but we do have a little bit of house keeping to take care of, as well as some staff training. It is never an easy thing to do, teach or be taught in a non-denominational, para-church group, some theology differences as well as some personality differences sometimes cause strife, so please cover us all in prayer on Saturday the 29th.

Also on a more personal note, the pastor at the community church here in the Nile Valley is leaving after many, many years. It is the church that the majority of the ranch staff attend and it is with much longing that we see he and his wife depart. They are beginning a new ministry planting churches in Alaska. Pray for the transition of the new pastor who begins the week after Easter.

Thank you all so much for your support financially and prayfully for my family and our ministry here at the Flying H!

Yours to count on,

Chris

I recently heard...

someone say that you get 80% of what you ask for. And I will admit my first thought was, I should ask for a whole lot more toys (i.e. books, video games) from my wife and I will get 80% of what I ask for. Selfish I know, but that is what first crossed my mind.

Then I started to think about how I communicate with my wife. I must admit and a great deal of how I communicate with her is truely selfish. It usually is, I want, I want, I want. This is a poor attitude to be sure. It shows me how impersonal I can be at times with my wife.

But, the effect runs much deeper than me proving I am a selfish individual. This attitude also keeps my wife and I from having a more intimate relationship. If I am so focused on my wants and can I provide my wifes needs? (And there is a difference between wants and needs) I am not talking about financial needs, I am speaking of emotional and spiritual needs. If I am constantly trying to make myself "feel good," how is that loving my wife?

The bible speaks to the husband having the responsibilty to love his wife. The wife in turn is to respect her husband. Nowhere does it tell the wife to love her husband. That really hits home for me. If I ask for things from my wife, even intimate things and I do so selfishly, that is not loving my wife that is loving myself. I will admit I more often than I would like to admit, love myself more than I love my wife.

Maybe I wll start asking God to help me love my wife 100% of the time instead of myself and hope she can except the 80%!

Why is it....

that we are so quick to sign away our check books but more importantly our values to so called "professionals?" It really was not that long ago that our pastors served as our counselors. That their counsel was the first we sought out. And whether we liked the advice or not we took it to heart. So often now, even professing Christians, turn and run when faced with crisis to the closest pyschologist or pyschiatrist instead of finding counsel from those who know what the bible teaches.

Why is it that we are so quick to turn and ask for counsel who we don't even know and who don't hold the same values we claim? The answer is our continued desire to sin. If we are unwilling to hear biblical advice, it smacks of a desire to sin.

It is my desire to see more biblical counseling. I believe that churches and pastors in particular need to set time aside for this type of ministry. Those teaching or counseling obviously need to have a passion for biblical wisdom and a greater passion for those hurting.

I'm curious....

How many times have you asked someone in passing "How you doing?" and not even listened to their response? Or how many times has that happened to you? This is a very simple and practical example to show how really superficial we can be sometimes.

I'm curious how often someone has ever responded with "Not that great," or "Pretty bad," and we haven't heard them? Talk about self-centered. It pains me to say that I know that I have been that person that is too busy. We live in a broken and hurting world that needs to hear of the hope that we have, and we are too busy to hear how someone is doing?

Compare this attitude to that of Jesus, who sought out those people who were hurting and it reflects poorly on us sometimes. It is sad to say, that often times the people we should be reaching out to, the ones we should be searching out to tell the Good News to are the very ones we don't want to be around because they are bad people, not socially acceptable.

I'm curious how many people once thought of you as socially unacceptable, or as a trouble maker? How many people wrote you off, thinking there is no way he or she will ever come to his or her senses and see the light?

It offends me when I hear people who I know are saved, who ought to know better talk like this. I know too, that it offends God. So my challenge is this, watch to those around you. Befriend those "untouchables" you know. And when you ask "How are you doing?" Listen!