Living Hazzardously

Little pieces of our journey with Jesus

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Best of the worst times

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As I look at the world, I cant help but to feel how this past week reminded me of an old song by Styx, where the best of times end and the worst of times begin…

I know you feel these are the worst of times
I do believe it’s true
When people lock their doors and hide inside
Rumor has it it’s the end of Paradise

But as a Christian, the week reminded me that our Lord is in control and no matter how bad the times get, we serve a God thats bigger, stronger and he is in control.

Its been a few weeks now that Jess and I left Marcell Community Church, its hard to walk away and start attending a new church… God has walked with us on this trip… The church is not in a buiding, its outside the “church building”. ECC chapter 8, God reminds us there is a time for every season, under heaven… and the close of that book reminds us that without God, all is futile… we are part of Gods family, regardless of our worship center.

I was told once, being a church member means that those in that congregation can vouch for the faith of another member, I believe that is heracy, as we can only know them by thier fruit, not memberships.

Today I pray your fruit is evident and you walk in the will of God. Go and spread LIGHT .

C

Seek unto thee

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Every Saturday we have a family Zoom call, we refer to this as “family bible study” and although we read a devotional from Spurgeon, it’s mostly about staying connected as a family from all across the midwest, and the wild west of America.

I guess I shouldn’t say it’s mostly about staying connected, it’s more like family staying connected in Christ. When it needs to be canceled, I feel a deepening pain and longing. When one family or even one person is missing, my heart aches for that connection. Yesterday my heart ached as three members were out, but that’s how life works, as the patriarch. All my life I have lived to provide reasons to challenge myself in biblical areas, my boys, my students, my co-Christians… It’s my greatest joy to teach, sometimes I need to be taught…

So truth is one of my favorite topics and it usually stems from a deeper topic like election (also known as predestination), I don’t back down… and neither do my boys… truth is important, in fact a man in history asked a great question once that seems to be getting asked a lot these days, and I mean specifically, this morning…. 

Please allow me tell you a story:

There was once a great and powerful ruler, he held in his hands the power of death, and what I mean is he had a position of governmental power to put anyone to death under his authority. Every ruler knows, there is always another over them, somehow and someway… Well this day was a bit different, it was the end of a long week of officials complaints, demands from citizens and he was simply tired, so he went home. He was abruptly recalled to the chair where he makes public decisions and declarations, “A man is causing trouble”. So off he goes, perhaps kissing his wife on the way out the door and getting her input about this ongoing troublemaker. 

This ruler was face to face with the troublemaker and asked a simple question “Truth? What is Truth?”… Imagine asking what truth is? Was it because he did not understand “truth”? Did he believe like today that you can make up your own truth? I guess I may never understand. The ironic part is this: “This ruler asked the greatest authority to ever walk the face of the earth on the topic of truth “What is truth?”” I don’t think he was expecting the wisest answer to this basic question. The authority has no response recorded, but what led to the question is revealed and that quote is this: “For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth.”

Imagine asking the greatest authority ever on truth the question “what is truth?” You can read about this story in the book of John chapter eighteen, verses 33- 40. 

My family didn’t read this passage yesterday, but they live it daily. We Hazzards believe there is a Truth and we don’t make it up but live in subjection to it. So Imagine my great joy when my boys are willing to lock horns with me and wrestle the scriptures with me… like the days of old when the wise men of the city would meet up at the gates daily to “argue” and come to conclusions that are good and just to faithfully operate the city in a manner that is good for all people… Not just the elite. 

Truth matters, I heard the definition of truth once explained this way : “Truth is reality as seen by GOD” But there is more to truth than seeing reality… not really! But there are certain aspects of reality “Truth” we should be aware of. Truth means not lying, being deceitful and even more, not allowing another person to believe a lie, not even a white lie. If you allow a lie, that’s your heart not telling the Truth… this is just as evil as actively telling a lie… You don’t believe me? Tell me what is more painful: “Your best friend lying to you about an affair and saying there is no affair or your best friend allowing you to believe there is no affair? (I can tell you the answer, I lived that! Before I married my beautiful, trustworthy Jess. The hurt is the same!”)

So on this day, Pick TRUTH, It is always the better option!

In peace and Love, C

nobody missed him

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I was reading today about a man named Chase. Chase was not from our area but could easily be one of many folks around your very own neighborhood. He could have been the retired “hermit” in the north woods, the “bum” you saw outside Target today, the woman pushing a stroller that holds all her worldly possessions as she walked along the road, or the grandmother that got scammed for all she had in life. 

Chase was challenged in this world to “fit in” he wasn’t trying to be “odd” he wasn’t trying to be a burden, he wasn’t trying to scare you and he wasn’t trying to “ruin your neighborhood”…  He did get into trouble, he did steal from time to time, he did ask you to help him… He did smell funky, he did look unkept, He did have value. 

Chase died alone, behind a Target store, nobody knew he was dead, nobody missed him. He was discovered days later, by accident. 

This story is all too common, our system is broken, so many “un-homed persons” are given a huge check each month. Spending this check in only a few days, maybe getting a motel room for a night to shower and sleep like royalty. As they slip over to the local homeless shelter to wash clothes for free, get a free meal from the mission or local “community action” group. Eventually, this outcast will head back over to the corner of the county park, set up as a “tent city”… Month after month, year after year until one day, after seeking shelter in a fish house in the back yard of a local person, they quietly die and are discovered days or weeks later as the owner starts setting up his spear house for that big muskie. 

Yes, many times this person will take advantage of everyone. Whether you are trying to help them or just ignore them, so often they will burn every bridge. BUT there is always that one “inconvenient truth”… Our government will pay them to be homeless! That’s right! Living on the streets is much more profitable that taking up residency in a home where people care and love them….

If I can get $1000.00 and get handouts for dinner, free clothes, as many tents and blankets as I want… Or, go to a house and pay $600.00 in rent, that only leaves $400.00 for smokes, food, utilities and “habits”… Loosing all the free stuff? Living in the county park for free, the freedom to go anywhere at anytime, folks buying you a meal at a restaurant you cant  afford…. You might learn pretty fast how to manipulate the world too. 

Don’t get me wrong, every homeless person we encounter that chooses to be on the streets has a counterpart that works to get off the streets…  It’s not a one size fits all equation. 

But the reality is this, it’s a challenge to be homeless, but many would rather be homeless and have the monthly paycheck than to live in a house or apartment and give that paycheck to a landlord. 

I think our government should start attending “co-dependent” counseling and learn a bit about “enabling”. I am no “expert” by any stretch, but the solution is not more money poured into a system that clearly doesn’t work! 

What was the ancient proverb? “Doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting different results each time is the true definition of insanity”?

Sam’s Place is one place that is trying to make a difference. We are not operating on some big budget, In fact it costs Jess and I every month to keep our doors open, yes, I pay to keep it going. One day we know we will reach a net zero, one day we know we will get to the point of making a difference and hopefully we will one day be able to reduce our rent price and meet those folks that “don’t fit into society”… I hope one day read about the Chases of this world, and how a small act of caring and kindness helped them overcome the challenges they face daily and become a vital part of society that gives back to the next person in the line of despair and solitude. 

Not everyone that dies alone behind Target has to be there or should be there! 

A young man that was brilliant, started his masters degree, excelled in mathematics, theoretical math, but struggled to fit into the society around him. A man of 60 plus, another brilliant mind, who lived behind his mothers house in a camper for two years, but never fit into the cookie cutter world we have. Another man who finished his degree with top honors and found himself alone and hearing voices, losing touch with reality, collecting pop cans. A mother who can’t get along with people, not receiving help because she doesn’t exactly fit the bill, she is almost to the point of getting help but doesn’t qualify. The motivated person who did some bad drugs and now lives with the constant looming cloud they may very well one day slip away into a psychosis that never ends. 

We can’t help everyone, and not everyone can be helped by Sam’s Place, but we can help 15, we can help some become stable, independent and some to just be safe and loved. 

Sam’s Place can’t change the entire world, but it can help change the lives of those we serve. Maybe one day, we can help more “brothers and sister” that are ready to come in out of the rain, a retired “man or lady” that is looking to find a home that doesn’t break the bank, a “cousin” that suffers from childhood trauma and needs a safe, secure place to live… At Sam’s Place, we don’t just take the ones that are homeless, outcast and don’t fit in, we take anyone that is looking for a loving home, but they must want to succeed, be safe and live clean. 

God blessed you, if you can read this, God has blessed you. C