Saved from a kidnapping

The Corvallis Gazette-Times recently included chilling testimony from a trial in which a woman explained how she was kidnapped in 1993, when she was 14 -- and how she escaped:

Tuesday’s witness, who said she had a photographic memory, detailed how a man approached her after he saw her in a northeast Portland grocery store. The man, who said his name was 'Dave,' asked her if she needed help. She was a runaway at the time, and although she said the man seemed nice, she told him that she was just going home.

Not long afterward, the man came sprinting after her, holding a gun. He forced her into his car and drove her to an area away from people. He asked her to take off her clothes, which she started to do, but then told him 'no.'

The woman said she started reciting the Lord’s Prayer aloud and prayed for God to forgive the man. God spoke back to her, she said, telling her to get out of the car.

She ran to a nearby store, where she watched her assailant drive back and forth. Finally, she called a friend.

The woman said she reported the kidnapping to police shortly afterward.

Thank God that she was saved from a worse trauma.

Led to. . .a closing college

The Edmonton Journal ran a story about Taylor University College, a school that is closing after its shifting focus from a Bible school to undergraduate arts degrees led to declining enrollment.

For Jontue Kuyvenhoven, that meant she was able to attend the school for only one year. She felt that God led her to Taylor University College.

'It's tough because I had finally found this really great fit at this really small university, in Alberta of all places,' said Kuyvenhoven, 22. 'The professors, the people ... I was having the time of my life and then the school shuts down. It's like, 'Why did you bring me here, God?''

Only God knows why He led Kuyvenhoven to the school. Fortunately for her, she is able to transfer her credits to King's University College in Edmonton, where she plans to study for a career as a worship leader.

The beginnings of a pastor

I am in the midst of reading "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith" by Rob Bell. It's quite an interesting book. On p. 40 of the book he tells how he got his start as a preacher -- at the chapel service of a summer camp in northern Wisconsin:

I remember standing up to talk in front of those hundred or so people gathered among those pine trees and being aware of the presence of God in a terrifying way. Seriously, it was terrifying. But in a good way. The word that comes to mind is holy. I became aware of something so real, yet I couldn't see it or touch it. I was standing there and I hadn't said a word yet, and what did I do? I took off my sandals because I knew the ground I was standing on was holy and that my life was never, ever going to be the same again.

It was in that moment that I heard a voice. Not an audible, loud, human kind of voice, but inner words spoken somewhere in my soul that were very clear and very concise. What I heard was, 'Teach this book, and I will take care of everything else.'

In that moment, my entire life changed forever.

Bell has gone on to be the amazingly successful pastor at Mars Hill in Michigan.

Recap of John Eldredge appearance in Minneapolis/St. Paul

Last week I attended the John Eldredge talk at Church of the Open Door. Here's a recap of his talk, which essentially was an outline of the six stages of a man's life:

Boyhood (birth to age 12)

* Meant to be a time of exploration and discovery

* Made safe by your father's strength

* It's wonderful to have a father show you how life works

* Boys need to know that their father adores them

* Often the wounding first happens in boyhood

Cowboy (ages 13 to 19)

* Ruled by the question "Do I have what it takes?"

* Validation needs to be established, which comes from someone speaking to you and also from experience

* Can be thwarted by: no one showing him how to do it, or boy trips and fails and no one helps him

* God wants us to live by faith and trust Him so we take risks

Warrior (starts around age 18, 19 or 20)

* Young men like competition

* God gives every man a warrior heart because: Adam had passivity, and we need to overcome it, and we live in a world at war with the kingdom of darkness

* Can be wounded by: being told as a boy that all aggression is wrong, or when a boy tries to rise up and fails

Lover (begins in late teens or early 20s)

* Runs essentially parallel to the Warrior stage

* Often takes a woman to awaken the heart

* Most men hide in the mind, but the heart is where the action is

* Friendship with God develops at this time

* Better if a little bit of the Warrior stage comes first

* Can get wounded by: boy being creative, Dad mocking it and humiliating boy; rejection; heartbreak

King (starts in late 30s or around 40)

* Man has a kingdom in which he has influence in the world

* We rule with God

* Question: when can we trust a man with power? There are many bad kings; a man can be trusted with power after he has been initiated

* Most of a midlife crisis is an unitiated man; God wants to come through and fill in the gaps

Sage (starts around late 50s or early 60s)

* A time of fathering others

* The sage is wounded when he is dismissed

* Becoming a mentor to warriors and kings

* Sages typically have to be asked; they won't voluntarily give advice in general

Incidentally, Eldredge was quite an interesting speaker in person. It was an excellent talk.

How to know if it is God speaking

"Passport: A Believer's Guide to the Kingdom of God" has a great checklist on pp. 36-37 on how to know if a voice that you're hearing is God speaking:

1. The voice of the Lord always agrees with Scripture.
2. You sense the thoughts are coming from your 'inner being', not just your mind or emotions.
3. The thoughts given by the Holy Spirit are often unlike your own ideas and sometimes have a 'that's not like me' quality. God may surprise you with a word that is not what you would have expected.
4. The word of the Lord comes with a sense of peace -- even the ones you don't like. When a thought stirs up fear, doubt, despair, confusion or anxiety, it is usually not the Lord. Those things are the devil's tools, not God's.
5. It brings God glory, not you.
6. Just because you want something does not make it wrong, but be careful about things where you have strong feelings. When I have strong feelings about an issue, I look for guidance from the counsel of Christian friends who are more neutral. Be careful about romance issues in particular.
7. Sometimes I know it is God speaking because I react with irritated anger. He is telling me the one thing to which I do not want to listen (but need to) and I get annoyed (see #3).

Change happens slowly

My small group through church currently is reading "Passport: A Believer's Guide to the Kingdom of God." The author, Tim Davidson, relates an interesting story on p. 33 about cultivating a listening spirit:

A church I was in once went through great difficulty. Things were becoming explosive. I walked in the woods asking the Lord what to do. Should I take some drastic action? Shake things up? Force a crisis? It was hard to hear. As I walked in silence, I observed many old dead trees that had fallen, but were still propped up by the trees around them. It would be a long time before they finally hit the forest floor. Then the Lord spoke: 'In my woods, change happens slowly.' In my spirit, I sensed he was warning me against being rash and trying to make quick and radical change. I was very grateful for this wisdom from God.

We are blades of grass

At church last Sunday, I had an interesting vision during worship.

I pictured everyone, not only in the congregation but in the entire world, as blades of grass worshiping God together. And we all knew that we should not cut each other down. Our focus needed to be on God, and we needed to help each other grow.

Take "The Shack" with a grain of salt

I finished reading "The Shack" by William P. Young this week. My sister-in-law was really excited about the book after reading it and wanted my wife and I to read it.

As I think about this book, I recommend taking it with a grain of salt. Portions of it seem blasphemous, but I believe that, if in the end "The Shack" is getting people to talk about forgiveness and God, that's a good thing.

It's definitely popular. "The Shack" is ranked number six in books on amazon.com and has inspired many spinoff books from other authors.

John Eldredge in Minneapolis/St. Paul on May 12

John Eldredge, an author whom I enjoy and I have written about on this blog, is coming to Minneapolis tomorrow. He will be speaking at Church of the Open Door as part of his "Fathered By God Tour 2009".

I will be attending and am looking forward to hearing him speak in person. He'll be speaking on the six stages of a man's journey, the essential path God has provided every boy and man to take in order to become a man in full.

I agree with about 90% of what he writes in his books. I have been underwhelmed by his podcasts, though -- he does not come across as a powerful speaker to me. Hopefully he will be more energetic in person.

Tickets are available through Itickets.com.

A book for women who have been abused by men

The News & Advance ran an article last week about Pastor Lewis L. Tucker Jr., who has written a book for women who have been abused by men. The book, "Damaged Goods: The Restoring Power of the Father's Love," gives the message to women who have been abused yet still feel that they need a man that God thinks you’re worth more than that; you need God in your life first before a man; and the Father’s love can restore you.

Tucker, in his ministry, has dealt with many women who have suffered abuse, whether it be verbal, physical or sexual:

One of those women called his wife last year, and Tucker says he knew what had happened from hearing his wife’s side of the conversation. He said God spoke to him, so he grabbed the phone and began ministering to the woman.

What Tucker had to say to her and what he says in his book boils down to is, first, God didn’t say a woman has to have a man. In fact, Genesis 2:18 says, 'And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a (helpmate) for him.’'

'So,' Tucker writes, 'who needed who?'

Tucker's book is available through amazon.com.

Meet Mackintyre Garton: church builder

CBS News ran a very moving story about Mackintyre Garton, a boy from Lathrop, Mo., whom God told to build a church on his grandparents' farm. Unfortunately, Garton died at nine years old of a brain aneurysm and did not get to see the church built. More information on Mackintyre's Church is here.