Misunderstood...

The poor will always be with you... Matthew 26:11

All scripture is true and God breathed. However some scripture is misunderstood or misinterpreted. The poor are among us and true they will always be with us. However this scripture could be easily misunderstood. One thing it does not mean is that the poor will always be with us so we don't have to be responsible for playing a part in their lives. Another thing it does not mean is that the poor will always be with us so we will never be able to reach them all and therefore we become apathetic to those in need. It does not mean that the poor are to be considered less than we who are not poor.

In fact it is the quite the contrary. The poor will always be with us BUT we still do have responsibility! We should not have the mentality that we can't save the world rather the attitude of obedience to what ever it is the Lord calls us to. We should guard ourselves from apathy and become sympathetic and have compassion.

When Jesus said the words " The poor will always be with us", it was not to exclude their needs. It was not intended for us to make excuses as to why we are not actively helping the poor. It was to make the point that the lady with the alabaster jar filled with perfume who decided to use it to wipe Jesus feet was not wasting her resources. The Pharisees were condemning her for wasting something that could have been used to sell in order to make money to give to the poor. They were making fun of her in a sense and were saying in fact,"You are wasting your time and money. Don't you know that Jesus would appreciate it more if you sold that perfume and not anoint his feet with it?" It was then that Jesus, said that the poor would always be with us....to make the point that she was doing exactly what she should be doing. Sacrificing something of importance for the Glory of the Christ.

Jesus was always found outside the gate. Outside the gate is where Jesus is today and where we will find Him. Outside the gate is where the diseased, poor, widowed, orphaned, lost and oppressed are. It is where we will find the ones who need Jesus and the life saving salvation He gives and we all need to receive.

All through scripture Old and New Testament God refers to the poor. Poor in spirit and poor financially. This is an important matter to God. All through scripture God tells those of us who are rich to not turn our back on the poor, but rather to give. To what extent do we give is the next question? Well, the Lord is teaching me that we need to give in accordance to Gods word. God has showed our family that obedience is better than sacrifice. That when we really ask God what should we give, He is faithful to show us. We are not always ready to obey. Jesus has shown us that He has not called us to an impossible task, that we have been equipped to live this out.

I wanted to share a few pictures of our trip to Mexico with a ministry called Casa de Amor. This ministry builds houses for those who don't have suitable living quarters. They have a process of inviting a family to Church and then family has the opportunity to apply for a house. Not all applicants receive homes, but with the help of local churches houses are being built, lives are being changed. The house is not the most important thing about the ministry....the Gospel is! With the building of these homes, Christ is exampled and the Gospel is shared, the Kingdom of God is built.

The poor will always be among us...but that doesn't mean we should just accept that and move on. It is a challenge to move into a stance of obedience according to scripture. Jesus exampled a perfect life worth imitating to us. He became poor...he suffered along side with...He gave everything for us. The bible says if we love Jesus we will obey His commandments. If we are His disciples we will obey His commandments. We will love our neighbor as ourselves. If we love Jesus we will be like Him. Yes the poor will always be among us, this is a great opportunity to love our neighbors, to suffer along side of, to give all that the Lord has given to us.
Christina and I crammed into the back of the truck.
Our sleeping quarters...sand as far as the eye could see.Brett and Christina getting ready for the big day.

Reading the Bible with a local neighbor.

Their outdoor kitchen.

My new friend and I...She was so sweet. We just clicked. We also had the same favorite Bible verse...Psalm 83.

The Family we were building for, a single mom of two small children.

Putting the roof on.

Bryan and Brett...holding up the walls of the house.

Jesus is always the center of what we do...

Inside the small little home. No finished walls, no running water or bathroom. No kitchen. Only a 11 x 22 house with two small windows. Their is no heat, or electricity, no carpet on the floor, just cement with four walls.

Bryan trying to stucco the outside walls. It is a lot harder than it looks. Thank God that we had a professional with us to finish the job.

Beautiful girls that we were able to share the Love of Christ with, along with some goodies such as hand me down clothes and treats.

Casa de Amor uses NO power tools or electricity. They want to make sure that one gets hurt for one, but that it is easy to duplicate. The locals learn to help themselves and don't need to go buy fancy tools to do it with. Good sweat and hard work built this house.

We prayed over every part of this project from the laying of the foundation to the key ceremony.

Me and Guadalupe...She was so grateful for her new home. Although in America, it is something that we keep our tools in at best, to her it was a start at a new life...and a mansion.

We were guest of Calvary Chapel Tucson, and were given the great honor of committing the house to God and presenting the keys to the family. We also were able to take an offering of cash to get her started with a few things she needed.

Pastor Brett blessed the home and prayed with Guadalupe and her family. We had an translator to help her and us understand. She kept saying that Jesus truly blessed her and that she knows that this is true love. That we were good servants of the Lord.

With the left over material we built a little porch. We had the kids and Guadalupe put their hands in the wet cement and we wrote their names in it.

There were several houses being built this weekend for other families, but this was our crew!! Everyone including the kids helped. No one really took a break. Lives were changed for the Glory of God. We were Jesus with skin on!

Tada....

Yesterday was a big day for our daughter Cailee. She has had braces almost as long as she has been in the US, 3 1/2 years...a long time. Yesterday she FINALLY got them off...and boy are they beautiful.

For those of you who don't know, these braces were a huge blessing. Cailee and Cyilea had just come to their forever home with us. My mom had ALS and was living with us too, I was her care giver. Money was tight. Two new children...a really sick mom, a family of 8 plus mom and dad, money was tight. Cadenn was already in braces and Cailee was too. We needed to get her established some where. I took her to our orthodontist to have her teeth checked out.

I had done this braces thing before and know that they would want a start up fee...which was around $400, which might I add, we did not have. I prayed...I gave God all my great ideas. "Lord, if they would let me make payments on the down payment. If they would not charge $400, but maybe $200...that would be great. Lord, I don't know, do what you want, if we can't afford it, we can't afford it, we will save."

Once we got there, it was worse than I thought. The Dr. would have to remove all her old braces because they didn't use the same kind. Then he laid out the plan of action, 2 more years of all of this and she would be done. The Dr. took us to the financial department to work out the money situation.

Of course I was nervous, I was going to have to tell them we will have to wait for awhile, in the mean time the braces will just sit on Cailee's teeth. He thanked us for our business and motioned to the finance lady to follow him. When she returned she printed up all of paper work...it was just as I thought. $400 down, monthly payments for the rest of the two years. BUT THEN....

She said that the Dr. so loved that we were willing to open our home to yet another child in need that he wanted to show his appreciation to us. Because we were willing to step out and love on children he was going to love on them too. He wanted to do Cailee's braces PRO BONO...FREE!

Tears streamed down my face of course, and of course I couldn't contain them. All my great ideas gone, God had GREATER ones.

We are truly thankful for our Dr. he has blessed our lives.

Before....

Getting ready...and so excited

Taking them off...

The first braces free smile...

Tada...

What a beautiful smile...

Her first look in the mirror...

Advent Conspiracy...

You are invited....

Hi friends!!

With Christmas just around the corner we thought we would do some things a little differently this year. I want to share briefly what we will be doing.

A few of my friends and I got together and talked about what we could do to serve the poor, orphaned, widowed, lost and oppressed this year. We have been going through the David Platt Radical series http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/radical, and by Gods grace, it has changed our perspective on the way we give and spend our money year round and on the holidays.

This year, we wanted to raise money for others that have nothing. They are not interested in stuff at Christmas time…but they are interested in clean water or a day’s meal. They are interested in feeding their baby, or a loved one. This year we decided that there is nothing more precious than giving to others who would otherwise go to bed hungry, thirsty, naked and without the things that are so common to you and me.

We will be having a HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE GIFT AND BAKE SALE! Now is the time to Save The Date! 100% of all proceeds will go to Remember The Poor ministries in Uganda.

You are invited to a Holiday Open House Gift and Bake Sale
When: Saturday, December 12th

Time: 11am – 7pm

Where: The Thieles Home

Come Enjoy: Homemade baked goods and candies for sale,
Refreshments and free samples so you can taste the
goodies you would like to purchase, Handmade Gift
Items, Door prize, and raffles.
Selections are limited, so come early for all your
Favorites. We will also acept donations for
Remember the Poor.

We are excited to share this day with you as we remember and give to the poor.

James 1:27 ~ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep ones self from polluted from the world.

Dare To Trust...

Christ’s call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devil’s clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make them into an Almighty Army of God.

But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshiped or preached, but only Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, clothes, silver croziers or gold watch-chain crosses, church steeples or richly embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches… ~C.T. Studd


C.T. Studd was a wealthy English athlete who emphasized a life of faith and who gave away his entire inheritance, a good portion of it to George Muller’s orphan-care ministry! He started his mission work in China, and a wife and two kids later he moved to India to continue reaching the unreached. Finally, nearing retirement, he settled in Africa. His church did not support his decision. They said he was risking too much, and told him to wait (for someone else/younger to go?). This is a portion of the letter he wrote the church:

Too long we have been waiting on one another to begin. The time for waiting has passed. The hour of God has struck. War is declared. In God’s holy name let us arise and build. The God of heaven will fight for us. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of Christ, and the gates and minions of Hell shall not prevail against us. Should men such as us fear?

Before the whole world, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God. We will venture our all for Him. We will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God than live trusting in man, and when we come to our position we realize the battle is already won and the end of the glorious campaign is in sight because we will have the real holiness of God. Not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts, we will have a masculine holiness. One of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.

~C.T. Studd

David Platt shared these quotes from C.T. Studd’s biography, a biography that’s suddenly at the top of our to-read list! To have your socks knocked off and watch the whole message by David Platt, click HERE. Select the 9/27/09 “Faith Risks” video

Hallelujah Night...

We had a great night of fun our our churches Hallelujah Night. What made this night so special is that not only did our church offer an alternate night to Halloween, by inviting the neighborhood, we also were able to talk to our neighbors about Jesus. There were skits, and music. Two bands played, our band played about 5 songs to about 5 people, Ha Ha (funny but true). We sounded great, but no one would know! Then the youth band came on, Coral was in that one, she rocked. I love her voice.

The Youth kids decided to fast all day to prepare to share Jesus with those who came for the Hallelujah Night. They watched a Ray Comfort video, which teaches people how to share Jesus. Showing them that they are sinners and are in need of a Savior. The kids had tracks and candy and would approach people and ask them a few questions. They had such a good time and are ready to do it again in other settings.

All and all we had a great time with Jesus, friends and fun!!

Grammie with Colton and Branson

Rachel, Chloe and Jillian

Cyilea Kitty and Chloe Tiger

Cute little Kitty

Amy wit da fro...

PaPa wit da fro...

MaMa wit da fro...ah ha...ah ha...

Big Daddy wit da fro..

Cade and Colton

Lil Chris...Where's da fro??

Cailee with all ten of her orange fingers

Coral and her girl's

Yes..the hair is semi permanent red...I don't know what I was thinking.

Our Bands awesome electric guitarists!!

Patty Cakes on drums

Us singing to 5 people...great fun!

Grammie and Chloe

Colton...The Stone

Remedy...

Remedy - [rem-i-dee] noun :
Something that cures or relieves a disease or a bodily disorder; a healing medicine, application or treatment.
verb:
- to cure relieve or heal, to restore to the natural or proper condition, put right.

Remedy...something that today, many of us desire, some more than others. David Crowder has a song out called Remedy this is what it says:
Here we are
The broken and used
Mistreated , abused
Here we are

Here You are
The beautiful one, who came like a son
Here You are

So we lift up our voices and open our hands, to cling to the Love that we can't comprehend
O lift up your voices and lift up you hands, to sing of the Love that Has freed us from sin

Here we are
Bandaged and bruised
Awaiting a cure
Here we are

Here You are
Our beautiful King
Bringing relief
Here You are

You are the one who has saved us, You are the one who embraced us.
You are the one who has come and is coming again
You are the remedy

He is the remedy
You are the remedy
Let us be the remedy.

It is interesting to me that as believers we hold the cure, the Remedy to all of our sickness and disease right in our hands. Most of us are grateful for that Remedy..we say all the time to other believers, "I don't know how we could do death, or cancer, or ALS, or..... with out the Remedy (Jesus)." Truth is, we can't do it. We would be lost, hopeless, desperate. The Remedy gives us hope, and strength.

We are so happy that we have the Remedy to cling to in time of trouble. We encourage our friends at church to cling to the Remedy when they are facing a giant, something bigger than themselves, foreclose on a home, loss of a job, death of a loved one. We know, and can access the Remedy at any time, he lives in us.

My mom died of ALS...a slow life taker. She died a new death every day until she had nothing left of her body and all she could do was blink. Her mind worked perfectly but she was imprisoned by it. I would have given all I had everything I owned if the Doctor said....I have the cure for ALS. I would have given it to her first...THEN we would have both ran around to everyone we knew...people with and without ALS and told them of that cure. The cure that would make you walk again, talk again, LIVE again!! We would have shouted from the roof tops "We have the cure...We have the Remedy!!!"

Nothing would have stopped us...it is too important...we would have gone until the whole world had heard....or would we?

We, Americans especially, we have THE REMEDY!! WE have JESUS CHRIST, THE REMEDY! We know he heals all of our diseases, cures all of our illnesses, comforts the poor, places the lonely in families. He is the Father to the fatherless, causes the blind to see and the lame to walk. He alone is The Remedy. Why don't we just keep Him to ourselves?

To suggest such a thing sounds like blasphemy right? Then why do we do it? Why is the American church sitting in pews...and not out shouting from the roof tops, "We have the cure...We have the Remedy?" Are we scared? Do we not want to count the cost? Are we afraid of becoming sick if we mingle with the diseased and dying world? Are we afraid, that The Remedy will cause us to sell all of our possessions in order to give to the poor, orphaned and widowed? Do we think that what we are doing now is working? If it doesn't affect us directly, do we care?

The song above said that "He is The Remedy." Then it said "Let us be the remedy!" We are to be the remedy...just as Peter and Paul, healed the lame, cast out demons, fed the hungry. We are the cure!! We have the resources!! We are the Remedy with Christ in us!!

What then do we do?? We start caring, and stop hoarding The Remedy. We take courage. We remember that we know the cure, WE HAVE THE REMEDY.

We remember we have The Remedy for world hunger (30,000 children will die today of hunger or preventable disease like diarrhea), we have The Remedy for the lost and dying. We have The Remedy for the lonely and fatherless. THEN... We stop spending our resources on our selves...more clothes, more food, more stuff...and we start spending it on the lost dying world, that is crying out for The Remedy! "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted, you encourage them, and listen to their cry." Psalm 10:17. When we love the lost and poor, touch them, and feed them, we show them The Remedy is Christ. We can encourage them in death, disease, the loss of their home, and loss of a job. We can be The Remedy..The hands and feet of Christ!

We all have something in common with the world. We all would do anything to have the cure. We all want The Remedy to death and disease. We all would give everything, all we had to save our loved one.

Let us be The Remedy through Christ, The Remedy is us. Galations 2:19 - For it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives through me.