Hertzler Doings-April 26-May 2, 2010

Mon.-Great day. Home alone with time to study, exercise, clean up outside and inside, planted more potatoes, sweet potatoes, and grape tomatoes-especially for Micah, and striped tomatoes. Planted pretty pink petunias and other pinks.

Tues.-Wonderful day at school. Ruritan Club in the eve. Michael came along to thank them for the scholarship. A husband and wife sang and their adult daughter helped them. He played a steel pedal guitar that he had made himself. She was a hoot as Phil would say; a truly funny person. We asked them to come to the pig roast. She said to call her and remind her. She was using oxygen and said it was her best buddy after nearly dying a year ago.
Roof completely finished on Janelle's house.

Wed.-Yesterday, a little boy was crying because one of his best friends, a little girl, was mad at him. He felt completely misunderstood because she was angry at something that wasn't even true and she had not allowed him to explain. I used some of the things I learned at the Beth Moore Seminar and told him that no one should have that much power in his life; that Jesus loved him and that was his security; to be nice to her and give her some space; and that tomorrow, they would be friends again. He was almost sitting on my lap during this conversation and another of his buddies had their arm around him reassuringly. And you know what? He got it. He brightened up and was happy the rest of the class. When they asked where Miss Christen was and I told them and said we were going to pray for her, he asked, "Can I pray for her?" And he prayed a prayer I wish I could have engraved in stone. He thanked God for the beauty of the day even as he prayed for her health. He went on and on and ever word was significant. I thought of his struggles with learning and had a sudden revelation that God will use his struggles to call him to a work in which the fruit of compassion will be a much needed entity. I had to cover my face with my hands and hold back the sobs. Today, I saw him walking side by side with his restored friend. I asked him if things were better. He nodded with a gentle smile, and tossed these words over his shoulder, "I guess I showed her who's boss.
Makes me laugh again just writing it.

Ran into a friend at Walmart in the eve. and when she asked me how I was, I decided to tell her about a situation that troubled me and she vowed her prayers and wrote to me later in the eve. and my heart was lifted to a higher idea of how God could really work in this situation. I almost missed it by saying everything was fine but what a blessing I would have missed.

Adina asked me today to share with the young girls about my journey of faith regarding the death of my brother in law. I think this journey will be in a process for a long time. I have no easy answers and am only sure of one thing; God is with me.

Thurs/Fri.-Working around home. Got the fire ready to be lit down at the river. Lisa H., Judy, Crystal T., and Karen P. came for my river party. Quite a few others had wanted to come and something came up and it ended up being just the five of us. We had a wonderful time. Phil took them down to the river on a hayride. He attached the trailer to the 4 wheeler. They stopped at my little chapel and I showed them around. Judy was down alone at the river for an hour, watching and feeding the fire. We all want to do this again soon.

Oh-Ryan and Michael Petersheim and Bronson Fox came down to hunt turkey. They arrived early Fri. morning. I see glimpses of them here and there. Michael brought me hard PA pretzels and his eyes get all soft when he talks about the new 6 week old baby at his house. He showed me lots of videos and pictures. Little Mark looks like a Petersheim.

Sat.-Heart of Va. Festival. Susan with youth handing out invitations to church and D.G. coupons. I ran around with Sammy Jo and Judy and then with Carleen after they left. It was hot and breezy and we had fun. I love to come home to the quiet but there is always something in me that loves the crowd and I always think how much Jesus loved the masses. He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. I also love to see the amazing creativity amidst the artists-especially the musicians, the artists, jewelers, photographers, and potterers. God has so much creativity that He spills it out on millions of people. They think their idea is new but God gave it to them, and there are many more new ideas to be received from Him. I ran into an acquaintance from church whose baby was driving her bunkers because he wouldn't go to sleep and I asked if he'd come to me and he snuggled right in and went to sleep. And now I have a new love-Aden H. Lisa showed me the church offices in the Daily Grind building and I gained an appreciation for the wide scope of work that was needed to get them built as well as the work still needed to get the rooms ready at church. Came home and did some wash, cleaning, and blogging. Watched 'The Princess Diaries' with Susan. Freeman grilled ribs for all the guys.

Sun.-Church. Lunch with Freeman, Alli, Kelli S. and Susan. Watched 007 and went to Financial Peace Class in eve. Michael and Philip made lunch at the river with their guy friends. Bad storms in middle states. 20 inches in a short time at some places. Tornadoes and high winds. Failed terrorist bomb in Times Square. Giant oil spill in gulf. I think we are watching prophecy being fulfilled every time we turn on the news. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me, Jesus said.

The Sinful Woman

In the Asian culture,
there is an open door policy.
People can walk right into your home.

In Thailand,
after Johnny (Phil's brother) was killed,
Janelle came down the stairs
a day or two after the accident
to find a strange man kneeling
in front of the picture of John,
praying to him
and imploring him for forgiveness.
To take a life is unforgivable
in the Thai culture.
In fact, there is no word
for 'forgiveness'
in that culture.

The man,
who had taken Johnny's life
through his drunkenness,
wanted Johnny to forgive him
somehow,
and had come to his home
to pray to his picture
and ask for something
he didn't understand.

I say all that to say that in the Thai culture
and in the culture of the story I am
about to tell,
people can walk right into your home
because the door is literally open.

Also, in the Thai culture,
feet are considered dirty and disgusting.

If you point your feet towards someone,
you have insulted them.
The last thing one wants to do
is to touch another's feet.

I wonder if it was so in Jesus' day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon was a Pharisee.
He asked Jesus to come to his house
for dinner, so Jesus went.
He sat down on the floor around the low table
with His feet angled behind Him.

A woman in the city
who was a sinner,
heard that Jesus was at Simon's house,
so she took an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,
and walked right up to where Jesus reclined
at the table.

She stood behind Him weeping.

She bent down and began to wash His feet
with her tears, and wiped them
with the hair on her head.

She cried and cried
and with her tears,
she washed His dusty feet.

Then she began to kiss them.

I can just see her doing that.

Not only did she wash His feet,
she kissed His feet,
and then she anointed them
with the fragrant oil.

The very oil that she used to entice men
she poured out on Jesus.

The very oil that she bought with her
earnings of prostitution,
she poured out on Jesus.

She gave it all to Him.
She was never going to use it again.

She entered Simon's house as a sinner.
She washed Jesus' feet as a sinner.

I wonder how she knew Him.
I wonder why she loved Him so much.
There is more to this story than what
is written in The Book.

Of course,
the Pharisee knew what kind
of woman she was
and He didn't think much of Jesus' discerning skills.

But Jesus went on to tell Him a story
of two people who were in debt to the
same person.
One was in a lot of debt
and the other
was not.
"Simon, which one of the people
who owed money appreciated
the forgiveness of their debt the most?"

"Well, the one who was forgiven the most,"
Simon Says.

"That's right," said Jesus.
"Do you see this woman?
She has done for me what you did not do.
She has washed my feet with her tears,
and you didn't even give me water to do so.

You gave me no towel,
but she used her hair like a towel.
You gave me no kiss
and she has not stopped kissing
my feet since I've come in.

You didn't anoint my head with oil
but she has anointed my feet with oil.

It is true, she has many sins.
But I forgive her
because she loves me so much.
She has been forgiven much,
therefore, she loves much.

You have been forgiven little,
therefore, you love little."

Then He looked at that
woman, who had only
understood her value
by her usefulness to men,
and He said,
"Your sins are forgiven you.
Your faith has saved you.
Go in peace."

And they were amazed that
He had the authority to forgive sins.

I love that woman.

In one night,
she poured out all of her sensuality
on the only safe man around.

She gave Him what she had never
given any man ever before.

She gave Him her trust.
She trusted that He would not reject her.

How brave she was in her brokenness.
How courageous was her love.

She went away with a new identity.

Her flask of oil was empty;
her face no longer ashamed.

I love her for what she did for Him.
And I love Him for what He did for her.

Luke 7:36-50

Sunday Sermon-April 18, 2010

I'm a bit late in blogging last week's sermon and I'm a bit tired after being with Beth Moore and lots of ladies all day, so I have decided to write about what I came away with from last week's sermon and the Word, etc. instead of blogging from my church notebook notes.

#1-Malachi 3:1 says, "..the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple.."
Pastor Frank talked about how God will come to those who seek Him. "Make us a seeker of God. May You seek Yourself in me."

Then I kept on reading in Malachi.

"But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner's fire
and like launderers' soap.
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness."

I wrote in my notebook after I read those words,
Or maybe Pastor Frank said this; I'm not sure anymore:

"Just as He cleansed the temple first when He rode into Jerusalem
so He will cleanse the sons of Levi when He comes.
The sons of Levi are the priests; the leaders.
As go the leaders, there go the people.
The priests are the ones who offer the sacrifices.
He will purge the priests as gold and silver is tried
that they may offer to the Lord an offering of righteousness."

We would think that the priests are the pastors,
the board members, the deacons, the leaders, etc.
and we would be right.
But God's Word says that we
as believers,
are a royal priesthood,
a holy nation and that He has made us kings and priests
to His God and Father.
The Word of God was written to all of us;
not just the leaders of the church.
We are all held accountable for what is in the Word.

So we should all be ready for His cleansing work.
I am quite sure He's been doing it for some time
and I am quite sure that He is going to 'step up'
His purging process with fire
and His cleansing process with soap.
I wonder if the soap is what washes off
the remains of the ashes from the fire.

The reason for this refinement
is so that our offerings to Him
would be full of integrity and righteousness,
so that our words of praise in the supernatural
would reflect the life we are living in the natural.

The part that scares me is this:
"Who can endure the day of His coming
and who can stand when He appears?"
No one will be pointing any fingers on that day.
We will all be on our faces.

But if we endure it,
and we are cleansed,
then we will be able offer
to God the
purified wine of our worship
in goblets of gold and silver
that have no blemish.
It will be worth it to Him
and it will be worth it to us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#2-When Jesus came out of His testing in the wilderness
He was prepared for the ministry. He was ready to be a leader.
It will be the same with us.
I've been thinking about this all week.
These words struck like a good arrow into the depths of my heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#3-To obey is better than sacrifice.

This was my own personal lesson.
Many people were up at the altar and I was back with
someone else during the prayer time.
I felt I should sit with this couple who seemed
confused by what was going on.
They are newer to the church.
I felt that I should sit beside them just to be with them.
But I didn't.
I kept on being partially involved with
the sacrifice at the altar.
And I am sorry that I missed it.
I hope I have another chance.
Because to obey is better than sacrifice.