Liar, Lunatic or Lord

Around this time of year, in churches all around the world, people are presented with a question. The same question that has been presented for over 2,000 years. Who do you believe Jesus is? If you consider the words He spoke there are really only three options. He was a liar, He was a lunatic, or He was and is, exactly who He says, the Son of God, He is Lord.

When I sat in the Good Friday service at my church today I pondered this question as we read over passages from the Gospel that recount Jesus' movements from just before Passover until the crucifixion. 

The first part of the question is was Jesus a liar? There's far too much evidence to go over everything tonight but I'll bring up one point. People say that the best lies give some detail but not too much. If you give too much detail it's easy to forget and end up contradicting yourself. Jesus gave details though. 

In Mark 14:13 "And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him."

I've read this passage countless times over the years but tonight, the pastor pointed out something I've never thought of before. In this time, Jewish men didn't carry pitchers of water. That was a woman's job. The pastor stated that this would be a lot like seeing a man walking around carrying a woman's purse, it's something you rarely see unless his wife has asked him to hold it. Yet, when the disciples went into the city they found the man. It makes sense that he wasn't hard to spot, he was probably the only one carrying a pitcher of water. Still, if Jesus was a liar, how did he know that the man would be there? At that time, in that place.

The next question on the list, was He a lunatic? Lunatics can very rarely hide their insanity for long periods of time. Perhaps they can do it for a while but the disciples were with Jesus for over two years. If he was insane then it seems very unlikely that He was able to deceive them for that long. And not just them but thousands of others, perhaps more. Plus, they weren't just deceived for a short time. Many of His followers chose to give up their lives because they believed that Jesus was who He said He was. Could a lunatic deceive that many people for so long? And still be deceiving them today? It seems unlikely.

In the words of Arthur Conan Doyle, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

So my question to you today, is how do you answer this question? Who do you say He was? 

I'll offer one more thought on the subject then leave you to make your own conclusions. Tonight my pastor said something rather intriguing. "Grace is free, but it's not cheap." Jesus didn't have his life taken, He knew what was coming. We see that in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He knew the torture that He would endure, the time when God would turn His face away, and the brutal death He would endure. His life wasn't taken, He gave it up willingly. For you, for me, for anyone who chooses to believe in Him. Does that sound like the actions of a liar, a lunatic or the Lord?

A Woman of Quiet Courage

 Born on April 30, 1934, in New England, North Dakota, a baby girl was born to a young couple. Virgina was their first child but they provided her with a baby sister before moving across the country to Oregon just a couple of years later. Eventually, she would become the oldest of five.

She was raised on a farm and when she was still young her dad was injured in a farming accident. She had to step up to do more chores. One of those chores was to help bring the horses in. They were well trained and would walk right behind her. She was so little compared to those huge farm horses and she was afraid they would trample her. She would speed up to put some distance between her and the horses, but no matter what she did the horses would just speed up with her. Years later, she still remembered that time in her life and would tell her granddaughter about it.

As Virgina grew up she came to know Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. She graduated high school and felt like the Lord was calling her to full time ministry. She applied to Simpson Bible College in Seattle, Washington and headed there for college. 

There, when working in the dining hall as a waitress, she met a dishwasher named Russell Wayland. He had transferred from Prairie Bible College in Canada and was also studying to go into full time ministry. They often ate their meals with a small group of coworkers before heading to work to serve others. During those times, they started to get to know each other.

Late one afternoon, Russ asked her to go to a basketball game with him that night. Because of how late in the day it was she assumed that he’d asked out another girl and had been turned down. Deciding that she wouldn’t play second fiddle to anyone, she said no.

As Russ tells the story, some weeks later, after returning from a school break, he went down to the dean of women’s office to find something. (He’s always quick to point out that he had permission to be there.) When he got there he saw a group of young women standing around discussing what they were going to do that evening as the school’s strict curfew didn’t go into enforcement until classes resumed the next day. Russ went over to find whatever he was looking for and Virgina came over to help him. He knew that these young women would spend so long arguing about their different ideas they would never come to a decision and actually go do it. He said to Virgina, “I’m going to my aunt’s for blackberry pie and ice cream.” She was quick to respond, “Take me with you.”

That was their first date and Russ quickly knew he was in love. He knew he wanted to marry her and wrote to her parents to ask for their blessing. Her mother wrote back and said “You make your bed, you lay in it.” One day, they were sitting in Russ’ car eating lunch and he asked her to marry him. It had been just six weeks since they had begun dating and Virginia didn’t say yes. Instead, she told him that she would pray about it. I’m not sure how long she made him wait,

One weekend Russ, Virginia and two others were returning to school after leading some version of a Vacation Bible School as part of their school required ministry. On their way back their car broke down. One of the young men with them knew the town they were in and had a friend who lived there. They stopped at a payphone and he looked up the number in the phone book. He found the right name but when he traced his finger over to get the number his finger slipped down by a line. He didn’t realize that he had called the wrong person as he explained to the man who he was and their situation. They were sitting in the car when someone pulled up. When the man got out Russ and Virgina’s friend looked at them and said, “I don’t know who that is.”

As it turned out the man didn’t know them but he was a believer and he was willing to help them out. He took them all to his home and gave them a place to stay for the night. Virginia went upstairs to lie down for a bit. She was praying about Russ’ marriage proposal. She came downstairs and told Russ that the Lord had given her a verse.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be discouraged, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

She told him then that she would marry him. 

It was another year and a half before they got married. Right after their wedding they moved into a tiny little RV trailer and Virgina came down with laryngitis. She lost her voice for about a week. Over the years Russ would tease her, saying that had been the best week of their marriage. 

As the years went by, Virgina gave birth to their first daughter, Leslie. Russ’ sister, Jeannie, and her husband, Mel, went into ministry with an organization called Village Missions. They’re a non-denominational ministry that sends pastors to rural areas all over the United States and Canada. They shared their experience with Russ and Virgina and encouraged them to join.

They eventually followed Mel and Jeannie’s advice and took their first church in Blodgett, Oregon. There, they gave birth to their second daughter, Teresa. They served at several churches in Oregon, Washington, Nebraska and Idaho, over their years with Village Missions. It was a hard life. They made less than $200 a month to support their growing family, as they added two more girls to their home. They had a hand crank washer that Virgina used to wash cloth diapers and all the clothes that her girls and husband got dirty. There were times that they had no idea how they were going to buy groceries but the Lord always provided. Sometimes it was in the way of church members giving them vegetables from their garden or people anonymously dropping off a bag of groceries on their doorstep. At one point they had a car that you had to put into reverse before you could put it into drive. It made stop lights a little more terrifying.

Russ was still with Village Missions but his ministry had changed, instead of being at just one church he was traveling all over the country. He was on the road when he got a call from his third daughter, Victoria, she was letting him know that Virgina had just given birth to their fifth child. “It’s another girl Dad!” She told him and they welcomed Lynn into their family.

Lynn was born seven years after their fourth daughter, Kimberly, and her sisters would later recount how they loved playing with her because it was like having a live doll they could dress up. Virginia loved her girls and she wanted to make sure that they had the life skills they would need.

Virginia hadn’t known how to cook when she got married so from the time her girls were small she would line them up at the kitchen counter and put a large glass mixing bowl in front of them. The girls, balanced on stools, took turns putting ingredients into the bowl, one at a time then mixing them in.

The most important thing that Russ and Virgina taught their girls was about their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Each day before they went out the door to catch the school bus, Virgina made her girls recite their verse of the day. They were always running late for the bus but that didn’t matter, Virginia was adamant that they say verses every single day, without fail. 

Another principle the girls were raised with was Russ and Virgina’s emphasis on hospitality. Russ would often bring home guests for a meal. Since this was long before cell phones, Virginia rarely had advance warning. Even so, she would always find a way to feed them. Sometimes, that was something as simple as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If anyone needed a place to sleep Russ and Virgina always  provided one.

After their older four girls were out of the house, Russ got a call asking him to move from North Bend, Oregon to Camano Island, Washington and help his brother, Bill, at his Village Missions church there. They packed up and made the move, that was only supposed to be for a couple of months. The Lord had other plans and they ended up there for over a decade.

Eventually, Russ and Virgina retired from Village Missions. Camano Chapel threw them a huge retirement party. They made sure that all five of their daughters, their son-in-laws, and all sixteen grandchildren (two more were born later) were flown in for the party. Years later Russ and Virgina recounted their joy at having all of their family together, and what a surprise it had been when Leslie and Victoria’s families were brought out on stage. Leslie, and her husband Scott, were and still are, missionaries in Austria. Victoria’s husband, George, was in the Air Force and stationed on the other side of the country. The church had managed to keep it a surprise that they had flown everyone in for the celebration.

A few days after Russ’ retirement from Village Missions he took a new job with AWANA. He spent the next several years traveling with them while Virgina stayed home on Camano Island, continuing her own quiet ministry of hospitality and faithfully serving behind the scenes of the church. Eventually Russ retired, again, and they moved back to North Bend, Oregon to serve, once more, at Hauser Community Church. 

 

Russ had several more retirement parties over the years and Virgina was always right there beside him, faithfully serving wherever the Lord sent them. When they were both in their eighties they moved in with their second daughter, Teresa, and her husband, John. By that time it was evident that Virgina’s memory was starting to fade. Though she continued to read her Bible and faithfully pray, she had stopped telling stories of her childhood or their years in ministry. She continued to love Russ just as much as she had since the day she finally gave him an answer to his proposal.

Virginia loved to take care of people. Russ and Virgina owned a cabin in northern Washington where they allowed pastors and missionaries to come stay when they needed a rest. They also got their family together every year for a wonderful, and loud, family vacation/reunion. One year their granddaughter brought a friend who hurt her foot while out on the porch. Someone went inside to ask Grandma for a band-aid but she couldn’t find one. Two days later one of her daughter’s came out to the porch, “Grandma said someone needed a band-aid?” She may have been two days late but her love for taking care of people meant that she hadn’t forgotten and she wanted to make sure everyone was cared for.

By the end of her life, Virgina had forgotten many things but she never lost her sweet and loving nature or her devotion to the Lord. This was evident in how comfortable she was with prayer. Virgina Wayland was a woman who put her trust in the Lord and walked through life with a quiet courage and confidence because of her faith in Him. No matter how dire the circumstances she turned to the Lord in prayer, trusting Him to carry her family through it. He never failed them and she made a point of sharing that with everyone who would listen. Her greatest mission in life was to share Christ with others, wanting all of them to join her one day in heaven. Her second greatest joy was her family, followed by those she was devoted to serving inside and outside the church. 

Virgina leaves behind five daughters, five son-in-laws, eighteen grandchildren (plus a bonus one), nineteen great-grandchildren, and hundreds more whose lives she touched through the years. 

I am honored to be one of those grandchildren, and although we all miss her, I rejoice in knowing that when she passed away she was met by Jesus with the words that she longed to hear. “Well done, good and faithful servant.” One day I will see her again in heaven. Until then I’ll strive to have the kind of love and courage that she exuded every day of her life. 

A Day of Thanksgiving

 Hello! I know it's been a really long time since I posted on here. There's been a zillion things going on. And those things are just a few of the things I'm very grateful for this Thanksgiving. I thought it would be worth writing at least a few of them down.

-First and foremost I'm always grateful for my faith. My relationship with Christ is what gives meaning to my life, it makes the hard times bearable and brings reason to the struggles. I know that life isn't perfect but He allows me to go through difficulties but He always has a plan for my life.

-Secondly, I'm always amazing grateful for my family. They're my built in support system and they've never let me down. I'm very blessed to have them.

-Third, my friends. I have some of the best friends in the whole world. I wouldn't know what to do without them.

-Fourth, my church. This year I started attending a new church. It took me a while to start getting involved but now I've joined a small group, met some amazing people, and I truly look forward to attending each week. 

-Fifth, my new job. In July I took a promotion at the same company but in a different department. The last four months as a front office lead with Physical Therapy have been fantastic. Due to unforeseen circumstances, things have been incredibly busy and hectic but it's also been amazing. I get to work with a great team doing something I really love. I'm excited to continue growing in my career.

-Sixth, my newest book! I'm very happy to announce that "Conflicted Attractions" Book 2 in the Yagos series has been released on Amazon! I'm so thankful for everyone who's worked on this project with me and made this dream a reality.

-Seventh, I'm thankful for our country. I don't mean to list it so far down this list but it is a sincere statement. We live in an amazing country and I'm extraordinarily thankful for the freedoms we have and the men and women who have fought and died to protect them.

-Eighth,  I'm thankful for my house. The heat isn't great. I wish I had a dishwasher. It's not perfect but it's home and I'm thankful for the sanctuary it offers as a place for me to unwind and relax.

-Ninth, I'm thankful for adventures. One of my favorite things to do is to go for a drive or a hike or find somewhere new. This year some of my friends and I went kayaking for about five hours. We went down a river that had a dam so we had to get out and pull the kayaks over before continuing. We made it all the way to the ocean before we turned around and came back. Then we headed to the opposite side of the river, into a lake before going back to the dock. It was an absolute blast. I'm so thankful we get to do things like that.

-Tenth, I'm thankful for reading. I love writing and creating my own stories but I also love finding myself swept away in the stories I read. I'm so grateful for all the places I've "visited" or adventures I've "been on" through books. It's an amazing gift, the gift of reading, and I'm so thankful for the easy accessibility of books today.

So that's my list of ten things I'm thankful for. What about you? What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Whatever it is I hope that you take a moment to dwell on those things. 

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

20 Years Ago

Twenty years ago the world became a different place then the one I'd always known. I was only ten but I still remember it vividly. I remember the shock and horror as planes full of people were used as weapons of mass destruction and flown into buildings full of more unsuspecting people who had just show up for what they thought would be a normal Tuesday morning at work. I remember the normal, everyday people that weren't going to let others suffer so they chose to fight back, even knowing it meant sacrificing themselves by crashing into a Pennsylvania field to prevent their plane from being used as another weapon. 

I remember the firefighters who ran up those flights of stairs to get people out. I remember the first responders and volunteers who spent months and months searching through the rubble, looking for survivors and wanting to help families find closures. I also remember the terror that continued to plague our nation for weeks, months and even years after that tragic day. I remember thousands of people flooding into churches all across the nation as an awakening swept across our land. 

There were horrible, unimaginable tragedies that took place on 9/11/2001. There were horrible things that happened afterwards. I won't deny that. There were also millions of inspirational moments, stories, songs, art, and acts of heroism that came in the aftermath. 

You know what else there was? What I most remember? A promise. 

"We will never forget."

That was an echo that rang across the land for months to come. It was spoken by almost every person I knew, half the cars that you passed on the roads had the bumper sticker, business had signs and everyone with a platform repeated the same mantra, over and over again. "We will never forget."

As our brave men and young women gave up the dreams they'd been pursuing and raced to the recruiting offices to sign up to serve our country we repeated that promise. We turned out in the streets to show our support of them. We prayed for their swift and safe return. We hung up their pictures to show our pride of the sacrifices they were willing to make.

America was angry. We had been blindsided and innocent people had been made more then just victims, they were made the unwilling weapons of evil, radicalized terrorists who were hell-bent on causing pain, terror and destruction. We were willing to do whatever it took to fight back and reclaim our nation, to make sure that something like this never happened again. And we promised all of those victims the same promise.

We will never forget.

Now here we are 20 years later. And I have one very simple question for you. Have you forgotten?

Updates

Hello, hello! Friends, I find myself apologizing again that I'm late putting up this week's post. The last several weeks have been quite insane. Work has kept me busy as I contemplate my future and what that looks like. I love my team but have been praying about how to grow professionally and what that might look like. More to come on that in the future as things develop.

I also got some edits back from a few beta readers who were looking at the next Yagos book! Which still needs a title. That's on the list of quite a few things that still need to be done. We're aiming for a release date of this fall but don't have anything figured out for certain yet. Besides a title there are still lots of rounds of edits coming and a cover that needs to be designed. There are so many steps involved and although I'm hoping it'll be easier the second time around that doesn't cut down on the amount of work involved.

Apart from that there's always things going as I try to keep up with family and friends. Yesterday was my grandma's 87th birthday. Although she doesn't really know who we are these days she's still a happy, loving person. It's always fun to celebrate someone who has loved the Lord and her family for so many years. 

Recently I've also been getting involved at a new church which has proved to be a huge blessing. It's always a little scary to start attending somewhere new but everyone has been friendly and welcoming. It's been a great time,

With all that said I've decided to take a break from posting weekly on here. I'll post updates as I have them and hope to be back soon but at the moment I just don't feel like I can hold myself to this weekly schedule. If at any time you want to pass on subject ideas for a blog post, ask for prayer or would like to reach out for some other reason then please, feel free to leave a note in the comments or contact me at my author's email address- klkirk@qwestoffice.net 

I'd love to pray for you and would be happy to hear from you.

Spiritual Discernment

Recently I've been attending a new church. The people are really nice, the teaching is solid, the music is uplifting. It's been a wonderful experience. The last few weeks, other then a break for Easter, we've been going through the letter of 1 John. Last week we looked at 1 John 4 and talked about spiritual discernment. It's one of the most encouraging and convicting sermons I've heard in a long time. 

I won't even try to go over everything that was in the sermon. There was just too much. I would like to go through and highlight a few of the points that were made.

1) False teachings can be found inside and outside the church.

I loved this point because it brings up some really interesting points. Paul preached against false teachers in the New Testament. And there are still false teachers in the world today. They come from everywhere, including ministries. Not everyone who is in leadership is going to be teaching the truth. There are all sorts of false teachers in the world. Pastors and teachers are still human-even if they're trying to teach the truth they may make mistakes. 

That brings me to point 2. 

2) We have to learn to discern things for ourselves.

One of the great verses that the pastor brought up was Acts 17:10- "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

What I said earlier is so crucial friends, pastors, teachers, those in leadership or authority, including myself when I talk about the Bible on here, we're all human and we do at times make mistakes. Don't trust someone who tells you not to do your own research! Anyone could be wrong. This is why we need to be studying for ourselves, praying for discernment for ourselves, so that when something sounds off we can find out if the Bible backs up what a leader is teaching.

3) The One living in us is greater then the one living in the world- 1 John 4: 4. This is probably one of the most quoted verses since the song came out but it's also true. It's a great reminder. As believers we have the Holy Spirit living in us. We believe in the Trinity and the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is God and lives in us. Can we just take a moment to reflect on the amazing truth of that?

And God is greater then Satan. Always has been, always will be. So whenever things get tough or the devil's offensive team has you feeling discouraged this is a great verse to remind yourself of.

So there it is friends, a reminder to be discerning, an encouragement of who is living in us and a instruction to make sure you're studying and learning and questioning things so that you're on your guard and making sure that you're filtering everything through the word of the Lord and not the word of men.

Toothlandia

My second niece, Addy, 6 years old, lost her first tooth this week. A couple of days before she actually lost her first tooth she started asking her mom where tooth fairies come from. Like all good parents she came up with best answer she could- Toothlandia. And then she told our family about it. My brother jumped on board with that and started throwing out ideas about what Toothlandia was like. Before you knew it a story idea was forming. Addy herself provided the last key of what the tooth fairies did with the teeth. I hope you enjoy the story that I came up with for the kids!

In a far away land there exists the country of Toothlandia. Now Toothlandia isn't like other countries. It's a very special place. Full of faries and princesses and dinosaurs and pirates. They all work together to collect the teeth that children from all over the universe lose as they grow up.

 

Once upon a time in Toothlandia there lived a Toothasaurus Rex named Chomper. Chomper grew up in a normal home with his Toothasaurus mom and Toothasaurus dad and his Toothasaurus big sisters. Chomper's family were some of the best collectors in all of Toothlandia. They had a talent for finding the best teeth, the ones that had no cavities whatsoever. Then they would bring the teeth home to Toothlandia and plant them in the garden. Beautiful bushes and trees would grow from where the teeth had been planted. Those provided food for the creatures of Toothlandia and some of the most beautiful flowers you have ever seen. They were red, blue, purple and green, orange, pink, gold and white. Everyone in Toothlandia loved to see the gardens that Chomper's family had planted.

 

Everyone except for Chomper.

 

See Chomper was sad because he couldn't collect teeth like his family did. Chomper had another job in Toothlandia.

 

When the tooth collectors of Toothlandia went out they had to collect all the teeth. Even the bad ones. But the bad teeth didn't grow beautiful flowers. So the collectors would plant them far away from their town in the Rotten Forest. As the teeth sprouted they grew into scary, evil trees that wanted to hurt the creatures of Toothlandia.

 

Chomper and some other brave creatures had to go into the forest each day and fight against the scary trees. Some of the fighters used swords but Chomper just used his sharp teeth and his claw like hands. Even though his arms were short he was a mighty warrior against the evil trees. 

 

Chomper knew his work was important but he still didn't want to do it. He wanted to talk to the kids about making sure they kept their teeth flossed and brushed before they lost their teeth. That way they wouldn’t have to plant the evil trees but could continue to grow the beautiful flowers and the good plants that fed the creatures of Toothlandia. The problem was that he wasn’t allowed to go talk to the kids. The creatures of Toothlandia had to keep their existence a secret. None of the children were allowed to see them. They were supposed to stay the stuff of dreams and legends. Chomper was worried though because he knew that recently it had been getting harder and harder to find good teeth to plant. Every day more evil trees were sprouting and there fewer and fewer flowers in the gardens around the land. Chomper knew he had to do something or Toothlandia would not have the teeth it needed to grow enough food to feed everyone.

 

One day, Chomper came up with a plan.

He would find a very special family who was willing to keep the secret of Toothlandia and he would ask for their help. It wouldn’t be easy, he would get into a lot of trouble if he was caught but Chomper knew this was a risk he had to take. And he knew just the family he should see. Chromper’s sister had told him about a family a lot like their own. They had a mom and a dad, and one little boy who had two big sisters. They were the perfect family to help Chomper save his home.

 

It took a long time to plan but finally Chomper had everything together. Every creature from Toothlandia had the magic to be able to travel to a child’s house when they lost a tooth. Even the creatures who weren’t collectors were capable of transporting themselves. Chomper waited and waited until one of the little girls in the family lost her very first tooth, The celebration went up all around Toothlandia. A child had lost her first tooth! First teeth were always very special in Toothlandia so this was cause for extra excitement. The collectors were informed that once nighttime came to the child’s house they could go and collect the new tooth. Chomper had other plans. He didn’t wait for nightfall. He found the child’s information in the official town hall of records and closed his eyes. Using his magic he wished himself to the children’s home and poof! He found himself there.

 

Chomper found himself in the little girl’s bedroom but they weren’t in there. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time so he carefully snuck towards the door and peered into the hallway. Seeing the coast was clear he snuck into the little boy’s bedroom. Michael was sitting on his racecar bed playing with his trucks. The little boy’s eyes got wide when Chomper came into the room but he didn’t say anything. Climbing up onto the bed Chomper started to explain why he was there.

 

“My name is Chomper and I’m from Toothlandia. My family are some of the collectors who collect teeth whenever children loose them.”

 

“Like the tooth fairy?” Michael asked.

 

“The fairy’s get all the attention,” Chomper grumbled. “But yes. They’re collectors too. My family are Toothasaurs Rexes. And we’re some of the best collectors in all of Toothlandia.”

 

“My sister, Addy, just lost her first tooth,” Michael told him. “And Ella has lost teeth too. But I haven’t yet.”

 

“I know,” Chomper told him. “But that’s okay. You will. I have to tell you something very important though. We collect your lost teeth and they grow food for us. But if your teeth have cavities they will grow scary, evil trees that try to hurt us. So I came to ask you something very important. Will you please brush and floss your teeth? And go to the dentist when your mom and dad take you? That way your teeth will stay good and we can keep planting them to grow food and flowers. Can you help me save Toothlandia? Will you take care of your teeth and ask your friends to do that too?”

 

And Michael agreed. From then on Michael always asked people to take extra good care of their teeth and he made sure he did the same. Toothlandia was saved! No one in Toothlandia ever knew what Chomper had done but he didn't mind. Without so many evil trees being planted he was able to start collecting teeth with the rest of his family. And the teeth he collected grew some of the most beautiful flowers and best tasting food in all of Toothlandia.

 

The End