"dang it"

Tomorrow is February. I've lost 3 homeless people this year. All of them were in their 50's. No one paid thousands of dollars to put their picture and life story in an obituary in the paper. But, each one lived a life and had a story. Each one was made by God.


I'd like you to meet one of them. His name is Bart. I met him in early 2013. He started out like most everyone, went to school, learned a trade, had a honey, became a Dad to a son. But, somewhere along the way he began to drown in alcohol. I don't know the life event that started the downward spiral.


I know he was a talented paint and body man. He could take destroyed vehicles and make them look like new. He showed me some pictures. My Dad was an amazing paint and body man, too. Maybe that's why Bart climbed into my heart and I so wanted him to experience God's purpose and plan away from alcohol.


Some people think that homeless drunks climb into the bottle and stay there by choice. They are "hopeless," "a lost cause," "a waste of time...." No human being is outside the reach of  God's redeeming grace. I can tell you Bart did not live a life content to be in that bottle. He struggled. He fought to sober up. He hated living on the streets, he felt alone and trapped. He sought guidance and help through a few churches. He came to me for help.


One night he fell asleep and his tent and bedding caught fire and he was severely burned. While he was in the hospital, someone through Charity Care started an application for disability. She and I worked over a year to gather all the medical records and get him to appointments. He didn't have a phone most of the time and he would disappear and not stay in his usual camps. Then he would pop up, sometimes sober and eager to take the opportunity to change.


He was incredibly funny when he was sober or just buzzed. He would tell me stories and his favorite phrase was, "dang it." He would tell me about getting hit by a truck on his bicycle and not being able to breathe very well, "dang it." He was hit by a vehicle 3 times during the time I knew him. He got into fights and he told me about the men's Bible study he went to. We would sit and talk about scripture and how he related to Jesus because he was homeless too...


Last Saturday Bart suffered head trauma and died in the hospital. I went to his funeral service and there he was in the casket with his moustache and infamous ball cap on. A slide show depicted part of his life and I didn't recognize him in the early photos. He had blonde hair and many of the photos were with family members. As he aged, I could see the effects of alcohol and the demons he fought on his face. 


The Pastor asked if anyone wanted to stand up say something to celebrate the life of Bart. His young nephew darted to the podium and said loudly, "Yeah, my uncle Bart was homeless and an alcoholic...he was so much more than that...when I was down he made me laugh...I loved him and I'll miss him."


Me too.  d

10th Annual Holiday Helping Hands Project

  HOLIDAY HELPING HANDS PROJECT – 10^TH YEAR!!!!

For 10 years we have laid the Holiday Helping Hands Project at Jesus’ feet and asked for His love to touch everyone He brings into our path. Every year His timing has been perfect and we have delivered as we have promised…sometimes just a few hours before Santa was supposed to arrive for the kidlets!

As always we are stepping out in faith, without a budget or a designated number of families to help…when folks come, we say “yes” and remind them our God is a big God!!

We have adopted the Green Country Care Center, a memory care nursing home. We also have adopted Life Gate, a faith based sober living program. Nana’s and Papa’s raising their grandchildren, special needs kidlets, single Moms, single Dads, foster kidlets, adopted kidlets, seniors living alone, homeless folks, a mom with cancer, disabled adults…these are some of the folks we have said “yes” to so far this year.

Please be in prayer for salvations! Our heart’s desire is to provide the tangible in order to build relationships and introduce people to Jesus! Our Family gift this year is the Message Bible - pocket version, large print, study Bible and one for teens! We have many more to purchase. If you know someone in need…send them our way!

If you sense God nudging you to help us…you can help by adopting a family, individual or couple, buy the gifts, wrap and deliver; or you can buy the gifts and give to us and we’ll wrap and deliver; or you can send us a financial gift; or you can donate gifts; toys, gift cards, etc. You can help wrap gifts and deliver! We can pick up your donations and as always we will forward a letter after Christmas letting you know how you made an incredible difference in the lives of so many!

We are prayerful to provide some Thanksgiving meals this year!!! We will provide some pre-cooked meals to those who are unable to cook and for other folks we will provide the fixin’s to make their own feast.

Thank you for loving folks, for so many years through our Holiday Helping Hands Project…Here we go, here we go, make a difference!!!

In His service,

 

deni A. fholer

executive director/president

Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc.

PO Box 521063

Tulsa OK  74152

918-260-1933

i58ihs@gmail.com

www.i58ihs.blogspot.com

501©3 non-profit ministry

We can do more. We can do better.

“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” – Mother Teresa

 

 

 

God Cares about Baseball!

Little League Baseball. Both of my nephews love baseball. They were given the opportunity to play in the summer league  this year. Their games were at Lafortune Park so his parents and his Aunts and Uncle came to cheer them on.

On any given evening we'd be sweating and watching two games across from each other. We'd split up to watch both nephews, text each other the score and then all run to the field in which one nephew was at bat.

My oldest nephew was on a good team. This is his first year playing a team sport and he wanted to be good. He put a lot of pressure on himself. We all held our breath each time he got up to bat. Often he went back to the dugout frustrated and we would be clapping and yelling, "Shake it off, you'll get it next time." He was thinking homerun, instead of base hit...

My nephew sometimes loses interest if  he doesn't catch on quickly to an activity. Not with baseball. He made every practice and whenever he could persuade someone - to the batting cage he would go. He even got to go to a two day baseball camp; pretty sophisticated. They hooked him up and told him where his strengths were and how he could improve.

The TinCaps were in first place going into the championship game. If they won, they would be the champs in their division.

Okay, it's Friday night, not much of a breeze...the field they were playing on faced the setting sun...brutal. But, his supporters were there, with Gatorade and cold towels around our necks.

I was standing near the opposing team's dugout because I was nervous and I wanted to see his face when he was batting. I was praying out loud for him, "Father You care about every detail of our lives - this detail counts big time for my nephew, bless him and let him know the blessing is from You."

He got up to bat and struck out. His fans gave a collective sigh and clapped encouragement.

A sense of urgency was added to my prayer...play continued...TinCaps held the lead.

He got up to bat, TinCaps were ahead but not by much. We held our breath and I was beseeching the Father....pllleeeeeasssee!!

BAM. HE HIT IT...base hit!!!! Base hit!!!! Oh, OH, he knocked a teammate in, yes!!! Yahoo!! Cool, Jesus, thank you.

My nephew has a smile of impact. There it was, man what a sight. His coaches were yelling words of support. First base coach gave him a fist bump and patted him on the back.  He saw me and I gave him two thumbs up. He nodded.

Okay, okay, God, now, I'm asking a lot but well, can he score too???? BAM.

There he goes...safe at second. Okay, Jesus, another base and then home plate...how cool would that be...breathe, deni, breathe...

BAM. He's going...he's running...in my mind's eye he's in slow motion...coach is pointing him home...his head is down, he rounds third...oh dear Jesus...

SSSSSSLLLLLL IIIIIIIIDDDDDEEEEEEE...... (That's slide in slow motion)

He did an incredible slide...

S A F E!!! HE Scored!!!!! Hallelujah Jesus!!!

"That's my nephew, yep, I'm in his family...yep, the one that slid...my nephew...way to go handsome dude...we're related.." :-)

Oh, did I mention the TINCAPS WON THE TOURNAMENT TOO!!!

His first trophy...his first victory...his first accomplishment.

Last summer my nephew said `Yes' to Jesus. This summer he is learning that the things that matter take hard work and commitment. He is learning that God cares about every aspect of our lives. He is learning that God is with him no matter where he is, what he's doing or where he's going. God cares about what matters to us...even making a base hit in Little League Baseball. God is building his character.

When he got home he didn't want to take his uniform off because he didn't want to `take off the win'...he was considering sleeping with his trophy too.

He's savoring the victory...we need to do that too.  When God answers our prayers...when He blesses us with exactly what we pray for...we need to sit in the Son and just be thankful. Don't just toss Him a "thanx" but reflect, relive, tell and retell what God is doing in your life.  Your story, your answered prayer, your testimony will give God the glory...the world is lost and we must share our Hope that is Jesus!!!  We do that by telling others the story of our lives.

Oh, by the way...my nephews? They journeyed to Texas to see Derek Jeter play in his last season....twice!!! Isn't that just the coolest?? 

A summer to remember...praise you Jesus!!! Thank you!! Hallelujah!

d

Happy Uncle, Coach, Cousin, Teacher....Day!

By the way...I just sent out a link to our Isaiah 58, In His Service, Inc. email list. I commented, "Dear Dads, know that you are prayed for and remember your little ones are watching."


Sometimes I have tunnel vision. Billy Graham said, "The greatest tribute a boy can give to his father is to say, `When I grow up, I want to be just like my Dad.' It is a convicting responsibility for us fathers and grandfathers."  I don't want to neglect the men who are making an impression on little ones and aren't the Dads!


There are so many children who don't have a Dad in their lives. Instead (or in addition to) they have an Uncle, a step-Dad, a Papa, an adoptive Dad, a Mentor, a Cousin, a Pastor, a Neighbor, a Teacher, a Coach...


Think of the little ones in your life and then stop and think about the men in their lives. Who is the example they are emulating? Who is teaching them right from wrong? Who is showing them how to be gentlemen? Who is praying with them? Who is encouraging them? Who is protecting them? Who is loving them?


All of us have a responsibility to the kidlets that God has put in our lives. Whether they are relatives or neighbor kids or our very own...we are called to teach.


So, to those of you who are not "officially" Dads...but are Godly men and aware that little ones are watching....THANK YOU, you are making an impact in eternal ways! Psalms 103:13


In His service, d

What really matters?

I caught a few minutes of a story about monks in Greece, the Vatopedi Monastery near Mt. Athos to be exact.  There the monks have been in continual prayer for 1,110 years!  Father Serapion stated, "The monks here have one goal and that is how they can get closer to God." They said total union with Christ is only possible when they leave this world, "Here, in this life (is how they earn their "ticket" to Heaven), that's what we do each day, we prepare for death - but with joy.  We are joyful about our journey to Heaven," said Father Matthew.

Thousands of miles away, on a secluded peninsula are about 1,770 monks who pray continually, seeking to be closer to the Father...and with no distractions.  Their world is a far cry from ours. Women are not allowed in the monastery; no televisions or computers; no sporting events; no Wal-Mart; no family; no road rage; no interaction with someone about to go over the edge; no stress...and what a view!!

So, our challenge here is to swim upstream to be closer to God while we struggle with distractions, disappointments and responsibilities.  Daily I try to talk with Jesus about everything.  When I can't locate something, I ask Him for help.  When I am so tired and I'm afraid I'll miss someone, I ask Him to point me towards that person.  When I say something stupid or I don't say anything at all, I ask Him to speak through me.  When I see an injustice and it angers me to the core, I ask Him to help me advocate.  When my eyes fall on me, I ask Him to heal my pride.  When I am disobedient and fail, I ask Him for forgiveness.

There are a number of churches in the midst of a capital campaign, my church is getting ready to start another one.  Even after the previous capital campaigns it is still difficult to get from point A to point B.  This go around they are saying it should cost $11 million to do what they want to do.  I know the expansion will provide convenience for people; it will create better space for our kidlets; it will be  easier to maneuver.  But, during the week many of the classrooms are empty.  We could be doing so much with what we have to minister to the least of these and to our saints...but we're not.  I just have a hard time picturing Jesus looking at our church building and then walking a couple blocks to the east and seeing the adult book store, or stepping over a homeless person sleeping in the parking lot at the Caring Center or passing by a car where Mom and Dad and their children are living and saying, "Yep, we definitely need to expand the buildings."

Will one person come to Christ because of the $11 million renovation? Maybe. But, if we used what we have to provide free child care, use our vehicles to take folks to work and the grocery store, taught classes on coping skills and life skills, loved on folks who were lost and came to our church desperate for hope, provided a meal and a movie...maybe more would come to Jesus!!!

A coworker's brother is an evangelist.  Recently she came to ask me for prayer support as he was traveling to Saudi Arabia to share the gospel.  She told me the initial plan was for him to preach in an open air venue to about 8,000 people. Reportedly, there were two heads of state that are sympathetic to the underground churches and agreed for the venue to be available.  However, by the time the evangelist got there (he had to take alternate routes because of violence), the two heads of state were out of the country and the one left in charge adamantly refused access to the stadium.

Hundreds of Christ followers continued to pray without ceasing and another location was secured.  There were 3 rooms with satellite feeds in two of the rooms.  These servants of Christ set up 8,000 chairs in these 3 rooms!  The chairs were filled with folks hungry for Jesus and the evangelist shared the message God had placed on his heart...lives were transformed!!! Not only did many of these Muslims give their lives to Christ, AND there were physical healings!! 

Father I believe, but help my unbelief...

I want to be part of that kind of service, don't you?  Those Christians live daily with the knowledge that they are in the enemy's camp serving Jesus and the outcome of such service could be death.  But, they continue to trust Jesus and serve faithfully and with joy.

$11 million or 8,000 chairs.


                                   WE can do more. WE can do better.   d

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

wear a blue ribbon

Rise early enough every morning to give yourself five minutes of quiet time

Say “hellllooo” first

Be a Good Samaritan when the moment arises

Compliment, only when you mean it

When someone is talking, LISTEN to him or her, no matter how many times you’ve heard the story before

Happy childhoods last a lifetime - so try to improve your marriage, your kids are counting on you

When others gossip, don’t join in

                                                   Lead by example - at home, at work and at church

Get to know your neighbors you might need each other one day

Hold yourself accountable

Hold others accountable

Every day write one thing on a piece of paper that you’re thankful for…

put them in a jar and pull them out at Thanksgiving and reread them

When you’re wrong, admit it

When you’re right - feel good - but don’t gloat

Frequent businesses that support local charities

Proof read everything you write

Volunteer

Don’t ask anyone to do anything you’re not willing to do yourself

Always use your manners, especially in traffic, at the mall and while waiting in line

Spend time with folks that you’d be proud to introduce to your folks

Forgive others and try to forget

Forgive yourself and try to remember

Boycott businesses you know to be unjust

Vote, but know as much as you can about their politics and their values

                                                 Always do more than you have to - at home, at work and at church

Pray Hard

Take yourself to dinner and a movie, if you don’t enjoy your own company, neither will others

Tithe with a pure heart and you’ll get back more than you give

Don’t get your blood pressure up over things out of your influence

Speak up over things within your circle of influence

Say “no” to requests that will encourage taking you for granted

Always say “yes” when you’re really needed

Child abuse is unbearable; if you suspect it, report it

                                             Always encourage fairness - at home, at work and at church

Be willing to take a little less, when someone else can get a little more

Buy only from roadside stands that misspell froots and vegtibles

Engage someone you don’t know in polite conversation twice a week

Support projects and programs that build “kidlet” character

Turn your music down in a residential neighborhood…turn it up when you’re on the open road

Always buy at least two plates at a food fund-raiser

Spend time with kidlets and seniors, and pay attention, you’ll learn a lot

When you make a promise – keep it, a child’s confidence is built on your word

Say “please” and “thank you” and hold a door – even when its not reciprocated

When you have a lot of mail, take it to the post office, give your carrier a break

Make it easy on the clean up person

                                                                Recycle – at home, at work and at church

Send someone a card, just because

Always corral your shopping cart, the next dent you prevent, may be your own

When you make it to the top, continue to visit the bottom…

you may have forgotten things and you still have things to learn

Pick up a piece of litter for every negative thought you have

Don’t force your children to go to church…introduce them to God and watch them want to go

Wear a blue ribbon in April and be prepared to explain why

 

You can make a difference in the lives you encounter today

and to make a difference in the lives encountered tomorrow?…

teach these things to your children

                                                                          deni-2006

No one listens to me....

We had the 2nd annual Mighty Women of God Conference at First Baptist Church last Saturday…about 100 or so women showed up. There should have been 1,000 in attendance. Where were you???? Okay, I know I should have sent out an email.

The guest speaker was Janet Denison. You can go to www.janetdenison.com to learn more about her. She and her husband, Jim Denison, PhD also have a ministry called Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, you can go to www.denisonforum.org to check it out…

Janet said that by the time today’s second graders get to voting age, they will be persecuted for their faith in the USA. She said that when you add all the Christians together from around the world, the USA and Great Britain make up about 6%. Since we have smart phones…we can now take the Bible EVERYWHERE we go in the world. Folks across the water are hungry for Jesus and are risking life and limb to find Him and serve Him…but not here.

In the USA we have Miley Cyrus twerking, Phillip Seymour Hoffman dying of a drug overdose and kids suing their parents after they leave home at 18 for financial support. A man carried a gun - legally, mind you - into a movie theatre, shoots and kills a man over texting. Kids are killing themselves because they're bullied at school and online.

Let’s bring this closer to home…we have a task force discussing "what to do about" the downtown homeless population, a woman using a walker was run over by an SUV at 3^rd and Lewis…and the driver kept going.  A man shot and killed himself and before his body was taken away, folks stopped to take pictures. Subsidized housing units are being destroyed in order to make room for lofts and apartments for the upper middle class.  Before a woman became `a dying woman’ she applied for Title 19 so she could get on the transplant list (you can’t be on a transplant list without insurance) but every medical record started out with, ‘cirrhosis of the liver from chronic alcoholism’ even though she had been sober for years…she never got the insurance and died.

I could go on, and on, and on…

So, how did you react to what I just wrote? Did you shake your head and then say, “Hey, after we drop the kids off let’s go to a movie?” Did you skip over it because it’s “just too hard to read,” and act like everything “out there” is fine. If our heart is hard, if we are desensitized to the hurting of others, we need to beseech the Father to remove the cheese crust from around our heart. What we’re missing is compassion. We really don’t care anymore. It’s just none of our business. Really???

We can do more. We can do better.

I have never seen so many people who, to everyone looking on, should have hit rock bottom years ago…but people’s rock bottoms are further down than I have ever seen. People have hard hearts. Loving people to Jesus in the USA is harder than it’s ever been. Immediate gratification, “I deserve it,’ the notion that ‘God never did anything for me before, why should I seek Him now’ or "God, who?" – is running rampant. People are willing to try anything to numb the pain…something like 38,000 people overdosed in 2010 – that’s more than traffic accidents and guns.  Scary stuff.

We didn’t make this mess over night. But, what are we doing to make it better?

GUTS church is working on putting together a public/private event at Union Public Schools; a massive outreach to our community - the details are still being ironed out.

It’s not enough.

Roughly 84,000 people live in a `food desert' in Tulsa.  The Real Good Food Truck, a mobile grocery store will be making stops at 12 locations in north Tulsa and west Tulsa starting this summer.

It’s not enough.

Winter Jam, E Conference, Christian musicians, Beth Moore, Secret Keeper Tween Conference, Promise Keepers…they all come to Tulsa.

It’s not enough.

Many churches in our community have benevolence ministries and give away food and clothes and help with utilities.  There are ministries throughout Tulsa who set up shop once a week to share the gospel and provide a hot meal. My church, First Baptist Church Tulsa provides a night of respite once a quarter for caregivers of special needs kids. We have two Caring Centers, one downtown and one in south Tulsa.

It’s not enough.

Tulsa does fundraisers – tons of them in our community – for breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, etc. The idea is to raise awareness and raise money to help fund a cure…

It’s not enough.

Many churches have Celebrate Recovery meetings, Grief Share, Divorce Care, Stephen Ministry, etc.

It’s not enough.

What can truly make a difference? You. Yes, you.

I’m a social worker, it is very easy for me to look around and see all of the holes in the system; the enormous gap between the rich and the poor and I fight like crazy to keep people from falling through the cracks and perishing. But, there are so many and they are perishing so quickly…partly because the system sucks and partly because nobody cares enough to advocate for the down and out. It’s hard, really hard to do, there are many obstacles and often it takes so long that we lose people in the process.  There are not enough advocates. I hear pew sitters all the time saying we don’t “know anyone” who needs help or we can’t find anyone to invite to church.  Really?  We’re looking with our eyes closed. If we don’t see a problem, then we don’t have to do anything…so we live in denial and ignorance until the poor, the hurting, the mentally ill, the addict, shows up at our doorstep or they turn out to be a family member and THEN we want to do something.  If we’re hiding in the closet of denial until “one of those people” touches us…I promise, we won’t have to wait very long.

I have vented many times asking churches to do more. To provide free child care, to provide respite for caregivers taking care of family members with Alzheimer’s, to serve food 3 or 4 or 5 times a week, provide transportation to those trying to get to work or school on time because if they rely on our transit system they’ll be late or if they work on Sunday they’re out of luck.  There are kids throughout our community who need mentors – men and women. We have more seniors living alone; isolated, overmedicated, hungry and depressed than we could ever imagine.  Trust me, there's at least one in your neighborhood.

When I ask the tough question to a leader in a church, “So WHY are we not doing more outreach to share Jesus with our community?” It’s not because we don’t have money, we have a lot of financial donors; Tulsa has been “the” charity capital before.

We don’t have volunteers. We don’t have you.

We’re a selfish bunch. We also have our priorities messed up. How many activities do our kids really need to be in? How many vacations to Disney World do we need to take? How much TV do we have to watch? How much time do we REALLY need to text? twitter? Facebook? Instagram? Pinterest? Really??? Really???

How many outfits do we really need? How many concerts and evenings eating out do we need? How much “me” time do we need?  How many hours do we have to golf or scrapbook a week?

When we say we don’t have time to volunteer…so what exactly are we filling our time with? And did we talk to Jesus about it? Is what we fill our life with what we want, what we think we should do, because we want to sound, “Busy with important stuff?”

My pastor has thrown down the gauntlet…over Lent he has asked us to sacrifice one thing with intention and faithfulness; his family is giving up TV in the evenings.  He has also asked us to share Jesus with one person…over a 40-day period. That’s it. It’s really not a lot…except to selfish people.

I would be willing to bet if we sacrificed “me” God would teach us a lot. Make a point to spend time with Jesus over Lent…ask Him if we’re living “my” life or are we living “His?” There’s probably a whole lotta “me” in there.

We’re selfish and we like it that way. We’ve earned that expensive dinner, that new purse, that antique bookcase, that vacation to Hawaii.  So, we can either accept that we are selfish and we want to live for our enjoyment and pleasure and quit acting like He matters when there's dust on our Bible OR we can pray for forgiveness - and mean it.

When we repent, then we can truly become servants. It’s hard. Darn hard. But, nothing is more important than our relationship with Jesus. Nothing.

People are perishing. Are you listening? People are literally dying all around us and we’re acting as if it’s okay, “Maybe I should have talked to him about Jesus...well that's life.” Hard hearts. 6% - USA and Great Britain combined are Christ followers. That’s not very many. It’s time to care. It’s time to sob over people perishing and then wipe our eyes and ask God to show us how He wants to use us. Right here, right now. Hurry. Eternity is urgent.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me,” I cried (Isaiah). “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? 

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!!” Isaiah 6: 3-9

Where are all of the Isaiahs????

 d