I recently took a personal retreat with a couple of other women. Most of the time was spent alone praying, reading, listening. However, we all came together a couple of times. During one of these times Dawn read a couple of chapters from a book called “Hinds’ Feet on High Places”. Although I had heard of this book since my first years as a Christian I had never read it. A friend of mine had even shared a small portion of it with me but I did not quite connect at the time.

This time however, it hit me right in the heart. I took the book home and read the whole thing. The book is about a woman whose name is Much-Afraid, she lives in the valley of Humiliation with her family the Fearings. However, she has chosen to work for the Shepherd who is the Fearings enemy. The Shepherd asks Much-Afraid to go on a journey with Him. She accepts and He plants the seed of Love in her heart. They begin the journey, but it is very difficult for Much-Afraid.

I suggest you read the book to get the full impact of the story, especially if you are going through tough times right now. There are many parts that touched me, especially how gentle and caring the Shepherd always was with Much-Afraid, even in times of doubt and fear. One particular time when Much-Afraid was dreading what was coming next the Shepherd tells her:

“Much-Afraid, don’t ever allow yourself to begin trying to picture what it will be like. Believe me, when you get to the places which you dread you will find that they are as different as possible from what you have imagined”

God has been teaching me that he holds me in His arms and protects me. Psalm 138: 8 says that “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever…” Also , in Psalm 145: 8-9, 13b “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. … The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.” As He takes me to new and different places I just need to remember these things: do not try to imagine what it will be like and He is good and is with me always. Even as I learn these things, and sometimes have doubts, He is faithful.

In obedience to the clear leading of God (ask me for the story sometime), I am in the process of moving to Decorah IA to plant a Great Commission Church called LifeHouse Church. As I have followed God in this, several issues have been identified that make this step a very wise (although admittedly risky) move.

Here they are:
1) My presence and the introduction of a new church in a smaller town like Decorah will be more acceptable and welcomed if I am actively contributing to the community like bringing in (or in my case reviving) a business and employing locals.

2) The job market is very tight in Decorah (like the rest of the States) and so a business would be able to employ a few of the church planters who will be/ already are in Decorah that don't have jobs yet.

3) I have 6 kids and they are my primary disciples. As such, a business of this nature would provide a great opportunity for them to learn business principles and practices that could benefit them for the rest of their lives.

So, the manager of Red Wing (Matt N.) has been very understanding and supportive of this mission and has hired me to train me to increase Red Wings presence in Decorah.

I wanted to share all this not just to explain it all, but to make a personal request of you:

Could you help me bless Matt and Red Wing back by bringing some of your business to this business in the coming month or so?

Yes, Red Wing Shoes are pricy, but it's not because of their name or fancy unnecessities. These shoes are of the highest quality you will find in the world (which means they will be more comfortable and longer lasting than any other shoe you've had), and they are backed by warranties and incredible care and repair service for the life of the shoe.

But for those of you on tight budgets, I got a win - win for ya. There is a sizable selection of Red Wing shoes on clearance that the manager would LOVE to get rid of (pics from my cell phone). These shoes (boots, dress shoes, sandles, tennis shoes, women's shoes) are at a very manageable price.

I'd love to see ya and practice selling shoes on you. I will be working there on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 - 5.

Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord... I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Phil. 3:1, 7, 8a

"Knowing" in verse 8 means an experiential knowledge of. It means to know Christ as a personal friend, a personal savior. Not just in an academic sense, but in a real life day to day sense. Having such a personal value in and experience of the God of the universe brings about a joy that overflows the highs and lows of life's circumstances.

The difficult: All Ames eats together
Well, Ames doesn't really eat together, as I found out. The purpose and plan for this event was to raise awareness and financial backing for Ames' Good Neighbor assistance program. The idea and purpose was rock solid. It's just that no one showed... other than myself and a few of my kids... at least at the park next to the Stonebrook Church location.
I was shocked that more people in Ames didn't take the need to help the hungry more seriously. After this event, my wife and I watched Beyond Borders dealing with aid relief to war torn nations. The first people they tried to help were the starving in Ethiopia. While the hunger situation in Ames is nowhere near this level, it heightened my concern for and responsibility to help the hurting. It's just too bad that the rest of Ames was too busy to care.

Now let me think... what was the good again. Oh yes. My value is in Christ and not in circumstances. So even though we may desire better things in our world than this, we can rejoice if Christ is our greatest treasure and no one can take that away from you.

Here's a great video that brings this truth home!

My Bible version story starts out with a Catholic version of the Good News Bible that my parents got me for Christmas the year I got saved. The introductory notes on why the Catholic version is superior to all others and why the Apocrypha is inspired was quite interesting.

Soon, though, I got my first NIV which was quickly replacing the NASB as the version of choice. I read the NIV, memorized from the NIV, and spiritually grew up in Christ with the NIV. It's a good version, but not perfect. Learning about the nature of a concept for concept translation and, more so, the theological influences of the translation team shook my confidence in it.

So I moved around to various translations until settling on the ESV by popular demand. It was far more a word for word translation and had minimal a priori theological influences, although not completely absent from them.

I was content with using NASB and ESV for years priding myself in using a more literal translation. Then it happened...

I was counseling a young Christian couple about the dangers of living together before marriage (in fact they weren't even engaged yet). It was sensitive. It was delicate. So I pulled out my Bible and read the pertinent verse:

"But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints" Eph. 5:3 (NASB)

They looked at me with blank stares. What?

How about ESV then:
"But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints." Eph. 5:3 ESV

Same response. Squinting of the eyes as they tried to figure out what I just read.

So seriously, I had to interpret the English so that a biblically unfamiliar person could understand it. I knew right then that if I have to translate the English so a person can understand it, I need a new version. One that translates the original Hebrew and Greek into a language that we think and speak in.

This is how the NLT puts it:
"Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people." Eph. 5:3 NLT

And the NIV uses the powerful phrase of "there must not be even a hint..."

Now that's language a person can easily understand! So, I bought me an NLT and I'm learning to appreciate the uniqueness of this translation.

I still have and use other translations to derive the exact meaning of a text in question, but my sword for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness will be the NLT. So help me God.

Luke Anderson
Holly Anderson
Joshua Anderson (young but cute)
Jenny Larson
Beth Boal
Vineet Kuruvilla
Dan Hult

We hope to see Alexa Gibbs and Rex Borseth around some too, as well at the Decorah team.

We came together Sunday morning for a "church in the park" service. It was sweet. 15 of us sang the best we could, got a good dose of God's Word about possessing a surprising faith, and ate lots of food. If every Sunday started like this, it would be a good life.

We've also done a lot of praying and playing. One great time playing was exploring Ice Cave and doing some cliff climbing. It was almost like Old Man Mountain at Estes Park, just not quite as challenging.

Some neat God things has been how quickly and easily the soccer program idea has been coming together. The middle school here was very eager to help out. I think the "are you Jack's brother" comment by the administrative assistant may have helped. She took us right to the top and got it all worked out.

Another huge blessing is working with Bethany in creating a soccer program logo. Not only is she good... she's fast. And the kids here with our church are excited about inviting their friends to it.

And a neat last minute service opportunity came up to help Hispanic women in Postville which will give us a great way to get soccer fliers out to their kids. We need Spanish speakers in a bad way to reach out effectively to them. Anyone? Anyone?

You can catch the whole summer calendar here.

Do pray for:
Beth, Dan, and Jenny to get jobs.
Success with the soccer program.
Genuine relationships be built and the gospel would get out.

Our prayers to God were humble, sincere, penitent, and desperate. I was honored to be numbered among them.

The verse to commemorate this day is Psalm 33: 22

"Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you."

It starts with the celebration and praise that only one whose hope is in the Lord can offer. Then moves to acknowledging the righteousness and supremacy of God. Camps on the necessity and responsibility for peoples and nations to honor Him. And concludes with a declaration of dependence on God.

Beautiful.

As a Christian and as an American that loves this country, I am very disappointed by this decision. Jesus made it clear in Matthew 19:4-6 that marriage was created by God to be between one man and one woman for life. To violate that runs counter to the very nature of humanity and the very will of God. Such a move will not go on without dire consequences to individuals and to our nation (see Romans 1).

I liken this decision to shooting a big ol' hole in the bottom of our boat... right alongside ones created by such things as no fault divorce laws. This hole, though, was done with a shotgun instead of a 22.

Now, this boat is large, so it will take awhile to sink. But make no mistake, the water is rising.

My brother, a lawyer in DM, said this about the decision to strike down the homosexual marriage ban:

We’ll have to see how it shakes out, but right now I think there will be a significant rush to Iowa to get married before the legislature does something about it.

God help us all... and pray for America (see I Tim. 2). Our nation as we have known and loved it for nearly 233 years, is sinking even faster.

Wayne turned 11 years old yesterday! It was a great day for him. Telling everyone at church it was his birthday, having ice cream cake after lunch, opening gifts, playing a new racing game on the xbox, and having Matthew over was just a blast for Wayne.

Earlier in the day I was reflecting on 11 years ago when Wayne was born and the turmoil we all went through. We all knew right away that things weren't right and within 12 hours of birth Wayne had been transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC). It was a time of uncertainties. As Tim and I traveled to Iowa City the worst part was not knowing what was going on with our son. What was going to happen to him, would he be okay- healthy? When we arrived and heard all the reports from all the tests over the next several days it was rather overwhelming. We needed to trust God to take of Wayne and us. Looking back now I see that I had a peace that truly passed understanding, I can't imagine now how I made it through those times. And to follow was a year of surgeries and uncertainties. Although things have calmed down since then, I find myself worrying about the future for Wayne again. As he gets older but not bigger, as he learns but not very quickly. All of the uncertainty is there again. However, looking back at all he has come through helps me to know that God will give peace again as I trust him with Wayne and not think that I can work things out. Only God can work things out for good for those that love him. And I know Tim, Wayne and I all love God.

For more pictures of Wayne's birthday check them out here.

The Borseths

Here are a couple of photos as a teaser.

Also, a guest speaker at Stonebrook, medical doctor Tommy Mitchell, spoke on this issue. You can listen to it here (it's the message at the bottom).

God help us.

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For eight years, President George Bush proudly displayed in the Oval Office a bust of Sir Winston Churchill on loan from Great Britain. As a gesture of goodwill, the British government offered to let President Obama keep the statue during his term as a symbol of our longstanding friendship. Obama declined, shipping the bust back to England--and with it, the reminder of Churchill's great wisdom. It was he who warned that if evil prevails "all that we have known and cared for will sink into a new Dark Age, made more sinister...by the lights of perverted science."

Today, that "perverted science" took root in America in a powerful new way, as President Obama tore down the wall between the federal government and embryonic stem cell experiments. By executive order, he took the first step in overturning the restrictions on taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research. His decision will allow government agencies to use federal money to encourage experiments on innocent human life, abolishing a ban that Bush put in place in 2001.
...

Obama's decision puts the government in a business which is not only unethical but also medically unnecessary. As recently as last week, researchers announced that they had successfully turned ethically created cells into the neurons that break down in Parkinson's disease. The week before, scientists produced evidence that they had treated Parkinson's in a patient with his own adult stem cells. Almost daily, researchers are celebrating new breakthroughs without compromising a single human life. Over 70 diseases and conditions have already been treated through adult stem cells, helping patients overcome everything from juvenile diabetes to heart disease. There is a common misconception that ESC research hasn't yielded these same results because it's not legal. It is. Only federal funding has been restricted. Private, commercial, and even state ESC experiments continue to no avail. That's why the ESC community is so desperate for federal funding. Many of the private ESC financiers see the method as an expensive failure. Even Dr. James Thomson, who first grew human ESC in 1998, has pulled his resources from embryos and invested in induced pluripotent (or iPS) cells, because, apart from the satisfying the moral dilemma, these cells are easier and cheaper to reproduce.

While the Obama administration and its supporters claim to be on the cutting-edge of science, the new President is pursing old technology. And thanks to the latest stimulus package, he will have at least $8 billion to do so. In a clever political move, Obama put the money in place at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the second "bailout," then moved ahead with rescinding Bush's restrictions. As he stated today, it will be up to NIH to decide in the next 120 days on the guidelines for ESC research.

Ever since my salvation, I was set free from guilt and legalism and have not succumbed to mindless ritual or religious obligation since. It's been good.

As you can tell, I came to the service with mixed emotions. I wasn't looking forward to being reminded of sins that God says "I will remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17). Yet I was looking forward to some quiet reflection and prayer after a rather stressful day/ week/ life. It was good, but God gave me an unexpected bonus.

I came thinking about the 40 days for Life campaign and how I was suppose to give a plug for that. Yet, this too gave me mixed emotions.

I have been burdened by the plight of the unborn and the deep wounding abortion causes on women for years. As a college kid in the 80's, I organized and led an annual Pro-Life march during the anniversary of Roe-v-Wade. I have always been challenged by God's admonition in Prov. 24:11-12 and Jesus' mission of life, not death.

But I feel that Christians in general, and "evangelicals" in particular, have been seriously beat down in this issue. The media has beat believers into submission by reporting everything we do to rescue the unborn as being "against abortion", "anti-choice", "opposed to women's rights", and so on. Since we don't want to be known for "what we are against" and since we naturally want people to like us, we do little to nothing to stop the greatest atrocity in human history.

So, with all these emotions flying around, I stepped up to the stage to speak and all my rehearsed lines were immediately replaced with a confession of our national sin. Following in the line of the great prophets of the OT who identified with and decried the sin of Israel and the nations around it (including child sacrifice- Ezekiel 23:39), I felt compelled to do the same.

Now, I no where came close to the passion and conviction that these prophets did, but it certainly caught me off guard and placed on my heart a deeper burden for the unborn and a greater appreciation for Christ's salvation. For as I identify with the sin of my nation... its adultery, its profanity, its child sacrifice... the redeeming power of Christ's blood becomes all that more awesome... in the truest sense of the word... to me.

"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." II Chronicles 7:14

I did briefly mention what a continuous, unified narrative the telling of Joseph's life is, but here are a couple more comments referring to just how remarkable a story this is:

Bible scholars: Gerhard von Rad - "an organically constructed narrative,"; Sarna - it's an "unparalleled continuity of narrative."

But what adds to the remarkable nature of this narrative is that embedded within it is a reflective chiastic structure. This means that within this story's unified structure, the themes of the first half of the cycle are repeated or echoed in the second half!

The structure of the Joseph story is as follows:

A Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Joseph part (37:1-36)
B Interlude: Joseph not present (38:1-30)
C Reversal: Joseph guilty, Potiphar's wife innocent (39:1—23)
D Joseph hero of Egypt (40:1-41 : 57)
E Two trips to Egypt (42 :1 -43 : 34)
F Final test (44:1-34)

F' Conclusion of test (45:1-28)
E' Two tellings of migration to Egypt (46:1-47:12)
D' Joseph hero of Egypt (47:13-27)
C' Reversal: Ephraim firstborn, Manasseh secondborn (47:28—48:22)
B' Interlude: Joseph nominally present (49: 1-28)
A' Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Joseph part (49 : 29-50 : 26)

Now some may question whether the author ever intended this and that people who have too much time on their hands read this chiastic structure into the storyline. And that may be so. But it's there nonetheless. I wonder if it wasn't the author's intention (Moses or the sons of Jacob) to write it this way, but rather it was thee Author's (God) intention to do so.

Why? For ease of memorization for one. To help his people, who had a lot less access to the Scriptures than we do now, remember it and learn from it. Also, to put a fingerprint of His Divine authorship on the document. Even the most classic novels don't have this depth of tapestry embedded into their stories.

Anyone who says that the Bible was written by a bunch of wild-eyed, lonely men, are speaking out of their ignorance. Stuff like this make me sit back in awe of the depth and beauty of the Scriptures and of it's Author.

It’s good to laugh. And being a believer gives us much to rejoice about. Our God is on the throne and He lives forever. This is the confidence of every believer and is one that we turn to during times of change… any change, but especially a change in national leadership. Some people are walking on air right now… some are wrought with worry. Either extreme is inappropriate and unnecessary for a Christ follower.

We spent a good chunk of time in my lifegroup last night talking about what the Scriptures say about God and government/ Christians and politics. There are two passages that speak strongly to this subject: Romans 13:1-7 and I Timothy 2: 1-6

Romans 13 commands Christians to submit to governing authorities. To do good, to pay your taxes, and to show fear and honor to whom it is due. Our conversation, though, camped on what to do when the government violates the laws of God especially as it relates to killing the unborn. In that case, it is clear that we are to obey God rather than men.

The new administration promises to expand stem cell research and abortion advocacy and so we talked a long time about how we as Christians ought to respond to that. Without question, in all things, we need to operate under the law of love (Rom. 13:8-10). We discussed contacting our congressmen, helping women with unwanted pregnancies and a great thought that came out was praying for and sharing the gospel with medical professionals who perform or assist in abortions.

I Timothy commands Christians to pray for our governing authorities. Some think this is so Christians can be left alone (a tranquil and quiet life). That’s true, but in the context of living a godly life obeying the great commission. Paul’s comment that “God desires all men to the saved” is in the same context. Paul wants us to pray for a government that does not intrude upon the life that God has called Christians to live (Matt. 28:18-2; II Cor. 5:11-21).

The new administration promises to pass national Hate Crimes laws that have been used in some states to censor and punish Christians from speaking a necessary element of the gospel… that we are all sinners. Preaching I Cor. 6:9-11 could be (and I predict will be) charged as a hate crime in due time.

But our response is not to worry about such things, but to pray, to vocalize our concerns to the appropriate legislators, and continue to do good in the eyes of God no matter where it leads. So pick up your chin and grow a big smile on your face. Our God reigns!

Got any good Ole and Sven jokes? If so, I'd love to hear them.

Thanksgiving Day is the day
when the Pilgrims and the Indians came together,
To give thanks to all those who worked hard each year,
To the Indians who helped us plant corn and potatoes,
and especially to God who lead them out of Europe,
who gave them the strength to make it here,
for if it weren't for them we would not have Thanksgiving,
and what a shame that would be.

The Puritans, looking for a land to live and raise their families in the Christian faith without infringement by government or state religion, came to the new world to start a new life. This is the event that we celebrate on Thanksgiving day. This video does a fair job of covering the facts.

So like my brothers in Christ before me, I want to stop and give thanks to God for my wife and family, my church and country, my health and prosperity. As I do, though, not far from my mind is a prayer that we will be able to continue to thank God for such things.

America is turning incredibly hostile to Christianity. Religulous is nothing short of an intolerant, hostile mockumentary of Christianity and other religions... and it simply takes to an extreme what is happening all across this land. Even the freedom to share faith in Christ is being threatened as it's increasingly being viewed as a criminal act.

These turn of events will be exacerbated by the election of Barack Obama. He is a strong proponent of hate crimes legislation that has been and will be used to censor Christians from living according to the dictates of their faith.

So as you give thanks this Thanksgiving also give a prayer to God for America. Pray that those who come after us will be able to enjoy the same freedoms as those who have gone before us. And pray that the gospel would be preached without hindrance as I Tim. 2: 1-4 commands us to.