Life:Suffocated by Jason Cruise Jesus calls us on a journey that is precisely that: an odyssey. He gives us the offering to travel a path of constant unknowns in which He saves us from ourselves by withholding information about our earthly future yet all the while giving us full disclosure about our eternal destination. That which is most important, eternal life, is that to which He opens freely for all to see. We are everyone somewhat comical creatures really, in that we, each in our own way, covet a quiet intensity to know how the next chapter ends before reading it; when if we were actually granted such greeds it would but simply stifle the process of a life that must grow dependent in all matters of consistently learning how to trust His great love for those whom He has ransomed by His own blood. The grand illusion of any attempt at controlling life's unknowns only suffocates the very breath out of the experiences that life gives. Think about it. Where do your fondest memories come from? They come from those unexpected moments when you had to physically experience something to which now only a picture is left to recall the surprise of the situation. It was the simple factor of surprise that made the event what it was. Even if the situation was bad, you can look at that same image and recall the moment that now has passed and has left you with at least the joy of being stronger in tangible faith in the God who brought you through it. Life in Christ was never meant to be mechanical. This earth journey is just that. A path of turns and twists that has only but two constants: there will always be changes in the landscape and there will forever be a Guide for those who call upon His name.
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The Difference Is Night And Day by Jason Cruise If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. - Psalm 139:11-12 There are different kinds of dark. There's the dark that you experience when in a major city, where the ambient light doesn't allow you to see the night sky. There's the darkness that is half-lit from security lights when you are trying to sleep in a hotel room. Then there's an all-consuming darkness, one that wraps around you like a soul blanket, when you literally cannot see anything, because you are in a remote area, like, for instance, the Arctic Circle. No distant lights from a house a few miles away, no cell tower blinking on a ridge in the distance. It's hard to find that kind of darkness, but when you find yourself in it, you find yourself consumed by it. There's a vulnerability that is unmistakable inside the heart, regardless of how much of a man you think may be. Maybe that's what David was getting at when he said there are times when a situation can seem so dark that is "overwhelms" the soul, the mind, and even the body. Yet, there was something David knew about the Creator; an ambient truth of its own that had just enough glow to bring hope to the eyes of the heart: darkness never overwhelms God, for He created it. Darkness cannot hide His glory, nor does it squelch His glorious ability to illuminate a path to follow even in the darkest of nights. Darkness isn't dark to Him at all. Light is no brighter to Him than the dark of darkness. They are one and the same. You can trust the fact that what is true about God's grace, God's mercy, and God's sovereign ability to provide for you, regardless of the situation, is just as true in the dark as it is in the light, for His ability to see clearly is not bound to the process of illumination. Caring Enough by Jason Cruise Recently I was listening to a podcast from Bill Hybels. Perhaps you've never heard of Bill, so it is enough to say that he is at the epicenter of global Christian leadership and has been for about 30 to 40 years. Bill started what has come to be one of the most famous and well-known churches in the world, Willow Creek Community Church, on the outskirts of Chicago. During this podcast, Bill made an interesting statement that caused my heart to pause for a second and think it through. Bill's dad was a very successful businessman and he spent his entire adult life loving God, growing a great business, and being a good dad. Yet, his dad died at 52. However, even at that young age when he experienced the loss of his father, Bill noticed that his pastor never once tapped into his father's business acumen or leadership prowess. Even saying that he felt that his dad would have absolutely loved an opportunity to use his talents to help his pastor and their church, but it just was never offered. Hybels said what that revelation did was create within him a resolve to forever use whatever coaching ability he had as a pastor to release people in his congregation to impact the marketplace for the growth of God's kingdom. Even still, it was what Hybels will said later on in the podcast that stuck with me. The interviewer asked him, "You've been an amazing influence on so many people in the marketplace, so how have you done that?" He said that as elementary as it may seem ... you have to be "genuinely interested" in people, interested in what they want, and genuinely interested in them more than you are your own church goals, in order to see God used them and to help bring out the God-given gifts inside of them. Without going on a rant, Hybels got to the core issue: actually loving people enough to walk with them. I believe that the reason that God wants us to be involved in lives of people is because businesses don't go to Heaven or Hell. Products will not make it into the kingdom of God. This isn't to imply, not in any stretch, that businesses, profits, and product development are not important. They are incredibly important, because these very things affect the lives of people every day. What must happen in order to have a genuine impact for the kingdom of God in the marketplace, however, is a constant course correction in all things related to perspective. In the end, products aren't people and profit margins do not have a soul. God wants to use you to influence, and your products, and your business models, to affect people. It's people that matter ... because people matter to God. A Uniqueness Yet Known by Jason Cruise Heaven is going to be an experience that is obviously like none other known to the human heart. I anticipate that moment when I lock eyes with Jesus. I cannot imagine what it will feel like to hear his voice. I anticipate talking with prophets like Amos, and finding out what it was like to have real, honest to goodness, bar room volume scale opposition to your preaching. I anticipate the sights, the smells, the colors. I greatly anticipate that "new song" that we are told we will sing, for it is one I've yet to hear. Yet I believe what I anticipate the most is that I will never again know what it feels like to be a sinner. Toting a Corpse by Jason Cruise When Jesus saved me, He did not redeem the character flaws, bad habits, and hangups of my natural self. That may have come with the redemption package, but that was not the end game He had in mind. According to Paul, Jesus' game plan was to kill me dead. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live ... (Galatians 2:20) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) So, it is critical then, my brother, that you do not tote around the weight of a dead man who was formerly you, for dead men have no place in the chambers of a man where life has been bought with a price. A Time to Gather Stones by Jason Cruise There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,5) This past Thursday evening, on a cloudlessly perfect day, I climbed a hill. It's a hill I've climbed many times on a beautiful piece of Tennessee property where I've chased many April long-beards. This time, however, it was not to chase a tom. I felt a strange pull to worship on top of this hill. Close to the summit of this hilltop clad in cedars I stopped and gathered four stones. Over the last ten years I've spoken at churches of all shapes and sizes throughout the nation at men's ministry events and wild game dinners. I've made a habit of gathering the email addresses of the pastors I meet just because I will often send out a special devotion dealing with issues that are specific to men in the cloth. However, this past week I sent an email to this group of men asking for them to consider opening their heart, and their missions budget, to a kingdom need that was both real and urgent. If you follow the Man Minute, then you know that from time to time I'll write about my relationship with orphans in Moldova. While in this country on my last trip, it became readily apparent to me that Alina Magdaliuc, the national director of Justice and Mercy International, who lives and works with orphans in Moldova, was in serious need of a better vehicle, for the car she now has is quickly coming to a state of disrepair. Alina travels all over the Moldovan countryside working to get orphans the help they need in a country where empirical evidence indicates that up to 60-70% of orphan girls will be forced into sex slavery. Therefore, getting these beautiful children on the radar of JMI is a critical issue. Without a vehicle, Alina's work for the kingdom of God is massively hindered. Upon sending out this simple email requesting that pastors consider opening up their mission's budgets to help purchase this vehicle ... in one day's time ... I sat back and watched almost $10,000 of commitments roll in. In one, single day. I went to the hilltop to gather stones of remembrance. What I love about the Old Testament is that our God is forever trying to create ways to embed His faithfulness into the hearts of His people; so, lest they forget His benefits, He often called them to build altars and stack stones, and His purpose was simple: He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God. (Joshua 4:21-24) I stacked my stones, and then sat on a log to look at them for a while. There on that hill, in the deafening silence that only a cedar thicket can produce, I worshipped the same God that parted the waters of the Jordan, for I had seen Him part the waters for these children who are in need of a leader who can care for them continually. I wanted Him to know that I had seen His glory, a glory manifested through the hearts of His people, as they poured out tangible love to "the least of these." It was a day I will not allow myself to forget. FYI: We still have about $4000 to go to purchase the vehicle. If you are interested, email me at jason@outdoorministrynetwork and I'll get you into contact with Justice and Mercy International. 100% of your donation will go to this vehicle project and 100% of your donation is tax deductible. Hope. Realized. by Jason Cruise At the moment it is 4:14 am on February 21, 2012. I'm in Chisinau, Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. Yesterday was a day I'll never forget as long as I live. I saw with my own eyes the power of hope once it's born into the life of someone who has never had it. "and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." - Romans 5:5 The girl in the picture is Mihaela, or "Michelle" in English. Six months ago, when I took this picture, I met this tall, skinny, 11 year old girl who owned the saddest eyes I'd ever seen. The odd thing was that she was not gloomy, and she didn't pout. No, in fact, she had perfect posture, and walked with a purposeful step, as if it were by keeping her head held high she was refusing to quit, though the possibilities certainly seemed bleak. The orphanage director told me that Mihaela is smart, in fact, very smart. So it then made sense to me as to why she had sad eyes when I met her on a playground at a former Soviet summer camp in July 2011. You see, Mihaela, even at the age of 11, had already done the math. She had nowhere to go when her time at the orphanage was up ... and she knew it. It's hard to feel loved when the idea of what we call a family is something she could only read about in a book. So, six months ago through Justice and Mercy International, my wife and I began sponsoring this incredibly beautiful girl who rarely, if ever, smiled. Today, as I walked down a hallway of the school on the campus of the orphanage, I was stopped by some orphan boys who I'd recognized from trips past. As we swapped hugs and hellos, a fellow student must have gone ahead of us and evidently had told Mihaela that I was on the campus. I looked up and what I saw was breathtaking. It's true, no angels sung. No bright light ran through the snow covered window. Even still, what stopped my heart was that this girl with sad eyes was now walking quickly toward me not only smiling, but with her smile came a new countenance. Her face had literally changed since I last looked upon it six months ago. You can fake a smile. We've all done it. What you can't fake is joy, especially when it's sprung forth from a heart which has a new song in it. Why? Because our great God, the perfect Father to the fatherless, promises that hope does not disappoint. For the next fifteen minutes I sat on her bed gathering every word I could find to try and explain to her how much she was loved by my family. For the next fifteen minutes, as I spoke, she smiled and she never stopped smiling. No not once did she stop smiling. I sat on Mihaela's bed giving her clothes, shoes, and other gifts from my wife and our boys. I told her that because the love of God was alive in us, we wanted to love her, and that as long as I was alive on this earth, she'd never again have to worry about her future, nor was she going to have to worry about whether or not she was going to make it. I told her that my family was her family, and we were going to make sure that her future was secure. She smiled. And so did her eyes. With Gladness by Jason Cruise No doubt we all, every single one, go through times of incredible angst. Like acid reflux of the attitude, we have those days where things start out bad only to get worse. Sometimes those bad days turn into weeks, and even sometimes more, they can turn into a season where a reason to smile is all but impossible to invent. Serve the Lord with gladness ... Psalm 100:2 No person is exempt from a dry season, but friend do understand this: a dry season in the life of a follower of Jesus the Christ should be but an exception in your life and not the norm. As a believer in the risen Christ, you of all persons should know of the deep riches of His grace, His benefits for those ransomed by His own blood, and of the tangible power that is reserved only for those grafted into His family tree. There is nothing mortal about the Giver of your salvation, therefore no mortal can take it from you. If no mortal can steal your eternal security, then why give mortals the ability to feed upon your daily bread which is not theirs to feast? Serve the Lord with gladness. Why? Because you can. The Power Of Partnerships. by Jason Cruise Be imitators of God ... but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person-such a man is an idolater-has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them... be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise. (Ephesians 5:2-15) How do you turn a battleship? The answer is easy: constant pressure on a small rudder. Over time pressure wins even though it must turn a massive vessel. It's not just true in matters of faith, it's true in every area of life: you eventually adopt the mentality of the people around you. Why? Because the people closest to your heart and mind simply shape your way of thinking. It's the word "partners" that stops me cold. Holiness is forever tied to the power of your partnerships. What you choose to watch on TV, or listen to in music, is your entertainment partner. Who you choose to read is your life-philosophy partner, because you are allowing them to shape your thoughts. All of it matters, because you are giving those authors, producers, as well as those colleagues, friends, and golf partners the precious asset of your mind. Holiness matters because what you value ultimately drives your decisions. An unrighteous partnership will always cloud your ability to discern truth from error. Which is why Paul tells us to live "not as unwise but as wise." Wise men guard their influences with a holy tenacity because they deeply desire to be tenaciously holy. Few Things Last Forever by Jason Cruise There's a lot of good theology to be found in .38 Special's classic rock anthem of "Hold On Loosely." If you can't recall the song, and pity you my brother if you cannot, in the chorus we are wisely instructed to "Hold on loosely but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control." Jobs come and go. So do friends ... and even people you thought were friends. Money is made, and it's lost, and hopefully made again. People die, and sometimes those people are incredibly close to you. Life is full of insanely bitter defeats, and incredibly sweet victories. There's no way around it, so don't fear it. Do Not Fear It. God is the master genius of forming for us a journey where few things stay the same. You need to praise Him for that, for it creates an awesome sense of dependency for our independent selves. The great comfort in it all is that by His own words God tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
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Jason CruiseJason Cruise is the founder of Mission. Mission was created to "vindicate the fatherless" in a country known as Moldova. To learn more go to www.themissionvision.net Jason is a well known speaker traveling across the country sharing his love for Christ at wildgame dinners and conferences. Jason has created many valuable resources for the outdoorsmen to take them deeper into their walk with their Creator. These items include DVD's, Bibles, and Bible studies. Archives
July 2014
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