I finally found it.  Yep, the older I get the more I need it.  People have searched for it since the beginning, and now I have finally found it.

The it “revives the soul.”  The it ”makes wise the simple.” The it “is right.”  The it stirs “rejoice in the heart.”  The it is “pure.”  The it “opens the eyes.”  The it is “true”.  The it is “right forever.”

It is “to be desired more than gold, even much fine gold.”  It is “sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”

You, my fellow seekers, can have it, too.  Find it HERE.

Listen to Awaken Talks HERE

May you always experience the joy of submitting to Jesus Christ.  May your hope in God be so strong that every challenge you face becomes an opportunity for God to show himself Mighty on your behalf.  May God bless your work, both inside and outside the home.  May your relationships flourish and be filled with laughter and sincerity.  May your good works help others see the beauty of life with Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Jeanie Won!

(see below)

http://sagemontblog.startlogic.com/russell-cravens/

I graduate from Seminary on December 12th, 2008.  I think I’ll post more about seminary (school) in weeks to come, but for now I thought I would share with you what I wrote to nominate my wife for a program called “Dressed for Service.”  This program is led by the Seminary President’s wife, Dorothy Patterson.  Simply, they pick several seminarian wives to receive a day of shopping compliments of some people who want to honor these women.  Of course, I have nominated Jeanie because she is incredible.  Frankly, her sacrifice on my behalf to support my 13 semesters of Seminary has been incredible.  Seminary is tough.  It requires a lot of study, time, and energy.  During it all I have been working full time at Sagemont.  Graduation would not be possible if it were not for Jeanie. Period.

Here is what I wrote…

My wife, Jeanie, has been my helper in marriage for over nine years.  For six and a half years (thirteen semesters), she has helped me to receive the training I need at seminary by helping me study, by praying for me, by allowing me to sacrifice the time that I could have helped her with our three young children.  She has also supported me as I have worked full time at Sagemont Church as a Teaching Pastor.  I cannot remember one time during all those years of ministry and study that she has spoken a negative word about the ministry and seminary work that God has called us to.  Frankly, if it weren’t for her encouragement through the tough classes and tough ministry times I may not have reached graduation.  Simply, her passion is to take care of our home and to help me be faithful with the calling and the gifts that God has given to me.

I am for sure that whoever is chosen for this “Dressed for Service” honor is deserving of it.  It is a special person who walks alongside her spouse during the high demands of seminary.  That said, I believe that Jeanie is most deserving of this honor.  Not only would she be blessed by the new clothing, I feel that the greatest blessing would be that she would be recognized by our Lord in this special way as one who has done a great thing in supporting my studies. 

Thank you for your consideration.

I pray she wins.  If she doesn’t, I will take her shopping.

The storm has passed.  Most of the clean-up on the homes belonging to most of the people in our church are well on their way to being back to normal.  At first, I heard so many stories of people connecting with their neighbors to help clean-up yards, share resources, discuss electricity.  Now, most of us are realizing that our insurance companies will be no help to us in any way.  (This amazes me.  The only way that I get any help from my insurance company is if my house falls to the ground, and even then they will find a reason to not give me what I would need to recover.)  So, here we are with our fences down and we all have to coordinate with our neighbors whose fence it is and who is going to pay for it.  Herein lies the real opportunity to show the love of Christ.  I am convinced, Christians may have to work harder and pay more to serve our neighbors.  If we allow the fence controversy to create tension between us and our neighbors then the connecting we have done with our neighbors is worthless. 

So, let’s use this time as an opportunity to serve our neighbors by working a little harder, griping a little less, and giving a little more.  May God bless our efforts to be LPLGWW.

On last Sunday, I shared with the Awaken  gathering something that has really been on mind in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.  I said this, ”

Please understand, God uses the storms in life to get our attention.  So many of us are doing everything we can to get our lives back to normal.  We are working tirelessly to get everything back in place so just as soon as possible we can get back to our same schedules, our same friends, and our same lives.  But, what if God doesn’t want our lives back to normal.  What if God wants this storm to really disrupt our lives.  I assure you that “normal” for some of us is not the life that God desires for us.    Maybe our lives have been so disrupted that for once, in the wake of storm, we can really rethink how we are spending our time, our energy, our money.  Maybe the reason God blew down our fences is that He meant it when he commanded us to “love our neighbor” and “go, share the love of Christ with people.”  Maybe the reason that some have lights and air conditioning while others don’t is that God really wants the church to be unified, where one who has a little more is willing to give to the one has is without.”

I have thought about these words many times this week.  My “normal” work week has been disrupted as I have been part of a team of people traveling around helping people cut down trees, remove old carpet, and shovel dirt.  It has been, in many ways, a really refreshing time of hard labor.  Our team worked hard, laughed a lot, and taught one another.

At home, I have had the opportunity to get to know my neighbors a bit more as we discuss fences and insurance.  Koby and I chopped down a tree in the yard of a neighbor who we rarely get to talk to, and I pray it opens doors for Godly conversations. (When the tree fell, Koby grunted and laughed.  He is well on his way to being a man.)

I realize that I can’t spend every week with a chainsaw in my hand, but it sure has been a good opportunity to help people.  It has been cool to watch God provide ministry opportunity, and now it will be cool to see God provide for financial needs.

God is in control, and for that I am thankful.