Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted on by Gary Fultz

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To all you readers and fellow bloggers, Merry Christmas from the frozen lakes areas of northern United States. The sun is a bit inconspicuous through the cab and the trees as it sets over the small lake I was fishing.  A safe 7″ of ice with the fold up shelter allowed me to see 9 fish and catch 3.

When I read your blogs from South Africa, UK, South America and so many warmer countries, I often wonder what I am missing that excites you. I only know what you are missing if you have never driven or walked on a frozen lake or peered down a hole in the ice as a monster fish suddenly appears to bite your hook (Or decide not to).

I dropped a camera down the hole to show you just what it looks like down there. I was catching some blue gill that day.  Check out this utube video 

Have a Merry Christmas fellow readers and bloggers. may you keep connected. May you also become more connected to the God who created all that we know and love.

For me, Christmas is a time where I reflect on how our creator exchanged His eternal Glory for a different kind of glory never seen before. A glory He wants to pass on to us through God in a finite human body as a baby. Inconspicuously inserting himself into his own creation to make a way to restore our relationship to Him.  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ” Luke 2:14. take some time to mull over what the angels proclaimed to some obscure shepherds who would worship God in the form of a baby born in a barn. Glory to God both in heaven and now on earth

May you make room for Jesus in your everyday life this next year.

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We have a christmas tree wall for some of our Christmas Cards

 

Merry christmas All from the Frozen state of Wisconsin, USA. It’s -8 F actual temperature and diving. Wind chill close to -30 F.

Gary

Second Hand Experience

Posted on by Gary Fultz

It’s a trap. To think we have a close relationship with God by only listening to sermons and christian music. By only going to church, you may be missing out on the intended first-hand experience with God we were created to have. Spider web art email
I remember as a kid helping mom round up things to bring to church to send to missionaries in other countries. We called them “Missionary Barrels” because we literally packed big barrels. People brought clothes, books, plates, toys for the kids and mostly common but useful goods. Looking back there were questionable things packed as well. High heels in the mountains probably did nothing but kill a few spiders.

It’s an old and sad but true story. Someone actually packed a tin of used tea bags for one missionary couple. I heard they were actually used when the good tea bags ran out. Talk about a second hand tea experience. Is it possible we do this with God?

I have met people who are content in their relationship with God but see no reason to experience any personal time with God. I want to ask them if they like used tea bags. To develop an intimate relationship with God doesn’t happen second hand. Experience Jesus first-hand each day and wherever we are will become the place where we express our love to God and one another. I’m just not going to settle for a weak knee relationship with God. How about you?  Let’s not settle for anything even close to a “used tea bag Christianity”

Colossians 3:16 

  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Gary

Am I, Are You?

Posted on by Gary Fultz

My Dad. One of the reasons I am an outdoor wilderness adventurer. I took his picture and wrote this a year before his going home.

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I asked Dad what he is speaking on tomorrow as he is still able to communicate well in front of groups. I guess it was my way of seeing how prepared he was and because he has lost a bit of zip over the years. Losing mom, having a heart attack and fighting cancer over the last couple of years has given him a longing for eternity while still wanting to make a difference here and now. Life is very very tough at this stage.

His answer: “I will be speaking on three questions so many people need to ask themselves every day.

#1) Are you prayed up? (for anything, and I mean anything! that comes our way today)

#2) Are you fed up? (yes it’s a double meaning on spiritual food and on the condition of our culture). 

#3) Are you fired up?

Go get um Dad!

Gary

The Real Deal

Posted on by Gary Fultz
Jims project
I had to take a picture of this intimidating project

My neighbor shot a framing nail through his hand (between the knuckles) on his DIY project. He obviously could not do much for a while. What would you have done?

I have more than some experience in building projects. At that point the “what should I do?” is a dumb question.

Answers I have weeded out so far: 1) I’ll pray for you. 2) “What a bummer man” (yes we are products of the 70’s era). 3) Were you drinking again? 4) Well. I’ll put you on the church prayer chain (I might without his knowledge).

This is real life. I have an ongoing daily walk with God but my neighbor admits he personally does not like “religious people” for a long list of sad and real reasons. He likes us as neighbors and hopes our house does not sell so we stay put. So, how far does one go for his neighbor?

One of my favorite quotes by Francis Schaeffer; “The Bible is clear here: I am to love my neighbor as myself, in the manner needed, in a practical way, in the midst of the fallen world, at my particular point of history. This is why I am not a pacifist. Pacifism in this poor world in which we live — this lost world — means that we desert the people who need our greatest help.”

Consider this; I do not even consider “religious reasons” to be a factor in how I treat people. Let’s face it, we are who we are, and the core of our being is tested by those around us every day. Who are we and who are we becoming? Does what we say, do and post on social media draw people into becoming more like Jesus? Most everyone except for the religious flock liked Jesus.

If Christ lives in us, His unstoppable unimaginably infinite love will go to great lengths to shove our plans aside to help our neighbor in need.

Being a “spread it around” kind of guy is my spiritual gift. I enlisted some help. I asked a couple of guys (who are on the church prayer chain) to lend a hand. I scoured the neighborhood for a monster forklift as I felt my back would not like carrying the shingles up the long spindly ladder. I ended up getting a better ladder. Meanwhile, we had some great conversations and built trust that probably wouldn’t have happened any other way. Later on in the summer I started building my large shop, my neighbor right beside me. I would like to think this is in part who Christ wants me to be, and it turns out, quite a step in who Christ wants him to be.

        I thought of this verse when my neighbor came over with a DIY first aid bloody hand in the middle of his project.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you”. (Matthew 5:42)

Gary

Love Potion 3:16

Posted on by Gary Fultz

What if you were the only one separated from God? The bible never says, “relax, you are not the only one.” The bible does say, “everyone has sinned and falls short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

We are, you know, alone. All of us, alone. It’s an us and God problem and not God’s fault. Sin. Inherited. We sin because we were born sinners. We are considered dead before a Holy God with an eternal gulf separating us from God. We are so dead that we cannot fix our problem.

No mortal can stand beside us to help or take our place. No one.

There is nothing we can do to wash sin away. We embody sin on our side of the canyon.

No friend, parent, teacher or priest can bridge that gap for us.

No accomplishment, no brilliant strategy, no personal goodness or charisma can remove sins eternal devastation.

Then came Jesus. Fully God born into his own mortal creation. To die for our eternal death sentence. Alone.

God’s only acceptable solution. He stained our planet with His blood. The only perfect sacrifice.

He beat the death meant for us. He offers his immortal life, to you, to me, individually, to everyone… one at a time.

We bring nothing for this transaction. Alone, with nothing, we meet and acknowledge Jesus. Savior. Lord.

We begin to realize how much his love permeated all time and space. We belong to God.

If the force of love could be measured, it would have shattered the Richter scale at the cross.

Jesus Christ

Have you met Jesus? Have you dropped all your life’s crutches and baggage at the foot of the cross and asked his forgiveness from sin? The cross bridges the gap between us and God. Someday we will stand alone before a Holy God. We will either hear “I don’t know you, get out of my sight!” or “I know you, welcome to my place forever!”

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So, what if you were the only one? Would Christ Jesus have died for you? This love is too great to think otherwise!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation (new species…my words) has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 Oh that we are becoming more like Christ daily. We were meant to share this off the charts love and introduce others to Jesus. Oh yes, Love potion 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son. Whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

Ah, but that’s only the beginning. God then wants a friendship. We can walk and talk through life and forever with him. Jesus made that clear. “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Gods plan all along from original sin to eternity was a restored relationship where the created can know creator. Absolutely amazing grace.

Even if I were the only one, Gods love would reach out to me. I never have to be alone. Ever since Jesus chose me and I chose him. Even when I someday stand before the most powerful Holy God. Alone. Probably trembling with realizations never understood, but not alone…My friend who knows me way more than I know HIm, and invites me home forever anyway.

Gary

A Word Worth a Thousand Pictures

Posted on by Gary Fultz
Tim on Jesus Rock email
This picture is worth a thousand-word story

Words are often cheap, thrown around casually as if in endless supply. Words often power and leverage others with only thought of a desired result. Words change another’s world. Words leave tracks. The ripples of words change the world in so many lives in their wake. Words flowing from a pure spring are clean and refreshing. Words with even a trace of dirt taint the taste for more.

I have been thinking of a word worth a thousand pictures to turn about the common phrase. I have often thought of this one word and a thousand pictures that go with major times of growth and change in my life.

Yes   

The word is yes. A word that begets yes after yes. Yes is commitment direction, direction of duty, character development direction and a thousand times thousand pictures splayed through a life of continuous yes. Yes is unusually contrary to the most common two year old response. No is a reaction word. Yes is intentional.

Think about a life of “YES” to God, a continuous “YES” to your Spouse, “YES” to your neighbor and yes the pictures are rolling in. We have stories to tell. Great stories that will be told in eternity.

Think about “Yes” to our self only. You see much different pictures. I always picture our friends George and his wife. She put his suitcase on the front porch when he came home from work and said “Choose between me and cocaine. If you choose me we flush all your drugs and you carry your suitcase inside and stay. If you choose Cocaine, take the suitcase and go.” George took the suitcase and ran. This “YES” to cocaine has been the saddest thousand pictures for me personally.

Please say a continuous “YES” to Jesus; He said “YES” for us. The pictures and stories in eternity will be better than any epic movie made by man.

GARY

 

Exponential Brain Illustration

Posted on by Gary Fultz

Fishing with Liz email
How do we learn?  Teaching a grand daughter to fish. Picture by my Daughter Tracy Demarse

We are born with a brain in the physical sense. I am told that most of us only use a few percentage points of our brains capacity through out our lives. Huh! Funny word “capacity” . I picture a livestock water tank (from growing up on the farm) that can hold 200 gallons of water and most of us put in 10 gallons our whole life.

Reality check here. The brain is actually closer to being a water balloon with growing expansion room as we grow.  Yes, it matters what you put into it! “But wait, there’s more” (to quote the overused commercials).  Way more!

What if the brain grew more capacity as it was used? what if capacity (and it does) grows exponentially in the areas used? What if we were created in the image (and we are) and likeness (how much do you know about His likeness?) of God? That part of us that can have a close relationship with our creator and be-becoming like Him in proportion.

Here is my story…and a spiritual illustration.

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Trying to get a grand son interested….this is going to take some work

When I was 11 years old a saw blade came off a machine and cut both my arms to the bone, cutting off the main nerves to the rest of the arms, hands and fingers. As I tried to function somehow a doctor told my mother I needed to either play the piano or learn to type; and do it a lot. I now had Hope to be able to use my fingers past being clothespins on the end of my hands. I chose piano. It was slow. Very slow. Somehow I began to use my fingers. After years of playing (even with a degree of proficiency) I began to wonder why I could feel the keys when I played. I could play songs in the dark and actually feel the keys. Hmmm. This is not possible…or is it? What happened?

A few years ago I read an article from a retired neurosurgeon that explained what happened. The brain can actually begin to fill in the blanks (it’s the nerves that tell the brain what is being felt and in essence we experience feeling through the brain. This is why a blind person can use their hands to feel your face and say with confidence “I can see you” and they really can! This is why, when I play the piano, I actually have a touch on the keys and do not just pound away (although pounding was a huge part of learning for me). I can feel the keys and yet get a wood sliver under my fingernail and not feel it until I see it…then the brain kicks in and then says “yep , sorry, this should be hurting….oh, sorry wrong finger. Sometimes my brain still gets the fingers mixed up.

(A good version of senses taking over other senses is explained here)

Don’t miss the applications here. I have realized that knowing God and having a personal relationship with Him is way more than knowing about God. It’s like knowing about pianos.  The hours spent on the piano for me are way beyond what most people would need to be able to play the piano extremely well.

    We come to God, in a sense (pun intended), with our spiritual nerves cut off. The best we can do if we used 100% of our capacity falls extremely short of Gods requirement of perfection.

Our baby brain does not start out leaning toward anything but ourselves. fast forward into adulthood and we have no more capacity to play the piano proficiently or have a deep relationship with God without a “start” in our lives. With the piano the start was easy. Sit down and start banging away right? No I needed someone to at least start me in the right direction, Sit down on the bench, open a beginner’s book, point the way, keep pointing the way and then practice for hours on end every week for years. I started to “feel” the piano keys some time in my 20’s. The progression was extremely slow. Even now, if I quit playing for awhile my feeling of the keys deteriorates rapidly.

I believe a relationship with God is the same way. Our “Start” is when we realize we cannot even know God except through Jesus Christ, your most important relationship (Please see how this is explained in detail here).

Final thought and why I wrote this blog: Knowing Gods heart deeply takes time. Knowing God can be in the next few minutes. Knowing God and His Heart can begin right out of the gate. Knowing God deeply takes a lot of time spent with God. No short-cuts on in-depth relationships of any kind.  I am still a beginner but alone time is essential.

Every morning I get up and put my book (not the piano book) in front of me and read my Bible. I ask God for understanding, guidance and honestly have a staff meeting with God.  Side Note: God seems to like “obedience” quite a bit. We talk and listen to one another. It’s taken years for this time to not be so one sided. My “feeling” capacity for God and for others has changed me to be more like Jesus. I may be quite slow to love God, others and possibly even my enemies but hey my nerves were cut off as were yours. I suspect that is why there are so many “One Another” commandments in the Bible, sigh, that’s  another discussion.

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Sometimes I See

Posted on by Gary Fultz

After a day paddle and many portages between waters lies an insignificant little island in the northernmost Minnesota wilderness. Battered and vulnerable to every wind and storm from any direction, a display of all that life brings should one care to gaze awhile. I did. I felt the emotion. Pain in the calm after the storm, despair in a fog, hope in the sun’s rays coming to me, and all the seasons passing to get there. In the reflection I saw and felt me.

 

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Doesn’t look like much does it? I’m not much. I realized my insignificance.

God brought me here. I watched the sun come through the fog and touch the battered treetops. I felt His hope brush against me and penetrate my soul. I worshipped My Creator God and Lover of my soul. I felt unashamed tears. What a rendezvous. What a trysting place. Oh, to have eyes to see and a heart to believe at all times.

Gary

Little Red Bird, Big Life Lesson

Posted on by Gary Fultz

I was restless on this chilly, damp and blustery May day. The kind of day to read a good book by the fire casting it’s heat to thaw the chilled bones. I had been watching the deer mosey around the fenced apple trees and the little song birds getting blown off the feeder by wind gusts. No singing today as they seem to look for spots of refuge from the wind and flapping foliage.

I stood with my camera ready as I had spotted a bright red Scarlet Tanager. A tunnel through the flapping leaves suddenly appeared as my little red bird found a sanctuary on a stout oak limb situated just right, behind the tree trunk and out of the wind. The unruffled bird put up with me and even posed a bit. I felt as if we shared some peace in the chaos until little tweetie said, “that’s it, I’m done” and off he flew to wherever birds go after a fine photoshoot.

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Much has been said about having Peace in the midst of Chaos. Songs written and Poems published but so many times the experience eludes us.

Jesus told his disciples they would encounter chaos (my words) but he promised “My Peace I leave with you” John 14:27. Jesus calmed the storm when the disciples thought they might die. Mark 4:39.  Again: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.

Watching this little bird find a brief sanctuary in the chaos made me realize that I spend too much time looking for ways and places to escape the various levels of chaos life seems to daily throw my way. I have also found peace in the storms of life when my walk with Jesus is close. He draws me closer and says “I’m here, experience my peace”.  When my trust level with God is high he seems to smile and raise the bar higher. “Trust Me”. Seems cruel on God’s part to give no explanation or relief sometimes.

My Prayer most of my life has been “I need you Jesus”

My wife and I have experienced our share of loss and extremely hard times as well as a great life with adventure and good times. Our trust bar with God has been raised beyond sight. There becomes an unexplainable depth to the sanctuary we find in walking daily with Jesus. Unexplained chaos becomes unexplainable depth.

My hope is that others may see a tunnel through the chaos to where we are sitting and see what they would like to have. Peace inside becoming peace on the outside. I will not look at the Scarlet Tanager the same way again.

Gary

Seeking Solitude in Plain Sight

Posted on by Gary Fultz
Solitude

 Auras of mystery surround places of solitude. The very word fills pages of novels, entices the busy, and secretes fear into the lost. Solitude hides a secret ingredient in the discovery of inner peace. She whispers of fulfilled longings and whisks sweet fantasies into the souls of dreamers.

Solitude begs the wilderness to conspire. “Let the open places call and the forests invite the seeker”. No answer is heard as nature awaits it’s own peace.

Seekers reach for solitude. I slid the canoe into the water quietly at 4:30 am in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. Getting away from camp for my own sense of solitude. 3 portages, a river, and part of a floating bog later I was met by the early morning sunrise on Sema Lake. Crystal clear calm water looked like I was floating on air 40 feet above the rocky lake bottom. It was that moment when I realized that being totally alone without anyone knowing where, did not give me the solitude I was seeking. Only God knew where I was and only His peace could fill me. Of all the places in the world to discover the place of solitude was on the inside. How ironic to find one must be still and get alone when they are already alone. Even more to find out one can be still and utterly alone in the middle of a a busy city (although a park bench might keep us from getting run over).

     Solitude is not found in the rocks, trees, skies, or seas. She hides in plain sight while we are distracted by all that surrounds us.Just the fact that we are searching is a seductress. Could it be that solitude is always there waiting for us to slip away from all our distractions into the quiet place of our own heart?

   Beware of seeking solitude for solitude’s sake for it is a trysting place. A place to meet with the lover of our soul. A place to know the depths of God’s desires for our heart. A place to listen for Gods voice and bare your soul without uttering a word. 
Learn how to practice the the discipline of Solitude wherever you are. Psalm 46: 10 Be still and know that I am God. Could it be that easy?

                  You don’t have to get to the mountain top to find solitude

Get alone anyway

 
For in depth information on the discipline of solitude read Jan Johnsons writings and her sources she uses on this little used but necessary ingredient for growth in our walk with God.

What does alone time look like for you? Do you have a trysting place?Please share in the comments at the bottom

Gary