Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho

This summer my church is going on a mission trip to Lima, Peru. Most people signed up for the trip last January. I felt led then to find out more information, but didn't. Guess I was being stubborn or something. I'm not a missionary, what on earth could I do? I couldn't imagine myself being useful in this way. But God kept bringing it up, and finally last Sunday I decided to listen. I joined the rest of the group to sit in on the monthly trip meeting (planning and what have you for the trip).

The official deadline for joining the trip was last Feb, so I felt pretty safe that I'd made sure it was too late to go, and I could at least say I'd done my best when I finally decided to go learn more about the trip. But, as it turns out, I was wrong. I'm not sure why God would want me on this mission trip, I've never ever been on one before. But, if He really means it and wants me to go, I will.

Next step is, fundraising for the airfare and whatnot. My husband and oldest son can go with me on the trip, provided the funding is enough, and since I have no idea what to expect at this point I'm just doing my best to plan for success with the 3 of us going and learning together. The cost is $2400 for each adult and $2300 for my son. A whopping total of $7,100.00! Not including lost wages for the 10 day period we are gone. That seems an astounding amount of money to me. I'll tell you this, the only way we would possibly be going is if God really wants us to and provides the means to do so. There would be no other way.

So, I guess at this point I'm willing, and will wait to see if He is serious.

If you would like to help with funding for the missions trip, I would appreciate it! Half of the money is due in 10 days - by the 15th of May! (Because I waited so long - definitely will be God's work if this happens) You can make your check out to Grace Church and mail it to me:
Holly Aho
214 1st ST E
Jordan MN 55352

You can also donate directly online here: https://public.serviceu.com/payment/default.asp?OrgID=1585&PaymentID=2858&&&
Make sure to let me know if you make a payment this way so that your missions giving is added to my fundraising totals for the trip. Email me at holly@sablogs.com.

Any amount is welcome, and if I don't raise enough money for us to go on the trip I will still be turning over all funds to make sure the trip is a success for everyone else.

Also - even if you can't donate financially, I would LOVE your prayers in this! The mission trip is July 25th - August 4th. The church has made this trip in the past, and this trip will follow very much like the last one, which you can read all about here!

Try this out this coming Sunday. When it's time to mention prayer requests raise your hand and mention you lost your car keys. Would you get a few strange looks? Assuming you've actually lost your keys and have been searching for them without success, would it still seem right to request assistance from God?

I'm always amazed at the number of cancer victims, seriously ill and whatever else that are mentioned whenever prayer requests come up. In a room full of people less than half will raise their hands indicating they need help, and those that do speak have grave news. What is it with this phenomena?

I can think of several reasons why this happens I suppose, and hopefully most times it is nothing more than a group running short on time and getting the most important requests in for all to pray for. But I often wonder what this says to new Christians still learning about their faith. Or for that matter, what it teaches those who aren't believers.

I'm guessing it teaches them that God is powerful enough for the big stuff, but uninterested in the small stuff. Or perhaps that it's wrong to ask God for help with something as small as lost keys. He's a big God with lots to do, we don't want to bother Him with keys do we?

How do you teach someone that you have a personal relationship with God when all they see is a low level employee/head honcho exchange? Would you ask your hubby or kids to help you find the keys? Why then, would you not ask your best friend - the person who actually knows where the keys are!, I might add - to help you? We should.

In Matthew 10:29-31 Jesus explains that there is nothing insignificant to God. The sparrows of the field are not beyond his notice and will, and the hairs of our heads are numbered. I think too, that in this personal relationship God wants to hear our needs, and not just the doozies. Imagine if the only requests you ever heard from your kids were for big ticket items. Imagine then how nice it would be one day you were only asked for something simple.

In relation to God, of course, there are no 'big ticket' requests. They are all easily within his power. I can't imagine any request I can think of as being too hard for God in any way. We'd all agree on that. But by the same token, we must examine the opposite of that coin. If there is nothing God would consider hard to do then perhaps a search for lost keys is equal to help in finding that new job. Nothing is difficult, and he wants to help us in everything.

And with all of that in mind, I'm back to my original point about gathering together at church and sharing prayer requests. Perhaps we should occasionally throw in the small things as a group prayer request. We need to make sure new Christians and unbelievers know that these requests are ok to bring before the Lord and that He welcomes them.

They're learning from watching experienced believers. Let's be sure they get the right message :-)

This past Sunday, at the end of our Sunday School class, everyone was asked for items of praise or prayer to close with. Up on the blackboard were written the words 'praise' and 'prayer' and each item was written down under the appropriate category as it was mentioned.

Now ordinarily this would be, well, ordinary. Certainly not worth blogging about. But this week, as I watched one praise item be added to the blackboard and then numerous prayer requests, it seemed strange.

I'd sat through the entire class and was convinced these were intelligent people I was sitting with. It was a large class of at least 60 people. So, why on earth, during this week of 'Thanksgiving' especially, could only one praise be thought of in a large group of intelligent people?

After this went on for a good 10 minutes I raised my hand as I had a praise, something to be thankful for. As my praise was being written on the board I turned to the class and mentioned my thoughts about the praise/prayer imbalance, especially during this week where our hearts should be turned more towards thoughts of thanksgiving.

I'm not sure my comments were well received or not. I will say that there were several more praises added to the board after that, but it got me to thinking about the whole topic in general.

Prayer, for most Christians, is time spent with God in a close personal relationship. While He wants to hear our needs, imagine if you had a friend that called you up every day to ask for something, and never said anything else! Imagine if each day you answered their requests and yet they never mentioned it, only requested something else! Yeah, it sounds like life with children. Perhaps that is why He is called our Heavenly Father

In any case, have you become so wrapped up in needs that you've lost sight of the joys and praises in life? I dare say I highly doubt that everyone in my Sunday School class yesterday was depressed, but what else would you think of a large group of adults who had nothing happy to mention but lots of needs and complaints?

Let's be sure to not only bring our requests to God, but give Him the glory when those requests are answered. Don't forget the praise in your prayer!

~Science, Faith and Purpose~

Ever hear that phrase before? You know, in a conversation something like these...

"Why is the Earth round?"
"Because God made it that way."

"I wonder why gravity exists?"
"Well, I guess because God made things that way."

Granted, there's nothing wrong with those answers, and they are inherently true. They do however give the impression that God's mystery only covers those things that are unexplainable by science or logic. It also gives the impression that science covers the explained, and God covers only the things that require 'faith'.

It's a divide that leaves us with the idea that if one day all can be explained, then faith in God is no longer needed. Let's just suppose, for a minute, that one day we humans do actually manage to figure out everything, and I mean everything, through science. When that day arrives, will we no longer need faith? Will we no longer need God? Will science have thus proven through the understanding of...well...everything, that God was just a crutch for those who sought to understand the previously unexplainable?

Let me give you an analogy. Assuming you are not a car mechanic, or expert in that field , I give you a car engine and ask you to figure out how it works, what each part does...study it for years if need be, to learn all of its secrets. Some time later you return and proceed to explain the entire engine and how it works, what each piece does. At this point, it is no longer true that Ford made the engine.

What?

Read more

For the 4th of July this past summer my church had a special service. The special speaker was Chaplain Major John Morris, Deputy State Chaplain of the MN Army National Guard. He was a great speaker, very interesting with a great sense of humor. My church records each service and makes these sermons available for online listening, and I meant to post this 2 months ago! Chaplain Major Morris' sermon was such a good one that I wanted to share it on my blog. Here it is finally!

"Let Freedom Sing!" - mp3

If the link above doesn't work, click here and scroll down to the July 1st service.

I promise, that even if you're not a religious or spiritual person you'll still find his talk interesting as he describes his recent time in Iraq. (If you have iTunes you can also load it as a podcast here)

This is a first - a very clean movie rated PG for "thematic elements". What thematic elements? Apparently the movie is too evangelical. The movie is Facing the Giants, coming to theaters Sept 29th. From Citizen Magazine:

Publicly, all the MPAA says is the rating results from “some thematic elements.” But Kris Fuhr of Provident Films, a Sony subsidiary which plans to open the movie in a limited run this fall, said the ratings service dropped a few hints—using the word “proselytizing” and complaining that the movie was (in her paraphrase) “heavily laden with messages from one religion and that this might offend people from other religions.”

I agree with their summation:

Still, it’s odd to see evangelism lumped in with sex, violence and foul language.

Of course, to some Hollywood minds, evangelism may be the most offensive thing on that list.

This is an interesting question and one I found addressed here. Here's what is says:

Many Christians and Muslims claim that they worship the same God. Like the God of the Bible, the God of the Quran is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He was also worshipped by Abraham and the rest of the Biblical prophets.

However, there are also profound differences between the God of the Quran and the God of the Bible. Some of those differences are listed below:

Read more

Ok, I'm sure to get creamed in this post, or at the very least really piss a few people off (or maybe a bunch of people). Oh well, I say what I'm thinking, and you're free to disagree rabidly. The Catholic religion drives me nuts. Christianity for the most part focuses on life after this, and in particular heaven (and getting there). The Catholic religion is no different. Ok...here's my thought. I have less of a problem with Satanism than I do with the Catholic religion. At least with Satanism you have no illusions - you know what you're getting. Who joins a Satanic cult with the expectation of getting into heaven for it? The reason I have such a problem with the Catholic religion as opposed to the many other Christian religions out there is that as a very large organization it has the responsibility of honesty and truth to its members. Expecially in the area that seems to matter most...the afterlife. In that respect, they fail. That pisses me off because millions of people are being suckered in and are given false hopes and expectations. Like I said - at least with a Satanic cult you know what you are getting.

Imagine there was a bridge out ahead, perhaps just the left lane ending in an abrupt drop. I was the highway patrol. Cars are stopped, waiting for their turn to get across the bridge and the instructions I pass out for safely crossing the bridge include "stay in the left lane". The Catholic religion preaches good works, ritual, tradition, daily salvation and 'official' forgiveness to name a few, as the needed route to get to heaven.

Is this what the Bible says? Show me where in the New Testament a priest (other than Jesus as the High Priest) is needed as a confessor to receive forgiveness of sins. Read Matthew 27:51. Do you know which cloth or curtain that verse is refering to? The curtain in Exodus 26:33, the one that separates the Most Holy Place in the temple from the Holy Place. In short, the High Priest spoke with God in the Most Holy Place of the temple - a small room separated by a curtain from the rest of the temple, a place where the Ark of the Covenant also resided. No one else was allowed in this room, and only the High Priest could speak directly to God. Now read Hebrews 8 to see why this curtain was torn in two at the moment of Jesus' death on the cross.

So why are there priests in the Catholic church daily taking confessions and giving atonements, as is directed in the Old Testament? Why is the Catholic church running things half in the Old Testament, half in the New? Read Hebrews 8 again - read the last verse (13). Now, tell me where in the New Testament it says we must atone for our sins with Hail Marys and the like. In fact, tell me where in the New Testament it says we must atone for our own sins other than to accept the consequences of them and perhaps try to rectify things (and just how does endless quiet prayer in a church repeating the rosary do that?). Jesus' death was the atonement for all our sins. When we try to atone our sins through silly ritual we are telling Christ his death wasn't sufficient, and we as his creation are better able to do it.

And the whole good works thing. Drives me nuts. If you think you're getting into heaven by being a 'good person' you are sadly mistaken. I submit that we could all try to be good people and Jesus need never have died if that was all that was needed. And clearly, I don't remember Jesus saying that his death coupled with our good behavior was required for entrance to heaven. How vain it is to believe that our pathetic attempts at holiness and good works even come close to true holiness. Good works, or good behavior if you will, come as a result of our salvation - not in addition to it. When the Bible says that our sins are forgiven it does not say, "Your sins up until today", or "Your sins that you have confessed specifically". It says all your sins. I take that to mean, well, all of them, past, present and future. If God didn't mean that you think he'd have been real specific so no one would accidentally have a false security. So, to sum up, our salvation is total and complete, not required on a daily basis, and our good behavior or good works are a result of that salvation...not a way to make sure you keep it or achieve it.

Last thing (in this post)- praying to Mary and other saints. That's sacrilige. Mary was a human being, a faulty, flawed human being born in sin, the same as the rest of us. She is not a diety. This webpage says it pretty well, definately better than I could.

I understand that not all Catholics believe all parts of the Catholic religion. I also believe that religion is simply a method with which we use to worship. I do not think it matters a whit which religion you are - it certainly won't be impacting the end result and the afterlife. However, it is always wise to choose wisely when looking for important information and advice. Religions and churches are supposed to be those information centers so to speak. So my problem is with the religion itself, and it's lack of good information, not with individuals. Get it?

Oh - one more thing, in case you're new here or don't know me well. I don't really care if I'm agreed with or not. Not that I wouldn't like to be corrected if I'm wrong, just that I'm not in the 'convincing' business. Agree or don't, that's fine - I'm pretty laid back and not really personally invested in whether or not you disagree with me. I'd be happy to state my thoughts clearer if need be, but that's about it. If you need convincing or want to convince - there are better places to do it than here. These are my thoughts, not my preaching points, and I happen to be thinking of this today

Have you ever heard someone use that phrase? "It was the least I could do." Ever think to yourself, 'It sure was...literally!' Neptunus Lex has an excellent blog post on perspective called Five Bucks. He's right, and his ability to put five bucks into perspective is dead on. Let me put it into further perspective.

For those with lower paying jobs, $5 is almost an hour's worth of work. For those more fortunate it might be 5 - 20 mn worth of work. Would you be willing to give one hour of your pay to someone who vowed to give his life to protect yours? Let's make it more personal....these soldiers are not 'someones'. I don't know how old you are or if you have children, but to me most of them look not much older than my oldest child. It's humbling to me to know that at the age of 30, while I still struggle to 'act like an adult' and be mature, an 18 year old is giving his life for the purpose of my freedom. And that I can struggle to part with $5 after all that doesn't say much about me.

Now here's the thing. For many, many people $5 is the most they can do. It is more than they should do. In a podcast interview with Beth, the co-founder of Project Valour-IT, last August she mentioned a $3 donation to Project Valour-IT. She said that donation was more humbling than almost any other. Someone wanted desperately to give, and only had $3 - so they gave all they had. It reminded me of this Bible passage from Mark 12, verses 41-44:

41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

I'll tell you something else, the large donations Project Valour-IT is seeing now and has seen in the past is also very humbling. Perhaps these people also gave all they had, it was just more than I had to give. But what strikes me most about them is this....if I actually had a large amount to give, would I give it all? Or would I just give $5 and say, "It was the least I could do."

Here's one more story and Bible passage for you. You may have heard the story before in some form or another, but bear with me. A therapy class was asked to each think of the person they most disliked, the person they considered their biggest enemy. Blank papers were passed out and each person was then asked to draw a picture of the person they had chosen. Everyone carefully drew pictures of the people they hated most, their biggest enemies. Some drew ex-husbands, some drew co-workers, some drew family members or neighbors.

After everyone was finished a dart board was set up at the front of the room. Each person in the class was given several darts and a turn to tape their drawn picture to the board and throw the darts. Soon the papers on the dartboard were torn, shreds hanging and falling to the floor. When the class was finished they each returned to their seats. The teacher then walked to the dartboard and one by one started to remove the shredded pictures the class had drawn.

When the last picture was removed the class gasped to see a picture of Jesus had been taped to the dartboard all along, behind their papers. His picture was shredded as well, torn and abused. This is the Bible passage to go along with that story, Matthew 25:34-45:

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

So, the next time you think to yourself, "It's just five bucks", "It's the least I can do", ask yourself this...."Do I really want to do the least I can do in repayment to those who gave all they had to give?"

U.S. Army Col. James H. Coffman Jr. was awarded the The Distinguished Service Cross (second only to the Medal of Honor), and the story of how he earned it is amazing. Coffman's job included, assistant to the commanding general of the Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, and a senior adviser to the Iraqi Special Police Commandos. Last November, He accompanied a commando Quick Reaction Force (QRF) with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Iraqi Special Police Commando Brigade to help a commando platoon under attack in Mosul, Iraq.

Here's part of the story from the publication 'This Week in Iraq' (Aug 31st edition, page 6):

As the QRF approached the station, it was besieged with rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire and mortar rounds. Coffman and the commandos fought the insurgents for four hours before help arrived. When the initial
firefight killed or seriously wounded all but one of the commando officers, Coffman rallied the remaining commandos while trying to radio for assistance, according to his award citation.

“Under heavy fire, he moved from commando to commando, looking each in the eye and using hand and arm signals to demonstrate what he wanted done,” the citation said.

At one point, an enemy round shattered his left shooting hand, damaging his M4 rifle in the process. Coffman bandaged it and continued fighting with AK-47 rifles he collected from commando casualties until each ran out
of ammunition.

Just one of the many, many unsung heroes in this war, Coffman demonstrates just why we sleep peacefully in our beds each night. Incredibly brave men and women like this stand watch on our behalf. Words fail me for the kind of dedication, bravery and strength of character that Coffman has, that our military men and women have, but their actions fortunately speak louder than words.