[scouting the divine] closing thoughts

Thank you for the beautiful weeks of blogging and joining in on the journey of Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, and Wild Honey.
 
When I think back about my time, one of the most meaningful spiritual lessons about God as shepherd actually came from watching some geese in an old red barn while spending time with a shepherdess in Oregon. Thee geese were constantly walking around.
 
“What are they looking for?” I asked Lynne, the shepherdess.
 
“They’re looking for their eggs,” she said.

“Where are they?” I asked.
 
“I threw them in the creek,” she said.
 
My eyes bugged in disbelief. I couldn’t help blurting out—“Why?” Her actions seemed cold and cruel—a far cry from the woman I had come to know who tenderly loved on her sheep.
 
“Because they were infertile,” she said. “They never would have hatched. I need to get these geese back to their regular life. For three months they’ve been sitting on infertile eggs. The only way to get them to the life they’re supposed to be living is to take away their dead eggs.”
 
Though it sounded harsh at first, asking Lynne why, revealed her shepherd-like heart. Her answer helped me understand her action as one of compassion and wisdom not mean hearted vindictiveness. I couldn’t help but wonder how often I have sat on dreams that were never going to come to fruition.
 
As I thought back to the numerous times where God has faithfully yet painfully reminded me, “It’s time to get back to the life I have given you.” I recognize that this lesson isn’t one that I can learn just once and move on. Like many of the nuggets of wisdom and insight that I found on my journey of scouting the divine, I will need to process, apply, refine, process and reapply the truth of what living my life under the guidance of the Good Shepherd really means. But every step of the way, God is faithful. He is true. And He is worthy to be trusted.

 

Margaret Feinberg

 

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[scouting the divine] part four: the vine

by Sean Wrench

Jesus, Wine, Parties, Miracles …the excitement and irony of it all are simply amazing.

I can’t put into words the anticipation I felt as I waited for ‘Scouting the Divine’ to appear in the mail.  Something in my spirit told me that this book was really going to be incredible.

I remember the day it arrived so clearly.  My first thought when I saw it was, “Wow, cool looking book.”  Yet something began to stir in my spirit.  A rush of emotions came over me, and I sensed in my spirit a whisper.  A whisper that said I was about to understand my Savior, my Jesus in a deeper way than I ever have before. 

This book is the first one I’ve read by Margaret Feinberg.  I can assure you it will be the first of many.  One thing that stood out to me while reading the book was her honesty.  It’s refreshing to read someone who doesn’t want you to think they are a self proclaimed Christian Superhero. Margaret writes with a raw honesty.  She openly admits her struggles and issues she faces spiritually. 

I was excited to write about the section called ‘The Vine’.  Erwin McManus said, “I can only imagine what the church could look like today if we stopped telling people all that they were doing wrong, and started telling them what they were doing right.”  In many Christian circles, ‘drinking wine’ would be considered highly taboo.  In fact the ‘You’re going to hell if…’ club has been swung around more times that I can possibly imagine.  Yet I find it incredibly ironic that something that has become so taboo is actually the center point for the first miracle Jesus ever performs when he turns water into wine.   Now don’t get me wrong, the Bible condemns drunkenness, but it also says that wine gladdens the heart (Psalm 104:15). 

In Matthew 26:29 Jesus said, “Mark my words, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.   In Revelations 19:9, we are told that when our story comes full circle, when Jesus comes back and restores things to the original order to which God intended them, there will be a huge celebration.  I mean come on… Jesus is going to rescue the entire world, so I hope there would be a pretty big party ! But here’s the twist.  The party is called the ‘the wedding feast of the Lamb.’   So Jesus begins his earthly ministry by turning water into wine at a great wedding feast, and he will commence his victory at another wedding feast, and as he tells his disciples in Matthew, at that great feast, he will drink wine with you and me.  WHOA!  I’m not sure I can even begin to grasp all the spiritual parallels here but that’s pretty deep.  We are going to be at the biggest party ever, and will raise a glass with Jesus himself, along with the likes of Moses, Esther, King David, Abraham, Mary and many more.  Imagine the stories that will unfold at that party.  I picture sitting across from Mary, hearing first hand the story of Jesus’ birth.  Or talking to King David, and hearing his many stories of adventure and hearing about how the man who made an insurmountable amount of mistakes earned the rare title of a man after God’s heart.  And all of this, just like with the first miracle Jesus performed will take place at a great wedding feast with wine. 

Perhaps Jesus making the choice to turn water into wine for his first miracle on earth was to send a message.  Or perhaps a number of messages.  I mean who would expect that Jesus who was God in the flesh would choose to turn water into wine for the very first miracle he performed on earth.   Many Christians put God in a box. They draw a set of assumptions of things they believe God can or cannot do.  They make their own list of what he’s for and against.  Yet the Bible says he uses the foolish things to confound the wise.   This miracle was also one of luxury not of necessity.  Perhaps a message by Jesus to show us that he cares about every part of our lives, even the non essential parts.  Could it be that Jesus was serious when he told us that he came so that we would have and enjoy a rich and satisfying life? (John 10:10).  The other part of this miracle that really grabbed me was that Jesus kind of did it on the ‘down low’ if you will.  He told his disciples to fill the empty jugs with water and then after they were done, he instructed them to allow the person in charge of the wedding a taste test.  And to the surprise of the host, it was the best wine he’d ever tasted. Incidentally those jugs held over 100 gallons of wine. Jesus wasn’t messing around.   But as you read the scriptures other than his mother and his disciples no one else knew about the miracle.  Interesting that Jesus chose to remain rather incognito for this first display of his miraculous powers. 

As the section continues,  Kristof who is the master vintner or ‘craftsman’ as he prefers, gives Margaret a tour of the vineyard.  As they come upon the first rows of vines they appear dead.  Yet Kristof remarks that in about 4 weeks they will look completely different.  He removes a pocketknife and scrapes one of the vines to reveal a light green bud underneath.    I paused as I came to the end of this paragraph.  On the outside was something that appeared dead, lifeless, of no worth.  Yet under the surface was something full of incredible potential and life.  If only we could see people as Jesus sees us.  We condemn the person who isn’t like us.  We frown upon the person with a rough exterior.   Yet underneath all that mess, our heavenly father sees the true potential of what lies underneath all that.  Potential that only He, the master of the vineyard can uncover.  We were all created in His image.  Not just some of us, all of us.  God has deposited incredible amounts of potential in each of us. 

Interestingly enough, Kristof explains that it takes an incredible amount of time, energy and money until the vines really start producing and bearing fruit.  It takes 8 years between the first planting and the first bottle of wine. 

How often do we become frustrated with our lives as Christians. I wish I could be better at this, or I wish I could stop doing this.  Yet example after example throughout scripture remind us that God is all about the process.  And as his word promises us, “He who began a good work, will finish it to completion.” (Phil 1:6).  As you can see with the vines an incredible amount of time and care go into producing fruitful vines.   And the same goes for us, God is willing to put in the time and care into our lives as long as we are willing for him to do so.  But one way we do differ greatly from these vines is that they have no choice in this process.  God gives us free will.  We can accept his offer or we can reject him.

Wine is introduced when Jesus begins his ministry and it will be a part of the celebration upon his return.  As Margaret point out, “fruitfulness is a sign of God’s restoration and redemption as well as his promise and blessing.”  

When Jesus spoke of wineskins, he informed them that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins.  Most of us clearly understand the implication here, but I think it’s vital that we truly grasp the vastness of the statement Jesus made.  The religious people of that day were comfortable in their beliefs and practices as Margaret points out.   God is always doing ‘a new thing’ in our lives if we let him.  He doesn’t want us to remain stagnant and complacent.  He has great things in store for us. But we must remain flexible and embrace change.   Just as the pruning of the vines causes growth, change allows us to grow and fully move into the life God has created for us.   But change is uncomfortable, it can even be painful.  Yet as with the vines, it will produce a life beyond our wildest dreams.  If we allow our lives to become like the old wineskins we will never experience all God has in store for us. 

So as we near the end of the section on the Vine we come to ‘The True Vine’.   Margaret comments that she had been waiting to unpack John 15 with Kristof and just as she, I was excited to reach this part of the book. 

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, my father is the vinedresser.”   Kristof pointed out that he found it confusing that Jesus referred to his father as the vinedresser. The vinedresser, Kristof pointed out often has multiple roles, he often plays a role as the owner, manager and vintner.   As I read this a quick though popped into my head, could Jesus’ reference to his father the vinedresser who has multiple roles be a type and shadow of the trinity? Father, Son and Holy Spirit ?  An interesting thought….

Jesus goes on to say “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Kristof explained that it’s the little cuts that are the most important.  You can’t just come in with a pair of shears and clip like crazy.  Over the course of pruning you make a series of very precise, strategic cuts that will produce the healthiest, most robust vines.  WOW, I thought,  that’s incredible.  That is exactly what God does with our lives.  And as Margaret points out it shows how intimately God is involved in our lives. 

Kristof pointed out that the vinedresser looks at each vine carefully.  Each one is unique. Each one must be handled differently and receives different care. 

Jesus summoned us in John 15 to ‘Abide in Him’.  Kristof pointed out that the vine is the source of life.  If you cut off a branch it will wither and die.  By abiding in the vine, the fruit grows on the branch.   Interestingly Kristof pointed out that the branch is what is used to plant a new vine.  Perhaps as we abide in Jesus he turns us into a branch that can now not only produce fruit, but bring life into other branches because we have chosen to abide in Him.

At the last supper Jesus took the wine and as in typical fashion of our Savior, instead of being served, he served the wine to his followers.  Jesus began his ministry by turning water into wine.  Before he gave his life for us on the cross, he shared a meal and wine with his disciples.  And on that day when we are face to face with our Savior in all his glory. The day when we will no longer see or feel suffering or pain, the day when not so much as one single tear shall ever escape from our bodies.  On that day we will celebrate with our Savior, our Jesus. And we will raise a glass of wine at a great wedding feast.  But this celebration is different than most, because this celebration is just the beginning of the story…

A new story. 

His story. 

One that was written long before time began.  And one that will continue endlessly.  At last we will reach our destiny.  To spend eternity with our Creator. 

I find it amazing that the greatest book ever written really doesn’t have an ending.  It really ends ‘to be continued’.  Merry Christmas everyone!

 

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About the contributor:

My name is Sean Wrench. I run a ministry in NY called LifePlace. Recently we have started a national youth homeless project called the Forsaken Generation Project. God deeply burdened our hearts to do this when we discovered over 1.6 million children sleep on the streets in our country on any given night. You can read more about what we do at www.lifeplace.us or you can follow us on twitter: @forsakengen

[scouting the divine] part three: the land of milk and honey

by Karen Spears Zacharias

My father may have done more of the grocery shopping than I credit him for, but the only time I recall him bringing home the bacon was the night he also brought home a sack of bears.

“Dave, what in the world is this?” Mama asked as she eyed a row of plastic bears wearing yellow hats and standing in tidy formation in her refrigerator door.

“Honey,” Daddy replied as he poured PET evaporated cream into his hot coffee.

“Nobody around here eats honey,” Mama protested. “The kids don’t like it.” 

Her voice had a familiar aggravated tone to it. It was the same one Mama had employed when she discovered I’d been hiding orphaned kittens in my closet. 

Uh-oh, I thought. Daddy’s in trouble. It’s not every day a kid gets to witness the mundane mechanism of a marriage worked out.

My parents rarely exchanged a cross-word between them. My eyes traveled between Mama, who was holding the refrigerator door open, and Daddy, who was sitting at the dinner table, nonchalantly sipping his coffee.

“Aw, Shelby,” Daddy said, his blue eyes lighting on her, “Throw the honey out. I thought the kids would enjoy playing with the bears.”

Mama shut the frig door and walked across the kitchen, smiling. My mother could never refuse my father’s good-humored nature when it came to us kids. His death in Vietnam just a few months later likely helped cement that memory in the foundation of our shared childhood.

Sister Tater still doesn’t like honey, and I don’t much care for it, either, but reading Margaret Feinberg’s Scouting the Divine made me wish I did.

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Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in wine, wool and wild honey was my first venture into the landscape Feinberg creates and I was not disappointed.

As a journalist, I have been closely following the reports featured in the New York Times and various other media about the disturbance brewing in beehives nationwide. Commonly referred to as “Colony Collapse” entire communities of bees have disappeared and died off.

“Colony-collapse disorder is characterized by the sudden collapse of a full-strength hive in a matter of weeks, with adults leaving the hive and not returning, until the hive is deserted,” reported Newsweek in 2008.

To the unsuspecting, or just dumb and clueless, bees gone AWOL may seem like one of those slow news day stories.

Why should we care? Don’t bees sting the unaware and leave nasty welts that throb until well after midnight? 

Feinberg tells us why — without being preachy or condescending, she nurtures us along:

“Without bees, the production of avocados and almonds, cherries and cranberries, strawberries and squash, peas and peaches are all affected. The balance of our ecosystem is threatened by the loss of bees, and the impact eventually affects farmers everywhere.”

The writer possesses an insider’s insight. Her mother became a hobby bee-keeper after the family relocated from Florida’s hot sands to the cooling shade of a North Carolina hilltop. The reader is left to imaginatively ponder the character that must be Feinberg’s mother-of-all-trades:

“My mom has managed to shoehorn a wide variety of experiences in her life .. She’s worked in the surfboard industry, taught skiing and snowboarding, sold real estate and jewelry, taught elementary school, and even earned her sixty-ton boat captain’s license. She’s hard to keep up with.”

Her mother, it seems, resembles the worker bees Feinberg describes following a visit with Gary, a professional bee-keeper.  It is through him that Feinberg teaches us the essential elements critical to creating a thriving colony. Gary understands all too well what it means to have a colony fail. Three years ago, he lost 900 of his 2200 hives in a single winter. The next winter he lost 700 more.

The bee-keeper exposes Feinberg to the secret lives of bees and she in return, skillfully, draws parallels between our world and theirs and the God who created us all:

“Inside the hive, I catch a glimmer of how everything comes together for good. God is able to orchestrate what seems like nothing more than a swarm of buzz into a productive, healthy source of nutrition and sustainability. God has created the bees to work together for the common good. A hive is a portrait reminiscent of Paul’s vision of the body of Christ.”

It is through the bees, Feinberg says, that she comes to realize the overwhelming attention to detail and order evident in Creation. A sweet reminder that God cares for us more than we possibly know.

He loves us deeply, the way a father of merit always does. 

 

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About the contributor:

Karen Spears Zacharias is author of the forthcoming Will Jesus Buy Me a Doublewide? ‘cause I need more room for my plasma tv. Zondervan, 2010. Karen is a former crime beat reporter, wife, mom, Tennessee Volunteer, Georgia Peach, Beaver graduate of Oregon State University, sister in faith, water moccasin bite survivor and 25th Infantry Gold Star daughter. Her commentary has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, and National Public Radio. Karen and husband, Tim, plan to raise any grandchildren in a double-wide trailer with a plasma TV on an acre of land in Point Clear, Alabama. You can connect with her on her blog at karenzach.com.

[scouting the divine] part two: the harvest

by Laura Chase

The 2^nd portion of Scouting the Divine,centers on the theme of Harvesting.  The story begins with Margaret Feinberg, and her husband Leif, spending a summer of Sunday afternoons feeding a group of young college-aged men, in their Alaskan home.   Although unaware of it at the time, Margaret and Leif were going to reap a very rich harvest from their investment of “sowing” into lives and hearts of these eager and very hungry, young men.

I was immediately drawn into the story, because I grew up in Alaska and lived there until 28 years of age.  At a very low point in my life, I was invited to spend a few weeks visiting an aunt in Florida.  Little did I know that when I carried my 4 year old daughter and 4 suitcases onto that Alaskan Airlines 747; we would be entering into the specific destiny and purpose that God had planned out for our lives.

My heart warms when I envision the scenery, the homes, the rugged people and towns, and the groups of “summer missionaries” that would visit.  Each one would arrive to our “Land of the Midnight Sun”, wide-eyed and enthusiastic; embarking on an adventure to serve ministries and churches in the mystical far-away land of Alaska.  

As the story progresses we follow the lives of Margaret and Leif as the relationship with Joe, one of the young men, continued long after the others have returned to their homes in the Lower 48.

Surprisingly, Joe called regularly to give updates on his life, his loves and his dreams.  It seems that during the time that Joe spent in their home, the seeds of friendship and trust had been planted in his heart towards them.  He felt loved and at peace in their home. 

Eventually Margaret and Leif reconnected with Joe and his farming family in Nebraska.   Margaret wanted to ask them about specific scriptures that talk about a farmer sowing seeds into different types of soil.  She wanted their perspective and thoughts about what it takes to farm a land, till the soil, maintain the crops and harvest the spoil.

Throughout Margaret’s farming adventure there are several small, yet very poignant things that stood out to me.  First off, is her story of learning to drive, BIG JOHN; a monstrous piece of tractor known as a John Deere 8430.    BIG JOHN was just one of the many pieces of farming equipment that was used to plant, care for, and bring in the harvest.    What struck me is that there are many different pieces of equipment used in the different seasons of farming land and crops. 

In my mind’s eye, I started seeing all manner of types and sizes of tractors, combines, balers, silos, seeders, sprayers, etc.; the kind you see kicking up dust on the horizon of fields as you are driving across the states.   Each piece of equipment has a different purpose and is to be used at a different time of the farming process.  However, each is needed for the ultimate purpose of bringing in the healthiest harvest possible at the end of that particular crop’s season. 

In our lives, we have many opportunities to work the land (hearts) of people that Father puts in our path; opportunities to help others grow and mature in their walks with God, and opportunities to allow the Holy Spirit to cultivate the land of our own hearts.  There are many different kinds of “human farming equipment” that God uses with the ultimate goal of bringing in the biggest and best harvest of hearts before Jesus’ return to earth. 

I see various types of this “human farming equipment”.  They can come in the forms of the five fold ministry; pastors, teachers, apostles, prophets and evangelist; each having a specific ability or gifting to do very specific work in the body of Christ.  There are those that plant, till, dig, weed, spray for bugs, fertilize (doesn’t sound like a fun job), harvest and store.   Every piece is important in the process of the harvest from beginning to end.  Of course, there are other pieces of “equipment” that God uses; some are used to work the land of hearts by exhorting, edifying, giving, showing compassion, offering help, and the ability to be administrators.    More than ever, I see a deeper meaning of the scripture that speaks of us being many parts, but all of us parts of one body.  We are all being used by God in the care and harvest of souls.   And just like the earthly farmer, we must continually watch and be on guard; for the health of the crop (lives of people) depends on it.  If we are not careful with our words, they may cause a person to wilt.  If we are not generous with our time, it may cause our crop to be stunted, or bear fruit that is weak.  If we throw scripture or scraps of truth at the soil of their hearts, instead of paying attention to the depth of their need, they may walk away completely jaded by the church and not embrace Christ.  When we become a careless farmer with the land that is entrusted with us, souls may be burned up and consumed forever.

I think of the scores of people that have harvested their time and energy into the years and episodes of my life.  They poured the truth of God’s love into me when my heart was numb, gave me words of wisdom when I lacked discernment, offered their home and arms as places of safety when I was afraid, and spent eons of time listening to this wounded soul pour out buckets of disappointment into their weary ears.  If it weren’t for these kind, patient and wise “farmers”, I would have given up long ago. 

I was also captured by Margaret’s interaction with Farmer Aaron, Joe’s uncle.  She asked why he would sometimes hold back on the amount of seed that he would throw on certain parts of ground.  Aaron would explain how portions of the land have sand and rocks in it; these portions do not produce as much fruit.  The question was asked why anyone would still plant in those areas, especially when it was known that the harvest would be much less.  The answer caught my attention.  “Even those areas may produce some fruit”.     How many times in my life have I pressed past people who had track records of walking with the Lord for a while, but were always drawn back into the world; ones that seem to bear little or no fruit.  It seemed like such a waste of time and energy to work with them and give them my attention.   However, with the farmer’s perspective, there is still value in sowing some seed because a crop, albeit limited, will still come.  It may yield an amount that is much less than more fertile ground, but you still plant seed there.  Although you may not spend a lot of time with them, you still can invest and plant golden seed in an opportune moment of time. 

I believe that this sowing process also relates to the investment of our tithes, alms and first fruits offerings.  We must be aware of the spiritual ground that we are sowing into.  The majority of our monetary gifts must be sown into ground that is healthy and prosperous, in order for us to yield a harvest that is healthy and abundant.  Another reason, we shouldn’t just be casting our seed money on a whim; drawn in by compulsion or duty. 

Farmer Aaron also shares that farmers can drive by other’s fields and tell if the land is being taken care of properly.  They know what great effort it takes to bring in healthy crops, and if the field looks like it’s been ignored or not given the attention it needs; it is readily apparent to others.  Also, neighboring farmers will always contact each other if they see trouble coming due to difficult weather (tornadoes, lack rain or flooding, bugs, varmints, etc) or situations that may damage the crop.  They are almost always on hand to help another farmer in need; like for instance, when one gets injured and cannot properly work his farm or land.  Farmers from the area will gather to help bring in the harvest of the one that is experiencing trouble; they take care of each other. 

The same should be in the church with not only pastors and leaders, but also with fellow congregants and friends.  We should be on guard, watching and observing the “land” of others; being sure to warn them if we see things that are not right and may lead to disaster.  They need to be aware of things like: wrong attitudes, bad advice, difficulties, trials and temptations.  We must be willing to help out and get ourselves dirty in their land, if another worker is not able to complete the full process of harvesting.  Leaders are human; they hurt, they go through financial difficulties, they get tired and need rest, some head down a road of temptation, and others need a steady shoulder to lean on before they collapse from an overwhelming weight of stress.   It takes a loving and unselfish heart to be willing to tend to the soil and harvest of another while they are regaining their strength.

The last thing I want to highlight is where Farmer Aaron shares that there is much work to be done, but notes that it is becoming very difficult to find people who want to work in the fields and be farmers.  He mentions that because of the advancement of technology, finding qualified workers to run the equipment is also becoming more difficult.  Because of all of these changes, and the lack of people who want to work hard; farmers find themselves having to work on larger pieces of land than ever before in history, with fewer people to help.  If there are not enough people willing to work, the harvest will not be gathered and will be left out in the field to rot.

What a comparison to the body of Christ.  We have been called to a great work, but there are scores of us that are ignoring our responsibilities and callings.  It seems more and more, we are becoming disinterested in the care and love of others; we would rather remain anonymous in our neighborhoods and church seats, than to open up and build relationships with others; it seems to be safer that way.  Or we work ourselves silly on our land, maybe paying too attention to the rocky and sandy parts that will bear very little fruit (things that should be given less priority); and we burn out quickly.  In these times we may not have had others watching us and giving insight into what they are seeing happening with our land.  Some workers get so worn out and burnt out that they become disillusioned with Christianity, and wonder if they were truly called to serve by God in the first place. Furthermore, there are others who are a part of the harvest, yet they have been carelessly tended to or run over by “human farming equipment” while in the church’s fields.   These ultimately decide that Christianity is a farce and that all Christians are hypocrites; many leave and vow to never return to such a powerless and pain filled religion.

The time is short, the harvest is plenty, and yes, the workers are few.  I pray that I do not allow my own selfish gain or protection, to over-ride the great and immediate need to work the fields that are around me.  If these lost and wandering souls are not reached, they will remain in the fields and die.  God is working patience and expectancy in me; patience to wait for the right seasons of the harvest with different individuals, and expectancy that I will follow the timing of His heart for His harvest to be brought into the storehouse, full and in abundance.

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About the contributor:

Laura Chase is a wife, mother, and friend. She is the morning announcer on Life 89.1- WSMR, and owner of Word of Mouth Audio LLC in Sarasota, Florida. Laura desires to see the eyes of the spiritually blind, opened; the minds of the confused, set at peace; the hearts of the spiritually dead and deeply wounded, awakened and healed; and the lives of those that are living in emotional and spiritual prisons, set free to live out the destiny and purposes that God has created for them from before the beginning of time.

You are invited to follow and interact with Laura on:

Twitter: @WOMAudio
Web: WOMAudio.com
Life 89.1 morning show: www.Life891.com
Email: WOMAudio@yahoo.com
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