12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Have you ever wondered what the song, The 12 Days of Christmas was all about? Let my good friend, Jewell Probasco, explain it for us. This is her writing to us.

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, french hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas? I found out. From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code world for a religions reality which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree

was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves

were the Old and New Testament.

Three french hens

stood for Faith, Hope and Love.

The four calling birds

were the Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The five golden rings

recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

The six geese a-laying

stood for the Six Days of Creation.

Seven swans a-swimming

represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit - Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking

were the Eight Beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing

were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

The ten lords a -leaping

were the Ten Commandments.

The eleven pipers piping

stood for the Eleven Faithful Disciples.

The twelve drummers a-drumming

symbolized the Twelve Points of Belief in the Apostles' Creed.

WOW!! AWESOME SUNDAY

In January, actually in December, Bob Phelps and I started talking about starting a new church.  We wanted to maintain a presence in the area we had ministered in for 1- 2years.  In January we started meeting in Bill and Barb Baker's home. 12 to 20 people would come together for worship and the Word, with fellowship, and it was crowded.  We started brainstorming and looking for some place to move to for our Sunday morning meetings.
After looking around we settled on two schools to approach. One immediately became a non-item.  We viewed Cheltenham Elementary School at 16th and Julian, one block off Colfax Ave.  We fell in love with the school, it was so clean, neat and beautiful inside.  We decided to pay extra for the use of the auditorium. It is in a semi-circle with raised seating and with a stage at the front.  As we expand, we could put over 200 people in the room.  Chairs are provided and not small children chairs!
Lots of paper work to fill out but we did it and it was approved for us to start on April 14.
Get this.....WE HAD 36 PEOPLE COME!!! 16 were first timers!  One man came who lived across the street. Two young men from Rwanda were there, God thing how we met them 2 weeks ago and one of them has only been in the USA for two weeks.  I don't know if you realize how great a thing it is to have 36 people come our first public Sunday morning meeting.
We are so looking forward to sharing God's Word and His love with people in the area.  We continue to ask for your prayers.
Also, I don't understand all there is to know about FaceBook, but if we get so many likes on our church page, something happens that is beneficial to us.  Would you please go to our FB page and click 'like page'? Open Arms Community Church Denver.  Our webpage is also up and running. It will be a work in process but we have an Internet presence. www.openarmscommunitychurch.org
Visit us occasionally.  Some good photos up with more to come from our fist meeting at school.
Another thing about the school, we don't want to just be a user, we want to bless and help the school.  We  have plans to volunteer as tutors, and to develop and volunteer for After School Enrichment programs, like music, arts, life skills. Barb Baker and Kathi Hernandez ( admin on FB page and Web Page) want to teach the children about gardening and canning and cooking.  We want the school staff to have good memories of Open Arms Community Church when the time comes for us to move to a larger facility.
Exciting times ahead!!
TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!!
Troy

A TIME LINE OF LAST 3 YEARS

I know that there has been a lot of confusion with what I am doing now.  I hope to clear it up a little with this time line of my activities on this journey.

In January, 2010 Jeanne went home to be with her Lord and Savior. I was lost with out the love of my life and partner in ministry.  I felt as if life was over for me, it was as far as it had been. I felt like ministry was over because I was single.  I was at loose ends, not even having strength to go on. 
God began to show me that there were things I could do and be involved in, even at my advanced age of 64. ;~>

July '10 God used His Word to speak encouragement and guidance. I had never noticed Isaiah 41:9-10, "...you are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Along with Jeremiah 29:11, and others, God spoke directly to me about the very things I was struggling with.

August '10 my brother Doyle came to Arkansas and we shared for two days. He offered me a place to live if I wanted to at Sox Place. He encouraged me to come, rest, let the Lord heal and begin to show me what He had for me.

October '10 I left Arkansas and arrived in Denver.  I began to do the cooking duties for 75 +/- young people once a day. Now, I've always said I could cook, I could fry baloney and eggs.  We fixed a meal with what ever had been donated to us. I did a lot of spaghetti, and rice with meat, mac and cheese.  I helped for a while at this.
In July I had a crazy thought go through my head that ... I could do this from now on, cook in morning and have rest of day off.  Almost immediately I rejected that thought as not right and not from the Lord.
In September, Doyle met with me and he shared that the Lord had been dealing with him about me.  Now remember, Doyle is my 'little' brother and he was nervous about sharing this word with older brother.  I'll say right here that Doyle is one of my heroes in the faith and I listen when he talks, especially about the Lord.  He said that he felt the Lord tell him that Sox Place was in the way of Him talking to me.  WOW, remember my thought back in July?  So I stepped back from involvement at Sox Place and prayed.  I still lived there, rent free.
Oct thru December I made inquiries around the area for churches needing and interim pastor.  My pastor at Christian Indian Center encouraged me in this search.  He suggested I look at a website that placed jobs notices for Christian workers.  I did and found a local church needing a fill-in preacher for awhile. I answered the ad and was asked to fill the pulpit once in December. The Old Country Church, and the worship music was OLD country gospel and Bluegrass.  Loved it!  and met on Saturday nights.
I met Bob Phelps there and he also had answered the ad.  We became fast friends and one evening he approached me.  He felt the Holy Spirit wanted him to talk to me about coming over to a church he was helping at, Set Free Church.
In January, I spoke at Set Free on a Sunday morning.
In February I started going to Set Free on a regular basis.
In March I was asked to be the Director of Men's Discipleship program. I accepted the position.  This was a live-in program for men wanting free from an addictive lifestyle.  I continued to do this until December, 2012. 
In December there was a change in church leadership and I resigned as my services were no longer needed.  Pastor also resigned.

In January, 2013, Pastor Bob and I began talking of starting a new church. Actually we had talked a little about it months before.  Laying the idea.  In late January, we started Open Arms Community Church.  We are now looking at renting a school for Sunday mornings.

Now that should clear up what I am doing now.

I have been looking for a part-time job to bring in the necessary funds to continue living independently.  I believe that the Lord has opened a door to a good fit - part-time delivery driver for CarQuest auto parts.  Should start this Monday.  I'm reminded of a coffee cup I have that has this printed on it - This job affords  me two luxuries I have become use to...eating and living inside.

The Lord bless you all on this journey we are on.

Troy

LOOKING AHEAD

I have spent several blog posts on what has happened on my God ordained journey. I believe it is ok, even the Bible in various places tells us to remember -- what God has done, what we use to be like but now aren't, etc.  The Jewish Passover is a time of remembrance. The Lord's Supper, Communion, is a time of remembering what Jesus did on the cross.

However, you can't drive forward in a car by looking in the review mirror.  And from my Navy days, you can't steer a ship that is anchored and not moving.

Communion also is a time of looking back, but it is also a time of looking forward to when Jesus returns.  It is said that in the early church, men would approach a fork in the road and look down the road in each direction.  They would come up over a rise and look with anticipation.  Why?  They were looking for Jesus.  They expected Him to return at any time and they did not want to miss Him.

As I travel on this road God is leading me on, I think of it as an adventure.  What is just around the corner? Just over the next rise? Will I meet Jesus?  What new thing has God in store for me?  How will He use me next?  While there are bumps in the road, potholes that knock me around, still the journey continues.  His will be done in my life.  May I let Him use me in the way He has planned.

I know that God has each one of you reading this on a journey He has planned for you.  Would you consider sharing some thoughts about your journey?  Your journey can be a blessing to others. 

Check the comments highlite at the end of this posting and write your comments/thoughts.  As you do just remember that others will also read and will be encouraged.

Watch for the beauty that God is allowing you to experience each day.  He does it just for you.

Moving along and looking ahead with anticipation and expectation.
A fellow traveler,
Troy

The Prodigals Journey Home

One of my favorite parables of Jesus is the parable of the Prodigal Son or the Parable of the Lost Son.  Of course, if you hang around with me awhile you'll figure out that all of Jesus' teachings are my favorite.  I so identify with this parable, I can see so many things to pull out of it to apply to our lives.  However, for the purpose of this post I want to focus on one aspect of it, the son never stopped being a son.  At least, that is one focus, we will have to see how many appear as we move along.

First  I want to point out some things that pop out to me - Vs 13 "...the youngest son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living."  He did not go across town, he did not go into the next town, he did not go into the next state, no, he went to a distant country. The trip probably would have taken weeks.  He had the resources to have a leisurely trip, staying where he wanted to, having the best food offered, friends at every stop, probably even did not walk all the way.

Second, he spent all his money, and hired himself out to a pig farmer who sent him out 'to his fields to feed pigs.'  To a Jew, and Jesus was telling this to Jews, to a Jew a pig is the worst animal alive. If you have never been around a pig pen I can tell you it STINKS!  This young man stank to high heaven, the angels probably held their collective noses.  He wanted to eat the pig food, we use to call it slop.

Third, it took him awhile but he finally came to his senses and in verse 20,'...he got up and went to his father'.  Now let's not forget that he was in a distant country, not across town or a nearby town, a far distant country.  He would have had to walk for miles, days, maybe even weeks, in filthy clothes, probably torn and in tatters, no sandals. He could not afford lodging or food.  His was a long hard journey home.

As I have shared before, this journey you and I are own is like a road with many distractions along the way calling for our attention.  If we travel far enough and long enough off God's road, getting back can be an arduous journey.  Many times in our journey back we want to quit, to give up on this hard road back to the main road that leads  home.  It is so hard getting back to where we once were.

At no time in the son's stay in the pig pen did he deny his father, he did not blame his father for the way he was raised, he did not blame God.  He took personal responsibility for his own actions that brought him to the pig pen.  While he was in the pig pen he was a son, HE WAS NOT A PIG. He was always a son, never was he anything else.

There's more that can be pulled out of this but I want to share my own struggles in this journey.  The last 5 or 6 years have been one of struggle and turmoil for me.  I have never blamed God.  I have never stopped being His son.  But I have become slack in my relationship with Him.  My journey back is still going on, but I am determined to make it back to where I once was.  God has forgiven me, and still calls me His son, He still blesses me as His son, He is waiting with open arms to welcome me home.  Am I worthy to be called His son?  NO, but Jesus makes me worthy.

The end of the story?  The father is waiting and watching for his son to come home, and when he sees his son he runs to him, hugs that pig stinking son as if he had never left.  Then he throws the biggest party that home has ever seen.  Have you read about the party God is preparing for our homecoming?

Moral?  Don't leave the main road.  Stay in constant contact with our Father. However, just remember that the Father is waiting with open arms for you if you take that side trip.

Until next time, may you enjoy the travel and the scenery on this journey of life ending in heaven.
Your fellow traveler,
Troy

The Journey continues

A LOT HAS HAPPENED SINCE I WROTE IN DECEMBER!  I think that is called an understatement.

I liken the journey I am on, and you too, to a road.  There are lanes turning off that call to us to explore, to spend sometime looking over other things to do.  That really speaks to me because I've often wandered off on dirt roads to see where they went.  Have to get back on our journey down that road. We sometimes get tired and pull off to the side and stop.  We can't stay there because we won't finish the journey.  This journey is one the Lord has set out for me.

As I wrote in December, I am no longer with Set Free Church. I put it this way, 'There was a change in church leadership and my services were no longer needed.'

Some months prior to all this happening, I mentioned to Bob one time that if something like this were to happen, we should immediately go somewhere in the neighborhood and start a mid-week Bible study.  I'm not now, nor was I then, a prophet but I was making a suggestion.  Well, we didn't start a mid-week Bible study but we did start a new church!

Yep, we are meeting in the living room/dining room of Bill and Barb Baker.  We are running 15 to 20, we have a worship team, and two teaching Pastors as Bob likes to say.  We had an organizational meeting and elected a Leadership Council, arrived at the name Open Doors Community Church.  We are working on a website.

God is using my experiences of church planting to help.  That's right, I can't get far away from church planting.  When He said that He had plans for my life I knew that I should hang on because the adventure was going to be great.

I wrote what the Lord showed me back in July '10 when I was convinced that there was nothing left for me to do.  I was sure that my ministry was over. I had no strength to go on.  Now please don't write me and tell me that I should have known better, that I was still in ministry, that I should not have been negative, that being negative was limiting God in my life.  In the midst of that I was visiting my daughter, Chelley, in Denver, when the Lord opened my eyes to see Isaiah41:9,10, "...I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (my note-His right hand is the one of strength) I began to weep.  God has just spoken directly to me and showed me that He was not thru with me - He had plans to give me a future and a hope.  I could go on about that phrase.

I use to tell young people, especially young men, if you want adventure just get in the middle of Gods' will and hang on.

I'll tell you some more later about what is going on around here now.

A thought - I've traveled parts of the world, loved and been loved, watched my children born and now my grandchildren.  I've buried two wives so I've seen death, heartache, and pain. However, what I choose to see is the beauty around me.

Until next time, May the Lord bless you with beauty in front of you, behind you and all around you.  May He give you eyes to see the beauty He has given you.  That, by the way, is part of a Navajo  blessing to believers.

Troy