Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Ice Climber

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 1, 2022
 
Another Story from Nancy
 
ICE AXE
 
I was falling. Tired of obeying, tired of believing. In the Destinations Coffee House, in Lincoln, Nebraska, on June 8, 2019, I stopped climbing and went into freefall.
 
On May 20, my car had eased to a halt at our son Chris’ residence in Lincoln. The scene was chaotic. A tornado had ripped through the area two weeks earlier, uprooting things like roof shingles, tree branches, and a small trailer. Inside, it was worse.
 
The owners of the house, with whom Chris had been boarding, had vacated, leaving him and their junk behind – a filthy mattress, old clothes, used toiletries, mismatched pots, and food items.
 
I trudged through the junk and found my son in his bedroom, arm in a cast, neck in a brace, soul in a dark and painful place. One month earlier, Chris had been a passenger in an awful car accident. The car had left the road and rolled several times before coming to a rest in a field. Life-flighted to the hospital, Chris was treated for a crushed wrist, a fractured vertebra, a concussion, and a cracked rib.
 
Shoveling up some of his belongings, we checked into a tasteless hotel room to start putting his life back together. Mother and son exchanging one tornado for another.
 
Like a pair of running shoes in a dryer, Chris and I were tumbling amidst doctors, medical forms, lawyers, drug prescriptions, and fast-food menus. One after the other, over and over, a ribbon of pain threading through them all.
 
Chris and I tumbled into each other too, world views and generations crashing and banging. Bible Truth whacked into psychology, chilling out wrapped itself around having a plan. I felt like a bull in a china shop. Trying to be wise but coming off as pushy, awkward, and dated.
 
The body of Christ was astonishingly kind to us in those days. It was the parts of us that they couldn’t touch that festered and ached. The things that surface when families are flung together in trouble or pain.
 
On June 8, in the Destinations Coffee House, waves of pain from a stomach bug pulsed in me, and dark thoughts played in my mind. An amateur caregiver, I felt under-appreciated, misunderstood, and drained.
 
I pushed my coffee mug away and left the shop. Slumping into my car in the parking lot, I let discouragement and anger have their way. Like an ice climber who suddenly gives up, I fell, spiraling down.
 
Terrified, I swung my axe overhead into the ice, choking out the words, “The. Lord. Is. My. Shepherd.” Jamming my toe spikes into the mountain, I declared, “I. Shall. Not. Want.” Precariously suspended, I had stopped falling.
 
I bumped out of the parking lot to pick up Chris from work, Psalm 23, word by word, like a battle cry thundering from my heart. Upheld in the palm of His hand, I continued my journey up in victory.
 
 
“taking up the shield of faith
 
with which you will be able to extinguish
 
all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
 
17 And take…the sword of the Spirit,
 
which is the word of God.”
 
(Ephesians 6:16,17 nasb)

Picture: the ice climber

May be an image of 1 person

Filed under:

The Gift of Protection

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 31, 2022
The Gift of Protection
 
Psalm 146:9 “The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow,”
[You, O Lord, not only see, but act on behalf those who are weak, those whom men are so willing to plunder. You protect, provide and guide the vulnerable, the hurting, the defenseless. I praise you for your graciousness in doing so, for it shows your mercy and love, your justice, your compassion at work in wonderful ways.]
“but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.”
[Praise be to you, Lord, that you actively intervene to block the desires of the evil one as he seeks to work through evil people. You seem to let them prosper for a while–as Hitler did for twelve years–but then you bring them low.
Lord, act quickly against such evil desires and evil men; foil the plans of the nations and thwart the purposes of the people; bring instead your desires to pass.]
May be an image of flower, tree and nature
Filed under:

(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 30, 2022
The Gift of Sight 2
Psalm 146:8 “…the LORD gives sight to the blind,. the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,”
[You, Lord, in your tender love, reach out to all those who are depressed, discouraged and disheartened by the burdens by life as Satan, along with sin and its consequences, beat them up, beat them down, bring them low.
But you, Lord Jesus, offer them hope, grace, love, forgiveness, encouragement, guidance, strength, and protection. You offer–but they have to accept. Sadly, many continue to choose being bowed down because they refuse to bow before you, preferring bondage to your marvelous message of mercy and love.]
“the LORD loves the righteous.”
[You love the world and all in it (John 3:16). And you especially love the righteous, those who have accepted your offer of pardon, who then receive the righteousness of Christ, imputed through your mercy and grace.
You delight in your children–stubborn and rebellious as we often are. You see us standing in Christ, sinless, forgiven, pure and complete. Your vision of what we are going to be is what fills your thoughts; your great love for us never ceases as you move us towards maturity in Christ.
So, in the midst of the turmoil of life, in you we can rest, because of your rich, ever-flowing love. And out of that love we can serve you and others, needing nothing in the line of recognition or acclaim, for what we have in your love is enough.
May we delight your heart today, Lord Jesus, in faith, obedience and praise, shining the light of your love to all those around us who are frozen in the grip of sin.]
May be an image of snow, ski slope, sky, tree and nature
Filed under:

The Gift of Sight

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 29, 2022
Psalm 146:8 “…the LORD gives sight to the blind….”
[Praise you, Lord, that this is true both physically and spiritually. Spiritual sight is by far the more important one, for if we can see spiritual Truth now, even though our physical eyes are blind, we will see physically in heaven.
Praise you that your desire is to take away the natural veil over each person’s eyes (2 Cor. 3:13-16), to allow them to see the spiritual reality of being sinners, of being under condemnation and of standing before you, the Righteous One, without hope of relief from their own efforts.
Then you give them the bright dawn of hope in your provision of pardon and release, of cleansing and transformation so they can become your beloved children! That’s really eye-opening truth!
I love John’s comment about this in 1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!”] What more could we want???!!!
May be an image of tree and nature
Filed under:

More Autobio

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 28, 2022
As another new year rolled around, we expected more arrests, because at this time of the year the authorities had less to do. However, January came and went without an incident.
 
During my semester break in the last week of February, we took a trip to the south for a little vacation. We returned home late Saturday evening to the news that Barbara’s father had died.
 
The next morning on the back page of a national newspaper was a long and negative article about Christians in general and me in particular.
 
The article said I was corrupting the youth and was trying to get people to become Christians by offering them free English lessons or money or a foreign wife.
 
Monday morning, I went to the university to talk with my boss about going to Germany for my father-in-law’s funeral. Then I went and bought plane tickets for us all to leave that afternoon.
 
Shortly after I got home the doorbell rang. I opened it to find a policeman with an invitation for me to go with him to the National Police Headquarters. I went with him.
 
They took me into a large office and began to ask questions about the information in the newspaper. I told what I knew to be true and made clear what was false. I also told them about my father-in-law’s death and our plans to go to Germany for the funeral, showing them my ticket.
 
“Looks to me like you’re running away because this news article exposed your illegal actions,” said one policeman.
 
“I could not have planned either the article or my father-in-law’s death,” I said. “I can prove his death with the obituary notice if you want. I have no reason to run away. My home and my work are here.”
 
That didn’t sway them, and they intentionally kept me just long enough so I missed the plane.
Barbara and I had agreed that if I didn’t come back that she would continue with our plans and fly to Germany that afternoon. As it got closer to the time for her to leave, Barbara called one of our teammates and asked him to take her to the airport. Bless him that he was willing to do so. Richard was willing to be supportive of Barbara, even at risk to himself. It was a stressful time for all of us, and the stress manifested itself in Josh coming down with a fever during the flight.
 
The next day I went to my travel agent, got my ticket changed and flew off to Germany. We were glad to be together for this important time, and made plans to share some of the gospel with those who would come for the burial.
 
The funeral was a typical German affair, everyone dressed in black and very somber. Most German Protestants have no assurance of salvation, and rightly so, for they rely on the sacraments of the church to save them.
 
After a short ceremony in the graveyard chapel, the coffin was carried to the grave and lowered in. Then all the relatives and close friends each tossed three small scoops of earth on the coffin.
 
Normally at this point everyone leaves, but after we threw our scoops on the coffin, I stepped up and began to speak while Barbara translated.
 
We talked about how one could be saved and know it, explaining how all the rituals that Protestants normally rely on for grace (baptism as a baby, confirmation, being married in the church and buried by the pastor) were totally inadequate.
 
We briefly but carefully outlined the gospel and called people to accept the eternal life that Jesus offered. Years later, some neighbors who came to Christ in their late forties, cited this talk as one factor in their coming to faith.
 
After a week in Germany, we flew back to our home and I resumed my teaching. My students knew of the article in the newspaper and asked me if I were a missionary. That word in is a very negative term here, indicating someone with a political agenda to undermine the country carried out through religion. I tried to dispel their wrong thinking, but don’t think it was very effective.
 
On March 12, the police again came to our house while I was at school and left a message for me to come to their headquarters.
 
Picture:German grave yard
May be an image of monument
Filed under:

(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 27, 2022
The Gift of Freedom
Psalm 146:7b “The LORD sets prisoners free….”
[Right from the beginning of our lives we are all imprisoned by sin in the web of Satan, where everyone is ensnared in his sticky strands of lies, fear and violence. Just being born into a broken and twisted world results in quirks and knots in our personalities that bring problems, difficulties and oppression.
Then our upbringing and family culture with fallen parents instill further dysfunctional thoughts, feelings and desires into us. And then our culture’s worldview, with its unhealthy internalized values of materialism, selfishness and pride lock us into destructive feelings, desires and goals.
All these lead us to emotional pitfalls, to accepting false answers to the great human thirst for love and approval, for significance and security, for fulfillment and belonging.
 
These wrong answers then produce fear: fear of man, fear of the future, fear of failure, fear of pain, loss and hurt. Satan uses all of these to oppress, control, and in the end, he wants to crush us like the car in the picture below, killing all he can.
 
But You, Lord Jesus, have made a way out of this prison of oppression, opening the door to the cell of hopelessness. You have called us to step out of the darkness of fear into the light of your Love, into the rich and warm relationship with you .
 
There our fears can be washed away in the river of your forgiveness and goodness, your grace and glory. You don’t want to crush us, but to transform us and make us like new, like the second car below.
May be an image of car and outdoors
May be an image of 1 person and car
Filed under:

Perspective

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 25, 2022
Today a different kind of post.
 
Here is part of a thoughtful essay by Tony Perkins on the latest school shooting which I think gives good, biblical perspective.
 
“Despite what the Left says, our children aren’t picking up rifles and killing people because there’s a Second Amendment. There’s been a Second Amendment for 231 years — and school shootings have only been around the last 30.
 
“As Dr. Ben Carson has said, “The heart of the matter is not guns. The heart of the matter is the heart.” And until we, as a nation, are willing to admit that, nothing will change.
 
“These tragedies, whether they’re in Sandy Hook or Santa Fe, are the slow burns of the cultural crisis that’s destroying us. In a country that’s seen far too many evils, it’s time acknowledge that we are a broken people in need of the God we keep pushing away.
 
“Now is the time for honesty. What’s really wrong, Peggy Noonan wrote after Parkland, is something deep down we all know. “The family blew up — divorce, unwed childbearing. Fatherless sons. Fatherless daughters, too. Poor children with no one to love them. The internet flourished. Porn proliferated. Drugs, legal and illegal. Violent videogames, in which nameless people are eliminated and spattered all over the screen… The abortion regime settled in, with its fierce, endless yet somehow casual talk about the right to end a life… So much change, so much of it un-gentle. Throughout, was anyone looking to children and what they need?”
 
“Four years later, the flags are at half-mast again. Most people have refused to go beyond what they see to what we know: that this is a spiritual problem. And only God’s truth — the same truth society has ridiculed, mocked, and rejected — is capable of fighting the evil plaguing our nation.
 
“As my friend Ken Blackwell says, “You can’t run faith out of the public square and not expect to have these sort of consequences.”
 
Our response? Prayer and doing what is right, reaching out to those who have needs, as Jesus did: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matt. 9:36
Filed under:

(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 24, 2022
 
All Things work for good. Another story from Nancy
 
Eight days earlier, Don and I had parked the car at the USA/Canada border crossing. We were flush with documentation, healthy, and trusting God for an exemption to the travel-mandated quarantine.
 
The slightly overweight guard, a mask plastered over his beard, darted back and forth between our SUV and the computer in his kiosk. Asking questions. Entering data. Issuing covid test kits. Leaning into our car window to explain the rules for our 14-day quarantine. Reminding us that change happens at the ballot box. And finally, welcoming us home with a pained expression on his face.
 
Locked in our own world, we drove north. The stunning beauty of the Okanagan Valley with its cherry blossoms, quaint farms, and vineyards flew by our car, but I was numb. Like one returning to a childhood home owned by someone else now, I felt detached.
 
A card detailing quarantine rules and penalties perched like an intruder in my cup holder. Head and shoulders turned away from my husband; I slouched in the passenger’s seat. Instead of my usual prattling on about everything, I was silent. God’s will was cutting across mine.
 
The clock was ticking. My attitude was negative, complaining and dangerous, and I knew it. Reaching down, I grasped the scruff of my soul’s neck and yanked it up from the car floor, where it lay buried underneath the covid test kits.
 
Shifting back and forth in my seat as we rounded the mountain corners, I closed my eyes. Like a child surrendering a broken toy to her father, I thrust my questions heavenward and exchanged them for the Truth that sets free.
 
Sanity and wisdom began to trickle, then flow into my cranky disillusioned heart. Erect, leaning against the headrest, my eyes were wide open. Guarded on either side by ponderosa pines crowded together on jagged hills, Okanagan Lake sliced up the valley like a long crooked scar. Evening hues of blue, green, and grey glazed over everything, transforming everything.
 
On Day 8, confined at home, I was ready for Alex, the twenty-something government “observer” who appeared on my computer screen to validate my required, at-home covid test. We sprinted through the formalities—swabbing, labeling, and packaging my sample precisely as directed.
 
Then Alex and I veered off-topic. He had never understood that one could be sure of having eternal life through faith in Christ alone. God had been expecting us. Only because I had to go through this covid stress did I have the chance to share with this young man.
 
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 nasb)
May be an image of lake, nature, sky and mountain
Filed under:

(Untitled)

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 23, 2022
The Gift of Beauty
Praise the LORD, for another sunny day with pleasant weather and a beautiful countryside: rich, warm morning sunshine streaming over the hills, casting long, deep shadows from the trees and buildings, bringing out every dip and rise in the land.
The trees are silver with dew, the river is clothed in shimmering wreathes of fog, flowers are peeking out from bushes, gardens and graveyards, the birds are joyfully flitting about and singing in the new day’s light.
You, O Lord God, are a lover of beauty, and are so gracious to share this visual feast with us, a breakfast for the eyes, a refreshment to the soul.
I praise you for your marvelous creativity, making all so practical and yet so beautiful. You could have made everything black and white, ugly and efficient—but you have chosen to clothe usefulness in gracefulness, practicality in loveliness. You cover fruit trees with fragrant and colorful blossoms; you make water sparkling and pure; you give the hills and trees many shades of green.
Praise you that you do the same in our lives, making food festive, procreation pleasurable, worship wonderful.
You are yourself beautiful, O Lord.
You are lovely in goodness, graciousness and gloriousness.
You are righteous, pure, positive and just.
You are kind, compassionate, forgiving and long suffering.
You are present, protecting, seeing and caring.
You uphold all who are bowed down.
You deliver from the oppressor.May be an image of flower, nature and tree
You heal the broken-hearted.
You guide the lost and save the sinner.
You are:
The God of goodness,
The Lord of eternity,
The Shepherd of salvation,
The Father of faithfulness.
Therefore, you are worthy of worship, praise, glory and honor. So I bow before you now in awe, praising you in gratefulness; I rise up in your joy to exalt you in thankfulness and obedience. May you be glorified today in my thoughts and actions, words and reactions, O great and mighty, lovely and lavish Lord Jesus!
Filed under:

Faith tested right now!

Published by S.M. Wibberley on May 22, 2022

No post today, too sick, please pray for me and for Imtiaz in Pakistan who is also wretchedly ill. Thank you

Filed under: