Tag Archives: Being God’s Creation

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The Power of Heartfelt Worship: A Christmas Reflection

I have a confession to share. I heard someone sing a Christmas song over twenty years ago that changed forever how I hear someone sing. Confused? So was I.

Someone invited my family and me to this small country church. Christmas was just days away, so they decorated the small country sanctuary with poinsettias in every window. A tradition in many Baptist churches was about to unfold. This was a Sunday night sing. Everyone is encouraged to sing. It’s your chance to sing a solo, maybe join a quartet, or someone play an instrument. C’mon, one and all. Or maybe not.

This middle-aged man had already signed the official “Who’s singing tonight” list. I learned to say that he was slow. The term intellectually disabled is now used.

As we were being greeted by church members, a shall we say squabble was going on in the back of the church.

A prominent lady in the church was attempting to get this guy, we’ll call him Paul — not to sing. I’m shaking hands with folks, but my attention is on Paul and this lady; let’s call her Edith. Edith, Paul, and the sound man are having what I see is a one-sided conversation.

The sound man interrupts the greetings in this small church when he shouts, “he wants to sing, let him sing!”

All the church members and visitors alike heard and felt an awkward silence.

Edith sees that everyone is watching them. She quickly marches down the aisle, huffing and puffing, revealing she’s not getting her way.

The pastor greets everyone and invites us to join in the worship and celebration of Christmas. Holiday music has always been a favorite of mine. I grew up singing all the carols of Christmas. So, I was excited to be here and to join in the singing.

Several folks, young and old, took their turns singing for the crowd of maybe 40 people.

Even Edith! She had a reputation for being a talented singer. She proved that as she sang “O Holy Night” for her contribution to the night’s singing. That’s one of the hardest songs to sing!

Impressive is how I would describe her voice. Powerful, and technically correct in so many ways. However, its emptiness disturbed me. I’m here to worship, yet I’m feeling empty after hearing a beautifully sung song. What’s wrong? Is it me? How many times have you been in a church service to worship and it just ain’t happening?

Paul’s turn has now been called out from the list of singers. He has been sitting on the very back pew. It takes several moments for him to make his way to the front and grab the microphone. Whispers intermittently broke the silence. The whispers may as well have been shouts as it was obvious people were disapproving of Paul’s attempt at singing.

He announces his song for the night. It’s the “Little Drummer Boy”. Did I just hear a snicker from someone in the audience? I’m pretty sure it was Edith.

Paul has no accompaniment tape. He has no one playing the piano accompanying him. No one is encouraging him. There is no one supporting him. No one is helping this man. He has no one.

Whether it was from the uneasiness of the moment, or from just not knowing what to expect, not a sound was being made from the congregation.

Paul clears his throat. He sings with his head bowed low. I’ve got to tell you I was pulling for him, hoping he could at least make it through the song.

“Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum”. Paul is barely audible. I struggle to hear him.

“Baby Jesus, I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum.” OK good, he’s singing a little louder, and it’s on key enough that everyone, even Edith, should feel he did a good job.

What happened next is what I remember every Christmas season. Paul raised his head, looking towards the ceiling. Tears flow from and down this man’s face like I’ve never seen before. What’s striking is that Paul is singing as he is crying. What is a difficult task for vocalists, regardless of skill? Why, it’s singing during a cry.

As he’s looking up, he sings the words, “Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum.” The biggest smile came over this man’s face. Whatever he was experiencing was contagious because the biggest smile came over my……… soul.

I saw a humble man, with no help from anyone, give all that he had to his Jesus. And Jesus smiled at him.

There in that small country church I saw true worship. I heard someone sing to their God. It wasn’t showy, superficial Edith. It was Paul. Just Paul. He showed his love to God, and I got to see Paul’s response as he knew God was smiling back at him.

All these years later, I enjoy talented singers. It’s fun to hear exceptional singers use their voices. But I’m always on the hunt for singers who sing from the heart. They sing to their God. They live for their God. And He smiles at them. He smiles not because of what we have or don’t have. He smiles because he loves. God is Love. Paul knows that. Do You?

You and I have no gift worthy of giving to a King. Yet, all God wants is you and me, just as we are. In this hurry-up, hectic world during the Christmas season, we lose focus. Busyness causes anxiety. Stress causes us to lose sight and sound of the true Christmas story.

For God so loved the world, that He GAVE us His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

Watching and listening to Paul those 20-plus years ago still motivates me to sing from the heart. More importantly, Paul gave me encouragement to LIVE from the heart. It’s not what you do, but who He is that causes God to love you.

Does God love me? You’d better believe it. He’s got my picture on His Heavenly refrigerator door!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Dan Ainsworth Wilderness Preacher

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God in Every Fiber: Lessons from Nature and Buckskin

It’s been said that embellishing the truth is one of my superhero traits. My wife says about my storytelling that “He flat out lies”! A good friend of mine, who knows me well, knows that I must show a picture to prove the truth of anything I say in private or public.

So, in three weeks, you can follow along on a hunting adventure. No need to worry about my stretching the truth or whether I’m flat out lying. An experienced cameraman is tagging along with me to record what happens on this wilderness excursion. It will be a blast. Frankly, knowing I’ll have a video to confirm my experiences is a relief. Trying to explain the unbelievable events that tend to follow me can be as exhausting as the 5-mile climbs occurring on this hunt.

So, in three weeks, the vast, majestic mountains of Colorado are my destination for a muzzleloader elk hunt. The year 1825 meets 2025! I’m using my old traditional muzzleloader rifle. Yep, they used a Hawken 50 caliber, just like mine, 200 years ago!

I’ll be wearing my buckskin coat I tanned from deerskins tanned the way the Native Americans did, 200 years ago! It’s called brain tanning. The brains of the animal contain enough oil to tan the hide, turning it into clothing. Lots of time, labor, and stretching, pulling, and softening to turn a skin into clothing that will last for years. I’ll share more on a future blog.

My buckskin coat. That truly is what connects the two years 2025 and 1825. It’s actually a great functioning piece of clothing to wear into the mountains. It is warm and soft, like a flannel jacket. But what if it gets wet, or snowed on, or I have to crawl over sharp rocks or plow through thick jagged limbs? These are all elements that must be withstood to bring success to my adventure. The buckskin can handle it.

The buckskin coat goes through several steps to change from raw animal skin to a finished piece of clothing. One of the important steps to making buckskin able to withstand the elements of the outdoors is to “smoke” it.

Smoking the buckskin involves building a fire that produces lots and lots of smoke, but very little heat. The smoke infiltrates every fiber of the skin. Here’s how best to describe this process.

The smoke molecules attach to the fibers of the buckskin. It exists within every single fiber. Each fiber now becomes waterproof from the protection of the smoke. When wearing the buckskin, if it rains or snows, the clothing will get wet.

Here’s the amazing part. As it dries, it goes back to its soft, pliable, clothlike texture. If someone hadn’t smoked it and completely covered all the fibers, the buckskin would become hard and brittle. Just like your dog’s rawhide chew toy.

Apply this important step to your Christian journey today. You have to “smoke” the buckskin to make it waterproof. Position the skin above the fire, avoiding fire yet within smoke. The longer you leave it in the smoke, the darker it becomes. Why smoke? The smoke particles cling to every fiber of the buckskin, both inside and out. This “clinging to every fiber” allows the buckskin to remain soft, even when it gets wet. If the smoke is not in every fiber, then when the coat gets wet, it will become hard as rawhide (you know, like your dog’s chewbones).

Is God in every fiber of your being? Otherwise, contact with this world we live in will produce a hardened self. Things of this world rob you of God’s Love. Your hardened heart robs you of the chance to share God’s Love with others. Let God permeate your entire being, much like smoked buckskin. He wants to be in every part of your life.

I don’t want to have a hardened heart. How can we prevent this?

Mark 12:30    Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Jesus must be in every “fiber of our being” for us to keep from turning hard-hearted.

Let your desire for Him to be in every part of your life become the most important step in this journey. His assistance is required. Ask Him, see what happens!!

What does the world “throw” at you to make you hard-hearted? What makes it difficult to let God in every fiber of your being? Leave a comment.

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth

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Finding God in the Flames: Spiritual Reflections on Fire

What is it about a fire? We stare at the dancing flames. Whether an inviting warmth yielding campfire, a crackling fireplace, or even just a cozy, comforting candle, the dancing of the flame draws and invites our eyes to share in its existence. We staringly gaze without thinking why.

You ladies find comfort in the small flame. The candlelight dinner, with 3 or 4 candles, sets an ambience nowhere to be seen in a fast-food joint. A hot bath with scented candles takes your mind (and your thoughts), on a journey somewhere peaceful and calm. An ordinary match transforms the candle into a light giving, mood changing instrument used to induce feelings and comfort that are anything but ordinary. Though it’s just for a fleeting moment’s escape from your busy world, the flame invites you to join in. I’m picking up a smell of the vanilla cinnamon aroma.

Men, we like enormous fires. Bar-B-Que fires. Fires that will cook, burn, smoke, and grill. These are a start. Give us a chance. We’ll set the woods on fire, burn trash piles, or even set abandoned buildings ablaze.

That grill will operate fine at a temperature of 400 degrees. Men need grills offering more than basic operation. We want the grill to elevate! C’mon BBQ grill! Produce enough smoke so the entire universe can see and be jealous. Heat that joker up to 650 degrees! Then we can pour water on it just to see the steam dash away. A bonfire elevates the concept of a men’s gathering. Put a match or lighter in our hands, it’s gonna be lit!

If you want to watch our human nature at work, watch when a man creates/builds his fire. Whether it’s in the fireplace, or a campfire, or BBQ, he takes pride in how it’s started. He wants to impress everyone (especially himself). It has to be just right.

Ladies, if you want to stir up something (and I don’t mean the ashes), just go poking and meddling in HIS fire. Tell him he’s not doing it right. Uh Oh! Sparks will soon fly from more than just the actual fire!

With the fire burning, the arguments over its construction forgotten, we gaze. The dancing of the flames catches our eye. Heat from the glowing coals warms us. The smell of an actual fire and hearing the crackling and popping sounds gives our senses a way to connect with this flame. We connect in some primitive way with this fire. Our senses of sight, hearing, touch, and smell are in high gear. Shucks, sometimes we even taste the smoke from the fire. Perhaps the coffee’s aroma and flavor, or perhaps the gooey s’mores roasting over the fire, captivate us. We watch and, without even noticing, our eyes go into a trance. We stare.

One thing I’ve noticed also is how a fire brings out honest and REAL communication between people. Wish open conversation with friends? Build a fire. Such a simple task, yet it creates a desire from deep within to be real. Maybe Congress ought to have campfire meetings, instead of committee meetings.

On your spiritual journey, maybe you can stop for a moment. Take a break from everyday life. Be still, and maybe even stare.

Our scripture verse for today. Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

We can use the fireplace example of fire to help us see God as the consuming fire. God is a God of unending Love, mercy, and forgiveness. He also is a jealous God (He doesn’t want you to be anywhere else, only with Him). He is a just and righteous. His Holiness is pure. His Fire will consume the wicked and sin itself. He does the “dirty work”. We just follow/stare. We focus on God’s flames of love and mercy.

God loves us. We need to show our love to Him by avoiding sin. That same fire that comforts us can also burn us if we don’t give it respect. I’d rather receive God’s comfort and warmth than his wrath.

So ask God to help you with the sin that comes between you and Him. Throw another log on the fire. Let that log represent the sins that come between you and God. That log represents the things in life that steal our joy. Giving God our ‘sins’, our problems work better than being burdened with carrying them around with us all day long. Let the sin burn; don’t join it.

Now stoke up the fire a bit. Throw another hickory log on the fire. Share this warmth and comfort with others.

How is a fire comforting to you? Tell me your thoughts. Share this with others.

See Ya!