This past weekend my
wife and I had the opportunity to take some really interesting training. It was FEMA CERT training. CERT stands for Community Emergency Response
Team.
The class was taught
by Fulton “Tripp” Sheen who I have known for over 20 years. Good
guy. He had a view of God that I had not heard before and really
liked. Tripp has a couple of young grandchildren and that is where this
view came from.
One of the
traditional views is of God the father. Well Tripp said think of it just
a bit different. God the grandfather. When you have a young
grandchild enter the room and he/she is exploring, you as the grandparent keep
doing whatever you were doing but now there is a piece of your attention that
is focused on that grandchild. You stand ready at a moment’s notice to
drop everything and come to the child’s aid. To keep it from harm, to
teach it and help it grow, to just hug it and shower it with love, etc.
In that way God is
like a grandparent. While God is busy running the known universe (and the
unknown universe for that matter), there is that part of His awareness that is
always focused on each of us. He stands ready to come to our aid with love,
guidance, discipline, and whatever else we may need, if we’ll just let
Him.
While I realize that
God the father is Biblical and nowhere in the Bible does it mention God the
Grandfather, I just found the word picture very comforting. God is there to provide that comfort to all
that want it. If you'd like to
experience that comfort then simply ask Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your
life. It's that simple!
My friend Fulton
"Tripp" Sheen is doing some really interesting things in
ministry. If you would like to learn
more please check out these two websites.
Merging Streams Commonwealth
Merging
Streams Commonwealth is both a doorway and a map that will enable us to apply
the principles of restoration and transformation like never before. The
world is experiencing more turmoil today than ever before, and people are in
need of real solutions. The magnitude and frequency of natural disasters
occurring on the Earth has increased significantly over the past several
years. Manmade disasters, war, famine, and political, economic and social
instability are also increasing. Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.
The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” As the world falls
deeper into debt, dysfunction and disarray, Merging Streams wants to take
advantage of those opportunities and build revolutionary new systems and
networks for provision and sustainment.
About Isaiah 58:12
In previous
disasters and during Hurricane Katrina & Ike, many faith-based
organizations, large and small, were given the responsibility to care for parts
of cites and various geographies, and they did a very effective job. It
is for this reason, as well as others, that Isaiah 58:12 was birthed. It
came about as a number of those who had attended some of the first trips to
Mississippi began to sense in their hearts and spirits to formalize or
logistically recognize in the physical, what God seemed to be doing in the
Spirit. Initially, none of us had any intention or plan to keep going down to
Mississippi, but these mission trips seem to be divinely orchestrated and took
on a life of their own. Isaiah 58:12 is a faith-based relief group that will
help organize and co-ordinate current and future relief efforts by churches or
individuals who want to help disaster victims, wherever and whenever they
arise. The reason for the formation of this group is as follows:
Fulton served 3
terms as a State Representative from Allegan County. You can learn more about him here.
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