VL - Issue 18 - November 2015

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Under the Hat by It wasn’t the first time that hat had caused unwanted attention. Six months earlier, I’d worn the hat into a local Goodwill store. (My mistake wasn’t just wearing the hat; I’d paired it with soccer shorts and bright purple running shoes.) I entered the store, and a man saw me and nudged his wife. “Look at this joker!” He laughed. That should’ve been the last time I wore it. Indeed, I actually threw it into the back of the closet for a while, but I have an unending love for funky hats and clothes. I dug it back out. It’s a fashion style that betrays its followers into situations much like one I now found myself in, as I sat next to a dirty, old, homeless man in the Chicago subway. He crowded in next to me and proceeded to make fun of my Russian fur hat. “Whoo-haa! That’s a furry li’l hat!” The man’s voice carried well above the noise of the tracks, and everyone turned to look at me, the man with the furry hat. I was glad I wasn’t wearing my purple shoes. The homeless man scooted in closer, his gaze glued to the hat. “Where’d you get it?” he asked. Normally, I would have ignored his inquiries and pretended to be grossly involved in something important on my phone. This is a common strategy used by Chicagoans to avoid embarrassing conversations with the homeless. I know I shouldn’t stoop to such behavior, but I admit that, like many who are self-conscious or simply uninterested in such conversation, I do resort to such tactics at times. I was raised in a Christian home, even attended a Bible college in Chicago. I know I’m to reach into the lives of people and share God’s love. Unfortunately, I often leave the whole “love thy neighbor” thing at the turnstile when boarding the subway. I always pick it back up once I safely exit. That’s good enough, isn’t it? The homeless man continued to stare at my hat, waiting for my answer. I looked down at my phone but then stopped. A crazy idea popped into my head. I’ve always been terrible with accents; the last time I tried to copy a British accent, I ended up sounding something like Louis Armstrong! But this time, I went ahead and pursed my lips together, pushed my tongue to the roof of my mouth, and hoped it would produce the desired accent. “It’za from Russia,” I told him in my fake Russian accent. A girl across the aisle burst out laughing but quickly muffled it so as not to wreck the next scene. “Really?! No way, man! That’s awesome,” he exclaimed, slapping his knees with both hands in excitement. “Where can I get one of those?” Jacob Miller he slurred. Eyes all around the train watched me intently, waiting for my response. I pulled myself back into character. “Youz can’t; onlyz in Russia,” I told him, pointing to the fur hat. “Diz fur, youz no find in Chicaga.” People around the train chuckled. “Ahh, man! I knew it!” The homeless man wailed. He kicked the seat in front of him, causing more heads to turn. Folding his arms, he positioned himself into a pout and didn’t say another word. I just smiled and felt proud that I had put an end to his banter. Others around the car seemed relieved that he had stopped his incessant chatter. We all rode on in silence. Mission accomplished. As I reflected on this scene later, however, I realized an ugly truth. What I had done to that homeless man was perhaps more unkind than simply ignoring him. I had played him for a fool. My fur hat had become a tool for a cruel joke that mocked the disillusionment of this man. That’s right––a man. A man created and loved by God. A man who needed, not my mocking, but my compassion. I realized that this man was wearing a hat he didn’t want to wear. He couldn’t pretend to be someone else. He was trapped with the hat he had come to know in life. And there I was, a man trying to escape his own identity under the guise of Russian fur. Could it be that my love for hats was really a desire for new identity? With each hat, I could be anyone I wanted in public—while avoiding who I actually was in private. A man unsettled. A man afraid. A man unsure. And that was it, wasn’t it? The identities I’d been taking on stemmed from my insecurity in who I truly was. Nobody goes around proclaiming their insecurities to the world, and I had no intention of strolling through the streets of Chicago sharing Jesus because, oddly enough, my greatest insecurity was in my own relationship with Him. continued on page 23 Hat Check! by Jacob Miller and Kristi Overton Johnson God didn’t intend for His beautifully created people to hide under hats––to go about life hiding from the world and from Him. When we make mistakes, God never says, “Hey! Go put on a hat! I can’t bear to look at you.” No, that’s not our Father. Our Father says, “Come to Me, child. It’s okay. Come out from wherever you’re hiding and tell Me what’s on your heart. Tell Me what you’ve done. Tell Me about your struggles and fears. Tell Me about your dreams or disappointments.” He doesn’t push us away or demand we become someone other than who we truly are. Instead, our heavenly Father invites us to come now, simply as we are. To come to Him with all of our fears, mistakes, and insecurities, so He can love us and make us whole. God wants you to come––yes, you!––to come just as you are. In all your dirtiness, with all your mistakes, in the midst of your confusion. God’s love for you isn’t dependent upon your past. It doesn’t depend on your current abilities or situation. It’s based on one fact, and one fact alone: You are His child. And He’s waiting with arms wide open for you to come home to Him. It’s there that you’ll find your true identity. It’s there you will discover you are infinitely loved, no matter what. V 22 www.kojministries.org
Is a VIRTUE by Patience Kristi Dews Dale On Saturday mornings, I like to listen to the birds sing and watch the sun peek around the edges of the curtains. And even though the sun has barely revealed itself, my husband and I start to hear the patter of tiny feet, softly moving toward our bedroom. One by one, they climb into our bed and find a suitable snuggling spot. Their warm heads smell sweet, like a mixture of grass, lavender, and baby soap. They wrap their tiny limbs around us and nudge their heads to get as close as possible to momma and daddy. Little girl giggles fill our space as we share the funny things we dreamt of the night before and they begin planning how to fill up the day with games of Monopoly, spa treatments for their dolls, and baking cookies. I soak in this special time because I know it will not last forever. And by forever, I mean, less than ten minutes. Inevitably, someone gets kicked and that special moment in time unravels into something more resembling a pro wrestling match. The day begins, and I quickly realize it will not go as planned. The bathroom is flooded as my children treat their dolls to a spa day. My two oldest argue about who won Monopoly and toss thousands of Monopoly dollars on the floor. Halfway through baking cookies, everyone loses interest, leaving me with a messy kitchen and slightly burned cookies. It is at this moment that I conclude that my cup of patience has developed a leak. Thankfully God has provided a way to repair that leak, and I know I have a decision to make—to turn to God or to let selfishness take over. My sin nature wants to be mad and stomp around the house leaving burnt cookies in my wake, but I can’t show Christ to my children while stuffing their Monopoly money in the garbage disposal. It is easy to be patient and loving when everything is going just the way I want, but God challenges Christians to a narrow road of love and patience. Colossians 3:12–14 says, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” This passage speaks to my heart, but I struggle to put it into practice. Daily life is filled with unmet expectations, frustrating situations, and a sinful desire to lose my patience with the world. So each day, I make a commitment to combat new frustrations that creep under my skin. Here’s my three-step plan of attack. Step 1: Be humble. Mark 10:45 says that “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others.” Jesus paved a pathway and showed a servant’s heart. I am called to mirror that attitude. Step 2: Make Allowances for Others. Children are supposed to be messy and argue on occasion. Ephesians 4:32 says for us to be “tenderhearted and forgiving” to one another. With my kids and people in general, I need to take a deep breath and give them grace. Step 3: Clothe Myself Properly. Romans 13:14 instructs me to, “clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.” I need to be in God’s Word daily, seeking His wisdom and guidance. Sometimes, in an outward action of enveloping myself in His Word, I take scripture and put it in my pocket THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE AND POWERFUL. IT IS SHARPER THAN THE SHARPEST TWO-EDGED SWORD, CUTTING BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT, BETWEEN JOINT AND MARROW. IT EXPOSES OUR INNERMOST THOUGHTS AND DESIRES. HEBREWS 4:12 as a reminder of God’s love and expectations for me. No one is perfect, and despite my plan of attack, I still fail. Thankfully, God’s grace is sufficient, despite our failures. He is glorified when we continually seek Him and look to His Word for solutions to our everyday problems. I encourage each of you to develop your own personal plan of attack to combat selfish attitudes. Use the Bible as your first line of defense. V UNDER THE HAT | from page 22 Shame and guilt had caused me to hide under those hats. They were just a way to conceal the inner disappointment I felt for not being “good enough.” I had made mistakes, had often failed to do as Christ would have done. Like Adam and Eve, I’d decided to hide rather than expose myself to Him. Why would God want someone like me on display for the world to see? Wasn’t I doing God a service by hiding? But then I felt the Lord inviting me to take off my hats, to lay them aside. To quit hiding and to reveal my true self to Him and to the world. How else could I ever feel the sun shining down on my head? How else could His rain wash away what was hidden underneath and make me totally whole? How else could I ever truly touch the world around me? That homeless man in the Chicago subway didn’t need a hat. He didn’t need my jokes, either. What he did need was real, authentic love from the person beside him. Love that I can only give when I’ve surrendered my whole self––fears, weaknesses, doubts, and all––to the One who is Love, once and for all. V www.kojministries.org 23
Page 1 and 2: REAL PEOPLE | REAL STORIES | REAL H
Page 4 and 5: FROM THE PUBLISHER An Invasion of L
Page 6 and 7: REFRESH YOUR SOUL A Wardrobe Change
Page 8 and 9: Watermelon on the Rocks by Kristi O
Page 10 and 11: Choose to Live by Todd Ingersoll I
Page 12 and 13: The Train Ticket by Becky Coursen B
Page 14 and 15: FAST AND FURIOUS by Linda Cubbedge
Page 16 and 17: A WORK IN PROGRESS by Kenny Munds M
Page 18 and 19: A WORK IN PROGRESS | from page 17__
Page 20 and 21: BURYING FOX by George Beasely THE M
Page 24 and 25: Unbroken Donkey by Carey Morford I
Page 26 and 27: MINISTRY NEWS UPDATE FROM KOJ MINIS
Page 28 and 29: MINISTRY NEWS UPDATE FROM IN HIS WA
Page 30 and 31: God Made a Way by Calvin M. Greetin
Page 32: GIVE FREEDOM Victorious Living PO B

VL - Issue 18 - November 2015

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