I received a complimentary copy of William Bennett’s book “A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears” from Thomas Nelson Books in exchange for an honest and candid review.  I enjoyed reading “A Century Turns”.  If you, like me, enjoy reading about American history, you will probably enjoy this book.  However, if American history isn’t your thing, then chances are you won’t like this book.  I’m old enough to remember much of what this book covers.  Yet even though I knew the content of this book, I failed to remember much of the context.  That is where this book shines.  It brings together the events between 1988 and 2008 and puts those events in context with what was transpiring on the world stage.  I recommend this book.

        

I’m very stingy when it comes to giving a five-star rating to a book.  But, if any book deserves a five-star rating, Max Lucado’s FACING YOUR GIANTS is at the top of the list.  Many Christian books are analogous to drinking a cup of watered-down powdered milk.  This book serves up a t-bone steak on every page.  If you are a pastor, you need to read this book!  There is sermon located in every chapter.  If you are a layperson thirsting for a better understanding of God's sovereignty in every day life, you need this book!  You will discover hidden truths on every page.  Max Lucado uses the events of King David’s life as a backdrop to challenge his readers to cling to God when the odds are insurmountable.  He not only writes of David as king, but the David who is constantly hounded by Saul’s army, who finds himself desperately alone with no one to turn to other than the God of heaven and earth.  This book is a MUST read.

        

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  I do not remember how young I was when I first heard those words of truth.  Little did I know then the degree to which they would later define my life.  When you take away all the church dogma and denominational doctrine, the one simple truth that underpins everything else is that Jesus’ love for you and me drove him to the cross to atone for our sins.

 

I’m at a crossroad right now.  I flew to Taiwan at the end of last year, spoke at Christ’s College in Taipei, and watched as thirty students came to Christ.  I wish like anything that I could concentrate full time on evangelism.  Whether it be sitting down and talking to someone while sipping on a coke, teaching a class, or speaking at a church, I have a story to tell of a loving God who sacrificed his son on my behalf.  But I have two things standing in the way.

 

First, my kidneys are going downhill fast.  I used to have all the energy I needed to keep going at full throttle throughout the day and then some.  Not so much anymore.  As I told a close friend recently, I can either take a shower on Sunday mornings or I can attend church.  I simply do not have the energy for both.  The good news is that I, along with someone wanting to give me her kidney, will meet with a transplant team in Indianapolis on February 11^th.  If everything checks out, surgery will be scheduled for sometime after that, and I should be as good as new.  Or, at least as good as any 51-year-old man can be who has cerebral palsy and never shaves or combs his hair.

 

Second, for the past 22 years, I have been raising my own ministry support and with the downturn in the economy has come a downturn in donations. 

 

I want to evangelize!  As soon as possible, I want to get back to leading people to Christ both here and abroad.  Jay Kesler recently told me, “Steve, when you get up in front of students who worry about every little pimple showing, and they see you with your cerebral palsy praising God instead of cursing him, they listen.”  That was awfully nice of Jay to say.  I do want to evangelize.  However, evangelism, traveling to different churches and schools, takes money, and right now, that’s money that I don’t have.

 

I want to raise $10,000 in monthly pledges.  That would not only pay for my salary but also pay for a much needed assistant.  It would cover the rising cost of health insurance, postage, and other overhead.  It would also help offset the cost of traveling to and from churches and schools, many of which simply do not have the financial resources available to bring me to their church or school.

 

Can you help?  Will you help?  It doesn’t have to be much . . . $10, perhaps $20 per month, maybe more if you can afford it.  It all adds up and will be put to good use that will bring eternal rewards.  Please visit our website at: http://www.goldenclay.org/donate.htm and consider becoming a member of our support team.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

        

    I don’t like to wait.  As Randi would be the first to tell you, I’m terrible at dealing with uncertainty.  I can handle just about anything—as long as I know what to expect.  So, for the moment, I’m feeling the stress as I wait to find out if and when I’ll be having a kidney transplant in the next few months.

As many of you know, someone has very generously offered to donate a kidney to me.  I’ve spent the past few weeks undergoing one medical test after another in preparation for surgery.  Now it’s time for my potential donor and me to be tested to see if she’s a “match” (whether or not her kidney is compatible for me).  She and I will travel together to Indianapolis on February 11th for testing, education classes, and to meet with members of the transplant team.  If she is a match, I hope to learn more about when the surgery could be scheduled.

 Not only is the waiting affecting my stress level, it’s also adversely affecting my work with GCM.  Since September, I’ve been working on a marketing campaign to get myself into churches all over the country.  I’ve been amazed at the response—I’ve heard from approximately twenty pastors and church leaders who are interested in my coming to speak to their congregations, from places as varied as Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Montana, New Jersey, and Hawaii!  Unfortunately, though, most of these contacts haven’t yet resulted in a firm date.  Pastors have been understandably reluctant to schedule me for a sermon or other speaking engagement, knowing that I might have to cancel if I find out that I’ll be on a surgery table.

    So now I feel like things are on hold, which is really frustrating for me.  Please keep the prayers coming.  I appreciate your prayers, as well as your financial support, so much during this time.

        

I like history.  So, when Newt Gingrich’s book “Rediscovering God in America” became available for reviewed, I jumped at the opportunity.  For the first thirty pages or so, I sat riveted to the book as Newt walked me through building after building in our nation’s capital and explained both the historical and spiritual significance of a few of our nation’s most treasured landmark.  Then something unexpected happened.  I became angry, real angry.  With both a bachelor and a master’s degree, why haven’t I ever been exposed to the information that’s documented in this book pertaining to the spiritual roots of the United States of America?!  As Gingrich writes on page 14, “The answer [to that question] is that the secular left cannot accurately teach American history without addressing America’s religious character and it’s religious heritage, so it simply ignores the topic.  If you don’t teach about the Founding Fathers, you do not have to teach about our Creator.  If you don’t teach about Abraham Lincoln, you don’t have to deal with fourteen references to God and two Bible verses in his 703-word second inaugural address…”  This book is a real eye-opener for all who seek truth in American history.

        

I’m back!  After spending the holidays in Wisconsin with family, I’m back in Upland trying to clear a ton of paperwork off of my desk before having to go to the clinic tomorrow for a stress test in preparation for surgery.  The stress test is followed by a colonoscopy a week later, and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that.  That is followed by a trip down to Indianapolis where I will meet with a transplant team, and, if all goes well, news that the person who has offered me their kidney matches what I need for a transplant.  After that, surgery!  Yikes!  I don’t even like the sound of that, but I don’t like the thought of sitting through dialysis three times a week for the rest of my life either.  What a choice!

 

I’ll just be glad to get this thing behind me so that I can get on with life.  I will be 52 this year and have done more in those 52 years than I ever thought possible.  From rappelling to climbing a pyramid, from whitewater rafting to climbing to the top of Massada in Israel, it seems like I have had one adventure after another.  I’ve been on 10 mission trips, visited 12 countries, and 47 states.  And the list doesn’t stop there.  I’ve written 2 books, raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars that I’ve given away to benefit homeless kids in other countries, and have led nearly 300 people to Christ.

 

Yeah, I’m going to have surgery, but don’t you dare feel sorry for me.  Pray for me.  When Paul was sitting in prison, he wrote to the church at Philippi and said, “I want you to know, dear brothers, that what has happened has really served to advance the gospel.”  That’s my prayer, and if I may be so bold, it should also be the prayer of everyone who calls themselves Christian.  I feel a sermon coming on so let me stop here before I get carried away.  I’ll keep you posted.

Steve is the founder and president of Golden Clay Ministries, a not-for-profit organization he founded in 1990.  Donations can be made at www.goldenclay.org.

        

The one day that I’ve been trying to avoid for years is almost here.  I’m not talking about Christmas with the in-laws.  They came a month ago at Thanksgiving.  No, I’m referring to the kidney transplant that I am hoping to have sometime after the first of the year.  So what is it like knowing that some doctor is going to cut me open and put someone else’s kidney in my abdomen?  Just a wee bit disconcerting.  After years of waiting, I’ll be glad when the whole thing is over with.  I’m just hoping they get it right the first time.  The last thing I need is for them to put the new kidney and hook the plumbing up backward.  I could start to cough and pee would be running out of my nose.  That’s right, I am making jokes.  What else am I suppose to do?  Cry?  Oh, believe me; I did plenty of that after I was diagnosed with bad kidneys several years ago.  Now it seems different, a nuisance more than anything else.  It’s not something that I’m afraid of; just something I want to get behind me so I can get on with my life.  I’m all too aware that this life is temporary.  I’m 51, and chances are pretty good that I’m not going to live to 102.  But regardless of what happens to me in the next few weeks, months, or years, there’s one thing I know.  I want my life to count for something.  Philippians 1:12 says, “I want you to know, dear brothers, that what has happened to me has served to advance the gospel.”  If I can someday, hopefully years and years in the future, lay on my death bed and know that I can apply that verse to my life, I’ll be able to die a happy may.

        

When I first picked up Nora Gallagher’s book THE SACRED MEAL, I expected to find something that read like a college textbook, or worse yet, a doctorial dissertation.  What a joy to find a book that deals with a complex subject matter that’s written for the common layperson.  Filled with personal anecdotes, Gallagher’s book reads like a novel sprinkled with spiritual insights.  Communion is less of a ritual than a place for sinners to come and be fed.  It’s a connection point between a loving God and his prized creation.  It’s a remembrance of a sacrifice and a foretaste of a great banquet.  It’s an act of worship that infuses every aspect of our lives from how we handle rush-hour traffic to how we see and interact with the homeless.  Whatever you call it, whether it be The Eucharist, Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, this book intertwines the holy with the practical.  This book might as well have been titled “Living out Communion in Your Everyday Life”, for it really gives feet to a sacrament that was meant as a remembrance of a Savior destined for a cross.

        

He’s Back!

My husband is a basket case.  Not the typical way to begin a ministry newsletter, is it?  Steve is a “basket case” because he just got back from his long-anticipated trip to Taiwan.  As I write this, he’s been home for almost a week but is still struggling with exhaustion and muscle pain.  He’s frustrated with what seems to him to be a slow recuperation, but, as I keep reminding him, he’s pushed his body to the breaking point these past three weeks.  Both the trip to Taipei, Taiwan, and the return trip included stops in Chicago and Tokyo, and each trip took more than 24 hours.  By the time he got home last Tuesday night, he had been up more than 30 hours. A trip like that would be exhausting for anyone, but for Steve, who has both cerebral palsy and a kidney disease, it was truly grueling.  His body needs time to recover, as impatient as he is to get that process over and done with.

I hate to see Steve like this, of course, but oh – this trip has been worth all of what he’s been through to get there and back.  As Steve spoke in a series of chapel services at Christ’s College in Taipei, approximately 30 students accepted Jesus into their lives!  As Steve's wife, I am both proud and humbled when I think of what God has done through him on this trip.  I'm proud of his God-given gifts and of his commitment and determination to serve his Lord.  But I'm also humbled, humbled to think of how God is using him.

     This trip was truly a team effort.  Many of you have given specifically for the trip and/or committed to praying for Steve daily.  Your prayers made a difference!  He tells me that he had energy when he needed it and was also able to rest when needed.  I also felt the impact of your prayers as I dealt with the challenges of caring for six-year-old Rachel on my own for two weeks and helping her cope with missing her father.  Thank you for your love, prayers, and financial support.

Randi

        

Some look at a glass as half full while others view the same glass as half empty.  Likewise, many look at obstacles as roadblocks and other see the same obstacles as problems to be solved.  Same obstacles, yet the way one views them makes all the difference in the world.  Obstacles Welcomed is the story of how far one person can come if he views obstacles as challenges with real-world solutions.  Ralph de la Vega emigrated from Cuba to the United States in 1962 at the age of ten.  He quickly learned that setting goals and then applying himself to attain those goals was the only path to a better future.  That attitude eventually propelled him to the position of CEO for AT&T Mobility.  This book is filled with both personal stories of how one man climbed the corporate latter and insights on what it takes to lead employees to give 110%.  This is a good read, especially for those people just starting their career path.