My daughter just finished her roll in "The Nutcracker Suite" with a professional Ballet company.  I'm so very proud of her and the job she did.  She wasn't the main character or anything but I think that the scholarship she now enjoys thanks to the wonderful people that are at our local classic dance school have made all the difference in the world!  It's quite an experience as a father to watch your daughter perform on the stage in front of so many people and do such a wonderful job.  We were able to enjoy the first show at the Babcock theater and had a good balcony seat.  The performance was top notch and did not disappoint in any way.  I guess what blesses me most is my daughter's attitude in that she is very good to me after the show and never acts arrogant or snobbish at all.  We got her one of the giant nutcrackers after the show and it was really a wonderful time.  I'm so glad that somehow with our heavy schedule this season we were able to be a part of that.  We celebrated last night at DQ and I'm left feeling really good about things.  I am so thankful for my wife who made a way to get Danielle into that class.  I don't know what I'd do without her making a way for things that I never would have even glanced at if I were here on this planet alone.  She has opened up so many doors for me and the children that I could never deny that she is my most precious gift from God.  I really encourage everyone who has the time to check out my wife's page:  http://thecutlerspartyoffive.blogspot.com/ and check out what she did there.  Wow, Lovely, you did it again!

Here we are the day before Thanksgiving and I find myself thinking about the things I'm thankful for.  There's a lot of things that I could spend a lot of time being thankful for but I don't know that I'd have enough time or space to put them all here.  Everything I could ever be thankful for all leads back to Jesus Christ.  I couldn't have a family or a wonderful ministry like Eagle Ministries to be a part of if it were not for Him.  I would have never met the wonderful people I've met nor traveled any of the places I've been without God.  Behind every good thing that's ever happened is the hand of Providence!  I'm so thankful for my family who has stood for me in every situation imaginable and still managed to not only endure but love me with a passion that I feel every single day.  I'm so thrilled to be a part of Eagle Ministries which has never let me down or stopped believing in me and opened up so many doors to do things that no other ministry would ever offer.  We prepare now to enter our community with songs that God has given us and no matter where we go from the mall to the rest homes we visit or other churches we will see the wonderful presence of our God.  This year like the years that have come and gone before will be a great blessing.  Once again we find ourselves preparing to enter another great adventure of opportunity and blessing.  I'm thankful that though I don't have much money I can be a part of something so much bigger than I am.  God is ever generous and ever willing to pour out His blessings.  I'm thankful to be a part of something like this for another year.  The bible says that there's no distance in the spirit so I pray that for all that read this the blessings we've known here reach into your home and bless you.  We have some wonderful new songs that we've written for this year that glorify the very reason for the season...it's beyond Santa Claus and Sponge Bob!  I don't have a problem with these things but I believe to know the great blessings of this season we must recall Christ who was born to bring Salvation to us all.  Giving things to our loved ones is enhanced when we consider how much Jesus loves everyone of us.  Yes, we're blessed, I'm blessed and I'm thankful.  God bless and keep those that can not be with their families now.  Bless our country and our president.  God be with our soldiers who fight for all that we're thankful for.  God bless Eagle Ministries for opening my eyes to how good life can be!

Today I came to Matthew chapter nine and in particular I want to look at verse 12.  Jesus here states a remarkable fact:  He didn't come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance.  This might seem trivial on the surface but it speaks a great truth on greater examination.  I have a translation of this verse that says He didn't come to call the self righteous to repentance.  The fact is the moment we've decided that we know it all or that we have 'arrived' we have put ourselves in a position where we can no longer receive from God not because He doesn't want to bless us but because our state of mind will prevent us from seeing the blessing even when it's in front of our face.  I have a song that I love by DC Talk which has a line that says:  "I'm still a man in need of a savior."  He is talking about being a Christian but still realizing that he has never come to the place where he doesn't need God anymore.  The desperate need of mankind puts him in the place where he feels justified to shake his fist at God and blame Him for all the troubles in his life while at the same time refusing to admit that he needs God.  I've heard before that if God was a God of love how could he allow these things to happen?  I pose another question if we were smart why would we refuse to believe God can help and then expect a reward for our lack of faith?  We have suffered for the mistakes of humanity and the stubborn refusal to change.  I've heard another song that I love where a line says:  "If change is admission of regret then I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."  Talk about a telling line!  People often claim to want change but they want more for circumstance to change than walk a changed lifestyle.  We have to be honest with ourselves if we really want change.  God is more than will to help a person that admits wrong not because He likes to here us say that but because when we humble ourselves that far we can receive help.  Verse 17 sums up what we've started here well where it talks about putting new wine in new wineskins.  If we want a change heart...new wine, if you will then we must acknowledge the need for a change of lifestyle or a new way of looking at things...a new wineskin that opens up a door to the blessing of God.  God isn't being hard headed He is simply showing the road to blessing.  Usually the greatest blessing we could ever know comes from a change of heart and from that change of heart flows better things in life.  A negative and unchanging heart brings a negative lifestyle.  How sad that we all too often refuse to change our minds and don't want to give up our 'right' to remain in rebellion against God.  This is a spiritual law and is as unchangeable as any law of physics.  It's like drinking too much and then being angry that you have a hangover.  You must stop doing one before you'll be free of the other.  I don't believe that we can ever 'arrive' on this side of things.  Being open to change and appreciative of God in all things keeps us open to the blessing of God.  Trying to control everything actually makes us very uptight and not really in control at all....hey, isn't that what mom taught on at the church yesterday?  Thanks!  Maybe instead of taking that and deciding who's more controlling we should admit we need help instead of expending so much energy on justifying what can not be justified.

Today I was really struck by Matthew chapter 8.  Jesus was approached by a soldier that's part of the Roman occupying forces of Israel.  This man has a very unique attitude.  The religious people of the land at the time were wallowing in the controversy that surrounded Jesus and many had a very difficult time deciding what they were going to do with the things He taught.  Other people that were outside of the 'normal' religious norm were following after the hope that Christ brought.  This soldier had a sick servant and rather than questioning wether or not he was worthy of Christ's blessing he showed a remarkable understanding of who Jesus was and accepted that it was Christ's goodness and power that was to be trusted in and not his own.  This man knew about authority structure and received that Jesus was (and is) the ultimate authority and is able to bring healing (and everything else good) his way(and our way).  Jesus marveled at this man's insight and said to him that he could go his way because his request was answered.  I stand in awe of the power in this simple scripture.  Perhaps on the surface it looks like one of the many stories of the miracles that Jesus did but to me it's far deeper than that because it gives hope to a lost and dying world today.  It shows that God is not hung up on classes, creeds or color of people nor does He have some requirement for you to be part of some particular church.  Rather we see that Christ eyes our faith as being the catalyst for the miraculous power of God.  What a thrill to see that God isn't hung up on the things mankind is often hung up on but looks to the needs of man, sees the faith and moves to meet the needs of humanity.  The bible says that Christ is 'eaten up' with zeal for His house.  We're His house!  He has a deep and driving need to have relationship with us and to meet our needs.  Another scripture speaks of not resting until Zion is formed in the church.  I truly believe that this again speaks of the goodness of God being offered to all that will believe.  We often hinder the movement of God because of guilt  or lack of belief for many reasons and all the while God seeks to find a way to inspire us to faith and tries with so many displays of His love to catch our attention that He might have relationship with us.  Small wonder we have as many problems as we do when we look for every reason why we don't deserve God's blessing.  It's so hard to accept that something so 'simple' as belief in Jesus and His righteousness could unlock such wonderful things but it's absolutely 100% true!  He doesn't look for ways to cut people out of His wonderful promises but seeks to bring us up from where we've been to where we can love and be loved by Him.  Sad that most Christians see the narrow path to salvation as a path that they can so easily fall away from.  I believe that the path to heaven is narrow in that it's not complex at all.  The road to hell is said to be wide but that isn't because it's easy on you it's because there's many reasons we choose to depart from the relationship we could be having with God.  It all starts with the acceptance of Jesus being the Son of God and that He really did love us so much that He died and then rose again to become the perfect sacrifice and complete fulfillment of all God has spoken.  Those that deny the reality of hell and the fact that the precious Holy Spirit is now sent to us to lead us into all truth and righteousness has robbed us not just once but twice!  If there's no conviction or consequence of sin then we are left a hollow shipwreck of a life indeed!  Yes, we need Jesus as the second member of the Trinity and yes we need the Holy Spirit and yes, we certainly need God the Father!  God reaches out to us and asks that we put faith in Him, this qualifying standard opens up to us a whole new world!  His acceptance goes deeper than the skin or bone...it goes clear to the spirit of a human being!

You know, I've always been fascinated by the more 'difficult' characters in the bible wether that be Jacob who was a liar and manipulator, doubting Thomas who had to put his fingers in the Lord's wounds after his resurrection or Peter whom denied the Lord several times...there are many others that catch my attention.  I guess I have a real sense of brotherhood with these guys because I'm aware of my own imperfections...all too aware.  Right now I want to focus on Jacob.  This guy is really something.  He tricks his brother out of giving up his birthright by saying he'll give him something for his hunger if he'll trade his birthright...which he gets.  Later on he adds insult to injury by also stealing his brother's blessing by dressing in his brother's clothes and bringing his father his favorite food while his brother is out hunting.  This guy spends so much time associated with the God of his father and grandfather yet has not truly had a change of heart.  Once his brother Esau figured out what happened of course he was more than a little bent out of shape.  I want to focus on what happened to Jacob while he was on the run from his brother because this shows the real turning point of his life where he had a confrontation with God Almighty.  Jacob was sleeping and had a vision of the place he was and came to the realization that it was filled with the presence of God.  Jacob changed the name of that place to Bethel and made a vow to God which cleared the way to allow the Lord to begin really working on him for the sake of the covenant He had made with his father and grandfather.  Jacob had come to the turning point in his life.  Jacob sets things in order and even sets up the principle of tithing but even beyond this he has begun the journey that will lead him to a closer relationship with the Lord.  This moment is critical to us all.  That point where we come from the place where we've been associated with God...we say our prayers at the dinner table we might even go to church once or twice a week but we don't have a real relationship with God.  There comes a time in people's lives where they need their tree shaken so to speak where they can't just fall back on what they know or think they know but are put in a position where they need to call on God for help.  This is a turning point in a person's life.  It's something that I've loved about traveling the world as a missionary because I am put in unfamiliar and often uncomfortable positions where I don't have my mental automatic pilot to fall back on.  These situations put me in the place of having to rely on God...sometimes just to survive.  These things can be very difficult at the time but later on it becomes something that I can see as a building block to becoming a better person because reliance on God is not a weakness but a strength.  Here in the western United States self reliance is taught right away.  Kids often hunt when they're very, very young and to do things yourself is thought of as a manly or adult characteristic.  We treat the 'huginess' of where I was born with suspicion and often wonder what strings could be attached to such behavior.  This come in stark contrast with God's position as a loving, providing father to us.  It can pretty much take a stick of dynamite to move us from these cultural comfort zones to actually accept that it's actually foolish to believe we're self reliant when we wouldn't have breath at all if God had not brought us into this world.  Many times we need reminders that we are not islands unto ourselves and in these moments we must decide which way we're going to go.  Do we fall to bitterness when things don't work out?  Do we blame God, our parents...the president on a national level?  Do we simply declare that everything is right and throw away the moral compass that God's word provides?  Rather that we would face the fact that the only sane choice is accept that we need God and life will never be a constantly smooth ride.  Difficulties are natural but so is God's willingness to help us.  Happiness is a choice...depression is a choice....walking with God is a choice.  Genesis chapter 28 offers and interesting example of this place in life for Jacob but the bible is filled with many such examples where we can find circumstances similar to our own.  the bible is timeless and described as the living word.  Resistance to God is futile.  You can run but you'll only get tired as He finds you anyway.  Let our lives be a testimony rather than be shame...how can this happen?  Surrendering to God and refusing to settle for an association with God.  The time has come for surrender absolute!  I salute the Veterans today who have fought for our rights today.  Those that have stood and fallen on the field of battle that have allowed us the rights to even consider choices such as these I mention today.  I believe in the American soldier.  I believe in them, what they fight for and who sends them to fight.  God bless them all today!  You are all heroes to me!

This last week we had some kind of neat things happen but it was all tempered by the news that our dear friend Steve Camposan is being recalled to active duty to be involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  This will be his second deployment.  It's so hard after having him do this once before.  We suffered through his first deployment praying constantly for his safe return and to our great relief he came home safe after experiencing combat.  We thought that he was in the clear and now we find that he is being recalled to be a part of an infantry unit out of Little Rock, Arkansas.  It was tough to see him leave though his deployment to Iraq likely won't be until next year in the spring it's still not easy.  We all have prayed ceaselessly since hearing the news.  I suppose it's possible that it won't be like we think.  We can only wait and believe God now.  Steve traveled with my family and I to the Philippines and seems more like family than friend.  Since his dad died in a car accident it's seemed especially important to hold onto him and his mom and brother and sisters.  Honestly I can hardly take for him to go back to Iraq.  He came over and had lunch with us yesterday.  My daughter Gabby who's not yet two really likes Steve.  She clung to him and wouldn't let go...it was heart breaking when he had to walk out that door....ouch.  I'm going to post a few pictures that include my children with Steve..pray for him.  We have two others from our church that are deploying:  Dustin Hostetler and James Farr...we must not let go of these young men.  Our church is small and we're very close...to have three families send their young men out like this has a major impact on us all.  We are nearing the time of our choir where we go out and minister in song in many places all around town.  This is the heaviest schedule we've ever had so I will be very, very busy until Christmas.  Our schedule will start the day after Thanksgiving.  Hopefully we'll see both Dustin and Steve during the Christmas season for the last time before they are likely deployed...God give us the strength.  My wife met two Israeli young men at the mall yesterday.  They are fresh out of the military there and working now here for the season.  They are well aware of the war on terror....I appreciate the clarity of thought from them with all the denial and madness in our country over the war we find ourselves in.  I pray that we will be able to have these young men over here at some point for a meal...not used to being careful  about being Kosure but we'll do our best!  I once again salute those that instead of being fools about the war on terror support in any way they can..the heroes of our country are not the nay sayers and people who abuse the freedom of speech while proclaiming to be patriots.  I salute the sacrifice and honor of those that do right.

What a remarkable person Abraham was!  Here he was an old man who had received the promise of God and finally received a child in his very old age.  He soon found himself in the position that most of us as human beings find ourselves where that which is most precious seems as though it's about to be taken away.  It's easy for many of us to blame God in this position but Abraham, though he was being directed by God to sacrifice his precious son did not once blame or question God...wow!  God told him to go ahead and sacrifice his own son, his own future.  That faith carried him to the place where he had tied his son to the altar and was about to strike him with his knife when God told him to stop.  The promise of God become manifest in a huge way here where we see that God recognizes Abraham's faith and seals a huge promise to him.  Promising that his descendants will be more than the sand on the beach and that his children will possess the gate of their enemies...that means soundly dominate them!  Our associate pastors in our church have a vehicle that says ram in the thicket...well it's stated in a clever way to fit but that phrase ever reminds me of this promise God gave not just to Abraham but to us.  I mentioned yesterday that I work with heroes every time I work with the people at our little church.  These people have held onto their children and grandchildren with a heroes grip.  They never surrender their posterity to the world but fight in prayer every single day to see that they possess the gate of their enemies and find the fullness of who God has called them to be.  I know that I know we'll see this fulfillment with our kids!  Just when the battle seems that it will never be won we'll see God provide in a most miraculous way and the promise will remain not just intact but He'll add to it in a most marvelous way.  I love where in verse 18 it says that in our seed (our children) we'll see the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice!  I've traveled the earth and the seven seas and known the awesome privilege of seeing other nations and being brought from my comfortable little existence here to places far and wide.  There is no greater honor for me than being about the work of God in other places and seeing the wonderful people that God has put on this planet.  Not everything is good or wonderful, some of it is about death and pain but through it all the wisdom and power of God can be seen.  I want this for not only my children and the people of our church but for everyone.  This promise is not for Abraham alone but for us who are his children via faith.  Believe in God and see such beautiful fulfillment...we must never surrender our faith to a dying world's system!

Last night they talked about a situation that I've not heard about in quite a while.  During our stay in the Philippines pre and post 9/11 there was a missionary couple that was kidnapped.  It made a huge impression on me.  I read the book about the whole situation and really appreciated it all so much.  What I loved about the show last night on Fox News was that normally it talks about war heroes and such but this time it included these missionaries that I knew about.  Here's a brief description of what they were talking about:  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,306056,00.html.  Look while you can because I'm not sure how long this will be there.  We worked with a pastor in Davao.  His name was pastor Manuel Andayan.  He was like a father to me in many ways.  His inspiring way of sharing the word of the Lord has had a lasting impact in my life.  His son and I traveled many places and preached the word of God.  Pastor Andayan passed away after a long struggle with his health.  I remember so clearly when he was having so much pain that he thought he would die right there and he clung to me and said:  "Joe, you must not forget the church here, care for the church!"  I am ever haunted by that word.  We have not been able to travel back to the Philippines since though wherever we go we run across and minister to Filipinos.  It's so very dangerous there as well and it's hard for me to bring my family back there.  I lived there for some time with my family and it's not like here in America where we often take our freedoms and security for granted.  There's always threats of violence and danger from kidnapping as a foreigner...especially if you are in the more dangerous areas.  This whole program brought pastor's words back to me with all new clarity.  I know that I can't give up nor let the church there just die.  How, how, how to go back?  Life isn't so easy nor are finances so abundant.  My wife really feels it's not yet the time.  Pastor Andayan was her uncle and now the church there has fallen away from the word of God...pastor's son, my faithful fellow minister of the gospel before now preaches that there's no Trinity.  It feels like an open wound to me after all the years of work there.  I salute the missionaries that have endlessly labored not just in the Philippines but throughout the world to bring the good news.  These truly are war heroes.  Know what it's like to walk those paths.  There's so much work to be done yet and I want to do right before God, the mission field is where my heart will always lie.  Please feel free to check out the Burnham website:  http://www.graciaburnham.org/index.asp.  Our church here, Eagle Ministries has tirelessly served the Lord in many nations and never once has anyone here had their lives so dear to them that they wouldn't lay down their lives for the Gospel.  I work side by side with heroes ever single day!  What an honor!