www.hismansion.com
His Mansion Ministries, Inc.
From December 2011 Newsletter
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let
us shout joyfully to the Rock of our
salvation. Let us come before His
presence with thanksgiving; Let us
shout joyfully with psalms. For the
Lord is the great God, and the
great King above all gods.
-Psalm 95 1-3
Greetings in His precious name!
Having just passed through the special
season of Thanksgiving, I am aware of
so much to praise God for that it's
hard to know where to start!
Thanksgiving is a crucial factor in any
normal, healthy culture. It is
essential in the healing process that
takes place here in community. However,
I was shocked while in a major shopping
facility to hear the drivel labeled as
"Christmas music" cranking out in full
swing--two full weeks before
Thanksgiving!
I waited and watched as the day
approached and am even more troubled at
the very minimal emphasis given to a
national day of Thanksgiving in the
media. Apart from food promotions, I
saw little in the way of an outpouring
of praise.
That certainly is not the case at His
Mansion! Each day, prior to lunch
break, a large cross-section of staff
and residents of the community gathers
in the chapel to praise God, and share
needs and blessings. So, to some
extent, every day is "thanksgiving
day."
My concern, even for us, is that daily
thanksgiving becomes a "throw in," an
afterthought. God made it very clear
throughout the Old Testament that
Thanksgiving takes preeminence. At the
end of every journey, the people of God
stopped to give thanks. At the
culmination of each battle, armies gave
thanks. At every milestone in the
travels of the people of God, a stack
of stone would mark the place where the
children of God gave thanks.
We tend to be a nation lamenting what
we don't have, yet believe we are
entitled to, and envying what we think
others have. Paul exhorts us in
Philippians 4:8 to focus upon things
that are true, noble, just; things that
are pure and lovely, deserving of a
good report, virtuous or praiseworthy;
meditate on them.
In preparation for "The Feast," the
members of the His Mansion community
spend an evening composing individual
letters of praise and thanksgiving to
God. These are then displayed all about
the dining room and the family meanders
about, "reading each others mail" to
God.
The men and women who are residents in
the program are, for the most, acutely
aware of how much they have to be
thankful for. This is encouraged
because a powerful prescription for
healing is delivered in exchange for a
script of thanksgiving. There are some
things that science and medicine can't
explain and are often blind to.
How are you and I doing with this
"thanksgiving thing?" Have we gotten
caught up in the grumbling,
belly-aching, "woe is me" thinking?
There's so much to be thankful for! For
family, regardless of the stresses and
trials; for food on the table, whether
beans and water or steak and potatoes;
the clothing on your body, designer or
Salvation Army; for life, even given
the warts and creaks!
What a blessing to have loved ones who
will love us and stand with us even
after we have disappointed them. Yes,
reality can be tough, but thank God for
the precious burden-bearers He
provides.
Stop and listen to the breeze and
bird-songs; smell the fragrance of
beaches, pine, flowers, or the unique
aroma of that one you've spent a
lifetime walking with.
Contemplate the inevitable and give
thanks--in advance--for the blessed
hope of a new life and perfect body
which with to serve and please our
King.
His Mansion is much more than a small,
isolated, "rescue" work nestled away in
the woods of New Hampshire! It is easy
to regard His Mansion as a regional
ministry but in fact, we are a national
(international) ministry having
ministered to men and women from every
point on the compass in North America
this year. We are beginning to impact
students at many colleges and
universities through the His Mansion
Institute.
I offer this last minute reminder to
consider making His Mansion a
significant part of your year-end
expression of "Thanksgiving."
I published a list of the missionaries
serving at His Mansion in the last
newsletter. Please remember those
serving here as staff members,
especially those you know. Gifts for
staff support should be made out to
"His Mansion" and have a note attached
suggesting it be used to support a
particular staff member. You will
receive the standard tax-deductible
receipt.
Right near the top of the list of
people I am thankful for, are His
Mansion's faithful prayer warriors and
supporters. Thank God for you! May
God's richest blessing be upon you and
your family throughout this special
season.
Joyful in His service together,
Stan Farmer; Director Emeritus
Debbie
Penner
Bread and Wine
You might think that the bread and wine
from the Lord's supper (communion) was
originated by Christ the night before
He was crucified. Or perhaps you've put
it together with the events of the
Exodus, but it actually started
much earlier.
When Abraham was on his way home
from delivering Lot, he encountered
Melchizedek who was both a priest and a
king. He served Abraham bread and wine,
and blessed him, after which Abraham
gave him "tithes of all." (Gen 14:18-20)
The law of first mention makes this
extremely significant. Melchizedek,
king of Salem, an early name for
Jerusalem, gives Abraham, the first
Hebrew, bread and wine. Later, Jesus
rides into Jerusalem as king, and
offers the entire Hebrew nation his own
flesh as bread, and his own blood as
wine, in a magnificent anti-type of the
Melchizedek event.
Another occurrence of bread and wine is
in the dreams of Joseph's two prison
mates. The cup bearer dreamed of three
branches that miraculously produced
grapes from which he made wine for
Pharaoh, meaning that he would be
pardoned and restored to the king. The
baker had three baskets of bread that
the birds came and ate, meaning that he
would be executed, and his body hung
from a tree. (Gen 40)
Jesus' shed blood purchased our pardon
and restored us to the presence of God,
but in the process, his body hung from
a tree as he was executed, and just as
each dream was to be fulfilled in three
days, Jesus was resurrected
three days later.
The most well known instance of the
bread and wine is in the passover
itself. The Hebrews were to prepare
unleavened bread, and, although there
was no wine, they were to put the lambs
blood on the doorposts. This was later
celebrated each year by the bread and
wine of the passover seeder. Jesus
explained this clearly to his disciples
when he directed us to celebrate
communion at the last supper
before His death.
"And as they were eating, Jesus took
bread, and blessed [it], and brake
[it], and gave [it] to the disciples,
and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks,
and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye
all of it; For this is my blood of the
new testament, which is shed for
many for the remission of sins."
(Matt 26:26-28)
By these words, He made the bread and
wine the most intimate of symbols,
representing His ultimate sacrifice for
our redemption, and also His infinite
love for us.
I discovered a poem by Walter Wangerin
just this morning that expresses the
intimacy that the bread and wine
suggest:
The Poet and His Congregation To
Christ: Our Beloved, and Our Sweet
Communion (John 6:35-59)
Come, touch my lips, my Lord, caress
With flesh the flesh of me; One mortal
morsel and my "Yes!" Shall make me one
with thee. Come, kiss thee into me.
Suffuse my breathing and my soul With
sweetness of the wine; No blood runs
hotter nor more whole, No scent more
sweet, than thine. I burn, thy breath
in mine.
Then hold me, Christ, a hard embrace,
The holy arms round me! Hold, hold me
in your body's grace, Your Church's
unity Is my security.
"The Lord be with you.""And with you"--
What salutations here! But since he
melts into us two, We can, nor do we
fear, Breathe out such spells, my dear.
Oh, all my people, laugh with me! We
have been loved by Christ-- We move,
one nuptial company, His bride by
sacrifice, From here to paradise. Oh,
what a wedding feast will greet The
bride and pride of Christ!
(from This Earthly Pilgrimage: Tales
and Observations On the Way, by Walter
Wangerin Jr., 2003, Zondervan)
Debbie Penner
Not Our Own Eyes
In those days there was no king in
Israel; every man did what was right in
his own eyes. Judges 17:6
The way of a fool is right in his own
eyes, But a wise man is he who listens
to counsel. Proverbs 12:15
I made the statement about a month ago
while I was teaching a group of
elementary students on a Sunday morning
that the gift of the gospel is the best
news man has ever gotten. I went on to
tell them that it is no longer about
what we have done. It is about what
Jesus has done, that He has come and
taken our place. Truly, I believe this
with all of my heart, Jesus is the best
news that we have ever gotten. I love
teaching that message to kids. But
something struck me that afternoon.
Did they understand why that was
the good news?
I have been introduced to philosophy
this past semester. In those classes I
have been forced to wrestle with
foundational questions about humanity.
In order not to bog you down with
everything that has led to me writing
this, I have decided to sum up my
findings by speaking of an observation
C.S. Lewis has made in his essay,
“God in the Dock.” In the essay, he stated
that the common man has lost his sense
of sin. Therefore, when evil happens,
modern man no longer looks to himself
as the cause of evil. Instead, he puts
God on trial. Once again, this makes me
ask the question, why?
Man did not always accuse God, or the
gods. Generally, the Ancients erred
more on the side of the acceptance of
what God, or the gods, decreed. They
had a grasp of their own imperfections,
their own sinfulness. The Greeks had
such a grasp of their sinfulness that
they projected their imperfections to
the gods that they worshiped, yet still
accepted the will of the gods. Perhaps
it is their grasp of sinfulness that
allowed the Greeks to be so receptive
to the message of Christianity in first
century AD.
This is not the state at which man
thinks today. There has been a shift in
man’s thinking. Since around the 15th
and 16th century, man has greatly
increased in his knowledge of the
world. We have gone from the printing
press to the iPhone. Information has
become more accessible than it has ever
been in history. We have had
advancements in our knowledge of the
world we live in because of science.
However, this “progress” has come at a
price. Man has changed from looking at
all that God has done, to focusing on
things man has done. To the modern man,
God is no longer the source of
knowledge, man is. In this shift, man
has lost touch with truth of his
standing in the universe. Man has
become his own god. The true God is
questioned and man proceeds to do what
is right in his own eyes.
Since we have lost the sense of
greatness of our depravity, the story
of God is reduced to a mere Christmas
story. It is watered down to cultural
holidays that we pay homage to twice a
year. God’s story is diluted to trivia
and an occasional feel good message, as
long as it encourages man in his own
way. The reality of our inevitable
condemnation is lost and the modern man
is utterly blind to his situation. He
walks a broad road of destruction
unaware of the gravity of his
situation. The modern man is heavily
influenced by the demons of pride and
materialism. No wonder it is said that
it is easier for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle than a rich
man to enter into heaven.
The truth of man’s situation is this:
he was created good but has been
corrupted by his own pride. This
corruption has made him among the
vilest of creation, deserving only of
hell. He cannot seek good nor can he
know God for God is holy, and man is
far short of that. Man has no hope in
himself, for he falls short of any
ability to save himself. He is doomed
to die and be judged. He cannot stand
in his own place, but can only hope
that God himself will speak on his
behalf, which He has.
Therefore, those who are agents of the
gospel must illuminate man’s state so
that man can recover the greatness of
the good news. It is when a man is made
aware of his sinfulness that he can be
made aware of the need for a savior.
The reality is that the news that Jesus
has entered into history in order to
take our place for our sins is the
greatest news man has ever gotten.
Often, it is not until one realizes
they are in a state of great despair
that they will look outside of
themselves. How then do we elucidate
man’s sin? Those who speak on the
behalf of God must proclaim the whole
council of God. It is not for those who
represent God to overshoot their role
and condemn, or to undershoot and make
others comfortable so that they live
long and prosper. One must graciously
highlight the existence of sin in order
to leverage the good news of Jesus,
that He has taken their place.
Tyler English
Doug Tidwell
Technical Editor
