Sometimes, God provides chainsaws

For many years, our family has supported the mission of Chestnut Mountain Ranch, located in Morgantown, WV.  CMR started in 2004 as Steve and Dawn Finn began making moves and building support to create a debt-free ministry.  Their vision is “Restoring hope to children and families” and they accomplish this by being a Christ-centered safe haven for boys and families in crisis… a place for family restoration, where boys can enjoy school again, and all can experience positive family values.  They provide these troubled boys with a Christ-centered home and school.  They aren’t looking just to get these boys to “learn to behave” or simply make up how far behind they are at school, instead CMR reaches for the hearts of young men and aims to restore broken families through a structured, loving community.  The undergirding promise CMR relies on is found in one of Paul’s letters to the believers in a town called Corinth:

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

My wife and I have been able to support them in a variety of ways over the years: we’re monthly supporters, we’ve put sweat equity into various builds and projects, we’ve participated in fundraising events, and we have often donated when I have received a bonus check.  One time, we were in the market for a “new” used car for my wife, and instead of trading in her old vehicle, we donated it to CMR.  It’s been so awesome to support them in many small ways and in a few big ways…but the story around our most recent donation is probably now my favorite.

On Wednesday, March 12th, I received a bonus check from work.  We immediately talked about how we can help CMR.  We went to their Amazon Wish List to do some shopping.  The biggest item on their list was a chainsaw.  Now, you have to understand, CMR is located on 300 acres in wild, wonderful West Virginia.  A chainsaw is a necessity for their area – they have tons of land to manage and trees to remove as they expand the number of homes onsite to house the boys.  We thought this would be a perfect gift to buy for them…one problem, though.  Every time I went to purchase the chainsaw on Amazon, I received an error message saying “This item cannot be purchased off a wish list.”

So the next day, I sent Steve a text to let him know that the Amazon Wish List wasn’t an option to get him a chainsaw.  Here’s his reply:

I’m not sure why Amazon blocked the sale but if you want to order one that would help us.  We’ve got a mission team here this week and two of our chainsaws went down.  Stihl saws are the best.  It seems like everything else we’ve used over the years doesn’t last.  We use chainsaws a lot here.

The timing couldn’t be better. We were just talking this morning about how our chainsaws were dying out over the last few days with this mission team.

I got the specs of the Stihl chainsaws they needed and started searching the web.  I found a Morgantown Stihl dealer that had two of them on hand.  When I called them and explained the donation situation, they offered to unpack them and get them ready for use at no additional charge. 

The best call came next.  I called Steve and told him that there were two of their exact-request chainsaws waiting for them to pick up.  His first words were, “Are you serious?” and then he told me that previously, rebuild kits had been purchased, tried, and had not fixed the two chainsaws they were using.  In fact, he said, that morning he was talking with the other leaders about needing to replace those two saws.  And then…out of the blue…there are two new chainsaws ready to go.

The thing is, Steve and I hadn’t communicated in over a month.  Sometimes several months pass between texts.  He and I had never talked about this mission trip, what they were working on, or anything about chainsaws.  We were not aware of CMR’s need, and they were unaware of our new capacity to give on that particular week.  But somehow, God orchestrated it all. 

What’s really cool about this story?  This isn’t the only time God has stepped in to provide for an issue that has come up for Chestnut Mountain Ranch.  Steve can tell you dozens of stories just like this one, and many of them on a much, much larger scale.  God has always provided for them, and this time…well…God provided chainsaws.

But this story isn’t just about God providing tools to get some manual labor done.  Looking at this from a larger perspective: Steve and CMR were, once again, reminded that God is actively moving in ways to support them; the mission crew will be able to refer to this incident for the rest of their lives and share with others how they witnessed God’s provision; and we were affirmed that following God’s prompting to give has the potential for great impact.

And for you?  Check out the links above.  Learn more about CMR, take a look at their Amazon Wish List.  Because everything donated to them – whether it’s basketballs, sweat equity, chainsaws, money, or anything else – all goes to the mission of showing these troubled young men that in Jesus, they can find hope and a future.  They will learn that they can become God’s new creation.  Becoming new means they have a second chance.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

My spammed identity crisis

I hate SPAM.  I really do.  And as much as I despise that nasty concoction sealed in tin cans and sold in the grocery store…I’m not talking about that today.  The SPAM that I really hate is the one that shows up in my email inbox. 

Although I use the SPAM-filters on all my personal and work email accounts, there is always some junk emails that get through.  “Buy my stuff”, “Click this link” – makes me just roll my eyes.  Sometimes, the topic of the email is relative to something I’ve searched for or shopped for recently.  I bought some cordless power tools this past summer, and ever since I keep getting emails that I’m the “lucky winner” of a new tool set.  Other times, I can tell that my email address was sold to some list of random ads, clickbait, and phishing scams…often profiled to whatever demographic they believe I fit in: “Your Paypal account is locked”, “Life insurance – cheap quotes”, “Free phone – please respond”, “Find singles in your area” and on and on and on…

Looking at my SPAM file now…if my identity was defined by how these entities view me…here’s who I would be, based on just the SPAM I’ve received today:

The lucky winner of gift cards to both Kohl’s and Delta Airlines, a Milwaulkee Power Drill set, a Yeti backpack, as well as sweet deals for Canvas Prints, Gutter Guards, and a compression knee sleeve. 

Going back a couple more days, the SPAM companies’ picture of my identity includes:

Someone who is in need life insurance, a sloth Christmas t-shirt (twice), a sexy message from “Sofia”, a pizza oven, another power drill set, an American Airlines gift card, dementia information, and a warning that my McAfee account will be removed today!

It would be absurd for me to look at these junk emails and believe that they define what I should buy, where my interests are focused, or who I am as a person.  These strangers and their algorithms use scraps of data about me to construct a common-denominator profile, firing off anything a guy my age(ish) might be interested in.

But how often do we allow others to define our spending habits, our interests, or our value as a person?  It is very easy to allow the opinions of coworkers, fellow students, or celebrities to change our focus.  How much of our inner dialogue is shaped by what we see in commercials or on what the algorithms show us on social media?  How many of our wants, fears, and racing thoughts are driven by others and their view of what our identity should be?

We look for external affirmation because we know our internal thoughts can be biased.  The good news is that we can choose who is (and who isn’t) allowed to speak into our lives about who we are. 

Ever wonder what God says about our identity?

Once we believe in Jesus for eternal life (John 3:16), we automatically become children of God (John 1:12).  Here are a few more characteristics that God declares about His kids:

·       We’re rescued out of our old life and have a new home – one of love:

Colossians 1:13
He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.

·       We find forgiveness:

Colossians 1:14
In Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

·       We have been brought near into God’s family.  God is no longer relationally distant from us:

Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

·       We have a home, a place where we belong:

Philippians 3:20
Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

These verses are a small sampling of what God has to say about our identity.  We can find many more identity descriptions throughout the New Testament books.  I suggest reading the letters I quoted above – Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians – as these books talk a great deal about who we are in God’s family.  They are quick reads that will have great insight into who God says we are.

So don’t allow SPAM emails, social media algorithms, or other imperfect humans to determine your identity.  Instead, look to the one who gave you eternal life and made you a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  If we trust Him with our eternal destiny, then we should be able to trust Him with our identity.

Keep Pressing,
Ken