Post 7, Hoarding

    "But one thing that struck me is that the Lord called to remembrance a chapter in A W Tozer's The Pursuit of God, called "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing."  It's kind of a contradiction to ask God for daily bread or daily anything when I have a house full of all kinds of things.” Dana Acker

 

     “The enemy's trick and lie are that these (material) things promise to fill the hole in man's heart that can only be filled with God's love and salvation—i.e. a living, loving relationship with Jesus Christ.  And as these things do not fill the hole, then man continually needs more and more and more things to fill the hole that only gets bigger the more one tries to fill it up.” Dana Acker.

 

                                   

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Background from John:

 

            When I was first saved, back in about 1977, while I lived in Alexandria, Virginia, I had my first up close and personal experience with hoarding. Unless someone has actually experienced it in person, surrounded by another person’s collection of junk and stuff, it just cannot be believed.  Even watching some of the current reality television shows, it may almost seem surreal.

 

            It started on their outdoor front porch, where the refrigerator was kept, along with who knows what all. Then the elderly couple had a literal pathway through stuff piled up at least three feet high, and higher. The pathway led to a place for each of them to sit with no extra room to spread out and get comfortable, and then on to the kitchen. It had to have been God’s grace that kept that house from burning down.

 

            This older couple went to church several times each week, as they were able. Everywhere she went, the wife carried an old spiral notebook with dozens and dozens of names and prayer needs in it that she continually lifted to the Lord. One of her shoes had the leather jaggedly cut away so a misshapen toe could poke out, and their clothes were far from being designer garments from Neiman Marcus. But God is gracious, and they, and especially she, loved God. And my name was one of the names on her list to keep in prayer. Thinking back on it now, perhaps I am the Christian man I am today because she prayed for me when I was just a youngster in the faith.

 

            Quite honestly, I don’t understand hoarding. My Mother made us make our beds and even clean the house when we were well under 10 years old. I could do hospital corners by kindergarten.  (Just please don’t ask me to dust. Ugh.) There are all kinds of reasons for hoarding, but I’m not a psychologist or psychiatrist so I won’t try to list any here.  In one home I visited, the roaches covered the stove and lived in every corner of it, in spite of the fact that the burners were used as well as the oven. (How did they stand the heat?)  I can make no excuse for it. And I’m pretty certain, that the God who laid out the tabernacle and the temple, with jobs to take care of everything, and having  a place for everything and wanting everything in its place, as well as where to locate the latrine (Deuteronomy 23:12-13 in either the NIV or the NAS), isn’t pleased with hoarding either.

 

            So, a number of years ago, Carol and I were faced with a hoarding situation. I explained the need to Dana and asked for his prayers.

 

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Dana’s Reply

 

Hi John,

 

     I have been praying daily for this situation since you first brought it to my attention several weeks ago.  Since I hadn't heard of any resolution, I just figured it was still an open need, and have been praying for God's help/intervention, and for Carol to have wisdom in how to deal with it.

 

     As to hoarding, I heard a radio program on the subject recently, and also (while I haven't seen it) there is a reality based TV program (contradiction of terms) that deals with it, along with family and friends holding interventions to try to break the cycle.  I am no psychiatrist or psychologist, neither do I play one on the radio, so I can offer no clinical opinions on why people hoard to extreme lengths.  And, in a sense, I am in no place to judge, as I am a bit of a pack rat myself.  However of late I have been trying to divest myself of stuff and have been making some weekend trips to the Goodwill or Salvation Army Stores and the county dump depending on the usefulness of the items of which I'm getting rid of.

 

     Not to sound self righteous, but I guess I thought of the stuff I kept as having some value, sentimental or practical, and not just trash, although one man's trash is often another man's treasure--hence the universal phenomenon of the yard or porch sale.  But one thing that the Lord called to remembrance was a chapter in A W Tozer's "The Pursuit of God," called "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing."  It's a bit presumptuous, I think, to ask God for daily bread or daily anything when I have a house and pantry full of all kinds of things.

https://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-God-W-Tozer/dp/1557427534

 

     As I look at the Scriptures in light of today's economic and social conditions, it dawned on me that the time when much of the Scripture was written, it was at a time when the "world" was in a rough spot--famines, plagues, bondage, oppression, foreign domination, persecution, wandering, homelessness, etc. etc.  Very little Scripture was written when things were just going great for God's people.  And, when things were great, it wasn't long before they got ugly again.  Still God worked in and through His people, and the life circumstances of the day served as a backdrop for what God was doing.  It's not that God was unconcerned with the plight of His people; it's that no matter how bad things were physically, economically, and politically--what have you; God was never hindered in His work.

 

     Where am I going with all this?  As we (as a society) drift farther and farther away from God, and the knowledge of God is as far removed from everyday thinking as last month's want ads in the paper, man finds himself in a position of having to grasp and keep (hoard) the material things of this world for his sense of well being and security.  The enemy's trick and lie are that “these material things” promise to fill the hole in man's heart that can only be filled with God's love and salvation--i.e. a living, loving relationship with Jesus Christ.  And as “these material things” really do not fill the hole, then man continually needs more and more and more of “these material things” to fill a hole that only gets bigger the more one tries to fill it up.

 

     The same is true with any addiction.  No matter what the substance, drugs, alcohol, sex, money, food, TV, gambling, the acquisition and hoarding of material things, you name it; the addict is never satisfied completely.  Oh sure, in the midst of indulging, there may be momentary relief, and a perceived sense of well-being, but it is short lived, and the need is greater once the “high” has worn off. 

 

     Thus the hoarder, I believe (as well as all addicts), is to be pitied.  The hole in their life, soul, and heart gets larger with every material possession they acquire and keep--even if the material possessions are comprised of filth and garbage.  That is the deceitfulness of sin--that it will satisfy the longing of the human heart which can only be satisfied with the presence of the Lord.  It is true that the man (or woman) with nothing but Christ, is the richest of persons. My Mother used to say, “You will never see a Brinks truck following a hearse,” and the same holds true of all “these material things” this life has to offer.  We take nothing with us when we depart our earthly life, but our relationship with Jesus…and that is more than enough. 

 

     So, I will be praying for Carol, and I'll be praying for the hoarders as well. 

 

Love you Brother,

 

Dana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post 6, Great Expectations-But Whose?

Post 6 Great Expectations-But Whose?

                                         

                “ So whether your life has been a success, or lived up to the standard as you and or the world or even those in the church define success, those things cannot be the judge of your life....In the Kingdom of God, all the rules change from those we are used to.”   Dana Acker

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John Wrote in May 2010
Hey Dana
            Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct^[a] your paths
            Mark 12:41-44 (AMP)The Widow’s Mite  ⁴¹ And He sat down opposite the [temple] treasury, and began watching how the people were putting money into the treasury. And many rich people were putting in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a mite. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this poor widow put in [proportionally] more than all the contributors to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed from their surplus, but she, from her poverty, put in all she had, all she had to live on.”
            I have always appreciated your willingness to reinvent yourself through the years, i.e. the different occupational directions you've gone.
            Although I have been a job gypsy, i.e. an administrative contract employee (a temp) going from company to company, I have had a hard time trying to decide what I want to do and who I want to be when I grow up. Perhaps that is why I've come to lean on Pro 3:5 & 6 as God's path for me. Many times I've sent out resumes for what I thought would be perfect full time jobs, never to hear anything.
             I have never been one to have future dreams and or goals. It's like, when He stamped me out He sent me down the wrong assembly line and I failed to have the proper cogs of dreams and goals added to my machinery. :)  I've tried to get there--goals and dreams--but I just never seem to make it. It’s as if I’m defective.
            So I'm attaching a letter and the response that I sent to the head of a national ministry to people in the 10-40 Window.(This is a large geographical area that contains the majority of the world’s Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists: https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window )  The letter concerns our tithing and giving. While Carol and I try to encourage people to tithe and give, have taught Sunday school classes on it, and periodically help people try to get a handle on their finances, I think this is one thing that we have done right. In the letter to Mr. B., this is all explained. And in it, I asked him to pray about something.  (A current note: I can’t reveal the contents of that letter. However, I can say it dealt with the money we gave to build a church in a very needy part of the world, and the literal dangers Christians in that area faced.)
            You remember Martin L. King's I Have a Dream speech.  Dana, I think the only dream I have is to give more to the work of the Lord. This is kind of funny when you consider my inability to get a full time job and only get temp jobs. I need God's help...................Oh please God, I need your help.
            We do encourage people to give and, depending on the circumstances, tell them the percentages that we give. What did Jesus spend much of His time doing: healing the sick, casting out demons and teaching about money. It is amazing how much scripture is devoted to teaching about money.
            I believe two small books on giving serve to spotlight some of the Bible’s teachings on money and giving. Have you read Randy Alcorn’s The Treasure Principle, Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving?  He doesn’t believe the traditional church practice of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is either Biblical or beneficial to the Lord’s work (see pgs 82-86). Or, have you read John M. Templeton Jr.’s book Thrift and Generosity, The Joy of Giving?  He takes the reader back to the giving principle of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Wesley said, “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” According to Templeton, Wesley earned “a small fortune over his lifetime. Nevertheless, he was continually giving to others in ways he felt would build the Kingdom.”  Wesley died owning “just one well-worn coat and two silver spoons.” (see pg 6)
http://store.epm.org/product/the-treasure-principle  and  https://www.templetonpress.org/content/thrift-and-generosity
             Dana I do have a dream. I have a heart's cry. It's in the ministry leader’s letter. It is an impossible dream. There is no way in the world it can happen without a supernatural intervention by the Creator of the universe Himself, unless He were to choose to extend His grace and mercy to us.
            I recently looked at some pictures in a National Geographic Magazine devoted to the water crisis around the world. One picture showed women in some sub-Saharan African country swarming around a water tank. The government water truck had delivered the week's ration of water that morning and it was now almost empty. They were desperate to get every available drop. Another photo, taken from a helicopter showed a vast expanse of desert and 6 or 8 or 10 emaciated women walking across the dry, dusty ground. On their backs were yellow plastic water-container-backpacks that would hold maybe a couple or 3 gallons of water. They were taking their daily hike over the desert to get water to survive.
            Dana, Carol and I, especially myself, have many faults and self created problems, but my/our hearts ache to give to the needs of the severely needy in the world. We can't give to everyone or everything. We have given to have three water wells dug already, but if God chooses to be merciful and gracious, I'd like to provide for my wife, and then give at least a million dollars before I/we go Home. Impossible.  An impossible dream.  A truly impossible dream.
             If you feel you can, would you pray that God would help us reach that impossible dream in whatever time we have left here on earth? And yes, I still need a job, I'm praying for a good job with good benefits, another seemingly impossible dream for someone like myself.
             But even if you just toss up a quick one, God knows my heart and He'll hear it and, perhaps if it's in His will for me/us, answer.
Thanks
Your friend and distant sidekick
John
           PS Oh, and as part of any prayer about the above, would you pray that God will help us get our house in order in case He decides to be gracious?


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Dana’s Reply

Hey John,

   Of course I'll pray as you ask--I do for you and Carol daily anyway, but I'll purpose to make my prayers more specific.
   On the part about being made defective, I must take issue.  I remember a post card I saw somewhere that said, "GOD DON'T MAKE NO JUNK."  And on that point I must concur.
   Just because you might not attain to your and society's aspirations of what a modern day man should be, doesn't mean that you were made wrong or that you haven't held up your end whether or not specific “goals and dreams” were "added to [your] my machinery." 
   John, as I have known you, I would have to say that you, truly, are not of this world.  It is a hard thing to escape the will of God.  Even when we stray, or sin or just don't do all that we think we should, doesn't mean that we’re out of God's will, or that we have not fulfilled His will, or missed it or or or or or....   Even when we sin we are still in God's will, perhaps not His perfect will at that moment, but as He could easily just fling a lightning bolt at us in such times, or open up the ground and swallow us whole (one of my more favorite Old Testament Biblical judgments, see Num 16:32), as He gives us time to repent, or even gently coaxes us by the Holy Spirit's conviction in that direction, or even allows circumstances to act as the proverbial trip to the woodshed in order to bring us around--we're still in His will, and will always be. 
     Ponder what David said for a moment:  
     “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139: 7-10 (ESV) 
     I do realize that what I’m writing, to some, might sound like blasphemy when I say that when we sin we’re in God’s will.  What I am NOT saying is that it is God’s will for us, or anybody for that fact, to sin.  Absolutely not!  Read the story in Genesis of Joseph and his brothers lately?  I contend that God’s will was in place when his brothers threw him in the pit and sold him into slavery—in fact it was God’s working through those actions that actually saved and preserved the Children of Israel. Just because it was God’s will for such events to take place, doesn’t in any way absolve the guilty party(s) of their wrong doing.  
    Going on, when God sent Moses to Pharaoh, and he refused to let the Children of Israel go, the Bible relates how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. (Check out Romans 9). He (Pharaoh) was clearly in sin from day one, and continued so until his army was swallowed up by the sea.  But even though he acted sinfully, can we say that God’s will was thwarted? No, Pharaoh was acting according to the will of God. The Children of Israel left Egypt despite Pharaoh’s evil ways and designs. I have to ask, was God’s will in place over that entire Biblical episode, even Pharaoh’s actions? My point is that God’s will and purposes and plans WILL be accomplished, despite the actions of sinful men and women, ourselves included.    
      If we hit rock bottom in life on account of our sinful actions (as many of us have) and those actions brought conviction, and caused us to look to Jesus for salvation, can we honestly say that those sinful actions were not used (again, not caused, but used) by God in His will to lead us to Christ?  Therefore they had to be included in His overarching, omniscient, and omnipotent will.  He didn’t will us to sin, but used those circumstances to affect His perfect will in our lives, i.e., salvation.  
     The ultimate example is Judas Iscariot.  Was it God’s will for him to betray Jesus? Judas’ betrayal was prophesied, in that Jesus spoke of it before it came to pass. (See Matthew 26:20-25). It had to happen the way it did. God knew it, and allowed it to happen, and used it as one of the means of enacting Jesus’ sacrificial death.  Was God’s will rendered ineffectual by the men who mocked, tortured and murdered our Lord?  No, I argue that while God did not cause those sinful actions, in that He didn’t violate Judas’ or the responsible Pharisees,’ or Pilate’s, or the Roman soldiers’ human wills or freedoms by “forcing” them do those terrible things, He nevertheless allowed them to occur, and used them to effect salvation for us hopeless sinners. All those actions were prophesied, and were part of His plan of redemption. They served to accomplish His plan. They were in His will.
     Now if anyone can take what I’ve written, and somehow say that “Hey, I think I’ll go out and sin, because Dana said we’re still in the will of God when we sin…” well, I’d have to wonder if such a one is even really a Christian?  A true Christian will want to be as far from sin as the east is from the west.  But face the facts, even though we are on the path of sanctification and endeavoring to live a Christian life by all the graces so generously afforded to us, we still sin and we will sin (hopefully less than more) until Jesus returns or He calls us home.  Does that remove us from God’s will?  Doesn’t God know us, and our individual futures? Isn’t the grace of God big enough to keep us in His will? He chastises us back in line when we sin because we are His sons (Hebrews 12:6).  He doesn’t remand us to the ash heap.  He will complete His work in us (Philippians 1:6).  His will is bigger than our sin.
     Now, getting back to point of the letter, like it or not, your “defects” and “dreams,” or lack thereof ARE in His will as well. And again, I would argue that whether or not we are acting according to His perfect will for our lives, we are still in His will, and cannot escape His will; if we are out of His will then we are, in effect, out from under His control, and theologically, that could never be.
   So whether your life has been a success or has lived up to the standard as you and/or the world or even those in the church define success, those things cannot be the judges of your life as to whether or not you've done what you were supposed to do, or whether or not you are defective or flawless.
   Remember that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9,”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  (ESV)
   Who's to say that someone who sat in on one of those talks you gave about giving/tithing, might not have been inspired (or convicted) to give to a specific need somewhere, some time, that made the difference between life and death?  Or that meant the difference between Heaven and hell in someone's life?  Or that meant the difference between a ministry staying operational or shutting out the lights and closing the door?   Who's to say, John?  We may never know until we get to Heaven. God never guaranteed that we’ll see the fruits of our labors for Him in this lifetime.  Some people might be in for some real surprises when our actions are judged on that day.  Like Brother Grazier used to always say, “Remember who keeps the books!”
   You have always been a man of prayer--and don't I know that!  There were some nights back in Bible College when I prayed for God to shorten your prayer list just so I could get an hour's sleep before class the next day.  Just kidding, but my point is that you have always been good for a prayer if you were good for nothing else.  Who's to say that just one of those prayers might have made the same differences listed above?  Who's to say some missionary somewhere might have ended up sick or dead, or hindered, had it not been for your faithfulness to pray for them? 
   John, you are who you are, and for the most part, most folks like you just fine, and some of us love you and count it as a blessing to have known you, and have you for a brother in Christ.  Take it easy on yourself, my Brother.  The things you see as failures or missed opportunities or defects might actually be your real strengths.  In the Kingdom of God all the rules change from those we're used to. If you had gotten all you'd ever hoped for, or thought you should attain job-wise or career-wise or even ministry-wise, some of the more important things that may have happened, that we may never know about in this life, wouldn't have happened at all. Need I remind you of the words of Jesus….

   ”Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:34-40 (ESV)

   To illustrate further, while you're not going to believe this, I remember one cold night when we drove down to Washington DC to stay with some friends of yours and see the sights, that we stopped at a rest stop somewhere in the wilds of West VA or VA.  I entered the restroom first, and there was a guy standing at the center urinal who was quite demonstrably peeing louder than a race horse with a full bladder.  I went to the urinal next to him on his right, and then you came in.  You were wearing fairly loud, red and yellow wool, scotch-plaid trousers.  You took your place at the urinal on his immediate left and loudly declared, "Boy, I'm sure glad I've accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior!"

   As if someone shut off a faucet, his quite audible and forceful stream instantly stopped!  He cleared his throat a couple of times, and sighed loudly, but there was no mistake about it that he wasn't going to get it started again.  He departed the restroom post haste.  Now that guy probably cussed you like the family mule every miserable mile along his most uncomfortable ride to the next rest stop, but what if we meet him in Heaven, John?  Who knows how many zillion seeds like that you might have planted?  And who knows how much harvest our Lord has taken into His storehouse as a result?
  You are who the Lord has made, whether you or anyone else approves of it or not, or, whether anyone else likes what you've done with your time or not--even you!  Just because you might feel you buried your talent in the ground doesn't necessarily make it so.  I've never seen you as a failure, or a reject, or even as someone who never reached their true potential--because I never saw you through this world's lenses.
   I'm proud to be your friend and brother because of who you are, John, not who you or I thought you ought to be.  And, answer me this, are you going to feel like you were "sent down the wrong line" if you run into "Ruby" in Heaven?  You reckon anyone else on the planet even cared enough to even pray for her?  That was no gooseflesh tickling newbie Bible school feel-good experience.  Ruby was in your heart, and you were genuinely burdened for her.  I saw you weep over her, and I heard you include her in your prayers more times than I can count.  And that's a whole heck of a lot more about what it's really all about, than whether or not you've had a steady job or a career in writing or or or or.

   Your heart is what counts, John, because your heart is God's heart--a heart that cares about and wrestles in prayer over the souls of the Ruby’s of the world. I know that, I've witnessed that, and no amount of argument will ever convince me otherwise!  You've no right to judge yourself, Brother, so stop it!  You are who you were meant to be, and don't knock it just because it's not according to your design. Get comfortable with yourself as you are--you're a pretty good guy to know, or...share a foxhole with even.

     There endeth the lesson.

     I'll be praying about that million dollars.

     Love you, Bro.,

     Dana