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HeartCry 1
The time for urgent prayer is upon us. In fact it has been here for some time but too many have ignored it. We need to be crying out to God from the depths of our hearts over our nation’s present and future direction. If you know your Bible, you can tell without any question that Babylon is at our gates.
Our website, www.chucktooman.com, urging people to pray that others may embrace Jesus as Christ and lift his name high, has been attacked; the picture of the praying family is missing. This is only a beginning.
Pray with all your heart for all America, including congress, the Church, the President and everyone else to embrace Jesus as Christ and lift his name high. Pray for God’s values to be treasured and His will to be done at every level of our society.
And please register for a territory that you are willing to adopt and pray over. Thank you
Blessings to you.
Chuck Tooman
Prayer Mobilizer for Project HeartCry
www.chucktooman.com (click Food for the Journey)
Only One Thing
Note: I have been reading The Naked Now by Richard Rohr. It begins with that moment Adam and Eve stood naked before God, and then leads into how we also have those moments. A powerful book. I encourage you to get a copy. I keyed off the example of Mary and Martha as part of a pre-prayer meditation at Water’s Edge Church in Marquette, Michigan, on Sunday, November 13, 2011.
I want to talk with you about one thing—the one thing that determines your life and relationships, and everything else about you. The name of that one thing is “presence”. I want to talk with you about being present in the moment…because where you are in this moment determines where you are in the next moment, and the moment after that.
Let me share with you a short story from Luke 10. A story about Jesus and his friends showing up at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus—a place that Jesus evidently frequented quite often.
Read Luke 10:38ff
Martha was a good person, who did everything just right. Perfect cook, perfect hostess, perfect entertainer, perfect house keeper—rushing here and there to make sure that everything was just right. Always taking care of this and that.
Martha a was good, and she was right, but there was on thing she was not—she was not present. Not present to herself, not present to her own feelings of resentment (she wanted Jesus to deal with them rather than dealing with them herself—sound familiar in any way?). With her attitude she could not even be present to her guests, at least not in any healing way. Spiritually speaking, she could not even be present to God.
How you do presence is how you do everything else. And Jesus challenged her because how you do your ordinary daily level of life and presence is also how you do divine presence. In other words, how you treat people is also how you treat God.
For Martha, all her “do this and do that” activity was the “one thing that was necessary”. And yet Jesus says the only thing that is necessary is how you do the moment. And that is what Jesus was affirming in Mary–how she was doing the moment. What Mary was doing in the moment was being present to Jesus, and if you are present to Jesus you are automatically present to your self. And when you are present to Jesus and yourself, you are also present to others and you live your life in a totally different way. All of life is a conversation with God and when we are not present in the moment we miss out on the conversation.
So, how do you change from being a Martha to being a Mary? Well, you don’t get there by trying harder. There aren’t even any techniques. Being present is a gift—a gift that comes through prayer. Let me give you a definition of prayer: Prayer is relationship. An intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is a process. It is a journey, but also a journey that can begin this instant.
The journey begins with a desire in your heart to have a more intimate relationship with Jesus. It begins with the “stuff”, the dialogue, and the feelings that go back and forth between you and the Holy Spirit. It means letting go. It means opening yourself to love, and even suffering, at times.
When I was a teenager I believed that God had called me to the ministry, but for 25 years I ran away from that calling. Finally, one night in my 39th year, life was falling apart—after years of things working out “almost” but never totally. I did not know what else to do, so I just surrendered. One night about midnight I said, ” O.K. I’m tired of running. You know where I am, you know what I can do, I am listening.” And in those moments I knew that I was headed for the ministry. I did not now how, when or where. But I did not need to know those things. He calls, He provides, and He pays the bill.
In those moments I was present to Him in a way I had never been present before. I had lived a Martha life, but I was to learn that a Martha life only goes so far and then you crash. And when you crash you make a decision: either you are going to become a Mary, or you are going to pick yourself up one more time and do Martha all over again. Unfortunately, I had to experience that a few more times before it “started to stick”.
Every day, in my work, I spend time with dying people. Dying people begin evaluating their lives, going through what we call End of Life review; and one of the things I frequently hear is, “There are some things in my life that I could have done better”. End of life reviews almost always has to do with relationships, mostly forgiveness and reconciliation. So the part I help them with is to sort all that out in order that they may die more peacefully. But you know what? I have never had a Mary say, “There are some things in my life that I could have done better”—and if there are they have taken care of them long ago. What I am more likely to hear is “Thank you, Jesus for a wonderful journey”. Jesus told Martha, “Only one thing is needed, and that one thing is being present to Him in the moment. Giving me your all in the moment.”
Our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. In here. Not out there. Talk with the Spirit. Talk about this moment. Every moment. Ask, “What are we doing in this moment? How shall we handle this moment?” People will think you are talking with yourself, but that is O.K. Talk anyway.
Being present means letting go of your stuff and the world’s stuff; letting go means loving on those God puts before you on a daily basis. Sometimes that can be tough; even lead to some suffering. But love and suffering also draw you into the Presence, into the moment. And those moments determine your future moments. And those moments are called relationship moments and relationships moments are called prayer.
So in the days to come I urge you to practice being present in the moment, being present to Jesus. And if you are present in the moment, present to Jesus, you will automatically be present to others. And if you have lived life that way, you will not, at the end, have to say, “There are some things I could have done better.” So I encourage you, live in the moment, live in the Presence.
You may also view this meditation on www.chucktooman.com. Click Food for the Journey on the menu. Blessings to you.
Chuck Tooman
Prayer Mobilizer for Project Heart Cry
Written from a Christian Perspective
Occasionally I meet a person who is reluctant to consider hospice care, even though it is obvious that such care would tremendously benefit both patient and care-giver(s). Rationale: If I encourage hospice care, then I am giving up on a loved one’s being healed.
Some thoughts. (1) Hospice care is not about ending life, it is about extending and enhancing the quality of life for everyone involved in a new and sometimes ever-changing circumstance. It is the kind of care necessitated when a person’s physical body has deteriorated to the point that quality of life and wholesomeness of spirit will continue to decline, ultimately resulting in complete separation of body from spirit and soul. The first returns to everlasting elements, the second departs to everlasting life. Hospice care is most usually considered at the stage when unlimited prayers have been offered by loved ones and prayer groups, yet the immediate and long term indications are that earthly time seems to be in a consistently diminishing supply.
(2) Granted, we should never cease praying. In times of illness and infirmity it is thoroughly appropriate, even expected, that we pray for healing and for life. But there is a point where we must pray remembering, as one person has said, “the deeds are ours, the results are God’s”. It is He who decides whether the sick and infirmed are healed in earthly life or receive the perfect healing experienced in eternal life. The decision is His, not ours.
(3)The Christian faith is a community journey and a covenant journey. So is hospice. As the faithful journeyed with and attended to Jesus on his return to the Father, so hospice servants journey with and attend to the dying in their return to the Father. As the faithful stood watch and said good-bye as Jesus ascended into heaven, so hospice people stand watch and bid farewell as the dying take their last breath in earthly life and their next breath in eternal life.
(4) There comes a time in every life, especially in cases of life-shortening illness and debilitating infirmity, when it is right to look beyond the horizon and to walk in trust. There is no benefit in lingering at the cross; what needed to be accomplished there has already been done. Jesus isn’t there; he has journeyed from the cross to the crown and it is time to anticipate the mansion of many rooms and the exciting promise of I Corinthians 2:9: Our eye has not see, our ear has not heard, it has not even entered our imagination the good things God has prepared for those who love Him—such as the many wonderful and truly heavenly surprises awaiting us in the Father’s house.
(5) Hospice care is a journey into Christ-likeness for both patient and care-giver(s). As we journey closer and closer to the time when we enter the Father’s house, we also hopefully begin to take on Christ-like characteristics: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In short, a gentle and loving surrender to the person and spirit of Christ can begin to take hold in the lives of those involved until we ultimately reach a point where we can say, as Jesus said in Gethsemane, “Father, not my will but Yours be done.” And, as he said on the cross, “Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit.”
In summary, it is rare that anyone, either patient or care-giver(s) emerge from the hospice experience as an unchanged person. Hospice care is not giving up on life; it is a journey resulting in changed lives and a preparation for transitioning into an even greater life. For everyone.
Chuck Tooman
 America Living Loved
Note: Please share this with every person you know. It is important that all America reads it. Thank you. Chuck Tooman
Praying for the Healing and the Future of America
Out of love, Jesus Christ paid a full and complete price for the full and complete “Promise” that is America. No other person, cause, movement or ideologue has set forth such an investment in a land so rich and a people so full of promise. Whether that promise is ever realized depends on the Church, the called-out Body of Christ, and whether it is as willing to embrace Christ as Christ is to embrace America.
When I say “Church” I refer not to buildings, denominations, doctrines or theologies but those who gather in groups of two or three or more in intimate relationship with Christ and who are led by his Holy Spirit—the One who teaches us all things, reminds us of all Christ has said, and empowers us to move toward the promise.
How the Spirit Leads
How does the Spirit lead in the quest to fulfill America’s promise? Through prayer, scripture, fasting and intimate relationship with Christ and each other.
But before America can inherit its promise it must first experience some healing, and the healing of a nation begins with the healing of its people. Jesus Christ paid the price for that healing (Isaiah 55:5,6). His body was crushed with the weight of all sin for all time. He was beaten and scourged that we might be healed of all diseases for all time, and He was crucified on a cross that the sins of all time might be forgiven for all time.
The price for the healing of America has already been paid. Christ defeated death, his resurrection from the grave frees us from that which would entomb and enslave us, and thereby opens the door to a glorious future full of His favor. A future that eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into our hearts to even imagine what is in store for those who love Him.
Jesus Christ carries in his heart and his hand the healing and the future of America, and God the Father has given Him authority over all things. As such, Jesus has the power to raise up nations and to bring down nations, to call to accountability those who stray and to redeem disobedient nations.
How, then, shall we prepare our hearts to pray for the healing of our nation and the fulfilling of the promise?
To the Church and to the people of the nations, including America, Jesus says through His Holy Spirit…
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength… and love your neighbor as yourself.”
“I am the lord your God, You shall have no gods other than me.”
“Seek My Kingdom first and then everything else will fall into place.”
“Turn from your past. Allow Me to create in you a clean heart, then you shall be whiter than snow. A repentant heart I will in no way cast out.”
“Forgive others as I have forgiven you. It is always your turn to forgive first. When you forgive both others and yourself for the things of the past, then I can work in both of you for the promise of the future.”
“If I be lifted up I will draw all people to me, and when people are drawn to me they change and become like me.”
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land”. II Chronicles 7:14
When lifting up present and future leaders in prayer
Do not condemn them, judge them, or speak ill of them in any way.
“I urge… that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior.” I Timothy 2:2ff.
“Do not blaspheme anyone who rules over you” Exodus 22:28
“… even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, ‘I rebuke you.’” Jude 9
“He determines the course of world events;”
“He removes kings and sets others on the throne.” Daniel 2:21
“For the Lord’s sake, accept all authority—the king as head of state, 14and the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish all who do wrong and to honor those who do right.” I Peter 2:13,14
“May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us. Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him.” Psalm 67:5-7
“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven.” Matt 6:9,10
And there is the crux of it all: praying that God be honored and glorified in all things, including the coming Presidential election. Pray not for causes and personalities but that God will be honored in the process and in the outcome… just as it is in heaven.
This, from the God who loves us. Not just with a love, but The Perfect Love.
Chuck Tooman
Living Loved
 Offering Our Best
Posted June 12, 2008
Living Loved means offering a redemptive answer when temptation, custom or the crowd would call us to do otherwise.
A recent radio broadcast claimed pornography to be the new battle ground, and expressed alarm over the possibility that this war will be even more intense than the abortion issue because of the intensity with which lust has saturated our society. Urgent voices pleaded for creative, dedicated minds to respond now.
My heart’s immediate and painful response was, “No! No! No! That’s the wrong focus! Jesus says, ‘If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me.’ Jesus is the focus, not pornography! We have pornography because we have quit lifting up Jesus!!”
I shake my head and wonder. When are we going to get it?! When are we going to learn?! Satan has to be dancing to his heart’s delight because the more we battle issues—no matter what they are—the less we focus on Jesus. We thoughtlessly rush into what we can do instead of trusting God for what He can do.
Just look prayerfully, tenderly and appreciatively at His promises:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” – John 3:16,17
You gave him [Jesus] authority over all things. Now when it says ‘all things,’ it means nothing is left out. – Hebrews 2:8
And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole… so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life. – John 3:14,15
Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. – Phil. 2:5
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. – James 3:17
Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save everyone who comes to God through him. He lives forever to plead with God on their behalf. – Hebrews 7:25.
For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. – I John 5:4,5
And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for. – I John 5:14,15
These are promises! Promises!! God’s Word does not go out and come back empty. Not now, not ever. In the same way He looked for a watchman on the wall (Ezekiel), He is looking today for people to appropriate (act on) His Word, and the way we do that is to lift up Jesus, the Son.
When we battle pornography, abortion, gambling, war, the environment, immigration or any other issue here on earth Satan has a heyday because we are battling on his turf and he’ll welcome those approaches any day. Why? Because he’ll use up and destroy resources that could be used for spreading the gospel, and he’ll gleefully use up and destroy people because people are what make up the Kingdom.
We must fight the battles in the heavenly realm, and we do that by lifting up Jesus Christ. As we lift up Jesus Christ and pray for people to be more Christ-like, a strange thing happens: they become more Christ-like. As we lift people up for healing through Christ, another strange thing happens: they become healed. Prayer lifting up Christ has changed the tides of battles, the outcomes of wars and the directions of nations, and that should not surprise us because scripture tells us that the king’s heart (and everything else) is in the hand of the Lord.
What is the key? Jesus Christ through the power and work of the Holy Spirit.
When we lift up Christ in our personal lives, regardless of how hopeless or filled with turmoil we may be, things change. We begin to see hope and we begin to experience peace. The same is possible, and promised, in our social and communal lives.
When we battle pornography or any other evil at the earthly level, the level of what we can do, we make a statement about what we are willing to settle for—we are willing to encourage Satan to a long and protracted war on his level because he never runs out of trickery and deceit. But when we immediately determine that we are lifting up Christ over the situation, we are in that moment tapping into all of heaven’s resources and at the same time declaring victory because total victory is assured.
“If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me.” And when Christ draws people to him then Satan runs out of resources because people are his only resource.
Need a starting point for lifting up Christ in any situation? Try this:
“Jesus, may Your name be made holy in this situation. May Your Kingdom values reign in this situation and Your will be done in this situation—just as in heaven. May everything I do and say glorify Your Name, and may this whole situation be resolved in a way that totally honors You and brings glory to Your Name.”
That is a prayer that is always answered. Pray the prayer, lift Him up, then let Him lead. The issues, whatever they are, will ultimately be resolved in a way that does bring Him honor.
Lifting up Christ begins with me, because it is the attitude of the one doing the loving that makes the difference. If Jesus lives forever to plead with God (intercede) on my behalf, then I must do my part on His behalf. Lift Him up.
Pornography, and its many brothers and sisters and cousins, is not the problem; sin is the problem. Jesus is the redemptive answer. And Living loved requires lifting up a redemptive answer. In all things.
That’s our best. For eternity. We can offer no better. Never should we offer any less.
Chuck Tooman
Living Loved
 A New Way of Looking at Life—Lessons I Have Learned from the Dying
Hi. I am 70 years old and I’d like to talk with you today about a new way of looking at life. Actually, it may not be new to some of you at all, but perhaps some of what I’m going to share will spark some refreshment in thoughts and attitudes as you walk from this day into the future.
What I’d like to share arises partly from my role as a hospice chaplain. Every morning, when I plan my day, I know that I am going to spend at least a part of the day in the presence of people who are dying. Sometimes people ask, “How can you do that? That has to be the most depressing job in the world.” My response is always, “Quite the contrary. It is one of the richest, most meaningful experiences I’ve ever had the privilege of sharing. The only way I could feel closer to heaven is if I were there myself.” But then I also assure them that I have little interest in pushing the time line.
As a hospice chaplain, I have to come to terms with the question, “What is dying?” And the answer is that there is a point at which we transition from this life to the next life, and the only way that transition happens is through dying. I sometimes say, “There will be a moment when you take your last breath here and your next breath will be in eternity.”
Hospice is not about dying; it is about being a companion to people whose bodies are diseased and helping them to live for all they are worth while experiencing the dying process. Hospice ministry is about life, about providing the highest quality of life possible in your soul and your spirit, while your body is shutting down in order to facilitate the transitioning process.
And that is often where the richness begins to come in. You see, dying people (whether they desire to talk about it or not) enter into to something called “End of Life Review”. In order for someone to qualify for hospice care, their doctor must signify that according to his or her best professional judgment, this person is within six months of dying. At that point a team of hospice personnel�usually composed of a registered nurse, a social worker, possibly a chaplain, possibly a Home Health Aid and a volunteer, become a part of that person’s life for the sole purpose of enhancing life. Six months is not always the reality. Sometimes they die within an hour or two; others may live as long as two or three years.
Once a person consciously or subconsciously begins EOL Review, some beautiful things can begin to happen. For instance, as we prepare to plan their end of life celebration (sometimes called “funeral”) I ask, “One of these days some folks are going to get together to celebrate your life. What are some things you’d like us to celebrate?” And from there the journey begins.
Sometimes they will say, “There is nothing in my life worth celebrating.” And I will say, “You know what? I really don’t believe that.” And then I ask a question such as “Tell me what you enjoyed doing as a kid.” Or, “Tell me about the town where you grew up.” Or, “What were winters like when you were a child?” And slowly but surely, as they begin to talk a light begins to gleam, a smile begins to crease their lips, tears will sometimes moisten their eyes. And over a period of weeks or months, as we talk about places they have been and things they have done they begin to acknowledge that they have not lived a throw-away life after all. There really are things to be celebrated, and they die with a sense of peace and joy and contentment that other wise would not have been possible. In that whole process they have begun to see life, and themselves, in a whole new way.
So! I have learned from the dying to always be aware of the things I have to celebrate.
Secondly, End of Life Review frequently involves the pain of broken relationships. In the process of living, things happen. Motives and intentions are sometimes misunderstood, egos feel they need to be defended, deeds are done, words are spoken, hearts become hardened and people frequently go their separate ways. Sometimes for decades.
One of the greatest joys I have in hospice ministry, and this is true for the whole team, is the joy of reconciliations. During EOLR, people begin differentiating majors and minors. When it comes to relationships, they begin asking, “What’s worth holding onto? What am I carrying that around for, anyway? Maybe it is time to let go of that incident, that hurt, that loss.” And one way or another they begin to ask abut that son or daughter or sister or brother or parent who has been absent from the scene for so long.
They wonder, “What’s it going to take to bring that friend or loved one back? What’s it going to take to die in peace?” And the answer is always the same: just a little forgiveness. And what we point out about forgiveness is that it doesn’t matter who said or did what; it is always your turn first. Forgiveness is simply letting go of the other person’s neck and until you do that you simply cannot move on�something that is true through out life, not just for the dying.
Letting go of the other person’s neck opens the door to a whole lot more, and my heart sheds tears of rejoicing when I see a son or daughter or other loved one walking through the door and reconciliation taking place�sometimes at the eleventh hour and the fifty-ninth minute.
So another thing the dying have taught me about living is that life has no greater pain than broken relationships, and no greater joy than restored relationships.
Thirdly, the dying have taught me the richness of life and the joy and love that can be mine, can be a part of my journey when I allow myself to join them on their journey and to enter into their story.
It is so sad that so much of the energy of our individual journeys is spent on isolating and protecting ourselves, guarding our feelings and emotions against the hurt that sometimes revolves around relationships. It is as though we put a “cap” (like a “salary cap”) on our loving and our hearts and we say, “I will go this far and no further.”
I can recall a time in my own life when I determined that no one was ever going to hurt me again, and I set out to live a life of protecting myself from other people. But after a while I began to realize that I did not like the person I was becoming and slowly but surely I began to reopen myself to the full range and realities of loving and being loved. I now have accepted the fact that loving has both hurts and celebrations, but most of all I have learned that always the hurts are far outnumbered by the celebrations if only we are willing to acknowledge them.
When I sit by the bed of the dying, holding their hand and entering into their story and accompanying them on their journey, I have learned that when you ask God to forgive both yourself and the other person, you not only set aside the past, you also open the door to the future. And by entering into their story I have learned that loving has a way of looking beyond what has been to what can be.
So many times we look at life and we look at people and we settle for the past, or what we think we see. Love looks beyond all that to what God sees. The dying have taught me to look for what God sees; life is too short and too precious to see anything else.
In summary, a new way of looking at life, learned from the dying, includes (1) never, ever minimize the things you have to celebrate, (2) the greatest richness in life is the richness of relationships, and (3) the richness of my journey and my story is in direct proportion to my willingness to enter into their journey and their story.
It has been said that God sends us the people He does because there is something that needs to be worked out within us. That is certainly true of me, and it took the dying to do it.
The question with which I close is, “What needs to be worked out within you, and whom has God sent to help you begin the process?”
Chuck Tooman
Living Loved
Brokenness and Living Loved—at 70
I’ve just been blessed with birthday number 70. What a gift! What a milestone! What a blessing!
And what a day! A loving, reaffirming day. In addition to the many gifts and blessings of family and friends, I awakened early birthday morning to the Holy Spirit placing upon my heart the first of a series of loving thoughts about brokenness. The first thought was, “Broken experiences arise out of broken people“.
As I lay there reflecting on the significance of this message at this point in my life, my mind started journeying back through a series of encounters where I had been the person whose words or actions initiated brokenness. Indeed it was true: although I did not realize it at the time, I had indeed been a broken person. Broken experiences do arise from broken people. In the message Father was not judging and I did not feel guilty or condemned. I had long ago sought forgiveness and reconciliation where possible. Birthday morning I just felt loved, forgiven, treasured.
Next I gave thought to painful words and hurting experiences initiated by others. The message rang true: broken people do and say broken things. I experienced no resentment, only compassion and a yearning for them also to feel loved, forgiven and treasured.
About an hour later, as I sat down to write in my prayer journal, three verses of scripture (verses that I had memorized sometime earlier) were foremost on my mind—so much so that I had to write them down:
For God so loved the world that he gave his own Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father has told me. John 15:15
You are a chosen people…a Kingdom of priests, God’s Holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his glorious light. I Peter 2:9
Frequently through out the day I found myself reflecting on the relationship between broken experiences and broken people. Yet, I felt at peace and even though I did not understand the significance of the message at the moment, I knew that would come in Father’s timing. And it did—the next day. The second message was, “I forgive broken people and I heal brokenness.” To that I could only humbly, thankfully, graciously reply, “Thank you, Jesus“.
The third day another message: Romans 8:28 and Nehemiah 8:10. Respectively, those words are, “…and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to his purpose for them,” and “…the joy of the Lord is your strength.“
Today, five days later, here is what I perceive Father’s intent to be:
First, he has shared this teaching on brokenness because he loves me and because I am his friend. Father wants his friends to understand that they are not alone in their brokenness, nor are they destined to brokenness. The purpose of his Son on that cross was to redeem us of brokenness and to set us free from brokenness both now and forever.
Secondly, Father does cause everything to work together for the good of those who are lovingly dedicated to him. As I look back at my life’s periods of pain and seasons of brokenness, whether the result of my own self-centeredness or the agendas of others, I can definitely identify that in every season Father brought healing to both people and situations. I also know that in every circumstance there was good far beyond what I or anyone else could see. I know that by faith because his word promises that.
Father also causes everything to work together for good for those who seek to live out his purpose for them, and his purpose for me and everyone else who loves him is to proclaim the excellencies of the One who has delivered us out of spiritual darkness into glorious light and life and understanding.
Also on this day Father provided an answer to what had been a troubling issue. I serve part time as a hospice chaplain, walking side-by-side with people who are making the transition from this life to the next life. I also minister healing to people and have seen the Holy Spirit do miraculous works. My struggle sometimes has been whether I should be ministering healing to the dying rather than helping them to have a glorious moving on to that deeper relationship with Father.
This morning, an answer right out of scripture. Philippians 1:20 reads in part: “Now also shall Christ be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” It is a ministry I can offer to both the sick and the dying, fully trusting the Holy Spirit to know and to work according to Father’s will.
Finally, this word of affirmation from day three: “…The joy of the Lord is your strength.” In Nehemiah 8, just as Ezra the priest completed reading the scripture to the people who had completed the rebuilding of the wall surrounding Jerusalem as well as those who had returned from captivity in Babylon, Governor Nehemiah declared a feast: Go and celebrate with a feast of choice foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before the Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength… So the people went away to eat and to drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them.
In Esther 9:22 Mordecai the king’s official tells the people “to celebrate with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts to each other and to the poor… as way of commemorating a time when their sadness was turned into glad-ness and their mourning into joy.“
Notice the relationship between giving and joy. Giving is of the Lord and joy is of the Lord and in that he promises strength.
So, I have heard Father’s words, I believe I understand his words, and I summarize them as follows:
Because he loves me and because I am his friend he wants to make sure I understand that…
- Father sent his Son to pay the price to redeem the world from its brokenness and now Father, Son and Holy Spirit are healing the world of its brokenness.
- In all things, including brokenness, Father works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
- His purpose for me is that of proclaiming the excellencies of Father, who has called me (and all the rest of us) out of spiritual darkness into the glorious light of relationship with him.
- We proclaim Father’s excellencies by magnifying Christ in our lives and our bodies, in life or in death.
- Every day is a sacred day, every day I give as I am led to give, in the giving I am blessed with joy, and the joy of the Lord is my strength.
I have completed seven decades and number eight is lovingly, purposefully and preciously under way.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.
Chuck Tooman
Living Loved
 Freedom from the “Tyranny” of Soul Winning
Chuck, I am going to touch some lives today. Want to come along?
Papa, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
One of my favorite scriptures is John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I remain in you, you will bear much fruit. Without me you can do nothing.” Verse 8 reads, “My true disciples produce much fruit.”
Much fruit. There’s the rub. I love being close and intimate with Jesus, but I have never been content that I am producing enough “fruit”. Translated “soul-winning”. I don’t aggressively push Jesus or spontaneously lead every unsaved person into the sinner’s prayer.
Yesterday morning, I was once more reading this beautiful chapter from John, once again thankful for intimacy with Jesus, once again nagged by Am I doing enough? But this time a voice in my deepest being pleaded, Chuck, there is more here than you have ever seen before. This is not about in-your-face soul-winning. It’s about fruit that comes from a personal relationship with me. Look beyond where you are. You can’t be stuck there anymore!
Sometimes I am so slow to “get it”. So, I sat. And I listened. And as I did so I became almost over-awed and astounded at the immense possibilities for freedom from this tyranny of “doing enough”. I turned to Galatians 5:22,23: “…when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
And 2 Peter 1:3-8 reads: “As we know Jesus better, [we in him, and he in us... our] faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.” Verse 8 really grabbed my attention: “The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in …Jesus Christ. This brings great joy to my Father [and] He will open the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (John 15:8; 2 Peter 1:11)
Why was all this so freeing? Because I am not by nature an aggressive Go to person; I am an As you go person. As I go, I in him and he in me, I pray with people, minister healing, help people to find hope. And as I go (I’m aware this could be misread as haughtiness) I can walk all day, whether spending time with a hospice patient or listening to a troubled heart or loving on a home schooler, in all the fruit mentioned above– love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. moral excellence, knowing God better, patient endurance, godliness, love for other Christians, and genuine love for everyone. I also admit that sometimes I do not do it well.
How am I able to walk there day in and day out? Wayne Jacobsen, in his book He Loves Me, writes that when he wakes up in the morning he can almost feel God saying, Wayne. I am going to touch some lives today. Do you want to come along? Wayne’s response: I wouldn’t miss it for the world! In other words, he begins the day and walks the day in joyful expectation. I am learning to do the same.
Jesus promises, The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful….. I recently sat down with my prayer journal and made some notes at the close of a day of our journeying together. Two pages filled, I stopped and reflected, awed and overwhelmed at all that had taken place not because meetings were planned or goals achieved or appointments kept, but because I had accepted an invitation to walk with Him as He touched some lives. No longer am I nagged about doing enough. I am free. I am happy, I am at peace.
As I said before, sometimes I am so slow to get it but he, being Who he is, never gives up. I remain in him and he in me wherever, whenever, however. And you know what? Soul-winning happens anyway. All from the seed, the blossoming, the fruit of simply coming along for the day.
Obviously, one of the lives he’s touching is mine. I’m not gonna’ miss it for anything.
Chuck Tooman
Living Loved
Note from Chuck: in last Wednesday’s staff meeting I noted that it was Valentine’s Day, a day our thoughts normally turn to love. I also pointed out that love, or lack of it, is one of the issues many of our hospice patients struggle with. Along with lack of love is usually a lack of forgiveness. I stated that the better lover we are, the better we are at forgiving and that I know from personal experience that on the days when I am not a good forgiver, I am also not a good lover. Over the week I felt there was so much more to be said-so here is more of what I think is so essential to understand about the relationship between loving and forgiving.
There is a direct and essential relationship between loving and forgiving: each is in direct proportion to the other. The better we are at forgiving, the better we are at loving. Likewise, when we are not good forgivers neither are we good lovers. And in the same way that a good lover takes the initiative in loving, so a good forgiver takes the initiative in forgiving. “It’s always my turn to forgive” is a good rule of thumb for all of life.
“But why is it always me who has to take the initiative?” we ask. Is there not a time when we are entitled to demand, “I’ll forgive you when you say you’re sorry?” The answer is, again, that it’s always our turn to forgive. “But that’s not fair!” we cry.
I believe that if we look at the life and teachings of Jesus we’ll see that fairness is not the issue. Christ-likeness is the issue. In other words, fairness is not always the high road, or the highest goal to which we are called. Christ-likeness is the goal and Christ-likeness begins at the cross where Jesus was crucified and the blood flowing from his wounds paid the price for the forgiveness of all people for all time.
So how can Christ-likeness be expressed when we are being maligned, attacked, persecuted, and even mentally crucified? Well, first we look at the example Jesus lived out for us: he was obedient to the Father. Here is the teaching from the 11th chapter of Romans:
Justice is mine, says the Lord. I will repay.
If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of the way they have treated you.
Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Jesus treated unfairness one way and one way only: he allowed the Father to take charge, knowing that the Father, whose wisdom is unsurpassed, will make all things right. The Father’s justice leaves room for healing. Our human justice often leaves room for nothing more than increased revenge and even harder feelings.
A second thing about Christ-likeness is that we are called to bear Christ-like fruit, and scripture characterizes that fruit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Note: that kind of fruit ripens to fullness only when planted and fertilized by love and forgiveness. It is never the product of “getting even” or on demanding fairness.
When we sow anything other than love and forgiveness we are guaranteed a harvest of unChrist-likeness because the seeds we have sown have been contaminated by spiritual frostbite, spiritual drought, and spiritual dis-ease. We reap a contaminated crop of fruit because we have sown contaminated seeds from deep within our own being.
But sometimes we protest, “I’m not always capable of sowing love and forgiveness”. We feel that we fall so short of the ideal that we become tired, discouraged, overwhelmed and want to give up.
Well, take heart!! Regardless of what we feel, the reality is that there is hope, joy, possibility-even victory! And here is the victory: to live Christ-likeness, to produce Christ-likeness, we must also live blamelessly before the Lord. Wow! That appears to be an even bigger order! So what do we do?!
The way we stand blameless before the Lord is to confess where we have fallen short, humbly ask for forgiveness, do our best never to let it happen again and trust the person and power of the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and actions to the higher road. Scripture tells us that once we have sought forgiveness, God restores us to relationship with Him and He remembers our sin no more. Plus! God’s Word promises that God’s blessings are new every morning. God always restores and renews.
No one trusted God’s promises more than King David in the Bible. God called David “a man after my own heart”. Yet David greatly disobeyed God and grieved Him terribly. When David realized what he had done, he trusted one thing, and that one thing was that God loved David and David knew it. David sought the Lord in humble confession, God forgave him and graciously restored their relationship.
The same thing is true with us. When we love and forgive, God is over-joyed. When we are vengeful God is grieved. Refusing to forgive is refusing to love-and vice- versa. From personal experience I can tell you that there is nothing heavier than carrying around a load of unforgiveness topped off by a ton or two of lovelessness. You see, when it comes to unforgiveness we do not carry the same amount around each day; rather, what we carry accumulates from day to day until the heaviness finally reaches the point where we are the person we destroy.
Yes, offering others love and forgiveness is no guarantee against hurt. Some people will take advantage of us, and at times we will be the recipient of painful attacks, self-centeredness, jealousy and other expressions of insensitivity.
But our God is a healing God and He does lead us to victory. The best way I know to allow God to handle a situation, however ugly it might be, is to give it to Him in prayer. In the book of Matthew Jesus gives us the perfect prayer for every situation. Let’s suppose that a man named Dallas has totally betrayed and destroyed our friendship, trust and sense of relationship. Here is how I would pray:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be made holy in Dallas’ life.
May your Kingdom values reign in Dallas’ life.
May your perfect will be done in Dallas’ life�all of these just as you would have them in heaven.
Give us, Dallas and I both, our daily bread, and forgive us both for our attitude towards you and each other.
Keep me from the temptations of doing and speaking evil toward Dallas, so that in this relationship you may have all the glory. In your name I pray. Amen.
When I pray that way I leave the door open for God to do a healing work in and through me. When I do anything short of that I am simply focusing on things that lead to bitterness and self-destruction.
Few things are more precious than receiving forgiveness; just as precious is our offering forgiveness. And if and when we momentarily struggle and fail, our great and gracious and loving God is there to pick us up and put us back on track so that we may walk once more in the joy of His loving presence.
To love is to forgive, to forgive is to love. Loving and forgiving are the keys to all God’s other blessings. So, may you be blest in both your loving and your forgiving.
 Free to Love – How The Theme of My Life Came To Be
Hospice chaplain, simple church planter, divine healing minister, prayer leader, Bible teacher, father, husband, grandfather, mentor, author, sometimes restless and hungering for God, and wanting to make sure that I get it right. I wanted to sense unity, purpose, clarity of priorities and direction and understanding. Were the areas too diverse? Was I spreading myself too thin? How could I draw it all together in a way that made sense and granted peace?
The answer began to come in an unexpected way. Mid-December. Addressing Christmas cards. The Holy Spirit said, “Send a card to Ann Marie”. I was caught off guard. “And one more thing: Apologize. Ask for forgiveness. You have put this off too long. Do it now.”
Spring. 1960. Forty-seven years ago. Students from the same small town high school and now attending the same college, Ann Marie confronted me after lunch on the campus commons one warm day in May at the end of my senior year. It was about persons, values, unfairness, hurt. I didn’t get it. But… one day several years later I suddenly did get it. “So that’s what that was about!” I exclaimed out loud, thankful that no one else was around. I felt foolish, sad, and deeply disappointed in me.
I knew that one day I must apologize but I kept putting it off thinking, “It no longer makes a difference, it was a long time ago, it is forgotten and over”. Problem: Ann Marie is not a throw-away relationship. She is person I care about. Besides, the Spirit says that if it keeps coming back it’s not forgotten and it’s not over.
I addressed the card, wrote a note of apology for being so insensitive and asked for forgiveness. When I dropped the card in the mail the next day I noticed a distinct sense of freedom. And peace.
Christmas Eve day these words kept coming time and again: Free to love. Free to love. Free to love. Late that afternoon it dawned on me: There was the theme and focus of my life! Free to love! In whatever form, time or place the Holy Spirit leads. Free to love! I began to feel a very special sense of peace and freedom. Why? Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” James, in the second chapter of his epistle, writes (of Abraham) that obedience completes faith.
I had been restless and unfocused because even though I knew truth I had not been obedient to truth and until I was I would not be totally free to love. Many, many years ago I made a list of everyone I could think of who I might have hurt or offended in any way and I sent each one a note which read, “I seek your forgiveness for any way in which I may have hurt or offended you. Please forgive me.” Obviously, I had omitted Ann Marie. Once obedient, peace and freedom came.
What the Spirit saying was, “Your life is not about priorities or purpose or focus. It’s about surrender. Just stay sensitive to what I am doing around you. You just love on the people who are there and I’ll do the rest. Hospice, grand children, nursing home, Bible study, family… you just do the loving, I’ll work out the equation. I’ll balance the formula”.
I am passionate about “Free to Love” as the theme and focus of my life. My passion and desire are to live life at the very core, at the simplest, purest, most intimate level possible with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and to pour out that passion and purpose and intimacy with others in such a way that they will develop a passion for the same. When I awaken in the morning I am free to ask with a sense of excitement and expectation, “O.K. What next?”, knowing that love, joy, tears, purpose and laughter will all be in the mix.
Free to love is free to live, and when we are free in Christ we are free to love and live richly and abundantly. That’s his promise.
In some ways it is sad that it has taken almost 70 years to reach this point; but I also rejoice because who knows, who can imagine what the Lord may do yet with a soul set free. At any age.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.
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