Jesse Caro’s Blog
ENCOUNTER ~ REAL. RELEVANT. CHURCH

The sound of the family playing one of the kid’s Christmas gifts, “American Idol” on the Wii… the sound going happily as I sit here. Today I am glad to have my family. There are people far too thankless, and far too blessed. We take for granted the gifts that God has given us: good health, our beloved faith, our country, and, indeed, our families. Some people have lost their families, treasuring them only as faint memories. Lost to illness and tragedy. Some wish for family, but have had it torn from them by no fault of their own. Family.

Today has been a day of peaceful reflection and thanksgiving for the gift of my wife and kids (and parents and brothers). Sure, it was loud and sometimes obnoxious… but this is the fabric upon which we build life. I would not give this up willingly, not for anyone. It’s a gift from God, and one that we must not trample on by the foot of convenience.

Today was a Merry Christmas for two reasons alone: 1) Jesus (to whom we sang “Happy Birthday” with tender hearts) and 2) family (with whom we enjoyed God-given company… flaws and all).

In Jesus’ name, let us give thanks for our families and cling to those relationships as doggedly as we protect anything in our world (God protect us!)  May we reaffirm our love to them, and with this,  our treasured family enjoy, with pure heart, the Christmas season to it’s very fullest.

God’s richest blessings on you and yours!

I have in the last month come upon two stories validating God’s Word. Scholars have long doubted the credibility of the Old Testament account of David and Goliath. Of course, up until recently they doubted that King David actually existed (until they found tablets with his name). As to Goliath, scholars said that there was no record of a place called Gath, from which Goliath was reported to have come. Well, a few months ago they discovered the city of Gath in an excavation, along with a clay vessel with the name “Goliath” inscribed. No evidence that this Goliath was the same, but proof positive of a place called Gath, with at least one person whose name was “Goliath”! Score one for team Bible!

Today I read an article that they have found a shroud in Old Jerusalem in which a body was encased. It is the first shroud that they are absolutely certain dates from the time of Jesus. The person was apparently a person with some wealth and affluence as evidenced by the tomb and burial treatment. Now, it has been long supposed by scholars against the Biblical record, that many of Jesus’ miracles could not have been true… namely those involving leprosy. They objected based on the fact that there was no evidence that leprosy was in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus, but came later. As the argument goes, the writers of the New Testament (who did not actually live in the time of Jesus, and so were not eye witnesses) embellished the account of Jesus with stories that were not historically accurate. Back to the shroud… this particular man of affluence actually (according to DNA tests)  had a disease called leprosy. Score 2 for team Bible!

Christmas is a special time of year. It reminds us of families and the best of times. From a spiritual point of view, it reminds us of Jesus and His coming to earth, born in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. This picture of God is so striking one can hardly get his thoughts around it. That the God of the universe would diminish to become a helpless babe. He took no short cuts to make it easy on Himself. He did not just come as a 30 year old man and prove is Godhead. He became man and settled in flesh, with all the tribulations that that entails. For us! Not in a palace, but an animal’s shelter and born of humble lineage. It is amazing and remarkable. As I think of the gifts I receive and give, dollar amounts seem to be part of the picture. Jesus, though, was born out of poverty in today’s standards. But His Gift so priceless.

May we really sit and think deeply about Jesus and His birth and how we should be different because of it all. Every detail in the narrative is important and impacts my life. Let’s seek to change as result of the grace-filled narratives with which we have become too familiar.

It was 4 years ago… Sunday December 4, 2005

On Friday December 2nd we had enjoyed our annual youth Christmas party. A missionary from the Dominican Republic was our guest speaker. Huge party with lots of food. I ate plenty of our 12 foot sub from Subway.

Saturday the 3rd we had plans to take my friend, Ryan Hansen (the missionary) to San Francisco on a sight seeing trip. I woke up feeling terribly, throwing up and bailing out of my plans. I cursed Subway while David Eddings (friend and youth worker) took the missionary for me. He is and was such a great guy.

Sunday the 4th. I woke up feeling like death. I had to report, early that morning, to the pastor that I would not be able to lead music at either service. Kelly, who played keyboard, still went and left me at home. I slept. When she returned that afternoon I felt so awfully that Kelly took me to the hospital. I was quickly admitted.

As it turns out I was experiencing heart failure, but it would not be evident until Tuesday morning. Monday night I had the worst night of my life, without any question. By Tuesday morning I knew something was dead wrong. The pastor and my wife came and I was utterly unaware of anything except that I felt like I was dying. In the background, doctors took blood non stop to  determine if I had an infectious disease causing my heart problem. Un-known to me, discussions were taking place  about my critical status and that I needed to be intubated or I was not going to make it. My last memory was of that process and of this larger than life person sitting on me to restrain me.

I slept, and while I did (for 3 days) my family stayed in a donated RV at a church nearby (we were in San Jose, 3 hours from home). My condition was critical and I was placed on a heart transplant list.

When I awoke, I was unaware of anything that had happened. I had nearly died and was facing heart transplantation. I remember vividly going to a heart transplant luncheon on the 10th. I met alot of heart transplant survivors, but I was unaware of why I was there. Even at that point I did not know how badly off I was.

I did know that I was sick and that God had given me a second chance. And, believe me, I was closer to our Lord in those days than I had ever been. By the grace of God I was recovering well enough in 2 weeks that I was sent home. A few months later I took a heart stress test that was the best score the staff had ever seen by a patient. My heart was completely normal with no signs of any heart damage. It was all of God: the gift of healing, the grace, the blessing.

This is a short account of this time of my life in which God got my attention. So many details of grace that I am leaving off.  So many examples of God meeting me at the point of my need. So many embraces that God gave my family during this time when I slept, through the worst of it. But what I learned through it and after it are two primary lessons…. two life altering ideas that God so graciously imparted.

1) Every breath is a gift of God given for the primary purpose of worshipping Him. Just a month before my heart failure I had come to music by Matt Redman that said so much. In November I saw Mr. Redman in concert, but the message of worship with my breath took root a month later. Would to God that we lived with the intention of taking every breath precisely for His glory.

2) My second learning had to do with ministry. I was serving my church far more than I was serving God. Now that lesson came home with crystal clarity. All my friends were church people and had hardly spoken to my neighbors. I was the worst kind of Christian… inward focused and focused on “God” without concern for His mission. But loving God apart from the other side of the coin (loving neighbor) just never works. Inevitably “loving God” is distorted to look nothing like the Bible version.

The first teaching deals with me as a person, and the second with me as a minister (though it is true of me as a person, as it is for you). In the end, though, today (4 years removed from the ordeal of near death) I am aware of God’s deep and rich love for me. He loves me. He doesn’t love me because I am a part of the world and since He loves the world He must love me. No….. He loves me. And, He loves me enough to do good things for me. He loves you in the exact same way. Today I am pondering His great love. Join me!

What? They are having a job summit to discuss why the unemployment rate is sky rocketing? It seems simple: everything you are doing now (that is, the administration), do the opposite. Stop discussing an energy bill (cap and trade),  put the breaks on the health care tax bill, lower taxes, stop meddling into the private sector and, for goodness sake, own the responsibility for the crisis.

I find it ironic that he was voted into office, for the largest part, because of the economic policies of the previous administration. That administration’s policies caused the problem. We need change! “Vote for me and let me pass my policies and we won’t exceed 8% unemployment. Go with the stimulus package or the world will end.” One year later and things are seriously worse and now the President says, “government can’t fix the problem, only the private sector can”. What? Government can cause the problem, but now (despite the promises) it is helpless. to lend a hand? hmmmmmmm. Convenient.

Though I am posting this a few days late, I figure it is better to write it for posterity’s sake. We had a great time for Thanksgiving… ha my parents in, as well as my brother for a few good days. Now this is always fun. That is, having my family in to town. We don’t see one another as often as we would like, but we make the most of our time.We did some great things, including going to eat at Five Guys Burgers at Friendly Center. That was one of the highlights of the week. Huge burger, lotsa fries, peanuts and plenty of left overs. Ate at the OG and, of course, at home. Went shopping and went to the Winston Salem flea market.

As to the Thanksgiving meal: it was splendid. I was responsible, to some greater part, for the bird. I brined it as I have done for a few years. However, I regret to inform everyone that it was over cooked and am sad to report it was a little less than the best. Still, the side dishes were great. Add to that the fact that we have plenty to be thankful for (the list being to long to catalog), and in general it was a Thanksgiving worthy of the name, and one for the history books.

Now it is off to Christmas, season of lights and wonderful remembrances of yesteryear. I just love this time of year, and am so glad it is hear.

A member (member A) in very good standing at our church gave me some fresh killed deer meat a week or so ago. Another member (member B), also in excellent standing, had killed said animal  in Member A’s property. Member B is a true hunter, choosing to kill only with bow and arrow as his killing instrument of choice. Member A has taken to his new friend, Member B, and the meat offered him from the kill off of his property. Member A and B, with their friendship strengthened by the death of innocent animals (at least in part), have hooked me in to their lucrative slaughter business by affording me meat as tasty as any I have ever eaten.  Member B… kill as often as the Good Lord allows. Member A…. God bless you, and keep delivering meat my way as your pastor and fellow food lover.  The chili I have made from you guys’ bounty will be considered in culinary history as the standard and benchmark of all chili… for all time… for  the whole human race.

Had a revelation today about why vanilla churches exist. Ok, a vanilla church is one where the goal is to grow… by dumbing the message down to the lowest common denominator. Don’t offend, upset, say anything too controversial. Get people used to church, God. Eventually, when people are ready, share Jesus and the tough stuff.

Vanilla churches exist because of an evangelistic approach that basically says “bring everyone to church, even if they are not ready, ripe or interested in God.” Since they are not necessarily ripe and ready, church must placate to their unreadiness. “Just get their feet wet” becomes the mentality.

I understand this today better than I ever have. Fundamentally, the heart of the vanilla churcher is fine and his motive good. But the expnense comes in the structure (the goings on) of the church itself.

What if there were a church where it’s people were doing the evangelistic mandate primarily on the streets… and that job were done primarily looking for people who are “ready and ripe” for the gospel. There is a world that is hurting and hearts that God is preparing for the message. Pouring into them at points of need is like picking ripe fruit (white to harvest). Those then attend a service and church with all the fullness of His presence and conviction and grace.

Just a thought.

We got a computer as a gift about 6 years ago. Over those years it has gotten progressively and woefully slower. In the last year I have been mere inches from throwing it thru my window. Last year we purchased a lap top. It stopped working a few days after the warranty expired. So, we have been beside ourselves in frustration without a viable computer.

David, a gentleman (hero) at our church, said he would take it home and work on it… promising to get it back to speed. I proceeded with caution, refusing to believe that it could ever be remotely fast again. In ministry, we have gotten alot of well meaning people, for whatever reasons, not deliver on promises. We have gotten accustomed. Well…

David delivered the system to our door last night and, much to my surprise and elation, it is better than new. Some of our church, unbeknownst to us, pitched in to buy  the maximum memory, one donated a flat screen monitor, new software was installed, system cleaned, dvd player added, optical mouse given, and on and on. What an amazing gift and blessing. To say “I am thankful” is a terrible understatement. Kelly and I are blessed to overflowing. 

To David Burkhart… words cannot express what it means to have a great computer again, courtesy of your time, gifts and many wonderful talents. Thank you for using them to bless us. And, thank you for the enthusiasm you have in making people happy. It is contagious. To all.. thanks for your quiet concern and support. Blessings to you all. And thank God for promises kept and surpassed expectations.

Side note: if you need computer work done (or know someone who does!) look no further than David who has the talent.  he will hook you up and make you happy in the process, guaranteed!!!

Environmentalist are in a tough spot, deciding how to proceed from here. As it turns out energy generating wind turbines come at a cost. Of course they are a bit expensive, but there is an environmental cost. Studies have shown that our friend, the bat, runs into these energy producers at night… becoming a major threat to the bat population. The bat is becoming a quickly disappearing species in many areas in the country. Not good news since they are one of those animals that show environmental health (and kill pesty bugs as an added benefit). These poor bats are, unfortunately, coming to their demise due to these wonderful energy producers. Oh, where does the environmental movement  go from here?