As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.
Proverbs 27:17 nlt

I’ll never forget the first time I saw some of the men in the Jamamadi village sharpening their machetes and axes. They had a special stone which was well worn from much use. This stone had the best cutting qualities of any of the sharpening stones I have seen manufactured here in the industrial society we live in. Just a few well appointed licks with this stone, and it was razor sharp, ready to chop down trees. I was helping them clear their fields for their crops for the next three years. They would chop halfway through all the smaller trees within the range of a large tree they wanted to cut down (sorry - all you greenies out there, but slash/burn agriculture is the way of life for thousands of years for these people - and their impact is small compared to the massive destruction of the rainforest by machines) then they would chop down the big tree. It would fall; taking down a huge section of trees, vines and underbrush like a stack of dominos. Those guys knew how to chop. When I was nineteen in Colombia, I once saw a man chop down a two ft. diameter hardwood tree using only a machete. The secret is to have a sharp cutting instrument, and a good aim. They would stop about every fifteen minutes or so to sharpen their tools. That was good, as it also gave them an opportunity to rest in the hot humid tropical climate.

I thought I could help them get their fields cleared faster using my chainsaw, but sometimes they could chop down a tree about as fast as I could with my chainsaw. One day I started in helping them, and they told me to quit. “You might make the tree fall too soon before we are ready.” So I let them do the work while I observed. Until they came to a large tree which was hollow and full of bees. Every time they would strike the trunk with the ax the enraged bees would come out of their hive to attack. That’s when they called me over with my chainsaw. “Here Hikado (that’s my name in their language) you cut this one down!” “Gee thanks!” I thought. But the high frequency vibrations of the chainsaw was less agravating to the bees and I got stung only a few times. They had prepared the area where the tree was to fall, but my aim was off slightly and the tree fell into the branches of two other large trees forming a huge teepee like structure - very dangerous, and difficult to cut down without all three large (150-200 ft high) trees coming down on top of your head. And the bees were angrily swarming around the tree I had cut. One man studied the problem for a while, then went over and chopped one or two large vines the size of Arnold’s (the governator)arm, and the whole mess came crashing down amidst the cheers of all the indians.

This story illustrates several things I would like to point out. First of all, a big challenge requires sharp tools. “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.” We can sharpen our tools by the company we keep. If we hang around people who are constantly dragging us down, we become dull ourselves. So climb into the back pocket of someone whom you would like to emulate and learn from him - have a mentor.

Secondly, a big challenge requires a focused effort. Sadly, even after 35 years living in the Amazon, I have a poor aim when it comes to chopping! What took the indians three whacks to cut through, usually took me about 20. If your aim is good, and you know where to strike, then your effectiveness to solve the problem is greater.

Thirdly, it is often one simple thing which if resolved will bring the whole jungle crashing down, but if done improperly might bring it down on top of your head. It helps to study the problem, and pray and seek the Lord’s guidance before deciding exactly where to chop.

Finally, I was always interested in those stones because I have always been a connoisseur of fine sharpening stones, and there were not any stones like these around wherever I looked. The indians always told me they got them somewhere up river, but whenever I made excursions way up into the headwaters of rivers I did not find any. It remains a mystery to me today. The moral of this is that you can’t always find the perfect stone to sharpen you - but don’t let that keep you from being sharpened by the stones that are available to you.

Blessings!

Rick Reece

I heard Francis Frangipane on a CD the other day in a writing seminar. He was talking about how whenever you have an urgent task to complete on the computer, and it bombs out on you. I’m sure we all can identify with that. Jerry Pournelle back in the days of “BYTE” magazine used to say that every machine had a “Critical Need Detector” (Or words to that effect) and whenever your task was the most urgent, that’s when the machine or computer decides to hang up or shut down or bomb out on you. Years ago, when I worked at the Computer/Graphics department at our jungle center in the Amazon, whenever we were preparing scripture to print to send out to the Indians we always asked for extra prayer that nothing would go wrong, because that was usually when things tended to happen - whenever there was something lifechanging being built.

I have experienced that this week as we were preparing to launch our new book Where There is Hope. Yesterday my home network went down and after multple re-boots of everything, and checking and double checking, four hours later it decided to come back, and I still don’t know what I did to make it come back. I think it was something I did with FIrewalls - but I suspect I still have the remains of an old Norton Firewall on my system which I have not been able to find nor remove.

Anyway, back to Francis Frangipane. He said “You know that little blinky thing? There’s a reason they call that the cursor!” My wife and I had a great laugh over that, and I immediately began to change the names of all my cursors to “blessors.” I mean we don’ wan’ no more cursors roun’ here. So from now on they are officially called “Blessors” and they will bless my computers instead of curse them. And it still helps to pray.

Blessings to you.

Technorati Profile“>Amazing that someone would be given a second chance at life. What would you do if you came back from the dead? Read the whole story.

Here is a pretty good definition of Atheism I found:

There are seven “C’s” which every marriage must sail in if they are to survive.

With the divorce rate at an ever increasing rate, and the very foundations of marriage as an institution challenged on every side, we must apply daily these “C’s”. These were from a wedding ceremony I did for my niece’s wedding. I thought they would be good for anyone to know.

The seven “C’s” of marriage:

1. Commitment

I’ll never forget when we were about three or four years old, my cousin and I. She was 12 hours or so older than I and we were both born in the same hospital. That summer we were visiting “Uncle Jack’s”. Uncle Jack was an East Tennessee farmer with some milk cows, tobacco, and a huge garden that even today brings fond memories. He lived along the bank of the Nolichucky river (we all called it the “Chucky river”). David Crockett was born just upstream two or three miles. One side - the side my uncle’s farm was on - had a beautiful mica sandy beach. Whenever we would come back from the beach it took forever to wash off those particles of mica which stuck to our bodies. There were rapids upstream and below our beach was an old one lane rickety bridge which years later collapsed under the weight of some guy who tried to take a 25 ton machine over a 10 ton bridge. I miss that old bridge.

Uncle Jack was a hard worker, and a good man but sometimes he had a mean streak in him. I guess my cousin Linda and I were pestering him a bit too much. He and my dad and her dad were building a fence, and they had dug a line of postholes near the barn. I don’t remember what we said or did - except that we were probably getting in their way too much! But all of a sudden, the first thing I knew was that we were both picked up and placed in the postholes, our arms pinned to the side. At first it seemed silly, our heads sticking up out of the ground, she and I looking at each other. But when we began to try to move and get out of our holes - sheer panic set in. We could not move our arms, we could not extricate ourselves from this predicament, we could do nothing but scream bloody murder. After all the women of the house came running out to see what the commotion was, my dad came over and pulled me out of the hole, and Linda’s dad did the same, and we all had a great laugh. And I will never forget that incident.

But I was just remembering this rather traumatic event in my life today, and it occurs to me that we often are placed into “postholes” which limit our movement, hinder our escape, kill our dreams, and keep us from receiving the fullest that God has to give us. Debt is one of those postholes. The Bible says that “The borrower is the slave of the lender” And when you are in bondage you do not have the freedom to do or go where you want. I can relate to that as most americans can.

People can be limiters in our lives. When they have negative, and complaining  attitudes they tend to drag us down into the postholes. Sin is a huge posthole. What is the thing that limits you? What is the biggest posthole of your life? How do you get out of the hole?

The answer is the same as what happened to my cousin and I: A loving father comes and gently pulls you out of the hole.

Psa 40:2 says “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

So the thing to do when you find yourself in a posthole, unable to move, unable to advance - is to cry out to the father, and let him extend his arms to you and pull you out of the mess you are in. He will set you on a firm place - the ROCK which is Jesus Christ. God Bless you.

What do any type of venture, a train, a big ship, a large airplane, and a rocket ship have in common? 

They all start slowly and eventually build up their momentum so that they are also hard to stop. A train, like one I saw last week with over 90 cars, might have four or five locomotives. Their powerful engines straining to get it started. As the slack between each car is taken up and the whole train is in tension, finally the whole train slowly starts rolling. The speed builds up, and eventually it only takes maybe two locomotives to maintain velocity. And when it is time to stop hundreds of brakes are applied gradually so that eventually the train is brought to a safe stop – but it may take 2 or 3 miles to wholly stop. 

All those tons of cargo which the train carries are bound by two narrow steel rails. One is called vision, and the other passion. Without vision, the train (and your venture) crashes. Without passion, it also crashes. With both, nothing can derail you unless you go too fast around the curves of battle. Sometimes you must read the road ahead and slow down. Other times it is right to go fast and faster. 

A big ship also takes a long time to get underway. While in port it is tied to the dock with many lines the thickness of your forearm. There is the line of doubt, the line of fear, the line of unbelief, the line of pride, the line of laziness, the line of lack of motivation etc. Each one of these lines must be cast off before the ship is free to move. However after the ship is free, it still must be maneuvered by a pilot until it gets to open seas. Great motors, sometimes over 50,000 horsepower, slowly churn the propellers until momentum is gained and the ship is able to move at its top speeds. The pilot is like a mentor or a daddy guiding the great ship through unknown and potentially treacherous channels. Once the ship reaches the safety of the open sea the pilot releases the ship. The great ship is guided by the small rudder. It only takes a tiny proportion of weight and size compared to the whole ship to steer it. James compares this to the tiny but powerful tongue. That in-proportionate muscle can control life or death and must be controlled by a master. 

Have you ever seen a large heavily laden airplane take off? (Or been on one?) It slowly taxis down to the end of the runway. It looks like such a huge and heavy beast that it could not possibly fly. Then the powerful engines kick in and slowly, so slowly it accelerates. The engines use incredible amounts of energy, in the form of burning fuel and heat, aimed to provide thrust which will push the vessel forward at an ever increasing rate of speed. It passes the markers slowly, eating up the runway, gradually building up speed. If you are seated inside you may start to get worried because it seems like there is not much runway left, and you still have not left the ground. But suddenly that magical velocity; which is enough for the wings to provide enough lift to offset the total weight of the airplane, is reached and the plane rotates into the air. It is flying, but still slowed down by the landing gear and flaps which restrict it’s speed and ability to fly efficiently. As soon as the gear is up and the flaps raised you notice a surge in speed, and this huge hunk of metal is climbing to the sky at 1000 feet per minute. Unshackled from the gravity which holds it down, the laws of aerodynamics kick in, and you are hurtling across the skies in a controlled fashion to your destination. So a venture requires lots of energy and expense to get going until it reaches the velocity it needs to take off. Yet many people limit the size of their runway, believing that it cannot possibly take off. And they give up before even reaching the go-no go point. And they crash and burn at the end of the runway. 

The space shuttle sits on a gantry shackled by gravity and by restraining clamps of guilt and shame. Inside is explosive potential of anger and rage. But if the guilt and shame is released then the explosive power can be released under control of a master, and the ship slowly rises, ever accelerating until it is free of the bounds of gravity and the friction of the atmosphere. The boosters and extra fuel are jettisoned and the shuttle is free to do its mission. On returning to earth, to the bounds of gravity and the atmosphere his angle of entry must be just right or else he will either be burned by fires of hate and lust or he will bounce off the atmosphere and perish for lack of essential breath of heaven. Once he is past the entry there are only a few places where the pilot can land this big fast craft. 

As the Shuttle re-enters the atmosphere it heats up because of friction, however the insulated tiles keep it protected. So your venture may heat up with the friction of unbelieving or fearful people. You are going too fast, they say. But your vision sustains you. You can see what others cannot see. That insulates you from the heat. There are also only a few places where your vision can land. If you try to land in a grass strip you will have missed out on the greatest part of your venture. You must land on the designated place. 

From over 17000 miles per hour to Mach 22 to 200 or 300 miles per hour takes time, but gradually you are able to stop with the brakes of self constraint and the parachutes of love. If you tried to stop too fast your train would probably de-rail, your ship would probably be crunching into something immovable, your airplane would be destroyed, and your shuttle would break apart. 

Sometimes it is right to slow down – slowly. And speed up gradually. But as Newton and every High School Physics student discovered, momentum is best left alone it takes as much energy to slow down as it does to speed up! Almost every venture starts gradually, but once the momentum gets going it takes less effort to keep it going. 

So if the going seems slow at first, just take a look at a train, or a ship leaving dock, or a large airplane, or the Space Shuttle leaving the gantry. And be encouraged! 

Rick Reece