Trapped
The Grange Co-op was on fire. Steve Shafer and two other firefighters drug a hose line through an open bay door and disappeared into the thick black smoke. The thick smoke severely limited their visibility. They were feeling their way, peering through the darkness, looking for any sign of light from the flames that waited for them inside. It was all textbook so far, except for one thing, they couldn’t find the fire. They could feel the heat, there was dense smoke, but try as they might, no fire could be found.
Because he had only been on the department one year, it was Steve Shafer’s job to operate the nozzle on the 2 1/2 inch line taken into the Grange Co-Op, on South Pacific Highway, in Medford, Oregon. The Grange, as the locals called it, was a large retail store and warehouse that sold agricultural supplies.
Steve’s crew took a path that resembled the letter J. After working their way 150 feet deep into the structure, and still finding no flames, they decided to retreat back outside. In a situation such as this, firefighters are trained to follow the hose back out of the building, but Steve thought he could take a short cut across the hook of the J. So he dropped the nozzle, and headed for what he thought was the way out. He didn’t make it far. After a few moments he bumped into a wall. “Not good,” he thought to himself. He turned around and headed back in the general direction of the hose line, but somehow he missed it.
“By now I was totally disoriented,” Steve said. “I had no idea which way to go.”
He felt his way until he found a large roll up door, but it had a padlock on it. It was around this time his low-air warning-bell started ringing.
“So my low-air bell’s going off, and the roll up doors had these little narrow 4″ x 12″ windows in them,” Steve said. “I’m looking through them to the outside, but I can’t see anybody.” Read More
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Chiefest of Sinners
Skunk by vladeb — Creative Commons
I was angry yesterday afternoon. Some problems stacked up over the week, stupid problems, relatively small problems. But as they built up I finally became angry and frustrated. So, as I often do when I’m angry and frustrated, I went for a walk with my Lord. I hiked up a trail that leads to a place called Hobart Bluff. It’s a beautiful viewpoint at a high elevation, more than 5,000 feet. So as I’m hiking and praying and listening to what our Father has to say, I’m getting a distinct and definite word from Him that goes like this: Read More
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Posted on October 8, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study
anger, anger management, Chiefest of sinners, Hobart Bluff, prayer, skunk
Love Like Jesus–How Jesus Loved Judas to the Very End
Suspicion, by leafhopper77 – Creative Commons
Content for this article was taken from the new book Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus). For more articles included in the book go to Love Like Jesus Book. Love Like Jesus is due to be published in 2018.
Don’t Mess With Me!
When I was new to the position of Captain there was this older more senior firefighter on the same shift. He hadn’t made Captain yet, and he liked to take shots at me. I handled it either by ignoring him or by simply taking his digs good-naturedly. Until one day, a well-meaning supervisor shared that he was concerned I didn’t realize this older firefighter was putting me down.
Man, did that ever mess with my head.
Instead of giving the older firefighter the benefit of the doubt, Read More
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Posted on October 5, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
assmume the best about, benefit of the doubt, how to love like Jesus, how to trust people, Jesus loved Judas, Love like Jesus, trust
Chuck Smith Moved
One of God’s great teachers passed away today. Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement died this morning around 3 AM. Chuck Smith had a huge influence on this blog through his book Living Water. In fact almost any God Running blog post concerning the Holy Spirit has borrowed heavily from Chuck Smith. Of course like many of you, I’ve listened to his teachings on the radio for years.
I also loved reading about his work in his book Harvest. I don’t know how anyone could read that book and not come away with a view of Chuck as one of the best examples of fruit bearing ever. (Today there are more than 1,600 churches born out of the Calvary Chapel movement.) He was a man whose ministry truly pointed to Christ and glorified God.
Oh, and the title: Chuck once said, “One day you will read in the paper that Chuck Smith died. Don’t believe it. It should say, ‘Chuck Smith Moved.'”
RIP Chuck. No doubt you’re welcomed in heaven, but you’ll be missed here on earth.
More about Chuck Smith:
Bob Coy, Remembering Pastor Chuck, Calvary Chapel Blog
Ed Stetzer, Chuck Smith Has Died, Christianity Today
Chuck Smith’s Website, The Word For Today
Great video about Chuck Smith and his work on The Comfort Zone with Ray Comfort:
Pastor Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel Reached Hippies With Gospel, Christian Post
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Posted on October 3, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
News
Calvary Chapel, Chuck Smith, Chuck Smith dead, Chuck Smith Dies, Chuck Smith Moved, Harvest, living water
Love Like Jesus: Living in a Mexican Prison Cell–Voluntarily
I just heard this story for the first time and it blows my mind. Mary Clarke was a beautiful blonde living in Beverly Hills who describes her life there as “glamorous.” Then in 1969 she had this dream, and in her dream she was a prisoner at Calvary and was about to be executed. But then Jesus appeared and offered to take her place. She refused his offer, touched him on the cheek, and told him she would never leave him. Her life has never been the same since.
A few years after that dream, she moved into a Tijuana prison. Yes, you read that correctly, she actually moved into a Mexican prison, with the drug dealers, thieves, and murderers incarcerated there. She made her home in one of the prison’s sparse 10′ wide cells. She went there to serve the prisoners, and 25 years later she’s still there! Read More
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Posted on September 28, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Christian, Christian living, Christian service, Love like Jesus, prison angel, sarah's vase, serve others, service, sister antonia
Favorite Football Quote
“A good football coach needs a patient wife, a loyal dog, and a great quarterback-–but not necessarily in that order.” –Bud Grant, former head coach Minnesota Vikings (Via All Pro Dad)
Couldn’t resist sharing this. Even though I’m a Bears fan, I have to hand it to Bud Grant–well done.
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Posted on September 27, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
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Billy Graham Writes Letter to Iran’s President
American Pastor Saeed Abedini and his family.
Billy Graham wrote a letter to the president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani. He’s asking him to release American Pastor Saeed Abedini from prison. As Billy Graham put it, Abedini “…was in Iran working to build an orphanage when he was arrested and later sentenced to eight years in prison. His situation has been receiving an increasingly high level of attention in the United States. Unfortunately this publicity has been entirely negative for Iran, with the belief that the primary reason for Pastor Abedini’s imprisonment was because of his Christian faith.” (Graham, Letter to Iran’s President, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)
According to his wife, Abedini has been tortured Read More
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Posted on September 25, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
News
Abedini, Billy Graham, Billy Graham writes letter to Iran President, Christian News, Christianity, human-rights, Iran, middle-east, politics, religion, Rouhani, Saeed Abedini
Love Like Jesus–A Burning Hand, Luck, Nike, and a Sundial in the Shade
Risk
So you’re trying to figure out what God wants to see you doing with your life. You’re trying to figure out what it is you’re supposed to be doing. You’re always wondering what that might be, and you’re worried your true talent will remain undiscovered: “a sundial in the shade,” as Benjamin Franklin once put it.
But when you mentioned your idea to that family member, he raised an eyebrow. When you told that friend about your dream, it was met with criticism. And that made you afraid. You’re afraid of what people will say, and what people will think. You’re afraid you’ll fail. And, maybe most of all, you’re afraid of leaving the familiar. You know you can keep doing what you’re doing, currently. But that other path, that other life, well, you just never know what bad thing might befall you.
Move or Die
Late one night my friend Mitch Arnold was on the nozzle at a fire in a large sprawling old house, just outside of town. He had two other firefighters backing him as he made his way up the stairs to the second story bedroom where the fire was. But just as he passed through the doorway into the burning room, the roof collapsed, tearing the nozzle out of his hand, stripping off one of his gloves, and cutting him off from the other two firefighters. He was also cut off from his exit. The room was filled with fire, and the hose, his source of water and protection, was now buried under the rubble. Immediately he felt the heat on his unprotected hand. To shield it, he curled up face down on the floor, pressing his hand tightly against his chest. As long as he remained in that position, his hand was protected from the heat. He stayed that way for a few moments. And then, he told me, this thought came into his mind, Read More
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Posted on September 21, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Christian living, Christianity, God wants you to take a risk, Love like Jesus, parable of the talents, Take a risk to love like Jesus
Love Like Jesus–How a Shrink Radically Changed My Perspective on Fatherhood Forever
The Part of Us That Wants to Avoid Our Kids
For some of us dads, the responsibility of getting our kids to undress, take a bath, jump into their PJs, brush their teeth, and get into bed is ours, and ours alone. One writer describes the situation this way,
I remember when my kids were in diapers. I looked for opportunities to trade shifts with other firefighters, Read More
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Posted on September 14, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage
Christian, Christian living, dad, father, Love like Jesus, parenting, Suffer the little children
Love Like Jesus–Stay Married
The connecting link with my old self has always been the memory of the name I took on back there: “I am he who will be there with you.” When we slough off that name, lose that identity, we can hardly find ourselves again.” -Lewis Smedes
How Jesus Loved People Read More
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Posted on September 7, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage
Christian marriage, Love like Jesus, marriage, Marriage counseling, Stay married
The 5th Day of Creation: The Holy Spirit and Bearing Fruit
From the archives, one of our most popular posts:
Scientists are conceding they have grossly underestimated the quantity and diversity of marine life in the ocean. Research scientists from 80 different countries are undertaking a huge census of ocean life around the world. Called the Census of Marine Life, the census effort began in 2000, and ten years later, scientists continue to be amazed at the numbers and varieties of new species they’ve found. In the first three years of the study 160 new species of fish were found each year. That’s about 3 new species discovered every week. As the census has progressed, new species of marine life are being discovered at an even greater rate. One study found 700 new species of crustaceans in an area the size of a small bathroom. (Census of Marine Life) Read More
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Posted on August 31, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis
Census of Marine Life, Christian, Christian living, creation, fifth day of creation, fifth-day-of creation-Holy Spirit Bear Fruit, genesis 1, Holy Spirit, How to bear fruit
Love Like Jesus–How a Woman’s Prayer Saved a Firefighter’s Life
The Grange Co-op was on fire. Steve Shafer and two other firefighters drug a hose line through an open bay door and disappeared into the thick black smoke. The thick smoke severely limited their visibility. They were feeling their way, peering through the darkness, looking for any sign of light from the flames that waited for them inside. It was all textbook so far, except for one thing, they couldn’t find the fire. They could feel the heat, there was dense smoke, but try as they might, no fire could be found.
Because he had only been on the department one year, it was Steve Shafer’s job to operate the nozzle on the 2 1/2 inch line taken into the Grange Co-Op, on South Pacific Highway, in Medford, Oregon. The Grange, as the locals called it, was a large retail store and warehouse that sold agricultural supplies.
Steve’s crew took a path that resembled the letter J. After working their way 150 feet deep into the structure, and still finding no flames, they decided to retreat back outside. In a situation such as this, firefighters are trained to follow the hose back out of the building, but Steve thought he could take a short cut across the hook of the J. So he dropped the nozzle, and headed for what he thought was the way out. He didn’t make it far. After a few moments he bumped into a wall. “Not good,” he thought to himself. He turned around and headed back in the general direction of the hose line, but somehow he missed it.
“By now I was totally disoriented,” Steve said. “I had no idea which way to go.”
He felt his way until he found a large roll up door, but it had a padlock on it. It was around this time his low-air warning-bell started ringing.
“So my low-air bell’s going off, and the roll up doors had these little narrow 4″ x 12″ windows in them,” Steve said. “I’m looking through them to the outside, but I can’t see anybody.” Read More
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Posted on August 24, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Firefighter's life saved by prayer, Jesus Prayed, Love like Jesus, pray, prayer, Woman prays saves firefighter's life
Love Like Jesus–Jesus and the General
Chinese Terracotta Warrior from Xi’an’, Drents Museum in Assen
Read the story of raising Lazarus from the dead.
The Love of a General
The Chaplain said, “When I was studying to lead my unit in the war, we were required to read an ancient story about a Chinese general named Wu Chi. One of Wu Chi’s soldiers was suffering from a battle wound that had abscessed. Wu Chi himself cared for the wound even sucking out the infection. The soldier’s mother, hearing this, wailed and lamented. Somebody asked her, ‘Why do you cry? Your son is only a common soldier, and yet the commander-in-chief himself has sucked the poison from his sore.’ The woman responded, ‘Many years ago Lord Wu performed a similar service for my husband, who never left him afterwards, and finally met his death at the hands of the enemy. And now that he has done the same for my son, he too will fall fighting I know not where.” (Sun Tzu, as cited in Traveler and the Chaplain)
How Jesus Loved People Read More
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Posted on August 17, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Art of War, Jesus love, Lazarus, Love like Jesus, Raise Lazarus, Sun Tzu
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