God?

“Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the

years when the Most High stretched out his

right hand. I will remember the deeds of the

Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of

long ago. I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God? 

~Psalms 77:7-13

hurricane

After a quick trip to Jamaica, hurricane Sandy is pounding the Bahamas today and threatening the East coast over the next couple days. Usually when a hurricane is set to hit the area, everyone is busy preparing by stocking up on food, water and fuel. They will even close the schools a day or two ahead of time to allow for preparations.

The cities will open up hurricane shelters and the homeless will flock to them. It's a time when they get "three hots and a cot" meaning 3 meals and a bed to sleep in and place to weather the storm.

ReMerge has the dream of opening a center in an old motel on Biscayne Blvd. A shelter for different kinds of hurricanes that people experience.  The storms in peoples lives that destroy, like fires, foreclosures, abusive relationships and addictions. Please pray that God will make this dream a reality soon and that he will provide the perfect location.

criminal offence

Since moving to Florida, we've noticed there are a lot of strange things here that you don't normally see or experience in the rest of the country. The customs and culture are just a little different and if you don't know or understand them, it's easy to offend someone. In particular, there are some state laws on the books that are a little unusual.

So, I thought it would be a good thing to give a heads up in case you plan on visiting Florida soon. You wouldn't want to unintentionally break the law and end up in trouble, right? So, as found on dumblaws.com, here is a small list of Florida laws you may want to be aware of-

• Doors of all public buildings must open outwards. (ok, I guess that's good to know)
• It is illegal to sell your children. (seems a little obvious, though I have had offers)
• One may not commit any “unnatural acts” with another person. (however, sole unnatural acts are ok)
• The law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing. (this law has probably ruined many weekend plans)
• Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. (speedo bikinis are ok, but, no gowns!)
• It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit. (hmmm, must be a problem around here)
• It is illegal to skateboard without a license. (wonder if they have a written test)
• It is considered an offense to shower naked. (huh?)
• You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers. (excessive Greek partiers must hate it here)
• Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal. (OUCH!!!)
• If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle. (it's only fare, right?)
• You may not fart in a public place after 6pm. (all other times are acceptable)

You can consider yourselves warned!

Wilderness

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman 
   
“This is what the Lord says: “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.” The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again. 
~ Jeremiah 31:2-4

Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said "Its not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My hosanna is born out of a furnace of doubt."

I am a bit of a pessimist. I don't really like this about myself. I remembered this quote by Dostoyevsky after reading this scripture because I know for myself, sometimes my faith is born out of seeing God's faithfulness to me. I know in my heart that God loves me, wants to have a relationship with me, but I do find myself doubting sometimes.

Living in Miami can be hard. On a day in and day out basis there is so much suffering and with suffering comes a great deal of doubt. There are so many people who struggle in believing there is a God and even more struggle with the idea that if there really is a God, why would he love me and care about me and what I have gone through and where I have been.

I was reading this scripture in Jeremiah last night and it hit me. "The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness." How great is that! God's love for us is everlasting and unfailing and just when we think we can't take one more stab he comes along and gives us rest. I don't know about you but I find great comfort in knowing that God sees all of this and says to us, "I will build you up again and again." 

I hope today that no matter what you are going through, you know God sees it! He does care and He will build you up again! 

As we reach out into the suffering we see in our city please pray that we can be the light that proclaims to those people that God can bring rest in the wilderness.

all alone

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;

 ~ Psalms 68:5-6

In a family as large as ours, it's easy to take for granted always having someone around for companionship, it's hard to be lonely. Rarely is there a moment when something you do or say goes unnoticed. With pre-teen boys, that can be good or bad.

However, not everyone has this luxury. Often times people feel like an island and that they're the only ones that understand whats going on with them. This feeling of isolation often leads to depression and outright loneliness.

In a city like Miami, where there are millions and millions of people everywhere you go, you would be surprised how many people feel all alone. At ReMerge, we're finding people that are all alone in an ocean of people and sharing Jesus' love with them. Our hope is to draw them into community with others. Creating a place where they belong and can start sharing life with others and more importantly, sharing life with Jesus.

Who in your life is lonely? What can you do to make them feel loved?

re-group!

Wendy and I were able to attend an amazing conference this week that totally rejuvenated us. It came at a time when we needed it the most and was a gift from God! It was called Vault and was a conference for church planters, hosted by Verve Church in Las Vegas, NV.

We took away so many great new things and were able to refocus on things we have learned in the past, but, somehow have overlooked in our daily operations. Not only was it a great conference, but, it came with the added bonuses of starting on our 24th wedding anniversary and allowed us to not only spend time alone, but allowed us time with our son Jason, who has been living in Vegas for over a year now.

conform or die

“Place Your Life Before God- So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you,

always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God

brings the best out of you, develops well-formed

maturity in you.” ~ Romans 12:2

I love Eugene Peterson's take on not conforming to the things of this world. Entwining God in every thought, action and feeling we have on a daily basis is absolutely revolutionary! It goes against everything this world stands for.

If you really want to make a difference in this world, practice living Romans 12:2, not only will you change from the inside out, so will your home, neighborhood, school, town.........

conform NOT and live!

10,000 Reasons

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

It has been a long week! There have been many ups and downs. We have felt defeated. So many of you have been so encouraging, praying for God's direction and wisdom in all of this for us. We have felt those prayers. We have prayed for clarity and direction ourselves.

This past week I have been reading the book "Radical" by David Platt. There are some things about the book that I don't agree with but one thing that I do know is true is that God calls us to live a radical faith. It is hard to do though. Every thing in our human nature wants to live that comfortable American life that we have been sold into believing is what we deserve. But, do we? In this book, Mr. Platt points out that we(mainly Americans) believe that there are certain things that we feel entitled too. Things like a big house, nice car, nice things to fill our houses with. He then quickly points out from Scripture what Jesus says we can expect when we follow him. He reads from a passage in Luke 9
57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” 59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead![l] Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” 62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.

As Mr Platt so eloquently puts it, "Plainly put, a relationship with Jesus requires total, superior, and exclusive devotion. Become homeless, Let someone else bury your dead, Don't even say good bye to your family."

That's rough! Most of us don't want to read the scripture like that but when we give our lives to Christ and say that we will follow him. That is the life we are committing to. A life that to most, looks very Radical. But WHY? Why is this a must for followers of Christ? There may be many different opinions as to why, but for me personally it boils down to one thing:
What is the cost if I don't follow Christ with everything I have? Who might come to the end of this life without ever knowing the Love that God has to offer. I believe the cost of one person not knowing is far greater than what it is costing us.

We are not giving up! We are seeking God for clarity and refocusing but we are not giving up.
Please pray for us over these next few weeks as we move forward, that we will do so with clarity and perseverance.

Last night I was listening to the song 10,000 reasons. I have listened to this song so many times this past week. It has brought me comfort. I hope it does for you too!

Care Packages

These are care packages that we hand out to the homeless when we head out on the streets, to their camps and at our Saturday morning breakfast.

Every week it costs around $80 to prepare the breakfast, hand out pizzas and put together care packages. Interested in partnering with us...click the donate button on this blog or contact us at remerge@hotmail.com and we can give other options to help. Help us turn Miami upside down with God's love!

In Disguise

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

Mark Twain once said "It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that scare me, but the parts I do"

Maybe this is why Jesus says to the religious folks "the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you"(Matt 21:31).

A couple of days ago I was talking to a friend who I reconnected with for the first time in a few years. She has stopped going to church, pretty much put God on the back burner. She has been through a lot. She had really felt like God had abandon her. Towards the end of our conversation, she realized that it was not God who had abandon her, but her Christian friends. Those who could not or did not understand what she was going through. Those who instead of lovingly wanting to guide her through that dark time in her life and just be there for her, walked away. I was one of those Christian friends!

We reconnected on a facebook page that both of us frequent. She seen a comment that I had posted about doing an outreach in Miami for girls working in clubs and on the streets. There was a group here last weekend doing a training with people who are interested in doing outreach to prostitutes and to girls working in strip clubs. They were asking for suggestions on the kinds of outreach that would minister to and help these girls feel like God really loves them. I suggested we offer free childcare to these ladies. That we start putting together a list of ladies that would be interested in offering this kind of support. As a former childcare provider, I know just how difficult paying for childcare can be for a single mom. Many of them have to make the choice to leave their children in dangerous situations because they can't afford to pay for childcare. Many of them make the choice to work the job they do just to be able to afford to pay for quality childcare.

After our chat back and forth. Another lady chimed in, I am sure in her mind her intentions were good, but were they?  I almost started to get into an argument with her on facebook(If you know me you know I can do that pretty easy and without thinking). One comment she made really hit me, she said, "you know that this is how the enemy(The devil) infiltrates our lives, when we become intermingled with people who are living that lifestyle.  This is how the enemy disguises himself!"

My friend had chimed back to her that this is how she had come back to God. A few ladies at a local church  had volunteered to help single moms with childcare while they worked. I did not have to say anything after that. Having experienced God's love in action made all of the difference in this lady finding her way back to God. I hope that it resounded with the other lady on the other end.

Yesterday, I was thinking about this conversation again. Knowing how I acted so wrongly towards my friend, how "Christian" I was with her, made me wonder if that is how we really think? As Christians do we believe that by steering clear of that area of society, it will keep us away from evil? Will it keep us out of the enemy's trap? I don't know?

I do know this is what Jesus said about it in Matthew 25:
34-36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

So could it be that these ladies are Jesus in disguise?

Showing God's love to these women in practical ways is something that has been on my heart for a while. Please pray for our housing needs. The sooner we are in a more suitable place the sooner we can get going on the things God sent us here to do!

All or Nothing!

Post by Wendy Kauffman

These last few weeks have been a real test for me. We knew coming to Florida and starting an outreach to the poor and a church for people who don't like church would be the hardest thing we would ever do. We were not expecting an easy ride. We knew there would be challenges. That being said, there was a certain way I expected this to go and it has not gone that way at all. I did not expect to be here a year and not be able to get my belongings from Missouri. I did not expect to lose my car. I did not expect the day to day financial hardship it would be. I honestly don't know how the average person manages to survive here in South Florida. Living here is so expensive. So many of these things have really had me thinking if we are really doing the right thing by being here.

I was listening to a pastor the other day who was preparing his organization for their upcoming annual conference. He wanted to let the participants know what to expect. He opened up his Bible and read these verses from Matthew 13 that Jesus spoke:
44 “God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. 45-46 “Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.

I have read this scripture many times but in the last few weeks it keeps coming up. I know that Jesus came to this earth to save us because what He saw was great treasure. He was willing to do whatever it took to get that treasure, all the way up to giving his life for it.(for us).

Jesus also said this in Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

One thing is clear. We are very important to God! He gave up everything to be with us! Is it possible that He is asking the very same thing of us. Is it possible that in order for us to get the best things God has for us, we have to sell everything that is important to us to get it? I know that it may not mean that we have to sell our houses, our cars and all of our personal belongings, but is it possible that to get the life we really long for and desire means we have to walk away from what we hold valuable to US?

For many years I have put value on things that I know now don't matter. I know this may sound funny, but if you know me you know hard this is for me. A few months ago, I gave away my washer and dryer. I loved that washer and worked very hard to get it. Before we left Missouri we were trying to decide what we could part with. My washing machine was not one of those things. I left it in storage there with the full anticipation of being united with it again some day(I know your laughing right now but this is true). That did not happen! Instead of leaving it in storage and hoarding my washing machine for myself, I decided that my son and his new wife needed it for their house more. I am glad it is being used and that someone else can reap the benefits of it, but I was sad.

Here is the thing, after just a year of living here and everything that we have gone through and all that is still uncertain about us being here, I can't imagine us ever leaving. The people we have met, the many pearls out there who have no hope, who feel like they are living in desolation, those who have not been able to meet the man(Jesus) who loves them so much and wants to have a relationship with them so bad, the many people who just need someone to say, YOU ARE WORTH IT! For all of that we will keep fighting. For all of that we will say ALL OR NOTHING!

Please pray for us as we move forward. There are many needs. Listed below are some specific prayer requests that we have. If you follow what we are doing please pray for these things.

Quick settlement on our minivan. Right now we have a rental and that has been a blessing this week but in the next week or two we will have to buy a new car. Please pray for a fair settlement and that we can find the right car for the right price.

Pray that Jeff's business continues to be profitable. September was one of our worst months. He really needs to have a job that is flexible so that time can be spent in ministry.

Pray for our work van. Right now it needs new tires and some exhaust work. Pray that we can get these things done soon so the van runs optimally.

We are planning a trip back to Missouri the week of Thanksgiving for our son's wedding. Please pray that God provides the money for the trip and replaces work missed while we are gone.

Pray that Wendy can get more health screening events. This has been a very slow fall. Normally her busy time. Please pray that this picks up.

We are currently living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apt in Hollywood. It is very doable for us, but on November 9th, we have to be out of this apt. They have a smaller 2 bedroom but it will be very difficult. We had to give up our storage shed because of the cost. We really need the extra space. Pray that God provides the money for us to get into a house in the North Miami area. That is the eventual goal. Continue to pray for our housing needs.

Joel will be returning to Missouri in a week or two. Please pray for his safe travel and that God will bless him for all the time he has given. We will miss him.

Pray for the Saturday morning breakfast. Finances have kept us from having this these past few weeks. Pray that we can start this back up and that we can get the work for food program off the ground by the first of the year.

3 months ago, we had a large sum of money debited from our checking account at our doctor's office fraudulently. After spending the last few months trying to get the bank to take care of it, last week we found out that we are going to have to fight the doctor's office for it. Please pray they will release this money back to us and that it will happen very soon!

parched in a flood

Save me, O God,
for the floodwaters are up to my neck.

Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire;
I can’t find a foothold.
I am in deep water,
and the floods overwhelm me.

I am exhausted from crying for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes are swollen with weeping,
waiting for my God to help me.

Psalms 69:1-3

Sun Stand Still

Sun stand Still, Seems impossible, huh? Well it happened once, can it happen again?

We have been reading in the book of Joshua with our kids. Last night we read chapter 10. It is one of my favorite chapters in The Bible, simply because it shows just how much God cares about what we need! Joshua needed a big thing to happen to win the battle he was fighting. He basically needed time to stand still.

Joshua 12-13 The day God gave the Amorites up to Israel, Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel listening: “Stop, Sun, over Gibeon; Halt, Moon, over Aijalon Valley.” And Sun stopped, Moon stood stock still Until he defeated his enemies. (You can find this written in the Book of Jashar.) The sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky; just sat there all day.

God heard Joshua and that day provided for him exactly what he needed and when he needed it.

Our kids decided to use their logical minds to think through how making the sun stand still could happen. Talking through how impossible something like that would be. Yeah, in our human thinking it is impossible, but with God nothing is impossible.

We wake up everyday wondering how we are going to get to the next step in what we are doing. Wondering how we are going to make it happen. One of the hardest things for us as humans to grasp and remember is that WE can't do it. WE need help! Our human brains think that if we can't do it, then it can't be done. In this chapter in Joshua we see that if we put our trust in God and if we believe he is on our side and has our best interest at heart, the impossible can happen!

It has seemed lately that this is a sinking ship, there are days I sit around and feel sorry for myself waiting for the final blow to send us to the bottom.  After we were done reading last night we talked about the command God gave Joshua after taking over as leader of the Isrealites.

Joshua 1:
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

”What about you? Is there something going on in your life where you need a "Sun stand still" moment. You know God can make that happen?

Our new family motto:be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”