Our New Friend Gao Yue aka Iris

We had the wonderful privilege of having Gao Yue from Chengdu, China with us from Sept. 1-23. Iris (the American name she picked for herself) is part of an exchange program through Jenks High School and Chengdu High School #7. Our daughter, Katie, will be going to China in March '08 to spend a little over 3 weeks, two of which will be spent with Iris.

I think that Iris was very impressed with the USA and especially Tulsa. We treated Iris to all kinds of "American" food while she was here. In China, the only American food they have is KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut. The picture at the upper right is our first Sunday dinner with Iris and her first chance to sample Italian food. Clockwise from the lower left: Me (Jim Rutherford), Sheila (my beautiful, wonderful, incredible, fantastic wife!), Houston (our son), Kyle Miller, Amy Gibson, Kory Miller (all three from our church youth group), Katie (our daughter), Iris and our friend, Tim McClung.

Iris got to meet the Mayor of Tulsa, visit Philbrook and Gilcrease Museums, see the famous "Blue Whale" on Route 66 in Catoosa, visit a working cattle ranch, go to a football game (Jenks v. Union, one of the great high school rivalries in America). You can follow this link to see many more pictures. http://shoutlife.com/profile-view.cfm?uid=48729
You'll have to sign-up for a ShoutLife account to view the pictures, but you should do that anyway. ShoutLife is a Christian Alternative to Facebook or MySpace. When you sign up, let me know by inviting me to be your "friend"!

Or, you can go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15565&l=b732b&id=526231179 to access the pictures on Facebook, even if you don't have an account.



Iris was asked to come to Wright Christian Academy to talk to our daughter Savannah's 5th grade class and this is a video of Iris rapping to the 4th and 5th grade class at WCA in response to their request to hear what Chinese sounds like.

Iris experienced many "firsts" while with us - Barbeque (no better place then Oklahoma for that!), Mexican food (Chimichungas were the favorite) and a lot of other new foods, wearing high heels and wearing a formal, she learned many new words (wait till you see the next video I'm going to post of Iris) and made many new friends.

The most important "first" that Iris experienced was attending Church for the first time! I'm not sure she understood much of the preaching, but she told Sheila after the service that "The music warmed my heart."I believe that the Holy Spirit was softening her heart through music to create a desire to better understand what Christianity was all about - or better yet, to understand the One who Christianity is all about! As Iris asked us many questions, we were able to share some of our beliefs. Iris and her family do not practice any Religion, as is the case with most in China. If they have learned anything about God, it is that he is an imaginary figure. The night before Iris left for home, our last gift to her was a Bible in Chinese. I hope that you'll agree with me in prayer that the Holy Spirit that warmed her heart through the music she heard in church will continue to create a desire in Iris to learn more about God, until not only He, but His wonderful Son, Jesus, are no longer imaginary figures, but have become REAL to Iris. And, that through Iris, He will become real to her family and her friends and to many more in China. Pray also, that, like the Ethiopian eunuch, as Iris has questions, that God will send someone to her with the answers that she might understand and believe!

We often speak of the power of the Gospel and the power of God's Word. Pray with us that Iris will experience that power as she reads God's Word for the first time!

I'm going to write more about Iris in a few days and will, of course, keep you posted as Katie goes to China in March.

Love in Christ Jesus!

Jim

Message "Living Above Lukewarmness"

The following in a link to a sermon I preached at South Heights Assembly of God in Sapulpa, Oklahoma a few weeks ago, when Pastor Bob Warman was gracious enough to let me preach for him.

http://www.we-stream.net/Video/LukewarmChristianity.swf

I want to thank my dear friend Duane Conatser (pictured here) for not only being the videographer who recorded the message, but for being the computer guru who set it up as streaming video.

Duane and his wife, Marilyn are two of my very favorite people! The were a vital part of SouthWest Christian Fellowship when Sheila and I were the pastors. They have been members of South Heights, where Sheila was called as the Worship Leader in October, for the last 4 years.

Duane is quite a guy. He is a self-taught computer genius. He is so good at what he does that that not only has he been employed for years by the Bayer Corporation to create training and instructional videos for some of the complex medical equipment they sell, but they have allowed him to work from his home in Tulsa, instead of moving to corporate headquarters in New York.

The exciting news is that Duane is retiring from the Bayer Corporation, but he is not retiring from computer work. Duane is gong to devote his skills and expertise to helping churches and ministries with websites, videos, etc. - including helping me update our 4Winds Ministries website! So, keep an eye out in about 30 days or so as that takes place. We'll be adding sermon video and audio to the site and some of Sheila's music and maybe even some praise and worship.

Again - Thanks, Duane - for the blessing you are to me!

And, it is my hope that the video Duane created of this message is a blessing to each of you who watch it!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Jim

The Most Powerful Video I've Ever Seen!

My cousin, Dudley Rutherford, is the Pastor of 10,000 member Shepherd of the Hills Church in the northern Los Angeles area. He is a very gifted preacher, as are many in my family, and this is truly one of America's great churches. Dudley also has a blog which I check out every few days and this video was on his blog. It is, as he described it, the most powerful video I've ever seen.

It reminded me of three great facts:

1. We are in a constant and fierce battle against evil every moment of every day. Even at those times when it does seem that we are under attack, Satan and his demons are still at work in ways he hopes we won't notice until it is too late.

We must never let down our guard and we must never give up the fight, for if we will but fight, we can be certain that Jesus will come to the rescue!

Paul reminds us "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:12-17

2. Even in those times when it seems that all is lost, in our darkest hour, when it seems as if we have gone too far to ever make it back - God loves us! And, He will make a way even when it seems there is no way! After all, He loved us so much that He gave even the life of His own Son on our behalf!

3. There is always hope that the prodigal will return! Maybe you have a loved one who has given in to the enemy, who has made wrong choices, who is at this moment running after sin. Take hope in the great fact that when they "come to their senses", that Father God is waiting with open arms to welcome them home and to restore them to Himself. Even though it may seem to our eyes that God is doing nothing now, He is moving in ways that we cannot see or understand and when the time comes that your loved one reaches out to Him, He will in strength and in power to break every stronghold and loose every chain that has kept His dear one from Him. Remember, too, that God loves the one you love even more than you love them.

Love in Christ Jesus!

Jim