What’s the source?  In Kyle Idleman’s book “Gods At War”, Kyle gives a scenario that I would like to share with you.  He says… “Imagine you're out for a hike on a beautiful spring day.  You’re delighted to hear running water, and sure enough, you come to a creek.  But there’s something wrong with this picture.      
    
You notice that someone has dumped trash into the stream, an ugly sight.  There is refuse floating on the water.  Judging by some of the empty soda cans, the trash has been there awhile.  And there is an ugly film on the top of the water. 
    
You can’t just leave the scene as you found it because it would bother your conscience.  So you stoop down and begin gathering the trash.  It actually takes several hours before you can begin to see a difference; it’s amazing how much junk is there.  You sit back, rest for a moment, and realize you’ll have to keep returning each day until the site is truly clean.  Well, that’s okay; it’s a project you’ll be proud of... except that when you come back the next day, it’s as if your work has been undone.
    
In fact there’s more trash than before.  Somehow the garbage bred overnight.  You think about the unlikelihood of someone coming to this very spot to dump their garbage in the few hours while you were away, and you realize that something smells fishy, so to speak.  So you begin to follow the creek upstream. 
    
Sure enough, you come to a garbage dump that has been there for years.  It’s emptying into the passing creek.  Your cleaning job only opened up a gap for more stuff to settle.  You could go and clean every day, but it would just be like pushing a boulder up the hill and watching it roll back down again.  Which is surprisingly fun, but, really, what’s the point?”
   
Cleaning up a mess is something we have to do almost every day.  Whether or not the mess is big or small, it still needs to be dealt with, but knowing the source is the key.  If you know where the mess or difficulty is coming from then you will have a greater chance of fixing and cleaning it up.  If not, you will continue to deal with it for as long as you choose. 
    
We all have had, or do have, garbage hidden away in our hearts.  We try to fix what people see but we can’t fix it without going to the source.  We have to find the source of that garbage and clean it up there, so we can stop it from flowing downhill toward others.  But can we fix it on our own?
    
A lot of times we like to think that we can keep it hidden and no one will know.  I can handle it…I don’t need help…It’s not that big of a deal...  Whatever excuse we come up with, garbage is garbage and we all have it. It all must be cleaned up in order to go to heaven. 
    
Jesus came and gave His life to pay for that garbage that has piled up in our lives.  He offers to not just clean up the little mess, but to clean it up at the source.  To clean it all, once and for all.
    
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”  So what kind of river is flowing out of your heart?  Is it one full of trash?  Or is it one full of life?  What’s your source?
    
Derrick <><

Dear One’s,
     What a crazy December it was. What amazed me was the ways in which the white envelope offering touched lives.  While  I did not include the complete details in this article many of the descriptions of the lives of those you touched brought tears to my eyes.  Following is a list of things done that were reported to me from white envelope deeds.  I know of many others that used this time to touch lives that were not reported back to me.  I believe that your generosity to others in the name of Jesus will impact people for eternity.

• Coats for a family
• Delivered groceries and two prepared meals for a family that had sick children
• Financially helping a family member
• Helped a guy with a flat tire, which inspired the folks at a store to place the tire on a different rim and inflate it.  At no charge, saying Merry Christmas
• Donations to Purdue Christian Campus house
• Hanging Rock Christian Assembly
• Northwest Haiti Christian Mission
• Food Pantry
• Pancreatic Cancer Research
• Gave a gift card to a neighbor
• Gave money to a person who is battling cancer
• Gave money to a neighbor along with a letter expressing our concern for their soul.
• Purchased sports equipment for a student
• Monetary gift to a large family
• Payed for vehicle repairs for a family
• Gave money to a missionary family
• Blessed a friend on a fixed income with some money
• Provided propane for a family in need
• Purchased 40 ten dollar gift cards and gave them out at work
• IDES  (International Disaster Emergency Services)
• Money to help with medical expense
• Money to a lonely neighbor
• Payed someone’s car insurance
• Paid someone’s electric bill
• Gift card for a neighbor
• Paid for snow removal for a family
• Money to a widow
• Money to four friends
• Money for a young girl whose mother had died
• Money for clothes for a family in need
• Alkire family and their move to Arizona to work at American Indian Christian Mission.
• Christmas shoe box
• Gift to Mountain Mission
• Larger tip for waitress
• Gift bag for new neighbor

 
These are the type of things that act out our fulfilling the “love people” part of our mission statement.  Looking forward to next year’s opportunity! 

       Love,
​       Gary Johnson
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