Merry Christmas from Restoration Farm

Share with Your Pastor

This was posted at Restoration Farm blog on December 16,2012

This message is for every pastor, missionary or wounded warrior that might have the opportunity to read it. I believe if you are reading this and you do not know who I am but my blog was shared with you by a friend then God is wanting you to read what I have written here.

 Let me share a little about who I am before I write what God wants me to. My name is Larry Clark and I own a small farm outside of Stover, MO. My wife, Kat, and I call it Restoration Farm because we believe God wants to use what we do here to restore lives, physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually. I have been ordained in the Association of Vineyard Churches and have gone through training called Vineyard Leadership Institute. I am not a professional counselor but I am a conduit of the Holy Spirit who is the one true Counselor.

What I believe God wants me to share in this post is that He already knows your secret. He loves you enough to place this message before you before your secret surfaces and you receive a more severe discipline. You see if you are a pastor, a missionary or a wounded warrior and you are chained by a life controlling habit (which almost always leads to sin) then He wants you to know He loves you and there is hope of breaking the chains.

Pride, Pornography, Greed, Self-reliance, Anger, Fear, Lust, Lying, Stealing, Gossip, Workaholic, lack of concern for your flock and other addictions are just a some of the things He already knows some of you have.

The reason for this post and for you reading it is: God already knows our sin, He loves us anyway, and He wants to forgive us, reconcile with us and restore us. The question is this: "will we respond before He has to discipline us?"

What is the next step? Find a safe place where Restoration not Judgement is the goal.

Kat and I believe Restoration Farm is such a place and we are here to serve you and we make the following promise we will do what we do best and let the Holy Spirit do the counseling.

For more information call, email or visit us.

Best regards

Larry
13269 Glencreek Drive
Stover, MO 65078
573 789 1224
lnclark1950@gmail.com

This was first posted at Restoration Farm blog

 

Today Paul and Tony the Ivy Bend Hand Guys finished the rest room in the barn. These guys have been great and have not only done a terrific job but saved us money in the process of getting the barn ready. Kat is finishing the painting of the meeting area of the barn this week.

These are two miles stones that mean we are ready for our first guests. The rest room means who ever is staying in the RV now has a private place to shower and the meeting room means we have a private place to sit and talk with people who are at the farm for restoration.

We left Louisburg, KS in March not knowing where we would eventually land. In May, two months to the day, we moved onto the farm. We built a chicken coop, had the barn built and had three hoops houses erected in the span of seven months.

 

For more on the Restoration Farm visit the blog.

His Peace was, Is and Will Be

My wife, Kat, and I have been attending a small church in Greenview, MO called Lake Hill Community Church and we have been blessed by the sermons each Sunday we have been able to attend. This post is a result of something God said to me during the sermon.

Kat and I started Restoration Farm to achieve our own personal dreams but also to do what we believe God has been preparing us for the past 60 or so years. I believe that our calling in life often has to do with the experiences, the training and the gifts that we have.

For me that calling is to be a servant and a comforter to the broken, the hurting and the rejected. Our pastor, Mike Knapp, said something that struck me and I will add a little to it. "Grace is God's personal influence on our lives. God's peace has come, is coming and will come through Jesus Christ." 

Within those two little sentences, which, may not be exactly what Mike said but it is what God said to me as he spoke are some very powerful truths. As followers of Jesus we need to constantly keep in mind that the peace Jesus brought to us is not something we have to work up, it is ours each and every moment of the day. All we have to do is tap into the influence of the Holy Spirit and it is there. We often do not experience it because we let the cares of this world drown it.

Here is where I add my part to what Mike said. Please remember it is me speaking not Mike. I believe that God can instantly heal the sick, that He could instantly mend the wounded and that He could forgive the sinner without they ever attending a church or have contact with another follower of Jesus. BUT He rarely does it that way. He most often uses people who have experienced healing, people who have experienced being mended and people who have overcome to get involve with those who need His touch. 

Often people who are experiencing turmoil find peace within a relationship with a follower of Jesus. It isn't because the follower is such a peaceful person but it is because of the influence of the Holy Spirit that was poured out in the life of the believer at baptism. Through a person who has been healed, mended or gifted God touches other human beings.

My last note I took was, "The unity of the body of Christ is more important than what we know or what we believe." Within the body of Christ are many denominations. Each has it's strengths and it's weaknesses. Not one has all of the truth or all of the gifts. The Kingdom of God works best when the body is unified and each person is doing their part to being focus on Jesus and this is often done by sharing how Jesus has influenced our lives.

Mike I apologize if I got off track but as I listened this is what I got from your message. I actually got a lot more than this but this is what I decided to share at this time.

Today we finished the outside of the chicken coop.




Chicken coop 7 24 12
by movingfd Like my life it is not perfect but I made the best of what I had. I am content with the results.

Life and the Chicken Coop

by movingfd

2012-07-22 16:27 Our Walnut Chicken Coop

For the past month my wife, Kat, my daughter, Missy, her friend, Cliff, our grandson, Spencer and our granddaughter, Dakota, have been building a Chicken Coop. The photo album above covers the work we have done so far.

The coop reminds me of life. You make great plans, begin to work towards your dreams and then you find that your plans have to change because of wrong measurements or because things did not fit.

The good news for followers of Jesus is He covers all of our faults, our wrong measurements and our broken dreams.

Hope you enjoy our coop. Oh by the way the wood on the outside is walnut. A very hard wood to work with.

Dream Job

My Dream Job

 In 2006 I was ordained in the Association of Vineyard Churches, USA and I have been exploring and waiting for God to reveal the ministry He was calling me to. I know that my ministry involves me using the gifts and talents God has given to me and experiences I have had in my life to serve others.

Over the past few years that ministry has become etched in my mind. It has to do with serving the church and serving the servants to the church.

I am moving forward to my dream job which looks like this:

     Working 6 to 8 hours 3-4 days for a small, growing church earning a modest salary.

         Working at least 2-3 days serving hurting, fallen or struggling servants.

The church position would be that of a small group/church needs pastor. I would perform these duties under the direct supervision and according the needs of the lead pastor. 

The servant server position would be art of our Restoration Farm and called Restoration Ministry. In this position I would act as a sounding board for the servant to discover the true problem, get healing for the wounds they have and to restore the individual in their relationship with Jesus.

Each of these positions would be ultimately under the supervision of the Holy Spirit. Whatever results that occur would be for God’s glory and brought about by an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

You can read more about my journey at http://therestorationfarm.blogspot.com

Freedom

As we in the United States of America celebrate freedom this July 4th I want to remind everyone where true freedom comes from.





I want to share a personal story about freedom. When my daughter turned 18 she moved out on her own. One evening she asked for me to come over because she needed to talk with me. We sat down at her kitchen table and she pulled out a stack of bills. She took her electric bill and as she waved it she talked about how much it was. She did the same with the phone bill, the gas bill and the cable bill. She the looked at me and said these words which I believe we should think about. "I did not realize how expensive freedom is."

Our freedoms in this country have been won at a high cost. Our freedom as Christians has been won at even a higher price.

What are we doing with our freedom?

A little over a year ago my wife, Kat, and I began to work on a dream we believe God gave us which we call Restoration Farm. As we planned and worked to make the dream come true we were often asked one of the following questions. What is restoration farm? And because we are in our early sixties the question "Why are you doing it?" To answer why we are doing the farm we always began with sharing what the farm is about. Kat and I believe the what leads to the why.


Restoration Farm is a dream that developed over the course of several years. It has its roots in a question that I asked Kat one day as we drove to a conference in Fort Collins, Colorado. We were driving along listening and discussing “The Dream Giver” by Bruce Wilkinson. At one point I turned to Kat and asked, “So what is your dream?” I was expecting her to say to follow me in my dream of doing an inner city ministry. What she shared was nowhere even close to that and in fact it was a dream not involving a ministry at all. I was shocked and disappointed. Let me explain why. You see I had been praying for God to show me through Kat what ministry He wanted me to do. I was not expecting the words that came out of her mouth. That was three years ago and at first I put what she said away and ignored it.

While counseling another couple about their dream of having an organic farm Kat shared how she would like to also have a farm like that. As she spoke I realized what she was sharing was similar to what she shared on the trip to Fort Collins. I decided to listen and help her reach her dream because within her dream my dream of ministry would be revealed.

That brings me to what Restoration Farm is. It is a farm that grows vegetables and fruits without using chemicals, a farm that raises a few goats for goats milk used to make soap and a farm raising egg laying chickens.

As a ministry the farm will provide an RV for pastors and missionaries to use for free. Some missionaries need to unwind after returning from the mission field and so we wanted to provide a place for them to do that. Some pastors like to get away from things for a few days to seek God’s direction in their ministry. The most important part of this ministry is providing a safe place for fallen or wounded servants to come and seek the healing that only God’s Holy Spirit can give. God has given me a heart for the down trodden, the broken, and the discouraged. Servants of Jesus also face what all of the rest of us face. Like us they need a safe place to go and find the healing for their wounds.

Because of Kat and I are both in our early sixties people almost always ask, “Why would you want to begin an organic farm at this point in your lives?” Our answer is we believe that we become the foods we eat. A diet consisting of fast, processed or fatty foods leads to many of the health problems our society faces today.

We believe the Restoration Farm is a dream God has placed in our hearts. If God gave us this dream then He has a reason for us to do it at this particular point in our lives.

We believe there should be a balance between eating raw foods such as vegetables and fruits and cooked foods such as meat. We have decided to grow chemical free vegetables and fruits to sell to people and to teach them how to prepare those vegetables and fruits for delicious meals. The secondary and maybe the most important reason for the farm is to provide a safe place for missionaries and pastors to come and spend a few days to seek God’s intervention in their lives.

We began our search near the Kansas City, Missouri area but it seemed the more we looked the farther God led us away from that area. We finally found a ten acre piece of land five miles outside of Stover, Missouri. We knew that God led us to this place the day we first walked the property.

For more information about our farming methods or for how the ministry to servants will work please email or give us a call.

Larry Clark
913-636-1862
lnclark1950@gmail.com
http://therestorationfarm.blogspot.com/

Blessings from Stover, Missouri

The past two months have been interesting and exciting. Kat and I sold our house, purchased a small 28' RV trailer and moved to Gravois Mills, MO at the end of March. I transferred to the Walmart in Versailles, MO and Kat was hired there as well.

It is amazing what happens when one goes from living in a comfortable home to a space similar to a sardine can. Every day was an adventure in not bumping into each other as we got out of bed, made breakfast and got dressed. You can either get annoyed with each other or find humor in each time you are bumped or have to climb on the couch to get out of the way of the other.

The pace here is a lot slower and I have found myself satisfied with driving 45 - 50 miles an hour and in no hurry to get to my destination.

Our house in Louisburg closed on March 16th and we closed on our farm north of Stover on May 14th. We moved out of our house in Louisburg on March 16th and moved down to Gravois Mills on March 23rd. We closed on the farm on May 16th and moved into the house May19th. The day we moved into the house was an interesting one. We rented a small U-Haul truck and a young guy we work with helped me load it. We pulled up to the house and I backed the truck up to the back deck. We opened the door and unloaded about five boxes. Then the young guy and I walked down to where we planned to put the barn. When we returned we found Kat sitting on the ground near the deck. She fell and fractured her left arm. We spent the rest of the day at the hospital. Later I returned and began unloading the truck by myself and after about an hour two of our neighbors drove down our driveway. They helped me finish unloading.

Kat is doing fine and her arm seems to be healing well.

When we moved one of our biggest concerns was finding a new church. I did some Internet searching and what appeared to be interesting churches were clear on the other side of the Lake of the Ozarks and would require a 60 to 80 mile round trip drive each Sunday. One that caught my interest had similar worship to what we were use to, was a fairly new church plant but it was a Free Methodist church. My experience with the Methodist church was not a positive one so I ruled it out. Our first Sunday here we went to a small  church and the message was all about the end times which was not an encouraging message. The next Sunday we decided to attend the Free Methodist church because I felt God telling me not to judge a church by it's name. What we found was a small church of about 50 people and the worship and message that day not only left us encouraged and refreshed but reminded us of Vineyard. As we drove back to our RV we both emotionally knew God had led us to our new church home. The church is named Lake Hills Community Church and it is our observation that the pastor and his wife have worked hard to create a safe environment where almost anyone can feel comfortable yet hear a challenging and encouraging biblical based message.

The farm is beginning to take shape. We had a small barn built which will serve as a barn for our goats and will have a full kitchen in it for Kat to make goat milk soap and cheese. We have placed the RV down by the pond but as of right now we do not have electric for it. We are going to purchase a small solar panel to get that taken care of. We will not be hooking it up to a septic tank since it is several hundred feet away from our main house. The barn has a full bath with a washer and dryer so that when we do have a visiting pastor or missionary they can have a place to do their laundry and get refreshed.

I have purchase several pieces of equipment for the farm which includes a riding mower, a walk behind tractor and a pull grader. Each of these items we were able to purchase at a 10 - 15% savings.

We look forward to all of the things we will do here such as building our hoop houses, planting crops, raising goats and chickens, but most of all to serving pastors and missionaries by providing a safe place for them to come and get refreshed and healed.

I want to end with this. The farm is not perfect but it is perfect for us. The land is a clay/rock mixture and the layout is not exactly flat. Kat and I were looking for property close to Kansas City but we feel God led us here. We aren't sure why but we do believe He not only has a blessing for us here but also a ministry. We also agree that the past two months with living in the RV and Kat breaking her arm have been two of the best months we have had in our marriage. I guess the message is it is amazing what God will do in your life when you follow the Holy Spirit's guide and are content with what God has provided.

You can follow our adventure at http://therestorationfarm.blogspot.com

So You Have Messed Up...As a Leader It Is My Job...

Someone who is reading this has messed up, maybe even big time. Messed up could be as simple as cussing the guy who cut you off on the freeway or as big as having had an affair. As a pastor and a leader in the church it is my job to point out to you something you might not be thinking about right now. More than likely if you messed up big time you are thinking about how to hide what you did. Sorry that won't work cause God already knows what you have done. So if hiding won't do what should you do?

Let's look at few scriptures to find out and I will wrap up with what I believe the role of a leader is in your situation.

Isaiah 43:1 (The Message)

1-4 But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: "Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end—Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That's how much you mean to me! That's how much I love you! I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

^16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

^19-22Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.

^23-24May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it!

1 John 1:9

^8-10If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

John 8:1-11

^1-2 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. ^3-6The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

^6-8Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

^9-10Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"

¹¹"No one, Master."

"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

I am not sure what you got out those scriptures but here is what I hope you will leave with. If you are a follower of Jesus God is not shocked by your fallen nature. Jesus is not only savior but He is your personal God. He has wiped away your past, current and future sins. He does not stand as your accuser. It is my role as a pastor to point you back to Christ and to be atoned with Him.

So here is what I think you should do Repent, that means turn around, then believe that Jesus has paid the price of your sins and then act as a free person not one in bondage.

Too simple and too good to be true but it is. So you have messed up now let God clean you up.

If this does not make sense to you leave me a way to send you a person email and explain further.

A Ministry of Reconcilation

Posted at Restoration Farm blog

We have been in the Ozarks for a week now and I think this photo sums up the transition very well.

We have left the comforts of friends, family and church community to new surroundings, new beginnings and a new comfort.

I am reading "Culture of Honor" by Danny Silk which I will use as the foundation for the Restoration Center.

The idea is to show people who have messed up who they are and whose they are. Our job is not to point out the sin in others but to shed light on what Jesus has done for them. As followers of Christ we have been given a Ministry of Reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:18, and we have been called to have self-control not other control, Galatians 5:22-23.

The Restoration Center will be a safe place where the Holy Spirit will reconcile wounded people.

New Adventure

My wife, Kat, and I have begun a new adventure. We have both quit working at our jobs in the city and traveled to a rural area and taken part-time jobs. We will be purchasing a small farm and set up a chemical free farm. We will grow vegetables, raised some chickens and goats. We will sell the vegetables, eggs and goats milk soap at Farmer's Markets.

You can read about this adventure at Restoration Farm blog. http://therestorationfarm.blogspot.com

REAL Men RoCK blog is about things men face and the solutions for those situations. Here is the situation with this new adventure. Kat and I both felt led by God to make this move. When we began working on this dream we had planned to move only about 60 miles from the city but here we are 150 miles out. We believe God led us here for a reason and to minister to hurting people using the skills and gifts God has given to us. Simply put we are going to have the opportunity to give away what we received the last 13 years in a safe church to others.

This move involved giving up something very valuable to me and cutting some security ties. The valuable thing was being closer to my daughter and grand kids. The security tie was full time jobs.

The solutions to both of these situations is found in trusting God. I trust that He will make moving 150 miles from my daughter and grandkids a small thing. I trust He will bless our income from the farm and that whatever security we gave up by moving will be replaced by the income from the farm.

The bottom line is we responded to what we believe God wanted us to do and we believe He will provide and protect us.

Restoration Farm

I have been writing this blog off and on for the last three years and now I am being called to do something new. You can check it out at Restoration Farm Blog.

I was ordained as a Pastor in 2006 and I have asking God to show me through my wife where He wanted me to serve. The Restoration Farm is that place and you can follow our adventure at http://therestorationfarm.blogspot.com.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

The United States Declaration of Independence, which was primarily drafted by Jefferson, was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The text of the second section of the Declaration of Independence reads:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I want you to think about a few things:

When you have government controlling all aspects of health care there will come a time when those in control of government will decide whose life is worth receiving life saving care.

When you have government providing for your every need there will come a time when those in control of government will decide what you deserve and need.

When you have government regulating all activities there will come a time when those in control of government will decide what is best for you to be happy.

The founding fathers of the United States wrote our constitution to protect us from government controlling our lives. They knew very well because of King George's example what it meant to have government trying to control every aspect of our lives.

They knew that government involvement in our every day lives would mean a reduction of LIFE, limitations on LIBERTY and a restriction on the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS.

I have a question for you: What part of your life, your liberty and your happiness are you willing to let government decide is best for you?

236 years ago the 13 colonies fought a war for freedom from a repressive government. 150 years ago a great war was fought in our country. It was a war all about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It was a war to hold this country together and resulted in the releasing of a people from slavery. Now 150 years later we are faced with a new war. It is a war for the heart and soul of free people. This coming fall an election will take place that could be the most important election ever held. In this election we will make the decision to either remain a free people or to become enslaved to a new and more powerful repressive government.

As a Christian my first pledge is to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but a part of that pledge is to seek justice and liberty for the repressed. I am not ashamed to admit I am a conservative and that I will vote for the conservative candidate. As a conservative I am for less government control and more personal responsibility.

The reality is no human government is or will be perfect. It will always be flawed by the fact that it is a government of fallen human beings. The only government offering true Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness is the one that our Creator is King of.

The purpose of this post is to get you to think about your own thoughts about Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Your idea may not be like mine but I hope you will take the time to really think how much you want another person deciding those three things for you.

What If the Mayans Are Right?

Actually the Mayans did not predict the end of the world. Their calendar just ends. What could that possibly mean?

It could mean the end of the world and if so as Christians we should rejoice for this would usher in the rule of Jesus over the entire world and God would eventually the coming of the New Jerusalem.

It could mean the Mayans just simply could not picture the world lasting this long. In that case most of us probably would agree that it is amazing that humans haven't wiped each other off the face of the earth along with all other life. For me it just proves God's plan is not accomplished yet.

Often we as Christians get all caught up in the speculation of how and when the end will come. We get so focused on pre-rapture, rapture, post-rapture stuff that we end up not doing what Jesus told us to be doing.

Matthew 28:19-20

The Message (MSG)

^18-20 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

We are not given the job of either convicting people of their sins by pointing them out to them. We are not commissioned to convert anyone to our way of life.

Simply put our job is to be an example of how Jesus lived and to teach that to others. As the seed we planted in their life begins to grow we are to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then we are to mentor them in the way of life Jesus taught.

Now I do not believe it is wrong for us to debate or discuss whether there is a rapture or not but I do think when we get so focused on it we take our eyes off of what God really wants us to be doing.

What are your thoughts?