Good morning! Well, not sure how long this will last but I think I am going to take a renewed stab at this blogging thing. After taking, oh, I don't know ... pretty much about three years off, I figure I should be rested up.

I have been doing some reading through Isaiah recently. I usually try to read the whole book of Isaiah every week but I had missed a few weeks. (yeah ... right)

Anyway, what's pulled me back to it is a process we have been going through at work. We're trying to figure out what it means to be a "Kingdom Business" -- that is a business that realizes and consistently lives into the unique opportunity that God gives it to carry the message of His redemptive healing and restoring love and grace into the world.

Trying to live into that is pretty big stuff. I am sure we will mess up plenty but one way to help us strive and do our best is to keep this goal front and center. And, for me, one way to do that is to change the name of the company. Seriously. So, we have been considering options and one we're giving serious consideration to is Isaiah Industries. Our various division names would remain as they have been but they would be identified as being part of Isaiah Industries.

Why Isaiah? Because I love the message of restoration and hope that comes out particularly in the second half of his prophecy. As I look back on our company, without going into a lot of stories, restoration has been a common theme. Sometimes we miss opportunities but we consistently want to have a positive and healing impact on all whom we encounter. I think that it is part of the ongoing unique calling that God has placed on us as an organization.

In my recent look at Isaiah, I was stopped this morning by Chapter 51 ... a portion of which is below.

For me, Chapter 51 was a great reminder that no matter how small or weak we may feel as part of the body of Christ ... no matter how overwhelming this world may seem ... God is always faithful to us and we have His dynamite power. The God who parted the Red Sea ... the God who restores lives and even entire nations ... is the same God we worship today. His power, His faithfulness, His promise ... they are all unfailing and unchanging.

When we remind ourselves of this, does it not put a different perspective on our calling, our potential, and our responsibility?

1 "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the LORD :
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2 look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many.

3 The LORD will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

4 "Listen to me, my people;
hear me, my nation:
The law will go out from me;
my justice will become a light to the nations.

5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation is on the way,
and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
and wait in hope for my arm.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail.

7 "Hear me, you who know what is right,
you people who have my law in your hearts:
Do not fear the reproach of men
or be terrified by their insults.

8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;
the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
my salvation through all generations."

9 Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
who pierced that monster through?

10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
so that the redeemed might cross over?

11 The ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12 "I, even I, am he who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear mortal men,
the sons of men, who are but grass,

13 that you forget the LORD your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?

14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;
they will not die in their dungeon,
nor will they lack bread.

15 For I am the LORD your God,
who churns up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name.

16 I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you with the shadow of my hand—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,
and who say to Zion, 'You are my people.' "