REAL LIFE

 

Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord:  whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.  Romans 14:8

 

I’ve just returned from northern Kenya and a Marriage and Ministry conference that we were asked to conduct for pastors and their wives.  Having worked with this group of believers in the past, I looked forward to renewing acquaintances.

Sure enough, Moses was there.  I first met him years ago just as he was coming in from an evangelistic outreach.  I had heard about the persecution coming from animists and other religious groups.  To my astonishment, Moses and his friends were laughing and actually rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to be shot at and to suffer for Jesus, just as the early Church rejoiced in their hardships.  This trip, I asked Moses if he’d ever had the bullets removed from his leg.  With a big smile, he said they were too close to some nerves to risk removal.

And then I met Matthew, one of the praise musicians who comes from another African country.  As a security officer, he was ordered to shoot peaceful protesters and refused.  Government officers shot Matthew in the head, and he was taken to the hospital.  He lost sight in one eye but was on the way to recovery when he was warned that some men were en route to the hospital to finish him off.  Meanwhile, the military went to Matthew’s house and killed his wife.  Matthew escaped and took three of his children with him to Kenya.  Since coming to Kenya, two of Matthew’s children have been kidnapped by his country’s government, but Matthew continues to praise and trust God.

My friend Toch, director of the ministry, has been stoned and ambushed numbers of times—three times the pistol placed to his head didn’t fire.  Toch lives to talk about Jesus and to witness to his saving grace.  He and his band of merry disciples work throughout the north of Kenya bringing hope where there is despair and demonstrating Christ’s love and life through their words and deeds.

I see the Church as Christ meant it to be when I am with these Christian brothers and sisters—joyous and counting each day precious.  They understand the Kingdom of God and life in the Kingdom.  I watch members of warring tribes embrace and support one another when they share the same Father.  I follow these disciples into slum areas to share food and Bible stories with prostitutes as they walk together bringing new life.

I stand humbly listening to their stories and cannot help comparing them with my own privileged, secure, comfortable life.  And I am overwhelmed that they find something in me that they ask me to share with them.  You see, our circumstances may be different, but we are children of the same Father having different mothers.

I always return knowing that real life is Christ, and real living is in him.

 

Father, be with my Kenyan friends who count their lives as nothing for the sake of the Gospel.  Keep them safe as they go.  Keep me faithful in my circumstances knowing always that I, too, bear your name.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

BLESSING THE CHILDREN

And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”  Mark 9:36

 

 

SHE BELIEVED IN ME.  She saw something that I couldn’t recognize, and she acted on it.  I was seven or eight years old, and she invited me to be her assistant teacher for our primary Sunday school class.  Because she asked me, I shyly accepted.  And so, Sis. Reed (that’s what we called older ladies in our church) provided a platform by which I would discover and hone my gift for teaching.  After all these years, I’m still at it.

Then there was “Sheltie,” an older man in our small church who mentored all the youngsters and loved each of us.  He, too, encouraged me to serve and even took me with him to visit the high school class he taught.  He believed in me, and I knew he cared about me.  I think all of us in the younger crowd felt the same way.

My husband had a long and distinguished career in law and on the bench and liked to talk about a teacher in high school who challenged him at the end of a semester saying, “Young man, you can make something out of yourself.”  Being a first-generation American, not many folks had taken time to encourage his talents.  Peter listened to her, set his course, and never looked back.

Some of us have children; some even have grandchildren; and we all have young lives around us who are looking to us to believe in them and encourage their wildest dreams.  We can become mentors or introduce them to those who will, and we can provide resources and experiences that will stir up the gifts God has placed in them.  The greatest investment we can make is in shaping and influencing a life to fill that spot reserved for him or her in the Kingdom.

Here’s a whole summer ahead of us.  What little one can we spend time with… read to… teach in VBS… affirm?   (I really wish I could thank Sheltie and Sis. Reed for the gifts of themselves.  Some day I plan to.)

 

 

Father, open our eyes to see the treasure of the little lives around us, and use us to bless them in your name.  AMEN.

GIFTS

…Unto one he gave five…, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability…

 

One day a rather humorless CEO called in his three top managers to discuss his upcoming trip.  As they sat around the massive mahogany table sipping French pressed coffee, the CEO began barking his instructions.  To the first man, he said, “I’m having our financial officer direct deposit $5,500,000* into your account.”  To the second woman, he said, “The financial officer is depositing $4,500,000* into your account.”  And to the last person, he said, “You will be receiving $1,150,000*.”  He continued, “I’ll be out of the country for quite a while, and you are to invest these funds. When I return, I expect all the funds with a profit.  Is that clear?”

Each of the managers contemplated how best to follow their CEO’s directive.  The first two were more comfortable than the last.  Finally, the day of reckoning came.  The boss came home and called the managers back to his office.  Again, they were all seated around the mahogany table drinking their specialty coffee when the CEO began, “Now tell me what you did with my money.”  The first manager said, “I put it all in equities and made five times as much.”  “Great work,” the boss replied.  The second manager replied, “I invested your funds in bonds, and I realized twice as much as you gave me.”  “Good thinking,” said the CEO.  The third nervous manager said, “I knew you were a hard-nosed financier, so I took the money and locked it up in my desk.”  At that, the boss was infuriated.  “You knew that I’m a shrewd investor and yet you took the money entrusted to you and locked it in your drawer?  For all this time?  Go get that money and divide it between your two co-workers.  YOU’RE FIRED.”

Of course, this is a contemporary re-telling of Jesus’ Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25.  It is not instruction for how to handle money but rather how to handle the gifts that each of us is given.  (For lists of those gifts, see Romans 12:3-9, Ephesians 4:2-12, I Corinthians 12:1-31, I Peter 4:10, 11.)  The gifts are given to us to bless and strengthen the Church, those brothers and sisters we have in the Lord.  And while we’re at it, they can be used to attract what one writer calls pre-Christians.  In false modesty, don’t downplay and underestimate what God has placed within you.  Your gift may be something that not everyone will see or notice or it may be something that must be done with an audience.  Whatever it is, you are unequivocally told to use it.  You may never know how significantly your talent touches another life, but obedience is the mandate.  If you choose not to exercise, or to hide, your gift, the whole Church (not the institution, but the Body) will suffer.

Take time this week to prayerfully determine what special gift God has placed in you.  Take it out of the drawer and dust it off.  Then begin to use it for God’s glory, the blessing of his people, and your gratification.  Not my words—God’s.

 

Father, in all honesty, you don’t need us, but you’ve chosen to include us in your great Church.  Embolden us to present to you those gifts you’ve given us to use as you will.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

 

 

*These funds are conversions based on the average U.S. manager’s annual salary in multiples of 1, 2, and 5.

REMINDERS EVERYWHERE

…I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.  II Peter 1:12

 

Our family has a fun tradition that was begun in 1977 with the release of the first Star Wars movie.  My parents and our young family sat in a little line in the theater to watch the parade of fantastic characters march across the screen depicting their amazing struggle to defeat the evil empire.  And as the epic continued, the children got older, married, had children, and we still went together to sit in our extended line for the anticipated entertainment.  But now my parents are no longer with us.

With the newest release this year, I’ve had to review some old DVD’s to remind myself of what occurred in previous episodes.  In doing so, I’ve picked up a few kernels of wisdom.  One of the characters tells a youngster, “When you give in to fear or hatred or anger, you go to the Dark Side.”   And then there is always the admonition to “Use the Force.”  As the trainee learns to listen and use the Force, he becomes more powerful and does astonishing things.

I imagine John of the Revelation would readily understand the images and messages from Star Wars.  After all, he used images and symbols to portray important truths and warnings for the Church of his day (and the future) including the cosmic battle between good and evil.  And John also warns against being fearful (Rev. 21:8), something we tend to dismiss as a little thing.  In actuality, when fear isn’t a natural response to danger, it’s a state of distrusting God.  Then John tells us in I John 2:9 that if we hate a brother or sister, we walk in darkness.  And Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:22) that those who are angry with a brother or sister will be in danger of judgment.  I expect we can all agree that fear, hatred, and anger does pull a person to the dark side.

But the reminder I especially like are the words that were repeated over and over by the Jedi warrior, “Use the Force.” In our constant battle against our eternal enemy, how often do we rely on ourselves rather than remembering that greater is he that is within us than he that is in the world (I John 4:4)?  As we decrease, the Spirit of God grows stronger and more powerful in us and can do more than we can ask or think (Eph. 3:20).  We really are more than conquerors through him who loved us as we rely on the power of God within us.

Lest you scoff that my little jaunt into the Star Wars world is a bit trite, I recall that on a visit (the 4^th day of May) to one of our esteemed seminaries, which shall remain nameless, I entered the chapel only to see a white Storm Trooper helmet on the head of one of the carved saints in a niche high above the chancel with the notation, “May the Fourth be with you.”  I love seeing God’s reminders everywhere.

 

Father, thank you for the gift of humor and for your principles that are all around us.  Give us eyes to see, hearts to obey… In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

MY TIME

My times are in your hands.  Psalm 31:15  (NIV).

 

My graduate advisor was a time management consultant.  He gave us so many helpful ideas about time, but there are two things that really stuck with me.  First, time is an equal opportunity commodity—everyone has exactly the same amount, no more and no less.  Secondly, we cannot manage time; we manage ourselves in relation to time.  So these two little truisms pull the rug out from under our excuses for procrastination:  I just didn’t have time or I’ll do it when I find the time.  As if someone else has more time than we do…

Typically in our church year, we are called to look at those resources of which we are stewards:  time, talent, treasure.  Curiously, we seem to understand that talent and treasure are God’s, and we are his stewards.  But when it comes to time, we take ownership and thoughtlessly speak of my time and parse the way we expend this trust.  We guard our time and dare anyone to impose on it.  Even God should not presume to infringe of this personal possession.

So we spend our time indulging ourselves in whatever manner we choose, but it really doesn’t matter how innocuous the activity if it diminishes God’s calling on our lives.  We can spend hours in mindless personal entertainment (as opposed to re-creation) and feel empty and restless rather than refreshed and satisfied.  Or we can daily, prayerfully ask God how we should expend the moments and hours he’s given us for his purposes.  While we all have the same amount of time allotted, that time is finite and can joyously be invested in his Kingdom for eternal purposes.

What if we were to dedicate time to God as intentionally as we give him the talent and treasure he’s entrusted to us?  Would we stop guarding it and daring people to infringe upon it?  Might we find, just as treasure tends to be, that it is multiplied even as we freely commit it to our heavenly Father to use as he pleases?

I think it’s worth a try.

 

Father, at the start of this day, we commit these next twenty-four hours to you to use for your glory.  Give us the discipline to embrace and prioritize our responsibilities, enjoy the leisure you provide, and not waste a single minute of your precious gift. In all that we do, help us to glorify you.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

THE CHURCH LIVES ON

…on this rock^[a] I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  Matthew 16:18  (ESV)

 

The Church is alive and well.  That’s what I continue to discover in my travels to places of dire poverty; in areas of severe persecution; and where governments are highly restrictive.

On my latest visit to see the Church in action, I observed a country that has literally been shut off from the world.  They’ve had few outside resources and have felt themselves isolated.  Even their lines of communication have been filtered coming and going.  So what’s happened to the Church in the meantime?  The people have learned to lean on God and each other.  They have reached inside to develop their God-given creativity and have trusted God rather than organizations and institutions to provide their needs.  And they’ve found God faithful.

In a number of places hurricanes have blown down the buildings we mistakenly call the Church.  Parishioners have continued to meet in shelters, in homes, in any place they could gather to worship and to praise the One who continues to bring salvation.  And the Church has survived even when the buildings were gone.

In another place the pastor was accused of a heinous crime, which was later proved untrue.  The shame was so great, he one day poured fuel over his body, stood in front of the altar, and lit himself afire.  He died singing a hymn.  Twelve young girls surrounded the altar and pledged never to let the Church die.  Then they opened the doors and invited everyone in for a celebration of the pastor’s life and the life of the Church.  More than eighty years later, the few remaining of those “girls” continue to fan the flames of the Church.

In another country where a revolutionary government fought to obliterate the Church, instead of disappearing, the Church went underground.  Bibles were confiscated, believers were tortured and imprisoned, and buildings were demolished.  Today in that same country, Bibles are freely distributed as the Church has come out of hiding, and where people freely worship the One who established the Church.

Jesus’ promise is true.  Hell and all its powers cannot destroy the Church.  Let us pray for all those who trust and who gather secretly today so that his Word does not fail.

 

Father, how humbled we are to see the faithfulness of your people, our brothers and sisters around the world, who serve you and who follow you whatever the cost.  Encourage and be with them now and forever.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

MEMORIAL DAY

 

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  Psalm 91:2  (KJV)

After much cajoling, my brother Jack reluctantly allowed me to polish his boots.  His ROTC unit was having a major inspection the next day, and he wanted to look his best.  I was confident a girl could make his shoes shine as much as any guy, so I spent the evening brushing and rubbing and buffing until the boots looked almost new.  And it worked.  I was commended for my efforts.

Not long after that, America became engaged in a brutal war in Viet Nam, and the draft was re-instituted.  Jack joined early on, following the tradition of his uncles on both sides of the family during World War II.  As he tends to do with all his undertakings, Jack focused on being prepared for battle in a place that had only recently become part of our daily news.  He graduated from basic training with top honors, and when he finished OCS as the top graduate, my father took his first airplane ride to see his son receive the commanding general’s award.

Deployment soon followed.  Jack had trained to be a Special Forces soldier, so we knew he’d be living in harm’s way throughout his assignment.  That’s when our mother, Momo, told us about the soldiers from her church.  With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, men all over the country (and from her small community church) formed lines to join the military.  (Those were the days of high patriotism:  nations were allied to preserve freedom; women went to work to fill the vacuum here in industry; rationing was instituted; and people prayed.)  Just before the young men deployed, their pastor called them all forward.  The congregation gathered ‘round, and they all prayed the 91^st Psalm, the Soldier’s Psalm.  Every day during their absence in far-flung places around the world, the congregation prayed.  And every one of those boys returned.

The Sunday before Jack was to leave, our pastor called him forward, and the congregation prayed over him.  And our family prayed Psalm 91 for him every day:

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,

and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:

his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;

nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand;

but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,

even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:

the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:

I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

This weekend I sent a long email to Jack that he shared with his buddies from Viet Nam days to thank him and them for their selfless service to our beloved country and to thank God for protecting and keeping them safe.  Jack continues to pray the 91^st Psalm for himself and his two boys who are now deployed.  God has blessed us with his mercy.

Father, your loving care is overwhelming.  We’ve all been through danger and difficulties but none like our military men and women.  Thank you for people who are willing to make the utmost sacrifice to keep us free, and keep them in your love .  God bless America.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.