In Its Time

"... in its time I will do this swiftly." This passage below emphasizes that there is a time and place in history when God acts. He is rarely early, but never late. He's an on-time God. 

But when it becomes time for God to act, He acts swiftly and decisively. His purposes will not be thwarted.

Remember the other "timing" verses? “... And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14; “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.” - John 7:6; “My hour has not yet come.”- John 2:4; “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, ...” - Galatians 4:4; “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” - Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

God will act in his time, but when He acts it will be swiftly. 

“Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.”

Isaiah 60:21-22 NIV

Don't Get Immunized ... Spiritually

Immunizations are suddenly newsworthy again. Should we immunize our kids or not? Regardless of your answer, immunizations have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Here's how it works. You inject a physically healthy person with a weakened or dead virus. The person's body "thinks" it's a carrier of the real infection and produces antibodies. The antibodies then multiply and usually stick around long enough to fight the real virus, if it ever shows up. Instead of being a carrier, the person has become inoculated from the actual virus.

Spiritually, it usually works backward; We become inoculated from the real life God wants us to live. One common spiritual immunization is called "Giving Back".

Giving back sounds like a wonderfully biblical idea. But it's not. It inoculates us from Godly giving.

The phrase, "giving back", is fairly new and reveals a foreign idea that has invaded our thinking. Giving back almost always means giving to our community, because "the community has provided so much." Some even suggest that the community made us who we are. They think that everything we have, every opportunity we have been given, is because someone in the community gave it to us.

In a subtle way, we're worshiping our community by giving an offering to the source of our blessings. But what does scripture say?

James writes, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." Every gift!

Every good and perfect gift that we receive has its origin in God. It is God that has provided the ability to generate wealth, and it's God who has provided finances through our employer. Our children are gifts from God. Your spouse is a gift from God. Every good and perfect gift.

That also means that every good and perfect gift that we give someone else, doesn't come from us…it comes from God and flows through us. We are not the source of the gift. We might have given the gift, but God is the original source.

"Giving back" assumes that someone or something other than God is the source of all of the good things in our life. And it also assumes that there is a limit on the amount of "good stuff." There's only so much "good stuff"; someone gave some to us and we are obligated to give it back, spread it around.

Giving back is also bad theology because we start thinking that giving back is enough. But even giving to God, as a way to pay Him back, is off target.

Giving is an essential element of God's character. The Bible has over a thousand references to giving or tithing. It's such a central theme that many believe the church is only concerned about money. But here's the truth: God doesn't need our money.

Paul told the church in Colossae that, through Christ "all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

God doesn't need our money, but He desperately wants us to be people who give generously, extravagantly! When we truly understand that there is so much more than a fixed amount of "good stuff", that there is no limit, when we understand that "in him we live and move and have our being," then giving will come naturally.

Jesus said, "Whoever believes in me…streams of living water will flow from within him." One of the passages in Ezekiel He was quoting from reads, "…so where the river flows everything will live … Fruit trees of all kinds will grow…Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

Instead of simply giving back, God wants us to be "streams of living water" that transport all of the blessings to our neighbors; blessings that constantly flow from Him. They're new every morning!

Don't just "give back"; be a carrier of unlimited blessings from the source of every good and perfect gift! Maybe it will start an epidemic!

Questions or comments? CurtisFerrell1962@gmail.com


You can find me on FACEBOOK at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719). Here's a link to my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/) Thanks for reading!

Life Is Short

Psalm 103:15-18 - As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;  the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord 's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children —  with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Life on this earth is short.

Tuesday my wife and I drove south on State Route 3. I can't remember if we stopped at SR 3 and Trojan Lane. We were talking about the jump in the price of gas and how we should fill up while we could still find it cheap - not really cheap but cheaper.

While we were pumping gas at I-70 we saw a police car heading north with its lights on.

It seems that just minutes after we safely made it through that intersection in New Castle, another husband and wife did not.

Life on this earth is short.

On March 31^st my father had a massive hemorrhagic stroke - a bleeding in the brain. I flew to Florida and was with my parents and my two brothers for several days. Dad was in a comatose state, but responded occasionally to touch or conversation.

Hospice was called in, and we soon meet with a counselor. She suggested that we talk with dad because he might still be able to hear. She suggested we tell him four things.

Tell him you love him.

Tell him you will take care of your mom.

Tell him you forgive him for anything he has done to hurt you.

Ask him to forgive you for anything you have done to hurt him.

My brothers and I looked around at each other. We could do two of those things, but there was nothing left to be forgiven. My father had left a legacy of settling accounts quickly. Where forgiveness needed to be sought or offered, it had already happened.

Dad died on April 6^th, but what an incredible gift he left for us - a family with a clean slate; nothing left unsaid.

Life on this earth is short.

There are those today who have things to say - important things - but there is no longer anyone to hear them. There are those who have forgiveness to offer, but there is no one left to receive it.

In Ephesians 4:26 The Apostle Paul writes, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." And Jesus said in His sermon on the mount, "Settle matters quickly . . ."

Life on this earth is short.

My wife and I could have been the couple that people are grieving today. Maybe you and your spouse also went through that same intersection a little after 8:00 pm on Tuesday. The question that screams to be answered is, "Why was it them and not us?" But "why" questions are rarely answered to anyone's satisfaction.

The real question is, "What do I have to say that is still unsaid?" Maybe today is the day to settle accounts. Maybe today is the day to lay a solid foundation for a wonderful legacy.

I don't have answers to the 'why' questions, but there are some things I do know and they are true no matter what happens.

God loves us. And He has shown us how to live, because . . .

Life is short, but God is good.

You can find me on FACEBOOK at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719). Here's a link to my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/) Thanks for reading!

Love Wins by Rob Bell - A Review

Much of the controversy surrounding "Love Wins" by Rob Bell has been created by individuals who issued judgment on a book they had never read. The publisher Harper One and Bell, very skillfully crafted a marketing plan that would generate premature responses from the established church. After reading "Love Wins" it appears that Rob Bell has done what he always does; he walks up to the line between heresy and orthodoxy and, like a toddler, touches the line and looks back at the "adults" to see what kind of response he can generate.

In my opinion, he hasn't crossed the line, but he has asked several probing and uncomfortable questions that many Christians are afraid to ask and few are able to answer.

This is Rob Bell's standard operating procedure - he asks open-ended questions and just lets them hang there for us to wrestle with. I believe that wrestling with these questions can make us better Christians, but some will be left unanswered in this life.

Here are a few passages of "Love Wins" that I question or challenge.

On pages 50-51 Bell suggests that "heaven has the potential to be a kind of starting over." As proof he observes that spiritual transformation doesn't happen overnight. "Our heart, our character, our desires, our longings - those things take time." These suggestions mirror re-incarnation where, if you don't get it right the first time, you get a second chance in a new life. But he never says that heaven IS "a kind of starting over", it just has the potential; Bell suggests that it's possible.

On page 56 he says that people who die are "in heaven, but without a body". As proof he states that "those currently 'in heaven' are not, obviously, here. And so they're with God, but without a body." But his proof assumes that God and eternity are constrained by time. What happens if, when we leave our earthly body, we also leave time as we know it? We could receive our resurrected body "instantly" being outside of time, while time on earth continues for years or centuries to come until the resurrection.

On several occasions, including page 58, Bell asserts that there is a "future coming together of heaven and earth in what [Jesus] and his contemporaries called life in the age to come." As I read scripture there will be a new heaven and a new earth, but I don't read where they come together and become one.

Bell's "social justice" leanings come out on page 75, where he asserts that the rich man in Hades wants the beggar Lazarus to serve him. The suggestion is that social injustice is one reason the rich man is confined to Hades. I don't find this class-warfare in the original story. The story Jesus told does include individuals from two classes, but nowhere does it suggest that the differences in class determined their destination. Is it possible this interpretation has crept up because of a false guilt that many Americans feel, because we've been so blessed?

On page 81 he asserts that Jesus' warnings on the "coming wrath" were for his contemporaries only and not for us. He believes that these warnings dealt with the political uprising that the Romans crushed in 66 _CE. I'm not sure you can defend that position adequately. And haven't we seen that biblical prophecy can speak to several, even all, generations?

In my opinion, the most glaring scriptural omission to the book would have clearly challenged a section on page 108. In this paragraph Bell says that "many have refused to accept the scenario in which somebody is pounding on the door, apologizing, repenting, and asking God to be let in, only to hear God say through the keyhole: 'Door's locked. Sorry.'" However, this is the exact picture that Jesus himself paints in Matthew 24:36-39, and Luke 17:26-27, and again this image is used in 2 Peter 2:4-10.

On page 115 he assumes that because the gates of heaven are never shut, "people are free to come and go" from heaven. This assumption takes us where scripture does not go. Just because the gates are never shut, does not mean that people can come and go. It might mean that gates are defensive and after the judgment heaven's enemies will be defeated, so there will be no need for defensive measures. Or it could mean something entirely different; or it could mean nothing at all expect that the gates are not shut.

Pages 128-129 deal with the politically incorrect topic of talking about the "blood of Christ" in today's cultural setting. Bell states that, "what the first Christians did was look around them and put the Jesus story in language their listeners would understand" - namely blood sacrifice. However the first Christians did not have that option; God ordained the time and place for Christ's sacrifice. God established the sacrificial system, and the tabernacle/temple design. God used all of Hebrew history to foreshadow the crucifixion of Christ. It was God's story. If He wanted another analogy used, He would have picked another time and another method.

On page 145 I have a minor quibble with Bell. He states that the "energy that gives life to everything is called the Word of God." While it is a minor point, in the second chapter of Genesis and other places in scripture, the Word of God created all things, the Breath of God made man a living being.

Page 173 contains the assertion that if we die outside of a belief in, or relationship with, God, that God essentially becomes "a fundamentally different being." Is it possible that God does not change, and that we simply did not understand the full nature and character of God?

Finally, this statement from page 182 troubles me: " . . . we shape our God, and then our God shapes us." Maybe it is simply semantics but if we shape our God then He is no god at all. We may not ever fully understand God (how can a finite mind understand the infinite creator of the universe?), but the more we discover the true nature and character of God, the more we can be conformed to His likeness. If we shape our God, we will have little to change in our own lives.

Bottom line: Rob Bell does what he always does. He stretches the envelope; he asks tough questions that make us uncomfortable. Most of his questions he leaves unanswered. However, this kind of questioning can be beneficial to the Christian. If there is anything in my faith-life that can be shaken, it should be firmed up or removed altogether. With brothers like Rob Bell we will more frequently find those shakable areas. Once identified, we have the choice to become more like Christ or to walk away from Christ altogether. Do we want to be safe but shakable, or more firm in our faith because we have struggled with tough questions? The choice is ours . . . choose well.

You can find me on FACEBOOK at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719). Here's a link to my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/) Thanks for reading!

We Are Called To Reason

Isaiah 1:18 reads: "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

God designed us to use reason to know and establish truth in our culture. And although we enter the 'house of salvation' only by active faith in the risen Christ, God does not require us to check our brains at the door.

   

Peter tells the church, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." We should be prepared to reason with people regarding the truth of our claims about Christ.

The Bereans were applauded for using scripture to determine that what Paul was preaching was true. Later, Paul used reason to present the gospel to the Greek culture on Mars Hill.

The Founders of the United States believed in reason as well. If everyone has freedom of speech and freedom of conscience, they believed we could discuss, debate, and give reasons for what we thought to be true. And they believed that truth would be discovered if we reasoned well.

This is why they established the "free exercise" of religion, even though they were almost exclusively from Christian denominations. They were confident that when people diligently seek religious truth and are free to reason, the truth will always be found.

However, over many years, the North American culture has abandoned the idea of knowable, absolute truth. Many believe absolute truth does not exist, and even if it does - it cannot be known. As a result we have lost the art of reasoning. The meanings of terms like proposition, argument, syllogism, fallacy, and dilemma are unknown to many adults, but years ago they were taught to elementary students.

When reasoning has been lost in a culture, we resort to physical, emotional, political, or economic force to achieve our desired goals. Consequently society suffers.

Zero tolerance laws have lead to silly situations where students have been suspended from school for bringing a plastic knife to cut a birthday cake. Why? Because adults refuse to do the difficult work of reasoning.

Apple has removed the app for the Manhattan Declaration from its iTunes store. The Manhattan Declaration uses reason to advance the belief that life is sacred, marriage is sacred, and religious freedom is worth fighting for. Apple calls it 'hate speech' and refuses to engage in or permit reasoned discussion.

Recently, legislators have done what many of us do when we face tough decisions - run. Could things have turned out differently if we had stayed and done the hard work of reasoning and wrestling with difficult decisions? Only if everyone was determined to find the truth.

When reason is suppressed or lost, tensions within a culture begin to rise and eventually boil over as we can see in nations around the world, and as we have witnessed in America in race riots and a Civil War.

When the church fails to reason, it can become legalistic with lists of "do's and don'ts" that ignore the truth and drive people further away from God.

But when reason is used as a compliment to faith we see significant advancements in society. Many of our great explorers pursued science because they believed that all truth was God's truth, and that it was knowable. After all, if there is no truth, or if it cannot be known - why pursue it?

Truth was pursued and reason was used to craft documents like the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; documents that have protected freedom and established justice for individuals here and around the world.

If we value truth, believe that it is knowable, and are willing to do the hard work of reasoning together we can advance the Kingdom of God. We can contribute to our culture in positive ways. We can prevent untold sorrow and suffering.

Centuries ago scripture issued an invitation to people of faith from every generation: "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.

You can find me on FACEBOOK at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719). Here's a link to my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/) Thanks for reading!

Does The Church Have A Voice?

"It is high time we broke with our theologically based restraint toward the government's actions - which after all is only fear. 'Speak out for those who cannot speak' - who in the church today realizes that this is the very least that the Bible requires of us?"

Who spoke these words? A right wing crazy? A Pro-life zealot?

Obviously, it was someone who took God's Word seriously. Isaiah 1:17b reads - Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

We are commanded to do this because it is part of God's very nature. We are called to imitate our Father. Deuteronomy 10:17-18a reads - For the Lord  your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow . . .

For the last 40 years the church has been leading the way in speaking out for those who cannot speak - the unborn. In spite of this, over 52 million babies have been aborted legally in the United States since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

Soon there will be a new class to speak out for.

Dr. Donald Berwick was recently appointed the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). He is also a strong advocate for transforming our healthcare system into one that imitates NHS in Great Britain. A quick glance at the NHS website reveals a chilling reality - the government there uses a formula to assign values to human lives.

A portion of the official website reads: The enormous costs involved mean that choices have to be made . . . To ensure our judgments are fair, we use a standard and internationally recognized method . . . the quality-adjusted life years measurement (the ‘QALY’).

The QALY is determined by multiplying your life expectancy by a number that corresponds to your "quality of life". Your quality of life is determined by an agent of the government. Then, using the QALY, they calculate how much your life is worth. If you are young or have a higher quality of life, then you have great worth. If you are aged or have a lower quality of life, then you are worth less.

How can we reconcile this concept with the fact that our Savior gave His life for ours? Are some lives worth more than others? Are other lives worth-less? There have been times in world history where large groups of people believed this lie, and the consequences were unspeakable.

In those dark times in history, few spoke up for the worth-less. Why should they speak out? After all they were proud, patriotic citizens and these decisions were being made for the good of the country.

Scripture clearly teaches that all life is precious; there are no worth-less lives. Scripture clearly commands us to speak out for those who cannot speak; there are no worth-less lives.

The church has a decision to make. Will we speak out? If this national effort to calculate the value of a human life cannot be prevented, the church will have additional decisions to make. Will we care for those whose lives have been determined to be worth-less? Will we agree by our silence that some lives are worth more than others? Will we allow this cancer to grow unchecked in our culture?

The choice is ours. The worth-less are depending on the church to find and use its voice.

By the way, the words that began this article were penned on September 11^th . . . 1934. They were written by a German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Eleven years and more than 6 million "worth-less" Jewish lives later, the world was concluding the Second World War; a war that claimed an additional 60 million lives during the conflict. Were all of those lives worth-less? Were ANY of those lives worth-less? How would history have changed if the church had found its voice?

Questions or comments? Write curt@smdcog.org

You can find me on FACEBOOK at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719). Here's a link to my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/) Thanks for reading!

Thoughts on Worship

Courier-Times Article for Saturday, August 11, 2007

There are three fundamental questions that need to be answered regarding Christian worship.

First, what is God ordained worship? The essence of worship can be found in the first ten verses of the 26th chapter of Deuteronomy.

This portion of the law outlines the process that God established for encountering Him in a worship experience. Verses 5 and 6 call for us to remember who we were before we were transformed by the presence of God in our lives. Verses 7 and 8 call for us to remember what actions God took when He transformed our lives. Verses 9 and 10 call for us to remember the blessing of transformation that has been generated in our lives by God. This is who I was; this is what God did; this is where I am now. Praise and worship naturally flow out of our lives each time we walk through this process.

If our worship life is deficient in one of these “areas or remembrance”, then what we experience is something less than God ordained worship.

The second question to be answered is what is the proper posture in worship? We are not talking about an external posture but an internal posture. How are we to approach God? In twenty-first century America we are immersed in a culture of personal growth, self satisfaction, and a positive bottom line. In other words, how does this benefit me?

In direct contradiction to this cultural mindset, King David makes a remarkable statement found in 2 Samuel 24:24, considering that he was the ruler of all Israel. “I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing.” In this simple statement David indicates His posture when he approached God. He was not approaching God with the idea that he was going to benefit from this encounter. He was not even approaching with the idea that somehow he could use his position and authority to influence God. David came to offer a sacrificial gift to God, something that was costly to him personally.

Worship is not about getting anything from God. Worship is about giving something of worth to God. The posture of a true worshiper is one that indicates humble sacrifice, not prideful self-gratification.

Finally, what is the function of worship? True worship has one function with two products. Worship is a vehicle.

Worship functions as a vehicle in two ways. In the first instance, worship carries the individual, or a collected body of worshipers, into a realization of the presence of God. This means that, as worship leaders, we need to understand who will be “riding” in the vehicle. If I am leading a gathering of Frenchmen into worship, my worship should be in the French language. If I am leading a group of children into worship, my worship selection should include elements of worship that are easily accessible to the child. If I am leading a group of senior citizens in worship, the structure of the “vehicle” I assemble needs to accommodate those that will be taking the ride.

Secondly, worship carries the individual, or a collected body of worshipers, into an environment where the Word of God can have its best effect on their lives. This second product of worship enables the worship leader to partner with, and serve, the one who is called to proclaim the Word of God. In this way, we “set the table” for the main course.

In the design world, form follows function. What a thing does, or is supposed to do, has a direct impact on how that thing looks or how it is structured. This brings us back to the answer to the first question.

If we follow the form found in Deuteronomy, we can create a vehicle that is designed to carry people into a realization of the presence of God, where they can offer sacrificial gifts of thanksgiving and praise, and where they can be transformed anew by the Word of God.

When Tolerance Masquerades As Grace

Courier-Times Article for Saturday, May 26, 2007

John, a disciple of Jesus, said, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.”

Is Grace available from Christ and from the church? Yes, but Grace does not come alone, she always comes with Truth. They are two sides of the same coin.

Grace without Truth is simply Tolerance, and Tolerance doesn’t care about the truth. In fact, the kind of Tolerance we see in today’s society denies the very existence of truth. The one-word, hallmark response of Tolerance is, “Whatever.”

Hank Aaron’s homerun record is about to be eclipsed by a man who has probably used steroids to achieve that feat. Whatever.

Another drunk-driver kills an innocent traveler. Whatever.

Drug abuse is ravaging our neighborhoods, destroying families, and fueling violent crime. Whatever.

Since 1973, defenseless infants have been killed in the womb 48.5 million times in the United States alone. Whatever.

A convicted sex-offender, a repeat offender while out on bail for three new counts of child sexual molestation, is arrested for raping and killing a 16-year-old girl in Cambridge City. Whatever.

Tolerance doesn’t care about the truth. Tolerance is killing our society.

Tolerance says, “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just act like it didn’t happen.” Grace and Truth say, “What happened was wrong. It will not be tolerated, but confession, repentance, and redemption are possible.”

Tolerance says, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” Grace and Truth say, “Today I set before you life and death. Choose life!”

Grace is not cheap, and it is not painless but it is the only way to fight and overcome evil in our world. Tolerance seems free, but in the end the price we all pay is greater pain, destruction, and death. Tolerance extends and enables evil, and when we promote Tolerance without Truth, you and I are the ones responsible for all the evil that follows.

Many good words in the English language have been hijacked, and had their meanings changed. Tolerance is one of those words.

In the real world, Tolerance is a measurement with specific boundaries. If a car part is manufactured with a tolerance of plus or minus 3/16ths of an inch, all parts made outside that tolerance are judged flawed and unusable.

If a drug is manufactured with a Tolerance of 0.2% contaminants, any batch measuring 99.7% pure is rejected and unfit for human consumption.

Tolerance, when used accurately, is when we recognize a true standard, and then judge the results by that standard. And thank God for specific boundaries on tolerance. Otherwise replacement parts for cars wouldn’t fit, and prescription drugs would be killing people instead of healing them.

The word, Whatever, should only be used on holiday weekends when deciding between a hamburger or a hotdog. It should never be used when talking about steroid use in sports, drunk-driving, drug abuse, abortion on demand, or sex-offenders. These things are wrong! We need to say it, and mean it, and do something to ruthlessly eliminate them from our society.

But Christ and the church also say to the individuals who have been caught up in these intolerable actions, “There is One who purchased a way out. You are not hopeless, choose life. You must live with the earthly consequences of your actions because your behavior cannot be tolerated. You can, however, choose a new road, a new direction, and a new destination.” Grace and Truth.

Is Grace available? Only when accompanied by Truth. When Grace comes alone, it’s only Tolerance in disguise. We cannot tolerate anything less than Grace and Truth together.

Is Grace Available?

Courier-Times Article for Saturday, May 5, 2007

I got a phone call from God on Wednesday. Actually, it was from one of those telephone sales people, but I’m sure that God was behind it.

Wednesday afternoon was busy, as usual, and we were short-handed in the church office. When one of the secondary phone lines started to ring, I knew it must be a sales call. I don’t like sales phone calls and I really didn’t have time for this one, so I was going to dismiss it as quickly as possible.

“Hello. Church of God, Curt speaking.”

“My name is . . .” at this point I was so disinterested in the call that I can’t even remember the lady’s name or the company she was calling from. I instantly came to attention when she asked, “Is Grace available?”

Just then, I had one of those moments where time slows down and you have an extended conversation with yourself. I wanted to say, “There is no Grace here.” But my mind said, “Actually, there IS grace here, but not a person called Grace.”

The conversation in my head continued, “Right, but if I try to explain that to . . . ‘what’s-her-name’ from ‘what’s-that-company’, she won’t understand. Then we’ll have a longer conversation and she really doesn’t want to have a long conversation. She just wants to sell me something.”

Being slightly frustrated at the conversation going on in my head and feeling awkward about the extended pause in the conversation in the real world, I answered, “I think you have the wrong number.”

She apologized and hung-up, but that’s when God picked up the phone and continued the conversation. “Is it really the wrong number?”

Is Grace available? How about Joy, is Joy available? If I knock on your door, will you answer with Charity? If I come to visit, will I meet Hope? If I visit your home will I be greeted by Faith?

I didn’t answer quickly because I know that when God asks a question, it’s not because He doesn’t know the answer. He wants to know if I know the answer.

Talking-the-talk is easy, but walking-the-walk is challenging. I hope the answer to all of those questions is, “Yes!” But I fear that many times I am so consumed with things that are urgent, I respond in ways that prevent Grace, Joy, Charity, Hope, and Faith from showing up.

When God calls your number and asks you those questions, how will you respond?

Today you may witness Cinco de Mayo celebrations among many of our Hispanic neighbors. Given the national debate about immigration, legal and illegal, when you greet someone celebrating Cinco de Mayo, will Grace be available?

We have several prisoners in Henry County, some from out of state. If you visit them will you bring Hope along?

New Castle is full of nursing homes, transitional care facilities, and those who are simply shut-in. Could you take Joy with you the next time you visit?

Look at your community and ask yourself, “What is it that Charity is asking me to do for my neighbors?”

If you are facing dark days of depression, or sickness, or family strife, how would Faith deal with the situation?

I pray that you will be ready to respond the next time the phone rings. By the way, when God does call, you don’t have to worry about the phone bill. That fee has already been paid by His Son.

Even Peyton Longs for Community

Christian Perspectives Article 08-26-06

I watched the Indianapolis Colts’ preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks last week and something that John Madden said caught my attention. He said that Peyton Manning said something that Madden hadn’t heard in twenty years. Peyton startled him by asking, “Do you know what I love about training camp?”

John Madden’s broadcasting partner interrupted with the play by play and then followed up. “Well, what was it?” Good question.

What could possibly be loveable about training camp? Is there anything appealing about two practices a day in 90 degree heat in Central Indiana in August? What could one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL like, let alone love, about training camp?

Peyton said, “I love the fact that we can’t get away from each other. Guys come by the room and hang out. We play cards. We’re together.” What Peyton Manning loves about training camp is community.

But Peyton’s not alone. Ask any kid what they like most about the summer and more often than not they will respond with something like this: “I loved camp with all my friends,” or “our family vacation together,” or “when our little league team won the championship together.” The highlights of people’s lives are the times when they experience togetherness.

What was so magical about the days following September 11, 2001? We had all experienced something together as a nation. What is so appealing about a honeymoon? It’s the time that two people can focus exclusively on their “togetherness.”

Have you ever spent a relaxing evening together with friends that you haven’t seen “in forever”? As the evening winds to an end, you look at each other and say, “We should do this again!” What did you want to do again? It was the experience of togetherness or community.

God created us for community. Many of us are deficient in experiencing community. We feel that there is something missing but we can’t quite put our finger on it. When it finally happens, often by accident, it takes us by surprise and overwhelms us. We don’t want to leave, and when we are forced to leave we are eager to reproduce the experience as soon as possible.

The writer of Hebrews says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.” Why? Because we need to encourage one another. We need to love one another. We need to help one another. We need to bless one another. We need to challenge one another to do great things for the kingdom. We need to weep with one another. We need to party with one another. We simply need one another.

How good do you think the Colts would be if they refused to attend training camp with each other? They need to spend time with each other so that they can accomplish the job that they were assembled for – to win every game they play.

How good can the church possibly be if we refuse to spend time with one another? We need to spend time together so that we can accomplish the job that we were assembled for – to advance the Kingdom of God.

They probably didn’t know it, but Sunday Night Football touched on a profound truth that effects every person alive. We were made for community. We crave community. We are at our best when we live in community.

For Peyton and the Colts, the season is just around the corner. For the church, we are very likely in the second half of the most important game of the season. It’s time to get together and build community.

Is It God Or A Ghost?

HeartLine Newsletter Article February 2007

This story has recently piqued my imagination. The gospel writer, Mark, at the end of chapter 6, tells of Jesus walking on the water. The amazing thing about this story is the response of the disciples.

They all saw Him, but they were terrified because they all thought He was a ghost. Question: How did they know what a ghost looked like? Had they ever seen a ghost before? Why was it easier for them to believe that this image of Jesus was a ghost and not Jesus Himself walking in their midst?
Many times I have missed God as He walked nearby because I was unable to identify Him. I have said things like, “What a strange coincidence.” I have been puzzled by the events taking place around me. Sometimes I was even fearful and unsure of what future events would hold me and my family.

Now I am trying a new response. I’ve not got it down perfect, but I am getting better. You might want to try it yourself. My new response is this: I ask how is God working in my life? What is God doing in the people around me? Has God been speaking to me, and if so, what is He saying?

It’s amazing how the ghosts in our lives disappear when we begin to look for the hand of God. It’s incredible to see how consistent His message is when we intentionally listen for God’s voice. My prayer for us is that we will see God walking among us, and respond with hope, not fear.