Churches

     Over the last few months I've been doing something a little different.  Well at least it's different for me.  I guess you could say, while I consider my faith the center of my life, unfortunately there was an almost legalistic side to it.  And that's something that, when it finally hit me right between the eyes, I knew needed to change.  So, with much prayer and consideration, I chose to leave the church I had attended for over 15 years and start visiting other churches.
     Beginning on Easter Sunday, my journey began.  Some weeks I new several days in advance just were I would be worshiping that Sunday morning.  Some weeks I didn't know until shortly before time to leave home.  I must say that I have been surprised some days at the destinations God has chosen for my worship time.  And, I also admit to staying home a few times when I was exhausted.  Another surprise was that I didn't really feel guilty on those Sundays I rested....overcoming the legalistic part of my faith just a little I guess.
     Growing up in a small community church where practically everyone was related had it's advantages I suppose.  And attending a very large church that even broadcasts services on TV can also have it's advantages.   I tend to prefer getting lost in the crowd when attending a new church and that's something you can usually do in a larger congregation.   But these smaller churches.  Oh my.  Everyone knows if you're a visitor.  And I've found myself in smaller churches most Sundays lately.
     I've had the privilege these last few months of listening to some amazing music more on the contemporary side and got to enjoy worshiping with old hymns like I grew up with.  Funny thing.....one little church even had the same old hymnals we had at Mt Moriah Community Church way back in the 1970s! 
     Men with theological doctorates.  Men who didn't graduate high school.  Those who are career ministers.  And those who work other jobs and just preach because they love the Lord.  I've heard the Word presented from them all.  But I guess the one that stands out the most lately is the one who, if I understood correctly, didn't graduate High School. 
     The tiny church was one I had passed by several thousand times over the year.  I had wondered about the congregation and noticed that there seldom seemed to be many cars there on Sunday mornings.  The first time I attended this little church it was absolutely pouring down rain and we even had flood warnings.  The faithful few would have maybe filled two pews had they all sat together.  Actually, maybe one pew would be a better estimate. 
     The following is part of what I gleaned from that sermon.
     Childlike faith.  Believing God just like we believed and trusted our parents when we were little kids.  Planting faith and allowing it to grow instead of placing it on a shelf and only using it occasionally.  Being thankful you have 3 tires with air in them when you have a flat and only one spare.  James 1:2-3 "My brothers and sisters, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure." Count it all joy. 
     James 1:4 "Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."  Trust God, don't argue with Him.  You'll lose every time.  V5 "But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all."  Seek His face.
     First know Him as Savior.  Then know that the ones who are used the most are the ones bruised the most.  Wow.  What an amazing thought!  His Word gives us all we need to know to live and be used by Him, which should be our desire.
     2 Peter 1:3-9 "God's divine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in His own glory and goodness.  In this way He has given us the very great and precious gifts He promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature.  For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge; to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness; to your godliness add Christian affection; and to your Christian affection add love.  These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But those who do not have them are so short-sighted that they cannot see and have forgotten that they have been purified from their past sins."
     Today I am so thankful for the freedom to worship the One True God.  And I'm thankful to have the opportunity to get to know brothers and sisters in Christ who love and worship Him.  I think, just maybe, we are more alike than we ever realized.  Do you know Him?  Would you like to?
    
    

Exhausted....No Excuse

     I am beyond the point of being exhausted.  Drowning in work.  Two family cars with issues....that we know of.  Have the pool open but still not working just right.  Laundry.  Dishes.  Are we having a plumbing issue now?  Was that something burning?  Oh no.  The dog just ate an ink pen and has ink all over her paws as she walks through the house!  Everything seems to be spinning. 
    Let's go back to Sunday.  During a sermon on freedom, the subject was Paul and Silas and their imprisonment.  (Acts 16) Seems they cast out demons in the name of Jesus from a young girl who's owners were using her to tell fortunes for profit.  Made the owners mad of course.  The girl was happy.  But those guys were furious.  So they made up a bunch of bunk about Paul and Silas and had them thrown into prison. 
     Now I've never been in prison except when we went as a youth group to have a church service for some inmates at a minimum security prison an hour or two from our church.  It was definitely not a place I would want to stay for long.  But it was clean.  Lights were bright.  Inmates were obviously well fed.  But that's not how it was for Paul and Silas.  When they were in prison they were in stocks.  Locked in.  Deep in a dungeon.  Nasty.  Wet.  Smelly.  All freedom was taken away.  But they didn't complain.  Instead they sang praises to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them.
     Then something huge happened.  At midnight God caused an earthquake!  All the doors to the prison opened.  All the chains were unfastened.  Every prisoner was free.  But not one of them left.  They did the right thing.  The guard was amazed.  He knew it had to be God.  There was no other explanation.  His response?  He asked what he must do to be saved.  All he had to do was believe on Jesus and he would be saved.....he and his family.  And that's exactly what happened that night.  
     The guard had seen there was something different about Paul and Silas.  The other prisoners had seen there was something different about Paul and Silas.  It was Jesus. 
     There are so many lessons in this little story.  Paul and Silas praised God even though they were beaten and imprisoned for doing nothing wrong.  In pain and not knowing what would be done to them next, they praised God.  And others watched them.  They preached more gospel as prisoners than most of us preach in freedom. 
     Way back in Genesis 50:20 Joseph told his brothers that what they meant for evil, God used for good.  While I was thinking about Paul and Silas and how their imprisonment turned out, I couldn't help but think about Joseph. About how God took what was done by his brothers out of obedience to the devil and used it for good to save Israel and Egypt.      
     Here were Paul and Silas, in prison for something they didn't do.  Like Joseph.   But they didn't give up.  They didn't compromise their beliefs.  They praised God.  Just like Joseph. 
     What the devil means for evil, God WILL use for good.  If we let Him.  If we stay true to His Word.  Boy, I'm exhausted.  But that's no excuse.  Like Paul and Silas I must represent my Savior. And if Paul and Silas and Joseph can see that God will use their horrible circumstances for good, I think I need to do the same in my not so horrible circumstances.  My challenge for tomorrow.......  and no excuses.  

Chasing Rainbows

     The waiter had just brought our meal when the storm hit.  The lights flickered.  The wind blew.  And more diners came in soaking wet.  Not exactly how we had planned to spend our Friday evening, but my daughter and I had a good time anyway.  Of course that meant running out in the pouring rain as we left but we laughed and it kind of became an adventure. 
     As she drove us home, the sun started coming out and I knew what would be happening next.  Being a long time fan of rainbows, I began looking all around. I have to say her enthusiasm wasn't quite the same as mine, but she did a great job with her part as driver while I scoped out the skies. 
     Then I saw it.  The colors were beginning just outside the back driver's side window.  Not sure which direction it was but I know it wasn't the west because that's where the sun was working towards going down. 

     I'm afraid this is almost a sickness with me.  My family and friends have always humored me.  And this was no exception.  I snapped pictures and danced in my seat with excitement as my daughter drove home. 

   Just before arriving home, the rainbow became full!  I couldn't wait to jump out and start taking more pictures.  In fact, I kinda got told I unbuckled my seat belt a little too soon......  But what was I supposed to do?  It was amazing!

     I took picture after picture, none of which did this wonder justice.  The colors were absolutely brilliant.  Running out in the pouring rain after dinner was certainly worth this.  Perfect timing.  God's timing.  Just like the other rainbows we've seen lately.  (See "The Wisdom to Know the Difference" )       Many many years ago I declared the rainbow my favorite color.  Not every color of the rainbow.  But the actual rainbow.  Sometimes I have trouble making up my mind and saying a rainbow was my favorite color.....well it made my life a lot less stressful back then!  My favorite color has changed a few times since those high school days but I still consider a rainbow right up there as one of my favorite colors.
     But a rainbow is not just a color or colors.  And that's something I have loved explaining over the years.  A rainbow represents God's covenant that He, after destroying the earth with the flood back in Noah's day, would never destroy the whole earth like that again.  In Genesis 9 God said a rainbow would always remind Him of His promise.
     So, like God's covenant with man, a rainbow has always reminded me of a covenant.  A promise.  It is a representation made by God.  Not by man.  I don't want to know how it is made scientifically.  I don't need to know.  I just need to know it was made by my God.  It's in Genesis.  It's even in Revelation.  And I'm pretty sure I will be chasing rainbows even when I'm really old.....and not just the old that my kids think I am now. 

     So the next time you see a rainbow, I hope you are filled with wonder.  I hope you are filled with awe at our amazing God.  I hope you think of how He always keeps His promises.  And I hope you fell like a kid just like I do and enjoy every second of the beauty!