Love One Another

On Wednesday (4/29/2009) we dedicated the new fountain and sculpture. It was a beautiful spring day, and several hundred people came to share in free food, live music, and the blessing and dedication of Messiah Lutheran Church’s new face to the community. I had an incredible day. From the comments I heard, and the smiles on all the faces, apparently a whole lot of other people had a great time during an extended lunch hour.

It was incredible… to see the dream of one family become a reality; from their dream, to a shared vision, to planning, to presentation, to permits, to construction, to dedication, and finally to a reality in our community. It really was incredible to experience!

It was incredible… to see the naysayers in our own church community come to harrumph and scoff and complain, and then leave shaking their heads and murmuring: “It’s not bad.”

It was incredible… to listen to the stream of people from the community, who are not members of our fellowship here at Messiah, as they left the dedication. I was on the street, working parking (what else is new), and I heard visitors say things like:

“I saw it being built, and had to come see; it’s beautiful!”
“Pastor Bob's dedication moved me."
"Now I understand the inscription.”
“The cross and the fountain move me.”
“Thanks you! The fountain challenges me to love more.”
“This is now the favorite part of my commute.”
“This is great! Are you sure you guys are a church?”

In letters big enough to see from a passing car, the street side of the fountain says:

“LOVE ONE ANOTHER”

While the side that faces our campus, the side we see when we leave our campus and return to the world, reminds us to:

“LOVE GOD – LOVE ONE ANOTHER”

When the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris, there were plenty of people who complained that it was too big and that it was ugly. When the Getty Museum was being built in Los Angeles, I remember how people wailed and complained that the 5 billion dollars it took to build it could have been used to better purposes. Today, both of those places attract millions of people every year. People are attracted to fountains, sculpture, and architecture. For the most part, those that come are moved. They find that their hearts are gladdened, and that their souls are lifted. Certainly, we didn’t build an Eiffel Tower or a Getty Center. We built an attractive fountain to present a beautiful face to our neighbors… rather than just another bleak parking lot. And we topped our fountain with a sculpture of a cross; a reminder of who we are, and who we follow.

Jesus commanded us to “Love God, and love one another.” With our fountain, we share that bit of good news with our community… and the world. I had one visitor ask me if I thought that the fountain would attract more people to our church. I chuckled, and told him:

“Having a beautiful fountain doesn’t attract people. Neither does having a new Community Life Center, or a remodeled sanctuary, or anything else our campus has to offer. What attracts people is a fellowship that is alive in God’s Spirit… that’s what attracts people. Why not join us this Sunday, and see for your self?”

If he does join us this Sunday, are we ready for him? I believe so. I believe that we have been living the words we so boldly placed on our fountain. I believe that we truly do love one another!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

How to Post a Comment

OK… you’ve just read a posting on the “Alive in the Spirit” blog, and you’d like to post a comment. Comments come in all shapes and sizes, and might originate from any of the following emotions:

You want to comment on such a wonderfully well written and conceived posting (LOL!!!!).

Or, more likely:

You have some thought that will greatly enhance the original post, or
You wish to comment on somebody else’s thought, or
You want to continue a thread (or thought) carried through several comments, or
You want to tell the author of the post just how far off-base his thoughts are (in Christian love, of course).

The thought behind this blog is to be a forum where we can come alive in God’s Spirit, by sharing, by being an open conversation, and by allowing a sense of community to develop. With all that in mind, it becomes important that you really understand that:

Your thoughts and emotions are IMPORTANT!

And, of course, nobody will know those important thoughts and emotions unless you share them. Now, there are a couple of people that comment on a regular basis. There are a few more that post comments on a less often basis, and then there are the vast majority of you that don’t post comments at all. It’s fine if you don’t wish to post a comment, but I’ve received many complaints that it’s too hard or complicated to post a comment.

There is good news… there is hope… there is now a simple way to post your comments! This confusing and arcane mystery is fully explained below:

How to Post a Comment (or a Mystery of the Universe Explained)

Step 1: You just finished reading a post, and you’d like to comment. At the very end of the posting (usually right after the signature) you will see the following:

Posted by YBIC Dave at [time] 0 comments

To post your own comment, simply click on “comments”.

Step 2: A “Post Your Comment” window will open up. You can compose your comment in the window, or you can compose in an editor (Word, perhaps), and then cut-and-paste your post into the window. I recommend using an editor, as communication with the internet is less than 100 percent reliable. This is especially important if this is the first time you are posting a comment! You really don’t want your awesome thought erased because you didn’t have a username/password, and it automatically reset the page… erasing your comment in the process. A word to the wise, eh?!

Step 3: When you are satisfied with your comment, select your “Comment as” profile (this is just below the comment box). Unless you are familiar with some of the other choices, open the “Select profile” selection and choose “Google Account”.

Step 4: Click on the “Post Comment” box. If you are already signed in, your comment will be posted to the blog, and you are done. If you have not yet signed in, you will get a new window that contains a “Sign in” window on the right side.

Step 5: If you have commented before, just enter your Email address and your Password and Sign in and your comment will be posted; done. If you don’t yet have a Google Account, proceed to Step 6.

Step 6: Create your Google account: Look for the box under the “sign on” button; it will say “Don’t have a Google Account?”

Click on: “Create an account now”

This will open a new window in which you will be able to create an account. Enter your e-mail address, a password, a display name (mine is YBIC Dave), and then enter the security word, and accept the terms of service.

If you’ve done everything correctly, you should have posted your comment. Congratulations!

Many people seem to forget their username/password, so print out these instructions, write down your information, and you’ll have a handy cheat sheet. Google will also send you an e-mail requesting that you verify that it is really you creating the account (security feature)… just click on the link they provide; that’s all there is to that.

Why do we need to log in to post a comment? You need to log in because… it’s a secure site; also partly because it’s a reflection of our church site. We need to be able to inhibit threatening, inappropriate, and profane comments.

I definitely want comments and feedback on how useful this post has been for YOU, so why not give it a try right now?

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Discipline

My little grandson, Jeffrey, is a huge blessing in my life. I know that I may be a tiny bit biased in his favor, but you have to expect some of that from grandfathers. As he is approaching the age of two, he is developing a stronger will. Couple that will with his insatiable curiosity and a desire to “have it” and “do it” himself, and he has the ingredients for a tantrum from time to time.

By the way, this picture of a child having a tantrum came off the internet. I thought about keeping my camera at the ready to get some shots of Jeffrey pitching a fit, but then I thought of all the women in Jeffrey’s life (his mother, aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother). I imagined them chasing me down to tar and feather me… just because I posted an unflattering picture of my little grandson on the internet. With those images in my mind, a stock photo of some anonymous child seemed like a wise course of action. Besides, as a grandfather, I was finding it difficult to shoot any unflattering images of my precious grandson.

My office is located off my bedroom; really just a glorified closet. Since it is the repository for magical props, mobile-making paraphernalia, computer equipment, tons of books, product inventory, and years of packrat activity, it is off-limits to Jeffrey unless he is with his Pop-pop. The other day, my daughter (Jennifer; Jeffrey’s mom) was using the computer in my office. I was in the bedroom with Jeffrey when he decided that he wanted to go into the office.

“Go in,” he said.

“No… not without Pop-pop,” I replied.

With a defiant look on his face, he marched into the office, anyway. I was right next to him, so I picked him up, patiently explained that he could not go into Pop-pop’s office without Pop-pop, and set him back down in the bedroom where he could still see his mother. This scenario replayed itself twice more, with the third strike resulting in banishment from the bedroom. All this meant was that I took him out to the hall and closed the bedroom door. I was still with him, he had the run of the rest of the house and his toys, books, and stuffed animals, but because he was not getting what he wanted, he threw himself down in the hall and screamed… and screamed… AND SCREAMED!

Two year-olds have a true gift for throwing tantrums, and although Jeffrey is a wonderfully sweet, intelligent, and easy-going child, I think he was trying to prove how really well rounded he is by producing an epic tantrum. I sat in the hall with him, but that didn’t stem the tide of tears, or calm the screaming. Jennifer finished what she was doing quickly, but when she came out, shutting the bedroom door behind her, he began to pick up steam. Inconsolable is a word that springs to mind.

Since it was nearing his bedtime, she began to ready his bath. Usually, he loves bath-time, but not while in the throes of a category 5 tantrum. Jennifer, however, is amazing. Through the screaming, and struggling, and crying, she lifted him up, got him into the bath, washed his hair (which he dislikes even on good days), snuggled him in a towel, and dressed him in his pajamas… all the while speaking her love. Softly and gently, over and over, she cooed to him: “It’s OK, baby… it’s alright.” He never really calmed down until she was reading to him just before he went to bed.

A two year-old can’t understand all the reasons something is off-limits. They don’t even know how the dangerous things that attract them can hurt them or kill them. They want what THEY want! They assert their willfulness and let us know, in no uncertain terms, with their toddler mantra: “Want it… do it.” Children often cannot grasp the bigger picture, and protest loudly against any discipline that conflicts with their “want it… do it” philosophy. During the “terrible two’s” this often results in a tantrum.

In disciplining Jeffrey, we weren’t harming him in any way. Indeed, we merely removed him from what had proven to be too great a temptation for him. It was definitely NOT what Jeffrey wanted, but discipline is training that will help him to develop self-control and character.

I had to wonder how many times in my life I had acted like a two year-old with God? How many times had I pitched a fit at God because I wasn’t getting my way? How often had I only seen God as denying me, and not see the loving discipline that protected me and built self-control and character?

When the disciples of Jesus asked him how they should pray to God, he didn’t give them a magical chant. Instead, he gave them a set of instructions on how they should discipline themselves: The Lord’s Prayer. The disciplines of the Lord’s Prayer are simple:

1. Keep your thoughts of God and the use of God’s name holy and pure.
2. Submit yourself to God’s will for your life.
3. Understand that God is the creator and sustainer of the universe; trust God to provide.
4. Love one another and forgive one another, as God loves and forgives you.
5. Submit to God’s discipline to develop self-control and character.
6. Trust in God in times of trial.
7. Acknowledge that God is the Lord of your life.

Think about The Lord’s Prayer. Where do you need to discipline yourself? Have you ever thought about this prayer that Jesus taught us to pray in this way?

And think about one more thing…

When we throw our tantrums at God…
When we are selfish, self-centered, demanding, unforgiving, unbelieving, or profane…
When we are completely wrapped up in our own “want it… do it” philosophy…
When we are whining and crying and screaming at God…

God has you wrapped in His embrace, softly whispering: “It’s OK, my precious child… it’s alright… I love you.”

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Connecting

A few days ago, we here at Messiah celebrated Easter… along with approximately 2 billion other Christians around the world. We rejoiced in Christ’s triumph over sin and death that purchased “God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense” (GRACE) for all of us. It was an awesome day of connecting.

People who just come on Christmas or Easter were connecting with family and friends. I pray that the Scripture readings, the Pastor’s message, the music, or someone’s friendly “Hello” may have made a deeper connection.

Dozens of staff and volunteers were making the connections they make every Sunday:
- The Pastors coming close to connecting with everybody;
- The musicians, singers, and choir connecting us all with their music;
- The greeters, ushers, and information people connecting while serving;
- The breakfast team connecting us with food and beverages;
- The childcare staff connecting kids with smiles, games, and hugs;
- The parking crew connecting with just a smile and a friendly wave;
And most importantly: all of our members connecting in fellowship.

Families who attend every week were connecting with each other in worship. On Easter, there are no adult learning classes, special high school worship, or Sunday school, so… grandparents, mom and dad, and all the kids streamed into the sanctuary to worship God, to pray to God, and to praise God… together.

This week’s picture was taken during the last service on Easter Sunday. Pastor Ron was leading the congregation in prayer, and I was struck by the tiny little girl in front of me. You may notice that the picture is blurry. That’s because I had the flash turned off during the service, and another contributing factor was that the girl’s father was gently rocking her back and forth. She had her head bowed, her eyes closed, and her hands folded in prayer.

Certainly, a young child does not approach prayer in the same way as an adult. Actually, there were many other children that were squirming, chattering, or struggling in a parent’s grasp. Yet here was this precious little girl… meekly assuming an attitude of prayer.

Her parents had obviously connected with her, and taught her the importance of prayer. In doing so, they connected her to a future that includes a walk with God. At some point, they must have connected to Scripture:

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
Proverbs 22:6

This Easter, I believe I connected with an inheritor of the Earth.

As she was being held in her earthly father’s arms, I could envision her being held in her Heavenly Father’s arms. This is the relationship that is the promise of Easter… that God loves each of us as a precious and dear child. That God so loves us that he sacrificed himself to make sure each of us could make that connection. It’s time to stop squirming and struggling. It’s time to say: “Pick me up, Daddy!” It’s time to be swept up in the strength and security and the love of our Heavenly Father’s embrace.

As we walk from Easter into Pentecost, I continue to encourage you with the Easter greeting/response:

“Christ has risen. He has risen, indeed!”

Your brother in Christ,
Dave

P.S.: I apologize that this week’s posting is so late. I’ve had several challenges to overcome… not the least of which was that the blog server was not accepting my new post for the last few days. It seems much better today. :)

Bees!

Last Sunday, Patti wanted to trim back some bushes in the back yard. Before she started chopping, however, she noticed a whole lot of big insects flying around, so she had me go take a look. These bad boys were really BIG! They were fuzzy and orange and had faint dark stripes. They were all in the air… all in constant motion; held aloft by furiously buzzing wings that seemed ridiculously undersized to the proportions of their big, fat bodies. It was hard to get a good look at any one of them, even though there were hundreds cruising about, as they were franticly zipping about exploring every inch of our garden. And I must admit… with so many of them, and with each one sounding much like an approaching B-17 bomber, we were not too keen on provoking them. Though we don’t normally see bumblebees in our yard, and these menacing interlopers were much bigger than the normal bumblebees I had seen before, and they didn’t look much like the traditional picture of what I thought a bumblebee looked like (see picture), we both thought that they MIGHT be bumblebees. The prudent course of action was to withdraw to the safety of the house, and search the internet to determine just what kind of visitors had descended on our garden.

It turns out that there are over 50 species of bumblebee in North America, and the swarm in our yard was either a variety of Bombus, or more likely… the Valley Carpenter Bee. Not being a trained entomologist, the best I could hope to do was pin it down to the insect family Apidae, order Hymenoptera; Bees! LOL!!! It didn’t seem like a particularly big swarm, so we thought they might be searching for a new home. I really didn’t mind their visit so much… it got me out of having to work in the yard that afternoon. After a couple of days, they moved on (felt like Passover), but the memory of their presence reminded me of the following story I had often heard repeated. I got it off the internet, and it’s not attributed to any author, so I leave it to you to decide on the validity of all of the details of the story.

Why can bumblebees fly?

For years I have often heard people say that bumblebees should not be able to fly. Unfortunately, no one seems to have told the bumblebees this as they still fly around unaware of the fact that they are 'aerodynamically incompatible with flight'.

So let’s think about it rationally, is the bumblebee too stupid to realize it can't actually fly or are the original mathematical calculations that came up with this theory of non-flight flawed?

Let's go back to where this whole thing started. There was this Swiss aerodynamicist, while at a posh dinner, who got talking to a biologist who started asking about the flight of bees. So the aerodynamicist scribbled the calculation on the back of a napkin but, seeing as he was at a dinner party (and therefore possibly on the tipsy side and uninterested in talking shop), he simplified it. He assumed that bees have a smooth, rigid wing, like the wing of an airplane, and he had to guess the weight and wing area of Mr. Bee. Shockingly, the calculations suggested that the bee generated insufficient lift to be able to fly, but the aerodynamicist had had enough by this point and went back to getting drunk (OK, I might have just made up that drunk part).

However, the story spread and unfortunately wasn't taken as a lesson that a mathematical model of something is not the same as the real thing. Anyone who played with a dead bumblebee as a kid (was that just me?) will have noticed that their wings are nothing like the wings of a plane. Instead, they are not rigid and they bend and twist during flight. In reality, the beating bee's wings have more similarity with a helicopter rotor than an airplane wing.

A recent model of how rapid oscillations, like those created by a bee flapping it's wings 130 times a second, affect the air around them have in fact shown that bumblebees can fly. Insects appear to fly in a sea of vortexes moving against the main current of the air. I'm sure the bees will be glad to know that they don't defy the laws of nature after all.

So, in fact no one ever proved that a bumblebee can't fly. They simply illustrated that a simple mathematical model is not appropriate for describing the bumblebee's flight. However, the myth that a bumblebee can't fly is still flying around, unaware that it, unlike Mr. Bee, is the one that is wrong.

In high school and college, “the bumblebee can’t fly” story was often held up as proof of the dangers of applying a mathematical model without a complete understanding of the variables and forces at work on any hypothetical situation. I submit to you that Christians are often guilty of applying the wrong model to our lives, and to our congregations. As Christians, we either convince ourselves, or let the world convince us that we are bumblebees that cannot fly… even though God has promised us in Jeremiah 29:11-13…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Paul reminds us in 4:13 of his letter to the Philippians that when we do what is pleasing to God, there are NO LIMITS on us:

“I can do everything through him that gives me strength.”

Christ gives us the strength to do amazing things… to the glory of God! So, we followers of Jesus are called to stretch our spiritual wings and fly in a sea of the Holy Spirit moving against the main current of life and secular expectations. Seeing how the secular model of the world is not appropriate for describing the power of God’s spiritual realm, we need to depend on the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

The bee is but a tiny piece of God’s glorious creation, yet the humble bee, in its pursuit of nectar, pollinates the crops and increases the harvest. Like the bee, we Christians need to pursue the dreams God put on OUR hearts… and we need to fly with OUR spiritual gifts. Along the way, we’ll have no greater idea of God’s plan than the bee, but God will use us to pollinate for his kingdom, and we’ll increase the harvest, too.

This entry is very late in being posted to the blog this week. My mind has been on Holy Week, and even as Easter approaches, my thoughts just kept flitting around (the bee metaphor seems appropriate here, too). It all seems pretty jumbled to me, but I felt called to write it. I pray that the Holy Spirit somehow helped me to get out of my own way, and that something in this post touches someone to the glory of God.

With Easter only a few days away (as of this writing), I encourage you with the Easter greeting/response that is appropriate on any day, as much as it is on Easter:

“Christ has risen. He has risen, indeed!”

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Mountaintop (part 2)

Last week, I left off with:

“Christians call what happened to me a mountaintop experience. I agree. It seemed like, in accepting Christ as my savior, I had been suddenly picked up and could briefly see everything from God’s perspective!”

I truly had been reborn in Christ. At that time, I didn’t know all the Christian buzz-words; only later did I have someone explain to me that I had a “mountaintop experience.” That really seemed to fit with what had happened to me. Everything seemed so very clear. The Holy Spirit may have lifted me, and filled me with faith… but God put me right back down in the valley again… to choose… I still had a choice!

Now, I KNEW along which path salvation was to be found; I really knew. And even from the valley, I could still see the mountaintop. But the rush I felt while being lifted up in the presence of the Lord… that was fading. The brilliance of the light at the mountaintop was replaced by the shadows of the valley. How could God lift me up one minute, and put me right back in the same place I was the next?

Bemoaning my sad fate, I was shown Psalm 23 and reminded that with God walking with me, I had nothing to fear. I was also reminded of the Good News: whether we are somewhere on the mountain, or down in the shadows of the valley… If we just open the door to our hearts, if we are receptive… God will come in and embrace us. Now that’s GOOD NEWS!

The Bible speaks over and over about ascending the “hill of the Lord”, and climbing “God’s holy mountain.” To walk in communion with Christ is not an easy path. Fulfilling, yes! Easy? No. Now we get to the really exciting part: the choice is ours. All I need to do was climb back up. I knew where God wanted me to be, but He continues to let me make my own choices. It’s my effort, it’s my choice, and ultimately… it’s my walk. Whether you are all fired-up and born-again (like me), or raised in the church with a steady, abiding, and growing faith, our walk to God’s mountaintop is our free choice.

But it sure seems like a lot of work climbing that mountain. If you are a Christian, how far have you climbed? Are you lost in the foothills? Have you gotten higher, but the path now seems blocked? Are you at a sheer rock face? What stops you? What’s impossible to overcome? For some, it doesn’t take much to make them consider turning back.

If salvation depended on me alone… on how well I could climb the mountain… I’d never get there! I’d probably be doing something stupid, and sliding back down again. God gives us the ability not just to climb mountains, but to move them as well! We need to be ready to say: “I can’t overcome this obstacle by myself, Lord, so I’m just going to hook on and let you pull me up.” When our own efforts fail, the next step we take should be a step of faith.

And after you’ve seen salvation at he mountaintop, do you just hike up alone? Wouldn't you want to take your family, friends, everybody? Of course, the response you’re likely to get is: “What? We have to climb a what? Are you crazy?” Well, good news: you don't actually have to climb a mountain. What if God told me he’d save anybody I bring to church this Sunday? How many would believe in me; in what I was saying? How many would come? Thank heaven it doesn’t depend on me! It doesn’t depend on you, either.

God is HERE!

He stands at the door and knocks, but the latch is on your side. Most of us latch our door with guilt, shame, sinfulness, and the biggest latch of all… a feeling of being unworthy. Christ died...he died...to wash away all of those sins... and more! He died for ALL our sins… yours AND mine... he died for ALL of us (nobody is left out).

If you are reading this and you don’t know Christ in your life, what are the things that keep the door to your heart latched?

If you are reading this and you already have a walk with Christ, what sheer rock faces have stopped you in the past? How did the Holy Spirit lift you past those obstacles? Are there obstructions in your path today?

God is stretching out his hand to pull you up; all you have to do is to want to accept it. Will you reach out, and ask God to come into your life?

IF YOU… want God to come into your life,
IF YOU… want God to be ACTIVE in your life,
IF YOU… already have a walk with Christ, but you want to reaffirm your commitment to God,
IF YOU… find yourself in any of those situations,
THEN stretch out your hand with me, and ask Christ to fill your heart as you pray the following prayer:

Dear God,

You gave your son, Jesus Christ, to be tortured and to die, alone, crucified on a cross. His blood washes away ALL of our sins, his resurrection ensures our salvation and everlasting life. Today, we stretch up our hands to you, Lord. We raise them up as a symbol of our willingness to have your spirit fill our hearts. Come into our hearts, Lord, and wash away the sin, and the shame, and the guilt with your perfect gift of
forgiveness; purchased by the blood of Jesus.

Fill us with your spirit, God. Cleanse us, renew us, and sanctify us with your Grace. Show us the path to that moun­taintop, so that we may walk in YOUR ways for the rest of our lives.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Mountaintop

For more than half my life, you couldn’t get me near a church. Me… go to church? No way! I saw churches as failed, antiquated, outdated, and irrelevant institutions. All kinds of people invited me to church. I wouldn’t go. People prayed for me (and, oh, how they prayed); I scoffed at their prayers.

Though I was well educated and well read, I was lacking the one thing that might have drawn me into any Christian fellowship: faith. Without faith, even I couldn’t force myself into church… even had I wanted to.

Then, a strange thing happened. In 1988, I was talked into attending a business conference clear across the country in Charlotte, North Carolina. During the conference, I was outraged by speakers who acknowledged Jesus Christ as a partner in their lives, their families, AND their business. Surely, religion had no place in business, and certainly not proclaimed from the stage at a business conference, I argued. My friend and business partner, Steve Sullivan, calmed me down a bit by asking me if… once I had achieved a high level of success and recognition… wouldn’t I want to be free to talk about the things that mattered most to me?

Almost immediately after that exchange, a speaker was introduced that I had been eagerly anticipating. His name was Ron Ball, and I knew him to a top financial analyst, who was also a vibrant, exciting, and dynamic speaker. I had my notebook and pen at the ready to try and outline as many of the points I was sure he’d be covering during his presentation. Imagine my surprise when he began by introducing himself as a financial analyst, but then unapologetically acknowledging that he was also a Christian minister. He wanted to get that on the table right up front, he said, because many of the references he was going to be using came from the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. I was stunned. But 4 pages of notes, and 40 minutes later, I stood with the other 20 thousand people packed into the Charlotte arena to give Ron a thunderous standing ovation.

Though the business conference ended late Saturday night, everyone was being encouraged to come back to the arena on Sunday morning for a non-denominational worship service.

“Thanks. Not for me. I’ll be sleeping in and then catching some sites in Charlotte before my flight back to California,” I said. Famous last words.

Two more of my east coast business partners were Jim and Nancy Herrick, whom I had just met for the first time on Friday night. On Sunday morning, they hustled me out of my room, got me checked-out of the hotel, and drove me to the arena. “There’s someone we want you to meet,” was what they kept telling me. I thought they were talking about some of our millionaire partners, and so I grudgingly allowed myself to be dragged along.

We got there a bit late because you-know-who was dragging his feet, and my worst fears were realized: I was in some sort of revival meeting! From stage, people were testifying as to how the Lord had worked in their lives, they were praying, and (of course) they were taking up an offering! Jim and Nancy were excited… I was bored, a little put out that I was being forced to endure all this, and just waiting for it to be done so I could mingle and network with the leaders of our business.

And then… something incredible happened: Ron Ball, the financial analyst I held in such high esteem, took the stage. Suddenly, I was paying a little more attention. Truth be told, I had such an intensity of focus, that everything narrowed down to just Ron Ball on that stage for me. He quoted Revelation 3:20 several times:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Over and over Ron spoke those words of invitation. He emphasized that Christ keeps calling to us… can we listen at the door to our heart? He made it clear that Christ was knocking at the door to our heart… not battering it down, as God could most surely do. Calling… knocking… but the latch is on our side, and we need to DECIDE to open the door and let Christ into our heart. And if we do, He promises to be part of our lives in a very real way.

Ron spoke of other things, too. He spoke of belief. Now that was easy for me. I believed in God. I could easily see the miracle of a newborn’s hand, the elegant structure of a dandelion, the ordered chaos of a cloud, and the enormous power and beauty of a lightning bolt. Faith, however, was a much more difficult matter for me. When Ron spoke of faith, he gave examples of how when we place our faith in people we often get disappointed or hurt. Even the most perfect parent will someday die, making a lie of the promise: “I’ll never leave you.” Finally, here was someone acknowledging that putting your faith in a church, or a doctrine, or a pastor was a recipe for disappointment.

“Ha, I knew it.”

But then, I listened as Ron explained that the only one who would never leave or forsake me was God. He told how Jesus had already died to redeem me, and that He wanted to come into my life through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Ron backed everything up with Scripture references; I remember thinking how incredibly well all of Scripture seemed to be falling into place that morning.

I opened the door to my heart that day.

Tears were pouring from my eyes. Letting Christ into your heart for the first time can be an overwhelming experience. For the first time in my 38 years, I really knew what it was to be a child of God. I was overcome with the knowledge of the suffering Christ had endured to rescue me from my sins, and I had no words to express the complete fulfillment, peace, joy, and faith that now filled me… only tears of joy.

Christians call what happened to me a “mountaintop experience.” I agree. It seemed like, in accepting Christ as my savior, I had been suddenly picked up and could briefly see everything from God’s perspective!

That’s my story. Of course, there are a hundred little details that can’t fit in the retelling, but I hope you get the main message: Christ is calling you. Open the door, and He WILL come in.

When did you first hear Christ knocking on your heart? How did it feel when you knew you had really opened the door to let Him in?

By the way, here is a link to a site where you can view a 360 degree panorama of the tiny picture at the beginning of this entry. If you haven’t guessed, it is taken from atop Mt. Everest.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050306.html

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Speak Sweetly

On Sunday, and then continuing again on Wednesday night, Pastor Bob continued on in our current Live Like You Were Dying series. This is an amazing series of sermon, teaching, and small group activities that is leading us into Easter. If you are already involved, you know what I’m talking about. If you are not fully involved in this opportunity, you are welcome to join in at any time.

The topic this week for the Live Like You Were Dying series was: Speak Sweeter. Pastor Bob asked us to think back over our lives. “Who”, he asked, “affirmed or encouraged you in such a way that it still has an impact on you to this day?”

You ever notice how a question posed during a sermon or a lesson sometimes has very little impact on our conscious thoughts at that moment, but later… God puts out the equivalent of big neon signs, flashing: “Here’s the answer!”

On Sunday afternoon, I met up with some special friends from high-school. We were all part of a school organization called “The German Club”. Our teacher, Margit Munroe, formed her top German class into what she called the German Club (that’s Margit in the front row, on the right). We didn’t really have much in common. I can’t recall if I even had any of the people in German class in any other class with me. What we did have was a teacher that spoke and taught in an encouraging, uplifting, and positive manner. She challenged us, and we… well, we certainly challenged her! For 3 years of high-school, we thought of ourselves as a club, and not so much as a class learning a foreign language.

On Sunday afternoon, and then well into the evening, Margit and her husband Don had the German Club gather at their house overlooking Laguna Beach. We all had a fantastic time! I'm positive that there are no finer hosts than Margit and Don. In addition, the two couples that worked tirelessly to set up, serve, and then clean everything up were charming, gracious, and a lot of fun.

Our little German Club is part of something very unique in the entire world. True, we don't come together all that often, but when we do, it's like no time has passed. We slip back into the comfortable rhythms we imprinted during 3 years of growing up together, becoming young adults together and fitting together in a most comfortable manner. While not discounting the leadership of several of our members, Margit Munroe... our teacher... our mentor... our encourager... has been the key ingredient in solidifying the bonds that hold us together still today; 40 years later.

Thank you, Margit. You continue to teach me still today.

Pastor Bob asked the question already. I’ll ask it again: “Who affirmed or encouraged you in such a way that it still has an impact on you to this day?” Go ahead, post your reply. Let’s hear from YOU this week.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Forgiveness

Sometimes I really struggle with the whole forgiveness thing. I want justice served on those that wrong or hurt me, and yet… I pray every day for God to just wipe clean the slate of my transgressions. Most of us, if we’re honest with ourselves, have secret strongholds (maybe not so secret) where we cry out for justice, accountability, payback, and punishment. Maybe it’s that neighbor who is threatening and cruel. Often it’s someone in the news that has done something that deeply offends us (take your pick: O. J. Simpson, the mother of the octuplets, a star with a drug problem, and on and on). It could be a spouse that cheated on you, or perhaps it’s the arsonist that burned down your whole neighborhood in the recent fires.

And yet, Jesus didn’t just teach us about forgiveness, he tells us over and over, and in no uncertain terms, that it is imperative that we forgive everyone who sins against us! It might be safe to assume that almost every Christian knows the Lord’s Prayer. It’s in Matthew 6:9-13 just in case you need to look it up. In verse 12, we are taught to pray:

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,”

Immediately following the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus makes the following very strong admonition:

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 6:14-15

But our nature is to hold that grudge. Collectively, we cry out: “That two-timing cheater destroyed our marriage; you have no idea deeply how he hurt me!” “That drunkard killed my wife and 3 children and didn’t even get a scratch; he killed me, too, that day!” “That teacher’s offhand remark caused the whole auditorium to explode in laughter, and the humiliation made me want to die; I’ll hate her forever!”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

Jesus has paid the price, so that we might have forgiveness for ALL our sins. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35), however, Jesus again shows us that even though we have been forgiven, we cannot expect to be saved if we withhold forgiveness from others. The parable ends with the unmerciful servant being turned over to the jailors to be tortured until all of his debt was paid (which would be never), and Jesus once again warning us:

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Matthew 18:35

Jesus tells us that we have a choice: Be unforgiving and stay in bondage to sin, and ultimately be cast out, or be forgiving and be free, and… be saved. That’s pretty heavy. I have to forgive everybody? That’s what Jesus teaches us. Imagine the world if all Christians actually started to grant forgiveness from their hearts, rather than be unforgiving… which leads to hate… which leads to more sin. Jesus didn’t just teach forgiveness, he lived it. As he was being crucified on the cross, he cried out:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34

Most of the time, I don’t know what I am doing; I don’t know when I offend, or hurt, or wound people. I don’t mean to, but I’m sure it happens, because it happens to me. Every day, I pray the Lord’s Prayer, and I ask God’s Holy Spirit to fill my wounds with forgiveness, and then that forgiveness begins to fill my heart. Sometimes it takes a lot of prayer, and sometimes… I don’t want to let go of some hurt; I don’t want to forgive. In those times, I find that spending time in God’s Word, connecting with God through Scripture, helps me to let go of the anger, or hurt, or frustration, and to really begin to forgive from my heart.

I was trying to come up with a prayer to ask for a forgiving heart. What I got, instead, was inspiration for this poem (who says prayers can’t rhyme?):

Each lash upon your bleeding back,
Was a lash you bore for me.
Each thorn, each nail, each drop of blood,
My sins… on Calvary.

You suffered there, upon that cross,
And you died that I might live.
You rose, and want a walk with me;
Jesus… teach me… to forgive.

Anybody else ever have a problem forgiving someone? Is there something you feel you will never be able to forgive? How did you manage to forgive someone who had done something unforgivable? Was God involved? How was God involved? How did you feel after really forgiving that person?

Hmmm… this is a lot to chew on. I suspect I’ve only scratched the scratch on the scratch on the scratch of this topic. Share your thoughts. Let’s hear from you. I always find your comments to be much more inspired than my musings.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Plug In!

For the past couple of weeks, we’ve all been encouraged to use one of the blue signup cards to commit to a 4-week small group experience during Lent. These opportunities come around from time to time in all churches; for Messiah… at this particular time… the small group opportunity is titled: “Live Like You Were Dying.” According to the signup card, “it’s an experience that could change your life!”

You might well ask: “Yeah, right… how is meeting with a small group of people once a week for 4 weeks going to change my life?” The answer is that Christian churches everywhere recognize the awesome potential of the small group experience to connect people with the life-changing power of God’s Holy Spirit.

Simply coming to church does not connect us to God’s Holy Spirit; neither do good works, prayer, or even belief in God. So often, people find that, though they attend church religiously, they still feel empty and unsatisfied. Like the toaster in the picture, they may well be in the kitchen, but they are not plugged in. If you are not plugged into the source of power, you are not able to fulfill your purpose… whether you are a toaster… or a wonderful and unique child of God.

Plugging into God’s Spirit allows us to begin to fulfill our purpose. Becoming alive in the Spirit helps lead us to a closer walk with Christ, and a more intimate relationship with God.

So, how can we plug in? How can we tap into the power of the Holy Spirit? How can we energize our relationship with God? Simple:

1. Listen; read and study God’s Word… and how it speaks to your life;
2. Pray; share your daily concerns and triumphs… talk to God;
3. Worship; thank, praise and glorify God;
4. Fellowship; be an active part of a Christian community.

The small group experience has proven to make it easier for people to fellowship. It is far easier to learn the names of 8 people, rather than 800. Small groups of people connect better, share more, and tend to encourage, support and care for each other. They form intimate communities that study, pray, and worship together… connecting with God’s Holy Spirit.

In fellowship, God’s Word comes alive when discussed, shared, and explored by people who are connected.

In fellowship, our prayer life is energized and enhanced when we pray together. The Holy Spirit often shows us how to expand our prayers through the prayers and concerns of others.

In fellowship, we can be a blessing to others, and allow them to be a blessing to us.

When have you felt most connected to the Holy Spirit? Have you had an awesome fellowship experience? Have you had a fellowship experience that changed your life?

Of course, there are many ways to connect in fellowship. Small group opportunities have just proven to be very effective, so I really encourage you to participate in every small group opportunity… wherever you happen to be a partner in ministry. So, get energized… get alive in the Spirit… plug in!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave