God’s advice comes in very normal ways

Posted on August 6, 2015 by | Comments Off on God’s advice comes in very normal ways

fortune cookieGod’s advice always comes at a time when we need to hear it most. Often, when God does send his advice, we are often dismissive of it because surely the Lord would not choose some casual, normal way to relay His words of encouragement to us. Although we are familiar with the scripture, And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12). Elijah had become discouraged and felt that he was the only one going through such a trial as his at the time. At a time when he desired to hear from the Lord, the Lord called him to stand in a cave in a valley – and it was there that God used a small, still voice to communicate with His prophet.

Just like Elijah, often when we need to hear from the Lord we don’t expect the small, still voice or the use of common things that God will use to commune with us. We want to hear the big thundering voice proclaiming we are right, how we have been wronged, or even how we have pleased Him. We overlook the small messages of encouragement and instruction that God gives us simply because we overlook the common things. About two weeks ago, I had a daddy-daughter date with my four-year old. As is our normal tradition, I let her choose the restaurant and we ended up at a local establishment, The China Buffet, which happens to be her favorite. After we finished eating, the waitress brought out the bill and two fortune cookies.

My daughter, the self-proclaimed fortune cookie passer-outer, gave me one with her enthusiastic smile and “Daddy, here you go!” I opened my fortune cookie and instead of the traditional message offering some obscure advice, this was in my cookie: “No matter what your past has been, you have a spotless future.” I am not by any means saying that God uses every fortune cookie to give His children encouragement, but this fortune cookie had a message that God wanted me to remember. I often struggle with what I had done in the past as any regular reader of this blog knows and on this particular day, had already been struggling with Satan. This fortune cookie was God’s subtle way of reminding me of His saving grace. God was reminding me of this simple truth: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). God chose to use a common item at hand to remind me of His enduring love for me. As my daughter continued to eat her cookie, I sat in amazement at how God was able to send me a word of encouragement through a fortune cookie.

It is easy for us to overlook the many ways that God sends us messages of teaching and encouragement. Have you ever been driving down the road and all of a sudden a hymn, a gospel song, or even a contemporary Christian song will pop into your mind? Maybe you’ve been at work and you read something that causes you to remember a particular sermon you heard a long time ago. I’ve even had times when I have been preparing lectures in my world civilization course and suddenly I will remember a passage of scripture that accurately describes exactly what happened from God’s perspective. Ever sit out and watch the power of a passing storm, or listen to the birds sing, or even watch a butterfly land on a flower? Each of these can and often are used by the Lord as a way to teach us and encourage us.

I wonder how many times in my past I’ve missed God’s advice simply because I didn’t realize what was happening. It’s extremely easy to become distracted by just having a busy schedule. We live in an era where we are constantly bombarded with things to do, and because of the prevalence of personal electronic devices, I believe our senses have become numb because of the over-stimulation that happens.  It become easy to miss the smaller details and the common things the Lord uses to comfort and teach us. While I am sure there is no one sure-fire way not to miss these moments, for myself, it has become important enough for me to slow down and set aside time each day to simply sit back and listen for the still, small voice.

And in case you’re wondering, I kept the fortune from that fortune cookie and taped it to my laptop as a reminder to look for those small things that are used by the Lord to comfort, teach, and advise me.

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Posted in Christian Living, Our relationship with God, Our relationship with ourselves

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Doing the most with what you have

Posted on August 4, 2015 by

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Frugality was once considered a virtue in our country. Like the Amish in this picture, most people had learned the skill of doing the most with what they had on hand. Hand-me-downs were not seen as something to be ashamed … Continue reading →

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It’s just a building and NOT the church

Posted on July 13, 2015 by | Comments Off on It’s just a building and NOT the church
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Sanctuary of Gospel Light Baptist Church 06/17/2015

At some time in the life of any congregation there will be something happen to the church building. My current home church, Gospel Light Baptist Church, is no exception to this statement. June 17th started out like any other day. Being a Wednesday, I had already made plans to be at the church a little before the evening midweek service so I could print out the weekly prayer lists. Around ten o’clock that morning, one of our church couples that cleans the church called me and told me that the ceiling had collapsed in our sanctuary. A few minutes later, the pastor’s wife sent out a call to all our members cancelling Wednesday night service. Not only had the ceiling collapsed in the sanctuary, but throughout the church building there was a heavy layer of dust, insulation, and debris coating nearly every surface. The first thing that came to my mind is that while it is sad that our sanctuary was destroyed, it is just a building. No member was there when it fell – a miracle within itself.

Soon after, a local television began running a story about the damage to our sanctuary. While the report really didn’t mention a lot of details, it did pique the interests of many within our community. Nearly every member has been asked a variety of questions about what has happened and our congregation’s plans to rebuild. Just as other members have been asked, I have been asked how other members handling the collapse of our “church” ceiling. At first, I responded as anyone would – sharing that how I believe that the Lord had his hand on the entire situation. Then it dawned on me that many of the people who were asking me were equating what happened with the church building as actually happening to the “church.” There is a scriptural distinction between the two. What happened to our sanctuary happened to just a building. The church – the local assembly of born-again believers that meet in that building are what is important.

In Paul’s letter to Philemon, he writes, And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house (Philemon 1:2), he is clearly making a distinction between the church and the building where it meets. This is not the only time the distinction is made within scripture. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Colossus has a similar salutation, Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house (Colossians 4:15). In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes, The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19), again highlighting the relationship to the body of believers and the place where they meet. Even in Rome, there was a church meeting in the house of a believer: Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ (Romans 16:5). Each of these verses clearly show the church as not being a certain building or place but a group of local believers meeting together to worship the Lord, exhorting one another, and praising God.

Just a building 2The ceiling that once was in our sanctuary had been there for fifty years. It held its place over many weddings, baptisms, and other events that were special to nearly three generations of members. As you can see in the photograph to the left, it was made of beautifully crafted tongue in groove planking – and we took great pride in how beautiful our sanctuary was. But as much as it meant to so many people, it was not the church but just a building where we met. If you go to any church meeting across our country, you’ll discover that among the faithful, the church isn’t a building but a family. A family of born again believers who come together to do those very things Christians have done since the days of the apostles: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25), Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19); and to Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).

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