Church

The Miracle of the Promise

A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell. C. S. Lewis

I was thinking this morning…..how it’s all a miracle. No matter what we have to go through, we are here. Someone had to think of us to bring us into existence. And maybe even if they didn’t God did. It is a miracle that I believe, that any of us believes. And not only believe, because even the demons believe, but put that belief into something that started with a decision.

If someone had never taken me to church or told me about God, I have never have known that there was even a decision to be made.

Or that there was a God……and that He wanted a relationship with me.

If someone in your life thought it was important that you go to church, you need to thank God for them today. That they took you.

Maybe it was a stumbling blinding path they were tripping on themselves, or maybe it was a rock solid firm foundation. Whatever it was, they got you ready and somewhere in their hearts they thought it was right…….when many others were doing other things you were swinging your feet on a bench where you heard “the old old story, about how Christ left His home in glory.”

and it planted a seed you could never quite forget.

I am thanking God today that no matter what I go through in this life, God cracked my heart open with the light of His love……and in all these years He has never stopped. Because I heard and answered the knock of a God who wanted to know me and live with me forever. And you.

“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” Acts 2:39

picture from google images

God Goes Where He’s Wanted

A modern day evangelist lamented, “Whenever the Apostle Paul visited a city, the residents started a riot; when I visit, they serve tea.”

The church in Thessalonica, like many of Paul’s churches, was born amid violent upheaval. An angry mob took offense at Paul’s work and chased him out of town, accusing him of causing “trouble all over the world.” (Acts 17:6) From my introduction to the book of Thessalonians, with notes by Tim Stafford and Philip Yancey.

The curious phenomenon of church growth during times of intense persecution is reflected in these quotes from Christians in different parts of the world.

From a believer in Malaysia:

“We are so blessed because in Indonesia they are killing Christians, but here we just have to put up with discrimination and restrictions on our activities.”

and from an Indonesian Christian….

“We’re very blessed because in Malaysia, they can’t freely publish the Gospel. Here we still can.”

Philip Yancey has an interesting observation from his travels and interviews around the world talking to believers in many different cultures and countries…….

As I travel and also read church history, I have observed a pattern, a strange phenomenon of God “moving” geographically from place to place: from the Middle East to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where He’s wanted.

Quotes and selections from the book, Finding God in Unexpected Places, I heartily recommend this book, what a blessing it was to read it.

I tend to agree with him.

But Jesus said, “A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family.” He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference. Matthew 13:58

Quotes and selections from the book, Finding God in Unexpected Places

Confessions of a Church Mutt, a repost……


I confess I have a speckled lineage when it comes to my church experience. Personally, I don’t believe God cares what denomination, if any, we attach ourselves to as long as it remains true to Biblical teaching. I think we can gather richness from each one, I know I have. However we dress it up or perform the ceremony what remains is God and His word. He alone knows the heart of a church.

I started out Baptist, then dabbled in the Episcopalian denomination for a short time, been a member of Assembly of God congregations, enjoyed many Methodist services with through my Grandfather, and Aunt. For the past ten or so years I’ve been part of a Non-denominational Christian church. Each one has added something to my Spiritual growth………From each one I carry memories that have enriched my faith. In each one I have experienced God’s grace. I have seen prayers answered, God’s love flowing through people. I have seen the Holy Spirit change lives and do things not humanly possible.

I remember….magical paper sacks that we received after every Christmas pageant. I remember quaking on stage, trying to remember my one line from the Bethlehem scene. I think one time I actually cried and ran off stage….but after, we received a paper sack that held the same things every year; peanuts in the shell, buried within a hershey bar, and a roll of five flavor lifesavers, and an orange. I was always scared they would run out before they got to me. A walk down the aisle to start my journey with Christ…..

I remember seeing my Pastor in rubber waders at my Baptism, warm water swirling around my white baptism clothes, giving the confession of faith; never to be the same again. Strong biblical teaching from a pastor who loved digging into meanings of Greek and Hebrew. So many joyful hours of choir practice, where my Aunt and I sang on the Alto end.

I remember ice-cream socials on summer evenings in the Methodist church yard, all cakes made from scratch, with a man dipping ice-cream at the end of the line. The beautiful marbled sanctuary…they knew how to make a church look like a church in those days.

I remember the beautiful liturgy at St. John’s Episcopal, learning when to sit and stand, knees creaking. The flip of the kneeler in the silence. People there who helped each other out after hours. I remember a spirit of love in the social hall after service when I saw Father Ray dancing a jig with a child one day. The tradition of the flowering of the cross at Easter, the Sacrifice giving way to the fragance of beauty and conquered death once and for all.

I remember prayer times, tears, laughter, and meeting wonderful people who loved God. Meeting God at the altar, prayers answered, hands lifted high, tears of communion. Learning about the gifts of the Spirit….(still have my notes) All of these precious times, a bit of Heaven on earth. A foretaste of glory to come….

Church; it’s not perfect because it is made up of people. But it’s God’s church and still a place where you can find grace, forgiveness, and love.

“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Psalm 27:4

Saturday Wonderings

If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference. A.W. Tozer

I sometimes wonder how much of what we do in the church today is just stuff. I think a lot of what goes on once we leave the building is church. The conversations we have or don’t have. They way we live within the walls of our own homes. At work. I guess you could say I am preaching a sermon to myself today.

Sometimes I ask myself why the person I see in my mind, the one I want to be,  is so much different than the living breathing version of me.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if all the churches emptied out and went out into the streets on Sunday mornings like a big flash mob of love.

I wonder.

“The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.”

On being Born Again…..

 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:5-8
In our culture it is somewhat acceptable to be a “Christian,” or “Religious,” or “Church-going” and it seems everyone is “Spiritual” now. But just tell someone you are “Born-Again,” and see how their expression changes. But after all, that is what Jesus said we have to do to enter His Kingdom. This term “born-again” illicits some very interesting reactions from people at times. Someone I know used to say “those born-agains.” There was some derision in the tone. I think they thought we swung from the light fixtures in church.
I can’t honestly say that I blame them, especially when I watch some of the “Christian” programming on TV, some of it really does make me cringe.
I will say that it was the best thing that has ever happened to me! And so far, I have never heard anyone say, “Oh, I wish I hadn’t done that.”
Further thoughts on John 3 tomorrow………

Church Etiquette

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14

Has something like this ever happened to you? You are sitting in church, trying desperately not to be distracted, but directly in front of you is a couple who can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. It happened to me this past Sunday. Now this was not a young teen aged couple, they should have known better. They were 30 something, maybe even 40. What made it worse was this was during communion. I elbowed Elaine, sitting next to me who I knew was trying just as hard as I was to keep focused. Usually I can focus. Rattling papers, whispering, people walking up and down the aisle, no problem…..I can pay attention.

It went on and on…….I had so many crazy thoughts. I was almost ready to wad up my program and toss it in their direction. Where is the mischievous little boy throwing spit wads in class? I wished he was there. C’mon, we are trying to have a Holy moment here! Concentrate, breathe……..focus. Even the Pastor, who was right in my line of vision and theirs, was looking at them.

He had his hand wound up in her hair, and she was making (as my Dad would say) cow eyes at him. She even puckered her lips at him, I swear! My mind twittered thoughts right and left…….”at least they could have sat in the back row…..don’t they have any clue about church etiquette? Why are they here? They really need to get a room.”

Finally, at a loss as to what to do, I prayed for them, and for me. I know it was Jesus idea. It did help, it diffused the irritation. Opened the channels to a bit of love and understanding…..everyone has to start somewhere after all.

What do you think? Was it good that they were there regardless of how they acted? Had something like this happened to you?

“What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” 1 Corinthians 14:26

He was born so we could be…..

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

The process of conversion is the greatest miracle of our times. A dramatically changed life, as Augustine knew, is the most powerful testimony there is……an external change, something supernatural we can explain in no other way but through God alone. Jesus called it being “born again.”

“But you, O Lord, used the changes lives of other men and women like a mirror to keep turning me around to face myself. You set me in front of my own face so that I might see how deformed, how crooked and sordid and stained and ulcerous I was. Horrified, I turned and tried to run from myself–only to find that you were there, too, thrusting me in front of myself. You wanted me to discover my iniquity and hate it, because it bound me and kept me from going with you.” Augustine, Confessions 8

If you want to read about a powerful conversion, read the Confessions of Augustine; read the Apostle Paul’s from the book of Acts. Both dramatic and full of passion, but no less so than every one of us who has come to that moment when they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they must go through that door, and there is no stopping it. In my own Baptist tradition, we made a public confession of faith through a walk down the aisle in the church, also known as the “altar call”, and then again in Baptism. It is powerful, it is heartrending,  and the nearest to Heaven that we will ever be this side of it. It is the most miraculous and most important moment in one’s life. The Bible says that angels in Heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents, either in front of a church or in their own car going down the road!

I have noticed a curious thing happening in several churches of my own evangelical tradition in recent years. When it comes to that time of decision there is curiously no more walk down the aisle. For me this has always been the most important moment in the church service. You remember your own walk, and you want to encourage others so you stand and clap for them as the praise team or choir gets back up to close the service. And when you see one of your own make that walk…….you can’t even describe it. Goosebumps all the way.

Some churches have changed this to a quiet moment of all heads bowed and a raising of hands for those who wish to “make a decision” to follow Christ. Is this something we are now ashamed of that we need to do without others eyes upon us? When did it become something we need to be embarassed about? Everyone Jesus called was called publicly. Should it still be the same today? Can you imagine Peter asking everyone to bow their head and raise their hands without anyone else looking? Why are certain churches treating this great miracle of conversion, this most joyous and radical thing into something to be done in secret?

Jesus was born, lived and died a terrible death very publicly so that we could be born again into new life. Shouldn’t we be just as open about confessing Him? I don’t want to step on any toes here, and I do want to be sensitive, but I welcome your thoughts.

What are some of your own church traditions/teachings on this?

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32

Counting thanks in my heart today……time is pressing!

holy experience

Celebrating the ways we are the same…..

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 1 Corinthians 11:17-19

There was division in the early church, just as today. We are still getting caught up in our differences centuries later. When Yeshua walked this earth He saw a people scattered and broken, sheep without a shepherd He called them. With one act at the end of His earthly life, He made a way for us to be perfectly unified. The cross permanently bridged the gap for all time.


Today it is all about “celebrating our differences.” Has it helped us? It is certainly good to acknowledge our differences, but I think if we do nothing but highlight them, it only acts to draw us further apart. To me it is healthier to celebrate the ways we are the same, and that goes for the church as well. So many denominations, so many walls that separate….and yet, these are familiar words to everyone in the Christian church, whatever the denomination.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,


the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell. [See Calvin]
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead……..

In many ways, we humans like to junk things up with religiosity and intellect. We have been doing it forever, and certainly when Jesus walked the earth we were. That is the one thing He so laboriously fought against. It is not about what we do or how we do it, it is what He did for us. When He said, it is finished, He meant it!
In Heaven there will be no segregation…..

And every time I am worshipping in a church service, grabbing hands across the aisles, seeing black, white, brown, crying the same tears, praying for each others needs, loving each other, I know…..

The Kingdom of Heaven is in deed, at hand!  

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 1 Corinthians 4:6
Photo from Brooklyn Tabernacle website

Weighing in on the side of Love

“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:23,24

When Paul was speaking to the Corinthian believers, he was trying to get them to understand that although they had liberty to do certain things, it wasn’t necessarily in their best interests or the interests of others to do them. They had issues that were dividing the church and they were squabbling amongst themselves about what was right and what was wrong. Basically they wanted to know what they could “get away with” and “what they couldn’t.” Paul said that wasn’t the issue, love was. Placing stumbling blocks in front of others was the issue.

Anytime we in the church do something, we need to remember it affects the church as a whole. The eyes of the world are watching what we do. Does that Pastor have the right to burn the Koran? Yes, because this is a free country. Should he? Absolutely not. People have been burning Bibles for centuries. What should our response be? I don’t care if every Bible on earth is burned, the Word of God will still stand forever, and it will still be in our hearts. No one and nothing will ever change that. There are times to stand up and there are times to “stand down.”

Paul said, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 1 Corinthians 10:31-33

Here is the difference. If someone told me I could no longer worship publicly in my church and that if I did so, I would be incurring someone’s wrath, that now becomes an issue between me and God, because the Bible says not to forsake the “assembling of ourselves together” in worship. So I would have to choose obeying God rather than man.  I think we can agree that burning the Koran will do nothing but harm everyone involved. That is my take on the situation…..Hop on over here to Cliff’s to see a view I agree with!

Final thought…..what if Christ had exercised His liberty when the decision was made whether to go to the cross? He had every right to stay in Heaven and write us off. But thankfully that is not how God works….His motive is always and forever, LOVE.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8

Prayer for the Orphans

Painting by Thomas Kennington

Lord, I pray for your dear ones waiting for loving arms to surround them and for the fear and hopelessness that comes when no one arrives….Every child deserves to know that they have a place in someone’s heart, that they are worthy of love, that they don’t have to go through a hard life alone. I pray that we, your church would swallow up every last orphan, Lord until there are none left to wonder if they are loved, if they are worthy.

I pray for the courageous ones who have already stepped up, been obedient to Your word, sometimes at their own personal sacrifice. They are storing up treasure in Heaven as they care for Your own little treasures here on earth. I know Lord, that there are many different kinds of orphans and I pray for these too. These orphans of divorce, who sometimes wonder where they belong or who they belong too as they are passed back and forth from home to home to home, and I pray for the guilt that comes for all involved, and for Your healing touch for everyone in this kind of heartache today.

I pray also for those orphans who have two parents, but absent ones, indifferent ones, ones who know nothing about their own children as they run around doing everything else, but spending time with them, nurturing them, caring for them, knowing what they like to do, what little joys they hold dear.

I am humbled and so grateful Lord that I had parents who loved me and a home, a place. Everyone needs and deserves this, Lord. And remind me that to whom much is given, much is required….

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Go here, here and here to see some wonderful people who are making a difference.


Celebrating my praise and thanksgiving today with hopes that others can know, #442 the feelings of belonging that come with a father’s loving touch, #443 a mother’s arm around the shoulders, #444 a brother’s gentle teasing and the love that is behind it, #445 a home to run to in the rain, #446 a mother’s call for dinner, #447 knowledge that you have people behind you when life gets tough, #448 a knowledge of a Father in heaven who loves them, #449 knowing even when you are far away, that place remains in your heart, #450 knowing someone cares about what matters to you.

holy experience