We had our last worship service with our home congregation yesterday morning. It was a morning that was absolutely filled with encouragement and love. We had so many hugs and well wishes before Bible class even began and that alone was a steadying thing. Jonathan taught the Bible class and was able to do a presentation on our MSOP adventure. He talked mainly about why we are going, what it will be like for us there, and what will happen after he finishes up with preaching school. For his application essay he had written an equation that he called Desire + Ability + Need= Willingness to go. The desire portion is simple enough to understand, he has the desire to go and receive training that is needed in order for him to switch from being a business analyst writing and reviewing design plans for business cases for a fortune 100 company (among other things) to being a preacher of the gospel being able to teach and preach God's word. The ability part refers to skills that he has already developed. In the work environment he has done copious amounts of writing, teaching, and presenting. In our home congregation he has had the opportunity to teach the senior high Bible class for the past four years as well as doing short devotionals and occasional sermons so he already knew that the basic skills are in place to help him to be successful. Need is quite self explanatory as well. There is a need for people to be willing to teach the gospel and stand for the truth. Not only can a preacher reach lost souls but he can also uplift and encourage the congregation and strengthen them so that they can remain faithful. How could we not be willing to go with all of these things in place? He did such a good job with his presentation and answered so many questions that people had about our going to Memphis.
Yesterday was Fathers' Day and our children from the age of 9 to 18 were also leaving for camp so there wasn't enough time in the afternoon to be able to do a light finger foods fellowship as a send off for us as we generally might do when a family is leaving the area. We were not forgotten by any stretch of the imagination though and I think the way that our send off happened might have even been more special. During the opening prayer a special prayer was said for many things including for us and we were prayed for individually by name (all six of us!). Our song leader for the month of June sang two songs that are favorites of ours...Magnificat and The Greatest Command. Our minister mentioned us before his sermon and then afterward we were presented with a lovely basket full of small gifts. We received cards with money to help with our upcoming travel expenses. We received a grocery gift card to stock our kitchen when we arrive. We received snacks to eat on our eleven hour drive. We received fun games and activity books to help to entertain the children on the drive. We could not be more grateful for the outpouring of love from our brothers and sisters in Christ. During some of the stressful times ahead (exam weeks!) we will be able to look back on our send off and remember that we have a ton of people who love us and are rooting for us back home.
As I looked around our congregation of around 130 yesterday morning I saw faces that were dear to me filling every pew. My eyes lingered on some of our elderly people that we love because I fear that some of them may not be still there when we return later for visits. I studied the faces of children who are close friends to my own children and found it a little easier to be patient as they played in the lobby and halls for this last time for months. I made sure to store in my memory bank my little four year old daughter sitting on the lap of her "adopted grandmother", as she does every week and worried just a little about how she will feel this next week as we sit in a strange congregation to her without the two sweet ladies that she loves to sit with. I was sad that some faces that are dear to me weren't present in the audience because of cancer treatments and other sickness. I smiled to see families that I love sitting together and worshiping God together. I listened closely to the singing, knowing that a week from now that I will miss these voices that I am used to hearing as they praise God. I soaked in that sermon, realizing that it is the last time for many months that I will get to hear our preacher speaking. It was a lovely service but it was difficult in some ways it was hard, just as saying goodbye to our loved family and friends has been. We are blessed to be a part of a congregation full of Barnabas's though...encouragement all around us.
We are strengthened, fortified, and lifted up. We have family still to say goodbye to this week, we have appointments still to keep, we have packing and loading still to do, and we have the drive ahead of us. But we are excited and energized and so ready to begin this next adventure. We have four days left in our beautiful home in the valley between the mountains and then we will head to flat west Tennessee to a time that we have already been looking forward to for a year. We are a little more ready than we were just days ago because of the love shown to us yesterday. We are thankful that no matter where we go we are part of the Lord's Church and we know that we will have love shown to us in Memphis as well.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Thursday, June 9, 2016
The Beauty in Christianity
An article I read this morning saddened me because the author actually feels there is a great ugliness in Christianity. It is heartbreaking because she is choosing to step away from God and acknowledges that she will not ever return to serving Him. She cites several examples to offer reasons for her choice and those reasons are discouraging to hear.
Her reasoning does not illustrate the Christians that I know, however. The Christians I know actually don't spend vast amounts of time discussing politics. We are watching all of the election coverage to be sure, and we have opinions about the candidates, but I have quite a few friends who call themselves Christians who have not shared enough of their opinion with me for me to make much of a guess as to where they stand. The Christians that I know are trying to consider God's laws and statutes as they consider the candidates but, like other Americans, they are thinking about issues such as the economy and jobs, education, national security, and healthcare as well. The Christians I know understand that neither of those people running are doing much to demonstrate they are true followers of Christ but that we still need a leader to run this country and we have a civic duty (and a privilege one might add) to vote. Have some Christians made inflammatory comments and been unkind or judgemental on social media? Obviously they have (she cited an example after all of at least one person who did so). Have some Christians chosen to elevate an issue or two as priority and focus only on those items as they think about the ballot they will cast? Again, most certainly. But, the Christians I know aren't discussing politics at the church building. That is because while they are there they are talking about evangelism and reaching those lost souls that Ms. Ferguson says that we will loose for good. You see, the Christians I know understand that we are standing amidst a world that for the most part does not know God. We see the preciousness of human life around us- the precious nature of EVERY human soul.
The very words in the Bible do nothing to promote a bigoted and racist attitude. They do everything to admonish us to treat others without favoritism and with love. (If you are reading this and you wonder if that is true simply pick up any Bible near you and read the book of James.) God created man and His creation was good. We must love those around us. I have met missionaries who have worked in the slums of Rio De Janeiro living apart from their family for two decades to show love to the poor in South America. I have known those who worked in Tanzania, again for decades even establishing a preaching school there so that African men who want to learn to become ministers have someplace to study without leaving their own homes for two to four years. I have known missionaries who loved the people of Vanuatu so very much that they stayed in those Pacific Islands going so far as to take their two young children out into the bush to live with no electricity and running water for several years to help establish church congregations there. There is great love in the hearts of Christians and they are serving around the world!
The love doesn't end with missionaries. I have watched friends tirelessly work to serve on university campuses around the states not only teaching those students about the Bible but also being an encouragement during the struggles of everyday life. I have seen the men and women tired and worn out from working and taking care of their families who show up at the building to teach inner city school children every single week during the school year and who often work with those children tutoring them in schoolwork and helping them enjoy extracurricular activities in the summertime. I know ladies who knit blankets for the NICU and oncology treatment centers where every patient is a stranger to them. I have myself stood in the serving line at soup kitchens and homeless ministries dishing out the only home cooked meal that some of the people in line have had in months. I have seen teenage girls learn to use their mom's sewing machine to make pillow case dresses to send overseas. I have seen and participated in the countless hours put in to prepare VBS materials or week long camp experiences for students. The list goes on and on with the love that I have personally been able to watch others not only show but generously, freely, lavishly give.
I have experienced this love personally with brothers and sisters in Christ loving me and my family. I have had an entire congregation sending care packages to a soldier husband during his Iraq deployment and seeing tears as I at times felt overwhelmed with our first child as a newborn and my single mom status. I have been the recipient of months of meals for my family several times a week while struggling with hyperemesis gravidarum during my pregnancies. I have received sunshine baskets to help to encourage my own child hospitalized after surgery. I have received the cards, phone calls, hugs, and caring that brothers and sisters give to one another. And most recently I have had a most beautiful going away party for me as we prepare to leave our church family in the congregation we have called home these past few years. Time and again my church family has been there to support me and my family and to love us. These people, these Christians are my family.
Christians aren't perfect and sometimes those who wear the name of Christ aren't true followers. That much is evident with a quick look around the auditoriums of congregations all around. I have met those along the way who don't always behave in the way that God desires. (Never any who spoke of dancing on the grave of anyone!) I have also been a part of, or at least experienced, quite a few congregations in quite a few states and I have seen love move beyond those walls of the church building over and over. In fact, we have a sign at our building that says: "Enter to worship, leave to serve" and people take that charge seriously.
I am sorry for the experiences that Ms. Ferguson had but those are not the experiences she would find everywhere. I will be praying for her and for everyone who has been touched by reading that article. Christianity won't fail though because love never fails. Those who are truly Christians do love and they do so with all of their hearts.
Her reasoning does not illustrate the Christians that I know, however. The Christians I know actually don't spend vast amounts of time discussing politics. We are watching all of the election coverage to be sure, and we have opinions about the candidates, but I have quite a few friends who call themselves Christians who have not shared enough of their opinion with me for me to make much of a guess as to where they stand. The Christians that I know are trying to consider God's laws and statutes as they consider the candidates but, like other Americans, they are thinking about issues such as the economy and jobs, education, national security, and healthcare as well. The Christians I know understand that neither of those people running are doing much to demonstrate they are true followers of Christ but that we still need a leader to run this country and we have a civic duty (and a privilege one might add) to vote. Have some Christians made inflammatory comments and been unkind or judgemental on social media? Obviously they have (she cited an example after all of at least one person who did so). Have some Christians chosen to elevate an issue or two as priority and focus only on those items as they think about the ballot they will cast? Again, most certainly. But, the Christians I know aren't discussing politics at the church building. That is because while they are there they are talking about evangelism and reaching those lost souls that Ms. Ferguson says that we will loose for good. You see, the Christians I know understand that we are standing amidst a world that for the most part does not know God. We see the preciousness of human life around us- the precious nature of EVERY human soul.
The very words in the Bible do nothing to promote a bigoted and racist attitude. They do everything to admonish us to treat others without favoritism and with love. (If you are reading this and you wonder if that is true simply pick up any Bible near you and read the book of James.) God created man and His creation was good. We must love those around us. I have met missionaries who have worked in the slums of Rio De Janeiro living apart from their family for two decades to show love to the poor in South America. I have known those who worked in Tanzania, again for decades even establishing a preaching school there so that African men who want to learn to become ministers have someplace to study without leaving their own homes for two to four years. I have known missionaries who loved the people of Vanuatu so very much that they stayed in those Pacific Islands going so far as to take their two young children out into the bush to live with no electricity and running water for several years to help establish church congregations there. There is great love in the hearts of Christians and they are serving around the world!
The love doesn't end with missionaries. I have watched friends tirelessly work to serve on university campuses around the states not only teaching those students about the Bible but also being an encouragement during the struggles of everyday life. I have seen the men and women tired and worn out from working and taking care of their families who show up at the building to teach inner city school children every single week during the school year and who often work with those children tutoring them in schoolwork and helping them enjoy extracurricular activities in the summertime. I know ladies who knit blankets for the NICU and oncology treatment centers where every patient is a stranger to them. I have myself stood in the serving line at soup kitchens and homeless ministries dishing out the only home cooked meal that some of the people in line have had in months. I have seen teenage girls learn to use their mom's sewing machine to make pillow case dresses to send overseas. I have seen and participated in the countless hours put in to prepare VBS materials or week long camp experiences for students. The list goes on and on with the love that I have personally been able to watch others not only show but generously, freely, lavishly give.
I have experienced this love personally with brothers and sisters in Christ loving me and my family. I have had an entire congregation sending care packages to a soldier husband during his Iraq deployment and seeing tears as I at times felt overwhelmed with our first child as a newborn and my single mom status. I have been the recipient of months of meals for my family several times a week while struggling with hyperemesis gravidarum during my pregnancies. I have received sunshine baskets to help to encourage my own child hospitalized after surgery. I have received the cards, phone calls, hugs, and caring that brothers and sisters give to one another. And most recently I have had a most beautiful going away party for me as we prepare to leave our church family in the congregation we have called home these past few years. Time and again my church family has been there to support me and my family and to love us. These people, these Christians are my family.
Christians aren't perfect and sometimes those who wear the name of Christ aren't true followers. That much is evident with a quick look around the auditoriums of congregations all around. I have met those along the way who don't always behave in the way that God desires. (Never any who spoke of dancing on the grave of anyone!) I have also been a part of, or at least experienced, quite a few congregations in quite a few states and I have seen love move beyond those walls of the church building over and over. In fact, we have a sign at our building that says: "Enter to worship, leave to serve" and people take that charge seriously.
I am sorry for the experiences that Ms. Ferguson had but those are not the experiences she would find everywhere. I will be praying for her and for everyone who has been touched by reading that article. Christianity won't fail though because love never fails. Those who are truly Christians do love and they do so with all of their hearts.
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