I want to grow our church. I want to double our church in one day. Sounds crazy? Growing and doubling worship in one day is my goal. And doubling our church in one single day is not out of the question. All we have to do is have everyone in worship invite and bring a friend with them. Statically, everyone knows 7 people who do not attend a church regularly. “The average church member,” NET RESULTS states, “has a network of 7 friends who are not regular church attendees whom they could invite to worship. If we invite these seven four of these seven (63%) will respond positively to the invitation. And most likely will not show up. However, one of these seven (25%) will show up for worship, they will visit the church only because they were invited!
Somewhere between 78 – 90% of the people in worship on any given Sunday are there because they were first invited by someone that they knew and trusted. Who do you know who is not active in a church? Who do you know who is hurting, or lonely? What family members and neighbors don’t go to church? What about the people you work with? Do they go to church anywhere?
NET RESULTS also point out that people are more open to being invited to church today than they were in the past. Some numbers are: 52% in the 1980’s, 63% in the 1990’s and it appears to continue to rise into the new millennium.
Let’s grow the church. Let’s extend the Kingdom of GOD. Let’s grow the church, doubling worship attendance in one single day. Who are you going to invite and bring to worship this week?
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Light of Hope
The elevator had only two stops on it, ‘up’ and ‘down’. Since we were ‘up’ it had only one way to go, down. And down we went. In a matter of seconds, we had descended to the bottom. When the elevator came to a stop, the interior door opened, then the exterior door. Stepping out, I entered a strange new world hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth. Standing in a deep coalmine, a blast of cold, moist air hit me.
After passing a safety course on the surface, underground I was weighted down with all of my safety equipment; heavy water proof boots, emergency oxygen canister and a battery pack attached to a safety belt and harness, thick gloves and a company coat covering multiple layers of clothing. With my hardhat on, I quickly switched on my light. Stepping out of the elevator, I felt like Neil Armstrong, ready to declare, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. However, I restrained myself. To me, walking on the floor of the mine was as foreign and alien a world as walking on the moon. But, for the man leading me, this was not a strange world, but a very familiar, comfortable place.
I enjoy seeing where members of my church work. This day I was with Bill Benline, one of my Elders who is the General Mine Foreman of the American Energy Corporation’s Century Coalmine. Located outside of Powhatan Point, this mine is an independent operating subsidiary of Murray Energy Corporation.
Hundreds of feet below the surface, Bill began showing me around. We walked a short distance from the elevator to his battery powered golf cart to begin the seven-mile trip to the area where the men were mining the coal. Riding the golf cart on top of the rails made the trip bumpy, but much faster than walking. Ribs lined the way with cutouts pealing off every 1000 yards. Safety markers and signs were everywhere. And so was the darkness. The darkness was thick. It seemed to swallow up every bit of light.
Underground can be a confusing, dark world. However, I think more often than not, we live and work in a darker world than the world in which the coal miners work. Too often we choose to live in a dark world. Even when the sun is shining brightly above us, it seems we stumble around in the darkness. We live in the darkness of fear. We live in a world empty of grace, void of forgiveness, where love is vacant and hope is missing. We live in a world where we forget that the promised Messiah came chasing away the darkness of sin and allowing us to live in the new light of joy. Sometimes we forget that Isaiah prophesied and promised that the Messiah would come, dispelling the darkness of sin. Isaiah declared, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)
Jesus came. Jesus fulfilled the waiting promise. Jesus is the light Isaiah prophesied. Jesus is giving us the light of grace, giving us joy. Jesus is our light shining in the dark world of sin and rejection.
With the season of Advent and Christmas approaching, we see Christmas lights coming on just as it’s getting dark outside. We place candles in the windows; bright lights decorate our Christmas trees. Light displays cover our shrubs and decorate our houses. Everything is wrapped in light. These lights, dispelling the darkness of winter, are also a powerful Christian symbol reminding us that Jesus is the light of the world. When we switch on our Christmas lights or drive past light displays, we remember that just as these holiday lights illumine the darkness around us, Jesus is illuminating our lives.
Walking through the coalmine I met brave coalminers who daily work in a dark and dangerous world hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface, with the rock ceiling, just a few feet above their heads, held in place by a network of steel fencing. Darkness is all around them. Yet they live and work in light. Each worker is bathed in the light of his fellow workers. And so they are never in darkness. This Advent season, remember Jesus is the light of the world. No longer do we have to live in the darkness of our past mistakes or sins. No longer are we burdened by guilt or weighted down with heavy burdens. Now we are forgiven! This Advent season, remember Jesus words, telling us that we “are the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14) Not only during Advent, but everyday remember to be a light for someone else. Show forgiveness. Extend mercy. Offer hope. Bring joy. Let Jesus’ light shine on you, in you and through you.
After passing a safety course on the surface, underground I was weighted down with all of my safety equipment; heavy water proof boots, emergency oxygen canister and a battery pack attached to a safety belt and harness, thick gloves and a company coat covering multiple layers of clothing. With my hardhat on, I quickly switched on my light. Stepping out of the elevator, I felt like Neil Armstrong, ready to declare, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. However, I restrained myself. To me, walking on the floor of the mine was as foreign and alien a world as walking on the moon. But, for the man leading me, this was not a strange world, but a very familiar, comfortable place.
I enjoy seeing where members of my church work. This day I was with Bill Benline, one of my Elders who is the General Mine Foreman of the American Energy Corporation’s Century Coalmine. Located outside of Powhatan Point, this mine is an independent operating subsidiary of Murray Energy Corporation.
Hundreds of feet below the surface, Bill began showing me around. We walked a short distance from the elevator to his battery powered golf cart to begin the seven-mile trip to the area where the men were mining the coal. Riding the golf cart on top of the rails made the trip bumpy, but much faster than walking. Ribs lined the way with cutouts pealing off every 1000 yards. Safety markers and signs were everywhere. And so was the darkness. The darkness was thick. It seemed to swallow up every bit of light.
Underground can be a confusing, dark world. However, I think more often than not, we live and work in a darker world than the world in which the coal miners work. Too often we choose to live in a dark world. Even when the sun is shining brightly above us, it seems we stumble around in the darkness. We live in the darkness of fear. We live in a world empty of grace, void of forgiveness, where love is vacant and hope is missing. We live in a world where we forget that the promised Messiah came chasing away the darkness of sin and allowing us to live in the new light of joy. Sometimes we forget that Isaiah prophesied and promised that the Messiah would come, dispelling the darkness of sin. Isaiah declared, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)
Jesus came. Jesus fulfilled the waiting promise. Jesus is the light Isaiah prophesied. Jesus is giving us the light of grace, giving us joy. Jesus is our light shining in the dark world of sin and rejection.
With the season of Advent and Christmas approaching, we see Christmas lights coming on just as it’s getting dark outside. We place candles in the windows; bright lights decorate our Christmas trees. Light displays cover our shrubs and decorate our houses. Everything is wrapped in light. These lights, dispelling the darkness of winter, are also a powerful Christian symbol reminding us that Jesus is the light of the world. When we switch on our Christmas lights or drive past light displays, we remember that just as these holiday lights illumine the darkness around us, Jesus is illuminating our lives.
Walking through the coalmine I met brave coalminers who daily work in a dark and dangerous world hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface, with the rock ceiling, just a few feet above their heads, held in place by a network of steel fencing. Darkness is all around them. Yet they live and work in light. Each worker is bathed in the light of his fellow workers. And so they are never in darkness. This Advent season, remember Jesus is the light of the world. No longer do we have to live in the darkness of our past mistakes or sins. No longer are we burdened by guilt or weighted down with heavy burdens. Now we are forgiven! This Advent season, remember Jesus words, telling us that we “are the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14) Not only during Advent, but everyday remember to be a light for someone else. Show forgiveness. Extend mercy. Offer hope. Bring joy. Let Jesus’ light shine on you, in you and through you.
DO NOT BEAFRIAD
“Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Zechariah heard as he stood alone in the Temple. A huge change was coming in his life and the angel of the Lord said, “Do not be afraid.” “Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Mary heard when the Angel Gabriel came to her. “Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Joseph heard during a dream he had about his fiancée, Mary. “Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Abram heard and later, the very same words his wife, Sarai heard. All through the Bible we hear messengers from GOD saying, “Do not be afraid. . .” And we see that when they trusted in GOD and in His messengers, there was really no reason for fear. But, even though we have their example to live by, we live in fear. We fear failure. We fear rejection. We fear being wrong. We fear being embarrassed. We even fear success. We fear doing something new and different. So too often we do not attempt anything new.
Perhaps Jacob felt this way. In the midst of his concerns and frustrations, Jacob heard GOD speaking to him, comforting him with the words, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt . . .” Those were the first words Jacob heard that night when he camped at Beersheba. The message from GOD to Jacob and to every one else in the Bible comes in two parts: first there is the message of hope, ‘do not fear’, which is always followed by an assurance, declaring why the person has no reason for being afraid. For Jacob, the second part of the assurance from GOD stated: “. . . for I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.” These were GOD’s words of promise to Jacob, words which became a promise fulfilled. For GOD did as HE promised. GOD went with Jacob to Egypt and brought him back safely.
Like Jacob, we too fear going to new places. Sometimes we fear striking out on our own. In the Gospel of Mark the word ‘stay’ does not exist in the ancient Greek text. The word ‘remain’ can be found only twice. Both of these times the word refers to remaining silent; not to remaining in one place. To counter the absence of ‘stay’, the word ‘go’ is used by Jesus 27 times and the word to ‘come’ is used 61 times!
In our church there are two young women who have heard Jesus say, ‘Go!’ And they are going. These two women, one of whom is my middle daughter, Rachel, are going without fear, although I’m not sure the same can be send of their parents! Like Jacob from the Bible, they also heard the messenger of GOD saying, “Do not be afraid.” And, without fear, knowing that GOD is going with them, they are going. They are leaving our Valley for an unknown world, the Dominican Republic, where they will work as short-term Mission Volunteers with Orphanage Outreach. In the Dominican Republic, in the village of Monte Cristi, they will work and live with the very poor and the forgotten, orphaned children. Leaving everything familiar behind, like language and food, customs and culture, they are fulfilling what Jesus said, when HE instructed all of us to “Go!”
“Go!” Jesus said. Most of the time we take this command as these two women did, and we physically get up and go somewhere. Most of the time I think this is true. However, sometimes the idea of going is not to take a physical trip, as much as going on a spiritual journey. Sometimes the idea of going is to go into the future, which can be just as frightening as going to a far-off land. As we begin a new year, we are going into the future. A brand new year has opened before us. No one, not one of us has ever stepped into February 4, 2009 before. We really do not know what it holds for us. The unknown is always a little scary. It is a little frightening to go where we have never been before. Nevertheless, we all have the promise from Jesus assuring each of us, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” With a promise like that, what more can we ask for as we begin a new year together?
Perhaps Jacob felt this way. In the midst of his concerns and frustrations, Jacob heard GOD speaking to him, comforting him with the words, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt . . .” Those were the first words Jacob heard that night when he camped at Beersheba. The message from GOD to Jacob and to every one else in the Bible comes in two parts: first there is the message of hope, ‘do not fear’, which is always followed by an assurance, declaring why the person has no reason for being afraid. For Jacob, the second part of the assurance from GOD stated: “. . . for I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.” These were GOD’s words of promise to Jacob, words which became a promise fulfilled. For GOD did as HE promised. GOD went with Jacob to Egypt and brought him back safely.
Like Jacob, we too fear going to new places. Sometimes we fear striking out on our own. In the Gospel of Mark the word ‘stay’ does not exist in the ancient Greek text. The word ‘remain’ can be found only twice. Both of these times the word refers to remaining silent; not to remaining in one place. To counter the absence of ‘stay’, the word ‘go’ is used by Jesus 27 times and the word to ‘come’ is used 61 times!
In our church there are two young women who have heard Jesus say, ‘Go!’ And they are going. These two women, one of whom is my middle daughter, Rachel, are going without fear, although I’m not sure the same can be send of their parents! Like Jacob from the Bible, they also heard the messenger of GOD saying, “Do not be afraid.” And, without fear, knowing that GOD is going with them, they are going. They are leaving our Valley for an unknown world, the Dominican Republic, where they will work as short-term Mission Volunteers with Orphanage Outreach. In the Dominican Republic, in the village of Monte Cristi, they will work and live with the very poor and the forgotten, orphaned children. Leaving everything familiar behind, like language and food, customs and culture, they are fulfilling what Jesus said, when HE instructed all of us to “Go!”
“Go!” Jesus said. Most of the time we take this command as these two women did, and we physically get up and go somewhere. Most of the time I think this is true. However, sometimes the idea of going is not to take a physical trip, as much as going on a spiritual journey. Sometimes the idea of going is to go into the future, which can be just as frightening as going to a far-off land. As we begin a new year, we are going into the future. A brand new year has opened before us. No one, not one of us has ever stepped into February 4, 2009 before. We really do not know what it holds for us. The unknown is always a little scary. It is a little frightening to go where we have never been before. Nevertheless, we all have the promise from Jesus assuring each of us, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” With a promise like that, what more can we ask for as we begin a new year together?
Friday, October 17, 2008
ALL MY LIFEI S A JOURNEY
Recently my wife and I boarded a chartered bus headed for New York City. From there we were going to jump on a cruise ship for a church cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia and then four other ports. The chartered bus took us to within six miles of where I grew up. Bouncing along Rt. 78, the bus rolled down the highway cutting through the central Jersey countryside, splitting the hills, slicing through the familiar knolls of autumn leaves like a knife through butter. With each passing exit, old memories came rushing back to me.
Bouncing up one hill, I smiled, thinking of all the different times spent at the home of my aunt and uncle. Rolling down a hill, we passed the exit leading to the church I grew up in. Driving past the next exit brought me within a few miles of where I grew up: the house I lived in, the high school I attended, the garage I worked in, the home of my grandparents, where Sunday evening dinners with mounds of spaghetti and meatballs and loud conversations took place. Riding in the bus that day drove me back to another place in time.
That night in New York City we took in the Broadway play, ‘Jersey Boys’. Sitting in the theater, listening to the familiar music of the Four Seasons, transported me to another time of trips to the shore, of hanging out with old friends, of cruising up and down familiar roads. The musical led me on a journey back in time. Sometimes journeys take us back in time. Sometimes they are physical journeys, like going on a cruise. Sometimes they are spiritual journeys. Our entire life is a journey.
If you open the Bible to the Gospel according to Mark, you will see story after story of journeys. Sometimes the story takes place on a boat in the middle of a great lake. Sometimes the story takes place in a quiet solitary place or in a large and crowded city or on a quiet road. Throughout the Gospel of Mark we continually see the phrase, “on the road” or “on the way”. These words appear almost ten different times. One time, on a quiet road leading around the village of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus addressed His disciples. “On the way Jesus asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’” Mark 8:27. Not only are these people traveling down an ancient road to a new location, but they are traveling to a new place in their faith as Jesus asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’. With this question comes another just two verses away when Jesus asks Peter, as well as each of us, ‘Who do you say I am?’ On the way to a new place we are propelled to a new level in our faith with one simple question, ‘Who do you say I am?’.
‘On the way’ to a new location the disciples also arrived at a new place in their faith. Repeatedly these phrases, “on the way” occur throughout the Gospel of Mark. They are there, not only to tell us that Jesus and the disciples are on the way to someplace new, but that they are also on a spiritual journey. Jesus is showing us that a physical journey can be a spiritual one as well. And perhaps in the same way we too are reminded that our life is a journey of faith.
Like the Disciples traveling with Jesus, sometimes our journey is easy and familiar, like walking down the streets of New York City or across the moist grass of Central Park. Sometimes it is new and exciting like going on a cruise for the first time and traveling with friends from the church to places I’ve never been before. However, too often, our journey in life is hard, like when we lose our job from down-sizing, when lay-offs occur from reduced finances, when a sudden illness strikes.
Looking back over my life, I know all of my life is a journey. My physical journey took me from New Jersey to The Navajo Indian Reservation to Pittsburgh to Martins Ferry. I know this has been a spiritual journey as well, which has led to a deeper faith and a greater understanding. Through the years, I have discovered that our life is truly a journey of faith intertwined with the places we go and the people we meet. Our faith journey reminds us that it does not matter where we are in our journey of faith, but how far we have come. Our faith journey continually reminds us all that we are not there yet. Today, where are you in your journey of faith? How is your journey to a greater faith progressing, a journey that will carry you through both the difficult moments and those joyful times in your life?
We all need help in our journey of life and in our journey of faith. GOD has promised to journey with us, guiding, leading, directing and comforting. When we seek to answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?”, we learn that Jesus is that constant source of life, encouragement, power, strength and hope. When we walk with others in our faith family our journey becomes easier as we share our burdens with one another and celebrate our joys.
Let the journey begin!
Bouncing up one hill, I smiled, thinking of all the different times spent at the home of my aunt and uncle. Rolling down a hill, we passed the exit leading to the church I grew up in. Driving past the next exit brought me within a few miles of where I grew up: the house I lived in, the high school I attended, the garage I worked in, the home of my grandparents, where Sunday evening dinners with mounds of spaghetti and meatballs and loud conversations took place. Riding in the bus that day drove me back to another place in time.
That night in New York City we took in the Broadway play, ‘Jersey Boys’. Sitting in the theater, listening to the familiar music of the Four Seasons, transported me to another time of trips to the shore, of hanging out with old friends, of cruising up and down familiar roads. The musical led me on a journey back in time. Sometimes journeys take us back in time. Sometimes they are physical journeys, like going on a cruise. Sometimes they are spiritual journeys. Our entire life is a journey.
If you open the Bible to the Gospel according to Mark, you will see story after story of journeys. Sometimes the story takes place on a boat in the middle of a great lake. Sometimes the story takes place in a quiet solitary place or in a large and crowded city or on a quiet road. Throughout the Gospel of Mark we continually see the phrase, “on the road” or “on the way”. These words appear almost ten different times. One time, on a quiet road leading around the village of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus addressed His disciples. “On the way Jesus asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’” Mark 8:27. Not only are these people traveling down an ancient road to a new location, but they are traveling to a new place in their faith as Jesus asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’. With this question comes another just two verses away when Jesus asks Peter, as well as each of us, ‘Who do you say I am?’ On the way to a new place we are propelled to a new level in our faith with one simple question, ‘Who do you say I am?’.
‘On the way’ to a new location the disciples also arrived at a new place in their faith. Repeatedly these phrases, “on the way” occur throughout the Gospel of Mark. They are there, not only to tell us that Jesus and the disciples are on the way to someplace new, but that they are also on a spiritual journey. Jesus is showing us that a physical journey can be a spiritual one as well. And perhaps in the same way we too are reminded that our life is a journey of faith.
Like the Disciples traveling with Jesus, sometimes our journey is easy and familiar, like walking down the streets of New York City or across the moist grass of Central Park. Sometimes it is new and exciting like going on a cruise for the first time and traveling with friends from the church to places I’ve never been before. However, too often, our journey in life is hard, like when we lose our job from down-sizing, when lay-offs occur from reduced finances, when a sudden illness strikes.
Looking back over my life, I know all of my life is a journey. My physical journey took me from New Jersey to The Navajo Indian Reservation to Pittsburgh to Martins Ferry. I know this has been a spiritual journey as well, which has led to a deeper faith and a greater understanding. Through the years, I have discovered that our life is truly a journey of faith intertwined with the places we go and the people we meet. Our faith journey reminds us that it does not matter where we are in our journey of faith, but how far we have come. Our faith journey continually reminds us all that we are not there yet. Today, where are you in your journey of faith? How is your journey to a greater faith progressing, a journey that will carry you through both the difficult moments and those joyful times in your life?
We all need help in our journey of life and in our journey of faith. GOD has promised to journey with us, guiding, leading, directing and comforting. When we seek to answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?”, we learn that Jesus is that constant source of life, encouragement, power, strength and hope. When we walk with others in our faith family our journey becomes easier as we share our burdens with one another and celebrate our joys.
Let the journey begin!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Art of Caring
Mr. Alter’s fifth grade class at Lake Elementary School in Oceanside, California included 14 boys who had no hair. But only one had no choice in the matter.
Ian O’Gorman was one of Mr. Alter’s 5th grade boys with no hair. In the spring, Ian was undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. The brutal medicines were so harsh that he began to lose his hair. First, his hair loss was gradual. Then it began to fall out in small clumps. A little later in his treatments, he woke up in the mornings to find larger tuffs of blond hair covering his pillow. That’s when Ian went to his barber to get his head shaved. The next day the other 13 boys in his class went to their barbers and got their heads shaved too. They did not want Ian to feel alone and out of place with his shaved head.
Ten-year-old Kyle Hanslik started it all. He talked to some of the other boys and, before long, they were all at the barbershop getting their heads shaved. In an interview, Kyle said, “The last thing Ian would want is to not fit in – we just wanted to do something to make him feel better.” His classmates could not cure his cancer; they could not eradicate the lymphoma from his body, but they made him feel better.
The Apostle Paul instructs us in the book of Galatians, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Jesus Christ.” The law of Christ reminds us, “to love our neighbor as our self.” We are also reminded that, “The GOD of all comfort comforts us in all of our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort which we have received from GOD.” (2nd Cor. 13-4). In Mr. Alter’s 5th grade class at Lake Elementary School of Oceanside, California, those students showed us the art of caring as they demonstrated a new way to carry someone’s burden. There are other ways, like sitting in a funeral home and visiting with a grieving family. Sending cards and notes to neighbors shut in their homes by illness is a way we can show care. Then there is the way the late Sam Rayburn, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, showed the way he cared.
Sam Rayburn heard that the daughter of one of his friends was critically injured in a traffic accident far from home. Early the next morning, Mr. Rayburn went to his friend’s house and knocked on the front door. He said, “I just came by to see what I could do for you.”
The father replied that there was really nothing anyone can do – all we are doing is waiting.”
“Well,” Rayburn said, “have you had your morning coffee yet?”
The man shook his head saying that they just had did not feel like making breakfast.
“Well, then,” Rayburn said, “I’ll make some coffee for us.” With that, Rayburn went to work in the kitchen. While he was working in the kitchen, his friend asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be having breakfast with the President at the White House this morning?”
“I was,” Rayburn said, “but I called the President and told him I had a friend who was in need and that I could not come to the White House this morning.”
We can make a big difference in our world by acting more caring toward others. We can make a difference to our community if we take time to be with people who are in pain. We can have an impact on someone’s life by just taking time to be with them.
One cold Chicago night after a basketball game, Chicago Bulls’ super star, Michael Jordan, headed through a large crowd of fans toward his waiting car. As he opened the car door, Jordan noticed a youngster in a wheelchair some 20 feet away. The boy’s neck was bent at an unnatural angle; his eyes could not look directly forward. Jordan walked over to the boy and knelt down beside him. The youngster was so excited that he began to rise up out of the wheelchair. Jordan comforted him, talking softly to him, while putting his arm around the boy’s frail shoulder.
The boy’s father tried to snap a picture, but the camera did not work. Jordan noticed. Without being asked, he continued to kneel at the boy’s side until the father was able to take the picture. Only then did Jordan slowly rise and return to his car.
The boy’s eyes were glistening with tears. His dad was talking with his son about how Michael Jordan took time to come over to him. If nothing else, that boy will always remember the night Michael Jordan cared enough to include him in his world.
Is there someone you need to make time for and include in your world? How can you help to bear someone’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ? And when we do, we can Jesus whispering in our ear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Ian O’Gorman was one of Mr. Alter’s 5th grade boys with no hair. In the spring, Ian was undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. The brutal medicines were so harsh that he began to lose his hair. First, his hair loss was gradual. Then it began to fall out in small clumps. A little later in his treatments, he woke up in the mornings to find larger tuffs of blond hair covering his pillow. That’s when Ian went to his barber to get his head shaved. The next day the other 13 boys in his class went to their barbers and got their heads shaved too. They did not want Ian to feel alone and out of place with his shaved head.
Ten-year-old Kyle Hanslik started it all. He talked to some of the other boys and, before long, they were all at the barbershop getting their heads shaved. In an interview, Kyle said, “The last thing Ian would want is to not fit in – we just wanted to do something to make him feel better.” His classmates could not cure his cancer; they could not eradicate the lymphoma from his body, but they made him feel better.
The Apostle Paul instructs us in the book of Galatians, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Jesus Christ.” The law of Christ reminds us, “to love our neighbor as our self.” We are also reminded that, “The GOD of all comfort comforts us in all of our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort which we have received from GOD.” (2nd Cor. 13-4). In Mr. Alter’s 5th grade class at Lake Elementary School of Oceanside, California, those students showed us the art of caring as they demonstrated a new way to carry someone’s burden. There are other ways, like sitting in a funeral home and visiting with a grieving family. Sending cards and notes to neighbors shut in their homes by illness is a way we can show care. Then there is the way the late Sam Rayburn, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, showed the way he cared.
Sam Rayburn heard that the daughter of one of his friends was critically injured in a traffic accident far from home. Early the next morning, Mr. Rayburn went to his friend’s house and knocked on the front door. He said, “I just came by to see what I could do for you.”
The father replied that there was really nothing anyone can do – all we are doing is waiting.”
“Well,” Rayburn said, “have you had your morning coffee yet?”
The man shook his head saying that they just had did not feel like making breakfast.
“Well, then,” Rayburn said, “I’ll make some coffee for us.” With that, Rayburn went to work in the kitchen. While he was working in the kitchen, his friend asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be having breakfast with the President at the White House this morning?”
“I was,” Rayburn said, “but I called the President and told him I had a friend who was in need and that I could not come to the White House this morning.”
We can make a big difference in our world by acting more caring toward others. We can make a difference to our community if we take time to be with people who are in pain. We can have an impact on someone’s life by just taking time to be with them.
One cold Chicago night after a basketball game, Chicago Bulls’ super star, Michael Jordan, headed through a large crowd of fans toward his waiting car. As he opened the car door, Jordan noticed a youngster in a wheelchair some 20 feet away. The boy’s neck was bent at an unnatural angle; his eyes could not look directly forward. Jordan walked over to the boy and knelt down beside him. The youngster was so excited that he began to rise up out of the wheelchair. Jordan comforted him, talking softly to him, while putting his arm around the boy’s frail shoulder.
The boy’s father tried to snap a picture, but the camera did not work. Jordan noticed. Without being asked, he continued to kneel at the boy’s side until the father was able to take the picture. Only then did Jordan slowly rise and return to his car.
The boy’s eyes were glistening with tears. His dad was talking with his son about how Michael Jordan took time to come over to him. If nothing else, that boy will always remember the night Michael Jordan cared enough to include him in his world.
Is there someone you need to make time for and include in your world? How can you help to bear someone’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ? And when we do, we can Jesus whispering in our ear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Endings & Beginnings
Scheherazade was perhaps the best storyteller ever. She became the best storyteller out of necessity. Marriage to King Shahryar, the sultan, was not an easy life, but it was always a short life. The king, governing an unnamed island between India and China, believed he had been betrayed by his wife and so had her executed. Ever since that day, the king would marry a new woman in the evening and have her executed at dawn. This way, he thought, he could never be betrayed again. Now Scheherazade became his bride. And in the evening, she began telling him a story, a story filled with intrigue and mystery, a story that had no real ending, a story that went on and on until dawn. For the next 1001 nights, she told king Shahryar stories, spinning yarns until he fell in love with her and realized she would never betray him.
I like the Scheherazade stories. I like how one story ends with the beginning of a new one. 1001 Arabian Nights, known in Arabic as Alf Layla wa Layla, is a extraordinary collection of fables, tales, and stories which appear to reach an ending only to commence again. I like the stories because they remind me of this time of year, which is so filled with endings and beginnings. For us, sometimes the endings and beginnings are so closely linked together that while an apparent ending is taking place, a new beginning is starting up.
This week our youngest child moved back to college and began his sophomore year at WVU, ending a summer of working in the community library. Today our oldest daughter is moving back to law school after returning from summer study in Israel. Both are leaving their summer's behind and are returning to their school which is familiar to them. And yet, it unfamiliar as well, since each is starting a brand new beginning. Matt has ever been a sophomore at WVU and Sarah has never been a second year law student in Ada, Ohio. Each is now exploring uncharted waters. The unknown can be so scary.
While new beginnings are truly new to us, GOD’s love for us is not new. GOD has promised that He has a plan for us. The prophet, Jeremiah, addressing a group of scared and frightened people reminded them that GOD has a plan for them. In Jeremiah 29:11 it is recorded, “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.” The prophetic words of Jeremiah are not just for the hurting people of Israel, but for all our graduates. These are also powerful words for every one of us. Every evening puts an end to an old day and each morning brings a new beginning, a new day filled with promise, a new day filled with hope. All this is because GOD has a plan for each of us - a plan to prosper us, a plan to give us hope. God has a plan for our future.
Back in 1978, a video series was produced by the United Methodist Church, titled Begin with Goodbye. This series talked about saying goodbye to one area of your life before beginning another. A family moving away from their old, familiar home, a construction worker laid off, a teacher retiring, a wife grieving the loss of husband, a student graduating from school, are all situations where we must say goodbye before we can move on. We celebrate the past and we move confidently and joyfully into the future God has prepared for us.
I like the Scheherazade stories. I like how one story ends with the beginning of a new one. 1001 Arabian Nights, known in Arabic as Alf Layla wa Layla, is a extraordinary collection of fables, tales, and stories which appear to reach an ending only to commence again. I like the stories because they remind me of this time of year, which is so filled with endings and beginnings. For us, sometimes the endings and beginnings are so closely linked together that while an apparent ending is taking place, a new beginning is starting up.
This week our youngest child moved back to college and began his sophomore year at WVU, ending a summer of working in the community library. Today our oldest daughter is moving back to law school after returning from summer study in Israel. Both are leaving their summer's behind and are returning to their school which is familiar to them. And yet, it unfamiliar as well, since each is starting a brand new beginning. Matt has ever been a sophomore at WVU and Sarah has never been a second year law student in Ada, Ohio. Each is now exploring uncharted waters. The unknown can be so scary.
While new beginnings are truly new to us, GOD’s love for us is not new. GOD has promised that He has a plan for us. The prophet, Jeremiah, addressing a group of scared and frightened people reminded them that GOD has a plan for them. In Jeremiah 29:11 it is recorded, “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.” The prophetic words of Jeremiah are not just for the hurting people of Israel, but for all our graduates. These are also powerful words for every one of us. Every evening puts an end to an old day and each morning brings a new beginning, a new day filled with promise, a new day filled with hope. All this is because GOD has a plan for each of us - a plan to prosper us, a plan to give us hope. God has a plan for our future.
Back in 1978, a video series was produced by the United Methodist Church, titled Begin with Goodbye. This series talked about saying goodbye to one area of your life before beginning another. A family moving away from their old, familiar home, a construction worker laid off, a teacher retiring, a wife grieving the loss of husband, a student graduating from school, are all situations where we must say goodbye before we can move on. We celebrate the past and we move confidently and joyfully into the future God has prepared for us.
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