STAFF BLOG

“…for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 Ghosting. Ever heard of it? It’s a term all the cool kids use to mean the stopping of communication with someone without notice, i.e., they just disappear. Ever have someone stop texting, calling, emailing or visiting you for no apparent reason or explanation?  You’ve been ghosted. Boo. Jesus won’t ghost you. Jesus won’t stop communicating with you for no apparent reason. Go back to the bible verses above. Whether from Hebrews 13 or from 1 Thessalonians 5, the Word reminds us that he does not ghost his own. He who calls you is FAITHFUL. This can be difficult to believe. Tragedy, poverty, relationship issues, war, health issues, these and other things consume our thoughts and emotions, distracting us from the evidence of the faithfulness of God across the ages. What are you experiencing right now that makes you think that perhaps Jesus has left you? There is a way for us to address this. It’s called learning to live in the “now” and the “not yet.” It’s recognizing that in a way, we inhabit two worlds–the “what is completed” and the “what is to come.” And it’s recalling the what is completed which helps us through those days when we feel abandoned by God, ghosted by Jesus. Author Paul Tripp puts it this way, “Already God has set his plan of grace in motion. Already, the prophets have spoken. Already Jesus has come. Already he has suffered and died. Already he has risen in victory from the tomb. Already the Holy Spirit has come.

This past week in Dallas, we experienced a tragedy. Thankfully, we grieve only buildings and not lost lives. This is the first tornado that I have ever lived through and it is by far the most terrifying and unpredictable natural disaster. As I drove through the carnage on my way to my second job I was at a loss for words. Wind spinning in a circle ripped hundred year old trees, fully intact, right out of the ground; roots and all. Yet, there’s hope. I ended up in a neighborhood trying to weave my way through to get to work on time and came upon an entire block completely devastated. Every house owner was on the street picking up debris and there were neighbors walking around checking on people, making sure that they were okay and helping each other. What a beautiful sight in all the chaos around me. I was then reminded of the verse from John 11 where Jesus tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live forever even though they die.” (v. 25) Our God is in the business of beauty in chaos. He is in the business of resurrection. He is in the business of redemption. Can you imagine how the disciples felt seeing their Lord, their master, their friend, hanging on a cross, dying? I’d imagine it was complete despair and chaos. They were afraid for their lives and couldn’t see a light in the dark. Then Jesus burst back in and gave them more hope than they knew what to do with! The men who were hiding in a locked room one day, were openly

Here’s a hefty dose of joy for your Thursday night! “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” Luke 6:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,…” Galatians 5:22, my own emphasis For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Romans 5:3-4 May the Lord be with you this weekend, and may you carry the joy of faith in Our Savior with you all the days of your life. Amen!

If you are reading this blog post from anywhere outside of Texas, chances are you have no idea what I mean when I reference a “Homecoming Mum”. I, too, had no idea of this Texas sized tradition until moving to the Lone Star State over twenty years ago. It wasn’t until just four years ago, however, when my first child entered High School and I was invited to a “Mum-making Party” that I truly got a crash course in this mysterious (and intimidating!) tradition. What was a Jersey girl to do? I could not even find words to describe the mums I had seen on display and in photographs much less conceive of CREATING one! I had no frame of reference…so I chickened out and ordered one through the school! At the urging of a friend, however, I decided to attend the party anyway. As I sat wide-eyed, moms around me unpacked spools and spools of ribbons, handfuls of trinkets and endless lengths of feathers. I was a stranger in a strange land. The other moms took pity on me and tried to explain but I had zero frame of reference from which to process what was happening in front of me. Glue guns were flying, and cowbells were ringing but it was all mum-sense to me! I was about ready to pack it in and give up when a dear and wise friend took pity on me, wrapped her arm around my should and encouraged, “You can do this, Angie! It’s just like 3D scrap booking.” Then she gently started picking up odds and ends from others leftovers and showed me how it was done. She carefully demonstrated how

Author Dave Lambert tells a short story titled, “A World Without Light” that has stuck with me for two decades. It goes like this: I probably shouldn’t be down here, Gary thought, twisting onto his back and inching through the damp muddy passage on his shoulder blades. A cardinal rule of spelunkers—never enter a cave alone. But it was his last day in the area, and he hadn’t been able to find a partner. It was now, alone—or never. He was probably a half-mile into the cave, his only light source the carbon-powered headlamp strapped to his forehead to keep his hands free for climbing. He scrambled out of the narrow passage into a huge cavern so big that his light couldn’t reach the far wall or ceiling. Chocolate-brown stalactites hung out of the blackness; crystals twinkled on a nearby wall. “Wow,” he breathed. Halfway across the cavern he stopped short—a great pit, a dozen feet wide, yawned at his feet. He kicked a loose rock into the blackness. Silence. He kicked in another, and waited half a minute. Silence. “Guess I will skip that part of the tour,” he said, then listened to his own echoes. He sat at the pit’s rim. His carbon lamp was getting dim—time to put in a new carbon pellet. Out of his pack he pulled the little jar of pellets, opened it, and set it on a rock near him. The he removed his headlamp, took one last look around, and shut it off, plunging the cave into utter blackness. By feel, his eyes useless because of the complete lack of light, he opened the lamp and tossed aside the old pellet. Then

“Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.” Acts 3:17-20 NLT –Acts 3:17-20 NLT It sounds a little contradictory what Peter is saying here to what had happened before. Before, he had told them they were guilty of having killed Jesus, and now he is calling them “brothers” that had acted without knowing what they were doing. Interesting, isn’t it? I think sometimes we have the temptation to stick with the first part. Some of us like to sit in the judgment seat and tell God what we think of what others have done, like that maybe he isn’t handing out justice or punishment in the way that he should. Sometimes we sit, wanting to have God let us handle it, because they do or don’t deserve grace. If we were in charge, “they” would learn! Thankfully, that’s not how it goes. The grace of God is a gift that no one deserves that we learn to accept our whole lives. The Gospel is the Good News for those of us who consider ourselves unworthy of his love, forgiveness. He awards us not only forgiveness but also peace! For that reason, he wants us to do the same to those who have sinned against us or against our loved ones. This is the Gospel that