… Roger Woodward, Jr.

He sat relaxing in our front room. Our three small children were in bed for the night. The dark of night matched the despair that registered on the face of my wife across the room. I was excited about the prospects of a long awaited vacation, but I soon backed off when I realized her total disinterest and depression.

“I feel like such a failure, Roger.” Tears filled her eyes as she said: “I just feel like I’m not getting enough done at church, I’m such a failure.”

I saw a tired woman, weary with church life and at present in deep despair. She was doing all she could, but she felt it wasn’t enough. Her depression, rejection, and feelings of failure are familiar to thousands in C of C Churches today.

They are faithful to attend all of the services of the church. Giving is the first thing in their budget. During the worship services they observe all of the prescribed ritual, being very careful so that God will accept their sacrifice. When committees, programs, or projects are organized they are among the first to volunteer, so that the Lord will know that they love Him. These poor lambs finally “Burnout”, and they say, “Why me Lord?”

These unfortunate ones have little spiritual strength to draw from. They trust the church for such and it is a void. In their state of church exhaustion, they become disillusioned and, as we sometimes say, “They slipped through the cracks.” They are lost to the church.

Still, many more who have not slipped through the cracks are running close to the line. They may put on a good front, but most are empty on the inside, just hoping no one will find out! Their spiritual temperature is almost zero. They are eating religious food of no substance.

During my years in the church I visited many “church delinquents”. The following statements are not uncommon. “I am sick of my empty religious life”; or “What is the use? I can’t do enough”; or “I don’t understand all of the pettiness”; or “All of my work for the church has exhausted me”; or “This can’t be right because I’m so miserable.”

Some say, about these disillusioned saints, who have left the church, that the devil has won a victory. If that is the answer, it only raises more questions. Jesus ascended victorious over all the powers of hell! He said:

“I will build my community … those called out by God. Death will not overpower them” (Matt. 16:18 SEB).

Something is wrong if the devil can blow followers away so easily.

The religious world calls this “spiritual burnout”. They are asking, “Why are people dropping out or moving to the back seats and living on the edge?” They are saying, “Where shall we look to stop the swelling river of church faithfuls who are being swept out of our ranks?”

“Institutional Church Burnout” is the real problem. It is not “Spiritual Burnout”. The spirit of man is not subject to burnout!

Paul said:

“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day (II Cor. 4:16 NIV).

 

Jesus said:

“My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:30 NIV).

 

Before Jesus came, the Pharisees dedicated themselves to keeping the law of Moses, called the Torah They were a closed circle into which only the faithful were welcome. They separated themselves from the sinners outside

The fact is, the demand of the Law was simple:

“.. but love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18 NIV).

Not comfortable with this simplicity, the Pharisees added over 600 laws of their own, which they claimed would keep man from breaking God’s law

Now they were practicing religion, but the list of meaningless rules was keeping them from pursuing love.

Within the sacred circle were laws for all of life. Rules for dress, for food and drink, for where to go and not to go; rules for acceptable associates, for divorce, for how to pray, fast, and keep the Sabbath.

The secular Israelites, the common people, were constantly reminded of the rules. They experienced feelings of guilt because they could not live up to the standards of holiness that the Pharisees had established. (Sound familiar?)

How well the man-made rules were kept, was considered to be an indication of how close they stood to God.

However, God cannot be reached by the keeping of man-made laws and the doing of man-made rituals. Jesus did not come to bring us a new religion ladened with new laws. He came to make void such “religion”. He said:

“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV).

Our relationship with God is not expressed by “acts of worship” carried out behind stained glass windows. Nor is it measured in “doing” church required activities at our dedicated real estate-the church building. It is reaching out to the down-trodden. It is:

… to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27 NIV).

This is God’s view, and it should be ours, if we intend to please Him.

It was because of the religion of form imposed by the Pharisees that Jesus:

“had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mat. 9:36 NIV).

 

To these sheep, weary and exhausted by all of the burdens laid on them by religion, Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for i am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30 NIV).

 

Today God has no earthly sanctuary except the consecrated human heart. God has no church buildings. There is no certain place to go to perform prescribed “acts of worship”. The C of C Church today is an organization of our own design. There is a veil over our eyes. The church has become a false security blanket used to deceive mankind

Today, in Christ’s spiritual kingdom, there are no holy days, no earthly holy places, no earthly holy things. These all belong to the era of law. We have returned to living B.C. lives in an A.D. world. Jesus said:

My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36 NIV).

 

For the follower of Jesus, there are no holy days simply because there are no unholy days. Every day is a high feast day, the Lord’s day.

As a follower of “the way”, we do not go up to the house of God. We are the house of the living God! When a building is full of saints, it is full of “sanctuaries”.

Man-devised religion brings “church burnout” It leaves one depleted of all spiritual strength, exhausted in one’s attempts to please God. We have been burdened with all the rules and formulas that religion has imposed on us through our professional ministry system. We are crushed by those who intend to take charge of our spiritual welfare. Submitting to man’s laws has produced a spiritual police state-the church!

When Grace came, the list of rules for worship was done away with and replaced with a living Person. To be yoked to Him gives rest.

“. . .and you will find rest –relief, ease and refreshments and re-creation and blessed quiet for your souls” (Amplified Bible).

 

Look at what Paul says we are and what we do because of grace through faith

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Eph. 2:10 NIV).

 

There are no rules for man to add, no patterns of worship to labor under, no church to play. It seems silly to go to “worship services”, perform “acts of worship”, listen to sermons, give to the Church treasury, and to look for patterns when the sacred writings are silent about such.

And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25 NIV).

 

Jesus warned His disciples:

“… Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees” (Mk. 8:15 NIV).

 

He saw the deadly doctrine for what it was.

Today he might say: “Watch out for the yeast of the elders, preachers, editors, and other keepers of the gate.” We should see their doctrine as deadly, because it is often an imitation of Judaism filtered through hundreds of years of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism

When Paul wrote to the Colossians, who were hung-up on festivals, new moons, sabbaths, fasting and the like, he said:

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him’ (Col. 3:17 NIV).

 

I recommend that we all accept that just like it is.

If you are one of those who has just come out of the dark cave of institutionalized churchism, now blinking in the light, you may be wondering, “What do I do if there is no church in my life to direct and guide me”?

It’s major surgery to change so dramatically one’s point of view in order to understand what following Jesus really requires of us. It is the giving of our life to people in a caring, loving way instead of giving our life to church organizations and programs.

Those in Christ are upheld by their total commitment to the Ultimate Being There is no greater security than that. Your future is more secure than the ground you walk on. Security is not in things of the world, nor in forms, patterns, or traditions, but Jesus the Christ. If we trust in Him, who can threaten? Nothing can separate us from our Father. Thanks be to God for His overwhelming victory.

If we look at the teaching of Jesus we will see that the taproot of a person’s security is in giving of ourselves to one another To the lawyer He said, “It can’t be in your legal rules”. To the young ruler He said, “It can’t be in your accumulation”. To Nicodemus He said, “It can’t be in your position in life” To all of us He has said, “You must turn loose of everything in which you trust so you can trust in Me” This is why He said to His disciples:

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3 NIV).

 

The Lord spent a great deal of time telling His followers what not to trust in. To those who trusted in status He said, “Don’t”. In respectability He said, “Don’t” In religion He said, “Don’t”. To those who trusted in piety (super religion) HE said, “Don’t” In morality He said, “Don’t”. In an institution or a system He said, “Don’t”. When anyone sought to obtain life from anything except a direct trusting relationship with God, Jesus cut the umbilical cord. There is no other source of spiritual strength other than Jesus

None of the religions, traditions, or opinions upon which the masses today depend can give us spiritual sustenance. The only sustainer is Jesus the Christ.

With Jesus you can say:

“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13 NIV).

 

There is nothing left out. The Christian is not deficit in any way because he has trusted not only in Him,but in nothing but Him. When the believer understands this he will say, “I don’t need the institutional church to direct and control what I do in serving my Lord.”

I am a child of God, uniquely and wonderfully made. He is equal to all of my needs. I have no crutches, I have been given strong legs. I have no church glasses, I have been given good eyes. So, how do I proceed in life? I enter each day and each relationship seeking to do what I should do in each situation.

A good guideline for our life is, “Do in each situation what I should do.” This means that my responsibilities are not the same as those of others because I’m not the same as other people. My eyes do not see the same needs that others see. My convictions are not precisely the same as others. My capabilities are not the same as others.

Because another can do something that I can’t, or did not see, does not imply any obligation for me. It does not mean that I should feel guilty or inferior because someone else is capable of handling a situation that I can’t.

One person’s talent may be to provide a meal, another to start a car, or provide a listening ear, or give a loving heart. None of these people can change places and do not need to.

None of them need to feel insecure or inferior. Each should do what he or she can do on that day.

It’s hard to imagine anyone being more tender and loving than Jesus was. This has to be the example for all our lives.

Paul said:

“… are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord” (II Cor. 3:18 NIV).

 

When the Syro-Phoenician woman came to Jesus and touched the hem of His garment, Jesus turned to her and she felt guilty seeking a blessing that she had no right to have. Jesus expressed such love, tenderness, and forgiveness to her that it touches every heart to read the story. The leper that came to Jesus said, “If you want you can make me clean”. Jesus said, “I want to!” and touched him so gently and so tenderly, healing him. The woman, caught in adultery, was hurt and humiliated by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. The Lord, who had the right to condemn, said with a heart of compassion, “neither do I condemn you”. On the other side, it’s hard to imagine anyone being more tough than He was when He cleansed the temple. I can see Him, eyes blazing with fire, blood vessels throbbing in His temples, His face white with anger, His words like a rifle shot: “GET OUT!”

There is no way Jesus could give you a program that says do this in this situation and do something else in that situation. The bottom line of your response must be love. When Jesus found himself facing the cross, it was not an option with Him. His love and His mercy were that great.

Our response of love means we must obey God rather than man. This means we must be fully capable and willing to pay the price of making a choice between what God calls us to do, and what our human traditions, and well-meaning friends are tugging at us to do.

Live everyday in loving service to your Lord. Sunday will no longer be a special day. Jesus will be your sabbath, and your life of worship will be 24 hours a day everyday. You can, with the help of the Spirit, make every act and word of your life to be worship, adoration, and praise to Almighty God and Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior. There will be no “church burnout” because you won’t be busy “playing church,” and being organized needlessly, into what the world now calls “spiritual burnout.”

A poem by Emma Lazarus, is inscribed on a tablet in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It includes:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

If you are yearning to breathe, free from “church burnout”, try Jesus.

 

Tue Nov 10, 2009 … 8:02am

Even as young as ten years old I recall hearing teenagers say this in response to a concerned person asking them about the music they were listening to. More specifically the concern stems from the concerned person listening to “the words” that are in the music and considering the message of the lyrics. “I’m just listening to the music” the teenager would respond. Even in my early teen years I remember thinking about this statement. Thinking to myself “Is it really possible to just listen to the music and not be influenced by the words?”. And now almost three decades later I can understand where this is possible and where this is impossible. And as I write that now I think to myself, if they were really just listening to the music then why aren’t they listening to songs with lyrics in a language that they don’t understand. There are quickly a dozen answers to that latter question but the point I am making is still relevant.

“Music influences our soul” is just one of many related sentiments quoted by so many men and women that the world considers to be great people.

Now … just as music “influences the soul” so I believe everything that we look at, touch, taste, and feel influences us. Many a proud self reliant person has said that ‘they’ won’t be influences by outside stimuli such as music or television. However these same “I’m just listening to the music” people are the same people who time after time have not been able to see far enough in the future to know that they would one day be singing along with words that they (at that point) fully understand.

It’s unavoidable ! … I remember being a teenager and envying those that were able to remember and sing along with the words. It seemed that those that could remember the words got the attention of the other kids. I wanted that attention. I wanted others, especially girls, to be mesmerized as I parroted off a few lines of what was popular. But despite my best efforts I couldn’t remember neaerly a third of what “the popular” kids seemed to be able to remember. Now despite my inability to remember these words, I am to this day still have bits and pieces of songs go through my head when I am not trying. My point is I am influenced even now by words that I was incabable of memorizing; only because i listened to the songs so many time. Sadly there are those who do not believe they can be influenced by things on a “less than conscious” level.

And God, who I often remind others is a lot smarter than us, in His wisdom gave us some instructions regarding the things we should be influenced by. “… whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” … Philippians 4:8

And in another place “Everything is permissable, but not everything is beneficial” … 1 Corinthians 10:23 … Can we think for a moment that the songs of my past or the song of our children’s present are able to “fit the bill” of what God would say is “good, pure, holy, etc”. Here are a few modern examples from music on the charts this decade:

• I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas … It’s songs like this that I ‘hope’ are going to have a good message. I mean, it sounds putting good to begin with but then you get into the rest of the lyrics it doesn’t take rocket science to get that the kind of “good night” that this guy is talking about involves getting “wasted” and getting laid. Yes in my “B.C. days” this is the kind of thing that I would have looked ’so’ look forward to. But now I know that God is a lot smarter than I am and has great reasons why we should keep these kinds of things off our minds and out of our hearts.
• Your Guardian Angel – The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus … again, a song about devotion to something (usually a someone) other than God. Yes from a world perspective you might easily say (so what’s the big deal). But then there is a reason the scriptures teach us to be devoted to nothing else other than the one that gave us life; our heart’s should be undivided. A human being makes a poor replacement for the place that God is suppose to inhabit inside each of us. … Admittedly the song is beautiful though. And this beauty is enticing. If I didn’t “know better” I would spend hours enjoying and filling my mind with songs such as these.
• Year 3000 – Jonas Brothers … This was a harmless song for me. But then I am open minded enough to know that it is harmless for me because I have no struggles with having my mind so full of science fiction fantasy that it would distract me from God’s thoughts in any given moment. For for someone else this song might not be harmless. The scriptures say in many places that ‘His’ people are continually praying, unceasingly remembering, and always rejoicing in Him. … That doesn’t leave much room for many other thoughts does it?
• One Time – Justin Bieber … “Love” songs are some of the most dangerous songs to listen to in regard to anyone seeking God’s will. The reason for this is that, of all things, God is spoken of as ‘being’ Love. This may sound contradictory but hear me out for a moment. Is God “a feeling”? Is got a beat of your heart or a bunch of “butterflies in your stomach”?; of course not. … The enemy has skillfully twisted what “love” ‘is’ into something that God is not. And as a result our ideas of God are often twisted into things that God is not. A hundred thousand words need to be written on this aspect of it.
• Voices – Randy Orton … What else can I say about this song that hasn’t been written. “Sorta like WWJD, only in this case Jesus would kick you in the skull instead of pull you up if he saw you down.”. ‘Nuff said; nothin’ “good” about that.
• You Belong With Me
  Lyrics by Taylor Swift … a song about a woman who is ’so’ consumed by the idea of convincing a man that she should be the one that is his. Whoah! If the reason we were put on this planet was to learn to be devoted to God, do you think that God wants us to instead live that life learning to be infatuated with another person?
• In The End – Linkin Park … Ok another one of those “debatable” songs in so many senses. But if your goal in life is a Philippians 4:8 thing, would you honestly choose to listen to this? If so I am looking forward to learning your reasons why ‘you’ do. Perhaps this will give me some incite into being better able to understand other’s reasons as well.

Now I’m not daft enough to believe that anyone should make an “off limits” list of music that no one is permitted to listen to. There are have been times in my life that songs like the above have been good for me to listen to just for a couple of minutes because they reminded me of something other than the intended message of the lyrics. While listening to songs like the above I have had thoughts like “Wow, the world is so subtly twisted. So skillfully and subtly twisted by the enemy as to get music lovers to redefine “good things” and no longer be able to recognize something of God.

And especially regarding “love” songs, I can think of many men and women that have an “innocent crush” on someone other than the person they are supposedly in a “committed relationship” with. This is a mindset that has been taught to us as innocent by a twisted modern culture. God has another plan regarding male female relationships. It goes along the lines of devoted yourself to God and then, when ‘God’ is ready it will make it clear to you if He has chosen someone for you to be with. And amazingly God doesn’t even need you to “date” in order to help Him figure that out :-)

Just got information about our laundry woman’s husband. She showed up here in tears just a couple of hours ago when I was not here.

One of the problems after the flood is so many people with previous problems (like diabetes) have had wounds that were infected by the dirty standing water as they attempted to save items from their homes and/or clean their homes. Her husband’s wound on his leg has become ’so’ infected that it is already purple now all the way up to the knee.

They may need to amputate later, but for now he needs a shot that will ease the infection and the pain. Our laundry woman is only asking that she can borrow the money. That she will work it off later. But for now her husband is in urgent need.God has given us enough to help with this but it is still hard. I think about the money that I have set aside for the purpose of helping others according to God’s will; but then I also think about money that we were saving for other medical and education “needs” of the family and how that is going down faster than it is going up.

Like most people I have this part of me that wants to believe that it is money that I need in order to provide for what my family needs. The part of me that is unfaithful to God’s promises wants to trust that the money we have set aside is what I will find my security in. However, just as my phrases ablove alludes to, I know that instead I need to trust in God.

Though there is an unfaithful part of me that wants to say trusting in what God has given me is the same thing as trusting in God; I know better. I know that “trust” is intricately bound to the very essence of “love”. So, if I trust in what God has provided me (and my mind is on the wealth that He provided me) then what I am actually trusting in is the wealth itself; as if God was only able to work through money. Though there is nothing wrong with money, the ‘love’ of the stuff is the root of all things that separate us from God.

God has given us the opportunity to give. And moreso I need to remember that He loved me so much through His son to give us life eternal. That was a very hight cost that was paid. And it’s not this world that we are taught by Him to invest in. It is the kingdom that will be prepared for all those that believe.

In regard to the very old argument about which English version of the scripture is better I won’t deny that KJV & the ASV and a few others are closer to the more literal meaning given to us in the Greek and Hebrew. But what I am suggesting is that to get into a heated divisive debate about how one translation is better than another, you can instead say what can I do to care about this person who says they are my brother or sister in Christ; who admit that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and who was risen on the third day from death to life.

In the new testament you can read in Acts 16 and other chapter how brothers were already debating about issues even as unimportant as circumcision. Those who were the spiritual leaders, apostles and teachers at the time knew that these issues were of less importance than issues of how Jesus was the Christ the Son of God. 1 John 4:1-3 … so, just in one example in Acts 16 the spiritual leaders decide to submit to this lesser important matter of circumcision just so it would not be a “stumbling block” to their delivering the more important message of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins.

There are a lot of things in this world that are “wrong”. And a lot of people that have problems which “need to be solved”. If we as individuals chase after each one that we think are worthy of our time and attention then we will do little more than wear ourselves out and help them little (if at all). God is a whole lot smarter than us. If we can learn to listen to that quiet voice that comes from Him, we can direct our individual efforts where they can make the most difference.

God knows much more than we do; what the most important things are. If there is the one that ‘God’ is leading you to be a part of, then do it with all of the effort and strength that He is able to give you. He deservedly gets the credit for everything that has been corrected and/or what He has given us the strength and inspiration to correct. And we deservedly get the credit for everything that we’ve messed up.

The greatest benefit of serving those that are in need is that it will bring you toward a greater opportunity for a relationship with God.

James 1:27, Acts 9:36, Acts 10.

Notice how God not only ’says’ that “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and .. is …to look after orphans and widows in their distress”; but he also shows us in other scriptures how ‘He’ has reached out to those who have reached out to those who are in need.

Also consider Matthew 10:42 and Mark 9:41.

In mind of those last two, notice that it does ‘NOT’ say “anyone who gives money to an organization and has that organization give a cup of water in my name” … Instead it speaks to the individual doing it.

When was the last time that ‘you’ gave to those that needed food and/or clothing. Jesus gave us an example to follow. His command is that ‘you’ follow that example. So, either you need to follow it or stop dirtying His name by not following it but still calling yourself a Christian. … ME TOO!

I wish I could write a whole book on this subject but I just don’t have the talent/time. The talent that I have for writing is more suited for short entries into a blog (which I do) but not for the content of an entire book. To do so would require that I live like a hermit completely uninterrupted for three to five years. And since I have a family and I am not independently wealthy, the likelihood of that happening is very small. I’ve only heard one speaker dare to say “Sin is Fun” (a few years ago). As I searched across the internet it seems that the religious right only wants to talk about how sin is ‘not’ fun and all of that “wages of sin is death” stuff which has nothing to do with whether or not sin is actually fun.

I mean, how can anyone deny it? When I was “out there” doing whatever I wanted, I did enjoy it. How could I not; I was out there doing whatever I wanted with little or no restraint. Sex, women, alcohol, drugs, stealing, lying, pursuing a career that gave me a certain level of respect or power, “getting over” on someone who I considered less intellectually capable than I was; etc. I wouldn’t have done any of these things if I had not thought they were not fun. “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” … Heb 11:24-25

But I can attest to how short lived this fun is. When I had finished have a night out with a woman, I had to go to work the next day. When I had a few drinks or smoke a little weed with friends at the bar or a one of their houses, the effect of the alcohol or marijuana eventually wore off. When I was young enough to be surrounded by friends who were impressed with my stealing, eventually the thrill and the bragging rights were over. And after I had climbed a few rung up the ladder of power, I eventually realized that even ‘my’ loose definition of morals and ethics were starting to become strained, and that wasn’t any fun.

Yes, the wages of sin is death; something much greater than death in this world. And the fun of doing things that are contrary to what God wants us to do (sin) is certainly temporary; not normally more than just a few hours; or a few days (if you don’t count the hours of gaps between “the fun”. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say that my heart sometimes longs for the things that I once did several years ago. But then I don’t give much attention to my heart “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” … Jeremiah 17:11

What I do give regard to is something that doesn’t sound too sane for those that don’t believe in God and the Spirit of God that Jesus Christ said that he would send. I give regard to a “separate voice” (which is more like a separate thought really). But none-the-less I have truly come to understand that it is actually something completely different than I am because I have dared to follow it’s “voice”. And although there aren’t hundreds of times that I can tell you amazing stories, there are enough amazing stories for me to go ‘wow’ “I can’t ignore that there is something more hear than I can just simply see, hear, touch, and taste.

It’s because of this faith that God has given me that I can not deny Christ. I can not ever deny what I have personally experienced. I don’t need a bible to tell me that it is true, and I don’t need a pastor to tell me what I know for myself.

From time to time I hear someone tell me that the bible is up for interpretation. What they refer to as the bible is something that I more literally refer to as scripture. I do this because I think that it is important to let the scriptures interpret themselves. Very similarly to the way a specialist takes an unknown language and then begins to compare the symbols with each other until he eventually find meaning in the previously unknown symbols.

I wonder what target he 'is' gonna hit?

Someone more familiar with this idea than myself listed this idea in these terms –> The text of Scripture must be interpreted by historical exegesis, taking an account of its literary forms and devices, letting Scripture interpret Scripture and not relying on the knowledge of man. The reason we should let the Scripture interpret itself is because the bible always tells the truth concerning everything it talks about, but man continually makes errors. If man interprets the bible then the interpretation is open to error, but if the bible interprets the bible, it will always be completely true. This is why the exegesis of passages is important, so that we know what the scripture is actually saying, contrary to what we think it is saying.

It’s usually the people that have something they don’t want to give up that like to adopt the idea that the scripture is up to interpretation. Of course if they ever accept the idea of letting the scriptures interpret themselves then they’ll probably resort to some other form of poking holes in the idea. They would rather do that than think that they themselves are not living up to a mark that the believe is true. “The mark” obviously has to change, because they certainly are not going to change :-)

I smiled when I read a devotional that my friend Malu sent me today because I thought to myself how I have ineffectively commuicated to her in regard to my thoughts about planning. She concerns herself so much with my tendency to not plan at this point in my life which is a complete turn-a-round to how I used to be. However she wasn’t around a few years ago when I was a planning fool. However even that “turn-around” has only to do with a season of my life.

I think that in each of our lives that God is working with us according to what ‘we’ need to be addressing. And I can see how I am being led to do more planning in recent weeks, we’ll see how that turns out. I think God will lead me to pick back up the outlines and the five year goals soon enough.

My faith says that for some of us it is the season to plan according to God’s will, and for others it is the season to submit to God’s plan for their lives. ,,, I happen to have gone through the latter for the last two years because of my “relying on myself” weakness that the Lord has had to deal with me on. Though the Lord has not yet finished in this area with me I believe that a great deal of progress has been made.

It is neither planning nor a lack of planning that is to be followed. But instead the Will of God which happens in the moment. Whether that moment is a moment of submission to the whims of the living Spirit of God to ‘act’ or the whims of the Spirit to “plan”.
… Let it be :-)

I’ve copied THE SPARROW AT STARBUCKS below. I don’t know the author but I hope to run into them one day. I can relate to their experience, I believe that God operates this way in all of our lives. We just have to “stop and listen”. I’ll post their story here for now.

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THE SPARROW AT STARBUCKS
by: Winda

It was chilly in Manhattan but warm inside the Starbucks shop on 51st Street and Broadway, just a skip up from Times Square. Early November weather in New York City holds only the slightest hint of the bitter chill of late December and January, but it’s enough to send the masses crowding indoors to vie for available space and warmth.

For a musician, it’s the most lucrative Starbucks location in the world, I’m told, and consequently, the tips can be substantial if you play your tunes right. Apparently, we were striking all the right chords that night, because our basket was almost overflowing.

It was a fun, low-pressure gig and I was playing keyboard and singing backup for my friend who also added rhythm with an arsenal of percussion instruments. We mostly did pop songs from the ’40s to the ’90s with a few original tunes thrown in. During our emotional rendition of the classic, “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” I noticed a lady sitting in one of the lounge chairs across from me. She was swaying to the beat and singing along.

After the tune was over, she approached me. “I apologize for singing along on that song. Did it bother you?” she asked. “No,” I replied. “We love it when the audience joins in. Would you like to sing up front on the next selection?” To my delight, she accepted my invitation. “You choose,” I said. “What are you in the mood to sing?”

“Well. Do you know any hymns?” Hymns? This woman didn’t know who she was dealing with. I cut my teeth on hymns. Before I was even born, I was going to church. I gave our guest singer a knowing look. “Name one.”

“Oh, I don’t know. There are so many good ones. You pick one.”

“Okay,” I replied. “How about ‘His Eye is on the Sparrow’?”

My new friend was silent, her eyes averted. Then she fixed her eyes on mine again and said, “Yeah. Let’s do that one.”

She slowly nodded her head, put down her purse, straightened her jacket and faced the center of the shop. With my two-bar setup, she began to sing:

Why should I be discouraged? Why should the shadows come? The audience of coffee drinkers was transfixed. Even the gurgling noises of the cappuccino machine ceased as the employees stopped what they were doing to listen. The song rose to its conclusion:

I sing because I’m happy; I sing because I’m free. For His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me.

Holy moment when the last note was sung, the applause crescendoed to deafening roar that would have rivalled a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall. Embarrassed, the woman tried to shout over the din, “Oh, y’all go back to your coffee. I didn’t come in here to do a concert. I just came in here to get somethin’ to drink, just like you!”

But the ovation continued. I embraced my new friend. “You, my dear, have made my whole year. That was beautiful.”

“Well, it’s funny that you picked that particular hymn,” she said. “Why is that?” “Well,” she hesitated again, “that was my daughter’s favourite song.” “Really!” I exclaimed. “Yes,” she said, and then grabbed my hands. By this time, the applause had subsided and it was business as usual. “She was 16. She died of a brain tumor last week.”

I said the first thing that found its way through my stunned silence. “Are you going to be okay?”

She smiled through tear-filled eyes and squeezed my hands. “I’m gonna be okay. I’ve just got to keep trusting the Lord and singing his songs, and everything’s gonna be just fine.”

She picked up her bag, gave me her card, and then she was gone.

Was it just a coincidence that we happened to be singing in that particular coffee shop on that particular November night?

Coincidence that this wonderful lady just happened to walk into that particular shop?

Coincidence that of all the hymns to choose from, I just happened to pick the very hymn that was the favourite of her daughter, who had died just the week before?

I refuse to believe it.

God has been arranging encounters in human history since the beginning of time, and it’s no stretch for me to imagine that he could reach into a coffee shop in midtown Manhattan and turn an ordinary gig into a revival.

It was a great reminder that if we keep trusting him and singing his songs, everything’s gonna be okay.

When you get to your wit’s end, you’ll find God lives there.