Our Rooms Are Not Ready… Yet

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." —Jesus as recorded in John 14:1-3 (ESV)

It was December 4, 2004 and we had suddenly become as giddy as little children rather than four adults hovering around the half-century mark. Today, watching and listening to a video of the event, it is a wonder that we were not all buckled in to children's safety seats in the back while another, calmer, and more mature adult did the driving. "Can you just slow down when you get on a hill? Gosh!" "Ours is the one on the left!" "Ours is the pretty one!" "We have Mickey stacks!"

We had just had our first glimpse in the distance of the Disney Cruise Line ship, Magic, and we would soon be arriving for check-in and boarding as Danny & Cathy Herron and Cathy & I wrapped up the celebration of our 30th wedding anniversaries with a "once in a lifetime" seven night Western Caribbean cruise. The paperwork was filled out, the passports and cameras were in hand, and we were as excited as could be. Once aboard, we ate some lunch and toured the ship while waiting for our cabins to be ready.

Half-way through the cruise we knew we had to replace "once in a lifetime" with "at least once every five years." So, on December 5, 2009, the Magic was boarded by a calmer, more sophisticated foursome (Yeah, right. Like that's ever going to happen). Having enjoyed our cabins on our first cruise so much, we reserved the same ones and went right to them because we were informed upon check-in that they were all ready for us and we would not have to wait.

        Danny & Cathy Herron             Cathy & Jim Gantenbein

Believe it or not (maybe "like it or not"), that is just the prequel for this post.

On Mom's side of the family (the Poppino clan), it has been a rough couple of months. Her baby brother passed away around the end of April. This past Sunday, June 3, I received a message that another brother passed away. The next evening my sister called to say that Mom's last brother passed away. Add these to my oldest sister's passing a couple of years ago and you can see why it has been rough.

Although we are all grieving at this time, my sister, Cheryl, and Mom's siblings are/were all Christians and are undoubtedly in no mood to return to this side of heaven. Together with my grandparents and all the other saints, they are experiencing worship, praise, love, life, fulfillment, and joy with such perfection we can not even imagine it. But we can look forward to it.

Jesus said He was going to prepare/provide/make ready a place/room for us and that He would come again and receive us to Himself so that we could be with Him. Why are they there with Jesus and we are still here? I guess their rooms were ready and our rooms are not. Plus, their work was done and our work is not finished. So, I had best close this and get back to it!

P.S. As of this writing, there are 903 days until we leave for our 40th Anniversary Celebration Trip and our kids are all invited but I have no idea when my departure for heaven will be.

When Stones Don’t Sink, Don’t Blame the Water

Intent: To write a piece on why most sermons and Bible studies never reach the core of the individual listeners or participants. It would use the analogy of stones skipping across the surface of water rather than sinking in.

Initially, I suspected that the reason a stone skips when thrown across the surface of water had a great deal to do with surface tension. So I did a little research about surface tension. That would make a great point: People are the problem! They simply resist those wonderful nuggets of truth that we sacrificially and faithfully attempt to feed them.

Before setting fingertips to keyboard I figured a little research into skipping stones might also be in order. Bummer. What I found never mentioned surface tension as a factor. Apparently, it all has to do with the throw itself. Sure, the size and shape of the stone get honorable mention but the key factors are the angle and sufficient speed of the throw combined with the spin of the stone.

Not wanting to abandon the analogy, the message is important (you have to have stones to throw) but the key is delivery. Too often we start by choosing a topic from scripture that lends itself to easy deflection and then we deliver it in such a way to insure it hits the surface but goes no deeper.

However, our goal is not to skip small stones and make small ripples. Our goal is to hoist rocks so big we can barely handle them ourselves and plunge them into the depths, regardless of how great a disturbance it creates. We do not want the stones to skip on by. We want them to go deep and stay there. This invariably causes waves. We do not make the waves, the stones do and their size determines how big the waves are.

When we teach and preach, we should not fear to go after the big biblical issues and throw them into the middle of the people. Yes, it will disturb the status quo but that is exactly what needs to happen. That is why we go down to the water in the first place.

P.S. When looking for an appropriate picture of skipping stones, I discovered that there are people who collect, package, and sell skipping stones. All you have to do is buy them and use them. You don't have to buy the ones that sink straight down. They are all over the place. God has not made His truth hard to get. The best stuff is all over the place.

The Ultimate In Communication

Email, tweeting, texting, blogging, letters, notes, signing, singing, videos, mp3, m4p, m4a, flv, mov, wmv, wav, semaphore, loudspeaker, megaphone, facetime, Skype, ipa, cell phone, land line, walkie talkie, telegraph, television, radio, telex, fax, paging, newspaper, magazine, yellow pages, smoke signals, banner… These are some of the ways people communicate — deliver a message.

Most, if not all, of these methods have been used to tell people about Jesus. Some have been used more effectively than others and a key is making sure the method used will reach the intended audience and be received by them. (It doesn't do much good to send a text message to someone's land line. I know. I've tried.)

Determining the method in most situations does not need to be difficult. Most people we want to reach are people within reach. John showed us the way: "Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete" (2 John 12). Jesus did not say, "Send a text." He said, "Go" (Matthew 28:19).

Some folks spend way too much time talking about ways to reach people when all they need to do is go to them and talk "face to face."

Preaching to the Preacher

I used to think that I learned from the sermon while I was preparing it and that was it. Now I know it is not the only time God speaks to me through my preaching. At least twice in the past couple of weeks I have had content from sermons brought back to mind and applied.

Instance #1: After experience inner turmoil for about ten days without being able to identify the cause, I was reminded of a suggested application at the end of a sermon. That application (to be concerned with living up to God's expectations rather than people's expectations) immediately shed light on what was causing my angst, followed by joy and peace. Now, I just have to live up to God's expectations. How hard can that be?!

Instance #2: Following a sermon (and Church Council retreat Bible study) that identified fasting as temporarily giving up a regular part of life—normally thought of as food—in order to gain more time for something else—normally thought of as prayer, I found myself needing to accomplish four weeks worth of work in just two weeks. I decided to forfeit an activity I enjoy doing as a distraction and focus on getting the work done. Lo and behold, by temporarily giving up something that probably consumed a total of ten minutes a day, I was able to accomplish many more hours of prayer, Bible study, and sermon preparation. I know the math regarding time does not work out but it happened anyway and I thank God!

The Last To Know?

When our time with God does something to us that becomes evident to others, are we the last to know? I truly agonized over yesterday’s sermon from John 6:60-69 (22-69) while preparing it, spending more hours on my knees seeking shelter and relief from God than for any other sermon I can remember. Yet, when it came time to preach it, the anxiety and even fear of not communicating clearly was mostly absent. What had been prepared and even rehearsed was preached.

I did not “feel” any different from the hundreds of other times I have preached yet comments received by individuals in each service convinced me that God had spoken powerfully to those who were listening for His voice. The ones making the comments gave glory to God while commenting about what had been preached. I was very relieved and glad when they told me because I had no idea, only the hope that God had answered my prayers with His undeniable and powerful presence.

You might think that the person God uses would always know how powerfully (or weakly) His presence is evident in that person’s life. But God reminded me this is often not the case as He called to mind Moses in Exodus 34:29 as well as Peter and John in Acts 4:13. Apparently, even though everyone else took notice, it was enough for Moses and the two disciples that they were following God.

May that be enough for me!

Exodus 34:29-35 (ESV)

The Shining Face of Moses

 ²⁹When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

Acts 4:13 (ESV)

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Getting Personal: A Raw Expression

I don't know of a church doing great things for God without its members doing great things for God.

I don't know of a church fulfilling The Great Commission without members fulfilling The Great Commission.

I don't know of a church being on fire without its members being on fire.

I don't know of a church being luke warm without its members being luke warm.

My desire, my aim, my goal has always included making the gospel personal to individuals in the church. I have believed, hoped, prayed that individual Christians would surrender to God and pursue a lifetime of growth/discipleship in Him and the result would be the Holy Spirit's clear leadership through the unified body of Christ. I don't know what to tell people who say they don't see the church advancing. How can the church advance when they won't/don't/aren't? Is it the Pastor's fault? That's a black and white question. It is or it isn't. Is the Pastor responsible for how the individual members respond to God's Word? The Pastor is absolutely responsible for preaching and teaching the Word and he's responsible for presenting it with as little interference/distraction/confusion as possible. This pastor does not feel this way theoretically. I have lived it and continue to live it—the bottom line truth that "Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done" begins and ends with me or it will never go any further in my ministry. God will not release me from it and I do not believe He releases any one of His children from it.

Convicted Toward Compassion

This morning I had the privilege of preaching from Matthew 9:35-38; 14:13-14; Mark 6:30-34; and Matthew 20:29-34. The emphasis was on compassion (splagchnizomai). The flow was pretty basic/simple: Showing (true) compassion flows from having compassion which follows connecting (identifying) with the people when you love (agape) them made possible by dying to self. There were two things for which I was very grateful: 1. In the second service there was someone who could pronounce the Greek word for me; 2. In both services it was evident to me that God was touching minds, hearts, and spirits. Though being the one preaching, I was as much a recipient of the work of God as everyone else.

During this Christmas season, may God's children "carpe diem"—seize the day (opportunity)—while our neighbors, fellow workers, classmates, shoppers, etc. are more receptive to hearing about God's love. As we do, we will witness not the results of our own charismatic witness, but the results of God's continued work through broken vessels.