It seems that most Westerners who identify themselves as “Christian” operate with the assumption that attending a church service holds intrinsic value. They believe that the act of sitting among a congregation within earshot of a sermon is a discipline that will be rewarded in heaven. They’ll sit through a service unhappy about being there. They’ll watch the clock in boredom hoping the service gets out in time to beat the rush at their favorite restaurant. Their only interaction is with the attendance sheet. “Check. I was here.” You know someone like this. This may be you.

For these people, the sacrifice of going to church is a good deed – it’s what you should do. It’s right above exercising, flossing and putting shopping carts back in the corral. Think about it – how many times have you heard the expression, “Well, at least they’re going to church”?

Sometimes the perceived value of church attendance goes beyond earning reward in heaven to earning admission to heaven. In response to the questions, “Will you go to heaven?” and “Are you a Christian?” is the frighteningly common reply, “Well, I go to church…”. Does attending a family reunion make you family? If entering the pearly gates was as simple as having more Sunday mornings in a pew than on a pillow, I’d be more militant about getting my beloved to a church – any church. I’d improve my lasso throw.

Others attend church because it makes them feel good. They’ll find the church with the most entertainment value and least sacrificial commitment. The algorithm for choosing a church is comprised of familiar faces, engaging music, pleasing aesthetics, compelling sermons, and comfy seats. The specialty coffee is worth bonus points.

Motives. We assume the best when someone goes to church but assume the worst when strangers offer something free. Let’s face it, some reasons people go to church are bad. Throughout the Bible God emphasizes his concern for the state of the heart behind every act of obedience and worship. If the heart doesn’t validate the action, God isn’t pleased. In fact, sometimes God is insulted by acts of worship with a legalistic and begrudging attitude. Check out Amos 5:21-23 where God tells his people that the things he commanded them to do are now bothersome to him. Verse 21 even mentions the assembly of his people: “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.”

So if you go to church to appease an otherwise angry God, you attend to get your feel-good fix, you participate because it’s socially expected, you’re there to check out the singles scene or any other in the list of bad reasons, maybe you should reconsider. From my perspective, you are hereby absolved from any expectation to be under a steeple.

The way I understand the Bible, whether you’re a Christian or not, the only reason to subject yourself to a teaching about God is to know more about him. You can check your motives easily with these questions: Do you also seek to learn more about God by reading his book? Do you regularly ask him in prayer what he thinks? Do you look for ways to interact with him in private that others may never notice?

Please go to church to learn more about the creator of the universe who loves you enough to send his son to die as punishment for your wrongdoings that you may live with him in paradise for eternity. If you already go to church, start acting like you want to know God better the other six days of the week. If the extent of your relationship with God is in a church service once a week, he’s probably wondering why you’re there.

Last weekend 11 area churches joined together – united to worship God, to grow in faith in Him, to share the love of Christ with the community, to bring hope to those in our community — because of God’s love for us! Because when the Church unites, it’s “unstoppable.”

I have been asked,  ”Was CORE successful?” and “What impact has it had?”  So, I pondered, “How do we measure success?”…that over 450 people participated? That we completed 38 projects? That MANY people were served in multiple ways?

At 5:30 last night, our door bell rang and there stood an “unchurched man” that we have come to love and appreciate because of a relationship that has been built through CORE. He stepped inside and we talked about CORE and then as we sat in our living room we talked about family. Not far into the conversation he began to weep because of how the churches’ prayers have made a difference in his family. As he left I began to cry as God reminded me that there is the success: relationship, connections, good deeds — which lead to good news. I don’t find it coincidental that he showed up at our house as I was pretty tired and feeling a bit weary of doing good. Then I remembered, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  – Galations 6:9

Yes, we can measure the number of people and say it should have been more. We can measure the number of projects completed and say, we accomplished a lot. But what I’ve come to believe is when relationships are built and connections are made through a weekend of serving, it provides a way for good deeds to move to good news and THAT is success. Just over 450 people may not have seemed like enough when 11 churches were involved, but one man pointed to Jesus through a weekends of serving?… that’s enough.

What differences were made?

• Built a ramp for a man who couldn’t leave his house because his wife couldn’t get him out by herself.  (The coupled were able to attend the CORE celebration service Sunday evening!)
• 150 bags of groceries given away
• 19 bookshelves built for our schools and our kids
• filled baskets of items to say thanks and to encourage our teachers
• cleaned and landscaped school yards
• gave a hand in moving a school library from one floor to another
• re-sided a house for an elderly couple
• gave away massive amounts of clothes and household items… with not a penny profit!
• Helped Catholic Charities get caught up with sorting clothes
• Roofed, painted and made relationships and connections in Greenup
• Performed maintenance, painting and finishing work at the HOPE house and the food pantry
  And the list goes on….

Thanks for being Christ-followers who engage in serving and meeting the needs of our community and for building relationships within that community.

We are serving because of God’s love.

Yesterday, June 10. My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy… His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend (Song of Solomon 5:10-16).

Jeff and I were married after dating only six weeks in 1979. We were so happy. But our lives lacked one thing until February 1980. Brother Roy Pritts, pastor of Willis Chapel Church of God, and his wife Florence sat at our kitchen table praying with Jeff and me and our first new baby. At age 22, Jeff was surrendering his life to Jesus Christ and I was recommitting myself to the Lord. Under the leadership of Pastor Pritts and with support from other members of Willis Chapel, we began to build a Christian family.

Slowly we became increasingly aware of the need of Jesus and His Word in our lives. Pastor Pritts passed away and we missed him. But Pastor Hiram and Lena Wofford came to shepherd us. We thought our life together with Christ was perfect. We had three small children and were buying our home. At age 28, Jeff was a very respected combine mechanic in great demand at Casey Implement Co.

But on June 11, 1986, our lives changed quite suddenly. Mark, the sales manager at the implement company, came to our home in a company truck. I ran to meet him, thinking it was Jeff on his way to a service call. I had slept in that morning and had missed my good-bye kiss to Jeff; I was anxious to see him. But what I saw instead was horror on Mark’s face. He told me to come with him immediately. We took the children to a neighbor’s home and headed for the John Deere dealership.

I started probing for answers, but got only vagueness in return. What was he trying to hide? “Is Jeff dead?” I asked.

He only replied, “No.”

What Mark wasn’t telling me was that Jeff was still trapped in the grain head of a combine. The huge auger, with finger-sized projections on it, sickle, and reel had tried to feed my husband to the threshing unit. He was being eaten alive by a machine. Jeff had known a farmer who had had a similar accident. That man had held on to the auger until the slip clutch burned out and he could be freed.

Jeff had seen the auger swallow one foot, much the same way a food grinder pulverizes bulk meat for ham salad. He grabbed the auger, but it got away from him and fed him farther until he could get a bear-hugging grip on it. The clutch began to slip and Jeff screamed for help.

Fortunately, my husband was working at the shop instead of alone in a field, which was often the case. Frantically other mechanics tried to free him. The ambulance team was close and came quickly. My brother, also a mechanic and good friend, supported Jeff s upper body because the auger had twisted him to a contorted angle. His intestines lay mutilated on the floor of the grain head. His right leg was badly mangled, his left calf cut to the bone. His right ribs and collar bone were broken, and he had multiple scrapes, bruises and puncture wounds.

Jeff plead with my brother to knock him out while screaming instructions for the other mechanics to hurry. They had to use cutting torches but, because the grain head held old stubble, had to be careful not to set the combine on fire. After 45 minutes the auger was lifted from my bleeding, mangled husband.

I knew nothing of this except that Jeff was hurt. I knew only to pray for God’s grace.

Mark and I met the ambulance at the edge of town. It was headed for the nearest hospital. I jumped out of the truck into the path of the ambulance, waving my arms and jumping up and down, trying to get it to stop for me. I desperately wanted to reassure Jeff that everything would be okay. I knew he always went into shock, even from minor injuries. I needed to be with him.

But the ambulance flew by, the attendant waving for me to follow. I knew Jeff must be hurt badly because they wouldn’t take time to stop for me. But at least my brother was with him.

What I didn’t know was that at that very moment, the attendants were all standing in a pool of Jeff’s blood.

It was a miracle that the ambulance team had only recently been certified to start IV’s (intravenous fluids) and apply Mast trousers (which are inflated with air and aid in circulation; Mast trousers are especially beneficial in cases of severe blood loss and help prevent the patient from going into shock). Otherwise, Jeff would have died en- route to the hospital. Now, they wrung out the bags of blood and fluid into Jeff, squeezing life into him. He was suffering from sinota- chycardia, a condition of excessively fast heart beat caused by rapid blood loss.

As I prayed, I thanked God that Jeff had been washed in the blood of the Lamb, even as he was being bathed in his own blood.

At the hospital, I numbly watched them run down the hall with Jeff on a gurney into an emergency room. I was left to wait. A saintly social worker asked if I would like to call my pastor (another hint of the severity of the situation. I still was getting only vague answers to my questions.). Pastor Hiram was in Findlay, Ohio, at General Conference. I called Jeff’s closest friend, also an elder in our church, asking him to start a prayer chain and to come quickly.

A doctor came to tell me that Jeff had life-threatening problems. The intestinal lining that fed the blood supply to Jeff’s bowels had been severed. He would need immediate surgery or bleed to death. After the operation they would move him to Burnham City Hospital at Champaign, Illinois, a Class A trauma center 50 miles away. There his right leg would be amputated.

I pleaded with the doctor to let me talk to Jeff before anesthesia. He agreed. Two nurses supported me by the arms as we walked down the hall. I was okay, but this was another clue of the gravity of the situation. They thought I would faint. (Several mechanics had left the scene of the accident to vomit.) When I first glimpsed Jeff, he was draped from the neck down. He had only a few cuts on his head. I asked him to fight for me and our children. He nodded in agreement. There wasn’t time for anymore. The nurses carried me out.

The emergency room nurse later told us it took hoses to cleanse the blood from the walls, ceiling, and floor of the emergency room.

The next 13 hours included surgery, a move to Champaign, and nine more hours of surgery, during which his leg was amputated. A long section of small bowel, one foot of large bowel, and much dead muscle tissue were also removed.

At midnight doctors told waiting family members and Christian friends that Jeff had received 35 units of blood (the human body has only 16 units). He had also received 48 quarts of saline. Jeff had had all the fluid in his veins changed more than eight times in 13 hours.

After all of that soaked into our understanding, another doctor came out. He matter-of-factly said, “I don’t expect your husband to live through the night. His percentages are zero!” (A doctor cousin later told me he had never known anyone who had lived after receiving so much blood so quickly.)

I thanked God that we were in the most compassionate critical care unit in the world. The staff cared for my emotional state as well as Jeff’s physical. Visiting hours were 10 minutes every two hours, but they allowed Jeff’s family and me to stand by his bed by the hours. His body was bloated three or four times its normal size. He was connected to a respirator, and had a temperature of 88, pulse of 180, and a blood pressure of 50 over 30. Jeff’s PTT, Partial Thromboplastim Time (blood clotting time), was in excess of 200; any time a PTT is over 45, there is danger. He had developed a condition called shock lung. I trembled watching them cut off Jeff’s wedding band, wondering if our marriage was going to end through death. It seemed that if one thing didn’t kill him, another would.

I had many questions. I wondered if God was taking Jeff home because he was so good. He had always been a stronger Christian and more self- disciplined than I. When I was too tired to go to church, Jeff would offer to take our children to the nursery, so I could rest during the sermon. Was God leaving me alone to battle out my own Christianity? (Read Isaiah 47:1, Living Bible.) I had always questioned the injustice of God taking a devoted father from his children, when thousands of fathers willingly abandoned their children every day.

But even now, Jeff was strong in the Lord and this gave me strength. When he came out from anesthesia I read his lips around the respirator. His first question, “My leg?” I told him it had been amputated.

“That’s okay,” he lipped, squeezing my hand. “I thought I was dead.”

Prayers for Jeff were lifted up everywhere. Our church had a special prayer meeting that Wednesday evening. Brother Hiram asked for prayer at General Conference sessions. Relatives in seven states were praying. The Baptist Convention prayed. An unsaved farmer told me he was praying. All the local Churches of God prayed, visited and sent contributions. The Champaign area pastors and Churches of God were also very supportive. And yes, Florence Pritts, who had witnessed Jeff’s rebirth, was praying, too.

Fluids poured into Jeff day after day. He received 26 different antibiotics to fight severe infections. (His abdominal cavity had been filled with rocks, dirt, corn and debris in the accident.) He suffered terrible hallucinations from narcotic pain- relieving injections. He continued to receive blood channeled through ice water to help combat high temperatures. Doctors repeatedly performed surgeries on his stump, six in all. After anesthesia, the hospital staff immersed Jeff in ice water to drop his body temperature so he would bleed less freely (analogous to an early grave). I lost count of the number of blood units, somewhere in the seventies.

As a relief for my nerves, I started smoking (I had quit smoking after four years when I rededicated my life to God in 1980). I questioned if God understood my need at this time. I prayed and told Him that I knew His Word was not like a Ouija board or a crazy eight ball. But would He please let me know what He expected of me as a witness to Him. I opened my Bible and the first verse I read was Proverbs 12:4: “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.” The message was clear to me. I didn’t smoke again. A friend showed me Isaiah 26:3 to help me: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

At one point when I visited Jeff’s room, he was all one color— white. He wasn’t responding. I asked the nurse what was wrong. She explained that transfused blood “died” after a number of days. Jeff’s body was under too much stress to make his own blood quickly enough. So there were more transfusions. By evening and ten units of blood later, Jeff was back to his supportive self. Thank you, God. And thanks, too, that the blood of Jesus never loses its power.

Seven weeks after the day of the accident, Jeff completed our family circle again. On October 13, he went back to work in the parts department of Casey Implement Co. He has a prosthesis now and is still being strong for us.

Three weeks after the accident, Jeff developed a chronic brain syndrome that was caused by stress and sleep deprivation. It lasted 10 days. Until then he was able to tell us vivid details of the accident and pain. After the syndrome subsided, he remembered very little of the accident.

However, his strongest memory was feeling trapped. His soul and spirit felt trapped in a physical body that was racked with pain; they wanted to be free.

The six specialists who released Jeff from the hospital told him he should have died. They readily admitted that he lived only because of a “Higher Power.” If Jeff had died, he would still have been a winner because he had believed in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

We thought our life together was perfect before, but it is more so now. Today we realize the value of life. There’s no time for taking each other for granted.

As I began reading this familiar passage of scripture, the account of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha, I was amazed by the words of this verse and had to rest here awhile. What struck me was the phrase “opened her home to Him”. Other translations say “welcomed Him in”. I’ve heard many lessons on Mary sitting and Martha serving, but this day it occurred to me that we can neither sit nor serve until we welcome Jesus in!

Now, for those who have never opened their hearts to Christ, receiving Him as Savior is the first step. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9

I prayed then, what about those of us who have made that decision? What does this mean for me and for all believers? What lesson can we learn from these precious words? The answer didn’t come right away, in fact, most of that day while I went about my work, I prayed. I knew there was an application I did not want to miss.

Later that afternoon I found myself remembering the years I cleaned houses for people. I was kinda laughing to myself how almost every home had what I called a “pretty room”. You know, the room that is almost never used, the fancy living room. Although why it is called a “living” room I’m not sure, because the only time it’s ever used is when a special guest comes by. As these thoughts began to mix with my prayers regarding verse thirty-eight, I got the most incredible picture in my mind! I said, “God, that’s what we do!” Yes, we make that decision to follow Christ, we open our hearts and receive Him as Saviour, we truly welcome Him in, but that’s as far as it goes! He’s like the special guest sitting in the pretty room. We open our door to Jesus, but we never allow Him into the kitchens and family rooms and bedrooms of our lives. We keep Him out of the places where decisions are made, schedules are organized, relationships are built and broken, where real life happens! It’s the difference between Jesus as Savior and Jesus as Lord! He is Lord, and He deserves that rightful place in our lives!

It occurred to me that the time we sit with Jesus and the time spent serving Him will be much more effective the more we welcome Him in. We must open every part of our lives to Him. All the rooms, all the tiny spaces and closets. Oh, we’ve got many excuses why we don’t. I know I do. I know I’m still working on some of them! I used to hope God didn’t open up that one cabinet, the real high one that no one ever uses. “No God, don’t peak in there. You see, there’s sin hiding in there that I’m not ready to acknowledge. Well, I don’t call it sin. You’ll find it wrapped up in a couple of boxes marked ‘Just an old habit’ and ‘Just the way I am’. No, no! Not that closet! There are masks in there that I still want to keep. You’ll find them in a garment bag labeled ‘Hypocrisy’. Please don’t look in there, Jesus!” The truth is, of course, He already knows it’s there. He sees all. He knows all. He is aware of every thought before we think it. He knows our words, our attitudes, our motives. Nothing is hidden from Him.

It seems to me that Martha gets kind of a bad rap. Yes, I realize she had a terrible attitude. Martha was caught up in her work instead of in Who she was working for! She was wading around in self-pity that day with Jesus. However, what I admire about Martha is that she welcomed Jesus in, not only to her home, but yes, even into her bad attitude! She didn’t try to disguise it or lie about it. Only then could she be taught the most valuable lesson. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken from her.” (verse 41) The “only one necessary thing”, the “good part” of our lives is communion with Christ. Pure, sweet fellowship with our Lord and Savior. Even in this lesson can you hear the tenderness and compassion of Jesus? I urge you, precious child of God, to open your door to Him. Welcome Jesus into every nook and cranny. Don’t keep anything closed off and you will enjoy a peace and intimacy with Him like you have never known! Let’s give Christ that rightful position of Lord over our lives. Today will you welcome Him in?

So how then, did this man go from a place of hiding, in fear for his life to being seated at the king’s table? Simple. The king called for him. King David sent his servants to go get him. It’s quite amazing, really. Saul had made himself an enemy of David. Mephibosheth was in line to be king. But instead of revenge, the king showed mercy. See, David had made a covenant with Mephibosheths father, Jonathon, and he was about to honor that covenant.

So Mephibosheth was brought back to Jerusalem and he bowed down to the king. In his crippled state he came humbly, and what was the king’s response? Was there anger and threats? No, no there was not. The first word David spoke was his name. Mephibosheth. I love that! So personal, so intimate. The king looks at Mephibosheth and says, I know you! David then says “Don’t be afraid…for I will surely show you kindness…I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul,and you will always eat at my table.” Can you believe that? Oh what love the king has for this broken man! Such unexpected mercy was poured upon him! He brought him out of fear and hiding into his very presence and there Mephibosheth found complete restoration and provision! Notice the word “always” in verse 7 and 10 and 13? He will be forever cared for at the table of the king! Their relationship was permanent!

I find so many lessons in this wee chapter that my head is swimmming with thoughts, but for today there is something specific that God has laid heavily on my heart. Somewhere out there in this town, in these neighborhoods, perhaps even in our very own congregation there are people hiding from the King. Crippled people. Broken people. They remain seperated from all the good things that God has for them. They stay seperated from God Himself! Afraid to come out of hiding. Perhaps they’ve gotten so comfortable living in this crippled state they have forgotten that there is a better way. So what then do we do?
 
As I prayed over this passage today I asked God to show me what is in my heart. There was still something I was missing, I knew. Then God showed me what I hadn’t seen before, a very important point that we dare not miss: the king sent his servant! I wrote that near the beginning of this, but I didn’t fully understsand the importance of that truth. The king sent his servant and the servant went! Is that cool, or what? David asked his servant Ziba, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” I don’t know if Ziba himself went and got Mephibosheth, or if others went, but the point is, the servants obeyed the king! Think right now of someone you know who needs Jesus. Ask yourself this same question. Is there anyone who you can show the kindness of God to? You are a servant of the King, and the King has sent you! Go out and get those who are crippled with sin! Go get those who are broken and hurt and hiding, those who are living in fear! Bring them back to the King that He may restore them!

If you are that person hiding this is the message I have for you: I am a servant of the King, King Jesus, and I am here to tell you that your King is calling! He has sent for you! Through these words I have been sent to bring you back to Him! He wants you! He knows your name, and He wants you! As I offer this invitation my thoughts go back to Mephibosheth and I wonder how he reacted when those servants showed up. Did he freak out with fear? Did he wish he could run? Did he look down at his lame feet and wonder why any king would want someone like him? Dear one, He knows you are crippled, and He loves you and wants you to come just the way you are! He will carry you to His table. You do not need to be afraid! He will not condemn you. He will not judge you. But, just like Mephibosheth, he will restore all that the enemy has taken from you! He will remove your sin and restore the broken relationship and forever you will be His! You will always eat at the table of the King!

Please come. King Jesus is calling!

God needs to radically break me of my pride. I understand how much God loves me, but in some ways that awareness has become a problem. Isn’t that how Satan works? He takes something good God created and twists it. Satan twisted me into thinking that somehow I’m earning God’s love.

I take pride in leading others to Christ instead of in the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives.
I take pride in teaching truth instead of in God’s provision of The Truth.
I take pride in serving instead of in The Servant, Jesus.
I take pride in my talents instead of in the Master who entrusts them.
I take pride in what I give instead of in The Giver of All Things.
I take pride in how “Christian” I am instead of in Christ.

God loves me because He is Love, not because I’m valuable here in His earthly kingdom. I’ll never earn His love. God loves me while I am still a sinner. (Romans 5:8) Why do I put so much stake into my value in ministry!?

Something within us craves to earn worth. That’s why religions exist. We feel we must earn our way into the favor of god(s).

You can help me. If you take note of something in my life that honors God, praise Him directly! You can even do this without me knowing about it. Obviously, encouragement is nice, but sometimes I suspect this ol’ flesh is seeking the praises of men. If one of my songs, sermons or acts of service impacted you and you are compelled to encourage me, share how God used my efforts rather than merely congratulate me on a job well done. (i.e. “God spoke to me through something you said/did…”)

Will I let Him be glorified or will I take it for myself?

Hey Pastors!

Sincerely,
Gavin A. Way

Dear Gavin,
There is a misunderstanding about what Jesus meant when he says in Matthew 6:3,4: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.”  Some think this passage means no one should know about your giving. Let’s look at the context in chapter 6.

In verse 1, Jesus says not to do acts of righteousness…to be seen by men, then in verse 2, not to announce it to be honored by men.  In the following paragraph about prayer, he says not to have showy prayers, but to pray “in your room”.  In the next section on fasting, he says the hypocrites make it obvious — again for the eyes of men.

Jesus is making the distinction that an impure motive will strip from an ‘act of righteousness’ any reward in heaven. (v. 1)  The issue is a matter of motive.  Throughout the New Testament God is glorified by the visible acts of Jesus’s disciples.  Peter and John publicly heal a crippled man in the name of Jesus. (Acts 3)  When the crowds thronged them, Peter explained that the miracle was performed by Jesus.

In Luke 14:13,14, Jesus says,  “…[W]hen you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.  Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”  Jesus says that we will be rewarded in heaven for such giving.

As a final example in Acts 8, Philip is healing and driving out demons.  Peter and John lay hands on people who then receive the Holy Spirit.  When Simon, a sorcerer, saw that he could profit from such powers, he tried to buy from them the ability to impart the Holy Spirit to others.  While cursing him harshly, they explain that his heart is not right with God and he will receive no such power.

If the Holy Spirit is leading you, giving can be done anonymously, so not even the recipient knows from whom the blessing came, privately, so only the recipient knows what happened, or publicly so everyone knows what happened.  The goal is to bring God the most glory.  Check your motives.  If you seek to honor yourself even in giving privately, then find a way to give anonymously — and don’t tell anyone about it!  It’s all about the motive of your heart.  Will God be glorified or will you?

Shane (after open discussion with the other pastors)
Ask your own Hey Pastors! question.

The Hebrew word for “love” is taken from “e hav” which means “I will give.” A good example of its use comes from John 3:16 - ”For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…” Paul also talks about love when he says, ” Brethren, love one another even as Christ loved the church and gave himself to her.” So love is a giving of ourselves. It is the giving of our time, resources, even our very lives. “No greater love that a man has that he lay down his life…”

I see “giving” as the central theme to pastor Scott’s message this last weekend. Everyone received $20 to bless someone who does not know Christ in a meaningful way. However, I believe that the most central theme in this sermon is not the giving of money. The money is merely the tool that compels us to engage our minds and our hearts. It will require that we give our time. Time out of our busy lives and schedules – time out of ”ourselves” — time taken from spending on the things that we do.

Time is perhaps the most valuable thing that we have. No matter how much money a person has in this world there is one area where every single person in the world is equally rich, and that is in how much time we have been given. (The Last time I checked Bill Gates only has 24 hours a day in time…same as me.) It also requires time with God outside of our time in a church service. It means spending more time than we may have given to spend with God. How much time have YOU allotted to Jesus?

What does it mean to lay down one’s life? In one moment a man may throw himself onto a grenade to save his buddies life. In that moment he has given all the time he has left to save lives. Let me emphasis: ALL his time. Can I do any less? I don’t mean throw myself on top of a grenade but I CAN give ALL my time, one minute of it at a time. When you’re awake what are you thinking? As you go about the day what are you thinking? What are you doing?

To love is to forget about oneself and instead to think of others. To love is not to do for oneself but to do unto others. A christlike attitude is a selfLESS attitude so therefore an Anti-Christ attitude is …a selfISH attitude. My life is not my own anymore for I have been bought for a price so that I may be restored to my original purpose: to have a relationship with my Creator. Restored to do the work I was originally created for. Restored to have the relationship with my spouse I was originally created for. Restored to live the life that God had always wanted me to live — for all eternity. That’s a LOT of time. As a matter of fact its ALL the time. Whatever amount of time I have left on this mortal world — however many years, months, days, or hours does INDEED seem small compared to eternity. Is that too great a price?

I stood there speechless. Cory is my son, my prodigal son. Running from God, running from us, running from himself. After a long silence, I was finally able to say, “I really, really like that present, Katy. It’s a very good gift!”

See, I knew what Katy meant. We’ve prayed the prayer every night for years. Coming home doesn’t necessarily refer to this house, it refers to the Father’s arms! Coming home isn’t a matter of geography, it’s a matter of the heart! As I ponder over that moment in my girls’ room, I find myself deeply burdened, and I have to wonder…how’s your heart? Is it time for you to come home? Are you running, living only for yourself? Have you ever come home to the Father, accepting His Son Jesus as your Lord and Saviour? I, too, have a compass for you. It will surely show you the way. My compass is my Bible, the very Word of God, and it points directly to Jesus Christ, it points steadfastly to the cross! The directions you’ll find are quite simple to follow. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” He is the way, the only way, and He is waiting for you with open arms!

And what about you, Christian brother, christian sister? Have you taken a wrong turn? If you stopped a moment and looked back over your shoulder, would you have to ask yourself, “How did I get here? How did I get so far away from my God?” Let this be the day you come back home! Again, the directions are simple. Cry out to Him with a  repentant heart, and I promise, before you finish speaking you will find yourself in His loving embrace, reconciled, home again.

 Today I plead with you lost child, prodigal son, please come home! The Father is calling you! Today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart! Perhaps the thought of facing the Father frightens you some. I assure you, there is no need to fear! No matter what you’ve done or where you are, Jesus loves you! Our God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness! He does not treat us as our sins deserve. Instead, He is willing to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Always remember, dear one, the road home is paved with grace; so much love and grace! In the words of a child I say, you need to come home!