I'm supposed to teach a lesson for early elementary chapel tomorrow. I happen to know (because my husband told me) that several of the children have trouble understanding that once they have accepted Christ, they don't have to do it again. Some of them keep coming forward to be "saved" again and again. So I thought it would be good to teach a lesson on eternal security. And it will help settle my thoughts in my mind if I share it with you! So here goes!
Are you saved? What does that mean-- being "saved"? You know, I often think that's kind of a confusing word for us. How about if we say, are you God's child? Because that's what it means. Let's act out a little story here to help you understand.
Ok, I need two volunteers. George and Sarah, come on up here. Now Sarah, are you good at acting? Can you act sad? That's good! You are supposed to be sad. Do you know why? Because you are all alone. You live under a tree. You don't have a home or a family. You don't have toys or even very nice clothes. In fact, you don't have much food to eat. Now show me how that would feel. Pretend to live under that tree with some newspapers for blankets. Good.
George, you are sad too. But guess what-- you live in a big cozy house. You have a nice bedroom with legos and starwars toys and warm blankets and a teddy bear! You have a mom and dad and good food to eat. So can you guess why you're sad? Because you saw Sarah and you feel bad for her. Now lets pretend I'm your mom. My name is Stephanie Burke. Your name is George Burke, ok? Now I want you to pretend to ask me if we can help Sarah.
Do you know what, George? Your father and I talked about it and we decided that we have this nice home and we have you. We need more children in this family so we are going to adopt one. What if we adopt Sarah and she becomes part of our family? (act happy, Goerge) (you too, Sarah).
So we get Sarah out from under her tree and take her home. Here;s your room, Sarah! (What's your favorite color?) You have pink curtains and a pink comforter and (what's your favorite toys?) You have some Fur Real Friend puppies right there, just for you! We got you a closet full of new clothes and shoes! And most of all, Sarah, we love you. You are part of our family now. So if you have any problems or worries, you just talk to Dad and me and we'll try to help, ok? We will always be here for you.
Now hang on a second here. Who here has rules in their homes? what are some of your rules? That's right. And, Sarah, we have rules in our home too. Number One: Put your toys away before you go do something else. Number Two: we always sit at the table as a family and eat dinner without the tv on or anything else. Number Three: Brush your teeth in the morning and before you go to bed. Do you think you can remember that Sarah? Great! Now you can go play with your toys! .... George, whatcha doing there? Playing legos? That's awesome! What are you building? Cool! Ok, guys, dinner time! (Sarah, I want you to pretend to leave your toys right there and run to the dinner table, ok?)
Sarah! What was rule number one?? Class, what was rule number one? Did Sarah break the rule? Ok, so... since Sarah broke our house rule, should we just throw her out? Ofcoarse not! She has our name-- Sarah Burke--- and she will always be Sarah Burke. Right?? Well, Sarah, since you're new to the rules, I'm just going to remind you this time and let you go pick up those toys right now.
Now lets pretend its the next day. (Sarah, I want you to forget to pick up your toys again, ok?) George! Sarah! Dinner time! (Sarah comes running to the dinner table again). Sarah! Did you pick up your toys? But I warned you yesterday! You broke our house rule AGAIN! Class, do you think we will throw Sarah out now? No way! She's Sarah Burke! She's in our family for good! But what do you think will happen? Yep, she's going to be punished. (Now George, I want you to get real upset and plead with me not to punish her). Ok, since George has pleaded for you, I'm just going to take your toys away for one day instead of two. But I want you to try to remember the house rules, Sarah. If you break our rules you will be punished. That's to help you learn to do the right thing. It's because we love you and want you to becomes the best person you can be! But I also want you to know that once you're in a family, you are part of that family forever.
Boys and Girls, I want you to remember this address in the Bible: Romans chapter 8. Now find that address for me because we are going to read some of it.
Verse one says "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit". Wow, some big words there! First, lets learn what CONDEMNATION means. Can you say it with me? CON DEM NA TION Good job!
Ok, do you remember at the beginning of our story--- where was Sarah? That's right-- out under a tree. No home, no family, no food. Could Sarah help herself? Nope she sure couldn't. She was condemned to live out there and there was nothing she could do about it. But after she became part of the Burke family, there was no more condemnation, was there?
That's the same with us! Once we become part of God's family, we are not condemned any more either. We are still sinners--- just like Sarah was-- but we are part of God's family and He's going to teach us and take care of us! Once you've accepted Christ, there is therefore no condmenation! You are in God's family forever and nothing you do will change that.
Next lets look at verse 15: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have recieved the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Sometimes we all get afraid, don't we? Sometimes we might even be afraid we're not good enough to be God's child. But the Bible tells us not to fear! God hasn't given us a spirit of fear. He has adopted us into His family. And the Bible says God is a loving Father, and we can trust Him! Abba is the way they used to say Daddy. God is our Heavenly Daddy.
Now look at verse 26: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered"
Remember when Sarah got in trouble the second time? What did George do? He pleaded with his mom for Sarah, didn't he? Well, the Bible tells us that God's Holy Spirit does that for us! We don't always know what to pray for, and sometimes we don't even pray! But God's Spirit intercedes for us! He talks to God on our behalf-- that's what intercession means. In fact, the Bible says He groans for us! That's like saying, "Please, Lord, please help Sarah!!" So isn't that awesome that we have someone who talks to God the Father for us?
Last verses I want to share with you are 35, 38 and 39. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?... For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus".
Boys and Girls, what can separate us from the love of God? Tell me again, what can separate us from the love of God?? That's right --- NOTHING!
So if you are here and you have told God that you know you're a sinner and that you believe His Son Jesus took the punishment for your sins ,and you want to be His child--- YOU ARE! And you always will be! Just remember that's what Romans 8 tells us. NOTHING can separate you from God's love!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thursday, October 13, 2011
A Milford Mystery
Emma Thompson sat in front of her Acer netbook, fingers poised over the tiny keyboard. The first thing she needed to work on was a better pen name. She was pretty sure stealing her favorite movie star’s identity was somehow tied in with plagiarism.
Her finger drummed the letter d. D’s spread across the screen in front of her. If she couldn’t even come up with a name, how was she going to start this story? She huffed a sigh of frustration, scrunched up her brow and pushed the glasses back up her short, rounded nose.
Writing this short story was like a test. She felt locked into her life, as if all her choices had been used up. She got to choose her college. Then she got to choose her major. Both decisions had proven to be not so good. A tiny southern Bible college where she majored in music performance. Not music education-- that might actually have been useful. She chose to marry a nice preacher and have three children. She chose to stay home with them, mainly because she couldn’t get an amazing career with her degree. (But also because she realized their childhoods were all too short and she did not want to miss a minute of it). Being a stay-at-home mom had proven far more rewarding than she planned. But still. If she could write this story, a world of possibilities could open for her.
"Write what you know!" is the advice all the writing books gave. Shannon felt this was good advice. But, while she had grown up in Southeast Asia and had travelled extensively, nothing truly exciting had ever happened to her. No dead bodies had ever turned up in any basements. No treasures in the attics, no hijackings on the airplanes. For pete’s sake, you’d think something would have happened if you’d gone around the world ten times! In the midst of this thought, the doorbell rang.
Shannon’s eyes widened as her heart rate increased. It was ten o’clock at night, the kids were in bed and her husband was gone on an all-night teen activity.
"Lord, I take it back", she prayed. "I really don’t need excitement in my life".
She stood up from the dining table and tip-toed into the darkened living room. Her heart was thudding hard enough to bust through her chest. Through the upper windows of the front door, she could see the shadow of a head. It’s shadow weaved and apparently ducked. She heard a "thwuuut" sound and saw something slide beneath the door. A bomb! No wait. Bombs can’t fit into envelopes, can they?
This was a red envelope; Shannon could tell that even in the dark. Should she pick it up? She should leave it and call the police? While she was hesitating, she heard footsteps going down the porch and crunching on the pebble walkway. She peeked out through the mini-blinds on the front window and saw a car pull away from the curb.
Shannon flipped on the living room light, then the hall light and the kitchen light. She moved slowly toward the envelope. It looked oriental, with gold designs in the corner. She picked it up gingerly. Why, it was just an advertisement! There were pictures of Chinese dishes splashed across the back. And something, it looked like hand-written Sharpie ink, on the seal. She looked closer; it was a Chinese character. In fact, the only one she knew. Da koh-- big mouth. But why was it hand-written? And why hand-deliver junk mail late at night? This was too weird.
Shannon turned the envelope over and looked carefully. She was nervous about opening it. Finally, she ripped the edge. Inside were coupons. Coupons! For heaven’s sake! Thirty percent off the buffet every week night. That was quite a bargain. With a single-income family and three kids, Shannon was always looking for a bargain. She loved coupons. Maybe she should ask Mark if they could go on Thursday night...
Wait! There was a mystery here, staring her right in the face and she’s excited about not having to cook. Yeah, something was really wrong with her.
It’s funny that someone wrote big mouth on it. Now why would they do that? Because you have to have a big mouth to eat a lot at a buffet? It brought her back to her childhood in Singapore. Her best friend Jia En taught her the word so that Shannon could harass her little brother. It became a standing joke with them. Jia En thought it was funny that this was the only Chinese word Shannon was interested in learning. Shannon thought it was funny to be able to verbally abuse her brother in other languages. Soon, it became their secret password.
On the tail of that thought, another idea entered her mind. Could this have something to do with Jia En? Was it a message? But that was ridiculous. Jia En lived with her aunt and uncle who worked in a hawker stall. They were strapped financially and, although it had been Jia En’s dream to get an American college education, it just wasn’t possible. Her future as a hawker was pretty much mapped out for her. There was no way she could be here in Milford.
Unless...
Shannon rushed back to her netbook. She pulled out a chair and connected to the internet. She pulled up her email account and back-tracked to an email that her mom had sent several months ago. Mom wrote about how a Chinese restaurant brought workers into America as sort-of indentured servants. They paid for airfare, room and board in return for five to ten years of service in the restaurant. Her mother said the room and board included day-old leftovers from the buffet and sardine-style bunk beds. The restraunt owners pretty much owned the Chinese employees until the debt was paid off. Seemed like something from a hundred years ago. It was hard to believe such things still took place right here in America. Could it be that Jia En had been so desperate to get to America that she joined a company like that? Surely not.
Shannon shut down the computer and padded down the hallway. She peeked into her daughter’s room and then the room both her boys shared. She was glad the doorbell hadn’t bothered them. Then she went to her own bedroom. No way would she be able to sleep tonight. The whole red envelope thing had her freaked out. So she picked up her pillow and headed to the couch. After pulling the chenille throw over herself, she turned on the tv. A little House Hunters should help her relax. The last thought in her mind as she drifted off was what if Jia En really were here in town?
******************************************************************************************************
"What’s up, Shannon?" Mark raised one black eyebrow. "You HATE American Chinese food. And it’s Saturday. Those coupons are only good for a weeknight".
"I don’t necessarily HATE it, Mark," Shannon tried to sound convincing. "You know how sometimes I just really get a craving for Asian dishes".
Mark did not look convinced. " ‘Chinese food is as different from Singapore food as dish water to a Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate’, unquote".
"Oh, so you DO listen." She pretended surprise. " Ok, so I don’t like it. But I know you love it, and I love you! So I want you to have it".
"So why not just wait until Monday night and use the coupon?" Mark grinned, knowing he had her cornered. Her love of coupons was legendary.
Shannon huffed and dropped to the couch. "Fine, I’ll tell you" she replied. "But you’re
going to think I’m crazy, you’re going to say I’m over-reacting, building things up in my head..."
"So what else is new?" Mark smirked, dropping down beside her.
Shannon related the details of the late-night advertising campaign. She was surprised at his thoughtful look. The fact that he didn’t immediately reprove her made her a bit nervous. She had kind of hoped she was reading more into the situation than was there.
"From what you’ve told me about Jia En, and the fact that this was shoved under our door so late, does seem a little fishy. " he ruminated. " I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go down there and just see what this is all about".
The family loaded into the car that evening and parked in front of Super Giant Golden Panda Buffet. Shannon couldn’t help but wonder who would want to eat golden panda and hoped there wasn’t any other endangered species served on the buffet.
She began surveying the dining room as the hostess walked them to their booth. A waitress with a waist length pony tail came for their drink orders. She wasn’t Jia En. Shannon turned and began scanning the other servers. All of them were young Asian women. She didn’t know if she would even recognize Jia En; it had been ten years since she’d seen her.
Suddenly, she noticed a server refilling the buffet. The server seemed to be covertly perusing the room. There was something familiar about her. If only Shannon could get a glimpse of her face.
"I’ll go get the boys food", she told Mark, rising from her seat. She booked it over to the buffet.
"Does this dish contain seafood?" she asked the server. "My son’s highly allergic to seafood".
The lady turned. Years had filled out her face and figure, but the blunt nose and beautiful almond-shaped eyes were the same.
"Jia En! In Milford, of all places!" Shannon exclaimed, reaching out to hug her.
"No, no, no." shushed Jia En, batting away her arms. "Not here! Meet me later!" she looked over her shoulder.
"Where?" Shannon asked.
"You wait. I let you know." Jia En grabbed her empty aluminium pan and rushed toward the kitchen doors.
Shannon put chicken nuggets, fries and fresh fruit on the boys’ plates and headed back to the table. Mark met her eyes expectantly.
"Jia En?" he enquired.
"Yes! I can’t believe it!" Shannon gushed. She was right smack dab in the middle of a mystery.
"But she wouldn’t talk to me!" Shannon leaned toward Mark, whispering excitedly. "She didn’t want anyone to see that we know each other! Something’s going on here, Mark. Something big!"
Shannon waited all through the meal for something big to happen. She waited while Mark finished his fourth fully-loaded plate of food. Her eyes swung to the kitchen doors every time they swung open. Jia En never appeared again. She scanned the restaurant while taking her daughter Ellie to the bathroom to clean the soft-serve ice cream off her jeans. She waited at the booth with the kids while Mark went up to pay. Now it was time to leave and Shannon wasn’t sure what to do.
"We can’t wait here forever, hon", Mark reasoned. "She knows where you live; I’m sure she’ll get back in touch if she needs to".
Shannon sighed and rose. She took Peter and Paul’s hands in each of hers while Mark held Ellie’s. They left the restaurant and headed across the parking lot. Shannon heard footsteps sprinting behind her. She turned to see a very tall middle-aged man with a receding hairline loping toward her, determination on his face. He skidded to a stop to avoid crashing into Shannon, and consequently almost tripped over his size 14s. As he tilted halfway over, the pens spilled from his shirt pocket. He leaned down to retrieve them, causing his glasses to slide down his nose.
"Can I help you"? Shannon enquired. She saw Mark coming back toward her from the corner of her eye.
"Yes". The man panted, bending over with hands on his knees while he caught his breath. "Jia En".
"Jia En sent you?? Is she ok? What is going on?" Shannon almost shook the poor man.
He held his hands up. "Not here. It’s not safe. Where can I meet you?"
"Well, we’re going home right now. You might as well come-- you already know where we live, right?" Shannon asked, putting two and two together.
"Yes, I’ll follow you over." The man turned without waiting for reply.
Her finger drummed the letter d. D’s spread across the screen in front of her. If she couldn’t even come up with a name, how was she going to start this story? She huffed a sigh of frustration, scrunched up her brow and pushed the glasses back up her short, rounded nose.
Writing this short story was like a test. She felt locked into her life, as if all her choices had been used up. She got to choose her college. Then she got to choose her major. Both decisions had proven to be not so good. A tiny southern Bible college where she majored in music performance. Not music education-- that might actually have been useful. She chose to marry a nice preacher and have three children. She chose to stay home with them, mainly because she couldn’t get an amazing career with her degree. (But also because she realized their childhoods were all too short and she did not want to miss a minute of it). Being a stay-at-home mom had proven far more rewarding than she planned. But still. If she could write this story, a world of possibilities could open for her.
"Write what you know!" is the advice all the writing books gave. Shannon felt this was good advice. But, while she had grown up in Southeast Asia and had travelled extensively, nothing truly exciting had ever happened to her. No dead bodies had ever turned up in any basements. No treasures in the attics, no hijackings on the airplanes. For pete’s sake, you’d think something would have happened if you’d gone around the world ten times! In the midst of this thought, the doorbell rang.
Shannon’s eyes widened as her heart rate increased. It was ten o’clock at night, the kids were in bed and her husband was gone on an all-night teen activity.
"Lord, I take it back", she prayed. "I really don’t need excitement in my life".
She stood up from the dining table and tip-toed into the darkened living room. Her heart was thudding hard enough to bust through her chest. Through the upper windows of the front door, she could see the shadow of a head. It’s shadow weaved and apparently ducked. She heard a "thwuuut" sound and saw something slide beneath the door. A bomb! No wait. Bombs can’t fit into envelopes, can they?
This was a red envelope; Shannon could tell that even in the dark. Should she pick it up? She should leave it and call the police? While she was hesitating, she heard footsteps going down the porch and crunching on the pebble walkway. She peeked out through the mini-blinds on the front window and saw a car pull away from the curb.
Shannon flipped on the living room light, then the hall light and the kitchen light. She moved slowly toward the envelope. It looked oriental, with gold designs in the corner. She picked it up gingerly. Why, it was just an advertisement! There were pictures of Chinese dishes splashed across the back. And something, it looked like hand-written Sharpie ink, on the seal. She looked closer; it was a Chinese character. In fact, the only one she knew. Da koh-- big mouth. But why was it hand-written? And why hand-deliver junk mail late at night? This was too weird.
Shannon turned the envelope over and looked carefully. She was nervous about opening it. Finally, she ripped the edge. Inside were coupons. Coupons! For heaven’s sake! Thirty percent off the buffet every week night. That was quite a bargain. With a single-income family and three kids, Shannon was always looking for a bargain. She loved coupons. Maybe she should ask Mark if they could go on Thursday night...
Wait! There was a mystery here, staring her right in the face and she’s excited about not having to cook. Yeah, something was really wrong with her.
It’s funny that someone wrote big mouth on it. Now why would they do that? Because you have to have a big mouth to eat a lot at a buffet? It brought her back to her childhood in Singapore. Her best friend Jia En taught her the word so that Shannon could harass her little brother. It became a standing joke with them. Jia En thought it was funny that this was the only Chinese word Shannon was interested in learning. Shannon thought it was funny to be able to verbally abuse her brother in other languages. Soon, it became their secret password.
On the tail of that thought, another idea entered her mind. Could this have something to do with Jia En? Was it a message? But that was ridiculous. Jia En lived with her aunt and uncle who worked in a hawker stall. They were strapped financially and, although it had been Jia En’s dream to get an American college education, it just wasn’t possible. Her future as a hawker was pretty much mapped out for her. There was no way she could be here in Milford.
Unless...
Shannon rushed back to her netbook. She pulled out a chair and connected to the internet. She pulled up her email account and back-tracked to an email that her mom had sent several months ago. Mom wrote about how a Chinese restaurant brought workers into America as sort-of indentured servants. They paid for airfare, room and board in return for five to ten years of service in the restaurant. Her mother said the room and board included day-old leftovers from the buffet and sardine-style bunk beds. The restraunt owners pretty much owned the Chinese employees until the debt was paid off. Seemed like something from a hundred years ago. It was hard to believe such things still took place right here in America. Could it be that Jia En had been so desperate to get to America that she joined a company like that? Surely not.
Shannon shut down the computer and padded down the hallway. She peeked into her daughter’s room and then the room both her boys shared. She was glad the doorbell hadn’t bothered them. Then she went to her own bedroom. No way would she be able to sleep tonight. The whole red envelope thing had her freaked out. So she picked up her pillow and headed to the couch. After pulling the chenille throw over herself, she turned on the tv. A little House Hunters should help her relax. The last thought in her mind as she drifted off was what if Jia En really were here in town?
******************************************************************************************************
"What’s up, Shannon?" Mark raised one black eyebrow. "You HATE American Chinese food. And it’s Saturday. Those coupons are only good for a weeknight".
"I don’t necessarily HATE it, Mark," Shannon tried to sound convincing. "You know how sometimes I just really get a craving for Asian dishes".
Mark did not look convinced. " ‘Chinese food is as different from Singapore food as dish water to a Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate’, unquote".
"Oh, so you DO listen." She pretended surprise. " Ok, so I don’t like it. But I know you love it, and I love you! So I want you to have it".
"So why not just wait until Monday night and use the coupon?" Mark grinned, knowing he had her cornered. Her love of coupons was legendary.
Shannon huffed and dropped to the couch. "Fine, I’ll tell you" she replied. "But you’re
going to think I’m crazy, you’re going to say I’m over-reacting, building things up in my head..."
"So what else is new?" Mark smirked, dropping down beside her.
Shannon related the details of the late-night advertising campaign. She was surprised at his thoughtful look. The fact that he didn’t immediately reprove her made her a bit nervous. She had kind of hoped she was reading more into the situation than was there.
"From what you’ve told me about Jia En, and the fact that this was shoved under our door so late, does seem a little fishy. " he ruminated. " I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go down there and just see what this is all about".
The family loaded into the car that evening and parked in front of Super Giant Golden Panda Buffet. Shannon couldn’t help but wonder who would want to eat golden panda and hoped there wasn’t any other endangered species served on the buffet.
She began surveying the dining room as the hostess walked them to their booth. A waitress with a waist length pony tail came for their drink orders. She wasn’t Jia En. Shannon turned and began scanning the other servers. All of them were young Asian women. She didn’t know if she would even recognize Jia En; it had been ten years since she’d seen her.
Suddenly, she noticed a server refilling the buffet. The server seemed to be covertly perusing the room. There was something familiar about her. If only Shannon could get a glimpse of her face.
"I’ll go get the boys food", she told Mark, rising from her seat. She booked it over to the buffet.
"Does this dish contain seafood?" she asked the server. "My son’s highly allergic to seafood".
The lady turned. Years had filled out her face and figure, but the blunt nose and beautiful almond-shaped eyes were the same.
"Jia En! In Milford, of all places!" Shannon exclaimed, reaching out to hug her.
"No, no, no." shushed Jia En, batting away her arms. "Not here! Meet me later!" she looked over her shoulder.
"Where?" Shannon asked.
"You wait. I let you know." Jia En grabbed her empty aluminium pan and rushed toward the kitchen doors.
Shannon put chicken nuggets, fries and fresh fruit on the boys’ plates and headed back to the table. Mark met her eyes expectantly.
"Jia En?" he enquired.
"Yes! I can’t believe it!" Shannon gushed. She was right smack dab in the middle of a mystery.
"But she wouldn’t talk to me!" Shannon leaned toward Mark, whispering excitedly. "She didn’t want anyone to see that we know each other! Something’s going on here, Mark. Something big!"
Shannon waited all through the meal for something big to happen. She waited while Mark finished his fourth fully-loaded plate of food. Her eyes swung to the kitchen doors every time they swung open. Jia En never appeared again. She scanned the restaurant while taking her daughter Ellie to the bathroom to clean the soft-serve ice cream off her jeans. She waited at the booth with the kids while Mark went up to pay. Now it was time to leave and Shannon wasn’t sure what to do.
"We can’t wait here forever, hon", Mark reasoned. "She knows where you live; I’m sure she’ll get back in touch if she needs to".
Shannon sighed and rose. She took Peter and Paul’s hands in each of hers while Mark held Ellie’s. They left the restaurant and headed across the parking lot. Shannon heard footsteps sprinting behind her. She turned to see a very tall middle-aged man with a receding hairline loping toward her, determination on his face. He skidded to a stop to avoid crashing into Shannon, and consequently almost tripped over his size 14s. As he tilted halfway over, the pens spilled from his shirt pocket. He leaned down to retrieve them, causing his glasses to slide down his nose.
"Can I help you"? Shannon enquired. She saw Mark coming back toward her from the corner of her eye.
"Yes". The man panted, bending over with hands on his knees while he caught his breath. "Jia En".
"Jia En sent you?? Is she ok? What is going on?" Shannon almost shook the poor man.
He held his hands up. "Not here. It’s not safe. Where can I meet you?"
"Well, we’re going home right now. You might as well come-- you already know where we live, right?" Shannon asked, putting two and two together.
"Yes, I’ll follow you over." The man turned without waiting for reply.
Simply Trusting (from 2010)
There we were:
My dad standing at the front, mom playing the keyboard, my two brothers, sister, and I droning,
"Trusting Jesus, that is all"
The song had lost its thrill after hearing my mom practice it 25 times a day. And half those times, she called "Leather Lungs" James to come sing and keep the beat. So forgive us if dad had to stop and say, "I want to hear you SING. This is Church!".
One of us (probably me) was brave enough to complain, "But its just our family. We might as well stay home and have family devotions".
Taking a moment to collect his patience, my dad decided to honor this remark with a reply.
"Listen. This IS church. This is Victory Baptist Church. We have services on Wednesday night. Even if it's only our family, we'll be here. So I want you to sit UP, Listen, and SING."
So, once again, mom played the intro and following James' rousing lead, we belted out, "Simply trusting every day-- trusting in a stormy way-- even though my faith is small-- trusting Jesus, that is all!"
Victory Baptist Church met at a YMCA daycare facility. Now this is not your average American daycare. The concrete block building was L-shaped and built around an outdoor basketball court. It was a tropical-typical building. There was about a foot of space between the walls and tin roof. This was to allow air to circulate in the equatorial heat and also to allow flying cockroaches to terrify 12-year old girls during church service. Passersby must have wondered about our denomination...
On Sunday afternoons, my family and some volunteers from another church across the island would go to the town center. We would grab a quick lunch and then stand outside the shopping center, wander from table to table at the hawker center, or stand at the bus interchange handing out flyers and inviting people to church. Since Jody and I usually ate lunch at McDonald's, that's where we handed out flyers. We got a lot of stares and several hostile words. But Dad just said smile, and keep on going. So we did. And people came to church.
I loved Sundays because I got to help in Children's Church. By help I mean sit in the back and laugh until my sides ached at the antics of James and his best friend Cedric. James had the incredible ability to get people to sing. The kids loved him. He led them in chorus after chorus. Then there was a Bible lesson. But my favorite part was the puppet show. Looking back I realize those were some pretty corny jokes. But in my eyes, James and Cedric were the next Abbot and Costello.
I remember one Wednesday night it was once again just our family at church. James got up to lead the singing. But before he could start, in walked my buddy Keith. Rain began to tap on the tin roof. I watched it sliding down the banana leaves outside the door. My heart was filled with contentment, and I could sense that same feeling in my family around me. Our faithfulness had paid off. A teenage boy had come to learn about Christ. We sang our hearts out that night. "Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus , that is all".
Now I have to tell you the truth. I didn't like everything my family did. I got hot. I got tired. I got bored. I stayed in Children's Church mainly to get out of preaching service. If I could have talked my parents into letting me stay home while they handed out tracts, I would have. But not only did my parents demand church attendance, they demanded service. And they encouraged a good attitude.
I'm so thankful they did. The Lord worked in my heart during those years. I saw faith in action. I learned lessons that have lasted a lifetime.
Two years ago, Son and I were getting ready to go on a survey trip to Singapore. I began to second-guess everything. I worried about leaving my two kids while I went half-way around the world. I worried that my love of Singapore would color Son's judgement. I went to church the Sunday before we left a nervous wreck. I sat in service and prayed that God would help me get out of this trip. Then Pastor Duncan opened the invitation and I went to the piano. The song--- "Simply Trusting". The Lord showed me what to do.
A couple weeks ago, I realized that we are in a slump. I was again second-guessing. Are we really supposed to go to Singapore? Was that just my wishful thinking? What are we doing with our lives? How will we EVER get our student loans paid? Pastor Duncan preached an encouraging message that Sunday morning. It seemed just for me. But I was brushing it off. And then he opened the invitation, and I went to the piano. The song -- "Trusting Jesus". As I sat there, I was transported back in time. I heard the rain tapping on the tin roof. I felt the contentment of my family surrounding me. And I heard the words, "Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all".
My dad standing at the front, mom playing the keyboard, my two brothers, sister, and I droning,
"Trusting Jesus, that is all"
The song had lost its thrill after hearing my mom practice it 25 times a day. And half those times, she called "Leather Lungs" James to come sing and keep the beat. So forgive us if dad had to stop and say, "I want to hear you SING. This is Church!".
One of us (probably me) was brave enough to complain, "But its just our family. We might as well stay home and have family devotions".
Taking a moment to collect his patience, my dad decided to honor this remark with a reply.
"Listen. This IS church. This is Victory Baptist Church. We have services on Wednesday night. Even if it's only our family, we'll be here. So I want you to sit UP, Listen, and SING."
So, once again, mom played the intro and following James' rousing lead, we belted out, "Simply trusting every day-- trusting in a stormy way-- even though my faith is small-- trusting Jesus, that is all!"
Victory Baptist Church met at a YMCA daycare facility. Now this is not your average American daycare. The concrete block building was L-shaped and built around an outdoor basketball court. It was a tropical-typical building. There was about a foot of space between the walls and tin roof. This was to allow air to circulate in the equatorial heat and also to allow flying cockroaches to terrify 12-year old girls during church service. Passersby must have wondered about our denomination...
On Sunday afternoons, my family and some volunteers from another church across the island would go to the town center. We would grab a quick lunch and then stand outside the shopping center, wander from table to table at the hawker center, or stand at the bus interchange handing out flyers and inviting people to church. Since Jody and I usually ate lunch at McDonald's, that's where we handed out flyers. We got a lot of stares and several hostile words. But Dad just said smile, and keep on going. So we did. And people came to church.
I loved Sundays because I got to help in Children's Church. By help I mean sit in the back and laugh until my sides ached at the antics of James and his best friend Cedric. James had the incredible ability to get people to sing. The kids loved him. He led them in chorus after chorus. Then there was a Bible lesson. But my favorite part was the puppet show. Looking back I realize those were some pretty corny jokes. But in my eyes, James and Cedric were the next Abbot and Costello.
I remember one Wednesday night it was once again just our family at church. James got up to lead the singing. But before he could start, in walked my buddy Keith. Rain began to tap on the tin roof. I watched it sliding down the banana leaves outside the door. My heart was filled with contentment, and I could sense that same feeling in my family around me. Our faithfulness had paid off. A teenage boy had come to learn about Christ. We sang our hearts out that night. "Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus , that is all".
Now I have to tell you the truth. I didn't like everything my family did. I got hot. I got tired. I got bored. I stayed in Children's Church mainly to get out of preaching service. If I could have talked my parents into letting me stay home while they handed out tracts, I would have. But not only did my parents demand church attendance, they demanded service. And they encouraged a good attitude.
I'm so thankful they did. The Lord worked in my heart during those years. I saw faith in action. I learned lessons that have lasted a lifetime.
Two years ago, Son and I were getting ready to go on a survey trip to Singapore. I began to second-guess everything. I worried about leaving my two kids while I went half-way around the world. I worried that my love of Singapore would color Son's judgement. I went to church the Sunday before we left a nervous wreck. I sat in service and prayed that God would help me get out of this trip. Then Pastor Duncan opened the invitation and I went to the piano. The song--- "Simply Trusting". The Lord showed me what to do.
A couple weeks ago, I realized that we are in a slump. I was again second-guessing. Are we really supposed to go to Singapore? Was that just my wishful thinking? What are we doing with our lives? How will we EVER get our student loans paid? Pastor Duncan preached an encouraging message that Sunday morning. It seemed just for me. But I was brushing it off. And then he opened the invitation, and I went to the piano. The song -- "Trusting Jesus". As I sat there, I was transported back in time. I heard the rain tapping on the tin roof. I felt the contentment of my family surrounding me. And I heard the words, "Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all".
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