Homesick!

        On a recent trip with my daughter and grandson, who was not yet two years old, several times I found Ruben standing in the middle of a room piteously saying, "Home.  Home."  That little one was homesick!  I love traveling, but I too am glad to get home "to my own little corner."  But as I get older, I am starting to say, "Home.  Home." in a different way.  I am getting ready for my Heavenly home, and sometimes I too am homesick.

        John 14:2-3 says, "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." He's getting ready for us!

        In Revelation 21, beginning at verse 11, we are given a description of the physical city, the New Jerusalem.  It shines with the glory of God.  Its walls are walls of jasper and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass;  The foundations of the city walls are decorated with every kind of precious stones.  The gates are made of pearls.  (See, the pearly gates of song and poetry!) The great street of the city is of pure gold, like transparent glass.  I think this description is all we can absorb, that the reality will be beyond what our imaginations can fathom.

        There's another description in chapter 21:3-4.  "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain."  I don't know what those last tears will be over, perhaps over those not in Heaven, but I know that if Jesus wipes away the tears, they won't come back and I don't believe we will even remember them.

         While we talk about God dwelling with us, in 21:23, I read, "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb."  To be forever in the light of God and to reflect His glory!

          I have been looking up and singing songs about Heaven for days now.  There are many:  O That Will Be Glory, Some Golden Daybreak, The Way of the Cross Leads Home, Heaven I'm Going There, Beulah Land, I'll Fly Away.  Every year more of my loved ones are home on the other side.  I miss my parents, my grandparents, my dear friends, but the One I long to see is Jesus--I Want to See my Savior First of All.  Fanny Crosby wrote, "I will know Him by the prints of the nails in His hands."

            

            Face to face with Christ, my Savior,

            Face to face--what will it be--

            When with rapture I behold Him--

            Jesus Christ who died for me?

              Face to face I shall behold Him,

              Far beyond the starry sky:

              Face to face in all His glory,

               I shall see Him by and by.

                So I end with, are you homesick for Heaven:  Are you longing to see Him?  No, I'm not getting up a group to leave now.  I'm here for as long as He chooses, but

                This world is not my home, I'm just passing through.

                 My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

                 The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door,

                 And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

~~Faith Himes Lamb

        

                        

Calm in the Midst of a Raging River

On a recent weekend, I had the privilege of being in Pigeon Forge. This is my annual trip to attend the National Quartet Convention and then have a few days just to myself.  This area is my happy place.  I have many fond memories of our family vacations and times that Jim and I came down to Tennessee to see our daughter at Tennessee Temple and visit our property up on Fredonia Mountain, always with a stop in Pigeon Forge.

One of my favorite adventures has always been to drive to Cades Cove and observe the beauty of God’s Creation as well as look for or hike to waterfalls.  My hope was to also see a bear in its natural habitat.  My weekend was almost totally successful although I would have needed a high-powered lens to see the bear and its cub.  But that’s a story for another time.

As I was driving to Cades Cove, listening to a CD of Stan Whitmire on the piano, watching the water flow in the river and observing the start of the changing of leaves, my mind went back to Psalm 23. This Psalm became very real to me during the months of caring for my late husband, Jim. I had memorized it as a child and repeated it many times to my students, but certain portions became very real as I sat by Jim’s hospital bed watching him struggle.

“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures” – God provides a time for rest.  As I made the drive, I would stop from time to time to just get out of the car and take some pictures of the water, leaves, and beautiful landscapes.  A time for rest from the drive, a time for rest to reflect on God’s Creation, a time to rest and be thankful for a God who giveth more grace. 

“He leadeth me beside the still waters” – As I was watching the water flow in the Little Pigeon River, I noticed that there were sections of very calm water surrounded by sections of very heavily rushing water over the rocks and boulders in the river.  At one point where the road to Cades Cove and road to Townsend intersect, the river current changes direction. It’s almost like the river’s world is crashing, yet there is a pool of calm water as the currents meet.  This reminded me that in our lives, we go through struggles.  It feels as though our world is crashing and then there is a calm that God provides to help us be refreshed and prepared for the next struggle.

“He restoreth my soul” – This whole weekend was a time of restoration for me.  I enjoyed the fellowship of friends from college, meeting friends from my son’s church in Michigan, and the fellowship of friends from church. Most of all, I received restoration as I was challenged by the messages in the songs so many of the groups sang:  songs that brought tears to my eyes, songs that made me want to jump for joy, songs that made me just want to fall on my knees and thank God for His goodness, mercy, and love.

“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.  For thou art with me.” – One of the places where I like to pull off and just watch the rushing water is by a bridge over the Sinks waterfall.  There are warning signs for people to stay off the rocks due to many drownings. Some people ignore those signs. I have been at this stop when the water flow has been light, but I have also been there after a lot of rain and seen the raging water falling over the huge boulders. The force of the water is truly something to fear, yet just a little distance down the river is an area of calm, still water. If you look up from the water toward the mountain, you will see another beautiful waterfall. A beautiful picture of how God is with us amid the storms of life.

I trust this account of my journey is an encouragement to anyone who may be going through a difficult time. God’s creation teaches us so many precious lessons of His Sovereignty. Just remember that amid the raging river there is a calmness that only God can give.

Matthew 11:28 – “Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

--Bonnie King

 

 

 

Of Sounding Gongs and Clanging Cymbals

Teddy Roosevelt said this: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Christian ministry (all Christians have one) is tricky business. To be effective and productive, not only does one have to physically carry out the work of serving others but also to sincerely care about those being served. Jesus instructs us to go the extra mile, to do more than is required. If you are being paid to minister, you balance work and private life too. Tricky, I say.

Paul says if we do “all these things”, and he lists several, we are noisy gongs and clanging cymbals (I Corinthians 13). We are all noise when we serve without love, and unproductive too.

Peter also said something similar in II Peter 1:3-8 (NIV), “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness… For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Today ask yourself why you serve. Is it to be seen of men? Do you want people to admire you? Are you meeting your own needs? Or do you truly care about the good of others and what is best for them? (People can tell.) Do you do only what is required or give your best effort, going the extra mile if necessary? 

How do people you serve feel after being in your presence? Do they see themselves as a joy or a burden to you? Do they feel encouraged and refreshed after talking with you? Or inferior? Do you preserve their dignity by allowing them to teach you something? Do you listen to their ideas, thoughts, and feelings? 

It is not necessary to fix people’s problems. (What a relief, right?) Nobody likes to feel like a project.

Are you serving in love or sounding a gong? According to Paul, if you are not serving in love, you could offer your very body to be burned, and it would be for nothing. What a waste that would be! Some offer their whole lives in this way, and that is truly sad. I don’t want that to be my life, and I bet you don’t either. Spend a little time meditating on the Love Chapter in I Corinthians 13. It’s a good reminder for all of us.

joyce hague

The Good That We Do

 

My son and daughter-in-law gave me a program called StoryWorth for my birthday. I have loved it! Every week for a year I write a personal story, submit it to the site, they store it, and print all the stories in a book when I am done. (If you want info, let me know.) So here is a story that I want you to hear...

 A few of you will remember that shortly after Brant and I were married in December, 1996 (25 years this December), we filled in for missionaries who had to come home from English speaking churches. We were privileged to help with churches in Italy, Fiji, Grand Cayman, Newfoundland, Germany, and England. Most of our stays were between three and six months. That was before he became European Director, which included visiting our 125 missionaries in Europe and also carrying on the Bible ministry for BIMI.

Brant often would tell these missionaries: “The good that we do...we may never know!” But he encouraged them that “we are on your side” and to stay faithful to what God had called them to do. How true this statement proved to be for Brant!

While we were in England, a pastor in Wales contacted Brant who knew Brant and his family years before when they were planting a church in the UK. He told Brant that a man in his church, Graham Morris, had told him that when Graham was a twelve-year-old boy, an American pastor had spoken at a Good Friday service in Wales. Graham said as he left the church, Brant Holladay (the young American pastor) asked him if he were a Christian and gave him a tract. Graham went home and received Jesus as his Saviour. Brant never knew that until our trip to Wales in 1998.

By then, Graham, a very prosperous farmer there in Wales, had been married and he and his wife had teenaged children... And Pastor Peter told us that Graham was also a faithful Christian, serving as a deacon in his church.

Graham and his family invited us over to Wales for an afternoon service. He had cleaned out a big part of his barn and had tea for us and invited Brant to speak.

 

But before that, Graham told the people the outline Brant had preached that service when Graham was a twelve-year-old lad. Brant’s message so many years ago had been “Behold, the Lamb of God.” What a wonderful encouragement! Children who are saved can grow up to be godly men and women :-). Sometimes we never know the good we do. So, teacher, AWANA worker, mother, dad, grandparents...don’t overlook those little ones. They really will grow up someday and we want to influence them for the Lord as much as possible.  

Matthew 19:14: But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

 --Maylou Holladay

The B Team

 

A bit over 30 years ago, Michael Loftis, then a member of our church, and his two brothers were invited to visit some of the “closed” countries in Eastern Europe to provide music for meetings at churches. There was always a risk, for both the locals and out-of-country visitors, of drawing the notice or wrath of local government officials.  The trio sang and played instruments, which was a great “draw” for the services, and was very well received.

At some point on the trip, they were made aware that another group had initially been engaged for the task but had backed out, resulting in the Loftis brothers’ invitation to come instead. They jokingly began to call themselves “The B Team.” When their host asked the meaning of the term and understood it, he burst into enthusiastic objection. “No, no! YOU are the ones the Lord has brought to us! YOU are supposed to be here. There is no B Team!”

There is no B Team. That statement has profoundly affected me for all these years. So many times we begin a course of action or make a decision feeling certain God is the One Who has brought it about. Yet at some point we begin to think that someone else could do better or we are not capable and we should not be in this business. We don’t seem to be able to see the whole picture or understand the reasons for things. We feel like second best, or third or fourth. But if God has directed us here, we are not second best. We are the ones the Lord has appointed for this time, this place, this business. Trust Him. There is no B Team.

--Lynda Shenefield