Chain of Obedience

I am thankful for the messages our church has been able to hear the past couple of weeks as we think about the work God HAS done and IS DOING across the globe. If you missed either of these messages on October 12 or 19, I would encourage you to go back and listen on our church Youtube page!

          Last Sunday was one of our special Joint Service Sundays where our church gathers English and Spanish families together and we have a translated message, sing in two languages and share pews with our brothers and sisters of differing heart languages.

          Pastor Darwin Blandon spoke in Spanish with a translator and shared his personal testimony. He shared about how a graduate of Tennessee Temple heard the call of the Lord, studied Spanish in Costa Rica and then traveled to Nicaragua to where Pastor Darwin was born. Long story short this man set up tents and shared the gospel. Through this, the Blandon family came to know the Lord, and from the age of 3, Pastor Darwin was a part of a Christian home.

          As things became more and more hostile and dangerous in his home country, Darwin’s parents sent him with this missionary to try and escape the wars and go to America. Through an amazing story of how God moved, Darwin was sent through.

          God led him to begin a Spanish ministry in Chattanooga with just 3 starting members. He was faithful to the Lord and remained in that ministry for decades as he continues today and has impacted hundreds and had a growing church.

          His point was in looking back at the trail of faithfulness in that Temple missionary. He was obedient to the Lord, went to the country of Nicaragua and step by step, families and individuals were impacted. Now hundreds are hearing the gospel and growing in faith in the Spanish community here in our home city.

          He also shared a train of missionaries, Sunday school teachers, coaches and individuals who started back hundreds of years ago. Some stories were not flashy or   very notable and involved reaching out to a single young man in a shoe store and spending time building a specific relationship. That train followed down person to person, generation to generation and landed in the life of Billy Graham. A man who impacted MILLIONS of people for the gospel and glory of Christ.

          Those individuals hundreds of years ago had no idea. Nor did they get to witness. But God used their faithfulness to Him step by step, year by year and look at what the Lord has done.

          I look at our own Grace Kids and wonder, “which ones will be the next fiery blaze for the Lord to their own generation?” “Who of these will step in obedience to the Lord and follow His command to spread the gospel to those around them?”

          You and I may never know. Are we okay with that? Do we trust God with that? Can we step back and let our name become smaller while God’s becomes greater? And what a call! How important is the faithfulness of our Sunday school teachers, our coaches, our teachers, our mentors, our choir leaders, our friends! What God can do with the faithfulness of His people is humbling.

          So we marvel at what God has done, the stories He has marked in a chain of events that no one knew from moment to moment until we get to look from the outside and proclaim God’s power and glory. And we hope for the future, that God will continue to use His church and His children to bring honor to His name and generations of followers to Himself.

 

--Sandy Gromacki 

No "B" Team!

Didn't you love Sunday morning's message? In addition to the wonderful testimony of our speaker, Pastor Blandon, we heard the amazing chain of events that led to the salvation of Billy Graham. And that statement about apple seeds! If you missed it, you must ask someone. 

That message, with its emphasis on each of us seeking to learn and do God's will to spread the Gospel, fits perfectly with this post from Lynda Shenefield from about four years ago. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Truly, God makes no mistakes. May we each be ready for the work he has for us to do. --SP

A bit over 30 years ago, (almost 35 now! SP) 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

. . . All the Time!

 Looking through my Bible study notebook recently, I came across a passage dated March 2011: I want to remember that God is good, and his love is true even when I face unhappiness. God is good not only when everything is lovely and warm but also when the situation is ugly and cold.

When I am sitting warm and cozy in my clean white bed, plenty of food in my stomach and surrounded by loving family, it’s easy to sense God’s care. I think of Carol Pappas, battling cancer, and of people I don’t know dealing with the aftermath of an airport bomb. God is no less good to them. Can they see it? Can I?

It’s been more than fourteen years since I wrote those words. I can’t recall the airport bombing incident, but I sure do remember Carol Pappas. I know many of you do, too. For new members to Grace, Carol was Andy’s precious, charming British wife. She had such a sweet spirit, and everyone loved her. She left us later that year, but I feel sure she is somewhere praising God today. Now we know other dear people who are facing illness. That fact of life does not go away. And there are other tragedies of life—shootings, floods, wars. So many things to cause fear and doubt. Is it still true that God is good? Does he still love us now, in 2025, with the current troubles? Of course he is. Yes, he does.

I still have Sunday morning’s song running through my head: “Great is our God; Sing with me, how great is our God!” We looked together at Psalm 96:4—“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised.” A few days ago, I read in a devotional book the wonderful promise that we are “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this [we] greatly rejoice even though now for a little while [we] have been distressed through various trials” (I Peter 1:5-6).

Indeed, God is good and trustworthy. My notebook passage from fourteen years ago ends with the following:

I’m not asking for trouble or looking for grief, but when it comes—as it surely will—I pray I will remember God’s love and mercy and keep trusting him.

This is my prayer for all of us. Let us rejoice in the good times, and also rejoice in the difficult times, for God is still good.

--Sherry Poff

Two Funerals

 

                                             Photo credit: Istock/Marek Stefunko

Last Sunday I watched most of Charlie Kirk’s funeral which was several hours long. It was an unusual event, but Charlie was an unusual man. It seemed to be part political rally, part revival service. Several contemporary Christian artists honored the Lord in music. Speaker after speaker addressed the audience, and several explained the gospel. One even invited people to stand if they wanted to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Charlie’s wife, Erika, voiced forgiveness towards her husband’s murderer. Thousands of people attended in person with thousands more attending virtually. I have never seen anything like it.

Then, the next day, on Monday, I attended the funeral of a godly woman, Linda Ludington, who used to be my supervisor at the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Homes when I was very young. Linda taught me so many things about social work! She was a joy! She was funny and smart – like genius smart. She knew just what to say to people when difficult topics had to be discussed. She spoke up when it was needed but also listened well. She had dementia when she died and had been ill for quite a while. I suppose maybe she was “out of circulation” because only about 25 people attended her funeral. I found her funeral to be a beautiful tribute as well as inspiring. Linda’s niece invited us to join her in singing several praise songs to honor Linda’s Savior as she strummed her guitar. While competing with noisy geese from a nearby duck pond, her witty nephew presented the gospel and honored Linda for the faithful, godly life she had lived.

Reflecting on and comparing these two funerals, I considered how one was extremely large while the other quite small. One person’s circle of influence was much larger than the other’s. One was very public, while the other private. But both funerals glorified God. People praised His Name. People at both funerals spoke clearly of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. Both deceased honored God with their lives.

We little people have hope. We don’t have to be famous or wealthy or powerful. The smallest among us can honor God with our lives. Everyone has a circle of influence. It might be small, but if that’s what God has called you to, shine brightly in that role. Be a light – you don’t have to be a blinding spotlight. The light of a match can still illuminate a room.

 

“This little light of mine…”

 

joyce hague

 

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/hixson-tn/linda-ludington-12521419

 

Emboldened by the Spirit

 

Chapters 3 and 4 of Acts tell a fascinating story. Peter speaks words of healing to a lame man lying at an entrance to the temple court known as Beautiful Gate. This poor man hasn’t even asked for healing; he’s simply asking for money. Yet Peter speaks healing in the name of Jesus, and the man gets up, leaping and praising God. The watching crowd is filled with amazement. Peter takes this opportunity to explain to the crowd that this man has been healed not by his power, but by the same Jesus whom they disowned and killed. He calls the crowd to repent so that “times of refreshing” will come. He speaks of Jesus’s return when the final restoration will take place.

In response to this miracle and message, Peter and John are arrested and brought before the Jewish council led by Annas, the former high priest, and Caiaphas, the current high priest. Here is where the story gets especially interesting, considering that this Jewish council consists of the same men before whom Jesus had stood in the hours before His crucifixion not many months before. Annas and Caiaphas are also mentioned by name the night of Jesus’s betrayal as Christ was led before each of them, and Caiaphas sent him on to Pilate. And we all know what Peter was doing during those early morning hours while Jesus stood trial before these men. He was adamantly denying having ever known Jesus. In fact, he was so afraid of being associated with Jesus that he lied about his connection with Christ to a lowly servant girl.

Now, fast forward once again to this story in Acts – this is the same city, the same high priest, and the same council that had condemned Jesus. Yet this is not the same Peter who had denied Christ. While he is the same man in a physical sense, he has undergone a transformation, a change. The one who had cowered before a servant girl now stands with boldness before the council who can very well seek to put him to death as they did Christ. Referring to the healing of the lame man, the council asks Peter, “By what power did you do this miracle?”  And this time, Peter does not shirk the question. He boldly speaks of Christ, the cornerstone, whom they’d rejected and even killed.  The council is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can’t deny that a miracle has occurred, but they don’t want to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. They also fear the crowd who saw the miracle take place, so they decide to just tell Peter and John to keep quiet about Jesus. And here is the apostles’ response: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Peter and John will no longer deny Christ; they are willing to die for Him. They will not be silenced.

As we look at this story, we may ask: what made the difference? For one, they had seen the resurrected Christ. They now understood more fully what they had not understood while Jesus lived among them. But there is another important part to this that affects us profoundly. Acts 4:8 tells us that as Peter stood before the council, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. As a result of the indwelling Spirit, Peter was emboldened and spoke words of truth regarding Christ.

            Sisters, we have the same Holy Spirit in us. We can experience that same boldness in sharing our faith and in speaking of Christ and His Word. In Luke 21:12-15, Jesus told his disciples not to worry ahead of time about what to say when they stood before those who would throw them in prison or persecute them. He would give them the wisdom and the words to say when that time came. Peter and John experienced the truth of this help that day before the council. Though we will most likely not stand before councils or persecutors, surely the same Holy Spirit can give us words and wisdom when we stand before neighbors and co-workers. May we too, as those filled with the Holy Spirit, be bold and look for opportunities to talk of our Savior.

--Amy O'Rear

God's Eternal Word

 

A couple of different conversations have me thinking about grief this week. Certainly there are so many upsetting events in the world, we might all be grieving to some degree. But it’s the very specific and personal griefs that can be especially hard to deal with—even to talk about.

My slow journey through Psalms brought me to Psalm 119 this summer. As I reviewed my notes recently, I saw that I had starred related ideas in a couple of passages. In verses 17-24, the psalmist feels alienated and lonely. He feels he doesn’t belong and that others hold him in contempt. His antidote for this near-despair is to seek God’s favor and to find refuge in his word. His prayer in these verses is for the LORD to reveal the word to him so that he may find guidance and comfort.

The next section of Psalm 119, verses 25-32, continue the pattern. In verse 25, the speaker says his soul “cleaves to the dust.” He is in despair as we may all be from time to time. Sometimes we can’t help feeling sad or discouraged. But then his prayer to God is for the word to make a change in his life: “Revive me according to thy word.” God answers his request through the truth and beauty of scripture.

When the speaker’s “soul weeps because of grief,” he chooses to turn to God in prayer and to look to his word for strength. In verse 30, he says, “I have chosen the faithful way.” He has acted by placing God’s law before his eyes. Then in verse 31, instead of dust, he is cleaving to God’s word, his testimonies. He is then confident that God will “enlarge [his] heart”—give him capacity to withstand his circumstances and maybe even be better for his struggle.

 The human condition is universal across time and space. Everyone has times of despair and loneliness brought on by a variety of circumstances, but God’s truth is the universal cure for our ills. Of course, there are many factors that affect our feelings or attitudes, and I am not suggesting that merely reading a Bible verse will make everything better.  But there is no problem that cannot be eased to some degree by trusting God’s word. My goal—and, I hope, yours—is to take time each day to both read and meditate on scripture. We need to not just read a quick verse and a short commentary, although that might be a place to start. We need to sit with the truth and let it change us, memorize some passages that we can ponder in quiet moments.

Earlier this summer, Psalm 103 got me through some dental work without panicking, and there have been numerous nights I have drifted off to sleep with precious phrases on replay in my head. I don’t know what grief or pain is troubling you, but I pray you find comfort and rest in God’s eternal word.

 

--Sherry Poff 

Image Bearers

 

On Friday I had the opportunity to attend The Chattanooga Autism Conference with some others from Grace. We sat through sessions learning about autism from the perspective of teachers, parents and those who have autism themselves. There were about 700 people there and many different presenters. I’m grateful to have been able to spend the day thinking about the unique and special ways God has created these people and to learn more about how to come alongside and connect with people with autism.

As I have walked this role as Elementary Director the past few years at Grace Baptist Church I have both been dragged along and have also sat back and watched God orchestrate our Image Bearers (special needs) ministry. I say this both ways because there have been some days when I have felt so far in over my head that I have pushed back against what God had in store for us. This was when He graciously just dragged me along. There was no stopping the growth and learning and family He had planned.

But I have also sat back in awe as God has kick started a desire and passion and heart for the kids that come through the church doors to belong, be loved, be welcomed, and have a safe place. I have watched countless of our church members who work with children learn alongside myself. Cheryl Winget and Donna Patrick organized a whole training a year and a half ago on children with learning support needs. Other teachers have brainstormed and planned on how to include families with kids who are so very special and just need some extra support.

We have several amazing families who are a part of our church family and have children on the autism spectrum. We have kids who come to Awana and VBS who are outside of our immediate church family and are a part of our community who are beginning to trust us to care for their kids with special needs. Do we have it all figured out? Absolutely not. But has God been so evidently leading us this whole time? Yes and Amen.

At the conference, there was so much information to take in. Tips and supports shared. One piece that really stuck with me was the importance of and desire for connection. A man who wasn’t diagnosed with autism until he was in his 40s talked about the difficulties of the lack of support he had as a child. An audience member asked him, when looking back, what help and support did he wish he had received (particularly from teachers). His answer was, “I wish they took the time to get to know me.”

Don’t we all want that? We have a desire to be known! God built into us a need for relationship. And while we may think, communicate, and see the world differently, what an impact of love we can make on someone’s life just to take the time to know them. It is so fulfilling and a gift of hope when we think about how known we are by our Creator God. We can point others to Him when we show an offering of care in someone else’s life.

Tonight at Awana, one of our Image Bearer kids was having a hard time entering his classroom. I walked outside the room with him with this reminder to find out what it was that he wanted to communicate and what was important to him. Crayons. It was crayons. He wanted black and grey ones specifically. So we got him situated so that he could color and listen to his teacher at the same time. And when I tell you the art that came out of that little boy… talk about being a creative image bearer.

As I express my joy in seeing where God has led us the past few years and offer the hope of things still to come, I leave you with this challenge: What offering of connection have you made recently? Who have you shown your desire to know? How have you listened to the desires and interests of someone’s heart? You may be amazed how God uses that encouragement in their life. You may also be amazed at how He uses it in your own.

-Sandy Gromacki

GARDENING

         This is perfect gardening weather, cool and even partly cloudy.  The ground is still somewhat damp from all the rain we have had.  That makes the weeds easier to pull up by the roots.  I have taken several loads of weeds to the back of the lot where I dump them.

        When my five year old grandson came to go on the Longest Yard Sale, his first question was did I have a job he could do to earn some money to spend on the yard sale.  I didn't hesitate--take the pile of weeds in the front around to the back and dump them.  I have another pile of weeds he could take now, if only he were here.

        While I weed, I have lots of time to think, and God has lots of time to work on me.  This last spell He started talking to me about forgiveness and my relationship with one particular person.  Oh, there's no open break.  In fact, I don't know that this person even realizes that I've held resentment and anger about some of her actions.  So it isn't possible for me to walk up to her and say, "I forgive you."  Yet in order for me to have peace with God and with myself, I must forgive.

        Our pastor has just preached through Ephesians 4 which includes verse 32, "forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."  That's one of the first verses I taught my children to say.  If I could teach my children to forgive, I need to forgive as well, even when no one else knows I need to forgive.   

        Christ has forgiven me; I must forgive.  I did business with God while I pulled the weeds.  But then I thought of another root that I wanted to pull immediately so the root could not take hold and go deep.  It's the root of bitterness mentioned in Hebrews 12:15, "Don't let a root of bitterness spring up to defile you."  Unforgiveness can be that root of bitterness.

    So as I'm pulling up my weeds by the roots, let me urge you to pull up yours.  Forgive as He forgave us.  

                                                            Faith Himes Lamb

Ask for Help

 

I am not the greatest at asking for help. There are a variety of reasons for this. I can be a bit particular about how things should be done, so it is often easier for me to just do it myself than take the time to explain how I think it should be done. I struggle with the idea of someone else doing something I care about and then it not turning out how I envisioned. I also don’t want to bother people with things I could just do myself. They have their own lives going on, and I don’t want to add on to someone else’s stress. Asking for help is a show of vulnerability, and it can be so hard to open up like that.

 

About a month ago, a coworker and I were catching up about all the things going on at work and in our personal lives. I told her that it just felt like a lot. We’ve got a new database system at work, and I’m currently writing training program for others to learn it. Dad’s surgery was coming up, and on top of that, I’m planning a wedding. (Little did I know that more was coming.) My coworker looked at me and said, “Concetta, you have a community of people who want to help you. If you want me to help with decorating for the wedding, just ask, and I will be happy to do it. You have so many people in your life who would be willing to help. You just have to ask.” Her words kept coming to mind over the next day; it was like God was nudging me to get over myself and ask for help. So the next day, I asked for help in putting together the power point for the training. And then God just kept giving me opportunities to ask for help. 

 

Prior to Dad’s surgery, we discussed whether or not we would need help with meals. With Mom unable to drive and Dad not allowed to drive for a week post-surgery, Alyssa and I would be the ones running errands and getting the things needed. We were planning on trading off staying with them to help however we could while also still working. Alyssa pushed for getting help with meals, and I was nominated to ask Pastor for help with a meal train. I cannot fully express how much help that meal train turned out to be. 

 

Five days after Dad’s surgery, Grandma went to the ER via ambulance for significant confusion and high blood pressure. I rushed out of work, picked up Mom, and drove to the hospital. They discharged her not long after we arrived, but we weren’t convinced everything was all good. We picked up some supplies from Grandma’s apartment and brought her back to Mom and Dad’s to keep an eye on her. The next day when I asked her about lunch, Grandma began slurring her words. We jumped into action, loaded her in the car, and sped back to the ER.

 

The next couple days were filled with a lot of hospital waiting, driving through torrential rain, talking with doctors and nurses, driving Dad to a post-op appointment, and just generally trying to stay sane in the midst of it all. In those moments when eating was just for survival, that meal train was a lifesaver. So was all the other help that people provided: picking up and transporting needed supplies, taking care of dogs, picking up the slack at work. I got a lot of practice asking for help that week.

 

We often talk about “bearing one another’s burdens,” and I have come to understand that it is an essential part of community. When we help each other out, we are stronger. But I think we can be pretty good at helping other people when they’re in need while not allowing ourselves to receive help. We make all kinds of excuses about why other people deserve our help but how we can do things for ourselves just fine. If we are to bear each other’s burdens though, we must also allow our burdens to be borne. We must lay aside the perfectionism, people pleasing, and prideful hearts that keep us from allowing others to show Christ’s love by offering help. Of course there needs to be a balance here. We should not swing to selfishness or stop offering our help to others. But simply opening oneself up to be helped is not selfish. It is vulnerable, perhaps more honest than we want to be about our own shortcomings.

 

We still have a lot going on in our family. Grandma’s brain is healing following three mini strokes, and she can no longer live by herself. Dad is continuing to recover from his surgery, and things at work continue to be busy as the school year starts. Of course, I am still planning for a wedding and married life beyond. And I still have the urge to just try and do it all myself. This learning to ask for help thing isn’t a simple switch in my brain, which is probably why God keeps giving me opportunities to practice. So I write this primarily as a reminder to myself—a reminder of how important community is, how only vulnerability can lead to truly knowing one another, and how beautiful it can be when the body of Christ cares for each other.

 

--Concetta Swann

 

Rabbit Trails

 

I love to follow rabbit trails. I feel free when I meander along behind curiosity. The key word here is meander. It’s natural and unforced. There is no agenda, score to keep, or checkmark to check. It often starts as a small question or musing. 

Presently, I am reading the young reader’s Viking Quest series by Lois Walfrid Johnson. These charming books have introduced me to the North Sea and the mountains of Norway. I have never had a desire to travel to Norway, but my interest is now piqued, because I followed a rabbit trail. I wanted to have a better visual of the setting for these stories, so I used YouTube to look up Norway and the North Sea. One video led to another, so I have been learning fascinating things about this beautiful part of the world. At the back of each book, the author lists resources to further explore. I’ll likely look at some of those. Those of you who homeschool may already be used to rambling down rabbit trails. Children (people) learn so much when they explore ideas that interest them without external pressure to do so. Do I have a need to know about Norway? Not really. I just found it interesting. And that’s reason enough.

 I don’t know where I learned to follow rabbit trails, but I’ve done it a long time. My husband loves learning, so he probably influenced me. The internet has made it so easy too with videos, articles, and book suggestions. You can go a long way on one trail if you desire or veer off in another interesting direction.

God has taught me so many things when I allow myself to follow rabbit trails when reading Scripture. Questions pop into my mind, and instead of strictly adhering to a reading plan, I allow myself to leisurely wander off schedule and pursue that path to see where it might lead. (I also love pictures of literal pathways. You will often see them on my Facebook page when we go hiking or biking. I’m always curious as to where a path might lead.) I love when I have plenty of time to do this and to talk to God along the way. My excitement about what I am learning spills over onto other people, and they too learn a few things.

Have you learned to wander? It’s fun! As the saying goes, “All those who wander are not lost.”

I’d love to hear about what you’re learning or any paths you have explored!

joyce hague

The Road Not Wanted

 

The road of life is full of twists and turns, isn’t it? Things seem to be going fine, and then unexpectedly the road that opens up before us is one we do not want to take. If we could just close our eyes and make it go away, we would, but life doesn’t work that way. Standing at the start of that road and looking ahead, all looks hazy and the path cannot be clearly seen. But we know enough to know that that it won’t be easy, that there will be deep valleys and hard climbs, and we aren’t even certain where exactly this particular road in life will lead. Even here, as we take our first steps on this rocky path, our eyes fill with tears for the pain and challenges we know will come. How do we step forward onto this difficult road as those who are followers of Christ?

We step forward in faith, knowing that God is the One who ordains our paths (Psalm 139:16). This road is His choice for us, His plan for our lives. Although this may be hard to understand, there is comfort in knowing that this path did not come to us by chance, but by a purpose ordained before we were ever born.

We step forward in faith, knowing that God is good and wastes nothing in our lives (Romans 8:28). He will use this hard path before us for good. He is conforming us to the image of His Son, and this trial will bear the good fruit of making us more like Christ as we fix our eyes on Him.

We step forward in faith, knowing that we are not alone for God walks with us (Psalm 139:5-12). He hems us in on all sides as our refuge, help, and comfort. Not even one step of this dark path will we tread without His strong arms undergirding us.

We step forward in faith, knowing that God will give grace for each step of the way (2 Cor. 12:9). His grace will enable us to keep putting one step in front of the other and to keep our eyes fixed on Him, even in the darkest moments.

We step forward in faith, knowing that God cares for us and we can throw all our worries and burdens on Him (1 Peter 5:7). In the long nights and when the tears and trials come, when we are overwhelmed by our lack of being able to control the situation, in humility before our God who holds all things together, we surrender control and throw our fears on the very capable shoulders of our loving Heavenly Father.

We step forward in faith, knowing that we are surrounded by those who have faced their own dark roads and who have found God to be faithful (Hebrews 11:1-12:1). We realize that we are not the only ones who face hardships, and we are encouraged by the testimony of those who have gone before us and their deep trust in God. He sustained them and held them fast, and He will do the same for us.

We step forward in faith, knowing that while we may not have light to see what is on the other side of this dark path, we do know where our final road will lead (1 Peter 1:3-9). No matter what happens in this trial, we have an inheritance in heaven that awaits us and that can never be taken away. We will one day see our Savior, where all will be light, all dark paths and tears will be no more, and we will know that all the trials we faced were worth it for the glory that is before us.

So, as we step onto this road that we never wanted, we fix our eyes on what is unseen and not on the darkness and uncertainty we see ahead in our physical sight. And when the tears and trials come on this path, we’ll throw ourselves onto the One who is light in the darkness and who walks beside us. He is for us, and we trust Him.

-- Amy O’Rear

 

Contentment and the Creative Urge

 

By virtue of being made in the image of God, humans are naturally creative. We love to make things and try out new ideas and display our skill. You’ve noticed it, haven’t you? Beautiful patterned fabric when plain colors would be faster and work as well. Walls painted with vibrant murals instead of perfectly functional whitewash. Music and rhythm that makes us have to get up and move. What’s the practicality in that?

We may not all have the same idea of beauty, but we do seek to surround ourselves with what we love. I grew up in the hills of West Virginia, and though we didn’t have much money, we always had enough to visit the garden center for begonias and coleuses to plant in pots for the front steps. My mother spent hours and hours cultivating dahlias that she traded with friends and neighbors all up and down the dirt road. I have driven by sad little houses perched on the hillside and noted red geraniums and yellow marigolds rising out of coffee cans and old cooking pots.  These people are saying to anyone who cares to notice, This is my place, and these are the things I value.

I have written elsewhere about a time in my life when I failed to cultivate the beauty that I love, when I let clutter accumulate, took no interest in decorating, and neglected to hang pictures on the walls. Looking back, I realize that I was just getting through each day waiting for my circumstances to change. I was discontented, looking to a day when I could move someplace else and create the home I wanted.

I was in a meeting with a group of women when the speaker said something like this: “If you are not happy with your house or your income, or some other aspect of your life, you are saying to God, ‘You’re not taking good care of me. You’re a bad provider.’” That statement made an impact that I obviously remember to this day, and it made an immediate difference in my attitude. When I accepted that I was in the place God intended for me at that time, I started to take interest in my surroundings and worked on beautifying my home, making it mine for whatever time I might be there.

Peter reminds us that believers in Jesus are “strangers and pilgrims” on earth (I Peter 2:11), and Paul reminds the church in Philippi that “our citizenship is in heaven” (3:20). But in the meantime, we live here. As children of God, we can display our gratitude for God’s goodness by living lives of contentment—certainly not complacency with situations that need to change—but a settled and satisfied feeling that our God who loves us is taking good care of us.

Then, out of a heart of joy and appreciation, we can open up the creative urge within, put there by God, to build, paint, plant, write, rearrange our environment and reflect God’s image in our surroundings.

 --Sherry Poff

The Root of Restlessness

 

I’m going to say it: school is starting in just a few weeks. I know, no one wants to talk about it. We are all in denial. Summer flew by. But it’s coming soon and truth be told, it’s causing me a little bit of dread.

There certainly are nice things about having consistent schedules and expectations. And school is important and good and all those positive things. Fall sports kick off and there are fun memories that are made through those. But what I’m feeling negative about is all the chaos and busyness and whirlwind schedules that can overwhelm a heart.

I’ve been reading Sanctuary: Cultivating a Quiet Heart in a Noisy and Demanding World by Denise J. Hughes. It’s really a fitting read to bring into the calendars and must-do’s of the fall season. The emphasis is about finding our sanctuary, our holy refuge, our quiet place in the Lord, even while being surrounded by the loudness and intensity of the modern world in which we live.

When I am pulled in every direction: kids, husband, friends, extended family, church, school, house, etc. etc. etc., and I try to do it all myself, my heart becomes restless. Can you see it now? The exhaustion that comes with trying to keep up with everything and everyone? THAT is what I dread. That is what I want to step away from and find the quiet place for my heart. 

So as I look into these two weeks ahead of me, when I know the ease and gentle flow of the summer will come to an end, how do I find that peace in the chaos? I look to the One. In my reading, Hughes has talked about how when my heart and focus are pulled in every direction that is where the worries come. I become distracted, prone to wander, and divided. I can’t keep up with all the things.

Sadly, my frequent choice has been to daydream all the possible results of the chaos of my life. If I think about it, I can be prepared for it, right? I can worry away all of the possible terrible-ness of every item on my calendar, of all the conflict. Wrong. Wandering this path keeps my heart divided and “a divided heart is at the root of all restlessness.”

The root of my peace and hope and security is Jesus. Just Jesus. So rather than letting my mind and heart play through every possible scenario and try to keep track of it all myself, I can bring every single thing to the Lord. This dread I feel? I hand it to Him. The scheduling conflicts and overload? I talk with Him about it. The decisions needed to be made for the kids? I ask Him for guidance. Then I find rest. 

I love this summary in Sanctuary, “How can we stitch together the fragmented cares and worries of our hearts? We can begin by laying each care at God’s feet. Today, enter the sanctuary of God’s presence and list the ways in which you feel stretched right now. Invite God into each of those circumstances. Ask for wisdom. Then ask God to give you a one-thing heart - a heart that truly wants only one thing: Christ. Since the old sanctuary in the Bible pointed to Christ, we find sanctuary when we find rest in Christ’s presence.”

--Sandy Gromacki

I Am Not Responsible!

I love being a mother!  I always wanted a big family. My first baby was not born until I was thirty-two so I was in a hurry!  Six years later my fifth child was born.  For the next twenty-five years my job was being a mother, homeschooling, as well as keeping house and running a family.  Life was hectic and even frantic at some times.  But I loved being a mother.

They are all grown and gone now.  As a parent of five adult children, four of them married, I have found that parenting adult children is far harder than parenting young children.  The first reason is that in general they may not want your advice.  They want to make their own decisions about values and beliefs, standards, and behavior.  They want their chance to make those decisions, especially when they disagree with what you would choose.  Occasionally they may want your input and they may make the same decisions you would make.  Perhaps more often they will choose differently.  Sometimes it is not a matter of right or wrong.  It merely is different from what we wish they had chosen.  They will make some good decisions and some bad decisions, just as we did.  

My problem is that somehow I feel responsible for their bad decisions.  (I would like to take credit for their good decisions, but somehow that doesn't work either!)  As an introspective individual I immediately start analyzing my parenting style, how I disciplined, how I encouraged my children, what I taught them and how I taught them, where I wish I had handled things differently.  (I do sometimes think I did something well.)

When I was busy taking responsibility for something that I was not really responsible for some years ago, I found something Ruth Bell Graham wrote.  She also had five children and did not always feel good about her parenting skills.  I would like to share her words since parents of adult children are not the only ones who need them.  It is entitled "My Part (the possible); God's Part (the impossible)".

My Part (the possible)

            love expressed

            to pray intelligently, logically, urgently, without ceasing in prayer

            enjoy being a mother

            provide a warm, happy home

God's Part (the impossible)

            conviction of sin

            creating a hunger and thirst for righteousness

            conversion

            bringing to a place of total commitment

            showing ourselves as we really are (without ever discouraging)

            continually filling us with His Holy Spirit for our sanctification and His service

For severaI years I have kept a card with these lines in a little holder on the windowsill above my kitchen sink.  I read them over and over again.  More recently I have turned these thoughts into a mantra, summarizing them into just one phrase, "I am not responsible for . . . ."  Sometimes I add what I know I am not responsible for, sometimes I don't need to do that.  I repeat these words over and over again.

I am so grateful that I can trust God's parenting.  I am so glad that He is responsible for the important things in my children's lives.

I AM NOT REPONSIBLE!  HALLELUJAH!

                                                            Faith Himes Lamb

Just Talk to God

 

This summer in Preschool summer choir, we are learning about prayer. Growing up, the kind of prayer I was primarily exposed to was either before meals or at church in the form of long prayers with big words. As a perfectionist, this perception of prayer led me to think that I needed to approach praying in just the right way. It wasn’t until later in my spiritual journey that I began to view prayer as more accessible, an avenue to come to God as I am and talk to Him about anything and everything in my life.

I think when one is asked to pray out loud, it is easy to fall into a certain mindset of making sure we say the right thing in the best way. But when that is the only kind of prayer a child hears, it doesn’t seem as accessible. It feels more like something for adults who know the right way to do things rather than an avenue of connection to God available to anybody.

In summer choir, we are defining prayer as simply “talking to God.” We are talking about talking to God at any time about anything—whether we are happy, sad, angry, or confused. My goal is to make sure the kids in my class know they can go to God whenever, not just before meals or at church. And that they can talk to God about anything, even if it’s not a “nice” emotion.

I am not one to kneel down and pray for extended periods of time. I applaud those who do; it is an admirable practice. My thoughts have a tendency to wander, and there will end up being twenty minutes of thinking about a variety of other things before I remember that I was praying. But that is not to say that prayer is not a part of my life. I talk to God throughout my day about anything and everything going on in my life. I have thanked Him, questioned Him, and poured out my feelings to Him while at work, in my car, and lying in bed.

This is the kind of prayer I think of when I read 1 Thess. 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.” It does not mean we need to always be on our knees. It means to have an ongoing conversation with God throughout our everydays. We can get so caught up in our lives that we forget to let God be a part of it. We can get so focused on praying “the right way” that we either over-focus or ignore doing it. My encouragement to you today is that praying to God can happen at the grocery store or driving to work, when you’re excited about how life is going and when you’re mad at God.

Just talk to God.

    --Concetta Swann

Reflections on Independence Day

 

Our family is a nerdy bunch. When we go on vacation, we always work in trips to museums, historical sites, and other educational activities. Recently, we visited the Missouri State Capitol and the Lewis & Clark memorial in Jefferson City, MO. On a previous trip to Missouri/ Kansas, Dan and I visited Harry Truman’s home and presidential library, Ulysses Grant’s home, and an amazing World War I memorial. I cannot say that I remember every detail of the many things we have seen and experienced, but cumulatively, they have laid the groundwork for the love I have for my country. It has instilled in me an awe and reverence for those who came before us, those who made a huge sacrifice for the freedoms and benefits I enjoy today.

Those who colonized and settled America faced incredible challenges – hunger, attacks, back-breaking work, weather challenges, sickness, pestilence, and government oppression. The Revolutionary War and its era are sometimes romanticized in novels and movies, but in reality, it was quite ugly. and every man who signed the Declaration of Independence paid a high price for doing so. These strong, resolute men (I love that word – resolute) did hard things – things that took courage and grit. Many who followed them paid with their lives and limbs to keep us free. Mental health challenges followed them for the rest of their lives. These trials should not be taken lightly. I live comfortably because they lived heroically.

I am so grateful and humbled to be an American, but I often feel unworthy since I know that there are many people worldwide who do not enjoy such liberty. Why did God choose to place me here? I am no more important than anyone else. Today, (I am writing this on July 4) I thank God Almighty for creating this country. You know it was a work of God, right? It was an unlikely win. So many came here seeking the freedom to worship freely (among other reasons) and no doubt they were praying the whole way. Our Founding Fathers had a respect for God and His guiding principles. Their words and Scripture are written on memorials all over this land. Their astonishing wisdom and understanding of the fallenness of man are reflected in systems of government they established. They understood tyranny. I believe their acknowledgement of God and requests for His guidance are why we have been so greatly blessed. I know they had shortcomings, as do we, but God used them anyway.

So, I encourage you to give humble thanks to God for leading men and women to found this land and for sustaining them in terrible hardships. Pray for our leaders to follow and obey God’s commandments. Thank veterans and military personnel for their hard work and sacrifices. Pray over our country’s brokenness too. Satan continues to find ways to divide and destroy our people. We have broken families, drug addiction, immorality, sex trafficking, depression, anxiety, suicide, murder, violence, unrest, porn addiction, etc. We deserve God’s judgement, but I am praying for His mercy and for revival. Let us “appeal to Heaven.” 

Independence Day

When we think about the birth

of this great nation,
Congress declared July the 4th 1776
and issued a proclamation.

With this decree, the thirteen colonies
are now free.
We will no longer live
under England's Monarchy.

Five great men
were given the task
to draw up papers
for freedom at last.

Thomas Jefferson,
we can remember.
A founding father,
Patriot and a Continental member.

Together these men
drafted the amendments.
Franklin, Livingstone, Sherman and Adams,
united they authored the Declarations of Independence.

Battles were fought,
and blood was shed.
Life was lost,
and men were dead.

"FREEDOM" came with
A heavy price.
War is not pretty,
nor is it nice.

We can thank
the Lord above.
He gave us these United States,
a country we can love.

Men fought for our freedom,
and with their lives they did pay.
That's why we celebrate
Independence Day.

(Debra L. Brown. "Independence Day." Family Friend Poems, June 26, 2019)

  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Beautiful words from the from the “Declaration of Independence”

 

joyce hague

Our Story

 

This year, in much of my personal reading, I have immersed myself in the eighteenth century, especially the time period of the American Revolution. I have read biographies of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. As a family, we visited Boston and Philadelphia in May. We got to see and walk around many important sites from this time: the Old North Church where the lanterns signaled how the British were advancing, Lexington Green where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired, the location of the bridge in Concord with its “shot heard ‘round the world,” Breed’s Hill where the battle of Bunker Hill took place, and Independence Hall in Philadelphia where we stood in the room in which the Declaration of Independence was signed. These places play important roles in the beginning of our country.  To stand in these spots and try to imagine now, 250 years later, the sights and sounds of that time was surreal. Why? Because I am an American, and those places and the biographies I’m reading tell the start of our story as those who call America home. What happened in the 1770s paved the way for everything that has happened since then.

At the same time, I’m spending this summer studying Acts for my personal benefit but also in preparation to teach a ladies’ Bible study this fall. And this, too, is my story. For my identity as an American and all that ties me to our nation’s history pales in comparison to my identity as a follower of Jesus Christ, a member in God’s family. And Acts tells the story of this beginning: the first days of the church, the gathering of a people who believed that Jesus was the Messiah promised. This is the story of the new covenant and what life for believers looked like following Jesus’s fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system. We read in Acts how the believers gathered, how they handled challenges both inside and outside the church, how they made sure that the doctrine taught stayed pure, and how they spread the good news of Christ throughout the known world. We are inspired by these believers’ willingness to die for a cause they believed in – not the kind of freedom our forefathers in America fought for, but a much more important freedom, a freedom from sin and bondage that Christ had accomplished through his death on their behalf.

The story of our church, Grace Baptist, starts way back in Acts. The early church gathered, so we gather. The early church prayed together, listened to teaching, ate together, celebrated the Lord’s supper together, and so we do as well. We carry on what they began. Let’s learn from their example and continue the mission they received from Jesus Himself... to carry the good news of the gospel with us everywhere we go. And in doing so, may Christ’s church, the global body of believers from every nation and tribe, continue to grow and expand until we finally reach the climax that our story is moving toward: an eternity with God and His people in a new heaven and earth where we will truly be home.

--Amy O'Rear