Have You Learned to Love?

 

Richard Paul Evans tells in his book, The Four Doors, about having a spiritual awakening or conversion when he was in his early 20’s.     Evans conversion  from doubt to faith began when he read a book titled  My Life After Dying by George C. Ritchie Jr.   In the book, Ritchie speaks about the experience he had when he died  for a total of 9 minutes.   George C. Ritchie says in the book that when he died that he encountered God, and that God asked him one question.  That one question was this:   “Have you learned how to love?”   

As I  write this,  my grandchildren are spending another day of school whether in their  public school or in their  college.   One of our daughters is helping children under her tutelage learn in a school classroom and another daughter is working on a college course she is taking.     While I have always believed that education is important and have shown the same by my example, there is nothing much more important for any of us to learn than to learn to love. 

Have you learned to love God, the one that created you and has written your name in the palm of His hand?    Have you learned to love the God who says that you, yes you, are fearfully and wonderfully made?   God not only gave each of us life, but He made each of us in His image.   Why, God loved each of us so much that He sent His Son to live among us.   Did we not celebrate that love just a few weeks ago at Christmas?    And God not only sent His Son to live among us, but while we were sinners Christ died for us.  

Have you learned to love not only God, but the people around you?   The great and glorious God that created you and redeemed you also created and redeemed those around you whether they know it  or not, whether they accept it or not.   Have you learned to love people around you though they may not look like or think like you?

Have you learned to love God and have you learned to love people around you?   Finally, have you learned to love yourself?    I remember years ago doing a childrens message at church with a group of children.   I brought before them a large paper bag and told them they could see God  in the bottom of the bag.    They looked curiously at the bag as did their  parents and other adults from the pews of that church.    After a brief time of conversation,   I asked the children if they would like to look  in the bag and see God.    Of course, they all raised their  hands.   What the children and adults did not know is that I had placed a mirror in the bottom of that bag.  Lo and behold, when the children looked in that bag they saw a reflection of themselves.    When the Bible tells us that we made in the image of God, is it not telling us that God  lives in each of us?      Have you learned to love yourself, because you are made in the image of God and are a child of the creator of the universe?  

In this year of 2025,  my prayer for myself and for each of   you is we can aspire to love- to love God… to love others even when they look or think different than ourselves… and that each of can love ourselves by living in a way that reflects the love of God.    Will you join me in that love journey in 2025?     Have a joy-filled day and 2025.-   Pastor Randy Wall  

PRAYER --  O God,  thank you for the great and bountiful way that you love each and everyone of us.    Help me, God, to love more in these days of 2025;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.    

A LIving Nativity Not Forgotten

 

During this season of Advent and the days of December,    I find myself enjoying not just the time now with friends and family but also thinking of  Christmases past.    Unlike Ebenezer Scrooge, I am not haunted by the days of Christmas past.   It is perhaps more accurate to say that I savor it like a freshly made cup of hot chocolate that warms my hands and my throat as I take the first sips of it.   I have always enjoyed seeing a living nativity scene whether  it be by young children in a church sanctuary or by youth and/or adults on selected nights near Christmas.

Around 1970, the youth of my home church decided they wanted to do a living nativity scene for church members and community alike.    There was another church in the northern part of the county was  doing the same, and it gave us the idea.    As we discussed it,  some of the parents said they would help us build a stable.    A group of the younger boys quickly volunteered to be shepherds.   Our youth leader began to assign youth to be the main characters:    Mary, Joseph, and the angels.     One of the youth remembered that Mr. Parks had sheep that we probably could use for the event instead of cardboard cut-outs.   Some of the more creative youth said they would create signs to tell the community that could be posted along the side of the road.    Other youth quickly said that they were certain their Moms would prepare some hot chocolate and goodies for the youth to eat.    A plan was made and a date was set.    We just knew it would be a great event.   

And so, it came to pass that the night for our living nativity scene came.    The signs were posted along the side of the road and the make-shift stable was made including a manger where a baby doll impersonated the baby Jesus.      And lo and behold, people came!    Yet, the living nativity did not turn out as well as we would have liked.    Some of the shepherds got restless and wandered off and so did the sheep.     Unfortunately, the novice shepherds were not very good at their job and one of the sheep wandered into the road.     Some of the wise men got cold, and were more interested in partaking of the hot  chocolate and goodies in the warm fellowship hall.      It was a living nativity, but it was not perfect!

As Christmas approaches, perhaps you are beginning to feel like this will not be a perfect Christmas.    Ones you love will not all be there.     Your pile of bills will be higher than the packages under the tree.    A chair is empty where someone sat last Christmas.    Christmas just does not feel right.    And you know what?     The first Christmas was not perfect either.   Joseph failed to make a reservation in Bethlehem for a room.    Mary must have wished that her Mama was there to be with her when she gave birth.     And the shepherds and sheep!    When the shepherds came to see the newborn Messiah, what happened to those sheep?

 Savor this truth, my friends!     The truth that God is with us!     Our God comes into our world of imperfect people who live imperfect lives.    Merry Christmas to each of you.  Have a joy-filled Christmas.-   Pastor Randy Wall

.  

PRAYER --  O God,  we rejoice in the truth that God is with us and that Christ Jesus came to save us from our sins.    Thank you for your perfect love that touches our imperfect lives.    We praise you;  through Christ our Lord.    Amen.  

The Autumn of the year, The Autumn of my years

 

I love this time of year!   I love Autumn and Fall.    I particularly love the month of October.     As I have said before,   October is the month when I fell in love with Jesus and fell in love with my wife, Ann.   October often brings us cool morning and warm days….the sight of fields being harvested and the feel of a frosty morning… the smell of burning leaves and of freshly cooked barbecue at a church fund-raiser.  Another thing that Autumn brings is the glorious splendor of leaves as they change to colors of red, orange, and yellow.    What a wonderful experience to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway under a colored canopy of trees above you or to look from a mountain vista this time of year.    

I am now in the autumn of my life.     I think that is fair to say that I have more years in the past than I have in my future.      Since I am on social security and medicare now,   the government has officially declared that I am old.     I wear my age with a badge of honor as I can name you friends who have gone on to the reward God has for them that I still miss.    I sometimes ask at restaurants if they offer a senior citizen discount and am quick to accept them if they are offered.    I have less hair on my head than I used to, and it is not sandy and blond as it once was.    It is not unusual for me to hear on social media or to read in the obituary pages the names of people who are my peers.      

Despite the fact that I am in the autumn of my life,    I can also declare this:    as the autumn of the year is a beautiful time,  so the autumn of my years is also a beautiful time.    It is nice some nights to stay up late if I want to, and some mornings to sleep a little later.     It is nice to look at my bank account and see retirement monies or social security being deposited into my account.     It is flattering when our children or grandchildren ask me about something in the past years ago  that I seem to be able to remember when sometimes I struggle to remember what I had for dinner 3 nights ago.     It is a joy to still be healthy enough to live on my own, and to some days walk for more than an hour.     It is  a real blessing to leave home for a few days and travel to destinations a few hours away by car or a few hours away by plane and see family, friends, or this beautiful world that God has given us.     Most of all, it is a gift to me to be able to have my wife, Ann, by my side and to share these  days and experiences with her and to have children, grandchildren, and other family that we love and that love us.  

I see and hear once in a while someone making critical  or condescending remarks about senior citizens and the elderly.   I am certain I use to make them also, but now I look in the mirror and realize that person looking back at me is an elder.       And despite the critical remarks I sometimes hear,  I can say with gratitude what a blessing God gives me each day to wake up and live this life in the autumn of my years.      What a beautiful time of year is Autumn, and what a beautiful gift is the autumn of my life.    Have a joy-filled day.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer-   God, thank you for the gift of life.    Help me, O God, to live each day with joy and wonder;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.    Amen.

Filled with the Spirit

 

 

About this time of year last year,   Ann and I were in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the International Hot Air Balloon Festival.     There were over 500 balloons flying in the event from over 12 countries.   One of the gifts of the event is that spectators can interact with the balloon pilots.    One of my high school classmates, Ken Draughn, was one of those pilots and he was kind enough to explain the process of  preparing the balloons for flight to Ann and I. 

As a balloon cannot take flight unless it is filled with hot air, so a follower of Christ cannot soar as a follower of Christ unless they are filled with the Spirit.      We serve a mighty God, who not only calls us to follow Him, but who also enables us to serve Him through the precious gift of His Spirit.   Ephesians 5: 18-19 puts it this way:     

¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,

Open your hearts, fellow believers, and allow God to fill you to overflowing with His Spirit.   Have a joy-filled day.-  Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER --  O God,  fill my cup to overflowing with your love and matchless grace.   Fill us with your Spirit, O God, that we might soar to new heights of following you;  through Christ our Lord.   Amen.     

In the Walls of our House

 

One of the things my wife Ann and I did last year is to build an addition onto our home.   Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Ann and I paid for a general contractor and the persons who work with him to build an addition.    We  built a sun room and an addition to our study to create a bedroom.    You can see the early stages of the building process in the picture above.  

One of the things I did in the building process is that before they installed the insulation in the walls and hung the drywall is that I placed scripture passages and prayers in the walls of the new addition.     I do not know if those prayers and scripture passages will be discovered someday by some construction worker or repair person or not;   that remains to be seen.    I spent time thinking of what scriptures say about that addition and about our home.   I also spent time writing a few prayers for not just our addition, but for  our home in general.   It was an interesting  process that I commend to you.   One of the scripture I printed and placed in the walls of our home addition is found in Psalm 84:4 that says:

 

Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

 

Now, Biblical scholars would say that the  “house”  referred to in this passage was the temple of the Lord.  I understand that;  however, I want those who dwell in my house to be doing the same.     How about you?    What scripture says what you want to say about your home and abode?     What prayers do you have for your house and its occupants?     I encourage you to spend some time thinking about that.   Perhaps there is a way you can let those scriptures and prayers be shared in your home.   Have a joy-filled day!-  Pastor Randy Wall

 

PRAYER --  O God,  bless my home and members of my family.    Through your grace and the power of your Spirit, help me to dwell in your house forever;  through Christ our Lord.   Amen.  

What Are You Building On?

About a year ago, the family of faith at Franklinville United Methodist Church faced the horror of the walls of its sanctuary to come tumbling down.    In that same place, I am certain that a pastor or Sunday School teacher had shared the story about the walls of Jericho coming  tumbling down.    Yet, on that tragic day the wall of a church sanctuary where people had gathered to worship God in times of joy and sadness left a hole in that house of God and a hole in the heart of people of God.

Foundations of  buildings are important lest walls come tumbling down.   I was reminded of that last year when we added a small addition onto our home.    The general contractor started with digging  down in the ground to the “good dirt” (as he called it.)   Then, he put steel rods into the ground before feeling the  trenches with concrete.    After that, he had concrete blocks laid.     After the block had set up, he put gravel in the middle on the ground re-enforced with steel rods before concrete was poured again.   It was only after that that the building inspector allowed the general contractor to begin building our new addition.   It took weeks for the foundation to be readied for building.    When you are building a church or you are building a home, it is important that you have a good foundation. 

Jesus knew something about building.  He certainly knew more than I  do.     We read in Matthew 7:  24-27 he told one day about building: 

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

It is important to have a good foundation not just in any building, but also in  your life.   What kind of foundation do you have in your life?     Without a good foundation, things might come tumbling down.    The apostle Paul says that there is no other foundation that can be laid for a Christian than Jesus Christ our Lord.    What are you doing in your life daily to make sure your foundation is sure and steady.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

 

PRAYER --  O God,   the old hymn declares “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand”.   Help me to take  the time and effort  to build my life and path on you each and every day;  through Christ our Lord.   Amen. 

Pounding, Pastry, and PDA

 

(Below is a piece I wrote a few months ago as an essay for the North Carolina Senior Games literary competition.)

The year 2024 marks a special anniversary for me as I have now  served as a pastor for 50 years.  I find myself thinking  back to 1974 when I was first appointed as a United Methodist  pastor.   I was young and was  a few semester hours shy of my bachelors degree when I got the call that I was being appointed to serve as a pastor of 3 United Methodist Churches  in a rural area of eastern North Carolina.    There was so much that was new to me in those early days of pastoral ministry.   While my grandparents lived in a rural area,   I did not.  I grew up in a small North Carolina town.    Though I was licensed to preach (or was a candidate for ministry as they call it today) and had served on church staff for two years, I was new to the role of pastor.

After I had been there a few weeks, I heard some of the folks in the church talking about doing a “pounding” of  their new pastor.    When I heard the word “pounding”, it brought thoughts of being pommelled or beaten up.    I wondered what I had done so badly  in a short time that they were going to pound me!   I soon discovered that while I thought “pounding” was a bad thing, it really was a good thing because one day they placed before me “pounds” of sugar, flour, and other household goods that made the grocery bill much lighter.   

In the Fall, we prepared for Homecoming and Revival Services at the 3 churches.    We had Revival Services for 3 weeks in a row and 3 straight Sundays of Homecoming Services.  While the congregation might have been revived, this new pastor was pretty tired after those 3 weeks.    As that first Homecoming Day approaches, some of the folks in the church talked about “pastry”.     As a small town city boy, my idea of pastry was doughnuts, chocolate eclairs, and the like.  I soon discovered that what they called pastry was what we called at our house chicken and dumplings.   Sometimes,  we can live in the same state and  do not speak the same language.    I did not understand what words like “pounding”  and “pastry”  meant in my early months of being a pastor.  

Today,  it is also true that you can be in the same family  and you do not speak the same language.  Though my wife Ann and I have been married for decades,  it is not unusual for us to show each other  affection around the house.   I recall a time when some of our daughters were teenagers  and my wife and I exchanged a hug and kiss in their presence.    As she  witnessed the moment,  our daughter erupted,  “No PDA.”     I did not know what PDA was until they instructed me some time later that it was an abbreviation for “public display of affection.”       

I continue to seek to be  proficient in use of social media, the internet, and text messaging even though it is challenging for me.   When I was young, text was the scripture the pastor would read in Sunday worship and  online is where Mom hung the clothes after washing them on Monday morning.   I see quite often that there is a different language in those spaces.    Sometimes, our daughters will text me “TIA”   or  “TY”.      I thought they were texting me about a person named Tia or a fella named Ty.     Sometimes,  it seems that I am living in a different land.   TIA for reading  and listening.    -    Randy L. Wall

    

PRAYER --  O God,   thank you for memories, and  for the ability to serve you.   Use me to glorify your name today and everyday;  through Christ our Lord. Amen.