Gifts in Houston

Some of you who read my blogs regularly might recall that I have a daughter, son in law, and 3 grandchildren who live in Houston.   They were fortunate to suffer no flooding in their home or neighborhood during the recent hurricane.   The worse effects they suffered from the hurricane were loss of power and minor inconvenience in their travels.   While they suffered few effects, friends and co-workers of my daughter were not as fortunate as their homes, cars, and such drowned in waters.   One day a few weeks ago, I received a text message from my daughter that included a picture of her van packed full of all sorts of supplies such as box fans, humidifiers, wrecking bars, and the like.   She explained that the supplies were for a friend whose home had been flooded from the rain waters of the hurricane, and she had gotten the supplies from their church.  Good folk like you sent those items from churches across the country.  Though they did not know my daughter’s friend, they knew of the need.

As I think of that experience of my daughter’s van packed with items given by people she did not know across the country, it reminded of a story that is told in the gospel of John about hungry folks, a little boy, and Jesus.   We find the story in John 6 as follows:

Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ² and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Festival was near.  ⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.   ⁷ Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages^[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”   ⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

We know not the name of that little boy in that gospel story, and I think it certain that the thousands of people who ate their fill of loaves and fishes did not know his name either.  Yet, they benefited from his generosity.   As a friend of my daughter benefited from the generosity of people whose names they did not know, more often that we imagine we too benefit from people whose names are known only by God.  They grow the food we put on our table… they open the door for us at the convenience store… and they offer a smile that our soul sorely needs.  Have a joy-filled week. -   Pastor Randy Wall 

Prayer:    Lord and God, I thank you for the bounty of gifts that come to me from people whose names I know and people whose names are known by you.   As I have graciously been given, let me also graciously give; through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Prayers Answered? Then What?

One of the things that is a common event in my life is that people will ask me to pray for them, pray with them, or to pray for some person or circumstance they care about.    I see this is a holy privilege that I take seriously because it is a sign to me that the petitioner believes in God and in their humility, realizes that all the answers in life are not found in the things that we can see.   Sometimes, I will stop what I am doing at the time and say a prayer for them or with them.  Other times for all sorts of reasons, I will make a mental note and pray for that person later.   There is no telling how many prayer requests I have received in the 40 plus years of ministry under my belt.   Those requests have been made in places where you would expect prayer requests like a hospital room and in uncommon places for prayer request like a
Facebook message.   I have received prayer requests from people I just met a few moments earlier and prayer requests from people that I have known for many years.    One of the things I have wondered about through the years is (as the late Paul Harvey put it) “the rest of the story”.    Whatever happened to that person or in that circumstance?    Were our prayers answered?

In the gospel of Luke, we hear the story of a time when Jesus was besieged not with a prayer request not from one person, but a healing request from 10 persons. Read this passage from Luke 17 which says: 

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy^[b] met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.  ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.  ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

One thing that stands out in this passage of scripture to me is the fact that only one person out of ten persons who was healed of leprosy bothers to thank Jesus for their healing.   Are we as quick to offer our thanksgiving to God for his goodness as we are to offer our prayer requests and petitions to God?   Have a joy-filled week. -   Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God, I confess my slowness to thank you for the blessings you give to me without ceasing.  Forgive me, and give me an awareness of your goodness that I might always and everywhere give you thanks and praise; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

After the Storm

I watched with many of you a few weeks ago as the winds and rain from Hurricane Harvey adversely affected the citizens of the Gulf coast.  I listened to the stories of how it affected people in general in that region and how it affected specific people who knew the loss of loved ones, homes, businesses, and such.    I have a keen interest in that region of our country because I have friends and family there including three grandchildren.    In recent days, I have watched the wind and rain from Hurricane/ Tropical Storm Irma pommel Florida and other states after having brought havoc to the Caribbean.      

In these days, I have thought about an encounter I had with a person in a church that I had the privilege to serve.  I will call him Al.  Al and I were talking about a member of our congregation who was preparing to have heart by-pass surgery.   It was a new procedure at the time and was not offered at any hospital in the Carolinas, so Verne (as I will call the prospective patient) was having the heart by-pass surgery in city hundreds of miles away.   Al suggested to me that as the pastor he thought the church should pay for me to travel to be with the heart patient and his family for the procedure.  After sharing that hope, Al made this statement: “Randy, their crisis is our opportunity as a church to be of ministry to them.”

That statement of Al long ago is being re-played in my head in these days.   While devastating effects of hurricanes may be out of sight for many of you reading this, it is a reality for our neighbors in other regions of this country and world.   Pray for them, and as you are able open your hearts to help them through your gifts through a charity you believe in and trust.    In II Corinthians 8, the apostle Paul points out the example of the churches of Macedonia in their generosity.    Paul was receiving a special offering to help the Mother church of Christianity, the Church of Jerusalem, who was facing some real challenges as the people on the Gulf coast are facing challenges now.  Read what Paul writes about the Macedonian churches in II Corinthians 8:

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ² In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³ For I testify that they gave as much as they were able,and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴ they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. ⁵ And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. ⁶ So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. ⁷ But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you^[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

 As Al told me long ago, their crisis is our opportunity to be of ministry.  Go and do likewise.      Have a joy-filled week. -  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God, I pray for all those who know the effects of natural disaster.   Open not only my eyes and heart to see their need, but open my hand to help; through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

What We Might Miss Seeing the Eclipse

I marveled at the wonder of the solar eclipse a few weeks ago as did millions across the country. I did not see the eclipse directly since I did not have the required eyewear, but I witnessed it via television and the internet.    The eclipse got me to thinking about the wonder and beauty of this world in which we live.    I don’t know about you, but I confess that sometimes I get too busy with the lists of things to do and of the headlines on the news to see the wonder that is going on around me.   While a solar eclipse comes along about as often as a snow on the 4^th of July in the Carolinas, everyday there are wonders to see if we only pause to see and experience them.  Every day, the sun rises and the sun sets… a baby is born… the birds sing their cheerful, melodious song even though they know not where their next meal will come from.  Often this time of year, a storm or thunderstorm gives way to a rainbow flashing its colors across the sky… the moon and stars light up the summer night…and the birds sit on a perch outside our den window looking perfectly made. 

One of the lessons of the solar eclipse that I hope will linger with me is to experience the life God has given me with a greater awareness of the wonders that he gives not just occasionally with a solar eclipse, but each day. Oh, for eyes to see and a heart to receive the wonders of God’s creation.    Have a joy-filled week. -  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God, slow me down to see and sense the wonders of this world you have created.  Thank you for the marvels of your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.