Have you ever been on the “outside” of things?  Remember when certain ones were chosen last to be on teams in their childhood?  It was usually the same person all the time.  We all want to belong, sometimes desperately.  How sad it is for those who want to be on the “inside” and are held on the “outside”.  Wouldn’t it be grand if there were a place where who you were didn’t make a bit of difference to those who were there, and there you would be accepted, loved and even adored?  There is!

It’s the family of God, a community of believers, who because of what was done for them, would do anything for you.  People want to be valued – to know they were here for a reason – that is what fellowship is all about – to bestow honor upon those who expect it the least – a community where one is treated and treats others better than any place on earth.

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” I John 4:11 (NIV).

A Child of the King

By Lou David Allen

I stumbled and fell right down,
Silly me, I hate to be a clown.
I was hurt, I knew, really bad,
They all laughed and I was sad.
Mocking, “ You can stand if you try!”
But, all I could do was sit and cry.
So completely embarrassed by it all,
Why did I have to go and fall?
I hung my head in shame,
And thought, “It’s all me to blame.”
Then I heard someone sweetly say,
“Have you hurt yourself, are you O.K.?”
No, it couldn’t possibly be true!
The most popular girl in my school,
Sitting here, by my side,
Unwounding my broken pride.
Afterwards, all agreed she had done me a kindly thing.
But I think more.
I think they had seen a child of the King.

Recently I discovered a wonderful poem entitled “ The Universal Prayer” by Alexander Pope.  In the tenth stanza Pope writes:

“Teach me to feel another’s woe, To hide the fault I see; That mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me.”

Perhaps Pope was inspired by Luke chapter 18 which mirrors his poem.

“ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ’God I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ’God have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God” ( Luke 18: 9-13 NIV)

We should be very careful how we interact with our fellow travelers, for we are interacting with the personification of Jesus.  How we treat others is how we treat Jesus.  “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col. 3:13).

Weighed in the Balances

By Lou David Allen

He fed the hungry,

Visited the sick,

Gave his money,

For a great cause.

But warm works

Came from a cold heart,

That would not

Forgive the sins of another,

And so he barely registered

On the Angelic Applause – O – Meter.

“And he measured its wall,

seventy-two yards, according to

human measurements, which are also

angelic measurements.

Rev 21:17

Lost, a terrible word.  Rhoda, my lovely wife, was separated from her parents years ago at the Madri Gras parade in New Orleans.  Years later, that memory is still poignant.  If you have ever been lost, you will never forget it.

Bob Berman, in his column in the October issue of “Astronomy”, relates “A dozen cool facts.”  One of them is that a neutron can live for more than 10 billion years as long as it stays in its place snuggled deep within its atom’s nucleus.  But if it escapes, it will vanish in 10 ½ minutes, not even a blink compared to 10 billion years.  Bob said one lesson that might be learned from this “cool fact” is that kids should stay home with their parents so they will never be lost.  That’s pretty good advice, but I think there is more solid advice gained from this example.  As God’s children we are safest when we stay close to Him no matter what happens in life.  “Busting loose” from that safety net is not a wise thing to do.  We will surely be lost.

In 1898 Lelia Morris wrote a beautiful hymn, “Nearer Still Nearer.”  Her hymn speaks to staying close to God:

Nearer still nearer close to Thy heart

Draw me my Saviour, so precious Thou art;

Fold me, O fold me close to Thy breast,

Shelter me safe in that haven of rest,…

Nearer still nearer, while life shall last,

Till safe in glory my anchor is cast;

Thru endless ages, ever to be

Nearer, my Saviour, still nearer to Thee…

Why would we want to be anywhere else?

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.  James 4:7-8 (NIV)

Photo by Chicago’s North Shore Conventions & Visitors Bureau.

I laugh every time I watch this Pixar short film but it is a great illustration of the unintended consequences that come from the exclusion of people who aren’t exactly like us.   God loves ALL people and calls his children to include everyone in the saving gospel of Jesus Christ even if they don’t fit the mold we are used to.

“All the glory is due you! You are the Holy One! You’re the One, You’re the only One!”

I listen as my family and I sing these words. We sit together as one unit, one band of people suffering through a tragic loss; if you only knew what we had been through. You wouldn’t believe it if you could hear us singing these words with all of our hearts. You wouldn’t believe that just a little over a month ago, we lost one of our family members to cancer. A little girl, we loved her without measure and now she is gone. We are upset and we do struggle through life sometimes. However, you would never believe it if you could hear us now. We hold our heads high as we show God that we trust His judgment. “You’re the One, You’re the only One!” We know it, we believe it, and we sing it with pride… together.

Chelsea Chaney is a 17 year old Christian who loves God and Christ.  She is a leader and inspiration to her family and friends.  In addition to being active in the church, she is the captain of the high school varsity cheer squad, senior class president, student council president, book club president, and publicist for the Spanish club.

And my daughter…

The book of Acts presents a beautiful picture of early Christian believers and their natural desire to be together.  The model then was clearly not just a Sunday morning assembly but a model of assembly together, focusing on each others needs and praising God as one.

All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47 NIV)

I attended a small town congregation on Sunday and there was a good 20 feet between groupings of family and friends during worship, not as I imagine when reading Acts.  If you are a new Christian, seek out a church family who love one another and worship as one every chance they get.  If you are part of a congregation that on Sunday mornings resembles a doctor’s office waiting room during flu season, don’t leave – be the one to bring people together.   A healthy Christian community focuses on assembling together not just on the assembly.

I recently had a discussion with a congregational leader who was bemoaning the prevalence of sports in the lives of our church youth.  The leader believed our youth should spend more time in church than on the field.  It’s almost as if we must choose to be a Christian in the confines of an assembly building or not at all.  My response is a close look at the scriptures.  The truth is, Christ intended for his follower to be disciples and spread the gospel everywhere at all times.  A practical Christian will:

1.  Go into the world. To spread the gospel we must go.

2.  Serve as Christ’s ambassador.  Ambassadors serve in foreign lands

3.  Go where our gift influences the most.  Don’t compartmentalize your faith into church and world.

4.  Use every gift from God. What ‘s your gift?  Use it to spread the gospel.

Practical Christian application:

1.  We have confidence in an eternal reward through Christ
2.  It’s impossible for us to fully understand God’s will
3.  God wants us to have patience, know that evil will not prevail, and to fully place our trust in Him

Last week we lost a 15 year old family member after a lengthy battle with cancer.  Her struggle was featured in a post by her grandfather last month.   As I prepared to officiate over her funeral I thought it was appropriate to share on this blog the comfort our family found through God.

Over and over family members and friends in the community asked how God could let something so terrible happen to someone so young.  A close friend who had lost his wife in a tragic car accident years earlier had great counsel to me.  Part of his word he took from a message Billy Graham delivered on the National Day of Prayer, September 14, 2001

I’ve been asked hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I really do not know the answer totally, even to my own satisfaction. I have to accept by faith that God is sovereign, and He’s a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering. Full message here

Our family found great comfort in suffering knowing that God is a loving God even though we may not know why such tragic things happen.  We choose to trust God.