Can You Help Me Be Jesus' Voice of Gratitude?

ACan You Help Me Be Jesus' Voice of Gratitude?

All of us have heard complaints about what we Christians do or don't do when we fail to represent Christ well. Unfortunately, when we do stuff right it tends to get much less airplay. Such was the situation last Saturday. In the small town of Argyle Texas at Cross Timbers Community Church, close to 200 church volunteers had arrived at 6 AM to prepare to fix over 150 registered cars of mostly financially- struggling church members as well as total strangers from the nearby communities. The volunteers included not only mechanics but also people to welcome individuals, run errands for mechanics, and feed people breakfast and lunch while they waited on their cars to be fixed. This event has become such an effective means of outreach that it has become a quarterly event. One widow who did not attend our church had her car fixed. Afterwards, she went to the pastor with tear-stained eyes expressing her gratitude “You don’t know how much this means to me; I don’t have anyone to help me with things like this.”

At the same time, in an Applebee's restaurant 10 miles north of the church campus in the city of Denton Texas something was going on that was much smaller, had virtually no budget, but certainly was no less noble and God-honoring than the car clinic. I'm not sure whether the two ladies forgot about the car care event or were initially unaware what was happening just south of them at the same time. In a church of substantial size, it is quite easy to have conflicting events even when you are fully aware of the church calendar! Anyway, less than a week earlier those of us on the prayer team received an e-mail making us aware of a fundraiser breakfast for Tom Starr, a fellow prayer team member who, just over a month ago, had been diagnosed with cancer. Given the localized nature of the cancer, the doctors now seemed increasingly hopeful compared to the original diagnosis just day earlier. On their own initiative, two couples from our church who are closely connected with the Starr family secured a nearby Applebee's restaurant, cooked their own food and catered it to the restaurant for a benefit breakfast to help cover Tom's medical expenses.

Realizing the seriousness of the need, Jackie and I drove 50 miles north to make our contribution to the event. Given the generous nature of our church, normally, to raise a substantial amount of money on a Saturday morning for something of this nature would not have been out of the question. However, with a major event scheduled at exactly the same time, only $600 had been raised on Tom Starr's behalf at the close of the breakfast Saturday. Having been on this journey myself with other family members, I knew that even with Tom’s insurance covering 80% of his expenses, that this would only be a drop in the bucket.

I talked to the families who sponsored the event, and even though I am thankful that they are committed to supporting Tom and his wife Twila through this difficult journey, the small turnout was still obviously a disappointment. With their usual positive attitude, they expressed optimism about promised contributions that still had not come in.

After returning home, I sensed God speaking to my heart: "do you think I was any less glorified by the small turnout of the Starr event as I was by the large car care event?" I knew what God was getting at. God was just as proud of those supporting a family in their hour of need as he was of the 200 volunteers working on people's cars. Yet, the next day great praise was offered for the car care efforts (which was well deserved), but nothing at all was mentioned about the benefit breakfast for Tom. After all, very few people even knew about it to start with.

Those of you who know me well know that asking for help is not exactly my strength. After all, you would not have even known about my previous wheelchair need had it not been for the self- directive actions of close friends who initially acted without my knowledge! However, after several days of prayer and not feeling the release of the Holy Spirit to let this thing go, I am stepping out to ask if you will consider helping someone you don't even know! I know that all of us have limited resources and all of us have equally valid projects we are called to support. As a matter of fact, Jackie and anticipate the privilege of getting to support some of those projects as God directs. So why is a guy like me who rarely asks for help asking for it now? Great question! The reason why is because I not only want to help a brother who has an immediate medical need, but I want to encourage those who are using their time energy and resources to help others in need. As Christians, it is easy to look society and spend so much energy cursing the darkness. This is a unique opportunity to magnify the light! None of us can meet all the need. The idea here is synergy, starting a chain reaction so that the smallest of gifts can make the hugest of impact. If 12 people gave $50, we would literally double what was given this Saturday. Again, I realize mine is not the only need out there, which is why I rarely do things like this. This particular situation touched my heart because in both cases, (the car clinic and the benefit breakfast), the church was obedient being the church. My hope is to ensure both groups are rewarded and encouraged for their efforts.

One thing I can promise you, doing something like this will be EXTREMELY RARE for me! You need not fear my doing things like this on a regular basis. I am do this strictly as a matter of obedience. Those of you who have received from my ministry in the past know that my approach is always to encourage whenever possible. While I definitely have a desire to see Tom healed, I have an equally strong desire for the people supporting Tom to be able to hear Jesus' "well done" for their faithfulness behind the scenes. So many times in a situation like this, all the attention goes to the person fighting the disease and the caregivers take a backseat. In this case, I know nothing that would encourage the people ministering to Tom more than seeing his medical needs provided. There will be many things that we will have to wait until heaven to hear Jesus’ coveted words: "Well done, good and faithful servant!" As God had dealt with my heart, I don't believe this should be one of those situations. May I ask you to consider being God's loudspeaker of gratitude for the simple faithfulness of someone who has taken the time to care? If you are interested in finding out more about Tom and his situation, you can go to: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tomstarr1 for more information. I have created a link to my PayPal account for those of you who want to help https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YVT346KPVRMAS .Every donation I receive between now and next Tuesday afternoon on our way to church will go specifically to the special account that has been set up in Tom Starr's name minus the PayPal fees.

In my next update to come shortly, I will have some exciting developments to share with you regarding the establishment and ongoing official development of our ministry. Please remember how much you all mean to me. You're in my thoughts and prayers often. One last thing, if you see me post the link to this note several times on my Facebook page during the week, it is because I know many of you look at Facebook at different times of the day, and this message can get lost in the midst of all the feed. I have no desire to hassle anyone. Thank you again so much for taking the time to hear my heart and consider my request.

Friends and Your Calling: How They Relate

Anyone who has been a Christian for very long at all quickly discovers two sometimes seemingly contradictory ideas to be true. First, Christians need the support of each other in order to thrive in a world that is often hostile to Christian beliefs. Second, if we are going to fulfill our God-given destiny and affect the world around us for Christ through our specific calling, we must allow God to place us in environments that are often hostile toward what we believe and hold dear. How does one resolve this dilemma? The account of the first recorded miracle after Pentecost provides some key insights.

After two disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, had done a good deed by healing a man who had been unable to walk from birth, they found themselves unwillingly before hostile leadership to account for their actions. These "leaders" knew that the excellence and godly character of these men threatened their power base, and they were going to do anything necessary to stop them. In an effort to curtail the rapidly growing influence, the establishment leaders had these men unjustly whipped for healing a disabled man in Jesus' name. Talk about injustice! Following their unjust treatment, I see four options Peter and John had available to them, three negative, (but certainly understandable), and one positive, (but requiring a huge sacrifice on their part).

First, they could have denied Christ concluding that any person not able or willing to shield them from such abuse was not worthy of their worship. This would have merely confirmed the views of the religious leaders who believed Jesus to be a fraud.

Second, they could have simply laid low and essentially concealed their light by giving up on their mission without actually denying Christ outright. This would have been tantamount to quitting – giving up on the mission altogether. It would not have been as severe as denying Christ publicly, but their chances of having any real influence the world around them would have been next to nothing. Ideally, they could at least live life as a "follower" of Christ without endangering their lives or the lives of their family members. Few could have blamed them if they had opted for this strategy. The chances are they could have found people sympathetic to the message of Christ, who nonetheless, would have encouraged this approach for the safety of themselves and their families. It is a very common strategy in many workplace environments today and it greatly hinders the spread of the gospel because people fail to see any real difference between the believers and unbelievers. Thankfully, Peter and John rejected this option and you and I are recipients of the gospel today because they rejected this option.

Finally, on the negative side of things, they could have chosen to go back to their friends and act like victims of an obviously unjust system. They could have even "spiritualized" their ranting and complaining by praying for divine vengeance against those "evil leaders" or even more nobly, acting like martyrs. Thankfully, Peter and John rejected all of these options in favor of a much more positive response that ultimately impacted generations.

Peter and John wisely went back to their godly friends, not to complain, but for positive support. Rather than emphasizing the negative that happened to them, their friends rallied around them by helping them to stay focused on the importance of the mission in spite of the injustice. True, they openly acknowledged the injustice, but it never became the primary focus. Notice what happened on their release:

“On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. ‘Sovereign Lord,’ they said, ‘you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.”’ ‘Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly Act4:23-32).

These friends did what all true friends do: they acknowledged their pain while keeping them focused on their calling. They did this through their intentional prayer and close- knit fellowship. We all need friends who can encourage us, speak into our life, and keep us focused on our calling regardless of the situations we face trying to do God’s will. Two or three good friends who will keep you focused are worth more than 1 million friends who will let you give up! We should make it our goal in seasons of relative ease and prosperity to build quality friendships that will walk with us during the times of spiritual challenge and famine. At the same time, we shouldlimit the influence of well-meaning people who have no appreciation for our mission. These people are part of our mission field, not our true friends. Our true friends, (including those we have to connect with long-distance), will serve as divinely sent lights to help us walk through the paths of darkness. We need people who do this for us, and we need to set the example by being there for others first.

God has called us to be bright lights in an otherwise dark world. Oral Roberts, founding president of Oral Roberts University, expressed that this way in his understanding of God's call on the University: "raise up your students to hear my voice and go where my light is seen dim and my voice is heard small and my power is not known…" That expression in many ways articulates what God desires to do with all of us. Whether it is being kind to a rude customer for a few minutes, or learning to love and obstinate coworker we rub up against daily, or being a loyal friend to another believer in need, God wants us to realize we are always on mission and every minute matters.