Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. – Romans 12:12
How’s your hope? Are you patient when the bad times come up? How do you cope? What does it mean to persevere in prayer? How’s your prayer life?
The following is by William M. Buchholz, M.D. and was e-mailed to me.
As I ate breakfast one morning, I overheard two oncologists conversing. One complained bitterly, "You know, Bob, I just don't understand it. We used the same drugs, the same dosage, the same schedule and the same entry criteria. Yet I got a 22 percent response rate and you got a 74 percent. That's unheard of for metastatic cancer. How do you do it?"
His colleague replied, "We're both using Etoposide, Platinum, Oncovin and Hydroxyurea. You call yours EPOH. I tell my patients I'm giving them HOPE. As dismal as the statistics are, I emphasize that we have a chance."
In the movie “Dumb and Dumber” Lloyd asks Mary what his chances are of being able to date her. She says, “Not good.” When he asks if they are about one in a hundred not good she replies, “More like one in a million.” After pausing for a second Lloyd says, “So you’re telling me there is a chance… YEAH!” Some might say he was being optimistic but what he was really being was hopeful. Hopeful that however small the light there is, that there is a light. Paul believed there is always a light, even when it appears nearly extinguished. In that light he always had hope. It is what allowed him while locked in a prison to sing hymns and to pray. May we hold onto that same hope! With it we can do so much more.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Clean Windows
Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn't so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you've done. – Romans 2:1-2 (The Message)
Go ahead and look up some other translation, what does this mean for you? What might Paul be calling you towards? How do you judge others? Do you know you are judging?
This story was e-mailed to me:
A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:
"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."
And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.
I once read, “It is a vital moment of truth when a man discovers that what he condemns most vehemently in others is that to which he himself is prone.” Maybe we aren’t always judging in others the faults that we ourselves have (although we often do), but we use others as a way of making sure we never have to look in the mirror and do some self-assessment. It is easier to point the finger than it is take time working on ourselves, but quite honestly, if we don’t start at home we won’t be able to help anyone else either.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Go ahead and look up some other translation, what does this mean for you? What might Paul be calling you towards? How do you judge others? Do you know you are judging?
This story was e-mailed to me:
A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:
"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."
And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.
I once read, “It is a vital moment of truth when a man discovers that what he condemns most vehemently in others is that to which he himself is prone.” Maybe we aren’t always judging in others the faults that we ourselves have (although we often do), but we use others as a way of making sure we never have to look in the mirror and do some self-assessment. It is easier to point the finger than it is take time working on ourselves, but quite honestly, if we don’t start at home we won’t be able to help anyone else either.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Minister's Minute from July Issue of the Journal of Hope and Joy
I am going to use this space for a couple of things this month. For those of you who look forward to whatever I normally write I apologize but I have to make sure you know some things.
I would love to see you at our 5th Sundays Together on July 31st! If there is one thing the South does better than other places without a doubt it is a potluck… or covered dish… or whatever term you think is best. Before we eat we will have a little time of worship and prayer and song. It is our little way of acting like that first church in the book of Acts, and it is a great way to get to know each other. I’m going to be exhausted from a lack of sleep, and changing diapers, and God knows what else, and can’t wait to see you all that night and just feel at home. Come be at home with me, Jesus is our host.
Also I hope you get a friend to bring to church on our Bring a Friend to Church Sunday on August 7th! I know it is only July but start inviting people now. Get it on their calendar! I’m writing this after our service on June 26th, and it was incredible. Someone came up to me afterwards and said, “I wish I invited my friend to come to this service, he needed it.” Too often we open up the doors of the church and just wait for people to come in. While we wait others are waiting for an invitation. The purpose of having a day for such is to make sure that we give that invitation. There will be giveaways and celebration and maybe someone’s life will change through the power of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.
At some point during this month I will be holding a newborn, a little girl. Perhaps she will be crying, or then again maybe she will be silent, or maybe even asleep. However she is, she will be my daughter, my little one, and I shall rejoice. I think one of the reasons I want to see you all at our church is so that I do not rejoice alone. You see you have all become family to me. I thank my God that I have been able to come to this foreign land and discover family. I thank my God that I have been blessed with children and yet they will not live as aliens, for they have brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord who make sure they have all the family they need.
I think another reason I want to make sure this church is full is because I know there are others who feel all alone in our community. They need some kind of family, some kind of connection… they need us. And quite honestly we need them.
Life is better together, because there is much that we cannot do alone. We try to do a lot of things alone, but that is a mistake. Pain is easier to handle when there are others to hold us up, and joy is better when there are others to share it with. So yes I can’t wait to share my joy with you on our 5th Sunday Together, and I can’t wait to see others who may need this family on that first Sunday in August. Together we will ride the wave of the Holy Spirit into a brighter tomorrow.
Riding that wave now,
Garrett
I would love to see you at our 5th Sundays Together on July 31st! If there is one thing the South does better than other places without a doubt it is a potluck… or covered dish… or whatever term you think is best. Before we eat we will have a little time of worship and prayer and song. It is our little way of acting like that first church in the book of Acts, and it is a great way to get to know each other. I’m going to be exhausted from a lack of sleep, and changing diapers, and God knows what else, and can’t wait to see you all that night and just feel at home. Come be at home with me, Jesus is our host.
Also I hope you get a friend to bring to church on our Bring a Friend to Church Sunday on August 7th! I know it is only July but start inviting people now. Get it on their calendar! I’m writing this after our service on June 26th, and it was incredible. Someone came up to me afterwards and said, “I wish I invited my friend to come to this service, he needed it.” Too often we open up the doors of the church and just wait for people to come in. While we wait others are waiting for an invitation. The purpose of having a day for such is to make sure that we give that invitation. There will be giveaways and celebration and maybe someone’s life will change through the power of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.
At some point during this month I will be holding a newborn, a little girl. Perhaps she will be crying, or then again maybe she will be silent, or maybe even asleep. However she is, she will be my daughter, my little one, and I shall rejoice. I think one of the reasons I want to see you all at our church is so that I do not rejoice alone. You see you have all become family to me. I thank my God that I have been able to come to this foreign land and discover family. I thank my God that I have been blessed with children and yet they will not live as aliens, for they have brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord who make sure they have all the family they need.
I think another reason I want to make sure this church is full is because I know there are others who feel all alone in our community. They need some kind of family, some kind of connection… they need us. And quite honestly we need them.
Life is better together, because there is much that we cannot do alone. We try to do a lot of things alone, but that is a mistake. Pain is easier to handle when there are others to hold us up, and joy is better when there are others to share it with. So yes I can’t wait to share my joy with you on our 5th Sunday Together, and I can’t wait to see others who may need this family on that first Sunday in August. Together we will ride the wave of the Holy Spirit into a brighter tomorrow.
Riding that wave now,
Garrett
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Audacity of Faith
Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you see me. Those who believe without seeing me will be truly blessed." – John 20:29 (NCV)
What do you believe? What is it like to believe in a God you cannot see? Do you wish you could see some proof? What proof would be good enough? How would that change your belief?
This comes from the book, “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom
On this day, Morrie says that he has an exercise for us to try. We are to stand, facing away from our classmates, and fall backward, relying on another student to catch us. Most of us are uncomfortable with this, and we cannot let go for more than a few inches before stopping ourselves. We laugh in embarrassment.
Finally, one student, a thin, quiet, dark-haired girl whom I notice almost always wears bulky, white fisherman sweaters, crosses her arms over her chest, closes her eyes, leans back, and does not flinch, like one of those Lipton tea commercials where the model splashes into the pool..
For a moment, I am sure she is going to thump on the floor. At the last instant, her assigned partner grabs her head and shoulders and yanks her up harshly.
“Whoa!” several students yell. Some clap. Morrie finally smiles. “You see”, he says to the girl, “you closed your eyes, that was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too – even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling”.
Belief and trust go hand in hand. Abraham took God on a promise, and trusted that promise even when all evidence pointed to the contrary. It is true that sometimes faith seems utterly ridiculous, especially when we are looking for something to give us some certainty in the face of uncertain times. Yet all we have is a promise. When life feels like we are falling it is still best to close our eyes and trust in the Promise Maker. Should we do such audacious and ludicrous thing, somehow we will be truly blessed.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
What do you believe? What is it like to believe in a God you cannot see? Do you wish you could see some proof? What proof would be good enough? How would that change your belief?
This comes from the book, “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom
On this day, Morrie says that he has an exercise for us to try. We are to stand, facing away from our classmates, and fall backward, relying on another student to catch us. Most of us are uncomfortable with this, and we cannot let go for more than a few inches before stopping ourselves. We laugh in embarrassment.
Finally, one student, a thin, quiet, dark-haired girl whom I notice almost always wears bulky, white fisherman sweaters, crosses her arms over her chest, closes her eyes, leans back, and does not flinch, like one of those Lipton tea commercials where the model splashes into the pool..
For a moment, I am sure she is going to thump on the floor. At the last instant, her assigned partner grabs her head and shoulders and yanks her up harshly.
“Whoa!” several students yell. Some clap. Morrie finally smiles. “You see”, he says to the girl, “you closed your eyes, that was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too – even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling”.
Belief and trust go hand in hand. Abraham took God on a promise, and trusted that promise even when all evidence pointed to the contrary. It is true that sometimes faith seems utterly ridiculous, especially when we are looking for something to give us some certainty in the face of uncertain times. Yet all we have is a promise. When life feels like we are falling it is still best to close our eyes and trust in the Promise Maker. Should we do such audacious and ludicrous thing, somehow we will be truly blessed.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
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