At All Times

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” 

Proverbs 17:17 (ESV)

One of the three Greek words for friendship is “phileo”, from which our city of Philadelphia is named.  Friendship is a double-edged sword.  A true friend loves at all times, the Scriptures say.  This was one of the first Sunday School verses I was ever taught.

“All times” means in happiness and in sorrow, in abundance and in need, in sickness and in health, in bewilderment and in joyful amazement.

Day before yesterday I finished studying Philippians; and then, yesterday, honestly, I was too busy to write a post, as the day was consumed with the team’s preparations for a church-wide “dinner on the grounds” to honor our pastor and his family.  There has been a supernatural degree of upheaval at our church recently.  Because of this, it was very important for the church family to join together and love on our pastor and on one another.

God showed up.

Rarely, have I had the opportunity to, first of all, have such awesome and true friends.  Every single one of my pastor’s family members, from the very youngest to the most senior, sets my spirit ablaze!  It is my privilege to co-minister with them all, to pray for their ministries, work in their ministries, financially support their ministries because, they are “the real deal”.  I know that God has amazing plans for each and every one of them, and I just pray to continue to have a part in what He is going to do.  (Romans 8:31)

So!  A party for nearly 500 people…outside at a public park!  You know, there is a time to plan and to coordinate and to request help and …. to just then step out of the way. 

This week’s topic at The Loft is “Still”.  (You can find The Loft at leahadams.org) We can plan and plan and then be anxious over our planning.  (I prayed Philippians 4 a lot yesterday!  Again, God had me in His Word exactly where He needed me to be…)  But, things go best when we obey His leading to exercise the gifts He gave us, and then still ourselves to simply “let God be God.”

There were miracles last night.

First of all, the main entrée was hotdogs, which we invited Sunday School classes to donate.  Our church runs approximately 700 in worship in recent months.  About 450 hotdogs were donated, and only about 200 people had rsvp’ed to the event.  We were laughing about all those hotdogs!  But, you know what?  Like the loaves and fishes, less than 30 “dawgs” were left over.  God knew how many we would need.

I went through the food line last and was still able to fix myself a hotdog and a full plate of food, plus dessert!

Did I mention this event was held outside?  In mid-July?  At 5:30, it was 95 degrees.   By the time the event began at 6:30, though, the shade had overtaken the area, with a gentle breeze had begun to blow.

And, at the end, when the last speaker was sharing about deep, decades-long friendship and the closing prayer was being prayed, the wind whipped up as if the Holy Spirit Himself was blowing through the souls of the people as they stood to bless this precious group of loved ones. (Numbers 6:24-26)  I believe He WAS there, blowing through our hearts throughout the evening.

Miracles occurred in hearts.

“Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the heathen.  I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

Abba Father, when we seek Your will, to align our meandering wills with Your perfect will, and when we follow You in obedience, then it is time to step out of the way and be still…to be still and watch You do Your marvelous, spotless, grace-filled miracles.  The greatest miracle of all is how You love us with a love that will never be fully understood by us, because it defies our human capabilities.  I am not only grateful for how You have loved me, but more so for how You have given me the opportunity to love others, in Jesus name.  May Your name be praised, today and through all of eternity. Amen.

Binding Up Broken Hearts

It is very late here at Casa del Hood.  The day ending has been long and arduous.  About 30 hours ago, I received an urgent call from an institution with which my church is affiliated.  A member of that group was dying, and the loved ones needed sustaining, loving care.  It was an honor to be asked to help in this time of intense sorrow.

The dear one has since passed on into the arms of God. Tomorrow, I will go again to share the love of Jesus Christ, this time with extended family as well as with friends.  I hope you will pardon my absence from this blog, in large part, while assisting in this critical situation.  There are opportunities to share the gospel and to comforting the hurting.  In other words, opportunities to "practice what I preach".  How blessed is that?

The irony was not lost on me that, in the last post, I wrote about death being the final enemy to be vanquished.  And then, a few hours later, this situation presented itself.  (Please forgive the lack of detail.  Many local people read my blog; for this reason, I must be sensitive to the needs of others.) Today, death claimed one more victim, although she was young, loyal, caring, sassy and determined.

But, death does not get the final word, nor the victory.

In just a moment, before heading to bed, I'm going to write the family a letter, to let them know what beautiful things I witnessed concerning their loved one today, what a privilege it was to grieve with their friends.  I pray that He will give me just the right words...words that will build a "caring bridge".

If you are reading this in "real time", please pray for me and for the others, connected heart-to-heart at this time.  Please pray that Jesus Christ will be glorified, that love will flow freely, that judgment will be banished, that memories will be shared, and finally, that hearts will find the beginnings of healing.  Thank you, friends.

He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Holy Hugs All 'Round

Yesterday, as on most Wednesday mornings now, I posted at what is becoming one of my favorite sites, leahadams.org.  Leah, although I've not met her in person, is such a gracious Christian sister!  I hope to meet her in person this summer and learn at her feet a bit.  She has a feature on her blog that allows other bloggers to "chime in" on an announced topic.  That feature is called The Loft.

The topic yesterday was "Friendship", and I thought about that as I read Romans 16:1-16.  We find ourselves at the end of the wonderful book of Romans.  I hope my personal study of it has blessed you over these past two months.  Tomorrow's post will bring us to the final installment in this series.

In these sixteen verses, Paul sends "holy hugs" to those people of the Roman house-churches whom he knows most well.  Some of them were in prison with him (vs.7).  He lived with some as a houseguest (vs. 3) for some time.  One was a mother-figure to him (vs. 13).  And on and on.

But, the common characteristic all these folks share is that they not only profess a love for Jesus Christ, but they are "pulling on the same team" with Paul.  They all have the same focus.  Most are commended for hard work and personal sacrifice for the sake of the spreading of the gospel.

All this reminds me of some of my far-flung friends, whose hearts are knit to mine.  Most are new friends, whom I've met through the missions emphasis of the wonderful church Hubster and I attend. Here are a few to whom I'd like to give holy hugs this morning, since I can't give them one in person.

• Justin and Brittany and kids - - - missionaries planting a church in the Bywater area of New Orleans.
• Miss Hilda - - - who preaches the gospel to prisoners and encourages them, in the NOLA area
• Alexandra, Coop and Rachel - - - students at NOBTS, helping also with the Bywater church
• Lana and Andrew - - - planting a church way across town, among thousands of refugees
• Judy and Gary - - - always on the look-out for opportunities to minister to those of the Muslim faith
• Cesar and Gabi, Fio and Jorge, Vale and Matteo, Gloria, Vivi, Rolans and Friene - - with Zona Zegura and Village of the Children ministries in Cusco and Cachora, Peru
• Donna - - - laboring in the wilds of British Columbia
• Erick, Steve, Leon, Mark, Barbara, Teri, Erin, Leah, Jerralea - - - telecommunications/internet evangelists extraordinaire!

All these (and others) have my heart and my prayers, that God will expand and explode your ministries as you faithfully serve Him.

Like Paul's list, these are my "list of stars".  But, you know, we can all be shining stars for the Savior. These on Paul's list were merely doing what they had been called to do.

Take Phoebe, for instance.  In some translations, she is described as a deaconess. Therefore, Romans 16:1-2 is used by some to argue that churches should have female deacons or elders.  Regardless of how you believe about that, let's not argue about it.  What is in a title, after all?  If you want to be a "deaconess", Gals, then serve like one!  The Lord Jesus' "well done" can't be matched by any earthly title anyway.  It is He you serve, and His commendations alone you should seek.  All else is merely fleshly pride, in my book; and I know, because I am so susceptible to it.

Well, brothers and sisters, no matter where or how you serve the Lord, build each other up in the faith today and pray "like there is no tomorrow", because...who knows?  The Lord Himself may descend from Heaven with a shout today!  And, even if He does not, we are not promised the next "tomorrow".  "Work while it is yet day...." (John 9:4)  and have a blessed one!

Father, I thank you for my brothers and sisters in the faith, who work hard to advance Your kingdom, exercising their spiritual gifts, being the Bride of Christ.  Your Beloved is so beautiful in Your eyes, Lord Jesus!  Amen.