Christmas Psalm of the Disconnected...and those sent to call them home

Another disconnected number,

Another voice mail not set up.

Never see the folks at worship,

Did they really need this stuff?

People took their hard earned money,

And were generous beyond belief,

Just to see the food and presents go unclaimed,

When many prayed they’d bring relief.

But let’s not be too hasty,

Let compassion and mercy reign.

Not everyone can remember,

How to get back to the church again.

Even if they remember

Or just take a gander or a guess,

They still have to go through those doors,

Why can’t they send it UPS?

I don’t want to go in that building

It brings on a different sort of pain

The people are ever so friendly,

But keep calling on the Name.

Yes, it’s the name of Jesus

And they call him all the time

I know that I should follow him

But I’m still looking for a sign.

Those people who follow Jesus

They also call him Lord,

Though they preach forgiveness and love,

It seems Jesus brought a sword.

It’s one that severs with both edges

It divides muscle, heart, and soul.

And if I don’t outrun it,

I will soon lose all control.

And be forced to face up to my life,

As I’ve never done before.

But if I can get my stuff and get gone,

I will go flying out that door.

Back to the land of comfort,

Keeping a safe distance from God.

But the people just keep on coming,

Now look where the saints have trod.

They have come even to my door step

Good news and tidings they must bring.

But I just want to be left alone,

Please don’t let them sing.

About a babe born in a manger,

And no crib for this King’s bed.

Please just let them go to the next house.

And I’ll go slip off in to bed.

For Christmas is about Santa,

And not some tale of old.

Christmas brings visions of video games,

They are the new silver and gold.

But these people keep on calling,

They just won’t go away,

They say that are called to bring good news

About this coming Christmas Day.

I am so not ready to talk about God you see,

I must put this elf upon the shelf.

Besides these people will just tell me,

That life is more than living for myself.

If I can just get the food and presents

Without having to listen to their spiel;

Then I will have a holly jolly Christmas,

I mean really, what could their words reveal?

It is the same old story,

That my parents used to tell,

About a God of glory, and

A love they knew so well.

But I’m on my own and doing fine,

Well except for the bills and rent.

But I’m not ready for the story

Of God with us in his first advent.

It is the story of the ages

Told in this modern century.

So many people living without God,

Despite the saints bringing news to set them free.

So where does that leave the commissioned,

Who have heard no time and time before.

Why the same place that they started,

Bringing good news to every door.

So we wish you a Merry Christmas

And the best in the New Year.

Our prayers are always with you,

That God grants you ears to hear.

Merry Christmas!

Believe the Good News!

When the Lord returns, he will find me...

We are on a mission to connect the disconnected right here in our own communities, but as we do that let us not forget the blessings of modern technology.

We are already connected to people all over the globe.  What should we do with these connections?

How about we declare that the Lord Reigns!

The Lord Reigns!

Let us declare his glory to the nations.  We have so many vehicles for that.  A few keystrokes and we have declared the glory of the Lord to this world that he has established.

The Lord Reigns!

Sing a new song to him today.

Find a place to worship him.

Make an offering to him.

Know that one day he will judge the earth and because you will be judged by the righteousness of Jesus, you can look forward to that day with joyful anticipation.

The Lord reigns!

I will proclaim his glory to the nations.

I will lift up to him a new song.

When the Lord comes to judge the earth, he will find me singing songs to him and proclaiming his glory.

Come Lord Jesus!

Come!

Psalm 96

Hump day?

We used to call this hump day.  Wednesday was the midpoint in the traditional work week.

Traditional work week, what’s that?  Touché.   Point taken.

These days, Wednesday is a day between Man Crush Monday and Throwback Thursday or MCM and TBT if you must.

It is also the day the Lord has made so we are glad and we rejoice in it.  For those of us on a mission from God—actually, commissioned by Jesus would be more precise—we are also on the lookout for people who have never truly heard the gospel for the first time.

We are tuned in to those who have heard and may have even accepted Jesus as their Savior but who just have not connected with a family of faith.  Inertia is a fact of life and it is tough to get a body at rest in motion, but we keep on keepin’ on in our efforts to lead people back into the Body of Christ.

Why?

We are on a MISSION FROM GOD!

Spread the gospel!

Connect the disconnected.

Love everyone in the family of faith like it was going out of style.

Hump day, not so much.

A day to proclaim the good news, connect the disconnected, and to love one another as much as Jesus loves us; you betcha, that is the day where we find ourselves.

Now, what are we going to do about it?

Trifocals

We as Christians are wearing trifocals.  They may not be in style this year, but they give us eyes to see three distinct groups of people in the world we live in.

There are those who may have never heard the gospel.  We bring good news of life in Jesus Christ to them.  This is something we do every day.  We are thoroughly equipped for this good work by the word of God and by his own Spirit.  We proclaim the gospel wherever we go.

There are those who have heard the good news and maybe even said a prayer asking for the salvation of the Lord, but they have not responded to this great gift of grace.  They live for themselves and apart from the Body of Christ.  This is where our mission is to connect the disconnected.  We help them come to live in a family of faith and we help disciple them.

And there are those of us who have received the gift of grace and respond by giving our entire lives back to God—whatever he desires from us.  We are a living sacrifice.  We are disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are the Body of Christ.  We love each other more than the world can imagine.  People on the outside looking in should desire what we have over what the world offers.  We are the tightest family on the planet; yet we are always ready to welcome another brother or sister in Christ.

Yep, trifocals give us eyes to see in this post modern world.

The vending machine is broken

Gotta git the kids to school

It’s the best day care around

Can’t go to work

Or they cut my welfare down.

Gotta git some money

So I go to the church

It feels kinda funny

But I’ve been through worse.

If I act like I’m am hurting

Wearing tattered clothes that I keep clean

And tell the preacher my man’s deserting

Maybe he’ll open the vending machine.

I’m squirming in my seat—it seems a little warm

But I go through the motions trying not to pout

Filled in all the blanks so I hand the man the form

I’ve played the came so the money comes out.

But it seems I’m getting nothing

It’s like someone pulled out the rug

The man looks at me and says,

The machine’s unplugged.

I start to panic and my eyes open wide

While he smiles and takes the Bible from the table

I want to git out or find a place to hide

The man says that the machine only enabled.

This is not the way I like it

I want to get my cash and go

Just a quick in and out—licitly split

But that’s all changed you know.

The rhythm’s not forced but natural

It’s not transactional in nature

Another person is connecting with me

Not just for now but for hereafter.

Preacher man’s talking living water and the bread of life as well

He’s not tempting me with heaven or scaring me with hell

But talking of this life in the here and now

How it could be lived more fully, would I like to know how?

My defenses kick in right away, longing for my vending machine

But I am challenged to live with purpose and not just for what pleases me.

I need to run for cover or just make a fast break for the door.

But my phone is on the table and my purse is on the floor.

Why is this so awkward—why so stinkin hard?

I wouldn’t even be here if I could get a credit card.

But the man just keeps on talking about giving my whole life to God

I’ll jump out through the window if he sings “Where the saints have trod.”

I just don’t want this connection—want to get my cash and go.

But the machine is not working, or so he tells me so.

But it is my disconnection that makes this so, so hard

The church has become the church again and not a credit card.

She has reclaimed her identity speaking truth in love again

Light and love and purpose trying to rescue me from sin

But I will have none of it, I will not fall for this sham

I am walking out that door right now, I’ll show them who I am.

But then I listened for but a moment and he tells me I am God’s child

That my Father loves me more than I deserve and I begin to cry

For though I came for money, I knew it wouldn’t last

When I finally listened I learned that I was not shackled by my past.

That in the name of Jesus, I was truly set free

Not from troubles of the world, but having to carry them you see

For this world will bring on its trouble and I’ll still have my part

But the words that reached to my core were the two that said, take heart!

If I get this bill paid somehow, I know that I will have more

I have not lived by God’s wisdom, haven’t even let it in the door

But in spite of all my troubles and beyond the height of all of my pain

I heard that Daddy loves me and I am ready to live again.

I thought I needed money when I came into the church

I thought the broken machine would leave me in the lurch

But somehow, someway, God’s way began to make some sense

When my eyes became wide open all I could do was repent.

For I know my Father loves me forever and even now

I know that I rejected him but he took that away somehow

And I know that I must seek his kingdom and also seek his ways

And leave the pity parties for those who remain blind unto this day.

I know that I am not alone, God’s Spirit walks with me.

And when I gather with some others, Jesus is there you see.

And the whole fellowship of believers welcomes me as their own

Now that I am connected, I never feel alone.

Somehow that billed got paid and I never knew by whom

Somehow my hurt has faded and my heart has lots of room

For Jesus and his family that took me in that day

I don’t want to go back the way I was now that I walk in his way.

This could have ended differently, I could have walked away

In fact that is just what I did, I can finally bring myself to say

I had come to see the preacher man to use his vending machine

When he told me it was broken, I left after making a big and bitter scene.

But an hour later as I approached the local store

Some kids were smiling and ran ahead of me to open up the door

And then they said God loves me and each gave me a big hug

Who are these kids who took my anger with a single heart’s tug?

Then before the day was over my neighbor came to see

If you can believe this, to see if all was well with me

We’ve only waved as we passed in the street and not spoken much before

But without thinking much about it, I opened up my door.

My heart was breaking and I was shaking why I didn’t know

I was in the safety of my own home, but surely wanted just to go

But here I was crying and talking and even opening up

I usually don’t get this way without some 90 proof in my cup.

But there it was all out and spoken, I readied for the worst

Here’s comes my judgment and my sentence, I am guilty in the first

Instead came mercy and kindness full of sincerity

In my tears I lost my blindness and knew that I was free.

I could not run away from God, he pursued me at every turn

Not so he could judge me and send me off to burn

But so that I would know his love and how deep and wide it is

And that in spite of all I’ve done, I am forever his.

I never heard a booming voice or saw a burning bush

His finger etched me no commandments—that would have been a rush

But in children and in neighbors and in the truth spoken in love

I felt my God’s Spirit come upon me as his descending Dove.

Now I am connected to the body, believers one and all

Though they all still have their troubles, some big and some ever so small

But we don’t throw pity parties, we pray and help and love

We encourage one another as brothers and sisters with Christ above.

I wonder what would have happened if the church had just paid my bill

I could have been smartly on my way living according to my own will

But I am thankful for the truth spoken to me full of love

And thankful for the fellowship I know now and will know some day above.

Disconnect Notice

DISCONNECT NOTICE

We panic when we see this hanging on our front door.

Did we forget to pay the water bill?

Have we gotten too far behind with our electric?

Please don’t disconnect us.  It is such a pain to get everything turned back on again.

Please, please, please let me get this figured out before I am disconnected!

That’s how we get sometimes.  We don’t like being disconnected.  We get angry when our internet service says cannot connect.

What audacity to tell me that I cannot connect with the cyberworld.  I have a selfie that I need to post!

And then there is the dropped call.  Even with 3 cell towers  every 10 miles, we still get disconnected.

We don’t like being disconnected.

We don’t like it!

That is, of course, with the exception of being disconnected from the Body of Christ.  So many don’t want to be connected with the most important connection of their lives.

Why?

Because they have become comfortable with the connections of the world.  They say that they believe in Jesus but Jesus is not their Lord.

Sadly, people follow the prince of this age.  They say they follow Jesus but worship their comfort zones.

They say they pray to Jesus but they live for the god of this world.

They say Jesus but follow the ways of Satan.

If they paid their water bill on time but got salt water instead of fresh water, they would be screaming bloody murder at the town hall.

But when Jesus paid the price for their sin and they decided they were too attached to the patterns of the world; they remain disconnected from real life.

Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers, but why do those who say they believe remain blinded to the truth?

·         Because they choose to be.  They choose blindness.  They choose darkness over light.

·         Because living in the truth will demand that Jesus be Lord.

·         Because living in the light is very hard—at first.

·         Because hopelessness is what they know.

That dog don’t hunt!

It is time for Christians  everywhere to lead people out of the dark into the light and not let go of them while they get through the tough part of living in the truth.  Sounds a lot like detox, doesn’t it?

Throwing scriptures at them won’t help.

Countless barrages of I told you so won’t get them there.

Paying the bill one more time won’t help.

Follow me is what it will take.  These are the words of Jesus.  We should use them more often as we bring others to follow him.  Don’t just give them advice and directions.  Lead!

C’mon, we’ll do this together is the attitude that will bring people home.  Lead!

It’s not all about Sunday morning.  Come with us and see what it is to live for God every day.  I want you to know my joy.  Lead!

You had better believe it is going to be work.  It is the kind of work that comes with doing purposeful things.  It won’t seem like work.  When you accept Jesus really is your Master, his work is easy.  Burdens are light.  You can do what he wants and these things are not burdens to us.  Lead!

How can I lead?

I will help you put aside your doubt and see what it is like to walk with God’s Spirit and enjoy the fellowship of living in community.  We are not in this alone.

I will help you with the how to part of this.  God wants to give you his wisdom.  Once you live in his grace and by his wisdom, you will know fantastic things in your life.

I will help you get rid of the stuff that is weighing you down.  You won’t believe how wonderful it feels to be living the life God wants you to live without all carrying around all the junk we try to hold on to.

Remember that connecting the disconnected is about bringing those who have already professed Jesus as their Savior into the family that truly follows him as Lord.

Connect the Disconnected!

Wisdom says use your gifts and talents to connect the disconnected

People in these parts are generous.

They help those who need help.

We who administer the help—aka the church—are called to do more than logistics.  We are God’s people and God gives us wisdom generously when we ask him.

That wisdom says that in all of our ministries we are to connect the disconnected.  Ministry is not about how much food we give out but about people receiving and responding to the Bread of Life.  It is about the Living Water that will quench their thirst eternally.

Wisdom says it is not about how many children received school supplies but about the families that they return to at the end of the school day being connected to the church better than they are to the internet.

Wisdom says that Trunk or Treat can be fun, but more than candy and spooky looking costumes, children need something more substantial than candy.  When children come, they need to experience God’s love.  The parents who come with them need to know that their lives are like the empty calories in Halloween candy without Jesus.  Those who follow Jesus need to speak the truth in love with them.

Wisdom says that going to the ball game and sitting next to people who are disconnected from the Body of Christ and not helping them connect is like watching them drown.

Wisdom says that not doing what we are commissioned to do because it makes us and others uncomfortable is a sign that we have conformed to the patterns of this world.  Ouch!

What do you call a Christian who has conformed to the patterns of this world?  I don’t know.  It is a condition that truly should not exist.

We have one Master and one Lord and one Savior.  He said, “Follow me.”  He commissioned us to take his love and salvation into the world.  We who follow form the Body of Christ and that family of faith does our Master’s work in the world today.

We must not conform to the patterns of this world because they make us and others uncomfortable.  We must do God’s work until it is the pattern of the world that causes us discomfort.

That means that we connect with the disconnected and bring them into the Body of Christ where they can receive encouragement, counseling, discipline, education, fellowship, and so many opportunities to truly serve our Lord.

We always have food and school supplies and even money to help where needed but these must be put to use wisely and produce a return for our Master.  We must use the talents that our Lord gave us through his people, and connect the disconnected.

Our time, talents, and treasures have little intrinsic value.  Their value comes in how we put them to work for the Kingdom of God.

CONNECT THE DISCONNECTED!