Midnight Calls

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Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him. Then he will reply from inside, ‘Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though the man inside will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s sheer persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. Luke 11:5-8

Only a few things top the heart-pounding, fear-wrenching anxiety of being shocked out of deep sleep in the middle of the night. On our recent Kenya trip, Connie’s cell phone startled her awake in the middle of the night and her first thoughts are always, “What has happened”? Thankful it was only a mistake, but it took several minutes to calm down and fall asleep again.

Hillary Clinton understood the power of midnight calls during her 2008 campaign and ran a TV ad featuring a couple of kids soundly sleeping in their beds.  The campaign message was playing off the urgency of midnight calls. The ad started, “It’s 3:00 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep.” Then you hear a phone ringing in the White House and then the announcer says, “who do you want answering the phone?”

Over the years I have never answered a midnight call with the news that I won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstake. If I take out the few midnight calling mistakes, the rest have been those heart-stopping moments. Granted the midnight calls can be either tragic or joyful, but regardless, they are life-changing. The midnight calls that bring tragic news seem to be a little darker and more hopeless.

One of the most devasting midnight calls came when we lived in Oklahoma City with news that our pastor and his wife had been murdered and their children left for dead. Midnight calls such as this leave you without sleep. Fear and anxiety slowly take you to places in your mind and soul that create unrest. Though morning comes slowly, it does come because of the assurance that “God is our strong refuge; he is truly our helper in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

You can only answer those midnight calls with hope when you have done the work needed in the daylight hours of life. Knowing you will someday face those inevitable midnight calls require you to take the time to stock your inner soul. C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity said, “To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?”

The midnight call will come but we know “The LORD is near the brokenhearted he delivers those who are discouraged.” (Psalm 34:18 NET)

The midnight call will come but we know “Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-24 CSB)

The midnight call will come but we know “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10

Personally, I don’t look forward to answering those midnight calls but I know they will come. I must do the hard work of getting the candles ready for the night.  We have the Bible, not to be used as a lucky charm but God’s word that gives us encouragement, comfort, and hope. We have each other to wait with us through the night. We have the gift of prayer that allows us 24-7 access to the One that “neither slumber nor sleep.” Yet, the most significant light we have in the dark is God himself who goes with us through the darkest valley, so “I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

“My life is but a weaving between my God and me. I cannot choose the colors, He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow and I in foolish pride forget He sees the upper And I the underside.

Not ‘til the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares; nothing this truth can dim. He gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him”. –Corrie ten Boom—Life is but a weaving’

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Cor 1:3-4)

God is great!

 

 

Is this the time?

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So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.” So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up from the sea.” I Kings 18:42-44a (CSB)

The people of God had grown spiritually lethargic, and Elijah called them out for it with the challenge, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.” (I Kings 18:21) In a dramatic display of God’s power, Elijah single handed confronted the prophets of Baal and won a decisive victory for God.

What do you do after such a spectacular display of God’s power? You retreat in prayer. Elijah the prayer warrior climbed the summit of Carmel to wait to hear from God. Time after time he heard the words, “there’s nothing.” Finally, Elijah heard the simple words, “a cloud as small as a man’s hand.” Praying is hard work and we often don’t know what to look for in an answer. Then that moment came, when, “the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour.”

Is there a small cloud coming up from the sea at Asbury University? If you haven’t seen the reports, there has been an unusual movement of God on this small Christian college in Wilmore, Kentucky. Senior student Alexandra Presta said, “I was in chapel on Wednesday, and it was an ordinary chapel service…. we have them three times a week. But then…people just kept worshiping afterwards. It was a small group of students.” Since February 8, there has been a continuous worship service that has gripped students, professors and now people from around the world. They linger in the presence of God, testify of God’s glory, confess, repent and seek God.

Asbury Professor Thomas McCall writes, “The holy love of the triune God is apparent, and there is an inexpressible sweetness and innate attractiveness to it. It is immediately obvious why no one wants to leave and why those who must leave want to come back as soon as they can…. In previous revivals, there has always been fruit that has blessed both the church and society. For instance, even secular historians acknowledge that the Second Great Awakening was pivotal to bringing about the end of slavery in our country. Likewise, I look forward to seeing what fruit God will bring from such a revival in our generation.”

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1-2 NIV)

A group of 24 men and 24 women met to pray on August 27, 1727 and agreed to spend an hour each day in prayer, covering all 24 hours of the day, seven days a week. This small group of Moravian believers set in motion what would become known as the “Hundred-Year Prayer Meeting.” Out of this fervent focus on prayer, the foundation was laid for a spiritual awakening in the 1800s. Dr. Nathan Finn writes, “The Moravians became the tip of the spear for evangelical global missions.”

“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God because they will return to me with all their heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7 CSB)

The words of Ezekiel still ring true in our day, “This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. I will honor the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the LORD—this is the declaration of the Lord God—when I demonstrate my holiness through you in their sight.” (Ezekiel 36:22-23 CSB)

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalm 139:23-24 CSB)

Skeptical or hopeful. Young or old. Churched or unchurched. We can’t help but cry out in desperation at the events that overwhelm us in our nation and around the world. Lord, fall fresh on us today. Only You can bring life, hope, and joy. We desperately cry out to you today!

God is great!

Springs of Life

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My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:20-23 (NASB)

Water! The lifeline for life. As a general rule, an adult can usually live only three days without water. You can live without food much longer than without water. According to The Global Burden of Disease, a major global study on health factors, 1 out of 4 people do not have access to safe drinking water. Unsafe water is responsible for an estimated 1.2 million deaths each year. UNICEF reports that almost 2/3 of the world’s population experiences water scarcity for at least one month each year. Over two billion people live in countries where the water supply is inadequate.

Americans consumed 15 billion gallons of bottled water in 2020 making it the top-selling packaged beverage. Consumption created a $36.3 billion retail sales bonanza for distributors with bottled water sales in the United States topping the total GNP of approximately 96 other nations.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the Bible is filled with verses using water as a metaphor for spiritual life. Understanding that pure water is needed to quench physical thirst, so is the need to spiritually guard our heart, “for from it flow the springs of life.”

I don’t normally write about something that I haven’t watched, so I will give this disclaimer, I didn’t watch this year’s Grammy awards. I am sure there were some good moments within the show and some music-worthy performances, but having read numerous articles on the show’s content and seeing some of the broadcast’s highlights, I am not sure it would have been a healthy source of living water for me.

Kees Postma, a Dutch pastor in his book, “The Retreat: A lighthearted and humorous story about a soul searching pastor,” writes “We men (and women) are quite good at protecting what we have. We take out insurance on almost everything we own. We have burglar alarm systems and video doorbells protecting our property, and baseball bats or something equivalent hidden upstairs should it happen that one breaks into our house. But Scripture points our attention to one other thing that we should guard with all we have in us, and that’s our heart. That’s where our insecurities, our hopes and dreams for the future are stored.”

Postma tells a parable about the fictitious village of Wellsprings. It is a perfect little close community that has been there for generations and offers safety to those within its borders. Houses are perfectly maintained, the people are neatly dressed and all the cars are without any dents or scratches. Visitors are amazed at the city’s spotless perfection from no weeds in the yards to no stains on the kid’s clothes. “We will guard everything we own with all vigilance, for in it we find safety and security.”

Yet through the years, the villagers prized only the outward appearance and no one took a concern for the inner workings until the stench of death became overwhelming as several of its citizens died from lead poisoning from the water. Pipes that should have brought clean life-giving water brought deadly water. Instead of maintaining the source of water, the citizens cared only for outward appearances. They will eventually understand that “It is better to guard the inside with all vigilance than brushing up the outside. Better is an old tap with clean water than a designer one with contaminated water running through it.”

Just as a city must protect the water source, more so should we guard our hearts with all diligence. We can be Hollywood styled, have a picture-perfect physique, and drive a classy car, yet walk around with a dead heart. Jesus confronted the Pharisees, who were lovers of material things by saying, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts.” –Luke 16:14-15

Gary Chapman, long-time pastor, and writer said of himself that he prays, “God, keep my heart. Because if God keeps your heart, and your heart beats with his heart, you’re not going to get very far off the road.”

If the general rule is you can live only three days without water, imagine what happens if you don’t replenish your heart regularly? Instead of “springs of life” our hearts become cesspools of “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander” according to Jesus. (Matthew 15:16-20)

The Gospel of John captures the beautiful and life-changing encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Instead of being able to rest during the mid-day heat like the other women, we read the story of this broken woman who bears the pain of her past carrying her pots to the well in the heat of the day. Yet she will find in her search for physical water the ultimate gift of living water. Jesus said, “But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” (John 4:14)

Just as the woman came to the well thirsty, we live in an age when people are coming thirsty but are going to dry wells. The world’s attention may have been focused on the Grammys but God was doing something unique among the students on the campus of Asbury University in Kentucky. What began as a routine chapel service on February 8, 2023, has become a unique outpouring of God’s presence that is touching the lives of students on campus and around the world. Fifty-three years ago, on the same campus, when the nation faced similar conditions of violence, racial division and hatred, a movement of God was felt! Could this be the time when we again see a fresh movement of God?

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”—Jesus

Come, Lord Jesus!
God is great!

Today belongs to Tomorrow, Living Life in the Transitions

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May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17 (NIV)

Lucile Randon, also known as Sister Andre, passed away recently in Toulon, France. Chances are you may not have known about her since she didn’t run in the circle of the rich, powerful, or famous. What made her famous was her age. This humble nun died at the age of 118, having been the world’s oldest known person for a brief moment. Sister Andre was born during the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt, a year after the first baseball World Series game and four years before Henry Ford introduced the Model T.  Sister Andre lived through two major global wars, countless other smaller wars, and thousands of world leaders. She finally retired at 108 but continued to help others in the nursing home where she lived.

Maltbie Babcock died in 1901 three years before Sister Andre was born. Babcock was an American pastor but unlike sister Andre, he died at 42. Yet in his short life, he understood that “Part of today belongs to tomorrow, as the seed belongs to the shoot, as the foundation belongs to the building. So today owes its best to tomorrow, for not to do right today may ruin tomorrow. But the reverse is not true. Tomorrow cannot ruin today. Time’s wheel does not run backward. Banish, then, fore-boding and anxious forecast, and fill to today with faithful work, with kindness and courage and hope; and so you will keep tomorrow from being a marplot, and make it a good, honest today when it comes.” (excerpt from Babcock’s book, Thoughts for Every-Day Living. Adjusted some word spellings to accommodate 21st century Grammarly)

William James, the father of modern psychology, coined the term over 150 years ago that “life is in the transitions.” Bruce Feiler took the term for his book, “Life is in the transitions—Mastering Change at Any Age” writing that “most lives simply do not follow the tidy templates of linearity. They follow a different shape entirely.” Feiler uses the term “disruptors” to describe life events that interrupt the everyday flow of one’s life. Disruptors can be negative such as losing your job, or the death of a loved one but can also be considered positive such as starting a new career or moving into a different house. “Disruptors are simply deviations from daily life.”

David Parsons came from a wealthy, influential family, achieved fame as an opera singer, and even married Miss America. Disruptors came to his picture-perfect life causing the wheels to come off. A botched vocal cord surgery ended his stage career, his brother died of AIDS and his dark secret of being an alcoholic since age 11 came to light. Yet another disruptor came when he woke up from a drinking binge, got on his knees, and prayed, “God, please help me not to drink today. If I make it, I’ll thank you tonight and I’ll ask you again tomorrow morning. I haven’t had a drink since that day.”

Now serving as a pastor in New York when asked about the shape of his life, he said, “the cross.” “Every pastor is a theologian of the cross,” he said, “But in my case, I believe in the Jesus story. I know that freaks people out, especially in New York. But I lived a very dissipated life, and now I live a life of service. There was a very specific point in time when God came down and touched my life. That’s the crossroads that led me to where I am today.”

We may or may not live to be 118 but however long we live, we will live life in the transitions. Whether it is age transitions, work transitions, family transitions, societal transitions, death transitions or you “name it” transitions.

As we live in transition, all of us will experience “disruptors” or “lifequakes.” Feiler estimates that a person can expect to experience as an adult, around three dozen, that’s an average of one every 12 to 18 months. What we do with them will be the story we make. Though living life is in the transitions, the good news is that God wants to be with you in the transitions!

God has a pretty good understanding of how to help since from the beginning “all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.” –Psalm 139:16b

Jesus encouraged us that even in the transitions, God had the situation under control and could say, “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” –Matt 6:34

Psalm 90 captures a prayer of Moses as he prayed, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away…Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (10,12 NIV)

Babcock left us “part of today that belongs to tomorrow” in his hymn “This is My Father’s World” which has been sung for generations. “This is my Father’s world, O let me ne’er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet. This is my Father’s world, The battle is not done; Jesus who died shall be satisfied, And earth and heaven be one.” (stanza three, Baptist Hymnal)

Life in the transitions is not always easy, and, seldom what we thought it would be, but what a difference there is when we let God walk with us in the transition! “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” –Matthew 28:20b

God is great!