Waiting

"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14

"I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him." Psalm 37:7

Bella waits late into the night

Our family dog, Bella, doesn't usually come into the house until everyone in the family is home and inside. She's been known to stay outside late into the night waiting for a family member to return. She isn't preoccupied with television or playing games on her smartphone. She just lays in the driveway or sometimes sits in a chair on the porch, laser-focused, staring at the road and waiting for the moment we return. 

Waiting for something is not a highly valued trait in our world today. We have surrounded ourselves with fast-food restaurants, microwave ovens, instapots, high-speed Internet, and streaming media. To be delayed is disturbing. Waiting at airline security, a doctor's office or on-hold can irritate us like a cat meowing at 3 am in the morning. How we have come to expect things to happen so quickly? Why do we think faster is always better?

It's impressive how patiently my dog waits. She is still and quietly waits for the return of her master. There's no clock. No deadline. She just waits.

The Bible verses above all correlate waiting with the LORD.  We are told to "wait for the LORD" and put our hope in His word. Why is this important? Because God's timing is not the same as our timing. We may ask for something now, but God says "wait" for a better time. Part of the reason God's timing is better than ours is that He can see the big picture. He has an overview of our entire life. We don't have that luxury. Another reason it is important to wait on the LORD, is that God is wiser than we are. He knows everything. Our knowledge is limited by our education and experiences. Since God loves us, He has in mind for us what is best. 

So how do we wait on the LORD? Here are some thoughts from the same verses. 

• Be still - Quit running after what isn't happening now. Stop pursuing it. In basketball, the coach will often say, "let the game come to you." Slow down. Stop. Let life come to you. 
• Be Strong - How does one get strong? Exercise. Work out. Strengthen your patience muscle. When you find yourself waiting for something, when it finally occurs, stretch your wait out a little longer. If you're waiting for someone, when they finally come, linger a little longer. Take a few more minutes whenever you find the opportunity to stretch your patience muscle. 
• Take Heart - This means to "take courage." As a warrior or a soldier, we are to be courageous and ready for battle. This goes right along with being strong, but this is more of a mental exercise. Being courageous implies having the faith to believe the wait is not just a good thing, but the best thing, and worth waiting for.

Patience is not easy. And it's even harder when those around you don't practice it. But waiting, especially "waiting on the LORD" is powerful and it pays off. Whatever you may be waiting on today - a relationship to appear or move forward, a job, children, marriage - know that God's timing is always best. Place your hope in God's word and Be still. Wait on the LORD.

Questions

Questions are a powerful method of communication. Unlike a speech, sermon, or monologue, a question is a 2-way road of open dialog. Questions involve give-and-take, back-and-forth sharing of words, ideas, and emotions. 

Jesus tells us to become as a little child. One of the attributes of a child is asking questions. Questions imply a certain amount of humility in admitting you don't know something. A child is always learning and one of the best ways to learn is to ask questions. 

Questions lubricate a conversation. Questions let the other person know you value their thoughts, opinions, and feelings. Questions take a dialog deeper and let the speaker know you are listening and are interested in what they are saying. 

Jesus often began his teaching with a question.

• "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
• "Can the blind lead the blind?"
• "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust...?"
• "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?"

Many times Jesus answered a question with a question. 

• "I'll ask you a question, John's baptism..."
• "Why do you call me good?"
• "Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?"

You may have questions today. Questions about:

• Covid-19 and this pandemic
• Work, finances, or retirement
• God and your faith
• Politics, the upcoming election, and demonstrations

It's okay to ask God questions. He is big enough to handle them. He will listen and he cares. In fact, He wants to hear your questions. Your questions indicate a healthy interest and involvement in spiritual matters and a valid desire to go deeper with God. 

Best Apps for Christian Living

Every year I like to share my list of favorite apps to assist your Christian walk. Our Christian life is one of growth and these apps help you do that. You will find everything here from prayer, preaching, giving, and connecting with your home church. Enjoy. 

Prayer Life - Echo 

Type your prayer requests into Echo and keep track of when you pray and when the prayer is answered. Create custom reminders for all or individual requests. Share your prayer requests with other Echo users. Make different Groups within Echo for various groups you pray with - church, family, small group, etc. Follow a Feed to have prayer requests instantly send to your list 

Bible Reading / Study - Bible 

The Bible app by LifeChurch.TV is the stand out all-around Bible tool. If you just want one Bible app, this is the one! Read in over 2,062 Bible versions in 1,372 languages. Make highlights, bookmarks, notes and more all within the app. Find a reading plan. Sign up for the verse of the day. Make Bible images and save them to your Facebook or Instagram page. Follow along with sermon notes in Events. It's one-stop shopping for free!

Memorization - Memorize Anything

You may think memorizing Bible verse is just for kids, but scripture itself says, "Your Word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against God." It is imperative that we hide God's word in our minds through memorizing it. Memorize allows you to record the Bible verse and then begin removing words and phrases as you master the verse. Use pre-installed scriptures or make your own. 

Connect with KCC - Church Center

Keep your information up to date with KCC (or your home church) with the Church Center app. Explore and join Groups. See what Events are coming up. Manage your Giving. Check-in your children prior to arriving at the buidling. 

Sermons / Devotions / Podcasts - Faithplay

Discover and listen to messages from your favorite Pastors, speakers, and authors. You'll find Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Rick Warren, Joyce Meyer and so many more on Faithplay. Subscribe and catch your favorites every week or explore and discover new voices to increase your faith and Christian walk.

Child Sponsorship - Compassion

You may already sponsor a child on Compassion. Did you know they have an app now to keep you better connected with your child? Send and receive letters and photos right from the app. Learn about your child's home country and village. Engage in prayer. Send a Christmas or Birthday gift. If you don't sponsor a child, use the App to match you up with one today!

Bonus App - Nightsounds

You may remember going to sleep each night listening to Bill Pearce's soothing voice on the radio show Nightsounds. Even though Bill is no longer with us, you can relive those evening broadcasts complete with the original music on the Nightsounds app. 

Growing during Covid

Graduation open houses take a lot of planning and preparation. If you are a parent of a graduate, you know the time and effort it takes to set up decorations, food, drink, tables and more to host dozens, sometimes hundreds of people to attend your child's open house. 

As we make preparations for our son's graduation Open House, we are browsing through all of the pictures we have of him since birth. When he was a baby, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't sit up, couldn't feed himself, couldn't walk, couldn't talk. He was totally dependant on his parents and other people. He had so much to learn. Over the years, we have captured pics of him learning to do so many things like ride a bike, swing a bat, and drive a car, to name a few. 

During this time of Covid, many of us have found ourselves under stay-at-home orders. We haven't been able to attend church in person, assemble in a small group, or just share in the fellowship of other believers. On the plus side, we may have come to the realization that the church is still alive and vibrant within each one of us who believe. On the negative side, we may have not been feeding that "body" very well without the encouragement of other believers. 

Scripture says in 1 Peter 2:2-3, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so by it you may grow up in your salvation now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

We excitedly watch as babies grow up and eventually learn how to feed themselves. Their minds develop and limbs and digits learn fine motor skills to be able to use utensils and successfully brings food and drink to their little mouths. 

Even Christians may be isolated, we still have the responsibility to feed ourselves spiritually. 

"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Hebrews 5:11-14

Spiritual growth is difficult to measure. How do you gauge one's spiritual depth? The above passage in Hebrews does give us some guidelines to use. 

• Being acquainted with the teaching about righteousness
• Distinguishing good from evil

Feeding ourselves implies maturity. Living simply on the "milk" of our faith is not healthy. That means you are dependant on someone else to give it to you, and you don't know how to use the spiritual "utensils" to feed yourself. Your growth has stagnated because a body, even a spiritual body, is created to grow. 

Let's look at a couple spiritual utensils that will lead to digesting "solid food."

• The Bible - Start with a steady intake of God's word. We eat every day to feed our physical bodies so why not feed ourselves every day with reading the Bible. 
• A Reading Plan - Read the Bible in a way that is structured. Read along with a friend or in a Facebook group. Take notes. Use the commentaries in the margin to understand what you read. 
• Listen to Biblical teaching - Avail yourself to the teachings from other Christians. Find them on podcasts, YouTube, church websites, Facebook, etc. Listen with a discerning ear and be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) who constantly compared what they heard with scripture. 
• Pray - Talk to God. Some people say they can't pray. If you can think, you can pray. Pray in your mind. Pray without ceasing the Bible says. In other words, pretend God is right there with you, and just talk with Him as a friend. God speaks to you through the Bible; You speak to God through prayer. 

We're proud our son has grown up. He has moved on from being dependant on his parents for so many things, including food. He has exceeded our expectations and look forward to him achieving great things for the Kingdom of God in the future. 

Christian, you too. Make sure you are growing up in your faith so that your heavenly Father will also be proud of you and all that you will do in the future!

Celebrate!

It's time to celebrate!

Celebration! This weekend our country celebrates the declaration of independence from Britain in July 4, 1776. In addition to our freedom, we have much to celebrate as Americans. What do we have to celebrate as Christians? Let's take a quick look at scripture.

Rejoice with those who rejoice

There are Biblical reasons for celebration.

Celebrate when others celebrate

Romans 12:15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." Celebrate when good things happen to your neighbors, family, and friends. Lift them up with encouraging words. Give them a gift. Throw a party! Just celebrate with others who have found a reason to celebrate. 

Celebrate over a sinner who repents

Have you ever lost anything valuable? Maybe you misplaced your cell phone. You searched the house, the car, everywhere. You had someone call it. Finally, you located it. Remember, how good that felt? 

Joy for even one

There is a parable in Luke 15 about a woman who lost one silver coin - probably equal to a day's wage. In today's economy, perhaps the silver coin would be worth $200-$300. Jesus says she lights a lamp, sweeps her house and searches until she finds it. Upon locating the lost coin, she calls together her friends and neighbors, and exclaims, "Rejoice with me! For I have found my lost coin!" 

Jesus uses the illustration to say there is more joy in the presence of God's angels over just one sinner who repents. There is celebration! 

Celebrate that your name is written in Heaven

In Luke 10 Jesus sends out 72 disciples to spread the Gospel to the surrounding areas. They are successful as people listen to them and respond to the message. They also do amazing wonders and miracles. On returning to Jesus, they exclaim, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your Name!"

Jesus shares with his followers that indeed we do have victory over Satan and his angels, but a more important reason to celebrate is that your names are written in the Book of Heaven. Imagine the fireworks, the food, the music when we arrive in heaven to celebrate our eternal home free of virus', natural disasters, disease, pain, suffering, and death! Now, that is something to celebrate!

As you celebrate this 4th of July, be thankful for God's blessings inherit in this country, but remember the greater reasons to celebrate found in scripture. The celebration with Jesus in heaven will never end! 

The Lesson of the Sneeches

The Sneeches

The Dr. Seuss story "The Sneeches" has been one of my favorite stories since childhood.  The Sneeches were fine left to themselves. They enjoyed daily life eating, working, playing with one another. Until one day, this chap named, Sylvester McMonkey McBean, showed up with a machine that could put stars on their bellies thus differentiating one Sneech from another. That's when the problems began. Pride, jealousy, and envy crept in as some Sneeches had stars and some didn't.

I made a quick stop at Meijer yesterday and had mistakenly forgotten my mask. I've been wearing a mask whenever I went out and had become quite accustomed to it. Reluctantly, I headed into the store without a mask. I felt self-conscious as I saw most people with their masks on. To make matters worse, the grocery cart I had grabbed had a wobbly wheel and it just brought more attention to me and my maskless face. I did notice a few other nonchalant shoppers also without a mask. I thought,  "Now they are my people!" We are the "maskless" ones! On one occasion I was going down an aisle following the arrows on the floor and ran into a masked family who were going in the wrong direction! Did I feel proud? I may not have a mask, but I was obeying the arrows!

When I returned to my van in the parking lot, I started thinking about my experience. What was this newfound mask-wearing culture really all about? Some people are even saying, "wearing a mask is unhealthy" Others say it doesn't even work. And why did it make me feel inferior or superior than other people? What a strange way to go about life!

Life is a challenge, isn't it?! Maybe now more than ever. Whether you want a star on your belly, chose to wear a mask, or can't decide if it's time to go back to church or not, life is a challenge. Add to the mix now issues of police brutality, racism, and politics, and life can seem overwhelming. No wonder many people I talk to are just content to stay home right now and wait to see how the next few months pan out.

Jesus did say, "In this world, you will have trouble..." Just look at the trouble He had to deal with! But the encouraging words are "...But take heart! I have overcome the world." Sometimes it helps if we just turn off the news and open up our Bibles. Pray without ceasing. To me, that means living with a mindset of prayer. A constant dialog with God. Just like He is there with you in the home. And encourage one another. If you haven't lately, give a brother or sister in Christ a call. Stay connected with one another. One of the lessons the Sneeches learned was that after the whirlwind experience was passed, they still had each other.

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. 1 John 4:7 (MSG)

Masking the Struggle

Wearing my mask at Costco

We live in confusing times today. This pandemic has up-ended the world like never in our lifetimes. Unemployment has skyrocketed. The stock market is volatile with lower lows and higher highs. Travel and vacationing have ground to a halt. And sitting down in a restaurant has never sounded so good! 

There are many more questions out there than there are answers. And who do we listen to? A politician says one thing and a medical professional says another. Listen to ABC news and feel like this sickness may never end or listen to Fox news and feel like it's back to business as usual. 

And we are becoming more polarized day after day as we each decide how we will merge back into the lives we once knew. Is it safe to go out? Is it too soon? Should I wear a mask? Why is that person NOT wearing a mask? Are they six feet apart? 

The tension is palpable. And it is real. It's real in the physical world. And it's real in the spiritual world.

Paul writes in Romans 7:15, "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to, but I am doing the very thing I hate." 

Paul is referring to the struggle between doing God's law and giving in to sin. 

Walmart sign in Traverse City

He continues in verse 19, "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." 

This is the constant struggle of every person. Good vs. Evil. It's the spiritual tension every Christian has to deal with. Since he knows that sin leads to death (Rom. 3:23), it seems like Paul is about to throw in the towel as he cries out,

"Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death!?"

And like a late-night talk show host teasing viewers to keep watching after the commercial, Paul delivers the goods:

"Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord...Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." 

He goes on to say that Jesus Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death. Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross has made us right with God.  We no longer have to doubt or be afraid. We can rest assured that our struggles are not in vain and will result in eternal life with our heavenly Father. 

Friend, if you don't yet have the relationship with God through Jesus Christ, reach out to a believer and walk through the steps of faith today. 

Even though we are living in confusing, polarizing times, we can take comfort that God's plan will prevail. God is still in control. And "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6)."