Category: stories

Ten days before Christmas, on a chilly day, Wilkes and I bundled up and went for a walk in the neighborhood. Three months shy of turning two, Wilkes loves to be outside. Sometimes we’ll walk nearly a mile enjoying leaves, trees, rocks, squirrels, airplanes in the sky, and many other things we grown-ups take for granted.

For some reason on this particular day, I started singing a Christmas carol I really didn’t know that well… “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman.” Wilkes stopped walking, turned around and listened to my rendition, smiling the entire time. I’m sure I had the tune, but I confess I was making up many of the words. Wilkes did not seem to mind. When I finished, the little boy’s grin grew and he clapped his hands with enthusiasm.

Almost a week later, on a much warmer day, Wilkes and I went for another walk. This time he wanted to take a baby stroller he loves to push. When he gets a little tired, he’ll hop in, but usually he just enjoys pushing the stroller as we hike. I remembered my song from the previous week, and since we had sung it in church Sunday, I knew the words a little better. This time Wilkes never broke stride; he just kept pushing the stroller. But when I finished, he stopped, turned around with a big smile on his face, and gave me another standing ovation.

These 2016 Christmas memories bring a couple of thoughts to mind. First, I can’t help wonder if Joseph ever went on walks with a two-year-old Jesus. I’ll bet he did. And if Joseph ever burst into song on one of those strolls, I wonder if Jesus looked up, smiled, and clapped as the song concluded. Could the Child who had heard angels singing in heaven applaud an old carpenter on a Nazareth road?

I also think of Jesus’ words declaring that we must become like children: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become as little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” How often do I stop, look up, listen and observe, then applaud our Father in Heaven? He made the leaves and the trees and rocks and squirrels and people who make the airplanes. All the blessings I have been given deserve gratitude.

The most genuine worship may take place as we stop and let the Holy Spirit remind us of the truth of God’s love. When such revelation sinks to the proper deep place in our hearts, we can’t help but smile and applaud.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

William sat in the chemo chair next to mine last week. He has a few final rounds of chemotherapy before being released from treatment. I overheard a distinct accent as he talked to his nurse, so after she left I asked where he was from. A big smile lit up his dark face and he replied: “I am from the island of St. Thomas!”

William shared that he received a cancer diagnosis in May and considered it a great blessing to travel to Atlanta for treatment and surgery. Because of the heavy accent, I had a hard time understanding my new friend, but there was no doubt he wanted me to know God’s part in his story.

He told me about the chemotherapy he endured before the surgery. Then he told me of the miracle of recovery after his surgery. He shared with great enthusiasm that the day after surgery, he walked twelve laps around the nurses’ station which equaled one half mile. “Nurses told me that after a surgery like mine no one had ever walked that distance before! I told them it was God who gave me strength… and He did! The next day I walked 24 laps!”

I smiled as he told me story after story of God’s provision and protection. He said his entire church has been praying for him on the island of St. Thomas and he has encouraged them all with his positive reports. William next told me a story dealing with an answered prayer in his work. He is an electrician and evidently God had helped him perform a very difficult task. His workmate could not believe it. William proclaimed, “God enabled me! Don’t you see?”

I was not feeling great last week, but this man lifted my spirits and encouraged me. I was reminded of what happens when a child of God lets the Father, Son, or Spirit be the center of a story. As William constantly thanked and praised God in regular conversation, our Heavenly Father was honored.

If I had not been a believer, I think I might have thought William a bit strange. But I would have listened and would not have tried to discount what his God had done for him. Maybe his testimony would not have led me to become a Christian, but I would have been forced to think. I would have also celebrated with a man who was regaining his much wanted health.

Being a believer, I simply joined William in praising God. Here was a foreigner in a hospital far from his home, but God is with Him. While my story may be quite different from William’s, I also know the peace of the Good Shepherd’s presence in dark valleys. William’s immense joy reminded me that “we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.”

“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him – and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then He said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’” Lk 17:15-19

Living in Texas now, my brother Brian regularly visits several churches and mission points in different African nations. He and his wife Sondra were missionaries in Africa for almost twenty years. Recently, he told me of his summer visit to Zimbabwe with the goal of restoring unity among Christians divided by societal uproar.

Robert Mugabe has been in power in Zimbabwe since the 1980’s. In a nation once known as the ‘breadbasket of Africa,’ the policies of government have brought runaway inflation, shortages of food, and intense racial strife.

Brian said the first goal of his trip was to get several groups to try to work out differences that would allow the Body of Christ to be God’s intended light in the community. Three groups were local: the whites who had lost power and property, the majority tribe of the land called the Shona, and the minority tribe called the Notebele. The last group consisted of four tall visiting Christians from the Dinka tribe of South Sudan (7’7” ex-NBA star Manute Bol was from the Dinka tribe). South Sudan is presently going through unimaginable national struggles. Thrust into a close-quartered environment, all these Christians soon found it was much easier to talk about reconciliation than it was to live it out.

The conference was held on a piece of property managed by one of the dispossessed white farmers of the area and used by the outdoor-education organization called Outward Bound. In a large meeting room, someone suggested each of the four groups stand and sing a hymn in their own language. All agreed and things went fairly well as the three larger groups stood and sang. But at the end, when the four Dinka guests stood to sing, a terrible thing happened. Having a different sound and style of singing, all the Christians from Zimbabwe pointed and laughed and ridiculed the tall foreigners. Brian said it was such a disastrous moment that he was afraid there would be no recovery, but from the back of the room the property manager made an announcement: “Tomorrow we go on a hike that I will lead. Be ready to leave bright and early!”

Brian told me that if anyone had known what lay in store, no one would have shown up the next morning. The property manager had observed incredible things happen as drug addicts and alcoholics participated in team-building exercises as a part of recovery. He believed a six-hour trek up a rugged mountain was what the Christians needed to counter the immaturity he observed the night before. He did not know that the most valuable members of the adventure would be the four tall Sudanese who had been ridiculed for their singing.

Brian said these men were built for the hike. While everyone else struggled to climb, the Dinkas easily scaled cliffs and managed seemingly impossible paths. Not only did they succeed but they helped everyone else. Brian shared that on several occasions the Dinkas would climb to a high point then reach down and pull the others up one by one. “We would not have made it to the top without them,” Brian said.

“What did you do when you reached the summit?” I asked. “Well, it took a long time for us all to catch our breath, but when we did, someone suggested we sing a common praise to our Heavenly Father… and we did. It was a beautiful moment.”

“So was the conference a success?” I asked. Brian replied, “You can’t fix years of chaos in one weekend, but we started. Reconciliation is a process, and though there is a long way to go, we made progress. Thank God for the Dinkas.”

“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” I Corinthians 1:10

Susan, John, and I met Susan’s brother Steve in Washington, D.C. during spring break last week. On the drive to our capitol, we spent Saturday night in Mt. Airy, North Carolina the hometown of Andy Griffith and the model for Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show. Outside the replica courthouse were engraved stones of the much-loved characters: Barney, Opie, Aunt Bea, Gomer, Goober, Helen, Thelma Lou, Helen, Floyd, and Otis, the town drunk.

In 1986, eighteen years after the show ended, the two-hour special ‘Return to Mayberry’ aired with fifteen members of the original cast. In this story, Otis Campbell was no longer a drunk. He had been sober for many years and was Mayberry’s ice cream man, a fine citizen. I like to think that Otis had an encounter with Jesus who delivered him from his addiction and gave him daily grace to say ‘no’ to temptation and live a godly life.

Of course the stories from Mayberry are fictional, but how many addicts, thieves, murderers, and other sinners have been changed by the power of God? Is not the invitation of Jesus all about coming to Him for Living Water and becoming a new creation? Our part is to believe His message, trust Him completely, and obey what He tells us to do. When we realize our sin helped nail the Savior to the cross and that He died because He loves us, we should bow in thanksgiving and surrender our lives to Him.

Sunday morning we went to the only early church service we could find in Mt Airy. One of the men who led worship was a little overweight and built a bit like Otis. He did not have the greatest singing voice and he played no musical instrument, but when he prayed at the close of singing, I wished I knew his story. With tears streaming down his face and with deep emotion, he prayed something like this:

“Dear God, We come to You this morning and just thank You for who You are and for what You’ve done for each one of us. Jesus, thank You for giving Your life for us and saving us from our sin. Lord, we love You and we want to live for You. But we can’t do this by ourselves so we simply tell You this morning that we need You – every hour we need You. Thanks for the promise that You are with us. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

I cried too.

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” I Timothy 1:15-17

The first time I wrote about Jim was in September 2001. The roller coaster of addiction has been quite a journey the twenty plus years we’ve been friends, but this week marks three years clean.

Sunday, several of us gathered to praise God and encourage our brother. As you know, the encouragement works both ways as we each run the race God has given us to run.

Mary Grace is a friend of Jim’s who has also suffered the repercussions of drug abuse. Next month she celebrates twelve years of being drug free. No person was more faithful to Jim than Mary Grace while he was homeless on the streets of Atlanta. She would bring clothes, food, and a little money to help Jim know he was not forgotten.

Several others of us would pray constantly and occasionally go searching the dark places to see if Jim was ready to come home. Sunday we recounted the ways God worked supernaturally to bring about what He desired. To look back and remember builds faith in all of us.

Sunday, Mary Grace shared with tears her gratitude to God and His children. Others shared the things Jim has taught us as he has persevered, worked hard in a physically challenging job, and kept us all laughing with his uncommon sense of humor.

I was reminded of the old hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for sounds of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.

O to grace, how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:23-25

(Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing written by Robert Robinson in 1757)