A Stone Soup Church

You remember the story: two weary travelers arrive in a town hoping to find sustenance and rest only to be snubbed by mean and stingy townspeople.  Not to be deterred, the clever fellows set about making a pot of “stone soup” beginning with a simple stone in boiling water.  By and by they manipulate the curiosity of the townspeople so that each member of the town eventually contributes some key ingredient.  In the end everyone, including the creative travelers, enjoys a bowl of the best soup they have ever tasted.  

This weekend, I shared this simple story with my congregation and applied it in the context of 1 Corithians 12 & 13.  In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul delineates a long list of “gifts” or talents held by the individuals of the church.  He even goes so far as to prioritize them.  But, at the end of the chapter, he says, “and yet I show unto you a more excellent way.”  What follows is 1 Corinthians chapter 13 which has been called the crown jewel of the New Testament, also known as the “Love Chapter.”  

Here’s how the two ideas came together: our churches should be soup pots with a soup base made from the stone of love.  Without love, people will not be drawn together to share what they possess in order to make something spectacular.  However, once genuine, sacrificial, Christ-like, servant love is added to the pot, something grand will be permitted to happen.  Whether others are drawn by curiosity, contempt, or conviction, when they experience genuine caring and love, they will often want to be a part of this “bigger something” beyond themselves.

At that point they will have the opportunity to surrender themselves to God and begin to contribute in word and work to the overall good of the “stew.”  When all of the gifts and talents of individuals are freely given in the context of Christ-like love, a church can “boil along” quite merrily and leave a good taste behind for a change!

How about you?  Are you helping to make your church a “Stone Soup Church?”

The $5 Man

Yesterday I promised I would share with you the story of the $5 man.  

     A few weeks ago, our church was set topsy-turvy for one weekend, when we could not get into our usual facility for services.  In a mad-dash last-minute scramble, we reserved a hotel conference room for two hours Sunday morning.  It was the best deal we could fit into the budget.  After an accelerated service, we were hurried out of the room by the crew setting it up for their next guests.

     Everyone soon went their way, still slightly discombobulated by the unusual Sunday morning.  Soon all that were left were one family, me, and my daughter, Julia, standing outside the hotel enjoying a few minutes of conversation.

     Suddenly, an old blue pick-up truck pulled into the parking lot and a hand beckoned me over to the window.  Thinking the man wanted directions, I walked over and leaned down to see what he needed.  The man and his younger passenger both looked a little worse for wear and his “sob story” soon confirmed it.  I won’t list all the details, but the man alleged that he and his passenger had experienced some very bad luck and now needed money to pay the expensive toll to return home across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  It was a good spiel and the man nearly had tears on his face.

     I will admit that I am not always the most charitable under such circumstances and am always very skeptical of such stories.  My “Show-me-state” instincts really resist responding to such pleas.  Additionally, I almost never carry cash for any reason.  However, for some reason, this particular Sunday, I had a five-dollar bill in my wallet.  I told the man, “I don’t have much, just five bucks in my wallet, but I’ll give it to you.  It’s all I’ve got.”  I retrieved the bill and handed it to the man and said, “Let me pray with you.”  He agreed and I bowed my head and in very non-memorable words asked the God of Heaven to look down on this man and his passenger and have His way in their lives and meet their needs.  With that, they drove away.

     I walked back to where the church family was standing and shrugged my shoulders.  I had no idea why that happened.  The conversation briefly focused on whether the man would use the money in the manner he had stated or whether he would go buy beer or cigarettes.  I stated that was out of our hands.  It was “God’s Baby now,” and let it go at that.  A little later I saw the truck park near a local 7-11 store but I left, not wanting to see if the man was or was not true to his word.

     I did not really consider the incident further, but since then, apparently the story spread from my church friend to his atheist friend who now speculates aloud about coming to the church and getting paid by the Pastor for a prayer.  It makes me smile, but I am also excited to believe that such a minor and almost thoughtless act of mercy could be used by God for something greater.  That chapter of the story is still being written, so we will wait patiently to see what happens.

     However, God has reminded me of two lessons and taught me one new one.

1.      1. My money is God’s money.  If He wants to do something with it, no matter how poor I may be, I must be surrendered to His use of it however He wills.

      2. Jesus said in Mark 9:41, “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you he shall not lose his reward.”  While I understand this verse is not specifically talking about general charity, it does remind us that God is watching our acts of kindness and is pleased when we offer them in His name.

3.      3. The new lesson I learned was that God opened a door in the life of this man through this event.  You see, when he asked me for money, like Peter and John on the way to the temple, I had little to give.  However, such as I did have I could give: I could pray.  And when we pray as God’s children, somehow we unleash His power on this world.  When I prayed for this man who in all appearances was wretched and sinful (though I cannot judge his heart), by his assent to permit me to pray, He opened his heart and life – if only for a moment – to the mighty hand of God.  

     Wow!  That’s quite a thought!  When was the last time you unleashed heaven into the life of someone else?  In his famous poem, Francis Thompson referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Hound of Heaven.”  Bear with me for a moment while I illustrate.  

     When I was a boy, I had a hound I dearly loved.  The Bassett-Beagle mix loved to run a trail.  I would come out of the house with my gun and her tail would begin to swing back and forth with anticipation.  She knew we were going hunting.  When she picked up a trail, she would run it until she found the critter or until the trail was lost: no matter how long it took.  I could sit down in the woods and listen to her for the next few hours as she circled the creature back to me.  She was relentless and patient and routinely successful.

     Far beyond the love of my dog to chase her quarry, God loves to pursue our hearts.  He loves to capture us with His mercy and grace.  So, when the man opened his heart for a few moments to my prayer, he may not have known, but the Hound of Heaven was hot on his trail and had drawn nearer than he imagined.  Most exciting of all, God now has a new door through my prayer into the lives of these men.  His power has been requested on their behalf by one of His children.  Through the power of faith in a simple prayer, The Hound of Heaven has been unleashed.

     So, this past Sunday I encouraged our people to look for opportunities to unleash God’s hand in the lives of others through direct prayer.  Pray in faith knowing that the God of the Universe Who breathes stars into existence is mighty to the pulling down of strongholds in the lives of sin-bound people.  He specializes in reaching the unreachable, loving the unlovable, saving the lost, and setting the captive free.  And He wants to use you and me to do it.

     This week, I challenge you: remember the $5 man and let God do something great through you. Let Him unleash His power in your world through prayer.

The $5 Man

Teaser:  What can God do with one needy man and a five dollar bill?  Check back tomorrow to find out! 

Self: Annihilated

This is convicting! Can I truly testify that my "self" has been annihilated and swallowed up in Christ?  Tough question!

“Once as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly had been to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God. As near as I can judge, this continued about an hour; and kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud.. I felt an ardency of soul to be what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to love Him with a holy and pure love; to serve and follow Him; to be perfectly sanctified and made pure with a divine and heavenly purity.”—Jonathan Edwards

p. 12 of The Essentials of Prayer by E.M. Bounds

Looking Beyond the Sky

Several years ago I read a series of books in which the author termed personal time with God as "Looking beyond the Sky." That concept has stayed with me ever since.  Now sometimes when I am driving down the road in the hours before dawn or when I step outside during my lunch break, I find myself looking upward and calling out to Him Who lives "beyond the sky." 

It's a good visual to stick in your head because any time you need a moment of encouragement, all you have to do is look up and remember God is nearby watching us from just beyond the sky.  While some may find this disconcerting, I find it comforting.  The God of all the Universe is continually near watching over me and caring for me as His son, a joint heir with Christ.  I have eternal value to Him, in Him I find completion, and I delight in glorifying Him. This sustains peace within me and gives me consistent strength. 

So I encourage you, look upward often.  Look beyond the demanding toddlers, past the wisps of smoke coming from the oven, past the cluttered bedrooms, beyond the independence of your teenager, beyond the burdens of bills, beyond the overdue oil change or flat tire, beyond the squabble with your spouse: and join me looking beyond the sky. 

You'll find all you need in Him. 

I Stand by the Door

I promised the guys in board meeting I would post this, so here it is.  One of my favorites!

I Stand By the Door

An Apologia for my Life

-By Samuel Shoemaker

I stand by the door.

I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,

The door is the most important door in the world –

It is the door through which men walk when they find God.

There is no use my going way inside, and staying there,

When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,

Crave to know where the door is.

And all that so many ever find

Is only the wall where a door ought to be.

They creep along the wall like blind men,

With outstretched, groping hands.

Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,

Yet they never find it…

So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world

Is for men to find that door – the door to God.

The most important thing any man can do

Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,

And put it on the latch – the latch that only clicks

And opens to the man’s own touch.

Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die

On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter –

Die for want of what is within their grasp.

They live, on the other side of it – live because they have not found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,

And open it, and walk in, and find Him…

So I stand by the door.

Go in, great saints, go all the way in –

Go way down into the cavernous cellars,

And way up into the spacious attics –

It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.

Go into the deepest of hidden casements,

Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.

Some must inhabit those inner rooms,

And know the depths and heights of God,

And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.

Sometimes I take a deeper look in,

Sometimes venture in a little farther;

But my place seems closer to the opening…

So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.

Some people get part way in and become afraid

Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;

For God is so very great, and asks all of us.

And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia,

And want to get out. “Let me out!” they cry.

And the people way inside only terrify them more.

Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled

For the old life, they have seen too much:

Once taste God, and nothing but God will do anymore.

Somebody must be watching for the frightened

Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,

To tell them how much better it is inside.

The people too far in do not see how near these are

To leaving – preoccupied with the wonder of it all.

Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,

But would like to run away. So for them, too,

I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.

But I wish they would not forget how it was

Before they got in. Then they would be able to help

The people who have not yet even found the door,

Or the people who want to run away again from God.

You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,

And forget the people outside the door.

As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,

Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,

But not so far from men as not to hear them,

And remember they are there too.

Where? Outside the door –

Thousands of them, millions of them.

But – more important for me –

One of them, two of them, ten of them,

Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.

So I shall stand by the door and wait

For those who seek it.

“I had rather be a door-keeper…”

So I stand by the door.

From the book, I Stand by the Door: The Life of Sam Shoemaker

by Helen Smith Shoemaker.

Copyright 1967

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-20784

I greatly admire this credo. I want my life to be focused in a similar manner to rescue those who desperately long for that they do not know. Or, as the great missionary C.T. Studd said,

"Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell."

What a tremendous challenge!

Life on a New Level

The 2nd of two excerpts from "The Law of Faith" by Norman Grubb:

We are summoned to step right off the level of the visible, the natural, carnal, and take the giant leap into the invisible.  Witnesses are piled on us to press us into it.  The inward light.  The outward Scriptures.  The historic fact of Christ.  The miracle of changed lives.

               Very well, at last we do it.  We state to ourselves that we have begun life on a new level of reality – in Christ.  We pronounce the new realities to be the new facts of our every-day life.  We are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.  We are crucified with Him and He is living in us.  We have His love, His wisdom, His power.  We are in a mystical union with the Godhead.  We are in a new timeless, spaceless realm; a fourth dimension, where, in the spirit, we reach everywhere, possess all things, and touch all lives or supply all needs by the law of this invisible kingdom, the law of Faith.  And in the magnificence, wonder and glory of this new and full livingness, like Paul, we lose our hold on all the paltriness and trivialities which were once the sum of all life to us, our little bit of earthly dignity, position and reputation, our miserable scraps of earthly possessions, our little world of friends and relatives, even our tenacious hold on our minute particle of physical life.  All these rivulets of the good things of existence are now merged and submerged in the endless sea of ALL in Christ…not lost…merely absorbed, as the light of the night lamp in the morning glory of the sun.  How can we grasp tight and cling to our petty dignities, our few bits of things, our tiny circle of loved ones, when hands and hearts are brim full with the wealth of the universe, the honor of the divine sonship, the whole family in Heaven and earth, and we are busied in praising, blessing and dispensing, in place of coveting, grabbing, and keeping? (p. 62,63)

Faith Is Action!

Recently, in our conversations at church (and during the week) we have been exploring ideas of faith.  What is it?  How does it work?  Why does it matter?  What is its' impact? Etc.  In the next few posts I wish to share a few excerpts from a book I have been reading called "The Law of Faith" by Norman Grubb. 

Faith is inner action.  We must make a transaction of faith, maybe on our knees, maybe by signing name and date against a verse, maybe by public confession or to a friend.  

               But that is only where the battle of present tense faith begins.   What are we to do with that undertow of unbelief which seems to pull us backward, as when a swimmer struggles against an undercurrent?  We must note the following carefully, for it is a point that we have not touched on before.  There are stages in faith;  and we often get into much confusion by attempting to claim as 100% faith what is really only 50% or 25%.  In the language of scripture there is little faith, great faith, and perfect faith.

               Let us examine this more closely.  We have said from the beginning that the God-given faculty of faith is the means by which human beings receive and use all God’s varied gifts.  In other words, faith is not to be confused with mere mental assent to a proposition; that may be called “belief,” for want of a better word, although belief in scripture is usually synonymous with faith.  Nor is faith some vague hope for the future.  Faith is action; the whole man in action, spiritual, mental, physical.  We have abundantly illustrated that by such natural acts as eating and drinking, or the first great act of the awakened spirit in receiving Christ as Savior.  Now, because it is action, it has certainty and not doubt as its motivating power.  That is to say, we perform the act of eating because we are sure of the food, we see it with our eye, we believe it is good for us.  We take the step of humbly accepting Christ, because we are sure of His grace, we believe He died for our sins, we see the statements of Scripture.  Faith therefore always has the thing in its grasp or at its disposal that it acts upon or uses.  That is faith; the having and using the unlimited resources of God in nature and grace.  That is perfect faith. (p. 55, 56)

Is your faith in action?

"Good" Samaritan?

     A few days ago I failed to set my alarm properly which resulted in missing my early-morning ride to work.  However, on my resulting drive to work, I found out why.  As I prayed in my car, I began to wrestle with the idea of who we want in our church. 

     Our church like many others has been attended from time-to-time by people who don’t quite fit the cookie-cutter image of a “Christian” or "typical" church attendee.  Our church is attended by people from every economic station and class.  Some people might be put-off by people who seem to be of greater material or spiritual need.  I had to honestly pray this matter through with God to ensure that I was viewing people as Christ does. 

     I must confess that before this prayer session I would rather have reached doctors and lawyers and other “successful” people: a nice “white-collar church.”  However, I felt very convicted about this mentality.  Jesus Christ came to those who needed Him…to those who needed the touch of the Master Physician.  Who are we to do any less?  How can we turn away from the man, woman, or child lying by life’s roadside who has been kicked and beaten by circumstances and background, abused, and robbed of all dignity, respect, and hope?  Dare we pass by on the other side of the road? (Luke 10:25-36)

     We must pause in spite of the danger that we might be robbed ourselves, in spite of being sullied by the dirt of their lives or blood of their wounds.  We must pick them up, bandage them, and love them with abandon with no expectation of anything in return.  We must have compassion and love as Christ loves: Who died and gave Himself for us.

     And so I prayed today, “Lord, send us the people who need you!  Let our paths cross the paths of those who desperately need to know Your peace and need Your mighty power in their lives.  Let our church be a church for the disillusioned, downtrodden, and broken-hearted!  Don’t bring us people who will harden their hearts, worship other gods, or refuse to repent and be redeemed.  Send us those in need of compassion and ready for the cross.” 

     As I prayed, I wept at this idea: How many Christians and churches abort new babes in Christ?  What about the broken souls who are ready to receive the touch of Christ and instead are turned away, given the cold shoulder, referred to a program, or are lost simply because we do not have the eyes to see, ears to hear, or hearts to have compassion?  With our lives and conduct are we turning souls away from the cross or thwarting the work of the Holy Spirit in our community?  I was heavily burdened by this idea.  I do not want to be one who aborts babes in Christ!

     Instead I want to lead a crowd of “crown flingers.”  What?!  That’s right!  I want to reach heaven someday and when we gather before Him, I don’t want my crown to be the only one clattering to the ground as I prostrate myself before the throne of Christ!  I want a whole pile of crowns falling thick and fast from souls who were rescued from the burning by our church: souls who rejoice with us because we had the compassion of Christ and the stamina of the Holy Spirit to bear fruit unto the Gospel of Christ and bring newborn Christians into the Kingdom!

     This is my heartbeat…is it yours?

When Jesus Passes By

A woman walks slowly through the twilight…alone on her way home from the well.  Occasionally she stumbles on the smallest stones.  Her pale face is almost ghostly in the fading light.  The few passers by still on the streets avoid her as though she is a specter.  They recoil and step away.  They are nearly right.  She is not far from death.  For twelve years she has wasted away with her disease.  The law declares her unclean (Lev. 15).  For more than a decade she has walked alone shunned by all who once called her friend.  Ashamed of her very intimate illness she has withdrawn further and further from society until now the gloomy hours of day are often the only ones in which she ventures painfully from her home to the well for water.  A distant relative leaves food on her doorstep every few days.  Beyond this she is forced to be a recluse.  Now a pale shadow of the woman she once was, her money used up on medical bills, she is without hope.  She has tried everything to be well.  Tomorrow she will try one last time.  And if it doesn’t work….

The next day a crowd gathers on the shore. Jesus has returned from Gadara across the Sea of Galilee word has it that he has done spectacular things.  “Even the demons bow to him,” someone whispers.  As Jesus begins to make his way away from the boats, the crowd thickens, many clamor for his touch or to hear his voice.  Many are those He touches but he steadily moves onward as though he has a purpose: somewhere to be.

Up ahead is a commotion bordering on bedlam.  A struggle seems to be happening.  A burly fisherman is attempting to stop what appears to be a half-crazy synagogue leader from getting closer to Jesus.  Jesus speaks a firm quiet command and the fisherman releases the ruler who half runs, half trips his way to where Jesus has paused.  He sobs out, “Master, please come my daughter is about to die.”  His little girl is his pride and joy and he’s not stupid.  As a leader among his people he has seen death many times and is no stranger to its signs.  Now he has seen them in the eyes of his princess and he is desperate for help.  Jesus looks with compassion on the man and takes him by the hand, lifting him to his feet, consenting to come to his aid.

The burly fisherman, who moments before pushed Jairus away, now shoulders into the crowd on his behalf clearing the way for the distraught father and the purposeful Christ striding forward through the throng.  Even so, the seething mass of people still slows them down.  Will they make it in time?

Early that morning she woke.  For a long time she lay staring listlessly at the ceiling, watching the blackness give way to dimly-lit dusty stone.  She hardly has energy to rise; waves of despair wash over her.  Nevertheless, she slowly gets up and dresses in a once fine robe now stained and tattered.  It is her best.  She retrieves her few remaining coins and slowly heads down the path toward one last hope.

A few hours later, her coins gone, a worthless potion in a pouch dangles from her hands as she huddles near a low stone wall by the roadside.  She has to rest.  She is too weak to go on.  A beggar gestures rudely at her as he passes by.  He knows who she is; everybody does: the unclean one.

In the distance she hears a commotion.  A crowd is coming; a large one by the sound of it.  What’s going on?  A teenage boy runs by.  “What is happening?” She mumbles.  The lad shouts over his shoulder, “Jesus is passing by!”

Jesus?  She has heard his name.  He is the Rabbi from Nazareth.  He is the one the whole land is talking about.  Her physicians have even complained they are losing business because He keeps healing people.  Could he heal her?  Surely not.  She has heard the stories.  He is a holy man who heals with his touch.  She is untouchable.  He is forbidden from touching her, an unclean one.

But what else can she do?  She has no more money, no more potions, no more doctors, no more hope.  She is going to die.  She too recognizes the signs.  As she thinks these thoughts, desperation motivates a flicker of faith…maybe…maybe He wouldn’t have to touch her.  Maybe she could touch Him before he could know she was there.  Maybe touching him in the heavy crowd would go unnoticed and still work for her.

Fear of losing the chance propels her to her feet as the crowd approaches.  Summoning all her strength she frantically elbows into the crowd.  Some recognize her and pull away.  Others just jostle and shove not caring who she is.  As the knot of people in the center draws near, she is shoved so hard that she falls forward into the dust.  Breathless from the fall she looks up gasping and sees the tassels of a Rabbi’s robe near her face.  With her last ounce of strength she reaches forth her hand and clutches the hem of his garment.  His forward stride pulls it from her hand but immediately she is changed.

Strength courses through her body.  Color washes into her face.  The flesh on her bones fills out.  Her bleeding stops.  She knows she has touched the Master! 

Jesus halts so abruptly he is nearly knocked down by the crowd.  “Who touched me,” His commanding voice questions?  The burly fisherman turns and stares incredulously at his Master.  Lord, in this crowd you ask, “Who touched you?” (Basically, “Are you crazy?”)  Jesus said, “Someone touched me for I felt ‘virtue’ go out of me.” (The word translated “virtue” here is the word “dunamis” from which we derive the word, “dynamite.”  Jesus felt mighty, miracle-working, violent power go out of Him into the woman’s body. 

Trembling, she knows He knows.  But now she doesn’t care.  She is well!  She will endure any humiliation or punishment He dictates for her crime.  The crowd parts as she walks slowly forward toward His piercing eyes.  He looks into her face She sees a twinkle of God’s laughter and pleasure in His eyes.  Simply he says, “Daughter, don’t be afraid.  Your faith has saved thee.  Go in peace.”

Desperation has been replaced by delight.  Darkness replaced by light.  Death replaced by life.  Ashes exchanged for beauty; joy for mourning.  Chaos replaced with peace.  No longer shunned but accepted.  No longer avoided but loved.  No longer sick: she is whole.

All along Jesus knew her need.  He knew she was coming.  He was there intentionally available to be touched by her infirmity. But His presence and His power were not the only parts of the equation.  Occasionally they are, but most often we see that Christ desires His presence and power to be combined with our faith so marvelous things which glorify the Father will happen.

Welcome Aboard!

Yes, the rumors are true!  On November 2, 2011 I consented to become the Pastor of the Hampton Roads Bible Methodist Church until December 31, 2012, at which time, the Church Executive Board will review and assess the status of the church and its health and make any necessary changes.  So, for the next year I look forward to the grand adventure God has given us. 

Any time we grasp hold of His will and abandon ourselves to His grace in its pursuit, we will find the road challenging and the reward great.  Let us hotly pursue His favor, surrender completely to His will, wrestle willingly on our knees for victory, and stand firmly for His truth all while we love others with the compassion and passion of Christ.  Join me as we "throw ourselves into the traces" and pull together for the glory of God. 

I look forward to serving you and serving with you together in the cause of Christ.

By God's Grace and For His Glory,
Pastor Rick Alexander

Enthusiasmos: He Will Carry You