Churches In Missions

Greetings All!

     This week's "thought" comes to you from a newsletter I received from a man named Paul Hatmacher (seen below with his wife Barbara) who serves as president of an organization called, "Churches In Missions."   I received his Christmas Newsletter and thought that the story he shared was encouraging enough (and challenging enough) to pass it along to you.  As one who has met Paul I can tell you he loves the Lord, is full of faith, and exudes joy. This is the story of his recent bout with pneumonia just after Thanksgiving and his determination to be a missionary even in the hospital.  Enjoy.

     "Speaking of the pneumonia invading my lungs one doctor said: "I've seen ugly CT scans, but yours is among the ugliest."  On the way to the emergency room, I prayed, "Make me a blessing through all this."  The way the Holy Spirit guided me was to thank everyone for anything they did and never complain, whether it hurt or not, and even when they awakened me at 5:45 a.m. to be weighed. I was in the hospital for 12 days, received excellent care and endured some of the strongest medications. But we dare not overlook the blessings that have resulted: The staff constantly asked, "Why are you so thankful and kind?"  That was the Lord's opening for me to share what the Lord means to me and has allowed me to experience.  I shared that in our missionary experiences, we were among people who had nothing, yet they showed joy and gratefulness for everything.

     I related that we had been so blessed with their care and God's blessings that I just had to say "thank you."  I related that I was cured of complaining with a chorus I learned in Sunday School. Every time I begin to complain, I sing or hum the chorus, "Count your blessings, name them one by one."  Can you believe it, for the next few days, every time one of the nurses walked by my room they hummed or sang that chorus! 

     I had the joy of witnessing to at least 4 MD's, and every nurse and aid -- and everyone said: "you are a different kind of patient."  One nurse, after midnight, checked on me and as she was tucking the blankets she began weeping and said, "my life's a mess." I invited her to return when she could and I had the privilege to hold her hands and through her tears lead her to trust Jesus as her Savior. 

     I still have a visiting nurse three times a week and a therapist twice a week and praise the Lord I am getting stronger and the x-ray I had today will reveal the pneumonia is gone... I wouldn't want to go through this again, but it taught me that being a missionary isn't just when we cross the ocean or preach from a pulpit.  We are to be salt and light whatever the circumstance... P.S. - Upon being dismissed from the hospital the Director of that division came by to thank me personally for being an encouragement."

     I share his story because as a pastor I visit hospitals a lot and often hear patients, family members, and the like, expressing just the opposite.  I myself have not always been the most thankful or cheerful of patients. Yet, Paul challenged me to consider that even my hospital stays can be opportunities to be salt and light.  Seeing his joyful demeanor (even when not feeling well) made a nurse comfortable enough to open up with him and give him the opportunity to share about Jesus and lead her to Christ. I wonder if that's not how it should always be for a believer. 

     Too often we can be so focused on the care we get, or what we think it should be as opposed to what it is (especially in light of the cost), that we are led to complain instead of thanking our caregivers.  We look to be served instead of seeking to see it as an opportunity to serve as missionaries in that place.  It would be helpful on such occasions to remember how blessed we are, and that many people around the world would give anything just to have a hospital to go to, never mind the level of care we have here in the States.  So, as a reminder of what we are called to, and the difference it can make if we just determine to respond differently, I pass his story along to you. After all, it is all about what we can do for Jesus and His kingdom.

To God Alone Be Glory,  Pastor Jeff

Simply Sacred

Greetings All!

This week's "thought" comes to you from Gary Thomas, and is taken from his book, "Simply Sacred."

     As I was reading through the book, this particular entry caught my attention.  Why?  Because I can sometimes be disappointed at the way things are going in this world.  All it takes is glancing at the days headlines -- "Man kills another over parking spot dispute...,"  "Suicide bomber kills 13 and injures 24 at Baghdad ice cream shop..."  "Brother who drugs and rapes sister gets probation..."     The values, the priorities, the political rants, the greed, the language, the unreasonableness, the selfishness, the lack of respect, love and common sense... it can tend to bring one down.

     That's why I chose this entry.  It helps us look at all that from a different perspective.  A redemptive perspective. A perspective that reminds us that Jesus' call is for us as His followers to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).  And what we sometimes forget is this: Salt is the most desired where the food is the most bland, and light is the most cherished when our surroundings are the darkest and our path littered with dangerous obstacles.

     Gary's entry for today reinforces this biblical idea, and in doing so helps turn our disillusionment with this world into a motivation to carry out Christ's mission for us. That of being salt and light. Enjoy.

Defiant Beauty

     "Years ago on a trip through southwestern Washington [state], I traveled through miles and miles of tree farms...  Interspersed among these tree farms were occasional stretches of clear-cut logging projects. The land looked devastated, broken, and abused. Even knowing that the land would come back after planting new trees, it's still a bit sad to see such brutal scarring of a forest.

     Yet, as I passed another clear-cut stretch, my eye caught something that almost made me pull off the road.  There, in a devastated patch of land, stood a startlingly beautiful maple tree, in full autumn colors. Somehow, the loggers had missed it.

     The contrast could not have been more stark -- or more beautiful. Beauty surrounded by beauty begins, after a time, to seem mediocre. But beauty in the midst of chaos or ugliness stuns us. It seizes our attention. In a barren and broken stretch of land, this tree captured my imagination and told another story. Had it stood in the midst of New Hampshire's White Mountains during autumn, it likely would have been missed -- one stunning tree in a forest of thousands of other stunning trees.  Here, however, in a broken, hurting land, this glorious tree proclaimed a transcendent truth.

     In the deepest part of us, we truly yearn for such "defiant beauty." In a world where people choose self-centered lives, where ugly things happen, where sin seems to spread unchecked, where daily assaults take their toll, we can point to the defiant beauty of a selfless life, seeking first the kingdom of God, putting others first, and even sacrificing (if need be) -- all to proclaim a transcendent truth much greater than ourselves.

     I invite you to develop this defiant beauty..., the kind that has shone through all generations of the church. At your office, in your house, at school, during walks through the malls, or visits to friends houses, let's carry the defiant beauty of our Savior's love and hope to a sin-stained world."

     The apostle Paul put forth this same truth in Romans 12:9-21; I Corinthians 13:1-13; II Corinthians 5:11-6:13; Galatians 5:16-26, and elsewhere.  There will always be things in the world that will tend to bring us down. Yet, it is in the face of all such things that we have the opportunity to add the most flavor, or shine most brightly.  Love in the face of hate, caring in the face or indifference, sacrifice in place of selfishness, generosity in the face of greed -- can not help but be noticed.

     Like that one, solitary, beautiful maple tree decked out in its autumn splendor, in the midst of a clear cut swath of destruction, we can make a difference. We can hide our light under a basket of self-protection, or lose our flavor by associating only with those who live and believe just like we do.  Or, we can do what Jesus called us to do and go out into the world, without being a part of the world, and seek to be His ambassadors of love and reconciliation.  Negative situations can discourage us, or they can be what Jesus and Paul both suggested they could be -- our renewed motivation for mission!  Determine that it may always be the latter, for Jesus sake.

Make it your goal today to be the light that shines into some dark situation, Pastor Jeff