Love Has a Voice

I know Valentine's Day was 2 weeks ago, but I can't get this one Valentine out of my mind. It was shown to me by a friend, and is one of the most unusual cards I have ever seen. It was actually a montage of quotations from popular love songs of the past.  After each quote, the recording artist was identified. This is what the card said:

The first time ever I saw your face, I thought the sun rose in your eyes. I knew our joy would fill the earth and last until the end of time my love.
(Roberta Flack)
Take my hand. Take my whole life too, for I can't help falling in love with you.
(Elvis Presley)
I've been with you such a long time. You're my sunshine and I want you to know that my feelings are true. I really love you. You're my best friend.
(Queen)
What will it take till you believe in me the way that I believe in you? I said I love you and that's forever, and this I promise from the heart. I couldn't love you any better. I love you just the way you are.
(Billy Joel)
My love, you never need to doubt it. I'll make you so sure about it.
(The Beach Boys)
I know you're hurting and right now you feel like you could never love again. All I ask is a chance to prove that I love you. From the first day I saw your smiling face, I knew we would be together forever.
(Backstreet Boys)
You are the apple of my eye, and forever you'll stay in my heart.
(Stevie Wonder)
Remember the day I set you free? I told you, that you could always count on me. From that day on I made a vow I’ll be there when you want me. Because there ain't no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you.
(Marvin Gaye)
And I will always love you.
(Whitney Houston)

As I looked at this loose collection of love thoughts, the Lord said, “This is my Valentine to all of you.” Surprised, I responded, “What are you saying Lord? This is just a bunch of lyrics from pop and rock songs of the past.”

The Lord replied, “Love has a voice deep inside each of you, and whenever Love speaks, it contains My voice. Your need for love, your longing to love and to be loved are really expressions of your hunger for Me, for I am Love. Your love lyrics express not only what you feel for one another, but what I feel for you.”

Looking back over the lyrics, I saw them with new eyes, as Scriptures came to my awareness. The description of love (1 Corinthians 13:4–8), the greatness of God's love for us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8), the fact that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:37–39; Ephesians 3:17–19), we are His friends (John 15:9–15) and He will never stop loving us (Jeremiah 31:3).

Love does have a voice that expresses itself within the heart of each of us. We cannot escape it, for we were created by Love, in Love’s image to love and be loved. He has given us this most profound blessing of all, sharing in the essence of His very nature!

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM as we continue with part 3 of our series on God's blessings. My sermon is, “How to Wear Your Blessing Well by Loving Others, Part II.”

Pastor Che

Friend Wanted

There are many ways to socially connect on the Internet: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and dating websites to name a few. Recently, I was made aware of the existence of a large number of “friendship websites.” These sites are for people who are looking to form friendships, not romantic interests. They come in a great variety focused on things like geographic area (country, state, city), common interests such as politics, religious beliefs, literary clubs, and exchange sites for new moms, sports enthusiasts, bodybuilders, etc.

They are all interested in forming friendships around these shared interests, and frequently state the qualities that they are looking for in friends. Some of the commonly mentioned characteristics of desirable friends include having integrity and honesty, being positive, forgiving, open-minded, confident, and respectful. Other characteristics often mentioned are standing up for one's convictions, being able to tell it like it is, and transparency; that is being the same person in public that you are in private.

It got me to thinking about the qualities that I look for in friendships, and I had to admit that I also valued many of the same characteristics that were mentioned. Have you ever taken time to ask yourself, “What do I look for in a friend? What personality traits attract me to others?” Of course none of us is perfect, and no one human being will contain all the qualities we would most desire in a friend. For that matter, we don't have all the qualities in ourselves that we would like to have in a friend!

At least that is what I thought until yesterday when I happened upon an older page. It was simply labeled, “Friend Wanted.” The person looking for friendship offered the following description of themself: “Mature, intelligent, very knowledgeable, forgiving, patient, kind, understanding, compassionate, truthful, optimistic and joyful, loyal, supportive, financially secure and generous, able to commit to others.”

They listed their major interests as “social justice, human rights, environmental issues, humane treatment of animals, and all the arts.” The site ended with the comment: “Interested in stable long-term relationships. No gender, age, race or cultural preferences.”

I couldn't help but think, “Wow, this guy is going to get inundated with replies! Who wouldn't want to be the friend of such a person?” It's funny, even though I had visited there many times before; I had never really seen that it was actually a “Friend Wanted” page.

This page location is the Holy Bible, and the person looking for friends who described Himself is Father God. Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly explains His character to us, and reassures us that He wants to be our friend. He has all the personality traits anyone could ever want in the perfect friend, and He puts no qualifications on us before He accepts us as His friend.

One of His best self-descriptions is found in 1st Corinthians 13:4–8. I encourage you to read it frequently to remind yourself of what type of friend He is. And you don't ever need to worry that your friendship with Him will fade with time. He has promised repeatedly that He will never leave or forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6; Matthew 28:20; John 14:18)

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM. I will be continuing our current series with Part II on "How to Wear God's Blessings Well".

Pastor Che

Where’s Your Family?

My birthday was a few weeks ago, and I celebrated it the way I like best by being with my family. We went to one of my favorite restaurants and dinner was on the kids. My current two favorite preoccupations, my grandson Justice and my granddaughter Annabelle were also there.

I couldn't help but notice how comfortable and confident Justice and Anabelle were in the midst of our family. They joyfully traveled from lap to lap, laughing and playing. Despite their young ages they seem to understand their family membership, and from this security they were able to reach out, explore and even respond positively to strangers who noticed them. It was as if the family gave them a foundation in which to discover their identity and be motivated to grow further.

I thought back to the first words that Father God spoke after creating the human race. They were words of blessing and they tied our prosperity and our family membership together. “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and govern it.” (Genesis 1:28) From the very beginning, Father God intended that we would have our identity and expand our territory from the secure base of being in a family.

Father God's intention that we live, grow and develop within a family context permeates all His commands to us and all His blessings over us. He constantly uses family references in describing our relationship to Him. Romans 8:15 assures us that Father God has adopted us as members of his very own family, so intimately connected to Him, that we call Him “Abba” or “Daddy.”

Our family ties in Him are so close that He describes us as being united together like a body, completely interdependent on one another. As the Church, we are not an organized structure, but a living organism, and we are built up and grow together. “The whole body depends upon Christ. All the parts of the body are joined and held together, with each part doing its own work. This causes the whole body to grow and become stronger in love.” (Ephesians 4:16)

Too often today, I see Christians wandering from one local church to another, seeking new experiences by attending special Christian events. They are constantly seeking, but never being satisfied. They're like orphans, accepting a meal here and there, and perhaps a nights lodging, but then they move on, restless and alone. I want to ask them, “Where’s your family?” They don't understand that the lasting intimacy and depth they seek with Father God can only be found in the ongoing presence of His family.

Father God created us in such a way that we find our identity, our purpose and our destiny in the midst of ongoing commitment to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must find “our family,” the local body to whom we belong in order to live that commitment, and find the fulfillment in Him we are seeking.

As you read this today, I ask you, “Where’s your family?” What local group of Christians are you committed to on an ongoing basis? For you will only find your identity and live in the fullness of God's blessings when you are a stable member in the family where God places you.

Please come join us this Sunday at one of our three worship services. Our worship leader, Pastor Kenny Peavy will be speaking at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. We will have a special guest speaker, Brandon Hess at our 2:00 PM service.

Pastor Che

It's My Nature

During the month of January I taught a series on “The Power of Blessing.” We looked at ten very powerful decrees of blessing that God makes over every one of His children. While most people received these decrees with enthusiasm, I have to wonder how many of them ever expect to see these blessings actually manifest in their lives.

I say this because as I travel the world, I constantly meet Christians who voice that God does indeed bless us, but who show little evidence of that blessing in their lives. In honest and intimate conversation many of them tell me how unworthy they feel to be blessed. They may be struggling with some type of addiction, have had an affair, realize they have manipulated others for personal gain, or failed to achieve some goal they deemed important. Whatever the reason, they judge themselves lacking and feel guilty and ashamed.

Without realizing it, they have put conditions on God's blessings, making them a pay off for good performance. They fail to understand the unconditional love of Father God who desires to bless them more than they desire to be blessed. They disqualify themselves from the blessings that He would so freely give if only they would receive them.

Their situation reminds me of a fable told by the Dutch Catholic priest and author Henri Nouwen. The story goes like this:

There was a man who would meditate every morning under a tree close to a riverbank. One morning as he finished meditating, he noticed a scorpion floating helpless in the water. He was close to drowning. The man stood on the tree roots and stretched over the river to pick up the scorpion, but it stung his outreached hand. Instinctively he drew his hand back and winced. But he was determined to assist the scorpion, so he stretched over the river again to pick him up out of the water. Once again the scorpion stung him, this time deeply penetrating his hand with his poisonous tail.

The man yelped with pain and drew back his hand that was now swollen and bloody. At that moment a passerby saw what was going on and said to the man, “Are you crazy? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly and evil creature like that. Don't you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?”

The man looked calmly at the passerby and gently said, “My friend, just because it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save.”

We must not confuse our actions with God's nature. Nothing we do or fail to do can change the fact that Father God desires to bless us. It's his nature to do so. We can react with unbelief and push Him away because we don't feel worthy. Like the scorpion we can remain helpless and struggling when He has supplied our every need in abundance and longs for us to receive His supply. Ephesians 1:3 tells us, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

Dare to believe that regardless of how worthy you may feel, it is His nature to bless you today and every day!

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM, or 2:00 PM. I am continuing to address God's blessings for us, especially His desire to bless the nations through us. My sermon this week is “How to Wear God's Blessings Well.”

Pastor Che