Tools in God’s Hands

    

      Our God is certainly a God of variety. When it comes to the world and the creatures he has placed here, we see the evidence of differences and variety. In nature, we see the many different kinds of trees, rocks, animals, and landscapes. Every snowflake, fingerprint, and DNA profile is different. Personalities, physical looks, and preferences are unique to each person. God intended for it to be that way. He didn’t want a boring world of “look-a-likes.”

      God also gave each of us different gifts, talents, and abilities. Paul writes in 1Corinthians 12 about spiritual gifts from God. He also writes about how the different “parts” of the “body of Christ,” the members of the church, should work together and use the individual gifts to encourage everyone, build God’s kingdom, and bring glory to Jesus. In Romans 12 Paul again discusses gifts and unity, “…we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to one another.” We belong to one another, yet our steady focus is on Christ.

      We get into trouble when we begin to compare our gifts to others, when we begin to criticize how others are using their gifts, and when we focus more on the gift instead of the Giver.

      To illustrate this point Leslie B. Flynn in his book, Nineteen Gifts of the Spirit, gives us the following story.

      A group of carpenter tools held a meeting and the hammer decided to preside. Several other tools suggested he leave the meeting because he was too noisy. So Hammer said, “If I leave then Screw must leave also because he must be turned around and around to get him to do anything.” Screw said, “I’ll leave, but Plane must leave with me because all his work is on the surface. He has no depth.”

      To this Plane responded, “Ruler needs to go because she is always measuring everyone as if she is always right.” Ruler complained that Sandpaper was always so rough and seems to rub people the wrong way.”

      About this time the Carpenter of Nazareth came into the shop and began picking up the tools and working on a pulpit from which the gospel would be proclaimed. He used all the tools as he worked; the hammer, screw, plane, ruler, and sandpaper. When the pulpit was finished, the Saw said, “Tools, it seems we are all workers together in God’s kingdom.”

      So maybe this story is telling you and me that the gifts given to us by God really belong to him and should be given back to him for his use. Maybe the ultimate gift is the gift of our selves placed unconditionally into his hands.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC, July 29, 2012

Granddaddy and John Howard Mehaffey at 3 mos old.

Daily Courage

      Each of us faces the problems and difficult circumstances that life throws at us in different ways. We cry, fight back, ignore, become angry and maybe bitter, and sometimes we even try to run away from the challenges that we face. There are many problems which seem so huge, so irresolvable, we cannot, dare not tackle them by ourselves. We realize that we need help. So, we turn to others, our family and friends; but even then, we may come to an understanding that we need help from outside ourselves, outside our circle of family and friends, and even outside of our world. We then hold out our empty hands toward the source of strength from outside our reality, to the one who said, “Come to me, all of you who are struggling hard, and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

      I believe Jesus was not only referring to spiritual struggles and spiritual rest, but to the daily struggles we all face. Then we find in 1Peter 5:7, the Apostle Peter exalting the power of God to take care of us using these words, “…throw all your anxieties onto him, because he cares about you.”

      I recently experienced courage in the face of impossibility as I made the rounds to visit those with various needs. There was the man who spoke confidently from his rehab facility bed, unable to get up, “I am not alone.” The ninety-seven year old lady who sat on the edge of her bed in the nursing home and said with a sad, but strong voice, “My son just passed away.” And then, there was the man who looked at me as I stood beside his hospital bed and said defiantly, “I have lung cancer.” From each of these people courage and hope radiated, courage bigger than the problem.

      In the 1920’s a man named Mallory tried three times to conquer Mt. Everest. On the third try, in spite of careful planning and extensive safety precautions, an avalanche hit the climbing party. Mallory and most of his expedition were killed.

      Back in England at the memorial service, the leader of the surviving men stood before the crowd to give a final word. With his back to the crowd, and facing a huge picture of Mt. Everest that hung almost menacingly over the banquet table, the man spoke these words, “ Mt. Everest, you defeated us once; you defeated us twice; and even the third time. But, we will one day defeat you, because you cannot get any bigger, and we will.”

      Our struggles may seem bigger than us, but they can never be bigger than the one who daily walks with us. It is God who falls into step beside us, who lifts the burden as we lift, and gives us the courage to face the darkness of each night and the beginning of each day. Our problems can never be bigger than our God.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC July 22, 2012

A Journey of Faith

July 25, 2012

I look back over the past two weeks and can’t believe all the things I have learned here at Long’s Chapel. I have been stretched and challenged more during this time than in the past several years. I see God working in so many ways through the ministries here…ways that I have not seen or have not seen in a long time. As I work beside God and others in the ministry of caring for those in need, I see suffering and hurt close up, but I also see the face of Jesus. I see him in some way each day and certainly see him as we gather to praise and worship.

As we have meditated and prayed through A.W. Tozer’s book, “The Pursuit of God,” our small group has grown deeply in the inspired words about God’s presence, his voice, the veil that must be removed to achieve intimacy with Him, and how steadily we should be focused on God.

With all the “tasks” of daily living, tasks that are both wearisome and delightful, necessary and desirable, I don’t want to lose my intimacy with Jesus. I want my “gaze” to stay steadily on the One who has saved me from my brokenness.

God and Us

      In one of his chapters in the classic book, “The Pursuit of God,” A.W. Tozer makes strong contrasts between the doctrine of God’s divine universal presence and pantheism, between God’s presence and the manifestation of his presence, and between the nearness of place and the nearness of relationship. Tozer also discusses the idea that people respond to God’s call on their lives in different ways and varying degrees of receptivity to God’s will.

      We agree that God is everywhere. There is no place that God can not be, and since God is not bound by the laws of physics; time, space, distance, speed, and matter do not apply to God. God is universally everywhere at the same time, never leaving or arriving. This is not pantheism. Pantheism says that God is the sum of all created things. Some of God is in a rock, some of God is in a tree, etc. Therefore, when all these things are put together, that sum becomes God. This thinking degrades the divinity of God and denies that he is an uncreated Other.

      We can be surrounded by God’s presence and not know it. The example Tozer gives makes this clear. In Genesis 28 we have the story of Jacob’s dream of the ladder that stretched from heaven down to earth. This was God’s way of manifesting, or revealing himself, to Jacob. God’s presence had always been with Jacob, but until he recognized and became receptive to God’s revealed presence, he did not know it.

      Relationship is so important in a physical, human sense, and in a spiritual understanding. We can be near a person, or a place, and not be connected or involved. Just as Jacob was near the altar of worship, yet had no relationship with God, we too can be guilty of being “near” without relationship. God is looking for a personal relationship with each of us.

      Then, there are the questions that are raised about a Christian’s receptivity to God’s will and his/her willingness to grow and mature in the faith journey. Why do some people develop a distinctively deeper and closer relationship with God than others? Why do some remain “nominal” Christians while other blossom into “on fire” disciples?

      It’s not what God does or doesn’t do, because God extends the same invitation to full salvation and the gift of grace to grow as a Christian to all believers. According to Tozer, the difference between a “nominal” Christian and one who is constantly growing is a spiritual awareness to know God more fully, the desire to be receptive to God’s will, and the willingness to do something about it.

      So, we form our own questions for self examination. Even though we know that God’s presence surrounds and goes with us, have we developed a relationship with him? Are we “nominal” in the sense that we are at the same place in our faith journey as a year ago? How receptive are we to the call of Jesus to respond to the call for holy living and service to others?

      For all of history, God has pursued us, looked for us, and desired to be with us.

He wants a loving relationship with us. He offers his presence, and he waits.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC July 15, 2012   

A Journey of Faith

A Journey of Faith

      Monday, July 9, 2012, will be my first day officially “on the job” at Long’s Chapel. The journey began several months ago as God began opening doors of opportunity. As Pastor Chuck and I met many times and talked about the possibilities, God continued to work the way God works. So here we are! Debbie, my amazing and beautiful wife, has been my rock through all the years of our ministry, so she comes with her excitement and gifts to stand beside me here at our new appointment.

      We are blessed as we anticipate joining in God’s work that is already in progress and adding to the on-going ministries. I ask each person to be patient as I learn names, family relationships, programs, procedures, and “how things are done.”

      We expect to be blessed as well as to be a blessing to those we have come to serve—those inside the church and those in our community. We ask for your prayers! 

Newspaper Article-July 8, 2012

Touches of Jesus

      One of the amazing things about Jesus’ ministry was the constant unpredictable flow of events that seemed to follow him as each day unfolded. Jesus traveled, sat down and ate, prayed and taught, and healed. Always, Jesus healed. And the crowds came, smothering him with their needs. People came from everywhere, all occupations and lifestyles, and all social and economic levels. They came to be healed, to feel his touch.

      Mark tells in chapter five of two separate events where Jesus was touched for healing and new life. We have heard the story of the synagogue leader, Jarius and his desperate plea to Jesus for the healing of his dying daughter. But just as Mark begins to tell Jarius’ story, he interrupts to bring us another story intertwined within the first. The second story is about the woman who has a serious hemorrhaging problem that had gone on for twelve years. After spending all her money on doctors—Jesus was her last chance.

      So as Jesus was walking through the crowd to Jarius’ house, the woman gets close enough to Jesus to touch his robe. Immediately, she knew she had been healed, and so did Jesus. But he wanted to do more for the woman than just heal her, he wanted to know her personally. So, Jesus looks for her in the crowd, finds her, and speaks to her about her faith that has healed her.

      But you know, Jesus doesn’t want to only heal us, take care of our crises and immediate needs, and then leave us until the next time. Jesus wants to know those who touch him. He wants to know us personally, to be our friend, and to become intimate with us.

      While all this was happening, Jarius received word from home that his daughter had died. There was no reason to bother Jesus any more with the possibility of healing. But as Jesus heard the news and saw the hurt and grief on Jarius’ face, he offered these words, “Don’t be afraid, Jairus. Keep on trusting.” I believe Jesus wanted Jairus to have the same faith in what Jesus could do, as the woman had. Jesus was encouraging Jairus to believe that Jesus’ authority had no limitations.

      At Jarius’ house Jesus threw out all the people who doubted him, and those who laughed at his authority, and taking the little girl by the hand spoke the words, Talitha koum, little girl, get up.” She got up, walked around, and even had something to eat.

      This time we notice that Jesus is the one who reaches out and touches the one needing healing. It works both ways. We pursue God, as he pursues us. Jesus is constantly looking for those who need healing, those who have spent all their resources, and those who are lifeless and hopeless. Jesus always stands ready to reach out and touch us just as he did to the little girl so long ago. Yet, he also waits to feel our touch as we reach toward him as the woman did in expectation of his presence and his gift of healing. The touch of Jesus in our daily lives should be a constant source of encouragement, anticipation, and personal healing.

Rev Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, July 8, 2012