Devotional 5-29-09

Pentecost is about Testifying
John 15:26-27 (New International Version)

"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

I am a weenie when it comes to testifying. How about you?

I don’t like to testify to my faith. Yeah, I know that I am a minister. I have hundreds of hours of seminars and conferences, a seminary degree, and over 30 years experience in visiting, preaching, and praying. I still feel awkward when I find that I am called upon.

I wish I had your excuses. You are just a lay person, you have heard sermons all your life, but you can’t really remember anything specific. You have only had one intensive Bible study, and it was over your head. Sunday school is a time to drink coffee and catch up on what your friends have been doing in the past week. You don’t like to talk in front of people and, besides, everyone you know is a Christian.

That is why Pentecost is my least favorite Christian Holiday. Did I say holiday? I am sorry -- it is my least favorite “Holy Day.” There are no gifts, no painted eggs, no candy. There is no special meal of turkey, ham, cakes, cookies, or even a fish fry. There are not even any special songs, cantatas, or children choir specials. Worse yet, I am supposed to wear the socially unacceptable bright red coat.

Nope, Pentecost is no fun. It is just about testifying. It is a time to pull out and wear our “I love Jesus” T-shirts. It is the day we stand in the line at the grocery store and tell the person in front and behind us that, “Jesus is the Bomb”. It is the day that you go outside into your yard and dance the “Jesus is Coming Again” shuffle.

Today is Pentecost. It is the day set aside to remember that we are not alone. God sent the Holy Spirit, the Holy Comforter, to be with us, to strengthen us, to empower us. It is a gift better than any other that has been bequeathed to us. It is a day to testify to our experience of God in our life. I am going to attempt to muster up the courage to testify to what the Holy Spirit has done in my life. I invite you to do the same.

Did I ever tell you about the time God……………

Rev. David Johnson

Devotional 5-22-09

Joy
Do you have joy in your life? Is there something in your life that is so very special that you feel like you have arrived at a special point of having heaven here on earth?

About six years ago our minister asked during his Sunday sermon how many of us have joy in our lives every day. Do you remember this? There was just one person who admitted by raising his hand to having joy each day.

I had just lost the love of my life, but I knew that this was a message that I needed to hear.

Look for the joy, find the joy, hold onto the joy.

I knew that this must now be one of the missions of my life: -to find and hold onto the joys around me. According to the dictionary, joy is happiness, very glad feelings, great pleasure, delight or anything causing such feelings.

Just this week we read in the newspaper that we are the lowest in the country in the happiness poll. Many people weigh their happiness based on money or status in life, or waiting for others to compliment. Last week I heard a person on TV whose greatest joy was getting to meet a sports super-star. Perhaps we need to look in a different place to find our happiness.

Paul tells us in Galatians 5 that we have gifts which are known as the fruits of the spirit. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control

All we need to do is to look within ourselves for these most precious gifts.

Now that we know what the real gifts are, let’s turn to the greatest gift -- that someone would die for you or me, that they take the pain for us. Where is the joy here? As we approached Easter during Lent, we were looking for the joy. Even on the darkest day, we can find joy if we look at this act. As Christians we are blessed by this, and it is now our duty to pass this joy onto those with whom we come in contact. .

Fill us with joy, let us share this joy for this is the commission that you give us. In your son’s name, amen.

Marilyn Holleron

Please remember Floyd Taylor's family in your prayers. Floyd, one of our devotional writers, died last Friday morning.

Devotional 5-15-09

Chillin' at the Cross
I heard a guy say once, “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” We took the youth to Spring Heights a couple of weekends ago. We left Huntington after school and work, stopped along the way for dinner and then made our way, far past the highway, to the camp. After arrival, a brief meeting with the camp director left us with the news that, due to all of recent rain storms, we would be unable to drive along the semi-graveled path to the cabin. We would have to ferry our gear by ‘youth mule’ to our sleeping quarters. We unloaded the vans and in a haphazard caravan fashion moved along the newly poured sidewalk to our home away from home. I went inside the two-sided cabin (boys/girls separated by a common sitting room), deposited my “stuff” and proceeded to take a mental role call. It didn’t take long to come up short on most of the youth. Knowing full well it would NOT work, I unholstered my cell phone to see who I could raise on the wire. Much to my surprise I had some signal and my call DID go through. The youth I dialed instinctively was my oldest son (15 yrs old). I said, trying not to sound panicked – just more mystified at the collective disappearance, “Where are you guys?” The answer came back in my ear, very calmly, “Chillin' at the Cross.”

Spring Heights is far enough away from town that light trespass or light pollution is not a problem. On a night (like this) with few stars and no moon, the meager light given off from the fixtures on the side of the dining hall fizzles in about 40 feet. The Cross is approximately 1200 feet (400 yards) from the dining hall. I know 400 yards because I paced it the next day. Not accurate enough to buy property but accurate enough to know it was W-A-Y down there. The cross is fixture at the camp. Many pictures have been taken of it and along side it. It has several times graced the cover of our retreat booklet (My youngest even keeps it as the opening picture on his cell phone.). What I’m trying to convey is that getting to the cross was not easy. It was dark, say, as dark as the inside of a dog. They most likely used the dim glow from their phones and iPods to light the way. But it was important enough to them to get there that they started out in pitch dark on a path that, even though traveled many times, had no doubt changed or lost some familiarity over the year since last trod.

We spent the retreat focusing on the 23rd Psalm. We memorized it (again) as a group and broke down each facet into deeper meaning. Their trek to the Cross makes me think of the verse, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley…"

As we walk through our darkest valleys in life, let it be so important to us to reach Christ that we are led by His light and when asked “What are you doing?” we can answer “I’m chillin' at the Cross.”

Steve Matthews

Devotional 5-8-09

Happy Mothers' Day

Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ. --Colossians 3: 23-24

This past year I had an e-mail from an old friend who mentioned that she remembered the Halloween costumes I wore in grade school. This friend literally grew up and joined the circus, so she knows something about costumes! The fact that she remembered my costumes from all those years ago was quite flattering. But the compliment was really for my Mom. Joan Gardner would never have let one of her children leave the house for Trick or Treat in a store-bought costume! All costumes my brothers and I ever wore were meticulously made by hand. Likewise, should you ever see my Mother show up at a covered-dish dinner with something from the grocery store deli, repent and say your prayers because the end of the world is near!

I was fortunate to have a Mother who came from that generation of woman who believed: if you're going to do something, do it right! That attitude showed in everything my Mother did. Especially when it came to her "church work." She wasn't one who just showed up for a couple of hours on Sunday mornings. When she taught Sunday School or Bible School, she'd spend all the time necessary to make sure her lessons and crafts were just right. If I had a nickle for every hour she spent in the church kitchen, I could retire! Her church work branched out; she volunteered for Christian Associates, the downtown churches food and clothing pantry. She didn't stop at a couple of hours a week, but often went in early and stayed late to sort clothes and make sure the Size 10's were not mixed in with the Size 12's. Today, at almost 80, she's the "Iced Tea Lady" at Common Grounds.

If you spend more than ten minutes with my Mom, you'll hear something about her church, her spiritual and social hub. It is the central part of her life. Participating in worship on Sunday mornings, taking her famous meat loaf to someone who's experienced a death in their family, or picking up friends for Young at Heart, she serves the Lord constantly and humbly. What a wonderful example!

Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last: but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise. --Proverbs 31: 30-31

Anita Gardner Farrell