Simple Church – putting a number on it…

Ever feel like you are the only one?

Simple Church, Organic Church or House Church is no longer thought of as some fringe, obscure or illegitimate expression of the Church made up of hippies and those too strange to belong to traditional christian churches.  Let me take that back… some of us are strange.  However, there is a longing amongst many believers today for something more than the status quo, more than church attendance.  There is a growing desire to not change the structure of church but rather be changed people.  This is leading to a shift in how believers meet and gather.  It’s less about the building and more about the relationships and Christ being the center of communal life. 

So is this a passing fad?  It doesn’t seem so.  By the growing numbers it’s becoming a movement – a Jesus movement and is gaining acceptance even among mainstream traditional and denominational churches who are not only embracing it as legitimate but who themselves are now planting Simple Churches.

Give it to me. What’s the number?

One of Christianity’s most influential leaders, George Barna, who has both been a part of the movement for many years and has done extensive research share some interesting facts.  This is a recent article written by the Barna Group entitled “How many people really attend a House Church?”.  CLICK HERE

The Vision and The Journey…

Not all journeys begin with a vision, but every vision is the beginning of a journey. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I am talking about something that originated from the heart of God, not the desires of man.  We have all felt strong desires and placing them in beautifully crafted words and called them a vision.  Church leaders are notorious for this , the proof being captured in many churches’ three part vision statements.  I’m not slamming on the desires of Godly men who want to do good things, but there is a big difference between the visions of men to do Godly things and the visions from God that only He can give and fulfill. 

“That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  John 3:6

God fulfills His visions through us and by the resources He supplies.  We cannot see or understand the full scope of this kind of vision.  If we did, we would run away from it like Jonah or run right out thinking we can fulfill God’s vision.  A true vision from God frightens you and captures you at the same time.  You don’t go looking for it, it finds you.

It was a typical Sunday service.  We were going through the same routine we go through every Sunday.  As we came to our time of worship, I was engaged as I usually am somewhere between sorting out the last thoughts of the sermon I am about to deliver and half listening for any last minute promptings from the Holy Spirit and trying to worship.  All of a sudden I am arrested by God with a vision.  I am engulfed by what I see in the Spirit as everything in the natural fades into the backdrop till I am only aware of God and what He’s showing me.  And, this is all I see…

I was taken outside of our Church building as I watched a storm appear.  It was sudden with no time to prepare.  You could not see the storm, only it’s effects.  It was like seeing one of those storm stories about a hurricane or tornado on the Discovery Channel.  The power of the wind began to tear the building apart starting with the shingles.  Piece by piece the building tore apart, shingles, plywood, timbers and bricks, til all that was left was the concrete slab foundation.  Then as quickly as the church was torn apart and stripped away, God began to build it back.  Suddenly, I found myself back standing in our sanctuary singing our last song if worship.

I tried quickly to compose myself.  What now?  I sensed in my spirit that God was about to do what I saw, but I had no idea what that meant.  As I said before, it frightened me and captured me.  I heard the Lord say, “surrender.”

I made my way up front and stood before the people God had been so gracious to bring together as our church.  I felt compelled to share what I saw and what God said to me.  When I was done sharing the vision, I said to the church that I sensed God telling us to surrender, that if He needed to strip anything away, we needed to surrender and let Him.  If I needed to go, the building needed to go, any programs, any people, finances, ideologies about ministry or personal issues, then we needed to surrender and let Him.   I asked everyone to pray with me a prayer of consecration.

What came next, I would not have expected.  And, so the journey began…

Come along with me.

Run away church…

“…and a little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6

Maybe there is something to learn from this young generation about Church.  When I was a kid I didn’t like going to church but I did like seeing my friends there.  I remember the old man who used to give all us kids a stick of gum every Sunday.  Isn’t it funny the things that matter to us.  For me, the greatest memories of my childhood church experience had to do with the relationships I valued and the people who showed value to me.

It’s all about the relationships.  God living in us, us living in relationship with Him, us living in relationship with each other revealing the relationship with Him.  So as I tell the church I have the privilege of leading and loving, “when we leave the building, the church has left the building because we are the church, not the building.”

Romance…

Listening to this strikes a romantic chord.  I think I need to go out and buy one.

Keep your love alive!

He who has an ear, let him hear…

Oh the beauty of diversity.  How different we are in every way, including our ability to communicate.  If you haven’t learned by now then you either don’t realize that people misunderstand what you’ve tried to say or you don’t care if you are misunderstood.   But, if we value relationship with the ones we are trying to communicate with then we will take the time to learn.  To assume you are heard simply because you think you are a clear and precise communicator is a self-delusion and maybe in some cases arrogant.  Either way it does not take into account the beautiful diversity of our hearers.  Communication is an ongoing process that may need to be revisited over and over til what we find is not that we have simply been heard and understood but rather we progressively and more intimately know our hearers as well as we are known.  To truly desire to be heard is to truly desire relationship with our hearer and that is a heart issue not just something wrong with the ears.

Hearing Voices…

“In high school I was a friend of Herbert Orin Tubbs, a scrappy country boy from Alabama who loved to kill snakes, shoot guns and play basketball.  Herbert, despite what you might imagine from my description, was quite intelligent, and when he graduated was offered a full scholarship to a good private university. Surprisingly Herbert, turned down the scholarship, stayed home and went to a local community college part-time. When I asked him why he turned down the scholarship, he said, “I didn’t feel that tinkle in my nose!” He went on to explain, I won’t say yes to anything unless I feel a tinkle in my nose. I believe its God’s way of talking to me.” Over the next few years that tinkle, apparently, led him to quit college, float between various odd jobs and chase a girl across the country.

We all know someone who speaks with authority about how God or destiny has lead them to make certain decisions. If you are like me, you relish the ring of authority and confidence this brings to a person. But at the same time you are suspicious of such idiosyncratic declarations.”     Dojo @ ReImagine – Experiments In Truth Week 2

I read this the other day and it reminded me of a conversation I had with my brother about hearing God.  I encounter so many people who are Christ followers that say they hear God telling them to do things I know violate His nature and Word.  The problem is they are convienced at they have heard God.  I know at the outset of this post, you might think I am judging what God tells other people or maybe I’m wrong and missing God myself.  I realize this and am willing to take the criticism.  People have to make decisions all the time that are difficult and that affect relationships.  The problem comes when we are not honest with ourselves and make decisions with wrong motives driving us.  Our decisions always have consequences and many times relational ones.  God’s direction is always loving and redemptive even if the decision is a hard one.  Relationships are what God values - it is the core of our faith journey and where our growth happens. The issue here is the necessity to hear God and the dangers of not.  Not hearing God can leave a wake of relational carnage behind us or cause a lot of personal pain with major spiritual detours.

Like the above quoted story, there are people who say they got the tingle.  Now, they may use different words but it’s the same thing.  I’ve heard many people over the years in ministry say “I’m leaving my Church, God has released me or I’m leaving my spouse, God has released me.”  A friend of mine, after hearing one of these comments said to me “You know what released means; It means I can do what I want.”  Now last I checked, we are the church.  I mean the body of Christ’s followers.  How can you leave the body accept be cut off?  When we leave a church we are really leaving relationships.  This is why Jesus used the picture of marriage to symbolize His relationship with the Church and therefore our relationship with each other. Truth be told, most of the time it’s due to hurt or offense.  God wants us to operate in love in our relationships, even when it’s hard.  This is where growth happens.

Here’s the point - We must check whether the tingle (voice) we have is from God or just a feeling that will relieve us or absolve us or excuse us of the responsibility to love one another and bear with one another instead of signing God’s name to our decisions and then saying it’s about the need for a different type of Church.  It’s easy to feel intently about something and call it God’s voice.  The flesh always seeks self -preservation and self-gratification.  The Spirit seeks sacrifice, unity, love, generosity and thinking of others. The more scary thing is when we cannot distinguish between His voice and our fleshly desires.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”      Hebrews 4:12

We must be able to divide between the soul and spirit and discern by the Holy Spirit even our own thoughts and intentions hidden in our hearts.

A little advise:

1. Don’t make decisions when you are angry, hurt, or offended with someone.

2. Don’t let hurt dictate your decision making by clouding your ability to hear God.

3. Talk to your pastor. If it’s your Pastor, talk to your Pastor.

4. Seek unbiased, wise counsel before you make decisions.

5. Pray and seek scripture.

6. Make sure it’s your Spirit not your soul that you hear.

7. Love always fulfills the law of Christ.

Risky Buisness…

We have been teaching a series called “Going Deep” over the last few weeks and it has been an awesome experience for me because it has been shaping me as I teach it. 

The thing I have been pondering is how we mostly present Christianity as a belief system instead of a way of life.  Our faith was intended to be a way of life.  God models this for us.  We know 1 John 4:8 says “God is love.”  This is our belief.  But, in Romans 5:8 God Gives us His way of life, “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   We know the bible says God is kind and we believe it but Romans 2:4 says “the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”  Our belief system has to always be fleshed out.  It has to become for us a way of life.

In our series about “Going Deep”,we looked at Acts 2:42-47 where the believer (system) devoted themselves (way of life).  They devoted themselvesto fellowship and breaking of bread which requires a great deal of humility and vulnerability.  Let’s just say this is RISKY BUSINESS.  I shared in our series how we will have fellowship to the degree that we are known.  This means the risk of exposing ourselves, being real.  It questions “If I let people know this about me, what will they think, what will they do?”

That said, I was privileged this week to be invited to lunch by a new friend.  When we settled down to eat he said the reason he wanted to have lunch with me was to expose himself.  He said he wanted to tell me about his life so we could know each other deeper.  WOW!!!  The courage it takes to let it all hang out.  My experience has been, you never know how people will react when you open up to be known.  I am so blessed, both as this persons friend and as a pastor.  I am blessed to go deeper as a friend and like most pastors, we are blessed when people “get it.”  It takes a great deal of faith to live the kind of life, but is is our reward, our inheritance in the saints.

Hang in there with me, I need to catch up the last two weeks of this series here on the blog. (Breaking Bread & Prayer)

Here are the links for the first 3 parts of this series “GOING DEEP.”

Pt. 1 GOING DEEP

Pt. 2 GOING DEEP

Pt.3 GOING DEEP

Going Deep – Pt.3 Fellowship

Fellowship is something that we generally equate to hanging out with other people or doing something together.  In this third week of our series “Going Deep”, we look again at Acts 2:42-47 which says the new believers “devoted themselves to….the fellowship…”.

 

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”  Acts 2:42-47

When we look at this passage as well as other throughout the New Testament we see that what these new disciples of Jesus were experiencing something new.  This was something different.  This was something Deeper!

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”      1 John 1:1-10

John shares his first hand experience of the fellowship we see in the book of Acts. 

First, he says this fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  He uses the words “Our fellowship”, which is a possessive personal pronoun, indicating fellowship as a distinguishing mark of Christians rather than something just enjoyed by them.  This fellowship set them apart as a unique and new experience to them.  It is unique because it is with the Father and His Son.  This is something they had not experience before now.   Their fellowship was based on that which united them; a relationship with the one who’s blood gave grace to cover their sin and who’s resurrection gave them new life and an experience of the Fathers love.

In Thayer’s Greek Definitions, fellowship is the Greek word “koinonia”, meaning association, community, communion, joint participation, intimacy and (social) intercourse.   This is more than mere religion or religious acts.  This is intimate’ knowing and being known. 

Second, he says our fellowship is in the Light.  If we walk in the Light we will have fellowship with one another.  To walk in the Light means to be expose, open with nothing hidden in darkness.  We spend much of our lives trying to hide certain thing from God and most things from people.  Even those we consider closest to us.  This is why so many Christians substitute Religion for true fellowship.  They put on the appearance of outward spirituality while inside they are closed off, bound and burdened by the things hidden in darkness.  Ephesians 5:13-14 tell us that anything brought into the Light becomes Light because Christ shines on you.  It is amazing the relief we feel when we have no secrets, when we open up and share with someone what we have tried to hide.  Satan can no longer hold it over our head and we step out to find, not condemnation, but rather love and grace.  We fellowship to the degree we are known.

• Who do you know like this?
• Who knows you like this?
• Are you willing to expose yourself, take the risk of being utterly transparent and real with someone?

Going Deep Pt. 1

Last week I started a new teaching series at The Dwelling Place entitled “Going Deep.”  It was prompted by something I posted a few days back where I said “Going Deep is our part, going Big is God’s part.”  As I was reflecting on Acts 2 I noticed something that jerked me back like a dog on a leash.

We have a tendency as church pastors and church planter to give in to the pressure to produce.  Much of our insecurities can be manipulated by the pressure of perceived expectation, that we must make it grow.  Since we are the experts, we must do something to make that thing get bigger.  After all it is the consumers measure for success.  If it’s not succeeding then we are not succeeding.  Let me say to all of you in ministry, “What a load of CRAP!”  Success?  I remember what my Father said to His firstborn, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”  This is it.  I am my Daddy’s son and He loves me.

Moving on.  After finishing a previous series where we looked at what our mission was, I was tempted to work up a mission statement, package it well, capture it in a clever statement and then….jerrrrrk.  I saw it.  

“And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers……praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”   Acts 2:42,47

The new believers devoted themselves……it produced favor and the Lord added to their number.

Devoted in the Greek means “to be earnest towards.”  It is a compound word for “forward” indicating a direction and movement towards; and to be strong, steadfast or endure.   In the context of verse 42 it means these new believers were moving forward in a stronger and more earnest relationship with Jesus, their leaders (Apostles) and each other.  In other word they were GOING DEEPER in Scripture and teaching of the Apostles, deeper in fellowship, deeper in the practice of faith and deeper in prayer together.

When we enter into this deeper devotion and a missional, incarnational focus on those around us, it will produce favor.  Going deeper in relationship and love with God and people is an attractive thing.  When you find something you really love, don’t you want to tell someone or share it with someone.  “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  If you don’t want to share the experience of what you have, you might want to check and see if you had it in the first place. 

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”      1 John 4:8

God cannot be contained.  When we try to put God in a box and contain Him, it becomes something other than God.  It just becomes religion and not good religion at that.  Life has to have room to grow or you kill it.    “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”  1 John 4:7

Missional, Incarnational Community…

In the movie Superman Returns, Superman comes to see Lois and explains why he left and came back.  He takes Lois for a flight through the night sky high above the earth.  As they hover, Superman says:

S: What do you hear?

L: Nothing.

S: I hear everything….

S: You wrote “The world does not need a Savior, but every day I hear people crying out for one.”

Isn’t that so true.  If you have the ears and eyes to discern the cry of humanity all around us;  they cry out for a Savior.  From atheist to agnostic to right out vile pagan - While even in the midst of outright denying the existence of God, their lives, their pain, their dreams and life longings cry out for a Savior. 

Instead of self-righteous disdain for the behavior and religious beliefs of others, we should be moved to compassion for a crying humanity in need of a Savior. 

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”   Micah 6:8

Who is going to show them the way?

Missional Community…

“Going deep is our part, going big is God’s part.”

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”      Acts 2:42-47

ReThink Church: Pt 3 – What is Community?

In this 3rd week of rethinking church we are looking at The church as a community.  The word community itself tells us something about the church.  It is a common unity.

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common…”     Acts 2:44

Throughout the scriptures we find the community of God’s people who together share their faith and lives in common.  The description God most often gives to this community of believer and followers is family.

“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son,”    Exodus 4:22
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”     Matthew 6:26

Israel was to God as a son and He to them as their Father. The Father provides for His children. From Genesis to Revelation God is a Father to those who receive His Fatherhood through a relationship with His Son, Jesus.

The New Testament uses family as well as a host of familial terms to describe the church. Paul’s use of brother (brethren) is found 130 times in his writings to the church. In Ephesians 2:19 Pail says we are “members of God’s household.” Where else do we find a more common union than in family.

Now let me say 2 things about family because living as family is not always easy, in fact, it is often messy. First, the family is to love one another.In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells us we are to love one another and that this love is what distinguishes us as His. Additionally He tells us that abiding in relationship with Him, His joy would be in us and our joy would be full and complete. (John 15:11-13) Paul tells us this love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)  This is not to say we won’t have moments when the flesh gets the best of us or we don’t blow it, but it means with God’s help we work it out through love. Love prevails. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

How often do believers, members of God’s household bail out on relationship with each other. How often do we give in to self and not work things out according to the way the Father has loved us. The church community should be a model of love.

Secondly, the church community spends time with one another. Acts 2:42-46 is a picture of people loving each other and spending time with each other. The knew each other because they invested in each other beyond the surface religious rituals of the day. The life of Christ stirred a deep desire for community and a willingness to be vulnerable with each other.

How many of you are experiencing this with your church family? Don’t blame it on your church or spiritual leadership, the onus is on you to risk being intimately known in order to be loved. How can this happen when the extent of our risk is when the minister says to turn around and shake the hands of 3 people around you on Sunday? Do you spend time with your church family outside scheduled meetings? It takes more than 1 to 2 hours in our safe non-participatory Sunday Services. You cannot program relationships. It takes personal initiative and vulnerability. It takes time.

Here is a list that describes the Church Community, Does yours look like this?  What are you doing about it?

Loving one another (John 13:34)
Forgiving one another (Ephesians 4:32)
Accepting one another (Romans 15:7)
Bearing with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
Being devoted to one another (Romans 12:10)
Honoring one another above ourselves (Romans 12:10)
Greeting one another (2 Corinthians 13:12)
Being hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9)
Being kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32)
Sharing with one another (Hebrews 13:16)
Serving one another (Galatians 5:13)
Carrying one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
Building up one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Encouraging one another daily (Hebrews 3:13)
Comforting one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
Stimulating one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)
Instructing one another (Romans 15:14)
Admonishingone another (Colossians 3:16)
Praying for one another (James 5:16)
Confessing your sins to one another (James 5:16)
Being of the same mind toward one another (Romans 12:16)
Submitting to one another (Ephesians5:21)

Is there anything we need to change about how we are living in community as the church family?
What do you need to change?
What keeps our church from modeling this kind of community?
What do you think?

ReThink Church: Pt 1 – What is the Church?

Do you remember this from Sunday School? I thought I’d start with how our thinking had been shaped from a very young age.  So, what is the Church?

I just started a teaching series called ReThink Church.  As I was working on the second segment of this series I realized I had made a statement in a previous post that I said I would follow up one.  The post entitled “Honor“, was about my Granny Hobbs’ 90th Birthday Party.  I had concluded with saying I had experienced the presence of God and and a greater sense of church than I had on many Sunday’s even in my own church.  There were a few of you who commented and were interested in me sharing about that.  So here it goes.

Let me begin by making four observations about what the church is: 

Firstly, the church is organic.  Romans 12:4-5 tells us the church is Christ’s body.  Though this is just one illustration, a careful search of scripture reveals that all the descriptions of the church are living ones.  To list a few, the church is a body, a bride, a family, one new man, a living temple made of living stones, a vineyard, citizens,and a flock.  Therefore, the church is to be relational not institutional.

Secondly, the church is God’s church.  The Greek word for church is Ekklesia, meaning an assembly of people called out.  For the every day person of Jesus’ time, the ekklesia was any group of people who came to gather together.  For the Romans it was the body of people called out into public service.  However, Jesus reveal a new meaning in Matthew 16:18.  He says, “upon this rock I will build My church.”  The emphasis is on “My” not “church”.  He indicates that the church is unique, not because it is called the church, but because it is the assembly of believers who belong to Jesus.

Thirdly, the church is the dwelling place of God’s presence.  Ephesians 2:22-23 tells us that in Jesus we are God’s dwelling place by His Spirit.  Additionally, in Exodus 33:15-16 Moses tells God that if God did not go with Israel into the promised land then he didn’t want to go, because it was only His presence that distinguished them from the rest of the world.  The church is where God’s presence is.

Lastly, the church is the image and reflection of Jesus.  Ephesians 1:22-23 reveals the church is the fullness of Christ, in whom God was pleased to make dwell the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  The church is to be the full reflection of God’s image in the earth.

Taking all these things into account, when we gather with other believers on any occasion, not just Sunday, there is an opportunity for amazing things to happen.  Because the church is God’s people, possesses His presence, reflects who He is and has life; then anytime we get together we should experience the life giving presence of God.  This is the fellowship of the Saints.  This is not a building, a program, an institution or a service.  It’s His people sharing His life.

Quit just going to church and be the church.

Honor…

“Outdo one another in showing honor.”               Romans 12:10 ESV

In I Corinthians 12:22-27 it tells us that God places the members of the body where He desires and bestows greater honor on those who lack it so that there is no division in the body and that we can have the same care for one another.  If one member is honored we all get to rejoice together as well as if one suffers, we all suffer.  The church, Jesus body is meant to have a shared connection and sense of responsibility, a mutual care one for another.  What happens in the lives of others should provoke a shared loving response instead of jealousy, envy, covetousness, or reveling in loss.  If in the Spirit, it will produce the same care.

I had such a joy this week.  My Grandmother, affectionately known to all as Granny Hobbs turned 90 on February 3rd and we threw her a surprise Birthday party on Sunday to honor her.  We invited all of her family and friends to come and celebrate with us.  This may not seem significant to those who take Birthday parties for granted.  However, this party was more significant than any of us knew.

You see, my Granny Hobbs is the most generous person I’ve ever known, though as a child growing up, I didn’t realize how generous.  I like many children today only know it as love from the one who always gives us stuff.  Everyone who knows her has experienced her generosity.  She shows up every Sunday with candy for all the kids, not just mine, I mean all.  She always honors a new birth with some outfit.  Whenever I go by her house she always loads me up with stuff she thinks I or my family needs.  She gives to everyone.  Growing up she took in every stray dog or cat.  I pray for the owners of her previous home because she and I have buried probably more than 30 animals in her yard over the years.  I know TMI.  I could go on and on with stories of how she has given value and honor to others.

You may wonder where that generosity comes from?  Maybe she was blessed by people always giving to her over the years.  I’m reminded in Mark 12:42 “..but she out of her poverty put in everything shed had.”   My Granny Hobbs was born in 1919, one of nine children, very poor.  She got married to John Whitfield Hobbs who became a captain in the Army and shipped overseas in WWII.  Shortly thereafter she found that she was pregnant with my father.  My Grandfather never came back home.  My father never met his father.  She shared with me one day about standing at the train station waiting for the arrival of the pine box that contained my Grandfather.  My Granny Hobbs raised my father as a single mother til she met another serviceman and became engaged.  He too was sent overseas in the Korean War.  He was killed before they were married.  She never remarried.  My grandmother worked a number of jobs over the years determined to make it.  She went to work for Corning  and worked there till retirement.  I remember when I was young, she would come get me and take me with her on the weekends to shop the yard sales.  She would then take what she bought and resell it at a local flee market and a consignment booth she rented out.  I also, remember the first TV my wife and I had when we got married, it was a Black and White that Granny Hobbs bought for $25 at a yard sale.  Since then she has owned her own business, Granny’s Country Crafts, and even the last two summers worked at a suvournier shop on the boardwalk at the beach.  I think so she can still have extra money to buy stuff for everyone else.

All this really hit me when I went out to walk her into our church where we had told her we were going to have a small gathering with my brother and sister’s family.  She does not like to be the center of attention.  When I walked her in everyone sang Happy Birthday.  I pointed out my father and mother, her brother, sisters, cousins, friends and old coworkers.  They all stood and honored her.  It was hard to hold it together as I saw her tears.  My daughter says I’m a cry baby.  Granny Hobbs would have never asked for anything, though as she leaned over she said I’ve never had a birthday party given for me in my entire life. 

We honored my Granny Hobbs, but I feel I was honored more.  It was more of an honor for us to honor her.  It truly is more blessed to give than receive.  But after all I learned this from my Granny Hobbs who always gave all she had even when it was from her poverty.  This she gave her son, my father who has always modeled it for me and I pray will also be my legacy.  She always sees the needs of other and thinks not only of her own needs but everyone else’s.  The lessons I have learned are endless.

And by the way, I experienced the presence of God and a more profound sense of church than most of the church meetings I’ve been in, including my own.  There are some deep questions we need to ask ourselves after that statement.  But it will have to wait til the next post.

Honor one another!

Celebrate Life…

Today is my wife Amy’s birthday.   She hasn’t aged a day since this picture 20 years ago.  My life has been enriched by her every day.  No other woman would put up with me the way she does. 

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”  Proverbs 18:22

Check out that mullet.  Aren’t you jealous?

We are only afforded so many such events to celebrate in life.  We should anticipate them with joy and celebrate them.  Make the most of your days.

What are you celebrating today?