A Phone Call from Epaphroditus:

We could use more Epaphrodites. Read on. You'll find out that's good thing.

I have always admired Epaphroditus. We know almost nothing about him. When Paul was in prison in Rome Epaphroditus took a gift from the church in Philippi (Greece) to the Apostle, and then stayed to help the man of God--kind of a human gift. While he was there he became ill, so sick that Paul feared that his friend with the servant heart would die. As if all of that isn't enough, let me tell you why I really like this guy. Epaphroditus was not concerned because of his sickness. He was concerned because he had heard that his friends back in Greece had heard he was sick, and he knew that would weigh heavy on their hearts. You can read about it in Philippians 2. He just called me. Not the real Epaphroditus. I'll have to wait for heaven to meet him. The guy on the phone, though, was acting so much like the little-known Bible character that as soon as we hung up, I started writing this. There's no need to go into details. Just know that the reason my friend called is because he wondered if an action--one most of us would take for granted--might have negative impact on others.    Lord, we need some more Epaphrodites. May I be one, and use me to encourage others to put others first. Amen.     It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Serving the Lord Where I Am

Something To Think About Where I Serve the Lord:

Andrew Napolitano is retired judge, who does commentary on Fox News.  He does a series of short features where he explains some little known point of law that has, or might have, impact on the general listener.  The spots are filmed outdoors in front of a public building or on street corner.  At the end of his commentary the Judge holds out his arms and says, “Welcome to my chambers.” Napolitano models a characteristic that ought to be true about the church.  We think about going to church.  Usually when we plan a church event we think of something that goes on inside the walls of a church building, or at least on the property set aside for a local assembly.  The church, though, is not the building to which the people go to worship, important as that is.  The church is the people who go to that meeting place, and those people do not cease to be the church when they leave that assembly. I don’t think the Judge will sue us.  Let’s hijack and modify his line.  Wherever you are think of the place where you are as the place where you serve the Lord.   Welcome to my place of ministry. It’s STTA.

Where?

Something To Think About Where:

You've had the experience.  Especially when you are spending the night in a strange room.  You awake disoriented.  The question rises,accompanied by the bitter taste of fear.  Where am I?  It's an important question.  If you don't answer it quickly enough, or if you give yourself the wrong response your big toe will pay the price when it hits the corner of the dresser that isn't there in the place where you thought you were.  From Alice in Wonder Land to theTruman Show people have explored this idea of location.  It involves not only where I am in God's universe, but where I am in the world of my mind. Right now I'm in a region of the world that will be my home, Lord willing, for about about a third of the year.  I'm watching palm trees blow in the breeze--a breeze that will soon become a gale, here, where I am.  Here, things that would merit a slight, "Oh, I should pray about that." where I generally live take on far greater importance. Like John Donne, and Thornton Wilder before me I am coming to answer the question, "Where am I?" in much broader terms than I used to.  I'm not an Island.  Though I live in a tiny spot in God's world, my address is not limited to a fifty-foot wide spot on Carpenter Drive.  I am part of the City of Covington, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the nation known as the USA.  I am a citizen of the world and beyond that I exist in the mind of God.  (Here) As is true with so many things in my life at this time I am struggling for balance. I am somewhere.  Wherever that is, I need to ask the question:  "What can I do right here to make a positive impact.?"  I should strive to make my place better.  I should be salt and light. I may not be where I can be of the most use.  My ancestors found within their hearts an urge--maybe it was motivated by fear, or a desire to do better--to cross the Atlantic and settle in the "New World."  My Father, and many in his generation reversed that journey to deal with a threat that was global in it's implications.  My world is better because they did. Where am I? Where do I need to be? We need wisdom. In the midst of my musings I find great comfort in a profound Theological truth expressed in very simple terms:     "He's got the whole world in His hands."   I find great challenge in the reality that there is no person, anywhere on this globe who shouldn't hear the truth of John 3:16. Lord, I am here.  May I be fully engaged, and make a difference on this spot. It's a big world.  Give me the right concern for those for whom You gave Your Son. I pray that I will hear the beat of Your heart for this world where I am. Amen   It's Something to Think About.   Find out about how the message of Christ's love is able to change all people here. My church,Covington Bible Church, is putting on a event that remembers, and celebrates the great event in when the Son of God came here.  I hope you'll attend out Live Nativity.

An Army of Volunteers at Work:

I have the privilege of serving the Lord in a really great church.  One example of CBC's heart for ministry is this morning twenty-five CBC-ers are waking up in Schroon Lake New York.  Though the Adirondacks are a beautiful place to take a vacation, these folk aren't there to relax.  They are investing a week of their lives in the ministry of Word of Life.  WoL operates Bible Camps, a College level Bible Institute, and assists churches around the world in reaching and discipling young people.  I'm looking forward to hearing reports on what this crew accomplishes. The fact is, though, these people aren't the only ones from my church who are on mission.  I've got a day full of appointments, including one to encourage an old friend with serious health needs.  A number have already started their work day.  As I type kids are on the bus headed for school.  There are neighbors we need to reach out to, kids who need a mentor, folk everywhere crying out for someone to love them, opportunities to show the love of Christ in practical ways. Matthew 28:19 says the followers of Christ are to go and make disciples.  We tend to emphasize the "Go."  Really the going is kind of assumed.  Wherever you go be in the disciple making business.  Live deliberately in such a way that you point others to Christ. Wherever "here" is for you, for me, there is work to be done for the Lord.  I'm looking forward to hearing about how the Lord uses my church family wherever we are. It's Something to Think About.

" . . . of whom the world was not worthy." (Heb. 11:38)

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT One of the privileges of being a small church pastor Ruth Hodge visiting with some CBC ladies last Saturday is hosting visiting missionaries in our home.  This past weekend we enjoyed having Ruth and Lonnie Hodge as house guests.  Our church has invested in the Hodges ministry in Bolivia for decades. One of the things I've noticed about missionaries Lonnie enjoying a good laugh over the years, is that the dedication it takes to settle in a foreign culture, learn a new language, and reach out to people whose ways seems strange is something often handed down from parent to child.  At breakfast this morning Ruth told us about her step-mom, Muriel DeRitter.   Muriel was one of those hardy folk who didn't have sense enough to realize what they couldn't do, so they just went out and did it.  Muriel went to Africa during World War 2.  Her ship had to outrun a submarine in order to arrive.  She--a nurse, who hadn't been schooled in tropical medicine, because the war prevented her from getting to the school--was put in charge of a clinic in the Belgium Congo.  A doctor who visited once a week helped her out.  On her first furlough she received training in treating tropical diseases and remained in the Congo until the revolution forced the white missionaries to leave.  After that she married a widower and became step-mom to one of the finest missionaries I know.   Muriel appeared before the Lord a short time ago after her assignment on earth was finished. "Well done, good and faithful servant." It's STTA.   You can find out more about the message, and her step-daughter proclaim here.

Keeping My Feet On The Ground:

I look forward to heaven, but my address is still 2106 S. Carpenter Drive.  As I pointed out yesterday, I need to leave final relocation plans to the Lord.

As I think about those I have known,  personally, and through scripture, I can think of no one more heavenly minded than the Apostle Paul.  I also know of no one who kept his well-worn sandals more firmly on Terra-firma than the Apostle from Tarsus.  In fact, by keeping his eye on eternity he found motivation to keep going down here.

 

 After  stating "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," Paul goes on to say, "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men."

 

While interpreters disagree as to just what the "upward" or "high" call of Christ is in Philippians 3:14, it is clear that it is "heavenward" (NIV).  This motivated Paul to "Press on . . ."

 

He labored with the realization that there was something to be lost.  He did not want to be disqualified from the race he was running.  Rather he looked forward to receiving the prize.  ". . . woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!"  

   "Run in such a way that you may win [the prize]."   He says no sacrifice is too great.  Comparing the race he was running to that of the athletes at the Isthmian Games, the Apostle said "They . . . do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable."  On that basis he found no effort in fulfilling his ministry too great.  I think he would have liked the song, "It will be worth it all when we see Jesus."  (You can read about Paul's heaven-earth reasoning in 1 Corinthians 9.)

Indeed, it seems that all of Paul's life was tied up in heavenly investments.  He clearly lived out the Lord's admonition to "lay up treasures in heaven."  Concerning the Christians at Thessalonica, people in whom he had invested his life, he said, "[You are my] hope or joy or crown of exultation. . . . For you are our glory and joy."  (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20)

The Apostle's focus on heaven was not a distraction.  It kept his focus clear.rd,

It's STTA.