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Transformed – One Family at a Time

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Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 ESV

A lot is said about revival: how we need it, what we need to do to get it or why we aren’t experiencing it. But, often we overlook the simple fact that God’s definition of revival is played out in real time in our real world, one person and one family at a time. This week at Life Care Center, we opened the service listening to the personal story of Gena and her daughter Lindsay. Gena is a single mom, whose teenage daughter Lindsay is autistic and nonverbal. In spite of those challenges, God put it on Gena’s heart to begin volunteering at Life Care Center for a few hours 2-3 days each week. Over four months, Gena even began helping us during our Friday service by passing out song books, opening our meeting with prayer and encouraging the residents to participate. So, when I heard that Joni and Friends ministry was having a family retreat nearby, I got Gena connected with the regional director. With the challenges of financing, scheduling and convincing her daughter Lindsay to go, I wasn’t sure if it would happen, but God worked out every one of those details. Yesterday, Gena shared what she called, the “Miraculous experience,” God did in her life and in Lindsay’s heart over that week. Gena’s testimony really touched all the residents at the nursing home. They could all easily identify with having special needs because they struggle with many of their own. And Gena’s story reminds all of us that no one is more delighted than Jesus to help those with special needs. The one who took time to listen to a father of a child struggling with seizures and forgave and healed a lame man lowered through the roof by his friends, truly loves those the world overlooks. He listens to our prayers, and He is willing to give grace to anyone who will reach out to Him. If you would like to learn more about nursing home ministry, consider liking or subscribing to our channel. To learn more about Joni and Friends Ministry you can find them on Facebook or at joniandfriends.org.

Contemporary Worship -A Final Appeal

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Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 
1 Timothy 5:1 ESV

I close this week with an appeal to my fellow senior saints, or as my friend Dave Duncan calls us, fellow “Keen-agers.” God has graciously allowed us to live long and placed us individually in His church as He has seen best. I wholeheartedly agree with many of you, that I wish they would turn the volume down and that our young worship team would sing all the verses to the occasional hymn that they offer us. But then I remember how our Pastor preaches the gospel as straight-up from the Bibe as anyone I have sat under in the fifty plus years I have been a Christian. He and his wife have lived with integrity, raised three boys who are serving in the church and then adopted two more boys who were in foster care. I also recall that our church currently has a team of 25 members visiting a children’s ministry in Kenya which we have supported for over twenty years. More importantly, hundreds of people of not just our youth, but of every generation are led to faith in Christ and baptized each year. Sure, there are plenty of things I wish were different, but walking away and finding a quieter and more comfortable church that is doing little to carry the Gospel into our world is not an option for me. So, as I finish this series on finding, “What is Good in Contemporary Worship,” let me close with this: my favorite contemporary worship song that we sing at Generations Christian Church.

Faith of a Five-Year-Old

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“In Jesus name Amen,” I said after blessing the food before lunch at kid’s summer camp. Suddenly a tiny voice piped up from one five-year-old girl asking,

 “Hey Pete, why do you take your hat off when you pray?”

I was taken aback, first, because I was amazed that she paid such close attention to my prayer, and second, because no one had ever asked me that before.

“Well,” I slowly cleared my throat in an attempt at gaining a moment to think, “It’s in the Bible. Men have to take off their hats, but not the ladies.”

Seeming to feel that was good enough, my five-year-old friend smiled and nodded and then began munching on her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She was satisfied, but her question got me asking myself, “Just why do I take my hat off, close my eyes, or bow my head when I pray?” Then I recalled that my mom had taught me to pray, “Bless us O Lord and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive. Amen.” Those were simple words, but they covered just about everything that God expects when we pray. In the book of Luke, Jesus tells a little story about how two men prayed.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Luke 18:10-12

Without even reading the rest of the story, we already know who Jesus wants us to be like. Maybe that Pharisee would have even prayed differently if he had just taken time to listen to himself. God also loves it when five-year-olds humbly ask honest questions about prayer, then respectfully listen to the answers, before munching on their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And Jesus loves it when we pray with the faith of a child, listen with their willingness to learn, and then gratefully receive those gifts that He has prepared for us to receive!