Cat On a Railing
Well, Father, today’s been different – beyond church this morning, not my norm. But things were accomplished, and we had an enjoyable night of food and fellowship at the church decorating. Thank You for Your blessings!
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I often see cats sitting on railings along my bus route. On decks, on porches, they are just perched there eyeing the world around them. I’m sure they’re scoping out for mice or birds or some other tasty tidbit and the height gives them a distinct advantage. Believe it or not, I think we could learn something from that.
Oft times we develop tunnel vision. Or maybe we’re more like horses with blinders. All we see is what is right before us. We’re not very good at seeing anything beyond that. Granted many of us are doing good to keep just enough ahead of the things that clamor for our attention to retain our sanity. Anything else added to our load and we might just lose it!
But what if we changed our perspective? Instead of just focusing on our own lowly lives, and exclusively honing in on our interests, what if we took a higher road? What if we trained our hearts and minds to watch out for those in need? I’m not excluding those who obviously need help, but what if we began to notice the unnoticeable? …the wallflowers of our society?
Sometimes they deliberately set themselves apart. Remember, in school, those who never really sat with anyone but made a point of finding a seat in a far-off corner, alone and interacting with no one? The older we get the better they’ve become at blending in with the scenery. They don’t bother anyone and they, at least on the outside, don’t want anyone to bother them.
There are some out there that truly don’t want people to interact with them and work very hard at keeping it that way. But many people crave…they yearn for human interaction. They might freak out a bit if someone did speak with them, but they’d love to have a friend…someone to talk to and laugh with.
Interestingly enough, I believe that there are those with whom we interact on a regular basis who are social and interactive but they are hurting, they are lonely and nobody sees it.
Think about Zacchaeus. He buried himself so deeply in his chosen profession, that he became an outcast. Granted he wasn’t a nice person and took advantage of others, often taking far more than his fair share so as to line his own pockets… with an evil grin on his face to boot!
One day he heard that Jesus was in town and he so wanted to see Him. Being short in stature, he got creative and climbed a sycamore-fig tree which gave him the height advantage he desired. All he wanted was to see Jesus. I don’t think that in his wildest dreams he ever would’ve thought that Jesus would see him, much less call him down and want to eat with him, but that’s exactly what Jesus did!
Interestingly enough, Zacchaeus perched himself high in the tree but it was Jesus who saw to the heart of Zacchaeus’ issues. He saw his loneliness. There was probably nothing that Zacchaeus withheld from himself, but Jesus saw His need…his true need.
Jesus saw past exteriors and masks. And with the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can, too.
Lord Jesus, may we train ourselves to see the world around us with Your eyes. May we learn to be sensitive to Your leading and to be brave and strong enough to act upon it. Fill us, use us. Amen.
Nov 27th, 2022, Sun, 8:24 pm
Hope Unexpected!
Father, gratitude is much too small a word to express how I feel about all that I was able to accomplish today! May it be to Your glory! Amen!
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Today, the first day of Thanksgiving break, cleaning and cooking, and I’ve been sitting at the computer all day. I’ve worked through Sunday’s sermon, picked out the hymns for the service, and amazingly enough just wrapped up my PowerPoint for the sermon!
I had an illustration to conclude the sermon, and I liked it very much, but I struggled to find a picture to go with it. You’d think a picture of an old woman and young boy sitting on a park bench would be easy to find…but it wasn’t! I found a few with them wearing masks…a couple with them eating ice cream…and one holding cellphones. They weren’t going to work – I really wanted one with them sharing chocolate.
Then I saw one with a boy sharing a Twinkie…actually there were three different shots of the same characters. I was curious and clicked on one of them and it led me to a YouTube video…and it was amazing! It was the entire illustration dramatized, except it involved Twinkies instead of chocolate.
The video is entitled, Eating Twinkies with God. This week’s sermon is from Luke 4:18, and is entitled, HOPE UNEXPECTED – Bringing Good News to The Poor. [Feel free to join us on Beulah UMC’s (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) Facebook page!]
As followers of Christ, we are called to follow His example in reaching out to and meeting the needs of the poor and downtrodden. It’s not just throwing money at them, but it just might be a matter of getting down and dirty. We need to be putting much more effort into making a real difference in our world. Jesus did, and it is our calling to do the same.
This is a pretty short post but if you’d like to hear more join us this Sunday in person or online. It will also be posted on my YouTube – Pastor Thom.
Enjoy Eating Twinkies with God!
Nov 23rd, 2022, Wed, 7:34 pm
Happy Thanksgiving!
On this special day that we set aside for giving thanks, I want to express profound gratitude to each and every one of you. Some of you have been faithful followers from day one, and we have added many along the way. And of course, there are a whole slew of others who pop in now and again or are drawn by pictures and find something much more. May you and yours readily find God’s great blessings on this day and the days to come. And never forget you are MoreThanUseless!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Atypical Thanksgiving
Father, I am grateful for a few much-needed days off. May I find rest, and may I use the time I have been given wisely. Amen.
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Today, being the last school day before our Thanksgiving break, I got to thinking about atypical Thanksgiving experiences. Unfortunately, they may be far more common than I would admit.
Traditionally, at least in our mind’s eye, we like to think that on this day multigenerational families gather around the table. Favorite dishes are expertly prepared by hands that others would be hard-pressed to recreate. A prayer of sincerest gratitude is uttered as heads are bowed, eyes closed, and, many times, hands are held in the unity of spirit and love. There is lively conversation. There is laughter. A picturesque experience is had by all.
Now maybe none of us can hit every point there but, the ones that can accomplish any number of them are truly blessed.
As I thought about the kids on my routes, I could not help but think of the many from divided families. There may have been a number of years when the above was true for them as well. But sadly, it is no longer the case. For some this year it is mom’s turn, for last year was dad’s. For others, part of the day will be spent with one parent and their new companion while the other part of the day is spent with the other.
For others, no choices of division were made. The division was thrust upon them – accidents, disease, violence – and life will never…ever…be the same.
Others, possibly due to poor decisions on their part, or often circumstances totally beyond their control, brought devastation and loss – debilitating loss – to their lives. Abject poverty and homelessness plague far too many in a culture where many have money to burn.
Now maybe they might have access to shelters or missions that would provide them with some type of sustenance. I’m sure they are grateful…but does their experience equal any semblance of a “traditional” Thanksgiving.
I am not belittling or downplaying any of those experiences. May we support organizations that with great determination take up the challenge to meet the needs of those less fortunate. May we even lend a hand when we are able.
But what went through my mind as I drove my routes today, was to pray for those individuals who have found themselves in the middle of division or loss…or grief. Even when they are surrounded by others, even those they would consider loved ones, the loss and grief cannot just be set up on the self and forgotten. Those things are a part of who they are. It would be just as possible to remove the head off their shoulders and place it on the shelf…it simply cannot be done.
This Thanksgiving…this holiday season, in your prayer time, set apart some time to lift others up…those who have lost spouses, parents, siblings, and on and on it goes – some to death and some to the hardness of life. I cannot help but think of children – both young and old – whose parents had once been united in love and are now divided. May we pray for them, as well.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18 NLT
He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow]. Psalm 147:3 AMP
Lord Jesus, I’m glad You understand all this and love despite our selfishness and sin. My understanding is limited, but may I take Your lead and love as You do. May I be burdened to pray for the hurting. May I lift them to You, the Healer of all. Amen.
Nov 22nd, 2022, Tues, 7:20 pm
Now Thank We All Our God
I am dragging, Father. Pretty sure it’s one of the not-so-good impacts of being around a bunch of kids regularly. But I am grateful that all the good way over balances the bad. Thank You for the blessings I receive!
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Yesterday at church, we focused on Thanksgiving, with a sermon entitled ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE. I love singing the old hymns that we get to sing every year on this Sunday – Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (1844), We Gather Together (1626), and then we closed with, Now Thank We All Our God (1636).
I’ve shared from a couple of hymn background devotional books in the past, and this last hymn, Now Thank We All Our God, has a very interesting story.
This long-standing hymn was written close to 400 years ago by a German pastor who was called to serve the state Lutheran church in his native city of Eilenberg, Germany at the age of 31. Martin Rinkart began his pastorate just as the horrific 30 Years’ War began (it lasted from 1618-1648). Shockingly so, this beautiful hymn was born out of some of the severest human sufferings imaginable.
Sadly, the war pitted Catholic and Protestant forces from various countries throughout Europe, against one another. Germany, the battleground of this conflict…was reduced to a state of misery that baffles description.
It’s hard to believe that the though the German population at the time was 16 million at the start of the war, it dwindled…to 6 million in that 30-year span!
Because Eilenberg was a walled city, it became a frightfully overcrowded refuge for political and military fugitives from far and near. Throughout these war years, several waves of deadly diseases and famines swept the city, as the various armies marched through the town, leaving death and destruction in their wake. The plague of 1637 was particularly severe. At its height, Rinkart was the only minister remaining to care for the sick and dying. Martin Rinkart’s triumphant, personal expressions of gratitude and confidence in God confirm for each of us this truth taught in Scripture, that as God’s children, we too can be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”*
Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God thru all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
and keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills in this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God the father now be given,
the Son and Him who reigns with Them in highest heaven-
The one eternal God whom earth and heav’n adore-
for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:35, 37 NIV
*Amazing Grace: 366 Hymn Stories for Personal Devotions,
by Kenneth W. Osbeck. ©1990 by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapid, MI
Nov 21st, 2022, Mon, 7:10 pm