What Is The Faith I Want To Share by John Monday

I have some friends that are atheist, some that are agnostic, and some that just aren't very religious at all – not nearly enough, but a few. I wonder sometimes, what is the faith I want to share with them? And not just them – what is the faith I want to pass along to my children?

Do I want to have a really sound argument that I can present to my friends or to my kids so that they’ll say, “Yeah, that sounds good; I’ll believe that?” There seems to be an inherent danger in that. As soon as someone smarter or someone who can argue an opposite position better comes along, then I lose. So what is the faith I want to pass along?

Do I want to get together with my friends that don’t believe or that believe differently than I do and argue with them? Try to berate them? Try to beat them? Do I want to try to win a fight? Or is it something different?

Do I want to insulate my children from a world of different ideas and present to them only the ideas that I believe are right, the ideas that I believe should exist? If I do, then what will happen when they get exposed to a bigger world that contains other ideas? Ideas that are thoroughly thought out, deeply held, and extremely convincing? What is the faith that I want to share, that I want to pass along?

As I think about my children, I think that the faith I want to pass along is a faith that’s lived out in a life. When my kids are grown, the time will come when they question things for themselves, wonder if the things they’ve been taught all their lives are true, and hear competing ideas.  They may say, “This sounds right; this sounds real.” The faith that I want to have shared with them is a faith that has them coming back and saying, “Dad, you’ve loved me all my life, and I love you. I respect you, and I honor you as you’ve respected and honored me. Tell me what you think.” Earning the right to tell someone what you believe when they ask the question, “What do you think?” is so much more powerful than spending years telling people what you think when they really don’t care.

So what is the faith that I want to pass along? I want to pass along a faith that loves. I want to pass along a faith that shows my kids that I desperately want to spend time with them, that I enjoy spending time with them, that I honor them, and that I respect them. I want to pass along a faith that sits on the beach and revels in the relationship of a father and his daughter.

To my friends I want to pass along a faith that says, “When you send me an invitation to a party, there is nothing I’d rather do than go and spend time with you.” I want to be present with them. I want to be in community with them. I want to discuss ideas with them, not as an argument, but as an open forum filled with interest and fascination. I want to learn from them as much or more than teach them. I want to pass along a faith that they may not recognize as a faith, but merely as a friendship.

I want to share a faith that is not a life-long goal to change them. Not an ulterior motive to convince them, or alter them, or save them. I want to share a faith that desires to spend time with them because they are truly and deeply loved. In the sharing of that faith, I want to be in a position that if, or when, my friend or my child looks at my home, my marriage, my life, and says, “There’s something different.  Why?” –  and then they come and ask, “What do you think? Why do want to spend your life this way?” – I can say with honesty and integrity, in truth and love, “Because there’s a heart in me that’s not my own.” In that way I want to share a faith that participates with God as he enlarges the circle of eternity with that friend, with that child, and in so doing enable the opportunity to enter community, and sit on the beach, and talk about things that fascinate us, and revel in relationship forever.

John Monday

Don't Wait Too Long by Todd Chobotar

A few years back I had a tooth filling fall out.  It didn’t hurt really—it just popped out.  The exposed tooth was a bit sensitive, but not too bad. I decided I didn’t have the time to get it fixed right then. Besides, I dislike going to dentists. I had a negative experience with a dentist during childhood and they’ve scared me ever since.

Next week, I thought.  I’ll get it taken care of then.  But next week came and went–as did many more.  Every few weeks my tooth would become a bit more sensitive to hot/cold stuff.  But I continued to procrastinate citing a lack of time (plus that nagging fear of dentists didn’t help).

Eventually, the tooth started hurting more frequently, though not unbearably.  After six months, I started to get a bit fearful.  What if I had waited too long already?  What if I went to the dentist and he told me the tooth needed a root canal?  Ouch!  Maybe the tooth would have to be painfully extracted?  Double ouch!  Or what if the dentist scolded me for not coming to him sooner?  Guilt trip!

But as much as I feared going, my logical mind told me I had to do something.  So, with a deep sense of resolve and a firm display of determination, I made the difficult decision.  Ignore logic and wait longer.

Seven months.  Eight months.  Nine months

Then it happened. One morning I woke up abruptly with my tooth aching and head pounding.  This was it.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  The pain had finally become so severe there was simply no avoiding it any longer. I called up my dentist for an emergency appointment.

Dr. Figueroa, a gentle lady and excellent dentist, was sympathetic.  She squeezed me into her schedule, fixed me up and was even kind enough to skip the guilt trip (she probably thought I’d suffered enough already).  Yes, the repair was painful.  Yes, it was my fault for delaying.  And yes, I could have saved myself a lot of sore days, uncomfortable nights and needless worrying if I had only gone to her sooner.  Lesson learned.

Let me ask you, is there any pain in your life you’ve been avoiding?  Perhaps a secret sorrow no one else knows about?  A heartbreaking situation.  An aching disappointment.  A distressing condition. Why not take it to God? Let Him deal with it.  He’s a pain specialist with vast experience and a gentle touch.

The Psalmist gives a glimpse of God’s heart for suffering when he says:

“Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help, and you healed me.” Psalm 30:2 CEB

“God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 CEB

Maybe like me you feel there’s no time in your frenzied schedule to stop for healing. Or perhaps you’re afraid to let God try. Would you be open to some advice from this admitted lily liver and seasoned pain procrastinator? Don’t wait until the pain becomes unbearable.  Take your troubles to the Great Healer.  Let his skillful hands do the delicate treatment.  You’ll feel so much better afterwards.

“God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.”  1 Peter 5:7 CEV

Question: When it comes to pain, do you ever find yourself (or someone you love) putting it off to deal with at a later time? Why do we do that?  (Share your thoughts in the comments)

Guest Blogger and Member of FHC, Todd Chobotar

BLOG | http://www.ToddChobotar.com

TWITTER | http://www.twitter.com/ToddChobotar

FACEBOOK | http://www.facebook.com/ToddChobotar 

A Symphony of Unity by Greg Creek

This weekend I experienced an incredible day at church. Interestingly, church was almost over by the time I realized what was happening. It was as I was writing a Facebook post before the last service started that the immensity of the day struck me.

Along with an always incredible core of musicians, we added a “few” friends - a 20 piece orchestra. The orchestra came from a high school where many of our church’s students attend. However, the majority of the students in the orchestra are from churches all over central Florida, and even a few from outside of Florida. It was that realization that showed me how incredible the day was.

Christians have a reputation for being exclusive. Strangely, Christians are even more exclusive, and at times petty, vindictive, and territorial when it comes to dealing with other Christians and other churches. So having all of these people from a variety of churches unified in worship was powerful. As I was writing that Facebook post, I realized what was happening.

None of the represented churches could have done musically on their own what happened that day. It was only as we were unified that amazing and powerful things happened. As I reflect on this, I wonder how much more Christ would be known if we came together more often. What if music and a myriad of other things brought us together to proclaim Christ? What if more things brought us together than kept us apart? I get chills just thinking about it.

Let's put away our petty posturing and unite under the charge that Christ gave us: loving people and deepening our relationship with Him. Let's unite in the symphony of salvation and be a part of something beautiful.

Greg Creek

God, Time, and a Red-Tailed Hawk by Richard Hickam

The new year, our denomination’s emphasis on times and dates, personal relationships and, of course, music had me thinking recently about time.

Several years ago I was driving down the road toward my home in rural East Tennessee with my two girls in the car when I approached a curve in the road with woods on both sides. As I came around the bend near the Tennessee River, a large hawk was swooping across the road, and I didn’t have time to swerve to avoid it. I caught him square on the grill of my vehicle, and there was a thump and an explosion of feathers in the air. I caught sight of him in the middle of the road from my rear view mirror. I quickly make a U-turn and returned to the scene of the accident.

I parked off to the side of the road, turned on my hazards, and jumped out to assess the situation. The bird was standing up and rocking back and forth, making an occasional soft humming noise. One of its wings seemed to be hanging out awkwardly. Cars started to approach and stop to look at this majestic creature. I grabbed a large stick from the side of the road and tried to get close enough to see if I could nudge it off the road. The bird grudgingly obliged, gingerly hopping off to some nearby brush. It then closed it’s eyes and started the slow rocking motion again.

Traffic resumed, and I was wondering what to do next about this hawk. Should I try and put it in my car and take it somewhere? Should I try and put it out of its misery? Should I just get in my car and go home? If I leave, will it get eaten by another animal? I called a local animal hospital that then sent me on to animal control. I was informed that there was nothing to be done with this sort of wildlife and to just leave it alone. I offered a prayer on the animal’s behalf and returned to my vehicle and proceeded home.

The next day I went to work and, on the way home, pulled over to see if the bird had made it through the night. I spotted the bird standing close to where I had left it, as I approached it took a few steps, spread it’s wings, and flew off to a nearby branch in the trees. I was quite relieved that the bird had made it through the night and was probably going to make it.

The experience left me with several thoughts regarding situations when dealing with people. I like to be able to quickly and efficiently “fix” things. If I had tried to grab the bird, put him in my car and take him somewhere, who knows what the outcome would have been – but probably not good. Sometimes people are “shell shocked” from various emotional issues in their life, and we see that they are in distress and want to “fix” them.  We wonder why are they behaving this way; if only they could see the answer right in front of them!

The experience with the hawk reminded me that there are times that healing needs to take place outside of my understanding, and I need to patiently wait on God’s time.  There are times that I want to help, but in many situations the best course of action may be to simply pray. Ephesians 6:18 comes to mind: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

I suppose I did DO a few right things before praying. I made a quick decision in my mind while driving to TURN AROUND and see if I could help, and I got the bird out of the way of immediate, life-threatening danger. After a couple of actions, I had to let nature run its course, and the only other thing I could do was pray. Maybe the next time you’re wondering what to do about a delicate personal situation you’ll think about hawks, time, and prayer.

Richard Hickam