“God’s Rainbow”

Our church has a large stained glass dome in the center of the sanctuary’s ceiling. There is a cross on the front wall to the left side (approx. at a 10 O’clock position, if that helps you envision it). At the hour of the service which we attend, the sun shines just at the right angle to create a rainbow directly over the cross. As the service progresses, so does the rainbow. It moves across the altar wall, eventually ending up on the right side of the altar area.

The other Sunday, as we sat meditating prior to the service, a thought came into my mind which wouldn’t let go of me. I thought I’d share it with you. It’s simply leveraging the colors of the rainbow for a Christian acronym---Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet:

“R”=Reverence
“O”=Obedience
“Y”=Yeast (approach God in Sincerity and Truth: “Purge out…the old leaven…that you may be…not be of malice and wickedness…but of sincerity and truth." I Cor. 5:6b-8)
“G”=God
“B”=Blessed
“I”=Involvement
“V”=Victory

A meaningful relationship with God comes from “Reverence, Obedience, Sincerity and Truth which results in God Blessing us through our Involvement, resulting in Victory here and in the life hereafter!”

Blessings Always In All Ways,

Steve
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“As You Do to Others…”

"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was sick and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you sick and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was sick and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you sick and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do so to one of the least of these, you did not do so to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46(selections)

That is, how we treat others directly effects God.

Growing up I had a very close extended family. We went to my grandparents, both maternal and paternal, for holidays and I grew up with close ties to many of my aunts, uncles and cousins. Life has its distractions. Unfortunately, the chaos and challenges of life managed to dilute our family communications. As I grew, my career took me geographically away from my home turf of Ohio: to the West coast, overseas, now to Florida. As my opportunities to be physically present with my extended family lessened, so did our communications. Last week one of my uncles died. One I had been close to. It forced in my face the cold reality that his daughters, Janet and Sue, and I have not been in communication for many years. Not by intent, by accident. I called them this week to begin bridging the gap of the years. Hearing their voices again touched my heart. When talking with Sue, I asked her to tell me about her current life. She said she had taken care of her father in the nursing home near her house the last three years and now that he was gone, she missed both him as well as many of the elderly she had developed relationships with. She said she was thinking of going back to that nursing home as a volunteer. I reflected back to some years ago when I was active in visiting the shut-ins, in their homes, retirement centers, and nursing homes. It was one of the most uplifting experiences I have ever had! I always went away from those visits the better for it! What a blessing.

It would be a great idea to call a local nursing home or retirement center and ask for the names of a couple residents who are without visitors. Then visit them. Just visit them once a month. It won’t take much time. I’ll bet before long we’ll be extending both the frequency of our visits as well as the number of people we stop by to see. It would make sense to extend this ministry to the homeless as well.

“Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you… For…I was sick, and you visited me….”

Steve

“Stooping Tall”

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:4


When in college I had the great opportunity of attending an overseas interim class in The Holy Land, Rome and Paris. While in the Holy Land I’ll never forget when we visited the small cathedral outside of Bethlehem which supposedly marked the birthplace of Jesus. Behind the High altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern with small lamps. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave where the star is embedded on the floor recognizing Christ the King. There’s one stipulation, however: you have to stoop. The entrance is so small that you cannot enter standing up.

We san stand tall going through the world proudly leaning on our own skills, intelligence and resources. Or we can humbly bow before the Resurrected Lord and accept the unequaled resources He brings to us. The first approach will eventually bring us down. The second, will raise us up.

Steve

"Before You Call"

“Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24

This true story, written by a doctor who worked in South Africa and submitted by my aunt and uncle, Jim and Ann Rosenberger of Cleveland, Ohio, I’ve edited for brevity not deleting content:

One night I worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, we had no incubator, we had no electricity for the incubator. We also had no special feeding facilities. Nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back distressed that the bottle had burst. "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. In Central Africa water bottles do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed bluntly, "Please, God, send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator! Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.

Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!

Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."

"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24)

Steve

"And Whatever You Do..."

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 RSV

Three years ago I walked into a Taco Bell owned by a franchisee I had never met. I couldn’t help but notice a large gold plated plaque placed “dead center” on the wall in front of all who entered. Upon it was written: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 signed by Charles and Kay Nailen.

I couldn’t keep from contacting this franchisee to inquire. I was impressed with an even deeper intersection of business and their Christian commitment. I learned they have two companies, one entitled “BBG Specialty Foods, Inc.”, the other entitled, “GGG Foods, Inc.” The first standing for, “Blessed By God”, the second standing for, “(to) God Give the Glory.” As I’ve come to know this lovely couple, I’ve been continually touched by their blend of Christianity and the real world. In commenting on their two companies, Charles recently said…

“We named our Taco Bell corporation BBG Specialty Foods, Inc. in recognition of all the many ways that our lives have been BLESSED BY GOD.

And then when we got into the KFC business we named our KFC corporation GGG Foods, Inc. - recognizing what our purpose in life is - to Give God the Glory in all things.”

The real challenge of the Christian faith is “where the rubber meets the road.” It’s easy to attend a worship service (even as challenging as schedules can be). And we have a momentary feeling of fulfillment upon those occasions when we participate in a church sponsored ministry event. Don’t mishear me. Those activities are great, and much needed! But those intermittent surfacings of the Christian commitment isn’t what it’s all about, is it? It’s about being ever-conscious of our Christian commitment throughout every day. It’s about how employers treat their employees; how supervisors treat their supervisees, and vice-versa; it’s about how we all treat each other.

It’s about whatever we are doing, trying to be an expression of Christ’s Love “in the moment” and giving an overt testimony whenever we can. Admittedly, more-often-than-not St. Paul’s other words as found in Romans 7:15 are an accurate reflection of our efforts: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Nevertheless, we cannot “give up the good fight” but forever press forward, “Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ " (Luke 9:62). “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,….” (Matthew 28:19)

(written with the permission of by Charles and Kay Nailen)

Blessing Always In All Ways,

Steve
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