CONVERSATIONS, CURLERS, AND CHRIST

 Conversations, Curlers, and Christ by Tammie Gitt LIVING 3368

When I was little, my sister and I would spend a lot of time at my Grammy’s during the summer. Our days were spent making up games in her large backyard, running for the ice cream truck or reading books on her patio.
If it got too hot, we’d take the books into the beauty shop attached to her house – the only air-conditioned spot available. We always stayed out of the way, but the shop provided ample opportunity for a budding people-watcher to hone her skills. Some ladies would sit under the hair dryer and fall asleep instantly. Others would page through a magazine. Sometimes, if there were two ladies at the dryers, they would chat loudly enough to be heard over the roar of the dryer.
But the most exciting spot for a people watcher was near the basins where Grammy washed the ladies’ hair and styled it by arranging it various sizes of curlers. There would be a constant stream of conversation between Grammy and the lady in the chair. Often, ladies would come early for their appointment and sit on a stool near the basins to participate in the conversation.
The topics they covered as Grammy delicately balanced curler, comb and scissors was wide and diverse. Even though I was under 10 years old at the time, I remember being impressed at the skill with which Grammy could weave her deeply-held, deeply-cherished belief in Christ into any conversation.
I also remember that I knew I didn’t have that skill — for hair or for witnessing (as Grammy called it). I was shy as a child, which stuns people who have only gotten to know me since college. I always claim it was the theater major that helped me overcome my tendency to backwardness (as some used to call it).
Somewhere along the way, I realized that Grammy wasn’t sharing her faith with random strangers as it appeared to a child’s eyes. These women came into her beauty shop each week. They talked about their families, the happenings around town, the places they’d been and the places they’d go. The women hated missing their appointments — perhaps more because they’d miss the conversation than that their hair would be a mess.
Into that conversation — into that relationship — she plainly spoke the truth of the gospel.
Each of us have relationships into which we can speak the truth of the gospel as a natural outgrowth of our conversations. Who in your circle of friends and acquaintances needs to hear your Jesus story?

Tammie's great blog and read more thoughts on IMMEASURABLY MORE as disciples of Christ.-Steve 

MORE MIXED MESSAGES

Church signs can be dangerous.  I wonder what message is being received by those passers-by, especially those who think the church is wierd or part of the world's problem or just out of touch.

WHEN LIFE GETS MESSY

For years we had this poster hanging in our kitchen.  My wife Dianne had retrieved it from her younger brother Sam.  On a whim we hung it next to our kitchen table.  It stayed there a long time.

I really identify with the little guy in the photo. (In fact, if you compare this photo to one of my baby pictures, the resemblance almost appears genetically ordained.) Someone once said, "Life is tough and then you die."  At times this life would be an argument for staying out of hell come eternity. This life is difficult enough.

Life gets messy.  That's a given living in a fallen world. G.K. Chesterton once spoke of God's "terrible gift of freedom."  Because God has chosen to give humankind the freedom to choose to live in a right relationship with Him and experience the blessing, or choose to be our own god and experience the consequences; that collision of sinful choices has collateral damage on believers and  unbelievers alike.  God has delivered us from the penalty of sin and enabled us with the power to overcome sin, but we still live in the presence of sin until Christ returns to establish the Kingdom in its fullness.

Life gets messy -- and will get messier until this fallen world is redeemed.

In the time until that occurs, it does me little good to constantly lament the suffering and the frustration of living for God in a world that still wants to keep Him out of sight, out of mind, and out of work.  That just makes me a whining prophet.  What I need to do is to face the presence of sin with the promise of God. 

That promise is best summarized by the apostle Paul, writing to the Church of God at Rome, which knew what it was to live in the messy, destructive presence of sin.

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:31-39 New International Version.

(c) 2010 by Stephen L Dunn

WOULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN HOW THIS SERVES CHRIST?

This is a photo of a Protestant protester outside a Catholic Church in England waiting near the drop-off point where parents pick up their children from day care.  Seriously, can someone explain how this serves Jesus Christ?  It certainly poses a problem for the unchurched in their perception of Christians.

MOUNTAIN MEDICAL TEAM

Steve Mossburg directs PROJECT HELP - the educational and medical mission arm of the Churches of God, General Conference.  He posted this in his newsletter. I repost, reminding us there's a lot of work to be done by God's people in that difficult land.

Life is a journey a series of events your either going somewhere or going nowhere . Life is a period of time, for some it's short others 70, 80 even over 90 years. So even if you choose to go nowhere with your life's journey your always moving towards the end of your journey. My journey took an unexpected twist when I came to Haiti eleven years ago on a short term mission trip. That week has turned me from a nice retirement to full time missions by founding my own mission organization, G.A.P. Ministry, to recently becoming the director of Project Help-Haiti. Most of the mission people I met here on the mission field 1o-11 years ago have either left Haiti by choice through retirement or completion of their terms. Some have departed because of health issues but unfortunately many if not most have left through frustration.

Haiti is a tough missions field to work in, it can and does wear you down. Some of my friends were really down after the earthquake after years of making some progress they felt defeated by the aftermath of the quake. Some of my friends left for other reasons but in the end frustration is the key word. When I get down a quick trip into the mountains can be a tonic for rejuvenating my spirit. I love the beauty of the mountain landscape the discovery of a bubbling spring of fresh water cascading out of rocky crevasses. The wonderful sound of water rushing down a mountain stream, the sounds and sights of birds and flowers. Beauty is everywhere if you look closely but life is harsh and often very impoverished among all the grandeur of nature and creation here in Haiti.

That is why we took a mobile medical unit of doctors and nurses into the mountain village of Frettas on Wed. and Thursday. The trip involved a moderate hike of 45 minutes from the roads end to arrive at the school building where we set up a clinic and spent the night. I come to this village often to stay and work, I know it's needs and health care is one of them. During our 2 days of working there we treated 300 people. The majority of the cases were nutrition involved, anemic, worms and vitamin deficiencies for children. Several cases required that we take the patients down to Pierre Payen for hernia and for an abdominal mass surgeries. We had one young 26 year old with a large growth on her jaw bone she will require a surgery once we diagnose her illness. Another young woman who died later that day was in renal failure and we could do nothing for her.

This type of ministry in the mountains is much needed and brings hope and a better quality of life for those we treat. We are putting together another medical team to work in the mountains in early Dec. To see the needs and to be able to minister to these people is uplifting for me. The beauty of the mountains rejuvenates my soul and the ability to serve those in need fires up my passion and desire to stay the course and finish strong. In God's love , steve (mossburg)

BACKSLIDERS

Note: This originally appeared as a devotional that I circulate called THRIVING IN CHRIST
Recently I had the wonderful privilege of baptizing eleven teenagers who had given their lives to Jesus Christ. These kids chose the very public venue of a pool party where their friends (some of whom tend to avoid churches) could be present to witness what they were doing and hear the faith stories. I was very proud of these kids. Admitting to caring about spiritual things at all sets them apart from many of their peers. Going public with their faith in Christ really put it on the line for people to now observe, analyze, and make a judgment upon. I pray that this step will be more than youthful enthusiasm, that it has grown from a profound desire to be the persons Christ created them to be. Time will tell, but I have a lot of hope for these kids. I believe they are the real deal.

Unfortunately there are a lot of "Christians" out there who are not the real deal. They may have one time been enthusiastic about Jesus Christ, but they have let that passion grow cold. They no longer seek to stand out as salt and light. They much prefer "fitting in" and then choosing times to admit to their faith when it is advantageous. For years churches and theologians have debated the concept of "backsliding" and whether or not someone can lose their salvation. I come from the stream of Christianity that says you can lose your salvation. Such backsliding is serious business.

But allowing your faith to go from the center of your life to its periphery is also a form of backsliding. It is not backsliding that robs you of your salvation. It robs you of your witness. When people who are generally seeking God encounter you, they are probably going to keep looking because they quickly learn you are not the real deal.

A newfound faith is a precious gift from God, a gift of His grace. But if we really understand the value of the gift, we will always hold it precious. It will always center us and ground us and empower us. When we truly treasure and cultivate the faith God has given us, backsliding will not be an option.

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER

For two years in high school I participated in one of the most demented sports ever invented – cross country running.  I was a part of a varsity team from the now defunct Mendon-Union High School. Our sport required us to run two miles in a competition with other schools. Although there were more than 20 runners on our team, only the top five to seven finishers actually provided scores for the event. The first runner across the finish line scored one point, the second one two, and so on. The winning team had the lowest combined score.
 
A cross country match is not run on a track in a stadium surrounded by cheering fans. It is run over a course laid out on golf courses, quiet back roads, or simply across fields – wherever two miles could be mapped out and monitored.  The finish line was where the crowd gathered, usually milling about in relative comfort while the runners labored with aching arms, churning guts, and pounding hearts to turn in the fast time. In those days something in the nine minute range usually won. I ran closer to twelve.  A cross country race was not a sprint but a mini-marathon with a mad sprint at the very end to enter the mouth of the chute that formed a finish line.
In the case of most of our time, we did not run for the love of the sport but because it was required of any of us who desired to pursue the favored sport at our high school – basketball.  Our basketball coach operated an offense filled with fast breaks, full court pressure, and all sorts of stamina demanding tactics kept up constantly for the full 32 minutes of a game. Its goal was to wear down bigger teams and taller opponents. That required a conditioning best produced by the discipline of cross country. Hence, if you wanted to be on the basketball team you were automatically on the cross country team as well.  As I said, few of us ran for the love of running.

Except for Blaine. Blaine Edwards was quiet farm boy with a wry smile and gentle demeanor that could leave him unnoticed in the world of boisterous jocks and so-called athletes.  As a basketball player, he was not one of the stars but on the cross country course he was a superstar. Blaine was one of the fastest runners in our league, and in the state.

Blaine was not surrounded by great runners, but some of us weren’t half bad.  In almost every meet, Blaine would finish first; but our next contender was probably a seven or eighth place; the bulk of the team in double digit positions.  In dual or three-way meets, if our first digit was a one we often won, especially because of Blaine’s solitary one.

Blaine knew that, too.  Despite his star status, cross country was a team sport.  So when Blaine crossed the finish line, he would quickly catch his breath and return to the top of the chute. As one of us would run down it, he would run alongside us outside the rope encouraging and cheering us all the way. Then he would return and wait for the next runner and repeat the process until all five scorers had crossed the line.  One of the few times I was that final runner, it was only Blaine’s encouragement that reinforced my waning energy and will that got me across the line to be a part of winning the prize.

One of the core values of the Christian faith is encouragement. It is the belief that we are in this life together. When one suffers all suffer. When one wins, we all win. Although we will not all win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus, we believe that we should contribute to as many achieving that prize as possible.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” – I Thessalonians 5:11

(c) 2010 by Stephen L Dunn