Were You Born Last Night?*

In late elementary school and early Middle School, for a couple of years, everywhere but church and school, I wore a hat. For some reason, I was attached to this cranial covering. It was made of denim, but it was a sailor hat… I wore it flap down, like Gilligan… of Island fame. Not sure why I loved it so much. I guess it was like a special security blanket or stuffed animal, only for my head. Or perhaps it was because my creepy old balding, red-headed, round red faced bus driver used to call me “Cotton Top,” and I wanted to cover my white blond hair. He used to make me sit on the seat closest to him… gives me the heebie-jeebies even now. As I would get on the bus and try to quickly move to the back, he’d yell in a gravelly, whiskey, smoker's voice, “Get up here Cotton Top and sit in this seat right here!” I used to beg my mother to drive me to school, but that didn’t always work out. I lived in terror until we got a new bus driver...the next one was a little less scary. I still wore that hat for a while… somehow I didn’t mind the taunts of my sister over it. It finally disappeared somewhere… I guess my mother quietly threw the sweaty, dirty, old thing away one day, like mothers do when it's time to get rid of pacifiers, security blankets, and... security hats. I guess the attachment to it was only temporary.

From what I understand, we were always made for loving attachment… to God and the people He loves. The need to attach and belong is so strong that if we don’t do it properly in God’s way with Him and the significant people around us, we can end up attaching our lives to unhealthy things like addictions, work, hobbies, stuff, (hats) and even religion. Sometimes we attach in unhealthy ways to others who are unhealthily attached to us too. There is good news for all of us, though. When we are born again spiritually, like Jesus talks to Nicodemus about in the famous “Nic at night” conversation in John chapter 3, we are attached to God and we belong to Him permanently. When we are born physically there is a natural loving connection between mother and baby. It brings the security, belonging, joy, and peace babies need to grow up healthy. When the Holy Spirit connects us to God, our secure, healthy, grateful, and joyful connection with Him begins. When we attach to Him, we begin to understand our new identity as one of His children. Jesus tells Nic, the uber religious "teacher of Israel," and us, this new spiritual attachment is a must. He says, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:5-7 (NLT2) Attachment is a big deal spiritually and emotionally. There is a temptation for us to remain attached to the unhelpful stuff and detached from God and those who belong to Him. We have to fight against this trend and keep finding ways to reattach to God and the people He loves in healthy ways. If we will first reciprocate God’s loving attachment to us, back to Him, He will give us what we need to re-establish those relationships we may have missed out on and/or establish new ones. Relationships with God and other people are not like pacifiers, security blankets and old hats discarded after a while… they are important and valuable forever. We learn later, that Nicodemus, does some things for Jesus that make us think he may have been “born again” that night. Wonder if he ever said, “I may have been born at night, but not last night”? If you are not sure, be born again in the Holy Spirit, attach, connect and don’t let go, then connect with God's people and don't let go!

 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying us all!

I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying, Jesus See Us All!*

 

I’m not crying, you’re crying! Our Chattanooga church had the wonderful privilege of joining with a downtown homeless ministry a few Sunday nights each year.  The soup kitchens were closed on Sundays so several churches joined with this ministry, rotating to provide food for the indigent population each Sunday Evening. This group also helped with clothing, shoes, socks and toiletries.  It was raining cats and dogs when about 10 of our members loaded the bus. Two other men, who had never been to our church, but heard that we were feeding the homeless, loaded up with us, eager to join in God’s work. We prayed that God would be with those we would meet and that we would see Him at work in people’s lives, and we asked Him to please lessen the rain, so the hungry people could be fed. As we drove about 15 miles to the feeding site, it was raining so hard people were pulling over on the interstate with their flashers on. I continued to pray while I was driving the bus and I am sure others did too. Strangely, as we pulled into the vacant parking lot where we were going to set up our tables, the rain stopped completely, not another drop came down the whole time we were there. We fed close to 100 people some pizza, shared a short sermon,  gave them some snacks, water, and helped them find some clothes and shoes to wear. It was obvious they needed some clean clothes after living in the streets with no money nor means to wash the ones they were wearing. One lady in a wheelchair was in great need of some new shoes. It was the only way she could get around. She couldn’t walk, but she could move her chair with her feet, if she had shoes that would grip the pavement. Her last pair had split and the soles had torn off. It was time to go and it was getting dark. We searched every box, every bag, every tote for some shoes that would fit her. We had cleaned up the site, everyone was gone but this woman and her friend, and we needed to get back to the church. Sadly, we were going to have to leave without finding shoes for this woman.  Finally, in hopeless desperation, one of the two men who had joined us, looked at his feet and her feet, then took off his own shoes and said, “please, just try these.” They were a perfect fit. She cried, and he cried and they hugged…and of course, we all cried for joy right along with them. We prayed and thanked the Lord for His providence and thanked Him for stopping the rain and boarded the bus for the ride home. The man climbed on the bus with muddy bare feet and we all cried again. As soon as everyone was gone, our bus wheels left the parking lot and hit the street, the rain poured down in buckets once again. I don’t know if I had trouble seeing the road on the way back because of the rain or the tears that filled my eyes. There was a short sermon that was preached that day by one of the pastors, but the message we all remembered, was the one we witnessed with our own eyes preached by God himself. 

The Psalmist says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.  He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”(Psalm 126:5–6 NIV) 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all! 

Siblings, a skateboard, a motorcycle, and a steep driveway, what could possibly go wrong?!*

 Siblings, a skateboard, a motorcycle, and a steep driveway, what could possibly go wrong?! In the neighborhood where I grew up there was no lack of giant hills for a thrilling ride on any wheeled object upon which we could perch ourselves. We hoped to enjoy the exhilaration of great speed and also a safe deceleration at the bottom of the hill. In my driveway there was plenty of potential for great speed on a skateboard, but the enjoyable deceleration could be a little more tricky if you didn’t somehow slow yourself in the side grass, preventing yourself from heading into the street and subsequently into the  ditch (assuming you made it across the street without incident). But this story isn’t about the down hill trip, but a trip back up the hill.  One day, I had the “brilliant” idea of making a tow vehicle out of my Honda XL70 motorcycle with a ski rope tied to the back to return us back up the driveway. “Simply, grab the handle and ride leisurely back up the hill.” Kinda like a tow rope on the beginner ski slope. I somehow convinced my sister, who had safely enjoyed her ride to the bottom of the hill, that she was the lucky winner (read: “crash test dummy”) of the maiden voyage of the motoskatelift. I started out gently so as to not pull her off the skateboard. Everything was going swimmingly as I accelerated up the hill, until about halfway up the driveway, where unfortunately, there were just a few pieces of gravel, the size of which were slightly too large for the tiny skateboard wheels to go over. So, the wheels hit the gravel and stopped the board fast and my inaugural rider (i.e. test sibling) was airborne, landing on the asphalt with hands, elbows, belly, thighs, and knees, (I don’t know how she kept from scrapping her chin). I was oblivious to what had happened until she released the handle and it slingshot itself into my helmet. I stopped and turned around in time to see my sister starting to cry and look at her injuries. She was pretty well graveled (both in body and spirit) and because she didn’t normally say bad words, I think she may have used my name as a bad word, yelling, “BILL MCGINNIS!”  I was disappointed that my idea had not worked as planned and…, oh yeah, I felt sorry that I had given my sister a road rash on most of her body. I may have even groveled over the gravel for a few minutes. For some reason she didn’t trust my ideas so much after that. 

Jesus knows that He can’t trust people and so He holds a boundary with us. Yet, He still came to save all who will trust in Him.  We read in John 2:23–25, “Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.” (NLT)  But then the very next chapter we read the famous words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16) Now that is love! Even though Jesus doesn’t trust us because He knows what is in our hearts, He is still glad to give himself as a sacrifice for us to have eternal life with Him and begin changing us to act like people who are more like Him! Paul, recognizing what happens, encourages us with his manifesto: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”(Galatians 2:20 NLT-SE)  So, be careful who you trust, we humans are bound to disappoint (some may even ask us to be a crash test dummy for them), but Jesus is never untrustworthy. 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Need Refreshing?*

A few years ago, we were having a family reunion at my Dad’s place on the French Broad River. My sister called it “Cousins at the Cabin.” There were lots of cousins there.  We had watermelon, fresh picked berries, burgers, dogs, chips, baked beans, potato salad, and cobblers of all kinds.  We had made our own water slide with 100 feet of plastic sheeting, a hill, a garden hose, and a drop or two of dish soap. We were using some inner tubes to let people float the river for about a half mile where the river passes in front of the property. We put the humans and their giant rubber donuts in the water at the neighbor’s boat ramp and they climbed back out toting their tubes at my Dad’s place. We were transporting them in our old Suburban affectionately called “Bessie.” We threw the tubes on the roof rack and drove back to the take out point to reload and do it again. The water was cool and refreshing and the water was flowing at a lazy pace. It was delightful on a hot Summer day. When everyone finished floating and came back to the house to eat, we parked the car and closed the windows, because we never knew when a Summer pop up storm could come in East Tennessee.  An hour or two later we couldn’t find our dog, Sadie. She loves to run the property and lie in the water at the edge of the river to cool off. After several minutes of searching we decided to get Bessie to go look for her. We discovered that she had climbed into the back of the ‘burb when we were transporting the river-tubers and had fallen asleep, then she was locked in the very back where no one could see her.  We were very worried about her. She was lethargic and would not drink any water. My father, who had done some research with dogs early in his medical training, said that once dogs reach a certain point of dehydration, they will for some reason, refuse to drink water to rehydrate. So, the panic ensued and my wife was headed to the pet hospital, come #&!! or high water. Sadie was given a very expensive IV, they said the fact that she had been playing in the cool water had probably saved her life. Soon, she was, thankfully, back to normal. 

Sometimes I’m like Sadie when I’m spiritually dehydrated. After messing up and not acting like the One I belong to (i.e. sinning), for some reason I refuse to return to The Living Water. I identify as one who belongs to Jesus, but sometimes when I mess up I continue to go away from Him instead of seeking Him. He is the only One who can restore me spiritually and I, for some reason, don’t seek after Him and then I experience even more spiritual exhaustion. Sometimes I need others in my faith community to remind me to get back to Him for a spiritual IV.  In the Book of Acts, not long after Jesus had been crucified, resurrected and ascended to the Father, Peter and John had performed a miracle at the temple and restored a crippled man to health.  Many people were amazed at God’s work and ran to the place where the miracle happened. Peter took the opportunity to remind people to return to God and recognize Jesus as the Messiah who could save them. He also confronted them for disowning Jesus and denying His deity in front of Pontius Pilot by saying “Crucify Him!” Peter says,  “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” (Acts 3:19–20 NIV)  Why do we do that? Why do we refuse to come to Jesus when we are spiritually parched? I don’t know the answer to this question, but I am so thankful for God’s grace when He draws me back to Himself and He restores and refreshes my soul! Sometimes He even uses people in my faith community to remind me to get back to Jesus. Turn back to Him and be refreshed, my friends! 

Hang in there people! God is always glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Magnolia, Kind and Good!*

My wife and I and two of our adult children and their spouses took a day trip to Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Table and Market in Waco, TX. We arrived and put our name in at the now famous restaurant and took the short drive to the Market to browse and enjoy the 2 hour wait. Fixer-upper fans from way back, we looked forward to our Silo pilgrimage. We strolled around, enjoyed some delicious Jo Jo’s Joe Joe coffee (not the real name, but maybe should be), found some post Christmas deals on a welcome mat and sweatshirt, enjoyed some great sweet tea, smartly packaged in a nostalgically branded mason jar with a sipping straw lid, for which we gladly paid $9 each plus tip.  It was surprisingly warm outside and crowded, just a couple of days after Christmas. We got our obligatory “selfies” at the iconic Silos and other photo ops. We did, in fact, enjoy our experience. We returned from Gainesney Land to the “Table” restaurant, just in time to get our text from the hostess stand and be seated. The service was exceptional. Three of our crew have food allergies, one is pretty significant, but our waitress was very cautious, courteous, and accommodating. One had ordered the white chili, but then realized it had too much dairy in it, so the waitress made another recommendation. On top of this, she carefully navigated the boundaries of those of us who were on the edge of hangry and quickly brought some biscuits and strawberry butter to calm the ATX travelers who were dangerously close to pushing the “mean” button and launching everyone into sibling and spousal defcon 3. Everything was so delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal with lots of smiles and laughter. Our wait person even brought out a small complementary bowl of white chili and some spoons just to taste. It was very good. The burgers, chicken and biscuits, and chicken salad croissants, were great. The salad modified for our child who became vegan for health reasons was safe and tasted good! As we were cashing out, the waitress brought some salted caramel candy. My wife said, “where can I buy these” and she said at the shop attached to the restaurant, but it was already closed. So, she brought a few more of these delectable dulces to the table, “on the house.” This woman didn’t know us, yet she was so very kind and helpful.  Happy and full we headed back toward the Capital City. The service staff at Magnolia World was like a welcome magnet to us when we were hungry, needed some kind hospitality, and even some extra TLC. The sign on the wall that says, “Where everyone has a seat at the Table,” rang true.

In the early church the Apostle Paul was encouraging one of his young pastors and he was highlighting the Jesus-like attributes of God’s children that would show the church and the world that they belonged to Him. In this particular passage, Paul was talking about widows, but it could well apply to all of us who identify as those belonging to Christ.  He says, “She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good?”(1 Timothy 5:10 NLT-SE) Now, I have no idea if our Magnolia Table waitress identified herself as a Jesus follower (I don’t think she was a widow or a mother either), but she certainly displayed some of these honorable Christ-like characteristics: kindness to strangers, humble service, always ready to do good… she served her tables well, helped us all avoid the possible embarrassments and regrets of hangry “acting out” and unwelcome comments said in haste.  She also modeled how to accommodate people who have unique needs with grace and thoughtfulness. We can be encouraged by this young lady to be kind, do good, stay humble and make a difference in the lives of those we encounter. 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all! 

P.S. Kudos Chip and Joanna Gaines for having such a wide-reaching impact with your Magnolia brand, which now, for us, represents kindness, humble accommodation and exceptional service. 

Holy Smoke Trust Jesus!*

 

“Holy Smoke'' pilots

It was finally time. The four kids were sleepy but excited. We were starting our drive to the “Happiest Place on Earth” from Chattanooga. Some of their friends had been to “Dizzy World” every year since before they were old enough to remember, but this was our first trip. Anita had done her homework well. She had figured out with the Disney Vacation rep how we could sleep all six of us, do the meal plan, and add a “park-hopper” pass without going too far over our budget. I, however, was still very anxious about this trip to this large kingdom built on a central Florida swamp. I worried about the taxes and tributes that King Mouse would extract for a few days of exhausting exploration of his kingdom with its elaborate magical facades, excellent rides, and exceptional dining places. Our early morning Tennessee start had us arriving at the Value Resort in time to drop our bags and go to Disney Springs to eat supper. The kids were wide-eyed but tired from the long drive. We got a reservation at the restaurant and walked around the shops of overpriced trinkets, t-shirts, hats, and memorabilia until our name was called. We received our menus and I had my first Disnoshock. I knew I couldn’t keep worrying about the cost of everything or I would make the trip miserable for everyone. So, we went back to the resort and slept restlessly anticipating our first day at the park. I woke up early, got some coffee, and did my quiet time by the pool before anyone else was up. In my journal I wrote something about not being able to relax on this trip. I was concerned about investing all this time and these resources in the hope for a good family memory and it being a flop. I was afraid of all the X’s: exhausted family, exorbitant costs, excessive heat, expensive meals… I needed to know that God was with us and that everything was going to be okay. In my skepticism and doubt I wrote in my journal, “God, If you are in this, I would like for You to write it in the sky.” Everyone awoke, ate some pop tarts, sunscreened our sun sensitive Eurowhite skin, and headed to the park. As we drove, the kids looked out the windows and said, “Mom, Dad! That airplane is writing something in the sky.” Reading each letter they slowly said, “T.R.U.S.T. J.E.S.U.S…” Then reading each word excitedly, “it says, Trust Jesus, Dad! It says, Trust Jesus!” So, with tears in my eyes, we made our way to the park. We had a wonderful 4 days in all 4 parks. Every time I began to worry, God’s miraculous sky message reminded me of Whose Kingdom we really belong to…

 
When Jesus began His ministry, in one of His first famous sermons, He spoke of those in His Kingdom. He reminded His followers not to worry, but to keep seeking relationship with God, trusting Him, and honoring Him with their actions. Jesus knows our propensity to act badly when we are anxious or fearful, its human nature. We take a defensive posture against everything and everyone, even good things and those trying to help us, because our brains go to self-protective “enemy mode.” We see others as a threat even when they aren’t. Worry is a relationship killer. It causes us not to treat others well, because we begin to focus only on our own success or survival and distrust everyone else, including God. Those connected to Jesus, would need to trust that He cares for them. He says, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”(Matthew 6:31–34 NIV) Even in King Mickey’s Tomorrowland, we had fun, because we could “Trust Jesus.” My oldest daughter would later learn to trust God in her own journey when she participated in the Disney College Program, living in Orlando by herself and working in Princess Fairytale Hall. She was “friends with” Cinderella, as well as, Pluto, Rafiki, even the Easter Bunny. Do not worry about tomorrow, it has enough worries of its own.

 
( I have since learned that the skywriting was the work of the “Holy Smoke'' pilots, two former crop dusters turned airplane evangelists. God had timed a Holy Smoke, Trust Jesus message perfectly for my family to see it we needed that day.)

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Beyond Understanding*

I parked, made my way into the hospital, got on the elevator, just like I had hundreds of times before. I typically try to get in the right frame of heart and mind to minister to those I’m going to see after fighting traffic, making dizzying circles in the parking deck looking for a place to park, trying to slide my oversized vehicle into the tiny little parking space, then trying not to scratch the car next to mine while squeezing my girth through the narrow door opening.  Often, as I walk, I pray in anticipation of seeing the patient, but this time was a little different. I felt a prompting to pray for God’s Shalom peace for a certain patient and her husband. I put on my mask and made my way to the elevator, and it became my prayer lift. There were some quiet moments in my vertical chapel until a bell interrupted the silence, and a pleasant automated voice said, “4th floor.” When I exited and walked down the hall, I wondered  if I could go into the room this time. Because of COVID risks, sometimes I could only wave through the glass, and make a praying hands gesture from the hallway to let the couple know I’m lifting them up before the throne of God. Sometimes this patient’s husband was able to come out and pray with me in the hall.  When I arrived that day just outside the room, two nurses were standing there, wide eyed, still in their masks, face shields, gloves, and plastic gowns. I looked in and saw the patient sleeping peacefully  in the bed and her husband hard asleep in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs.  I was praying another quick prayer, thanking God for His peace and was about to turn around to go see another patient, when one of the nurses asked me who I was.  I said I was their pastor. She looked me in the eyes with a very serious look and said, “did you just pray for them?” And I said, “yes, God had prompted me to pray while I was on the way up here.” She said, “I don’t usually talk about this, but she was very anxious, irritated, and agitated, and he was very empathetic with her discomfort, then instantly, just  a moment ago,  they inexplicably became completely relaxed and fell hard asleep. I have never seen anything like it.” These nurses had not administered any medication that would have calmed her like that, and they certainly would not have given anything to her husband, who was not a patient at the time… I remember getting chill bumps and thanking God for allowing me an up close glimpse of His Spirit miraculously pouring out His peace on two of those He loves! He had given them some much needed rest at a very stressful time in this hospital stay. God had not only seen their distress and relieved it, but He had invited some nurses and a pastor to witness Him at work giving some much needed Shalom to an uncomfortable, pain and stress fatigued couple.  He let us all know that He sees us and He cares. 

In the early church at Philippi, there was some unrest, irritation, and anxiety among some in the congregation. Paul was reminding the church family to pray for each other and themselves.  Paul tells them, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:6–7) I used to think this verse was written for us as individuals when we are anxious and needing peace, but it is written in the context of a close group of believers. He says, “hearts” and “minds,” plural, not just “heart” and “mind.”  There is a sense of “Us,” not just “me.”   Jesus sees us in our distress, invites us to join Him in His answer, and He shows up with just what is needed. He sends the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and He arrives with a Shalom that is overwhelming. God had not only given peace to the couple at the hospital, His peace had impacted those believers in close proximity too.  

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!