The Ever Changing Church

When I stopped working in youth ministry over a decade ago we had just entered into a technological age that would change our future. The question of how to handle teens and their cell phones was a significant, albeit not life shattering, issue being faced. These teens had not grown up with a cell phone in their hands, though they were receiving them early in life, and so techniques like setting a basket at the door where everyone left their phones worked. It was a mostly effective solution to a new problem. As long as there has been a church, there have been problems needing to be worked out.  This is clearly evidenced in Acts 6:

The number of followers was growing. But during this same time, the Greek-speaking followers had an argument with the other followers. The Greek-speaking widows were not getting their share of the food that was given out every day. The twelve apostles called the whole group of followers together and said, “It is not right for us to stop our work of teaching God’s word in order to serve tables. So, brothers and sisters, choose seven of your own men who are good, full of the Spirit and full of wisdom. We will put them in charge of this work. Then we can continue to pray and to teach the word of God.”

The whole group liked the idea, so they chose these seven men: Stephen (a man with great faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (a man from Antioch who had become a follower of the Jewish religion). Then they put these men before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

The word of God was continuing to spread. The group of followers in Jerusalem increased, and a great number of the Jewish priests believed and obeyed.

(Acts 6:1-7, NCV)

For the church in Acts 6, the problem was more than logistical.  The church was struggling to understand how people of many traditions (here, Greek and Hebrew) could (or if they even could) come together to truly be one body of believers.  So the leaders of the church came up with a simple plan: have some other men oversee the solution to the problem.  They delegated.

If you have ever worked with a person who used "delegation" as a means to pass off anything they don't want to do, please don't think that's what the church leaders were doing.  They were plenty busy with their work - a very effective work by the ways their numbers were growing - and so they thought it would be best to let another group of leaders oversee food distribution.

It's easy to think that leaders might have considered this work beneath them.  Reading that they didn't want to "serve tables" sounds almost dismissive.  However, by looking at who they chose to do this new work, we can see that it was something they considered essential and important.  Of the seven men, two have significant descriptions. First, Stephen is described as "a man with great faith and full of the Holy Spirit."  Why would you chose this kind of man to be a DoorDash driver food server unless it was a faith-related activity?  You wouldn't.  Clearly, the work being done was to feed their spirits as much as their stomachs. Second, Nicolas was Greek.  He would be a familiar face to the widows they served and would be able to resolve any miscommunication that arose.  He was greasing the wheels, in the best possible way. All seven of these men are described as good, faith filled, and wise.

In this case, church leaders didn't let tradition blind them to need.  They responded with How can we fix this? instead of But it's never been a problem before.   As the church grows and as times change, new problems arise that have serious implications; I think most of us have learned that this year.  However, when we've moved past the problems we faced in 2020, there will be new problems we couldn't have anticipated.  In some ways that is encouraging because it allows us to have hope.  We can look back and see that we've overcome many things before, so we can overcome whatever comes before us next.

FMF: Help

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

(Matthew 7:7-8, NIV)

"You do not have because you do not ask God."

(James 4:23b, NIV)


I'm not good at asking for help.  I never have been.

About fifteen years ago my husband and I went camping with another couple.  We chose a location that was only a few hours from our home and near a moderate size river.  One afternoon we were playing in the river.  My husband, who cannot swim, stayed close to the shore along with our friends.  In my confidence I wandered out a little farther.

There was this strange moment that I still remember and, very likely, always will. I was suddenly uncertain if I retained control of my body.  The river was stronger than I had given it credit.

From his safety near the shore, my husband must have recognized a look in my eyes that even I did not.  "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes," I told him, trying to convince myself as much as him.

I was embarrassed by my need for help.  Embarrassed.

Somehow, and maybe only through the grace of God, I got back to safety.  I was shaken, but not swept away. I thought about what could have happened if I had been swept down stream. I immediately knew my response had been foolish. Though my husband was no swimmer, there were three adults who could have prevented what literally could have killed me.  They could have helped me if I had asked.

From time to time we find ourselves in the middle of the rivers of life.  We get caught up in situations we didn't expect, and we are unwilling to ask for help. May we all be a little less foolish next time.

This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday and was written in approximately five minutes. For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.

Psalm 22

I woke to the first cool moment I had had in 36 hours. At 5 AM it was already 73°. For this lifelong Southern Californian, warm summers are no surprise. But yesterday? It had been one of those nearly unbearable days for this too practical girl who long before had decided having an air-conditioning unit put in her home was too expensive because we only use it a few weeks each year. I stand by my decision even though I hate myself each time we have a heat wave. So there I was, in my bed after a miserable night, trying to capture the last few minutes of sleep-like activity. I finally gave up pretending and headed to my kitchen to begin the early morning process of opening all the windows and turning on the fans to try to capture as much cool air as possible. As I pulled back the curtains I noticed the sun's red glow. I thought of a conversation had just days before in Bible study about how God‘s fingerprints can be seen in the beauty of nature. As I continued to open windows I couldn’t help but notice, again and again, the sunlight's deep red hue on such an overcast day. By 8 o’clock I was ready to leave the house to run an errand. It was at that time that I noticed the unmistakable sign that I had missed that morning: White ash covering my dark car. The overcast skies and red sun were not just a fluke of nature; they were a result of wildfire season.  I had missed the signs.

It's not hard to miss signs in the Bible.  If we read the Bible, we may read verse by verse instead of chapter by chapter, and even then sometimes a chapter is not enough to study at one time.  We tend to spend long periods of time considering small details instead of investigating how those details relate to the larger text. Before I began my journey through the Psalms, I often skipped them because of their poetic nature.  It's not that I thought they were unimportant; they were less preferred text.

As a result, I missed a key detail of the Psalms.  I was already familiar with the idea that Jesus talked about the Psalms, but never realized how much the Psalms talked about Jesus.  For those of you needing a brief history: The Psalms were written between 500 and 1,000 years before Jesus was born. They were essentially a songbook for the Jewish people. They would read and sing Psalms when they were together. The Psalms helped them to celebrate happy times and to feel better when they were hurting. 

Most believers know that when Jesus was on the cross He said some things. Depending on your denominational heritage, these sayings may be a part of your Good Friday experience.  One of the things He said was “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That wasn’t just Jesus calling out to God. He was quoting the first words of Psalm 22. The Psalm begins like this:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why do you seem so far away when I need you to save me?
Why do you seem so far away that you can’t hear my groans?
My God, I cry out in the daytime. But you don’t answer.
I cry out at night. But you don’t let me sleep.
But you rule from your throne as the Holy One.
You are the God Israel praises.
Our people of long ago put their trust in you.
They trusted in you, and you saved them.
They cried out to you and were saved.

They trusted in you, and you didn’t let them down.

(Psalm 22:1-5, NIRV)

Jesus was going through the hardest time of His life, but even as He called out to God, He put His trust in Him. He knew God would not let Him down. Even in the details of His death, Christ modeled perfect faith.  It's no coincidence that Jesus recited this Psalm.  I believe He wanted those those who heard Him to draw their attention to Psalm 22 which would help confirm His claims of being Messiah.  If the Psalms were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, how could they talk about Jesus?

Sometimes God gave His believers special information they couldn’t know on their own – we call this a prophecy. There are hundreds of prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. They talk about His family, His birth, and as we read in Psalm 22, His death:

A group of sinful people has closed in on me.

They are all around me like a pack of dogs.
They have pierced my hands and my feet.
Everyone can see all my bones right through my skin.
People stare at me. They laugh when I suffer.
They divide up my clothes among them.
They cast lots for what I am wearing.
Lord, don’t be so far away from me.
You give me strength. Come quickly to help me.
(Psalm 22:16-19, NIRV)

That sounds a lot like what happened to Jesus: His hands and feet were pierced, people watched him and laughed at him, His clothing was divided, and the guards cast lots for His robe.  Read the gospel accounts of Christ's crucifixion and let me know what you think.  What other signs do you see (that maybe others miss) that point to who Jesus is?

Psalm 20

Some trust in chariots. Some trust in horses.
But we trust in the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall down.
But we get up and stand firm.
(Psalm 20:7-8, NIRV)

The Psalms are filled with imagery that helps readers to better understand God. In Psalm 20, David, the warrior king, talks about one of the things he knew best: horses.

When I was about ten years old, I went horseback riding in Arizona with my Girl Scout troop. There were several horses, and one much smaller pony. All the girls wanted to ride the small horse because it looked like a pony, and I got the chance. I've never been a slim girl, and I was extra thick in that just before puberty time when my body was storing resources for the the growth that was about to occur. As the horse trotted along, I was sure it was struggling under my weight. My body-conscious self underestimated the strength of that creature.

Horses are beautiful animals, and they have worked together with people for thousands of years. Horses help people do lots of things; they can be trained to work with farmers, police officers, and even with actors in movies. These animals are smart, strong, and can run as fast as a car. David appreciated the horse, but they were nothing compared to God.

A horse can pull the weight of more than 10 people, but God is stronger. Jeremiah 32:17 (NLT) says that God “made the heavens and earth by [His] strong hand and powerful arm…”

Horses can be friendly, but God loves us more. John 3:16 (NIV) says that God loved the world so much “that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Let's not forget that God created everything. That includes all the animals even horses. That makes God more powerful than any earthly force, including a horse.

Is it any wonder that David put his trust in God instead of horses or chariots? It's easy to put our trust in things other than God. Yes, we should trust seatbelts and airbags to keep us safe in our cars, but we should trust that God's will for our lives "is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:3, NASB).

FMF: Breathe

Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”’”

So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
(Ezekiel 37:9-10, NASB)

The Valley of Dry Bones.  It's a great section of Scripture to be studying this time of year.  It screams Halloween.  

Ezekiel is shown a vision of a valley of bones - just bones - that have been left unburied and have become dry. God instructs Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones.  Now, I don't know about you, but I've always wondered if the prophets were at all uncomfortable with their jobs.  We know that Jonah was.  He so detested the people God told him to prophesy to, that he went as far as he could the other direction.  For him, "as far as he could" turned out to be not very far because he ended up in the belly of fish that spit him up on the shores, having received time to repent and allowing him to go where he was supposed to go in the first place.  But I digress.

Ezekiel's vision didn't even have him speaking to people. He was told to prophesy to bones. Ezekiel was faithful.  In his vision he called out to the bones and they began to rattle.  They came together with layers of life until finally they appeared to be bodies.  Yet, something remained missing.

So God told Ezekiel to call the breath back into these bones, and God breathed on them.

God explained to Ezekiel what he had just seen. The bones represent God's people, and they are without hope.  Their divided nation would come back together, and God would live among them again.

Indeed, God can do miracles where there appears to be no hope, a word I need to hear today.

For anyone who feels like they are in a valley of dry bones today, pray with me:

Breathe on me, Lord. Amen.

This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday and was written in approximately five minutes. For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.