Paul said for Timothy to not let folks despise his youth, for God was with him. Age seems to be one of those things where we automatically assume it brings wisdom, due, certainly, to the experience it generates. But sometimes God just shows up in places we don’t expect Him, and speaks through younger folks. Regardless of age, we would do well to listen for the Voice of God, and recognize Him when He talks to us.

On June 3rd we had the privilege to hear from God, through a high school sophomore. His assigned text was Romans 5, and it can be a bit technical for even the most intentional Bible student. As the “covering” pastor I told Jason Ross to just let the Bible speak to him, and to tell us that. I encouraged him to not worry about the academics of it, but to share the “unction.”

You decide if what he told us speaks to your heart:
1. Speaking about the topic of “faith,” he said, “if you don’t believe, you don’t have it.”
2. About “joy” he said, “It’s knowing that you are working for the Master.
3. Concerning our “identity” with others: “Jesus Christ is our ‘Letter of Introduction.’”
4. When addressing in his own soul a great sorrow, and whether he was trusting God through it all, he discovered that “The love I had for God was based on a choice.”
5. The tragedy of another person spoke to his heart, as this person awoke in a hospital bed, after a car crash and missing some limbs, to declare: “Wow. What has God done?” The emphasis was on the new adventure of faith, not the so-called loss.
6.For his closing, he told us of a “word” God said to him as he was feeling downcast. Jason then prophesied to us as well: “You’re too focused on YOUR problems.”
7. Finally, a little story about how our problems are like facing an Elephant. So we ask:
“How does one deal with an Elephant?”
“You eat him one bite at a time.”
“But, HOW does one eat an Elephant?”
“One bite at a time.”
“Aw, c’mon, how does one even cut up an Elephant?”
“LET GOD CHOP UP YOUR ELEPHANT”

As the “covering” pastor, it was my joy to adjourn our “meeting with God” and proceed to fellowship time …

Thank you to all of you who worked so hard to host this amazing group of kids. It just sort of happened, in a way, because we certainly didn’t “plan” the thing very well. But because of YOU, it happened with wonder and awe and the revealed nature of our God.

There can always be better organization, in a way, but when the Holy Spirit is moving and we dare to join in, well, it just sort of works out to His Glory. That means each of you is/was willing to let Him move, and I’m certain you felt His Presence and Leading.

We are Christians, and by that title we are declaring that we are Christ-ones; or, better still, Little Christs. When “He that is in you…” is operating from within you, then it is no longer ‘you,’ but He doing the thing; as in “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

We are not really part of a religion, but of a relationship. We do best when we allow Jesus to be Lord of our life, and simply follow in obedience. We experience true freedom when we break away from the bondage of the world, and walk in His Spirit. Our best experiences of joy come when it is His joy we feel, not something temporary. Isn’t it amazing how “the cares of this world” that weigh us down disappear when we focus on others, like the Asante kids?

Thank you for hosting. Thank you for providing beds and meals and transportation. Thank you loving on these kids, and praying with/for them, and thank you for giving money too. Thank you for rearranging the church for their use as both a concert hall and their classroom for their schooling. Thank you for helping that wonderful day at the beach, I know they will remember that one! Thank you to Odyssey Productions for the amazing generosity of going to Africa and making a film that can be used over and over to spread the message of this ministry.

We learned the word in Swahili, that we should speak to Jesus often:

ASANTE- Thank You

Pastor Skip Heiney
Dayspring Christian Fellowship

This is a living testimony, written in my heart the last two days, as I successfully connected 3 modems to 3 routers, establishing 3 Wi-Fi hotspots.

You’ve noticed, I’m sure, that it’s the young who know how to do computer stuff. Don’t call grandpa, call his grandson if you need computer help. It gets worse. The computer has made possible The Internet, connecting the entire planet to…..well, everything. And now we have Wi-Fi, that strange name for connecting to the Internet without wires. It gets worse. We now have a broader term for it all, “The Cloud”.

It’s an amazing concept, really, that all of man’s knowledge, good or bad, is somehow shot into the ether, and just held there waiting for us to access it. Who puts it up, and how it gets there, is becoming secondary to the fact that it is, simply, there. How it gets there is a boring question, left to geeks, but the reality that it is there is for all of us. What is
there isn’t really questioned at all, because if it “is” then it can surely be “there.” Why it’s there is easily answered, because someone put it there, which answers the Who put it there. When, isn’t an issue. And where, we’ve said, is The Cloud. Clear?

I’ve also noticed that the older one gets, the more resistant one is to new technology. As we age we like to keep things the way we understand them, and often just put our heads in the sand, ignoring, if possible, whatever is “new.” New stuff requires learning, and
we seem to feel that once we reached a certain age of adulthood we don’t need to learn anymore. It takes effort. It requires being stretched. Etc. We just want to go about being, and being left alone to all these new things is part of it. Ok, let’s just say it, we get set in our ways, and a bit stubborn. Maybe a lot stubborn. After all, we now know it all. Except for all this new stuff.

And then came Pentecost.

For thousands of years God had, on occasion, sent His Holy Spirit to do this or that. We have the record in The Bible and can easily read that God does indeed work toward His plan of reaching us. We are not surprised when we read that the Holy Spirit was sent
by God to do His Will, and mostly just have a lot of questions about why He does what He does, because it is so different that what we would do. In the Old Testament, when the Holy Spirit showed up, it was a big deal, and people paid attention. God worked
something out, and man took notice. Or not.

But then came Pentecost, when God fulfilled His promise through the prophet Joel,
and poured out the His Holy Spirit to everyone? Yes, all. This created quite a
stir, as all kinds of regular folks began experiencing God in powerful ways and means.
Religious leadership didn’t quite know how to handle this, as they were no longer the
primary means of people connecting to the Lord. Did you get that? “Connecting” to the
Lord?

You see, prior to Pentecost, we had to “hard-wire in” to God though the Law and the Prophets. And priests. And religion. But God Almighty threw down upon us a “new technology,” the Holy Spirit, available to everyone! It’s like He’s The Cloud, and all
we need do is “connect.” He’s no longer limited to a select few who know how to talk to Him, or a more limited few who know how to read His Book. He is now available to everyone, everywhere, at all times. His Holy Spirit has been “poured out” and is now THERE, which is HERE, for any and all to “connect” to.

You can develop the rest of this illustration for yourself, as I’m sure you get it by now. I know there are limitations in any illustration of how God might work, but the task for us is to not be “old” and “stubborn” to His desire to connect to us! He loves us. He loves YOU, and He wants to talk. Go on, go vertical. Let the Holy Spirit have you, and dare to enter His Presence, and allow His Power to both overtake you and then work through you. OMG!!!!

What about homosexuality? And homosexuals? And the church? And American politics? Issues of personal rights, and issues of tolerance toward others. What’s “moral,” and who gets to say so? And, oh, by the way, the issue of Love…

These are but a few of the provocative questions we could ask, each with an inflammatory side, able to cause division among us. Then again, separating oneself from evil is a proper thing to do, and justifies all kinds of divisions among people of faith.

A “foundationalist,” notice I didn’t say “fundamentalist,” would want to “stand” upon “truth.” For Christians, the truth is found in the Holy Scriptures, so we invoke the Bible as our authority. We also say that Jesus Christ IS the Truth, and in so doing can paint ourselves into a bit of a corner if the only truth we are going to cite is from the Bible. In this way we get to declare what truth is, because we “translate” the Bible, and thus control its meaning.

This can leave Jesus out of the conversation. And He very much wants to be IN the conversation of our lives, and has sent His Holy Spirit to keep that conversation alive and beneficial. After all, He is Lord, not us, and we are constantly having “epiphanies” as we grow in Christ and discover that we didn’t know it all, after all.

The Bible seems very clear to me about homosexual practices, as it does about many other kinds of enumerated “sins.” They separate us, not only from one another, but from God Himself. Based upon that alone I would recommend not doing them, and surely not “practicing” them. Some in the faith have gone so far as to try and categorize the list of sins, creating a kind of ranking, from sort-of-bad to really-horrible. I’m of the opinion they are all bad and all should be avoided and that we aren’t capable of managing which ones we should dabble in and which ones we can master.

Then there’s this whole Bible “truth” about not judging others. I suppose that’s another sin, and I suppose we all do it and therefore all are without guilt. So we’re all guilty, of various transgressions, and all deserve the “punishment” for the transgression. That’s Bible, after all, so “the truth hurts.”

Except for Jesus Christ. He changes everything. This, in fact, IS the Good News. He doesn’t judge us, because He died for those sins and in Him we are set free from the guilt and shame that normally would haunt us. Do you get that? Do you get it that YOU are set free from sin by faith in Jesus Christ?

So, what about homosexuality? I’d say “Don’t do it.” Well, what about ANY of the sins listed? Same answer: “Don’t do them.” Here is where the hammer falls, and the hammer isn’t judgment and sentence and penalty. The hammer is love. Love never fails. Love doesn’t condone, and Love doesn’t condemn, and Love doesn’t participate in doing wrong. Love just loves. We can only Love if Love is being manifested through us. Period. You can’t give what you don’t have. If all you have is guilt, about yourself, then it makes sense you’d have a tough time giving Love to others. Let Jesus Christ clean YOU up, and you’ll be amazed how everyone else seems less dirty.

These 5 chapters of the Gospel of John cover almost ONE QUARTER of the thing, and yet it covers a period of time about 24 hours, maybe a little longer, in the life of Christ. One could conclude that John thinks highly of this information, to devote so much to it.

Every time I read this section I am challenged, convicted, perplexed, and filled with joy and wonder and awesomeness, as the I AM speaks again.

As I read I nod my head, as if I understand what I’m reading. I think I do. I mean, I understand the words ok, and they seem to make sense. I’m a learned man, sort of, at least with a college education, and I’m willing, aren’t I, to keep learning? Of course I am. I’m a bit like Nicodemus. Educated, and in “leadership”. And yet I hunger for Truth and know that I don’t know much, especially about God’s Kingdom. So I come to Jesus, by day or by night, asking again and again the questions we all have. And Jesus speaks to me every time. May I (we) have ears to hear.

May I suggest you read these 5 chapters, and ponder this question: “What is the self?”

Don’t blow me off here. What is self? Or, what is a self? You may want to write out your answer so you can look at this/these question(s) more completely. To “ponder” means to examine carefully, to search about, to consider deeply, etc. Do you have a self? Are you a self? If so, what is selfishness? What is self-centeredness? What is self concern? Self protection? What is it to be self absorbed?

Is there anything in chapters 13 thru 17 to address the self? If so, what?

You should know by now that I’m not interested in fancy analysis or complex theology. I’m interested in shoe-leather application, as if our lives depended on it! They do! The reality that can explode off these pages is transformative. It can change the life of the reader! There is a great mystery revealed in these few pages, and the revelation is worth the search, worth the find, and worth the results.

Go ahead- see if you “get it”. If you don’t, go ahead and ask; I’d be glad to tell you!

We seem to come, over and over again, to THE great spiritual question. Who can be saved, and how?

We quickly agree that only those whom the Lord chooses, for that is in Scripture.

We also agree that only those who “believe” are saved, for that is in Scripture.

So, is it by our choice or by His choosing? Is it one, or the other? Is it by Sovereignty, or by free will? Did Calvin have it right, or not? To further mess thing up, let’s throw in issues of holiness and obedience and confession and repentance and apostasy and denial. OMG

(Let’s admit here that our historical attempts to answer this are based on our first deciding which answer we like, and then developing a doctrine to support it. Let’s agree here that Protestants need to stop protesting so much, as it isn’t bringing unity, but discord. Don’t agree? Start another denomination. Command that you are right, by fiat.)

Let me ask: why must it be one or the other? Why can’t it be both, since both are supported by Scripture? Why must we accept one and exclude the other, which only leads to the accusation of someone not believing the Bible?

God is Sovereign, we agree. He chooses, we agree. Praise His Name that He chooses me!!! Has He chosen YOU? Of course He has. It is His will that NONE should perish!

Must we believe, in order to be saved? Of course we must. We must answer His call and pursue Him, following the path He lays out for us. We can deviate from the path, and find it doesn’t work out so well, and return to the path and again enjoy the Blessing of His provision. This isn’t rocket science! In fact, we’re discovering that rocket science is kids stuff to Him!!! It isn’t even rocket science; it is His science, from beginning to end, or, better, from ignorance to understanding!

His choice? Yes. Our free will? Yes. Who gets to Heaven? Everyone who does not reject the Salvation of God Almighty.

Have you ever said something and then wished you’d said it differently? Sure you have. That’s the blessing of writing. You can write, then read what you wrote, then reflect upon it and change it until you get it to say what you really want to say!

Texting isn’t a very good way of writing; it doesn’t give you that reflective opportunity, it just goes out like a spoken word, plus it’s a bit short. Email is a good way to write, but so often people don’t read their emails. Letters have been a great way to write for centuries, and remain so, even though they are greatly reduced in use. Books, of course, remain the best record, followed perhaps by magazine or newspaper articles, each allowing the reader the time to digest what is said, ponder it, and then accept or dispose according to the will of the reader.

“The will of the reader.” Think about that. Now remember that we have The Bible, God’s Word, a book, available to us at all times in many forms. These are letters written by humans, yes, but under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit.

God has written to us what He wanted to say, and we have the opportunity to reflect upon it! He doesn’t need to change anything He’s written, because He is sure of what He’s said and meant to say every word of it. It is “the will of the reader” that determines any result. The efforts some have made to discredit the Bible quickly fail, because the reader still has to decide 1. whether to read it or not? and 2. what to do about what’s been read?

I may not like what I’ve read, or I may not understand what I’ve read, but it’s still up to me to act upon it or not. Perhaps we would do well to read with an attitude of discernment, asking God to make clear what has been written, both secular and spiritual. This would minimize the amount of secular stuff we feed on, perhaps, and allow us more time with His Word.

I don’t have an iPod, or and iPad, or even an MP3 player. I don’t have a smart phone. I don’t have a laptop, a notebook, or a netbook. But I do have a PC, and I do go to the internet every day to do research of one kind or another, so I’m not a totally out-of-it relic. I’m sort of a hip relic, I like to think.

Awhile ago I discovered Youtube. I go there from time to time to listen to songs, and mostly I go there because one of you sends me there to listen to one of your favorites. That happened today, while I was taking a short break from some Bible study, getting ready for Sunday. And then I got lost.

Lost can be a good thing. I revisited my youth and got lost listening to some Elvis songs. His spirituals are terrific. Then I got lost for awhile with John Denver, riding our motorcycles down the George Washington Parkway in Virginia, and then the Mama’s & the Papa’s and my “friend” Cass Elliot, as we revisited nights of singing on M St. in Georgetown. Then I lost it a bit with Celine Dion, who could sing the phone book and make it wonderful, and finally for awhile with the incomparable Willie, as in Nelson.

The time flies by when you’re lost in memories; lost in Youtube.

I can’t be alone in this. Every song you pull up on the screen has a dozen more on the right panel, to make the losing it easier. For the million of songs on Youtube there have to be multiplied millions of people selecting them, posting them, and listening to them. They even have neat little counters showing how many times each has been listened to. They are keeping track!

It strikes me that perhaps God is keeping track too. Perhaps He is wondering why we don’t come to His page more often. A visit to church on Sunday may cause the counter to go up, one count. Worshipping during the week may move the meter a bit. I hope so. A quick read in the Bible certainly gets a notch or two of movement. But we could hardly call these visits as “being lost” in Him, like in Youtube.

What would it be like to be lost in Christ? To be lost in His Word? To be lost in worship?

As great as Youtube is, maybe we should try to move the meter with Jesus, because He’s there. He too is free. He too is an easy download. He too has a vast assortment of stuff to “click on” and discover. Go ahead, give it a try; get lost.

Blink. Ok, blink again. Natural stuff, blinking. Right?

Well, life is like blinking. I move from amazing times of His Presence where all I can think of is Him, and blink, I’m only focused on my problems. Great faith, huh?

I get some horrible phone call and I blink. Then I get some unexpected repair bill, and I blink. Then Carol give me a kiss and I BLINK! I like those blinks best.

We may not be able to call the shots in life, but at least we can determine our response to them. I choose Jesus. You choose Jesus. So blink away, until that Great Day of His return.