Clarification

“Randy Belk is amazed by the amount of truth some people have to ignore in order to believe the things they follow that are so obviously false.”

That was my status a few days ago on Facebook.  I didn’t think much about it at the time because it was just an expression of what I was feeling based on somethings I had been going over for one reason or another.  What I didn’t expect was the number of questions I would get as a result of that status update.  A few people commented on Facebook or “liked” it.  (Thanks to all of you, comments are always welcomed and appreciated.) More people though either asked me about it when they saw me, called me, or sent me a private message to see what I was referring to. As a result I figured I would offer some clarification, although  it will probably be rather anti-climatic.

The update was really a result of three things I had been studying/reviewing as of late.  The first was material from our Pastor about cults.  He has started a new series about this on Wednesday evenings and I was just looking back over some of the material from the first session that served as an introduction to what makes a cult a cult.  The thing that interested me the most about this study was the fact that so many cults are an off shoot of mainstream Christianity.  Now, I am not talking about sections of the faith that are smaller than others but are still true to the faith.  As long as we believe that salvation is by faith through grace and have a proper understanding of the nature of God then the other little differences are really not that important in the eternal scheme of things.  Cults, on the other hand, are very dangerous because they distort the truth of God’s word or place too much emphasis on a certain concept or teaching that is actually false.  This leads people to put their faith in the wrong things, mainly works.

Secondly, I have been going over material for our up coming mission trip to Vermont.  This one probably played the biggest part in me saying what I did in my update because I am constantly blown away by the lack of believers in a state where the beauty of God’s creation is everywhere you look.  Vermont is one of, if not the least evangelized states in the country with less than 6% of the population being evangelical believers.  There are many other belief systems that are more prevalent in the state, and I was going over some of those in order to better prepare those who are going on the trip to know how to pray for the people we might encounter, as well as how to share their faith with them if the opportunity presents itself.  Some of the major belief systems that we may encounter are Wicca, Mysticism, Universalism, Relativism, and Atheism.  All of these have to ignore a huge amount of revealed truth in order to believe what they believe.  Scripture teaches us the God reveals himself to us in and through his creation so that no one is without excuse, yet the people that follow these belief systems look at creation and see something entirely different from what we as believers see.

Thirdly, and probably the least of the factors that led to the status update, was a look back at a book that has become very popular over the last few years which contains some very bad theology.  I will not name it, but is shouldn’t be too hard to figure out if you are familiar with it.  This book disturbs me for three reasons.  FIrst, the author is supposed to be a believer, but he gets so many things wrong in the book that some of the ideas presented are borderline heresy.  Secondly, I am disturbed by the fact that a publishing company that is supposed to be a faith based company would publish something that has the potential to lead so many people astray.  Thirdly, and most disturbing is the fact that so many believers have read this book and fail to see the problems with it.  I guess this comes from people getting their ideas about God and his teaching from sources other than God’s word.  I am not saying that commentaries and other resources are not useful, but if they do not line up with the truth of God’s word, then it is the outside resource, not the Bible that is at fault here.  It just shows me how little people actually “study” the Bible.  The Bible really isn’t confusing to a believer, and you don’t have to be an expert to understand it because we have the Holy Spirit to lead us and teach us as we study.  There are too many people out there who are teaching false doctrine and this book I was thinking about  is just a good example of how easy it is to slip something by the masses.  No matter how well written or good intentioned it may be, wrong is still wrong, no matter how you package it.

I hope this clears up some of the questions that some of you were asking.  If you have any more, just ask me.  I will be more than happy to answer.  I guess I also need to be more careful about posting updates that can be easy misinterpreted.  It is humbling to at least know that people are reading what I write, and putting some thought into it.  Thanks for the responses.  I Guess it just shows that I am still learning as I walk along the path…

Annoyed

Lately there have been some things that are getting on my nerves, so I decided to just vent a little.  These things are not directed at any person or persons specifically.  They are just derived from things that I observe which get under my skin because they actually seem to harm the cause of Christ, rather than advance it.  So, in practically no particular order here they are:

#1 The “1611 KJV” Crowd Now, right off the bat let me make it clear that I have no problem whatsoever with the King James translation of the Bible.  It is one of the translations I use when I study.  I have used it in sermons and lessons.  It is even the translation that I use during my daily quiet time.  What I have a problem with is the group of people that are quick to point out that they only use the 1611 KJV. The reason I have a problem with this is that the overwhelmingly vast majority of them do not actually use a 1611 KJV.  If you want to see what one really looks like (or reads like for that matter) stop by the office.  I have one, and out side of a museum, it is the only one I have ever seen.  The reason this annoys me is because people and congregations are saying that is what they use, when they have not bothered to do any research on the matter.  They say they use it because that is what they have been told, so they believe that is what they hold in their hand.  They also seem to have a very misguided understanding of the history of how this translation came into existence as well as poor understanding of the one who commissioned it.  What has always seemed humorous to me is that the crowd who is so quick to raise this translation above all others would have probably been the same crowd wanting to tar and feather the ones responsible for producing it if they had been alive in the 1600’s.

#2 The “Small God” Crowd This group is in many ways related to the last one.  They have their set of rules and guidelines for who God is and what he can do, and nothing is accepted outside of these parameters.  This is the group that believes that God couldn’t possibly be working within another church, group, denomination, or organization because the other group, church, denomination, or organization does not believe exactly as they do.  (I am not saying we should not examine what others believe, and I definitely believe we should reject false teaching.)  Again, most of this is a result of not really understanding what they say they believe or what the other group, church, denomination, or organization really believes.  This group is usually the group that takes a small portion of God’s word and bases their beliefs on it rather than on the whole of God’s word.  They are also the ones that usually take portions of God’s word out of context, thereby arriving at wrong interpretations of what God is saying.   You would not believe the number of times I have felt like beating my head against a wall because I hear two people arguing their points on what they believe when if they would just shut up and listen they would come to understand that they really believe the same thing.  They just say it in a different way.  The result of this group is that they miss out on a lot of the things God would like to do in and through them because of the limits they place on Him.

#3 The “Misunderstanding of Ministry” Crowd This crowd doesn’t usually travel in a group.  Instead, it is made up of individuals who have a very misconstrued concept of what “is” and what “isn’t” ministry.  I encountered one of these individuals this past weekend at the State Bible Drill.  After the kids had finished the drill and were on stage following the presentation of certificates, he told them about how God was going to use what they had learned as they became pastors and missionaries and Sunday School Teachers.  Now God may very well call some of these young people to these positions, but the guy misses the point.  Ministry is not limited to a few select people who have Rev. in front of their name or who have chosen to accept God’s call to certain areas of service.  We are all ministers, regardless of the places where we serve.  What I have noticed over the years is that we need to help all believers understand that we are all to minister wherever God have placed us.  This means that the Christian who is a doctor, of construction worker, or teacher, or housewife, etc. is just as responsible for doing “ministry” as are vocational ministers.  In fact, many of these believers have  a greater opportunity to impact others for the kingdom than most Pastors, because they get to deal with individuals that a lot of Pastors never come in contact with.

And finally…

#4 The “Misunderstanding of Worship” Crowd You know who I am talking about already, don’t you?  This is the crowd that thinks worship is singing.  Therefore, they define worship by the type of songs sung at a church: traditional, blended, or contemporary.  It is easy to recognize this crowd, especially in a “blended” service.  They are the ones that sing the type of music they prefer with much fervor and then stand there looking like their dog just died when that “other” type of music is being sung.  I guess the reason this crowd annoys me so much is that they do not really understand what worship is.  Worship is doing whatever we are doing for the glory and honor of God.  If worship is properly understood and practiced then everything we do is worship.  Our jobs, our hobbies, our singing, our studying, our whatever: they all become and act of worship, drawing us into a closer, more intimate relationship with God.

Now, why do these group annoy me so much?  Well there are two main reasons.  First, their position on the matters I discussed causes them to do a poor job of representing Christ to the world. (Not that I always do a great job.  I am well aware of my own failures and shortcomings.)  Their views just present a lost  world with more ammo to use in rejecting Christ rather than being an avenue through which Christ can draw them unto himself.  The sad part is that they think they are benefitting the kingdom when they are, in many cases, doing immeasurable harm.  Secondly, their positions cause them to miss out on a deeper relationship with God.  For many of the people in these groups they allow their views and ideas to keep God at arms length.  This means that they are not able to truly understand what God is doing around them and what he wants to do in them.  They substitute their knowledge of God for their relationship with God.  The more I have tried to tear down the barriers that separate me from where God really wants me to be, the more I come to realize that the life of faith is deeper, wider, more amazing, more frightening, more thrilling, and richer than anything I have ever imagined.  I saddens me to see God’s children miss out on God’s blessing because they have become comfortable in beliefs that do no bring him glory.

Climbing

(I know I haven’t used this site in a while.  It is not that I haven’t been blogging.  I am a contributor on “The Amalgam” blog, so I have been focusing on that site, but feel led to get back over here and write again.)

Tomorrow I will expose the students of SYNERGY Student Ministries to a new experience.  We will leave at 9:00 AM to head to Crowders Mountain in Gaston County to go rock climbing.  None of the students in the group have ever done this, so it will be up to myself and my good friend and fine art photographer Barry Love to help then learn what climbing is all about and how to do it safely.  It should be a good day, but I know it will be tiring.  The reason I know this is because I have done this many times before.  The are where we are climbing requires you to park at the base of the mountain and hike over a mile to the summit where we will set up two top roping climbs for the students to try.  All of them are focusing on the actual climbing part of the trip, giving little thought to what is involved in getting to the place where the climbing will take place.  What they do not realize is that the hike up the mountain will be a lot more demanding physically than the climbing that will be done at the top.  The trail climbs almost 800 ft. from the parking area to the top of the mountain, and part of that hike is up a set of steps that is by far the hardest obstacle to be overcome on the whole hike.  In fact, the trail that we will be hiking is classified as “strenuous,” meaning that is is one of the hardest levels of hiking there is.   This will come as a shock to a group of students who usually hike nothing more difficult than the halls of their schools or the streets of their neighborhoods.

There is a lesson to be learned in all of this.  Look at what Paul says in Philipppians 3:13&14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Notice that Paul talks about the “things” that are before.  He is not talking about the ultimate goal.  He is talking about the things that must be overcome in order to reach the prize.  I think that as believers we need to understand where we are on our journey of faith in relation to where others are in their journey.  When we understand this we are then better prepared to face our own obstacles in God’s strength as well as allow God to work through us to assist others on their journey.

Since Barry and I know what we are in store for tomorrow, we are better equipped to face it.  We are also better prepared to help those who are not familiar with the challenges.  Hopefully our experience will allow others to not just face, but overcome the obstacles of getting up the mountain and climbing a rock face that will provide them with a great sense of adventure and accomplishment.  I hope in my daily walk with Christ that I am even better prepared to climb high in my walk while offering others assistance as God leads.  Remember, not only are we on a journey, we are also on the journey with others who need to see Christ in us.  I think this is important as we continue along the path…

Sunrise

The sun rose today.  I know because I saw it for myself.  Now, before you go thinking that I am getting at some profound statement, or that there is some hidden meaning in that statement, understand that there is not.  I saw the sun rise today because we changed back to eastern standard time this past weekend and I walk the dog at 6:00AM, so it got to see the sun rise this morning.  Simple as that.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what is going on around us that we fail to see and appreciate the simple things around us that God allows us to witness.  Sunrises are beautiful.  They offer hope of a day yet to be lived.  The question then is “What are we going to do with the day?”

For a lot of people today will be filled with dread and apprehension.  For others it will be filled with excitement and jubilation.  For me it will be filled with wonderment, praise and worship for a God who is just a firmly seated on his throne as he was yesterday.  I for one am glad this political season is over.  Now I can watch TV without seeing politicians asking for my vote while giving me a distorted picture of the facts, if we can even dare call them that.  This political season has just reaffirmed my belief that politics  and politicians cannot and will not change the world for the better.  I will pray for my leaders, but I will not expect anything from them that will result in them bettering my life.  There is only one who can really change the world and his plan is still in place.  Yesterday’s events are just another part of that plan unfolding.

Government is not the answer, in fact government is best when it governs least.  Church, it is now time to be the body of Christ, It is now time to place our eyes on the one who loves us and gave his life for us.  People will let us down whether they mean to or not.  Christ has never and will never let me down.  I take comfort in that and find my reason for living and following him.  Besides, I know he is leading to a place that makes me want to follow.  The road may get bumpy along the path, but the destination is well worth it.  And you know what?  If it is his will, the sun will rise tomorrow, and thanks to a wonderful little dog who needs a little early morning exercise, I will hopefully get to see it.

Context

“He’s on fire!” What does that sentence mean? Is it good or bad? Well, if you are standing outside of a house that is on fire it would be bad. If you are watching the star player for you favorite basketball team score is sixteenth point in less than five minutes it is a good thing. How can the same sentence be very bad in one situation and very good in another? The answer is simple; Context. In order to understand what the sentence means we have to first understand the context in which it is being used. The same is true when studying and applying God’s Word. The more I study and research, the more I realize how much bad theology is out there. Thanks to the internet anyone can express their opinions for the world to view and embrace, but just because someone expresses a view does not make it right, especially when it comes to interpreting scripture. If we are going to understand what God is saying in and through a certain verse, or passage, we have to look at that verse or passage within the context of the verses and passages around it. If we fail to do this then we are probably going to misinterpret it. We are instructed to handle scripture carefully and correctly. If you have spent much time looking at some of the websites that are out there which make some pretty far out claims about what God is saying in a certain verse or part of a verse you know what I am talking about. Many of these sites I have found go astray because they “cherry pick” a verse here and a verse there and make scripture say what they want it to say. This is dangerous because you can make the Bible say pretty much whatever you want it to say when you take verses out of context, but that is not the way we are to use God’s Word. The study of God’s Word is not complicated. Now there are passages that we have to wrestle with if we are going to come to an understanding of the passage, but they are always easier to understand when we read them in context of the scripture around them. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to help us understand the Bible. Reading God’s Word is not about making it say this or that. It is about letting God speak to us through his Word as he leads us and guides us through life. So, remember the children’s song I heard years ago; “Be careful little eyes, what you see.” This is especially true in this age where so much information is available, but not all of it is good. Sometimes we really have to watch our step along the path…

Hidden

We just recently returned from our annual summer mission trip to Barre, Vermont. If you have never visited this part of the world you are missing a visual treat. It is stunning to say the least, and that is just the view in the summer time. I hope to be able to visit in the fall when the autumn colors seem to be brighter and more vibrant there than they do in other places. Vermont is an interesting place. On the surface it appears to be this quaint, gentle, peaceful state where all is right with the world, but looks can be deceiving. When is comes to the spiritual side of Vermont, nothing could be farther from the truth. Studies have shown that less than 4% of the population of Vermont, as well as all of New England are evangelical Christians. Less than 4%! Let that sink in for a moment. This is a state that is in the news quite often for it’s liberal stance on many issues. After meeting with and talking to believers in the state I was quick to realize that this had not always been the case. In fact, thirty or so years ago it was actually a conservative state, but liberalism was slowly allowed to get a foothold in what, at the time, appeared to be harmless areas. This foothold spread until it gained a stranglehold on the entire state. Many outside of the Church will see this as progress and laud it as an example of how all states should be. As a believer I would disagree. What is hidden from the rest of the country are facts like the unemployment rate in the state is very high. Drug use use is widespread, which in turn brings about a rise in crime. Honestly, there is a spiritual darkness that you can feel as you walk through many of the small towns that make up the state. In talking with leaders of the few evangelical churches that do exist in the state they say that they are seeing an increased presence of things like satanism and wicca to go along with efforts to stop all things evangelical. There is a hidden battle going on in that area that goes far beyond any political ideologies. It is a spiritual battle that needs our attention and our prayers.

There are also lessons that we can learn from Vermont that are important for believers everywhere. First, we need to not take our religious freedom for granted. There is a growing push to stifle all things Christian. It starts with what appear to mean meaningless issues in small areas, but they end up affecting Christianity as a whole. Secondly, we need to be diligent in living out our faith as well as sharing it. People are watching to see if we live like we believe what we say we believe. Finally, we, as the church needs to stop assuming that “conservatives” are the same thing as Christians. It appears that the Church has put to much trust in politicians who may say they believe the same way we do, but in fact, they just want our vote. Politics and politicians are not going to change the world for the better. Only Christ can do that working through the body of believers who need to take the great commission seriously. The is much work to be done, and we need to be diligent in how we live lest we end up in some place we never imagined traveling as we continue along the path…

Update

You may be wondering where I have been as far a blogging is concerned.  Well, as a student pastor I have been in the middle of summer activities.  These activities seem to limit the amount of time I have for blogging.  Since I last posted anything I have spent eight days on a trip to Vermont for our summer mission trip, six days involved in Vacation Bible School, a week at the beach, many hours planning for the remainder of the summer, along with the regular, weekly things that I do as part of my ministry.  Some people in the blogosphere seem to post at least once and sometimes twice a day on their blogs.  They are either a much better manager of time, or they are no where near as busy as I am.  ( I suspect the later to be the case.)  Anyway, I thought I would let you know that I am still alive and all is well.  The one major curve ball that I have received since my last post is that my mother found out that she has breast cancer.  The good news is that they seem to have caught it early and she has begun her chemo treatments and we are hoping and praying for a complete recovery.  Please lift her up in your prayers.  Other than that is has been a typical, busy summer, and I love it! More to come…

In

In the years leading up to our nation’s involvement in World War I the United States had practiced what was called an “Isolationist Policy” with regard to the problems facing other countries. This policy basically meant that we know you are having problems, but we have chosen to take care of ourselves, and not involve ourselves in your problems. This seemed to work until the leaders realized that the problems other countries were facing actually affected the US even if we were not involved in the war. Many Christians seemed to have developed an isolationist policy when it comes to dealing with the world, and I have a problem with that. Christ teaches us in John 17:16 that we, as his followers, are not “of this world.” This means that we are different from those who have not accepted God’s free gift of salvation. But is does not mean that we are not a part of this world, and this is where I feel like a lot of Christians go astray in how we as followers of Christ should approach the world.

Simply put, as believers we are “in the world” for a purpose, and that purpose is to be a conduit through which Christ can reach a lost world. This means that we have to be in the world if we are going to have any influence in it at all. Too many Christians chose to isolate themselves and their families from the world. As they do this, they support their decision with what sound like some very good reasons until you compare those reasons with how Christ lived his life. They say they are doing it for the benefit of their children. They say they are doing it because society has become so corrupt. The list of reasons goes on and on, but when compared to how scripture teaches us we are supposed to live they do not have a leg to stand on. In a former church where I served there were even families that took this idea so far that they did not want their children, whom they isolated in private Christian schools, to even be associated with other youth in the group because the other youth went to public school. Now here is the kicker, many of these youth who attended public school were much stronger in their faith and much more mature in their walk with Christ than the kids who were spoon fed Bible stories each day, but never placed in a situation where they really had to live their faith.

Is the world a bad place? Yes, in many ways. Can it be dangerous for believers out their? Yes, but remember, “Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.” If we are in the world will we see and hear things that go against what we believe and practice as followers of Christ? Yes, but do you think Jesus wasn’t exposed to these things? The point is that we as believers have a responsibility to be in the world. Look all through the New Testament and we see how we are to get out there and make a difference. Jesus hung out with the types of people that many believers wouldn’t be caught dead with. Jesus wasn’t worried about his reputation. He was focused on doing the will of the Father, no matter where that meant going, or what it meant being exposed to. One of the passages that really drives this home to me is the section in The Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 where he teaches about being salt and light. Think about it for a minute. Salt is of no use if it is left in the salt shaker. It is only when it comes in contact with something that it is able to have an effect. The same is true with light. It can only be effective when it is exposed to darkness and allowed to drive that darkness away.

We as Christian need to understand that it is time to get out there and let God work through us in the world. It won’t always be safe and it won’t always be pretty, but it will be the only way many people are going to ever come to know about the God who was not of this world, but was willing to become one of us by coming here and being in the world. It actually sound a lot more exciting that sitting in our little holy huddle where we never take any risk. As far as I am concerned when it comes to the world you can count me “in.”

BASS

How do you pronounce the title of this entry?  Do you pronounce it like you are talking about an aquatic creature, or do you say it like you would if you were referring to a four stringed musical instrument?  It really depends on the context of what you are discussing, doesn’t it?  Now think about what a lost person pictures when they say “Christian” compared to what we as followers of Christ mean when we refer to ourselves as Christians.  Are we talking about the same thing?  Most likely not.  Why is that?  I think it is because for to long followers of Christ have given the world a very negative picture of what it means to be a Christian.  In a sense, we have turned ourselves into a caricature of sorts.  Now we are quick to condemn the media or the entertainment industry when they paint us in an unfavorable light, but many times it is the result of our behavior not lining up with what we say we believe that causes this mis-characterizations.  Imagine if you will how the world would perceive believers if we really did try to love everyone as Christ loves us.  We talk about agape love, but then we have a tendency to place conditions on our love if we are going to give it to those outside of the church.

Christ said that the way the world would be able to notice us is by the love that we have for each other (John 13:35).  He also told us to love our enemies(Matthew 5:44), and to love our neighbor as ourself (Matthew 22:39).  Plus, the Bible is full of references that tell us how we are to love God.  Now let’s review.  These  verses say we are to love fellow believers, our enemies, our neighbor, ourself, and God.  That pretty much covers everything.  Based on that I can’t find anyone that I am not supposed to love.  Can you?  I didn’t think so.  Still, when the world sees us, do they see us loving the way God tells us to?  Unfortunately, no, they do not.  They see us not getting along with other believers because of the translation of the Bible we use, or for the music we sing in our churches, or for the types of clothes we do or don’t wear.  The list can go on and on, and the  vast majority of those reasons are useless when it comes down to what is really important in the Kingdom of God.

Now I will be the first to tell you that there are things in Christianity that cannot be compromised.  We cannot compromise the fact that there is only one way to God, and that is through a personal relationship with Christ.  We cannot compromise the fact that sin is sin.  We cannot compromise the fact that Christ is who scripture says that he is and that he died for the sins of the world.  You get the idea.  But once we understand what can’t be compromised we should realize how unimportant the other things are.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that a lot of them are tools that Satan uses to cause the Church to present a divided front that makes us appear to not know what we are really talking about.  If we would focus on loving like Christ teaches us to love, without condition, we would be able to reach  lot more people with the saving message of Christ.  I once heard a saying that went something like this, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”  There is a lot of truth in that statement, and when it comes to us as followers of Christ we can take it a step further and realize that they don’t care who we say we know (Christ) until the know how much we care.  When the world say “Christian” they should see it as something positive, but it seems like we have become our worst enemy in many areas when it comes to showing the world what it really means to bear that  name.  Could it be because we have allowed Satan to get our eyes focused on what is not important as we travel along the path?

Storm

There is something about watching a storm that can be thrilling. I love to see a good thunderstorm, and there is a part of me that would love to go out to the mid-west one spring and be a stormchaser for a week just to see a tornado. We have a screened porch on the back side of our house and when a thunderstorm is rolling through I will sometimes slip out onto the porch and watch the lightening flash and listen the the thunder as it rolls across the land. There really is no good explanation as to why I enjoy this other than to say it stimulates my senses and makes me keenly aware of the power of God. I will usually stay out on the porch until the storm makes me uncomfortable by blowing rain in on me, or until I feel like I might be in some form of danger. At that point I seek the shelter that my home provides while I ride out the remainder of the storm.

This past Sunday found us in Kannapolis with Donna’s family as we celebrated Mother’s Day. As the afternoon sailed along I placed myself in front of Donna’s parents HDTV to enjoy the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. (HDTV makes watching golf fun, even if you are not particularly fond of golf.) Just when things were really heating up on the links, things were also starting to heat up in the atmosphere west of our home. At one point the thunderstorm warnings began to roll across the bottom of the screen. Finally, the channel I was watching cut from golf to full time coverage of this rather small, but powerful thunderstorm that was rolling across the viewing area. At first, I was just wanting them to get back to the tournament, but after a few minutes I realized that this little thunderstorm, which by this time was spawning tornadoes and dropping some rather large hail stones, was heading straight for our house. Needless to say, this shifted the focus of my attention.

Well, as it turned out, the storm did hit our house. According to a friend of mine we experienced a hail storm that lasted for about two minutes and dropped golf ball size hail on our roof with a few baseball size hail stones thrown in for good measure. When we returned home a few hours later there was about six inches of hail still piled up on our deck and great deal of hail still visible in our yard. I also noticed that there had been a good bit of gravel knocked off of the shingles of our roof, so I called the insurance company and they sent a guy out to look at it. I could tell that there was some damage, but I wasn’t prepared for his report. He said that our roof, designed to last 3o years, would have to be replaced. Now bear in mind that the house is only a year old.  To my untrained eye it didn’t look that bad, but he started pointing things out to me that I would not have noticed. Still, the damage was there whether I could see it or not.

When you think about it we all are kind of like my roof. We are damaged by the storms of life, even if the damage is not evident to those around us. The good news for my roof is that the insurance company will pay to have it replaced. The even better news for those of us who are followers of Christ is that we have the assurance that we will never have to face the storms of life alone.  Sometimes we think it would be nice if we never had to face those storms, but stop and think about all that we would be missing out, and how much we grow in our relationship with God when we face life’s storms. Would you really want to miss that? Now granted, sometimes we face storms of our own making, but even those do not catch God off guard. He knows everything we face, and he allows us to go through those storms so we can grow and get to know Him better. Look at the time in the gospels when Christ sends his disciples on across the Sea of Galilee while he went off to pray (Matthew 14:22-33). Do you think he was unaware of the storm they would face? I don’t. Still, as they faced the storm, he went to them. He was there for them in their time of need, same as he is here for us. Now I know facing storm can be scary, but remember what Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” This doesn’t mean that we are immune from the effects of the storm, or that we will not suffer any damage from the storms of life.  It means that Christ has already overcome anything I might have to face.  There is victory in following him.  I don’t know about you, but that lets me know that I really don’t have to be afraid, no matter what I might face along the path…