Sitting Close

I admit it.

Once in a while, I love to check up on Facebook…especially when Kenny is watching baseball or golf while we relax in our chairs after dinner.

Browsing my feed the other evening, annoyed once again with the Phillies and their pitiful bullpen, a post from a sweet, young friend caught my eye. See what you think.

Wanted to share a little of what's been on my mind as I was taking a walk and praying this morning. I remember my pastor giving, a while ago, an analogy of a husband and wife who had a truck with a bench seat. In the beginning of their marriage, the husband and wife were cuddled up next to each other each day as the husband drove. Through the years, they got farther apart until, eventually, the wife was sitting all the way by the passenger side door.

One day she said, “I miss the days when we were so in love that we were inseparable and cuddled close." The husband replied, "I never moved."

My pastor went on to say how much this is like our relationship with God. God never moves but with disappointments, prayers not being answered the way we want, our lives not going the way we planned, people hurting us, injustice in our country, etc., we pull a little farther away from God—just like this wife did.

 I was convicted this morning because I asked God for something and it didn't go my way so I felt like a little child that scoots away from her dad because He said no and it can start rocking our faith. But God never changes, He never fails, He remains steady and we need to pray and repent and scoot back next to Him in the driver’s seat.

 Praying this can be an encouragement to someone today

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:35, 38-39 ESV

Thanks, Amy. Well said. I have a few observations.

1.    I love that Amy was walking and praying. What a win/win on so many levels. What a perfect way to begin a day. And notice, when she made space for the Father, He clearly spoke to her, His beautiful, listening daughter.

2.    God brought to mind a sermon she heard earlier. She puts herself in places where she hears Truth and that allows her to be reminded of what she needs during the messy or confusing situations of life that arise later on. She is already equipped for help and encouragement. Good plan.

3.    I know her post isn’t primarily focused on that marriage story, but because I care so much about marriage, I think it would be a worthwhile exercise for couples to consider why a wife might be hugging the passenger door. Or a husband. Or both. Seatbelt laws? Personal hygiene? Bucket seats? Or something more? I know it is just a simple, hypothetical narrative, but I think a lot of us, if we were honest, can relate to it. So would you as least have a conversation about it? Would you discuss the distance that exists between you and your sweetie? Is there one? If so, why? What is in that space that is pushing you apart? There are a LOT of possibilities in this demanding, me-first, busy world we live in. Kids, in-laws, jobs, hobbies, finances, friends, sports, disappointments, unconfessed habits…you name it. Discuss how you, with God’s help and His grace, can rid your relationship of whatever keeps you from the good old days of snuggling together on the seat. Won’t you try? And here is a shameless plug: we have a Marriage Course and a Marriage Retreat coming up. Stay tuned for the information and join us!

4.    God doesn’t move. But, oh, what restless, careless drifters we all are! Sometimes I think we will grab onto any excuse in the world to rebelliously pull away and go after other loves that cry out for our affections. Other times, the move away is so subtle and slow and unintentional, we are shocked to awaken one day and see how far we are from Him. Either way, whatever has filled the space between us—false saviors or deceitful loves, real and painful realities, foolishness and sin, laziness and busyness, hurts and unresolved conflicts, selfishness and lack of faith or knowledge—we find ourselves wandering, confused and alone, in the cold and the dark, out of fellowship with our Father…and His people. How we need to guard our hearts and our steps! How we need to stay close to Him! How we need His love! He never moves and He promises nothing can ever separate us from Him.

5.    Scripture informed and substantiated her conclusions and thoughts. What a treasure we have in God’s Word. How much we need to know it.

So I loved Amy’s post for a lot of reasons. I’ve watched her grow up from birth into a wise and sweet woman who loves God, and that is a particular joy. I loved that she talks to God and listens for His voice…and learns. I loved that she reminded me of the blessings of faithfully being in God’s house, a practice instilled in me as a child by my godly parents. I loved her value of God’s Word. I loved thinking about how Kenny and I still enjoy snuggling together in the pick-up truck after fifty years of marriage (September 5!) and am humbly grateful to our Father for that. We have learned (well, mostly!) to toss those things that constantly try to push us apart out the window of the cab.

But I think I mostly loved the post because I needed it. This quarantine business has been a BIG and sneaky disruption and distraction that I didn’t pay attention to. The church, quite literally, has been scattered to our homes. We’ve moved. And I have become very comfortable watching the morning worship service in my nightgown, sipping my coffee, snuggled under my blanket. I take my notes, Bible open in my lap. It’s been good. I am close to God. But I am not at all close to His body.

Now I am not even hinting that God is only in our church building and we have left Him if we continue to stay home and don’t show up on Sunday mornings. He is there and He is everywhere…even in my cozy basement at 9 AM. But I am saying that the body of Christ used to be in our church building every Sunday and we hugged and chatted and laughed and cried and connected and worshipped and sang and cared and prayed and studied and built relationships.  We had the opportunity to sit close. But that body is not in my house, sitting on my couch in front of my TV Sunday morning, and I miss it; I miss them.

And isn’t that what Amy’s post is all about? You can’t have a loving, lasting, meaningful relationship with ANYONE, a spouse, a child, a friend, or even your Heavenly Father, if you are holding yourself back, pulling yourself away, allowing anything or anyone to fill in the few inches or the gaping chasm you or someone or something has created, intentionally or not, between you. Paul Tripp says, “We are relational beings who have been called to lifelong community with God and others.” It’s difficult to love others sacrificially, to be in community, and to be a tool of God’s work and grace in other’s hearts and lives when we are miles apart. Nor can my brothers and sisters be that for me. How I need it!

As Pastor Diego reinforced on Sunday morning, some of us have very significant health/age/job issues and other pressing reasons for continuing to stay apart. We need to respect and support each other in that. For me, though, while I remain very careful in protecting my vulnerable in-laws who live with us, I think it had become just easier and more comfortable—almost like a new habit—to stay home and view church on my TV. But I don’t want my desire for ease and personal comfort to keep me from building or maintaining my dear relationships with my brothers and sisters at LFA. I know you don’t either.

I guess I’m humbly and kindly suggesting that maybe it’s time to carefully evaluate exactly what is keeping us apart and decide if it is a legitimate reason. Or is it something we should toss out the passenger side window?

It’s time for us to sit close.

We need each other…now maybe more than ever. 

—Eileen Hill

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

The Greatest Christian Film Ever?

When we think of Christian films, a few may come to mind. There are classics, like The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Robe, and Ben Hur. More recently, there are Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ or Mary Magdelene, which I had discussed a few months ago. Another is the film Forgiven, with Kevin Sorbo, broadcast on Showtime, just today.

What if I told you, to misquote The Matrix’s Morpheus, that the greatest Christian film ever made might not be one of the above films? It may not even be a Christian film at all. Not intentionally, anyway.

* * *

I appreciate the video essays found on the YouTube channel Logos Made Flesh. This channel is named after the first phrase in the first sentence of John 1:14: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Logos Made Flesh belongs to Matthew Scott Miller. He seeks to expound on symbolism and explore the hidden meanings baked into films. When he considered the film Ex Machina, he invited people to watch his videos by using the term “Hidden meaning”—which is to say, not private meaning, but the symbols and codes hidden but to those holding the key. (Films I like to decode, myself, are those of Stanley Kubrick.)

Miller’s approach is important for believers in the New Testament. There, truths about God, the universe, ourselves, and each other, are plainly discussed—while, in the Old Testament, these same truths are still there, yet concealed. What is concealed in the one testament is revealed in the other and vice versa.

As Miller considers The Shawshank Redemption, he asks:

Can a film which is rated R, for a host of obscenities, produced by a cast and crew of non-believers and which paints the only Christian as an evil hypocrite, be the greatest Christian movie ever made?

Over 2.2 million voters on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) have made The Shawshank Redemption the #1 ranked film of all time. Miller says that while, “People are drawn to this film for its message of hope and enduring friendship,” few grasp its true meaning. What surpasses the themes of hope and friendship is how they come together in “a Christian act of redemption.”

Unlike most prison films, this movie seems to not concern itself with escape; instead, it focuses on life on the inside. No one who saw the film for the first time saw Andy Dufresne’s deliverance coming. There was no lead up or execution of a plan. Andy just disappeared.

We’re conditioned by the film to anticipate something other than an escape. As Miller says, “Contrary to every expectation, the prisoners fear release. While they hate the walls of the prison, they’re not seeking to escape from it, either.” Red (Morgan Freeman) put it this way: These walls are funny. First you hate ‘em; enough time passes, you get so you depend on ‘em.

For the prisoners of Shawshank, Brooks embodies this principal problem. For Brooks, says Miller, “freedom is [but] an exile to a world he doesn’t belong. So when he ultimately finds himself in that exile, empty and alone, he sees no other option but to hang himself.”

While this problem is seen in most of the prisoners, Andy is the exception; he is not a dependent. He doesn’t rely upon Shawshank’s walls for life and hope.

Andy, according to Miller, “subverts the prison’s dehumanizing system of rules and regulations, extending to his fellow prisons rare and extraordinary reminders of the outside world—cold beer after a hot day’s work, angelic music over the prison’s speaker’s, new books to educate men.”

In this setting, when proof of his innocence had vanished, Andy seemed to also succumb to the institutional pessimism of his fellow prisoners. But then the unexpected occurred.

For a moment, we were led to believe that Andy was dead. By all appearances, he was about to hang himself, as Brooks had done. Then, at the morning cell check, a guard exclaimed something one might hear at the realization of a resurrection: “Oh my holy God!”— a close paraphrase of what Thomas had said, when he confirmed that Jesus had risen from the dead (“My Lord and my God!,” he said).

We then learn that Andy is not dead. Instead of finding him expired in his tomb—I mean, in his cell—we find that Andy has actually escaped and is alive. Miller says about this event: “The film infuses Andy’s escape with the symbolism of new birth. It proceeds through a woman’s womb [the poster of Raquel Welch], and ends with him slipping head-first from the other end.”

This symbolism fits into what we had seen earlier in the film: prisoners entering Shawshank like newborns—naked and coated in white. With Andy, his escape signifies a born-again experience, as he becomes a new man, with a new identity and new wealth: what had been set aside for the corrupt warden.

While Andy’s escape is an echo of Jesus’ resurrection, The Shawshank Redemption goes a step further. It shows us why it matters.

What is meant by the redemption at Shawshank? Miller says the meaning is seen in Andy’s friend Red. It’s witnessed in Red’s ability to let go of his care of being a free man or not, in relation to the walls around him, because he had become free on the inside.

With Andy on the outside, Red suddenly “no longer cares whether he remains [within Shawshank] or goes, whether he lives or dies; the world outside no longer concerns him. Because Andy lives, he can face what the future holds.”

* * *

A character in a movie is given new hope, because his friend, thought to be dead, had apparently been resurrected. Yet, Andy and Red are but characters in a film, whereas you and I are indeed real and our Savior—more real than the atoms in my fingers—is a resurrected friend of ours. Jesus is more of a friend to us than Andy was to Red, because he laid His life down for his friends.

Our friend Jesus entered the earthly prison we’re now in, joined us for a time, and died alongside other prisoners—but for a short time. He rose again to live again—for a very, very long time—and to give us New Hope. As the song says:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.

—Kevin Hutchins

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

Is God Comfortable In Your House?

Great question, right? I would let Patty lead you to reflect on this question. I’ve had the opportunity to meet Patty Zuñiga in person through the College of Prayer ministry. Patty has developed a curriculum and training track for families desiring to establish an environment of prayer and worship in their homes. I wanted to share a brief blog Patty wrote as a way of helping promote the H.O.P.E. (houses of prayer everywhere) initiative the College of Prayer has recently launched. Is God Comfortable In Your House? To read more click here. And while your’e at it, feel free to browse other resources available at this webpage.

—Diego Cuartas

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.

If a Sparrow Falls...

I know I can’t be the only one. There have to be others who feel like me. Because all of us to one degree or another have been living through the same mess, day after day after week after month. And sometimes it seems like it will never end.

Since I am 89 years young, and check every box in the list of who’s most vulnerable, my daughter with whom I live, and who also is a hospital nurse, sent me out to Ohio to my son, to guard against the possibility of my accidentally picking up the virus from her. That was February. I came home the end of May, blessedly healthy.

I love my son dearly, but I also love my life. And I really don’t have much of it any more. And I know, I know, I shouldn’t complain. But I’ve so much missed my life. And so have lots of you. And that’s why I sometimes feel the way I feel.

But you know what? The wonderful other side of this coin is the way all this has drawn me closer and closer to God.

That is because there are things that I know.

I know that God knows each one of us intimately!

I know that God loves us beyond measure.

I know that God is completely and forever in charge of this world.

Lots of folks think that God is usually busy somewhere else and really doesn’t spend much time watching us.

WRONG.

God knows how many hairs are on your head and knows when one falls out! God knows when a single bird falls from the sky! Nothing occurs anywhere without God’s permission. And for us who love Him, everything that happens is for our eventual good. EVERYTHING.

So I realize that this life that I have loved and am living, even with all the changes, is God’s will for me right now. When I am called to remember this, I feel such a deep peace.  I am not a worrier. I just don’t worry. Because I know, without any doubt, that God is running everything. Everything. He is just. He hates sin. He is the one who raises up rulers, and replaces them with others. When we are not satisfied with God’s timing, we need to remember that God does not live in time! What does this mean? I don’t know. But if He sees each sparrow that falls, how can we doubt that He is completely aware of each moment of our lives, and loves us, and wants for us only that which will bring us closer to Him?

So I need to get over my bad self, and remember who God is, and who I am.

Thank you, my precious Savior, for loving me even when I didn’t love You. I love You now. I will love You always.

—Norma Stockton

*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.