At The Master's Table

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Following is a parable about God's children in the dining room. It's just a little tidbit, but provides a gentle nudge and nourishment to us all as we daily gather at the Master's table.

As we are seated, we come to realize that there are seated, in front of us and at either side, children of the Living God who are hungry like we are. How we respond to this mutual hunger will tell us much about how far we have come in Christ Jesus.

Heavenly Father, we take this food we're about to receive in Jesus' name. Amen.

Hot off the stove.

Enjoy, dear brethren.

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A righteous man was praying one day when he asked our Lord a question.

"Lord, can You show me what You see when You look at God's people, and what You would like to see when You look at us?"

Our Lord led the righteous man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the righteous man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the righteous man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished.

They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms. Each person there found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The righteous man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

Our Lord said to the righteous man, "You have seen what I sometimes see when I look at God's people."

They went to the next room and opened the door.

It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with
the large pot of stew which made the righteous man's mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The righteous man said, "I don't understand, Lord. Why is this vision of God‘s children so different?

"It is simple," said our Lord.

"The people in the second room have acquired but one characteristic of Mine. You can see it and hear it and feel it in them, and I can, too.“

“This is what I long to see in God’s children; children who have learned to feed each other.”

Made Ready

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I received this from a Sister in Christ, who in turn received it from her mother.

It speaks about the peace there is in preparation, and hearkens back to one of the final points of our last post,
2 Timothy 4: The End of the Road, and how God makes us ready for every moment in our lives as we walk with Him.

Enjoy, dear friends.

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Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

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When we're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, we have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God.

We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.

Enjoy your day, and sleep well tonight.

2 Timothy 4: The End of the Road

2 Timothy 4. I encourage you to read it, study it, pray it, and know it in your Spirit.

He started me out there when He first called me to ministry, and I have now seen almost all of it come to pass in my life. Two specific verses from that chapter provide the combination to the briefcase that I have owned since the early 90's; to remind me of the Truth in that chapter.

If we remain faithful to God and to our brethren, we will live out the Truth in 2 Timothy 4. We will not be perfect and He will allow that fact to be made public at times, and we will need His mercy and His grace daily to live it. Not just in our intellect or with our words, but in a spiritual and revealed sense of our own insufficiency are we fueled to meet the challenge of another day.

The woman at Jacob's well (a reviled and rejected Samaritan, the kind of person to whom we are sent in the highways and the hedges this very day) said to Jesus, "You have nothing to draw with (in other words, "You are insufficient to give me living water"), and the well is deep (my sin is too great for You to repair)." Because of these two facts; that she thought Him to be nothing, and was overwhelmed with her own sin, she was able to hear and receive the Truth for which Jesus died.

Jesus made Himself of no reputation. He chose to disappear, even as God was doing greater and greater works through Him. The longer it went, the more He went to the mountain and the desert to be alone with God. Attention bothered Him more and more as time went on. It will begin to bother us, too, as we begin to realize that the place of attention is a place of danger where we, as God's insufficient little children, are out from under His protecting hand.

This is a day of public wonders and public blunders. If we will accept our short-comings being broadcast and if we will accept the humiliation that sometimes comes with that, then at times He will put us in a safe place beneath His mighty hand to do mighty works for Him. When we, and those who are lost, are vividly aware that we are nothing, these things will be birthed by God.

If we remain faithful to God and to our brethren, we will bear great fruit in our lives because of the Vine. Toward the end of the time that He has given us, only Luke will be with us. And then we will return to the same state in which we first met Christ on our own road to Damascus; alone with Him in His glorious Light.

The mother of James and John asked Jesus that her sons might sit on either side of Him in His kingdom. He responded by asking the brothers "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said "Yes," but they weren't able at that moment. The cup He drank of was to die for the Truth. His baptism was the baptism of God's Holy Spirit, which they would only receive in God's due time at Pentecost.

Jesus went on to tell James and John that they would, in the future, receive both His cup and baptism. But they weren't ready at that moment. By the time it came for them to receive that baptism and to later die for the Truth, they had been made ready by God.

If we remain faithful to God and to our brethren, we will live what is written in 2 Timothy 4. But we are not ready now for what lies farther ahead in the future. He will have made us ready to face it all when it is His time. That I should not have whereof to boast, and that He might receive all the glory.

May His grace and mercy preserve us all to honor Him as we walk there day by day.

A Dangerous Invitation

This post, with minor editing for posting here, was sent to me by a dear Brother in Christ who shares life in New Jersey and beyond with a group of believers who are passionate for God and being transformed by Him in a powerful way.

I am sure that many of you will be blessed as you read this. Thanks, Brother. "Convergence!" :-)


Two thousand years ago Jesus asked and required His first 12 followers to live a Christian life that would not be accepted in todays Christian thinking. Today's refined and civilized version of Jesus's call goes something like this: Jesus died and rose from the dead so that you can live a life of endless comfort, security, take care of yourself, build your earthly wealth and no risk taking for God's Kingdom.

The call that Jesus Christ gave us was one of risk taking and enduring hardship for the Salvation Message that Jesus lived and died on the Cross for. It is a call to live in this world as citizens of an entirely different Kingdom. In its primitive state, the good news could never be separated from the invitation of Jesus to "come, follow Me."

He never lied about the danger or cost associated with becoming His follower. He told them up front, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

Jesus made clear to those who were choosing to be His disciples what kind of leader He was and what kind of followers would be required to serve Him and share the Good News with the lost. Jesus said that "if anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

Jesus had only one invitation for His followers 2,000 years ago, only one course set for them, only one path for them to choose if they were to journey with Christ. Jesus never watered down the cost of following Him in hopes that they would choose to follow. If they wanted to live a life of love and allegiance to Jesus Christ, it would cost them much, and for many that cost was their lives. We also today are called by Jesus to a path filled with uncertainty, mystery, sacrifice, hardship, and risk.

The tough part of this call by Christ is that it is not fair or equitable. When we hear the call, when we follow the call, we must recognize that it is a life-and-death proposition. When we truly understand what Jesus means when He says that we must follow Him, we finally realize that this is not a cattle call. He is not calling us to the same life that everyone else will live. He is not calling us to the same path that every follower of Christ will walk. Our lives are unique before God, and our paths are our and ours alone. Where God will choose to lead us and how God chooses to use our lives is His choice alone, and not ours.

But if we will answer the Call that Jesus has over our lives, we will live an adventure that will be a testimony for all of eternity. Yes, it is a dangerous invitation that Jesus is laying before us. The risks will be great, but so will the Eternal Rewards that Jesus Christ will have waiting for us in Eternity. The choice is ours.

A Premature Obituary

This post was written by a brother in Christ who lives in California amongst a group of believers in the Dublin area, and within a network of house churches around Northern California.

He serves Christ's Body as a pastor and makes tents as a music teacher, and writes some beautiful things from our Lord.



I never would have believed a word of prophecy could come through the toothless grin of this eccentric old codger. But then, who am I to determine the instrument through whom God chooses to speak the truth to His children, even when that truth may not be recognized for fifteen years? The northern California church where I served as an associate pastor had a member who was employed as the administrator for a local nursing home. Knowing that I used to be a professional musician she would prevail upon me from time to time to bring some live entertainment to the elderly patrons in her care. As you might have guessed performing for a group of disinterested geriatric inmates, most of whom couldn’t hear a bomb exploding in the same room without their hearing aids, was not one of my favorite pastimes.



At their age most of them had either forgotten or conveniently dismissed any conception of audience etiquette. While I was performing they would get up and walk around, talk loudly to each other, talk to me (“Hey, who are you?” “What are you doing here?”), try to sing along (and not even come close to being on pitch or even singing the same song), and make disgusting noises (which I couldn’t get away with even when I was a kid). Once while I was playing my cello a woman snuck up behind me and hit me on the top of my head (everyone’s a critic). I trust J. S. Bach will forgive me for dropping a few of his notes…along with my bow.



The undercover prophet was in the audience the day I decided to bring my guitar and sing a few Christian choruses and hymns which I hoped would be a little more appreciated. They pushed him into the assembly room in a wheel chair and placed him about ten feet in front of me. He looked to be slightly younger than the solar system and barely heavy enough to keep his grey warm-up suit from sliding off his chair. His skin displayed more wrinkles than a Bassett hound and less hair than a billiard ball. His lips were recessed into the gap where his teeth used to be and his hands resembled a skeleton that had been spray-painted. Were it not for his continual groaning throughout the concert he could have been mistaken for a cadaver. His eyes, however, sparkled with life and good cheer revealing that a positive attitude could be the reason behind his longevity.



I was about two-thirds of the way through my program thinking I might just escape the concert unscathed when the ancient one began to empty the contents of his stomach all over his grey warm-up suit, his wheelchair, and the floor. I was astonished that so much volume could have come from such a meager source. Oh, great, I thought, another critic. I was in the process of trying to decide whether or not to continue singing when the ailing geriatric wonder opened his mouth and brought the curtain down on my performance.



“I’m sick,” he yelled loudly enough for the nursing staff in the adjoining room to hear. “I’m sick,” he screamed again even louder.



By this time, having been upstaged by a more aggressive actor, I came to the conclusion that my role in this musical comedy had come to an end. After thanking the rest of the audience I quickly began putting my guitar into its case in an attempt to flee from the surrounding insanity and the slightly used, three course meal which lay fermenting on the floor.



“I’m sick,” the agitated old man persisted unable to see a white-smocked attendant rushing to his rescue. “I’m sick,” he bellowed one last time and then, in a flash of eternal optimism, with a twinkling of his spirited eyes, he added, “but I’m not dead!”



Why would I call this man a prophet? The Lord brought this humorous incident to mind the other day as I was bewailing the demise of the conventional church in this culture. I can’t remember how long it has been since that nursing home fiasco has crossed my mind, but the actual incident occurred over fifteen years ago. Its sudden incongruous appearance in my thoughts leads me to believe God was using this memory to send a message. “The body of Christ in the western world is sick, but not dead.” He is far more optimistic about the future of His Church than most of its critics, including myself for which I humbly repent. It is an unfortunate case of a premature obituary.



There is little doubt that the conventional church in this country is ailing. Christian pollster, George Barna, alarmingly reveals that a million believers are leaving their padded pews behind every year. What’s the reason for this massive exodus? According to Reggie NcNeal in his book, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, “They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith.” Ouch, that hurts! But I’m, afraid there’s more bad news. Ronald J. Sider in his book, The Scandal of the Evangelical conscience, explores such moral subjects as materialism, divorce, sexual immorality, and racism in America. Collating findings from several national polls he reveals that there is virtually no moral difference between those who attend church on Sundays and those who do not. The bride of Christ in this culture is wrinkled, toothless, over-the-hill, and stained with the filth of the world. We have sunk into the affluence, apathy, and “lukewarm-ness” of the church of Laodicea and the Lord has every right to “vomit” us out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16).



Now that I’ve hit you over the head with the disheartening diagnosis, allow me to share a word from the Healer’s perspective. The Church is indeed sick, but she is not dead, and I do not believe the Lord is about to abandon the bride He loves. In a passage of Scripture normally used in conjunction with a wedding ceremony we get a glimpse of Christ’s love for the Church. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless…no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. – Eph. 5:25-30. Christ is not going to leave His bride languishing on her death bed. After all, He never attended a funeral He didn’t spoil with a resurrection. I am convinced He earnestly desires to heal His Church, but does the Church earnestly desire to be healed?



If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2Chron. 7:14. It is time for Christians in this country to stop looking at this passage solely as a geo-political directive and start seeing it for what it truly is, an imperative for the Kingdom of God.



Does this mean our churches will one day soon begin filling up with people again? I believe they will, but they likely won’t resemble the conventional churches we know today. Certainly it won’t happen without our humble earnest prayers nor will it occur without turning from our current human-ordained ways. The walls of denominationalism will have to be breached, the gap between the professional clergy and the “pew-sitters” will have to be bridged, the enormous amount of capital being poured into property and programs will have to be redirected toward ministry and charity, and church leaders across this land will have to turn over the complete control of their ministries to the Holy Spirit. Impossible, you say? What is impossible with men is possible with God. – Lk. 18:27. In fact, it is already happening.



All across this country God is raising up an army of intercessors who are humbly crying out to heaven for a healing in the bride of Christ and a revival in this land. Denominational walls are crumbling; average church members are planting new congregations; groups of believers are investing their finances in local community ministries rather than erecting their own temples. Revival is on its way! Yes, I believe the house church movement is a large part of what God is doing right now in terms of revitalizing His Church. But God is up to so much more! I am convinced renewal will eventually touch every corner of His Kingdom.



I am reminded of Jairus, the synagogue ruler who humbly begged Jesus to come to his house and heal his dying daughter. On their way to his house he learns that his daughter has already died. It is another premature obituary. “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed,” Jesus tells him. When they arrived at Jairus’ house the professional mourners were already busy with their wailing. Jesus rebuked them and proclaimed “She is not dead but asleep.” He then took the girl by the hand and said, “My child, get up!”…and she did! (Lk. 8:40-56).



In spite of the present condition of the Church in this country, reports of her demise are premature. The old nursing home prophet got it right. “I’m sick, but I’m not dead.” “Don’t be afraid; just believe…” God is about to do amazing things in His Kingdom.



The ailing / sleeping bride waits for the voice of her Lord. “My child, get up!”



Even now she awakens.



Even now she begins to stir.





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You can read more at http://livinghopethoughts.blogspot.com/.