Even before kids arrived we knew there wouldn't be room for them. The young adults on a mission trip who were in charge of Bible School that August took up most of the space in the tiny storefront. We would need to move most of our activities at the end of the block in the park.
The day before our festivities were to begin, we all walked down the street to scope out how to get the kids safely across the street and to determine where we would need to haul tables and chairs each day.
When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find several brand new heavy duty wooden picnic tables with attached benches. They were right under the trees where we were thinking of setting up our tables. They hadn't been there the day before. None of the neighbors noticed anyone delivering them and they were just as surprised to see them as we were.
Bible School flew by. We had bunches of kids. Many of those kids were new to the congregation. The young adults on their mission trip lead great lessons and activities. We even had one person find a grocer who provided lunch for all the kids each day. Those new tables got a good workout. They couldn't have been more perfect.
Though Bible School ended on Friday, the young adults still had one day left in town. We decided to spend Saturday cleaning up an empty lot.
So it was early on Saturday morning when we noticed it. The tables were gone. No one, including the neighbors whose houses face the park, saw them removed. They somehow appeared in time for Bible School and vanished as soon as it was over.
We never saw signs of those tables again.
Lord, surprise me today with Your mercy and care and blessing. May I revel in Your mysterious ways while I witness of and delight in You.
Showing posts with label neighbor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neighbor. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sin
The young cousin of the guy who was in charge of all the drug deals in our neighborhood moved in with him for a few months. The church was just down the street from their house and when the doors were open this kid was inside.
Not long after he arrived, he handed me a couple of loose-leaf pages he had decorated. I opened them to see his art work. Along with the drawings of the church building and some illustration of the activities here was the statement "Be a Sin."
On the second page he wrote an acrostic of how to "Be a Sin":
B Behave yourself
E Easy on Bad News
A Act in a Proper Way
S Survive through the Bad Things
I Intelligent --- Show your act
N be Nice to Grown Ups
Needless to say, I was curious as to where he came up with this idea. He said, "Well, sin is a word I've heard at some of the churches I've been to so I figured it must be something people who go to church are supposed to be."
I wonder, how many people have gotten confused about things because people at church are busy "Being a Sin"?
I don't mean this in the way the described in the acrostic. I mean that sometimes as a Christians I display the exact opposite of what I'm trying to teach. It's so easy to do.
It's so easy when I receive insight and wisdom to be a sin and live in arrogance rather than in humility.
It's so easy when I receive material blessings to be a sin and live in greed rather than in generosity and abundance.
It's so easy when I feel supported and loved in a community's fellowship to be a sin and exclude others who are desperately seeking it.
It's so easy when I have been delivered from my destructive habits to be a sin and condemn those who are still ensnared.
It's so easy when I have a place of sanctuary to be a sin and withdraw from the world rather than to engage it.
Isn't the church often portrayed in the media as arrogant, greedy, exclusive, condemning, and withdrawn? Sometimes, my own "Being a Sin" is what has helped that image have a bit of truth in it.
If I'm going to be accused of "Being a Sin," then I want to be the kind of "sin" that our neighbor boy described: behaving myself, easy on the bad news, acting in a proper way, surviving through the bad things, intelligent and showing my act, and nice to grown ups.
Like the kid said, it's how ". . . people who go to church are supposed to be."
Lord, forgive me when I've abandoned Your ways amid Your blessings. Let my actions and attitudes reflect Your light and, in doing so, let your Way live in me.
Not long after he arrived, he handed me a couple of loose-leaf pages he had decorated. I opened them to see his art work. Along with the drawings of the church building and some illustration of the activities here was the statement "Be a Sin."
On the second page he wrote an acrostic of how to "Be a Sin":
B Behave yourself
E Easy on Bad News
A Act in a Proper Way
S Survive through the Bad Things
I Intelligent --- Show your act
N be Nice to Grown Ups
Needless to say, I was curious as to where he came up with this idea. He said, "Well, sin is a word I've heard at some of the churches I've been to so I figured it must be something people who go to church are supposed to be."
I wonder, how many people have gotten confused about things because people at church are busy "Being a Sin"?
I don't mean this in the way the described in the acrostic. I mean that sometimes as a Christians I display the exact opposite of what I'm trying to teach. It's so easy to do.
It's so easy when I receive insight and wisdom to be a sin and live in arrogance rather than in humility.
It's so easy when I receive material blessings to be a sin and live in greed rather than in generosity and abundance.
It's so easy when I feel supported and loved in a community's fellowship to be a sin and exclude others who are desperately seeking it.
It's so easy when I have been delivered from my destructive habits to be a sin and condemn those who are still ensnared.
It's so easy when I have a place of sanctuary to be a sin and withdraw from the world rather than to engage it.
Isn't the church often portrayed in the media as arrogant, greedy, exclusive, condemning, and withdrawn? Sometimes, my own "Being a Sin" is what has helped that image have a bit of truth in it.
If I'm going to be accused of "Being a Sin," then I want to be the kind of "sin" that our neighbor boy described: behaving myself, easy on the bad news, acting in a proper way, surviving through the bad things, intelligent and showing my act, and nice to grown ups.
Like the kid said, it's how ". . . people who go to church are supposed to be."
Lord, forgive me when I've abandoned Your ways amid Your blessings. Let my actions and attitudes reflect Your light and, in doing so, let your Way live in me.
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