FAY ROWE

I love ya, tomorrow!

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Apparently, actors are told not to "act to the end of the scene". This means they are to stay in the moment of the action, even though they know the outcome.

That reminds me of Jesus' direction to us in Matthew 6:30-34: "Don't take thought of tomorrow, for tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself."

Obviously he doesn't mean don't plan for the future because one component of Godly wisdom is prudence. Prudence sees head and plans.

So maybe he is saying don't live in the future; live in today.

Don't take tomorrow's unknown problems into today, and don't look to the future for your joys.

If you live in tomorrow it will make you miss out on the blessings before you right now. Today God loads you with blessings, so let your stance be one of thankfulness, one which sees his hand at work this moment. One that sees his fingerprints on your present, as well as on your past, and that expects it in the future.

God will be your provider and protector in the future as he is today; he knows all you have need of and is well able to take care of you.

Tomorrow holds glory, to be sure, and to look forward to it with joyful anticipation is right and good. But today is the day of salvation!

Let's enjoy it!

Thanks in the Morning

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:50:00 +0000

Have you ever been told you should thank God for everything that comes into your life, no matter what?

Have you ever found it almost impossible to do so? With conviction, at any rate?

Was it almost as if you were lying to God?

There's a good reason for that: God never said we should thank him for everything because he is not the giver of all things that happen. Some of that is in our hands or the hands of others. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

Can Jesus be our example? What did he give thanks for?

On the mountainside he lifted bread and gave thanks, for the provision, maybe? For the miracle of multiplication that he knew would come? For the men whose hands would offer the sustenance and who left all to follow? For the people who needed the bread?

At the tomb of Lazarus he lifted his eyes and gave thanks, "that you have heard me, Father." For the people's ears he gave thanks at that moment, he said, "...for you always hear me." He's always thankful. Maybe at this moment thankful for the miracle, for the joy of returning a man to his family. For giving temporal life as well as eternal.

Outside Chorazin and Bethsaida, the cities of his greatest miracles and his greatest rejection to date, he "answered" the coldness by saying, "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have revealed the truth to the babes, the open hearted and honest ones." Was this thanksgiving to help him focus on the good, perhaps? To still the voice of the accuser?

At that special last supper with his friends, knowing the betrayal, the pain, the separation he would suffer alone, even without his father's comfort, he lifts bread once more. One text says he blessed and broke it. Another says he gave thanks.

Then the cup. He gave thanks for the cup of his new covenant. Perhaps for the brothers-to-be around him who would be the first to break the bread of life to the world that waited unaware. To us.

Not thanks for the betrayal, not thanks for the unbelief and rejection, not thanks for the pain and separation.

Thanks for the loving kindness that sent him here. Thanks for the faithfulness that would bring him through to victory.

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord ... to declare your lovingkindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night" (Psalm 92:1-4).

Heart Gardening

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Those who regularly follow my blog probably sense that I prefer to write about God's character than I do about my, or our, lack. But sometimes my own glaring lack of godliness becomes too much to overlook, and this week I've noticed a "showering with my socks on" kind of discomfort that eventually made me examine my own heart, when I'd really prefer to be judging someone else's.

This morning I was thinking, as I have for a couple of days, about my disappointment with some people. I realized that right now I was not at all disposed to show favour to them. Just couldn't find any. Like Seinfeld's soup Nazi, my decision was, "No grace for you!"

No showering of needed rain or shining of needed sun on both the just and the unjust (or whomever I felt to be unjust at the moment). No patience with weakness. No mercy for their "falling shorts", or for their percieved lack of loving truth, holding on to ideas or opinions that I have long since considered and rejected.

I came to this assessment of my hardened heart as I drove home this morning from depositing my husband at work. My thought map ended up something like this: Everyone in my world, past and present, have needed on-purpose goodness and free mercy and even offered grace at some point in our relationship. As have I from them. I have no problem offering all three to my nearest and dearest as often as needed, and when I see my own short-comings and sin, I find grace in God's eyes, as well as from my family and friends. But today was the first time I saw this particular nastiness in me: there are some people I don't find grace in my heart for. Hardly ever. The slightest transgression makes me disappointed almost to the point of despair. And even though I don't want to break relationship, being near them is too painful, so I slowly back away. Out of sight...

Then I came home this morning and checked my Facebook Feed. There I found Ann Voskamp's blog post,"When you're Finding it Hard to be Patient". If my blog post is speaking to you, then I suggest you jet on over to www.aholyexperience.com. Here's what spoke to me today

"My failure to love is first a failure to be grateful for who people are right now. And my impatience is a result of my unthankfulness.

I've written before about how what we put our attention to becomes seed in our hearts. Obviously, if I'm in such a snit about someone else's (or even my own) failures, then it's because I've spent too much time looking at it and not enough time being thankful for the good that is there to be found.

I'll leave you with one more quote from my favorite blogger:

"Lack gratitude — then lack patience — then, ultimately, lack love."

Perhaps the opposite is also true:

Be thankful; then find patience; then live in love. And mercy and grace.

May you and I have a love-filled day.

To Be Like Jesus?

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:55:00 +0000

I just came from Write! Canada, the annual conference put on by The Word Guild, an association of Canadian writers and editors who are Christian. It has become a highlight of my year for many reasons, one of which is the morning worship time. My favorite song this year--the one that wouldn't leave my head--goes like this: "Turn my heart, oh God. Make it ever true; Turn my heart, oh God. May I be like you."

I thought about that song again this morning when I was reading about Jesus. Here's how the story in John 5-6 went: In Chapter 5, Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bathesda. On the Sabbath, no less! Then he answered his critics by claiming that God was his father and he was just doing what he saw him do. That didn't go over well with the Jews who knew the law. It says "they sought to kill him".

Did Jesus run away or at least leave town? Not until he went into a long treatise about his connection to the father and his authority to do what he was doing. And he incuded more than one rebuke for his persecutors (John 5:19-47), ending up with something like, "You didn't believe Moses, so how will you believe me?"

In Chapter 6 he did another miracle, this time the feeding of a great crowd with just five loaves of bread and two little fish, after which he gave the very unpopular "I am the bread of life" speech.He made this speech in Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, thought by some to be Jesus' home town during his last three years here. That was the point when many who had followed him turned away and went home. After that, prudence led him to continue to "walk in Galilee" instead of going to into Judea, because the Jews there wanted to kill him.

It must have appeared to many of his family and friends that Jesus was becoming a trouble maker. Maybe they thought he just wanted to make a name for himself. Even his brothers didn't believe in him anymore, if they ever did, and in true male sibling style, they taunted him saying "Why don't you go on up to Jerusalem and do your 'thing' in the open? No one who wants to be known does things in secret!"

Go up to Jerusalem? Where most of his persecutors waited? Nice!

He did eventually go up to Jerusalem, and before long ended up going to the temple to teach. In the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles, no less! Again, he tells them, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE!" The very words that made them angry to begin with! No mincing words. No hiding the truth for the sake of religious correctness. No need to please the people. Just a need to set them free.

I read all this and I wonder, do I really want to be like Jesus? Am I really willing to do what I see my father doing, even when people don't understand me or don't think my motives are pure?

Are you?

Raising Children in a Pagan Society

Thu, 19 May 2011 15:55:00 +0000

A pagan society is one "which does not acknowledge the God of the Bible" according to Webster's New Edition Dictionary. If by "not acknowledging" we mean paying no attention to his expressed will and ways, his wisdom or even his warnings of what will harm us, then to a great degree we are already living in that world. Even if our own sphere is one in which the fear of God is present, at least to the point that we search out his wisdom and acknowledge him in almost all our ways, we will probably agree that paganism encroaches from many sides.

I won't describe some of the things I saw and heard on one of my favourite television shows (at least it was until this week) which nailed "Pagan!!" to my mind's message wall. The visual content disturbed but more so the blatant dismissal of Christian belief and lifestyle: "You're not born again now, are you?

I confess I tried to think it wasn't what it looked like. My daughter and son-in-law work in the film/television industry, so I've often heard that just because what is portrayed on the screen is to my mind inappropriate, that doesn't mean the over all world view portrayed is pagan. It may actually be just the opposite. It may be just showing the reality of its end.

So maybe I am overreacting, but it made me think about what it might be like for our children who will be raising their children in what appears to becoming a pagan society.

And then I thought of Abraham and was encouraged. He, along with many of his descendants, was given the challenging task of raising children in a pagan society, of raising children who acknowledged the God of the Bible. God told them how to do it, and I wrote about it in Keepers of the Testimony. It may not seem as easy as it sounds, but God is very invested in this as well as you are. Perhaps even more so. He knows, better than we, that to allow our children to live without knowledge of God is to let them live without strength they need.

The scripture below says God "established" the testimony, the means to establish what he knows is necessary for our children's best life and best end: Live God stories and tell your children about them.

God's way works.

"For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them [his strength and his wonderful works] known to their children" (Psalm 78:5).

Why I Believe in God

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 04:30:00 +0000

I read a blog post the other day written by CNN contributor LZ Granderson. It was very touching, and even though I felt his belief system disregarded basic salvation truths it made me think about why I believe.

It's true that I grew up in a family that went to church three times on Sunday and I went to church camp every summer. My young mind was no doubt imprinted with the reality of an all-knowing, all-powerful creator. Some might say that I was easily brainwashed and that, decades later, my faith is based on tradition and nothing else.

And others might say that faith at any age is simply a choice to believe even though there is no proof of God's existence, as Mr Granderson suggested. After all, they might say, didn't Jesus say, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe"?

That may have been the case for me when I was a little girl, and it may be so for many adults even now. Many start out that way. Some, on the other hand, look for reasons to believe first, and find them.

There are, in fact, reasons to believe right in front of us. Psalm 19 tells us that the sun, the moon, and the stars speak every day. Their voice is heard through out the whole earth declaring that a creator exists. Romans tells us that the invisible things of God are clearly seen by the things that are made, so there's no excuse for anyone to say there was no sign of his presence.

But why are we blessed when we believe without seeing? To his friend Martha, Jesus talked about the result of believing. When her brother lay dead in a tomb and she was trying to deal with the discrepancy between her reality and his claim, he said, "Martha, didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40). According to Jesus, believing has a positive result beyond just making you feel good. It leads to something. Choosing to believe is just the starting point, not the end. It was for Martha!

And I guess that's why my faith, my belief in God's existence and my belief in what he says, is firm today. From childhood days to this day, I've seen what he's done over and over, in nations and in my own little life, in faithfulness to what he has promised. As my years have passed, I've seen the beauty of God's faithfulness to his word, and that has spoken so much louder than the voice and beauty of nature. I've seen the wisdom and the power and the love of God. I've known his self-proclaimed name to be, quite simply, true.

I wasn't there with John when he followed Jesus around the dusty roads of Galilee, but after decades of walking with Jesus I can say with the beloved disciple:

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life, (for the life was manifested and we have seen it, and bear witness) ... declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus'' ( 1 John 1:1-3).

Giving What You Want To Get

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:35:00 +0000

I love to hear about God's mercy, never tire of it, in fact, because God's mercy and grace is my hope of everything good. How we love to hear about how mercy triumphs over judgement, and how grace is undeserved favour!

Recently, however, I've been thinking that if I am to really and truly let Jesus live through me then, somehow, I have to give mercy and grace to people who sin against me, and do it freely and on purpose, just like he does!

I'd love it if it came as naturally from me as it does from him, but if it doesn't, then I have to do it on purpose. As I heard someone tell me decades ago, if I build a box God will fill it. In other words, if I act lovingly God will give me the feelings of love, and if I act in mercy God will fill my heart with it.

Today I thought for some time about the words of Jesus in John 20:22-24 (King James Version) "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."

As I thought about those words, I wondered: Would I be be more forthcoming with mercy and grace to those who have hurt me if I thought Jesus would withhold them as long as I did? What if that person's eternal salvation depended on my forgiving him or her? Would I be willing to hold onto unforgiveness toward someone and merrily go on my way to Heaven, knowing it was only through God's mercy and grace offered through the blood of Jesus that I'm getting there?

And, oh my, what if it is really true that I receive what I give?

And, really, what does a life of unforgiveness look like? Does it resemble Jesus at all? Is it a life worth living? Or is unforgiveness a chain we wear around our own legs, slowing us down, wearing us down, taking the fun out of everything?

What I've said here is no doubt doctrinally shaky. Thank God!!

But it sure gives me pause for thought.

Who's Really Winning

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:15:00 +0000

With all the "Winning!'" hoopla started by Charlie Sheen's shenanigans, one can't help but ruminate on what it really means to win in this life.

To my way of thinking, winning in life is important, and I can't wholeheartedly subscribe to the "it's how you play the game" theory touted when one loses some sporting event or competition. Don't get me wrong here. How you play is important, for sure. Winning by cheating isn't the kind of winning that really ... well ... wins. Not in the long run. But I still think wanting to win is not only okay; it's right. I want to win in life. In every circumstance, whether I actually win the job, contract, Blitz game, or anything else I might put myself out there for, I want to walk away having won. Somehow. Some way.

Which brings me to Ted.

I knew Ted Welch in only one capacity. He was a greeter at the church I attended for most of the time since I came to London 10 years ago. He certainly wasn't an ordinary church greeter. Not by a long shot. Dressed in old clothes, Ted looked quite serious as he offered, "Good morning. God bless you," looking more over your shoulder than at you. His hand was sometimes sweaty and his grip rather loose, but his presence was warm and welcoming. His smile was most often small and shy, but when his full, missing-toothed grin appeared it lit up his face.

Ted went to Heaven earlier this week. The chapel at the funeral home was full, standing room only. His uncle and aunt and a handful of relatives were there. The rest were his friends and leaders from the organization which was his major source of help for the decades of his adult life. There were also people from the different organizations he worked for or volunteered in for decades. And there were several of his church family there.

As a lady named Rose gave tribute to Ted, sharing stories garnered from many in the room, I found out that Ted had worked at Home Depot, that he loved to travel and took every opportunity to do so, that he volunteered in a community kitchen and could memorize the placement of utensils and content of every cupboard before anyone else could, that he helped his friends get to know the bus routes in London, that he taught school children how to knit, that he memorized Rose's schedule and would give her encouraging messages to take to those she visited throughout the week.

I had my own story about Ted, which I shared with the lady who sat next to me while we waited for the service to start. I hadn't quite known how to relate to him, but interestingly enough, Ted found a way to relate to me. I told her how Ted seemed genuinely pleased when the pastor announced the publication of my books. Thereafter he met me many a Sunday morning with, "I'm going to buy your books soon." After I made a gift of my books to Ted, he met me every time with, "I'm reading your books. I like your books." Sometimes he asked how sales were doing and was I writing more books.

As I watched his friends weep for their loss, I remembered how often I saw tears on Ted's cheeks during worship time, and how often they brought tears to my own as I thought of how God's love reaches us all where we are. Today I thought of how easily God's love can flow from us to others if we let it, as Ted did.

Some of the words used that day to describe Ted were: "Sweet, kind, encouraging, fun-loving, hardworking, helpful. Loved Jesus."

"Loved Jesus." With all the rest, what wonderful words to have spoken at one's home-going celebration!

In retrospect, I'm not sure Ted's goal in life was to be a winner. I doubt that it was. Maybe he didn't think of himself at all, but I doubt that too. Perhaps he just thought of himself as a winner and therefore focused on other people instead of himself. Maybe that's the key to winning, after all.

However it happened, I think Ted won.

"How precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints," (Psalm 116:15).

No Ageism Here

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:20:00 +0000

Mozart wrote his first symphony before he was twelve.

Frederick Law Olmstead, landscaper, didn't know what he wanted to do with his life until he was thirty, when he visited England and fell in love with its gardens. New York's Central Park was his first commission.

Grandma Moses began to paint when she was 78.

When he was eight years old, Josiah, the son of the assassinated King Amon, became king and "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord."

At the ripe old age of eighty, Moses began the work for which he came to the kingdom, deliverer of the Israelites and Old Testament "type" of Jesus.

Mary became mother of the world's savior when she was a teenager.

Elisabeth gave birth to the forerunner of the messiah when she was "in her old age."

Reinhard Bonnke answered the call to ministry when he was a child.

Kenneth Copeland accepted the call when he was thirty.

Smith Wiggleworth became a preacher at forty-eight.

Apparently age doesn't count much when it comes to calling, passion, and destiny. Whether we're very young or getting older, that has to be good news.

In fact, as my pastor preached recently, it is "the space between right here and Heaven" that counts.

No excuses.

To See Light

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:55:00 +0000

I've been enjoying a book of readings based on quotes from some of C.S. Lewis' best loved writings.

While the book has provided many "aha!" moments, I have also had times of something like despair wash over me. Until now that confused me since there didn't seem to be anything wrong with what I was reading.

Now I think it wasn't what they wrote that was disturbing, but rather the point of reference from which the authors seemed to write. They seem to hold the belief, and claim Lewis did as well, that our knowledge of God should be constantly in flux. That to hold to any particular "knowledge" of God will inevitably lead to idolatry.

My conflict: While I believe, as they do, that my knowledge of God is "as through a glass darkly" and that light is a progressive blessing and that I should, like Paul, seek to know Him more and pursue the truth always, I came away from their treatment of the subject with the feeling that I could never know God!

To suggest that I cannot trust in what I know now ... what God has revealed through his word and not just what people have thought about him from their own experiences and observations of the world ... is to place me on ground that is unsure and leave me subject to a "world/God view" that assumes darkness (lack of knowledge or hope of knowledge) to be "light".

I may be over reacting and splitting hairs, but I know how I felt, and it wasn't hopeful.

Psalm 36:9 says: "In thy light shall we see light."

It is from a position of focussing on what we know God to be, ie: the light he has already given, that our light increases. If I approach God from the position that he cannot be known, I will never know him. I will never know him because I will never truly seek to know him. Why not? Because there is something in us that makes us shrink from disappointment, so even though we may perform religious rituals like Bible reading and church attendance, we won't seek with our whole heart for what we think we may never find.

Here is the "light" from which we will find light. It may imply constant searching and constant finding, but it is full of hope.

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).