Richland Creek Welcome Ministry

A few weeks back I mentioned that my life has frequently been influenced by people named David. Pastor Dave Miller recently taught me a great technique for learning Bible verses and I want to take a few minutes to share what I learned. Along with what Pastor Dave taught me, I’m going to add a little of my own insight on how to memorize and meditate on scripture. (I’m fairly new at this but I’m starting to figure out what works and what doesn’t.)

First of all there should be no question about whether or not we are supposed to memorize and meditate on scripture. Proverbs 7:3 says we are to “write {Gods words and commandments} on the tablet of {our} heart.” And, in Joshua 1:8 we are told that we should “meditate on {God’s Word} day and night” if we want to prosper and be successful. But the question is, how do we do this?

It’s not enough to just memorize scripture without also understanding the meaning of what you’re memorizing. So when I’m learning new scripture I’ve come to realize that it’s best to first read the verse in context. This is very important as most verses of scripture assume some knowledge of the overall passage. Then I’m ready to focus on the verse itself. This is where Pastor Dave’s instructions come into play. His technique not only helps with understanding the passage, it also helps with the memorization and meditation process.

I’ll use John 3:18 as my example using the NIV translation. The first thing to do is to read John 3:1-21 which puts the verse in context. Next, say the verse out loud (just reading it at first but soon you’ll be saying it from memory) changing the emphasis to different words or phrases within the verse. Like this: “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe . . .” reciting all of John 3:18 but really punching the first word “whoever”. And as you are letting the verse roll through your brain stay focused on that word “whoever” and try to understand the importance of that particular word in the context of the verse. Who is whoever? Could it be me? Could it be anyone? Is anyone excluded? Could it apply to everyone? These and more questions will be answered simply by emphasizing this single word.

Now say the entire verse again but this time punch the word “believes”. What does believes mean? (This is a case where your understanding of the verse in context comes into play.) Focus on the word “believes”. Is this the same as having faith? Again, simply emphasizing this word will help you to see how important this single word is to the overall meaning of the verse.

Now repeat the verse again and this time punch the phrase “in Him.” What does it mean to be “in Him”? Who does “Him” refer to? Can I replace “Him” with Jesus? You can even focus on the names we call Him as you let the verse echo in your head and slowly work its way into your heart. Let the simple act of emphasizing this phrase or the single word “Him” help you to understand the passage and then move on.

I’m not going to go through all of John 3:18; I’ll leave that up to you. However, if you go through this verse as I have explained, emphasizing each word in sequence, you will not only remember the verse, but you will also understand it. You will “own” it. That’s a promise. Because in Proverbs 2:1-6 it says:

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Unfortunately, throughout most of my life I have not been very faithful about memorizing and meditating on scripture, but this I know:  it’s much easier if you start out when you’re young. With that said, let me say also that young is a relative term. Tomorrow you will be older than you are today. And, next week you will be older than you will be tomorrow. So you will never be younger than you are at this very moment. Which means that by next year’s measure, right now you are young. So pick a verse and start memorizing and meditating. If you can’t decide on a verse, start with just a word: John 1:1. I promise you prosperity and success.

Thom Fishow

April 18, 2010

The hedge looked nominally acceptable (that was a term I learned from the early Mercury and Gemini space programs which means, “not so good”) for being 15 years old, but there was a black mold growing inside the bushes that couldn’t be seen and we knew we needed to get rid of it. We wanted to replace the hedge with lower, more natural landscaping that would look better and would improve the overall appearance of our house. Oh, yeah, and we wanted something that might not be as much of a health hazard. (Small detail.)

When we began cutting down and burning the holly bushes and started trying to pull up the incredible network of roots (I eventually had to use my truck), I realized that it was going to be a major, major effort–far more difficult than we had originally imagined. And, we realized that once started there was no turning back. (I actually figured that out after cutting down the first bush in the hedge–talk about a revelation.)

And one of the most daunting realizations was that once started, we had to not just remove the holly bushes and the roots, but we also had to till the entire area (almost 700 square feet) which, over the years, had become nothing but well packed clay with a massive tangle of roots. We also had to bring in an additional five cubic yards of good top soil, figure out what to plant and then plant the new plants; and finally bring in seven cubic yards of mulch to cover the entire area. In other words, we had to take this project through to completion since there was no point after starting that would be an acceptable place to quit until we had relandscaped the entire front of our house.

The new look - five hard days later

And looking back, here’s what I find interesting. The one thing we set out to do, remove the old, mold-infested bushes, only took one day. The majority of the time for this project, the next four days, was spent preparing for and planting all of our new shrubs and trees. But, in retrospect, that was the most important part. Because without that, the whole area would have been an eyesore and would have become even worse over the months and years ahead.

It reminds me of the passage in Matthew (12:43-45) where Jesus taught that it’s not just enough to rid the man of evil spirits (or even just a specific sinful behavior) but it’s necessary to replace the void with something good so that the evil spirits or sinful behavior won’t return greater than before.

And as I realized with our landscaping project, and I think this is generally true, the greatest effort is planning for the replacement and actually implementing the replacement. But without that, it wouldn’t have been worth putting forth the effort to remove the holly in the first place. Just like it wouldn’t be worth getting rid of a sinful behavior without a plan to replace it with a good behavior.

April 11, 2010

When I first started writing this blog back in June of last year my greatest fear was that I would run out of things to say. I thought, “What if one day I have no more ideas for blogs? What then?” So to make sure that didn’t happen, I thought about keeping a list of blog ideas for when my creative juices run dry. I even considered writing several blogs in advance so I would have some spares “in my back pocket” just in case. But I never did either one of those things. I’ve never had to. Because as I’ve written more and more, I’ve learned that if I just get things started, God will help me finish.

Now this is not a new idea. And it’s certainly an idea that applies to far greater acts of faith than simply writing a weekly blog. Consider when God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through. In Genesis 14:15, the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.” At this point the sea was just lapping at the shore like it always does and God told His people to walk into it–to walk right into the sea. Then, in verse 19, the angel of God moved from a position in front of the Israelites to a position behind them. Basically, the angel got out of their way so they could show their faith by walking into what must have appeared to be certain death. And, finally, after this mass of people demonstrated their faith by beginning to walk into a sea deep enough and wide enough to drown every last one of them, Moses, in verse 21, “stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back.” The people began walking into the sea and THEN God parted it.

You see, God expects us to demonstrate our faith first so He has a place to do His work. In other words, we take the first step, I start the process of writing, and God steps in to help because I first believed He would.

And then it hit me. In a conversation I had with someone very dear to me this week, as I was talking about tithing, she said, “I wish I made enough money to tithe.” That comment hit me like a brick. I tried to explain that I get along better on 90% of my income than I ever have on 100%, but I think she took that to mean only that it worked for me and not that it was a universal truth that works for everyone. But then I remembered Malachi 3:8-10 when God is explaining tithing to the people of Israel. (This is important, so please stay with me.) This is the only place in the Bible where God says, “test Me now in this.” Why would He say that? Why would He say it in this particular instance, about our money? Well, I think it’s because, in the world, money equates to security. But, our security, our trust, is supposed to be in God (and if you doubt me, check what it says on your money). So, if we will just let go of some of our money, we can show God that we trust Him. But, more important than that, God can show us how He can provide for us if we just give Him the chance. Think about it: Why would God provide for us if we’re doing fine without Him? Why would He need to?

So here’s the way I see it. God doesn’t need my money. (Excuse me for saying this, but, “Duh.”) He has all He needs without my measly 10%. So if He doesn’t need my money, why is it so important for me to tithe? The answer is simple: Faith. Tithing is an act of faith. God can’t pour out His full blessing on us until we surrender to Him; and we can’t fully surrender to Him until we give up what we see as our security (and the truth is, our money only gives us false security in worldly things). Wow. That really is simple. But while it’s simple on paper, for some it’s very difficult to put into practice.

Here’s why it’s difficult to put this concept into practice. Tithing requires that we believe that what the Bible says is true. God says, “test Me now on this.” But if we’re afraid to test Him on this one thing, I believe we’re also afraid to fully trust in His Word. Put another way, until we do test Him, we can’t prove to ourselves that the Bible is trustworthy.

It’s like walking into the Red Sea with thousands of people and an army of Egyptians coming behind you–literally walking into what is clearly an act of suicide (at least, in the world view). You see, only when we put both feet into the water, or when we tithe with money we don’t believe we have, will God unload His full blessing on us. But when He does, look out. Because He will open “the windows of heaven and pour out for {us} a blessing until it overflows.” Praise God!

But that’s the good news. There is bad news. The bad news is that we have to take that first step on our own. And that’s what holds so many people back. How sad to miss the blessing of a lifetime out of fear of taking a single step of faith. How sad indeed.

Thom Fishow

April 4, 2010

Have you read the Bible recently? Okay, let me ask that another way: Have you READ the bible recently? Alright, I’ll ask one more time: Have you really, really READ what the Bible says recently?

The reason I ask this question in this way is because there is a difference between just reading or hearing the Bible and reading or hearing what the Bible really says–and specifically, what it says about you. I’m sure you can relate, but there have been times when I have been reading the Bible and when I got ready to turn the page I realized I wasn’t really reading the Bible at all. I was at my office dealing with some problem or in the back yard working in the garden. And at other times I have found I was reading the Bible as if it was just a good story–which it is, but it’s so much more than that.

I’ve told you in other blogs that my life has been impacted many times by people named David. Well, over the past several weeks, I have learned a great deal from two Davids–two Pastors: David Sims and Dave Miller. I’m going to tell you how Pastor David recently impacted my life this week; in a future post, I’m going to talk about Pastor Dave.

Pastor David’s teaching and expository preaching got to me a couple of weeks ago. In case you haven’t noticed, Pastor David explains everything three times in three different ways when he’s preaching and when he’s teaching. (Okay, I don’t know if it’s always exactly three, but it’s definitely more than one.) Sometimes I’ll sit there and say to my stubborn and way too busy self, “Okay, I get it. Can we move on?” And, the fact is, sometimes I really do hear what he’s saying. But not always. And sometimes, even though I hear what he’s saying, hearing just isn’t enough, if you know what I mean.

Wednesday night a few weeks ago, Pastor David was “belaboring” a point (one I was sure I already understood, thank you very much) and because I was on the second row I was doing my best to be attentive and not let my mind wander to the things I had to do after I got back home. But then something happened. The third time Pastor David “clarified” the passage he was reading, it hit me: That passage was about me. It wasn’t about someone else. It wasn’t directed to the generic “you”; it was written for me to hear. And if Pastor David hadn’t said it just the way he did that third time, I would have never heard it. I might have missed it when I really, really needed to hear it. And that passage, that one passage out of all the passages in the Bible, opened my heart for the Holy Spirit to speak to me and to convict me about something I was getting ready to do that I now realized I wasn’t supposed to do.

I didn’t sleep that night. I had too much thinking to do. And I had too much reading to do. I read and re-read 1 Corinthians 3:9-15, the passage that Pastor David kept drilling into my thick skull. It was written for me so I had no choice but to meditate on it. Understand, this wasn’t the first time I’d read this passage–far from it. Nor was it the first time I’d studied the passage. But it was the first time I knew that my Heavenly Father put it there for me to discover and to understand on this particular night. It was like a gem He hid there, just for me.

Has that ever happened to you? I don’t think it can if you just read the Bible. You have to really, really read what the Bible says. Or, in this case, have someone read it to you in just the right way. And I’m glad Pastor David didn’t stop explaining it after the second time. Because in this case, the third time really was the charm.

So now, when I read the Bible, my thought process is just a little different. I’m no longer focused on how many pages I can turn; I’m focused on how many gems I can turn up in those pages. It may take a little longer this way . . . but I’ll take the time. It’s the least I can do. After all, He took the time for me.

Thom Fishow

March 28, 2010

On Tuesday as Sandra and I were driving out of our driveway on our way to the funeral for Pastor John’s father, I saw a cat lying in the road in a pool of blood. I put the car in park, jumped out, Sandra running ahead of me, and stood over our little kitty Hobbes who had died instantly after being hit by a passing car sometime during the night. It was a sad and empty moment as we stood there. And then Sandra bent over this sweet little kitty, gently picked him up, cradling him in her arms, and together we walked to our yard and laid him down under a shrub where our puppy Bo couldn’t get to him while we were gone for the day and Matt wouldn’t find him.

I don’t know if you know Hobbes through any of my writing, but my relationship with him has inspired me to write many blogs and devotions. He’s had a rough life. He lost a leg when he was less than two years old. And as sweet as he was and as happy as he was that we cared for him, he wasn’t able to live the life he would have chosen if he hadn’t been injured so early in his life. I think maybe the best part of his life was the friendship that began when we brought Bo home as a puppy.

So, it was a quiet ride as we reflected on Hobbes and headed to Pleasant Garden, NC, to join with many from Richland Creek to support Pastor John and his family as they celebrated the life of the man everyone knew as Tommy.

The funeral was one I will never forget. The church, Pleasant Garden Baptist Church, is a beautiful church. The service was moving. The songs “Beulah Land” and Amazing Grace” were magnificently sung by the Pastor’s wife. Pastor John and his sister Linda spoke of their father in a way that made me truly reflect on my life and all the things I haven’t done . . . and the things I need to do.

No one every said good-bye to Tommy. They didn’t have to. He wasn’t gone. He was just gone ahead. There was no question about whether we would see Tommy on the other side of eternity. We have a covenant that God made with us–a guarantee. The Bible says so in Romans 6:5: “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” I like that word “certainly”. And that’s why there’s no need to say good-bye for those who believe.

Pastor John said his tears were for him and his family, not for his father. Yes, the tears were tears of grief, but the loss is only temporary. And it’s because of God’s promise. A promise sealed with the blood of His Son. A promise that can’t be broken. A promise that says we will be reunited with those we love when we join them in heaven.

Later that afternoon when we got home, it was time to bury Hobbes. We said good-bye to him. We had to. Hobbes is gone. My tears for him were tears of grief. But the loss was not temporary. My best little kitty was gone from me forever. And I miss him. I wish I could see him again. But I can’t.

I’m glad Sandra and all our children and their husbands know Jesus. I’m glad my grandchildren are being brought up to know Jesus. If I lost one of my family and didn’t know I would be with them again, I don’t think I could handle the pain I would feel from that kind of a loss. My pain is so great for my kitty. How much greater would it be for one of my family who I love a hundred times more.

So, good-bye Hobbes. Thank you for reminding me of God’s amazing grace. I miss you, little buddy. You will not be forgotten.

Thom Fishow

March 14, 2010

Up until about a year and a half ago I was strictly a cat person; I’ve had cats most of my adult life. But that changed when I got Bo (as you probably know if you’ve been reading my blog regularly). Bo is a beagle–every bit a beagle. And if you know any beagles, you know what I mean when I say that.

It didn’t take very long for me to figure out that dogs are very different from cats. This difference got me to thinking: Since dogs are so different from cats, maybe they’re actually more like people. (Hang with me here. This idea really makes a lot of sense at 2:30 in the morning.) So I explored this idea, and as I did, I learned something about how Bo and I are similar and how we’re different.

If you have a dog, what does he do when you come home from work? He wags his tail and telegraphs by his behavior just how happy he is to see you. But if you walk up to a dog you don’t know and the dog suspects you as being hostile, what does he do? He growls or barks and lets you know that you’d better stay away. These behaviors are instinctive. Dogs don’t choose these behaviors. As Dan the Animal Man says, that’s just the way God wired them.

Now even though God wired dogs to behave in a certain way, with enough training (and enough doggy treats), you can get your dog to behave in a different way, even though beneath the outward behavior the dog’s instincts are unchanged. For example, when I’m in training mode with Bo, he is real good at “come”. He has that down pat, just like when I tell him to “sit” or “lay down” or “shake”. But when he’s outside and on the scent of something, it’s as if he has no clue what I mean when I say come and to be quite honest, I sometimes wonder if he hears me at all. Bo is getting better, but he’s not at the point yet where he’s completely conditioned to be obedient to my every command. I don’t know if he ever will be. And that’s my point. Watch how similar this is to people.

People don’t need treats to be taught to modify certain behaviors (although it does work). We can teach ourselves to behave differently from the way we would instinctively act if there is benefit in doing so. In Proverbs 23:6-7 King Solomon says, “Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies; For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, ‘Eat and drink!’ But his heart is not with you.” Do you see what this is saying? Because there’s a benefit for this selfish man to act cordial, he can fake it even when his basic instinct would have him act exactly the opposite.

In this regard we’re not really that different from dogs. We can “train ourselves” to behave one way when in reality we’re not that way at all. I think this is why some people are one person in public and a different person in private.

However, Jesus tells us, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil {man} out of the evil {treasure} brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (Luke 6:45) As you can see, there’s a risk for us if we only change our outward behavior to hide our evil side. The evil in our heart will eventually spill over no matter how much we try to conceal it. Just like the dog when he reverts back to his basic instincts, we, too, revert back to the person we are in our heart when we let our guard down. You can only “play a part” and get away with it for so long.

Have you ever read an article about someone who went on a killing rampage and his neighbors and “friends” were shocked because the killer was “such a good family man and a deacon in the church?” That’s an extreme case of what I’m talking about but it’s an example of someone who has hidden away the person he really is for so long that when it gets to be too much to hide any more, it comes out in a very dark way. But what about us? Are we the same person on Sunday at church as we are Monday through Friday at work? Or the person interacting with his or her family in the privacy of the home? Or the person who’s just been cut off in rush hour traffic?

I guess the question for us is, are we interested in changing our character, or simply hiding a behavior that may not be acceptable to our “church” friends? Are we like the dog that is just on his best behavior because there’s some immediate reward? Or are we like the dog that truly understands what his master expects and instinctively does what he knows pleases him? You see, some dogs get it and some don’t. I think the same is true of people.

But the truth is, there is something else–something that does make me very different from Bo. As a human, and specifically, a human believer, I don’t have to go it alone. John 14:17 gives me the assurance that because I know Jesus, the Holy Spirit will abide in me. And that means I don’t have to try to change myself without having someone to help me. The Holy Spirit is always there convicting me to do what’s right.

So to wrap this (very long post) up, while I do believe there are some similarities between dogs and people, I do believe there are ways where dogs and people are quite different. In addition to the difference I just noted, I believe there are other differences. For example, I have not yet acquired a taste for sticks and pine cones. And I don’t eat off the floor.

Thom Fishow

March 7, 2010

As I left for work this morning, I could already tell it was going to be a beautiful day. It was definitely going to be a spring-like day. And even though spring is right around the corner, this feeling of spring was not so much because of the time of year as it was about the sights and sounds of the morning. You probably know what I mean. If you’re like me, you can probably think back to a fall day that, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear was the first day of spring.

You see, feelings of spring oftentimes have less to do with the actual season than they do with external stimuli that trigger memories from our past. The feeling of spring could come from just the right temperature in the morning or the way a warm breeze rustles the leaves. Sometimes the sun shimmering off the morning mist or the sound of the birds singing in the distance is all it takes to send the brain racing back to a spring morning from years ago. Nostalgia.

That’s what it is: Nostalgia. A longing for something we once had. Something we remember fondly. The mind gets tricked into recalling a time gone by that is the image of spring as it’s been etched into the brain. It’s fun sometimes to let the mind wander back to the days of our past. But sometimes these reflections from our past can bring on sadness or a feeling of loss.

Sometimes seeing the children running in the halls of the Creek takes me back to the days when things were carefree for me and I, too, ran in the halls of my childhood church in Arlington, Virginia. Life was simpler then. We were a Christian nation. Everyone celebrated Christmas and Easter and no one complained that the holidays were Christian holidays. The schools celebrated these holidays by their Christian names when I was growing up. There was no political correctness–we wouldn’t have known what that meant back then. And it wasn’t about making everyone feel good. The majority ruled and did what was right for the majority; and the vast majority were Christians. And, yes, people did feel good. The fact is, I don’t remember anyone I grew up with that wasn’t a professed Christian. Everyone went to church on Sunday and they got dressed up to do it.

The founders of this country of ours intended it to be that way. Everything they did was dedicated to creating a Christian nation. Read any of the Federalist papers and God is everywhere. They knew without God, without the one true God, the country could not survive. But they were only doing what Jesus said to do in Matthew 28:19 when He said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.” The founders were doing their part to make an entire nation of disciples.

But Satan, the great deceiver, stole it out from under us, or, at least, he’s in the process of stealing it. It hasn’t been taken all at once; but little by little it has been taken. I think it started when they took away prayer in the schools. And the more he took and the more he still takes, the harder it gets to take it back.

Men and women who certainly appear to be good people are doing Satan’s work. Many of them are our leaders–well respected people in Washington and in state capitals across this land, but they are serving another god. A god called power. Their interest is in creating a country that is subservient to no higher authority. Never mind what they say. Watch what they do.

That’s why reflecting on my childhood days at Fairlington Methodist Church sometimes makes me just a little sad. Because since those days, so many people have given in to political correctness that we are unwittingly giving our nation over to darkness. I am sad that we don’t all worship the one Supreme God the way we did when I was young. I am sad that my grandchildren may not know how good and secure that felt.

And the really sad part is that I suspect we’re all just a little guilty of where we find ourselves today. Guilty of standing down when we should have been taking a stand. More interested in getting along than in getting on with growing the Kingdom. But maybe it’s not too late to take back what should be ours. Maybe there’s still time. I hope for the sake of today’s children that we have not forgotten how to fight. I pray that we have not lost sight of who the true enemy is and that we have not forgotten how to dress for battle.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph 6:11-13 NASB)

Stand firm therefore.

Thom Fishow

February 28, 2010

Have you ever seen yourself through God’s eyes? I know it may sound crazy, but I think maybe I have and it’s possible you have, too.

If you have young children still living at home or if you have ever had young children or, perhaps if you have a dog (stay with me here), you may, at some time, have seen your children or your dog the way God sees you. I got to see this the other day with my dog Bo.

Let me start by saying there are differences between Bo and me. Bo was made to be a dog and he behaves like a dog–exactly as God designed him. I, on the other had, was made in God’s image. And even though this difference should put us at two opposite ends of the spectrum, man’s sinful nature makes our differences less pronounced for this example. Because, like Bo, even though I know right from wrong, I don’t always do what’s right.

Bo has been to obedience school, so he knows how he’s supposed to behave. (Think of this training as his ten commandments.) He knows that when he goes out at night before bedtime, he’s supposed to come in when I call him. He usually does, but sometimes I have to call him a second time. The other night, he didn’t come in even after calling him several times, so I had to get his leash and go find him. Once I found him and he saw me coming, he stood perfectly still so I could put his collar on. I didn’t scold him, I just calmly put the collar and leash on and we walked straight to the house. By now, he knew he had been bad and stayed close to me as we made our way up the stairs, onto the deck, and into the kitchen.

I wasn’t angry with him as much as I was upset by his disobedience and frustrated that I had to go get him when he knew better. I love my puppy, so it’s hard to be angry. But I was definitely disappointed and I’m pretty sure he knew it. In the kitchen, he sat where he usually sits after coming in, and waited for his treat as he always does, but he had a look that clearly said, “I messed up, didn’t I?” When he doesn’t come when I call, he doesn’t get a treat, and he didn’t get one this night. He understood and didn’t make an issue of it. He just followed me upstairs to get ready for bed.

So, I got to thinking: When I sin and I know I’ve sinned (and don’t we all know when we’ve sinned?), and God convicts me to the point that I feel the guilt, how does He see me? Is He disappointed? Does He reign me in and walk a little closer to me so I won’t stray? To me it feels like He must be disappointed. And I do feel Him closer to me, narrowing my path just a little to keep me from wandering.

But I know that even at my worst, God still sees me through the righteousness of Jesus (2 Cor 5:21), while at the same time He sees me exactly as I am. I don’t understand how He does this, but I know He does. And then I realized that what I’m feeling is my own guilt and disappointment for letting Him down. You see, He doesn’t expect me to be perfect, but I think He expects me to do better than I do and to show some improvement day by day. And when I stumble and fall? Well, He’s always there to pick me up and get me back on the right track.

So while I saw Bo in a way similar to the way God sees me, it wasn’t possible for me to see him in exactly the same way. The fact is, I can’t separate Bo’s act of disobedience from Bo. Thankfully, when God sees me, He can separate my sin from me. Jesus made that possible when He took my sin and put it on Himself. What an incredible thing to do for a sinner like me. Thank you Jesus. And thank you for my puppy who reminds me that I need to do better than I do.

Thom Fishow

February 21, 2010

Have you ever been a member of a church where it seemed like the same handful of people headed up every ministry, served on every committee, and sat in on every meeting? There’s an 80/20 rule you’ve undoubtedly heard about that goes something like this: For a business, 20% of your customers will generate 80% of your revenue; or for a teacher, 80% of your time will be devoted to 20% of your students. This 80/20 rule pops up in many other situations, as well. But, for some reason, in churches, it’s more like 10% of your people do 90% of the work. And, I can say from personal experience that I’ve found the statistic to be true at most churches I’ve attended.

But not so at the Creek. For some reason, Richland Creek is different. I’m not saying the Creek is the only church that has a body that is willing to serve, but from my experience, I bet we are in the minority. And I got to wondering: Why are things different here? To find out, I talked to some people–a bunch of people. I asked them why they were serving. Why were they sitting in the nursery taking care of the babies? Why were they standing at the door shaking hands? Why were they helping out in the kitchen? Why were they stacking chairs in the sanctuary?

Now, the answer wasn’t always the same, but it did seem like one answer came up more than any other. You know what it was? I’ll tell you in a minute. But first . . .

If you had to look for one person who you could point to and say, that’s what it looks like to truly have a servant’s heart, who would that be? The answer, of course is easy: It’s Jesus. In Matthew 23:11-12, Jesus said, “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” Of course He understood, but He also taught the importance of serving others. In John 13:14-15, He says, “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.” Not only did He understand and teach it, He showed us how it’s done by His example. He humbly set a standard for us to emulate. And, in Mark 10:45, He said it plain and simple in case you missed His examples, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”

So why do we serve? Well, I guess you could say we serve because we’re supposed to try to be more like Jesus and, after all, He spent His entire ministry showing us how it’s done. As a matter of fact, His whole ministry, up to and including dying on the cross, was Him serving us. His ultimate sacrifice was an extreme example of what serving looks like. And I think, I hope, that we, His followers, strive on a daily basis to be like Him.

But, I think there’s another reason why people serve. And, I think this is what sets the Creek apart from so many other churches.

When I asked people why they were serving in a particular role the answer I heard most often was, “Someone asked me to,” and in most cases, they could name the person who asked them. Richland Creek does a good job of asking people to serve. At the end of the fourth service, doesn’t Pastor David ask the strong men to stack chairs? After Wednesday night dinner, doesn’t someone ask everyone to put the tables away and set up the chairs for the teaching? And, after the teaching, doesn’t someone ask that we put the chairs away? It may seem like a little thing, but that’s because we’re used to it. It’s in our DNA to serve like that. We’ve been doing it since the days of the Middle School. And, our leaders have been asking use to serve since the very beginning. No guilt, no pressure, no coercion, just a simple request for help.

Asking gets results. It gets results because people feel good when they’re asked. Don’t you? When someone asks you to serve, doesn’t that make you feel that others value your help? It does me. I feel needed when someone asks for my help. And when I feel needed, I know that my help will be appreciated. So, everyone wins. But don’t think standing up in front of a class asking for volunteers is the same thing. It’s not. You have to stand face to face with someone and ask, “Will you help?” It’s a simple yet powerful question. And if you have difficulty asking this simple question, that’s because you have your eyes on yourself. Put your eyes on the person whose help you need and then try asking. Remember: You’re giving them the opportunity to be just a little more like Jesus.

Thom Fishow

February 14, 2010