Constantly Abiding

The song was never one of my favorites, perhaps because as a boy I remember people singing it sadly.. Maybe it is because the melody wasn’t attractive to a restless youth or the fact that only older people seemed to enjoy singing Anne Murphy’s lyrics.

Youth tend to be restless, eager for the action. "Peace in my heart" doesn’t seem as important as daring challenges. And, "the trials of life that surround like a cloud" were not part of my experience that last time I remember singing "Constantly Abiding." But, this morning I awakened to the tune and truth seeking room for recollection deep within. I cannot account for the tune surfacing after so many years. I recall the first verse and refrain.

There’s a peace in my heart that the world never gave
A peace it cannot take away;
Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,
I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!
Refrain:
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;
Constantly abiding, rapture divine;
He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind:
"I will never leave thee"—Jesus is mine.

Time and life experience has given me an appreciation for the message. The trials of life, I’ve had a few now. And, I am happy to add, "the peace that has come here to stay," has a deep meaning. Anne Murphy surely had Hebrews 13:5 in mind, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’" I imagine Ms. Murphy was also familiar with the passage when Jesus commissioned his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

While I stirred to be fully awake, I was prompted by the words of Jesus in John 14:15-18
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
Before other morning activities began, I remembered that Father God sent Jesus the Son so that we might know what God looks like, how God acts and to what extent He loves His creation. After receiving Jesus back into heaven at the ascension, the Holy Spirit was sent to live within his followers so that they could demonstrate the very nature of God to a world He longs to reconcile the world to Himself.

"He never leaves me lonely" is true. But I believe we might better sing,
"He always moves me onward, He is present now.
He ever makes Himself known – He wants you as His own."
No one has mistaken me for a poet, and I don’t want to spoil a great song for others. I simply believe the Spirit is present in the church, in people like us, to make the nature of God visible in a world that doesn’t have a clue.

Moses saw the invisible . . .

I think that one of the most extraordinary lines in the Bible is Hebrews 11:27. The author refers to Moses. "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible." Now that is a world class oxymoron, a total contradiction within the sentence! One simply doesn’t naturally see the invisible, but Moses did!

Moses also heard a voice that others could not hear. God spoke to Moses and asked him relay the message to Aaron and to a nation of oppressed Jews writhing under the brutal hand of Pharaoh. Moses heard the Voice from a burning bush. And before each of the 10 plagues, God’s scourges on Egypt, Moses heard the Voice again. The instructions were specific and required daring trust. The Divine-human conversations included an audacious, rhythmic demand, "Let my people go!" Moses not only saw the invisible. He heard the inaudible!

The result of Moses’ deeply spiritual and otherwise inexplicable experiences of seeing the invisible and hearing the inaudible, was that he was trusted with doing the impossible, the miraculous! The mighty works of the Almighty unfolded as Moses acted on what he had seen and heard. Generations later the Psalmist wrote songs for the people of God to sing. The songs of victory are sung because of miraculous events.

Much of Psalm 136 is devoted to the miraculous events during Moses’ tenure as Israel’s leader. I think some gifted contemporary musician ought to write a singable tune for the words of triumph.

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
⁴ to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
⁷ who made the great lights-- His love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.
¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.
¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.
¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.
¹⁶ to him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever.

The song documents what happens when one man sees the invisible, hears the inaudible and trusts God enough for the impossible. In today’s international moral morass and failing financial systems and while our culture spins in vicious ethical and spiritual confusion, those who can see the invisible and hear the inaudible must announce, "Let my people go!" The same Spirit who equipped Moses senses supernaturally is present in the world today. Men and women of the Spirit are destined to lead people out of the impossibilities of the status quo into our God’s glorious freedom.

A carton of croutons revives a memory!

Travel interrupts the rhythms of my life. When we are home, my routines help me stay a bit organized. Sleeping in different places, spending time with people, even wonderful family members, and being distracted by the unusual interrupts my writing time. So, I haven’t written for the past two weeks.

When stirring into consciousness this morning I mused, "About what should I write?" The backdrop for my musing is a mural of need, staggering life-threatening illnesses, the recent passing of a dear missionary friend and one of our faithful volunteers. Each had a strain of cancer. I have been preaching for another friend who is fighting a battle with cancer of the esophagus. People we know shiver in poorly heated homes. What can I say, what can be written to encourage, to build faith, to urge those who struggle onward?

Then, the inspiration came! I opened the refrigerator door! I only expected to reach for the milk for my cereal when I spotted the container of croutons. The processor’s label caught my eye. The label stirred the memory of a miraculous provision! Ah, I immediately knew I could write a story of God’s supernatural provision.

While renovating the building that now houses Resurrection Life Church we experienced a series of financial challenges. One of the needs was for very expensive interior doors. Several had to be fire-rated per city building codes. The state board of education mandated that all classroom doors had to have a window so that classes could be observed and children’s safety could be guaranteed. All door openings required metal jambs and commercial door closers. The average cost for each door opening approached $500. And we had more than 30 openings.

At the time one of my daily routines included reading through electronic classified ads looking for needed materials. I will never forget the morning when I saw an ad, "Interior Comerica Doors, Best Offer." No pictures. No description. I called the listed telephone number and began my inquiry. The company was renovating office space and was replacing all their office doors. Need I tell you that the doors were exactly what we needed, jambs, closers, windows in the right doors, and fire-rated?

I then asked, "What is the best offer you have received?" "None," was the answer. In response I offered the same, nothing but a receipt for a charitable donation. And the company’s vice president was delighted to see perfectly good materials being put to good use. Isn’t God good?

I think I will make sure that the crouton container is always facing me as a reminder of the blessings of the Lord!

Saying Goodbye

The quality of a friendship may be measured by how hard it is to say, "Goodbye!" Real friends enjoy one another in all sorts of circumstances. Friends share life, both the good times and the bad. Traditional marriage vows include, "in sickness and in health," and add "for richer or poorer." Pat and I have said goodbye to congregations after being warmly embraced by them for years. It’s hard!

Pat and I are saying goodbye more often now. We have reached that age when we are no longer children but a patriarch and matriarch. Children accumulate friends naturally, like snowballs rolling downhill. Elders observe as others slip away. W. Howard Roberson, the pastor emeritus of Highway Tabernacle in the early years of our tenure there said, "Most of my friends are on the other side. I don’t have many left here." Our friends are on our prayer list. They suffer from diseases and wrestle with life-limiting realities of aging. Pat and I share some of their symptoms. It is harder to say, "Goodbye!" than to romp through the energy-filled years.

The Apostle Paul expresses heart-felt affection for people in his letters. To the church at Philippi he wrote, "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."( Philippians 1:3-5) That church was rather trouble-free, but the churches at Rome, Corinth, Colosse and Thessalonika received Paul’s letters because of problems and errors. In good times and bad, Paul said, "I thank God for you," and assured, "I will be praying for you!" Paul reinforced an important truth, spiritual siblings, easy-to-get-along-with types and burr-in-the-saddle variety are God’s provision for us.

Even though Paul had not yet visited the church at Rome, he struggled with his goodbyes. His farewells absorb most of chapter 16. The Apostle recognized Priscilla and Aquila, the two that are most familiar to us on the list of names. But we know little of the others. A woman named Mary stands out in Paul’s affection because "she worked very hard for you."

Andronicus and Junias are "outstanding among the apostles." Apparently Paul met them in prison and they took the opportunity to teach Paul some of the skills of apostleship because he acknowledges "they were in Christ before I was." (Wouldn’t you like that fact on your resume? "I taught Paul how to be an apostle!")I have never met anyone who named their children Tryphena or Tryphosa! They were women who worked hard and Paul would miss them. We overlooked Rufus as a name for our son, but Jonathan would have been a namesake of one "chosen by the Lord." I think Paul was teaching us how to say "goodbye!"

Our brothers and sisters in the faith deserve notes of assurance, recognition for their contributions to the family of faith and promises of our prayer. Paul wrote Romans 16 under the same inspiration of the Spirit as chapters eight and 10 that are quoted so frequently. When I read verse 20 my faith for my friends leaps upward as I join in prayer and affirmation, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." I believe my friends, siblings in the faith, deserve to hear those words as the Spirit speaks through me.

Pat and I have been saying a long goodbye to her father. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we travel to Indiana again. We have been watching him move away. He speaks about heaven. It may not be too long before he will arrive at the place for which he has been looking for a long, long time. It is hard to say goodbye, but we really believe "the God of peace will soon crush Satan under Roy Kolas’ feet." We are also confident that Paul’s prayer and blessing, "The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you," will become our experience.

Wisdom: Recorded and Enduring

None of us have invented wisdom! All wisdom flows from God toward people. Have you noticed that examples of wisdom bubble up in history? When considering wisdom, Solomon instantly comes to mind. By the Spirit Solomon recorded, "For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her." Proverbs 8:11 (The Message) But, Solomon is not the only proponent of sound thinking and sage decision making. They are found throughout Scripture and can be found in every age. I believe wise, God-initiated ideas and decisions are the means by which God keeps his creation from growing completely rotten.

Biography and history, accounts of God at work in every age, have powerful potential to illustrate and reinforce the wisdom of the Spirit in Scripture. I am currently finding that kind of instruction from Samuel Shoemaker who disciplined himself to write, leaving a legacy if wisdom for generations which would follow him. Reverend Shoemaker served as an Episcopalian minister in New York City and Pittsburgh between 1925 and the early 60's. He left a record of his spiritual insights and manner in which ministries formed under his leadership. The more than 30 volumes written by Samuel Shoemaker comprise a library which bubbles with wisdom.

In The Power of God, Shoemaker shares insights into the work of the Holy Spirit in his parish work in Pittsburgh. The influence of the church extended to a network of Bible classes and evangelism outreaches that swept through the steel industry and city government and led Shoemaker’s association in initiating the ministry of Alcoholic Anonymous.

As the effects of ministry began to emerge, Pastor Shoemaker observed, "When we live as we should, men will ask us living questions."¹ His pastoral leadership resulted in people living out their faith in such a dynamic manner that others began to ask a reason for their different way of life. He taught people to pray listening prayers which resulted in God communicating instructions on how to advance His purposes.

One anecdote woven through several of Shoemaker’s books is the growth of a network of Bible studies throughout Pittsburgh. It began with a man who was shy and lacked confidence. His speech is described as "near stuttering." But God visited the man and used him. The first Bible study group had members from the steel workers union, management, and owners, something few ever had dreamed to be possible. The heyday of the steel industry coincided with the emergence of Shoemaker’s grassroots approach to ministry.

Samuel Shoemaker used a metaphor of the Holy Spirit being as a stream. He noted that the Spirit is not a raging river which sweeps one off his feet but a gentle stream where one can stand and be refreshed. The good pastor also noted that just as one cannot swim without getting in the water, one must enter the stream of what the Spirit is doing and follow the flow. Samuel Shoemaker imparted good advice, great counsel and enduring wisdom to big city congregations. May we live as wisely as he. "When we live as we should, men will ask us living questions."

Week of Prayer: Our God is an Awesome God

Fourteen years ago a small group of pastors serving in Philadelphia organized an annual week of prayer. The first full week of the New Year was set aside for a citywide prayer meeting. The round robin format took participating congregations to at least five unfamiliar cross-town neighborhoods. The format was, and remains, simple. The gathered church members worshiped briefly and then the host pastor reported victories of the past year, and shared special challenges the church was facing. And we prayed.

One evening we met at the building where Resurrection Life Church now meets. About 400 square feet of the more than 15,000 were swept clean, temporary heat and light warmed the space and we shivered and prayed. The concrete floor was too cold to kneel on and people huddled without taking off their winter coats. I don’t recall who started the simple chorus, but I will never forget the power of the simple affirmation. It began quietly,
Our God is an awesome God.
He reigns from Heaven above.
With wisdom, power and love;
Our God is an awesome God.
And then, it caught on! Simple, unpolished and unsophisticated people gathered in a basement of a building that had been abandoned sang, really sang! Again and again the melody carried an affirmation of trusting faith. If you had been there, you couldn’t forget that moment either!

Sunday night Philadelphia churches will begin their annual journey to five neighborhoods to pray. Parking is a challenge! The weather promises to be blustery. Cold winds will cut through coats, sweaters and scarves. But, people will gather and pray.

This year there will be no meeting at Resurrection Life Church in deference to other congregations, but the Spirit who prompted the primitive confession of faith in the basement under construction a few years ago has been faithfully drawing people to Jesus. People from that congregation, who walk to Resurrection Life will be praying with members of other churches in five locations throughout the city. New believers will learn to pray as they hear others pray in places they are visiting for the first time.

This 15th annual week of prayer promises to be powerful. The same Spirit who has been teaching people to pray since Pentecost will prompt intercessions and anoint one after another to share a word of encouragement or a building block for faith. Lives will be changed, people will be healed, and the Spirit will fill and equip people for lives of service. The prayers offered in an unfinished basement are still at work! Our God is an awesome God!

Ruminations on a faulty calendar

One of our newer family traditions is receiving a photo calendar. A large wall calendar with photos of four bright and photogenic grandchildren is a huge improvement and happy relief from the generic variety sent from local restaurants and funeral directors. The 2014 version of "The Giunta Family" calendar will be posted proudly for all our guests to admire.

The 2014 edition of the Giunta Family gift has a large flaw. The photos are "showstoppers," nothing wrong there, but January 1 is wrongly placed on Tuesday instead of the correct day, Wednesday. Someone made a "human error." If we used the otherwise beautiful work of art that kindles memories and warm affection we would likely show up a day early to appointments and worship alone on Saturdays! The pace of life is fast enough already!

I suppose we could ask everyone to adjust their calendars to ours. After all, ours is the most beautiful and satisfying to us. That suggestion is laughable! Jesus, the One who was present at the creation and who created all that is with His Father and the Spirit, taught his followers, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) Jesus set the standard for behavior as "what I command."

As the Times Square ball dropped and 2014 arrived I was reflecting on the massive changes in world culture in the past 25 years. In the early 80's our church purchased a rather primitive computer, the first church in our district to own one. The District Superintendent called and asked what we were doing! Now, my telephone has greater capacity than that first computer. Information, old and new, is flying about like scraps of paper in a hurricane-like force, but what Jesus commanded remains forever.

The church calendars of our childhood and ministry now look quaint and outdated. All-night prayer meetings and times of corporate waiting in the presence of the Spirit, especially following Sunday evening services are now memories for many. A whole generation emerges that will likely never experience what defined the church that formed us. Systematic Bible study is now often replaced with thematic curricula focusing on self-improvement. Technology allows changes to occur more quickly than ever.

Change is not wrong and is needed. Change usually includes improvements. Calendar changes are routine. Last year began on a Tuesday, 2014 on Wednesday. At the same time we must remain aware of the constants. "Obey what I command," has no substitute. God’s Word, like the Wegner-Guinta birthdays remain on June 2, 12, 21 and 22 year after year. Anniversaries and July 4^th are immoveable. While we live in a self-based culture which insists on recklessly redefining marriage, morality and mores, Jesus keeps saying to us, "The words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." (John 14:24)

This year I suggest that we who are serious followers of Jesus devote ourselves to growing in knowledge of God’s Word, that we rediscover the benefits of silence and reinforce the discipline of quiet reflection. It is essential that the Spirit of God finds His opportunity to speak while we are still. Let us believe someone, somewhere will suggest a new forum for corporate waiting, quiet seeking . . . to reintroduce a format for open-ended time of lingering and loving the Presence. It needs to catch on just as much as the 2014 Giunta Family calendar needs to be changed!