Category Archives: Guest Posts

Message In A Minute: Take The Detour

The town I live in is separated from the neighboring town by a good sized river. 

It’s not the Mississippi but i believe it is the largest river in the state. In order to cross this river there is one bridge in the area. Being the only bridge connecting the 2 towns, every year there is a “Battle of the Bridge”, which is where the high school football teams from both towns play. The winner of the game is deemed, the winner of the bridge. It’s a fun tradition going back for years. 

Within the last 5 years or so, the old bridge was finally replaced with a nice, new bridge. It’s wider and lit up nicely at night. And more importantly, it doesn’t make you question your sanity for crossing it like the old one did. 

My family and I don’t have a need to cross this bridge every day, but we do drive past it often enough. It’s only a mile or so from my house situated off of the main road through town. 

Inevitably, when we pass the bridge my 3 yr old son will ask if we can cross “my new bridge”. 

One night, around 8:00, it was just my son and I driving towards this bridge in order to get to our pharmacy. Of course he asks his question as we’re sitting at the red light at the base of the bridge. “Can we cross my bridge?”  My response was something along the lines of “not right now bub, maybe another time”. After all, I had to get to the pharmacy before it closed. 

As we drove on I saw him in my mirror just looking out of the window and I thought, after the pharmacy, if he wants to cross that bridge, then we are crossing that bridge. 

Sure enough, when we came back to the bridge and stopped at the red light, he asked again “Daddy, can we cross my bridge now?”

Little did he know I was already in the turn lane to cross his bridge. 

We start up the bridge to the sound of his hands clapping and as we get to the top I see him struggling to look out the window and down at the water. He was excited just for the view, and he was happy to discover that we just had to turn around and cross it again. I’m pretty sure he had a smile on his face for the rest of the 5 minute trip home. 

I will always provide what my children need. And when I can, I’ll provide what they want, as long as it isn’t harmful to them. 

God does the same for us. He provides for our needs. At times he blesses us with more.

He delights in us (Psalm 18:19). He smiles when we smile. Sometimes He finds joy in the detours. But He always tries to keep us on track and going in the right direction. 

A lot of Jesus’ ministry was detour requests of His children. His sole purpose on this earth was to die for the sins of everyone, yet he was constantly detoured by request of healing or feeding the crowd or raising the dead. 

He took these detours, not because it was required to fulfill His mission, but because His children asked It of Him. 

I know at times he got frustrated. His mission was to lead people back to God through his sacrifice. Yet he wasn’t constantly being pulled in different directions. 

“Lord, my daughter is sick.”

“If you had come sooner, my brother would still be alive.”

“The people are hungry, what are we going to do?”

“They are out of wine.”

“I just wanted to touch the hem of your robe.”

But he took the time to fulfill their requests, because he loved them. What was important to them, was important to him. Even if it detoured him from his mission briefly. He found joy in the detours. 

So, go the extra mile. 

Help others. 

Take the detour. 

Cross that bridge.

-Clay Wise

Message In A Minute: Name Your Place

When you go to the beach, the houses have names.  

Cute and catchy phrases are posted near the doors or on the fronts of the houses.  Names like “Something Fishy”, “Seaside Serenade”, “Driftwood Cottage”, and “Aftah Dune Delight”. Sometimes a little cheesy, it adds to the vacation getaway, relaxing, home away from home feel.

Streets and roads have names too.  Names are given to bridges and landmarks and mountains… a lot of times honoring local and national heroes.  Senators and congressmen often get their names used because of the impact they’ve made on their state and city governments.  Athletes are often honored too, especially when they’ve brought attention to their hometowns.  

Names mean a lot to us.

While most of us don’t have a cutesy name plaque by the front door of our house… we name the places we live.

Depression.

Sickness.

Betrayal.

Divorce.

Financial Defeat.

Failure.

Death.

We name these places and we name these roads and we name these mountains.  We name it because we have to live in it and carry it around.  With heavy hearts and weary legs, we walk up these summits of debt, pain, and heartache.

There goes Abraham, trudging up a mountain side with a fire in one hand and a knife in the other, his son beside him, knowing that at the top he was going to offer that son, his promised son, on an altar to God.  

Weary legs.

Heavy heart.

We trudge along carrying all this weight upon us because of the things that have been said to us, done to us… things we didn’t want, things we didn’t ask for, things we never imagined… but they happened anyway and now here we are.

Just like Rachel, she trudged along, pregnant, and in great pain she gave birth to a son who she named Son of My Sorrow.

Just like the wife of the priest Phinehas, when she heard that the ark of the covenant had been stolen and her husband was dead, she went into labor and gave birth and named her son Ichabod meaning “Where is the glory”… “Israel’s glory is gone”.

Can you imagine growing up and hearing your name every day and knowing it meant something bad?  That your name was basically a death sentence of despair and hopelessness?  When people said your name, it formed a picture of doom and gloom?

We do the same thing when we get up and look in the mirror every day, see our reflection and say “I just don’t know how I will ever be anything but a failure, or I’m just depressed, or I’m not capable of making it out of this crisis.”

Every step that Abraham took, God saw.  The mountain he climbed was named Moriah, “seen by Yahweh”.  God saw every step he took.  God saw his faithfulness, and He provided a ram.  Abraham built an altar and named that place Jehovahjireh which means “the Lord will see to it”, “the Lord will provide”.  

That mountain was the place of God’s provision.

So hang up a sign.  Give your place a name.

Forgiveness.

Healing.

Restoration.

Peace.

Renewal.

Because every place you are is a place for God to see and for God to provide.

“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”

Genesis 22:14

-Rebekah Lilly

Message In A Minute: Dirty Hands

I’m not a fan of having dirty hands.

With kids, you have to expect it though. I don’t mind dirt when I’m working on something or in the middle of a task. But as soon as it’s done, I want my hands clean. 

When my 9 year old daughter goes to the beach, she loves the sand. She has ever since she was little. She’d get all wet in the ocean, then run up to the dry sand and sit right in it. Or she’d lay down on it and roll around. Completely covering herself in it. 

Then she’d ask me to sit and play with her. Building sandcastles and digging trenches to watch the water flow. I would obviously do it. And we would have fun, but as soon as she was done, all I wanted to do was to get the sand off of my hands. 

My daughters favorite messy creation is what she calls “muck sand”. That is the wettest sand you can find. The part that is either under water constantly or at the very least never has time to dry. She would make us muck sand pies and muck sand drinks or muck sand soup. And I would dutifully sit in the surf and enjoy my muck sand delights. 

When I think of God, one of the first words that come to mind is perfect. Perfect gives the image of purity, bright, unblemished or clean. When I read Genesis 1, I get those same images. God speaking everything into existence. 

Light, land, water, birds, fish, elephants, mosquitoes (why?). Everything is distinct and created by the power of His voice. 

Except one, man.

In Genesis Chapter 2 God does something different. He shoves his hand into the dust/dirt (maybe muck sand) and formed humans. A perfect and unblemished God, getting his hands in the mess to create us.  That’s personal. That’s saying “I love this creation so much that I’ll dirty my hands for it.”

Later on when Jesus walked the earth he continued to get in our mess. He walked on dusty streets. He placed his hands directly on the lepers. He touched dead bodies to bring them back to life. And one time, he even spit into the dirt/sand creating mud or, you guessed it, muck sand, to put into a man’s eyes to heal his blindness. 

Whatever mess or muck you find yourself in, know that the perfect and unblemished Son of God isn’t afraid to get in your muck with you. 

He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. 

He will meet you wherever you may be, to offer you his hand and help you out of your mess. 

-Clay Wise