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

Message in A Minute: Check Your Heart

As I’ve mentioned in a previous Message In a Minute, in the past I had a unique job working with teenagers.

I was a counselor for teenagers who were in state’s custody.

Usually these teens had limited contact with their families, if they had any contact at all. Because of their age and some behavioral issues, the teenagers weren’t ideal candidates for foster families. The company I worked for looked after and educated the teens in basic life skills.

I was ordained as a Pastor a few years before I started working with this company.

I enjoyed getting to know the teens and helping them through challenging situations. I wasn’t allowed to bring up any religious topics with the teens, unless they brought up the idea first. I never pushed any agenda but I would willingly answer any questions the teens had. I concentrated on teaching life skills and building relationships.

About a month after I started working there, one of the boys came to me expressing fear and uncertainty. I got to know this boy well in a short time, we connected through basketball, video games, and music. But this evening, I could tell something was really bothering him.

He sat down in front of me, checked to see if anyone else was around and asked me, “Did you know that a Pastor works here?” I answered with a vague “really?” He assured me that it was true. He heard it from another teen who heard it from another counselor. It was obvious, he didn’t know which counselor was the Pastor. I went on to ask him why that bothered him. I’ll never forget his answer.

“Because I’m gay, and a Pastor probably wouldn’t like me.”

That evening, I had two strong emotions.

First, I experienced extreme sorrow, knowing this young man felt fear about being around a religious authority figure. I wondered what happened in his life to teach him this fear. And I sensed the pain of the collateral wounds inflicted by the religion verses culture war.

This young man had been hurt in the crossfire.

Second, I experienced great joy as I revealed to the young man that I was the Pastor, and there was nothing to fear from me. I explained to him that I knew he was gay from the first time we met, and it made little difference in how our friendship developed. I made sure he knew I cared about him.

We continued to shoot basketball, play video games, and disagree about what kind of music was best.

He had more questions, we had more conversations, and we laughed about almost everything. It was a positive, grace filled, healthy, mentoring relationship. I will always value it.

Much could be said about the justification for his fear, whose fault it was, the anxiety propagated by all sides, and the theological, biological, environmental, societal, and familial realities of every story. But that’s not what I’m dealing with here.

Remember when you’re fighting important battles, check your motives, check your methods, and most of all, check your heart.

Relate, listen, speak, agree or disagree with grace, peace, and love.

People are more sacred than policies, being right is intertwined with loving right, and nothing should stop us from caring about each other.

Act justly, exude mercy, speak humbly.

Live out loud the love of God.

-Tom Wise

Message In A Minute: The Strength of Forgiveness

When my wife and I were newlyweds, we lived in an apartment in a questionable part of town.

One morning we discovered that someone had tried to steal my wife’s Jeep. The steering column was damaged and there was a screwdriver laying on the floorboard. Apparently the thief couldn’t get the vehicle started so he settled for stealing all the CDs and a first generation cell phone.

We were angry to say the least. If I had seen it happening, I likely would’ve gotten violent. We filled out a police report and insurance covered some minor repairs but that wasn’t the end of the story.

Very shortly after this happened, I started a new job. I was a counselor for teenagers who were in our state’s custody. Usually these teens had limited contact with their families, if at all. Because of their age and behavior they generally weren’t candidates for foster families. The company I worked for looked after and educated the teens in basic life skills.

Many of them had rough lives and were often in trouble. I got to know all of them very well and helped in all the ways I could. It was a rewarding job in many aspects.

In a short time, I got to know one of the boys well, we shared the same interests in sports. We had a few long conversations. His childhood was difficult, a broken home, abuse, neglect, poverty, and abandonment was all he knew. I felt proud of him for making it through all of that.

One evening, he confessed that he used to break into vehicles in the area. After a few questions we figured out that he was probably the one who broke into my wife’s Jeep. His face turned red, his shoulders dropped, and he stared at the floor.

So there I was, within arms reach of the object of my anger.

But I didn’t feel anger at all, in fact, I laughed.

The boy apologized over and over again. I assured him that it was all forgiven. And we got hysterical about the fact that all he was able to take to the local pawn shop that day was my wife’s Christian CDs.

To this day, I still find forgiveness a difficult choice, but it seemed extremely easy this time.

When you know a person’s story, everything changes.

When you get the whole picture, the scene looks different.

When you build a relationship, understanding naturally occurs.

On a daily basis, we have choices to ostracize others or be open to them, write them off or welcome them, ignore them or include them.

You have every right to protect yourself and your property. We should never allow others to take advantage of us. There are definite times to take a stand.

But we have to balance that with compassion when the time comes. Don’t let anger be the final word. Let mercy overtake your heart.

The strongest act in all of humanity is to forgive.

-Tom Wise

Message In A Minute: He Is The Source

Our favorite local Mexican restaurant serves free meals on Christmas Eve.

They don’t advertise this at all.

On that day, when you finish eating, you are handed a bill like every other day. When you take the bill to the register so you can pay, the employee says “Merry Christmas”, then the ticket is discarded. Many of the locals know its coming and are very appreciative.

It’s a wonderful surprise for others.

We know the restaurant does this every Christmas Eve, so we go there and tip our waiter extremely well.

A couple years ago, we noticed another local pastor and his wife taking there bill up front. I assumed they were familiar with the procedure, so I made the not so witty joke “I paid for yours.” What I didn’t realize is the Pastor and his wife didn’t know about the reoccurring free Christmas meal.

Later, on social media, my wife and I discovered that we were credited with paying for the couple’s meal. They didn’t mention our names, but their post expressed gratitude towards “anonymous” people meeting our description. Since we weren’t directly named in the post, I thought I’d simply clear up the misunderstandIng the next time we saw the couple.

Since then, we forgot about the incident. As far as we know, we received credit for something we didn’t do. We were shown gratitude for a gift we didn’t give.

That’s no big deal in the grand scheme of things. It was a meal not a miracle.

In your life, don’t let there be a misunderstanding about the source of every good thing in your life. God is the source, He directly blesses or indirectly blesses using other people or circumstances. Express your appreciation to others for their kindness, but realize ultimate credit goes to God. Let Him know you are aware of His goodness.

It’s not that God will be angry about losing out on any credit. It’s more relational than that. It is about each of us learning to trust God in every area of our lives. It is about understanding the source of every good gift is God. That strengthens our faith.

Think about all the good gifts.

Life, from God.
Grace, from God.
Blessings, from God.
Forgiveness, from God.
People we love, from God.

Your strength, mental capacity, unique talents, work ethic, and fortitude are all God’s design.

You may or may not view life this way, but I encourage you to be sincerely open to this perspective.

Whether the blessing drops down from heaven, comes through your own hard work, is delivered through a kind person, or seems like it was all a coincidence. Trust that God is in control. He is the bestower of all that is good.

See God as the author of creation, the sustainer of life, and the giver of every good gift. Show gratitude to others if they played a part in the good gift. But know in your heart that God is the source of all blessings.

He is the spark of creation, the catalyst for life, the impetus of grace, and the inspiration for every act of good will.

The credit is His alone.

-Tom Wise