One of my most memorable spiritual moments was soon after my Dad died. He was only 52 and I was left in charge of the family business which I quickly discovered was bankrupt. Two weeks after the funeral, staggering under the weight of hundreds of decisions and wondering if I would even be able to buy groceries for my young family, I drove out to a secluded lake, got out of the car and screamed at the top of my lungs.

I let God know how angry I was. This was between me and God and I was yelling, stomping, pounding on the car – asking God why this had to happen to me.

Finally, exhausted, I slumped to the ground next to the car and cried. After a while I just sat in the silence; it was one of those “be still and know” moments.

God overwhelmed me with His presence. I didn’t hear any voice nor would I claim that God spoke to me at all, but in the stillness I felt relief.

God is bigger than my pain and confusion.

He’s there for you, too.

“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things; of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and of Kings and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings.” – Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass.

The time has come – time to move from this leaky house which God so graciously provided in August 2004. Many thanks to the United Methodist Church of Hedrick, IA for renting me their unused parsonage for a cost far less than market value. In so doing, they have subsidized my ministry for the past 7+ years! Now they’ve sold the house and it’s time to move on.

Talk about a lot of things! The house I’ll be moving to won’t be ready for several weeks but it is about one-third the space. I’ve spent hours sorting, purging, and paring down. Trying to determine what is a true priority. And some of the discoveries have brought back sweet memories of Lois and the 34 years of God-directed partnership.

Shoes, ships, and sealing wax.  Yes, I’ve found shoes hidden away – even a pair of wooden shoes from my Dutch ancestry – a string-art ship, and a box of Gulf sealing wax used in canning many years ago.

Cabbages. Trying to figure out how to deal with perishable food . . .

Kings. Although things have a tendency to become kings, packing and sorting has been a good reminder that things don’t rule me nor do they occupy a place of honor in my life.  Christ is King – Lord, Master, and Leader of my life.

I wish the sea were boiling hot. Instead I woke to several inches of snow this morning. Moving on Saturday will be a mess.

Pigs do have wings. Sound impossible? But sometimes we do the impossible. I am getting ready to take apart computers, shut down the internet connection, turn off the land-land phone, and live out of suitcases for the next month. Impossible – but it’s still going to happen!

The toll-free number will be discontinued and the only phone number I will have will be 641.799.0010 – the one most people have been using for several years. I do see email on my smart-phone. My new snail-mail address is: 13975 247^th St., Delta, IA  52550.

This past Sunday I was privileged to sit in on a church business meeting where they were considering a couple of serious questions involving both staff and finances. The moderator stated at the beginning that he had carefully read the by-laws and understood that one of the decisions would require a two-thirds majority in order to pass.

The moderator then asked, “Is a two-thirds majority enough? Shouldn’t God’s people be ‘of one mind’?” It’s a great question. (The motion requiring the super-majority was voted on by ballot and was approved 21 to 4. A clear decision but not unanimous, which is what the moderator would’ve preferred. )

Is majority rule the Biblical model for how a church should make decisions?

Church history records “congregation voting” in the London Baptist Confession of Faith from 1689 where it indicates that elders “. . . be chosen thereunto by the common suffrage (vote) of the church itself” (chapter 26, article 9).  So churches have been voting for at least 320 years but that’s less than 16% of the time since the resurrection. Does that make it right or best?

How does Philippians 1:27-30 relate to church governance? Paul writes, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”

Being of one mind seems to be early church model for decision making in the household of faith. That idea was previously illustrated in Acts 6 when leaders were chosen for food distribution. The account points to consensus, not a vote, when the proposal “pleased the whole group.” Acts 6:5

I used to think that voting was how they determined the consensus in Acts 6 but the passage doesn’t indicate that. Rather, the Bible seems to be conspicuously silent on the issue of majority rule except for some severe cases where it went badly. For instance, when the Israelites demanded a king and God directed Samuel to honor their wishes but also issue a warning that kings would eventually bring about their own destruction.

Voting wasn’t part of the cultures of either the Old or New Testaments; although Scripture gives plenty of instructions about a multitude of other subjects. Is it possible that voting is more a tradition that comes from a Greek/Western mindset and not from the Word of God?

What do you think about this? Is voting the best way to make decisions in the church?

The other day I was in my car praying as I drove. I wasn’t praying about driving, road conditions, or the truck in front of me. I was praying about a place to live and letting God know how frustrated I was. The house I’ve rented since August 2004 was now sold and had to be vacated in seven weeks. I didn’t see any reasonable options. I was at mile marker 89 on I-35 in Missouri when the Holy Spirit reminded me of an old story. You might remember this one:

There was once a man whose home was about to be flooded by a rising river. His neighbors urged him to pack up and get out. He said, “I am trusting God to rescue me” and refused to leave. A few hours later the Sheriff came by in a four-wheel drive and the water was up to the wheel hubs and he attempted to get the man to leave his house. But the man refused and reiterated his faith in God to save him from the flood.

Six hours later the man was now on the second floor of his house hanging out a window when the State Patrol came by in a motorboat. They pleaded with the homeowner to leave his house. The man definitely answered, “My God will rescue me” and rejected the offer of a boat ride.

The sun had set and darkness was just minutes away. The man was now sitting on the roof of his house surrounded by water when the National Guard helicopter hovered over him. The soldier’s voice shouted through the noise instructing the man to grab the rope ladder and climb to safety. But the homeowner rejected the offer and yelled back, “This is a test of my faith. Surely God will rescue me.”

The man drowned when his house was swept away in the flood.

Upon arriving in heaven, the man indignantly demanded an explanation from God as to why he wasn’t rescued. God replied, “I answered your prayer! I sent your neighbors, the Sheriff in a truck, the State Patrol in a motorboat, and the National Guard in a helicopter!”

Obviously, the man in the flooded house expected something different.

Ouch. That was exactly the situation I was in.

Here I was praying for God’s provision of a place to live but He had already provided.

I nearly missed the answer to my prayer because it wasn’t what I expected.

A year ago Joy and Tony bought some farm land that included a house. (We are calling it the Herrick house after the former owners who lived there for more than 50 years.) It’s located just six miles north of where my grandkids live and is actually closer to the nursing home where my Mom is a resident then where I now live. But it wasn’t what I expected. I don’t know exactly why, but I didn’t see the Herrick house as a solution. The only thing I could see was its rural location and run-down condition.

My hypocrisy was self-evident. I was praying for a house and telling God I would go anywhere and live anyplace but turning down the generosity of my family. I guess I was expecting God to provide some other way.

The rest of the drive home was a time for me to acknowledge before God that my willingness to be obedient turned out to be conditional. The next day Tony and I met with a contractor and work began immediately. The core of the house dates back to 1887 and its had at least four additions. But the structure is solid and its worth too much to just tear down.

There is a lot of work to be done: new roof, new wiring, new plumbing and new HVAC. There will be a totally new kitchen and bathroom. Pray for Travis Sines and his crew; they are determined to get things done so I can move in when I have to be out of my current house. Some mild weather is especially important so the new roof can be installed.

The scary part? I wonder how many answers to prayer I’ve missed because they didn’t fit into my preconceived idea of what the answer would look like.

From April 1975 until September 1983 I managed two different Christian Bookstores; in Jackson, MS and then in Bloomington, IN. This was before personal computers and bar code reading cash registers. Knowing the value of the books, Bibles, gifts, and music in the store was particularly important and we attempted to do so using “ledger” systems.

At least once per year I hired RGIS, a company that specializes in inventory services, to come in and “take inventory.” Eight to ten “specialists” would spend 6-8 hours handling and counting every item. The result was a breakdown which revealed the value of every department in the store: children’s books, greeting cards, Sunday School curriculum, etc. There were times when we discovered more Bibles than usual had been lost to shoplifters (the most stolen item in the store) or that we had a lot of money tied up in slow-moving commentaries.

Taking inventory was paramount to staying in business. Without solid numbers, managing cash flow and planning future purchases was nothing more than a guessing game.

As leaders we must take an honest inventory of ourselves and the Kingdom responsibilities God has entrusted to us. Only people who don’t care fail to take inventory; to honestly look at themselves and evaluate their priorities, finances, time management, family, relationships – using the immutable template of God’s Word as the standard.

“The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.” Psalm 11:4-5 (NIV)

“Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.” Psalm 26:1-3 (NIV)

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)

“Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 (MSG)

Here are some practical suggestions for taking inventory:

1. Pray – spend more time listening to God rather than talking to Him.
2. Be honest.
3. Read the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12) as if they are a personality profile. How are you doing?
4. Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) SLOWLY and reflect on how those attitudes and actions are at work in your own life.
5. Consider what a Spirit-led life produces (Gal 5:16-26) and determine what results are produced in your relationships.
6. Find at least three people and ask them to “take inventory” of your life using questions 3-5.
7. Do something about it.

This is a tough exercise; it reminds me of the discomfort I experienced when looking at the inventory totals in the store. One leader states it plainly: “facts are our friends.” Avoiding inventory only reinforces my assumptions and distorts any decisions I make based on my perceptions. Facing the realities revealed through evaluation always results in confession, repentance, changes, adjustments, and renewal.

Personal inventories are often painful but it’s a valuable pain – the kind that helps us avoid pain in the future that could be much worse.

”Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me . . . “ Psalm 139:23 (NIV)

Today the U.S. observes the 10^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks but I am rejoicing in the second anniversary of Lois arriving in Glory! Two years ago today at 11:50 am, Lois was completely healed; the cancer was gone, she received a perfect body, and joined the throngs in Heaven who arrived ahead of her.

I find it so ironic that we sing songs and talk about how much we long for heaven but then do everything we can to avoid getting there very soon.

If there is anything that I find upsetting about Lois’ death, it’s that she arrived in heaven before me! In our utopian expectations we were supposed to arrive together.

I did not lose Lois – I know exactly where she is. Her skin and bones were left on the couch in our living room where she took her last breath. Her soul, the real Lois, is with God the Father and His Son, Jesus. Fortunately we have the Holy Spirit here with us to bear witness to the reality of eternal life.