Put The Phone Back On The Hook

 

When was the last time you heard that expression?

Our former pastor’s wife told us about getting a phone call one day on their land line in the living room .  When she had to go into the kitchen she told her little boy to go into the living room and put the phone back on the hook.  He came back a few minutes later with a puzzled look on his face and when she asked him what was wrong he said, “What’s a hook?”

Now we blog, tweet, email, chat on facebook, skype, and a whole host of other forms of communication with new names.

I wonder which one will be obsolete or “not cool” (as my grandchildren tell me quite often), by the end of this decade and what new words we will have to learn!

"Rag Dolls and Plastic Horses"

I have a book in my library by Robert G. Hobson   The title was so intriguing, when I saw it in the Christian book store that I just had to buy it.  The name of the book is “Rag Dolls and Plastic Horses.”

The author told a story of visiting a missionary family in Papau New Guinea.  The couple’s two young children were playing in another room.  After a while the little boy came in the room where they were.  He was carrying a rag doll under one arm and a plastic horse under the other.  He declared defiantly, “These are mine!”

They laughed and kept on talking, but Mr. Hobson said he could not help but remember the “fiercely determined, willful look of arrogance for such a little boy.”

               

A rag doll and a plastic horse have no value.  The rag doll can’t talk or feel and a plastic horse cannot be ridden.  But to a three year old there was nothing quite as important; although there could be no relationship only ownership.

Mr.  Hobson writes:  ”We as Christians have our pet doctrines, evangelical cliche’s, theologies, denominations, evangelical phrases, hymns and choruses.  Should anyone doubt their value, all one needs to do is to challenge us and we will hear…”These are mine.”‘

James and I drove the church bus for a while when we were in Texas.  Along the way in our community, we passed several churches of all different denominations where people in our town met for worship.  We knew many of them and they were all good people.  They were as passionate about their denomination and what they believed as we were.  So one day we ask a pastor friend of our about this and his reply was, “Well, they are just wrong.”

We got very involved in the prison ministry and made an incredible discovery.  There were no denominational barriers to overcome, no programs, no church bulletin with a schedule of events.  There was just a group of people, some curious, some bored, but some genuinely wanting to know about God and the life He has to offer them.

We spent so much time there,a deacon in our church who was a very good friend of ours, told us, “Jesus did not die for those prisoners, He died for that church” and he pointed to the building.

We love our buildings, although Christ said He would come to live in a “building not made with hands” and that building is us.

We love our hymns and yet if we really read the words of some of them, they are not even scriptural, no matter how old they are or how long we have been singing them.

We have mission statements and church by-laws, programs, and business meetings, visitation, Bible school, committees to take care of everything from the nursery to the grounds.  We even have our names engraved on plaques on the pews.

The Children of Israel had laws for everything from which sin offering to bring to the priest right down to how far they could walk on the Sabbath and when they should wash their hands.

They fell in love with their “rag dolls and plastic horses” which had no life and lost sight of the One Who had called them and set them apart for His purpose.  The Chosen people were to demonstrate the presence and power of God in this natural realm.

God’s plan and purpose has not changed, only His place of residence.  He will come to live in us to demonstrate His presence and power in this world!

Let me give you an example.  When the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and planted the seed of Christ, the Son of God; for a little while you could not tell there was a change in her.  But little by little that which was growing in her began to “show” in her life on the outside.  Then there came a time when the Christ on the inside of her became manifest on the outside for all to see.

God did not come to live in us to give us something to do.  That was the law.  From the very beginning, His plan and purpose when He created man was to manifest Himself in a physical realm.

It is time to put away our rag dolls and plastic horses, do away with or sacred cows and admit that Christianity as we have known is does not work.

As a believer,God has taken up residence in us.  We are now His dwelling place.  He didn’t renovate us, He made us brand new.  We have many rooms in this new dwelling place to discover.  In these rooms are “everything that pertains to life and godliness” “according to His riches in glory.”

He’s given us the keys.  Let’s explore these rooms together.  And by the way, there are no “rag dolls and plastic horses” in this house!

"What Are Some Common New Year's Resolutions?"

    Every New Year we pull them out.......you know....."the list."  Those things we resolved to do or not to do anymore.  We have blissfully forgotten that last year  (or was it the year before) we pledged to ourselves that this year it would be different.  We would actually make resolutions that we fully intended to keep.

    What are some common "New Years' Resolutions" this year?  They begin with the usual:  spending more time with family and friends and enjoying life more.  We resolve to lose weight, exercise regularly, quit smoking, quit drinking,  and the list goes on....*sigh*

    Where does our desire for new resolutions come from each year?  Maybe some of the things that we have been doing have caused health issues and so we decide to quit doing some things and start doing others.  Perhaps our relationships have begun to falter or lose that spark they once had and so we resolve to make whatever changes are necessary to mend or save these relationships.

    My husband and I began such a journey many years ago.  After years of resolutions and attempts to change things ourselves, our relationship (which began all wrong in the first place) was in shambles and our family was in total disarray.

    I wish I could say we had some kind of noble calling, but that would be far from accurate.  We were and still are believers, we attended church regularly, drove the church van, taught classes and did the best we knew how to live the "christian" life.

    Finally, separated, angry, and bitter, we reached the end of ourselves and our self-effort.  With no place else to turn, we cried out to God for help.  Well, He did put us back together, but we were just like we were before.  However; as we began to really look around at other believers, they were not really any better off than we were!

    We made a startling discovery:   Christianity as we knew it did not work.  So we prayed what was to be the most life changing prayer of our lives.  "Lord, we want to know the TRUTH of Your Word the way You meant it when You inspired it to be written, and not what some man has said it means."

    Our "resolution" may not have even been at the beginning of the year, but with this declaration and prayer began a journey that has only intensified our resolve as the years have passed.  We began to have a hunger for the Word of God and we literally had books and tapes to show up at our home in the mail and even on the steps of our house!  To this day we do not know who sent them, but they were a constant reminder that God was answering our cry.

    God put people into our lives that spoke truth to us from the Word of God that we had never heard before.  We learned to study and invested everything we could afford in traveling to camp meetings, seminars, family and marriage conferences and deliverance and healing ministries.

    Little by little the pieces of the puzzle began to fit and years of religious bondage began to fall away like the scales from the Apostle Paul's eyes!  Suddenly we had ears to hear and the more we heard, the more wonderful the story grew.  How great our God is and patient and kind and how great is His plan for our lives. 

    Where did we get off track?  I don't know the answer to that except to say that from the very beginning it has been our tendency...."yea, hath God said?"  That lie continues to haunt us today as we cannot believe that our God can be THAT good.  Well, He is THAT good and even more than we can comprehend.  

    And that brings me to the reason for writing this.  As you are planning your "New Years' Resolutions" this year, why not make it a radical one that instead of you changing, it can change you! 

   Oh.....and about that journey of ours...to be continued...............

Happy New Year!