John Albert Thomas Solo Piano

A Bit About Aging

I hope you moms had a special Mother’s Day!  I know you moms deserve more than a day, but I hope this past Sunday was extra special.

Our church has begun to schedule a monthly visit to a nearby nursing home in Gallaway, just down the road a bit.  (I’ve lived in the South long enough to know what “a bit” is, but for the life of me I can’t find it in the table of weights and measures!)  Since Sunday was Mother’s Day, several families went to visit the elderly ladies at the nursing home after the morning service.  Many of us were a bit (another fine use of the word!) nervous venturing out into the unknown.  We had to deny our relentless desire for comfort.

Our children had worked hard on previous Sunday evenings creating Mother’s Day crafts to give as gifts.  Our nervousness ebbed away as we saw the beautiful and sometimes toothless smiles of the elderly ladies as they reached out to receive their colorful rewards.  Kim Horne and I helped lead the singing of some old hymns, and Mike Hopkins preached an appropriate sermonette.  Many of them seemed to appreciate it.  I even had the privilege of walking an elderly woman back to her room as she was expecting a Mother’s Day visit from one of her children.

I must also confess something deeper was going on in the chambers of my mind and my heart.  When I saw the reality of aging it was like looking at the mirror and realizing, “I may be here someday.”  What will be important to me then when I am no longer independent?  What’s left?  How could I live in such a physical/mental condition?  Perhaps that is why many young people including myself don’t cross the threshold of institutions like this.  We live our youth on cloud nine, but a place like this grabs us by the ankles and yanks us down to reality. 

I had to think about this for a while and here’s what I make of it so far. 

God in His mercy gave us a gift that requires no independence whatsoever—the ability to give and receive love.  In fact, He provided a way of salvation that is accessible by the most dependent person;  100% dependence on Jesus Christ.  We must trust in Him as much as those elderly ladies trust in their wheelchairs and their caregivers.  Jesus said that we must become like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Perhaps it is His mercy that we slowly return to that posture of dependence that comes naturally to a child.  Perhaps aging is God’s gift to a life-hardened heart, to till the soil and break up the clay, and help us realize that independence is a temporary privilege.  How then shall we live while we have it?  May we live in daily dependence on Him.

House of Prayer

I have indicated previously that my prayer life is woefully lacking even after almost 30 years of walking with God.  The amount of time devoted to prayer has been slim to none, though I do not neglect it altogether.  Lately, God has convicted me of this lack of dependence, as well as my apathy for the Bible itself.  I am ashamed that I have not exemplified a healthy devotional life before my children, which my own father portrayed beautifully before me and my siblings.  I have determined to break my old, undisciplined habits while there is still time.

I expressed these thoughts to one of my pastors, as well as my concern that we have neglected prayer as a church body.  I can’t say that it has been absent, but rather shallow.  I fear that we have fallen into the trap of mistaking activity and programs for ministry at the expense of personal time alone with God.  I know that I have.  But fortunately, I see and hear of the growing hunger for God in our people.  The pastors have detected this as well and have asked me to develop and implement a prayer strategy for our church, to make sure that prayer remains one of the three pillars:  prayer, praise and the proclamation of the Word.  All three components are essential in the private devotional life of a Christian, and public gatherings should be an extension of that.

I have accepted this task along with my dear friend Louis Magnifico.  I have begun investigating the strategies of other church bodies and organizations to learn from those more experienced and knowledgeable in this area.  But most importantly, I must develop a disciplined habit of prayer in my personal walk with God.  May God lead me into a closer walk with Him.  May it be contagious so that our people will benefit from the same fellowship with the Father.  May I never stop till I am satisfied.  May I never be satisfied.

Financial Redemption

It’s 4:45 a.m. I can’t sleep…I’m too excited. Why? Financial redemption.

Miriam-Webster defines “redeem” as, “to buy back; to get or win back.”

I’m talking about buying money back. But why is this keeping me awake, and what does this have to do with faith?

In December, Becky and I became sales agents for United First Financial. We sell Money Merge Accounts (MMA), which basically gives you access to a piece of software that guarantees to help you pay off mortgages in as little as 1/2 to 1/3 the normal time, saving thousands of dollars in interest and years of payments. When we first looked at the program we were quite skeptical of the claims and wondered if it was a scam, but we found that the program holds up under the most ardent analysis. The FDIC not only said that it was legal, but it also said that banks do the same thing only in reverse.

When we ran an analysis for out situation, the software guarantees to help us save over 14 years of payments and about $180K of interest. We were floored. That didn’t factor in any upcoming pay raises, tax returns, gifts, etc. It also did not factor in any commission from sales that we make. And the really incredible thing is that you don’t have to pay anything out of pocket, you don’t have to change your lifestyle or cash flow, and you don’t have to pay extra payments every month to do it.

When we ran an analysis for some friends last night, it promised to save them about 20 years of payments and about $250K of interest. They got nauseous thinking about it. I doubt they slept much tonight either!

Now, what does this have to do with faith?

Yesterday, in church, our worship music leader (Tim) mentioned that the church was struggling to pay the salaries and the bills, which is understandable in a new church plant. Well, we want to give so much, but things have been tight around our house until now. We’ve sold three MMAs so far, and we’re awaiting our first commission check. We’ll be able to increase our giving now!

But that’s not what’s keeping me awake. My fellow believers, including my friends last night, who use this program will have their houses paid off in the next 10 years, instead of 30 years; this obviously means they won’t have monthly mortgage payments. What if the entire church (I’m referring to the members) were completely debt-free in ten years? How much more could folks then give? What an incredible prospect!

Every time I think about it I get excited, and when I’m this excited I can’t sleep. Reminds me of our childhood vacations to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We would all get in the car and leave at 3 a.m. Trying to sleep was pointless then, and it sure seems pointless tonight!