I Don’t Know What to Say!

You’ve said, “If I was more comfortable in talking with folks about spiritual matters, I’d do more of it, but I don’t know what to say.” That is fair enough. So let me provide you with tips to make your job easier.

#1. Have a purpose when you call, stop by, or write. Invite then to a class or church-wide event and offer to meet them at the door, mention time change Sunday, highlight next Sundays lesson theme or scripture, ask for/update contact information, or solicit a prayer request, (but only if you will pray.)

#2. State your purpose up front. Then do what you say you’ve come by or telephoned to do. This will help put both of you at ease. Nothing like living up to your promises for earning you the right to talk about The One who keeps all His promises.

#3. What have you read recently in your Bible that meant something to you individually? Mention it, explain why it was valuable to you personally, and ask if they have had anything like that happen to them recently.

#4. Practice the story of your salvation experience by writing it out on a single page. Once you know how you want to tell the beginning part of your spiritual journey, ask someone if you can tell them about an event in your life that shapes who you are today.

#5. Ask someone to lift you up in prayer before you stretch your newly expanded comfort zone.

“I don’t know what to say.” Not any more!

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
January 27, 2009

Leaving Dim for Dark

It must have been a cloudy day, otherwise we would have had sufficient light to walk through that section of the downstairs hallway. Or maybe it was early enough in the day that the east rising sun had not yet crested the roof line and we were on the west side of the building. In either case, with the florescent tubes dark above our heads and no solar assistance, we were literally, “In the dark.”

My companion and I were walking into a dark hallway and, to reach our destination, we had to traverse still further into the darkened space. We left the dimness for the darkness. Only once we had progressed through it could we arrive at the point where the lighting from the upward reaching stairway would help us see the surface to which we were applying our feet.

I led the way. I had walked this hall many times when it was well lit. My friend was new to it and so needed some reassurance that stepping further into the black space would yield a favorable result. So I coaxed him to advance on in. He was willing and passed from the comfort of light to the shadowless obscurity and through it to the sparsely lit surfaces which eventually gave in to a well lit corridor.

Are you as sure as I that God can lead us, that He can take us into and then through appointed places where we cannot detect the light, where we may only go when we are confident in His guidance? To reach and rejoice in the happy places which are separated by some distance in time or experience from the difficult hours, many a saint has travelled through darkness first. But The One who takes us there knows the territory and He knows us.

I think I can do the darkness if The Light is my personal guide. And you?

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
January 20, 2009

Wall Socket

Here at South Haven we do a number of things well and we are doing a number of things better. One area we are improving is our Sunday morning security check for the kids. Part of improving this aspect of our work has been to place a check-in station at the entrance to the fifth and sixth grade rooms.

Several factors where in play concerning where to place the kiosk. A number of individuals would use this check-in station, so its location would be important for all of them.

We looked at issues like normal traffic patterns, hallway clearance, lighting, and general ease of access. Ultimately the overriding cause for our carefully deliberated site choice was the location of the available power source. This was as far as the power cord would reach.

Interestingly, we could have selected a more distant point had we preferred it, if our network cable had been the determining factor. It was longer than the power cord by several feet.

This is so much like life. Though we often have enough information accessible, perhaps even an abundance of it, just having a set of facts does not qualify us to make productive choices. We have to stay within the reach of the power source. What our power source dictates to us may keep us within a narrower circumference. That could be a negative until we discover how very vital our power connection is to a positive outcome. Information can only take us so far without power.

Facts are not guidance enough for the believer. We must stay linked to the One who empowers us. His wisdom sees past what we can know to what we must do if we are to fulfill His purpose in our lives. No believer wants to simply get by on what he/she knows when what God blesses is close at hand.

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
January 14, 2009

TRUST

Now here is a word from inside another word you don’t think of as being inside the other word. This is the bigger word: “repent”. And this is the littler word found inside it: “trust”.

Ponder it from this perspective. If you really couldn’t do what was right, either the first time around or the second time around, would God ask you to get back on track?

When God calls us to repentance He is expressing a huge measure of confidence in our ability to do the right thing. If you missed it on the first shot, shoot again. God knows you are capable. So get on with it!

While you are ruminating, consider this: if you are going to pull it off either time, you are likely going to have to trust Him for the strength to do it anyway. Trust Him both to direct and energize your obedience.

Your change of attitude and course are God-blessed, evidence in His trust of you as well as your trust of Him.

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
January 6, 2009