Thank You, Lord

Breathe in… breathe out.

 Do it again, only this time close your eyes and be mindful. Listen, pay attention to your body and your surroundings. Feel the air come through your nose, expand your lungs, and lift your chest. Feel the earth beneath your feet, and hear the world around you. Allow yourself to be bored and unstimulated for just a moment.

 (stop reading, this will still be here when you get back)

 What did you feel? if you actually did it, you should feel more relaxed and in tune with yourself and your surroundings. What did you hear? Feel? See?

 I heard my lungs expanding, my wife laughing, birds singing and water droplets from last night’s rain. I felt my dog's soft coat touching my foot and the warmth of my clothes. I smelled brewing coffee and a burning candle. When I opened my eyes I saw the morning sun beaming into my living room and fish swimming in the backyard pond.

 Before I did this exercise, I was stressed. I was thinking to myself, “what am I going write about? What does God want me to say about gratitude?” I was staring at the blinking line on Word. All I could sense was my work, my computer, and my Bible in front of me. So, as I usually do, I stopped, pulled back, closed my eyes, and breathed. I said a quiet “thank you, Lord” in the exhale, and then, all of a sudden, my eyes were opened to see God's goodness. Breathe in my lungs, a beautiful wife, the song of birds, rain to refresh the earth, a cute dog, clothes on my back, good coffee, a cozy candle, beautiful fish, and the gift of another day of life.

 When we become mindful, we are able to see what is truly there; we are able to catch what we miss when we are in motion. Like a photo, the goodness of God is best captured when we are still. Even if it seems like there is very little, or much, to be grateful for, if we can bring ourselves be still and mindful our eyes would be opened up to see so much more.

 And when we see more, our hearts become all the fuller with gratitude and thanksgiving. The Apostle Paul wrote, [give] thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20 ESV).

 As we all take this time to give thanks, stop and breathe for a moment, that your eyes may be open to see more than you see now. And as you exhale, say “thank you Lord.”

 Happy Thanksgiving.

—Pastor Alex Portillo

Be Made Available to the King

In the most painful moment of Jesus’s death, where he drew his last breath, that was when we found most, our joy, our freedom.

God is love (1 John 4:8). His love, completely contrasting to the world’s dying love, is unfailing, steadfast, faithful, committed, and eternal. Jesus loved, so he sacrificed, he suffered. God loved, so he sacrificed, he suffered.

Today, as our heavenly Father is calling your name, engraved in the palm of his hand, calling you to open up your heart, your wounds, so that he may dwell in you- will you open up your heart to him? Are you ready to dive deeper into God’s love? And if you are ready, if you are willing, he is just as ready to dive deeper as you are. He is always ready to unconditionally love you.

Availability; capability of advantageous use. Because of Jesus, who is abundantly enough, you are capable and enough to serve for his purpose.

Let’s take a moment to be available to him right now.

Lord, thank you for always working in us. For gently tapping our hearts to show us your faithful love. Today, we lay down our selfish desires, our brokenness, our hurt, our anger, all down, so we may fully experience your glorious presence. You are our redeemer, our helper, our military aid, our rock, our foundation, and we look up to you in these troubling times. Let us be made willing to love you deeper today, to be surrounded by your love. Amen.

P.S.

Thank you from the deepest depths of my heart, Meadow Glade Church, for opening up your hearts to accept the word of God and what he had put in my heart. My prayers go out to each and every one of you.

love,

—Amy Akeda

A brief letter to a church I love, in the middle of a difficult time in our nation's history

I begin by letting you know I wrote this when the results of the election and the responses from various groups around the country were still unsure (recognizing they still may be unsure even at the time I read this to you). I know some of us may be elated and some of us may be devastated. I know some of us are anxious and some of us are at peace. We do not know everything going on around us in our country, but we know it is, has, and will continue to affect our church life together.

I have two messages. First, God is here for you. Our God does not abandon us when we feel our country has failed us. Our God does not abandon us when we feel our country has excelled for us. Our God did not abandon the Israelite's when they were in Egypt. God did not forget the people under Marxist Communism, nor Apartheid, nor genocide, nor democracies at the best and worst. God can support you, reach out.

Second, we are here for you. When I say we, I mean your pastors. When I say we, I mean your leaders. When I say we, I mean your fellow church members. If you are in pain, we are here to support you, to pray for you, to listen to you, to love you. I know a couple of us pastors may feel foreign to you with all the changes, but I invite you not to let any unfamiliarity you may have with us be a barrier between us! Perhaps God has brought us together at this time for just this purpose so we can go through a difficult time together. You can find our phone numbers and emails all over the place. We can support you, reach out.

—Jonny Moor

Stay Focused

Soon after the 1844 disappointment, Ellen White had a vision in which she saw the “travels of the Advent people to the Holy City of God.” (EW p.14) She saw a straight and narrow path cast above the dark world. A light shone on the path to give light for their feet so that they might not stumble. “If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe.” (EW p.14)

But many grew weary and became distracted. “The light behind them went out… and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark wicked world below.” (EW p.15) And just as they fell, the eyes of the faithful were drawn to the east where they saw a small black cloud half the size of a man’s fist. Everyone solemnly gazed at the cloud as it drew closer knowing that it was the sign of the coming of the Lord.

The first thing to notice is obvious: those who keep their eyes on Jesus are the ones who remain on the path, those who do not, fall off. The second thing to notice is that had those who lost focus just remained focused a little longer, they too would have seen the fist-cloud. Whatever the distraction was, it was strong enough to remove the Advent people’s gaze off of Christ right before the coming of the Lord.

Have you ever wondered how these companies make millions by giving their apps away for free? It is because we, in fact, are the product, not the consumer. Our attention is the product and companies that desire our money are their customers. By giving us the ability to download from the app “store” and rate their “product”, they create the mirage that we are the customers and completely in control, but we are not.

We often fear the corruption of the mind without realizing the much greater danger of simply being distracted. In C.S. Lewis’ timeless book The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape warns his young apprentice Wormwood, “It is funny how mortals always picture us putting things into their minds: in reality, our best work is done by keeping things out. If this fails, you must fall back on a subtler misdirection…the simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him [God] toward themselves.” (Screwtape p.16)

According to Screwtape, the kingdom of darkness does its most damage not by putting things into our mind, but by keeping things out. There is enough darkness inside each one of us to consume us. All the powers of darkness need to do is keep the light out by keeping us distracted. Notice how this is also true in Ellen White’s vision. It is not moral corruption that causes people to fall just before the coming of Christ, but distraction. It is distraction that corrupts.

Let us lift our eyes to the light that shines our path. Let us look to Jesus and forsake all distractions. For in just a little while, we too will see the fist cloud. Maranatha.

—Alex Portillo

Governing Authorities and Discipleship

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

-Romans 13:1 (NIV)

Like all of you, I've been bombarded by political messages incessantly these last several weeks, and as I have, I have begun to seriously ask what my role as a citizen and a Christian at this time. It's in this present situation that God brought me to the study of this text (click here to listen to the sermon if you missed it).

Maybe you're like me and you haven't spent a lot of time on Romans 13:1, but since we take biblical discipleship seriously, I went on a fascinating journey with this passage. I can't share it all here, but I ended the sermon with two calls: (1) that submitting to our government means we should vote (generally, though there are a few exceptions), and (2) that though we don't vote monolithically (inevitably we have differing conclusions) or give one person a pulpit from which to tell people how to vote, we should lean into conversations with other Christians to discuss the pros and cons of different positions.

I've noticed that I often preach that or why we should do something. Sometimes I even talk about how, but I rarely give people a chance to experience what the Word is teaching. As the Holy Spirit has continued to journey with me since Sabbath, I've concluded I need to put my money where my mouth is. And so, I am inviting you to join me on Sunday, November 1, at 7 PM. I am going to host a Zoom conversation to give us a chance to practice civil discipleship. Even if you've already voted, it would still be great to have you.

Whether you join us in discussing the pros and cons of the measures below on Sunday, I hope you'll find a way to integrate the three guidelines we'll be using in our chat as you represent Jesus everywhere you go and with the people you talk with over the next week especially.

Principals for Talking about Politics Together

1-Respect. Assume the people you talk with are smart and kind, and speak and listen accordingly. (Even if what they say doesn't make sense to you.)

2-Honesty. When it's your turn, share what seems most loving to you and why.

3-Curiosity. What's one thing someone with a different perspective from you said that can help you love your neighbor better as you engage in the voting process?

Washington Items we may Discuss

Advisory Vote #32–Plastic Bags and Taxation

Advisory Vote #33–Heavy Equipment and Taxation

Constitutional Amendment #8212–Longterm Care Trust Act Management

— Jonny Moor

Remember Those Moments

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ' 'and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Acts 9:1-4

Do you have a favorite drive? Or maybe a favorite place to go? Since 1991 my favorite drive would take me to my favorite place, NOSOCA Pines Ranch.

NOSOCA is our church camp for the Carolina Conference. It is strategically located between Columbia SC and Charlotte NC. I worked there four summers as a Camp Counselor and eight months as a Task Force Camp Ranger.

I have done the drive so often, even now in my mind, I see those familiar landmarks which dictated my route. Miles of red dirt, twists, and turns, the landscape dotted with houses and farms until you finally make a right turn at the little Liberty Hill Post Office onto Singleton Creek Road. This turn marks the last five miles. Just thinking about the drive makes me smile even now.

Acts Chapter 9 unfolds for us the experience Saul has with Christ on the road to
Damascus. Hit with a blinding light knocked to the ground, Saul hears the voice of Jesus and he knows this is for real. Saul will never be the same.

Like my drive to camp, I believe Saul and those with him that day could never again walk the road to Damascus and not feel something special. God gives us these moments and places as anchors to our relationship with Him. We may not be knocked to the ground but encountering Jesus is always life changing.

Remember those moments and those places which anchor you to Jesus.

—Pastor Jackie

A Hard Look In the Mirror

A preacher tends to be pretty clued in when it comes to whether a part of a sermon struck a chord. This last Sabbath I used the quote above as a part of my sermon and have lost count of the people who have asked for it, commented on it, or just said how much it resonated with them. I totally get it. I had my sermon mostly written when my mom sent it to me and I instantly knew I had to make a place for it.

Since Sabbath, a new thought has hit me - somewhat upside the head. This quote applies to me first. Not only am I arguing with those things (a person's story, experiences, fears, etc.), I am arguing from those places inside myself. Being curious means I have to ask myself what I am really seeking here - because often it is a desire to control the other person, not to see them and love them as they are.

I think this is what it means even more when Christ says "Blessed are the poor in spirit". When I am self-aware enough to know that I am entering into a conversation as a broken and imperfect person who is completely loved and accepted by Christ as I am, I can love the other person as they are, without a need to change them. They are worthy to be loved as they are.

And...it's hard. What about when their choices, their opinions and fears and biases, affect my life. How they vote, how they act, their choices affect my life. What do I do with that?

I don't have a perfect answer to the complexity involved in loving imperfect people. Here is what I do know - when a person is feeling loved and accepted as they are, we are both able to enter into any conflict from a place of health and safety. When love comes first, it is much easier to find solutions together.

This is what it is to believe in God's way first. God's way is to trust that love matters more than control. To be poor in spirit is to trust in God's love for us and God's love for the other person, and that love is actually enough. No need to convince or control.

This is going to be hard. And, I believe that each time we are able to take a step towards love instead of control, we will be blessed for it.

—Jana Lee