Video Scroll of Remembrance “S-HOP Post Sandy 11/1/2012”

Have you ever felt like your efforts are futile, of no consequence, so why bother anymore, like every job you do you end up doing twice?  Earlier this year my church, Shore Vineyard in S. Toms River, NJ spent many hours and many dollars refurbishing the building at 1 South Main Street, and here we are back doing it all over again.  Sounds like the people in Malachi’s day, saying: “It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.” (Mal. 3:14-15)

So what do God’s people do when the doubts come?  They worship:

“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. ‘On the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.’”

In this context of second guessing their efforts and investment of time and resources, God’s people responded by getting together and talking about God, how good he is, how trustworthy, rehearsing the promises in his word.  And God   listened in on their conversations!  No wonder our hearts burn within us when we get to talking about Jesus.  He is right there listening, delighting in his kids loving on him, calling us his treasure.  He even gets a scribe angel to write up the incident and maybe place a label on its edge so we can find it when we’re with him in heaven.  I see one scroll labeled “SHORE HOUSE OF PRAYER Post Sandy 11/1/2012” where the sweet worship at an offsite location – since our regular meeting place was flooded from Hurricane Sandy only 3 days prior – left us weeping with joy. 

I cannot imagine the number of scrolls of remembrance the Father has already in glory, that we will get to read and remember when we get there.  I am hoping some are “video scrolls” so we can make some heavenly popcorn with lots of butter (no calorie counting in glory!) and replay those times in his presence that delighted, still delight his heart. 

Can you hear the Father’s Song?

Can you hear the Father’s Song?

This morning I was remembering some very wise counsel Jim and I received as we prepared for marriage nearly 40 years ago.  Jim was advised to be the initiator of love, because women typically respond to the love they receive.  That was especially helpful for me, a child of divorce who rarely felt love from my own father and watched my dad leave my mom and our family after 17 years of marriage.  More than once Jimmy would stop what he was doing when he saw the insecurity rising up in me.  Holding me firmly by the shoulders, he would look into my eyes and say, “I am not your father.  I will always love you.  I will never leave you.”

While praying this morning for our nation and the upcoming elections I realized that as blessed as I am to be loved this way by such a wonderful man, I am more blessed to be loved with abandon by an amazing Father.  Still sometimes I forget who I am and let the worries of finances and tragedies bring me back to that place of insecurity.  Then I need the Father to speak his words over me, just like Jimmy used to do:  “I am not like your father.  I will always love you.  I will never leave you.”

I think the people of our nation need to hear those words, too, even the ones that don’t yet know the Father’s love.  The cry of my heart from the time I was a little girl was just to be loved.  I used to long for the strong arms of a daddy to be wrapped around me and take the fears away.  I didn’t know that the Father’s arms would be the ones to do that for me, How transformed would people be if they could hear the Father singing over them?

I love the words of musician and composer, Matt Redman’s song, “The Father’s Song”.  How would it be if people across our nation heard the Father’s song, knew that he had sent for them, called them by name to be his own, had died so that he could wrap them in his arms and take away their fears?  How would we live, how would we love, how would our values change, how would we vote, if we heard Daddy’s voice singing with love over each of us?  Praying today for the nation, for the people to hear that song.

The Father’s Song (by Matt Redman)

I have heard so many songs
Listened to a thousand tongues
But there is one
That sounds above them all

The Father’s song
The Father’s love
You sung it over me and for eternity
It’s written on my heart 

CHORUS:
Heaven’s perfect melody
The Creator’s symphony
You are singing over me
The Father’s song
Heaven’s perfect mystery
The king of love has sent for me
And now you’re singing over me
The Father’s song 

I have heard so many songs
Listened to a thousand tongues
But there is one
That sounds above them all

I LIVE FOR IT!

                                                                

What do you do in an emergency, besides call 911?  I put it on the email Shore Vineyard Church prayer chain.  I know that even if I am lacking in faith to pray through the situation, my family will lift up my hands, believe and plead on my behalf.  And not only do I have my brothers and sisters on their knees beside me in my trial, but I find them jumping for joy alongside me when the answer comes.  This is family:  your sorrows, aches and pains become mine, and the best part, your joys and successes become my blessing as well. 

The best news of all is that God is on the prayer chain!  (I didn’t even know he got email!) The Lord spoke to me this morning about how he is right there alongside each of us, travailing in prayer over our trials, and dancing with joy over our blessings. 

I woke up a few times last night and heard this song by Jon Thurlow running through my mind:  “My merciful, faithful high priest, he lives, he lives to make intercession for me”.  Thurlow was obviously taking his inspiration from Hebrews 7: 25: “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” 

As I ran this morning I thought about the phrase we so often use, “I live for it”, as in “I live for pizza!” or “I live to quilt!”, or whatever gets your juices running.  But here, God was saying, “I live to pray for you, Taffy!  I live for it!”

I had to ask him, “Why, God? Why would you live to intercede for me?”  I felt he answered me:  “Because I have such an investment in you.  Because you will imitate me and live to intercede for others.”

The Father is speaking those words over you today, too.  “I live to pray for you! Why?  Because I am confidently making an investment in you, that you will represent me and my heart to the ones I love, the peoples of the world, of your state, your town, your family.”

Yes, Lord!  I want to be like you;

To hear your heart,

To pray your prayers,

To speak your thoughts.

Yes, Lord! I want to be like you.

Message Quilts: Quilts that Speak

We are learning at Shore Vineyard Church, South Toms River, NJ, about love and honor, the concept of seeing people as God sees them and recognizing their potential to be amazing when God finishes his transformation in them.  I had the opportunity at church one day to see that sort of honor in progress right before my eyes.

A little girl started climbing on the edge of the stairs by the railing where she could fall and get hurt.  Her mother might have yelled, “Get down before you hurt yourself!”  Instead she said to the girl, “Come off the stairs.  You are not acting like yourself.  That’s not who you are, climbing where you know you’re not supposed to be.”  The mother took her daughter by the hand and called her back to her identity.

That’s how God calls us back when we go astray, too.  If we lie, he doesn’t call us liars.  He reminds us who the “father of lies” is, and who our Father is.  “That’s not who you are, little one”, he says.  “You’re my child.”  Then we have the opportunity to say, “You’re right, Daddy.  Forgive me.  I forgot for a moment who I am.” And that counts for however we stray from who God made us to be, whether it’s a lapse back into addiction, lying, unbelief, anger, bitterness, pornography, etc.   

We learn from the Father how to call back to identity people inside and outside of the Kingdom.  Jesus called the dishonest tax collector, Zaccheus down from the tree and told him he was going to Zaccheus’ house for lunch that day.  “Me?” Zaccheus must have thought.  “He wants to hang out with me?” Jesus identified Zaccheus as a man who wanted intimacy with God, and a man whose intimacy God also wanted.  There was no more room for thievery in Zaccheus, the God lover.  Right away Zaccheus promised to pay back four times what he had stolen from the people through unjust tax collection. 

In keeping with the call to love and honor, I invite you in the Ocean County, NJ area to join me in making “quilts that speak”.  Instead of making quilts that are just your favorite colors or pictures, we are asking some different questions.  How can I prophesy over my grandson, daughter, mother, with this quilt?  What is it that God wants to say about this person?

Does God see my grandson as a knight in his Kingdom?  Then I will put knights in shining armor in his quilt.  Does God see my daughter as a princess, daughter of the King of Kings?  Then I will use fabrics with crowns and tiaras.  It doesn’t matter if my grandson is not acting like a knight at the moment, not particularly chivalrous or bold.  If I ask God what he sees in him, and God says “knight”, then I will agree with God and call forth a knight.  If my daughter is going through the rebellious teenage years, but God says “princess”, there will be crowns and jewels befitting the princess she is called to be.

Quilting class currently meets on Tuesday evenings, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at my home in Forked River, NJ.  If you are interested in learning to make “quilts that speak”, please contact me for more information.

I Promise you a Star!

I was remembering a time when Juliana used to come to quilting class at my house, the day I put her on the spot.  She had just finished sewing her blocks and rows together to complete her very first miniature quilt, a lovely patchwork star.  She was delighted how the star appeared when the blocks were all sewn together.

Then I put her on the spot.  “Julie,” I asked.  “Did you believe me when I told you that all these pieces would end up forming a star?”

Juliana is a very truthful young girl, so she paused for a moment before answering me.  “I kinda believed you, but it’s easier when you can see it.  Now I can see it.”

There was a lesson here for the girls in sewing class, and for their teacher.  It was okay that Juliana was not that sure about what I told her, that all those squares and triangles would turn into a star.  After all, she didn’t know me well enough to believe that my words would always be true and reliable.  

Jesus tells us things sometimes, and we can’t see at all how they’re real or true.  But we can trust him that if he says it is so, one day we will see it, too.  We can trust him because we know who he is.  We know he never misleads us, never lies about anything. 

It’s okay to question what others say, even your quilting teacher, but know this:  You can always rely on what Jesus says.  You will see the star.

Underwater at Shore House of Prayer?!?

I spent some time swimming during our recent training session at the Shore House of Prayer.  

No, Shore Vineyard has not (yet) installed a pool.  Let me explain.  Our instructor, Sue was teaching a session on “soaking” or contemplative prayer.  She explained that soaking is resting in God’s presence, choosing to enter into a place of intimacy with the Lord with no prayer agenda on our minds.  Sue instructed our group to “quiet yourself down; fix your eyes on Jesus, think about him; tune into the flow of the Holy Spirit; and receive what he has for you, words or pictures, etc.”  As the soothing instrumental music began, I found a piece of floor at the back of the room, lay down on my stomach, face to the floor and asked the Holy Spirit to come and be with me. 

Sue let us know that as we rested in God’s presence she would be coming around the room and praying over some of us.  When she came and knelt beside me and touched my arm I felt like I dropped into the water and went under.  Now you may not know this about me, (although God obviously does), but when I get the chance to go swimming, my favorite thing is to swim completely underwater for as long as possible, until I have to come to the surface and take a breath.  What a delight to be there in God’s presence, swimming underwater as I love to do, feeling the cool water all around me.  I didn’t want to come up for air, but then I realized I didn’t have to.  I found I could stay immersed and could breathe under water!

Knowing that the soaking time was only 20 minutes or so I began to dread when I would have to get out of the water.  I hate leaving the buoyancy of the water after swimming, feeling the weight of my wet body dragging me down as I climb out.  But as if God read my thoughts I heard him say “You never have to come out”.  I could stay immersed in his presence and walk around that way.  I smiled as I pictured myself walking out of the House of Prayer, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the church carpet. 

How good of God to give this swimmer an underwater experience in his presence.  He’s so personal like that, I bet he would speak to you in a special way, too.  Maybe your favorite place is a garden, or gazing at a star-filled sky, or lying on the beach listening to the waves.  Come and hang out in his presence and let him show you what’s on his heart for you.

Egypt, my people

“Egypt, my people”

“I know the end of the story, I come up from the wilderness, leaning on my Beloved” writes composer and worshiper, Jon Thurlow, in his amazing song called “His Strong Love”.  We have been singing and rejoicing in God’s love through this song the past couple of Thursday evenings in the Shore House of Prayer.  So, what does it mean to us as God’s people that we “know the end of the story”?

1 John 5: 14 & 15 reads: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”  For some reason God wants his people to participate in bringing his will to earth as it is in heaven.  He reveals his heart to us, so we can pray it back to him, and promises us that if we pray for the desires of his heart, we can be sure that we will have what we are asking for.

So we took that concept of praying what we already know is big on God’s heart to his throne room during our “fire in the night” session (9 p.m. to 11 p.m.) at Shore House of Prayer last Thursday night.  We prayed for Israel-we know God is crazy about them!- and then spent a good half hour praying God’s will for Israel’s neighbor nation, Egypt.  The situation unfolding now in Egypt is precarious.  A new Islamic leader has come to office who has promised Sharia law.  Coptic Christians are being persecuted and churches burned.  Israel is displaying her awareness of anticipated erosion of their peace treaty with Egypt by increased military presence and erecting fences along their shared border.  Frightening, disturbing, and dangerous are words that come to mind.  But God has told us the end of the story where Egypt is concerned, in Isaiah 19:19-24:

In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border.  It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.  So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them.  The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians  go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.  In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

We were armed with the revelation of God’s heart as revealed in his word, and emboldened by the promise of answered prayer when we pray God’s will.  So we at “fire in the night” prayed and sang over Egypt, God’s people, called things that are not right now as though they were, and as they shall be at the end of the story.  And we know that the Father said “YES!”

There's an APP for that!

Is there a place where God will not venture? Not according to Psalm 139.  Well I don’t know about the Psalmist, but it seems that there is one place God refuses to go with me.  It’s the land of “What Ifs”. 

What if I got sick and couldn’t work anymore… Or what if the furnace gives out, since we have no savings….. Or what if I there’s not enough to pay the mortgage this month….  I go to these imagined places in my head, and find myself getting stressed out and fearful about things that are not actual events, just possible events over which I have no control.  If they are not real, then they are not true.  Therefore they are lies, and God doesn’t do lies.  Isa. 28:15 “…for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”  I leave God at the door when I go into that place of falsehood, and like quicksand, it’s hard to escape once I am entrenched in the mess. 

So what do I do when I find myself alone in the land of what ifs?  The good news is that God has an app for that.  No, it’s not on your smart phone, but there is a way out of that paralyzing place.  God’s app for escaping the land of what ifs is a series of four steps that I learned some years back in ladies’ bible study at Keswick:

1.      Stop and ask yourself, “What am I feeling?”  For me it might be “fearful, hopeless and alone about finances”.

2.      Next ask, “What am I thinking?” What is the thought behind those feelings?  For me it might be “God doesn’t care about me and how I am struggling financially”.

3.      Is there anything in my thinking that does not line up with what God says in his word?  Well, sure there is.  If I am thinking God doesn’t care about me, there are numerous scriptures that tell me differently.  How about “I have loved you with an everlasting love”. (Jer. 31:3), or “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God” (I John 3:1)

4.      Choose to correct your thinking with the truth God has revealed.

By making that choice to turn from the error in my thinking to the truth God speaks in his word, I take that first step out of the “what if” quicksand.  There is a delightful relief in admitting I am wrong in my thinking, (God really does care about me!), and consciously choosing to step away from the lie, out of the land of what ifs, and into God’s truth.  Yeah, there’s an app for that! And it works!

Directed by His Heartbeat

I find myself, my identity on Daddy’s lap.  Here I climb when I am afraid, when I am lonely, when I am happy.  I snuggle close to my Father God, sometimes looking up into his eyes so I can see who I am reflected there, other times eyes closed, just enjoying his embrace. 

Lately I find myself climbing up into my place on his lap, laying my head on his strong chest and listening to the comforting beat of his heart.  I am learning to allow his heartbeat to direct mine.  From that vantage point I can hear and feel what quickens the heartbeat of God, what delights his heart, what grieves his heart. 

On Thursday nights I climb up on the Father’s lap at the Shore House of Prayer.  I join my siblings in God’s family, Ann Dillon, Chris Spaloss, Jim Spaloss, Pat Newell, Joe Bei and others, on Daddy’s huge lap, all of us with our heads touching, ears pressed against the Father’s broad chest, listening to his heartbeat.  “What are you seeing?  What are you feeling? What are you thinking, Daddy?” we ask.  And we pray, sing and declare with great joy what we hear in that wonderful place of intimacy.

“These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.” Isa. 56:7

Learning to Breathe Underwater

Patricia came to quilt class this week with a strange announcement.  “God told me to sew the blocks together without pins.”

Now I am a pinner.  Pinning keeps the blocks aligned as you stitch them into rows, and then stitch the rows together to form the body of the quilt.  If the alignment is off as you sew together the components, the entire quilt is off.  But what could I say to Patricia?  If God told you to sew without first pinning, who am I to suggest otherwise.

So, Patricia sewed the blocks into rows, carefully lining up the edges, without pins.  And the rows looked fabulous. 

A few days later I was in my prayer room one morning and got the sensation that I was at a sparkling, blue pool of water, and God was telling me, “Dive in”.  I love how God knows me.  He knows that I love to be in the pool. It’s one of the highlights of my yearly vacationto Williamsburg, VA.  God also knows that I love, have always loved swimming underwater, completely immersed.  I am not a diver, had no idea the depth of the pool or if it was even safe to dive in, but God was telling me to dive in and I did and I felt the wonderful water all around me as I hit the water.

As I swam that morning in prayer, I remembered what my pastor, Brett Conover had shared with the church some time ago.  “We are learning to breathe underwater.”

We are learning to go where God directs, do what he tells us to do, even when it looks quite impossible, or even kind of crazy.  Like sewing without pins.  Like laying hands on a building and calling forth its destiny as a House of Hope. Like diving into a 21 day prayer journey throughout Europe and trusting God for words and prayers in each location. 

“Do you trust me?” God asks.  “Dive in.  Follow my heart and you will learn that you CAN breathe underwater.”

Better is One Day....

I read in God’s Word today, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you” Ps. 84:4.  Hmmm.

 “So, God”, I asked.  “Are they praising you because they are blessed, or are they blessed because they are praising you?”

I believe I heard God’s answer in one word, said with a grin, “Yes.”

What is it about being in God’s house, in his presence that makes me blessed, that causes me to praise him? 

We have two cats at home.  The nice cat is Inky; the not so nice cat we affectionately call Lumpy.  Inky is quick to run to the door when we come home, just like a dog, and loves to jump on your lap anytime you sit down.  Lumpy is a standoffish cat; you pet her twice and then she bites you.  Jimmy says she is the kind of cat that makes men hate cats.  But I often find both cats will come into my sewing room and lay by my feet for hours while I sew.  They don’t need to be on my lap, or be petted or attended to.  They just want to be with me.

Have you read about the birds that liked so well being in God’s house that they moved in? “Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near your altar…” (Ps. 84:3) And God not only let them stay, he also recorded it in scripture so we would understand that if birds can move into his presence and find a home there, how much more can we who are made in his image.

So I take a lesson from the birds, and the cats.  Rest in God’s presence.  Hang out there.  Move right in and take up residence. There you will find a place to rest.  There you will find a place to nest.  It’s a safe place, a warm place, a place where you will be blessed, and you will sing forth God’s praises.

Say "I Do"

God reminded me recently of a time in my childhood when I was overwhelmed by the fear of death.  I saw myself, a little girl in the middle of the night, huddled up on the stairs leading to my parents’ bedroom, not wanting to wake them, but so terrified of dying that I could not sleep.  Raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, I had learned in that religion that unless you were one of the 144,000 special ones, when you died, you just ceased to be.  My ten year old brain could not handle that concept, of just ceasing to exist.  I used to implore God to let me live on:  “Just put me on a cloud somewhere looking down on at the living ones”, I would pray.  “Just don’t erase me from being.”  I was plagued with fear, especially in the quiet, nighttime hours.

A few years later, my parents were going through divorce.  Then 13 years old, that precarious age of finding out who you are, I was devastated by the months of uncertainty, losing the presence of a father in my home, and watching my mother struggle to provide for us in her pain.  One night as I cried uncontrollably, I looked out into the night sky and prayed, “God, if there is a God, help me.” 

Not long after my faithless prayer to a God who might or might not be real, Mom’s financial need lead her to answer an ad for a babysitting job in the church nursery at a local Baptist church.  The church family reached out to us.  They invited our family to church while Mom was babysitting, and brought us kids into their youth group.  My brother, Dave, sister, Roberta and I attended a youth group outing to see the Billy Graham move, “The Restless Ones”.  When an invitation was given to receive Jesus as Savior, we all three went to the rear of the theatre and invited Jesus into our hearts.  It was May 9, 1966. 

A full year later, I celebrated my first Easter as a child of God.  My family and I got up super early and went to the sunrise service to rejoice first thing in the morning over the amazing hope we have because Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death.  That hope was very personal to me.  I knew that Christ’s resurrection from the dead was not just a historical event, for I discovered that first Easter that something was also resurrected in me.  I realized that at some point during my first year as a Christian, my fear of death had disappeared!  There was no more fear of “ceasing to exist”.  I knew that my Jesus had conquered death, and I would now live forever in the safety of the Father’s arms.

Two dear friends, John and Cathy Hicks used to sing a song that made me want to jump out of my seat, wave my hands and shout, “I DO!”

Anyone here wanna live forever, say “I do”.

Anyone here wanna walk on golden streets, say “I do”.

Anyone here sick and tired of living like you do?

Anyone here want a home with love forever?

Say “I do”.

I DO!

“…That They May Be One…” John 17:11

I had a dream last night that I was with a group of Christian friends, riding horses.  Our horses were running with their glorious tails flowing out behind them, except for my horse.  My horse’s tail was shredded, chopped off and not at all elegant like the other horses.  Then I heard the Teacher, instructing another rider in a gentle but firm tone,   “You must not allow your horse to bite another horse’s tail.  You have to control your horse”.  I then realized that my horse’s shredded tail was the result of this other horse’s gnawing teeth.  In spite of my horse’s appearance, we continued running with the rest of the group.

When I awoke I got my coffee and sat down at the computer to check my email.  The latest “Elijah List” had a word from Doug Addison about five ways that the enemy is attacking the church.  The fifth method was judgment and criticism, tail biting if you will, from other believers.  Addison writes:

The fifth plan is to get Christians to continually accuse one another. Accusations and negative talk will quickly slow down your process of promotion. There are more verses in the Bible about not judging others than there are about what many would consider major sins. See, for example, Matthew 7:1-5, James 4:11-12, and John 8:7, to name a few. Jesus said to bless those who curse you. Find ways to let go of your differences and bless the person instead. It will change the situation around for good… A wounded heart is a distracted heart, and now is the time to watch and wait for what God has released for us.

Later, another email appeared in my inbox, an article from an old friend, Christian speaker and writer, Jim Biscardi, entitled “Inspirational Article on Church Unity”.  Jim writes:

All believers are in the midst of a great spiritual battle. The competition between Christians, churches, and denominations are a result of Satan’s strategy to destroy our unity and weaken our witness.  Satan has a game plan for Christians. I believe it is spelled out in Galatians 5:15, “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”  It is sad, but true that much of the persecution in the Christian life comes from within the Church. In Zechariah 13:6, when the Lord returns and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ (Revelation 11:15), the Jews will look upon the wounds of Christ, “And one shall say unto him, ‘What are these wounds in your hands?’  Then he shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’”

The past two Sundays, our teachings at Shore Vineyard Church in Beachwood, NJ have been on community. Last Saturday our church was involved in two separate events, one in Toms River, NJ, one in Landenberg, PA, where different churches were invited to come together in prayer and worship.  I believe God is highlighting in a very distinct way how incredibly important to his heart is the unity of his Church, his Bride.  Let’s pay close attention.