Scripture
The Lord is the everlasting God, He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding.
~Isaiah 40:28, NLT
Quote
Two things are certain: God is in absolute control and we are not.
~Joe David Bailey
I’m going to tell you up front, I am not excited about ONLINE church. We will probably broadcast our service Sunday morning for the first time but I do not like the idea of forsaking the assembly and I am going to tell you up front, it will create more problems than you have imagined. The trickle down effect could be enormous. It is going to hurt missions and it has all but wiped out evangelism. One evangelist has already had a full calendar wiped clean. Last week it was full but every church canceled his revival engagement. Some of our M’s are in lock down mode as I speak and they and their staffs are dependent on our offerings. The offerings are not a concern for me personally but they are for many. ONLINE church is devoid of fellowship and fellowship is more important to the body of Christ than people realize. What are we going to do at GRACE POINT? Right now, I don’t know. We meet tonight to decide. I will concede the nursery and small groups and I am for making the service accessible to the elderly by putting it online but I have a problem with total shut-down. Is it my huge ego and my love for preaching? Are my motives selfish and vain? I don’t know; all I know is that I am deeply disappointed at the prospects of shutting everything down.
One thing I do know among the myriad of things I do not know–Our Eternal God and Creator of all does not change and He has no fears or insecurities. This virus does not have Him worried or fretting. He is not sitting in heaven wringing his hands with sweat dropping from his omnipotent brow. The One who created the stars and knows them by name is not shaken because His power is unimaginable and His strength incomparable. He sees every trouble; He is aware of every fact–nothing escapes His omnipresent attention. He is the LORD, the ETERNAL One and He never changes. No one can measure the depth of His understanding and He can give power and strength to the faint, the weak and the helpless. Our leaders my grow weary and faint but not our God. Even the young among us may become exhausted but not our God–He never grows weary. He has all the energy He needs to sustain Himself and His creation. If you feel faint or weak, go to HIM. He will infuse you with new energy. Our Savior will speak to your weakness and weariness the same words he spoke the paralytic–“Get up, take your bed [problems] and walk.” It brings to mind the Lord’s words to Elijah when he hid from Jezebel in a cave. The LORD said, “What are you doing here?” I have work for you to do, get on your feet and get moving. Go, find Elisha and anoint him.
I’d like to hear Jason make this speech in the JEV {Jack’s Everyday Version}. It would go something like this…“Good night son! What are you doing? Did I tell you to run from that evil heifer? Get on your feet son and get going. Good gracious alive! Can’t you do anything right? The LORD is a lot kinder and infinitely more gentle than Jack and aren’t we glad?
[This is March 18th blog posted on the 17th]
Our friend Lou Hayes was promoted Tuesday evening around between 2:30-3:00. Lou had COPD and double pneumonia. The past year had been hard for Lou but the LORD saw her pain and brought her home. I do rejoice for Lou’s sake: she has fought the last battle and fought it well. I don’t have the records with me but I think Lou was the oldest member of DBC at 91 and the only person who might have been a member of DBC longer would be Joyce Chaney and as I said, I don’t have the records and my memory fails me at times. If I am not mistaken Lou, Joyce and Vellene are among the oldest members. Lou was very active in the choir when we came in 1979 and she was a great cook. She was famous for her pound cake and chicken and dressing. Lou was a big Braves fan and she also enjoyed jigsaw puzzles.
I ate lunch at Cracker Barrel in Cullman yesterday. I believe it is the first time I’ve ate at that location without waiting to be seated. My server did not know what they would do but I am going to guess they will be closing soon. Still twenty questions for every answer: medical people don’t seem to know much or at least, not saying much about the virus. The first thing Lou’s doctor would do when he entered the room was shake everyone’s hand. He didn’t seem to be worried. CRMC is tightening down. You have to use the front door and security will not let you leave the lobby without a mask. They do have the most comfortable mask I’ve ever worn and I saving mine for cutting grass. The restrictions are already affecting a lot of people and it is going to get worse if they don’t relax them a little. Call me hard headed but I still think it is overkill. I’ve looked up worship in the dictionary and it says nothing about a “social gathering.” GP will decide something tonight and I have no idea what it will be. Unless someone gives me more info, my vote will be for taking precautions but not shutting down. I know Jack wants to have church and I’m not certain about all of his motives so I pray that the LORD’s will be done and not Jack’s. Jack may need to live with some things that he does not like. It will not kill him, I don’t think!