IT'S UNDERNEATH

Although I’ve only been to one co-ed bridal shower, I know this is something that's done at these types of events. When you’re attending a baby shower or bridal shower, you may be told to look under your plate to see if you have a sticker, or maybe under your cup. If you do have the special sticker you get a prize. The only shower I was at didn’t have this game. It was a co-ed wedding shower where Mark the Roofer assisted his wife who sold Pampered Chef. He definitely missed his calling as a comedic sidekick.

I don’t know if those who attend showers come to expect this. Do you casually look under all the paper plates to see if there is a sticker? Or maybe accidentally drop them so as you are picking them up you can see which one has the sticker? Or do you just happen to turn over the cups to see if one of them has a sticker or maybe a mark on it? Do you go to showers expecting something underneath?

Then there is the social dilemma that arises. If you find it, do you keep it? Do you secretly act surprised when they say to turn the plates over? Or do you maybe get a cup of punch and notice the sticker and then give it to someone else who you think would really enjoy it? Yeah, I wouldn’t do good at these games, because my brain is always going, and usually in a direction that very few can follow.

The closest to something like this I was at was an event for my best friend from high school when he got married. Though it wasn’t a shower; it was a card-playing night. We were playing a little bit more than penny anti poker and I was doing pretty good. It had to be my lucky night because a “poker face” I don’t have. I was up maybe twenty, thirty, or forty dollars. It was getting near the end and I decided to bow out of the game and enjoy my good fortune. It was then that it was revealed to me that the groom was supposed to win. And if he didn’t, well everyone was to donate their winnings to him. No one had told me this ahead of time, and I was somewhat bummed. But I kept playing and went home ten or twenty dollars lighter than when I arrived.

The idea is that when you go to these things it is for others. As is the case with the showers there was an unexpected blessing when you got there. Now in the case of us coming in on a Sunday morning, the blessing might not be obvious when you first chose where to sit down. It may not be seen when you chose to sit by that person you don’t know very well or that visitor you’ve never met before. You may not notice the blessing at first; it may be a little deeper--underneath if you will. As you sit and talk, and maybe even get out of your comfort zone a bit, you are trying to be a blessing to someone else. But when you look underneath, the deep down blessing may be for you. So be it in the auditorium or out in the street, let’s be that blessing because you never know what is going to be underneath.

Wondering what’s under,

Randy

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Thirty-five years ago Holly and I were part of a group that left West Texas to move to California. The group left the comforts of a large church in the south to go to where, well our group of 10 was a 25% increase in the size of the congregation. And in the first full year of all of the group arriving, those who committed their lives to God and were baptized outnumbered those of us who had made the trip westward.

The things God did in Davis, California were remarkable, but one thing I’m reminded of was our improper use of scripture. The scripture was Proverbs 29:18, Where there is no vision, the people perish (KJV). That scripture was the centerpiece of the flyer we were sending out to gain financial support to go. (You know, that money side of things that always gets in the way.) We had a vision for these people to know God, a vision for what we were going to do, and a vision for how things were going to happen. Our flyer for funding was based on this scripture that one of us came up with as this group of young, wide-eyed college students set out on this exciting mission.

Now, we weren’t totally off with the scripture and its meaning. A better understanding of the word and the context would indicate that if we don’t see things clearly, if we don’t understand, then the direction we are headed isn’t in keeping with God’s ways. So, we weren’t completely off and did use it until the error was pointed out to us.

Now, Paul had a vision about Macedonia (Acts 16:9), but Spain may have been his own desire (Romans 15:24, 28). Neither of these desires was wrong--though ignoring Macedonia would have been. A vision, a plan, a way forward is always a good thing, and I have learned that God can work through any situation to accomplish His desire for people to know Him. The important thing is to be looking forward.

So let’s break it down to the individual level. What is your plan, your vision as it may be, of expanding and enhancing God’s kingdom? Maybe it is a prayer list of individuals you know who you want to share God’s love and salvation with. It could be to spiritually build up three people in the body this next year or possibly to pray through the directory that we will be putting together in the coming weeks.

How about on a congregational level. Do you think about where the congregation will be in a year, in five years? We often just attend each Sunday. We need to attend with a purpose. What would be your purpose in attending? Strengthening our kids? Looking for new people entering and making them feel welcome? Seeing the person sitting by themselves and fixing that? We need to have a purpose going forward that fits with the congregational level and the personal level.

It’s not California Dreaming or even South Lyon Dreaming, but Kingdom Dreaming.

Come dream with me,

Randy

No Chick-fil-A?

I remember traveling around in the south when my kids were younger, looking for a place to eat. It seemed like Chick-fil-A was always one of the places we would hit. But if we didn’t think it through, we would miss out because they were closed on Sundays. So, if we forgot about that and showed up there. . . no Chick-fil-A.

Cow Appreciation Day in Troy, Michigan, 2018

The chain is slowly moving north, with two different restaurants within a half-hour of South Lyon. When we lived in Champaign, we would plan to visit the one there, but only in the summers because it was on campus in the Student Union basement. It was always packed during the school year, even when places next to it had no lines. So we went in the summer when many students were home for their break. (We don’t have to deal with students’ schedules here, though the Chick-fil-A in Novi is always busy!)

Unfortunately, Chick-fil-A’s stay in Champaign at the university was short-lived. A student group protested it being on campus because of the owner’s Christian beliefs and generosity to groups that believed the same as he did. Some obscure reason was given for not renewing their lease in the food court, and they were gone.

Though I don’t agree with this action, I can understand it happening at a liberal arts university like the University of Illinois. . .but at Notre Dame? This is a quote from an article I came across this week: “A group of students and faculty at an elite Catholic university say they don’t want Chick-fil-A to open a restaurant on their Indiana campus because of the restaurant chain’s frequent donations to Christian groups.” I don’t know if Notre Dame will follow the wishes of these roughly 180 individuals or not. And I am not going to get political, there is a place for that and this is not it. But it’s what the statement said that caught my eye, an “elite Catholic university.” I was shocked. Now I don’t have issues with Notre Dame, except when it comes to sports of course, but how could a Catholic university have a problem with the owner of a company who gives to credible Christian organizations? Again, I was shocked.

Then that got me thinking: Do I do things that make people question if my actions match my title? I’m not talking about “minister” or “evangelist,” but the title of “Christian.” We all wear that title if we have chosen to make that commitment to Him. Do we live up to that or do we do that title a disservice? Are people who know we are Christians shocked by our behavior that doesn’t seem to line up with our title?

I don’t know if Notre Dame will get a Chick-fil-A or not. I hope they do for the students because as fast food goes, it is pretty good. I know we don’t have this chain here in town, but think about it when you drive past another fast food place. Then think about this article. And think about if you are living up to the title you’ve been given by His death: Redeemed!

Trying my best,

Randy