Into the Fire

What are the things that you look forward to in life? Summer? Graduation? Vacation? Kids moving out? Retirement?

What do you do during the seasons of pain? You know what I mean, those times when we suffer. Maybe it’s the loss of a job followed by a long stretch of unemployment, a time when you question your ability to provide for your family, your value in the marketplace, your significance to God. Maybe it’s the loss of a loved one, a time of grief and regrets, a time of loneliness and emptiness. Maybe it’s a season of illness, maybe immensely painful for a time or maybe progressive, degenerative, and terminal. What do you do during times like these?

How do seasons of suffering affect your faith? Are you the same person spiritually when you come out as when you went in? I’ve found that few people emerge the same as they entered. So, is your faith stronger or shaken? Has it become more sure or is it feeble or absent when you emerge from the darkness into the light?

That is what our Grace Church family finds itself in right now, a season of suffering. The emotions are all across the spectrum. Some are in extreme dispair; there is no doubt in their mind that they are in the crucible of pain. The ones who are pleased perhaps don’t realize it, but they are in a very similar place. Because God’s Word tells us that times of suffering come for the testing of our faith.

You see, some of us profess faith and think we’re good-to-go. But when the testing by fire comes, we find out the value of that faith. Scripture tells us that we will all eventually be tested in this way:

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15

By Peter tells us that we don’t have to wait for Judgment Day to find out if we have genuine faith. He says that there are trials in life which serve as pre-tests, seasons God allows so we can know how we’re doing in our journey of faith:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9

So, Grace family, we are all in a time of testing. The future of Grace Church is a product of the responses of each of us to that testing. It could be lots worse; the church Peter was writing to was being beaten, tortured, and fed to wild animals. But the test is the same. What response will our faith produce?

Tough Times? Reflect and Refresh...

Well, the hits on this blog have been thru the roof over the last week. No doubt, people who were less-than-patient with waiting for the church letter about Scott were searching for clues. No doubt, they thought they found lots. They may have. This something that Grace Leadership has been living for months.

Of course, you've probably been wondering why things have gone silent. Maybe you have received and read your church letter by now and can begin to appreciate why. It's not for lack of effort. I have written a half dozen posts since the last one, but the time was not right to post them.

When I'm in a tough time, I go to something familiar, especially if there are fond memories associated with it. This week, I stumbled upon a video of a couple that I did ministry with at my previous church. I was overcome with a flood of warm emotions, something the Lord knew I needed at the time.

While I'm not ready to start really blogging again, I wanted to share the clip with you. Who knows? Maybe I can convince Jeff and Vangie that they need to take a trip to Lancaster County. Maybe they would like to try Shoo-fly Pie or Whoopie Pies. And maybe they would help us learn that when we cry out to our Lord, it is right and beautiful. He is our only hope. All else will disappoint...

Gather in the Park

CONNECT Ministry gathered on Sunday afternoon to celebrate as God’s people at Grace Church all which He is doing and all which He wants to do thru us in our Groups Ministry. It was great to see hundreds of our Grace family, from newborn babies to our seniors, eating, laughing, and playing together.

I even had an elderly woman who was not with our group come to me to ask what all the celebration was about. She was here from New Jersey with her granddaughter, visiting her son who recently relocated to Lititz. I just told her that we were a group of church folks who had worshiped together in the morning and were now partying together in the park. She was amazed and asked which church we were from, because she felt her son needed a “family” here in his new home. By the end of our short conversation, she was wondering aloud if she should move to Lititz with her ailing mother-in-law from Florida because Lititz looked like a great place to experience real community.

I really appreciate all of the hard work of our volunteers who planned and executed the event. Also, I want to express a special “Thank you!” to all of the folks who attended and those who made donations above their meal ticket. The final event cost the CONNECT budget less than $600. You all ROCK!

I’ve had a little time following the event to reflect on the message I delivered with the help of the Becker’s. I appreciated the feedback I received from some of you. I heard that the message was both inspirational and tough to hear. Good! That means that it aligned well with God’s Word! Here are some bullet points the day after:

• The lies of the culture are fueled by our enemy and are designed to distract and divert you from God’s will for your life. Your life is NOT about seeking comfort and order.


• God-inspired vision for your future creates opportunities for both fear and a great story.


• You have to travel thru the intense conflict of your story in order to create the character transformation and joy which you desire. There is no easy, safe road.


• The very issues or events of your life that you think disqualify you from service to the Lord are the very reason that He wants to use you. At the end of your story, all glory will be His since He was clearly working thru weak vessels.


• If you’re ready to write a great story with your life, make sure you do like any good storyteller and bring others along with you. Oh yeah, and don’t forget that the Lord is your guide!

(NUTS! I had intended to embed a video from Dr. John Piper, a pastor whom I admire a lot, but I think the enemy is thwarting my efforts. I have been trying unsuccessfully for 3 days using 4 different video formats, all to no avail. So, please try this link: http://bit.ly/cveINa. I hope it works for you. S)

CONNECT: Event or Lifestyle (Pt 5)

So, where are you at? Is Relationship good enough or do you want Fellowship? Have you ever tasted Fellowship? I’m betting that those who have tasted it will never settle for anything less.

Use this week of blog posts as a discussion guide for your group. Wrestle with the issue. Express the desires of your heart, for Fellowship, for each other, for the Lord. Are there things in your life that are choking out what God has for you? Does this sound like “crazy cult stuff”? Do you think that you’ll be just fine with how you have lived out your Christian faith, even on the day when the Lord judges your deeds by fire? Are you ready to up the ante? Are you convinced it’s time to say “All in!”?

How about those of you who are still on the sideline when it comes to CONNECT? Is it time for you to give group life a try? What might happen if you do? Want to know the worst? You may realize that you have been settling a lot in your faith. You might even find that you have to restructure your schedule to make room for what God wants to do. You might even find out that you have been missing out on the most incredible experiences of the Christian life, the very things you have been looking for since your first breath. But if there’s still breath, it’s not too late….

CONNECT: Event or Lifestyle (Pt 4)

That’s why CONNECT can’t be just another religious event on your calendar. It has to become the living out of what you have heard and what you believe as being instruction from the Lord who saved you.

But an event, even one that happens every Thursday or Sunday or Tuesday night, won’t get you there. CONNECT won’t create Fellowship. It’s the Spirit of God who does that. But CONNECT should possess all the right pieces to put your little band of Christ-followers in the right place for God to do what we know He wants to do among us.

And it can happen, even in Lancaster County! Let me show you a snapshot from one of our groups that is just starting to figure this out:

Just to update you all on our status.. I was hit pretty hard for a few weeks with some major spiritual warfare and depression.. Since my correspondence with you last, several of you have contacted us to see how we were doing. I wanted you to know that this meant a lot to us, and as I’ve thought about it over the past week, that’s exactly why we are in group together.. The easy thing is to go through life alone, and to never open up and share your heart and achings with others.. But this is contrary to the essence of the church.. We were made to be in fellowship with God and each other, and the fall has made the antithesis of that a natural tendency. I want you to know that I have a new appreciation for group in light of the past weeks and a better understanding of why and how we need each other, especially in times of static darkness. I’d like us to all be in prayer for how God can shape and mold our group into what He wants it to be and to do for: 1. His glory and worship, 2. A means of spreading the gospel of Christ, and 3. to be a safe and safer place where we, his church, can be real and live life together as seen in Scripture. Going through ruts is a powerful way that God can give us sensitivity to hurting people all around us.

Thanks all for your prayers and support during a tough time.. Please continue to pray for us.. I’ve caught a glimpse at the depth of the spiritual attacks that can come in times of weakness and I now see more plainly than ever that prayer is our greatest and most effective defense against darkness.

CONNECT: Event or Lifestyle (Pt 3)

So, why the big deal about Fellowship? Isn’t good Relationship enough? “Steve, isn’t this just you being a perfectionist again?”

“Good enough” is an interesting expression. The staff at my previous church were guided by that phrase. It was because we didn’t want to be paralyzed while we strove for perfection. But what does “good enough” look like in your worship of God? How about in your marriage? How about in your parenting? Isn’t the story of Cain one of offering God what he thought was “good enough” (Genesis 4:3-5)? Look at a similar story about the sons of Aaron who worshipped God according to their own standards:

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over it. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him a different kind of fire than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD. Leviticus 10:1-2

Now, I’m not suggesting that settling for Relationship means that God will reject you on Judgment Day. But, I am saying that an earnest Christ-follower should seek to be obedient in every way. And the clear description of the new thing God created by His Spirit on Pentecost was characterized by Fellowship:

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:41-47

If you let the Word speak and don’t cast your cultural preferences upon it, it’s clear that this Spirit-generated community was continually doing all aspects of life together, especially those that we would consider religious. And Christ had told His disciples, during His prayer for them and the church that He expected that the unity among His followers and toward the Lord would be so radically richer than anything in the world that the world would know the love the Father has for His Son and for His church (John 17:20-23).

So, you should answer for yourself. Is this a matter of personal choice or should we have profound conviction? Christ’s hope as He went to His death was that what would be born from His suffering would be a community which has been radically transformed by divine power. So, can you be satisfied with anything less?

CONNECT: Event or Lifestyle (Pt 2)

Years ago, I used to have quite the addiction to soda, especially colas. And I was a connoisseur! Oh yeah. I could tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke! Pepsi is hands-down better. But better still is RC!

But then I realized that I was putting on a pound or two. I know that none of you have ever experienced that. It’s just me. I was bulking up. So I decided to drink diet cola. Now, I know that there are quite a few folks out there who made that switch successfully, but I couldn’t do it. The artificial sweeteners left a horrible taste in my mouth. It was so bad that I decided that I would rather drink less soda and get a really good one than to compromise on taste to consume gallons.

That’s similar to the difference between Relationship and Fellowship. Fellowship is the real thing while Relationship is something that we settle for to quench our thirst. Our relationships are usually pretty surfacy. We have relationships with neighbors, co-workers, friends, and even family. But Fellowship is something special, like Relationship on steroids!

Biblical Fellowship is something created by the Spirit of God. “Kononia” comes from a group of words meaning “something in common.” The Greek dialect in which the New Testament was written is called “Koine” Greek, because it was the common language of empire of Alexander the Great. It was the means of universally conducting business among the various ethnic groups across the kingdom. And “Kononia” literally means “communion with, participation in, or sharing together.” And the Christian experience is inherently communal. When you are saved from God’s wrath, you are saved unto the church.

But we settle for Relationship even when it comes to our faith. How many people, when asked where they experience “communion,” would say “At church!”? But this betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the richness of the word. Biblically, Sunday morning is “ekklesia,” the word we translate “church” but which literally means “gathering.” At Grace, a few times each year we have a special service which we call “Communion Service.” At that time, we usually share the Bread and Cup, footwashing, and a love-feast. All of these activities hold in common the person and work of Jesus. We have Fellowship with one another because we share in Him.

And the reason that I say we settle for Relationship is that the number of people attending our Communion Service is a mere fraction of those who gather on Sunday morning. That’s because we have convinced ourselves that the relationships of Sunday morning are as good as it gets, God’s very best for us. It’s a knock-off!

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t gather on Sunday morning. We are instructed to gather as God’s people, to come together in His presence and to sing His praises. We are to hear the preaching of the Word. But, we probably won’t find Fellowship on Sunday morning. More likely, we will bring Fellowship into the Sunday gathering.