Where is the Church?

It was family and friends Sunday at New Birth Church in Clinton, MS. The house was packed with members and visitors alike. I had invited a friend from work and she came. The church family had prepared a great meal for after the service. It promised to be a wonderful day until one of the air conditioners quit working. As I sat in the heat I grumbled to myself. Why did the air have to go out on a day like today?

Then I remembered another service with no air conditioning. I was conducting a ministerial meeting in Mango Creek, Belize. Typical for Belize, it was a hot day. There was no air conditioning and the windows and doors were open with hopes that an occasional breeze would cool us off a bit. Right as I was about to reach the main point of my sermon there was a "disturbance" outside. The pastors children were chasing a chicken that was to be served for lunch. A dog joined in the chase and chaos ensued. I tried to ignore it and keep preaching but I could tell I had lost my audience. Between the clucking, barking, and screaming no one could hear me anyway. I quickly brought the service to a close.

Back to Mississippi. On that family and friends day Pastor Phillips preached a wonderful message. His title was "If this were your last week." My friend from work was stirred. We all felt the presence of God very near. The lack of air conditioning didn't seem to matter as much.

In America we have so much. We often take our blessings for granted. Yet the real blessings are not our material comforts.What we really need is a fresh touch of God's spirit. Thankfully, his spirit is not confined to a certain geographical location. I have felt his spirit near in ornate churches in the United States and in simple huts in Central America. God loves people and anywhere that people are gathered in his name he will be in the midst. I am thankful for the air conditioning and comfortable, padded chairs in our churches. Given a choice I would not go without electricity or indoor plumbing. Yet these things are a convenience and not a necessity.

To be a part of God's church is the greatest privilege in the world. Wherever his church is gathered together, that's where His spirit is and that's where I want to be. Don't you?

Thankfully Yours,

Sullivan Jones

The Blame Game

In Tegucigalpa  the trash is collected twice a week as it is in many cities here in the United States. I was accustomed to putting my trash out the night before pickup as it usually ran in our neighborhood by seven A.M. One evening as I went to put the trash out the lady across the street nearly attacked me with her broom. It seemed she was upset because the stray dogs in the area were getting into the trash.

The little lady was constantly sweeping the sidewalk in front of her house and the houses to either side of hers. My roommate and I always found this amusing as it was impossible to keep the street clean. People in this part of the world are just as likely to throw their trash in the streets as they are to put it in the trash can. She was determined to keep her area of the city clean, however.

This particular evening as I went to put the trash out she came running over to me waving her broom. She began to yell at me for putting the trash out too early where the dogs could get into it. As she waved her broom she got more and more excited. She told me how all of the problems in her country was the fault of the Americans because "you think you can come down here and do as you please without following the rules." With each accusation her voice raised several octaves. By this time I was livid and told her I was leaving the trash there and turned to walk off. She followed me yelling that she was going to call the district and have me thrown out of the country. As I walked off she was saying that I could go home and put my trash in the streets there if I wanted to.

As I thought about what she said I got more and more upset.  It was easy to justify my feelings. Hadn't I come several thousand miles to bring her people the gospel. What if I just went home and let them do as they please, I thought. I can preach to people in the United States if they don't want me here. It took some serious prayer time to realize how wrong my feelings were. 

The scripture tells us that all of us have sinned and come short of God's glory. That's right, all of us. The basic problem with humanity is that few of us are willing to own up to our mistakes. It is easier to blame someone else. This little lady was convinced that I, as the foreigner, was the cause of her problems. But haven't we in America done the same thing? We blame society, family, the schools, the system and anything else we can think of for our problems. It keeps us from having to feel personally responsible for anything. 

It is not a new thought. Adam blamed Eve for tempting him to eat the fruit; Eve blamed the serpent. I'm sure that if the serpent could have blamed someone else it would have. In the end, all of their excuses didn't matter to God. Punishment was meted out accordingly. One day our excuses will not matter either. Each of us will answer to God for our own actions. The only answer is to acknowledge our own responsibilities now, repent, and allow him to cover our faults with his grace. 

I wonder if Adam and Eve's punishment would have been less severe if they would have confessed instead of blaming? Just a thought .....

Prayerfully Yours,

Sullivan Jones 

What language do you speak?

In the last few years much has been said about the importance of the "Navajo Code Talkers" whose ability to speak a language no one else in the world could understand was so profitable to the allied effort during WWII. They created a code that the Germans and Japanese were never able to break. There contribution to the war was invaluable. By the same token, very little has been said about the role that Louisiana French speakers played in the French Resistance during that time. It is said that the Germans could quickly identify a Canadian French accent and by that many spies were caught. The Louisiana French that we commonly call Cajun today is very close to the common language of Northern France. With a few lessons  Cajun French speakers were able to pass themselves off as French peasants when in fact they were spies. There effort to the war can not be overstated.

Bernie LeJeune was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississppi in 1941 to prepare for service overseas. In the initial interview he was asked if he spoke a second language. He replied that he spoke French. The interviewer looked at his paperwork, saw that he was from Louisiana, and brushed it aside. Your dialect of French, he was told, will not be of any use to the military. LeJeune was stationed in Casablanca. There the French and American bureaucracy  had locked horns. One night LaJeune overhead some officers from the French army in a heated discussion. He walked up and asked what the problem was. They replied that the absence of a capable interpreter was causing all the problems. LaJeune had a new job and the problem was solved. So much for his French being of no use to the U.S. military.

Is there someone in our lives whose importance we have underestimated? Perhaps they are not just like us. They may seem to be causing problems on the job, in church, or in our circle of friends. It could be that we just have not yet discovered what that person is good at. We are all guilty of being a little impatient with others at times. Perhaps we need to spend a little more time getting to know that person before we write him off. It may be that he is the answer to a problem we have been praying about for a long time.

All of us are created in the image of God and so all of us have worth. May God help us to see each individual he places in our lives as a gift from him.

Thoughtfully Yours,

Sullivan Jones