"You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Timothy 2:3-4).
I was at the RIETZUGS house--"The Church Across the Street"--this morning. Henry introduced a message by another pastor (whose message was delivered on CD) called "Can God Use Me?". The entire premise of it encouraged our discussions and open testimonies toward the response to the question; yes, God gives us purpose, the "where-with-all," to be connected to His Kingdom through Christ.
There were about 30 or 40 people there including the small children attending in the kitchen and front room as the adults and a couple infants gathered around in the living room as the morning unfolded. Throughout the official time of the meeting, I was eager to give some testimony, thinking of countless instances in the last couple weeks where I've seen the work of God bless and teach me and others (family, coworkers, friends) some truly amazing and wonderful things. But thankfully my tongue was kept bridled for the most part, aside from some prayer requests and hushed grunts of agreement during the church time. (Reminded by Steve Rogers in South Dakota that "church" means assembly, I can't forget it.) God uses our words in very special ways, that if I had tried to speak out as many times as I wanted I would probably have tarnished the purpose of exhortation and merely spoke on my own behalf. Praise Yahweh that I obeyed and listened instead of chattering on.
However, I did bring my guitar to the Rietzugs home, feeling compelled that morning around 9:00 to take the lyrics of a song I wrote last December inspired by Matthew 25 (the parable of the sheep and goats), called simple enough "Living Among Goats". It sounds quite light out of context, but it's not really about anything most want to hear. The point: It is a song for Christians who must be aware that, while they are the sheep who are on the right hand of God with the inheritance of eternal life, the unsaved souls living among the living are the goats who are on His left, receiving everlasting fire and separation from the Lord. I didn't make any mention of the song at all except when Anne met me at the front door with my guitar in hand. I had told her that I felt some inspiration to bring the lyrics with me (sort of winging it, if you will accept that expression). We took Communion in the last few minutes of the meeting and we all finished partaking of the bread and juice. (Funny, there is usually never any wine at all during most traditional Communion times, when it is wine that the Jews and Christ used in past and the Last Supper. But of course, it is the blood the Savior that is being represented, so the material is not crucial!)
Then, without missing a beat, Henry said to me from across the room, "Matthew, do you want to share your song with us?" I suppose his wife, Anne, told him about it. "It'll be a post-Communion song," he said. And then I went to fetch my guitar, and sat down on the piano stool and introduced the folks around me to the topic and some history behind the inspiration. It came to be because of the people I saw around me who are not saved, some family and friends out and about in the world and people I see meandering around me as I drive and walk down the roads and sidewalks of this world. Trouble is, many Christians do not feel obliged at all to exemplify Christ in truth and deed as they are content to look and sound religious, but the afterlife is very real, and the Judgment Day is very real. We're living among goats, my brothers and sisters; they're pretty close to us too. We must lead by our own example of faith and living that faith which is built on the God of all creation. We are not perfect, for if it wasn't for the mercy and plan of God, we could still be chained to sin and strife as this world is, therefore, we ought to not reflect that way of thinking. "We loved Him because He first loved us," says 1 John 4:19.
After the service, I talked to a few people. With Bob and Lydia, a married couple who I had met over a year ago through the services held at the Rietzugs' hosting of the "Church Across the Street," I learned that he is a pilot and goes overseas to the Middle East, and various other regions I dream about. I asked him how one might go about going the Israel or India (or any other country outside the cushiness of the U.S.A for that matter), being hypothetical but clearly speaking about myself without saying "How do I do this?". Of course I knew that I would need to have a passport or Visa to travel abroad but I looked for some outlet, such as a company or organization, that would provide a real purpose for being in a foreign place. Simply put, I wish to minister to people. And so, talking with Bob, whose job demands that he leave this country, I learned what I had already really knew, that if God wants a man to go abroad for the gospel then He will have that man go regardless of that man's feelings of wanting to or not wanting to go.
I had some good encounters today, by another gift brought to me by my Father, all things work out for good. Now, what's for supper? Steak? Yeah, I can grill. You know it.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
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