Category: Worship

CHURCH SIGNS 26 MARCH 2023

Posted on by Pastor Randy
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WHILE I’M WAITING!

Posted on by Pastor Randy

9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Galatians chapter 6, verses 9 and 10; from the New Living Translation (NLT)

How well do you handle “waiting”? Waiting is just another part of living on this third rock from the sun. It happens every day. We find ourselves waiting for someone or something. Me??? Well, it just depends on my mood at the time. That ought to tell us something about our feelings! Traffic lights, doctor’s offices, at the drive-thru lane, while seated at a restaurant, the cable repair technician–and the worst of all–waiting for the next available customer service representative. But that’s just trivial stuff–though it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

No, I speaking about the current quandary in the United Methodist Institution and that Paragraph 2553. For those not in our Tribe, it defines how to disaffiliate from what has become nefarious. Annual Conferences have defined a process in order to be set free from what can only be described by me as the twenty first century Titanic. Many of my Wesleyan-hearted sisters and brothers have finished the process and have been granted freedom. Well, except those 3 in the Arkansas Annual Conference. (Read my satirical take on that situation here) And there are still many others, like myself, waiting for the moment we can leave Egypt.

So, what do we do when we are waiting in this season of disaffiliation? Well, we can do what we do when waiting at a traffic light. We can fret and stew. Then stew and fret; as if that will make the light change quicker. Lord knows I’ve done a lot of that–not just at traffic lights but while I’m sitting in this quagmire. But I’ve noticed I’m not the only one fretting and stewing. Now, my fellow Wesleyan Hearted friends who are fretting and stewing, don’t be offended at what I am about to write. I’m directing it at me as much as I am you. What good has been accomplished by all our fretting and stewing–anger and frustrations?

It has achieved as much as fretting and stewing changes a traffic light, or for the nurse to call us back to the examining room. Absolutely nothing positive–but it has done a lot of harm to us and the people around us! But The Spirit has given me something else to do until December 10 when hopefully I will be set free. It happened Saturday morning as I was sitting on my front porch doing my usual morning worship time. I have my favorite playlists, but Saturday morning–for some reason unknown to me but known to The Holy Spirit–I allowed my app to select some music.

It sounded unfamiliar at the time to me–but it also sounded familiar at the time. Crazy, huh? Oh, you want to know the name of the song. It was While I’m Waiting written and sung by John Waller. I looked it up, and found out why it sounded familiar. It was in the soundtrack of the movie Fireproof. It was the chorus of this powerful song that reminded me that God wanted me to do something in the waiting other than fretting and stewing. And it’s what we all need to do. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

While I’m waiting I will serve You
While I’m waiting I will worship
While I’m waiting I will not faint
I’ll be running the race even while I wait

by John Waller; © Capitol CMG Publishing, Songs Of Mojo, LLC

Wesleyan Hearted friends. These are the 4 things God wants of us in this season of waiting–and in EVERY season of life. Serve Him. Worship Him. Don’t faint! And keep on running the race, even while we wait. It will do a lot more for us than fretting and stewing. It has definitely helped my perspective. And who knows–maybe it will do something for another person who is waiting. And here’s the song:

31 JULY 2022

Posted on by Pastor Randy

9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 14, from the New Living Translation