The Phil Files

In my Heartlight.org article this week, “Woman Behold Your Son,” I continue my series on the 7 sayings of Jesus from the Cross. In a couple of days, I will share a little insight on some of John’s terminology that adds some depth and meaning to the meaning of Jesus’ words to Mary and the Beloved Disciple.Today, however, I would really love to get some feedback from you on a couple of questions that I hope help us make this story not only touching, but also the motivation for us to do some things in our church families to live out Jesus’ example.

How do the events of the Cross create a new community of care? 

Why is it important for us to care for the least, the last, and the lonely?

What are some practical ways that Jesus’ community, our church families, can care for those who are older or in need of protection and friendship?

I’d love to get your input on this in the comments section below.

To you, LORD, I call;
    you are my Rock,
    do not turn a deaf ear to me.
  For if you remain silent,
    I will be like those who go down to the pit.
  Hear my cry for mercy
    as I call to you for help,
  as I lift up my hands
    toward your Most Holy Place.

  Do not drag me away with the wicked,
    with those who do evil,
  who speak cordially with their neighbors
    but harbor malice in their hearts.
  Repay them for their deeds
    and for their evil work;
  repay them for what their hands have done
    and bring back on them what they deserve.

  Because they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD
    and what his hands have done,
  he will tear them down
    and never build them up again.

  Praise be to the LORD,
    for he has heard my cry for mercy.
  The LORD is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
  My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

  The LORD is the strength of his people,
    a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
  Save your people and bless your inheritance;
    be their shepherd and carry them forever.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 28: Be our shepherd and carry us forever! — \o/

In Psalm 23, David speaks of the LORD as his shepherd. I love that imagery. Even more, I love that reality. God shepherds his people. One of the great passages of comfort for God’s people is found in Isaiah:

He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:11)

The image of God carrying us, of holding us close to His heart in His strong arms is comforting. Even more than just comforting, this assurance of His constant and tender care should inspire us to trust in Him and move our hearts to leap for joy.

Two convictions spring out of this that are important for me. First, my request for the LORD’s care and help are not vain wishes; they are cries for help based on what God has done in the past. Second, knowing God’s demonstrated love and care for us, I should praise Him in anticipation of His action and not simply wait till I see things happen the way I want them to happen.

Well, it’s way too late to be posting this. I should have done it much earlier today, but then we all know how plans some days. But since I have to take one of my last anti-malarial pills tonight, I was going to at least enjoy the precious memories of the recent Uganda trip with Compassion International to encourage people to sponsor a child.

God blessed all of us on this trip in so many ways. We had safe travel with few connection difficulties and little or no luggage problems. Health problems were pretty minimal, as well. Remarkably, God took a bunch of very different people and poured us together and blended us into a remarkable cocktail of grace. I personally treasure the folks with whom I spent this time and consider meeting them a great gift.

One of those remarkable people we all met was not a blogger when we arrived in Uganda– but he does now blog regularly and I encourage you to check out his message. In fact, he didn’t travel to Uganda with us. He was waiting for us at the Entebbe airport, and from that first meeting till the end of the trip, he made sure every detail of our time there was well utilized and enhanced. He covered our tardiness, helped make new plans on the fly, and arranged every facet of our time down the most precise detail. (If you have never led an international trip like this with so many different kinds of people, then you will only have to imagine how incredible his work proved to be!)

Dennis is a precious soul, whose soft and mellow voice is deep and rich, but full of passion and emotion. Dennis has a broad smile and a great laugh. Spend some time in conversation with him and you will find out that he has at least three great passions: 1) Jesus; 2) children; and 3) statistics. Dennis’ recent post on malaria as a sniper in Uganda gives you a taste of each of these three interests. He knows Scripture, the country of Uganda, and the issues at stake in the lives of the children we came to see.

One of my favorite pictures of Dennis shows him in the doorway almost portrayed in silhouette, with happy children in the background. I will carry this image of Dennis with me, because I see him as one standing near the door of hope for many children in Uganda. Most of those blessed by his efforts will never know him personally, because he is not going to call attention to himself, but their lives will be forever blessed.

While I know Dennis was sad in many ways to say goodbye to us and put us on a plane back home, I also know he was worn out and needed a break by the time we left. We can’t thank you enough, Dennis, for the great job you and the folks from Compassion in Uganda did. We will not forget you.

I ask all who read this to please pray for Dennis and the Ugandan team. Pray for peace for this country so surrounded by tribal strife on a continent that is dangerously “twitchy” with religious conflict. And most of all, if you have not prayerfully decided to sponsor a child, the greatest blessing you could give to these committed and dedicated servants of children is to prayerfully decide to sponsor a child, today — just click on this link and it will take you to the page to sponsor a child from Uganda.

If you would like to know a little more about Dennis and the children he loves, take a minute or two and enjoy the slide show below.

 

How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
  How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
  How long will my enemy triumph over me?

  Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
  and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

  But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
  I will sing the LORD’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 13: I trust in Your unfailing love! — \o/

The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:26). Those were the apostle Paul’s words and they resonate in my heart today as I read this Psalm.

You see, today my heart is on a dear friend wrestling with terminal cancer. I say this Psalm for this friend. I cry out to God for a miracle. I pray for deliverance. Whether the psalmist’s original intentions were to speak of physical, military, or political enemies, my heart is drawn to our last, powerful, vicious enemy — death. I don’t want death to triumph in this case … not now … not with my friend.

I know there are times when death is welcome — when death is the doorway to God’s presence and God’s peace and escape from suffering and sickness. But, in a world of decay and mortality, where each of us is held by a fragile thread to life and family and friends, death is still an enemy. The Holy Spirit declares that Jesus came to liberate us from our fear of death’s tyrannical rule (Hebrews 2:14). So today, dear God, I pray this Psalm and ask for your deliverance of my friend.

Yet, dear God, I do trust in your unfailing love and I know the salvation that you have already lavished down on my friend. I know, dear Abba, that you have done so many great things for me and those that I love. I trust in Your goodness and Your care. I rest my heart in the assurance that Your deliverance will come — whether from death to good health or through death into Your presence (Philippians 1:19-23).

So as I listen to the birds of morning sing their songs, my heart wells up with joy and a song stirs in my heart, too. I praise you, O LORD, for You are good … You are my God … and Your goodness overflows and blesses me.

For today’s post, please see the article in Heartlight.com. The post can be found here.

This morning we heard about the Compassion CSP or Child Survival Program that is a primary force in rescuing pre-born to three year old children by intervening and equipping mothers. This is the program that Phil talked about having saved Doreen, the child the Wares sponsor in Uganda. Below, Phil and a Compassion worker hold the file of the immunizations and medical treatment provided by CSP for Doreen for the time she was between her first birthday and her third birthday.

When you find a real godly leader, he or she is a servant leader. It really is that simple. Sure, some of them lead loudly from the front, others quietly from the side or in the middle of the pack, but their hearts are always on those they lead.

I have always been struck by the way the Holy Spirit uses Luke to make this point in Acts 6, our daily Bible reading for today. The early followers of Jesus have faced down persecution, the trouble from outside their fresh and growing family of believers. Now, however, they are facing a social division that is based on language and financial power. The widows who do not speak Aramaic (the common form of language at this time in Jerusalem, similar to Hebrew) are being neglected. This is causing division and hard feelings.

The apostles, in their Spirit-led wisdom, make it clear to the ever-growing followers of Jesus that they must remain centered on their primary tasks: preaching the word about Jesus and prayer. So they appoint seven servants to administer and equip the church for making sure these women are not neglected. And it worked. But the punch line for me are the words in that summarize the end of this story:

//Inspiration: Acts 6:7

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

//Incarnation:

The priests were not responding at all to the message about Jesus. In fact, they had largely been in opposition to the whole Jesus movement. But apparently there was something in how the early church cared for its own that grabbed their attention and moved them closer to the message so that they responded.

As I look at a culture today that largely dismisses “Christians” as irrelevant or to be pitied or to be opposed because they are hard-hearted hypocrites who want to impose their will on everyone else while not living it themselves. (If this seems harsh, look at the survey data in the book, <u>UnChristian</u> or <u>They Like Jesus, Not the Church</u>!) But if we can move the followers of Jesus away from the political agendas of self-preservation and more toward the delivery of compassion and concern, who knows what hearts it will open. I know it will sure resonate a lot better in the hearts and ears of our young adults who are hanging on to what they see as an irrelevant and inconsequential artifact called the church. They are longing for a reason to stay with it because it makes a difference in the broken world they know.

One of the reasons I believe the current efforts with Compassion are so important is that there are people in need and Jesus calls to step in and minister to them in His name. But another reason, a very important reason to do this, is to give the followers of Jesus a place to invest themselves in something matters.

Please pray that our efforts in Uganda are successful in finding sponsors for hundreds of children. Please consider becoming one yourself!

//Invitation:

Lord Jesus, please move us, stir us, and embolden us to move into our broken world with Your grace in ways that matter and mend. Amen.