The Mute Piano

I’m feeling inspired today; inspired because someone (without even knowing it) inspired me first:

After having lunch with two dear friends today, I decided to browse the mall for a while. Nothing was out of the ordinary, that is, until I heard something while in one of the stores. It was the sound of a piano playing. It’s a piano that just sits there in the mall with a sign on it saying that the “player piano” was a “gift” to the mall and not to touch or play it. Yet, I don’t remember a single occasion in which I have ever heard that piano make a sound (other than when rambunctious kids go up and occasionally pound on it impulsively). So, I was surprised and moved by what I heard. It sounded so beautiful!! At the time, I was in “The Icing” (it’s a girly accessories store for those that don’t know lol). I hadn’t found anything that I liked and was rather bored. So, the sound of that music captured my attention and greatly refreshed me. I smiled and put down the little shopping basket that the salesperson practically pushed on me for my “convenience.” I walked out of the store and stood there alongside a few other people who were watching and listening intently to the man who dared to sit down and play the untouchable piano that was so graciously gifted to the mall. He seamlessly played one piece of music after another; all by memory. He seemed to be right at home; as if this was something he always did. It was a blessed moment and it stirred my heart!!

I didn’t want to stand around staring, so I started to walk. As I did, I saw people on the mall benches gazing his way. They were smiling and they looked peaceful and content. In fact, the whole mood of that corner of the mall seemed noticeably different. I observed the distinct difference between his music and the music of the store I just entered (whose music was faced paced and blaring). It was a sharp contrast from the environment I had just exited. Their “music” drowned out the blissful melodies of the piano. I don’t think anyone in the store even knew what was going on just outside their entrance. It was just “business” as usual in there and the impact of that exquisite music hadn’t reached them. Man, were they missing out!!!

I left the store to see if I could still see and feel the difference; and I could! People were still listening and watching. I even think I heard someone singing! By that time, however, I was walking towards the mall exit to get to the parking lot (my feet were killing me and I was aching to get home!). I only wish I could have stayed longer!

I don’t know who that guy was, but he gave his audience a beautiful gift. He boldly defied that ridiculous sign and shared his talent with the world - on a piano that was meant to be played! I don’t know if he’s a believer, but he certainly was salt and light (Matthew 5:13). He illuminated that mall with his gift, and people were clearly enjoying it and thirsting for more. In the midst of the hustle and bustle, he created a sense of peace and joy. People stopped, paused, and listened. He shared his gift with them; even though he was “forbidden” to do so by the sign on that piano. He seen the piano, knew what it was for, and was bold enough to use his talent to make it come alive and be the delight it was made to be! If that piano is truly a “gift” to the mall, then it should be used for the purpose it was created for! Sitting there just to be admired and looked at, but never used, is an abomination! What a tragic disgrace to have a beautiful “gift” sit there without serving its purpose!! It made me think of the servant that buried his talent in the ground (Matthew 25:18). A gift that is given is meant to be used to profit the Kingdom; and we ALL have gifts (1 Corinthians 12).

His gift inspired me to use mine. That’s the beauty of God-given gifts; they have a multiplication factor!! He was blessed with a gift, used it to bless me (and others), and now I am passing it on further. Hopefully, this story will stir you as much as it stirred me to experience it. Ponder these questions: What is your gift? Are you using it to be salt and light to the world; and to bring glory to God’s Kingdom? Or, are you only bringing glory to yourself? Or, maybe you aren’t using your gifts at all (or haven’t bothered to discover them). Why? Are you fearful like that servant? Are you burying what you have, or are you just simply afraid to dig up what’s never been discovered in your heart? Is the world using a “sign” to shut you up and stifle you? What’s preventing you from using your talents to “make music” to someone’s soul? There are lots of people in “noisy stores.” They need to be enjoying the real music instead of the tasteless kind that they are currently “enjoying” in their world. Will you take your music to them? Who on this Earth will be singing in heaven because of what you brought to the world?

You were created with purpose!! You were meant to leave an impact on this world!! You were never created just to take up space. Just as a piano was created to be played, YOU were created to make some noise as well!! Will you? Are people going to pause to watch, hear, and enjoy what you have to offer the world? Don’t be a mute piano! Make the beautiful sounds you were created to make!! Grace and peace to all of you as you pursue your “melody.” ;) God bless you!!

Celebrating This Year And Anticipating The Next!!

So………are you ready for the new year? I am!! I LOVE celebrating the new year!! I love the optimism and the newness of it all. I love how everything seems fresh and new!!

I sure have a lot to look forward this upcoming year. Let’s see,….tomorrow is new year’s eve, followed by the next call for life on Friday (and sanctity of life week later on this month!) Then, in a couple weeks, the new Veggie Tales movie comes out. Also, Horton Hears a Who will be coming out and so will the next Chronicle of Narnia Movie - Prince Caspian!! But, aside from all the positive and enlightening entertainment, this is also an election year. Yeah, some people view politics as a headache, but I see great opportunity. I especially see that in Mike Huckabee - and his chances of winning the republican nomination (and the presidency) look very good to me!! I’m praying for him and advocating him the best I can and I can only hope other true Christians will do the same.

In addition to all of those things, I have another very important thing to look forward to…..Steve, Susan, and their family are going to be moving up here in a few weeks!!! OH YEAH!! SO EXCITED!!! God blessed them with a house in a town close to us and they will be moving into it very soon!! I am beyond grateful that God would bring our family and their family together and that He would bless us so intensely with their friendship!! He knew that we all needed each other!! I look forward to all the great times that we will have together, and also to all the things that Another Chance Ministries will accomplish once the ministry gets started here in Indiana. We love you guys and we are praying for you!! We hope that God brings you here safely and that He will provide for all your needs as you prepare to make your journey. We pray that God will give you the strength and endurance that you’ll need to make it through it all!! May you be abundantly blessed!! We can’t wait to welcome you HOME!!!!!!!! OXOXOXO

Thinking about those who are so much a part of our family (and ARE family to us!) makes me think about what Chad talked about at church today. There wasn’t a long sermon today. It was just simply a day of remembrance, reflection, and thanks for all the people who serve and help out in the church.

Every servant of Christ does their part to be make up the body of Christ. It’s all about people reaching people; meeting them where they are and making disciples - not simply “converts.” People encounter Christ through those of us that exemplify His love and goodness. We need to be good ambassadors for Christ so others can be brought to Him. And, that doesn’t just mean “going to church” and going through the motions either. Chad reiterated that point by saying, “we don’t ‘go to church’ we ARE the church!” Yeah…..THAT’S RIGHT!!

So, with that in mind, our church’s personal mission is to make disciples who Reach Up to experience a life of faith; Reach Out to share the hope of Jesus; and Reach Around people with the love of Jesus. We certainly have a LOT of people at Life Church who do that!! They had people from various ministries within the church say a few words, and they posted names of those who serve on those teams on the screen. WOW!! There are a lot of great servants!! My kudos and thanks to everyone that shares their heart, time, and talents in order to help other people take their next step towards God!! Thanks to all the obedient people who serve really do have the “Love God; love others” mentality at heart!

I try to do that very thing as well - and not just solely through involvement with other brothers and sisters in Christ at church, but on a daily basis!! Of course, anyone that reads these blogs knows that. And so, I want to thank all of you who continue to read these entries. I pray that you are blessed and that your heart it touched by God. It’s why I do what I do. It’s all about building His Kingdom, being a part of it, and getting others to know the joy of it as well! I always feel like if my experiences and what I learn from them can help someone, then it is so worth it! It’s like what Karen (the counselor at Life Church) said today when it was her turn to share….she said that we’re always the leader of someone, as well as the leader of ourselves. So, we ought to be a good leader and be led by Christ so we can lead others to Him as well!

Another thing that she said (which I just loved!) was that when you’re broken, you’re teachable. No doubt about it!! More often than not, a person learns the most when they are vulnerable and in their darkest of moments because we are more receptive.

Another couple sayings that I like are ones that Kent always says: “Life isn’t fair. People are weird. Love’s the bottom line” as well as “Feel the heat. Face the fire. Find the gold!” All of that adds up to persevering through the tough stuff to find the silver lining to it all. Go through the test to get to the testimony so you can share your story with others!!

Well, happy new year everyone! Just remember, when that “ball drops” pick it up and run with it!! It’s just like Chad talked about last year…..don’t start off the year by dropping the ball. Take that ball and run with it! Make the most of your opportunities and make a difference this coming year and always!! May God bless you all and keep you safe!! See you next year!!

"Butt" There's No Excuse!!

Don’t you just love cliffhangers?! The anticipation can just drive you nuts!! That’s how I have been feeling each and every Sunday for the last few weeks because our pastor has embarked on an exciting message series entitled “House.” And, the “house” that he is talking about is the “house” of Christianity.

So far, he has talked about getting in the door, waiting in the hallway, and now, we are starting to explore the “rooms.” This series is awesome; and I am LOVING IT!!! And, if you have been reading my blogs on this series for the past few weeks, I’m sure you’re just as eager to read about today’s message as much as I was eager to hear it today. Of course, since I just started this particular blog, you can just click on these links to go to my myspace page and read parts one, two, and three so that you can understand more about this series and what I'm talking about in some of my references. Also, you can now listen to these sermons for yourself at our church's website by clicking here. You can listen online, or download the free podcast. How cool is that??!! I highly recommend it, because I can’t possibly reiterate every single thing that Chad said. I just summarize it. Plus, he puts a lot of his personal testimony in there, and you would love to hear that for yourself!!

In addition to this series, Chad also decided to conduct a little experiment. Last week, he said that we were going to have a plant onstage and that the only time that it was going to get any light, attention, or water, was on Sunday mornings. So, how long do you think the plant will last? This morning, everyone could plainly see - as Chad put it - that it was already showing signs of “want.” One of the leaves has already turned yellow. So, there is a whole other sermon just in that plant alone - obviously. ;) If you’re only getting your spiritual food on Sundays and not filling yourself up every other day of the week, your “plant” will start showing some desperate signs of “want.” That plant is your soul, and if you don’t nurture your soul with some soul food, you’re going to start dying inside. Don’t wait for your leaves to turn yellow before you start quenching yourself with some soul food/living water!! Being a Sunday morning Christian just won’t cut it people!! Anyways, I won’t elaborate more on that right now. I will just dive in to the next part of the series.

Today’s door leads us into the “church” room. I can already visualize your eyes rolling!! “Church.” Maybe you’re like Chad and it was one of those doors that your parents dragged you through as a kid. Maybe you have been hurt by a church, or maybe you have never been to one for some reason. Maybe it’s because so many of us think of “church” as being a building, denomination, or something like that. But, that’s not what “church” is. Even in the Bible, when God talks about his “church” he isn’t talking about a place, building, or denominational branch. When God is talking about his “church” he is talking about “PEOPLE!”

Chad said that church isn’t a place you “go.” Church is PEOPLE “on the go.” AMEN TO THAT!!! The church is the body of Christ. Christ is the HEAD (Colossians 1:15-18) and we are the body. And, as Chad put it, the church body isn’t a “collecting body,” it’s a “sending body.” The church is (and SHOULD BE!) an equipping center. We come to our places of worship to learn and grow spiritually, and then, we should take that knowledge and use it as fuel for our souls to grow in our faith and share it with others by using our unique talents. EVERYONE has a talent and EVERYONE makes up the church body. We all need to be using our talents for the common good. Though, as Chad pointed out, sometimes we don’t think we have talent, or that our talent isn’t as important as someone else’s. Not so!! It’s just like what 1 Corinthians 12:14-18 says: “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” In other words, there is no “I” in the word “team.” We all need to do our part and no part is any less significant than another!! The whole body needs to work cooperatively in order to function completely and efficiently to its full potential!! EVERYONE is important!!

So, what is YOUR part in the body? I think the key is service. We all use our talents for some kind of service for the common good. I think, for too long, the church has had an overabundance of one body part: the butt. Chad said that he thinks the church has a really big butt - we just sit in the pews and that’s about it. Not to say that the church body doesn’t need its “butt.” After all, every part is important right? And, in all honesty, we all have the capacity to be a “butt” sometimes!! LOL Though, I think we are called to a higher degree of functionality. We can be a better “butt” than just a self-serving stationary one. A butt acts as a “cushion” and everyone needs that right? But if all we are doing is just being a cushion too much for our own selves and all we do is lazily sit down and only care about our own comfort and relaxation, then we are a bigger “butt” than we realize!!

Ok. No more “butt” jokes! LOL The point I am trying to make is mobilization. It like when Chad talked about the ministry the churches have at our city’s annual Street Fair. Usually, they set up a prayer tent and hand out cups of water to people. Though, when you are relying on people to just come to YOU, you aren’t going to be able to serve them as well. If you are going TO the people, you will have a lot better results!! That is why, this year, they sent out the churches to clean the streets and pick up trash; which was met with much appreciation and gratitude. People respond to service. Chad said that they helped and prayed for more people THAT WAY than they ever did in the prayer tent!

Let’s “catch the vision” as Chad put it. Let’s start understanding what it really means to be the church body of Christ! Don’t wait around for someone else to do what you know you should be doing. Quit being the “butt” of the church and get mobilized! This especially needs to be done in cases where only a small percentage of the church is actively serving, and all the pressure is put on THEM to do all the work because no one will let them rest on their own cushions for a while!! Come on people!! Let’s work together and share the burden!!!

Well, that’s my take on the sermon today. I can’t wait for next Sunday!! “Butt” (sorry, I had to! LOL) I guess I will just have to wait, and continue watering my soul each and every day so I don’t end up like the plant at church. ;) So, until next time, remember this phrase that a friend once told me: “Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death!” Feed your soul, and help others feed their souls too! Do your part! God bless all who read this!!