Steps of Faith

In one of the old Indiana Jones movies the hero was rushing through a tunnel inside a mountain trying to keep ahead of an enormous ball of stone that was rolling toward him and threaten to crush him if he stopped even for a moment. He was greatly relieved when he saw some light up ahead, hoping it would give him the chance to get out of the way of this colossal threat. But he was shocked when he got to the opening, the tunnel ended in the middle of the face of a high cliff, and that there was no way he could see to leave the tunnel and make it to safety. However, he noticed a message on the wall that said, in effect, that here was an invisible bridge that would lead him to safety from the opening where he stood, but that he had to believe that it was there, and step out on it. In desperation, Indiana Jones decided to trust the message, stepped out into what appeared to be nothingness, and ran to safety on that invisible bridge.

Long before I encountered Indiana Jones, however, as a youth, I found an old, nineteenth century verse in a biography of the great pioneer missionary to China, Hudson Taylor. Ever since, it has always been in my mind. Here it is: “The steps of faith fall on the seeming void and find the rock beneath.” The book of Hebrews, defines faith as, “The substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

When you read this you may already visited or worshiped at our beautiful new sanctuary of Lord of Life Clifton. Some years ago, in a Clifton living room, a little group of believers from Lord of Life Fairfax and a group of believers from what was then Holy Spirit congregation in Clifton discovered they could see something that did not yet have a visible form. They had no message on a tunnel wall, but they did truly believe that the Holy Spirit was leading them to unify the ministry in Clifton with the ministry in Fairfax. They decided to propose steps that would best serve the gospel however their hopes would lead…both groups agreed… and Lord of Life church and Holy Spirit became, “One Congregation on Two Locations.”

For those who participated in bringing together both Fairfax and Clifton, the decision had far more to do with hopes and commitment and faith than any statistical or other considerations. The decision to unite was what had become the substance of their faith as far as the life of the churches was concerned; the evidence was the beginning of how a strengthened combined ministry would best reflect how God was leading both groups.

Faith in what ought to be as we understand our mission in Christ has always been at the heart of the Christian church. Faith leads to steps taken in the real world moved by hope and love and a hunger to bring that hope and love into the places and the sights and sounds and experiences of the senses–human reality.  

When you come to worship whether it be the place that is our sanctuary in Fairfax or our sanctuary in Clifton, may you sense what moved people like you and me to build them in the first place–to turn into historic reality places for human beings to humanly touch what cannot be seen, and to hear as best we can with the clumsy instruments of human hearing the words and music of grace and love that are so far beyond our senses that we can only throw ourselves by faith into the joy and wonder of worship and praise.

Pastor Jansen

Promises

The air these days is full of promises. One might even say we are a generation besieged with promises. Television commercials, political campaigns and personal relationships all seem to become processes in which promises are the basis to persuade us to a variety of actions and opinions. If we believe the maker of the promises, we follow a course of action that basically concludes that the promise is an indication of a reality that will happen. It is a matter of faith.

The ancient nature of our transaction with God is that he makes promises to human beings. He is not running for office, of course, but in his love for us and our need of assurance that our life on earth is more than just an accident of cosmic evolution, he has made promises to us.

I was struck by a text not long ago that was translated in a curious way in the Good News Bible. It was when the messenger of God announced to Abraham that he would have offspring, “as many as the stars in the sky.” Then the text goes on, “Abraham believed God…and God was pleased.” The more precise translation is, no doubt, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:5) This last is the more familiar form of the verse. The translator, however, takes the verse and holds it up as a human and non-judicial pre-historic portrait of how God seeks to be understood by us. You and I are enlarged when we are trusted. Life becomes a positive and affirming adventure. When trust is present, the creative spirit is made free to explore and utilize all of the energies available to us. When we are believed, we are spared the energies and efforts needed to guarantee our credibility.

God promises to be the Living God in our midst. You can probably recite from memory as many instances of “promises” from the Bible as can I. My point is not to catalogue them, but to recognize that we need to distinguish between the self-serving promises flung at us by the commercial and political world of our time, and on the other hand, the ancient and absolute reliability of the promises inherent in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the scriptures that offer us an awareness of what God will provide from day to day.

Trusting the promises of God is not only a wise and blessed course to take in life, there is also the aspect of “pleasing” Him, a way in which human beings have a unique capacity to truly affirm and respond to His love for us.

Pastor Jansen

Giving Thanks

Praise the Lord, O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 106:1

One of the greatest gifts in life is the gift of being thankful. All of us, no matter what our circumstances, can be grateful. This year God continued to bless me beyond all expectations. One of the greatest blessings for which I am most thankful is the blessing of being called by Lord of Life as an associate pastor. It gives me great joy working with such a professional, dedicated and fun bunch of people. I have served in a lot of places in my life but LOL is one of the most blessed congregations I have experienced. The amount of talent and resources available at LOL is truly amazing. One of the themes of the Bethel Bible series is: Blessed to Be a Blessing. I believe the reason God continues to bless LOL is because you are so willing to share your blessings with others.

I have been fortunate to serve in places like New Guinea, Colombia, North Dakota, New Jersey, Panama, Germany, and now in Northern Virginia. As different as all of these places and people have been, my goals have always been the same. There are three things that I promise as your pastor. I will (1) love you, (2) forgive you, and (3) share the Good News of Jesus with you. In return I desire three things from you. I would ask for: (1) your love, (2) your forgiveness, and (3) the sharing of the Good News of Jesus.

One of my favorite parables is where the master tells his servant, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” It has always intrigued me that Jesus did not say, “Well done, good and successful servant.” When all is said and done we may not always be successful, but what God is looking for is our faithfulness. God truly is good and His mercy lasts forever.

May you be blessed beyond expectation,

Pastor Burslie   

We Are Not Yet What We Shall Be

We are not yet what we shall be,

 but we are growing toward it.

The process is not yet finished,

but it is going on.

This is not the end, but it is the road.

    –Martin Luther

Thank You Lord for this Nation

A little girl took a trip to New York City with her father. They took a boat trip and saw the Statue of Liberty guarding the entrance to the harbor. The girl was fascinated with the history of the grand lady of liberty. As they returned across the bay that evening, the daughter stood by the boat’s railing and watched the lady, who held the lighted torch, recede in the distance. That night the little girl tossed on her pillow. She sat up and her father asked her what was wrong. She said, “Daddy, I was thinking about that lady out there in the dark with nobody to help her hold up her lamp. Shouldn’t we help her?”

Some people look at a country with the eyes of a critic and wonder what is worth saving. Others ride like barnacles on the ship, looking for a free ride, without ever helping to hoist the sails that enable progress. But we give thanks to those who feel indebted to their county for the freedom which, though fragile, still lives on. They still desire to help Miss Liberty hold aloft her lamp to the world.

Have you ever looked at your house with a scrutinizing eye? If you do, you will find errors made by the carpenters. There may be a slight leak in the faucet. The room arrangement might be unhandy. However, let your house catch fire, and as you see it being consumed by the flames, you see much more than faults. You see your home, and you realize that even though there are some negative things about it, the good things far outweigh them.

How do you say thanks to God for your country? It is not just saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, involvement is the answer. We must prune the diseased branches of injustice and deceit and ask that God govern the affairs of its people. We must work to preserve the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. So we give thanks for our nation. Gratitude dose not just watch history march by, it makes history.

Pastor Qualley  

Don’t Postpone Life

Summertime can sometimes feel like we take our foot off the accelerator of life. School is out, vacations are coming, some sporting events cease and the weather is warm. No doubt we need rest for our souls and bodies, a time to let our shadows catch up to us.

I also challenge you to find meaning in your summer days. It would be sad when summer is over and you would be disappointed by the things that you had hoped to do but didn’t. I find that you have to be intentional with your days. Are you going to do something this summer in your yard? Do you want to read some good books? Do you want to spend some quality time with the family? Do you want to entertain friends at an outdoor barbecue?

Jesus saw the deadening streak in our human nature, the ever present temptation to procrastinate, to postpone life. Jesus talks about the five wise and the five foolish virgins, half of them missed the wedding and the feast that followed. In another narrative, Jesus tells about a great super all prepared. Unfortunately, the invited guests were too busy to attend: one looking at a piece of ground, another looking at a yoke of oxen, another taking care of a new bride. They missed the feast.

As I see lives end, as T. S. Eliot put it, “with a whimper, instead of with a bang,” it isn’t because these lives have been willfully, purposefully evil. Most of them have just been dribbled away. They are the stories of opportunities neglected, challenges unmet, inspiration stifled, potential allowed to deteriorate, and talents undeveloped–all due to procrastination. There is a story of the old recluse who had a bad leak in his roof. When he was asked why he didn’t repair the leak, he always said, “Well, when the sun is shining, I don’t need it repaired and when it is raining, it’s too wet to work on it.” That is the story of so many lives, the moments that come and go.

Cherish today. Today matters. Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. puts it this way, “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” Think about the profundity of that statement. Start now with the most important: to establish a deeper relationship with God, a loving relationship with family and friends, and a meaningful purpose at your work and your play. “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley  

Lord, Teach Us How to Pray

“I just don’t feel comfortable in my payer life. I don’t even know how to talk to God and when I do, it seems like I have a laundry list of requests. Shouldn’t my payer life be more than this?” That was the conversation not too long ago with some Lord of Life folk. Perhaps you have similar thoughts. Our desire is that we can strengthen our life of prayer, one way to is to ponder the importance of the prayer that Jesus taught in the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is only a few sentences long but it offers a depth of meaning.

Jesus was a teacher of prayer. He was able to do the remarkable things He did because He was plugged in to the source of meaning and power in life. Prayer is where that contact took place. He prayed daily as a matter of custom. But especially when He had a decision to make, a difficult task to do, or a cross to face, He would first spend time with God in prayer.  The disciples knew that prayer was the source of Jesus’ power. That’s why they asked him, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” Today, that’s our request as well.

Lord of Life’s first Mark of Discipleship is “Pray daily.” The key is to keep at it. Make prayer an important part of your everyday routine. One thing you can be sure of is that if you take prayer seriously, it will change your life. Perhaps you’ve heard these words, “Prayer changes things.” Often prayer is able to change the situation in which we find ourselves. But always prayer is able to change the person who is praying. In prayer we receive love and guidance and strength.

I like how someone defined the familiar acronym ASAP this way: Always Say A Prayer. God knows how stressful life can become; he wants to ease our cares. He’ll respond to all our needs so, ASAP.

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley