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Mt. Olive Blog 20 May 2007 Feed Me, Quench Me, Clothe Me? NOTE: This is sort of long, but read the Scripture first. It's really worth it. 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." This Scripture comes to mind a lot for me, especially since Mt. Olive has been in existence. It's pretty much an on going thing that we feed someone, visit the sick, visit the imprisioned, or whatever. Don't think I'm saying we're anything special. Just some folks who see a need and try to meet it. You'd do the same. Besides, it's the nature of where we're located. Of course, it's also a labor of love and I wouldn't have it any other way, but hopefully, you understand what I'm getting at. Taking care of "the least of these" is fairly normal life for us. However, thinking back to that Scripture, I would say that the least likely of all of those things would be to clothe the naked. It's 2007. It's very, very rare to see someone who is actually naked walking down the street. Maybe we've seen it on the nightly news or something, but not on daily, monthly, or even yeary basis. Which finally brings me to my story.... Last week, my husband and I were work, work, working away at the office. Barry took a little break to stretch his legs and apparently ended up looking out the front door. "Sarah," he calmly says," there's a naked woman walking down the street." I was busy, so I guess I didn't hear him. Whoops. "Sarah," he continues, "she walking this way." No response. :) "Sarah!," with more emphasis, "she's coming to the door." Somewhat conscious, I reply "what?" Too late. There she is. That was the first moment I realized that a very thin attractive woman stood in front of me shoeless and shirtless. Now, not to over do the situation, she had on a bra and some pants, but that's it. She apparently, had just gotten out of jail and needed a ride. We gave her a ride and we were able to share Jesus with her. I have been thinking and praying about her ever since. The point? Sometimes I overlook passages in Scripture that I feel are irrelevant to my life today. I would barely admit this to myself, much less the entire www until today, but it's true. Shame on me. Yet again, the Lord has proven the relevance of His Word for 2007. A great lesson was learned by me that day....be ready for God, listen to all of His Word, and when your husband is telling you there is a naked lady at the door, "what" is a very poor response. Sarah 21 Dec 2006 Child-llike faith? Not yet, but someday... Chapter 3 Mt. Olive Church is located in a rather forgotten part of Van Buren. There's no urban development going on this this part of town. Most folks in the neighborhood rent their home or apartment, and for the most part, the homes are often in need of some repair. They are all older homes, except for the two brand news ones erected last year. Now, this really has no reflection on the people in the vacinity of Mt. Olive. Sure, most of the folks there are what one would call "blue-collar" workers, but they are as different in values, ethics, personalities, etc. as any middle or upper class cross-section of people. Their children play in the yard just like the rest of the town. Some with more tattered clothes or shoes than others, but around here, no one seems to notice. Everyone just fits in. And, it's with these children that we've discovered a way for this new church to make a difference in the area. One story comes to mind. One Sunday, a little girl and her brother to church. They weren't regulars, due to an ongoing custody battle, but we knew them. The little girl was four years old at the time. That day she had come to church without any shoes on her feet. Our children's director at the time had taken notice and asked where her shoes were. She said that she didn't have any that fit, so she'd decided not to wear any. This tugged at her heart. She had just that day purchased shoes for her own son and decided that if they fit the little girl, she would take the shoes off her own son's feet to give to the child. Sure enough, they were just the right size. Amazing. Just as she was about to put the shoes on her feet, the little girl stopped the director. "Would you please wash my feet?" the little girl asked. Dumbfounded and teary eyed, the director got a rag and washed all the dirt off the little girl's feet and placed on the new shoes. That was the last time we saw the little girl and her brother. She was moved away by someone in the family. Now, how is it, Lord, that a child, who could not possibly know the impact those words would have on a us, as such a question? Did she know the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet? Did she know that by asking for her feet to be washed, we would feel as though we were washing the feet of Jesus, too? I may never understand the relationship You have with children, but I will never forget the time a small child participated in one of the most significant and solemn ceremonies in Christiandom. Thank you, Lord, for your beautiful mysteries. 19 Dec 2006 The seed was planted and then it grew. In March 2004, Barry and I were awaiting the birth of our first child and happily youth pastoring at Heritage Church in Van Buren. (This next part is second hand, but I'll do my best to convey the true emotion.) My husband, who once said he would never pastor a church, (for the record he also said we'd never move to Van Buren...we've decided to quit saying never) was delivering the message one Sunday morning at Heritage. Over time, Barry has been able to discern when the Lord is speaking to him and this was one of those moments. He said it was near audible and he found himself looking around to see if anyone else was disturbed. He heard the Lord say 3 times,"This is your gift; use it." He understood that to mean lead a church. After some serious thinking and prayer, Barry spoke with the Senior pastor (his boss) about the possibility of starting a second campus or satellite church. Barry was a little concerned that he would be fired, but he had to test the waters. The Lord must have prepared this meeting in advance because the Senior pastor was very excited and wondered if Barry could start in April! Thank you, Lord! Thus began the search for a place to call church. Well, actually, somewhere between this part and the next, we had a baby who was 6 weeks premature, spent time in Children's Hospital, and finally came home with our new baby girl almost a month after her birth. It's funny. Blessed are the persecuted?!? I found myself asking God if He was even real, when just a few weeks earlier, we were committing ourselves to a new call in ministry. Forgive our weak faith, Lord. But, again, the Lord is so patient with our impatience, so loving even when we hate. This crisis God used for good. Blessed are the persecuted? Our blessing was a stronger faith in the one true God through a crisis we thought had almost anihilated our relationship with Him! Back to the story.. We had probably claimed every empty building in town, in the name of Jesus, when a miracle occurred. There was an organization that owned an old church that was on the historic rergistry. They were having difficulty with the maintenence and were looking for someone to take over the place. So, the deal was if we'd mow the lawn, we could have it. SOLD! With absolutely no money, no realtors, no Nothin' we were suddenly occupying a building. Remember the story when Jesus told the disciples to get that coin out of the fish's mouth in order to pay their tax? Well, same thing, only this time He pulled an entire building out! Hee. Hee. To Be Continued... 17 Dec 2006 After much debate, I have decided what my contribution to this blog will be: Signs and Wonders At Mt. Olive Church (sub title: The many ways God has overcome obstacles inorder for this church to exist.) Yes, it's true. According to church planting statistics (Barry had to attend this classes) there is no logical reason for Mt. Olive Church to exist in the new church plant world. For instance and according to the stats, Mt. Olive is in a terrible location, the parking situation is less than conducive, the bathrooms are inconvenient (they're across the street!), the pastor is too young and under-educated, etc, etc, etc. Woah. It looks much worse when I write it all down. But, thankfully, the Lord is in the "hopeless cause" business. So...this first series of blogs will be a testimony to God overcoming the seemingly impossible...yet again. Enjoy! And, be encouraged. You may feel like a hopeless cause, but that's just a good place for the Lord to start. I have proof. Sarah
A value is required.
