I was heading to Gainesville, FL, on Monday to teach at a Perspectives course being hosted by Passage Church. I typed the address of the church, 2020 NW 15th Street, into my phone's map app and merrily followed its directions...until I arrived at the address to discover no church anywhere around. So I did what any sane individual would do. I drove around the block (twice!) hoping that a large church building would appear.
At this point I stopped and googled the church in my smart phone; only to discover that I couldn't navigate the webpage to find the address. Since I didn't have the phone number of anyone at the church, I called my daughter who lives in Gainesville (no answer) and then my wife (no answer) hoping that they would be able to look up the church online.
Having exhausted all my resources and with the time that I was supposed to be there fast approaching*, I prayed; then drove to the closest place I thought I might be able to get directions. The clerk at CVS gave me a I-just-moved-here-from-Alaska-to-go-to-school look when I asked if he knew where the church was. Providentially, a lady was standing a few feet away and knew where the church was. She gave me simple directions. I jumped in my car, drove straight to the church and arrived 2 minutes before I was to start speaking.
As I was collecting my thoughts I realized I had just encountered one of the Lord's object lessons. The address of the church is actually 2020 NE 15th Street - just one letter different than I had typed into my phone. But that little error put me 30 blocks away from my destination.
According to God's call of Abram, His people are meant to be blessed so that they can be a blessing to all the families of the earth. But instead of typing "bless them" into our spiritual guidance systems we keep typing "bless me." And so we think that our mission is to find the best church to suit our needs. It's only off by two letters. But it is the difference between a church that pleases Jesus and a church that pleases Satan.
So, I want to spend the rest of my life being the lady at CVS who tells people how to find the true church.
*Actually time approaches at the same pace. It just seems to speed up if we are late for an appointment and slows down when we are waiting for Christmas.
At this point I stopped and googled the church in my smart phone; only to discover that I couldn't navigate the webpage to find the address. Since I didn't have the phone number of anyone at the church, I called my daughter who lives in Gainesville (no answer) and then my wife (no answer) hoping that they would be able to look up the church online.
Having exhausted all my resources and with the time that I was supposed to be there fast approaching*, I prayed; then drove to the closest place I thought I might be able to get directions. The clerk at CVS gave me a I-just-moved-here-from-Alaska-to-go-to-school look when I asked if he knew where the church was. Providentially, a lady was standing a few feet away and knew where the church was. She gave me simple directions. I jumped in my car, drove straight to the church and arrived 2 minutes before I was to start speaking.
As I was collecting my thoughts I realized I had just encountered one of the Lord's object lessons. The address of the church is actually 2020 NE 15th Street - just one letter different than I had typed into my phone. But that little error put me 30 blocks away from my destination.
According to God's call of Abram, His people are meant to be blessed so that they can be a blessing to all the families of the earth. But instead of typing "bless them" into our spiritual guidance systems we keep typing "bless me." And so we think that our mission is to find the best church to suit our needs. It's only off by two letters. But it is the difference between a church that pleases Jesus and a church that pleases Satan.
So, I want to spend the rest of my life being the lady at CVS who tells people how to find the true church.
*Actually time approaches at the same pace. It just seems to speed up if we are late for an appointment and slows down when we are waiting for Christmas.
