Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Pastor's Perspective - A Baby's Hug


Dear FCC Family & Friends,

In the hustle and bustle of another tinseled Christmas season, are you struggling to get into the proper spirit? Maybe this story sent my way by my dear friend and former secretary Gena Mitchell will help you as it helped me. By the way, you’ll need about three minutes and about that many tissues. Merry Christmas ~

A Baby's Hug

We were the only family with children in the restaurant.. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking.

Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi." He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment..
I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists.
"Hi there, baby; Hi there, big boy. I see! ya, buster," the man said to Erik.
My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?"
Erik continued to laugh and answer, "Hi" .
Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man ..
The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby.
Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo."
Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk.
My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence - all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skidrow bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments. We finally got through the meal and headed for the door.
My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot.
The old man sat poised between me and the door. "Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed.

As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's "pick-me-up" position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man's.
Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love and kinship... Erik in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard
labor, cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back.
No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby."
Somehow I managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone.
He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, "God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift."

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks.
With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive me."
I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not.
I felt it was God asking, "Are you willing to share your son for a moment?" when He shared His for all eternity.

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, "To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children."

Live Simply & Contently.
Love Generously.
Care Deeply.
Speak Kindly.
And leave the Rest to God.

In the Fight To Be An Erik,

Steve Kiefer

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Pastor's Perspective - A True Know-It-All!

Dear FCC Family & Friends,

Recently I have been reading and re-reading a classical work titled ‘The Knowledge of the Holy’ by A.W. Tozer – a thin and affordable book I highly recommend for anyone eager to acquaint themselves with the true majesty of God.

In his text Tozer reminds us that the Lord is omniscient. In other words, He possesses perfect knowledge. He knows all that can be known. He knows instantly and with a fullness of perfection everything that exists or could have existed anywhere in the universe at any time in the past or that may exist in the centuries or ages yet unborn!

Does that truth about God trouble you or soothe you?

Every one of us has a strong desire – no exceptions. You and I want to be fully known, and, to be loved unconditionally by the one who fully knows us – the building blocks of truest intimacy. Yet, many of us live in fear of disclosure of weaknesses and ghosts and injuries from our pasts. Therefore, it is the satisfaction of every yearning soul to read that “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Friends, only Jesus knows you fully with perfect knowledge and loves you unconditionally – and tells us not to be afraid – because He has already taken our punishment!

In closing listen to Tozer’s encapsulation of the knowledge, love and acceptance God offers every member of the human family – “…how utterly sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely. No talebearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to turn God away from us, since He knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us.”

Anybody else smile after reading that?

Now THAT’S a Redeemer worth loving, worshiping and serving!

In the Fight,

Steve Kiefer