A CHURCH WITH IRON

It is raining! What a joy to hear the distant crack of thunder to the south and the occasional burst of light from lightning high in the cloud tops. It's been a terrible drought this past month and a half, and even as meager and light as this rain is, it is welcome. As I sit at my desk in the sparrow's perch, I am enjoying the gentle breeze and uneven rhythm of the rain drops as they land on the aluminum splash-guard below my window sill.

I'm feeling satisfied this morning after a time of prayer and communion with the Lord. He's already shown me some things this morning that I need to work on and has set within my heart some of what I'm going to write in the blog. I have to admit, this is my favorite blog to write. I have two others, but they don't reflect who I am as much as what I do. This blog is more intimate and personal. I draw from my life experiences, my children, my grandchildren, and my wife for the practical application and inspiration. Such was the case yesterday as I sat down to dinner with my youngest daughter to an after church dinner.

Normally, this would be a trying affair, but yesterday my wife and I went to separate locations. She took the oldest two grandchildren to McDonalds to enjoy the playground, while I took my daughter and her five month old to a local Mexican food restaurant. For the first time in a very long time, we had an adult conversation without it being punctuated by demands for her attention. Through the mercies of God, little Avery was content to play with her feet and bat at the toys hanging from the handle of her carrier.

You see, I actually do enjoy talking with my daughters, while I am sure they grimace and endure me. Both of my daughters are going through that time in their lives when the demands of children, husbands, and the uncertainty of the future weigh heavily upon them. My oldest daughter puts on a brave face, and her infectious smile, and you'd never know she was going through anything. My youngest has always been open and up-front about how she feels. She's always been this way from the day she came out of the chute. I'm sure the last thing she wanted on a Sunday afternoon, was for her father to sit across the table from her, and inject his ancient opinion into her modern life. So you can imagine my surprise when she blurted out, that she and her husband needed to find a 'good' church.

I wasn't surprised by the need for a good church. Parents know these things before their children do. It isn't that we're smarter, because the Lord knows I'm no where near as smart as my children. As parents, knowing these things is a matter of perspective. My vantage point is nearly twenty five years beyond hers. Time writes wisdom on any heart willing to receive the words.

Within the same sentence, she qualified her statement with something so powerful, I had to write about it this morning. She simply said that they needed to find a church with some iron in it.

I knew exactly what she meant, and in an instant, I was confronted with the consequences of past decisions. So, I hope everyone will forgive this moment of personalization as I explain to my daughter why she struggles so much to find a church home.

It's not your fault that it has taken you this long to realize the value of iron. Between the demands of the Air Force, the refining of my spiritual and doctrinal stances, and the pressures of satisfying a wife and children, you rarely stayed in a church home for more than three years. The nomadic lifestyle of the Air Force, coupled with my own insecurity in spiritual matters, didn't allow you to forge long term spiritual relationships. I was easily offended, overly demanding, and completely self-absorbed. I allowed things into my home that diminished our purity and holiness, and as you are well aware, I knew I was right, but rarely acted right. I pushed you to believe your gifting was special, and placed you on a pedestal. I've left more than one church, because they failed to recognize your talent. If things got too hard, or the Pastor demanded more than I was willing to give, I'd pack us up and move to another church.

Then you grew up. You were no longer in my life at the moment I needed you to be. I needed you to see the power of joining with a body of believers who hold you to a higher standard. I needed you to enjoy the joy of learning with others equally as hungry as yourself. You see, the interesting thing about iron sharpening iron, is that one submits and yields to the other, alternately gaining strength. It is the forge of the master blacksmith that heats us up and folds us into one another. The hammer of the Holy Spirit drives us together while at the same time leaving our individual contributions evident for others to see. Like the fold lines in a good piece of steel, you can see the forging process, but the work is one solid piece of steel. We have to be forged together to become strong. It takes a long time to forge the finest Damascus or Japanese blades. The firing and forging aren't easy. Submission to one another is essential, purity is crucial, and temper is everything. You didn't see these things when you were growing up. I know you look at me through the rainbow glasses of being my daughter, but I should have prepared you better, been more secure, and trusted God more.

You see, one thing I've learned over the years is that God loves you more than I do. He is infinitely concerned with your salvation. I can grow weary, become angry, live in frustration, but He doesn't. I can be mad at you, punish you, and push you away, but he doesn't. He is always right where we left him. You see, the things you are going through, can be blamed on me. I should have been more stable, more submissive, more pure in my devotion to others. So, when I hear you say; I need a church with more iron in it, I am grateful that you've found this out almost fifteen years before I realized it. It won't be easy, submitting never is. Finding a church home with iron in it won't be easy either. I was blessed to become part of this body we are in now. You will need to find a church that teaches straight up word and not watered down feel good stuff. If you're not challenged to grow, pray, be a participant, or know the Word, then it doesn't matter how much your children like it, how much they let you sing, how much they picnic together, it doesn't have iron in it. Duct tape churches are fine until the heat rises or the cold sets in. Churches built upon the personality of the pastor, the quality of the praise team, or even the amount of 'play' time they offer, isn't what church is for.

I have asked God to make you a Spiritual metal detector. Listen for the evidence.