Come Empty-Handed

Before Church

Sunday, March 24, 2019 

Isaiah 55:1-3

Come, everyone who thirsts,

      come to the waters;

      and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

       without money and without price.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

       and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good,

       and delight yourselves in rich food. 

Incline your ear, and come to Me,

       hear, that your soul may live;

and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

       my steadfast, sure love for David.

Invitations.  We love to get invitations, don’t we?  When I was a little girl even birthday parties merited written, mailed, invitations, and we loved to go because there were always games, and cake, and ice cream.  My favorite was chocolate.  But we always had to bring a present, you never went empty-handed.

This invitation from God says: come empty-handed.  Come into God’s party, come thirsty, and we will be satisfied with waters, with milk and with wine.  We don’t need any money, because God has paid it all.  Have you ever been short of cash?  Found yourself at the cashier with not enough to pay? Had a check bounce?  A credit card denied?  Gone to a restaurant and not been able to afford what you’ve already eaten?  It’s an awful experience, a terrible feeling.  But this never happens in the Kingdom of God, because Christ paid it all!  We find ourselves in the position to pay for whatever we need, and buy whatever we want.  Thanks to Christ, we are preferred customers at God’s market!.

We can labor for worldly bread that never satisfies.  Bread is notoriously short-lived, going stale in a day and spoiling quickly thereafter. God invites us to His feast.  Jesus, the Bread of Heaven, comes to satisfy us not through our mouths but through our ears: “Listen diligently to Me, . . . incline your ear, . . . hear that your soul may live. . .” Kingdom feasting is on the Word of God.  Jesus said, “I am the Bread of life”.  Where better to feast but at church? 

Gathering this morning, let’s focus on the rich food, the delight of God’s truth.  This is what feeds our souls, this is what gives them everlasting life.  God promises an everlasting covenant of love, the steadfast love that lasts into eternity.  Come, everyone.  Come empty-handed.  We are going to be filled, satisfied for ever.  See you at church!

Before Church is a weekly blogette put out by the Rev. Elizabeth Stone. Connect with Pastor Beth at www.wvlivingstone.com

The Big Reveal

Before Church

Sunday, March 10, 2019 The Big Reveal

Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Plumbing excitement. Bathroom refit commercials talk about the “big reveal” at the end of the day when homeowners get to see their new tub.  If we get this excited about plumbing, we should be over the moon about the Bible.  Why?  Because it is the biggest reveal in history.  The Israelites had the privilege of having the law given to them; in fire and smoke on Mount Sinai the Torah was given, a living legacy for the Hebrews to this day.  But it was just a prelude, the foundation of an even bigger reveal.

The uptick in fish commercials tells us we are in Lent, and even those of us who are not Roman Catholic can cross the street and enjoy a good fish fry on a Friday night.  Today is also the start of daylight savings time (did you make it up on time today? make it to church on time?).  The reminders in the news and on social media tell us we are about to lose an hour of our lives with the distant promise of getting it back come autumn.  But what about the Big Reveal of the Gospel? Jesus told His disciples that while on earth, He held nothing back.  While on earth, He taught everything the Father told Him, revealed everything.  That brings us up from the status of servant, to the status of friend, friend of God:

 “You are my friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:14,15

Every time we look into the Bible, the heart of God is revealed; more evidence of His eternal love for us, His determination to save us, His faithfulness to His promises, and His willingness to go to the utmost lengths to bring us home to Heaven.  It is not a distant promise, but up close and personal, because Christ came to earth in the flesh to reveal it, and to accomplish it.  Salvation revealed, salvation sealed. 

Hopefully you will head out to church on time this morning.  But arrive expectantly, expecting God’s revelation, seeing more, learning more, experiencing more, and being transformed by the Bible truth, the things that belong to us and our children forever.

Before Church is a weekly blogette put out by the Rev. Elizabeth Stone. Connect with Pastor Beth at www.wvlivingstone.com

Strife-free Zone

Before Church

Sunday, March 3, 2019 Strife-free Zone

Matthew 5:14,15

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Faith is not a private matter, a personal thing we do on our own.  It is not just “Me and Jesus” but Jesus, and us, and a whole mess of other people.  We are saved into the community of faith; when we walk out of our prayer closets, we walk first into church.  And what do we find there?  People like us; flawed by sin and needy for grace.  So it is not surprising that Jesus calls us to make peace with our brothers and sisters before we worship.  Whatever we want to offer on God’s altar this week – our love, our praise, our thanksgiving – we celebrate our reconciliation to God by being reconciled to each other, coming to His sanctuary with open, forgiving hearts.

Proverbs 17 tells us:

The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. (vs. 14)

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. (vs.9)

What is the hallmark of our church family? Strife? Quarrels? Or love and forgiveness?  Is love visible?  Does it show?

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. . .” Hebrews 12:14,15

The world is full of quarrels and strife.  When people walk into church, it must be a strife-free zone, that place where believers know love and forgiveness of Christ, and pour the same out on our sisters and brothers, so that any seekers who have wandered into our worship are struck and awed by divine love shared among a people of grace, amazing grace.

Soul-Hunger

Before Church

Sunday, February 24, 2019  Soul-Hunger

Proverbs 10:3

The LORD does not let the soul of the righteous hunger,

but He thwarts the cravings of the wicked.

What is soul-hunger?  This is what God is promising to fill in this verse, so what is soul-hunger?  It is that deep craving, that emptiness that exists in every human soul that can only be filled with God-love.  Some writers have described it as a vacuum that can only expand with the quickening of the soul by grace. Think of a vacuum-packed pouch of snacks; once you cut into it, it expands with the inrush of air.  Like the snack pack, our souls expand with the inrushing of the Holy Spirit.  In Matthew 5:6 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Christ gives us His righteousness in salvation, and we are satisfied. 

Flip side of this proverb? Wicked cravings are thwarted, denied.  Choosing to be wicked blocks the blessing and the infilling of the Spirit; they go around hungry, not even knowing why or for what.  

All of us yearn to be filled, to have our hunger satisfied.  How do we get filled?  Worship.  Prayer, praise, thanksgiving – not just on our own but with the family of God.  Get to church this morning. Be filled in your soul with the never-ending love of God.

Before Church is a weekly blogette put out by the Rev. Elizabeth Stone. Connect with Pastor Beth at www.wvlivingstone.com

My New Kentucky Home

Moving to Kentucky! Oh, the irony. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? After all that good stuff in my previous blog about why we are called WV Living Stone Ministries - WVLSM - and we are moving. To Kentucky.  My new Kentucky home. Gotta love it.

So what do we do? Rename the ministry KYLSM? Expensive and problematic changing websites and all the promotional items; not good stewardship, either.  And now that people are getting to know us WVLSM, we don't want to frustrate everybody, ourselves included, by changing the online address. I just got good at typing www.wvlivingstone.com! Sooooooo, how do we move forward?

Clarifying question: Where does God send us to share the Gospel?  The epicenter of the primitive church was Jerusalem, but in Acts 1:8 the Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear that the ripples of the Gospel of grace would expand in ever-widening fluid circles to all Judea, Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.  Within one generation the Gospel had already spread from Jerusalem as far as Spain, North Africa, and Asia.  So why not from Beckley, to Raleigh County, to Charleston, and to the ends of the earth?  Including Kentucky! White harvest fields exist everywhere, and that is where the Holy Spirit sends us. 

Fruitless and frustrating arguments often end with "What evah", said with attitude and an eye roll. I gave up arguing with God long ago. Just as He sent Israel from place to place by moving the pillar of fire and cloud, He has signaled for us to move on, too. Vocational reassignment does not mean failure, it just means new fields.  So instead of "what evah" I am saying "Where eVah", because wherever God sends me, that's where I go.  Where eVah Living Stone Ministries; I like the sound of that. WVLSM, Where eVah God sends me. Traveling to other states is nothing new; we've been all over the map. Where eVah there is a call to share the Gospel.  Now home base will be my new Kentucky home, but the Gospel, well, that never changes.  

Mountain Percolator: In the Beginning . . l

Like most things in my life, I start out doing one thing and it morphs into a completely other thing. Start teaching, end up preaching. Start single, end up married. Start vaguely agnostic and end up Christian. Start Pennsylvanian and end up West Virginian. Start mathematician, end up theologian. Start with French, and end up adding Greek and Hebrew. Start out mom, end up grandmom. Point is, God always has a better idea. This ministry, WV Living Stone Ministries, started out with a passionate testimony about suicide recovery, Valley of the Shadow, (available for purchase in our store on this website 😊) and has morphed into something bigger and better than I'd ever thought, or hoped, or imagined. Now I travel all over the place not just to give seminars and testimony about suicide prevention and recovery, but also spiritual retreats and church events on all things Christian. And I'm having a blast.

Why WVLSM? Because I love the verses in I Peter 2:4,5: "As you come to Him, that Living Stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Is there anything more dead than stone? Yet in my mind I picture a great building on a huge foundation stone of Christ, pulsating with life, and as each stone gets set in place, the indestructible life-force of Jesus quickens it as well.

Why WV? Because it is my adopted home state and very beautiful. And if you put WV in front of any domain name you are almost sure to find it is available. It doesn't mean I don't go to other states; my work has taken me to NC, OH, and even France. When can I come to yours?

Why mountain? Because most of the cool and exciting things in the Bible happened on mountains - Mt. Horeb, Mt. Sinai, Mt. Carmel, Mt. of Olives, etc. And because WV is the mountain state, the only state with all 55 counties in the Appalachians.

Why percolator? Because that is my favorite way to brew coffee. My brother said, "But the water goes through the grounds more than once." Tosh, tosh. That makes it richer, hotter, and without the bitterness. When we go back to the Bible over and over, we get richer and more on fire for Christ, and less bitter.

So let's connect, and share the journey. Because no matter what we are when we start, God is doing something amazing with us.

Slow-Me-Down Moments

Slow-me-down moments. It’s how I refer to those unexpected things in life that keep us from going full throttle all the time.  Truth be told, the world has sped up exponentially, and we tend to rush along with it, like a hamster in a treadmill, never making any progress.  But God slows us down.  A misplaced set of keys, an unlikely traffic jam in downtown Beckley, West Virginia, or maybe it is the person in front of me at the grocery store deciding today is the day she is going to bring in every competing ad for other stores and get the guaranteed discounted price – meet it or beat it! – for every item in her cart.  Sigh.  I look around at other lines and knowing my propensity to pick the one with such people ahead of me, I try to guess if it is more efficient to wait as she painstakingly pages through five different newspapers or to jump to another line.  Sigh.  Her best friend will be in the next line I choose.  Or maybe they have one of those coupon clubs where they all go together and every line is tainted with coupon clippers.  Their thrift is commendable.  Is it seniors’ day?  Oh, yeah, it is, because I’m here; I forget that I’m a senior, too.  Another sigh.  We all have these moments, slow-me-down moments, times when our schedule is ripped out of our control, and we . . . wait. 

     A cancer diagnosis is the mother of all slow-me-down moments.  Only it’s not a moment, it’s months, or years, or a lifetime of having our expected schedule thrown into the toilet and flushed away as our routine is dominated by things out of our control: scans, biopsies, consultations, surgery, radiation, chemo.  Endless doctor’s appointments, and endless bills.  And with all the time in the world in reception areas, in exam rooms, in surgery preparation, in recovery, on radiation tables, to just . . . wait. 

     Most people who follow this blog also follow my social media – thank you, by the way, for your support – and you know the outcome of my breast cancer: small stage 1-A tumor, surgery, five days of double-dose radiation, five years of hormone chemotherapy, and hey-presto! Cured.  The doctors pronounced me cancer-free with confidence.  You and I know that the medical teams were just being used by a gracious and healing God.  But what about these slow-me-down moments?  What about all the waiting?  Because cancer or no cancer, they come to all of us, and the question is, what is God doing with those moments? Why do we . . . wait?

     Psalm 27:13 & 14 says: “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” When we hit a slow-me-down moment in the middle of our usual rush, remember this promise. It is the promise that no matter what we face, there is an eternal goodness waiting for us on the other side of death.  So if life in paradise is waiting for us, can’t we once in a while slow down and wait for God?  And instead of getting angry and fussy because we can’t rush around, maybe we can just take time to thank God for: a moment of peace.

     My mother-in-law got Alzheimer’s years ago, and she quickly lost all ability to rush around.  She was put in a perpetual slow-me-down moment, unable to function in normal ways.  We would sit outside and she would say, “Isn’t this a beautiful day?  Didn’t God give us a beautiful day?” and I would say, “Yes, Momma, He sure did.  It’s a beautiful day.”  Not five minutes later she would repeat, “Isn’t this a beautiful day?  Didn’t God give us a beautiful day?” And I would repeat, “Yes, Momma, He sure did.  It’s a beautiful day.”  Round and round we would go, and she sat and smiled with wonder.  I was caught in the terrible treadmill of watching her slow-me-down disease from the outside, but what a beautiful place she had to exist, where God had given her a beautiful day.  And she waited, patiently.  One day she passed away, and on earth we all wept, but she was in Heaven, finally cured and awake and aware, standing in the very presence of Jesus saying, “Thank you for all the beautiful days.” 

     Capitalize on all the slow-me-down moments.  Lost keys?  Pray to thank God that He knows where they are and ask to be shown.  Traffic jam?  Sing your favorite hymn.  Roll down the windows so everyone can join in.  Grocery line?  Thank God for food and the money to buy it.  Thank God for the example of the coupon clippers.  Pray that their thrift is making their table full of all that they need.  Cancer?  Alzheimer’s?  Thank Jesus, the Great Physician, for the healing He gives directly and through doctors who can help. Use the down time to appreciate what still remains, and all the good that comes.  Thank God for each beautiful day.  And know that Heaven is worth waiting for, where there will be no more sin or sickness or sorrow ever.  Be strong.  Let your heart take courage.  Wait for the LORD, yea, wait for the LORD!