Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Think the Best While You Tackle the Worst!

By Pastor Tim White
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)

I started this morning with an appointment at McDonalds. These days I am trying to have a healthy lifestyle, so I had a health shake before the meeting and was just planning on having a half cup of coffee. As I walked into the building there was a tall man asking patrons for money.  I greeted him and introduced myself.  I asked his name, he responded that it was Troy. I said, “Troy, I am a Christian, what can I do for you?” He closed his eyes like the pressure was too much to bear and then answered, “I am from out of town.  I broke down here and could you just give me enough money to buy a breakfast sandwich?”  I said, “I can’t give you any cash (I didn’t have any cash with me).  But I will buy you any breakfast you want inside.  I am a big spender.”  We went in, I introduced him to the staff, they seemed nervous. “Give him anything he wants for breakfast and it’s on me,” I told the cashier.  He ordered a big breakfast with pancakes and a frappachino. I ordered my half cup of coffee for my meeting.
When I handed him his food, I thanked him for the privilege of buying him breakfast. Then said, “Now remember my name is Tim White and I am a pastor, you should visit my church sometime.  What was your name again?”  He stumbled and said, “John.” I think he thought I was the police - he was struggling to speak.
We parted and I sat down for my appointment.  He sat within my eye line.  My meeting lasted an hour; he left after maybe 30 minutes.  When I left I noticed that he had not taken a bite or an even a sip of his breakfast, but had just left it there.
“Man, I just wasted ten bucks,” I thought.  


I do not write this devotion to make you skeptical of helping people, because we do that all the time at Washington Cathedral.  Rather to demonstrate how much more powerful it is when you get to know the people you are helping and you do not fall into an institutional role.  It is really the only way to help people - to see what is true.  To discover what is untrue by this ongoing conversation that only takes place with a person of faith.

Do you need to tackle a tough problem in the life of someone you love?  Then go after it fortified by the attitude of Jesus Christ reflected by the apostle Paul.  Think the best so that you can tackle the worst problems. .  Mano e Mano- as the boxers used to say.  A loving conversation with someone who is going to love in spite of the worst and will think the best to such an amazing degree that sooner or later you get permission to talk honestly, forthrightly, transformationally.  How many times do we dwell on the worst when the conversation never even begins?

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

What’s Your Love Philosophy?

By Pastor Tim White

When it comes to love - we all need it.  Married, single, divorced, widowed, kids, and even pets need love.  When we become wounded in our love life many times we build a philosophy to try and protect us from being hurt in our love life.  When we build a philosophy built upon our hurts it can be kind of silly.

Like when we go fishing and we won't bring a banana because every fisherman knows you can't catch fish with a banana in the boat.  The same rule applies to wearing a hat when you are fishing, the fish will never bite if you are not wearing that hat.   Who started that rule - was it really a fish?

Now when it comes to love - some people conclude it is not worth trying any more.  Or it is just too painful to try and improve a struggling marriage.  Wrong - it is one of the best investments a couple can make.  Yes, it may be rough but it is definitely worth it.  

For someone who is all alone - here is the thing: You are not alone.  We are a church family that loves you and wants to support you with healthy relationships.

What do you expect when it comes to your love life?  Your expectations are important.  Letting God enter your expectations is the first step to a miracle in building lasting love in your life. 

Next week, we are going to see how to build up your capacity to lift the people around you through your belief in them, empowered by the mighty love of God.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The "s" Word


By Pastor Rey Diaz

There is a word that has brought so much harm to Christianity.  It has been used to dominate others, manipulate partners and lord over people.  It’s a word that makes me shudder when I hear it.  It brings up thoughts of authoritarian leadership, dictatorships, and even oppressive regimes.  Yet, it’s a word that so many of the New Testament writers spoke about.  When these writers looked at the life and teachings of Jesus, they used this word to describe what God did on our behalf and how we should respond to one another.

The “s” word is submit.  In Ephesians 5:21, Paul tells us to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”  In Philippians 2, he explains how God submitted to us when he put our needs and our interest before his needs and interest.  In our relationship with God, God made us the priority.  He treats you like the most important person in the room. That’s what mutual submission looks like.  In a relationship, any relationship, we say “you are the priority.”  They say “no you’re the priority.”  No. You’re the priority. 

That’s one of the mysteries of the gospel.  Why would God do so much for us?  Why would God sacrifice so much for us?  Why would God go through terrible suffering for us? Why would God put himself under us – to submit to us?  God demonstrated his love for us that while we were so far away, he died for us.  God did all of this because God is love. 

Now, what if we take that idea and apply it to our special relationship we want to stay in love with.  What if we made a simple decision?  I am going to treat this person like they are actually and literally the most important person in the room.  And what if they responded likewise?  I think that is what it means to make love a verb: it’s making love active, it’s doing something.  Can you try it this week?  

This week look for a way to show your partner that they are the most important person in the room. 
Why? Because that is what your savior chose to do for you by dying on the cross on your behalf.