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The Final Score

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There were only 6.6 seconds left on the clock. The Duke Blue Devils had, in dramatic fashion, bounced back from a 15-point deficit at the end of regulation. I know pastors aren’t supposed to pull for devils, but we all have weaknesses. Duke hadn’t beat Carolina at the Smith center since 2016. The Bible says there is pleasure in sin for a season. I was hoping this would be our season. The score was 96 -95 in Carolinas favor, and Tre Jones was going to the line to shoot two. He made the first shot, tying the game 96 all.  Nervous didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. Everything was riding on the next shot.

Honestly the Heels deserved to win the game. They had played better, harder, and smarter almost the whole game. Even if Jones made the second free-throw, I was well aware a lot could happen in six seconds. My stomach was in knots as I scooted to the edge of the couch waiting to see the outcome of the final play. Then something occurred to me, something I knew, yet was somehow overlooking, I had no reason to be nervous. I knew how the game ended!

My wife and I had gone out to eat with our families for her birthday that evening. The fact that I would miss the biggest game of the season wasn’t a big deal, because I could always record it. As soon as we arrived back at home, I grabbed the remote, jumped on the couch, and pressed play all in one smooth sweeping motion. In the first few minutes of the game, I was painfully aware that things weren’t looking good for the Devils. I looked at the time left on the recording and instinctively knew this one was going into overtime. Then, I impulsively did something I try to never do. I looked ahead at the final score. The headline read, “Carolina falls to Duke 96-98 in crushing overtime defeat.”

As the game was winding down, I literally breathed a sigh of relief and sat back to watch the epic last few seconds. The final few minutes of that game will go down as one of the all-time rivalry matchups between Duke and Carolina, but I got something more than just the pleasure of the win that night. I learned a valuable spiritual lesson. No matter how bad it looked, it didn’t change the fact that the final score had already been posted and my team had won. Knowing the final score freed me from the anxiety of wondering how the game ended.

Of course, there is an unmistakable parallel here. Listen to what James said in his letter to the early church.

You also be patient. Establish your hearts,
for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
(James 5:8)

The word establish means to stabilize. James was telling the suffering church, though things may look bad, Jesus is coming and when does, we win. Now, stabilize yourself with that truth. God’s kindness has been made evident to us in many ways, one way being His revelation of how the game ends. He hasn’t left us reason to fret about the final score. Over and over throughout scripture, He hit fast forward and showed us how the game ends. We know the game is fixed and we can’t lose. If He controls our destinies, there is no valid excuse for allowing that nagging nervousness to dictate our lives.

Knowing the final score shouldn’t cause us to lose interest in the game. Rather, it should be a catalyst to make us consider how we play our remaining minutes. Knowing the final score, there are three encouragements I want to leave you with.

Give it all you’ve got.

If we know we win in the end, there may be a temptation for some to coast through the final seconds. I encourage you, don’t waste your minutes running out the clock when you could be running up the score. You see, stats matter. According to the scriptures, we will not be rewarded because we were on the court. We will be rewarded based on how we played the game. Please don’t misunderstand me; our goal is not applause from the stands. Our goal is a “well done” from the coach. I encourage you to allow the promise of his smile to be the motivation for how you play the game. Don’t just play to finish, play to win.

Be foul conscious.

Just because our team is ahead doesn’t mean we can’t foul out. Consider how embarrassing and even ridiculous it would be to earn a technical with seconds left on the clock. Knowing the game is already won, don’t play dirty. Be careful to represent your team with integrity. Play with an awareness that flagrant conduct will not be tolerated. There is wisdom in developing a healthy fear of being benched. None of us are above fouling out. In Mark 13 after instructing His disciples about the events of the end times Jesus said, “But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” Knowing how the game ends, don’t just guard the ball, guard yourself. Memorize the regulations and play by the rule book lest you miss out on the joy of participation in the final play.

Enjoy the game

Since we know the final score, we don’t have to fret about the buzzer. We’re up, and we will never be down again. Darkness will not be able to mount a comeback. There will be no surprise last-second buzzer-beaters. When God showed us the final score, there was no error in the replay. We really will win in the end. That said, enjoy the rest of the game.  Celebrate every good play, learn from your turnovers, cheer on your team, and enjoy your minutes on the court. Our name is already on the trophy, Heaven’s band is standing ready to play our fight song, the saints are about to storm the court. The pressure is off, enjoy the game!

-Pastor Ben Webb

Cold Bare Feet and Soggy Wet Basements

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After what seemed like six hours of signing dotted lines, we finally closed on our new house. We breathed a sigh of relief and gratitude as we drove away from the lawyers with keys in hand and the house hunting behind us. That was Monday, but Saturday was coming. The excitement of owning a new home was soon overshadowed by the responsibilities. We were to leave for vacation on the following Monday, so I decided to take a load of stuff that we weren’t going to be using to the new house while Lindsey stayed home to pack. When I arrived, everything was just as we had left it the day before. I took off my shoes at the door to avoid tracking in unwanted dust and dirt and headed toward the basement with a heavy box of commentaries.

Stepping off the last step, I was met with a strange and unexpected sensation. I wasn’t sure if the carpet was just cold on my bare feet or if something had been spilled. The further I walked the clearer it became; our new finished basement had flooded. With every step the water rose and so did my anxiety. I stepped over to the side of the basement that was supposed to house my office and cringed with every step as water seeped up from beneath the laminate floorboards. I was genuinely perplexed! We had looked at this house several times in the months leading up to the purchase and had never found any hints of leakage or previous water damage. I did what any reasonable man would do—I found a dry spot of carpet, laid down, and stared at the ceiling hoping that when I arose everything would be okay. It didn’t work.

Despite my irritation I pulled back the carpet and set to work. In all I vacuumed up nearly twenty gallons of water that day. As unpleasant and inconvenient as the procedure was, I discovered there were a few lessons to be learned from my cold bare feet and my soggy wet basement.

First, I learned that rain exposes. It’s worth pointing out that the storm that caused the flood revealed a problem I didn’t even know I had. The heavy rain revealed that I had dirty gutters and two misplaced drainpipes. If the water had not seeped into my basement and soaked my carpet, I would have very likely continued unpacking without even realizing that my foundation was in jeopardy. Physical storms have a way of forcing us to face problems in our houses that we would otherwise ignore. Likewise, spiritual storms expose the flaws in our foundations and the holes in our holiness. It is only when the rain falls that we begin to really discover how far we are from finished. God uses soggy carpet and weeping floorboards to bring us to our knees and force us to admit that we need help. God uses the storms to make us clean our dirty gutters and reposition our misdirected drains.

Second, I discovered that rain expands. Not only did my flooded basement expand my patience and my knowledge of my new home, it expanded my garden. Just prior to the storm’s arrival, I had transplanted all my vegetables from their original pots into the small garden patch I had tilled in my new back yard. When I placed them in the hard, red clay, they were empty and weak; now they are full and strong. The rain that flooded my basement also softened my garden and allowed my plants to grow. This week I will be harvesting the first of this year’s produce, but that would not have been possible had God not sent the rain that sent me into a tailspin.

I learned that the rain that delays my plans for today is often watering something I will need for tomorrow.

Finally, I found that rain expresses. Every drop of rain preaches a sermon. The sermon has one point, and that is God is faithful. Even though the issue is not completely resolved, and I am still cleaning up the mess the storm left, I can see the fingerprints God has left on this season of my life. When I look at my flourishing garden and count the blessings that come from it, I can thank God for the rain. When I walk downstairs and breathe in the fresh smell of Arm and Hammer baking soda, I’m reminded that problems that seem so big in the moment are often smaller than the shadows they cast. God has used this little incident to remind me that even when the storm messes up my plans it doesn’t change His. The rain taught me things that I otherwise would have never learned. It shaped me into someone that on my own I could have never become. Every memory of my cold bare feet and soggy wet basement reminds me that even when the storm does damage around me, God is using it to repair the damage in me. Those drops of rain, even the ones that flood, are tiny testaments to the grace and goodness of God.

-Pastor Benjamin Webb

Looking for a City: Lucifer’s Lies

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In an era of fake news and false headlines we can’t imagine life without lies; but in the beginning that wasn’t so. Man existed in a world where lies didn’t, a world where lies were only foreign ideas; and telling the truth was everyone’s first impulse. No resident of that antediluvian paradise knew the pain of deception until Lucifer whispered into Eve’s adolescent ear, “You will not certainly die.” She believed the lie, and awful concept became a reality. From that moment we have been spending our days fighting to find our way, cutting through the undergrowth, and digging through the garbage trying to uncover the truth.

Lucifer told the first lie, and he’s been lying ever since. Falsehood is his native language, and he is a fluent communicator. Even when he tells the truth, he only tells the part that will get him closer to his goals. He is the father of lies, and he makes sure his family keeps growing every day.

There is a method behind his madness. He lies to rob God of glory; he steals glory by distracting and capturing the hearts of those God loves. Every fraudulent claim he makes is a calculated move toward that end. Satan is no fool. He is aware when men get a glimpse of who God is and what He has prepared for His own, he will lose all control.  So, he weaves intricate alternatives to the truth to keep our hearts too preoccupied to ever think about such troubling subjects as life after death. He knows heaven is the home we were made for. So, he spares no effort in keeping us from getting there. To those who dare to ponder the realities of heaven and hell; he happily presents a set of tall stories that fall far short of the truth. He has assembled his lies to look and feel so much like the truth that most people never look close enough to discover the difference. Yet, we must be aware–no matter how pretty the wrapping–that garbage is still garbage.

I believe there are three primary lies that the Prince of Hell likes to tell about heaven. The first being, heaven isn’t a real place. This lie works on two levels. If the skeptic can be convinced that there is no such thing as heaven, then they will give little concern to how they live on earth. However, to the believer the hope of heaven is what gives us the courage to suffer loss in this life knowing all we will gain in the next. Satan and his minions enjoy nothing more than destroying that confidence by placing a question mark where God placed a period.

This basic lie is sold in many different forms–heaven is a myth the weak need to get them through life; we live, we die, and then we cease to exist; death has a rotating door that allows us to be reborn an infinite number of times. The packaging may be different, but the statement is still a lie.

This lie always performs as if it is a proven fact. It claims science and logic as its chief advocates; it demands to be believed without cross examination. Interestingly its claims to be true are based on unfounded theories that have not and cannot be tested and proven by any measure.

The desire to know the truth must be accompanied by a willingness to listen when it speaks. Far too often we arrive at conclusions before we have even asked the right questions. What if the Bible is true and Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be? The claims of scripture are too great to be ignored. The only course of action a reasonable person can take is to make an honest inquiry into the evidence. The lie says, “just believe me and I won’t lead you wrong,” but the truth is not afraid to be put under the microscope.

The second lie is, heaven is for everyone. The 1989 release of a seemingly innocent children’s movie put a new name on this old story. The title was, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and the lie was that heaven will not exclude anyone. The problem is we’re not dogs, and heaven is an exclusive place. Simply put, heaven isn’t everybody’s home. Heaven is God’s city, and He reserves the right to legislate who gets in and who doesn’t. Citizenship in the City of God is not granted by doing good deeds; it is a gift of grace. American citizenship must be worked for, but heavenly citizenship must only be received. Citizenship belongs only to those who have repented of sin and by faith trusted in the death of Christ for their forgiveness.

The second lie may be more dangerous than the first because it cloaks itself in a religious overcoat. It differs from the first in that it appeals to the heart rather than to the mind. The first lie says, heaven can’t be seen so it can’t be real. The second lie says a loving God would never punish anyone. In soft pious tones it appeals directly to the emotions. It loves to ask questions, but it doesn’t really want answers. It assures the fearful that though heaven has walls they won’t keep anyone out.

The truth is, heaven is open to everyone, but everyone who gets in must come through the door. Jesus Christ said, “I am the door.”

It is often argued, if Christ’s death was sufficient for the sin of all mankind then shouldn’t everyone go to heaven? This seems logical until we consider that the scripture repeatedly emphasizes man’s responsibility to repent and believe. Scripture says that eternal life is to know God and His Son whom He has sent. Jesus’ death purchased pardon for sinners, but reconciliation only belongs to those who accept His gift of grace.  Mercy is available to everyone, but it is only experienced by those who receive it. The reality is that men don’t miss heaven because God rejected them; they miss heaven because they rejected Him. Everyone is invited to the party, but only those who RSVP get in.

The final lie is that heaven is a boring place. We will discuss this lie in greater detail later in this series. If the devil is that father of lies, then this lie looks particularly like its daddy. Satan has a personal vendetta against the place he once called home. He can’t go back, so he doesn’t want anyone else to either. Lucifer knows his days are numbered. Soon the deceiver will deceive no more. His eternity can be summed up in five words–Liar, liar, pants on fire. He would love nothing more than to have company, so he posts detours along the path to keep us off the narrow road that leads home. Some of his lies keep us out of heaven while others keep heaven out of us.

Be assured, the truth is always better than a lie and the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us really is out of this world. For now, we look for a city and long for the land where dreams come true.

-Pastor Benjamin Webb

Ask and You Shall Receive

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A beaming little girl with long brown hair stood beside her mom with her blue eyes fixed on the large glass candy jar that sat on the counter of the old country store. Lost in a land of gumdrops and candy kisses, her dream was interrupted by the sound of a kind man’s voice somewhere off in the distance. In an instant she was back in the store standing on her tip toes, with her hands on the counter pulling her up to see the treasure behind the glass.

Again the man asked, “Would you like some candy?“ To most children her age that was like asking, “Would you like to take a year off from school?” Of course the answer was yes; but there was one problem—she didn’t have any money and neither did her mom. She knew this because every time she asked for something her mom told her that she would have to ask her dad.

“No sir,” she finally replied with a deep sigh and hesitant fidget. Then a miracle happened! The old shop keeper explained that he just happened to have a special on candy that particular day. Any little girl with blue eyes and brown hair could get a whole handful of candy for free!  For a moment she thought she heard the bells of Heaven ringing, but then realized it was just the bell on the front door of the little store.

Most children wouldn’t hesitate at an opportunity like this, yet she slowly took her hands from the counter and placed them in her pockets. Confused by her response the jolly old man with the shiny bald head repeated his offer again. Still she only stood there staring up at him with her large puppy eyes. Undeterred by her shyness the old shop keep rolled up his long white sleeve, opened the jar, and scooped out a handful of sugary bliss and held it out to his little friend. It took both her hands and three pockets to hold all the candy his dozer-sized hand had taken from the jar. What could she say, other than a genuine thank you.

With a big smile on her face, candy in her pockets, and cherry red die on her lips, she left the store with a story to tell and evidence to prove it. As they walked down the sidewalk her mother stopped and asked her a question. “Why didn’t you get the candy when the nice man first offered it to you”?  Skipping along and without missing a beat the little girl replied, “His hands were bigger than mine.”

Can God do more for us than we can do for ourselves? Are His hands bigger than ours? Of course He can, and of course they are! Every need Crestwood has ever had has been supplied by the big hands of God, and He will not fail us now. Currently we are in need of $200,000.00 to make necessary repairs on our heating and air units and our parking lots. I believe God has the funds and wants to transfer them to our account. This may seem like a large amount to us, but I guarantee you it’s pennies to God. For the past two months I have been asking our Father to supply this need, and now I would like to invite you to ask Him with me.

This is His work, we are His children, and it is His delight to supply our needs. We only have not, because we ask not. I do not preach, nor do I believe in, a prosperity gospel; but I do, however, believe in a God who pays for what He orders. We must not view this as an obstacle but rather as an opportunity for God to prove Himself both faithful and able. We ought to pray for this, not just to fix problems but to increase our faith and honor our Father. Imagine what a testimony it would be to His kindness for us to be able to say, “Look what our God did!”

Through the prayers and kindness of His people He has already provided us well over $20,000.00 for special projects in this last year. Now we ask for ten times more in full confidence that He is a ten times more kind of God. When Ezra returned to Israel from Babylon we are told that the king had granted him everything he requested because the hand of Yahweh his God was on him. Furthermore, we are told that the King issued a decree that whatever Ezra needed should be provided to him promptly from the royal treasuries. (Ezra 7:6/21) I believe God can and will do the same for us.

We cannot justly ask God for anything that we are not willing to invest in ourselves.

With His help and by his grace, I humbly ask you to commit to increase sacrificial giving to the cause of His Kingdom this year. His hands are bigger than ours, but ours will remain empty as long as they remain closed. Brothers and sisters, I ask you to ask God what he would have us do. Would you commit to fasting and praying with me in the name of Jesus for God to supply this need for the advancement of the gospel and the fame of His name?

-Pastor Benjamin Webb

Happy Is the Man Who Grieves Out Loud

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C.S. Lewis used these powerful words to describe the loss of his wife, Joy: “Her absence is like the sky, spreading over everything.” Grief cuts deep and spreads wide. It leaves its frosty fingerprints on everything it touches. There are few things more agonizing than living under its shadow. Grief is a cold and lonely wilderness of lost love and unmet expectations. Often, survivors are encouraged or even told to move on. But how can one just move on from love? I think moving forward is a better concept. The valley of death is not a place to build a house. It is a place to mark on the map, a place to learn from, and a place from which to launch out with new direction.

As the Man of Sorrows, Jesus understood more about grief than any other human who ever experienced it. His deep understanding of human loss is evident in a statement He made about mourning in the Beatitudes.  During His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” This statement contains both a paradox and a promise that we should seek to understand.

Let’s examine the paradox first. I always thought this phrase to be somewhat perplexing. How can anyone say that the one who mourns is blessed? The word “blessed” is an interesting word. In fact, it could literally be translated “happy”; happy is the one who mourns. This seems to only further complicate Jesus’ statement. To understand what Jesus is driving at, we must understand the difference between grieving and mourning. Grief is the emotional internal pain felt as a result of a loss. Mourning is the external expression of that grief.

Notice Jesus did not say that the one who is grieving is happy, but the one who is mourning will be happy. Literally, Jesus was communicating the idea that happy is the one who grieves out loud! Happy is the one who expresses inward trouble outwardly. Jesus understood that physically, psychologically, and spiritually, mourning is directly related to the ability to move forward and that a failure to do so will inhibit progress.

The spiritual and the scientific do not need to be viewed as separate categories. Jesus’ words are fully compatible with recent studies on the positive effects of expressing emotions. Research shows that those who allow themselves to express sorrow—whether through tears, ceremony, or other avenues of mourning—are less likely to experience negative effects on their health and more likely to adjust to their new normal and find meaning after loss and in loss.

To those who have experienced recent loss, I encourage you to allow yourself the right to acknowledge that you are not okay. Your life has been forever changed. Acknowledge this often and openly. Allow the tears in your heart to become the tears on your cheek. Washington Irving beautifully said, “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep loss, and of unspeakable love.” It is fine to remove your “I’m okay” face and acknowledge that your heart has been broken. It is more than fine; it is necessary!

The idea that Christians who have enough faith shouldn’t hurt is preposterous. Jesus Himself contradicts that idea by His own actions as He wept over Lazarus. The wise man said there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. Tears are God’s gifts given to aid us in our journey through the valley of the shadow. Research proves that tears serve as agents of healing in the grieving process. Mourning plays a role that only it can.

The paradox is “happy is the one who mourns.” The promise is that the one who grieves out loud will be comforted. Could it be that Jesus desired us to understand that comfort comes through mourning? Mourning is the bridge from the shadow lands to sunlit tomorrows? Comfort will not grow where mourning has not first prepared the ground. The happiness of a memory can often heal the heart, yet the sadness of that same thought calls the heart to continue its journey onward, forward, upward, and deeper in. Dr. Alan Wolfelt, a leading expert in the field of grief and loss, recently suggested that one must say hello many times before one can ever say goodbye. Hello to a memory, hello to love, hello to loss. Mourning is saying hello; comfort is saying goodbye.

When joined with the promise, the paradox makes perfect sense; “Blessed is the one who mourns for they shall be comforted.” Mourning is the path to healing.

Grief can’t be “gone-avoided”; it must be “gone through,” so don’t be afraid to mourn your loss.

Do not succumb to the pressure to be okay when, in reality, you are not. Happy is the one who grieves out loud, for in mourning, they find comfort of body, mind, and soul.

Pastor Benjamin Webb

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Pebble-Kicking Skepticism

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I have never been more excited about the direction God is leading Crestwood Baptist Church than I am today. We have asked Him for guidance, and He has answered with fresh insight and clear vision. For this we thank Him. As the Lord has led our church through this process, He has been leading me through a personal process as well. I’ve heard Him calling me further up and deeper in, watched Him increase my faith, and sensed an expansion of the vision he has planted in my heart. Through every twist and turn of this brief journey, one scripture has been whispered into the ears of my heart over and over. 

Matthew 17:19-20 says, Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, “Why could not we cast him out?” And Jesus said unto them, “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

After their descent from the mountain of transfiguration, Jesus–along with Peter, James, and John–returned to the find the other nine disciples in a heated argument with the local scribes. When Jesus asked what the discussion was about an anxious man in the mob spoke up and answered, Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not. (Mark 9:17-18)

This helpless father had come to the church looking for answers, but all he found was confusion. When Jesus entered the equation, He confronted the darkness with light. Jesus ordered the fretful father to bring the boy to Him. In Jesus’ presence the tormenting spirit showed his true colors, tossing his victim around like a rag doll and throwing him to the ground in a violent rage. In the middle of the turmoil Jesus took the time to ask an important question to assess the situation, “How long has this been going on?” Jesus understood the importance of determining a time frame, because the length of the oppression determines the strength of the possession.

Without fear or hesitancy of any kind, Jesus commanded the spirit to come out of the boy and never enter Him again. Having been served his eviction notice, the demon had no choice but to pack his bags and find somewhere else to live.  It was when the disciples were finally alone with Jesus again that they asked, “Why could we not cast it out? To which Jesus simply answered, “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

As I reflect on this story, I am struck by one glaring truth. Jesus told his disciples if you have a small amount of genuine faith you can command mountains to move; but most believers don’t even have enough faith to get a rock out of their shoe. I am convinced that, under the guise of being realistic, we have embraced pebble-kicking skepticism and ignored mountain moving faith. We like to label our doubt as caution and maturity, but sometimes God just calls it unbelief. 

I believe God is calling our church to greater things than our minds can fathom, but we will never know the power of His presence, or apprehend the fullness of His plan, until we learn to pray mountain-moving prayers in full assurance of faith. It’s worth asking, are you currently praying any God sized prayers?

It is God-sized petitions that get God-sized answers.

Why settle for a pebble-kicking recess when the mountain-moving dynamite of the Spirit is yours in Christ? Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to ask God for more, and quit settling for less.

In Christ Alone,
Pastor Benjamin Webb

IMPACT!

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Crestwood Baptist Church is committed to meeting both the spiritual and physical needs of our neighbors. Therefore, we are excited to announce a new opportunity we are offering to the families in our community. We are calling this new ministry IMPACT. This program will be offered to children, kindergarten through fifth grade. A Bible lesson, a meal, help with homework, and fun activities will be provided at each meeting.

IMPACT will meet Thursday evenings from 6pm to 8pm in the Education Building at Crestwood Baptist Church located at 530 Motor Road in Winston Salem. The first meeting is scheduled for March 1, 2017.

We have a limited number of spots available
and preregistration is required!

When our registration limit is reached all other interested candidates will be placed on a waiting list.

For preregistration or more information, please contact the Crestwood Baptist Church office at 333-767-0096. If you are interested in volunteering or contributing to this effort, please contact the church office as well.

In Christ Alone,
Pastor Benjamin Webb

Sing Me A Love Song

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The phone rang and, to be honest, I hesitated to answer. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to her. After all she was a friend. The problem was I knew she was discouraged and I didn’t know what else to tell her. Since that time, I’ve learned that I don’t always have to have the answers.  Sometimes the most encouraging thing we can do is just listen. Yet, that day I knew she needed something to hold on to, something to keep her above water until the storm calmed down.

I took the call and happily answered as if I was surprised to hear her voice. To my chagrin she immediately called my bluff, and of course I denied hesitating to answer. I was right about one thing though, she was down again, and I didn’t know how to help her up. She raced from point to point, barely taking a breath in between. The skies over her life really were dark, and it seemed like the sun had gone on an extended vacation. I wanted to say something, but what was there to say that I hadn’t said already?

The usual Romans 8:28 hadn’t even slowed her venting down. She was like a steaming kettle whistling under the pressure, and I felt like the range top fan trying to sift through the smoke. I discovered that my deep barrel of wisdom was really no bigger than a red solo cup and I had already poured out the last drop. With a sigh I offered a silent prayer. Why I had not done that sooner I can’t explain. “Lord, she belongs to you. Will you please give me something to say that will help her?”

Suddenly one line from a little-known verse written by an obscure Hebrew prophet came to my mind. After pronouncing pending doom and certain judgment the prophet Zephaniah said, “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”  (Zephaniah 3:17)

Then followed one of those moments that can be explained no other way than God did it. I am an analytical planner, nothing can be said without careful thought as to whether it is accurate, beautiful, and true. Yet, without even a second thought I blurted out, “Do you ever hear singing?” It was like someone pulled the emergency brake in her fast-moving anxiety express. For a moment she was silent. Finally, she said, “What in the world are you talking about?”  Again, I repeated, “Do you ever hear singing, music that you don’t know where it’s coming from?” She was intrigued. I had her on the ropes.

It was like a teleprompter flashed on in my head. The Holy Spirit enabled me to quote a verse I had never memorized. The words came so naturally as if they were my own, but clearly they were too good to be mine. I remember saying, “When God sings, He sings about the things He loves, and that includes you.” It was so simple, so elementary, but it was what she needed to hear. We talked on for a few minutes more about God’s love for her. She was thrilled by the fact that God was singing a love song over her.  I could hear the smile in her voice as she said thank you and hung up the phone. She thanked me, but I thanked Him; because, after all, He was the One who wrote the song.

There is nothing more stabilizing than love. To know you are loved is to know that you are not alone. To give love is to surrender the most sacrificial gift the heart can offer. To receive love is to receive the most honorable present the heart can cherish. The certain reality that we are loved with unconditional love that will never run out, thaw out, or fall out–by a God who will never walk out– provides our hearts a haven of rest.

It’s hard to imagine what an angelic choir sounds like; it’s even harder to grasp the magic that fills the air when God sings a solo. What is amazing to me is that when He opens His mouth He sings a song about sinners He has chosen to save. Of the 1,005 songs Solomon wrote, his best hit was a love song about his Shulamite bride. Our Shepherd King sings about His bride as well, and His lyrics make Solomon’s look like a kindergartener’s crayon-colored love note. If you belong to Him, He’s singing about you. When loneliness puts a chokehold on your joy, when anxiety stops up your wells of contentment, be still, and listen to our Savior’s soothing song. He sings about what He loves, and what He loves He takes care of.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?  I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

-Pastor Ben Webb

Shut the Door Behind You When You Go

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Working with Hospice taught me many unique lessons I would have otherwise missed. One such lesson found its way into my heart during a counseling session with a recently bereaved widow. She came into the office and took her seat opposite me. Unacquainted, we exchanged small talk before beginning our journey together. I asked her to tell me her story.

She paused pensively as if standing outside peeking into the windows of her own memories. Other than the sound of soft sobs the room was quiet. Her left hand clenched a damp crumpled tissue; tears carved long slow trails down her cheeks. She opened her mouth but at first nothing came out. It appeared as if her mind was frantically searching for the words her heart needed to say. He wasn’t perfect, but he was so much more than just another good man. He was her teenage sweetheart and the love of her life. They had been given what many only dream of but now her happiness had been laid to rest with him.

The frequent hospital visits her husband’s illness demanded had become an expected part of their routine. A brief scare, an unexpected rally, another trip home, this was the cycle she had come to expect. She reminisced, surely, he would pull through, he always did, but this time was different.

The memory of his dramatic final moments had become her tormentor. In the brief moment she had turned away from his hospital bed her whole world changed. His body shook like an autumn leaf pummeled by the wind. A team of nurses met her at the door as she hurried to find help. Looking back, it all seemed like a surreal nightmare. Slowly she retold the story of fading into a foggy background as experienced doctors and nurses rushed in and ushered her out. They worked feverishly to stabilize him, but even advanced medicine could not stop his advancing disease process. No one knows the power of the word gone until it is spoken in apologetic tones in one’s own unbelieving ears.

I can’t help but imagine her shuffling aimlessly back into his room in an almost robotic manner, stunned and in shock at how quickly her life had just unraveled. Otherwise chatty machines seemed reverently quiet, he was eerily still, and the hands she had held so long were already unfamiliarly cool. Although they were together again in that lonesome room she knew she was alone and he was gone. The sacred hour she spent with her husband before releasing his shell to the funeral home is not a thing to be lightly commented on. Those moments were her moments not to be shared. When it was time she packed her things and tearfully left the room shutting the door behind her.

As she told her story the continual re-occurrence of the last time she saw him alive made one thing abundantly clear to me. She was being held hostage by the traumatic memory of his death. A life time of memories were being starved and suppressed by the torment of one traumatic moment. That unavoidable picture was the terrorist that haunted her sleep, chased the taste from her food, and posted a closed sign on the door of her heart. There were so many rooms in the house of her grief begging to be visited, but one memory locked her in and would not allow her to leave. We both knew it was time for her to go.

Sometimes to deal with a traumatic event or hostile memory it is necessary to seek professional counseling. Nevertheless, even an experienced provider cannot change the past. Among the most important forward steps in the journey of life is making the decision that you will not spend the rest of your days held hostage by the dark shadows of the past. For her it was a hospital room, for you it may be a conversation, a bad decision, an unavoidable event, or something else that no one else would ever guess. The past can be a terrible tormentor but it only holds the power we give it. If we are ever going to live again we must make the conscious decision to leave the past where it belongs and step forward into the future.

I would not be so naïve as to suggest that we can choose to forget our past, but I am confident we have the power to choose not to live there.

Overcoming a memory may take a lifetime; but not letting it take your life is a choice you must make. Whether it be our own sins or the sins of others, what if’s or I should haves, we cannot allow what was to decide what is.

Before concluding our time together, I encouraged her to make an intentional visit to the room where she had been held captive so long. Acknowledge what happened there and grieve what was not. I asked her to take the time she needed to observe her surroundings, rediscover those moments she had forgotten, and gather the things she would need for the future. Box up everything you want to keep and then say goodbye–not goodbye to him, but goodbye to that small cell that has held your life for ransom so long–and shut the door behind you when you go.

As we face this new year I encourage you to let go of what you cannot change and embrace the goodness and the mercy of God in the here and now. Don’t try to forget the past. File those lessons away that were learned from it, learn to see the grace of God in the midst of it, then leave it where it belongs and shut the door behind you when you go.

-Pastor Ben Webb

A Politically Correct Christmas

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At the beginning of every election cycle, in the middle of every new scandal, and at the end of each administration one thought subconsciously travels through the minds of both conservatives and liberals alike: If only the right man were in office he could fix all of this. Yet, across the world on every political stage the battle rages on to find someone—anyone—who can bring stability and harmony on earth. Every few years our hope for a good government seems to erode a little more as the flood of partisan politics and alternate agendas beat away at the shores of expectation.

Many are convinced that the good ole days are gone forever. Anticipation has been replaced by disappointment and cynicism. Still the seed planted deep within, the root from which the bud of restless longing grows, is in itself just and good. Someone is coming to make all that is wrong right again but he’s not coming from the right charging in on an elephant; nor will he appear from the left with a donkey’s clumsy steps. He will burst through the eastern barrier of the realm he means to rule riding on the back of a bright white stallion. When he comes to take office, all that is wrong will be made right again.

God opened the curtains of time and allowed Isaiah to look into future. A dark immovable cloud of pending doom rested over the nation Israel. Yet, as God’s man stared at the black backdrop of judgment, a bright spot appeared in the darkness. God told him a child would be born and a Son would be given who would restore Israel and reverse her misfortune. Of this child, Isaiah said His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

With careful colors Isaiah painted a lovely description of the living Hope he saw.
“The government will be upon His shoulders.” “Of the increase of His kingdom and of peace there will be no end.” Of all history’s mighty men, none has ever been able to carry the weight of world on his own shoulders.

Yet Jesus can, Jesus does, and Jesus will.

Christ’s first coming at Bethlehem was both an act of war and a declaration that the war was coming to an end. The King entered the arena through a virgin womb and was wrapped in reprehensible rags rather than royal robes. This same child celebrated by shepherds and saints endured unimaginable injustice at the hands of soldiers and sinners. While He suffered to redeem the enslaved servants of His realm, over his head hung the all too true words, “Jesus, King of the Jews.”

What would have been the game’s end for any other ruler was a strategic move toward checkmate for He who was born King. As surely as He kept His promise to come the first time to redeem, He will keep His promise to come the second time to rule. His first advent may have been humble, but His second will be with glory, judgment, and honor.

Among the first judicial acts of His coming kingdom will be the reestablishment of original intent. When He takes the helm, He’ll turn the ship around. Effectively He will reinstate His design for government. The Creator will rule over man and man will rule as co-regents over His creation. His will be the first government that exists only to promote good rather than to punish evil. His administration will be without default, deficiency, or deficit. Consider the obvious blessing that have fallen on nations ruled by good and godly men. Imagine the peace, prosperity, and progress that the whole earth will enjoy under the righteous scepter of God himself.

Think about the advances scientists will be able to make when the heavy fog of humanism and evolution has been burnt away in the light of the Son. The depths of understanding and the heights of philosophy man will attain when Wisdom incarnate sits enthroned cannot even be comprehended by the intelligent elite. Oh, the art that human hands will forge when imaginations are unshackled by the curse of sin! What might industrious men achieve in manufacturing when the government promotes the harnessing of natural resources?

God’s good government as intended in Eden will be restored in all the earth when the right Man takes His seat on the throne of His father David in Jerusalem. The whole earth will raise its voice and sing the sweet song of Peace when our Prince becomes our King. Words like election, impeachment, and coup may very well be removed from our vocabulary because Jesus will never earn criticism or merit complaint. The sun will never set on His kingdom when the Son sits on the throne.

Now we look forward with anxious expectation and exceptional hope, waiting and wanting to celebrate Christmas finally at home with Christ. It’s an exciting thought to think of a white Christmas in a place where white is not just a color on the spectrum but rather the very state of our souls. When the right Man establishes His rule on earth, mankind will finally and fully enjoy the serenity of a true Politically Correct Christmas. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
-Pastor Benjamin Webb