What I learned in the dark

As some of you may know, we decided to go ahead and hold our service on Sunday morning even though the power in the business park where we're located was still out and most everyone in our church had power back on at home (I originally thought it'd be the exact opposite scenario - I figured the church would be with power and most of our I-90er's would come to church on Sunday to find some relief from the cold and darkness in their homes - funny how things happen sometimes). But even though it was dark, and REALLY cold, I'm so glad we still had church. I feel this way for many reasons, but most of all because I received this email later that night from someone in chuch who shared these thoughts:

I really was inspired by the way you pushed thru the elements and held a service today. When I left my house this morning I had a lot of troubles on my mind, but seeing everyone at I-90 I was recharged. The dark and cold, the message, and the people there really help me thru these times.

Isn't it awesome how God is always at work, even when we don't think "conditions" aren't up to par? The first century church didn't need spotlights, video equipment and bouncy houses to help people know and become like Jesus... all they needed was the power of the Holy Spirit at work in them. And the same is true for us today. Yes, we should utilize every tool we can to share the good news of the gospel with others, but when some of those "other" tools aren't available, the work doesn't have to cease... not by a long shot.

That's one thing I was reminded of while in the dark this past week. I was also reminded during our week of snow, ice and power outages of a few more simple, yet life-changing principles that I believe are very close to God's heart:

1. We are so extremely blessed here in the United States. Most of us have so much more than we need, and so much more than the rest of the world. This past week reminded me that I should always strive to live a simpler life - living on less and being less dependent on "things" so that I can be more generous toward others.

2. Helping others is more important than what's on my to-do list. As things got a little rougher outside, my family and I found ourselves more concerned with the safety and well-being of our neighbors than the "stuff" we needed to get done. One of the highlights of the week was trying to pull off anonymous driveway snow shovelings for our neighbors (it caught on and others got in on the act... pretty soon we found ourselves to be the recipients of such covert operations).

3. There's no greater responsiblity I have on this planet than investing in my wife and children. What a blessing to literally be cut off from a huge portion of my "normal" work due to snow and lack of power and subsequently get to spend time with my family that I otherwise wouldn't have. Marriage and parenting are by far the most important ministries God has given me.

Heck, I think we should have a power outage every year... but for only 24 hours at a time ;)

-Pastor Dave