Instead of using this song as a musical dedication to our own valentine, what if we applied the words to our relationship with God, the lover of our soul? The song opens with the words: Baby, I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time. None of us can escape the fact that we like being loved, can we? If we think about it for just a moment, we can easily see how being loved all the time isn’t very easy. There are folks in our lives – friends, family, spouses – who we are certain love us all the time even when it is difficult, but human love always has and always will have boundaries that can be crossed. I know for a fact that there are many times when I am just not lovable by anyone here on earth, and I thank God that they try! However, Paul’s use of the word “amazed” is a pretty accurate word when it comes to being loved all the time. In the 32nd Psalm, David writes, “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in Him.” Even when we are unlovable we can be amazed that God loves us. Paul follows his opening line with the words: And maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you. This phrase from the song, if applied to our love for God, rings quite true too, doesn’t it? I often find myself asking God how He can love me if I’m not capable of returning that love equally. I know that I love God with all of my heart – or to be quite honest, as a human, most of my heart. I have the desire to love Him with all of my heart, but I fall short so many times and I cry out and ask how He can love someone as unlovable as me? How can I expect God to love me when I can’t return that love in equal proportion? Do I only deserve a small portion of God’s love because that is all this frail human is capable of giving? What is truly amazing is that God doesn’t measure His love for us in earthly quantities. As a result we can cling to the promise found in Romans 5 that reminds us, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” We are also promised that because of God’s great love that we have been justified and saved from His coming wrath. Amazing is the only way to describe it!

The chorus of the song says that Maybe I’m a man in the middle of something that he doesn’t really understand. How true! There is no way that my mind will ever be able to comprehend or understand how my God could love me enough to die in my place. And He did that act of redemption all out of love for the wretched and unlovable me. It is beyond my ability to grasp a hold of, yet I cling to its truth. The second verse goes on to say: Maybe I’m amazed at the way you’re with me all the time and maybe I’m afraid of the way I leave you. Has anyone ever felt this way, like me? How in the world can God stand to be around me sometimes and why in the world would He always be there when I walk away? The Apostle Paul reminds us twice in his letter to the Corinthians that God’s Holy Spirit lives within us. There’s no hiding from God and I think we are right to be afraid of the way we leave God at times. But, closer than our own shadow is God’s Holy Spirit welcoming us home with a loving embrace and all the mercy and forgiveness we need.

The last verse of the song says: Maybe I’m amazed at the way you help me sing my song; you right me when I’m wrong. Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you. This ever-present love of God has a purpose in our lives. Some would cavalierly call it simply a conscience, but the born-again believer knows that it is much more. The conscience is a secular term that simply denotes that we morally know right from wrong. But for those of us who have grieved the heart of God (and like it or not, we all have) we know that our relationship with God and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit goes far beyond simply knowing right from wrong. The Holy Spirit is what helps us to make good decisions that far exceed a mere knowledge of what is moral and what isn’t. One of the most wonderful benefits of the gift of God’s Holy Spirit living within us is its ability to help us sing our song of love and praise. What God has done in each of our lives demands that praise proceed from our hearts and our lips. But I think the best way of understanding how this works is found in Romans 8 where the apostle tells us that in our weakness (our human condition) sometimes we must allow the Holy Spirit to intercede on our behalf with groans that words cannot express. That is honestly helping us to sing our song in the most holy way.

I hope and pray that as we celebrate this season of love that we will all remember the words of John the Beloved Disciple. “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Now I for one find this absolutely amazing! How about you?

Blessings and Peace,
Pastor Steve

Why has the landscape become so bleak and desolate? Why all these potholes and obstacles along the way? Why is God taking the dark road and for what reason? I hear that there is some beautiful scenery complete with all kinds of delicacies just over that ridge, why are we heading in this direction and why would God be here of all places?

The wilderness troubles our minds and our thoughts turn inward. God is near yet our focus becomes us. The blackness of the overgrown forest is overwhelming. The briars reach out and tear at our clothes – not nearly enough protection from the teeth that bite into our flesh. We stumble, we fall, our faces smeared with dirt as we wipe the sweat from our brow. And God is near. No longer are we covered by jewels and precious garments. The outward man becomes a picture of the inward man and still God walks among us. And again the question: “Why?”

The disparity of who He is and who we are becomes evident. Even in God’s nearness there is a chasm that separates us and that chasm grows deeper and wider the farther we travel along the path. Just how long have we been traveling this road anyway? Can it be but 40 days? It seems an eternity that we have had to face the depravity of ourselves, to realize that our hideous selves are not hidden from our God and yet He remains.

The dreary path continues. Up ahead there is a figure. It is shadowed yet it is definitely in the middle of the road. As we draw closer its outline is more defined. It becomes evident that it is a cross that prevents our progress. It cannot be moved. It is placed firm in the path and there are shear drops on each side of the now narrow way. The cross cannot be avoided. Is this God’s plan? Has He chosen the wilderness to bring the blackness of our hearts to the light that we may understand the justice of His enactment of our punishment upon this cross?

It is right before us. Another step and we will be at the foot of this tool of execution and it is clear that we are the guilty. But God steps out ahead. Deliberately He picks up His pace and then . . . and then . . . He climbs the cross. He drives the nails into His own hands and feet and there He suffers in great agony. We collapse in the realization that this is our doing. The darkness is complete.

But wait, a voice – firm and strong it cries out “Father forgive them!” What is this? Our cuts and bruises are immediately healed. Our garments are bright and clean. We sing, joined by thousands, in honor of the Lamb. And there is joy, unspeakable joy at His love so amazing - and He is here.

Tim Dommer

Our family tree, our culture and where and how we were brought up certainly has a bearing on how we think, act and feel. For instance, if we were taught about God through legalistic methods and teachings, we probably developed that type of thought process about who God is and what our relationship to Him is supposed to be. My own background included mandatory daily Bible reading, strict attendance to every church service, weekly Bible memorization and participation in a Saturday Bible club. The church we attended when I was young held services every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. We also had revival services a couple times each year, Vacation Bible School during the summer and numerous small group Bible studies for all age groups. Bible teaching and preaching permeated every facet of my life from the time I was four or five until the age of twenty.

Because of this Biblical upbringing and constant barrage of the Bible, church and church activities, you would think that when I would have left home, I would have been the model Christian. You might think that when I got out on my own, I had every reason to live a Christ-like life, be involved in church ministry or be somewhere on a mission field in Africa. However, when I finally got on my own, I quit going to church, got involved with the wrong crowd and began a journey that would lead me far away from all I had been taught.

Hind-sight is definitely twenty/twenty and looking back at my twenties and thirties, I could actually be justified in blaming my strict parents, my culture, my environment and some of the legalistic teaching I received for my backsliding condition. I could rationalize that different parenting, different social circumstances or a more liberal upbringing would have given me better tools to work with and maybe I wouldn’t have walked away from God.

If I did spend my time blaming everything around me for who I am, I would not be able to discover the person God intends for me to be. Even though all our past circumstances influence who we are, they do not have to define who we are. We do not have to be “stuck” in a certain place with no way out nor do we have to feel that the situations we are in are all we can expect in life. Each of us had a responsibility to take all the things that we have encountered in life and ask for God’s guidance in sorting through the chaos, overcoming some of our past fears and failures and moving past those things that have us standing still in our relationship with God.

My responsibility and your responsibility as a child of God is to seek His face, listen for His voice and do what He tells us to do. We cannot give God the excuse that we don’t know how to follow Him because He assures us that if we seek Him with our whole being, we will surely find Him. We cannot blame our parents because we don’t live under their roof anymore and we are able to make our own decisions now. If we are not actively pursuing our relationship with God, the only one to be blamed is ourselves. I am the one who walks away from God, I am the one who stubbornly refuses to acknowledge His leadership in my life and I am ultimately the one who is responsible for coming back to a right relationship with God. God does not desert me, I desert Him. He does not fail me, I fail Him. His hand is always extended, but I have to reach out and take His hand in order for Him to help me. So, who is really responsible? We all are!

Teresa Hrab
 

As I was looking through the web for a good meaning of the word “prejudice” there was one that stated that “prejudice is never ending.” When I hear that word what comes to my mind is racial. O my, being overweight is also part of it. Sexual orientation, well that leaves me out and the list goes on.

I guess churches would be pretty empty without prejudiced people. Now let’s all be honest with ourselves, do we not all have just a little prejudice inside of us? If you can honestly look inside yourself and say that you are not prejudiced about anyone, any group or anything, let me know so I can put you on my prayer list. Honestly that is between you and God.

I don’t believe that we are born prejudiced but we are either raised in a home that is prejudiced or something has happened in your life that made you feel that way or your church leaders preached about it. Growing up as a child in a church we always believed what the Pastor said, and being young never thought about looking for ourselves in the Bible. Even as adults that still happens. Why would we question a Pastor? They are to be all knowing and of course follow the Bible word for word, right?

My grandpa Ratajski was very prejudiced with African Americans. I loved him very much but hated how he treated people of a different race. He would hold nothing back. At times he could be very embarrassing and at other times I just felt very sorry for his attitude. I have no clue why he felt that way because he never spoke of why but he would sure let you know how he felt. Was I raised that way? No. He passed away when I was in my late 20’s so I cannot tell you if his attitude would have ever changed or not.

It’s very sad to me how I see people treat other people because they either don’t look or act or even feel like they do. One year Amber and I were doing the AIDS walk in West Hollywood. Thousands of us were out there to do the 6 mile walk and raise money to help fund cures. There were a lot of protestors out there yelling awful things and of course forgetting that there were several young children walking with us. What struck me funny was, not everyone walking was gay. But I guess the protestors thought that everyone was. Towards the end of the walk all of a sudden from both sides of the street people started throwing what we thought were water balloons at us only to find out they had bleach in them. Even to this day I still can’t figure out what they thought they were proving. We still continued to walk. As far as the protestors go, I am sure they just went home angry because we didn’t stop walking.

Sometimes I think prejudice comes out of fear. 911 is a very good example of that. Do some people now look at Middle Eastern people differently? Of course. We see it on the news and at airports all the time. This might sound odd, but there are a lot of crazy white straight people around us.

Next time you feel all puffed up while you are showing your prejudiced side or you feel that people are not being what you believe they should be, remember that God loves them just as much as He loves you.

Debby Mann