The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.   John 1:5

It’s been at least five years since my friends and I last performed our Halloween drama, but it still seems strange to be in mid-October and not to be consumed with rehearsals for “Satan’s Worst Nightmare.” (The title refers to the Resurrection of Jesus, not to us!) My book of the same name was to be released this past summer, but I’ve hit some snags. I shouldn’t be surprised. With all the resistance we encountered presenting Christ’s Resurrection on Halloween, why would I not expect even more push-back when writing a book that I’m hoping will inspire other people to do similar things where they are?

Still, nothing says I can’t share bits and pieces of the manuscript with my readers in the meantime, so here’s this week’s preview, from the chapter entitled, simply, “Weather”:

When the topic of weather is referred to, it is often with the connotation of its being the epitome of shallow and trivial conversation, but there are exceptions. These exceptions include when a hurricane is heading for your home, when a drought threatens to destroy your crops, and when you are planning an outdoor production in Michigan at the end of October with no “Plan B.”

It is a well-established fact that man does not control the weather conditions on any given day; the closest we can come is prayer – lots and lots of fervent, repeated, consistent prayer. In the case of the Halloween outreach, the prayers for the weather on October 31 usually began in August or earlier. They continued in growing numbers in October as we would gather before each rehearsal to come before God in unison.
In the fifteen years we had the outreach, we have never once been rained out.
This does not mean that performing outdoors was always comfortable, not by a long shot. It does mean that there was always an audience. Some years the fire pit on the sidewalk probably caused some spectators to linger a little longer than they otherwise would have. God knows, and He controls the elements.

Every year Kelly would pray for a “warm, balmy night” for the outreach, and I would always agree, thinking in the back of my mind, “It couldn’t hurt to ask…” One year we actually did have temperatures in the 60’s, and it was delightful. But overall, the weather was usually typical of southeastern Michigan at the end of October, it just never rained on us during our production.

There were plenty of times the skies and the weather man threatened rain all evening, and as each performance ended and the actors looked to me for instructions, I would tell them, “Hey, it’s not raining yet, let’s go for one more,” and we would start again, always squeezing in as many of the 20-minute performances as we could before the 10:00 closing.

Usually the night of the outreach was cold enough that the actors would run inside to warm up between performances. Dollar store gloves (black for the demons, white for the angels) were a staple, and some years I would give up trying to keep the kids from drinking hot cider in costume and just pray they wouldn’t spill it on their white robes before the evening was over.

Probably about half the outreaches we did had heavy clouds hovering over us until the very end of the evening, after which the rain would start. More than a few times I would be driving home Halloween night in a downpour, barely able to see the road in front of me. But it was always with a grateful heart – God had made the rain wait for us again.

In the Eye of the Storm

One year I drove to the Tuckers’ house in a downpour, praying, OK, Lord, this has never happened before, but You are in charge. Just let us know what You want us to do now…
But when I got to the Tuckers’ it wasn’t raining there. We did have people coming in from all directions, asking, “Are we still doing it? It’s raining like crazy in Marine City.”

“It’s pouring in Richmond.”

“It’s raining cats and dogs in Marysville.”

“Wow,” I thought out loud. “Wouldn’t it be cool if it rained everywhere except St. Clair?”

“Annie,” said one of the moms, who lived in St, Clair, “it’s raining in parts of St. Clair, it’s just not raining here.” (Understand that St. Clair is not all that big.)

We gathered for a few minutes of intense prayer before going on with a whole evening of performances, while the skies above us held off – again.

This Is Cool, but …

I remember one year it was windy and bitter cold. During the first performance, as Satan stood raising his fist and gloating over the death of Jesus, the wind whipped his cape, while a maelstrom of giant snowflakes whirled around him. Some of us stood taking in the drama of it, our mouths agape. As a director, I was slightly torn.

OK, I thought, this looks awesome, but if it keeps up, these kids will all have pneumonia by the end of the evening…

Kelly wasn’t torn at all. From behind me I could hear her authoritative voice bellow, “In the Name of Jesus I command this snow to stop – NOW!”

Seconds later, no more snow. I was mildly disappointed, but mostly relieved.

Each year it was a matter of prayer whether we would have the outreach again. For fifteen years the answer was “yes.”

The year we decided to forego the outreach there was a hurricane that affected practically the whole east half of the country, and Halloween night the weather was so unpleasant that I could count on one hand the number of trick-or-treaters that showed up at the Tucker household. I was sitting on their porch handing out candy and tracts, and a couple of them asked how come we weren’t having the show this year. I laughed and pointed to the weather they were crazy enough to be out in, and silently thanked the Lord that we had not worked for six weeks on a production that was clearly not to be that year.

Prayer: Lord, You have ordained seasons, and I thank You for the season when I had the privilege of retelling the story of Your Resurrection on what some would consider the darkest night of the year. Indeed, You always shine, even through the deepest darkness. Shine through me, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do not love the world or anything in the world.        I John 2: 15a

It was a typical morning. Marty was sipping his coffee and checking his phone for the day’s news stories. I was sipping my coffee and getting ready to take the dog on his morning walk. This was the time I usually prayed, as the early morning solitude was perfect for talking to God, my phone got left at home, and the dog was happy, thinking I was talking to him. It was also typical that a multitude of things were vying for my attention. Of course, since I was still sipping my coffee, I thought I may as well take a quick look at my emails – checking for prayer requests.

Off at the side of the screen an image flashed of an absolutely gorgeous dress. If not the most beautiful dress I had ever seen, it was definitely in the top five. Royal blue (my color!), neither tight nor baggy, just flowing gracefully. The model even had my hair, so if I blurred my eyes or covered her face with my thumb, I could see myself wearing that amazing garment to the next wedding. Or ball. Or coronation…

Desire took hold. I showed the picture to Marty, whose opinions on women’s fashion is usually somewhere between indifferent and comatose, and even he did a double take and said, “You should get it!” without even knowing the price. As it was, the dress was on sale, and the price ridiculously low. I would gladly have paid three times that much. I knew the dog (not to mention the Lord) was waiting, but I thought, This will just take a minute, and clicked onto the site.

Of course, the “just a minute” takes a little longer if you have to set up an account, but I typed in my name and email address and created a password at record speed. I then went on to place the order but was told that the password I had just entered and confirmed was “invalid.” After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I clicked on “Forgot my password” to have them send me what they thought it was, only to be told that my email address was also invalid. By this time my mood was, shall we say, not exactly prayerful?

Then the Holy Spirit, or maybe it was just the voice of common sense, told me that my prayer time had again been sabotaged, and I was getting emotionally upset over not possessing a dress that an hour ago I had no idea existed!

My prayer time that day included some meditation on the sin of vanity.

Prayer: Lord, we are so easily distracted by the world and its “treasures.” Help us to set our minds on You and to have the divine perspective to know that true treasures come from You. In the name of Jesus, the greatest Treasure of all. Amen.

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, “Raca,” is answerable to the Sandhedrin. But anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell.                                                                                                                                                                                Matthew 5: 21-22

I committed murder this morning.

I called a man a “fool.” In my defense, he had told his wife “the marriage is over” and is living with his new girlfriend. If that isn’t the biblical definition of a fool, what is?

Still, I took it upon myself to do God’s job. I judged someone who is a sinner – just like me. And I had to repent, pray, and receive God’s forgiveness.

Some people have opined that it’s easier to be a Christian than an Orthodox Jew, since the Old Testament has hundreds of laws to follow and instructions on how to atone for oneself when having broken one of those laws. The New Testament, recognizing that the Old Testament law was impossible for anyone to follow, offers us grace. We no longer have to offer endless sacrifices to atone for all of our blunders; Jesus gave His life so that we could be forgiven on the basis of His sacrifice.

But there is a way in which Jesus made it harder on those who would like to think themselves holier than everyone else. These “religious” people knew the Law and kept it – outwardly. The Law said, “Thou shalt not murder,” and as far as they knew, they hadn’t. The Law said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and as far as they knew, they had kept themselves sexually clean.

But then Jesus came along and raised the bar. In His Sermon on the Mount, He redefines “sin” in terms of not just behavior but the heart. Jesus said that someone who is angry with his brother is murdering him in his heart (Matthew 5:21-22), and that “anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)

Suddenly, everyone is guilty. Jesus did not present this perspective of the Law to make us more righteous,  but to show us that none of us can obey God’s Law. He wanted us to know that we need a Savior. Those who say Jesus was a great teacher who taught us how to live, and at the same time do not believe that He is the Savior of the world, are missing the whole point of Jesus’ life and teachings.

Please don’t misunderstand, having a relationship with Jesus will help us live better lives. If we truly know Him, we will love Him, and if we love Him, we won’t say, “Man, I’m glad my sins are paid for,” and go out and do whatever the devil, our sin nature, and the world tell us to do. If we love Him – if we’re in love with Him – we would rather die than hurt Him. But living a good life is not what saves us.

I have known Jesus for more than half a century, and I can’t begin to tell you how much He has blessed my life. (This blog is an attempt at a start, anyway.) And I still sin. The difference is, I don’t believe I sin nearly as much as I would without knowing Him, and when I do sin, He lets me know. Like the other time I was aware of being a murderer.

I had the radio on while I was fixing dinner, and a story came on about some people who had swindled a trusting elderly lady and had taken her entire life’s savings. My instant reaction was to became judge and jury, declaring out loud, “Those people oughta be shot!”

Immediately, I recognized that in that split second I had become a murderer in my heart. I’m hopeless, I thought. But I also knew immediately that I would be hopeless without Jesus, but I wasn’t without Jesus. I stopped what I was doing, repented, and thanked Him for His grace.

Psalm 103:8-14 is a passage that has been my lifeline whenever I would realize how much I fall short of God’s standards.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,                                                                                                 slow to anger, abounding in love.                                                              He will not always accuse,                                                                                                                               nor will he harbor his anger forever;                                                             he does not treat us as our sins deserve                                                                                                        or reward us according to our iniquities.                                 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,                                                                                          so great is his love for those who fear him;                                                      as far as the east is from the west,                                                                                                              so far has he removed our transgressions from us.           As a father has compassion on his children,                                                                                                so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;                  For he knows how we are formed,                                                                                                                  he remembers that we are dust.

It is such a comfort to me to know that God understands that we are incapable of living the righteous life on our own, and He is here to help us. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. All of them. For anyone who will repent, this forgiveness is His free gift.

Even for a murderer like me.

Prayer: LORD, alone we are helpless to do good. Thank You for spelling it out so clearly that keeping Your Law by sheer willpower is impossible, and that You understand. Thank You for providing a way for us to be cleansed of our sins committed through word, action, thought, attitude, and even our myriad sins of omission. Lead us in a life that reflects Your grace, and never let us make the mistake of thinking that we do good things on our own. It’s all YOU. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.”    Romans 8:28

I had been on the road for about two hours, making good time and thinking I would be back in Louisville before 8:00. But in a moment my plans were changed, and I found myself on a new “assignment,” “adventure,” whatever you want to call the unexpected event.

I had made it from the Michigan town where I had attended an author event, as far as Ohio, when traffic on the highway in a major city suddenly became heavy. Several vehicles slowed to a complete stop, and I could see the car in front of me fishtailing to keep from hitting the car in front of him. I slammed on the brakes, barely avoiding a collision, but a split second later I felt the unmistakable sensation of being slammed into from behind. My first thought was profound:

Oops.

After pulling off to the side of the street, I looked around amid stuff that had been thrown about – my purse and its contents (I really need to get into the habit of zipping that thing up.) the box from the restaurant that had held (loosely) leftover salad from lunch, and a little of everything else, except my phone, which was in an unknown location, having flown off its holder.

My next thought was OK, I’m alive. Thank You, Lord. My thoughts went back to the meeting my husband and I had had with a lawyer a few days prior to update our wills, and the fact that I had started a letter to the worship pastor at our church, telling him what kind of service I wanted in the event I should be “called home.” As I sat amid the mess in the front seat of my car, I told myself, I really need to get that letter written!

Pulling my mind back into the present moment, I got out and approached the vehicle behind me, where a teenaged girl looked shaken, and asked if she was OK. She said yes, although “That was scary.” I agreed. The front of her little car looked like a smashed tin can with dangling headlights.

My car, on the other hand,  didn’t show much damage, and what upset me more than the crash was having no clue where my cell phone was. Even when I had the young lady call my number, I couldn’t hear it ring. I wondered if it had been flung off the side of the road and lost forever – my address book, my camera, my photo album, well, you get it. I was seriously bothered.

After about fifteen minutes, at last I found my phone, beneath the carpet under the passenger seat, wedged into a small space in the floor. (Go figure.) I called the police to report the accident, and when they asked if anyone was hurt, I honestly told them “No.” (It seemed like a good idea at the time.) Consequently, it was nearly two hours before the police showed up. The girl’s father arrived more promptly, a little shaken himself, partly because the car his daughter had been driving was totaled, and mostly relieved that she was all right.

While we were waiting for the police to arrive, much of the time the young lady and I sat on the side of the hill, talking and getting to know each other. To be more exact, we were learning each other’s life stories. I’ve always loved teenagers, and she was the kind of kid I could like right away – open and transparent, telling me some very personal things about her life, which I won’t share here. Not surprisingly, like many young people, she had struggled with anxiety, and I was sure this present situation wasn’t helping. I noticed she seemed anxious whenever her attention went back to her car, and I felt it best to keep her talking about other things. Once her dad was on the scene and we had to focus on the crash, he and I ended up reminiscing about our first accidents. (At the age of sixteen I had done to my Mustang pretty much what she’d done to her car.) I think that might have helped her feel a little better; nobody’s perfect.

Of course, at one point in our conversation about school and such, I asked her if she liked to read, and when she said “yes,” I gave her one of my books written for teens and young adults, which just happened to be in my car after the author event. 😉 Since she had a job at a well known candle company, she in turn gave me something to make my car smell good.

When the ordeal was over and I left, we hugged and wished each other the best. I remember thinking as I drove away in my car, which now had the scent of pumpkin spice to drown out the smell of spilled salad – We are SUCH GIRLS! (Somehow I can’t see guys behaving the way we did.)

Romans 8:28 says, basically, that there’s a reason for everything if we love the Lord – and if we are called by Him. In other words, even before we know Him, things are working together to bring us to Him. Although she and I had prayed together, thanking God for our lives, I don’t know exactly what that teen’s relationship with God is. I do know that if she reads the book I gave her, she’ll know how to know Him, if she doesn’t already. And I hope that rather than increasing her anxiety, that crash just might be something she’ll look back on and see as part of God’s plan in her life. She is still alive, so He certainly has something planned for her.

To put it another way, I don’t believe that accident was entirely an accident.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for sparing my life and the life of that young girl. Help me never to take for granted that every day of life is a bonus – another day to serve You. Help us both to fulfill Your purpose for us, in Jesus’ name. Amen