Berean Seniors

In 1980, Steve P. was supposed to take our ten seniors on a grand trip to Washington D.C. and New York for their senior class trip.  But he and his wife couldn’t make it, so Kathy and I took their place.  We had a wonderful ten-day trip seeing all the great places up the east coast.  Our first night was in Williamsburg, Virginia.  We got our motel, and then we went to a local church for the Wednesday evening service.  The congregation was small and met in a chapel just off the large auditorium.  When the twelve of us came in, we almost doubled the attendance.  The service was already in progress and the pastor cordially welcomed us from the pulpit.  He said, “Well, we are glad to have several visitors with us tonight.  Would you mind introducing yourselves?”  I stood and said, “I’m Gerald Whitely, this is my wife Kathy, and these (with a sweep of my hand) are the Berean Seniors from Chattanooga, Tennessee.”  And I sat down.  But the pastor had not heard me clearly, and so he said, “Well, we have a full program tonight, but I think we can make room for these singers from Chattanooga.”  I assured him that we were content just to be visiting.  He appeared to be relieved that his schedule was safe.  Hey, have you ever been misunderstood?  Or have you ever misunderstood someone else?  Misunderstandings can lead to some awkward moments.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned his audience to watch their words.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:37, “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”  Hey, be careful in what you say.  Don’t say too much, but don’t say too little.  Say just enough to make yourself clear.  Otherwise, you may find yourself in a sticky situation and asked to sing on the spot, like we were in Williamsburg.

Our Power

In 1981 the teachers from Calvary Christian School left Chattanooga for Tampa and the Southeast Teacher’s Conference.  I was driving our church van and making good time.  We stopped at McDonald’s in Macon for a bathroom stop.  While everyone was in the restaurant, I drove next door to the gas station to fill up the van.  But I discovered that the van had a locking gas cap.  We had had trouble with someone stealing gas from our vehicles, so one of the deacons had put the locking gas cap on but had forgot to tell me about it.  I didn’t have a key and we were four hours away from home.  The gas station attendant loaned me a few hand tools, but the cap was doing its job keeping me out.  After an hour of poking, punching and pushing, I had broken the gas cap off piece by piece. The last part fell into the gas tank where it stayed.  I filled up the tank with gas and bought a new gas cap … one that didn’t lock.  Hey, our van was going nowhere without gas because gasoline powered the vehicle.  And we as Christians are going nowhere without the power of the Holy Spirit of God!  Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem UNTIL they were endued with the power that they needed.  Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”  We do the work of God by the power of God because without God, we can do nothing.  And with the power of God, all things are possible!

Fear Not

My wife was such a good mother to our four children.  But when they were sick and vomiting, she was useless.  She would go to their side to help, but she got sick herself.  When the children were sick, I cleaned them up.  If Kathy helped, I cleaned up the sick child AND the weak-stomached mother.  I had two problems.  Hey, when Jesus and His disciples went across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had a problem with the storm AND a problem with His faithless disciples.  Jesus had two problems.  Mark 4:38-41, “And he (Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  That indictment of Jesus rings across the centuries: “Why are ye so fearful?”  If the Master of the universe is with us, why indeed are we so fearful?  Don’t be fearful today.  Fear not!  Jesus is right there with you!