A Silent Ministry Within the Church

For those in the DBC family, I want to make sure you're aware of something that our youth and children are doing this Christmas season.

You are aware that church-wide, we are "reverse decorating" our Christmas tree to raise funds for the Friends of Christ orphanage in Kenya. This has been a successful project every year to raise much-needed support for the many needs for our Kenyan orphans.

The youth and children have a project of their own this year. They have selected a family in Dublin (a mother with four young children) to help with their financial needs. They are collecting food items and small Christmas gifts to wrap and present to this family after the youth and children's Christmas party on Dec 20.

They want to be careful to not interfere with the Angel Tree project, but I'm sure they would also appreciate any help you can provide - some canned goods, a small toy, anything that a young family might need.

Mainly, though, I want to make sure that you are aware of one of the "silent" projects that the youth and children's ministries have taken on.

I'm grateful for that entire team. I pray that their leadership will instill a habit of giving and generosity in our young people, so that they learn these habits from the start (rather than having to "unlearn" them as adults in order to be generous).

The Good Thing About Being Sick

I should have known. While Lynne was suffering from being sick, I remember thinking, "Man, I don't seem to get sick very often." Right then, I should have known that I was going to get sick. It seems to be the same thing that a lot of people are suffering from right now - not horrible, but not fun either.

But, there's a least one good thing about being sick. When I'm sick, I feel weak and vulnerable. I don't like the feeling, and I don't feel it much when I'm well. But when I'm sick, I come face-to-face with the reality that I'm not indestructible, that I am needy, that I cannot protect myself from all harm. I have to face the facts - I'm not bulletproof. I must ask for help.

I ask for help often during any given week - but not because I am unable to take care of myself, but because I want to accomplish many things or I want to involve someone else in ministry or any number of reasons. Rarely is it because I'm too weak. Being sick forces me to ask for help because I can't do something for myself.

That's the kind of humility we need in order to receive help from God - the help we need for salvation, the help we need with our sin, the help we need with our spiritual growth, the help we need for every aspect of the Christian life. We cannot come to God with a swagger and "ask" for His help while sporting the attitude that we can really take care of most of this ourselves. We must come face-to-face with the reality that we are too weak to be what God wants us to be, to be perfect, to be sinless.

When I'm sick, I'm less proud and more apt to ask for help out of need. I need to remember that humility when I come to God and ask for His help. I need to realize that I am in fact that needy before God all the time, even when life is going pretty well. I cannot be the Christian I want to be by having enough "health" within me. I am weak and sick and needy when it comes to being a follower of Christ. Being sick teaches me the kind of humility I need in order to ask for His help.