Monthly Archives: March 2021

Love Actually: Day 37

Love Actually: Day 37

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 31, John 13:21-38

Many of you know the story of the birth of Branches. It came out of my own failure, the pain that Doris and my family endured because of me, and the healing that Jesus brought to us. Here’s a little anecdote that you may not have heard.

Doris and I were painting the building that God had given us for Branches. A businessman in town had heard some of our story, invited us to meet him in a building he owned on Armory Drive (Just past Freedom Road. You can’t make this stuff up!) He graciously offered us the building at no charge until we could get on our feet. So, Doris and I were painting the inside of the building, not knowing for sure what it was supposed to be or what we were supposed to do.

One afternoon, while we were painting, a small, black man (we found out later, from Sierra Leone) came wandering into the place. He introduced himself as Shadonkeh Johnson. We learned, again later, that he was a prominent minister in Africa, a bishop over 400 churches, and he has spoken to a small church that was meeting in this building many years before. He just walked in to see if the church was still there.

We talked for a few minutes when suddenly he said, “God has given me a Word for you.” Now in my more skeptical days, I thought, “Oh brother. This is going to end up with me giving him twenty bucks.” But I smiled and said for him to go ahead. He suggested Doris write this down and the words that Shadonkeh spoke over me in June of 2006 are hanging on the wall of my office today.

“You believe your ministry is finished and you are a failure,” he said. (I had just written the little book, Failure and How I Achieved it.) “God wants you to know that He is not finished with you. You will have a ministry greater than you have ever had before. You are to put a hammer and nails on your wall,” (Did it. Still there today.) “for you will be a carpenter. Ministers will come and tell you their stories, stories they cannot tell anyone else. You will fix them and send them back out to ministry and in that way, your ministry will have a greater impact than it would have if you had not gone through this.” Then he said what has become to me the most precious of all his statements. “You will do all of this and NO ONE WILL KNOW YOUR NAME.”

My pastor, Eddie Turner, used to say Branches is the best-kept secret in the mid-south. I say it is supposed to be. I spent the first 45 years of my life trying to make a name for myself. It has been such a privilege for the last 20 to give that up and just watch God work. Having a name is not all that it’s cracked up to be.

In John 13, this beautiful story of the last supper, (It will actually take place tomorrow but it is the scripture reading for today.) there are only two disciples named. All of them are there. Thirteen men, including Jesus, sitting around the table, but only two are called by name. Peter is mentioned twice. At the beginning, he is prideful and arrogant and refuses to let Jesus wash his feet. At the end, Jesus predicts that Peter will deny Him 3 times. (He does, by the way.) The other name listed is Judas who will betray Jesus. Two guys have names, Peter the denier and Judas the betrayer.  When I had a name, it was one of these. Well, actually it was both of these. At different times in my life, I have done both. A name is not all that great.

Oh, there is one other guy that is kind of mentioned. He is “the disciple that Jesus loved.” (John 13:23) I have been that guy too. Still am. I like that “name” the best. (Revelation 2:17)

See you tomorrow.

Mike

Love Actually: Day 36

Love Actually: Day 36

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 30, Ezekiel 37:1-14 This might surprise you but there is a bunch of stuff in the Bible that I don’t understand. Symbols and events, timelines and theology, there are just things that don’t make a lot of sense to me. A couple of days ago we read in Proverbs, “Don’t answer… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 35

Love Actually: Day 35

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 29, John 12:1-11 Doris was out of town this weekend. She was involved in a women’s retreat and I am so proud of her. But, when she leaves, for some reason, this house just becomes a wreck. I don’t know who messes it up so bad but after a couple of… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 34

Love Actually: Day 34

Read Psalm 56, Proverbs 27, Isaiah 53:10-12 Next week is Passion Week. We will read Psalm 23, the Proverbs chapter of the day, and pretty much the Passion week story: Monday-John 12:1-11, Tuesday-Ezekiel 37:1-14, Wednesday-John 13:21-38, Thursday-Mark 14:12-26, Friday-John 18-19, Saturday-John 21:1-14 Here are some housekeeping things: Monday is supposed to be our last video.… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 33 (of 40, wow!)

Love Actually: Day 33 (of 40, wow!)

You know why I like Amazon? Because it’s easy to get justice. You order something from them. It doesn’t come in just right, wrong size, different color, a little damaged, and you just send the thing back. Voila! Instant justice. They either send you a new thing or refund your money. No harm. No foul.… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 32

Love Actually: Day 32

Psalm 53, Proverbs 25, Isaiah 53:1-6 Doris, my wife, has an amazing gift of unknowing. She has a birthday coming up in a couple of months. About a week before, she and I will go out shopping. We will walk through endless aisles of hoity-toity dress shops. (I keep saying they have great stuff at… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 31

Psalm 56, Proverbs 24, II Corinthians 1:3-11 Doris asked me last night why I choose the scripture each day that I do. Well, the Proverbs chapter is just the chapter that corresponds with the calendar day. That way we read through the entire book of Proverbs every month. I have done this for years. The… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 30

Love Actually: Day 30

Psalm 56, Proverbs 23, I Peter 2:21-25 Here’s an interesting story. In 1896, Charles Monroe Sheldon wrote a little book about a small-town church that was challenged when one Sunday an apparent, homeless beggar came walking into the middle of their worship service. The events that unfolded caused that little congregation to ask themselves, “What… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 29

Love Actually: Day 29

Today read Psalm 56, Proverbs 22, Acts 16:19-28 In case you are wondering, I don’t start these things with some great plan of how they will end. I am very much a “stream of consciousness” kind of writer. When I get to the end of a blog, I am about as surprised as anybody how… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 28

Love Actually: Day 28

Reading for today: Psalm 32, Proverbs 20, Romans 8:31-39. (How am I doing Pastor Gary?) It is hard to believe we are only two weeks away from the end of Lent and the end of our 40 Day Adventure together. I hope this has been helpful and especially over the next two weeks begins to… Continue Reading