I STILL LOVE THOSE FRIES

by Milan Ford

In the fall of 2002, I was blessed with the unique opportunity to serve as the college ministry director for one of the largest and most influential churches in the country. For nearly four years, I had the opportunity to serve, counsel, lead, and learn from hundreds of college students who attended various schools within the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

During that span of time, I witnessed first hand what many ministry leaders throughout this country are experiencing today - a growing discontentment and apathy regarding the relevance of the local church in the eyes of today's generation of young people.

Despite all of the programs, events, concerts, scholarships, pizza nights, and other heart felt approaches our churches have tried to offer in order to reach this generation, what was once considered necessary, has now become optional.

And worse, what was once attractive... now repels.

And although many would like to attribute this pattern of apathy only to young people, there is alarming number of believers today (ages 30 and up) who now refuse to have anything to do with the local church because of either a prior unfavorable experience they had while apart of one, or perhaps being made aware of a considerable disparity between what a particular leader was saying or teaching in public, and what he or she was doing in private.

I am often asked by parents and ministry leaders alike what my response is when I encounter someone who has given up on God and their faith because of something that happened to them while attending a local church. My answer, although far from earth-shattering, is always the same. Feel free to borrow it whenever you like. Here it is:

I am in LOVE with McDonald's fries.
In my opinion, they are the best-tasting fries in the world.

Yet despite my unfailing adoration for them, I am not at all impressed with what I have to endure in order to get them. No matter the hour of the day, no matter which restaurant location I select, my experience at McDonald's has often been an awful one.

When going through the drive-thru, my order will always be missing something.
When inside, I always encounter that one cashier who clearly is upset that I choose her line.
And I won't even get started on having to pay an extra quarter for more barbecue sauce!

Yet, no matter the trial and obstacle, I still insist on returning. No bad experience I may have today can hinder me from expecting a better one tomorrow. Why?

Because I still LOVE those fries!

As believers, there must come a time when our love and commitment to the PRODUCT is no longer subject to the imperfections of a particular PROVIDER. Once we allow the SERVICE we have received from others to cast doubt on the SERVICE we have received from Him, we will become a great DISSERVICE to everyone we come in contact with.

On the night before He was to be crucified, Christ delivered perhaps His most important message to us all: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this ALL will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:34-35.

It is literally impossible to truly love God without loving what (and whom) He loves. Despite its many challenges, I still believe the local church and the Body of Christ at large is by far one of the greatest ideas our God has ever had. Perhaps His finest. Imagine the impact we could have on this world if we as believers took the time to just believe the BEST of one another.

Let's face it; some of us (as Christians) can take ourselves way too SERIOUSLY. Once you and I make the decision to lighten up and embrace the fact that all of us have missed the mark from time to time, we will be able to extend the kind of grace and unconditional love that will bring glory to God.

And most importantly, draw others closer to Him.

Milan Ford

WHEN GOD SHOWS UP

By R.T. Kendall

Perhaps God spoke to you at a particular time or was present on a particular occasion. At the time, it didn’t seem as if it was God who was doing the speaking or even if God was present at all. You underestimated, if not rejected, what He did or what He said. Only years later did it become clear to you that you had failed to recognize His presence.

I remember many years ago, when Louise and I had moved away from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for only 18 months, we came back and found that Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church had been started. Before we went away, it had been a vacant lot with a big sign on it that read, "Future home of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church." That sign just stayed there month after month for a couple years. We wondered: What is happening here? When will that church start?

When we came back, the church had started, and it was the talk of the town. D. James Kennedy, who was the architect of what is now known as Evangelism Explosion, was using this evangelism method in Fort Lauderdale.

I have to say I was one of Kennedy’s greatest critics. I thought that Evangelism Explosion (EE) was not of God. It took two to three years for me to climb down and see that EE really was of God. But I couldn’t see it at the time. I had theological biases; I had other instincts, and I went by them.

Perhaps you can think of a similar experience when something came up that at first you thought God simply wasn’t in. Then later, like Jacob, you had to say, "The Lord was in this place. I didn’t know it. I wasn’t aware of it." Let’s not think ourselves so spiritual that we are sure we couldn’t possibly miss the Lord’s presence. Our very biases may keep us from seeing the Lord when He appears.

Let’s reflect on the possibility that God has appeared and we don’t see Him, even though we may have been praying for Him to come. He answers our prayer but we can’t believe it, either because our unbelief is too great or because our prejudices overrule our faith. Maybe the Lord appeared yesterday and we didn’t realize it. Maybe He has answered prayer and we haven’t recognized it.

Here are a few examples of failure to recognize the Lord’s presence.

• When we miss what God is doing in another person. Eli misunderstood what was happening to Hannah (see 1 Sam. 1:12-13). It is possible for someone who ministers to you in an official capacity not to recognize what God is doing in your life.

• When we miss God’s answer to our prayer and only later recognize His presence. Peter was in prison and the church was earnestly praying, but when he appeared at the door they didn’t believe it (see Acts 12:13-17).

• When we are dominated by fear even though God is all around us. Elisha’s servant was terrified of the enemy chariots until he was able to see that the Lord’s hosts were far greater (see 2 Kings 6:15-17). Perhaps you too are dominated by fear when the truth is that God is with you.

• When we are disappointed by the word God gives us. Naaman, who suffered from leprosy, did not want to accept the word given by the prophet to wash in the Jordan seven times (see 2 Kings 5). It may be that God has given you a word and you don’t like it. Accept what God has given you and who knows what will happen in the end (see Luke 16:10).

• When we are blind to what God is doing strategically. Often when we see how things turn out, our immediate reaction is, "God can’t be in this." God’s Messiah—Isaiah’s "root out of a dry ground"—ended up hanging on a cross. There was no hint at the time that this was God in Christ reconciling the world.

Looking back at particular times in your life, you might say, "God was at work, and I was not aware of it." You may be going through a time of trial at this very moment. James says, "Consider it pure joy, my brethren, whenever you face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2, NIV). The trial you’re going through at this moment may be God’s hint that He’s there after all.