Author name: Tom Stuart

Entertaining Angels Without Knowing It

26 Comments / Answers to Prayer!, Overcoming, Prayer /

Most of us do not think much about angels, much less look for their presence in our lives. But that does not mean that they are not looking for us and actively engaged in helping us. Contrary to some caricatures, they are not rosy cherubs floating on clouds carrying harps. They are servants of God, indued with His power and authority and sent to earth to serve His people and His purposes.

Although in some cases they appear as angels, frequently they take on human form. In the Bible we read of the appearances in person of majestic angels like Gabriel. (Luke 1) Those kind of angelic visitations are unmistakable and awe inspiring. Modern day accounts from those whom have had the privilege of seeing angels in person confirm this. But most of the time angels travel incognito and unless the Lord reveals their identity to us we are unaware of their identity. God clues us in to this in the book of Hebrews. We are told that some strangers who come into our lives may actually be angels. (Hebrews 13:2) Imagine having an encounter with an angel and not realizing it until afterward. There were people in the Bible, likeLot, who had that experience. He met two men in the public square, offered them shelter for the night and they turned out to be two angels sent by God to rescue him and his family before the destruction ofSodom.

Last week was a flurry of activity for my wife and I and our extended family. We all were involved to some degree in preparing for the big Saturday departure of our daughter Annie for a two year teaching commitment in Turkey. Such partings are always fraught with emotion, last “good” good-byes and prayers for protection.

Our other two daughters, Sarah and Carrie, took Annie out for a farewell luncheon on Thursday. All three have traveled extensively. Over lunch, as they compared travel notes, they discovered each of them had an angel story to tell. All three of them shared how a stranger had come into their lives, at a critical time of need in their travels.

Entertaining Angels Without Knowing It Read More »

The box pew mentality

5 Comments / Church History, News & Reflections /

Last Friday I spent a day in Boston sightseeing with relatives. Our major focus was what is called the Freedom Trail with sites that trace the history of American Independence and the start of the Revolutionary War. The trail begins at Boston Common and ends atBunker Hill and is actually marked by a red brick line set right in the sidewalk pavement. Along the way a person can visit places where the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party took place, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere’s House, Old North Church and Old Ironsides.

For me, the most fascinating stop on the tour was the Old North Church. Old North which is formally called Christ Church in Boston was built as an Anglican Church in 1723 and is the oldest standing church inBoston. From its steeple on the night of April 18, 1775, the “one if by land, two if by sea” warning signal was given of the march of the British towardLexington andConcord. Paul Revere made his historic midnight ride to alert the minutemen and the next morning the “shot heard ‘round the world” signaled the start of the Revolutionary War.

Old North ChurchWhat really struck me were the pews. They are box pews, which were common in colonial New England. Box pews basically segment the church into compartments defined by five foot high walls and are large enough to accommodate an entire family with benches along two of the walls.

Church seating often reveals much about the nature and quality of the worship experience that is expected. How seats are arranged is deeply influenced by the desired level of formality or informality of the liturgy and architectural restrictions in seating a large group of people so that they can see and hear a speaker. In recent years we have come to recognize the limitations of traditional seating arrangements when it comes to encouraging relationship building and fellowship. That is why, with our rows of pews or chairs, we often joke about fellowshipping the back of one another’s necks and talk about the necessity of participating in small group gatherings beyond the confines of the Sunday morning worship experience.

In researching the history and purpose of the box pew I found it to be a prophetic foreshadowing and caricature of our present day Sunday church service. It is theorized that the pew walls resulted from the fact that early churches were not heated and the walls minimized drafts serving to keep the occupants relatively warm in winter. Families typically would sit together. Members of the congregation had to purchase their pews and pay a yearly rental to maintain them. Different pews had different prices depending upon their location. Those on the center aisle and near the front fetched a higher price. It entitled the owner exclusive use of that pew and in some churches the pew boxes were even furnished and decorated to their owner’s tastes.

Where families sat indicated their social status and so

The box pew mentality Read More »

Busted! Now what?

Growth & Development, Overcoming /

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick, who can understand it.” (Jeremiah 17:9) ESV

I got busted yesterday. While going through airport security the TSA spotted something suspicious in my backpack. I was pulled aside and given a full body scan and pat down search. An amiable agent with gloved hand proceeded to gingerly empty my pack piece by piece, a pocket at a time. At the outset he asked me if I had any item that was sharp or used for cutting. I politely replied “No, not to my knowledge.” When I said that, I was reasonably assured because I have traveled with that backpack numerous times.

To my chagrin however, the methodical agent did find the sharp, cutting item he was looking for. It was a small red Swiss army pocket knife. You know the kind – no more than an inch and a half long, just big enough to hold a tooth pick and tiny tweezers in slots on each side. I apologized explaining I was not aware it was there. Holding it in the palm of his hand he asked if I had someone still at the airport I wanted to give it to; otherwise he added, he would have to keep it. I said “No, that’s alright . . . thank you for doing your job.”

I really did not give the incident and loss of the knife a second thought. With several of those little red knives at home and one actually on my key ring, all my teeth picking needs would still be adequately covered.

My mind was preoccupied with more important things – breakfast. After repacking my backpack I made a beeline for the concourse McDonalds to enjoy some pancakes and sausage before making my way to the boarding gate.

As I was savoring my meal I unconsciously licked the syrup from my plastic knife and was startled when the serrated edge cut me as it brushed the corner of my mouth. “Dumb” I admonished myself . . . but that got me to thinking. I had just passed through security where they are on the hunt for items that are sharp and cutting. My little knife was confiscated, and justifiably so, because it could be used as a weapon to hijack a plane, the way the 911 hijackers used box cutters to wreck havoc on our nation 10 years ago.

Busted! Now what? Read More »

5 Antidotes for Hurry Sickness

8 Comments / Life Balance /

Hurry sickness like most undetected diseases is a silent killer. The sobering fact is that hurry sickness could be wrecking havoc in our lives without us even knowing it. Make no mistake about it; hurry sickness is a killer disease. It kills relationships, it kills productivity, it kills perspective and priorities, it kills spontaneity and the joy of the moment and worst of all it kills spirituality. How can that be?

More often than not, hurry sickness forces us to sacrifice the important things in life for those things which seem urgent, but are not as important. Years ago Charles Hummel, in a little booklet by the same title, identified this tendency as the “Tyranny of the Urgent.” Urgency, although a life saver when it is an appropriate response, becomes a tyrant when everyday life suffers from its inflated and incessant demands.

Hurry sickness is therefore defined as “a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness; an overwhelming and continual sense of urgency.” (Dictionary.com)

How do you know if you have hurry sickness? Simply measure your life against the definition. If you frequently feel rushed, anxious, overwhelmed and/or are always battling a sense of urgency, then you have it. Ouch! I’ve got it! Do you?

The bigger question then becomes, what do we do about it? Having battled this disease most of my life I’ve realized there are no easy answers. I have discovered however that getting older helps. One of the benefits of aging is that a person begins to gain some perspective that everything isn’t as urgent as it once seemed. And the really important things in life have a way of coming into to focus more readily. For this I am thankful.

5 Antidotes for Hurry Sickness Read More »

Deep calls to deep

Overcoming, Relationship with God /

Earlier in the summer, my wife and I spent a Sunday afternoon at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. The spring and summer rains feeding Minnehaha Creek have made the falls a roaring attraction this year. The sheer force of voluminous amounts of water ceaselessly cascading into such a picturesque grotto-like setting is indeed breathtaking. From there the swollen creek tumbles and rumbles its way through the remaining several furlong run into the mightyMississippi.

Waterfalls have a way of mesmerizing your soul as they beckon you to come closer and closer. They have a unique allure in nature that tantalize all the senses. Not only are they a beautiful to behold with the eyes and stunning in surround sound to the ears, but they also cannot be fully appreciated until one is close enough to feel their spray in your face and lick their moisture from your lips. And while savoring that, the senses are finally satiated as you breath in deep gulps of their freshness through your nose. Ah…h that is how waterfalls are meant to be experienced!

But waterfalls also can be perilous. Sensory delight can turn into sensory overload if a person ventures beyond the posted warning signs or danger areas. Those signs are there for a reason because someone, sometime, somehow got too close and went from being a visitor by the water to a victim in the water.

The verse quoted above is written by someone who got too close to a waterfall. In fact the waterfall of life was coming at him with such ferocity that it literally swept over him and would have swept him away were not for God’s love for him. (42:8) All of us have from time to time been engulfed at the base of a waterfall where we feel like we are drowning in the pressures and trials of life that are endlessly pouring into our lives.

The writer of Psalm 42 and 43, which together form a sixteen verse prayer, opens his heart to God in a most vulnerable, if not disarming way. He literally pours out his soul as he battles with overwhelming discouragement and seeming estrangement from God. For him, the waterfall of life is unrelenting. This is an easy prayer to identify with because all of us feel that way at times. In fact like this man we can find ourselves even wondering “Where is God?” (42:19)

Deep calls to deep Read More »

Scroll to Top