Indian Head

This post first appeared in July of 2013 as a devotional from Barclay Press.

Bible Reading: Matthew 17:1-13

Another of my favorite hikes is found at Quaker Meadow Christian Camp. As a camp counselor, I loved to take a small group of students on this tough and strenuous hike early in the morning. Our goal: Get to the top of the granite mountain in time to watch the morning sunrise.

From the top of the mountain the views are amazing. Miles and miles of forest filled with pine trees and sequoias. In the early, predawn hours the only sounds you could hear was from the wildlife rustling through the bushes and trees or flying overhead. I enjoyed sharing this peaceful surrounding with this small group of students.

This peace is finally broken as the sun begins to appear, rising up through the trees in the distance. Shortly after sunrise, the camp bell rings, waking campers who are still sleeping. Within minutes, the valley below is filled once again with laughter from hundreds of young people. But nothing brought me greater joy than to be surrounded by students removed from the distractions of the world back home, experiencing God’s creation.

There is something magical and transformative about being in such a place, at that hour and with my special friends.

Prayer Suggestion: Pray for a spirit of transformation and a new, deeper understanding of peace and joy this week.

-Pastor Rick Ellis
Pastor at Friends Community Church

The Best Way to Brew Coffee

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.”

— 1 Corinthians 12:4-5

Anyone who loves coffee knows that there has been a centuries-long debate about the best way to brew it.

Many coffee-drinkers are perfectly content with using a Mr. Coffee machine or a Keurig to quickly prep their morning brew. Others believe that intentionality is key, and the best way to brew is with a French press or a filterless glass pour-over system. A lot of folks in Europe believe that espresso shots are the way to go, while American coffee drinkers like to enjoy a prolonged multi-sip experience every morning (hence the invention of the Americano espresso drink while American soldiers were stationed in Italy during World War II).

Perhaps even more controversial is the debate about whether or not to put additives such as cream or sugar into coffee (or how much is acceptable). I personally enjoy my coffee black but will add a small bit of cream every once in a while if I’m feeling a little bold. This act could be considered anathema by some. And don’t even get some of us started on so-called abominations like coconut milk lattes or (ugh) frappuccinos!

After years of coffee-drinking and debates, I finally decided to take a pilgrimage to Hawaii and seek guidance from a credible expert on the subject. Hawaii is the only state of our union with enough rain, humidity, and rich soil to grow coffee beans, so naturally the people in our nation most knowledgeable about coffee will reside there. 

While on the island of Kauai, my wife and I decided to take a quick tour of the Kauai Coffee Estate, the largest coffee farm in the United States. I was elated to hear that our tour guide previously lived in Seattle, the birthplace of Starbucks, so she just had to have the best knowledge about coffee. Finally, I was going to get some answers!

After a detailed explanation of all of the ways to brew coffee (percolator, cold brew, Keurig, etc.) our tour guide finally discerned the answer for us: the best way to brew coffee is… the way you like to brew it.

WHAT?!? There is no single best way to brew coffee? How could she brush aside centuries of verbal warfare so simply? I was both amazed and aghast! That is, until I remembered what Paul taught the Corinthians about Spiritual Gifts (which you may remember from Pastor Micah’s recent message about the church and our gifts).

Similar to the coffee debate, there has been much dialogue in the Church over the use of our gifts given by the Holy Spirit and which gifts are best, but the Apostle Paul puts all debates to rest with a simple comment. To paraphrase 1 Corinthians 12:4-6: “If a gift is from the Spirit, then it’s good.” 

Our gifts are meant to aid us in serving God. If we are serving God, then we are using our gifts properly, and however we do so is good to God. To God there is no “best” way, so for God’s people there is no reason to boast in our abilities but reason to encourage each person’s unique contributions.

Even though I was initially taken aback by our tour guide’s conclusion, I left that estate on Kauai with a new appreciation for the diverse ways to enjoy coffee. Don’t let the people around you put you to shame for the way you enjoy coffee, nor for the way you serve God. If done with the correct spirit, it is good.

Click here to take a free Spiritual Gifts survey as a jumping-off point to see how your unique abilities can help show Christ to others. (After taking the test, make sure you take personal inventory and ask those close to you to see how God is moving through you.)

Are you looking for ways to serve, give, or connect with FCC? Click here to check out serving opportunities in our community, or click here to see the different connection ministries FCC offers.

-Travis Morrill
Communications and Facilities Administrator at Friends Community Church

What is Church?

This post first appeared in August of 2012 as a devotional from Barclay Press.

Bible Reading: Acts 2:42-47

Tuesday nights are planning nights for our church plant. We share ideas and dreams. We pray together. We share a meal together (tonight was teriyaki chicken, rice pilaf and green beans). We laugh together and we watch Jeopardy. Mostly we challenge each other to radically be the church God is calling us to be.

Quick definition: church is not a building or a location but a group of people sharing life and beliefs aligned with Jesus’ mission here on earth. 

Recently the idea of “location” was the topic of conversation. At one time we had use of a church building. It came totally equipped with chairs, sounds, new technology, heat and A/C, everything you would need to do church.

Was having all these things crippling our ability to be the church?

A sister church plant of ours use to meet in a coffeehouse. What was awesome was that the coffeehouse wasn’t closed during their church services; the public was welcome to come in and get a cup of coffee and a pastry.

Once while the church was meeting, and the pastor was up front sharing, two women came in, got coffee, and sat in the middle of the church group. Once they sat, the women proceeded to have a lively, animated, and loud conversation. They did not recognize this group as a church.

This is the church I want to be a part of. A church willing to gather together in unlikely places: a coffeehouse, a bar, a park, anywhere people gather. People may be unlikely to drop in to a church service at a church building, but imagine a church that is willing to intersect communities.

Prayer Suggestion: Pray for a spirit of community in the church you belong to and in your spheres of influence.

-Pastor Rick Ellis
Pastor at Friends Community Church

Pure Joy

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

— James 1:2-4

When people talk about classic dystopian fiction, typically two comparable novels come up as examples: George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949) and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932). 

Nineteen Eighty-Four (probably the more famous of the two) describes a world in which a totalitarian state run and surveilled by the evil, all-seeing “Big Brother” lies to its citizens and forces them into submission through fear. Brave New World (my personal favorite of the two), on the other hand, depicts a world in which access to pleasure and easy escapes from life’s hardships turn its citizens into apathetic-yet-productive members of an uncaring society.

Brave New World is finally being released as a television show in the next few months, but Nineteen Eighty-Four is likely more famous because of its many movie, TV, and radio adaptations throughout the past few decades. That said, it can be argued that the situations described in Brave New World’s society are more likely to happen in real life. 

We, all of humanity as a whole, simply tend to be more willing to accept distractions and escapes such as those in Brave New World than the hardships described in Nineteen Eighty-Four. I don’t know about you, but I would absolutely take a Netflix binge or a trip to Disneyland over spending time thinking about an imminent financial problem or health scare. Obviously it’s easier for us to seek escape or distraction from the hard stuff than face it head-on, but life’s times of trouble will always be there no matter what we distract ourselves with. Luckily, the Bible gives us some encouragement for when life gets hard.

Besides the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the book of James is probably my favorite passage of Scripture. James gives some of the best practical advice on how to do Christianity and be like Christ while acknowledging that doing so can be difficult at times.

In the first chapter, James tells us that we should consider ourselves fortunate “whenever [not ifever, but whenever] we face trials” because the long-term rewards we receive for doing so are perseverance and maturity. The only way we can fully and perfectly achieve this reward of maturity is not by escaping or distracting ourselves from hardships, but by accepting and embracing them.

Of course sometimes it is appropriate to seek refuge or escape from a toxic or dangerous circumstance, but if we are to follow the Bible’s advice on embracing and learning from what life throws at us, then we will receive the practical rewards that James promises us. It is in embracing and learning from our hardships that we can mature and avoid the uncaring world described in Brave New World.

-Travis Morrill
Communications and Facilities Administrator at Friends Community Church

Strengthen What Remains

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.”

— Revelation 3:2

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Photo by Judy Grubaugh

One morning not long after the stay-at-home orders came into effect, I came across the above words of Jesus, and they have been ringing within me ever since. They were words he said to a people who lived long ago, but that recent morning he spoke them directly to me, reminding me that even though much has been taken from us, there are many things that remain; one of which is God’s holy word, the Bible. That morning, by his tender loving words in the Bible, the Lord’s instruction to me was to strengthen his word in my life. As I read them, he also brought to mind the words of the prophet Isaiah who said the grass will wither and flowers will fade, but God’s word will endure forever.

Yes, many things we have taken for granted have withered and faded away. Simple things like being able to hug a friend or shake the hand of another. No longer can we do that. Nor can we enjoy the simple pleasures of life like going out to eat with friends or family or even meeting a friend over a cup of coffee, and perhaps most difficult of all, the freedom to see those we love, face-to-face. Yet what an opportunity we have to strengthen the one thing that will remain forever, God’s holy word.

That may mean starting each morning in its pages, savoring one special verse. It may mean sharing its truth with those with whom we are confined. It may mean reacquainting ourselves with some of those captivating Old Testament stories by reading them to our children, perhaps even to our spouse. It may mean taking time to pray the truths of Scripture over those we love. In whatever way God nudges your heart, do it! When this is all over and these stay-at-home days are but a memory, life can and will be much better than ever before if we take the time to strengthen what remains.

And don’t forget, as we strengthen God’s word in our lives, God’s word will strengthen us!

“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”

— Isaiah 40:8

-Judy Grubaugh
Women’s Ministry Speaker at Friends Community Church

Check out FCC’s Women’s Bible Study messages every Tuesday for more from Judy and other speakers. Click here to listen to past messages.