Capital Area Christian Church

Well, it is here, one of my favorite holidays - Groundhog Day! Wahoo!  How could you not get excited about a day set aside to focus upon a large rodent living in the hills of Western Pennsylvania?  But this is no ordinary groundhog. This furry little critter can predict the weather at least as accurate as the average television weather person, and he is much cuter.

Actually, I like this holiday because it reminds me of a really good movie by the same name. Groundhog Day is the story of a cynical, self-centered weather man from Pittsburgh who has to cover Grounhog Day in Puxatawny, Pennsylvania, which he loathes.  Bill Murray, the lead, gets stuck in Puxatawny because of snow and ends up having to live the same day over and over and over again.  The story cronicles his journey from cynicism and selfishness, to caring, compassion, and ultimately, love.

What a parable of life. I think of how many times and years, it has taken me to get some things right and of those things still in process.  Much of life is do over . . . and over . . . and over.  It is easy to become cynical and self-centered in what often turns out to be a frustrating journey. Some folks just stop trying.  Others just drop out.

I'm really glad God allows for do overs, lots of them.  I'm grateful He doesn't give up on us. We are blessed that He doesn't become cynical about us and stop trying, or, worse yet, drop out of our lives.  Instead, He gives us opportunity after opportunity to get it right, to change.  He gathers an environment around us conducive to our growth. He convicts us of our need and then gives us wisdom to pursue the right path. And through it all, He never leaves us.

I'm not sure what Phil predicted today, but I'm predicting that the next season will be warm and sunny.  I'm predicting that the God who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion in Christ Jesus.

Have a glorious Groundhog Day!
Pastor Don

Last Sunday we studied a subject applicable but difficult for all of us - Reaching Beyond Your Comfort Zones. I've received several emails and phone calls this week about how God is causing a number among us to move out of our comfort zones.  Some are becoming involved in ministry for the first time or getting re-connected. Some are starting to give financially to the Kingdom for the first time.  Some will be baptized this coming Sunday!  Some are viewing their present trials in a different light.

One couple among us reached well beyond their comfort zone. George and Karen Fetrow journeyed to Israel over the holidays to minister to Holocaust vicitims.  They have a wonderful story to tell so I asked them to write about their experience.  Please read George's testimony. You will be encouraged to reach beyond your comfort zone to serve God.

Karen and I recently traveled to Israel to work with a mission organization we have supported for about six years.  We were introduced to Abundant Hope International when CACC hosted an awareness program for them.  The purpose of AHI is to meet with Holocaust survivors in Israel and show them God’s love through visitation, financial assistance, flowers for birthdays, etc.  Our involvement was with the adoption program in which we were assigned a survivor as a pen pal and to send gifts.  Karen became especially involved in the program helping to streamline the database of survivors.  Over time she began to desire to meet our survivor face to face.
 
I always wanted to go to Israel to tour, not to walk into elderly strangers’ homes with whom I cannot even directly communicate.  I considered staying at the mission house to help with maintenance and other projects while Karen was out on visitations.  Instead, I got caught up with the flow of the program once I was in Israel and joined our “fearless” friends already there.  Four or five of us would travel to visit.  We visited our adopted survivor, Gina, first.  She was happy to see us and asked if AHI could get her government paid nurse visits extended by an hour so she could have help to walk outside.
 
We visited many other survivors and they all appreciated having guests in their home.  Some laughed, some cried, some told stories of the Holocaust, and some simply enjoyed having company.  There were plenty of memories made with the sights and places and people of Israel, but the most touching ones are of the people we met through AHI.  Whenever you have an opportunity to reach out directly to others, whether in Harrisburg or half way around the world, I recommend you take it.  You won’t regret it.  George
 
Thanks to Marianna Esworthy, one of our own members who serves with Abundant Hope, and thanks to you George and Karen for reminding us how richly God blesses those who reach beyond their comfort zones. 
 
Make a difference in someone's life this week by connecting them to God. Reach beyond your comfort zone.
 
Sincerely,
Pastor Don

Throughout the week, I've been working on the Father's Day message for this coming Sunday.  On a number of occasions I've looked up on the wall at the picture of my father standing next to the Continuous Motion Press machine he designed.  He developed what became the fastest glass forming machine in the world at the time, mostly in our garage at his drawing table.  Night after night for years, he would add lines to this drawing; each one carefully measured and perfectly placed.  Finally, it all came together on the factory floor about twelve feet tall and ten feet across.  It was an amazing sight to behold.

I was also one of my father's drawings.  From the time I can remember, I nearly worshiped the ground he walked upon.   I wanted to be like him in every way.  I wanted to be the kind of dad that he was to me.  He took me fishing. He taught me how to change the oil and the brakes on a car.  He taught me how to mow a lawn and assemble a slot car track and a train track.  He taught me how to love my wife.  And yes, he also taught me a few not so good things.  He was, after all, very human.

The final years of life for my father were very difficult.  He was dying of emphysema, the disease that finally took his life.  But through those years my father was far more inclined towards God and he became a prayer warrior.  I can still picture him in his rocking chair, Bible and prayer list in hand.  I too had found my way back to God about the same time and we shared some very special moments in those last days.

I think my father would be pleased with the drawing he produced in me.  Some of it would probably look like a self-portrait.  It would have many of the same qualities and flaws that he saw in the mirror.  But most importantly, he would see that the faith he possessed, even in the most difficult times, is now part of my being as well.

My father has been gone for twenty-nine years and yet he is still such an active force in my life.  So dads, please take note.  You are leaving a legacy in the lives of your children that will never leave them as long as they live.  Please carefully consider the design you are creating.  The product you have developed might bring you great joy in the waning years of your life.  It might also cause you great pain.
I sometimes see the lines I am drawing in my precious daughters and I pray; God please give me the wisdom to measure well, and the courage to follow the Master Pattern.  Like my father before me, I am weak.  I need Your strength and guidance.  For the blessings you've already granted through my children, I thank You. If I do nothing else of value in life, let the drawing I am making in my children reflect You. "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."  Ephesians 6:4  (NIV) 

So my friend, mentor and colleague, Cabot Lodge attended his last "official" elders meeting this week after 27 years of serving on this board.   We've started a rotation for elders to go off the board after a few years and Cabot has served far longer than anyone else, so he is the first to step off.

I remember standing in the gravel parking lot of our little wood siding church on Good Hope Road. Two young leaders, having attended another elders meeting, talking until late in the night about what God might do in the future with Capital Area Christian Church. "God, please send us hundreds of people, perhaps thousands of people, who have great needs.  Send us people who are not comfortable in other churches; people who don't really like church.  Let us minister to these folks and help them become authentic followers of Jesus."   This was our prayer, week after week, meeting after meeting.

Tuesday evening, we once again walked into the parking lot after elders meeting.  But this is a different parking lot.  It is not located on Good Hope Road, but on Lambs Gap Road.  This parking lot is larger than our entire property on Good Hope Road.  This parking lot is filled on most Sundays and often filled on other days of the week.  Thousands of people come and go to this lot.  They come for sports, for counseling, for food and dry goods, for finance classes and marriage classes and exercise classes and Bible classes. They come to serve others, they come to be served.  They come from dozens of community agencies and organizations and clubs.  They bring their families to the playground or the soccer fields or the snow-tubing hill for some fun. They have all kinds of needs.  Many come here because they wouldn't fit very well in many churches.  They fit here.  So they come to worship and pray and to learn the Word of God and how He can transform their life.

Well Cabot, our dreams have come true . . . and we've only just begun.  Your service to Capital Area Christian Church, to our community, and to the Kingdom of God will be measured with eternal standards.  Though you won't be an "official" elder, no one will consider your eldership completed.  You will keep working day in and day out as the leader that you are.  And lives will continue to be transformed by your work.  Thank you!

So it seems appropriate to ask, "For what have you given your life for the last 27 years, or ten years, or five years?  If you learn from a person like Cabot, you will give your life to make an eternal difference in other lives.  Behind you will be a long line of people following along saying, "That person made a difference in my life."  Give it try.  Cabot is one of the happiest people I know.