Newsletter - September, 1999

"He to whom the Eternal Word speaks," wrote Thomas a Kempis in The Imitation of Christ, "is sped and delivered from a multitude of opinions."

I love that we have a God who speaks. As the psalmist says, we don't worship dumb idols. "The word of god is like potato chips," a beloved Bishop once remarked. "Even though one word is so full and rich it can keep you going for years, you can,t eat just one. You always want more."

I took a book off the steals, deals, and heresies wondering if it had been misshelved. Opening at random I read a long passage that ridiculed the whole notion of having conversations with God. I gently closed the book and put it back.

Converse with God is the Best Thing. Even though conversations are occasionally inane. (You shouldn't have to think too hard to guess which side of the conversation is inane.)

Here is an example of a recent conversation. Shawn is making us a web site. It costs $100 to register the very cool domain name, (www.companyofsaints.com) plus $20 a month for the server. The bill for the first quarter comes to $170, which The Word Shop can't afford. Being between churches, I have a $100 tithe floating around that I haven't yet given anywhere. I begin to pray, wondering if I can apply the tithe to the web site name.

"If you do that, it will be mine," He says.

"What do you mean, yours?" is my instant gut level reaction. Is He going to get me all excited about this and then make me give it away. Will he take it away after I've invested my heart or make me do something with it I don't like?

"Well, if I pay the server part, I ought to get some say in it," I counter, immediately realizing that I've just evidenced great trust in the Lord.

It doesn,t take me too long to remember that I certainly don't want a web site that the Lord isn't in. And even though this conversation revealed how deeply attached I am to the name, company of saints (I wrote a great tract with that title a number of years ago,) in some corner of my heart I remember I'm attached because it speaks for Jesus, in Jesus and (please, Lord) with Jesus.

Soon I'm apologizing to the Lord for being such an idiot. There is no way I could NOT use the tithe money now. It would be like telling the Lord, "No, I want to do it all myself." Still, several days pass before I fully see the goodness in his few words. If I had heard, "sure, go ahead," I might have wondered if my own wishful thinking had joined the conversation. Now, even though a great multitude might offer opinions on how tithes should or shouldn't be spent, I am free. God has spoken.

Blessings, Alliee+

Here are a couple of books that have found their way to our shelves and are on sale for under $5.00. All of them encourage conversations with God. E-mail me or come by if you want one.

• PRAYER CONVERSATION WITH GOD Rosalind Rinker
• THE JOY OF LISTENING TO GOD Joyce Huggett
• SPEAK LORD YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING David E. Rosage
• HUNGRY FOR GOD Ralph Martin
• PRAYER CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE William Parker & Elaine St. Johns
• HE AND I Gabrielle Bossis

And a copy of that old Company of Saints tract? $1.00