Anchor House Week 25 - Childlike Faith

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Day of the Seafarer with a week of activities. One of the places we invited churches and families to come alongside us was by baking treats for the seafarers and port community. Throughout the week we were blessed with an incredible amount of cookies, brownies, and other delectable treats. Some of which were put out at Anchor House for all who visited the center to enjoy. Others were packaged up and brought to ships for the seafarers to enjoy. Many were accompanied by a note or card of encouragement and prayer.

I hope the seafarers enjoyed the baked goods they received. Being on a ship for 4-10 months at a time, I would miss the treat of homemade cakes, cookies, and other yummy treats. I am sure some of the cooks on the ships make treats for the crew. And I am confident they are very skilled in their culinary skills. However, I think there is nothing quite like a homemade cookie. I’m not sure, but I think the secret ingredient may just be love.

A few of the families that baked for us personally came to Anchor House to deliver their treats. It was wonderful to see the kids as they came on to the port. Their eyes grew each time they saw the massive size of the ships in port. As they walked through the doors of Anchor House they were filled with excitement for this new experience.

We like to use the term “child-like faith” to describe those who simply follow Jesus. They may not ask questions or have doubts. They just follow. The Bible describes people bringing their kids to Jesus so he could pray for them. I imagine these kids had the same look that the kids did who visited Anchor House. I think they knew who Jesus was and could feel that secret ingredient, His love. Kids are much better than us adults at believing. Don't believe me, look to Christmas!

Matthew 19:14 says, "Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Jesus knew the children were the perfect example of the faith He calls us into. It's innocent, trusting, hope, and love. This children aren't tarnished by doubt. They simply believe. Maybe we need to do the same when doubt creeps in.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Matt

Comments

Jesus Paid It All

This morning I found myself searching for songs to add to my playlist. I have decided I want a list of songs to play while I run. As I've shared before, I don't particularly enjoy running, but we have committed to this 5K at the end of October. Running becomes tolerable when I can blast worship music and simply be with God. I was in search of particular version of a hymn from the 1800's titled "Jesus Paid it All." The Passion conference worship team did a rendition of it 5-6 years ago and I quite enjoy it. Anyway, in the search for the song, I got to reading about the lyrics. I have always been drawn to the refrain because of it is a reminder of Jesus' incredible gift to us. It goes: "Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." The images portrayed by the comparison between a crimson stain and white snow are vivid. Dark red stains are the type of stains that just don't come out. Th

Transformed

I was curious, so I googled how long it takes to build a skyscraper. I got answers that varied significantly. Some said 1 year and others said 5 years with the average being 3 years. One article suggested that the Empire State building took 13 months to build back in 1931. Regardless of the exact timeline, the pathway to transforming a skyline is lengthy. It just doesn't happen overnight. The Christ the Redeemer Statue forever changed the landscape of Rio de Janeiro. It was built on top of Mount Corcovado over the course of 5 years. Standing 98 feet, it is the tallest Art Deco sculpture in the world. It is considered one of the new 7 Wonders of the world. The Catholic church funded the project as an initiative to build a monument in a city that was considered “godless”. I’m not sure if the statue impacted people’s choice to follow Jesus, but it certainly transformed the landscape of the city. Whether building skyscrapers or wonders of the world, you have to start

A New Command

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34 NIV I don't know how many times I have read this verse. Today it hit me differently. Part of it jumped off the page. If there's a new commandment, what makes this different than the old ones? They must have love in them, right? Nine of the ten commandments have "No" or "Not" contained in them. They tell us what we cannot do rather than providing us with positive direction. This new commandment couldn't be a more drastic change from the ten commandments. Jesus doesn't say don't do this instead He says DO THIS! Jesus could have easily followed the format of the commandments and said don't hate others or don't ignore others. Instead He gave direction and said LOVE others. This raises the question, what does it mean to love each other as Jesus loved us and how can we do that? Be blessed and be a blessing Matt Ennis

Matthew TwoSix:ThreeNine

Search This Blog