| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
Cal's Pastoral Epistles
Call Me Crazy For The Lord
November 2, 2007
I hope someday that the people who know and love me best will call me
"Crazy Cal." It may sound silly but let me explain. My friend, Dave, passed
away today. He was one of the most genuine Christian men I have ever
known. He was loving, generous, faithful and devoted to the Lord. He
believed what the Scriptures said and he tried to live his life according to
what he read in them.
Dave was a simple, hard working, family man who came to faith late in
life. He laughed as he told me that all his kids and his wife were saved
before him. On that day when he had his Damascus Road experience,
Dave's life started over. At forty-one years old he was born again and
started living a brand new life that day.
I met Dave about fourteen years ago when he showed up at Church. Over
the years he taught me a lot about faith. In Dave's mind faith wasn't
something you sat around and talked about in a Bible Study. It was an
approach to life itself. He believed that all of us were called to reach out
with God's love.
Dave wasn't an evangelist but he spoke more eloquently with his actions
than I have ever spoken with my words. When it was announced that a
family was going through a financial crisis, I saw Dave slip a hundred
dollar bill in the woman's hand after church. When another member of the
congregation was fighting cancer and ready to give up, Dave was right
there to encourage her and remind her of what the Scriptures said. At the
monthly interfaith luncheons at St. Mark's Lutheran Church Dave was
there to serve the hungry and clean up after the dinner.
Every once in a while Dave would do something real crazy. I remember
one time he told me that God had a healing for someone in the church. I
had an idea of who he was talking about. We had a man who had prayed
long and hard for God to heal him and he was feeling discouraged and
abandoned by God. I wondered if this word could really be from God.
Now we are not "holy rollers" at First Baptist and the idea was not
something we were used to handling. When Dave announced that God had
a healing for someone it was this man, Cliff, who came forward. I don't
know exactly how it happened but a combination of Dave's obedience and
Cliff's faith brought him healing that day. It is now ten years later and Cliff
is still free of his cancer. Sounds crazy doesn't it? But you see that was
Dave's faith.
So call me crazy because I believe in miracles and that God is still active
and working in the world today. Call me crazy because I believe that God
loves you and me and wants us to walk with him as we go through life.
Call me crazy because I believe living a virtuous life is a blessing and
sharing what you have with others is a reward in itself. That is what the
Bible says and I believe it. So call me Crazy Cal. I pray we will all be more
like Dave, who was crazy for the Lord.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
November 2, 2007
I hope someday that the people who know and love me best will call me
"Crazy Cal." It may sound silly but let me explain. My friend, Dave, passed
away today. He was one of the most genuine Christian men I have ever
known. He was loving, generous, faithful and devoted to the Lord. He
believed what the Scriptures said and he tried to live his life according to
what he read in them.
Dave was a simple, hard working, family man who came to faith late in
life. He laughed as he told me that all his kids and his wife were saved
before him. On that day when he had his Damascus Road experience,
Dave's life started over. At forty-one years old he was born again and
started living a brand new life that day.
I met Dave about fourteen years ago when he showed up at Church. Over
the years he taught me a lot about faith. In Dave's mind faith wasn't
something you sat around and talked about in a Bible Study. It was an
approach to life itself. He believed that all of us were called to reach out
with God's love.
Dave wasn't an evangelist but he spoke more eloquently with his actions
than I have ever spoken with my words. When it was announced that a
family was going through a financial crisis, I saw Dave slip a hundred
dollar bill in the woman's hand after church. When another member of the
congregation was fighting cancer and ready to give up, Dave was right
there to encourage her and remind her of what the Scriptures said. At the
monthly interfaith luncheons at St. Mark's Lutheran Church Dave was
there to serve the hungry and clean up after the dinner.
Every once in a while Dave would do something real crazy. I remember
one time he told me that God had a healing for someone in the church. I
had an idea of who he was talking about. We had a man who had prayed
long and hard for God to heal him and he was feeling discouraged and
abandoned by God. I wondered if this word could really be from God.
Now we are not "holy rollers" at First Baptist and the idea was not
something we were used to handling. When Dave announced that God had
a healing for someone it was this man, Cliff, who came forward. I don't
know exactly how it happened but a combination of Dave's obedience and
Cliff's faith brought him healing that day. It is now ten years later and Cliff
is still free of his cancer. Sounds crazy doesn't it? But you see that was
Dave's faith.
So call me crazy because I believe in miracles and that God is still active
and working in the world today. Call me crazy because I believe that God
loves you and me and wants us to walk with him as we go through life.
Call me crazy because I believe living a virtuous life is a blessing and
sharing what you have with others is a reward in itself. That is what the
Bible says and I believe it. So call me Crazy Cal. I pray we will all be more
like Dave, who was crazy for the Lord.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |