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I’m writing from the Millenium Hotel (Iditarod Race Headquarters) in Anchorage, Alaska. I’ve never been to AK before, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re having a warm spell. It’s actually 33 degrees right now. The day before I got here it was 17 below. Go figger. This Florida boy wanted to feel what real cold was, but I guess it’ll have to wait for another journey someplace.

I’m up here on a one week tour with the Kate White Band. We played a women’s prison night before last, and they were such an encouragement. We came away stoked by how receptive and responsive they were.

The next morning I was reflecting on the experience. If we had played a church, we would’ve come away saying, “Wow! That church is really on fire for God!” But instead we marveled at how those “prisoners” were really on fire for God. When I realized the greater glory, I changed my thinking on that. Yeah, they’re in prison–and generally speaking, that’s a unique enough situation that it becomes their identity; it’s the thing we notice. But what I want to give testimony to is that the church at Highland Mountain Women’s Correction Facility is on fire for God!

I don’t know their struggles. I don’t know whether they flip flop in their faith. I assume they do, just like so many of us who don’t wear orange jumpsuits. I don’t know whether the intensity of their worship outweighs the authenticity of their faith experience. I just don’t know because we didn’t have time to get to know them.

But what I do know is that when dozens of people who have nothing–not even freedom–say a heartfelt “God bless you” it resonates deeply as the most profound gift anyone could give. And God did bless me that evening. And the next day the Chaplain called us to tell us the place was still all a buzz over the night before. And of course, so were we. Gift given, gift received.

I used to think that visiting prisoners was all about “winning” them to Christ. I was naive, or at the least, incomplete. Now I’m thinking it’s to share with them in the experience and love of Christ. Not just to give, but to give AND receive–to encourage AND to be encouraged–all the things that fellowship is. Not just the “strong” showing up to save the “weak”, but the family of Christ being family, blessing each other across all situational lines!

Fellowship for fellowship’s sake honors God. And, I believe, it even gives the unconvinced a more lasting impression than any well-rehearsed articulation of Christ’s love–they will know we’re Christians by our love–and they’ll know that they too can share in Christ as they witness that love.

Last night we played the Alaska Performing Arts Center. We shared the stage with a great young band called Something Simple. I enjoyed them–their music, yes, but also them. They seem to love the Lord in a very humble, authentic way. Honorable mentions goe to Katie’s velvet vibrato, Chris’s chops (the face kind) and beautifully attacked Tacoma Koa wood guitar, Aaron’s chops (the drum kind) and exact replica-ness of Eric Foreman from that 70’s show), and Wes’s most impressive Yukon Cornelius beard and cute as a button wife, Liz. Also must mention guest artist Edward’s violin, whistle playing and hospitality. Such quality people. I was glad to hear that we’ll see them again at church on Sunday. I hope we can share a meal together afterward. Fellowship…

I also got to meet some highschoolers after the concert. Tristan responded to God’s prompting and brought Mary (Chris), Kristine, Jaff, Derik and AJ. After the photo, Tristan asked me to give the kids a word of encouragement from the Lord. “They really need it.” Wow. What now?

I resisted the temptation to have a quick answer; I listened to their story and found that they had played worship together before a three way church split left them reeling. I feel for them; my heart hurts at how that sort of thing can shake a person. Church splits just feel so much like nonsense. But I don’t know details, and I do know that to the people who split, it wasn’t nonsense. They perceived a valid reason and it would be wrong of me to presume to judge without knowledge. But still, regardless of the reasons, I think God’s heart hurts over it, just like anytime we choose to break fellowship in the Body of Christ.

God gave me the assurance to speak and I told them that “people will always let you down, but God will never let you down.” I hope that didn’t come across as trite. It’s not! But unfortunately it’s only learned the hard way and until then sounds trite. I’ve learned it the hard way and so I speak it from my heart. When God let’s us experience disillusionment, it’s to refine our trust. The darkness can be the most illuminating experience of God we ever have. By his impossible wisdom!

I had the wonderful privilege of praying God’s blessing on them. Lord hear my prayer, hear their hearts. Set them on fire for you, like you’ve done for the Church at Highland Mountain. Restore what needs restoring. Heal what needs healing. Give love, peace and fellowship even where there is no answer.

And not just to Tristan and the bunch, but to all of us. To the folks from Something Simple, to the Church at Highland Mountain, to me and to whoever reads this post.

God, give us the experience and encouragement of loving and being loved, of giving and receiving peace, and of living in fellowship where the world expects us to observe our boundaries. Amen.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 13th, 2007 at 5:00 pm and is filed under life reflections, redemptive relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.