Time for a Tuning!

This week a delightful woman by the name of Ann came to our house and tuned our piano.  It was interesting to watch as she opened the top of the piano and started inserting things which would aid her in the tuning process, made possible because God has blessed her with the gift of "perfect pitch."  Basically, she can plunk out a note and determine if it is playing the sound it is supposed to.  Although I spent much of the time in the back yard with my garden and flowers, I did get to listen to a portion of the process, which sounded something like this:  "Plunk, plunk, [adjust] plink, plink, [chord playing]" and so on, until the whole piano was in tune.

As I listened, it occurred to me we can compare our Christian walk to a good piano tuning.  The Holy Spirit is the "tuner," and the tools used include Bible reading, prayer, Christian fellowship, and sound Biblical teaching.  Without a regular adjustment process, our Christian walk may be in existence, but not quite "in tune" with the perfect plan God has in place for our lives.

Another activity I participated in this week was attending a unique conference in Williston, ND hosted by First Lutheran Church.  The speaker for the day was Dr. Richard Melheim, whom I first met 47 years ago [can we possibly be that old??] at the same Bible Camp which invited him to Williston to educate us on a new concept in the Christian world called, "Cross+Gen."  With my roots coming from the Lutheran Church, it wasn't as much of a stretch for me as it was for my 18 year old nephew who joined me for the day.  He grew up in the home of an Assembly of God pastor, so knew little about the "Lutheran ways."  Hopefully, by the end of the day, he discovered we really aren't so different after all!

The basis of "Cross+Gen" ministry is to combine the "wonder of the child" with the "wisdom of the aged."  Instead of dividing Sunday School and worship time into age appropriate segments, their desire is to see people of all ages gathered together to discuss and learn from the Bible and each other.  As our speaker showed us statistics showing the steady decline of the current Sunday School system, it was apparent some kind of "tuning" was in order.  Could "Cross+Gen" be the answer?

Another concept Dr. Rich presented was something called "Faith 5."  It is a tool which could be used in a church setting, but is also seeing great success in homes and families.  The idea is to do 5 things together every night.  First, share the highs and lows of your day.  Second, read a Bible verse or story.  Third, talk about how the Bible reading might relate to your highs and lows.  Fourth, pray for each other's highs and lows, and finally bless one another.  What a difference it would make in the world if each household would undertake to faithfully do "Faith 5"!

The final part of our time together at the conference was focused on learning about Martin Luther.  Unbeknown to this now Assembly of God person, the Lutheran world is celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, which brought about the start of the Protestant Reformation.  Dr. Rich and his team have put together a high quality comic book, a color book, and an animated musical detailing the life of Martin Luther.  I found I learned more about the roots of my faith than I ever had during my 19 years in the Lutheran Church!

If you are interested in "tuning up" your faith walk a bit, feel free to check out the organization Dr. Rich started called "Faith Inkubators" www.faithinkubators.com  It is filled with valuable resources for people of all ages.  Check out the remaining dates on the "Cross+Gen Tour" and see if they will be in an area near you.  It would be well worth your time to attend, if possible!

"Thank you, Richard Melheim, for the memories both then and now!"

Although I had a large collection of pictures from Bible Camp days, they were all taken by me, so I'm including my class picture from back then!

Thankful God crossed our paths once again!