I think every pastor has a story about a cell phone going off in church. The instant it happens, it's not too funny. But give it some time and you can smile, sometimes laugh. Cell phones seem to go off in church at the most inopportune times. Usually, in my case anyway, they tend to go off when I'm about to make a critical point (and I don't get to make too many of those). So let me set the scene. I'm preaching and finally get to the point and say something like, "And this is what God wants you to know right now..." The audience is tuned in...there's a pregnant pause...and then... the Notre Dame fight song goes off. Have you ever noticed that when you're in a panic you can't turn something off very quickly. It's always a blessing to at least hear two or three stanzas of Notre Dame's fight song in church. I remember one Sunday, I was preaching and a cell phone went off. It was my wife's...sitting in the front row. She had a purse the size of carry-on luggage and couldn't find it...for what seemed like an eternity. I politely let her know that she might not be spending eternity where she thought. I asked for forgiveness later. That was a memorable time (right!). We're thinking about equipping our ushers with devices that detect cell phones. So before you enter our church you would have to go through a cell phone scanner. How's that for visitor friendly? We'll be sure and give our ushers the right words to instruct people. "Shoes off!" "One line please!" "Coats on the conveyor belt...check books out and ready". Anyway, I digress.

Why do we think we need our cell phones in the worship gathering? Is 90 minutes too much to just leave them in the car? Who do you really need to talk to during church anyway? How about God! And we should be waiting and expecting to hear from Him. We live in so much noise it's very difficult to tune into God. And we need to, it's vital for us. So, I was reading these Scriptures the other day and they were very instructive to me: Habakkuk 2:20, "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him." SILENT - did you notice that? Psalm 62:1, "My soul waits in silence for God alone, from Him is my salvation (NAS). Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that I am God..." Stillness and silence - how rare. You could interpret that to mean, "Turn off your electronic devices and let Me speak to you."

So next Sunday, leave your cell phone in the car (our ushers will be checking). Let God know, that you want to hear from Him. Let's be listening for His ring tone. I guarantee it won't be the Notre Dame Fight Song!

We're blessed because God is good!

Pastor Tim

# posted by Pastor Tim @ 2:05 PM