'His Rivers'
Thank you Al & Virginia
1984 - Greensboro, NC
Mark Leavell

I was at the very lowest point in my life. I had lost most everything that I considered of value, including my family. I had cried until tears would no longer come. It seemed that all I had worked for and dreamed for was now beyond any hope of saving. Alone, with no furniture but a worn out canvas directors chair, and a used mattress on the floor, I often sat on the floor in my apartment, lonely, confused and depressed.

One Sunday morning, I decided to take a drive. I ended up driving by a very small Church of the Nazarene. For some unknown reason - well, we all know why - I thought, I think I will go inside. Church had already begun, as I slipped quietly in the back and sat on the back pew.  There may have been 20 or so people there - all much older than I. The pastor was already delivering the morning message by the time I sat down.

To this day I have no memory of a single word that was said, or a song that was sung. But having been in the Church of the Nazarene all of my 39 years, and the son of a Nazarene Pastor, I knew well the 'routine'. So as the service was about to close, I quietly slipped out during the Pastor's closing prayer. 

I just about made it to the door, when out of 'no-where' an old lady - well, she seemed old - appeared directly in my path. "I'm sorry, I didn't get to meet you, my name is Virginia - what is yours?" I tried not to be rude, as I quietly told her my name. "Well, my husband Al and I would like to take you to lunch. I hope that would be okay?"  Before I realized what I had done, I said, "Yeah, I guess so".    READ THE REST OF THE STORY...

Rivers Not Reservoirs 7982 Hillcrest Trail Jonesboro, Georgia 30236 404.784.4618 www.hisrivers.org

Flow through Me!

Rivers Not Reservoirs 7982 Hillcrest Trail Jonesboro, Georgia 30236 his.rivers@gmail.com 770-703-4520

Double Trouble?

"When we were first married, my wife and I went on a weekend camping trip with my best friend, Tom, and his wife at a local lake. We decided to rent canoes for the afternoon. As our leisurely canoe ride ended, my wife and I rowed up to the dock and stepped out of our canoe. Tom and his wife pulled up next to our canoe intending to step out of their canoe into our canoe and then on to the dock. Tom's wife got out fine. But when Tom put his first foot into our canoe the shifting of his weight caused his canoe to begin drifting away and he found himself in the hilariously untenable position of trying to continue standing in two canoes moving away from each other. Unable to control the drift, he ended up doing the splits with hands flailing just before plunging head first into the lake - his feet still hooked over the side of each canoe. We all laughed until we cried at the slap-stick scene before us.

As comical as this scene is to imagine, I think many of us, quite unaware of it, might be in an equally untenable position - trying to straddle two different canoes that are moving in different directions. If you have ever been in a canoe, you know that trying to stand up in one canoe can be enough of a challenge. Trying to stand up in two canoes, as Tom discovered, is double trouble.

We have two Kingdoms - our spiritual kingdom and our material kingdom. And just as Tom found himself unsuccessfully straddling those two canoes, we too can find ourselves unsuccessfully attempting to straddle our two kingdoms - one foot planted in each even while they continue to drift apart - leaving us facing our own double trouble."    Continue Reading.....