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Al Lira Fan Club

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Hanging on the wall of my office is an offering bag and a picture

It’s one of those kinds of offering bags that have a cloth pouch and wood handles.  It was given to me as a gift from the people of the first church I pastored. The church was called Faith Chapel and was located in Glendale, Arizona (there’s a picture of them above this offering bag).

On a regular basis the people at Faith Chapel would make various needs among the congregation known and ALWAYS the need would be met.  There was a generous spirit I wanted to take with me to Escondido, and the offering bag was to serve as a reminder.

It also reminds me of a very generous person

Al Lira was the head usher at Faith Chapel. When we would take one of the aforementioned special offerings, it was Al who would stand at the exit holding an offering bag (the very one that is on my wall) until the last person made their way out.  Then humbly, Al would finish his duties, which included straightening things up, turning lights off, and locking up.  Then he would wait for me and make sure I got to my car. , Always with a big smile, he would graciously thank me and wish me a blessed afternoon.  

Al had a bit of a stutter, but I could understand every word

One Sunday as we were walking out he asked,

“Ah p-p-pastor, have you e-e-ever been to La Perla Restaurant?”

“No Al,” I answered.  He proceeded to invite me to what would become a regular get-together for us at one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in downtown Glendale.  As we talked during those times, I learned that Al’s wife had died some time ago, how some of his children had gotten into trouble, and how his own health was failing.  But my heart became most endeared to him by what he said next,

“Pastor Joel, I-I-I want t-t-to thank you for letting me s-s-erve at the church. It really means a l-l-lot to me.”

My throat was dry and a big lump was forming  

I realized I was sitting with a true giant in the faith.  Al Lira was a man who served with gladness, who wanted nothing in return, and who loved God and God’s people more sincerely then anyone I’ve ever met.

I know there’s more to faithfulness than the kind of stuff that Al Lira did, but I firmly believe it ought be done with the same spirit.  

Faithful in small things with a generous and thankful heart

Faithful, generous, and thankful really sum up what not only Al Lira and the folks at Faith Chapel were all about, but I believe it sums up what God’s people ought to be like.

By the way, I started an Al Lira Fan Club.

Johnny Lingo’s Wife

There’s a great story about a man named Johnny Lingo who lived in the Samoan islands.  It was said that he was one of the shrewdest traders that ever lived. He always got the very lowest price for what he wanted; and would bring back to his home island, the most beautiful, rare and valuable things in the world. 

But Johnny was lacking one thing: a wife 

On the Samoan islands, if a man wanted to marry a woman he would go to the woman’s family and ask for the woman’s hand in marriage.  He and her father would then negotiate a suitable payment for her hand.  

The price was paid in cows

On this island was a 19-year-old woman named Mahana. She was not like the other girls.  She was scrawny, walked stooped over, and never smiled.  She lurked in the shadows, she was dirty, and she never combed her hair, nor put flowers in it like the other girls on the island. Her nickname was “Mahana Ugly.” In fact her father, Mokie, had given up hope that Mahana would ever find a husband. 

Word got around that Johnny Lingo was choosing “Mahana Ugly” 

Johnny could have had any woman on the island, but something about Mahana had caught his eye.  People began to come to their own conclusions about what Johnny was up to.  “He wants a woman he can get for nothing,” they said. “That Johnny Lingo is so is shrewd! He will buy ‘Mahana Ugly’ and he will have free labor the rest of his life.”

Johnny Lingo sat opposite Mahana’s father, surrounded by the people of the village. Mahana was too shy to make herself visible, so she hid in a nearby cluster of trees, close enough to hear the humiliating ceremony.  The crowd was silent as Johnny began the negotiation for Mahana’s hand in marriage. 

Mahana’s father Mokie was also shrewd 

Mokie knew that Johnny Lingo drove hard bargains, so when Johnny asked how many cows it will take to gain Mahana’s hand, Mokie didn’t answer right away.  

Mokie had said many times that he would “take one cow that gave sour milk just to get rid of Mahana.” But greed got a hold of him and he shouted out, “THREE COWS!” 

The villagers erupted with laugher. “He must be crazy, thinking he can get three cows for Mahana!!!”  Johnny Lingo called for silence. “It is true, threes cows are many,” he said.  “But three cows are not enough for Mahana. For Mahana I offer eight cows!”

The villagers gasped 

Mokie stared at Johnny Lingo, sure that he must’ve said, “eight cows” by mistake.  It was unheard of!  No one had ever offered eight cows for a wife! Mokie quickly agreed before Johnny had a chance to come to his senses and change his mind. The couple were married and left the village for an extended honeymoon.

Many months later the villagers were surprised to see that Johnny Lingo had returned home with one of the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. 

Another woman?

Johnny Lingo’s companion stood tall and walked confidently, yet gracefully. She had a radiant smile on her face. Her hair glistened in the sun and was always adorned with beautiful flowers. 

Someone finally got the nerve to ask Johnny Lingo the question that had been on all their minds, “Why would you pay that much when you could have gotten Mahana for nothing?”

Johnny looked at his beautiful bride, smiled, and said “Mahana used to believe she was worthless.  She now knows that she’s the most valuable woman on the island. And so do you.”

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. (1 Peter 1:18–19, NLT) 

Looking Around Outside

There are many things that happen in church that are truly awesome!

People who go to church say things about it like, “It’s such a blessing to me.” Or, “I’ve been encouraged and built up there.”

While church-goers have strong opinions about how great church is and how important it is for them to go, few of them are good at inviting others to share in it with them. They don’t invite friends to church events, and why would they? The things that happen at most churches are mainly geared for the insiders—for those who already go.

What about the outsiders?

Paul was traveling through Greece when he found a group of philosophers and stoics in Athens. This group was about as far removed from Paul’s First Century Jewish context as possible. 

But Paul did something truly remarkable. After carefully looking around at his surroundings and the people who were there, Paul said to them…


As I was going through your city and looking closely at the objects you worship, I noticed an altar… (Acts 17:23, GW) 

Why was this remarkable? Because Paul was intent on building a bridge to an audience that held a completely different world-view.  A bridge to a people who had a very universal opinion about God.

Contextualize?

Paul made the effort to learn where these people were at and what they were thinking.  He then adapted his approach for the hearers in order to clearly communicate the message of the Gospel in terms they could best understand. He later expresses his motivation for this…


I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22, NKJV)

This isn’t instruction for us to become social chameleons, or compromise our beliefs so we fit into the crowd, but it is a model of how we are to adapt what we are doing and saying to the unique context we are in.  It’s sensitivity to who we are talking to, while still understanding the essential power and importance of the Gospel. 

The Gospel is an eternal, transcultural reality, but… 

While the Gospel transcends time, it comes to us within the context of a human culture. We must carefully seek to discern the difference between Gospel truth and cultural tradition.  It’s then that we can present the Gospel in a manner that is relevant to those who are on the outside.

This should get every insider excited, well at least looking around.

A Song In a Chevy Sprint

What songs bring back memories for you?

Maybe it’s a song from a time of your life when something special happened, or from a time in your life when someone special happened. You hear that song and that special feeling comes back.

There’s a song that takes me to a place that I needed to go to

When I was younger everything I did was in a rush.  I rushed in the morning to get where I was going, then rushed all day, and then rushed back home.  I even rushed to get to bed to go to sleep so I could get up and start the madness all over again.

One day during all my rushing I was listening in my car to the 2nd Chapter of Acts album, Singer Sower. It’s an amazing record. I was taping my hands on the steering wheel to the beats of the first song, Room Noise. I continued taping away when the second song, Beware My Heart, came on.  

The lyrics of the song sank into my heart in a way I’ll never forget 

Annie Herring’s beautiful voice sang in my car to me…

Tick tock, time is eroding,
Seconds are floating,
And I can’t catch them;
Racing, round in a hurry, makes worry
It’s time to steal away.

I could feel the Holy Spirit convicting and warning me,  “Joel, slow down. You’re going too fast.”  As I was becoming more aware of God speaking to me, the next lines from the song said…

I’ve got to take my heart into a silent place,
I’ve got to take my heart and teach it silence…silence,
Silence your heart, set it apart.

“Yes Lord!” I cried out. Tears began to flood my eyes. I pulled my car over and had the most incredible encounter with God. And as a result, over the years I have learned to catch myself when the “hurrying and worrying” starts, to “steal away” to a silent place and “set my heart apart.” 

I am thankful to God for the memories that song stirs in me…and for special thing that happened one day in a little blue Chevy Sprint stopped on the side of the road.

Your History Is Not Your Destiny

All of us have things in our past that we regret. Maybe you did something wrong, or had something wrong happen to you.  Or maybe you let a key opportunity pass you by. 

Things in our past can dominate our present and cripple our future

But God doesn’t want us to get stuck in a moment in our past, no matter how horrible it was. He wants us to keep going so we can fulfill His purpose and truly enjoy our lives.


The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (John 10:10, AMP)  

God has a phenomenal life planned for us, but too often we allow the enemy to steal our joy by focusing on our past. But in order for us to live the incredible lives that God planned for us, we need to leave our past behind and press forward. 

We need to get unstuck

The trap of the past has a voice: “I’ve made too many mistakes,” “There’s no way to overcome the mess I have in my life,” “I’m too old,” or “It’s just too late.” 

But truth has a voice too that says: “Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you’ve been through, it’s never too late to begin again!”

The bible is filled with stories of people who were freed from their past  

A woman known as “Rahab the harlot” was rescued and included in the bloodline of Jesus Christ. 

Ashamed because he gave into fear and denied that he even knew Jesus, Peter was forgiven and inspired to preach the first recorded sermon in the New Testament.  3000 people came to Christ. 

Persecuting the early Christians, Paul was caught in a trap religious zeal and self-righteousness. However God transformed him and gave him the most important insights to grace and justification by faith recorded in scripture.

God loves new beginnings

Life in Christ is a fresh start. The truth is, the greatest new beginning any of us can have is becoming a new creature in Christ. 


This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT) 

God chooses to not only forgive all of our sins, but also to forget them.

I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs. (Hebrews 8:12, GNB)

We need to stop remembering what God has forgotten. There’s nothing you’ve done that’s a surprise to Him.

Your history is not your destiny!

Even Cooler

A couple of weeks ago a person came and spoke to me after church…

“I’ve heard you say that our church has a lot of people in it who have been hurt in ministry.  I am one of those people.  I came to this church pretty broken and not wanting to do anything but just sit.  But I heard you say, ‘Someone here has a broken heart that God is healing it right now.”  It was me!  I could feel something change inside me.  For the first time in years I feel like letting God use me again.”

One of the greatest strategies of the enemy is to capitalize on our past pain and failures by using them to keep us from getting involved in anything or anyone that might make us vulnerable again.  He doesn’t need to kill us, just sideline us.

It may be that we’ve forgiven those who have hurt us, or let go of the stuff that didn’t work out right. We’re not angry or bitter anymore. We even go to church every so often.  But we have succumb to something much worse, isolation.  

You can be in a room full of people and still be all by yourself

The Bible speaks of isolation this way:

“A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment. ” (Proverbs 18:1)

Living without others in our life may feel safe, but it is actually dangerous.  God has designed every one of us with an inherent need for relationships and it’s through these relationships that God works.  When we isolate ourselves, God’s work is limited and therefore we’re in danger of missing something He wants to do to us or through us.

Off the bench, or pew

It’s cool to hear about people like the woman mentioned above being released from past junk, but it’s even cooler that like this woman, God releases us so that we can be used again.

By the way, someone is waiting for you.

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Lift Someone

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Discouragement causes you to lose heart and want to quit

Every one of us have experienced it at one time or another in our lives.  Life is difficult and can be painful at times, and the hard things we face have a way of wearing us down.  We can become disheartened and lose our ability to “fight the good fight” and to “keep on keeping on”.  

After the death of Moses, his successor Joshua was told repeatedly,

“Be strong and very courageous”

In other words, “Don’t get discouraged Joshua, even though the task ahead of you is a huge one!”  

While none of us is being required to lead a nation of people to settle in a foreign land filled with enemies, it takes fortitude of mind and heart to keep our families together, to trust God for breakthroughs in our finances, to stand strong in the face of Satan’s attacks, and to face many other challenges common to modern life.  

No wonder the Bible puts such high value on people who have the ability to encourage, to lift others up through their words and their actions 

Pastors are charged in 2 Timothy 4:2 with encouraging the flock. Romans 12:8 tells us that there are certain people who have been given the gift of encouragement.  But it’s not just pastors or the people who have the gift who should encourage others.  

The Bible also says:  “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). The truth is that each of us has this special calling on our lives: to tell someone, “You’re going to make it!”  “Don’t give up!”  “God hasn’t forgotten you!”  “The Lord is going to meet your needs!” “God’s going to prove Himself mighty on your behalf”.

God could send an angel to deliver a message of encouragement, but he’s chosen you and me

This week, let’s ask God to use us to encourage someone. You may come across someone is feeling low or doubtful, or maybe someone who has been so beaten down that they are ready to give up.  As we depend on him, the Holy Spirit will guide us and help us to minister words of life and actions that will lift the person up.  

Hasn’t God done that for us by sending someone just at the right time at key times in our lives?  By his grace, we can in turn be his voice and his hands extended to someone in need of encouragement today.

Vision and Hope

A very important term when it comes to planning is the word “vision.”  Among Christians, vision is used most often in connection with something the Lord has shown a person and how they see the fulfillment of that.

When we are in the first stages of doing something for God there are hopes, dreams, desires, and visions birthed in our hearts.  They seem to be so tangible that there is no doubt that they WILL happen.  But, time has a way of diminishing our vision and causing us to doubt.

This past October, my wife and I have been serving for 16 years as Pastors of ECC.  I remember distinctly the things that the Holy Spirit put within our hearts in the days leading up to our appointment at ECC.  We were convinced that God has brought us here, and that there were things He was going to do.  It was our vision.

With energy and zeal we launched out.  Doing this.  Saying that.  Trusting.  Praying.  Hoping.  What’s strange is that things didn’t quite go according to plans.  Not everyone was as enthusiastic about our ideas. Doubt, enhanced by the lies of Satan, begin to enter our minds…

“Maybe we don’t have what it takes.  Maybe this isn’t the right place.  Maybe God’s given up on us.”

But it turns out these kind of thoughts are common to people who are attempting to do something great for God.  Study people who have seen the vision that God gave them come to pass they will tell you:

“There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)

That fact is that none of us wants to be around a negative person, but all of us are attracted to a person who gives hope. There are some people who exude such great hope that it builds our faith.  Peter tells us:

“Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain
the hope you have in you,” (1 Peter 3:15, GNB)

Being ready with this kind of hope is not based on being doctrinally correct, or on what church you go to or how often, nor is it wishful thinking or cheery optimism.  Real hope that is produced through the Holy Spirit in you is the type that people can see and sense.  It is an unshakable trust in God’s faithfulness and an expectation that He will never leave us or forsake us. 

It doesn’t matter how things look, or what people say, are even how we feel.  If God has given you a vision, even if it doesn’t happen exactly the way you think, God will bring it to pass.

There are people who God has put in your life because they are looking for hope, and God has chosen you to give it to them.  Don’t let negativity, yours or theirs, affect your influence.  Push beyond circumstances and what may have been said and/or done.  Ask God to give you a new vision of what he can do in the life of that person, and put your trust in Him. Then watch and see how God begins to produce hope in their lives!  

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The Dark Side of Rejection

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He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)

Were you ever the last one chosen for a team at school?  Or, have you ever heard about the great time everyone had at a party you weren’t invited to? Maybe you’ve wanted to be included in something happening at church, but no one has included you.

Nothing hurts worse

Rejection is the act of throwing away or discarding someone or something. Perhaps most significantly, rejection is the act of denying love. Essentially it implies a lack of value, which brings a sense of worthlessness, of being swept aside. Unwanted and unwelcome

Rejection is something we feel deep in the pit of our stomachs. Medical research has discovered that the effects of rejection can actually have a severe impact on physical health. All of us have faced that terrible, gnawing feeling of being unwanted, unloved, and unappreciated, but many people can become debilitated by it.

Two Views of You

God’s view of you is one of love, unconditional acceptance, and forgiveness. He offers mercy and grace without limit. 

Satan’s view of you is one where there is no love, joy, peace, acceptance, or forgiveness. There is only condemnation, rejection, disillusionment, destruction, division and despair.

Satan wants you to reject the love of God. Without love, faith will not work (“faith works through love” Galatians 5:6). Those full of rejection become so consumed by what others think of them that they cannot function in faith. 

Like a python suffocating its prey, over time Satan uses rejection to slowly steal the love of God and love of others from our hearts. We no longer experience the joy of serving Him and the peace of His presence. 

Rejection causes churches to become anemic and ineffective. It gives rise to splits and divisions, and creates a faith-less people. Loved is drained out and fear abounds. 

Whose opinion shapes you?

It’s easy to become caught up in what others think about us. Whether it’s our rejection or approval, we always seem to take to heart what others say. But rejection by people will be much easier to bear when we know we will always be accepted by Christ.

Jesus experienced rejection from the very people he came to save.  And many continue today to reject Him by refusing to believe in Him. Jesus definitely understands what it feels like when we are rejected and lonely. When we feel unwanted, unloved, and unappreciated, we can take comfort in knowing that Jesus also knows that type of pain.

The REAL You

Remember that rejection by man can never define who you really are—as long as you don’t let it. God says you are a custom-made masterpiece, and that you will always be accepted by Him. Focus on the fact that the God of the universe, who created everything from the Junebug to Jupiter, says that you are wanted, loved, and appreciated. 

Anyone who says different is working for the Devil.

He Stooped Down

Going to my grandparent’s house at Christmas was the ultimate experience for a kid!  Being with all my cousins, and eating all of grandma’s goodies, are really special memories to me.  

My favorite memory was hanging out with grandpa  

He had an amazing way of including me in whatever he was doing.  I would help him paint, mow the lawn, play guitar, take naps, etc.  

As I think back about my grandpa, what stands out to me the most isn’t so much the things I did with him, although it was always fun and I learned a lot. What’s indelible in my mind is the way he would come, stoop down on his knees in front of me, then pull me in with his arms and say, “Joely, I could really use your help.”  

Grandpa didn’t really need my help 

It wasn’t about what he was doing, or the passing on of the finer points of home improvement and maintenance to the next generation. It was about a grandpa loving his grandson so much that he made a way to be with him.

And that’s is exactly what God did through Jesus Christ.  Theologians call it the Condescension of God.  Paul tells us:

He made Himself of no reputation…coming in the likeness of men.(Philippians 2:6, 8)

God stooped down to our level

My grandpa died in 1979.  I miss doing stuff with him.  He’s with the Lord though.  In fact, he probably nudges God occasionally around this time of the year and says, “Don’t forget Joely.” And God hasn’t.  He now lives in me by the Holy Spirit.  And one day He will stoop down in person to where I am and take me to be with Him forever.  

Grandpa will be there too. And I imagine he’s got a bunch of stuff he needs my help with.