What a great morning. I got out on the beach around 6:30 and breathed in the calm waters. A glassy gulf coast usually makes for some great sights in the morning… particularly dolphin. I never tire of seeing the majesty and glory of God through dolphin. So very cool.

I was also intrigued by a very skiddish sand crab. His (or her?) curiosity brought him out of his hole, but any slight movement of mine would hurry him back in. Directly in the background of my sandy crustacean friend was a beautiful sailboat. It had obviously anchored for the night, but I could see the lone captain getting ready to sail back out to sea. I wondered what that life must be like.

Then I read today’s entry from Oswald Chambers. “If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.”

Amazing. I could be like a crab afraid to venture from the comfort of a sandy, hot hole (??), or untie from the dock and allow God to show me greater depths. It seemed the choice was being obviously laid before me.

How will I untie from the dock? The harbor of CCC has been good and healing, but how will Cumberland, now, go further and deeper? Will we be skiddish or set sail? What will the gospel propel us to do or not do? Stearns writes (The Hole In Our Gospel), “We have, in fact, reduced the gospel to a mere transaction involving the right beliefs rather than seeing in it the power to change the world.”

Will CCC be a church representing the whole gospel… on earth as it is in heaven… or will we allow holes to prove us ineffective by only focusing on what we need?

There is a fullness of Christ and the gospel that is clearly seen in Ephesians. The context, however, is the church. The church, the church, the church. To God be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ. God’s strategy for the whole gospel to be expressed is through the church locally, corporately, and globally. What are the next, bold steps for Cumberland to take to tap into the fullness of Jesus through His body the church?

In all of these early morning thoughts and reading, I saw Lucy! Lucy is the grand, older woman I met briefly last year on study break. She walks the beach most mornings with her walking sticks.

I jumped up from my chair to say hello to Lucy and she beamed, “I was just thinking of you!” This blew me away. I blogged about Lucy last year, but I had only spoken with her for about three minutes before a strong storm blew in. I hadn’t seen Lucy in a year, and yet she was thinking about me. Crazy. It made me wonder about her loneliness and the significance of a small act one year ago.

Mother Teresa once said, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”

I asked Lucy if there was anything I could pray for her. She said her health had not been so good this past year, and wanted me to pray about that. She told me she had just turned 85 on May 1st, and was feeling a little slower and not walking as much. We talked a bit about her world travels. She hope to get back to Paris soon! I got a picture snapped of the two of us, and then invited her to our beach dinner tomorrow night. She broke out a big smile and said she would love to come. I’m praying this will be a special evening. I’m praying there won’t be a hole in my gospel. I want to pull anchor and set sail. I’m so glad my human tendencies to crawl back into my selfish hole didn’t over take me as Lucy walked by.

God, thanks for such a great morning. I’ve finished “The Hole In Our Gospel,” and will start a re-read of “The Shaping Of Things To Come” this afternoon.