Forgiveness Button
Roger Kunkel

Forgiveness Button

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Today’s message was written by the founder of Dial Hope, the Rev. Roger Kunkel

Friend of Dial Hope, I have a small calculator on my desk which I use to figure out my finances and store personal data for ready reference. It’s amazing how much information can be typed into the memory factors of this mechanical brain. On the left side of the keyboard is a powerful button. It is called the clear button. When I make a mistake, a touch of the clear button and it is eliminated immediately. Each time I use this calculator I am reminded of how much it’s like the brain. It has the capacity to store good and bad memories. How often I wish I had a clear button to press to immediately correct my mistakes, or that I had the capacity to bring up old memories that disturb me and have them taken away, never to be thought about again. Then, as I contemplate how wonderful that would be, I am reminded how the Lord has built into us a “clear” button. It’s called forgiveness. When we accept his forgiveness, we can forgive ourselves, and then, out of the assurance of that grace, forgive others. Today, friend of Dial Hope, press the forgiveness button – now! 

Let us pray: Into the clutter of our everyday lives, O Lord, you come with your heavenly order: into the weakness, you come with your strength; into the sin, you come with your holiness. Give us the grace to receive you now, to open the doors of our beings and invite you in, not just over the threshold but into the innermost parts, the upper rooms and lower rooms, the nooks and crannies, and closets. Dwell in us, O Lord, that we may glow this day with your light and pulsate with your presence. Help us to make this day a masterpiece as we rejoice in hope, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

A Prerequisite for Peace
Joe Albright

A Prerequisite for Peace

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In the story of Abraham, in the book of Genesis – after the birth of Ishmael, Abraham waits 13 years for another word from the Lord. 13 years of silence. Abraham is an old man at this point. God has promised him an heir, and he knows it is not Ishmael. So Abraham waits in faith, and God is faithful.

In our culture today, we’ve become accustomed to getting what we want when we want it. And we get impatient. We want to see spiritual growth today. We want our confusing scary situation to change now. We want our loved ones to get well immediately. But life doesn’t always unfold according to our timetable. Sometimes, as difficult as it is, we have to wait.  

Of course, we do have a choice. We can wait in anxiety and worry. We can wring our hands and complain bitterly to anyone who will listen. Or, we can learn to wait with patience – and with trust. 

Yes, there may be steps we need to take. There may be issues we need to talk through. There may be heart-felt prayers that need to be lifted up. But, once we’ve done our part, we can trust that life is in God’s hands. This is not easy, but truly there is no sound alternative.

Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Pastor and scholar Joshua Kang makes the claim that patience is a prerequisite for peace – in every sense of the word. He writes, “People who have patience lack nothing. People who have patience have everything.”

Let us pray: Pour out your Spirit on us again this day, Loving God. Fill our cups to overflowing again with your grace. For sometimes it is hard to wait for answers to our prayers. In our daily struggles, we need your strength. We need to be reminded that you are good and that you are with us. Grant us the patience and the courage we need for this day. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let it Begin with Me
Joe Albright

Let it Begin with Me

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Today, I am deeply grateful for those of you who have supported the Dial Hope Foundation with a financial donation. Hope reaches others because of you. Thank you!

A rabbi and soap maker once went for a walk through their local town. The soap maker was feeling really negative about religion, and he asked the Rabbi, “What good is religion? Just look around you. What do you see? Trouble, misery, wars – even after all these years and years of preaching and teaching about goodness, truth, and peace. What good is religion with all its prayers and sermons if all this evil still exists?”

The rabbi kept quiet as they continued their walk. Then they noticed a child playing in the street who was just covered with dirt and mud. The rabbi said to the soap maker, “Look at this child! Now you say that soap makes people clean, but what good is it? With all the soap in the world, this child is still dirty. What good is soap after all?”

The soap maker immediately answered him: “But rabbi, soap can’t do its job if it isn’t used!” And the rabbi said, “Exactly!”

My friends at First Christian Church in Neptune Beach used to end each Sunday’s worship service by singing the song, “Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let it Begin with Me.” What a beautiful way to end worship and to be sent back out into everyday life! 

Let us pray: Holy God, let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. And may my life be joined with the rising movement of others who are doing likewise. Help us to live in such a way that our lives indeed shine light into the darkness and show forth peace. Amen.

Words
Roger Kunkel

Words

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Today’s message was written by my friend, Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

“in the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). Everything – understanding, friendship, communication with other people and with God – it all begins with a word. We do not live by bread alone. We live by words. And yet the truth is, sometimes our words do get us into trouble. Many of us are prone to that common malady called, “foot-in-mouth disease”. 

The Prayer of the Realist begins with the words, “Lord, you know that I am growing older.” It goes on to plead with God to grant deliverance… from talking too much, from stating strong opinions on every subject, from the recitation of endless detail, from complaining constantly about recurring aches and pains, from thinking that we are always right, from nosiness and bossiness and self-righteousness. The prayer then expresses the tongue-in-cheek notion that it is such a shame to not use all this incredible store of wisdom and experience the author has accumulated over the years. The prayer concluded with this sentence, “But you know, O Lord, that when the end comes, I do want to have a few friends left. Amen.”

The point is clear. Sometimes we say the wrong things. Sometimes our words hurt other people. But, thankfully, there is another side to that coin; words can help and heal. Words can soothe restore and redeem. If you and I were to make a list of the most beautiful words in the world, there would be at the top of the list: you are loved, you are forgiven, and you are needed. Don’t ever forget these powerful, healing words.

Let us pray: O God of the wilderness, we stumble, mumble and bumble like victims of a desert sandstorm. We lose sight of your steadfast love in the cold winds of doubt. We fail to trust your love as try to control our lives. We disregard the needs of others as we seek to meet our own. Forgive our mistakes and set us again on the road that leads through death into the newness of life. For we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Merciful Grace of God
Joe Albright

The Merciful Grace of God

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Pastor Rob Bell tells a story in one of his books about a wedding ceremony he conducted on a beautiful summer afternoon. It was held in a park in a grove of trees, and at the end of the service, the couple was handed a cluster of helium balloons on strings. The balloons were symbols of all the mistakes they had each made in the past. As a picture of starting over, together, they wanted their first act as a married couple to be letting the balloons go.

Rob writes this: 

“They walked out of the grove of trees into an adjoining field. Just the two of them, holding hands, standing in knee-high grass, exchanging words that only they could hear. Then they raised the balloons above their heads and let them go. We all stood there, watching those balloons float away until they drifted from sight. There are moments you wonder if you’ll ever forget. Events that sear themselves on your conscience. That moment was one of those for me.”

“A few years later their marriage imploded. She moved an hour away. He relocated to another part of the country. They divorced.”

“I finish with this story because life is messy. Gut-wrenching. Risky. Things don’t always turn out well. Sometimes they don’t turn out at all. Sometimes everything falls apart and we wonder if there’s any point to any of it. But I have to believe that we can recover from anything. I have to believe that God can put anything – anyone – back together. I have to believe that the God Jesus invites us to trust is as good as he says he is. Loving. Forgiving. Merciful. Full of grace. And I have to believe that God does not run out of balloons.”

I pray again today that you would learn from your failures in life and that you would trust the merciful grace of God. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we have all fallen short, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23). As you are forgiven and blessed, may you ever look for ways to share these gifts with a world desperately in need.

Let us pray: Wash over us with your grace, O God. Empower us to turn again to you, and follow you with all of our hearts. Amen.

Learning From Failure
Joe Albright

Learning From Failure

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Yesterday we raised the question: What do we do with our failures?

I have to imagine that we all have those moments when life doesn’t work out like we’d hoped. Maybe we fall short of our own expectations. Maybe we are given an opportunity to do the right thing and we fail to do it. 

Some people will just continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over because they can’t admit they made a mistake in the first place. (You probably don’t know anyone like that!) Others don’t believe they can ever change, or they won’t ask for the help they need. Others still somehow have it in their head that they are a bad person, and that failure can lead to self-loathing or tremendous guilt that drives them right back to the same mistakes over and over. 

I’ll never forget years ago, a young man said to me, “Joe, what I did was so bad. Most mornings, I can’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror.”

So, do we let our failures define us? Do they get the final verdict?

When I reflect on the failures in my own life, things that I truly regret, there have been some failures of commission – things I’ve done, that hurt others, that I wish I could undo. There have been many more failures of omission, things I should have done or said, people I could have helped but didn’t. And it is painful to even think about it…

However, I’ve become more and more aware that If we pay attention, if we own up to our mistakes and don’t shift the blame, our failures have a lot to teach us. Our failures can become sources of tremendous compassion, strength, and resolve. Compassion because it is humbling to fail. It is hard to be judgmental and hyper-critical of people when we realize that we are all really in need of God’s grace.

But also strength…There’s this line in Earnest Hemingway’s book, A Farewell to Arms, that has stuck with me over many years. Hemingway writes, “The world breaks everybody. And many are strong in the broken places.” The truth is we fall down a lot. And when our wounds heal, there is the potential for us to come out on the other side of it much wiser, kinder, and stronger. And with resolve. 

May you learn from your failures in life. May you become strong in the broken places. May you turn back and use your strength to strengthen others. And may you know in the very deepest part of your being that God never gives up on you.  

Let us pray: Wash over us with your grace, O God. Empower us to turn again to you, and follow you with all of our hearts. Amen.

Beyond the Failure
Joe Albright

Beyond the Failure

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I’ve been thinking about Peter’s denial of Christ. There’s no doubt about it, Peter was in a tough situation. I’m sure he was afraid for his life. Jesus had just been arrested. The chief priests and elders had come out with swords and clubs, and they were getting ready to hand him over to the Romans. Jesus was going to the cross to die.

So Peter, who in one moment said, “Lord, I’m ready to go with you to prison and to death!” when it comes right down to it, he isn’t ready, is he? I imagine, his heart and his mind were telling him one thing, but when he got his moment, he failed.  

Now it’s interesting. Jesus knows ahead of time that he’s going to fail. He says, “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. 

The image of being sifted like wheat would have been an image from their everyday lives. Flour would be poured onto a mesh screen which was then shaken vigorously. The fine flour would be sifted through while the impurities would remain on the mesh. Jesus was telling the disciples that they were all about to be shaken by the events that would unfold. 

Maybe in your life, there have been events that have shaken you, and put you to the test. Maybe there have been times you have found you fell short of what you’d hoped. 

Failure is a part of life, and we’ve all been there; whether it was failure in business, or in a relationship, or in living up to values that we’d like to have. 

The question is, what do we do with our failures?

I think it is beautiful that Jesus knows ahead of time that Peter’s going to fail, but he doesn’t give up on him. He tells Peter, “Before the rooster crows this day you will have denied me three times.” But then he adds, “When once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:32)

Jesus is saying, You are going to fail. I know you’re not going to get it right. You are going to make mistakes – sometimes big mistakes that are going to hurt. But I am not giving up on you. I want you to turn back. I have a plan for your life, beyond this.

I pray today that you would learn from your failures in life and that you would trust the merciful grace of God. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we have all fallen short, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23). As you are forgiven and blessed, may you ever look for ways to share these gifts with a world desperately in need.

Let us pray: Wash over us with your grace, O God. Empower us to turn again to you, and follow you with all of our hearts. Amen.

Gratitude Needs to Be an Attitude
Roger Kunkel

Gratitude Needs to Be an Attitude

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Today’s message was written by the founder of Dial Hope, the Rev. Roger Kunkel

One of my favorite subjects is gratitude. Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” Friends of Dial Hope, most of us specialize in periodic outbursts of gratitude. Rather than a continuous condition or a state of being, thanksgiving becomes an event, a time, a day, in particular, the fourth Thursday of every November. But gratitude needs to be an attitude, a perpetual one. 

To keep myself in a thankful condition, I do the following: I launch my attitude of gratitude when I awaken. In the silence of my heart, I say, “Thank you, God, for a night of rest and for the gift of a new day. I am thankful, I am thankful. I am thankful, and I will live this day in gratitude, from start to finish, come what may. Lord, what are you up to today? I want to be a part of it. Now I ask that you bless me so I may be a blessing to others.” 

The crucial thing is to get yourself prepared for yet another day of thankfulness. Crashes, victories, and boredom will come and go. Our attitude of gratitude endures. With perpetual thanksgiving, I remain.  

Let us pray: Loving God, who broods over us at night like a mother bird over her nest and rises upon us in the morning like the sun that warms the earth, we lift our hearts to you in praise and thanksgiving. You have richly blessed each of us. Thank you for your love and extravagance. This day, may we be beautifully extravagant in our generosity, gratitude, and kindness toward others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Reminders
Joe Albright

Reminders

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In the book of Leviticus, we learn a lot about the worship of the early community of faith. In chapter 6, the priests are instructed to keep a fire on the altar burning at all times. This fire was a reminder to the community of God’s continual presence with them. They were on a dangerous journey through the wilderness. They would often feel lost, afraid, and uncertain about the future. It was crucial to remember that God was with them.

Do you have any visible reminders in your life of God’s presence? 

At our dinner table, sometimes we’ll light a candle to remember that Christ is present. Other people might place a cross or crucifix in a conspicuous place. A friend has a plaque on her fireplace mantel that reads: “Be Still and Know that I Am God.” 

I’m told that some Christians continue the ancient Celtic practice of splashing water on their face three times as they wash first thing in the morning, praying, “Let me awaken to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” This is reminiscent of baptism. 

There is no doubt that we all face troubling even dangerous times in life, and like the Israelites, we too need reminders that we don’t walk alone. 

Jesus said, “Behold I am with you, even to the end of the age.”

Our prayer today is another ancient Celtic prayer. Let us pray: As I stir the embers of my daily fire, I ask you, Living God, to stir the embers of my heart into a flame of love for you, for my family, for my neighbor, and for my enemy. Amen.

With God, All Things Are Possible
Joe Albright

With God, All Things Are Possible

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Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard once wrote:

If I were to wish for anything I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what can be, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating as possibility?

As you look at the world around you, as you consider your own relationships and your own life, what do you see? Some people only see the negative. Others impose limits by their understanding of the past. But the truth is, there is endless possibility. 

In the book of Genesis, when the Lord appears to Abraham and Sarah, the Lord promises them that they will have a son, even in their old age. Sarah laughs at the promise, but God responds by asking, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

In a similar fashion, in the book of Jeremiah chapter 32, we read, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?”

You and I know the answer to that question. May God fill us with a passionate sense of what can be. 

Let us pray: In the dark and troubling times of life, O God, it is hard to believe. It is hard to imagine a different future or to dream of a new day. But you are the God who creates possibility. You are the God for whom all things are possible. Arise from within us an overwhelming sense of hope, and grant us new eyes to see all that can be. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.