shhh

Guys. I have secrets.

Secrets I wish I could tell the whole wide world.

But I am sworn to secrecy.

some of these secrets are exciting

And my love for talking really makes this whole secret-keeping thing a big fat downer.

Okay, but really. It's not a huge deal. But when people tell me exciting things, I want to tell my other friends because I am excited BUT I CAN'T AND IT MAKES ME WANT TO EXPLODE.

I hate secrets.

HATE THEM!

Except for secrets like Oak Baptist Church.

preaching it

thrones?

what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms

Two and a half hours west of Omaha sits this tiny church. And I got to go there and sing some hymns with a congregation of twenty people. In my little corner by the piano, I felt so small. Hidden deep into midwestern Nebraska, I was drowning in rurality and old people and corn. 99.99% of the world would never see where I was or ever lay eyes on this tiny church full of 9 ½-fingered men. But as I sat there and heard the earnest, honest prayers of the members, I felt the urge to display this great church to the world. I want to show their sincerity to churches full of pretentious, showy worshippers. I want to show their hospitality to mega churches full of selfish snobs. 

And I want to show the missing halves of the members' fingers to most of my friends. 

Actually, I mostly just want to know the stories behind what disfigured their hands. My guess is it had to do with farming or the war.

This is a praying, worshipping church. And no one knows about it.

I want to reveal this secret!

But that's how God is sometimes, I think. I think He likes secrets. He likes sharing some things with just us. For me, it is music and running. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, like playing the piano for Him. Whether it is an old, forgotten hymn, the Bach prelude & fugue, or the newest worship song, I so wish I could explain to you what it's like.

But that's our secret, and I could never describe it to you if I knew every word in the English language. It's just between Him and me.

And I just got to hear about a bunch of other people's own soils. Their own Oak Baptists. At college group, I heard people share their hearts for human trafficking, for evangelism & revival, for reaching out to the rich as well as the poor, artists wanting to communicate their passions. Teachers wanting to show the Light to their students.

My brother once told me that he thinks most of the people who will get the most rewards in heaven will be new names. We won't hear of them much on earth.

Because they don't care if they're a secret. Caught in their figurative towns named "education" or "missions" or "art" instead of Oak, they are living and loving and reaching people, and we don't read about them in Christian magazines. We don't hear about them in churches. They don't need fame or recognition. Because they are doing their calling. Worshipping in a way God created them to, that cannot be explained to the world. They don't need an applause. 

I hope I can go back to Oak again sometime. Because I have dreams for reaching people and doing great things for Him. But I must remember that it is for Him, always for Him. Billy Graham's name may be world-renown, but I bet there are faithful farmers, joy-filled janitors, heck..sacrificial and serving circus clowns that are living up to their calling just as much.

And just as I imagine Him doing upon that tiny church, I imagine Him looking upon those farmers and janitors and clowns with the most wonderful smile.

The kind of smile shared between two who share the greatest secret.

and..having nothing at all to do with this post, here is my new shirt from Laos!
it's the greatest.