This morning when speaking in a Baptist Church in Delaware, at quite a critical point in the message someones cell phone began to ring. I know we all love when that happens. Usually, a person quickly catches the phone, hits the "stop ring" button allowing the caller to go to voice mail. Not today!
Normally I get a little judgemental in that situation - however - recalling my own similar experience - and watching a woman in the third row from the front (all eyes in the church being on her) struggle to find her loudly ringing phone, just as I was wrapping up the message and bringing it to an altar call (you know - a very serious moment), I sympathized with the lady. My only recourse was to make light of the situation, and asked the rest of the congregation "Don't you love technology?" I followed up with "I don't mind waiting, it has happened to me..." After what seemed like an eternity to me - and longer to her I'm sure - she finally got the phone turned off. But not to be outdone by the devil that caused that phone to ring in the first place, I wrapped up my statement - finished with a powerful song that related to the message, everyone in tears - and we ended with one of the better services I've been involved in a while.
Isn't the Lord great that way? I am primarily blogging today to share that cell phone experience (no real message or analogy to go with it). As stated above, I've had a similar instance happen to me about a year ago. I had a cell phone that I could download various ring tones of favorite songs (I have since upgraded to a phone that would remove that temptation). I happened to run across one of my favorite secular singers singing a song I like so I downloaded it. Little did I know that on a given Sunday after preaching one of my better sermons and bringing the message to an invitation - people's heads bowed, eyes closed, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse - the invitation song for that Sunday's altar call was loudly and clearly Michael Bolton singing the words "When A Man Love's A Woman..." Had it only been mother's day, maybe I could have salvaged the service, but needless to say that invitation was unrecoverable.
Feel free to share your cell phone war-stories.
2 comments:
We had a revival at our old church in Arkansas when the evangelists cell phone rang. We were all quiet and kind of embarrassed for him but he just answered it "God! how great of you to call, I am talking with your people about you right now!" This preacher has since joined our Lord in Heaven and I still don't know for sure if he planned the call or not.
Once when I was gone on a trip a former pastor was speaking and in the middle of the sermon a cell phone rang. He said, "That had better be God calling." A few minutes later the same cell phone rang again and he realized that it was his. He said, "Excuse me for a monent" and took the call. Needless to say, it was not God who called.
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