Take It Easy

This week we have been in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, visiting our original FRC campus there and packing up two series' worth of materials (pull-up banners, bulletin shells, promotional cards, and small group materials) to bring back to Lima.

Malls and shopping plazas are ghost towns these days in South Florida. Even the two Wal-Marts that we visited were empty, and Wal-Mart is supposed to be one of the two businesses that normally benefits during recessionary times (the other one is McDonald's, in case you're interested). But nobody was buying anything. Instead, we saw a lot of people simply freaking out over this worldwide financial crisis, and telling us how the crisis was going to cripple/ruin/destroy their life/family/savings/investments/retirement/future.

But then the Eagles came to the rescue!

On Monday night we saw the Eagles, the legendary country/rock band, live in concert in Fort Lauderdale. The arena was sold out, some 20,000 strong. Apparently there's no recession for Eagles fans! As Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit rocked the night away, one of the biggest roars of approval they received from the mainly-baby-boomer crowd was when Frey launched into their classic '70s hit, "Take It Easy."

I can't say for sure that the Eagles meant "Take It Easy" to be played in churches on Sunday mornings, but there is a message in the song that we should grasp as a lot of people around us - no matter where you are ministering in this world - are freaking out and melting under the pressure of this current economic storm.

Take it easy.

Jesus said the same thing, in so many words, in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Jesus' yoke is easy. We must take it easy. Even in the midst of this current financial storm all around the world.