Category Archives: The Door Keeper

What if we loved like Dzintra?

What if we loved like Dzintra? We are finally in Riga, Latvia, back home, so to speak. We haven’t been here in three years and the waves of emotion were overwhelming as we flew over the country yesterday. Driving down the streets? More memories, more emotion. So many good things happened in our time here, a few hard times were experienced as well but they were life-changing and hopefully molded our character for the future.

We have rented another airbnb for our stay in Riga. Insert shameless plug here: If you haven’t tried airbnb, you must! We have had total success with it but I venture to say that is because I go by REVIEWS; I read them all. And I pour over their pictures, enlarging them if I have to. Yes, I am that person. But I digress.

So, this particular rental is another where you rent out the entire apartment or home. You don’t want to share with a stranger but some do not seem to mind that. I would definitely mind. This lovely couple here in Riga actually has two homes on this property that could be divided up into four! One home was their parents, now deceased, and the other is their own. They live upstairs in one and rent the downstairs and we are in one next door and have an entire apartment and garden, patio, etc., to ourselves. Two bedrooms, an office, beautiful bathroom with double rain shower, large living room and fully functional kitchen. It is just perfect, so clean and very comfortable. Why would you get a hotel when you can have an entire apartment?!

Upon our arrival, we met Dzintra, who is Russian. She didn’t shake my hand, she hugged my neck and I knew right then we were going to get along fine. I cannot get over her infectious smile and the way we were greeted even though we were total strangers. How did she know we weren’t crazy Americans that had flown across the ocean to steal her blind?! Okay, a little much with the drama, but still. It is a lot to allow people you do not know to stay on your property and come and go as they please.

Back to Dzintra. She hugged me and then clasped my hand between hers and with that smile again, said, “I am so very happy to have you here with me!” And I knew she meant it. This is an older couple, persuaded by their son, who lives in Prague, to open their home as an airbnb. Did he ever nail retirement for these two; it is their calling. You can genuinely tell they enjoy what they do and look forward to interacting with their guests.

But it was that smile, that make-you-feel-at-home smile that has me writing today. Watching her greet us as if the way she treated us decided her internal well being made me consider a few things:

When we meet someone for the first time, do we react as Dzintra?
Does the smile on the inside ooze out and spill over to the outside?
Do we greet newcomers in our church the way Dzintra welcomed us?
Do we make them truly feel that they are not only wanted but that we will do everything in our power to see them connect and succeed?
Do we make it easy for them to come back or do we make them uncomfortable because, since we don’t know what to say, we don’t say anything and we make the situation totally AWK-ward?
Maybe most importantly, do we truly care that they have come to our church, or just entered our world, and do we show to them that compassion, concern and care?
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18

Perhaps you have been in the newcomers shoes. It is difficult enough to be the stranger, everyone stares, that is a given. Then you make the uncomfortable stroll toward the greeter, praying they are not too friendly but that they don’t give you the dead fish handshake either. You are just silently praying they will not overdo it but won’t leave you feeling worse than when you arrived.

So, what if we greeted others at church, or meeting them for the first time, as Dzintra greeted us? “I’m so very happy you are here…you are going to love our church and our people. How can I make you feel at home today? What can I get for you and your family? I will be here if you need ANYTHING.”

And then, mean it. Do it. Own it. Like a boss.

Check on them again, and again without smothering them. A good hostess does that. She comes back instead of just saying, “If you need anything, let me know!” She actually makes the effort to return and see if she missed anything or if the guest thought of something they missed or needed answered. The good hostess tries to anticipate what the guests are thinking and knows that this is a situation that will pass but it is crucial that she treat them with love and respect.

Friend, if you are going to be a greeter, BE a greeter. Don’t stand in the doorway where they can’t get in without having to brush up against you…yikes! Don’t give them a fish handshake. Just don’t. Grip it firmly and quickly, don’t hang on to their hand forever. Welcome them, smile and mean it! If it is your job to make sure they have a visitor card, help them with those things but don’t throw so much of the welcoming kit at them that they can’t carry it and don’t expect them to stand there in the doorway and fill out the card. And then point them to the right direction. If they have children, they are wondering where to take them. Maybe they don’t know where to sit, greeters and ushers should be all over this!

One of the worst things about walking in a church for the first time is running the gauntlet. Yes, it can truly feel that way since some churches not only have a greeter but the greeter has friends that hang around and hang around the front door talking with the greeter about their weekend and if the visitor is fortunate, they will stop long enough to say, “Welcome to First Church” and then right back to the hole in one they didn’t get or the fish that got away. Then you have to make your way past ten limp handshakes and half-hearted and awkward “hello’s”. Ugh.

Of course it is not the easiest thing in the world to meet a stranger or have conversation with someone you have never met before. And, it is not the sole responsibility of the GREETER to befriend a newcomer! It is the responsibility of us ALL to make sure anyone and everyone is comfortable worshipping with us.

But if you ooze Jesus, if that Christ-like spirit that dwells on the INSIDE cannot but help to spill over to the OUTSIDE, others will be drawn to you, as we were to Dzintra. And you will just know that even though this new journey might not be easy, you have at least one friend who is going to do everything that they can to make it smoother for you and you are going to be loved to pieces in the meantime.

Doogalas (The Sweetheart) was trying to convey to Dzintra that we were leaving to go for dinner and would be back shortly, how do we open and close the gate, what about the key, etc., etc. He was throwing way too many questions, and talking way too fast, for her to understand his English. I could see the bewilderment on her face and when he finally stops talking she looked at me and said, “My English is not so good, but he speaks too fast for me to understand. But do not worry, I will get it!”

Yes, she will. I have no doubt.

I am the Door Keeper. I am the Door! Part 5

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This is the last post in The Door Keeper Mini-Series! You can read Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four by clicking on the links. Feel free to share your impressions or memories of a Door Keeper!

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10

The flock of sheep on the hillside would answer to one voice; that of their Shepherd.

He was so acquainted with his flock of fluffy creatures that each one knew his particular voice and would ignore all others.

The shepherd had two choices of where to bed down his sheep for the night, depending on where they were at the time. The public sheepfold was in the city and villages and it would hold several flocks of sheep at once. This sheepfold was guarded by a porter or Door Keeper. His duty was to make sure that the sheep didn’t get out at night and to let in the other shepherds in the morning. The shepherds would then come, one by one, and call for their sheep. Amazingly, each little lamb knew the voice of his own shepherd and followed him out to pasture.

“The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.” Psalm 120:8.

The other sheepfold was out in the fields. This pen was simply a circle, a fold, which they made with rocks piled into a tiny wall with one small space to come and go. There was no gate so how did he keep them in? The shepherd would literally stretch himself out at the opening of the pen and go to sleep…he became the Door Keeper.

Pastors are oftentimes referred to as shepherds today and even in the Old Testament, “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.” Jeremiah 3:15 NIV.

And this one, “…they shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.” Numbers 27:17.

They are Door Keepers! “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit [to them]: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this [were] unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 13:17 ASV.

A pastor guards the door to the sheepfold, they protect, lead and guide the flock, or the Church, for they will stand and give an account for our souls.

“This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’” John 10.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” John 10:18 NLT.

Not only does The Good Shepherd provide for His flock but He goes so far as to lay down His life! Jesus GAVE His life, no one took it from Him. He did it for all of us.

The Lord God, “…tends His flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young…” Isaiah 40:11.

“We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3.

There is only one Door to eternal life and salvation for our souls. Only one Door into the Kingdom of God.

Jesus is that Door! In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The Shepherd of the Church and the only Door Keeper to eternal life! He took off His crown of royalty and laid down, literally, in the gap, the opening, the only way in and out, for each one of us, His sheep.

This week we have met Door Keepers in the temple; they lived there and were responsible for the day-to-day activities and care for the house of God. They decided who could enter and who could not.

We met Obed-Edom who was privileged to care for the Presence of God…the Ark of the Covenant and his entire household was blessed because of this Door Keeper.

We met Jacob, a.k.a. Door as we referred to his name-tag. He is an overcomer, a humble example of what a Door Keeper looks like today: one who aspires to be like Christ, welcoming, inviting and loving.

Yesterday I introduced you to my first recollection of a Door Keeper in the little church I grew up in. He reminds me even today to keep striving for the goal, with a smile on my face.

Today?

We see Jesus.

The Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. That means you. That means me. All who desire to enter into the Kingdom are welcomed…through the Door.

The Daniel Fast Devotional is available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon! Great for ANY FAST, it is full of great devotions about fasting in the Bible. Did you know even Jezebel fasted?? So much to learn and so helpful when trying to draw closer to God. Get yours today!

Hi, my name is Door. Door Keeper. Part 4.

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This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you purchase something after clicking on one of my links. Thanks for supporting this ministry!

Today we are looking at Part 4 of our Mini-Series on The Door Keeper. You can catch up by clicking on each link for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Uzzah, Obed-Edom and Jim.

My very first recollections of a Door Keeper take me back to the early 1970’s. This church is where I met The Sweetheart, where we dated, grew up, were married and even dedicated our firstborn. It was a good church with a great pastor who loved people and loved God. The Church was known for having some of the friendliest people in our town and the best cooks anywhere.

We also had a Door Keeper. This is before greeters became a big deal in The Church, before organized and structured welcoming staff were trained and taught that first impressions help to grow your church.

Let me introduce you to Jim.

He was ahead of his time. Jim wasn’t a boy like Jacob that you met earlier. Jim was a grown man with a wife and two sons. He was a student of the Word. He sat on the second row every single service with a large notepad and pen. He took notes the entire service. I always assumed he was writing about the kids, the young people or troublemakers. I thought he was taking attendance and would report to the pastor later on who was there and who was just skipping out. We would joke and dare each other to swipe the book so we could read it and see if our names were in there. He never missed church at all that I remember unless he was very, very sick.

Back in the day, in this country church, we had service on Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. (I know, right?!) Jim was always there, just inside the door with a smile, (always a smile) a welcome, a very firm handshake for one hand and a songbook to put in the other. He wasn’t just dependable, he was constant; he was faithful to God and to his church family.

Jim was just as serious about his service in other areas of the Church as he was at the door to the house of God. He didn’t think he was too good to dig ditches, spread mulch, clean a bathroom, run a vacuum or wash dishes, if need be. Jim was our Sunday School Superintendent for years but didn’t suggest someone else go out and knock doors on Saturday or drive the bus on Sunday. Jim did both. Many weeks he did this all by himself.

I always thought of Jim as someone who guarded the Church, literally and figuratively. He wouldn’t have allowed anyone to disrupt the service or to hurt the man of God. He would have stepped in and protected both in an instant. Yet, in all of his serving he didn’t miss out on worship. He sang with every ounce of his being, hands raised in adoration to the King of Kings, the Word of God right beside him. It reminded me of Nehemiah building the wall, he did the work with one hand and had a weapon in the other.

He didn’t bring glory to Jim; he pointed others to Jesus Christ.

There was another man in the Old Testament who was a doorkeeper for the Presence of God. He didn’t ask to be, that we can tell; greatness was just thrust upon him.

“So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.” 2 Samuel 6:10.

Obed-Edom. Why was he chosen to house the Ark of the Covenant that contained the Ten Commandments? (Aaron’s rod that budded and manna were also inside the Ark.)

King David had decided to bring the Ark (the presence of God) back to Jerusalem. Remember, the Ark was all but forgotten during the reign of King Saul, which sounds unbelievable for something of this magnitude of importance. Yet, the Ark was in the house of Abinadab and had been there a long time, seventy years! David just takes the bull by the horns, so to speak, and sets off to bring it home. It seems he didn’t put much thought into the proper procedures and along the way, Uzzah, the son of Abinadab, was struck dead just for reaching out to steady the Ark!

I have always wondered about Uzzah. If he was Abinadab’s son, wouldn’t he have known how to take care of the Ark? Were they so complacent, so used to having it just sitting around but not being cared for, or used, that they didn’t realize its significance any longer? Treating the supernatural as something common and ordinary? Do we do the same today?

So after this unfortunate occurrence, David was afraid and realized that he must reassess his plan to bring the presence of God back home so he sends the Ark to the house of Obed-Edom for three solid months. Now, Obed-Edom was of the tribe of Levi and we have seen already that the Levites were in charge of the temple and its care. They were also doorkeepers!

It is likely that Obed-Edom was a simple man, probably not wealthy or famous but he had a home that he willingly offered for the presence of Almighty God to dwell in. The Bible says that for the entire time the Ark was in the house of Obed-Edom that they were blessed. “Now King David was told, ‘The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.’” 2 Samuel 6:12 NIV.

This same Ark toppled Dagon and killed Uzzah but it blessed Obed-Edom because of his willingness and sacrifice and he was changed forever. He was a doorkeeper of the Ark of the Covenant, just as we are doorkeepers today of the house of God and the Presence of God! David knew that if he could get it back to its rightful place where it belonged then the entire city would benefit.

1 Corinthians 16:13, 14 ESV. “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

Today we stand guard of the house of the Lord, of the Church, the Body, we are all Door Keepers. We don’t need uniforms like hotel bellmen for others to recognize us as such. We do need humility of heart and the love of God to shine forth in our actions and words because we are protectors of the Church…

Keepers of the Door.

Join us tomorrow for Part 5 in our Mini-Series on The Door Keeper. You won’t want to miss meeting the last Door Keeper. Be blessed and feel free to share with us your recollections of Door Keepers in your life.

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