On the second day of our stay in Rome, we got up super early, ate a hearty breakfast, put on comfortable shoes, and got on the subway headed for Vatican City with a tour book in tow. We were confident we would surely beat the crowd with an early start.  In addition, we were smart enough to plan our visit to this tourist-magnet in October, not in the middle of the busy summer months, so we figured we wouldn’t have to spend a lot of our precious time waiting in lines.  We had even purchased tickets online, and we felt good about ourselves!
But as soon as we arrived at the metro station closest to Vatican City, we realized that a whole lot of other people had the same plan!  As if we were competing in a speed-walking event, the three of us walked as fast as our short legs could carry us to get ahead of the mob of people headed in the same direction. Even with all that advance planning, however, we still ended up waiting in line for the security check and to rent an English audioguide for the Vatican Museums tour. You indeed need a lot of stamina and patience to visit the Vatican City.
They say you haven’t seen Rome unless you have been to the Vatican Museums so we were determined to take the time to explore every gallery.  However, we soon realized that doing this might take a whole week or more! The galleries were filled with so many amazing, breathtaking, magnificent (I need more adjectives to do them justice) works of art - paintings, sculptures, tapestries, etc. - that after a while my mind couldn’t handle any more.  It was definitely a case of too much of a good thing, an awesomeness overload!  But we had no choice but to move slowly with the mob in order to reach the pinnacle, the Sistine Chapel, with its famous painted ceiling depiction of the creation account by Michaelangelo.  Incidentally, the Sistine Chapel is also important in that the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is elected there.
While I was glad to see the most famous ceiling image, “The Creation of Adam,” I was more impressed with and touched by the huge painting on the wall titled “The Last Judgment,” done by Michaelangelo some 25 years after painting the ceiling.  The older Michaelangelo depicts the second coming of Christ and the ensuing judgment.  With Christ in the center, the damned who are being pulled down to hell to be tortured by demons are to His left while the blessed who rise from their graves to enter heaven are to His right.  In addition, Christ is surrounded by important figures in church history, including many martyrs who suffered particularly painful deaths. One particular image that is still vivid in my mind is that of Saint Bartholomew, holding a knife in one hand and his own skin in his other hand.  He is known to have been martyred by being skinned alive.  What a painful and slow death he must have suffered for the sake of Christ!  As great as that suffering must have been, however, it is still nothing compared to being tortured by demons, as the painter seems to convey.
What really struck me was how many of those tens of thousands of daily tourists will just walk away from that painting, considering it as a depiction of a fairy tale or the artist’s wild imagination.  Many may even be shaken by the disturbing nature of the painting, but within a few minutes of leaving the chapel, will forget about it.  I too would have been one of those passerby tourists had it not been for Jesus Christ who saved me out of millions.  Why me and not them? I may never know, but I am eternally grateful for His amazing grace.  How about you?

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
October 28, 2012

I believe one of the greatest inventions in life is GPS navigation.  As someone who has a notoriously poor sense of direction, I really appreciate the sense of security and peace my little GPS navigation system provides.    The other day, I met up with a couple of friends in Alexandria. I had no problem getting there, but coming home was a totally different story. By the time I left Alexandria, it was past 4 PM, and I could not get back on I-66 West because the HOV-2 restriction had already kicked in.  So right before I was to enter I-66 W, I got off an exit and found myself in the middle of Rosslyn!  I pulled to the side of the road and tried several different destinations near home to get the GPS to give me alternate routes that did not include I-66 W. To make a long story short, after having found an alternative route, and yet missing necessary turns a couple times, I found myself on Canal Road in Georgetown, headed into Maryland!  I was in utter despair and terribly frustrated.  I had to attend a 7 PM Bible study in Fairfax that evening, and at this rate I was going to be at least 1 hour late.  I began to vent to God. “God, why is this happening to me?  Why am I wasting 2 hours on the road? What is the point of all this?”  I called my poor husband several times to complain about how stupid my GPS was.  On the way to Maryland, however, the GPS finally figured out a way to get onto 495 headed to Virginia, and I arrived at my destination on time.  I ‘apologized’ to my GPS that I should have trusted it more, that it did not fail me.
That evening, as I was reflecting upon my driving nightmare, God gave me a revelation that the panic, confusion, and anger I experienced may be how many NCFC members feel about our current church situation.  They feel helpless, and out of fear and frustration, they are passing judgment on one another.    Instead of trusting our ultimate GPS, Jesus Christ, to get us through this journey safely, many are taking matters into their own hands.  By doing so, however, they are making matters worse.  This reminded me of something I read from the book, Developing a Supernatural Lifestyle, by Kris Vallotton.  The author talks about the importance of pilots trusting the plane’s instruments, NOT their mind’s perceptions, when they are flying in clouds.  Due to what is called spatial disorientation, pilots, in severe weather, feel like their plane is upside down and rising when in fact it is the opposite.  If they fly by how they feel instead of what the instruments indicate, this usually results in the plane crashing right into the ground.  Likewise when we cannot see or comprehend what is going on in life, we have to trust our spiritual instrument, the Word of God as well, not our perceptions or feelings.   “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers. . ., will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Rom  8:38-39)   No matter what happens, it is within the boundaries of God’s love for us.  As we keep our eyes on this truth, NCFC will get through this time of turbulence victoriously and come out more sanctified and humbled, even more ready and equipped to fulfill His calling for NCFC, to make disciples of all nations!

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
April 7, 2013