Oakhurst Baptist Church ordained two new deacons this morning. I participated in the laying on of hands and blessing them. What I did and said was a little different than anything I’ve done and said before.

They were kneeling side by side. I came to Martha first, laid my hands on each side of her head, touched my head to the top of her head, and said, “May the God of Lanny and Melanie strengthen you and fill you with wisdom and goodness.” I repeated everything with Mark.

I had been thinking early in the morning about how the Bible speaks of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Hebrew people knew of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so to speak of their God meant something. I don’t think speaking of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means much to people today. They don’t know them.

At Oakhurst Baptist Church, Lanny Peters has been Pastor for about 30 years. Melanie Vaughn-West has been Pastor for maybe 10 years. People know Lanny and Melanie. They have heard Lanny and Melanie talk about God for years. So it made sense to me to speak of the God of Lanny and Melanie at Oakhurst.

The seeds of my speaking of the God of Lanny and Melanie were planted more than 30 years ago when I baptized a man in his late 20s while serving a little church in Alabama as their interim pastor. Several years later he came to visit me with his girlfriend who was 10 years older. They were in love and wanted to marry, but were afraid that God might curse their marriage because of the age difference.

They talked a bit about their fears, but none of it made sense to me. It was like they were talking about a God I didn’t recognize. So I said to them, “I don’t think my God would curse you because of your age difference.” The man then said, “Tell us about your God.”

I was struck by the contrast between their God and my God. They were too and wanted to know more about my God. So I told them about my God, a God of grace and mercy and kindness. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3). They liked my God better than their God.

By the way, I thought they made a good couple and performed their wedding ceremony a few months later.

I’ve never forgotten the strangeness of speaking about my God versus their God, but sometimes I think we need to become more personal in how we talk about God. And sometimes we know God in ways that others would dearly like to know God.

I wonder what you think.