Practicing Grace

It Was Hell Week

2012-02-10T23:14:00.000-05:00

That’s what they said when I walked up to the boot camp going on in the church parking lot on Tuesday night. “Welcome to hell week!”

“Perfect,” I thought, “I hadn’t been to one of these in a while, and I happen to pick hell week. This can’t be good.”

The workout lived up to its name. I thought my leg muscles would literally burst into flames. I still feel the after effects a few days later.

After an hour of hell, I went home for an ice pack and sent a text to the leader of the boot camp. I felt a little awkward thanking her for putting me through hell. She laughed and said she was aware of the irony of having “hell week” in a church parking lot.

I told her it wasn’t the first time (and probably wouldn’t be the last time) that someone caught hell at the church.

If you’re surprised by that, let me introduce you to Jesus’ words to the religious leaders in Matthew 23. Jesus is giving hell to the church leaders in this section of the Bible because they had an amazing way of keeping all of God’s rules while completely missing the point.

These church people had forgotten that the point of God’s law was to restore and reconcile people with God and one another. But they were using God’s law to exploit people, condemn people and shut people out of God’s community. This kind of thing made Jesus’ face turn red, his eyes bug out and the veins pop out the side of his neck.

Yeah, it wasn’t the lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, gay people or those who’ve had abortions that Jesus went off on. That’s something you might not know if all you had was the example of church people in the Bible and church people in the news today.

Contrary to popular belief, Jesus is interested in restoring people in community. He’s interested in including those who don’t feel included. He’s interested in everyone having a part in the redemptive story He is writing for the world.

Some will argue that a holy God demands that we draw the line between the sacred and the secular, the clean and the unclean, the holy and the common, heaven and hell.

That is true. But Jesus makes us rethink where that line is between the sacred and secular, clean and unclean, holy and common, heaven and hell. Jesus surprises us with where God is willing to go, who God is willing to touch and with whom God is willing to hang out. He is much more present on the margins and in hellish places than we might have suspected.

Jesus is far more than a “good example” for us to follow. Jesus is God reaching into the depths of hell to take us back to the place we were made to live. Jesus is God coming to us to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves – make us holy.

God, thank you for your grace. Keep us from missing the point, even if it means giving us hell in church.

How Can You Follow a God Like That?

2012-02-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

Jesus never gave people a list of things to believe about him. He didn't say, "Pray this prayer so you can be with me in heaven when you die." He didn't give us a list of principals by which to live our life. What he did say over and over to people was, "Follow me."

He didn't give people a lot of information about what following him would mean. In fact, it is obvious that most, if not all, of Jesus' first followers began that journey with assumptions and expectations that Jesus didn't meet. Jesus seems to be perfectly fine with the fact that we don't understand all there is to know about him when we start following him. He seems happy to teach us new things about himself and his mission "in route" - along the way.

I continue to be amazed at people today who hear Jesus say, "Follow me," and then have the nerve to do it. Though we preachers today try hard at it, we struggle to find a good marketing plan for “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” Or “Sell everything give it to the poor and follow me.” (Both things Jesus said). What kind of person “likes” that on Facebook (or anywhere else for that matter)?!

Jesus is demanding enough, but then you've got to put up with his other followers too. That's the thing that may be the hardest about following Jesus. Contrary to some bad advice from preachers, Jesus never intended us to follow him alone. Jesus may love us personally, but never intended for us to follow him privately. Yes, the greatest challenge might be learning how to live in communion with the other weirdoes who said "yes" to following Jesus too. It's hard to practice forgiveness, loving our enemies and serving others unless you're committed to a particular church for a while. Stay with the church long enough and Jesus will give you plenty of opportunities to forgive and be forgiven.

This week I met a man who told me he had been angry with God for three years because he had prayed for his mother to be healed of breast cancer and she was not. This left the man feeling abandoned and betrayed. God had not heard or answered his prayer, at least not the way he was hoping. In this man's mind this meant God is either mad at him for something, doesn't care or doesn’t' exist at all.

Later I recalled the words of a man in his 60's who had been following Jesus all his life. I remember him saying to a young man struggling with unanswered prayer. "Hey, I have followed Jesus for a lot longer than you, and I promise, you've only just begun to be offended by Jesus." While Jesus encourages us to ask for whatever we want in prayer, he won't be controlled by us as if he were a genie bound by our three best wishes (even if our wish is for the life of one we love). Jesus seems at the ready to shatter our preconcived ideas about who God is and how God ought to operate.

While listening to this man pour out his hurt and anger, I recalled the prayer that Jesus himself had memorized and prayed while he was being executed by the very people he came to love. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?" Psalm 22:1 Who makes up a God who prays like that?! A God who suffers?!

I found a strange sense of hope for this guy knowing that Jesus (God himself) had experienced some of his own feelings of abandonment. Interestingly, this same Psalm ends with these hopeful words that echo resurrection and restoration. "To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him." Psalm 22:29

Ah, maybe this sadness, confusion, anger, division and aloneness don't have the last word after all.

Could you follow a God with hope like that? Jesus is still calling, "Follow me."

Faith Steps

2012-01-26T14:12:00.004-05:00

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

This past December my father-in-law graciously had a garage built next to our cabin in western North Carolina. It looks like a barn, so Julia and I like to pretend we’re real country girls by referring to it as “the barn.” Julia of course wishes that we really could put horses in there but instead it houses an old truck, tools and a bunch of wood. There is a loft in “the barn” but instead of having the contractors build a staircase, David and his dad wanted to build it themselves.

“How are you going to build a staircase?” I asked. David answered, “one step at a time.” And that’s what they did. They put together the first step, then the next, then the next and so on. After some time there was a sturdy, good-looking staircase up to the loft.

Our challenge for the folks at Spring of Life this year is to ask yourselves, “What is your next step?” What is your next step in your journey with Christ? You can’t just take one or two steps on a staircase and reach your final destination. You have to keep taking one step at a time.

I love the quote above by Martin Luther King, Jr. reminding us that we’re called to take steps in our faith even when we’re not sure where we’re going or how it’s going to turn out. That’s the essence of having faith in God.

If you’re unsure about your next step in faith, here are a couple of tools that might help:

1. Sunday, February 5 (which is Superbowl Sunday for those of you that don’t have this marked on your calendars!) we will be asking folks at Spring of Life to “Get In the Game.” We will be highlighting different ways you can serve at Spring of Life. There will be people there to answer questions you might have about these opportunities to serve and help get you started.

2. Have you thought about the unique ways that God has gifted you to serve? If not, a helpful thing to do is to take a spiritual gift assessment. This is a simple tool to help you think about how God has gifted you, so that when you take your next step, it can be in an area that really interests you. Go to this link on the United Methodist Church website to learn more about spiritual gifts and take an assessment. It only takes a few minutes.

We look forward to journeying with you.

What's Your Next Step

2012-01-19T22:04:00.004-05:00

Charlie Brown is at bat and strikes out again. As he trudges back to the bench, he laments: “Rats! I’ll never be a big-league player. I just don’t have it! All my life I’ve dreamed of playing in the big leagues, but I know I’ll never make it.”

Lucy turns to console him: “Charlie Brown, you’re thinking too far ahead. What you need to do is set some more immediate goals.”

He looks up and asks, “Immediate goals?”

Lucy says, “Yes. Start with this next inning when you go out to pitch. See if you can walk out to the mound without falling down!”

Do you ever feel like that spiritually? Many of us wonder if we’ll ever be in the “big leagues” with our Christian faith. But it’s overwhelming to think that we might have to read the whole Bible or go to Africa or something way out of our comfort zone. So therefore we become spiritually stalled to even take a small step in our growing with God.

If you ever feel like you’re spiritually stalled, you’re not alone. Many people feel like this. Either they’ve gotten comfortable with where they are in their walk with Christ or they don’t know what their next step should be.

A complaint I hear about the church sometimes (the church in general, not specifically about Spring of Life) is that it isn’t challenging enough. The church just wants people to feel good about themselves, live happy lives, and doesn’t challenge people to act or think any differently than the rest of the world.

I hope at Spring of Life we are challenging you to get out of your spiritually-stalled-stage. Don’t be afraid to take the next step that you feel like the Holy Spirit is calling you to take. I was reminded this week in some reading that Jesus didn’t say “think about me for a while,” instead he said “follow me.” If you’re stuck in the thinking stage, take the next step in growing in God by taking some action to follow God. Be intentional. Spiritual growth is intentional, not automatic.

Have you ever looked at a mature believer and wished you could be like him or her? Wouldn’t it be great to know the Bible and know how to pray and be able to lead people to Christ and exhibit joy and peace and goodness and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and kindness and love? Most of us want instant growth, forgetting that what is behind a godly life is a person who has gone through struggles and trials. Spiritual development only comes through practicing spiritual disciplines like time in the Word, prayer, fellowship, sacrificing, giving, and serving.

There are two truths to balance as you ponder taking the next step.

God is committed to our growth. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” God is committed to our growth because He’s the one who planted us. Isaiah 60:21: “They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.” When we grow we show God’s splendor to others.

We must take responsibility for our growth. Check out 2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…” 1 Peter 2:2: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” Paul reminded his readers in 2 Corinthians 10:15 that when they grow, the scope of the gospel grows as well: “Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand.” And Paul applauded the Thessalonians for not being stalled spiritually in 2 Thessalonians 1:3: “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.”

It’s not all up to God and it’s not all up to us. God has designed it so that we work in partnership with God. Philippians 2:12-13 captures our part and God’s part very clearly: “…Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling [that’s our part] for it is God who works in you [that’s God’s part] to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

What’s your next step?

Remembering MLK

2012-01-16T09:43:00.000-05:00

I appreciate the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered as a national holiday. It is interesting to me that a nation who defines power in the way that we do would dare to set a day apart to let this man's voice be heard. There is hope for us yet.

This morning I read this excerpt from MLK's sermon on November 6 in Montgomery, Alabama and was challenged, amazed and encouraged to lead the church at least to take up this "most durable power" to fight ongoing injustice and oppression within and without. I've copied it here for you to read.

This excerpt is from a sermon King preached in Montgomery, Alabama on 6 November 1956, just seven days before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Alabama's bus segregation laws.

"The Most Durable Power"

Always be sure that you struggle with Christian methods and Christian weapons. Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.

In your struggle for justice, let your oppressor know that you are not attempting to defeat or humiliate him, or even to pay him back for injustices that he has heaped upon you. Let him know that you are merely seeking justice for him as well as yourself. Let him know that the festering sore of segregation debilitates the white man as well as the Negro. With this attitude you will be able to keep your struggle on high Christian standards.

Many persons will realize the urgency of seeking to eradicate the evil of segregation. There will be many Negroes who will devote their lives to the cause of freedom. There will be many white persons of good will and strong moral sensitivity who will dare to take a stand for justice. Honesty impels me to admit that such a stand will require willingness to suffer and sacrifice. So don't despaire if you are condemned and persecuted for righteousness' sake. Whenever you take a stand for truth and justice, you are liable to scorn. Often you will be called an impractical idealist or a dangerous radical. Sometimes it might mean going to jail. If such is the case you must honorably grace the jail with your presence. It might even mean physical death. But if physical death is the price that some must pay to free their children from a permanent life of psychological death, then nothing could be more Christian.

I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.

I still believe that love is the most durable power in the world. Over the centuries men have sought to discover the highest good. This has been the chief quest of ethical philosophy. This was one of the big questions of Greek philosophy. The Epicureans and the Stoics sought to answer it; Plato and Aristotle sought to answer it. What is the summum bonum of life? I think I have discovered the highest good. It is love. This principle stands at the center of the cosmos. As John says, "God is love." He who loves is a participant in the being of God. He who hates does not know God.

Taking the Next Step

2012-01-13T09:25:00.000-05:00

“What is the best thing that you could do for your family, friends, community, nation and world?” When I heard that question this week it made me stop and think. The fact is, most people don’t think about that stuff. We’re dealing with getting through the day to day – taking care of kids, trying to make some money, making the grade at school, dealing with crisis, looking forward to the weekend, whatever.

What is the best thing you could do for your family, friends, community, nation and world?

This answer is what you might expect from a preacher: Take the next step where God is leading you.

Seriously, when was the last time you sat down for 5 minutes and asked God to show you the next step He wants you to take? What if you did?

Some of you are thinking: “When was the last time I sat down for 5 minutes that I wasn’t driving, looking at my phone, eating or in the bathroom?”

In Jesus, we learn that God is interested in being involved in our lives – far more than we realize, and if we’re honest, maybe more than we really want.

God is relentless in His pursuit of us and foolish in his love for us. (See Luke 15).

God wants to include us in his mission to set this broken world right. (See Mark 1:16-20).

God has a way of getting what God wants in spite of hardheaded disciples. (See Mark 9:2-8)

God will direct your steps.

King David said, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.” Psalm 16:11

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:6

So, why not stop reading this blog and ask God: “What is the next step you have for me today?”

Figuring this out and pursuing it passionately is the best thing you could do for your family, friends, community, nation and world.

Happy New Year

2012-01-06T07:35:00.003-05:00

“Never clutch the past so tightly that it leaves your arms unable to embrace the present.”

On New Year’s Day we went out to dinner and as we sat waiting for our food David asked Julia and I what our goals for the New Year were. I hadn’t really thought about it. David talked about possible physical goals for the year (run another marathon, a triathlon), goals of spending more time with Julia (a regular father-daughter “date night”). Julia talked about just wanting to make it through the FCAT and finishing her fourth grade year. I thought about what my goals were…lose weight? Sure. Exercise more? Sure. But what I really want to do is to be more joyful.

So much of our lives are filled with anxiety. It is easy for me to think of things I am anxious about: taking care of my mother as she gets older, Julia growing up too fast, church finances (just to name a few!). And the world seems to run on anxiety. The busier we are the better. Where can we find joy in the midst of the chaos?

I have always relied on the idea that happiness comes and goes with changing circumstances. We can be “happy” one day because something good happened at work. The next day we can be “unhappy” because we had a bad day at work. Happiness comes and goes with circumstances. But real joy is found deep inside of us where the Holy Spirit resides. Fear and anxiety motivate us to put our faith and hope in resources other than the Holy Spirit. We have lost sight of our Lord in our anxious attempts to fix problems by our own efforts. Yes, we need hard work and creativity and conversation with one another in order to respond to the Spirit’s guidance, but we also need to always be praying, “Come, Holy Spirit, come.”

So how do I temper my sense of anxiety with true joy? I am resolving to begin each new day by praying for the Holy Spirit to remind me of God’s grace in my life. When we worship together this is a reminder to us that we are not alone. When we pray in our own quiet time it is a reminder that we are not alone, that the Holy Spirit is with us. As I enter 2012 I invite you to join me in letting go of the anxieties that we hold so tight and open our arms to the movement of God in our lives and the joy that is found in resting in the promises of God.

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize.” The Apostle Paul, Philippians 3: 13-14

Happy New Year!

2011-12-30T09:03:00.001-05:00

I’m just wondering...is there anyone reading this blog that is even a little disappointed that there are only a couple of days left in 2011? If you are one such person, I would love to hear from you to find out why. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think 2011 will be recorded in my memory as the Worst Year Ever. Rather, I am optimistically looking forward to 2012. Why, you ask? Because it is a NEW year.

We love and serve a God that is in the business of making all things new and with the arrival of 2012 He will be giving us a whole new block of time. Depending on your preferred measurement that’s either 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, or 31,536,000 seconds.

For me, 2012 is going to bring some rather dramatic changes. First, January 15th will mark the 5 year anniversary of the first Sunday I served Spring of Life as the Worship Music Leader. It is somewhat difficult to believe that I am entering my sixth year in ministry with and for some of the greatest people I have ever known.

February will bring our 10 year wedding anniversary...and what a decade it has been! I’m sure I don’t need to inform anyone of this, but Lenora is clearly the better half. To borrow a song lyric, of all the gifts God’s given there is none as precious to me as the treasure of my wife. (You didn’t know that underneath my gruff exterior lies a hopeless romantic, did you?)

Next will be the arrival of our third child in late April/early May. For those of you that may not have heard, she’s a girl! The minute she is born will be a life-changing moment, a moment that will be forever recorded in my memory.

Finally, 2012 will also represent the beginning of my final year of study at Asbury Theological Seminary. My seminary journey began in June 2009 and will conclude (hopefully) with graduation in May 2013. This means that I will also be seeking approval from the District Committee of Ordained Ministry (DCOM) to appear before the Board of Ordained Ministry (BOM), the next step on my path to ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. My time in seminary and candidacy has been by far the most transformative experience of my life. I am deeply grateful to all of you for the love, prayers, and support you have given me and my family.

So, these are just a few of the things I am looking forward to this year. What I am most looking forward to, however, is the common thread shared by these things. These are all God-given opportunities, invitations if you will, to become more fully who God created me to be. They are invitations to a deeper spiritual life. That may seem like a bit of an overstatement but it’s not. You see, these are all opportunities to continue learning how to be in the world without being of the world. In the words of Henri Nouwen, “the spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.” This means that my life in the world, as a minister of the gospel, as a husband, as a father, as a student, can and should point to Jesus. The roles I play may be separate in certain ways but they all share a common objective. In each, I need to set my heart on the kingdom, always striving to know God and make Him known.

This is what I’ve been contemplating as 2012 quickly approaches. However, “the spiritual life can be lived in as many ways as there are people.” In 2012, what will be your God-given opportunities to enter into a deeper spiritual life, to become more fully who God created you to be? Something worth thinking about...

Keeping Christmas in Perspective

2011-12-22T14:37:00.000-05:00

"Hey! I’ll see you on Christmas Eve!" a friend of mine said enthusiastically. You know I’m a “Chreaster,” she said. (That means she definitely attends worship on Christmas and Easter.) I said, “Great! I’ll see you there.”

On another occasion, someone asked me, “Which one is bigger for you? Christmas or Easter?” Well, if he had asked me that when I was growing up I would have said Christmas. A new bike, football, fishing pole and Easy Bake Oven beats hardboiled eggs and chocolate bunnies any day. But Jesus ruined all that for me as I got to know him better.

Turns out, Christmas isn’t the holy epicenter of the Christian faith after all. It’s just that our culture has figured out how to make money off Christmas better than any other Christian holy day.

Think about it. How come there aren’t Epiphany or Pentecost cards?

Epiphany (January 6) is actually an older holiday (“holy day”) than Christmas. This day focused on the “manifestation” or epiphany of God made flesh in Jesus. So it included remembrance of the birth of Jesus, the visit of the three Magi, and all of Jesus' childhood events, up to his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist. The Roman winter celebration called the festival of the unconquered sun (a pagan worship celebration of the sun god Sol Invictus) was established by Emperor Aurelian on December 25 in 274 AD and eventually Christians took this Roman pagan holiday hostage through reinterpretation. Since Christians believed that Jesus was the son of God, God incarnate and the one true “unconquered son,” it made since to celebrate his birth (instead of a pagan god) on December 25. And so, by the 4th century Christmas was officially on the Christian calendar in an attempt to resist Roman enculturation.

Pentecost is also older than Christmas because it has its roots in ancient Israel. It was a Jewish harvest celebration giving thanks for God providing food and more notably the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures called the Pentateuch. It happened to be during the festival of Pentecost just following Jesus’ resurrection that God poured out his spirit upon the church (see Acts 2) to give what otherwise would have been a bunch of clueless cowards the ability to proclaim the resurrected Jesus with power.
Consider this too. The earliest New Testament writings (Mark and the Letters of Paul) do not even mention Jesus’ birth. However, they all proclaim Jesus death and resurrection. That is because without the story of Easter there is no church, there is no hope and no Christmas.

Christmas is a special day for our faith, to be sure. But let’s keep it in perspective. Christmas is not the holy epicenter of the Christian faith (as stated in a recent Orlando Sentinel article). It has arguably become the epicenter of the retail economy in the United States. But if we’re looking for an epicenter of the Christian faith, we need to look at Jesus’ death and resurrection (Easter). Apart from Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, what we have in Christmas is a great story and an excuse to make money – nothing truly transformational.

So, Merry Christmas, but the best is yet to come!

Merry Messy Christmas

2011-12-16T16:36:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been over to a friend’s house to eat and the food just ain’t no good? I mean the macaroni’s soggy, the peas are mush and the chicken tastes like wood. (Sugar Hill Gang 1979)

Those words from the first rap song I ever heard still crack me up. It doesn’t matter if you’re the host or the guest, it’s a messy and awkward scene. Clearly things haven’t worked out like you planned.

Some of you are thinking, “That’s the story of my life these days. Things certainly haven’t worked out like I’ve planned.” Family relationships are a mess. My job/joblessness is a source of stress. And every time you turn around something reminds you of an aching loss. Not only is Christmas not going to be the merry that it was, it’s a mess that you’re hoping will be over soon.

Maybe this kind of disruption is just what you need in order to hear the story of Christmas with fresh ears and receive new hope and fresh faith.

We’ve done a good job of making Christmas a lot more glamorous and picture perfect than it actually was. The truth is that the first Christmas came in a context of darkness, uncertainty, fear, and confusion.

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury reminds us, “The story of the first Christmas is the story of a series of completely unplanned, messy events – a surprise pregnancy, an unexpected journey that’s got to be made, a complete muddle over the hotel accommodation when you get there . . . Not exactly a perfect holiday.”

If we spend time asking God for favors that will make our life easier, we’ve missed the point of following Jesus. Sure, no one likes the kind of mess and loss that seems magnified this time of the year. But God’s invitation is for us to enter His story – not a promise that He’ll make our stories less difficult.

It struck me so deeply this past Sunday in worship as we were listening to the story of Mary’s visit with her cousin Elizabeth found in Luke chapter 1. God invited both these women to enter His redemptive story to save the world. Both would be “blessed” by having sons who would die violent deaths because they were willing to say “Yes!” to God’s invitation.

Isn’t that interesting? Mary and Elizabeth didn’t have an easier life because they said yes to God’s proposal. Who knows, they may have suffered less or more if they had ignored God’s angel. But when they said, “Yes,” their mess, their uncertainty, their confusion got wrapped up in God’s great story of salvation for the world. Their mess became a source of hope because it was now co-opted by God! God has this amazing track record for taking messes we make and turning them into something surprisingly good.

Whether you follow Jesus or you follow your own best ideas about how to live, you are going to deal with a mess. I’m so glad God gives us the option and invitation to live in a mess that will one day be seen as good news of great joy.

As Rowan Williams signed off on a recent BBC radio program he said, “I’m never sure whether to wish anyone a peaceful Christmas, because it hardly ever is. But I can wish you joy in the midst of the mess, and every blessing from the God of ordinary, untidy, surprising things.”

Merry Messy Christmas and every blessing from the God of ordinary, untidy and surprising things.

Greek Yogurt and Jesus

2011-12-09T10:43:00.001-05:00

It is so good!

While visiting my sister’s house during Thanksgiving I looked in her refrigerator for something to eat for breakfast and I saw several packages of Chobani (Greek yogurt). I had never had that kind before. And when I asked if I could have one, my sister said, “Sure! Those are JD’s (my 3 year old nephew). He loves them.”

Wow, it is so good!

I bought some Chobani when I got home and one morning this week I started singing a song about Chobani. Goes like this, “Chobani, Chobani! Everybody loves Chobani!” I said to my daughter Julia, “You would like this yogurt. It is so delicious.” And I was spontaneously led to post this status on Facebook: “I just want to thank my nephew JD for putting me onto Chobani. What a delicious breakfast treat!”

God pointed something out to me in the middle of all this. It’s not hard to be an evangelist for something you love and is so good. You don’t have to work at telling others about something you love. You just do it. It’s not a chore to break out in song about something you love (even if it might be a little off key). When you love something that is so good, you invite people to try it not because you think they will go to hell if they don’t, but because you think their life would be blessed if they did.

The first time I told Julia about Chobani she looked at me with that “That’s nice dad, glad you like it, but no thanks” look. I didn’t berate her for not trying it. I just kept singing about it. It was a few days later when I was tasting another delicious spoonful and saying, “MMmmm!” that Juila said, “Ok! Can I have a Chobani?” Of course I said, “Yes! God gave Chobani for all people who wish to receive it as a gift!” (No, I didn’t really say that.) I just cracked one open, stirred it up, handed it to her and said, “You’re going to love this.”

It seems weird, but God put this thought in my head, “Don’t you think Jesus is at least as good (if not better) than Chobani?”

Yes. Good in a way that a root canal is good. Good in a way that learning math is good. Good in a way that a belly laugh with friends is good. Good in a way that seeds planted, grow into fruit and vegetables is good. Good in a way that sharing a meal with your enemies is good. Good in a way that saying, “I’m sorry” is good. Good in a way that resurrection from the dead is good.

“Yes, God. Jesus is far more disturbingly, interestingly, surprisingly good than Chobani.”

We’re going to sing, say, "MMmmm," fill the communion cup this Sunday at Spring of Life and have a party because of Jesus. I’ve invited some friends. How about you?

It is so good!

Unwrapping Christmas Hope

2011-12-02T10:32:00.000-05:00

It’s hard not to think about Christmas in economic terms.

When extra money is tight or non-existent we think, “I don’t know if Christmas will be the same this year or if we’ll have it at all.” When we work retail and our livelihood depends on sales we think, “Christmas is going to put us in the black!” When we are a kid and we see ads for toys, gadgets and stuff all over the place we think, “I wonder if I’ll get what I want this year?” When we hear about homeless, unemployed or underemployed families we think, “I’d like to help them have a Christmas this year.” When we are the pastor of a church and giving hasn’t recovered from the “summer slump” we think, “Christmas will help us make up some ground financially so we can keep doing ministry at our current levels.”

I pray that God helps us unwrap Christmas from its bondage to money so we might discover its real hope.

God gives an answer to this prayer and it’s called the season of Advent. Advent begins four weeks before Christmas, but should not be confused with a countdown for how many shopping days are left until Christmas.

Instead, Advent is a season to reflect on the mystery of a God who chose to make himself known to the world as a homeless child in an obscure village in the middle east called Nazareth. A season to be “awake and watchful” for the ways God continues to reveal himself today in equally surprising ways. And a season to live in anticipation of a future we have glimpsed in the resurrected Jesus, but is yet unfulfilled until He returns in final victory.

Advent begs for space where we can be quiet and contemplative, giving us eyes to see the presence of God all around us in unexpected places. But it never fails that all the additional clamor of this season makes it easy to ignore Advent's begging for this extra space.

So my question is this: Does the redemptive work of God in this world stop because we’re too wrapped up in other things to notice it? Does our clamor, confusion and idolatry tie God’s hands behind his back, hold Him hostage and render seasons like Advent a slave to the almighty dollar? (Ok, two questions).

No, even our attempt to rid the world of God by hanging him on a cross didn’t work. John’s gospel reminds us that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it (1:5).

But as my friend and colleague Rev. Jan Richardson puts it so eloquently, “This blessing wants our company.” (See Blessing for Waking).

The whole purpose of God’s mission to enter the world through Jesus is about God’s longing for our company. His love for people who are so bent on not only ignoring him, but killing him is baffling.

All this is proof that hope is not dead. It doesn’t depend on us, but it does relentlessly pursue us to share company with us.

This week I read an article about the United Methodist Church that Jerry Sandusky (former Penn State coach accused of child molestation) has been a member and active participant in for the last 30 years. I was struck by the words this church has printed on a card that is given out to all their first time worship guests. “Do you know that God’s love can and does achieve great things, even amid the turmoil of today’s world?”

Advent is the space for unwrapping that kind of Christmas hope. It doesn’t quit if we ignore it, or even try and kill it, but it isn’t satisfied until we join its company and share its surprising joy.

Two recommendations for you during this Advent season:
1. Jan Richardson’s blog www.adventdoor.com and her ebook “Through the Advent Door.”
2. Mike Slaughter’s book, “Christmas is Not Your Birthday.”

Thanks and Wishes

2011-11-25T12:54:00.007-05:00

It’s the time of year for Giving Thanks, but also a time of Wishing. This is the first year I have realized how interesting it is that these two seasons (that now seem to land on top of each other) – compliment and also oppose each other.

I think this all became more real for me this week as I taught kids about the 10th commandment; one I admittedly struggle with. Depending on how you want to interpret it – it basically states – be content with what you have and don’t want what your neighbor has. What a lesson for this time of year when we all can come up with a million things to be thankful for and also a million things for our wish list.

It’s easy to start with the things I am thankful for. Most importantly: a wonderful marriage that has survived a few stressful events over the past 10 years, 3 healthy, wonderful children, and dependable friends and family who are always there when I need someone to lean on.

But as I go deeper into my thanks list – my wishes list starts to creep up.

My Thanks and Wishes when I think about my Kelly:

I am SOOO very thankful that she is a healthy little girl who had the fight in her to beat an infection and cancer 4 years ago.
My Wish for her is that she continues to be that healthy girl and will continue to fight against whatever threatens to bring her down.

I am SOOO very thankful that I have a long list of specialists in my phone that are one phone call away, but that we only see once or twice a year at this point.
My Wish is that together those specialists and I can continue to work together to do everything we can to maintain Kelly’s health.

I am SOOOO very thankful that we have jobs and medical insurance that helps us pay for all those specialists and the procedures that make sure we are doing everything we can to keep her healthy.
My Wish for my Kelly is that someone, somewhere (and I don’t do politics) will fix the healthcare system so that medical insurance and medical bills do not dictate Kelly’s choices in life.

I am SOOOO very thankful for St. Jude, Dr. Davidoff, and all the staff there who truly changed the course of Kelly’s (and our) life.
My Wish is that St. Jude will continue to receive the support they need to continue to change children’s lives and find cures for cancer.

I am SOOOO very thankful that Kelly is in Kindergarten, on schedule with her peers, and not receiving special services at this time.
My Wish is for her to feel successful and proud of herself. Life in general is challenging for Kelly and truthfully she struggles just to keep up. I hope that she finds something she enjoys and succeeds at, so she can have the confidence a girl needs to carry her far in life.

Of course my thanks and my wishes for my older two children are unique to each of them, but primarily I am soo very thankful for the unique talents that God has blessed them with and my wishes for them are that they use those gifts to grow into amazing, gracious, and caring individuals.

I guess as we get older people stop asking us for our “wish list” and some adults turn their “wish lists” into “bucket lists.” As some members of my extended family are off around the world, crossing things off their “bucket lists” someone asked me what’s on my “bucket list”. At this point, I have one item on that list.

Chris and I are working on getting 3 kids successfully through school and hopefully college.

Then – maybe 15 years from now – we may just add some things to that list. And you know what – for me – that is a great “bucket list” to have.
Sure, some days I want what my neighbor has, but then I realize and give thanks for what I do have and I am okay with my 1 item “bucket list”.

But when it comes to my 3 children, I will continue to have a million “wishes” for them.

Praying in this season of thanks and wishes that you find more things to be thankful for and that your wishes come true!

Successful Failure

2011-11-18T22:11:00.000-05:00

I've decided I need to be more successful at embracing the "F" word. For that matter I encourage you to embrace the "F" word too. Go ahead. You can say it: "Failure." There, don't you feel better already?!

A couple of weeks ago I read an article that suggested the church fails when we fail to teach people how to fail well. It was this line that caught my attention: "Christians need leaders - and institutions - to train us in how to fail."

Train people in how to fail? Admit it. That's liberating! If there's one thing most of us really think we are good at, it is failure.

To be sure, none of us want to be good at the "F" word, but we seem to come by it naturally. We don't even need to practice. And yet, to some extent we are all fearful of failure.

In a recent article on the "F" word, Kathleen Parker observed that our obsession with success and our fear of failure has trickled down to ever-younger humans, our children, at great cost . . . . We're so afraid our kids won't measure up that we drive them crazy with overbooked schedules and expectations, and then create a sense of entitlement by insisting on assigning blame elsewhere when their performance is lackluster.

Why are we so afraid for our kids to fail? Why are we so afraid to fail ourselves?

When the church becomes yet another place where demands are made . . . When we drive people crazy with burdens too heavy to bear and people get the subtle message that they are not good enough, we are no different from the rest of the world.

So how can the church be the church? Train people in how to fail. Teach people to be successful failures.

The church is uniquely equipped to offer ways for people to fail well. Look at Jesus to begin with. He died a miserable failure. He died in poverty, misunderstood, deserted by his closest friends, falsely accused, and mocked. These are hardly qualities that successful leaders aspire to. But what did Jesus do with the reality of his failure? He said, "Into Thy hands I commit my spirit." Our failure too often drives us from God and one another because of guilt or shame. But Jesus teaches us to resist that double failure by drawing near to God.

A reality of failure is a real confusion about what to do next. When we fail we often head back to old habits whether they are good or bad. The dejected and guilt ridden disciples went back to their life of fishing after Jesus' death. The good news is that when we don't have a clue, Jesus pursues us. Remember the Bible says that we didn't choose God, God chose us.

While our failure often scares us off into hiding, our failure doesn't put God off. God comes after us in ways that are shocking - like that father in the prodigal son story. We just as soon let that young man get what he deserves than pull out the party poppers like his father did. But that's what God does with our failure. No finger wagging and shame laced speeches, God comes after us with his embrace.

This brings me to the ultimate "F" word: Forgiveness. The father forgave his successful failure of a son. And Jesus says to all who fail him, "Forgive them for they know not what they do." Embrace forgiveness and you can embrace failure as a reality of our human condition. Embrace forgiveness and you can embrace your limits. Embrace forgiveness and you become a successful failure.

Go ahead and do it! Embrace the "F" word.

Marine Corps Marathon Reflections

2011-10-29T22:02:00.000-04:00

Made it through training without significant injury. Have shin splints in left leg and maybe the beginning of stress fracture. But I can still run.

I am at this point because of a community of people who have made it possible to train and run the race. I want to list as many as I can think of here.

Hailey Collins patiently endured the ups and downs of battling rhabdomyosarcoma - beating it once and never stopping the hope for healing. Even when she finished breathing on June 5, all who love her claimed the victory of her belonging to the risen savior. Death has lost its power and sting through Him who keeps us all close to his heart until we rise from the dead like Him in his New Creation. This training and race is to remember Hailey and the resurrection hope with which she lived, died and yet lives in God's New Creation.

My wife Carolyn without whom would not have had the luxury of training. Her support and that of my daughter Julia cannot be measured. What a gift!

Jim and Craig for encouraging me to swim in the lake on Sunday afternoons and hooking me up with Hammer products for recovery. I may never beat you out of the water but I'm faster and stronger for the opportunity to chase you.

Coach Beth with tri team vortex at the YMCA who helped me navigate more than one critical point during training when I may otherwise have lost heart or gotten injured.

Mark for inviting me to suffer through some awesome P90X style workouts with devotions at the YMCA.

Lauren for writing up a great strength training program to keep me going where Mark left off.

Matt for selling me that "cheap" bike, allowing me to do my first triathlon without extreme embarrassment riding my schwinn cruiser.

Paul who agreed to sign up for this thing back in February and run his first marathon with me. We made it through the hard part, now we get to run 26.2 with 30,000 other people through our nation's capitol having raised $2,000 for a great cause.

In our culture the ordinary is overlooked and long term commitments are undervalued. If we aren't being entertained then we are bored. But some of the most valuable and meaningful things in life could be considered mundane and require strength and commitment to endure. Giving care to someone with with long term illness, staying married through difficult losses, you name it. There are times when we wonder if we are capable of sustaining a life of faithfulness for the long haul. And the truth I've learned in 15 years of ministry and training for endurance events is that no one can do this alone. God clearly loves us personally, but He never intended us to live privately. The truth is that even when you think you are running alone there is a community who has made your running possible and a community who is strengthened by your participation in it. It's a beautiful thing. A glimpse of how God made us.

As Paul and I run this race on sunday, I will be hundreds of miles from the community where I live and worship. Hailey isn't around for us to touch and hug anymore either. But because of the way God made us for community, no matter where I am, I share a connection that transcends physical presence. Thanks be to God for this gift.

This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. (2 Timothy 4:7 MSG)

Beginning to Process Grief

2011-06-06T21:58:00.001-04:00

In the face of the death of someone we love, particularly the death of a child, we can expect to feel a range of emotions such as sadness, confusion, anger, disbelief, and numbness. While we all face similar feelings, each person's grief response is as unique as we are. The following are ways that both you and your family can take some positive steps in the face of loss.

Go to the memorial service. The service we will be having for Hailey on Saturday will be intentionally kid friendly. There will be a special message just for the kids, lots of music and some practical ways to find hope in the face of loss. It will be a great way to remember Hailey, celebrate her life, and receive resources to provide comfort and hope in the face of loss.
Light a candle to remember and share memories and feelings. (Hailey loved lighting the candles at the beginning of worship services at Spring of Life to remind us that God – the Light of the World – is with us now through the presence of the Holy Spirit.)
Sad isn't bad. Being sad is normal. We're sad because we love and have a real loss.
Draw a picture or write a letter to Hailey sharing your feelings and memories. We have a booklet called "Remembering my Someone Special" at Spring of Life that you can drop by and pick up. It is a helpful tool for talking to your kids who are 6-12 years of age. We've got another resource for younger kids as well. We will also be creating a scrapbook of pictures, drawings, letters, etc that we will bind and give to the Collins to keep to remember Hailey. You can bring your contribution to the scrapbook by the church anytime.
Make a memory box that you can put things in that remind you of Hailey.
Write a prayer that includes your feelings – sad, mad, glad, scared. It's ok to tell God exactly how you feel. The writers of the book of Psalms did it all the time.
Participate in raising funds for Hailey's Hopes and Hugs Foundation
Allow yourself to have fun and laugh when the time comes. You don't need to feel guilty because the first person who would have joined in the fun and laughter was Hailey.

There are some important life lessons that we can learn through this time. There are some well-meaning things that we might think are helpful but really are not. Here are some of those things:

Saying, "She's in a better place so we shouldn't be sad." Really, by faith we believe that Hailey is not hurting anymore and that she is with God in a new way that none of us really understand. But our loss is still very real and being sad is a natural feeling God gives us to deal with losing someone we love.
Saying, "God must have needed her more than we did." Or "God must have needed another angel in heaven." Really, God didn't cause Hailey to die. Cancer did. God didn't give Hailey cancer. We aren't sure how she got it. It is just one of those things that happens that we don't understand. Our faith teaches us that one day we will rise from the dead like Jesus when he comes again in final victory. We will have new resurrection bodies that will never die. All this is a gift from God through Jesus. It is God's will that we be healed and well which not only means personally feeling well, but also being in community with one another. This is why God makes such a big deal about forgiveness. That is the way God heals community. God will find ways to take this horrible loss and use it for his purposes, just like God took the horrible death of Jesus on the cross and used it for his purpose to bring new life to the world.

If you don't really know what to say then that's ok. In the face of Job's great loss the best thing his friends did was sit with him and weep without saying a word for seven days (See Job 2:11-13). It was when they opened their mouth that things went south. If you are looking for something to say, then say how you feel rather than trying to say something clever. It's always good to say "I love you." Or share about a memory of Hailey that you will always remember. But remember that it is your presence and friendship that will mean the most at this time.

A Lament in the Context of Enduring Faith

2011-06-04T10:49:00.003-04:00

Nicolas Wolterstorff's son died when he was 22 and he writes about his grief and loss in the book, "Lament for a Son." Wolterstorff writes this, "I must explore The Lament as a mode for my address to God. Psalm 42 is a lament in the context of a faith that endures. Lament and trust are in tension, like wood and string in a bow."
When a child dies, it is an unspeakable loss for a parent. There are no answers to our questions, "Why them and not me? Why a child when there is so much life unlived? Why would God watch them die and do nothing? Why would God watch us suffer such loss?"
Still more unspeakable a loss is to say, "There must be no God since my questions have no answers." Perhaps the faith we once had will never be the same. But like a tree whose leaves turn in the fall, drop in the winter and bud again in the spring, our faith can be born anew – similar in shape, but altogether new, different, changed by time, age, death and life.
In the midst of our own loss, we might find ourselves drawn to others who have walked this path ahead of us. I want to quiz them like I would someone who is exiting a frightening roller coaster. "You survived?! What was it like? If you made it, do you think I'd make it?"
The Bible is filled with the witness of those exiting the roller coaster and making their way by the Spirit of God onto the next one which carries yet untold adventure. The words are a tension of lament and trust.
I couldn't imagine walking the path of lament in any other context than enduring faith. Maybe it isn't always "my" faith. Sometimes it is the faith of others - others who believe and trust when I can't, like the church and Jesus himself.
A quote from mother Teresa that has helped me pray through the years comes to mind: "When times come when we can't pray, it is very simple: if Jesus is in my heart, let Him pray, let Him talk to His Father in the silence of my heart. Since I cannot speak, He will speak; since I cannot pray, He will pray."
The writer of Psalm 42 says, "My tears have been my food day and night. I remember," he says, "how it was when joy was still my lot, how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Now it's different. I am downcast, disturbed. Yet I find that faith is not dead. So I say to myself, 'Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.' But then my grief returns and again I lament to God my Rock: 'Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? Again faith replies: Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."
Wolterstorff reflects on this Psalm: "Back and forth, lament and faith, faith and lament, each fastened to the other."
A lament in the context of faith that endures. Through a veil of tears we can say, "Thanks be to God."

Better Ways to Be a Fool

2011-05-20T16:10:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday I preached a sermon on the church's understanding of Jesus' coming again to judge the living and the dead. In many ways it was a response to the group of Christians who have been publicizing that they have pinpointed Jesus return to judge the world this Saturday, May 21 at 6:00 p.m.

As I explain in the sermon last week, the Bible does say Jesus will return, but it also says we don't know when. Everyone who has predicted a day and time of Jesus' return in the past has ended up wrong and looking like a fool. In some ways this reminds me of old wounds from Junior High School. I don't like looking like a fool. And whether I like it or not, I'm guilty by association. If, Jesus hasn't appeared by 6:01 p.m. on Saturday, then once again followers of Jesus come off looking naive, paranoid, manipulative, untrustworthy and well . . . foolish.

Of course it shouldn't take long for followers of Jesus to realize that looking like a fool comes with the territory. The apostle Paul knew as much when he said to the church in Corinth: "We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles."

If I'm going to be a fool for Christ, I want to be a fool for better reasons than claiming to know something only God knows. Or for burning someone else's holy book. Or for proclaiming God's hatred for people because of their lifestyle. The world sees all those things as foolish (because they are), but I think there are better reasons for Christians to be a fool.

Why not let's be fools for loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. Let's be fools by resisting the "me first," consumer culture by living within our means and giving generously to others. Let's be fools by refusing to participate in gossip at work. Let's be fools for refusing to look at porn. Let's be fools by not having sex before we get married and then when we do only with our spouse. Let's be fools by using vacation time to serve the poor, widowed, orphaned and strangers in our land. Let's be fools by choosing to do the work God calls us to rather than what might make us more money or make a name for ourselves. Let's be fools by speaking the truth in love.

Yes, being a fool goes with the territory, but let's be fools for Jesus sake.

When the Sermon Doesn’t Seem Like it’s for You.

2011-04-15T23:09:00.002-04:00

I got to brag about my church this week. I meet with a group of other clergy guys about three times a year for a couple of days. We call it our "covenant group." There are six of us who all serve different United Methodist Churches in Florida. We've been getting together like this for 13 years. My friendship with these guys will be one of the reasons I'll make it to retirement in the ministry (if I should be so blessed to live that long). They inspire me. They make me laugh. They keep me honest. They hold me accountable to be who God called me to be.

This week they listened to me brag about how 60 people in my church made 6 very significant commitments for living in financial peace for a lifetime. Those commitments are:

Acknowledge daily that 100% of my resources belong to God.
Assign every dollar a name – to spend it on paper and on purpose first (in other words live on a budget).
Eliminate debt and live debt-free.
Train my children to handle money God's way.
Save and Invest.
Give a tithe.

SIXTY people made a commitment to God that they would do all six of those things. SIXTY PEOPLE! The average congregation of 180 adults in North America has about 6 people who do all those things.

I also got to brag that 59 people worked for the last 90 days to reduce their consumer debt by nearly $281,000 and saved $92,000. And I got to brag that my church has begun 8 new ministries in our community since the end of last year. And 30 couples renewed their wedding vows in worship a few weeks back. For some of those couples that was the first time they had made marriage vows with God at the center.

I am so proud of the hard work that my church has done to get to this point!

But it also occurred to me that there are several people in my church who probably wondered how any of these recent sermons had anything to do with them. After all, we've got several single people at Spring of Life and we've got a few folks who had been living these 6 commitments to financial peace for a long time.

I honestly wouldn't have blamed them if they took the last three and a half months off from worship. In our culture we are formed to think about "what we're going to get out of it?" Or "what's in it for me?" And if we aren't going to "get anything out of it" then we consider it a waste of time and do something else.

Why on earth would anyone keep coming to worship and sit through three and a half months of sermons that really didn't directly address their issues? I think because they understand that coming to worship is as much about forming a community as it is about inspiring individuals.

The Apostle Paul spoke a lot about the church as "the Body of Christ." He said that we are all like different part of Jesus' body (fingers, toes, eyes, ears, hands, feet, arms, legs). While the hands are working and growing, the body still needs the rest of its parts to function well.

During these past three and a half months some body parts were working harder than others, but all their hard work was, in a significant way, made possible by those who quietly surrounded them with prayer, support and encouraging presence.

I know that there are times when I come to worship where I don't sing. I just listen to the voices of all those who are around me singing the songs of our faith. They don't realize it but their voices are carrying and lifting me higher than I would have been if I had just been there by myself in private devotion.

So I want to brag like Paul bragged about the people in his church when he said, "I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now." Philippians 1:3-5

Whether you realize it or not – whether the sermons touched you or not – God has been using you to form a community that is stronger today than we were 90 days ago! Thanks for coming to worship.

The Barrenness of a Busy Life

2011-02-25T09:23:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine started a new job recently. It was a promotion and took him in the direction of things he was passionate about and skilled to handle. And in an economy like this one where any job elicits gratitude, having one you enjoy too is like heaven. But now two months into it, the increased hours and energy are beginning to take their toll. He said, “I’m not sure how much longer I can keep up this pace!”

This morning a mother of four told me she was so busy with just one of her sons she was overwhelmed. He’s a talented athlete and is involved in sports at school and works out starting at 6:00 a.m. and gets to bed late every night. She said, “I’m not sure how I can keep up this schedule.”

All of us have 168 hours in a week. And in a culture where we have been used to getting loans or using credit to spend tomorrow’s dollars today, we have imagined that we can also spend next week’s hours this week. Living like this will suck the life out of us.

My third grade daughter recently learned about something called “Opportunity Cost” in her class at school. “Opportunity Cost” is an economic term that means if you spend money on one thing, you won’t be able to spend it on something else. What it comes down to is priorities.

You can’t do everything you want to do with your 168 hours. So what is it that God wants you to do? What is it that you need to say no to in order to say yes to God’s priorities?

If we don’t budget our time like we budget our money, we will go into debt. We will get sick. We will not have the life God intended for us.

What is it that you need to say no to in order to say yes to what God wants you to do?

Patiently Enduring

2011-02-14T13:16:00.001-05:00

If you haven’t wanted to give up, you are either dead or haven’t lived long enough.

We aren’t that far from the days when we set hopeful (dare I say) realistic resolutions for the new year. We set goals to be more healthy by eating protein, veggies, fewer carbs and sugar. We set goals to exercise by training for a 5k, joining a friend at the gym once a week or going for a walk around the block 3 times a week. We set goals to change our unhealthy financial management practices by taking Financial Peace University. We set a goal to improve our spiritual health by worshipping every Sunday unless we are sick or out of town. We decide to live more simply and spend more time with our family.

Those are all good goals. And if you live long enough you will want to give up on them all at some point. Any number of things will happen to cause you to want to give up. You will lose your job. A family member will become ill. You will get injured. You will move. You will wonder if there is a God. Your spouse will announce that they want a divorce. You will have a baby. Daylight savings will end. You will lose your driver’s license. You (fill in the blank!).

Disappointment, unexpected circumstances, attacks from the forces of evil, life happening . . . however you put it. These things threaten our patient endurance. These things conspire to make us seasonal Christians – following Jesus when it’s easy or convenient.

But the Bible doesn’t know what a seasonal Christian is. There’s no such thing as a part-time Christian. And if we are full-time, then we must learn how to patiently endure the times when it would be easy for us to give up.

In every marathon, runners go through a bad stretch. Everyone, from the pros to the beginners, experiences it. Kara Goucher, pro marathon runner who ran her first in New York, said she couldn’t believe how painful the last 10k of the marathon was. She said, “I kept looking for a place to bail out, but the crowds were so deep and cheering so loudly that I couldn’t find a place to quit.”

I love that story because it is an image of how God dreams the church to work. During the stretches where we find it painfully difficult to patiently endure any longer, we find that the road is lined with witnesses who are so deep and cheering so loudly that we have a hard time finding a place to quit.

The Apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the Corinthian Churches:

“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.” 2Corinthians 4:16 (The Message)

I pray that you experience the power of God’s unfolding grace to patiently endure today. God is making all things new!

Momentum Killers

2011-02-10T22:47:00.002-05:00

What are the threats to living the life God created you for? What is it that threatens to kill any God-given momentum you may have?

How many times have you made a commitment to live a God-honoring life and a few short weeks or even days later you found the fire fading?

You said, "I'm all in." You prayed that prayer that John Wesley covenant prayer: "Lord, make me what you will. I put myself fully into your hands: put me to doing, put me to suffering, let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and with a willing heart give it all to your pleasure and disposal. Amen."

And then life happens. You met with crisis, hurt, unmet expectations. The life of faith didn't seem to hold all the adventure that the preacher promised. All your momentum seems headed in the wrong direction.

These moments can be a time to leave or a time to learn.

Perhaps our first defense against momentum killers is to remember that following Jesus is for the long-haul. As Eugene Peterson put it in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, "We are obsessed with the immediate."

We are much more interested in quick fixes than long-term commitments. Rarely do you find someone who works the same job or lives in the same house for 30 or 40 years. More rare these days is to find a couple who has been married for 30 or 40 or more years. It's hard for us to imagine focusing on one thing that long. Too mundane! Too boring! Can't focus for more than 10 seconds on anything!

I think we will be very sad at the end of our days if we say, "I did so many things that I did nothing."

I'm not suggesting that God wants us to live boring , mundane lives. I am suggesting that we'll never know the real joy God has in store for us if we are unwilling to persevere through very difficult, sometimes mundane times in our walk of faith.

A second defense against momentum killers is developed by perseverance in a life of faith. In a word, it's forgiveness. At some point in your relationships you will get hurt and you will have a choice - harbor hatred and bitterness or forgive. Not choosing to forgive will kill any positive momentum in your life.

Forgiveness is not a feeling you get that makes everything alright. Forgiveness is not forgetting about the pain that was caused you. Forgiveness does not mean you trust someone who is not trustworthy. Forgiveness is a choice not to get even. Forgiveness is a choice not to hold the harm caused you against the person. It's a choice not to keep bringing it up in conversations. Forgiveness is a choice to love when love is not deserved or earned. Forgiveness is what God has done for you when you didn't earn it.

Forgiveness will kill momentum killers! It is one of the most powerful weapons God has given His people in the fight against evil, injustice and oppression. It will set you free. It is a primary ingredient to learning to live the "long obedience in the same direction."

Becoming Who God Made You to Be

2011-01-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

Building positive momentum takes time. Think of the momentum behind a freight train versus a sports car. The sports car can get going faster, but it doesn’t have the momentum of a freight train going the same speed. Once the train gets going 60 miles per hour, it’s going to take a lot to stop it. That’s how good momentum works. It takes a while to cultivate, and isn’t easily stopped.

The momentum that God began when he re-created the world through the resurrection of Jesus was a long time coming, and it isn’t easily stopped. In fact, the Bible tells us that God’s redemptive momentum through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is unstoppable. (See Romans 8:38-39 for that promise!)

God's out recruiting every human being to join up with His story of unstoppable redemptive momentum. God wants everybody to be a part of his work to set this world right, to restore broken relationships, to disarm evil with self-giving love and find our life by giving it away. God has been pursuing us from the beginning of time and longs for us to share in his redemptive story for the world.

It is a special moment when we wake up to this reality of God’s work in the world and get that text message invitation to follow Jesus. It’s not an invitation for perfect people. It's for all people – even the ones you think don’t deserve it. Yep, you! Have you gotten that text message from God yet?

Following Jesus and joining God’s story of unstoppable redemptive momentum is an amazing adventure. It is really about living life in the fullest possible way. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.”

If you are tired of living life afraid, angry, lonely, and only for your own goals, there is another way. God made you for a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control (those are the fruit of God's Spirit. See Galatians 5:22)

Can you have this life over-night? Perhaps. Who are we to limit what God can do. But ordinarily long held bad habits take a while to become good habits. Don't let relapse or struggle cause you to lose heart or give up the work of replacing bad habits with good ones. Put the bad habits behind you and ask God for his power to help you keep becoming who God created you to be.

Keep showing up for worship. Keep reading the Bible. Keep asking God to show you His will. Keep building relationships with others who want to follow Jesus. Keep looking for ways to honor God with your body, your mind, your work and your time with your spouse and kids. Keep sowing the good habits that you know will produce the fruit of God's Spirit in your life. Keep on becoming who God created you to be!

Don't give up! And know without a doubt, God has not given up on you.

King-Sized Hope

2011-01-17T09:11:00.000-05:00

On Monday mornings I meet at Sweet Mama’s restaurant with a group for a Bible study. This morning the Book of Revelation and the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. collieded. It was awesome.

As you study the book of Revelation, the word hope rises over and over again. The book, with all its strange imagery, is really a book of hope. It was written to give hope to Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith during the latter first century Roman Empire. Despite some popular theology, the book is not a coded time-table for the end of the world. While Revelation has its share of symbolism or code, its main concern is giving hope to God’s people today.

This world is created by and for God’s purposes. God created all things and called them good. But evil lies close at hand and seeks to destroy God’s good creation. There is injustice. There is exploitation. Those with power don’t always use it in God-honoring ways. How does a good and almighty God resist this evil and restore creation to its intended purpose?

Answer: The King of Kings becomes the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus confronts and destroys the ultimate power of evil through his suffering, death and resurrection from the dead. The original King-Sized Hope is born!

Because of this King-Sized Hope, all people who hope in Jesus can have this assurance:

“They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:16-17

This King-Sized Hope was the foundation of all Martin Luther King’s dreams. He didn’t just think that non-violent love was the most powerful weapon to resist every form of evil. He knew it to be true because Jesus had already revealed it to be so through his death and resurrection.

It is clear that MLK’s King-Sized Hope is deeply rooted in the hope of the King of Kings. Read this last paragraph of Martin Luther King’s last sermon, preached the day before he was killed.

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

Maybe you aren’t facing death for your faith today. But if you’re following Jesus, you probably have some form of evil that you are up against. It might be evil from within or without. But it’s evil nonetheless. You may be tempted to give up. You may be tempted to hate. You may be tempted follow lesser gods. You may think evil has won. And you’d be wrong.

We have a King-Sized Hope – the only truly unstoppable momentum the world has ever known.

Building Momentum: Walking Daily with Jesus

2011-01-13T12:48:00.000-05:00

This week Spring of Life United Methodist Church launched an initiative to build momentum in the area of personal finance. It's not an effort to get people to give more money to the church. Even though I think giving money to the church is a fine idea, that's not what this initiative is about.

I'm convinced that our practices of managing money are a deeply spiritual issue. I preached on that issue this past Sunday. I believe that most people really want to give to the people and causes that are important to them. I believe that most people would like to be free to do the work that they love and be generous. I believe that most people would like to have less stress when it comes to finances. And I believe that all of that is possible to accomplish.

There are some basic money management principles (mostly followed by our grandparents and great grandparents) that we can learn about and follow to help us accomplish this. Dave Ramsey teaches these things well in the 13-week Financial Peace University Course. And our church is offering that course right now to anyone who would like to attend. The course materials are $80 but don't let that be a reason not to attend. We have schoarship help for those who need it. Check out our course days and times here.

With that said, basic money management principles are not everything you need to build the momentum God wants you to have. The only true way to financial peace (and any other kind of peace) is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace. Really, having finacial peace is only one aspect of becoming the whole person that God created us to be.

The weekly devotions on this blog will help you to get to know Jesus and build momentum in your relationship with God.

If you’ve never considered putting God first in your marriage, in your work, in your finances, in everything - here is the invitation to give that a try. God doesn’t promise to make our life work out like we want, but he does promise to surprise us with His healing grace. And he promises that over-time our lives will begin to bear the fruit of His Spirit – Love, Joy , Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control.

While initially these devotions will focus more on the area of financial discipleship, you will see that this area affects everything else – our friendships, our job, our marriage, our prayer life, worship life, even our physical health. Perhaps this is one reason why over 800 verses in the Bible reference personal finance. Perhaps it is why Jesus talked more about money and giving than anything else.

God’s guidance, the Financial Peace University course and your willing spirit are an amazing combination for helping you make some changes and build some positive momentum in the area of personal finance.

Take a look at these short stories from people who have begun to feel the momentum. Feel free to share your own experience on this blog.

Practicing Limits

2010-10-22T14:58:00.001-04:00

"God's divine Power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." 2 Peter 1:3

We live in a culture that is in denial of limits. In all likelihood we would not be in a recession if we had practiced limits financially. Easy credit made it easy for us to spend an average of $1.22 for every dollar we made. Today over 70% of us live paycheck to paycheck. And many of us know someone or have ourselves experienced the crisis of that no limit life-style when our job is downsized or terminated.

But our culture denies limits in other ways too. We are obsessed with finding ways to do more in less time. I suppose a big reason for this is related to our lack of limits financially. I'll confess to being enamored with everybody else over the latest electronic devices and social media. They are entertaining and do help make simple communication quicker. But without limits, these gadgets turn the lost art of listening, intimacy and being into something entirely extinct. Doing more in less time may be a value of our culture, but I'm not sure it's a value of the Kingdom of God.

During the last month as my father in law approached the end of his life, it occurred to me that I do not like the reality that our life has limits. While none of us want to see those we love go through prolonged pain, a part of us also wishes for a longer limit on life. I think the intense commitment that our culture has made to find a cure for cancer is an expression of this desire to extend our limits in life. I know that my father in law lived longer because of the cancer treatments he received. I am grateful for that! But I can also tell you that I am equally grateful for the day that he made the decision to limit any more treatment so that he could practice those lost arts of listening, intimacy and being with the time he had left. A life in denial of limits is no life at all. I think he knew that.

I am extremely grateful for the grace of a Church that resists a culture that lives in denial of limits. I don't mean to imply that people in the Church don't struggle with denial of limits. I just mean that I'm grateful for a Church that gives us help practicing limits through things like Sabbath, accountable friendships, worship of the triune God, devotional Bible reading, just to name a few.

At the end of my days, whether that's today, tomorrow or many days from now, I want to be able to say with the writer of 2 Peter, "I have everything I need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called me by His own glory and goodness." I have everything I need, no matter what is left on my "to do list."

I need to keep practicing limits so I'll be able to do that. How about you?

Body and Soul Medicine: Reflection on the Developing Lake Nona Medical City

2010-09-30T22:30:00.004-04:00

[I wrote following post a year ago. After attending the "Healthy Community Symposium" at the Lake Nona YMCA this evening I decided to share it.]

I believe the church offers a critical but sometimes overlooked contribution to the story of Lake Nona's developing medical city in Orlando, Florida. The church won't be the engine that fires up new jobs in the medical city, but it must be the conscience of the science. Good work isn't good just because it produces financial wealth for a community. Good work must reflect the work of God, who is actively working to restore justice, relationships, and wholeness to all creation.

The long-term success of any city cannot be based solely on employment rates and profit margins. Success must be rooted in a larger story. The church's job is to remind people of that story.

God has done some amazing things with dirt. He made us for one thing! God gave us an inventive spirit, a desire for justice, and a longing for a healthy world. Remembering all this helps our lives and cities take on an attitude of gratitude, joy and humility.

God knows that we are prone to be impressed with our own sense of self-importance and consequently sabotage community. God knows that we too quickly resent what others have and ignore what we've been given. God knows we will forget that we are the creatures and He is the Creator. God knows we are predisposed to use our power destructively rather than constructively. And God knows His power is all that is capable of restoring all that is broken.

The church is that community of people who are called to be living proof of God's power to restore bodies and souls. To put it bluntly, Christians are really screwed up people who trust a gracious God to help us love our enemies, put others first yet treat our bodies like God's temple, attend to the suffering and restore dignity to the ignored. This is the body and soul medicine that Jesus makes possible through his resurrection from the dead and the power of the Holy Spirit. Though spiritual, this is a real world, earthy calling.

I am reminded of a prayer that Jesus taught his disciples: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If the church is doing its job, then it should be making a difference on this earth. Because of the church, things here ought to be looking more like God intends them to be. This is the larger story in which this medical city (and every city) can find its true success.

We know there will be more jobs and more money generated (2,900 between the VA and Nemours by 2012), but how will this economic vigor contribute to the reconciliation of people and communities? How will it inspire people to care for the earth? How will it include the overlooked and the ignored in places of honor?

I'm glad to hear the church raising these kind of questions at community symposiums, coffee shops, board meetings, ball games and dinner tables. They are questions that point us toward Jesus' kind of of body and soul medicine. They are questions that will lead toward the kind of healthy community God longs for his creation.

The medical city at Lake Nona will bring new jobs and a much-needed economic boost to Central Florida. Its long-term success, however, will depend on how rooted it will be in God's hope to bring body and soul medicine to a broken world.

For the sake of healthy community, keep asking good questions church!

A Dream for the Team

2010-09-17T15:29:00.001-04:00

Every year around this time, football teams across the country take the field for their first games. They all start the season with goals and hopes for success. The long hours of physical training, eating well, and team practices will now be put to use in the game.

I was talking to a football player today and he said the average play lasts about 5 or 6 seconds. And the average player might be part of 40 plays in a game. That's a total of about 4 minutes of intense action per game. And it's usually only about 3 or 4 plays per game that become Big Highlight Plays.

The thing that keeps coming back to me about those 3 or 4 Big Highlight Plays per game is this:
The Big Highlight Plays wouldn't be possible without the regular, routine, repetitious, sometimes boring habits that take hours every day.

No coach worth his sweat would imagine their players being ready for the Big Play without the regular, routine, repetitious and rigorous habits of football practice.

This has wonderful parallels for the Christian life.
It is the regular, routine, repetitious, sometimes boring habits that prepare us for the few Big Plays in our life.

I spoke with a man in our church whose family is facing a "Big Play" right now – unexpected costs to treat a family member's illness. The costs are not just financial. They are emotional, spiritual and even physical costs involved in this "Big Play."

Going through this "Big Play" will be difficult and challenging for this family. That's the nature of Big Plays. But this family is not unprepared for the challenge.

I've known this family for 8 years now, and they have practiced spiritual, financial and physical discipleship regularly, routinely, repetitiously and rigorously.

They worship regularly.
They have taken Disciple Bible study and other small group studies to grow in their faith.
They served God through mission trips, community outreach, VBS, building the church building etc.
They ordered their life in a way that they were able to give a tithe (10 percent) of their income to the church.
They have no debt except for their house mortgage.
They saved an emergency fund.

So this man tells me that he wishes he knew how this "Big Play" was going to turn out, but that their faith and the support of their church family would be more important than ever for them now. He said, "I don't want to do this but we are going to have to stop tithing 10% of our income to the church during this season of treatment. But the good news is that we are not going to go into debt. We're going to be ok."

This man and his family are spiritually, financially and physically ready for this "Big Play" that has come their way.

I dream of a church full of people who are willing to practice discipleship regularly, routinely, repetitiously and rigorously so that they are ready for the "Big Play" that comes their way and extend needed help when they see other families facing their own "Big Play."

That's my dream for the team!

Lesson from Rwanda: Imagining a Different Future

2010-07-17T15:53:00.003-04:00

"When they had done this they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break." Luke 5:6

As I listened to the story of John Damascene today I wondered how this 17 year old boy's life could ever be different. He never knew his dad and his mother died when he was eight. Since then he has lived with an uncle who abused him until the uncle died. Then John worked every day to try and feed himself and his two sisters Ruth and Jan.

When John joined up with a working group of other orphans through Zoe Ministry he was given training in farming in order to cultivate a small plot of land that his family owned, and he was given some rabbits to begin a small business selling them to make money to support his family. He was so hungry that he missed meetings with his working group to cultivate his land and all but one of his rabbits died. John continued collecting grass for a neighbor's cow in order to get a little food to eat for himself and his sisters.

How could John Damascene imagine a different future than the one he was currently living?

It is a question many have asked about their own circumstances. The disciples who had fished all night and caught nothing couldn't imagine going back out in the same waters and catching fish. But Jesus apparently could imagine it for them. Jesus said, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

They did this without much expectation and were surprised by hope!

We share the question with John Damascene and the disciples. How can we imagine a future other than the one we are currently living?

Maybe we aren't worried about when our next meal will come from, but maybe we are worried about what life will be like after a loved one dies.

Maybe we wonder if we will ever know anything other than sadness after our divorce.

Maybe we wonder if our world will ever know a time without war.

Maybe we wonder what life will be like after foreclosure, bankruptcy, oil spills, cancer, hurricanes, economic crisis and job loss.

Is God at all a part of that future for you? If you want to have the capacity to imagine a different future from the reality you are currently living then God must be involved.

After hearing John Damascene's story someone asked, "Is there anything that Zoe Ministry can do for him?"

The answer began as 25 other orphans in John's working group showed up and joined him that day weeding his garden and helping him gather grass for his neighbor's cow as a show of support and hope that a different future wasn't all that far away.

Lesson from Rwanda: Bang For the Buck

2010-07-16T15:34:00.002-04:00

I tend to be cheap. Some of you know that. Other words I'd use to describe myself are thrifty and glad to make a good deal. I also know that God has created me and all people to be good stewards of God's things. This is one reason I am drawn to this ministry of empowering orphans in Africa that Zoe Ministry is doing. Doing the most good with the resources God has given to us seems to me to be a faithful act.

There are many orphans and vulnerable children in the world. And followers of the risen Christ are rightly concerned for them since Jesus tells us that as you have done it unto the least of these my children you have done it unto me.

Now you could adopt an orphan for $20 a month for 18 years or so. That would be $4320 to help feed, clothe, and teach an orphan child. Say you decided to do that for 80 orphan children. That would be $345,600. But if you adopt the sharing hope empowerment method that Zoe Ministry is using then you would help those same 80 orphans with $18,000 over three years because at the end of three years the children are equipped to provide food for themselves, have reliable income, provide for their own shelter and have the dignity that comes from not only providing for their family but giving generously to help empower other orphaned children.

This is the principle of empowerment and multiplication and generosity. It has great "bang for the buck!" But because it is rooted in the gospel of Jesus it also has a tremendous bang for the kingdom of God.

Now the empowered orphan children of Africa are challenging me to think about how I am doing this (or not) in my daily activity.

Lesson from Rwanda: Empowerment

2010-07-14T06:49:00.002-04:00

Empowerment. I like how that word sounds. But I have little understanding about how to do it. My time in Rwanda is allowing me the opportunity to witness empowerment in action.

Maybe you've heard the saying: "Give a person a fish and they will eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and they will eat for a lifetime." This is empowerment.

It is a step (or two) further than most of us go in our service to God. I know that is true in my life. It is easier for me to give somebody who is hungry a fish (or money). I feel good about myself when I do that. And there is nothing wrong with that, by the way. However, God invites us to get a little more involved. God gave us the best example of this involvement when He became flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus Christ.

God entered into the messiness of our lives to show us how to live with self-giving love. He said as much to the disciples after having washed their feet - modeling a life of self-giving love. Jesus said, "I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done for you." Jesus empowered his disciples to serve like him.

Imagine if you can that you are orphaned because your parents died of AIDS or they were killed by genocide. You are stigmatized and isolated from your community and treated like garbage to be thrown away. You have no home and no one wants to take you in. You don't know how to prepare or cook food. So you either steal food from someone's garden or you work for someone who exploits you by paying you very little. This is the typical life of an orphan child in Rwanda before they get involved with Zoe Ministry (www.zoeministry.org).

Today we met Burnadette who is 15 years old. On top of experiencing all of those things above, she was born with a medical condition so her bowels were not working properly. She smelled really bad. Not even her family wanted to be around her and she wanted to die.

Was Burnadette hopeless? So it might seem.

But a working group of orphans was being put together by Zoe Ministry in Burnadette's villiage. She began to realize she was not the only one who felt like she did. Through help from Zoe Ministry she was able to get medical treatment to repair her bowels so that she wouldn't smell anymore. Through the help and support of other orphans in her working group, she was able to learn to farm and breed rabbits to provide food and income for her and her sisters and brother.

Today while we were meeting and talking with Burnadette a group of 30 members of her family group were busy at work putting up a fence around her home and building a small kitchen garden by her house. Next week Burnadette will go to the home of someone else in her working group to help them too.

Burnadette has been empowered. She has been given dignity. She has been given hope. She is becoming the person God has created her to be - passing on to others what had been given to her.

With this empowerment model of ministry with orphans, the ratio of paid Zoe Staff to orphans is about 1:900. This is because the orphans are caring for one another. And when they graduate from the 2 to 3 year program they are then sponsoring new working groups of orphans themselves - passing on to others what they have received.

I wonder who you are empowering?
Are you just a disciple? Or are you a disciple maker?
Are you just doing good things for other people or are you teaching others to do good things?

The children of Rwanda have challenged me with these things.

Seeing God's Kingdom in Rwanda Africa

2010-07-13T09:03:00.002-04:00

I have the privilege of spending this week in Butare, Rwanda Africa with Zoe Ministry (www.zoeministry.org) whose purpose is to share God's hope with AIDS orphans through the ministry of empowerment. Many good ministries to AIDS orphans offer aid/relief through financial gifts, but what happens when the giver of that aid quits? Often the orphans are left in the same place that they began - poor, hungry, isolated.

I'm learning about a new model for ministry to orphans in Africa that is so simple, but seems so revolutionary. It's basis is in the concept of empowerment and is deeply rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Rather than a traditional orphanage model, this ministry finds orphans and vulnerable children in villiages and groups them together in what they call "working groups." These working groups might be 20 to 25 families (around 60-75 children altogether). At the beginning of what is often a two to three year process the working group is "coached" by a indiginous social worker who helps them decide on leadership and goals for their group.

Often the first goals are "food security" and finding "income generating projects" that will help the children who are currently eating once every 3 to 4 days to start eating once a day. Indeed in a period of a month or two the group goes from being sick, hungry and homeless to eating food that they grow and purchase from money they make through selling food they grow. What the Zoe Ministry gives them is the support and tools the orphans need to do this work for themselves.

What we've seen are children who were once homeless, hungry and isolated now with the dignity that comes with providing for themselves and others who are in the same spot they are.

One really cool story happened today. After members of three different working groups finished sharing with us some of their stories they expressed their thanks to us by singing and processing toward us with several bags of vegetables full of things they had grown. They said, "Because of all that you have given to us we want to bless you with a portion of what we have been given." Keep in mind that these children are now eating once a day and they are giving us enough food that would likely feed them for a week! We received the food with humble and grateful hearts knowing at that moment they were giving us far more than we could ever give to them.

It was the extravagant generosity of the Kingdom of God embodied right before our eyes!

I can't wait to be able to share more pictures, video and stories upon our return. Thank you for your prayers for Lonnie, Kathy, myself and the rest of our team as we travel. And thank you also for your prayers for the orphans and workers with Zoe Ministry in Rwanda!

Holy Week

2010-03-31T17:17:00.002-04:00

It's Holy Week and here in Orlando even the pine trees know it.

The Shape of Things to Come

2010-03-26T13:30:00.001-04:00

We've been doing a message series in our church's worship services on The Lord's Prayer. Praying "Thy Kingdom Come" is a prayer that will change us. It is clear from reading just a little of what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God that he is talking about a way of life that is different from what we're used to in this world. Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor in his day, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." John 18:36

Author, Donald Kraybill puts his finger on how different the Kingdom of God is in his book entitled, The Upside-Down Kingdom. He suggests that the kingdom of God points to an inverted way of life that contrasts with the established social order. In this inverted kingdom, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, the exalted will be humbled and the humbled will be exalted, sinners are forgiven and welcomed while the self-righteous are punished, the poor are blessed and the rich are condemned, the lost are found and the dead are brought back to life, the lion lays down with the lamb and spears are beaten into pruning hooks.

So even while the Kingdom of God is not of this world it is not "other-worldly." In other words, this isn't a reality that we will only experience after we die. Jesus also teaches his disciples to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What type of matter the new creation, the new Jerusalem, the kingdom of God will take is yet to be determined, but ever since the resurrected Jesus ate fish with his disciples on the beach and Thomas touched the risen savior's nail scarred hands and pierced side, Christians have anticipated a kingdom of God that involves bodies and earth rather than ghost-like spirits and clouds. Any type of disembodied notion of the kingdom of God was condemned by the early church as a heresy called "Gnosticism."

So when we pray "Thy Kingdom Come" we are speaking of the shape of things to come on earth as it is in heaven. Indeed, Christians are called to live into the Kingdom of God right now. After all, Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news" Mark 1:15. That means we should be seeing glimpses of the Kingdom of God on earth all around us. Those glimpses may seem small or insignificant (such as a mustard seed, Matthew 13:31-32) but Jesus insists they are the shape of things to come.

This week a member of my church dropped off her daughter for preschool and she was driving a different car than usual. Turns out she had rented this one while her car was in the shop for some repairs. She came in after the drop off and shared with me that her 3 year old daughter had been exploring all the compartments in this rental car and found a bag of bullets. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I have no idea what to do with a bag of bullets? I've got no use for them. What am I supposed to do?"

Reflecting later on that conversation it occurred to me that her reaction to this bag of bullets was a glimpse of the inverted way of life in God's Kingdom. According to the Biblical prophets who speak of turning spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3), we are all headed in the direction of the day when we find a bag of bullets and shrug our shoulders. We will simply have no use for them in God's Kingdom.

What ways are you seeing glimpses of the Kingdom of God coming on earth that reveal the shape of things to come?

Changed By Pain

2010-03-05T11:30:00.002-05:00

Recognizing the necessity for suffering I have tried to make of it a virtue. If only to save myself from bitterness, I have attempted to see my personal ordeals as an opportunity to transform myself and heal the people . . . . I have lived these last few years with the conviction that unearned suffering is redemptive. Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope, p. 41

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1

This week it occurred to me that the transforming work of God happens in our lives when we aren't comfortable. Perhaps you've noticed that times when you have felt most uncomfortable, least self-sufficient, and even powerless, you have been most open to change and trust in God.

One of my sisters in Christ moved away this week to be with her daughter in Tennessee. I met her 13 years ago at Church. Over the years she grew to know God's love and saving grace through worship and studying the scripture. She had good friends and a supportive family. She was happy.

But God must have been messing with her because not long after I met her she made a decision to do something pretty uncomfortable. She became an advocate for homeless families in central Florida and went out recruiting other pastors and churches to form what would become the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Central Florida (a network of churches to help homeless families find dignity, get employment and back into a home).

What makes her decision even more surprising is that she was a retired nurse and had never stood in front of pastors and churches to make speeches before. That was really hard for her, made her really uncomfortable. But as it turns out, she wasn't the first person to ever find in her personal ordeals an opportunity to transform herself and heal the people.

Apparently this is the way God has chosen to transform the world . . . through a cross. God's desire isn't to serve us as a kind of divine genie who grants our wishes if we're good enough. God looks at us in love and longs to make us new. God sees for us a new reality which we aren't capable of seeing apart from sharing in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is what leads Christians to say things like this:

But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:13

It took a long time for the Interfaith Hospitality Network to gain momentum and get started. There were days when it looked like it might not happen. But even if it hadn't, Shirley was being changed, deepening her trust of God and concern for the poor. Her discomfort had revealed God's glory.

In what ways might God be using your discomfort or inviting you into it in order to transform you?

How have you noticed the way God uses discomfort to bring transformation?

Keeping Time

2009-11-19T10:40:00.001-05:00

In his book, Everyday Matters, Dr. L. Gregory Jones wrote an essay titled, “HallowThanksMas.” It caught my attention today as we find ourselves right in the middle of “HallowThanksMas.” Dr. Jones writes, “HallowThanksMas is that season that starts the last week of October and extends until Christmas Day. Retailers have Christmas decorations up in mid-October, and then the materialistic press to buy more and more sets in. Throughout this season, adults become frenetic, anxious and – all too often – depressed.”

Well, in my family growing up, I remember enjoying this time of year. For Halloween we would make homemade costumes, usually coordinated with my sisters. We’d walk the neighborhood with my dad, collecting some candy and “trick or treat for UNICEF.” Leading up to Thanksgiving we would revisit the history of “The Pilgrims.” It always seemed pretty cool when the boats pulled up on the shores of Plymouth Rock the Native Americans (I knew them as Indians) were thrilled and shared a big meal together with these strange new people from another world. Seemed to me like the first “pot luck” dinner. Then around that time we would flip through the pages of the Sears Roebuck “Wish Book.” It was full of awesome toys, and my sisters and I would make our lists of wishes for Christmas.

Into the middle of this time of year I would hear another story. It was a story told by my church and it included an evergreen wreath with five candles. I learned at that it was called an Advent Wreath. The best I recall, this Advent Wreath was like a countdown to Jesus birthday. I could not wait until we lit the big white candle in the middle so I could finally open my Christmas presents! Jesus’ birthday was awesome because I got toys.

I liked “HallowThanksMas” as a kid. But as I grew older I began to feel less thrilled with this season. For some reason I’d get through it and feel more hollow than holy, more tense than thankful, and I started to wonder if Jesus was really pleased with His own birthday.

Over the years, I have responded to this discontentment with “HallowThanksMas” by choosing to keep time using the Advent Wreath. As I’ve become more serious about observing Advent I was surprised to learn that it is far more than a countdown to Jesus’ birthday. Advent is a helpful practice for resisting all the things I don’t like about “HallowThanksMas.” Advent teaches us patience, the gift of waiting. It morphs self-gratification into self-giving. It opens up new hope for the world’s future by pondering the past. It invites us to marvel at the wisdom of a God who would choose to restore the world through a child. Advent surprises us with the joy of knowing that our ways are not God’s ways, and the grace to know that God’s way will prevail.

The gift of keeping time with Advent has the capacity to transform “HallowThanksMas.” I don’t suspect it will return us to the way we thought about it as children (if those happen to be good memories for you). I do believe it will make us more holy, thankful and full of wonder. If that sounds like something you’d like, then I encourage you to use Advent to keep time starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Attend worship during this season if you don’t already and try using an Advent Devotional book during the week. We are using this one produced by Zoe Ministry in my church.

Blessed Advent!

Exploitation and Nurture - Earth Day Thoughts

2009-04-20T13:43:00.003-04:00

I've begun to discover for myself someone who has been around much longer than me. No, not Jesus, although that applies. I'm talking about Wendell Berry, author from Kentucky. He's one of those people I'd heard quoted at various times over the years and so I recently decided to read a collection of his essays in a book called "The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry."

Berry is a man of faith who understands that the salvation God has brought the world in Jesus Christ is far more than the promise of a trip to heaven when we die. This kind of "soul disconnected from a body promise of eternal bliss" is pretty much the kind of salvation that I grew up expecting out of my faith in Jesus. That, plus doing good the best you can in this life because God loves you, is what I'd say being a Christian is all about.

Berry is one of those people whose writing is re-framing the way I understand God's saving work in Jesus Christ. His work is helping me to see how God's salvation involves reconnecting people to one another and the creation God made good. He sheds new light on Paul's declaration in 2Corinthians 5:17 "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"

In his essay, "The Unsettling of America" Berry writes about the difference between "exploitation and nurture." Reading about those two things makes me imagine the "old" which is passing away and the "new" which Christ has and continues to bring about. I think this goes way beyond "Life might suck now but it will all be well after we die and escape this God-forsaken earth." It is a hope that makes my heart beat faster. In many ways, it is why I continue to be a follower of Jesus and have reason to say everyday ought to be "Earth Day."

Here is an excerpt from that essay by Wendell Berry:
"Let me outline as briefly as i can what seem to me the characteristics of these opposite kinds of mind [exploitation and nurture]. I conceive a strip miner to be a model exploiter, and as a model nurturer I take the old-fashioned idea or ideal of a farmer. The exploiter is a specialist, an expert; the nurturer is not. The standard of the exploiter is efficiency; the standard of the nurturer is care. The exploiter's goal is money, profit; the nurturer's goal is health - his land's health, his own, his family's, his community's, his country's. Whereas the exploiter asks of a piece of land only how much and how quickly it can be made to produce, the nurturer asks a question that is much more complex and difficult: What is its carrying capacity? (That is: How much can be taken from it without diminishing it? What can it produce dependably for an indefinate time?) the exploiter wishes to earn as much as possible by as little work as possible; the nurturer expects, certainly, to have a decent living wage from his work, but his characteristic wish is to work as well as possible. The competence of the exploiter is in organization; that of the nurturer is in order - a human order, that is, that accommodates itself both to other order and to mystery. The exploiter typically serves an institution or organization; the nurturer serves land, household, community, place. The exploiter thinks in terms of numbers, quantities, 'hard facts'; the nurturer in terms of character, condition, quality, kind."

I recognize the exploiter in the mirror and ask God to save me from this old self.

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

2009-01-13T17:10:00.002-05:00

On January 19 we are invited to remember and celebrate the life and witness of a brother in Christ - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and is an easily quotable man. As I was looking for a particular quote from him today I ran across many others that inspired me or made me think more deeply. I share them here with you in remembrance and celebration.

Great Quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

A riot is the language of the unheard.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

God's Future in the Present

2008-12-31T10:29:00.002-05:00

I preached a series of sermons at my church during Advent 2008 entitled "God's Future in the Present." The focus of the series was on the church's mission to embody God's future reign made visible in Christ right here and now. My friend and college, Rev. Steve Price, wrote an inspired poem that he shared with his church, Harvest United Methodist Church, on Sunday December 21. I thought this poem captured the heart of what I was trying to say during those 4 weeks of sermons. He gave me permission to share it here.

“Springing Up”
by Steven M. PriceAdvent 2008

Beneath life’s crushing load, he sits
by the side of the road.
No one notices
but let me tell you who this is.

Man broken, to whom words are rarely spoken.
Had the house, the car, the kids, the wife.
All the pieces of what they call
the good life, but then. . .downsized.

No longer in the game.
Credit sinking in his name.
He couldn’t stand the shame.
Couldn’t stand. . .could not stand.

So he drank himself into this state.
No friends, no family left to participate
in his life, his story.
Does anyone care about his fate?

She had no chance.
Some are quick to criticize.
Say that she should realize
she can’t afford to feed those three.
But they don’t know. Can’t see
the way she had to go.

Daddy’s a dealer, dead when she was two.
Momma sold herself just to make it through.
Uneducated, she longs to be liberated,
but how? Up at daybreak, her heart aches
as she walks out the door, knowing
for an hour more her babies will be alone.

School bus comes long after she’s gone
to work--seven to three, then five to eleven,
just to be able to put food on the table
and pay the rent on a place
where nights are dangerously spent.

Some days she wonders if they’d be better
off with someone else. But memory runs deep.
And this one promise she WILL keep.
She will not abandon, will not let them go.
So they will know. . .so they will know
what she never knew. They are loved.

Images flood the screen.
Pictures we’ve all seen.
Children starving, mosquitoes swarming,
bellies distended. . .some are offended
that we have to look at this in the middle of our tv bliss.

But. . .there is no ER where they live,
and they have no Law and Order in their land.
And no one, it seems, will come to give
them an Extreme Home Makeover.

Quick. Change the channel. Find another show.
‘Cause I don’t want to know, don’t want to see
how much they hurt, ‘cause if it touches me. . .
I’d have to change.

People oppressed, lives distressed.
They struggle, they grope—they see no hope.
O dark night, where is the LIGHT
that will come. Come for them. Come for us.

Yahweh cries out, “ENOUGH!”
I am coming. I am coming. I am coming.
I. . .see your shame.
I. . .feel your hurt.
I. . .touch your sadness.
I. . .know your pain.

And I WILL heal. WILL feed. WILL free. WILL clothe.
WILL comfort. WILL serve. WILL save. WILL love.
You.

And Jesus comes. Emmanuel.
God with us. God with skin.
How can this be? He is our kin.
Joy of heaven come down to earth,
clothed in flesh he validates our worth.
Your worth. My worth. Their worth.

He rescues them. He restores them.
He raises them. He renews them.
And they know. They are loved.

Before he goes he turns to us and says, “Don’t forget. . .”
He knows that we are weak and yet
he says, “You.”

Open up your ears and listen.
May it be on earth as it is in heaven.

As it is. Not maybe. Not will be. Not could be.
Not someday. Not possibly. Not later. Not tomorrow.
Now. Now is the time to end the sorrow.

So you. Yes, you.
Now you must care. Now you must go.
You must show the love they need to know.

Bind up the broken hearted, he says. Continue the work I started.
This is the greatest story—your life revealing God’s glory.

No more wandering. No more waiting.
No time for pondering. No hesitating.

NOW.

This is the day. Mercy pouring.
This is the day. Justice soaring.
This is the day. Righteousness springing.
This is the day. Angels singing.
Because You. I. We.
Have seen. Have heard. Have known. Have learned.
And we will follow.

Come. Let us walk in life.

Good News or Bad News?

2008-12-12T14:42:00.005-05:00

"Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying, "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation." Luke 2:28-30

"When King Herod heard this [about Jesus' birth], he was frightened, and all Jersualem with him." Matthew 2:3

Have you ever noticed that “good news” is relative? Birth announcements are like that. It was such good news when my sister and her husband announced to us that they were expecting a baby boy who was born on December 1. But there was mixed emotion when my friend in high school announced that she was pregnant. She and her boyfriend had gone too far.

The "good news" of Jesus' birth was relative too.

For Simeon, the news of Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of a lifetime of longing. The news of Jesus’ birth was so good for Simeon that he basically says, “Now I can die a happy man!” The one thing he had been waiting for most in life had occurred in the birth of Jesus.

On the other hand we have King Herod, perhaps one of those that Simeon had in mind when he said, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.” Matthew says that when Herod heard that the “king of the Jews” had been born “he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him.”

What makes the “good news” of Jesus so joyful for some and so terrifying for others?
One reason is power.

Those with power, who like the world the way it is, can find Jesus threatening. Those with no power, whose lives are marked by a longing for justice, often find Jesus the source of all they hope for.

In spite of the way preachers today sometimes spin Jesus, he did not come to earth in order to help make people’s lives better. Sure, many lives have been made whole by Jesus. What I mean is that Jesus did not come to earth in order to help people achieve their personal dreams. Jesus isn't our personal genie. Jesus did not come to earth in order to help people realize their best life now. Jesus came in order to bring God’s Kingdom and set the world in alignment with the rule of God in the world. Jesus work might better be described as rescuing people from the destruction which comes as we persue our own dreams rather than God's dreams.

As a result, those who enjoy life pretty well right now because of their place of power or privilege might struggle to understand Jesus as “good news.” Herod is a case in point, but so am I and a lot of my friends who have grown up in a place of privilege and power.

I am aware of the fact that I live a life where I have often had the privilege and power to call the shots. People pay attention to me. People listen to me. People will often assume I’m in charge instead of others. I have never wondered where my next meal would come from. As a kid I never wondered IF I could be employed when I grew up. It was only a matter of whatever I made my mind up to do. I never wondered IF I could go to college or graduate school or even be the president of the United States.

What is disturbing to me is that people like me in the Bible are the ones who are more threatened by Jesus than joyful [see Herod, the Pharisees and the Rich Young Ruler]. It is strange but true. By virtue of my place in life it is more difficult for me to pay attention to Jesus; listen to Jesus; trust that Jesus is in charge; depend on Jesus for bread; look to Jesus for employment; and seek Jesus’ direction about education and vocation. I just have so many other attractive options than Jesus.

What we find in Simeon is an invitation to remember where true power and privilege lay. Power lies in a manger. Power is revealed in all it's glory on a cross. And the power to transform people like me and Herod is found ultimately in the resurrection of Jesus.

That is not just good news for Simeon. That's good news for everybody.

The Gift of God's Presence in an Irish Pub

2008-12-03T18:01:00.004-05:00

I attended a conference on preaching recently. The conference was full of listening and learning about preaching that connects with people in our community. We were given a lot to think about and do. And at the end of a long day we had a free evening to do whatever we wanted. I wanted to catch up with Roy, a good friend at the conference who I only get to see about three times a year. We looked for a nearby restaurant to go hang out and get a bite to eat. The only place we found was a nearby Irish Pub.

Of the two of us, Roy looks much more like a regular at pubs. He is the most tattooed United Methodist pastor that I know and sports long hair with a goatee . In spite of being at the preaching conference I wasn’t interested in “connecting with my community” or being a “detective for divinity” in the pub that night. I just wanted to relax and enjoy some time catching up with my friend. I guess I can blame this on my tattooed, long-haired, goateed, Duke University-Tshirt-wearing friend, but somehow we attracted the attention of three lawyers at the pub. It was then that God surprised us with a gift.

The conversation started out innocently enough. One lawyer asked, “What year did you graduate from Duke? Do you remember when Duke played Carolina in basketball that year?” And then another asked, “What did you study?” We said, “We went to the Divinity School. We’re United Methodist Pastors.” I thought that would be the end of our conversation, but it only seemed to intrigue them more.

The edited version of their next question was, “Why in the world do you do what you do?” The question was genuine, and before I knew it Roy and I were sitting in an Irish Pub sharing with three lawyers about how God had moved us to order our lives around Jesus Christ and his will.

One of the guys, Bob, seemed particularly intrigued with our stories and reflected on his own life saying, “Faith is not a part of my life at all right now. I’d like it to be, but I’m not even sure how to do that or even what that would mean.” Among other things Bob shared about how he had lost faith in the church with all its rules and hypocrisy, but still had a longing to live in a way that made this world a better place.

As our conversation continued I kept thinking, “Wow! I didn’t see this coming.” God was present in that Irish pub – a holy moment in such an unsuspecting place. Feels like the first Christmas!

There were no Christmas songs playing. Some guy was strumming a guitar over in the corner. There were no angel choirs, shepherds, or animals, and I'm not sure there was a wise man in the place. But it felt like Christmas because the gift of God was present. God was present in our openness with one another, the soul stirring questions that were asked and the vulnerability with which each one shared about his experience of pain and hope.

The Bible tells us that at the first Christmas God made himself vulnerable and became present among us in a child named Jesus. None of the religious people of the day had seen this coming. But there was God right there in the animal feeding trough outside Bethlehem – a holy moment in such an unsuspecting place. It was Christmas.

It is the surprising gift of God in Jesus that we remember at Christmas. The Advent theme at my church this year is “God’s Future in the Present.” That reminds us that God’s future is present now through the gift of Jesus. We don’t need to wait until we die to experience God’s presence. Apparently God is interested in meeting people in odd places like Irish Pubs, smelly stables and wherever you happen to be right now.

Jesus is a gift we are invited to receive right now. As we receive the gift of Christ we begin to participate in God’s future right now – the restoration of all creation. Indeed, this world can be a better place and God’s purpose in Christ is to make it so. Through the gift of Christ we can imagine and live into God’s promised future of love, joy and peace.

My prayer for you this Advent and Christmas is that you receive this gift.

Advent 2008

2008-11-28T13:48:00.001-05:00

Presents are nearly synonymous with Christmas in our culture. It’s embarrassing to admit that last Christmas we had a total of three present exchanges in our family. On Christmas day we gathered with my mother and father in law to exchange presents. The next day we loaded up the car and drove to my parent’s house where my older sister joined us for exchange number two. Then two days after that, my younger sister and her husband joined us and we had exchange number three.

Sometimes I wonder if in the midst of so many presents, we miss the true present of Christmas.

After we returned home from my parent’s house following the New Year we put all our stuff away, plopped down on the couch and breathed a sigh. It was then that Carolyn noticed the small bag tucked behind one of the chairs in our living room. It must have gotten pushed back there by all the other presents and we missed it in our rush to leave for my parent’s house.

She pulled it out and said, “Oh! Look we missed a Christmas present!”

The holiday season isn’t exactly a good time to suggest people stop, slow down and spend a little more time on self-reflection. Perhaps this year’s economic slow-down will help create that space. In any event, if we don’t attempt to push back on the rush of this season we are likely to miss the most important present of all – God’s presence among us in Jesus Christ.

Over the next four weeks of Advent I’ll be sharing some thoughts to help us stop, put aside our lists, take a breath and pay attention to the gift of Jesus – the greatest present. I’ll be writing around the theme: “God’s Future in the Present.” I like the play on words in this theme. It is through Jesus (the greatest present) that we get a glimpse of God’s future right now (in the present). Think about that for a moment!

Jesus is God’s answer for a world that is broken, fearful, at war, in economic crisis, and desperately lonely. God has a vision for how to rescue this world from this brokenness. That vision is God’s future and God’s future is wrapped up in Jesus. As you pause to receive this greatest present, you will begin to glimpse God’s future in the present.

Among all the other gifts you receive this Christmas, don’t miss this one.

Practicing Faith and Civic Duty

2008-10-31T13:04:00.002-04:00

“While our allegiance to God takes precedence over our allegiance to any state, we acknowledge the vital function of government as a principal vehicle for the ordering of society . . . . The strength of a political system depends upon the full and willing participation of its citizens.” (paragraph 164 The United Methodist Discipline).

I want to encourage you to participate and vote in the upcoming election. It is a way that we live out our faith, not just our civic duty.

At the church where my wife and I serve as co-pastors, I know that there are deeply committed Christians who will vote for the Republican, Democrat and Independent candidates. I realize it is important for us as pastors not to “tell people how or who to vote for.” Even as I review the scriptures and the narrative of God’s salvation history that Christians have surrendered their lives to, my opinion is that no candidate could fully share that narrative. (Nor would I expect them to given the assumptions that one has to make in order to be the president of the United States.)

Therefore, I find it impossible to say, “This is the Christian way to vote.”

However, I encourage people to participate in the election process by listening to debates, reading candidates’ websites and the plethora of news sources that report what the candidates are saying, rather than basing one’s vote entirely upon simplified “voter guides” produced for Christians. Those may be helpful in some sense, but they never give a very complete picture.

As you participate in this way, you may find it helpful to know what the United Methodist Church has said about various social issues that affect our world today. These stances are not considered church law, nor are they written to tell people how to vote. It is a statement that the General Conference of the United Methodist Church has produced as a prayerful and thoughtful effort to speak to the human issues in the contemporary world from a sound biblical and theological foundation. I think they are worthy of our reflection as we practice our faith and civic duty.

Here is an overview of the six sections of the "Social Principles" of the United Methodist Church. You can see the complete version of the Social Principles by following this link. http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1686

The natural world
We affirm that we're responsible for the way we use the Lord's creation. We support social policies that promote the wise use of water, air, soil, minerals, and plants. We support the conservation of energy and oppose energy-using technologies that threaten human health. We're concerned for the humane treatment of animals and the respectful use of space.

The nurturing community
We affirm the family and work to strengthen its relationships. We affirm the sanctity of marriage and shared fidelity between a man and a woman. We recognize divorce as regrettable and intend to minister to the members of divorced families. We affirm the integrity of single persons. We recognize that sexuality is a good gift of God and that sex between a man and woman is only to be clearly affirmed in the marriage bond. We recognize the tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion and urge prayerful consideration by all parties involved. We assert the right of every person to die with dignity.

The social community
We affirm all persons as equally valuable in God's sight. We reject racism and assert the rights of racial minorities to equal opportunities in employment, education, voting, housing, and leadership. We urge social practices that will uphold the rights of religious minorities, of children, youth, young adults, and the aging, of women, and of disabled persons. We affirm our long-standing support of abstinence from alcohol and illegal drugs, and we support the rehabilitation of drug-dependent persons.

The economic community
All economic systems are under the judgment of God. We believe the private ownership of property is a trusteeship under God and must be responsibly managed. We support the right of employees and employers to organize for collective bargaining. We affirm the right of safe and meaningful work and creative leisure. We support efforts to ensure truth in pricing, packaging, lending, and advertising; and we urge people to evaluate their consumption of goods in the light of the quality of life. We call on Christians to abstain from gambling and to be in ministry with persons who are the victims of this societal menace.

The political community
We hold governments responsible for the protection of people's basic freedoms. We believe that neither church nor state should attempt to dominate the other. We call for freedom of information and quality education. We defend the right of individuals to practice conscientious, non-violent civil disobedience. We support government measures to reduce crimes consistent with the basic freedoms of persons; and we urge the creation of new systems of rehabilitation.

The world community
God's world is one world. We hold nations accountable for unjust treatment of their citizens. We affirm the right of people in developing nations to shape their own destiny; and we applaud efforts to establish a more just international economic order. We believe war is incompatible with the teachings of Christ, and we claim that it is the primary moral duty of every nation to resolve disputes peacefully. We endorse the United Nations and commend all who pursue world peace through law.

Fourth Century Hope for 21st Century Anxiety

2008-10-02T16:42:00.002-04:00

The U.S. economy faced meltdown this week while government officials scrambled to put together a response plan. Most people I know have a friend who is looking for a job. And even if you have time, you dare not listen too long to any news broadcasts which are rift with anxiety.

What a horrible feeling to wake up and realize your job is now to look for a job. Among other things you think, “Where do I start? Who is hiring now? I wish we had saved more. How long is this going to last? What do I do about these bills? Is losing my home possible?!” It is a helpless feeling.

The church has abundant resources to help people in this kind of crisis. One resource is history. A look at history reveals that crises like this have been weathered before. This week I remembered a book I read in seminary by a late fourth century monk named John Cassian. I found the introductory paragraph in the book to be eerily familiar.

It reads: “To the inhabitants of the Mediterranean world during the later fourth century A.D., the world seemed to be in decline. The frontiers were under threat, the countryside insecure, the taxation system unjust, government not respected. The Roman Empire was falling to pieces and no one could conceive what other kind of world there could be. The circumstances of daily life forced men and women to ask where they could find not only physical safety but hope in circumstances that looked so menacing.”

One could say just about the same thing for the inhabitants of the Western world in the early 21st century! Out of this crisis in the fourth century rose a movement that continues to be a gift to the church. I’m talking about the monks, nuns and hermits! These are the folks who by their simple lives of prayer and work in community reminded the church that it is called to seek another kingdom more lasting than any in this world, the kingdom of God.

John Cassian happened to be both a monk and a “monk instructor.” He wrote a book called “Conferences” to train new monks in the monastic life. One of the things he shared with his "monks in training" was a way of praying that has been particularly helpful for me in times like these, and I thought you might appreciate knowing about it too. The good news is that you don’t have to be a monk or a nun to do this!

He suggests holding Psalm 69:2 in our thoughts in all circumstances. "Come to my help, O God; Lord, hurry to my rescue."

“This short verse,” writes Cassian, “is an indomitable wall for all those struggling against the onslaught of demons. It is an impenetrable breastplate and the sturdiest of shields. Whatever the disgust, the anguish, or the gloom in our thoughts, this verse keeps us from despairing of our salvation since it reveals to us the One to whom we call, the One who sees our struggles and who is never far from those who pray to Him.... This little verse, I am saying, proves to be necessary and useful to each one of us and in all circumstances. For someone who needs help in all things is making clear that he requires the help of God not simply in hard and sad situations but equally amid fortunate and joyful conditions."

So, in the face of threats, insecurity, injustice and distrust we pray . . . "Come to my help, O God; Lord, hurry to my rescue."
In the face of crumbling investments, job offers and job losses we pray . . . “Come to my help, O God; Lord, hurry to my rescue.”
In the face of new hope and dashed hope we pray . . . “Come to my help, O God; Lord, hurry to my rescue.”
In all things we pray “Come to my help, O God; Lord, hurry to my rescue.”

Come on . . . try this! "Come to my help, O God; Lord, hurry to my rescue."

May this ancient prayer and fourth century advice give us new insight, imagination and hope in the face of our 21st century anxiety.

Having the Time of My Life

2008-08-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

When Carolyn and I first started being pastors in the United Methodist Church back in 1996 I remember sitting across the desk from our District Superintendent and hearing him ask, "Tell me what you see yourself in 10 years."

I thought it was an odd request. And I didn't know if he was fishing for something or not. But my answer was basically, "Leading a local church to be the church somewhere in Florida."

Some pastors may get juiced by getting "promoted" to a larger church where they can make more money and have more "status." But I get more satisfaction out of seeing the church be the church whatever its size. I don't know if there is a "perfect size" church. Sure there are different dynamics in a church of 75, a church of 250 and a church of 500 plus. At some point the role of pastors and staff as well as expectations of the congregation change as a church body grows numerically.

What I can tell you is that I am having the time of my life in ministry right now. Don't get me wrong, I see plenty of room for improvement and growth at Spring of Life. But I'm very excited to see the kind of community of faith we are becoming.

Here is an example. This week the church got an email from me about a family of 5 that had been kicked out of the home they were renting because the owner had his hours cut at work and the home was repossessed by the bank. Some people offered prayer. Some people offered work. And others offered housing possibilities. And because of a long-term commitment of the whole church to build a simple, multi-functional building, the church was able to offer a few hours during the day for this family to stay and play while dad looked for work and housing. Come to think of it, without the building, this family wouldn't have found Spring of Life to begin with.

This family is now on a waiting list to enter the Interfaith Hospitality Network, a ministry that helps homeless families with children get back on their feet. Also a ministry that this church is considering participating in.

Add to this a committed and talented Children's Ministry Director, Worship Music Leader, and Church Administrator along with a host of volunteer ministers you have a church that is developing the practices of passionate worship, radical hospitality, intentional faith development, risk taking mission and service and extravagant generosity.

Beginning this September we will begin a five week series in worship that focuses on each of those ministry practices of the church. Everyone will be invited to take a specially prepared devotional book called, "Cultivating Fruitfulness" to read and reflect on individually at home. There will be some small group gatherings on Tuesday evenings in September to process what we are reading and learning together as well.

As we pray and reflect together on these five essential practices of the church I'm convinced that many more people at Spring of Life will join me in having the time of their life in ministry. I'm so enthusiastic about how God's Spirit will lead us together this fall.

Playing Baptized Barbies

2008-05-17T12:42:00.000-04:00

"Will you play Barbies with me daddy?"

Since I know that question definitely has a shelf life, I say yes to my five and a half year old daughter. I suppose it won't be long until I hear "Can I have $30 to go to the movies and borrow the car tonight daddy?"

I don't know how to play Barbies that well. Well, maybe I do. I just don't like it that well. What bugs me is that I know the stories of Barbie better than I know the stories of the Baptized.

I know how to be self-centered, obsessed with how I look and what other people think about me. I know how to put other people down and categorize people according to their socio-economic status. I know how to get a temporary high by buying more stuff that I will forget about in the next couple of days. And I know how to feign "niceness"in order to get what I want. See, I know how to play Barbies . . . and I don't like it so well.

Since last Sunday my daughter really got into helping set up and participate in a baptism renewal service with our church, I thought, "why not let's re-narrate Barbie?" What would a conversation among Baptized Barbies look like? I have to admit it felt awkward and weird as I began to speak as if Barbie were baptized.

When one Barbie asked the other, "Why aren't you wearing a dress?" (with the same tone of voice that you would ask someone, "Why are you such a loser?"). The Barbie replied with something lame sounding like, "I put on Christ and He is all I need to wear." (Told you I wasn't very good at this).

Then one of the Barbies died and that was interesting. Instead of pulling out prince charming to come give her a kiss in order to bring her back to life, one of the Barbies suggested we give thanks for her life and remember that she is with Jesus since she too had been baptized and belongs to Jesus. The Barbies then sat around a table of food and talked about how they missed their friend and told funny stories they remembered about her.

Maybe, with more practice, I'll get better at playing Baptized Barbies.

The Church We Are

2008-05-15T10:14:00.000-04:00

I started reading a disturbing book this week. It's called "UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity." It's disturbing, but good. Sort of like going to counseling or listening to the Old Testament Prophets. It could be the kind of information that leads to a transformation within the church.

The authors researched the opinions of 16 to 29 year olds who are not Christians. What they found was that nearly two out of every five [people in this group] claim to have a bad impression of present-day Christianity. Beyond this, one-third of [this group] said that Christianity represents a negative image with which they would not want to be associated.

What surprised me was that the bad impressions and negative images that this group holds had come from personal experience with the church [Christians] rather than just outside observation. The vast majority of this group went to church in high school and have heard the message of Christ. The reason they hold negative, even hostile, impressions of the church [Christians] is not because of any specific theological perspective. Their negative reactions come from what they have received from Christians.

As one person put it: "Most people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn't believe what they believe."

The survey found that the majority of 16 to 29 year olds perceive the church to be:

Anti-homosexual (91 percent)
Judgmental (87 percent)
Hypocritical (85 percent)
Too involved in politics (75 percent)
Out of touch with reality (72 percent)
Old Fashioned (78 percent)
Insensitive to others (70 percent)
Boring (68 percent)
Not accepting of other faiths (64 percent)
Confusing (61 percent)

What challenges me is not a desire to be "hipper or cooler" church to turn around these negative impressions of 16 to 29 year olds. I see this as a challenge for the church to embody Jesus more faithfully.

Here is a story to illustrate. It is an adaptation of a story from Sam Wells book "God's Companions."

There was a rural community that for years housed more cows and acreage than people. About 6 years ago this community began to see new development. Since then 10,000 new homes have been built which include people who are diverse culturally, spiritually and economically. As with any change, this one brought some hostility and mistrust over numerous issues. Neighbors, children and adults, bullied one another. Those with administrative or political power used it in ways that spread mistrust.

A new church which began around the beginning of this development had recently completed its first building and invited the community (particularly a number of prominent local people) to join together in an act of worship to mark this significant moment in the church's life.

Adults and children sat together. The service began with an opportunity for people to acknowledge mistakes and frustrations, and ended with a washing of feet for renewed service. Before the Scripture reading a candle was passed around every member of the congregation and each had an opportunity to say a sentence on the theme "what I have discovered in the last six years."

One person on the fringe of the church who had experienced a good deal of conflict said, "I have discovered that the things we have in common are much greater than the things that divide us." Another person, one of the most controversial and outspoken leaders in the neighborhood, looked around a the way adults and children listened to one another and the space that was given to people's imaginations, and said to everyone's amazement, "I have discovered that this church is the soul of this community."

There are times when we must confess that we are who we are perceived to be. But we also must confess that there is a larger story which has a greater claim upon us than our own failures. It is to that larger story that we must look and seek to embody. It is the larger story of Jesus' death and resurrection - the soul of the church.

What Kind of Church?

2008-05-08T21:39:00.000-04:00

Over the last four weeks our church has been reading from the Gospel of John. The first week we read from John 10 which includes a strange mixture of metaphors in which Jesus says, "I am the gate" as well as "I am the shepherd." There are certainly many layers of meaning here, but we focused on the way in which these metaphors work together to point the church toward a very "relational God." Because I have a rather simple mind, I decided that the point our church needed to remember from these passages is this: "Stay close to Jesus." Follow him. Go through him. Stay close to him. That's the kind of church we are called to be.

The second week we read from John 14 - A favorite at funerals and arguments with non-Christians. Ironically, the context of the passage includes neither of those occasions. The context of this passage is a small band of Jesus followers who are out numbered by fellow Jews who think the Jesus followers are nuts, Romans who could care less and Jesus who had just announced he was leaving them soon. "What are we supposed to do now?" was the question on these disciples mind. Had they given themselves to the wrong Messiah? To which Jesus answers, "No you've followed the right Messiah." [my paraphrase]. "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." "You can trust me even when it appears that evil and death are having their way . . . they are not!" [my paraphrase again.] So, we too are called to place our trust in Jesus THE WAY, even when it looks as if evil and death are having their way. That's the kind of church we are called to be.

The third week we read more of John 14 when Jesus tells his followers that he would not leave them orphaned. Jesus promised that even though he wouldn't be with them physically, they would experience his presence and power through the Holy Spirit when they put "love in action." Further, they would be capable of this "love in action" because of the Holy Spirit as well. Jesus presence is both the foundation and the result of the church's obedience to put love in action. So, I suppose this passage is calling us to be the kind of church that "makes God's love real" - putting love in action. [By the way, much easier to write about than do because it requires such surrender and vulnerability to God's Spirit.] Nonetheless, it is the kind of church we are called to be.

And on the fourth week we read John 17. Here Jesus stops talking to his disciples and starts talking to God on their behalf. That's a good thing as the church needs all the prayer it can get! The neat thing about this passage is that it moves away from "stuff the church is supposed to do" and focuses on "stuff that Jesus does for the church." What does Jesus do? He prays a prayer entrusting the church to God. That's the kind of church we are called to be, "entrusted to God." Like a group of whitewater river rafters who entrust themselves to the River, the church has been entrusted to God by Jesus. While we don't always work together well, take the right fork, or even stay in the boat, we ought to acknowledge that this still doesn't change the fact that we are still in the River - entrusted to God. And it is God's "current" - the Holy Spirit, that leads us most powerfully toward God's [and our] destination - the redemption of the world.

To conclude this "Sermon series synopsis"I want to share a neat quote from a new book by Daniel de Roulet, "Finding Your Plot in a Plotless World." I found that the quote captures the essence of this series.

"What I would like church to be like is a meeting place of authenticity, in which everyone, believer and nonbeliever alike, is acknowledged to be human and flawed and in need of a God who can do something about it—and we love one another with no strings attached."

Bullies Beware!

2008-04-07T06:40:00.000-04:00

Middle School (Junior High when I went through) was the most abusive 3 years of my life. Comparatively speaking my experience pales when you consider the kind of literal torture some kids around the world grow up around. Nonetheless, I was a skinny kid whose ears stuck out and washed his hair every other day (still am except for the hair!). And I was an easy target for bigger kids to pick on and laugh at.

The middle school boys in my church remind me of those times, and make me aware that it isn't just the skinny kids who get bullied. It's every kid. For that matter, every kid becomes the bully at some point too. The tortured become the torturers in an effort to survive, preserve power or something like that. Maybe it's our culture's story of "survival of the fittest." I don't know.

What I do know is that it hurts particularly to see Christians bullying other Christians. I've struggled to know what to do about this. I've appealed to "love one another." "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." "Forgive them for they know not what they do." "Run away." "Consider the consequences." "Stand up for each other." I may have been more successful convincing a rattle snake not to bite.

The most promising story I have heard in a long time came from a 3rd grade boy named Roy who was in class one day as the teacher asked kids to pair up with another student for reading. The class quickly paired up until there was one kid left. This was the kid who was known for not only hurting other kids, but physically lashing out at the teacher at times. As this boy began to realize no one was picking him to be his reading partner he began to get irritated and loud. Then Roy stood up and said, "I'll be your partner."

What gave Roy the capacity to utter those four words?

I still need to get Roy's answer. But here's my observation. Maybe Roy has learned to take for granted that he is a part of the Body of Christ, and that is just the kind of obvious thing that Christ's Body would say. Roy knows that he is part of the Body of Christ through his participation in Christ's Body, the church, and through participating in the Body of Christ during the Lord's Supper.

He's able to say, "I'll be your partner" to a bully because he knows that through sharing the bread and cup at the Lord's table, God has already made him partners with Jesus and all those whom Jesus loves. He might just as easily have said, "I'm already your partner."

I don't think we can learn that kind of stuff apart from the worship habits of the church. Mainly because our culture's habits teach us that it's "Every person for themselves, unless they've been nice to you and you're feeling particularly generous that day." As we practice the grace of the Lord's Supper, so we develop the capacity to deal with the bully as Christ's Body - be they in us or in another.

So to make a long story short, my middle school boys and I are going to be breaking bread and sharing the cup a lot more on Sunday nights. Bullies beware!

The Most Powerful Thing in the World

2008-03-28T09:59:00.000-04:00

What is the most powerful thing in the world?

Our answer to this question is telling about the practices that have formed us. Sam Wells, dean of the chapel at Duke, talks about what we have learned to take for granted. Our answer to this question reveals "what we have learned to take for granted."

The fact that I would answer "the US military" or "a nuclear weapon" tells you what I've learned to take for granted. I'll admit that I haven't been up close and personal with either of those two things, but based on the conversation that permeates the news media and civic events that I encounter, that's the answer I'd give.

But of course, there's the small fact that my answer has no basis for truth whatsoever according to Christian theology. A humbling fact given that I am a "professional Christian!" According to what I learn from Christian practice is that "the cross and resurrection of Jesus" is the most powerful thing in the world. As yet, the US military and nuclear weapons have not brought new creation out of death.

John Howard Yoder said The cross and resurrection of Jesus is "The grain of the universe." What he means is that it is the way things are, the truth about the world.

In a discussion on Yoder's book "The Politics of Jesus" that I attended last evening with Sam Wells, dean of the chapel at Duke University, this comment was made.

"The most powerful thing in the world is the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Christians don't mess with weapons, not because they are bad and hurt people, but because they are not powerful enough when we have something as powerful as the cross and resurrection of Jesus."

This Jesus isn't just my pal who talks God into forgiving my sin and letting me sit on clouds forever after I die. This Jesus shows me stuff I didn't know was true before I met him. This Jesus brings new ways of seeing the world. This Jesus brings about a whole new creation. This Jesus shows us what true power really is. This Jesus will get you killed. But is that any match for the power of His cross and resurrection? He lives!

Growing in Grace

2008-03-27T12:35:00.000-04:00

A major part of the Wesleyan heritage (so named for Rev. John Wesley 18th century Anglican priest) of United Methodists is the theme of "gradual growth in holiness." I like to use this language: "We are becoming the people God has created us to be." The theme developed among the early Methodists because of their deep conviction that salvation was more than intellectual ascent to the work that Jesus had completed on behalf of humanity.

For the Methodists, salvation included our acceptance of Jesus' work on our behalf - the pardon of our sin (Justifying grace), and our participation with God in the on going work of restoring the likeness or image of God within us (sanctifying grace). Wesley scholar, Dr. Albert Outler said it nicely, "Wesley's characteristic emphasis was that we are pardoned in order to participate."

While salvation is something for which we are entirely dependent upon God, God's work on our behalf is for the purpose of restoring our capacity to love what God loves. So there is naturally something we do to participate with God in his saving work on our behalf. This is "Growing in Grace."

Here are some of the practices that put us in a position where we can receive the Spirit of God and grow in grace. Participating in corporate worship where we sing our faith, confess our sin, hear the word of God proclaimed, offer ourselves to God, give thanks at the Lord's Supper, share the peace and fellowship of Christ and are sent out by God's Spirit to love and serve our neighbor. Communal Support from other sisters and brothers in Christ so that we can remind one another what it that we believe, hold one another accountable to a life of love, build each other up in order to sustain joy in our journey of faith. Study of Scripture in order to recall who God is, who we are and who God calls us to be. Works of Mercy which cover a range of possible contributions to the welfare of others such as clothing and shelter, to health care and education, to basic friendship.

I hope as you read about these practices you will recall how they have been used by God to help you "Grow in Grace." Practice, practice, practice!

A Visual Idea

2008-03-26T12:48:00.000-04:00

What is the Sunday School definition of Grace? I've heard "what you say before meals." "A girl's name." And "the unconditional love of God revealed through Jesus Christ." That last one is usually given by the teacher reading from the leader's guide.

Those are all right answers! What impressed me today as I attended worship at the Divinity School Chapel at Duke was how God wants grace to be seen. Grace isn't just an idea or a definition in a Sunday School class. Grace is alive and real and among us in this world. At least that is the great proclamation of Easter.

These days we live in a world of hyper visual stimulation. I'm sure some poor soul has researched the average number of visual images we are bombarded with on a daily basis. Those images tell us about who we are and what is important to us - images like beautiful spring flowers, magnificent architecture, dying loved ones, nameless victims of crime, video games and pornography.

Some of these things cause us to weep or sigh or sing. They stir feelings of peace, anger, numbness, fear, awe or joy. Images are powerful in the feelings they evoke and the stories they tell. And though not always, we have the choice many times about what we look at. What story will we choose to look at?

The church offers an alternative story to the world's consumption and despair. The church offers "Visual Grace." The story of the " bread and the cup"? The story of "empty grave clothes"? The story of "the weeping turned to joy"? Where will we turn our eyes for the grace we need?

"But my eyes are turned toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenseless." Psalm 141:8

Practicing Grace

2008-03-25T15:44:00.000-04:00

It is funny what makes us feel useful as human beings. Creating this blog gives me this strange sense of useful power. Wierd, I know. Just one small illustration of why I picked this blog title "Practicing Grace." I need a lot of practice to really "get" how God understands usefulness and power. How many vigils by a manger and golgotha is it going to take?! All my life I suppose. I'm prone to practice so much deception between trips to the manger and golgotha that my spirit is confused. So, God give me the grace to practice what will form me into the person you created me to be.

Practicing Grace seems a fitting title for my own formation as a "Traditional, Post-Modern, Progressive, Evangelical, catholic, orthodox, Christian United Methodist pastor." I have to work pretty hard at being intellectual. I do a better job at being practical. But I appreciate both and the way that God takes both our "head and heart" our "faith and practice" and forms us by his grace.

If nothing else, having a blog titled "Practicing Grace" will be some measure of accountability for me to stop long enough to consider the ways we see and experience the grace of God at work in the world. A worthy practice indeed!