Pencost movement!

Who let school out? Who said these kids could be home BORED and HUNGRY every hour of the day and it isn't even June yet! This has been a week of simply trying to get everyone where the need to go, on time, fed and relatively happy to be there. Glad we are appraoching the end of it and praying that next week we'll get settled into a routine.

Pentecost is just around the corner. One of the best days of worship in the church in my opinion. Especially when we can get folks that speak in other languages to read the story. It is my turn to preach and I will be sharing about a "movement" that has begun in Texas called "I Am Second" and you can find it at http://www.iamsecond.com/ I Am Second exists to lift the name of Jesus Christ up before the world and to encourage us to put Christ first and ourselves second in the priority list of our life. You will find videos from people all across the spectrum...some celebrities, some heavy metal musicians, athletes and regular people who share their story and put Christ first.
I just encourage you to spend a little time on the website and watch a few stories...they will inspire you and speak to the Christ in your own heart.

And on Pentecost let us remember that :
Christ Has No Body
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looksCompassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he lookscompassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

What a Great Weekend and the "C" word

This was one of those weekends where it all just comes together. The weather was as good as it gets in May in Missouri. Green everywhere, flowers blooming, highs of 70, low humidity, skies bluer than you usually perceive, and the sun shining. After 13 weeks of study and a weekend retreat, 15 confirmands shared their faith with the congregation on Sunday and became members of the church. 6 of them were baptized...what fun, what joy! God is alive and at work in these young people. One of them was my daughter, who shed tears of joy, much to my surprise. We had record crowds in all the church services, graduating seniors and returning college students filled out the pews. So I could/should sit still and be happy....

But I have to share these thoughts...in a smaller church about 8 years ago, the pastor asked the members of the church council to select one committee in the church to be a part of and go to their meetings and help to lead them into ministry in the community. There was feet dragging and procrastination until the pastor finally asked the chairperson what was taking people so long to respond to his request. The chairperson said, "Well, you're asking us for a comittment!"

WHo knew the "c" word would be met with such opposition in the church? I recently sent out a survey asking about summer study possibilities because I had heard from some folks that they were interested in pursuing their spiritual life and the summer was a good time for them. It has been a long time since there were summer studies in the church and I wasn't real optimistic actually. But to my surprise there were 22 people who responded that they were interested!

So the next step was to finalize dates and times and leaders...and now I have only 8 that are willing to commit to a study. (That is about 3 people to a study) And I hear that exasperated voice that is saying, "well you're asking us for a committment!" God is asking for the committment - I'm somewhere in the middle trying to get the details worked out - but our faith life doesn't grow without some attention to it. And God is more than willing, more than ready to meet you wherever you are if you will take the step toward him.

The same expectation is in place for those confirmands - this past Sunday can't be the last time we see them...God is also asking them to grow in their faithfulness and in their service to God in the world.
So c'mon y'all - lets get to it!

The Rush of Spring

I do love the Springtime. I love the world coming alive from its winter slumber. And watching the trees in our yard go from completely bare, to redbuds, to tiny leaves to "a tree." At first it can't happen fast enough and then suddenly there is a rush of growth as the world warms up - and poof...there are 50 shades of green and life abounds.

It is similar with our Spring schedules...we get in a routine through the winter and then some programs begin to wind down - like Logos and some Bible studies, but another schedule takes over...planning for summer, getting volunteers in place for VBS, and camps, hiring interns and poof...it will be summer.

And in my family, we manage the schedule of weight training, piano lessons, Confirmation, and youth group and then Track season comes, along with band concerts, and awards ceremonies, end of the year trips, and poof...there are only 10 more days of school left!

Let us not forget, in all these busy days of Spring to give God our thanks and praise for the gift of life on this amazing creation. And to savor the moments between the busy-ness and hectic-ness for the gift that they are...evidence of life renewed and that God is steadfast in his love for us.