Little Bits of Light

Time Away

2010-11-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

I am very well aware of how long it has been since I posted on this blog. I have felt as though there was nothing to say...and then there was no time to write it so that it was said well. So I took a break, wrote a couple of sermons - so I did do some writing - and am looking again for things to say. Time away has been good but it's time to get back to it.

I continue to reflect and pray and listen as we get deeper into the choices around the community center. I am listening to the conversations that are going on around the church and find there is a wide diversity of concerns. Some are just a matter of understanding the details, and some are more troubling because they reveal an underlying fear/inward focus that we know is a deadend for the mission of the church.

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Making followers of Jesus Christ so that the world will be CHANGED. We are part of what gets changed as the world changes. There is so much more that needs to be changed in me, and I want to be part of this transformation but sometimes I''m not sure we all think that. Sometimes I think we look out from our lofty perches and say You need to change, but I'm fine right where I am....

If the mission of the church is to be about those in the world who do not know the love of God, and not to take care of ourselves, then we have to lift up our heads, lift up our eyes and look around to see where we go. FUMC has been blessed to see need in lands far away but we are being called to look a little closer to home too.

I think the best question is why this? Why this broken down building, why this partnership, why this vision? I can't say this enough: This is what God has given us to do. This notion has been lurking around for six months. And believe me when we first heard about it, we (the pastors) were VERY skeptical...and it laid on the shelf for a good six weeks with all of us saying huh? But it also wouldn't die. In each of our prayers, we asked what will you have us do now, God? And the move of the Spirit kept coming back to this idea. Think of the message this gives to this community...this broken down, hopeless building CAN be restored and put to usefulness for good for those who care. "Those people" (insert you) care enough to do this. And it fulfills the feeding, clothing, visiting, call we all have as Christ-followers.

Some have asked, can't we rent another building and do this another way? Of course, but where is the building? Do you know of a place that is in the middle of a neighborhood? A neighborhood in need? Please test your ideas! God will move us to where we need to be...but I'm not seeing anything else in the windshield. So this suggestion becomes a way to undermine the vision we feel we have been given...if you honestly believe there is another way...please bring it forward!

I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that through conversations with other churches, there seems to be a light that dawns as the vision unfolds and people get excited for this "answer to their prayers" about how they can serve the community or fulfill the gifts for ministry that they feel they have been given. Our faith tells us this is God at work, this is the confirmation that comes as we discern everyday.

Save your anger, share your thoughts, the future is open and God is in it!

Whew! Like Giving Birth or Something

2010-10-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it was one week ago that I was onstage with 12 other actors, performing in the play "The Diary of Anne Frank." And that a culmination of 10 weeks of hard work! I am so very happy and honored to have been given the chance to repeat my interpretation of Petronella Van Daan. The story of these people in 1943-44 Amsterdam, as the Nazi's were taking control, is truly one of such amazing courage! The courage to go "underground", to hide right under the enemy's noses, to get up day in and day out and know that there is no where to go...I can't imagine the inner fortitude that took. I sometimes wonder if I would have just given up...

So in the last week, I find myself kind of missing my "stage family" and feeling a little like postpartum depression has set in. I'm moping around wondering what's next on the horizon. But so, so thankful for for it all!

Wandering Around the Desert Some More

2010-09-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

There is a group of churches that have been meeting together once a month for last couple of years. Christian Ministerial Fellowship - CMF for short. The purpose is pretty much to learn together about community programs and resources and to share a meal together. In the past few months the discussion has arisen of exactly what our purpose is and how we can be more effective as a group - to meet the needs of the community. Every church has been dealing with increased requests for assistance and what better purpose of the Kingdom of God than to help those in need? So we have been discussing how to work together towards that end.

In the meantime - I received an email from a Community Organizing group that they are having a meeting of all the churches in the area "to see how we might work together in the community."

And today we received a letter from the Samaritan Center saying they were finding it difficult to make ends meet. The letter told us to do what we could to serve the community and in the meantime if we could send them some money or sponsor a food drive that would be great too.

SO there is a theme here-many different groups are trying to tie many other groups together to work together to make a difference in the world they serve. I have this image of the Israelites wandering in the desert trying to find the mountain that was right in front of them. We all continue to deal with more and more people in need of help of one kind or another - utilities, gas, rent, groceries, bus tickets, motel rooms...not to mention feeding hungry kids and mentoring kids that need a role model.

We have our own part in this wandering. As we continue to discern the call of the Community Center and what exactly we can do and should do...the Isrealites were their own worst enemy - they perpetuated their time without a home. But the promise is that the Isrealites DID make it to the promised land...God did lead them out of confusion and into the light...so community of faith - let us listen and guide each other so that we don't wander long. The world needs us to get it together...

Time and Routines

2010-09-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well folks, here we are...in the second week of school, about the time that a routine begins to emerge and at my house when we ask "so what is your schedule today" a few less times. I have shared in the past, that I never feel the passage of time more than when the school year begins. It takes me back to my own first days of school, but now I also have to turn the page in my own head that I am now the parent of two high school students! It just wasn't that long ago that I sent my last child off on her first school bus ride and I cried because she didn't look back at me. She was ready!

The start of the school year also changes the routine at church. We go back to classrooms for Sunday School, attendance at worship goes up, and studies and small groups begin. There is a change that settles over us...picture this, God's finger begins stirring the pot, and there is chaos at first, things bumping into each other, but soon there is an order to the new stirrings. And in that order, there is time and space to hear God say "It is good."

So where in your emerging Fall routines can you hear that voice, where in the order of new routines can you settle and find peace? Give thanks, give thanks, and remember God is calling you...

5 Reasons Teens Are Avoiding Church

2010-08-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

5 Reasons Teens Are Avoiding Church

Please read the above article, it is very interesting. Soapbox Alert! We have needed to fill some spots in teaching Sunday School this year. Mostly in the 4th and 5th grade class. We have made it as easy as we possibly can...teaching in a rotation, 3 weeks on and 6 weeks off. The more teachers we have, the longer time between teaching comittments. We sent out about 12 requests to parents, and past teachers, newly retired, those who God put before Beckie and I as we thought about who would be good to ask...we recieved 2 who said yes. Now, if you are one who received an email, this is not a personal attack....but I am hoping there will be a "big picture" moment here for all of us. The reasons we received for why people couldn't teach, bears out this article...if Sunday Scool isn't relevant to the parents and the church, then how can it be relevant to their children?

As the Church, we continue to find that our voice is slipping away in a world filled with many. Church - how important is it To YOU that your chlidren know the story of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ? If is isn't important to you, than why are we still doing this thing called Sunday morning? We have to about more than ourselves. We have to rise to the call that God gave us in Jesus...Go and make disciples...that means you AND me...see you Sunday..

Looking Up

2010-08-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it because of the weather patterns we have been in or it is the season of Summer when we are angled just right to the sun, but have you noticed the skies lately. For the past several weeks, I have found my eye and my mind captured by the beautiful sky around us. Some days I can see Monet or Renoir's impressionist clouds that have little definition and purple haze at the bottom. Other days the clouds tower and are sharp and infocus like the oils of the famous outdoor artists that painted the unsettled western US two centuries ago. And the sunsets are always amazing shows this time of year.

As I take note of the skies, I also find my mind wanders to the hand of God that paints on this canvas. There is all kinds of science about why the clouds tower and why they are flat, high pressures and low...but what about the artist that designed the highs and lows to be able to communicate such beauty to us? Are they meant to inspire us, or is it all just random science, a process set in motion eons ago that continues on today. And I know that if God's hand is at work in the beauty then it follows God is at work in the storms too, and that gets complicated.

Mom had a storm last week that took out some of the oldest trees on our little hilltop. A 100 yr old Catalpa tree and a 100 yr old Oak tree. Beautiful old friends that hold many memories of tree climbs and who offered strong limbs to hold block and tackle for engines and shade for horse and rider. It is painful to watch them die slowly as the wounds from the storm will overcome the entire tree and not just the limbs that have broken off. Truly the landscape has changed.

But my faith tells me God is at work in all things...the beauty and the loss, and the calm and the storms. Is the witness simply that he is with us, when the wind is howling and the limbs are twisting beyond the physical capabilites as well as when the beauty causes us to catch our breath and pause for a moment. God whispers in both moments..."I am with you." It is that whisper that gets me through the final cutting down of the trees and the tears shed for lost friends and family...it is that whisper that allows me to look up and know I don't go it alone. Look up and be amazed by that grace.

Sunday Afternoon

2010-07-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

It is rare Sunday afternoon that doesn't have some pressure or schedule ticking away at it. If there is a nap, it has to happen between 1:35 and 2:10, and who has what to go to? when? How will you get there and when will you be back...but today I am free...to nap when I want, hang out, read blogs and write in this one.

As a great treat, Zach came upstairs (the basement is his man-cave) and he had heard a Cat Stevens song in a movie and was asking about it. We got into the "archives" of our CD collection and found one of his "greatest hits" albums I have, which led to Sweet Honey and the Rock, James Taylor, and all other 70's-80's music I've got. What a great blessing to share this music with my son and for him to enjoy it and find my adolesence mixed with his. It was a moment of peace and perspective that I will hold onto for awhile. Thank you God.

Sarah is on Trailhike. An annual trip for the new 9th graders in our congregation. A "right of passage" I suppose. A time to form community, build relationships - (may I add, get past petty dramas) and behold the beauty of God's creation. She is in my prayers this afternoon as she is as far away as she has ever been and as out of my grasp as she has every been. Fly little butterfly, fly!

May you have a great Sunday afternoon too!

What Is This Spirit?

2010-07-14T09:13:00.001-07:00

I am still being inspired by the Sunday worship we shared with Washington Metropolitan AMEZ church. Yes the music was wonderful, and the preaching top notch, but that isn't all that I continue to celebrate. It was the spirit of joy and compassion and fellowship that was genuinely present among us that day.

For me personally there was a freedom in my soul that I haven't felt in a long while. One that allowed me to dance or raise my hands in praise without a sense of being self conscious. I was able to pray from the depths of my heart and was led by the Spirit as to what to say to all those gathered at the cross. And yet...

I continue to find a newness in my preaching that I don't know where it comes from except God above. A willingness to step out of my comfort zone and my manuscript and simply lead in a thought. For this highly introverted person, that is a big one!

And this weekend I find it spreading to my family. There was a gospel sing at Adam's St. Nursing Home. Mark did not remember in time to assemble any kind of group, but Zach and Sarah had worked up a song for camp and so he asked them to do it for the folks. Zach complained pretty much the whole morning that they were the only young people there, and that he was giving his Saturday away for...this?! Zach and Sarah sang well and were praised to be "the future."

But that isn't where it ends, there were multiple choirs from several Missionary Baptist churches around and they sang from their toes and led us all in moments of worship. The most wonderful were acapella solos of "How Great Thou Art" and "His Eye Is On the Sparrow" At the end of which were standing O's...but Zach and Sarah also were part of the voices saying amen and thank you Jesus. As we headed back to the car, Zach said: "I take back all my grumblings...it was worth it all."

So I am getting reacquainted with the Spirit of God that breaks down walls and stretches us to new places and kneads the clay of our hearts into new creations.

Thank you Jesus!

Time Flies

2010-06-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Can't imagine that it has been so long since I've been able to post. We've been to Annual Conference and then returned to a funeral, a wedding, Mid High Mission Camp, the kids at church camp, preaching and Mark and Zach at work camp! Among the completion of the Adult Confirmation, and the beginning of "The Jesus I Never Knew." So, lest you thought I was being lazy...I've been busy! Dancing with Jesus all the way. But today I get a break and I'm ready for it.
The oil continues to spill in the Gulf Coast and we continue to wait and watch and listen to the politicians. At the closing of the kid's camp, David Israel was giving the closing message to the kids. It is such a tender time, they have been in the place that is made for them, built around them and their place in life...and God has been made real in many ways for them, and now they are returning to "the world." David shared with them that their challenge (and all of our challenge) as they went forward from that place was that we can be one of two things. We can blame or be thankful. It is a choice in most all things.

We can blame the world, they can blame their parents, we can blame government, our bosses, or the kids.....and he specifically talked about the Gulf. That it won't be the same for the next 100 years and that they could blame my generation, and have every right to do so...but blaming won't get it cleaned up or move us forward into the future. An attitude of thanksgiving sees the opportunity to go forward and make a difference. He challenged them, that they are an example to the littlest of our children and that someday they could blame them for the way things turned out. So we were all challenged to go and make a difference in the world out of gratitude, thankfulness for all that brings us to the places we are in. Worth thinking about.

Peace by yours today.

Garbage Patches and Oil Spills

2010-05-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

Every day I grow more concerned and sad about the oil that is pouring into the gulf. I get that it is the first of its kind and that the depths they are operating take great time and calculations, but I feel like we are running out of time. The disaster is about to become global and then all those apocalyptic movies begin to play in my head...have we finally done it?

Before the Gulf Oil spill I was learning about something called the North Atlantic Gyre and a newly discovered "garbage patch" there. There are 5 gyres across the globe, current centers that collect debris from the outer edges. Kind of like the center of whirlpool but much much slower and subtler. In these Gyres scientist are just discovering what happens to plastic in the ocean. It never goes away but breaks down into smaller and smaller particles, ingested by fish that are eventually caught and on our table so that we are eating our own plastic! Something prophetic about that...

Anyway - dear reader - here are some web sites and videos for you to see - please educate yourself, think about this amazing creation God put into our hands to be cared for by each one of us...no politics here - God gave humankind dominion over the world - not domination - let us live up to that gift. Please go and check these out:

http://www.5gyres.org/

www.vimeo.com/10137337

www.vimeo.com/10053284

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1m9yr3DV6Y

2010-05-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Servant Girl at Emmaus

(a painting by Velazquez)

She listens, listens holding

her breath. Surely that voice

is his - the one

who had looked at her, once across the crowd,

as no one ever had looked?

Had seen her? Had spoken as if to her?

Surely those hands were his,

taking the platter of bread from hers just now?

Hands he'd laid on the dying and made them well?

Surely that face - ?

The man they'd crucified for sedition and blasphemy.

The man whose body disappeared from its tomb,

The man it was rumored now some women had seen this morning alive?

Those who had brought this stranger home to their table

don't recognize yet with whom they sit.

But she in the kitchen, absently touching the winejug she's to take in,

a young dark skinned servant intently listening,

swings round and sees

the light around him

and is sure.

Denise Levertov

I got to go home this past weekend to spend a little time with Mom. She is doing well and counting the days until wheels get back under her feet. We had several jobs to do and among them cleaning out some old magazines. There was one container that we didn't get in the first round and so I lingered over them a little bit and enjoyed looking at paintings and reading the "how to's" in these artist's magazines. On one page was this painting and the poem. It captures my imagination so much I had to share.

Read the poem and then look closely at the photo. In the upper left corner through a window you see a dinner happening - the setting is the evening of Easter Sunday...the disciples that were walking to Jerusalem were having dinner, but didn't recognize the stranger that had joined them. But there in the midst of the kitchen and wine jugs and baskets of bread...the servant girl recognizes Jesus. The outsider, the servant, the "least of these" has no questions about who this is that is eating at the table she serves.

So often those "outside" of ourselves can see so much more clearly than we ever can...take a listen to those people in your life...they may just recognize something you are missing...

Just Another Day for Earth

2010-04-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

When I traveled to Africa I developed a new and renewed joy around Earth Day. While in Mozambique I had such appreciation for the natives recycling of our water bottles. In the markets they held everything from paint, to oil, to shampoo, to gasoline. If we put one down and left it unattended at the work site, it was claimed in a short period of time and taken home as a great prize. They also recycled soda cans, making them into candle holders for thier homes. I returned to the US to be horrified at the trash on the side of the road and the careless ways we deal with our trash. I began dropping off my recycling much more diligently than before.

Now we have curb side recycling and it is easier than ever to deal with my trash. I recently read this from National Geographic.

Plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment. In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, adding 29 billion water bottles a year to the problem. In order to make all these bottles, manufacturers use 17 million barrels of crude oil. That’s enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months.

Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That’s about how much oil was needed to produce the bottle.

So why don’t more people drink water straight from the kitchen faucet? Some people drink bottled water because they think it is better for them than water out of the tap, but that’s not true. In the United States, local governments make sure water from the faucet is safe. There is also growing concern that chemicals in the bottles themselves may leach into the water.

People love the convenience of bottled water. But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a refillable steel container instead of plastic.

Unfortunately, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Plastic bottles take many hundreds of years to disintegrate.

Water is good for you, so keep drinking it. But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change. Betty McLaughlin, who runs an organization called the Container Recycling Institute, says try using fewer bottles: “If you take one to school in your lunch, don’t throw it away—bring it home and refill it from the tap for the next day. Keep track of how many times you refill a bottle before you recycle it.”

And yes, you can make a difference. Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours.

So let us endeavor to fulfill God's vision when God gave humankind DOMINION - NOT DOMINATION-over all the earth. Reduce/reuse/recycle!

No religion? No Problem. or not?

2010-04-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Found this while looking for a picture for the slide show on Sunday...from the Kansas City Examiner - Just some food for your thoughts...

By Dr. Bob Beltz
Earlier this week USA Today ran an article entitled, “No religion? No problem.” The author, Nica Lalli, has apparently just written a new book about her unbelief. The article expressed her relief that the trend toward a growing lack of faith in the United States makes her feel like she is not alone in her non-religious orientation. In the piece she gives the statistic that the fastest growing “religion” in America is non-religion. In the survey she references the percentage of people specifically stating that they have no religion is up to 15% of the US population. Ms. Lalli speculates that the 2.5% - 5% that refused to even answer the survey should also be placed with the non-believing group, bringing the grand total to 20%. She notes that this figure represents sixty-one million Americans, almost as many people as voted for Barak Obama, and which put him in the White House.
I can identify with Nica. I used to be an atheist. Most of my friends in college were; and many still are. But what I’d like to do in this article is to tell you the primary reason why I am now a believer. Here it is: I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is what I celebrate on Easter. That might sound redundant, but many people celebrate Easter who don’t believe in the resurrection. You don’t have to believe in the resurrection to let your children go on Easter egg hunts, and get Easter baskets, and eat chocolate covered marshmallow eggs. I did all that when I didn’t believe. But now…I believe. I started believing as a university student– a time when many young men and women stop believing. At first it was a bit of an existential leap of faith, but over time I found myself needing reasons to either keep believing, or quit. For me, the resurrection was the keystone. Let me briefly point out three reasons why I believe Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and on the third day (or portions thereof) rose from the dead, thus proving himself to be the Christ, the Son of God.
The Empty Tomb: Faith in Jesus is rooted in history. It either happened or it didn’t. As an unbeliever, I never gave much though to why I didn’t believe. I just didn’t. I find this to be the case for most unbelievers. I do recognize that there are many thoughtful atheists, but there are many unbelievers who don’t do much thinking at all. I have come to the conviction that the documents contained in the New Testament are historically reliable. Even extra-biblical sources acknowledge the historicity of Jesus and his execution under orders from the Roman Procurator of Judea, a man named Pontius Pilate. If you can get that far with me, lets look at the circumstances surrounding the death and burial of Jesus. Two members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, went to Pilate and asked for the body of the dead Nazarene. This in and of itself took tremendous courage. The men who knew him best were all in hiding, fearing that they would be next on the Roman gibbet. Joseph is described as being a wealthy man who owned a garden where a tomb had been newly carved out of stone. If you travel to Israel today, you can still see many such tombs from this time period, including one that some claim was the actual tomb of Jesus. The body was prepared for burial using linen strips and the spices that held them in place. It was placed in the tomb and a typical stone, carved for such a purpose, was rolled down an inclined trough that ran in front of these kinds of tombs. The religious leaders of Israel, who thought Jesus was a fraud, remembered that he claimed he would come back from the dead. In order to prevent a charade from taking place, they went back to Pilate and asked for three-days of security at the tomb. Pilate sent a Roman security force and ordered the tomb to be sealed with the official seal of Rome. This all took place of what we now call Good Friday. If you can picture the above scene all in place, take a look at what we find early morning on Sunday, in Jewish culture of the time, the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, head to the tomb to do for Jesus what Nicodemus and Joseph had actually already done. When they arrive, the place is in a state of chaos. The Roman seal has been broken – an offense punishable by death. The Roman guard is shaking in stark-raving terror and later flees the site – another offense punishable by death for the guard. The one to two ton stone has not only been rolled away, but the language of the text indicates that rather than being freed from its stop and rolled down the hill, it has been rolled back up the trough and moved some distance. And finally, the tomb itself is empty. There are a number of questions a thoughtful person should ask themselves at this point, whether they are a believer or non-believer. Who moved the stone? What happened to the guard? Who broke the seal? Where is the body. Oh, I should point out that the tomb was not empty. “Huh?” you ask? The tomb still contained the graveclothes, which would have molded into a cocoon-type shell. But the shell had no body in it! No wonder we are told that when John looked in the tomb with Peter, they believed! The linen cloth that covered the dead person’s face was even folded and lying away from the graveclothes. Hang on to those questions for a few minutes.
The Eyewitness Testimony: As if the above were not baffling enough for your average unbeliever (remember: I used to be one!) You also have to account for the staggering number of reports of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus alive. Remember the original OJ trial? Half of America thought he was guilty, and half thought he was innocent. The evidence was not adequate for a jury to reach a guilty verdict because one piece of critical evidence was missing. No one saw it happen! There were no eyewitnesses. What do you think would have happened if the prosecution could have brought in an eyewitness? What if they could have produced two or three eyewitnesses? How about a dozen? Would there be any doubt that he did it? Or what if Johnny Cochran could have brought in five hundred eyewitnesses who could place OJ in a different city on the day the murders occurred? There were over five hundred eyewitnesses of the resurrection. Jesus appeared on numerous occasions over a period of forty days, giving what Luke the physician called “many convincing proofs.” That leads into the third reason I believe in the resurrection.
The Exceptional Transformation of the Disciples: The biblical narrative is quite clear in its description of the cowardice of most of the followers of Jesus at the time of the crucifixion. Most fled. When Peter stood outside the house where Jesus was being tried, he repeatedly denied even knowing him. Ten days after the forty-days of “many convincing proofs” Peter stood in the middle of Jerusalem during the Feast of Pentecost and boldly proclaimed that Jesus has risen from the dead and is the savior of the world. It is estimated that as many as a million people, from dozens of nations, converged on Jerusalem during this feast. Something radical has happened to Peter. And what is true of Peter is true of the other disciples and followers of Jesus. They go everywhere and tell everyone about Jesus. One striking fact about all this that has always driven the reality of this home is the historic record that of the original twelve disciples, minus Judas, ten were put to death for preaching the message of Christ. Only John lived a full life and even his later years were spent on the Roman penal colony of Patmos. If you add James, the brother of Jesus, and Paul, who claimed the risen Jesus appeared to him on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus (where he was headed to arrest and imprison those who claimed Jesus had risen) you have an amazing list of early martyrs. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. Thomas – the doubter – was killed in India. James was beheaded and Nathanael was flayed. Go down the list and you will see that they all were put to death for proclaiming the resurrection and then calling people to faith in Jesus. Many people have died for a lie they believed to be the truth. They “drink the Kool-aid.” But few people will die for a lie they know to be a lie – especially when crucifixion and flaying are involved. Yet all these men died for claiming to be eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus!
There have been a number of strange theories through the centuries that attempt to explain one or more of these three reasons I have given. Most of them take more faith to believe than the original story. But when I look at the weight of the evidence, I have come to the conviction that the most reasonable explanation is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, just as he said he would. For me, this is the starting point in processing everything from the existence of God, to the truth claims of the Christian message.
One final reason I believe in the resurrection is very personal and subjective. My own life has been transformed through faith in Jesus and the relationship I have had with him for nearly forty years. This atheist became a believer. Jesus is very real and very personal to me. I sense his presence in my life. I experience his “speaking” to me through the scriptures and in my innermost being. I’ve encountered him at a very personal level. Someone else might say the same about believing in a rhubarb plant, but I have evidence that supports my experience.
If you are reading this and you are a follower of Jesus, I hope this piece is an encouragement to you. If you are part of the 15%, I challenge you to carefully explore these things. But remember, it was CS Lewis who once warned that an atheist can’t be too careful about all this. You might find, like he did, that you come “kicking and struggling” to faith by the sheer weight of the evidence.
Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed!

Post Easter Week in a Post Easter World

2010-04-08T11:31:00.001-07:00

It is the week after Easter...things are very quiet as we all recover from the joy of Easter Sunday. We kind of wander around looking for something to clean up or something to do that has the same meaning as the preparation of a week ago, but it isn't there...

I do lift up that the day after Easter was pretty big - baseball season opened, and the Duke-Butler game kept us all on the edge of our seats - there was comfort in the rituals of Spring.

As is the custom of churches with more than one pastor, the Sunday after Easter is considered a "low" Sunday and is usally preached by an associate. So I have been working on my sermon and it has the story of Thomas as its center. I'll not reproduce my sermon here - you have to come and hear it, but rather I reflect on the two worlds I find myself in. The disciples are saying "what does this all mean?" They are trying to get their bearings because everything Jesus said has come to pass and I'm sure they are replaying all those hours of teaching to get some sense of what is next....I would also imagine they are also trying out different realities of "what now." Do we go back to fishing, how do we get out of Jerusalem, has dad replaced us on the boat? The details that make us human.

So here in the 21st Century, I know what happened to the disciples, but I wonder what is in store for the church. How do we best teach our children the faith or our ancestors? How do we "compete" with soccer and track and football? How do we make space in our busy lives for the still small voice of God to lead and guide? How do we live as Easter people in a world that thinks Easter is chocolate bunnies and jelly beans?

The palatable answer is: one minute, one relationship, one act of mercy at a time. All those "the Kingdom of God is like..." parables - it starts small but grows large, it is priceless in its worth, it is worth the risk to claim and create, it is infectous once it begins....yes, this I know...but sometimes I wonder if it is enough.

Our family went to the "Casting Crowns" concert in St. Charles on Good Friday - a wonderful night of worship...they sang thier song "If We Ever Needed You" It rings so true for the times we find ourselves. Would you pray with me...
click to hear the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjRQKhzWGQw

The Future of God

2010-03-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

So I watched Nightline last night and they had the reoccuring series "FaceOff" on. This one featured prominent athiests Sam Harris and skeptic Michael Shermer and Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston on the side of God. I will say it was odd to be rooting for Deepak Chopra - I was.
The basic question was Does God have a future? In our ever changing post religious world...does God have a future in our history and in our identities. For the skeptics and athiests, they believe that the evidence of God such as a "deep knowing" and "experience of the Holy Spirit" or the "presence of something greater than ourselves" are reproducible in the lab by administering drugs like oxytocin and endorphins and brain stimulation.

The other side of the argument said that the evidence for God is that we are creative, intuitive, caring, compassionate, imaginative people and that science cannot replicate that. So for them the future of God is in the hope of never ending creation using all those parts of us to create the future that God has instilled in us. (Both sides agree that as a people we should love and care for each other!)

But here is the interesting part...this debate took place at CalTech in front of an audience of 1000 scientific based folks. And it was so odd to have the skeptic and athiest getting louder applause and agreement than those respresenting the affirmative for God! The loudest applause came when the skeptic Michael Shermer said "it shouldn't be a matter of belief but a matter of common creation, that we care for and about one another and the world we live in."

Catch a glimpse of the debate: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerindex?id=10174932

Again I ask - who have you shared your faith with lately? Because the future of God depends on how we talk about him and how we are able to reflect him in the world.
Peace y'all!

Hold On

2010-03-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

Where did February go? I have turned around twice and it is gone. And now I am at the middle of March and can't imagine Easter is just three weeks away. I am living the modern life that is way too busy and way too difficult to change.

Sometimes I hear a phrase and especially one that I hear more than once in a day, and there is something about it that strikes me as "the still small voice" calling me. The voice of God speaking to me. I recently hear "Hold on" in unusual clarity and began to listen as to what that voice was saying to me. "Hold on" can be an angry voice, that is saying now wait just a minute. It can be a voice that is a command like when a load is about to tumble - stop, wait, hold on! It can also be a plea to just keep that grip - don't let go - hold on, help is on the way, hold on, tomorrow will be better, hold on to your faith.

I hear it as that last voice...hold on...I've got you, don't let go, keep the faith. So as I continue to tumble through Lent, I hold on to the voice that is telling me to hold on.
Thanks be to God
Amen

The Work of Prayer

2010-02-02T06:57:00.000-08:00

The saga of life as a patient (and a patient's daughter) continues. It was more than a week ago that mom developed some complications, she began to lose her ability to speak and express herself. Each day she was a little worse and there were little things that were changing. And yet the doctors were minimizing these things and saying it was just post-op swelling, blah, blah blah...I knew better but couldn't seem to make enough noise to be taken seriously.

SO I put a plea for prayer. Specifically asking the prayer warriors in my life to pray for mom's brain to heal but also pray that the doctors would be still long enough to let God guide them in the answer. I visualized them pausing just for a moment and that one missing link would pop out and an answer would come...Neuro-surgery and Neurology were the players and one thought they knew better than the other - not surprising - but to their credit, they did not back down and proceded to prove the other one wrong. SO it was during one of the neurologists exams, that the nurse later told me, that he saw something he hadn't seen before. Just a little change in her vision that turned on the light bulb that this might be something else. A 24 hour EEG later and they counted 7 seizures...don't know how many her brain endured before this test.

You see God works in this world through God's faithful disciples. We are given gifts and the free will to use them or not, and when we do and when we let God guide us in using them "all things work together for good" So the neurologist has no idea that there were so many voices behind what I'm sure he considers a flash of brilliance on his own part...no prayers were at work, the Holy Spirit was at work...Mom is back in rehab and beginning again to find her way back to good health and peace. Please keep praying!

A Special Place in Hell

2010-01-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

I have an ever evolving theology of heaven and hell. I do not know God as a judging, condeming God so I tend to believe that we all get to heaven and that we really make our own hells -

My mother was rearended while she was parked at a McDonald's parking lot. Apparently she was hit rather hard because she hit her head on the steering wheel at impact. The driver of the vehicle that hit her drove off in enough of a hurry to inspire some witnesses to come forward and she has since been found...but that's probably another story...

Mom was OK on Monday, but developed a headache on Tuesday and ended up with brain surgery to remove a subdural hematoma from her temporal lobe. She in Barnes Hospital recovering from a very miserable surgery.

I worked as a Physical Therapist for 14 years, first at Jewish and then at Barnes-Jewish in the rehab department - taking of care many craniotomy patients...

Now the HELL part...One of the most difficult things for a caregiver to do, is to become a patient. Let alone a patient in the hospital they work in...you know too much, you know too much about about what is happening physically to a patient, you know too much about the system that keeps you waiting for 4 hours for "emergency" surgery, you know too much about the risk factors and potential outcomes. I have been in this hell for the last 24 hours or so.

Some would say that hell is a permanent place, but that too doesn't ring true to me, because where is redemption if that is the case? Rather our hells are of our own making and therefore our release from those hells our own to choose. Today, Mom is recovering and my hell is being redeemed to a heaven. I am thankful, I am blessed, I am tired!
Peace to all.

Anonymous

2010-01-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

OK, my soap box is coming out....
Just about every week, there is an anonymous note that shows up somewhere, complaining about something. Sometimes it is fairly nebulus and sometimes it is down right nasty. Well enough already! Anonymous notes don't mean very much. As a matter of fact we have decided that anonymous notes go in the trash without anyone reading them. If you can't sign it, if you can't own your comments - then you aren't interested in resolving your complaint, and you aren't really very confident in your comments or you wouldn't be dodging the responsibility of making them.
Cmon now, lets grow up and be adults and if you don't like something that is happening then take it to the right person and do the right thing.

Christmas Eve Meditation Luke 2: 1-20

2009-12-30T09:32:00.000-08:00

“And Mary pondered all these things in her heart.” I can imagine all that Mary had to ponder. Up until now, it has been Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, and Joseph that have shared her experience of encountering God in dreams and voices. I’m sure the world around her was rather condemning of this young women and smiled sarcastically at her stories of God’s favor. Now these shepherds appear telling stories of angels, and angel choirs and they are repeating the promise she heard those many months before. “Savior, messiah, king.”

Those of us who know parenthood, know that when we were brand new at it, we listened closely to all that those who knew more than we did had to say. I remember listening and pondering when the older members of the congregation looked at my newborn and said things like – that’s the face of a doctor, or those are the hands of a piano player, I can only imagine hearing words that your child was born to be king, or savior.

Pondering is one of my favorite past-times. I confess that I probably spend way too much time pondering. I ponder things like the pictures we saw on the video at the beginning of the service. Those pictures from the Hubble telescope that show borders of distant universes, or the birth of stars and mysterious gases – I ponder how creation continues to create. I ponder this crazy, amazing world we live in. The incredible complexity of it and the realities of life in other lands.

Now I don’t listen to much AM radio but I found myself pondering something I heard there just a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know what station it was or even whose show it was, but the host was discussing the latest atheist view. Atheist have said that Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity but that it is a non-religious holiday about present giving and simply “being good for goodness sake.” Now that view alone is not one that I ponder, but it was what happened after that. The host did not agree and felt that Christmas was a religious holiday and he asked for other callers to call in and share their thoughts. 5 calls in a row – and all of them agreed that Christmas was not religious but it was about winter, it was about the joy of giving, it was about family, but had nothing to do with Christianity or religion.

Now I ponder that the world has changed that much that it would take so much to find agreement that Christmas is a religious holiday. I ponder that Christianity is seen so negatively in the world that there is resistance to seeing one of the central celebrations of our faith as anything other than the celebration of the birth of Jesus. I ponder the future and where this debate will be in 10 years.

We have undertaken a sermon series these last four weeks of Advent called the Advent Conspiracy – with the underlying question: Can Christmas still change the world? We were challenged to change how we celebrated Christmas – we were challenged to spend less, give more and worship fully and love all…we were challenged to step away from the part of the world that knows Christmas as something other than a religious holiday and to make our celebrations centered on the good news of God with us!

The first Christmas night, no matter the historical realities of dates and seasons, that first Christmas night and the birth of Jesus – set in motion changes that the world continues to experience. Grace and justice, sacrifice and generosity, life after death, and things like hope and peace and love and joy. The gospel of John speaks of Jesus’ birth as a great light that came into the world to overcome the darkness that existed.

By our gathering together this night, here in this service, we are in agreement – this night is about Christ. Savior of the world, born into this world, so that we might know God is among us, God cares about us and God cares for us. And it is in your presence here this night, that we are able to look and see God at work in each of our lives in the stories we have to share and that God is at work through each one of us in the gifts that we bring to serve.

As was apparent in that radio broadcast, the world is not yet convinced of what we know in our hearts. Yes, Christmas can still change the world! All that is left to ponder is what part we will each play in the living out of that change.

May you find the hope you need to share your story,

may you find the courage you need to take the steps that will turn heads and change hearts,

may you find the peace that as a child of God you have been given all that you need to live the life God is calling you to,

may you know, that in the mysteries of this night, there is more than meets the eye, there is God coming to us again – as a gift that was meant to forever reconcile the world and bring peace upon the earth. Amen

Showing up in the Rain

2009-12-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

I was looking through a book catalog recently, and there was a title "What Pastors Want Congregations to Know." I did not order the book but the title intrigued me and I began to wonder what chapter I might write. Let's see, there is the one on "putting it back where you found it" or the "quiet during the prelude would be good" but then it started raining. And it was still raining on Sunday morning and then it hit me! That would be my chapter: "Showing Up in the Rain." What many may not know, is that in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, I begin thinking and praying about who might be at church that day. About the service and whatever elements I am responsible for, and that God would be glorified at the end of the day. And when it rains, (or snows) those prayers change a little, because I know there are some that won't be there that day because of the weather.

I would never want anyone to be in danger, and I know well that it is a long walk to our front door - so I understand not coming - but I do wish for those who could make it - to come and be part of the gathered body inspite of the weather.

When I teach Confirmation, I always tell the students that when they come to church, it affirms my faith as well as theirs. It says that we all thought it was more important to come to church than to stay at home and that God was worth the effort that day.

So on this particular weekend of rain - I was very blessed by the dear people who showed up. The Octogenarians who braved the rain drops to come and worship - if affirmed my faith - and God was indeed glorified as a result!

When It All Gets Upsidedown

2009-11-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

I have had a bit of writer's block these last few weeks. I have tried repeadtedly to write about some of the feelings around the Elizabeth Olten events that I have encountered in different people. And I have just been unable to put it all together. So many emotions and so many things that were unknown. While there isn't anymore known in an official, legal capacity...there are things that different people who are close to both families know and are saying.

We know that one little girl was brutally murdered at the hands of a 15 year old girl. They knew each other and there was one fateful day that events too stunning to think about ended her life. Such innocence lost, not just Elizabeth's or this 15 year old, but our community, and our own children. Some of our children were in class with Elizabeth, and have had to try to understand their own mortality as a result of her death. 9 years old is way too young to grapple with something alot of 40 years olds haven't yet. My own son was in class with the un-named suspect. I know we don't know her name-officially-but her absence in school, her friends, and her extended family members have unofficially confirmed her identity. Zach has wrestled some with knowing that he was in classes with this girl and talked with her, and didn't recognize the pain she was in or the depth of the darkness that resided in her. He wonders if there might have been something he could have said or done that might have lightened the load somewhere along the way. And haven't we all tried on the scenario - "if it were my daughter."

And then came the lock down of the Govenor's Office building, and the not "knowing what was going on" feeling and suspecting the worst but hoping for the best. As it turned out, it was "the best."

Now the reflex we all exercised on Tuesday morning was to pray, and we did just before the staff meeting began-we prayed that when all the world is falling apart, God is there.

I have heard one person say that they believe the world has sunk so low that it can't come back, that what we have left our children is a pile of rubbish too tall to overcome. Now that is a hopeless place to be, and I can't say that I live in that place. What am I saying about my own children if I believe that...that they are not strong enough to overcome the pull of this world. I do believe, that with the community of believers behind them, they absolutely CAN overcome the darkness that is in the world. But it will take the generations of this person that believes the world is lost, my own generation and everyone that follows to believe in the future generation in order for it to happen.

Do we believe the light of Christ can overcome the darkness that exists? And isn't it the same darkness that God sent Jesus into the world to overcome in the first place? When everything gets upside down...we hold on all the tighter to that which we know about God. Steadfastness, abundant love, faithfulness, and God that seeks each of us to know that message. My prayers continue for the Olten family in their grief, but my prayers also continue to for the 15 year old that waits for her hearing this week. I pray that in the time ahead, months and years, that there will be a time that the light of Christ will indeed overcome the darkness within her and the pain that she must know would be healed with some of that amazing grace.

As the details are shared and become known, let us not forget that Christ has come to overcome the darkness...from his birth until now...and we can be part of the light or we can give in to the darkness...let us choose the light. Amen

Changing Seasons

2009-10-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

I picked up my first leaf this week. It has sat on my desk and is beginning to curl up from being dry, but the colors are still just as beautiful as the day it fell from the tree. It is a maple leaf that has tinges of green around the edges but is bright red in the center with very clear yellow veins running through it. It is these days of early fall when the leaves are just beginning to turn, that I enjoy picking them up and looking at them. As I understand it, the process of leaves turning colors comes from the chloroform in the leaves turning to a sugar and the coolness of temperatures turning it to red. When they are in these early stages of turning, each of the veins in the leaf are visible, like a map of a river showing all of it tributaries.

I get drawn into the details of this one leaf. The outline of each little cell, the spots on it, the little nibble here and there...and this is one leaf out of a million on this one tree out of a million. Laying there on the sidewalk in front of me like a gift. In the life of this leaf, it has breathed oxygen into our atmosphere and it has converted solar energy into power to sustain the life of a tree, and provided shelter and shade for many creatures.

So as I lovingly look at this leaf, and hold it in my hand and marvel at the intricacies and praise it for its hard work, I am feeling the love of a creator who holds me, and marvels at me, and praises me, and blesses me. Would you just pause for a moment at the wonder of creation around you and how it is all assembled to support you, AND to reflect the love of God. Consider that in our worship - personally or as a congregation - we are returning that reflection. That like the leaves, we are offering ourselves, "in praise and thanksgiving" as we say in our communion liturgy, to the glory of God.

SO pause, listen to creation around you and hear or see their song of praise!

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." Job 12

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Psalm 19

Ordinary Ressurections

2009-09-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

I love the stories I hear about resurrections in peoples lives. Those stories that speak of God at work in lives to bring about new life. I suppose there are stories of other kinds of resurrections too. My computer's hard drive died a week or so ago....I had the blue screen of death when I walked in my office one morning and it was all gone! As I began to recount what I wish I would have backed up...I learned our server backs up the hard drive...so a new hard drive and 10 days later, I'm back up and running.

A friend of mine is in the midst of celebrating a new life. She had suffered from depression and basic inertia (forces that are at work to prevent movement, sometimes called laziness) for many years. Really she just kind of existed in life for about 10 years, all the while claiming to be "fine." Her health deteriorated as she was morbidly overweight and had high blood pressure and was a heavy smoker. She had a mild stroke about two years ago and life began to change. She quit smoking, she lost 100 lbs and is moving into a new house soon. Underneath all of these changes is the witness of God at work in her life. A relationship that has gone from asking questions to seeking answers, from inertia to dancing. She truly has an entirely new life!

I have found that when profound events come into our life, be that health issues, or relationship issues, divorce, employment, death...we have a choice. To run away from them - remaining confused and in pain about them, or we can run into them - asking questions, seeking answers, changing our lives in ways that are lasting and meaningful. Thankfully my friend ran into her life.

Each of us suffers from our own kind of inertia. Those things we know we need to do, those things we suspect we need to do, and the things that others are gently trying to tell us we need to do. That is the how the voice of God comes to us, in the still small voice of our mind, in the loving words of someone else. Each leading us into a relationship that is greater than what our human minds can imagine. Leading us into an ordinary resurrection....

So where have you had an ordinary resurrection this year, this month, this week? Or where do you need to begin on the road to a new life? taken one step at a time it leads to that resurrection I speak of. Sharing your story might start someone else on the road...and really isn't that what sharing our faith is about?

Hopeless?

2009-09-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

We have experienced the loss of two young men in the last week. Both of them dying at their own hands in one way or another. Either an accidental overdose or alcohol poisoning. Both gentlemen had a history of depression and struggles in this life. And in the midst of these last two weeks, at some point they lost their hope. Somewhere, somehow, there was no reason for them to continue to strive in life, but to quit or at least to anesthetize themselves so that their pain was not so acute.

It makes me think of those who are struggling to find their hope and are not going to do anything to take their life. What if we could reach them before it got to complete hopelessness?

As I did one of these funerals, I tried very hard to offer words of hope, but there was such pain and such grief that I really am not sure they were heard or could be heard. So I would ask you, gentle reader, to take a moment and look around you, they aren't hard to spot. A tight or absent smile, their head in their hands, heavy sighs, or a lack of energy. Their hope is waning and you can offer them a sign of hope. A flower? A poem? A scritpure? A pat on the shoulder? A hand on their back that says, "yes you can?" I don't know what it is for you, but you can take a moment and share some hope. There have been enough funerals for a week.

2009-08-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am fascinated by rail yards. I have no idea when this happened or how, I didn't grow up around trains and don't have a reason for the affinity. But it is pictures like the one to the right that I think are wonderful metaphors for our life. When I am traveling through large cities I look for the rail yards to see how many people are crossing paths that day and wonder about their destinations.

As school has begun and we are turning from summer to fall programming I am somwhere in the midst of these swimming tracks. Think for a moment about what it takes to change tracks for a train. These "switches" only move a few inches and they are able to direct a multi ton vehicle onto a whole new path...or keep it from harm. Small movements can make big differences.

If trains take these changes too quickly they are prone to derailing. The train's wheels are taken from a wide place to a narrower place to change tracks. Going from the outside of the wheels to the inside to find the path. Too quickly and the wheels miss the change and derail. Thankfully we have wide places in the road that give a place to gather ourselves before heading to the narrow way...but rushing ahead without our senses can send us reeling.

I am switching tracks as kids get back school and focus changes. I am praying for patience and for sure footing and looking for the little things that will make a big difference. I don't see my life as complicated as the picture, but I know some lives that are that complicated. And I hope you will know peace this day or this moment. And this could be a wide place in the road for you before heading on down the line.

Peace

The Times They are a Changin..

2009-08-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

It is early August and that is the time that we are usually getting final preparations in place for our Fall programming. Especially plans for our Weds night programming. However, the participants and volunteers and leaders have waned and we are now faced with making changes...like not having a Weds meal, or a children's program. I have wrestled with this for the past three months, and have been suspecting this is the path we will be taking for about 5 months. It just seemed like Weds nights ran out of gas. Families were running to and from practices, and trying to squeeze all the errands in to the hour that they were at church.

So we began evaluating and asking questions...what if we didn't do this anymore,what do you want your kids to get from church, what is important to you about your children...and interestingly enough...the answers were alot of ambivalence. Meaning - there were feelings on both sides of the spectrum but nothing strong enough to make a clear decision...just kind of muddy.

So, now I try to look into the crystal ball and see what this means in the near future. Are we experiencing the shrinkage that we've been hearing about, has the culture caught up with us? But even bigger, what will we do about it?..I am praying, and listening for the answers as they come. ANd I know this...our kids must know the church values them and cares for them, and they must hear the story of our faith so that they will carry it forward into the future. The question is simply how and who will come forward to help?

Please join me in prayer for our chlidren.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

2009-07-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

One of the things that life has taught me is that we are not promised tomorrow, and that life can change in a moment. So we have frequently said to Zach and Sarah that what is important is the journey and not so much the destination. Live this day...

Our vacation to Yellowstone took us a very long time to get there. And as we encountered road construction delays after delays...the fatigue was rising as well as the frustration until we just had to laugh. The road construction in Yellowstone itself was the most ridiculous - one lane road on the edge of a mountain with no guard rails....and 30 minute delays...so as Mark started to fume, we reminded him that it was about the journey...and to enjoy these moments...little did I know that would become an important theme for our trip.

"This part of the journey is called amazing." As we traveled through the Tetons and on to Yelllowstone we crossed the Continental Divide 7 times! We were at the snow line and we saw so many really amazing sights. We started at Old Faithful and made the round of the geyser pools...such beautiful colors and we even had an elk dining within 20 feet of us. Whew, we made it!

"This part of the journey is called scared to death!" We made it to the campground and found it a little rustic, but there was a fire pit and a picnic table and so we thought we could make it do. Mark and Sarah and I went to the amphitheatre to hear the ranger talk about how Yellowstone was formed (by a gigantic volcano 640 million years ago) and Zach and my mom stayed at the campsite to mind the fire. Upon our return there was a truck parked shining its lights into the campsite and a stranger coming around the corner saying "they've had some troubles." My heart stopped and I rushed to see what was going on. Mom had tripped on a root and fallen flat on her face - more acurately her mouth, bit through her lip and dislocated a tooth. The paramedic was called and after an assessment in the light, it seemed appropriate to go to the hospital for stitches...two hours away in Cody, Wyoming. We left as soon as we could and arrived at the ER at about 1:30 a.m. It took mom 72 years to need stitches, but she got 6 of them in her lip, no other signs of any injuries. We found a parking lot to sleep off the rest of the night (or morning as it was) and then headed back to Yellowstone. Mom was in pain but OK, Zach had done all the right things in getting her help and we were just thankful it wasn't any worse. We went back to the park and asked at the desk if we could upgrade our sight to an electrical hook up with a level pad...they had mercy on us and moved us to a different campsite and things got a little more civilized.

"This part of the journey is called memorable" We saw the Yellowstone Canyon and falls, so beautiful that words cannot describe it. Pictures can't quite do it justice either. Your eyes can hardly take in the whole scene...and we saw Bison, and more elk. We also took a boat ride on the lake and had dinner at one of the lodges that was built in 1937. It was our last night in Yellowstone and we had made the best of difficult days and saw once in a lifetime things.

"This part of the journey is called sad." On our way out of the park we crossed the highest peak and all of a sudden my phone came alive and I had two voice messages and a text message...I had a signal just long enough to hear that our dog Maddie was undergoing emergency surgery and the prognosis was not good. Her stomach had twisted...the next few hours would be critical. By the time we made it down the mountain, Maddie was out of surgery and looking as well as could be expected. The next 24 hours would tell the story, she had been outside and was walking and talking to everyone. We hoped and prayed and made our way to civilization...the next morning we got a call from Dr. Groner that when they left Maddie the night before she was doing well, but sometime around 7:00 she had died. Our beloved Basset Hound, that everyone loved and laughed at had died in her sleep. We had lots of miles to cry and remember and prepare ourselves for the loss.

and now we are home, we buried Maddie thanks to good friends, and we are resting from an exhausting whirlwind of a trip. Mom will see a dentist on Monday and her bruises are already fading and the journey taught us each something.

So if you read this, please don't ask how our vacation was, because it is too difficult to explain and I will probably just say "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

What I Admired About Gary Durk

2009-07-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

This world has lost one of its best heroes...but the next world has gained one. God bless you Gary and rest, rest, rest in the peace of God...
When we first arrived in Jefferson City, Gary had just left for Iraq...that was 6 years ago and the war was much younger then than it is now...and I was so very touched to hear that his son Chris was also going to be deployed. I had not known anyone who was in Iraq at that time and I was so concerned...the war was and still is so dangerous!...Gary was the first soldier I prayed for. Not too long into that time, a member of the church wanted to mail out a devotion every week or two including a prayer. I helped her get it in the mail, and within a month or so, I got a note from Gary, thanking "whoever it was" that was sending these devotions. he said they helped him make it through. Gary was never short on "thank yous"

After his return, Gary was one of my greates fans. When times were tough and I was wondering if I was in the right place doing the right thing, it ws Gary who said: "I appreciate every word you say...EVERY word. Thank you" Well, Gary was the voice of God that said, keep going.

As I came to know and love Gary, I mostly came to love his passion of this life. I never had a conversation with Gary that I wasnt' sure he was telling me what was on his heart and mind. No balonie...no hype, no kidding...
That included his love for Marylin. I was scheduled to pick her and Lanie and the rest of the Africa crew up from the airport. Gary called me the night before we were leaving and asked if he could come with me...I said of course. Well Gary met me at the church and followed me in his car, while I drove the bus. The trip to KC airport is long and I didn't stop, and Gary gave me such grief becuase I didn't stop at all on the way up...but all was forgiven when he saw Marylin.
He loved his wife more than anything else I know of.

Truly a hero, truly an unfair loss, and truly one of God's children that has gone home to be with his creator.
Thank you Gary for all you have meant to me and all those who knew you!

Another busy week!

2009-07-12T18:54:00.001-07:00

Yet another Summer program element has passed. Vacation Bible School was last week. Rome - Paul and the Underground Church. We had a smaller than usual crowd, probably because it was a good vacation week with the holiday on the other end. BUT we had a great week. This VBS was a little different than others in the past, the kids had more time than usual to spend at their stations and things didn't feel rushed as they sometimes do. And the hightlight for everyone was going to see Paul in his prison room with his Roman guard Brutus. Corey and Gary played their parts to the nth degree and did a great job telling the story about what it was to be a Christian in the days of the Roman Empire. The kids were hooked from day one when Paul was arrested at the pool while sharing the good news that God's love is a gift.

God was there as the kids shared what they learned and Jordyn said that God's love is always there..."kind of like your mom...you do the wrong thing and she still loves you...I don't know why, but she does" Couldn't have said it better....we don't know why, but God still loves us even when we do the wrong thing. If that's all they ever remember - it will be enough.

At the same time, I had many people at my door this week or on my computer. One woman said she recently left the "cult of Mormonism" after 25 years. She had left her compound to escape an abusive relationship and was raped. When she tried to return to her home, the "church elders" met and decided if she hadn't of left in the first place, she wouldn't have been raped, therefore it was her fault and she has been excommunicated. I tried to assure her that God was not the author of her troubles and neither was she, but 25 years of doctrine will be hard to break through.

Another woman is at her wits end in dealing with an ex-landlord who is driving by her new residence and taunting her. He claims she owes him money, she doesn't...she was so very upset by it all that it occured to me that perhaps he had hurt her. I asked and she said he had tried to rape her but she had neighbors watching her door and when he came they knocked on the door after 5 minutes to keep him off balance and run him off. Again, her turmoil is not at the hand of God but of humankind and she is feeling powerless to take on the power structures that bind her.

SO much pain and so much confusion about where God is in their life. I can only hope I helped to point the way to the light of God. Please keep them in your prayers.

Off to vacation! Yellowstone here we come!

Mission and 7th Grade Humor

2009-06-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Last week was filled busy with Middle School Mission Camp. There were about 30 Middle Schoolers from First Presbyterian, Grace Episcopal and First UMC. We were together each day from 8 - 5 out at Covenant Point Camp in Holts Summit. We spent the night on Thursday and everyone was home by about 1:00. Each day the kids did a different mission, fixing lunch for Salvation Army Shelter, painting two rooms at the Agape House, walking the dogs at the Animal Shelter and doing whatever was needed at the Samaritan Center. It really was a good, busy, tiring week...
The story of the week was the Good Samaritan. We spent a fair amount of time learning the details of the story, what were the laws around the priests and levites, why would they walk by, what about the Samaritan, and the innkeeper. To end the week, I gave them the assignment of retelling the parable as if Jesus were telling it today. Who would be the unexpected hero, who would we expect to stop and be disappointed when they didn't....etc.
I drove the van all week and it is fun to just listen to the conversations that go on in the back of the bus. And I was blessed to have the 7th grade boys in my van...they really are a goofy bunch of kids that have an odd sense of humor.
So when I told everyone they would have a chance to act out their parable around the campfire Thursday night, there was alot of energy in the back of the van. And I got a little worried. I heard something about being beaten with bananas, rat poison, and some questionable one liners that I was afraid I understood. So note to self...we need to talk in the morning.
Thursday rolls around and I gathered everyone together and reminded them that they were proclaiming the Word of God and that as they worked through the details they needed to remember to honor God. My 7th grade friends faces fell and a dark cloud hung over them.
It turns out one of them had spent the better part of the previous evening writing a script and he had included every detail they talked about in the van and added a few more. They brought the script to me and asked me to read and tell them whether they could do it or not. I didn't want to do that...so I told them that if it honored God they were fine and that they needed to decide that.
Well pretty much the rest of the morning I had various people coming up to me, telling me it was really funny and couldn't they please do it...I again said...does it honor God? After about the 5th question...I said Does it honor God? and the answer was "no, not really" and there was my opening...I said then if I tell you it's OK, then I'm not honoring God am I? And their sweet little faces suddenly registered...they Got it...I tried to say we are to honor God at all times in our lives and not just certain hours of the day...and it matters how we tell God's stories. I encouraged them humor was fine and to take the raunchy parts out and it would be fine...
That night I held my breath when it was their turn...and they did their parable, and it had bananas in it...and a man by the road...but I'm really not sure what else...it just didn't make much sense. but at any rate they felt they had honored God and I didn't see anything that dishonored God...and I will not forget the face of the one young man, when he understood that he had a choice to honor God or not and that he could still be funny and honor God. I pray for a life transformed by the love of God.

That was my moment of light last week, thank you God!

Whew!

2009-06-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

Annual Conference is over and I believe my head is just about above water again! While at Conference it is my honor to be the AV person that gets everyone's Power Point up on the screen for their presentation. I enjoy creating the slides but presenations are getting more and more sophisticated so there is more time. I don't get much sleep on these long weekends and so I'm pretty tired once I get back, and not at all ready to jump back in to things at home!

I am excited about the week ahead. It is our first Middle School Mission camp with First Presbyterian and Grace Episcopal churches. Each day we will head into Jefferson City and participate in a mission...lunch at the Salvation army shelter, work at the Samaritan Center, paint a room at the Agape house, and walk the dogs at the Humane Society. We will study the story of the Good Samaritan and on THursday evening we will stay at the camp and experience a hunger meal, campfire, and then work a little at the camp on Friday morning. SHould be busy but good to be with 30 kids as they serve in the world. Please keep us in your prayers!

The Power of Forgiveness started with 11 folks, Invitatin to the New Testament with 8 folks, Longing to Belong with 3. There is much happening at the church for the summer season...I do believe the Spirit is moving and shaking us loose a bit.

So what are you excited about as this season gets underway? Where is God shaking you loose? I am reading a couple of books, "Thoughts Matter" by Mary Margaret Funk; about our inner spiritual life. It has been enlightening. What are you reading?

Pencost movement!

2009-05-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T13:32:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

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.

Trust God

2009-04-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

I hear you, you are busy and tired and stretched and running around frantic just to get the schedule accomplished. I'm in there with you. I'm always seeking those moments that catch me up in rest or in peace to be able to turn and do all over again. I recently found this translation of Psalm 62 from the Contemporary English Version...it has a way of putting things in perspective.
Peace and a little light for the journey!

Psalm 62: 5-12
I find rest in God. Only God gives inward peace, and I depend on him.
God alone is the mighty rock that keeps me safe, and he is the fortress where I feel secure. God saves me and honors me. He is that mighty rock where I find safety.
Trust God, my friends, and always tell him each one of your concerns. God is our place of safety. We humans are only a breath; none of us are truly great. All of us together weigh less than a puff of air. Don’t trust in violence or depend on dishonesty or rely on great wealth. I heard God say two things: “I am powerful and I am very kind.” The Lord rewards each of us according to what we do.

Worth the smile!

2009-04-30T07:46:00.001-07:00

Got this at the end of an email newsletter from a missionary in Mozambique...

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders & says... “Oh no...she's awake!!”

What Is Your Witness?

2009-04-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

Below you will find an article I wrote for the newsletter, I wanted to share it here and add a little more to some information about First UMC. Catch you on the other side...

We will be welcoming some new members to our congregation this month! A blessing to the body of Christ gathered at First UMC to be sure. Anytime a new member is introduced to the congregation they are asked the question: Will you support First UMC with your prayers, your presence, your gifts and service? And in their answer we are also reminded of our pledge of membership recommitting ourselves to those same promises. Since General Conference in 2008, a new committment has been added to the list, it is "witness." Reminding us that sharing our faith in mission and evangelism are part of our Wesleyan heritage and especially important in these days as Christianity seeks its relevancy in the world.

One of the definitions of witness is "to serve as evidence of." I think that probably best provokes our thoughts in this context. How do you "serve as evidence of" being a follower of Christ? How can you share the evidence of God in your life with the world? I have shared with the Confirmands that coming to church on Sunday morning is a witness to their neighbors that that is what they choose to do instead of staying home. We have also shared that it is a witness to each of us that have also made that decision. There is nothing like coming to church and finding your friends here!

So might I suggest that our witness begins with coming to worship - regularly - and from there our witness is further shaped as to how we will go forth to live it in the world. How will you "serve as evidence of" being a Christian in the world today?

I recently changed the bulletin board downstairs and it is entitled "What Is Your Witness?" We took some time to do some good research into the data base to get a good picture of the spiritual health of the congregation, at least what we could learn from those numbers. We were not able to discern some things, but others we were.
There are 1131 members of First UMC
516 people attend more than 1/month (not all of these are members)
543 members have not attended worship at all in the past year
(the difference in numbers are those who attended less than 12 times in a year)
414 people attend worship and give to the church in someway (could include one time gifts)
137 people attend worship, give and are part of a small group whether that be Sunday School, choir, a study or volunteer group.
So if our discipleship is about prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness...where do you fall in these numbers? As I say above...part of our witness is choosing to go to church and attend a class and give to the church and pray for each other....

I also assure you that First UMC is no different than any other church...these numbers would compare to many a church; so don't shake your head and sigh about how "bad" we are, but look into your own life and ask where you can go a little deeper and then by all means: GO!

What does the future hold????

2009-04-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Below you will find an article from the Winston-Salem Journal from Winston-Salem NC sent to me by my brother...an interesing article about this man's perspective on the decline of Sunday Morning church goers...join you on the other end....

EHRICH COLUMN: Many are saying no to church on Sunday
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
Published: March 28, 2009
For 50 years and in growing numbers, American Christians have been saying no to Sunday church. I think that it is time we listened.
We have labeled them "unchurched," "nonbelievers," "former Christians," "happy pagans," "lost," and a "mission field" that's "ripe for harvest." These negative terms imply that the absent have a flaw that needs to be addressed.
New congregations have harvested some of these former mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churchgoers. But even their numbers rise and fall -- especially when the founding pastor slips up or retires, and the overall trend in church participation remains down. In some Western states, Sunday churchgoing has fallen below 10 percent of the population.
Losses were ignored
When this slide started in 1964 as baby boomers began graduating from high school, many church leaders didn't even acknowledge it. For years, they kept counting the absent as present. Then, when the losses couldn't be ignored, they blamed them on whatever hot-button issues were roiling the religious establishment, as if new liturgies, women in leadership, and liberals (or conservatives, take your pick) had driven people away.
We need to see that these "formers" aren't saying no to God or to their Christian identity. Many are simply saying no to Sunday church.
They are expressing a preference for something other than getting up early on Sunday, driving across town, sitting in a pew for an hour or more, making small talk with people they don't really know, and driving home again.
They are saying no to Sunday, the only day that they can get a slow start in this everyone-works-hard era.
They are saying no to being an audience in an age of participation and self-determination.
They are saying no to institutional preaching, repetitive liturgies, and assemblies controlled by small cadres usually older than themselves.
They are saying no to being told what to believe.
They are saying no to having their questions ignored.
Instead, they find spiritual enrichment on the Internet and on television. They read faith-related books. They pray on their own. They find their own networks of faithful friends.
Poor delivery system
The problem is Christianity's delivery system. We are stuck in trying to lure people to physical locations at a time of our choosing, to do what we think they ought to do, and to be loyal in paying for it. It is time that we looked beyond the paradigm of Sunday church.
I think the future lies in "multichanneling" -- a combination of on-site, online, workplace and at-home offerings that create networks of self-determining constituents, many of whom might never attend Sunday church.
The first challenge, however, is to recognize how deeply wedded we are to Sunday on-site participation as the only true expression and measure of faithfulness. Almost everything about our institutions aims to draw people to a central location on Sunday.
We need to see that what works for some doesn't work for others. Not because the others are flawed, nor because our culture has collapsed and turned against God, but because things change. Just as Jesus took his ministry out of the synagogue and radically rethought the meaning of Sabbath, so God is drawing us away from "former things," even ones we treasure and consider our duty.
■ Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest. His Web site is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com/.

OK...I can't disagree with all that Rev Ehrich has to say...this decline has been a long time in coming and we weren't all paying attention to what was going on until it was getting late. And believers are not saying no to God or their faith, but rather to the practice of it. They are saying no to irrelevant worship, to worship just for worship's sake...But there is no mention of discipleship and community. Christianity is always counter-cultural - we currently live in a very isolated, self serving, individualistic culture...Christianity's counter to that, is that it is centered in sharing in community - we are meant to be in relationship with others. Rev Ehrich's vision doesn't speak much to that...and I believe that is our hope...that even though Sundays are the one day we have to rest - it can also be the one day we can reconnect with each other and encourage one another for the week ahead.

I do believe God is at work to bring about a new reality... We are called to remain faithful, even in the midst of change and even when it seems we are a minority. While it is tempting to get discouraged, I find that I am more and more intrigued by the ways of the world and where God IS at work. Our hope is in relationship and in sharing our faith with those around us.

Thanks, Steve!

Too Long

2009-04-13T14:32:00.001-07:00

I do apologize for how long it has been since I last posted. I know some of you look for updates and I have been tardy! But then again it's Easter! I give Easter here in Mid-Mo two thumbs up. Great worship, great crowds, and a great message to proclaim. He lives! not just in our hearts, but HE LIVES...it wasn't until some part of seminary education that I realized there is a difference. I am completely comfortable and able to say that Jesus lives in my heart and in yours. But it is a different animal to proclaim - Jesus lives! It is part of our proclamation of our faith. In the Apostles Creed was say "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting." Not just a spiritual resurrection, which is what we proclaim when we say he lives in my heart...but the bodily resurrection...Jesus' body was alive again.

That body must have been different because no one recognizes him when they first see him, but none the less it must have been a human body because scripture doesn't describe it as a ghostly presence...so how does that tickle your faith? Did you know that is what we proclaim at Easter? And when we proclaim He lives - what a powerful God we proclaim...death was overcome not in some spiritual "I'll be OK" sense - but death was overcome with life. It is that proclamation that changes the world because it offers hope...that even in the darkest of days, God's love overcame the darkness to restore the light of love in the world.

God continues to be at work...not in perscribed and expected ways, but in the very unexpected and unexplained ways that make life complicated as well as wonderous.
Happy Easter and I'll try to get back on track!

Bumper Stickers and Messages

2009-04-01T14:17:00.001-07:00

As I was coming out of Gerbes, our local grocery store, I noticed a van that had handwritten messages on all the windows. This was the kind of ink that you get at Hobby Lobby to write
"Just Married" across the back window or "Go Jays!" on each of the side windows. On this vehicle though, was the message: "Michael Roarke Master Roofer, died on March 17." On the back window was a list of names - I can only presume his family, and on another side window the message "We miss you." Driving this car was a young woman - she had just gotten her groceries and was heading home.

I guess it made me wonder how you decide to get the ink and write that message and then how long does it stay on. As I headed to the church, I was behind a truck that had a personalized sticker in the window that said - "In memory of Pvt James Anderson". Small and inconspicuous. And again I wondered about the decision to get such a sticker and put in on your truck.

And then it occurred to me, that like bumber stickers that proclaim political messages or funny messages and sometimes inappropriate messages, these were messages that simply said, "I'm in pain." "I have lost." Messages that were being tossed out into the world - no expectation of response, but simply put out there for those who take the time to read them.

Do these people not have a community that they can share this with? Or are we fellow travelers their community? Do they not have a community that can tell them, "you remain in our prayers even after your husbands death." And offer those signs of recognition and care that are our trademarks - (casseroles and cakes.) I would hope so, but I'm not sure if the need exists to drive around with the message on your window.

And so take the time to look at the windows and bumpers of cars around you, there very well could be someone crying out for a little recognition in a world that is filled with pain and loss. We can't fix it, but we can give a wave or offer a prayer that the grief will be comforted.
Peace to you!

Confirmation Excursion

2009-03-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

This past weekend found myself and another congregation member with 14 of our Confirmands in St. Louis. We first went to Shaare Emeth Synagogue for worship. A beautiful synagogue in West County that received us with such grace and very patiently explained their traditions and faith perspectives. We closed the night at the City Museum, (you gotta go sometime!) Lights out by 1:00 a.m. and wake up at 6:00 a.m.! We attended Mass at the Cathedral Basilica at 8:30 and a tour of a Greek Orthodox church at 10:00. Lunch and worship with Bishop Schnase and on the way home by 3:30!
God's presence for me was when we walked into the Cathedral Basilica and these 12 and 13 year olds were speechless. It is difficult to impress this demographic and for them to be speechless in a place of worship did my heart good. Each of our hosts did a great job in talking about their unique beliefs and practices and I think our Confirmands had a great experience in learning about the roots of our faith. Please keep them in your prayers as we have about 6 weeks left to this part of the journey.

So two weekends in a row I have been on the road hosting large groups from one place to the other, and I'm tired and in need of a break. Looking forward to family time and not working on Sunday! I will return to planning the summer and turning from "Spiritual Formation" to "Christian Education" as a focus!
Peace Out!

USA Today article referred to in other posting! Good Read!

2009-03-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-09-ARIS-faith-survey_N.htm

The Tuesday After

2009-03-10T15:45:00.001-07:00

It is the Tuesday after the Women's Retreat and the Tuesday after "Springing forward" on our clocks. I'm just a little dazed! The retreat was very good, great weather on Saturday for doing anything you wanted to do. We had tough weather Sunday morning for about 10 minutes. Just when we thought we were going to go to the basement because of a Tornado warning, the sun came out and it was all gone. As a result we were able to go the chapel on the hillside for our Sunday worship.

The theme all weekend had been the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. We had broken the story down into three parts: first, understanding why she was at the well and her attitude toward Jesus; then we asked ourselves why we had come to the well. Second, we talked about the woman's encounter with Jesus and how his truth telling had changed her from skeptic to believer. On Sunday morning we heard how she had returned to her village and told the people there that the Messiah had come to them, and to come and see for themselves. The scriptures tell us they were so in awe of Jesus they asked him to stay with them for two days. At the end of that time, they committted their life to following him and said to the woman, "it is not because you say so anymore, but because we have seen for ourselves that we believe."

Our worship was very much touched by the Holy Spirit, as the wind blew, as we sang beautiful music and as birds sailed in the breezes. We beheld the simple resurrections we had known since last year and the ones we anticipate this year. We shared our prayers, and shared in communion. It was a blessed time.

I have to share one of the joys for me is that this group is so diverse. All generations are present, from 70's through 20's and we learn from each other all the time and in all ways. And yes, I'm a bit weary for the excursion but a weariness born out of community and joy.

There was an article in USA today that I will post about how religion continues to shrink in the US. A sobering article that says UMethodism has fallen from 8% of the population to 5% since 1990. What do you say to people who say organized religion just isn't relevant anymore? That there isn't anything worth pursuing in church that they can't find outside of church...we need to find the answer to that and talk about it. Who will carry the Good News of Jesus Christ into the world? It is time, it is time!

Stethescope Video

2009-02-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

Enjoy this video - it has a great little message!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYI_aOyCn9Y

Dancin

2009-02-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I have had a chance to offer my thoughts. I'm trying to decide the dance steps I've been doing. It hasn't been every step all at once, but a pretty consistent stream of tunes coming at me.

The season of Lent is here. Always a time that I look forward to and work to lean even more into God's word and God's whispers to me. I am looking forward to a dedicated time to be on my knees and quiet. Our Lenten devotion book is great! We did one two years ago and received about 15 devotions - this year we had 37! Is it that we are stronger in our faith, or is it that we are simply more comfortable in sharing our faith, or is it that we trust each other with our hearts just a bit more? Whatever the answer...Praise the Lord!

I am on call chaplain for the hospital today and had a call mid-day that a woman had had a miscarriage of a 17 week old pregnancy. She wanted someone to come and pray over the child and to talk with her. I have only done this one other time and find the images too difficult to set aside. We are truly amazing creations! This little 7 inch body was all there and amazingly formed. Mom and Dad were dealing as best they could and have the same questions that we all would. Why would God allow this to happen?

We talked awhile about how God creates life, God does not take life away. It is our humanity that created disease, viruses, and whatever mysteries it is that cause birth defects. This little one was God's good creation and its death to be mourned. So please keep them in your prayers. (And know that your afghans are being used.)

Next is the WOmen's Retreat and I'm looking forward to a great weekend. Good food, good fun, and sharing in a sisterhood that is wonderful.
Share your light in a world that is in need now more than ever.

2009-02-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

Hear these prayer concerns:
"Please pray for peace and lack of anxiety in the midst of changing financial conditions."

"I am struggling personally and financially. Please pray for me."

"Please pray for those who will lose their job at my workplace this week."

"Please pray for me as I look for a job."

"Please pray for my kids as I have lost my job and don't know where to turn."

These have all come through our various pathways for prayer in the last two weeks. Our Habitat family has been laid off and can't move in to the house until they have employment.

So many are struggling to keep above water during these days. And to listen to the news, there is little reason to hope for a turn around anytime soon. I get frustrated with our government and their convoluted response and part of me questions the extent of their intervention at all. But I do know there are hungry, sick and naked ones out there that have never been in this position before.

I shared with the Companions in Christ group, that when we sit in silence, I have the image of holding the group. Just simply holding us - together, holding us - up, holding us - accountable...that as we pray we are somehow offering strength to one another. I shared that image before the prayer time on Sunday...there just is so little to do except hold you up, hold you close, hold you in peace in these very difficult times. We continue to ask ourselves - how can we help? I was in the midst of seminary when I first found these verses. They were sent to me at just the right moment when I was sure I was drowning. I hope they are words that will bring comfort and hope to those who are hurting and treading water.

"He says, "Don't be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. This is because I, the Lord, am your God...Because you are precious to me"...Isaiah 43:1b-2.

May you walk and not be afraid, may you wade through deep waters and not falter, may you walk through fire and not be burned. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

God at Work

2009-02-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

I had the joy this week of encountering someone who is new to the Christian faith. Have you ever listened to someone's conversion to Christ? It is filled with goose bumps and for me tears of joy.

I ran in to "Roy" at Walmart. I first met him at the Salvation Army shelter when we served meals. He was there a long time, so we got to know him fairly well. He bounced around jobs and was up and down and in and out. Eventually he moved into his own apartment and was fairly steady at one of the hospitals. So I saw him regularly again, and he was happy. Then I didn't see him anymore. So when I saw him at Walmart, I told him I had missed seeing him and asked how he was. His first answer was - "I've found the Lord" "I gave my life to Christ" He went on to talk about the perfect peace he knew that he had never known before. He said, "I could die tonight and I'd be fine, because I know I'm in God's care." We talked a little about his journey, and he said, "I had to go through all of that for God to save me, if I hadn't gone through all that, I would not have turned to him."

"Roy" went on to share that he was now managing a halfway house here in Jeff and was finding ministry - a way to share his faith with others. I implored him to keep telling his story, that the world needed to hear that God was still at work in the world and turning lives around. Can you share your story? What difference has God made in your life? The answer is one of the most important questions to answer. It is where the next step of your faith journey begins.
SHARE IT SHARE IT SHARE IT!

What Is Communion?

2009-01-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.gbod.org/worship/thm-bygc.pdf This is the link to get to a pdf copy of the document "This Holy Mystery", written by the Council of Bishops a few years back. It was written to raise awareness of "The United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion." This was the source for the beginning of a new Sunday School class at 11:00 a.m. this past Fall. Only one faithful soul showed up to share in that understanding.

We have undertaken observing weekly communion at our early service. There are some that view it as a meaningful practice that offers strength and healing and centering for their lives on a weekly basis. Others have commented that it seems a too frequent practice that only diminishes its meaningfulness. Well, let's talk about it.

Communion is aptly referred to as a mystery, a Holy mystery...which means that through this sacrament God is able to convey things that are beyond our capacity to reason. One of those "things" is grace. Grace is the gift of a new beginning, the true knowledge of being forgiven, the gift of knowing that God loves and cares for you no matter where you are or what you have done. Can we come to know that too many times?

We have two sacraments - baptism and communion. And we only have two because they are the two things that Jesus told us to carry on. "As often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me" and "Go forth into all the world, teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." In baptism we are brought into the family of God, in communion we are sustained for the journey in that family. Can that be watered down? To make an analogy - is every time the family gathers around the dinner table less and less meaningful?

When communion is viewed as only a remembrance - simply an act like blowing out the candles on a birthday cake to mark another year of life...then I might concede that a birthday cake every week would get old. But - we believe God's presence is in the juice and bread - God is with us here and now, as he was in the first century, as he will be in the days to come...

John Wesley advocated that we should participate in the Lord's Supper as often as we are able to. Can we imagine - as we take in those elements and kneel to pray, that God's presence is all around us, a hand on our shoulder; and as we rise the places that have been broken are mended, the relationships where we have been angry or separated are now approachable, or the source of our confusion - becomes a bit clearer...can we get too much of that?

So as has been said, the move to weekly Communion is simply to provide an opportunity to grow closer to God - nothing more - open your hearts and minds to the mystery of God in your life - and be transformed by that love.

Abraham Lincoln

2009-01-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

It seems I have been hearing many ties to Abraham Lincoln these last few days. The concert at the Lincoln Memorial, Obama using Lincoln's Bible, and of course the historic nature of an African American becoming president and what would Lincoln think of that? Today I received an email that had many resources for worship in it, and there he was again: Abraham Lincoln
At first I thought it would be somehow tied to the mood of the country and the events of the past week, but it is actually a resource for Ash Wednesday and speaks to our need to repent - I find some of the similarities to our culture 140 years later, eerily interesting. We have indeed been preserved in peace and prosperity and and that we think our blessings are produced by some wisdom of our own...

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, the many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

April 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer

In these days of change, whether it is in our nation's capital or in our homes, in our culture or in our families - there is always the call to remember God...remember how we got here, remember where our hope lies and to humble ourselves and pray.

God who created all,
We find many reasons to lose hope, and we search for the places and people we can put our hope in...forgive us for forgetting you are the one true hope that is present for all of creation. Our hope is in your grace - that meets us exactly where we are and carries us onward until we turn away again. Our hope is in your steadfastness, that you are unchanging in a world that changes every second.
Be with our leaders - old and new - we pray you will work in them in ways that are powerful and will turn hearts to your truth. Be at work in all of us, that we may be a part of the kingdom to come - to your glory and honor and not our own. Amen

Art Lucas has died.

2009-01-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

I received an email yesterday from the "Shared Prayers" person at the Conference Office. It said, "It is with great regret that the district shares that Art Lucas has died." The message then gave the details of his funeral arrangements. Art was the Director of Spiritual Care at Barnes Jewish Hospital, but for me Art was the voice of God.

I traveled with Art and a group of other health care professionals to Riga, Latvia in 1997. The purpose of our travel was to bring the program/idea/institution of Hospice to this eastern European country. In those years, the USSR had not been gone all that long, and Jewish Hospital had a sister hospital there that they were mentoring into the 20th Century. We were introducing the idea of team health care, as well as dealing openly with death. The social norms of that time were to not tell the patient that they were dying and to keep it from them, the family was told and was aware and"protected" the patient from all "difficult" or "painful" information. Of course, hospice is 180 degrees the other direction. This was the first time I had traveled to Europe, I had two small children at home, but when I was invited to go, very much as a reward for a job well done, there was a stirring in my spirit that I HAD to go.

We traveled the long trip and stepped back in time. Riga is an ancient city that began in the 1400's. They have a history of fighting off the Vikings and surviving many assaults from other powers. (And they survived the USSR) Art's role was as a chaplain and he was meeting with the local seminarians. The Lutheran church has a history there. Their question to him was, "What does a chaplain do?" In our group he was sharing how the meeting went and how he answered the questions. He said, "Your pastor leads you and tells you what to believe, and a chaplain meets you where you are and walks with you in that place." The moment those words left Art's mouth and hit my ears, - the best way I can describe it, is that my heart was squeezed. It was in my chest, and there was a hand on my heart and it gently squeezed it. Well I thought, "that's odd" "You're way too excited girl, get a grip." and pretty much dismissed it as a blip.

Returning to the US, my family, Barnes-Jewish and Physical Therapy, everything had changed, I was different, and my experience of working as a PT at a skilled nursing facility was different. I became less interested in my middle management position and more interested in the patients dispositions and their souls. Not too long after that, I remembered this moment in Latvia, and I began to understand God was calling me to work in new ways for him and for his kingdom.

I shared this with Art and in his quiet way he smiled and said, sometimes you just don't know when God will use you. I visited with him a couple of other times and reminded him of the impact his ministry was to me and my life. Thank you Art, good and faithful servant. Rest in peace.

2009....my oh my

2008-12-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

How can it be, that we are ushering in another year? This year has gone so very fast! It was Africa Day at TH Middle School on the 19th and Mark and I got to share our stories together to a whole bunch of 7th graders. It was good to see our pictures again and to remember those whom we had shared so much with.

I asked recently what Christmas was like in Africa...were there trees or presents, nativities or angels....It is celebrated as a Christian holiday. Singing carols and dancing dances and going to church on Christmas day to worship for hours celebrating the birth of Jesus. Those who can afford it will generally give gifts The most common thing bought at Christmas is a new set of clothes to be worn to the church service. Many Africans are too poor to be able to afford presents for their kids and there aren't too many toy stores in rural Africa to shop at anyway. If gifts are exchanged in poorer communities they usually come in the form of school books, soap, cloth, candles and other practical goods.

You may see decorated mango trees, and churches are decorated with paper chains and cut outs hanging everywhere. Christmas dinner is likely a roasted goat that the whole village enjoys together. It is summer time, so there is also time at the beach to be enjoyed.

A different world to be sure.

I hope 2009 proves to be a year of great things, a year of jubilee for those captive by what holds them, a year of new vision for the blind, and a year that God knows a great revival of God's people here in the middle of the country and across the world.
May you know peace this day and everyday!

Seasons of Joy...amidst the desperate

2008-12-23T01:36:00.000-08:00

About 10 days ago, I received a phone call from a young woman who claimed to be Lori, that she was 17 years old, had a 3 year old, and a 4 year old and one on the way, due Dec 21st. She was new in town from Chicago, the Salvation Army had sent her here, and that she had just left the shelter and was in an apartment with the Housing Authority. She was too late to receive anything from the Salvation Army Christmas and Samaritan Center had also taken all the names they were going to, and could we help with Christmas for her children...

You must know that when these phone calls come, and they come often, my first reaction is to doubt every word I have just heard. And yet, more times than not, I find the story I can't believe is more or less accurate...and I am left with the image of Jesus knocking at the door of the church to see if anyone is at home.

I questioned Lori, about her family and what support she had here in JC..."none, her family didn't care about her and her children's father was in prison somewhere...." I questioned the whole Salvation Army connection and told her I didn't believe one shelter in another state would send someone across state lines...and her response was, "Well that's what happened." And then the big question...what was she looking for, for Christmas? Her children needed clothes and coats and boots.

Now, regardless of how much you believed or didn't believe of this story...couldn't we help with some warm clothes? I knew there were families in the church with children about the same size and even if they were handme downs...it was something. So I told Lori I would see what I could do for her and call her back the following Monday. As I told her story around the church, the Connections Sunday school class became an obvious place that could help...And to their great credit, they were more than willing to pour themselves out for this woman and her children. We talked about mentoring her through some of the hard times ahead, about developing a relationship that would last and maybe make a difference in her life. Truly a huge commitment for the class to take on, but in Christian love, they were willing.

On Monday, Lori called me, and I explained that there were many in the church that wanted to help her, and that I thought she could find support and care for her children as well as for her life. Did she want to make Jefferson City her home? "Yes" then could you come to church on Sunday, so the class could meet you and get to know your needs? In a moment, the dangling string began to unravel..."Well, I'm scheduled for a C-section on Sunday"...they don't schedule C sections on Sundays..."Well they did." I had some hand me downs for the 3 year old and told her I would drop them off and we could meet face to face...(yes, I wanted to see a pregnant 17 year old) and all of a sudden she had an errand to run (with who, she didn't know anyone?) But I could leave them with her neighbor...and she wasn't leaving for another hour...got the address and took off to deliver clothes...as I drove up, the "neighbor" was outside sweeping the porch...well I just missed Lori by a few seconds...she had just left! Hmm I said. I gave her the clothes and said I hoped there was a child that was going to benefit from those clothes and that if they were lying it was going to catch up with them soon...

I began checking stories with the Salvation Army, they don't allow 17 year olds in the shelter, there was no name that matched their records, and that one shelter didn't send people out to another...all I had was this telephone number...through the Food pantry records I had matched it to a name...and the Salvation Army recognized the name and there was a long pause on the other end of the line..."Don't believe a word they have told you....we know them well." But are there children that are in need..."not likely."

This time I called the house and got a new voice to talk to, an older woman, who wasn't in to lying quite as much...there was no 17 year old, there were two 20 somethings, with three children between them. They had nothing and were looking to have some way of giving their children Christmas. As if that made the lies OK...I asked where the children were now..."in daycare" and the moms were out hunting jobs....

And there you have it...another round of life in poverty and want. Why the elaborate lies? Have they been told no so many times that the truth isn't relative anymore? And where was God in all of this?

Here's the joy part....members of the church responded from their hearts and not from their skepticism or judgment seats...there isn't a 17 year old with three children alone in an apartment in Jefferson City - (well at least not that I know of)...a little girl got a new coat and boots that were gently used...and I am wiser but not any less likely to try and help the next phone call I get that asks for it. That is where God has been for me this past week...please pray for these two women...that they might really desire to make straight the paths and maybe, just maybe they will come looking to the church for that help...
Amen

Where's the Love?

2008-12-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

The third Sunday of Advent, the candle of love is brought to life on the Advent wreath. And I have to ask, where's the love?

A difficult conversation at the church around hospitality and church growth and the role of those who are members of the church. While all the details are not important, it is important to locate yourself in the topic. In this conversation, the statement arose, that this person was tired of hearing about growing the church. That they were tired of hearing about new people coming into the church, they had been there longer than most people and it seemed the new people mattered more than this person did. It reminded me of the Parable of Workers in the Vineyard...

Matthew 20
A Story About Workers 1-2 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3-5"Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.
5-6"He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'
7"They said, 'Because no one hired us.'
"He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
8"When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'
9-12"Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'
13-15"He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?'
16"Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

We who are in the church today, are the workers who were hired earlier in the day. Some of us were hired at dawn, some of us at 9:00 and some of us at 3:00. But when we came to work in this vineyard, we agreed on the wage - salvation, eternal life, relationship with the God of all creation, so regardless of how long we have been at work, we are all receiving the same wage. So when a worker comes in that was hired at 5:00 - we need to rejoice - because that means there is STILL WORK TO BE DONE. The vineyard owner hasn't decided to call it a day yet. And the Kingdom of God has little to do with hierarchy and power and seniority - but everything to do with grace, peace, and love.

Yes, every worker is important, but one no more than the other - and if you want to push it - scripture says the first shall be last and the last shall be first. I believe this is crucial to the church moving forward. Can we welcome new workers in the field and not be jealous of their wage or their status? Can we let go of the rules of the past and see that those rules perhaps had little to do with God and more to do with human comforts? Bottom line, does God really sit in heaven and judge their appearance or their attitude or their upbringing before inviting someone to work? Where's the love in that? Do we need to respect each other - absolutely - and it must be a mutual respect, and our goal is to tend the vineyard - the kingdom- that God asks us to build - not to turn people off from even stepping foot into it.

I pray as I write, that in my heart is the truth in Christian love, and it is my prayer that these words can bring comfort to those who mourn the loss of "the way things used to be." and hope for the way things could be.

Advent Peace

2008-12-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

The second Sunday of Advent sees the candle of peace being lit.
Peace - the quiet that we seek from the noise of the world, turning off the news, listening to the rain fall, closing your eyes and listening to your most recent favorite music.
Peace - watching a child sleep, a purring cat in your lap, laughing till you cry
Peace - prayer before falling asleep, reading scripture that affirms God's love and care for God's creation.
As Advent continues to unfold, we also remember that it was a peaceful night that the shepherds were enjoying when the angels broke into it to proclalim a different kind of peace had come into the world. How open are you to having your peace changed...that in the chaos of change there comes a new reality, or a new kind of peace. I do think that is part of the season we are in. God broke into Mary and Joseph's life - and changed everything.
It is late, off to peaceful rest...
God bless and God's peace be in your life.

Advent Begins

2008-12-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

All the radio stations are playing Christmas music, there are new lights shining every night, and it is feeling and looking more and more like Christmas! We also look at the calendar and shake our heads at how another year could have rolled around so quickly.

Advent has always been a difficult season to get my arms around. A season of preparation, preparing our hearts and lives for the gift that is coming. So sometimes that feels like I need to clean the clutter (of heart and house), so that the focus can be on the right things. Sometimes that feels like the need to slow way down and savor every snowflake that falls and every star that shines, so that I can simply BE in the presence of God and creation. Sometimes that feels like decorating and baking and making gifts for those who are dear, so that all that is festive and extravagant and "simply" beautiful can flow through my heart to others. And sometimes that feels like I don't need to do anything differently, I hope to live expecting God to do wonderous things all the time - anytime...

Advent is also about waiting and hoping. Waiting on a light to change is never very timely...it usually comes when we don't need it and when we need to stop and catch the purse that just fell all we get are green lights....but there is a jumpy-ness when waiting on the light...so it is with Advent...

So as the weeks go by I know Advent will bring many blessings. I'm dipping my big toe in the water and am in the savor place right now. But also living in hope for the things God will do.

Many blessings of Advent!

(Photo by Ben Bell of London, who looks for the ancient story in contemporary images.)

Thanksliving

2008-11-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.
The holidays have arrived, even in the midst of such dire predictions about our economy and the advice that we should be anything but thankful. I heard someone say recently, there are two conversations going on in America....those who are talking about losing half of everything in the past 6 months, and those who are talking about losing half of their money in the last 6 months...
It is true, it is all in how you look at it. Our investments have taken a hit, but that is far from everything -
As children of God we are to have a spirit of gratitude for the love and care that that identity brings to us. We are to practice thanksliving...
I try to live thankfully for the world we have - I could always show it more in how I choose to care for it.
I try to live thankfully for the gift of family and the spoken and unspoken strength and support we give to one another - I could always be more bold in how I show it.
I try to live thankfully for the many comforts we have in our American culture - I humbly recall the Africans who were cooking over an open fire for a group of 12.
I try to live thankfully for a church that expresses their generosityby giving away 250 Thanksgiving dinners - I should brag on them more!
I try to live thankfully for the little bits of light that break into the darkness to show me the way to go next...
Praying so many blessings upon you as we pause to give thanks. How will you practice your thanksliving?
Chris

It's That Time of Year

2008-11-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

It will be two years ago this week that my father died. The first year was just figuring out how to go on without that anchor in your life, the second year is somehow a bit sadder because reality has set in like concrete. I miss him as much as ever.

The night my brother called to tell me they had found Dad in the 'old garage' unconscious and that the ambulance was there and "it didn't look good", I hung up the phone and was in a time warp. I couldn't get to Festus in less than two and half hours, I couldn't be there...so I waited. In the midst of waiting I took a time check...what day is this, what week is this....and then I knew Dad was gone. You see in my family death occurs the week of Thanksgiving. A dear uncle died the day before Thanksgiving some 20 years ago. He was a very brittle diabetic and had fought as long as he could....two years later, my grandfather died the day after Thanksgiving, a COPD patient, he too had gone on as long as he could. So as a family we had become accustomed to Thanksgiving equating celebrating a life that had been a part of ours. Like a pit in my stomach I somehow knew before the phone rang again and my mother said, "Dad is gone."

So that year, we did what we had always done, had a Thanksgiving meal, planned a funeral and gave thanks for the life of my father and all that he had given to us and to the world.

I grieve as much for my dad as for my mother...her brother, father and husband all died the week of Thanksgiving...talk about loaded...and yet it is because of that history with death that we have learned not to take anything for granted, and that when death comes it is always an uninvited guest...so we make sure we say "I love you" as often as possible.

Today there is a sense that everyone is at rest. Dad is where he is going to be, Mom is staying strong and keeping the homestead going for all of us. My kids watch music videos in the morning before school. My daughter is prone to Country music and one morning there was a video by Brad Paisley, featuring Andy Griffith - "Waiting on a Woman" Well that's my Dad - looks like him, and I do believe his is waiting on mom to join him, I can hear him say, "take your time."

It's that time of year, when my grief gets sparked and I endure the bittersweet reunion of family and memories...
It's that time of year, when we gather and give thanks for the many, many blessings we know as a family...
It's that time of year, when the last bits of life shine forth before their winter slumber...
It's that time of year, when I am caught between joy and sorrow, thanksgiving and grief, peace and turmoil...

Ain't That America

2008-11-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

Back in late August we went to the first 9th grade football game of the season. It was at McCluer North HS in North St. Louis County. The team and the school are primarily African American. The game, being the first of the season, was a bit painful. There were tons of penalties called on both teams, frequent "illegal procedures" and the crowd got a little impatient with the officials. The Jays were behind at the half and were making a comeback by the third quarter. The score was tied in the early 4th quarter and the game was on...and as happens in football there were a series of calls against the home team and in the last minute, what could have been the winning touchdown was called back because of an illegal procedure of somekind. On the sidelines there was a father of a McCluer North player, who had rooted and hollered with all of us, and as it became apparent the game was over for the Stars, he said: "Well, aint that America." Shook his head and left for the car.

Now I'm not saying that any of the officials calls were racially motivated, or even unfair...and I'm not even sure this gentleman was commenting on race as much as the odds seeming to be stacked against the team no matter how hard they worked...but I was reminded that even when I would say "it's not about race" there are those that have lived in a different reality than myself and would say that "it's always about race."

Well I have thought about that gentleman these past few days. And wonder if he is saying "ain't that America!" as the reality of a new history dawns and we all wonder what the future will bring. I hope so. And I hope this time he is saying it with a smile.

It Is What It Is

2008-10-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing this phrase a lot these days. Whether it reverberates around the economy, the election, or the church...more than once I have heard..."well, it is what it is."

A little research finds that the phrase originated with professional athletes...(of course) as they avoided committing to any kind of statement that might come back to haunt them..

The online Urban Dictionary defines the phrase as follows:
A) A phrase that seems to simply state the obvious but actually implies helplessness.
B) A phrase that seems to simply state the obvious but actually means "it will be what it is," as in "it ain't gonna change, so deal with it or don't."

The more I have heard the phrase, the more I think it implies some kind of apathy, and certainly helplessness...it is what it is and I can't do anything about it. Now when you are a professional football player and the team has just lost and you played your best game...it is what it is - a loss. But when talking about the church, or your family situation, or the community in which you live...any where that you have a voice and some part of the outcome - it is what it is, gives up too soon.

"It is what it is", makes me think of "I am who I am;" another phrase that leads us to scratch our heads a bit and we know Moses did too...but there is much more power in I am who I am than in it is what it is. Hear these words from Max Lucado The Applause of Heaven.

Consider the rod of Moses. By this time in his life, Moses had been a shepherd as long as he had been a prince, and he'd grown accustomed to it. Herding sheep wasn't as lively as living with Egyptian Royalty, but it had its moments, especially the moment God spoke to him through a burning bush that didn't burn up. God announced that Moses was his man to deliver the Israelites. Moses wasn't convinced he was the one for the job. God said that who Moses was didn't matter; what mattered was who God was. And God set out to demonstrate.

"Moses" spoke the voice from the bush, "throw down your staff."

Moses, who had walked this mountain for forty years, was not comfortable with the command.

"God, you now a lot about a lot of things, but you may not know that out here, well you just don't go around throwing down your staff. you never know when..."

"Throw it down, Moses"

Moses threw it down, the rod became a snake and Moses began to run.

"Moses!"

The old shepherd stopped.

"Pick up the snake."

Moses peered over his shoulder, first at the snake and then the bush, and then he gave the most courageous response he could muster.

"What?"

"Pick up the snake...by the tail." (God had to be smiling at this point.)

"God, I don't mean to object, I mean, you now a lot of things, but out here in the desert, well you don't pick up snakes too often, and you never pick up snakes by the tail."

"Moses!"

"Yessir."

Just as Moses' hand touched the squirmy scales of the snake, it hardened. And Moses lifted up the rod. The same rod he would lift up in Pharaoh's court. The same rod he would lift up to divide the water and guide two million people through a desert. The rod that would remind Moses that if God can make a stick become a snake, then become a stick again - then perhaps he can do something with stubborn hearts and a stiff-necked people.

Perhaps he can do something with all of us.

The next time we are tempted to utter "it is what it is" remember God hears our needs and answers prayers in the manner that will help us, serve his will and often surprise us.

Trust God in prayer to do what needs to be done to make what it is what God wants it to be and not what we keep it from being....Amen

Jitterbugging

2008-10-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Christian journey or Spiritual life has sometimes been likened to a dance. There is the struggle of letting God lead, there is the struggle of keeping up with the rythmn and the pace. Well I'm pretty sure this weekend I was jitterbugging with Jesus!

Many weeks ago, a friend called and asked if I would be able to come to his church and talk about my trip(s) to Mozambique and just share my experiences with the people and the country as his church was thinking about a mission trip in the future. I was glad to have the chance to share my pictures and stories as I haven't done that since I got back in August. So that got on the books, Sunday 6:30 about a two hour drive from home. Great!

Then about 4 weeks ago we received an invitation for a 90th birthday celebration for a dear saint of the church and she asked that I would come and offer the prayer for the meal and of course for the joy of the day. That was on Saturday at 4:00. Great!

Three weeks ago, I had the joy of talking with a woman who had gone through our Grief Support group about three years ago after her husband died of a long illness. Her mourning had turned to dancing and she was getting married to an old High School classmate that she had been reintroduced to at a recent reunion. He too had lost his wife to cancer and a long illness. It is a wonderful thing to be able to see God draw a circle in someone's life and heal the sadness of loss with the joy of reunion. She asked that I officiate at a small family wedding. That would be Saturday at 7:30!.....OK...hmmm, Great!

On Thursday I received a call that a 95 year old child of God had died. She was the beloved mother of one of our church members and had moved to a local nursing home from Iowa a few years back. Our member asked that I officiate at the funeral, 1:00 on Saturday...hmmm...well...yes, Lord...OK. Next day - wait a minute, out of town family can't make it until later, how about Saturday at 3:00? By this time, I'm smiling and seeing what God is up to...OK, I'll step it up a notch. Sure, Great!

Now don't forget I'm also shuttling my football player to practices Friday and Saturday, chaperoning a party at my dtrs middle school, a game on Friday night, laundry, house cleaning...will I ever get to cook for my family again?

But here it is Monday and while I am too pooped to take one more step, what a great dance it was. To honor a dear woman at her memorial service, to join two who had been brokenhearted together to heal their hurts, to celebrate the abundance God continues to give to a nonagenarian, and to worship God amidst a very busy morning and then to culminate by talking about one of the most fascinating and wonderful people and place on earth - I was high stepping and had my flats on! Spun around a few times and even had an encounter with a very gracious Vienna police man who clocked me at 51 in a 35. I think he knew I was headed home and beyond tired. He let me go with a warning and I am grateful and slowed down the rest of the way home.

Thanks be to God for grace to serve, for perseverance when fatigued, for inspiration when needed and for comfort to all who mourn.

I'll take a simple slow dance for just alittle while and then get back to the rock and roll. Thank you Lord, it was great!

Adam Hamilton responds to economy ?

2008-10-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

On September 25, as the U.S. House of Representatives was preparing to vote for the first time on the proposed economic rescue plan, Adam Hamilton, pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, was speaking not far away at a forum on faith and public life. Wesley Seminary president David McAllister-Wilson asked Hamilton a hypothetical question about what he would preach at his church after an economic "worst case scenario" - a scenario that did not differ much from the economic catastrophe that soon followed. Listen to Adam Hamilton's three-minute response on this podcast: http://www.churchleadership.com/audio/101208.mp3.

Stewardship amidst the worse week of the economy in 5 years

2008-10-12T18:18:00.000-07:00

We are in the midst of trying to start a Stewardship campaign - even though all the news continues to be very bleak and we hear words like "never before" or "not since the Great Depression" and "Worldwide recession." But is that enough to get us off the hook of giving?
No it is not.
It is a given that the bucket we have to pull from may be smaller, but it is still a spiritual act to give and to give sacrificially. Sacraficial giving is giving that means something, that changes us in some way when we do it. Not sacrifice that hurts us, but that makes us stronger.
So in the pie that God gives us, as we slice it all up and give to the mortgage, the utililties, the credit cards and whatever else we may have, let us not forget to give God the portion that belongs to God in the first place.

Check out: www.worshiphousemedia.com and look for "God Pie" for a great illustration.

2008-10-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

10 PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION OR WHAT THE ECONOMY DOES 1. The Bible will still have all the answers. 2. Prayer will still work. 3. The Holy Spirit will still move. 4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people. 5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and healing. 6. There will still be singing of praise to God. 7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people. 8. There will still be room at the Cross. 9. Jesus will still love you. 10. Jesus will still save the lost. ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL!

Such distracting days and times

2008-10-07T12:57:00.001-07:00

I spoke with a local pastor yesterday who asked if we had good crowd at church on Sunday. I had to say no, it was among the worst Sundays of the year. He was quite relieved because he said the same was true for his small rural church. He said it was the smallest attendance they have had since he was pastor at that church. It was World Communion Sunday, no ice storms, a beautiful day really, and yet so few chose to come to church and offer their worship or share in God's meal of grace and forgiveness.

We continued to bemoan the culture and the times we find ourselves in and with much sadness in our hearts came to the conclusion that what all the experts have been saying about our churches and our faith is true. The churches are shrinking and our Christian faith is not seen as an anchor in the storms by much of the people in the world around us.

I wonder how much we will need to shrink before we go out and share our faith or even share how our faith is helping us through these days of depressing predictions about our finances or our future. Which then leads to the question...is your faith helping you through these days of severe market down turns?

I share this from "The Message" Matthew 6: approx14-3something

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.
If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Has anyone, by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion - do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and loot at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the coutnry look shabby alongside them.
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works, Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

I pray these words meet you where you are...and that there is some light shed on the darkness of these day. And I pray we will choose worship this next Sunday morning.
Peace!

The Shack page 2

2008-10-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well I finished it! It's a book that has a great imagination around God, the Trinity, and above all it tries to answer the question about why bad things happen, or perhaps where is God when bad things happen. There were a few moments that seemed a little "New Age " to me, but nothing too outrageous. I think it could make for a great book review or perhaps even the centerpiece for the women's retreat this year.

Among the best thoughts: "Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes (God's) are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again."

As children of God we are created to change the world, to work for God's healing love in the world, and to share the Love of God that lives within us. That every time we reach someone's heart the world changes is an amazing call for each of us to take in.
And a little bit of light in the darkness of our own hearts.

God bless!

The Shack

2008-10-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

In my season of searching, I am reading "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young. I am at the halfway point so cannot give it a full review, but I can tell you that you have to read it! The images of God, the questions that it raises and attempts to answer are wonderful. If you are wrestling with God, this is a good place to take your wrestling.

This is a story about a man who encounters a great sadness in his life and in the aftermath, meets with God in a shack in the mountains of Oregon. There he asks questions and receives answers that are profound and what the Bible tries to tell us but what our humanity has twisted and torn.

On the cover, Eugene Peterson who wrote The Message, writes this: "This book has the potenital to do for our generation what John Bunyon's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!" Yep, yep...check it out!

Oct 1 - Seasons change

2008-10-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful hint of Fall is in the air this day! We have finally made it to October, the long summer is passed and Autumn is just around the corner. Twice today I have heard the phrase - "this season in your life." It has caused me to think about what season am I in...and what promise is it leading to? I am in a season of searching, of seeking for God's direction.

One thing about blogging is that I am writing about me and my feelings - I am not writing in the hopes someone will tell me the answers...but rather inviting you into the journey for yourself or along with me. If you see a big rock looming ahead, please don't let me stub my toe, but for the most part I don't write for someone to tell me I'm OK or that I am right or that I'm wrong...but please do tell me what your perspective may be or what you hear God saying....

I am seeking God's direction in finding a vision for ministry and for this church that will transform us into the church God desires. We are standing in history at a time of literally decades of decline. Starting in the 1980's there is a steady decline downward in worship attendance and membership numbers. The world has changed since that time 20 years ago (there is evidence it even began 40 years ago) and the church has not necessarily changed with it. The church is no longer a place where the world looks for answers or comfort or wisdom. We've blown it; our relevancy, our accountability, our trustworthiness have all been lost by the sins of those who came before. So we cannot be a church that exists for itself anymore. If our faith is not strong enough to propel us out into the world to share with others, then it is our obligation to grow that faith, through study, through worship, through sharing with others in small groups. Not a choice, not a worthwhile hobby, not an option, but a must! It is what God asks us to do, it is an expectation of a follower of Christ!
If we do find our faith sufficient to share, then we need to be about ministry that helps the poor, the widowed, the children; ministries that will change their life into disciples that will go and repeat the process for someone else. As lives are changed the world will change.

I pray for a season of hunger and need, so that we may turn to God to satisfy. I pray for a season of anxiety so that we might look beyond the routine to find our comfort. I pray for a season of change so that God's will be done.

As the season of our amazing world changes right before our eyes, I pray that I can change too, into one that can grow and build and share; and reflect the nourishment I've been given (like the autumn leaves), so that the dormant place we find ourselves this day will hold the hope of new life to come. It may be our only hope!

Greetings world of bloggers

2008-09-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have finally succumbed! The first time I heard of a blog I thought, "Why on earth?" That was several years ago and since then I have read many blogs of people I admire and love and found that their words and images and messages have brought some light to my day or lifted the load just a little bit. There is no doubt, there will one day be a mountain of diagnoses of the personality of bloggers and just why these people feel the need to write their thoughts and feelings to an anonymous world...and I will be interested I suppose. But for now I only hope to share my thoughts, to share my faith, and to offer little bits of light to a world that can sometimes be dark and heavy.
In peace,