September 14, 2010

9-14-10 Tuesday, 7:07 am Springfield, 65 degrees, raining.

Today is my daughter’s 22 birthday! I will send her facebook greetings. I remember well the day she was born in 1988, as I was pastoring in Wellsville, and Audrey stayed at my parents for her last week of pregnancy so she could be closer to her doctor and the hospital. As the yet unnamed baby was handed to her mother following birth, Audrey looked her in the eyes and said “we will take good care of you!”. Now Bethany is in Los Angeles, across the continent in college, and this will be the fourth birthday in a row that we celebrate across the miles. I celebrate her accomplishments, her character, and most importantly her faith and the life she lives fully in the Spirit of God’s grace and power.

Yesterday I cancelled my participation in the Elders Day Apart in Sedalia, and spent the day with Audrey. My schedule has been, and will be so packed that this was a necessary and welcomed aeration. I regretted not being there to lead the Asbury Alumni Fellowship leadership group at 8:00 pm, but there are good young leaders working on that team.

Galatians 1:1-24

Paul is writing this letter to the churches of Galatia to encourage, clarify and convince them concerning the gospel. In verse 10 he states “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” This statement reminds me of Francis Asbury, as he came to America in his 20s, and found the discipline lax in the fledgling Methodist movement. I am reading the biography American Saint by John Wigger. In it, Asbury makes many people, including some of the more experienced leaders mad at him for being so insistent on discipline. Given my tendency to please people, part of the personality I have inherited, I must be careful and wise to always seek the approval of God, not of people as I serve and live out fully who God has called me to be.

I find myself a pastor in the Methodist connection 260 years after John and Charles Wesley were used by God to launch this renewal movement, and 216 years after the 1784Christmas Conference of Methodists here in the United States. The denomination is in decline, people in the churches essentially like things the way they are and do not welcome change. There are signs of hope and life, and the 46 year-old church to which I am appointed has much health and vigor. The challenge is to keep moving forward in ways that please God, being careful to trust Him on the narrow way, and avoid the wide path that pleases self and people.

I am yours, O God, make me ever true. I desire to please you alone, following your lead, embracing the conflict against evil and the subtle cult of self and pleasure in this world. Use me today as I serve you with joy and faith.