Matthew 13
Jesus teaches the crowds in parables. The disciples get a fuller explanation, for example of the parable of the sower who scattered seed on different kinds of ground. When the disciples asked him why he spoke in parables, he replied “to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.” He quotes Isaiah saying “You keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;” He concludes by telling the disciples that they are blessed because of what they see and hear.
Still it is true in this era, that some people see and hear with understanding, experiencing the fullness of God’s grace and mercy, while many people see and hear, and do not understand, do not become followers of Christ. This is a mystery, one which I embrace and accept.
Yesterday I completed my last long training run before the February 5 marathon. I ran-walked 24 miles in 4 hours 56 minutes, averaging 11:56 a mile. This is the longest distance I have ever covered in training for a marathon. With the goal of completing one marathon a decade, I am confident that in three weeks I can complete a marathon at the age of 55.
I had lots of time to think while running yesterday. It was a beautiful day, with the temperature in the mid-sixties, unseasonably warm for January in Missouri. As I was enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the Frisco Highline Trail I was remembering the people and the groups with whom I have run in the past. My first running partners were Bob Johnson and his next door neighbor, both in their 40s as I was preparing for my freshman year in high school. They took me to a nearby track as I prepared for what would be my first Cross Country season. They encouraged me in those early morning runs as I tried to complete the quarter mile laps according to the summer workout schedule provided by the coach. When the season started, I discovered that I was one of the slowest runners on the team. We were blessed with excellent distance runners who won our first several meets. Our coach said that if we went through the season undefeated, he would letter the whole team. For the first time in school history, a team completed an undefeated season, and as the slowest runner, who never scored a point for the team, I was awarded a freshman letter in Cross Country. What an experience of Grace!
Throughout high school I tried out for various sports from which I was cut from the teams. The track and cross country teams took all comers, with no cutting, and it was on the track team that I found a home and a place to belong as an “athlete”. I have great memories of the years of training with different members of the team as we worked out on the track, and completed longer runs on the road. I usually ran in Junior Varsity meets, but did score one varsity point for my track team in a two-mile race my junior year. At the end of my senior year I was awarded a varsity letter in track for my persistence, having been on the team each year during high school. (What do you do with a varsity letter in May of your senior year?)
I began running marathons while I was in seminary, training with two friends during the spring semester of my first year. We ran the Mother’s day marathon in Columbus Ohio, and Rob and I tied for 14th. 15 years later I completed a marathon out of Columbia Missouri, having trained with a friend from church. We both had elementary aged children, and our training schedule was worked around the schedules of our families. My goal is to complete a marathon in each decade of my life, into my 70s.
As I was running yesterday, I was thinking about the similarities between running and the life of a disciple of Christ. There is an acceptance by the community of “all comers”, no one is cut from the team. There is work to be done to prepare a person for this life, which includes a discipline and much effort. The follower of Christ must deny oneself, and become single-focused with the eye on the prize of the high calling in Jesus. Following Christ requires companions. A person simply cannot pursue this spiritual life alone. There are usually different companions at different seasons along the journey.
Where are you in this life of discipleship? As I prepare for this my fourth marathon, I realize that I am down the road a fair piece, with hopefully a significant distance still to go. I read this week that the last long run preceding one’s marathon is the most important run. Given that I will do this once a decade, it occurred to me while running yesterday that it was my most important training run of the decade! And thus I gave it my all.
As we begin to gather the people of Wesley into spring Life Groups, the Holy Spirit is leading each of us to the group that can be the most helpful for this part of the journey. I encourage you not to miss this opportunity – it could be the beginning of a long season of discipleship, or this group this spring could be the most important one of this decade for you in your walk with Christ. Use one of the paper signup forms, or for a high tech option, text 417.429.0967 your first and last name, and we can help you find just the right group. I look forward to the journey with you as we Change the World through our life groups this spring.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
January 14, 2012
Today is Audrey’s birthday, and she awakens in Honduras. The team will leave Talanga and travel to the valley of the angels for culture and shopping. Tonight they will stay near Teguc in a bed and breakfast, and fly home tomorrow. Audrey enjoys each part of a mission trip, and this day of touring and shopping in an artisan town should be a fitting way to celebrate this anniversary of her birth. Tonight the team will surprise her.
Today’s theme for me is “weddings.” I have two counseling sessions with couples planning their spring weddings, and then a very large wedding at 5:00 pm at Wesley. The fact that there are 4 ring bearers and 3 wedding coordinators indicates the scope of this event. Today also will involve making phone calls to leaders, writing an email to igniting leaders, encouraging the Upward ministries, and finalizing my sermon for Sunday. It is by necessity further along than usual, given the wedding work I will do today.
For my devotional reading of scripture, I am getting ahead of the gospel portion of the One Year Bible, but reading a chapter a day of Matthew seems to be a good pattern for me.
Matthew 12
This chapter finds Jesus, on the Sabbath walking through the grain fields with his disciples. “They became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.’” (Verses 1b-2) Thus the chapter involves Jesus teaching about the Sabbath, going to their synagogue and healing a man on the Sabbath, and infuriating the Pharisees who began to plan how to destroy him.
Jesus teaches that he is “Lord of the Sabbath”, and that David and his men violated an ordinance when they are the consecrated bread, and that every week the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, but are not guilty. This whole topic of sabbath-keeping continues to be a point of interest to me. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) is the fourth commandment. Of the Ten Commandments, this seems to be the one that Christians lack clarity in following. I know that as a pastor, my work on Sunday (the first day of the week, the “sabbath” for Christians) requires the most exertion. I recognize that in our culture, the fast pace of life is destructive, and everyone needs a day of rest in the cycle of the 7 day week.
My insight this morning is that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and that as He says in Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Given that all followers of Christ are priests, and that the 4th commandment does not spell out exactly what it means to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”, I think that there is still much to be gained for all of us who follow Christ to reflect upon the Sabbath, and find ways to remember it and keep it holy.
For me, here are some of the components of my remembering the Sabbath: 1. I treat each day as a gift from God, to be kept holy. 2. I understand the technical sense of Saturday (today!) being the seventh day of the week, kept as the Sabbath by Jews and 7th day Adventists. 3. I celebrate Sunday as commemorating the day of Christ’s resurrection, and worship every Sunday as my way of remembering this. 4. I recognize that God made us in His image, and that He rested on the 7th day of creation, thus we need to rest from our labors one day in seven (for me that is typically Monday), 5. This modern culture seems to live for the weekends, which are times of self gratification and self absorption, thus to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy is truly counter cultural today. It used to be that blue laws were in place and forced people to remember that Sunday was set apart in a different way.
Guide me Holy Lord, Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of Heaven and Earth, as I follow you, serve you, represent you, teach about you, and live a life of love.
Today’s theme for me is “weddings.” I have two counseling sessions with couples planning their spring weddings, and then a very large wedding at 5:00 pm at Wesley. The fact that there are 4 ring bearers and 3 wedding coordinators indicates the scope of this event. Today also will involve making phone calls to leaders, writing an email to igniting leaders, encouraging the Upward ministries, and finalizing my sermon for Sunday. It is by necessity further along than usual, given the wedding work I will do today.
For my devotional reading of scripture, I am getting ahead of the gospel portion of the One Year Bible, but reading a chapter a day of Matthew seems to be a good pattern for me.
Matthew 12
This chapter finds Jesus, on the Sabbath walking through the grain fields with his disciples. “They became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.’” (Verses 1b-2) Thus the chapter involves Jesus teaching about the Sabbath, going to their synagogue and healing a man on the Sabbath, and infuriating the Pharisees who began to plan how to destroy him.
Jesus teaches that he is “Lord of the Sabbath”, and that David and his men violated an ordinance when they are the consecrated bread, and that every week the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, but are not guilty. This whole topic of sabbath-keeping continues to be a point of interest to me. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) is the fourth commandment. Of the Ten Commandments, this seems to be the one that Christians lack clarity in following. I know that as a pastor, my work on Sunday (the first day of the week, the “sabbath” for Christians) requires the most exertion. I recognize that in our culture, the fast pace of life is destructive, and everyone needs a day of rest in the cycle of the 7 day week.
My insight this morning is that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and that as He says in Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Given that all followers of Christ are priests, and that the 4th commandment does not spell out exactly what it means to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”, I think that there is still much to be gained for all of us who follow Christ to reflect upon the Sabbath, and find ways to remember it and keep it holy.
For me, here are some of the components of my remembering the Sabbath: 1. I treat each day as a gift from God, to be kept holy. 2. I understand the technical sense of Saturday (today!) being the seventh day of the week, kept as the Sabbath by Jews and 7th day Adventists. 3. I celebrate Sunday as commemorating the day of Christ’s resurrection, and worship every Sunday as my way of remembering this. 4. I recognize that God made us in His image, and that He rested on the 7th day of creation, thus we need to rest from our labors one day in seven (for me that is typically Monday), 5. This modern culture seems to live for the weekends, which are times of self gratification and self absorption, thus to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy is truly counter cultural today. It used to be that blue laws were in place and forced people to remember that Sunday was set apart in a different way.
Guide me Holy Lord, Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of Heaven and Earth, as I follow you, serve you, represent you, teach about you, and live a life of love.
Friday, January 13, 2012
January 13, 2012
Utilizing technology, I now have my coffee maker set to automatically start the morning coffee so that it is ready just as my alarm awakens me. All that is required of me is to grind the beans and set up the coffee maker at night, and then to drag myself out of bed when the alarm does go off! This cold snap of weather is refreshing, but as the furnaces are required to run more frequently, I regret that heating costs rise with the drop in temperatures. Forecasters are predicting a swift moderation, with highs tomorrow and Sunday near 50.
Yesterday I recorded video segments for the six Life Group sessions beginning next month. Brian and Matt combined to set up a high tech recording set, including a teleprompter. I look forward to seeing the results. We have obtained copyright permission to use Mike Slaughter’s words, recorded as I read them for our small groups. I am looking forward to the spring of 2013 and producing our own material, with which I can be more creative and more personal. This effort for this spring is a great step forward. My conversation yesterday with Carla and Laura about discipleship was very helpful to me as we discussed personal discipleship, and systems of discipleship training.
Matthew 11
John the Baptist, from his prison cell sends his disciples to inquire about Jesus, whether or not he is “the Expected One”. Jesus tells these disciples to return to John and report that “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Verse 5) This relates to Luke 4:17-19 when Jesus, visiting the synagogue in Nazareth where he grew up reads from Isaiah 61, and then states “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
In our upcoming Life Group study, “Change the World”, we will consider how God is calling each of us to follow Jesus in ministry. The weekly topics include welcoming strangers, healing the sick, recruiting additional workers, and going out from our comfort zones to be the hands and feet of Christ. This chapter in Matthew is great preparation for changing the world, and I will use it in upcoming weeks.
Guide me today, precious Lord, as I serve You as an under shepherd with Your flock, searching also for the lost sheep, the spiritually asleep. I take up your yoke and learn from You. Bless the Honduras team on this their last full day of work in the village of Diez de Septiembre. Use the faith community called Wesley in Springfield to advance Your kingdom on earth.
Yesterday I recorded video segments for the six Life Group sessions beginning next month. Brian and Matt combined to set up a high tech recording set, including a teleprompter. I look forward to seeing the results. We have obtained copyright permission to use Mike Slaughter’s words, recorded as I read them for our small groups. I am looking forward to the spring of 2013 and producing our own material, with which I can be more creative and more personal. This effort for this spring is a great step forward. My conversation yesterday with Carla and Laura about discipleship was very helpful to me as we discussed personal discipleship, and systems of discipleship training.
Matthew 11
John the Baptist, from his prison cell sends his disciples to inquire about Jesus, whether or not he is “the Expected One”. Jesus tells these disciples to return to John and report that “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Verse 5) This relates to Luke 4:17-19 when Jesus, visiting the synagogue in Nazareth where he grew up reads from Isaiah 61, and then states “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
In our upcoming Life Group study, “Change the World”, we will consider how God is calling each of us to follow Jesus in ministry. The weekly topics include welcoming strangers, healing the sick, recruiting additional workers, and going out from our comfort zones to be the hands and feet of Christ. This chapter in Matthew is great preparation for changing the world, and I will use it in upcoming weeks.
Guide me today, precious Lord, as I serve You as an under shepherd with Your flock, searching also for the lost sheep, the spiritually asleep. I take up your yoke and learn from You. Bless the Honduras team on this their last full day of work in the village of Diez de Septiembre. Use the faith community called Wesley in Springfield to advance Your kingdom on earth.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
January 12, 2012
Winter is back! After nearly 2 weeks of above average temperatures and nice days, light snow is on the ground and the wind chill is in single digits. I love winter weather. Even when I must be out in it as I make a hospital call this morning, I enjoy the challenge of adverse conditions. Last night I read the third email written by Audrey from our team in Honduras, and it is inspiring. Here is a portion:
“We have only been working two days, yet it feels like at least a week.
We are so immersed in these projects. Yet without our interactions with
the Hondurans, this would be just "work." We are deeply impacted by the
love shown us. This is ministry, no greater or lesser than any other,
but powerful in its impact due to the immediate differences we see from our "regular"
lives. What we get used to seems normal. So we are rich, but don't know it. We
are privileged and want more. We seek entertainment, when what we really need
is interaction and service. We are being recalibrated, and we are liking it.”
Matthew 10
Jesus summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. He sent them out with specific instructions to go to the lost sheep of Israel and to preach that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus sent them out as sheep among wolves encouraging them to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Verse 16)
Guide my steps today, most holy Lord as I serve in the power of your Holy Spirit. Fill me, use me, recalibrate me, as I walk by faith in this generation.
“We have only been working two days, yet it feels like at least a week.
We are so immersed in these projects. Yet without our interactions with
the Hondurans, this would be just "work." We are deeply impacted by the
love shown us. This is ministry, no greater or lesser than any other,
but powerful in its impact due to the immediate differences we see from our "regular"
lives. What we get used to seems normal. So we are rich, but don't know it. We
are privileged and want more. We seek entertainment, when what we really need
is interaction and service. We are being recalibrated, and we are liking it.”
Matthew 10
Jesus summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. He sent them out with specific instructions to go to the lost sheep of Israel and to preach that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus sent them out as sheep among wolves encouraging them to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Verse 16)
Guide my steps today, most holy Lord as I serve in the power of your Holy Spirit. Fill me, use me, recalibrate me, as I walk by faith in this generation.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
January 10, 2012
I dreamed last night that I was driving a pickup truck across a levee that was under water. The lake was rising in flood stage, and I made it across, where I was to pick up Audrey and then return across the same levee. The car ahead of me turned back, but I was confident I could make it. I have no idea what this dream means. Recording it here in my journal is a way of keeping it from disappearing from my consciousness.
Matthew 8
Having come down from the mountain where he was teaching, Jesus heals several people including a leper, a centurion’s servant, and Peter’s mother-in-law. With the disciples in a boat he rebukes them for being timid, men of little faith before he rebuked the winds and calmed the sea. This chapter finishes with Jesus in the country of the Gadarenes, met by two men who were demon possessed. He cast the demons into a herd of swine which then rushed down a steep bank into the sea. The local residents asked Jesus to leave their region.
Yesterday I watched the recent movie about John Wesley, and found it to be a good representation of his life and ministry through his 30s. He became a man of great faith, courage and action. In light of Matthew 8, recording many of the actions of Jesus, I am pleased to share spiritual roots with Wesley. It is way too easy as a religious leader to slip into a path of pleasing people and becoming timid. Wesley was rejected by the “proper” clerics of his day who did not like his work among the poor. Jesus is rejected by the residents of the Gadarenes who disliked his work with the two demoniacs and the resultant loss of pigs.
Thank you Lord for this chapter of scripture, its reminder to be bold, to act in faith, and to live close to the edge rather than in the safer middle. Guide me as I discern what that means for my ministry today, this week, and in the year 2012. I am yours, O Lord, your servant doing your work in this generation.
Matthew 8
Having come down from the mountain where he was teaching, Jesus heals several people including a leper, a centurion’s servant, and Peter’s mother-in-law. With the disciples in a boat he rebukes them for being timid, men of little faith before he rebuked the winds and calmed the sea. This chapter finishes with Jesus in the country of the Gadarenes, met by two men who were demon possessed. He cast the demons into a herd of swine which then rushed down a steep bank into the sea. The local residents asked Jesus to leave their region.
Yesterday I watched the recent movie about John Wesley, and found it to be a good representation of his life and ministry through his 30s. He became a man of great faith, courage and action. In light of Matthew 8, recording many of the actions of Jesus, I am pleased to share spiritual roots with Wesley. It is way too easy as a religious leader to slip into a path of pleasing people and becoming timid. Wesley was rejected by the “proper” clerics of his day who did not like his work among the poor. Jesus is rejected by the residents of the Gadarenes who disliked his work with the two demoniacs and the resultant loss of pigs.
Thank you Lord for this chapter of scripture, its reminder to be bold, to act in faith, and to live close to the edge rather than in the safer middle. Guide me as I discern what that means for my ministry today, this week, and in the year 2012. I am yours, O Lord, your servant doing your work in this generation.
Monday, January 9, 2012
January 9, 2012
Audrey and the Honduras team are at the KC airport, awaiting their 6 am flight to Atlanta. Last year the snowy weather was an issue, today there should be no weather delays. I will track both of their flights with an app on my Droid. Bethany had a good weekend in Costa Mesa as she was a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding. Our Sunday at Wesley went well, with strong attendance and a good spirit throughout the body. I will invest this day off in Sabbath type activities, which will include some work around the house and garage, a workout (27 days until the marathon), and some flight time as the Cherokee is back on line from its required “annual.” I will also watch the John Wesley movie that I have had from the library for two weeks. It was made in the last couple of years, but did not do well at the box office.
Matthew 7
Do not judge. Tend the log in your own eye before you work on the speck in someone else’s eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs. Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find. This third chapter of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is full of wisdom and truth. It concludes with the application metaphor of building one’s house on sand or on a rock. My goal has always been to build my life on the solid foundation of obedience to God and alignment with the Word. Today is one more day, one more brick in the construction of the life of Bruce Baxter.
Guide me today most Holy Lord as I live each moment for you. Bless and guide the Honduras team as they fly from Kansas City to Atlanta, and then on to Tegucigalpa. Bless my adult children as they pursue their lives in the shadow of your wings. Amen.
Matthew 7
Do not judge. Tend the log in your own eye before you work on the speck in someone else’s eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs. Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find. This third chapter of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is full of wisdom and truth. It concludes with the application metaphor of building one’s house on sand or on a rock. My goal has always been to build my life on the solid foundation of obedience to God and alignment with the Word. Today is one more day, one more brick in the construction of the life of Bruce Baxter.
Guide me today most Holy Lord as I live each moment for you. Bless and guide the Honduras team as they fly from Kansas City to Atlanta, and then on to Tegucigalpa. Bless my adult children as they pursue their lives in the shadow of your wings. Amen.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
January 8, 2012
The world is calm at 5:39 am on this Sunday morning outside my door. I walked out onto my deck and was struck by the stillness. I imagined all my neighbors sleeping in their bedrooms, safe and comfortable. I am thankful for this neighborhood, and for this season of relative peace throughout our culture. There are people whose lives are in torment, and neighborhoods where fear stalks the dawn.
Job 1
This morning I am preaching the Good News from the book of Job. My title is “Why do the innocent suffer?” The scripture tells the story about Job, a man from Uz, “who was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Verse 1) God asked Satan if he had considered Job, to which Satan replied that Job honors God because of the special protection and blessing God gives him. Satan proposes that if Job lost all he had, he would curse God. “The Lord said to Satan, ‘very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’” (Verse 12). In one day, Job lost all his property and his 10 children. Rather than curse God he said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Verse 21)
I recognize God’s hand of blessing on my life. He has given me a strong body, an adequate mind, a wonderful wife, two marvelous children, a comfortable house, adequate transportation and all the food I need or want. I also realize that any or all of the above could disappear in a moment – of natural disaster, human malfeasance or illness. And I am confident that whatever befalls, it will be well with my soul. I can only imagine the pain and loss that others have experienced, like Job. My hope is in God, in whom I trust and believe.
Lord, speak through me today your words of faith, hope and love. May I represent you in every way possible, and be the servant leader you have called me to be among the people called Wesley United Methodist Church.
Job 1
This morning I am preaching the Good News from the book of Job. My title is “Why do the innocent suffer?” The scripture tells the story about Job, a man from Uz, “who was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Verse 1) God asked Satan if he had considered Job, to which Satan replied that Job honors God because of the special protection and blessing God gives him. Satan proposes that if Job lost all he had, he would curse God. “The Lord said to Satan, ‘very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’” (Verse 12). In one day, Job lost all his property and his 10 children. Rather than curse God he said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Verse 21)
I recognize God’s hand of blessing on my life. He has given me a strong body, an adequate mind, a wonderful wife, two marvelous children, a comfortable house, adequate transportation and all the food I need or want. I also realize that any or all of the above could disappear in a moment – of natural disaster, human malfeasance or illness. And I am confident that whatever befalls, it will be well with my soul. I can only imagine the pain and loss that others have experienced, like Job. My hope is in God, in whom I trust and believe.
Lord, speak through me today your words of faith, hope and love. May I represent you in every way possible, and be the servant leader you have called me to be among the people called Wesley United Methodist Church.
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