December 18, 2013

This is a special time of year! Today Bethany arrives home for the holidays. I will pick her up at the airport late this afternoon. Last night the children of our Wesley preschool, Kids of Creation, had a great Christmas program and packed the sanctuary with parents, grandparents and siblings. The weather is beautiful, with warmer days, sunny skies and the remnants of snow continuing to melt. 

I Chronicles 28

In I Chronicles David instructs Solomon on building the temple, and also on how to live. In verse 10 he says “So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work.” Given that the human body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, ("which is in you, which you have of God, you are not your own" - I Corinthians 6:19) this verse applies to every one of us. 1. The Lord has chosen me; 2. To build my life as a sanctuary; 3. I must be strong and do the work – fixing my eyes on Jesus "who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

Psalm 53

Verse 2 “God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,if anyone seeks God.”  I seek God, and have done so from my youth. I know he sees from heaven and holds me in the palm of his hand.

Thank you Lord for your Word this morning, for guiding my thoughts and for establishing my path. I seek you today, I bear in my body the marks of following Christ. I seek not the easy road, nor personal pleasure, success, fame, publicity. I seek your face, You are all I need. Guide me today in your grace, most Holy One. 

December 13, 2013

It is 5:45 am and I am glad to be up early! Audrey is up to check on the weather, and we just heard the live report that Springfield Public Schools (SPS) has cancelled school for today. Walking out to get the paper, the current weather is fine. But the radar and forecast calls for wintery mix to begin falling in the next couple of hours and to do so throughout the day. I am surprised that school is cancelled. And, just as I write this, I begin to hear precipitation hitting the skylight. My practice is to never cancel based on predictions, because this creates such uncertainty for the future. But there are exceptions, and the superintendent of SPS has made this call based on “dire” forecast. I was planning to take most of today off, in preparation for a busy weekend. This developing weather might curtail some of the weekend activity such as Upward and maybe the transition team.

My goal and hope is to be careful during December with my schedule and energy, as on more than one occasion I have fallen sick on or before Christmas Eve. The busyness of the month sneaks up on me, and throw in a couple of funerals and other crisis ministry and then I physically have no reserve, because I had no margin in my calendar. So, I try to build in margin. A couple of years I simply blocked off Thursdays, in addition to Mondays. This was not possible this year, but these snow days have effectively punched the holes into schedule that have allowed for me to get a breather.

I Chronicles 22-23

David makes preparations for the temple that Solomon will build. The materials and the people are put into place before David dies. The Levites are counted and number 38,000. They are assigned various duties and tasks related to the temple – administrative, ministerial, service, financial, artistic, and protective with some unique additional individual key roles. I recognize the similarity with the nation of Israel under David and Solomon, and the “Christian” nation of the USA during certain eras. The church has been an institution, with its ministers and staff serving in ways similar to the priests and Levites. Now that we are in a post-modern, post-Christian culture, the church behaves both as an institution (which is declining) and a movement (the nondenominational and newer expressions of faith).

It is so important to pay attention to the shifting cultural climate and to be daily open to how God’s Spirit is moving among us. I have discovered that there are many people in the church, who grew up in a “churched” culture, and who do not want to accept that our culture has changed. But ignoring it doesn’t change the reality. Wishing it were different does not make it so. My goal is to be faithful, obedient, take risks, identify opportunities and pursue the advancement of the kingdom of God in my generation.

Guide me today, Holy Lord on this icy uncertain Friday. May my work of preparation, planning, and shepherding be focused as You direct and lead me. 

December 10, 2013

On this beautiful day in December, I resume the blogging of my thoughts as recorded in my journal primarily during my morning devotions. I appreciate those who follow this blog through Google, and through Twitter. I will post our family Christmas letter (mentioned in this blog) later this week.

Audrey and I had a very good day yesterday. It was my day off, and school was cancelled due to weather. I wrote our Christmas letter, illustrated with photos, recorded a radio spot for Wesley, shopped at Wal-Mart (including a watch for me and one for a teenage girl), and exercised, doing 55 minutes on the elliptical. Audrey made blackberry jam from our own berries out of the freezer, and in the evening we continued preparing our letters for mailing. This morning I feel good about our day yesterday, and I am ready to head to the church office for a day of meetings, writing, planning and ministry.

II Samuel 22 - David’s psalm of praise for God’s role in protecting, saving, establishing him. Several of his lines also apply to Audrey and to me, such as verse 25 “The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence.”  This morning I draw strength from verses 29-30 “O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.”
 
Guide me today, most holy Lord as I serve as your undershepherd in Springfield. Lead my thinking, my planning, my caring; may your love be multiplied in my life today.

November 6, 2013

Weeks ago we designated November at Wesley Church as 30 days of Thanks. Our goal is to focus upon the gratitude we have for all of God’s blessings. On November 1, I awoke and lost my balance, falling to the left as I got out of bed. As I went outside to get the paper and looked up into the beautiful sky it began to spin a little. Later in the morning I felt numbness on the left side of my face and decided that I really should not pilot a small plane. Learning that my blood pressure was 200 over 124 I decided to visit the emergency room. After EKG, blood work, an MRI, and a follow-up visit to my doctor, it is likely I had a small stroke. There is no apparent permanent damage. Further tests and observations will continue.

I am grateful for so many things. For my caring wife Audrey and her concern for my health and well being. For our son David, his wife Danelle and our daughter Bethany as their young adult lives continue to develop along healthy pathways. For Wesley United Methodist Church, including the adoption of St. Paul United Methodist Church, as we chart new territory into the Year of Jubilee and beyond.  For the medical communities of Springfield, and for each person who has invested their life in training to treat the human body and its anomalies.

And today, I am grateful for my health, and the strength to continue to serve Christ through the vocation of being a pastor. With no serious health history, the reality of surviving stroke-like symptoms gives me a new sense of awe and appreciation for the way God has created life, and all the complicated systems of the human body. Fred Luper (director of facilities at Wesley) likes to call these bodies our “earth suits.” Mine malfunctioned and thankfully it survived and did some self-repair. Now it is under closer scrutiny!

I invite you to continue this month in celebrating 30 days of thanks. Count your blessings, name them one by one. God is at work among us, and will do even greater things than we can imagine!

 

November 5, 2013

I awoke at 3:30 am, gave my body a good 30 minutes to go back to sleep, and when it didn’t, I got up. The coffee tastes delicious, my blood pressure was 125 /70, pulse 52 (on my new BP device from Walgreens) and the soreness in my throat does not seem to be severe. Upon opening the back door the house alarm went off, so I had a nice chat with the good people at the 24 hour monitoring center. Audrey was awakened, and asked me who was calling at 4:15 in the morning. Now she is back to sleep, and I have this beautiful day to serve Christ. I have read and prayed the first part of John Wesley’s prayer for Tuesday morning. I will return there after I read more in the scriptures. 

I Samuel 31, I Chronicles 10

Saul and his three sons are killed in battle on Mt. Gilboa. Saul was guilty of actively disobeying God (seeking to kill David, seeking advice from a medium) and passively disobeying God (did not consult God for direction.) There are so many lessons to be learned from the life of Saul that might be overlooked because of how quickly he becomes a villain as David becomes the hero. Leadership is learning from the mistakes and successes of others, and my main take away this morning from the life of Saul is: do not trust in yourself, in chariots, or horses, but remember the name of the Lord your God. With my 30 years of experience, my academic degrees and the gifts God has given me for pastoral leadership, today the prayer of Wesley reminds me to not think too highly of myself, but lowly, and to give to God all the praise, credit, and glory for each day, each hour, and every blessing.

From Wesley’s prayer for Tuesday morning:

“Pour into me the whole spirit of humility; fill, I beseech thee, every part of my soul with it, and make it the constant, ruling habit of my mind, that all my other tempers may arise from it; that I may have not thoughts, no desires, no designs, but such as are the true fruit of a lowly spirit. … Herein may I exercise myself continually, when I lie down and when I rise up, that I may always appear poor, and little, and  mean, and base, and vile in mine own eyes. O Convince me that ‘I have neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.’ Give me a lively sense that I am nothing, that I have nothing, and that I can do nothing. Enable me to feel that I am all ignorance and error, weakness and uncleanness, sin and misery; that I am not worth of the air I breathe, the earth I tread upon, or the sun that shines upon me. And let me be fully content when all other men think of me as I do of myself.”

I am yours, O Lord, I have heard thy voice. Use my feeble body, my weak mind and my vacillating commitment to accomplish your great purposes today. 

October 31, 2013

The Cardinals lost the 6^th game of the World Series last night 6-1, and the series 4-2. The Boston Red Sox clinched it at home for the first time in 95 years, since Babe Ruth was inserted in the 8^th inning for defensive purposes, after which they traded him away and didn’t win another World Series until 2004. Having preached a few weeks ago about how entertainment can be an idol, I have been very careful during this World Series not to give it more power or attention than it deserves in my life. I have gone to bed before the end of most games. 

I Sam 23-24; Psalm 54

I like the way my Chronological Life Application Study Bible inserts the Psalms into the narrative of David. I read I Sam 24 on January 6 of this year. As I read it this morning I imagine the scene and the setting, and the suspense of 3000 elite troops of Saul chasing David and his 600 men through the wilderness of Israel. Truly God was with David. Looking back on this from 3000 years later most of the suspense is gone. In that moment, the outcome was uncertain. 

My life is very settled. I have a nice house, a great family, a wonderful vocation, and good health. I must continue to trust God completely, to never settle or sit back (David did this as king and Bathsheba happened.) There is so much to do, risks still to take, uncertainty to embrace. I trust God completely, and this morning I renew my resolve to serve Him without reservation. 

Guide me today, most holy Lord. I am yours. I thank you for all the saints, who from their labors rest. May all of my energy and effort be invested in building your kingdom, for thine is the glory and the power forever and ever, amen. 

A Collection of Forms of Prayers for Every Day of the Week, published by John Wesley in 1733 is a helpful guide. I just prayed through the Thursday Morning prayer. It takes some work to translate it from the King’s English to modern expression, and the effort was well worth the time. I used this yesterday morning also, as recommended by Steve Harper in his Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition (1983).

October 25, 2013

Last night the Wesley Church Council voted unanimously to adopt St. Paul United Methodist Church! 16 voting council members, 3 pastors (without vote) and 30 other church members attended the meeting in Cunduff hall. There was a great spirit, good questions and comments, and a wonderful outcome. The Church Conference of St. Paul met on October 7 and voted to close as a church, handing its building, assets, members and ministries to Wesley. It is now a done deal, and we are on the way to becoming a two-campus church. There are no further official acts or votes, simply the implementation of the Transition Team to work out the details.  I am excited about the possibilities, and relieved that the process unfolded in a healthy manner. We can add our own chapter to the book on church mergers entitled Better Together!!!