Sermon Notes for A Service of Jubilee

Last, but not least, the sermon notes.  When  I preach, I do not go word for word based on what I've written.  The notes do, however, keep me on track so I don't wander too far afield!

 The Importance of Jubilee

Leviticus chapter 25 devotes almost the entire chapter to discussing the Year of Jubilee.  Leviticus states that every seventh year was intended to be a Sabbath year for the land.  No crops were supposed to be planted, the ground was to be given a year of rest.  After seven cycles,  a Year of Jubilee was to be declared.  Verse 10  in the NIV Bible says “you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.”  Liberty.  Freedom.  Two very important words.  Why does this matter?  Why should we care?  It matters because Jubilee was not only meant to be a celebration, it was also meant to be a release from past burdens.  It was meant to be a way of letting go of the past, in order to move on to the future.  More importantly, this was God wanted for his chosen people-liberty!  The idea of Jubilee is woven throughout the Bible.  The when and how are not as important as WHY.  Why did God put forth the idea of Jubilee?  It all goes back to the idea of being free by letting go of old things in order to move forward.

A wise New Testament writer by the name of Paul discovered the importance of this idea.  In Philippians 3 verse 13, in the NIV Bible Paul says “…But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has call me heavenward in Christ Jesus”

Goal?  Prize?  What is he talking about?  Jeremiah makes the point a little more clearly in chapter 29 of the NIV Bible as he shares with the exiles what the Lord was trying to tell them.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you…”

God has a plan for you.  He has a plan to prosper you.  He has a plan to give you a future full of hope. Prosperity is so much more than wealth!  Prosperity involves the heart, the soul, your health and the path that you are following.  Prosperity is about your entire well being!  Listen to what John writes as a greeting in his letter to Gaius.  In Third John verse 2  from the Amplified Bible he says this:
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and that your body may keep well even as I know your soul keeps well and prospers.”  True prosperity is not is not simply inward or simply outward, it is both!  Everything in  your life “prospers” as your soul prospers.  In the old Methodist tradition, one of the questions that was asked was “how is it with your soul?”  In other words, what is really going on in that deepest part of your being?  Is there something holding you back from following God’s plan for you?  Are you carrying a burden that you need to let go?  Understand that the burden you carry isn’t always about the past or even the present.  Sometimes that burden can be a dream for the future-an unspoken hope, that we‘re not even sure we want to admit.  Even the good things can sometimes be a burden if we hold on to them too tightly!

Now let’s get back to the overall idea of Jubilee.  God sent his only son, his beloved son, in to the world to do what?  To save the world from sin.  To reconcile us to God.  To offer us liberty from the heavy burden of sin and death and all the other things that we needlessly carry around with us in our soul.  Jesus was, and still is, the ultimate Jubilee!  God has proclaimed liberty for all who believe!  He sent that liberty into the world in the form of his son, Jesus, as an offering, a gift.  We simply have to choose to receive this gift!  We have to trust that this gift is meant for us, personally.  And what does that gift give us?  Forgiveness for ourselves.  Permission to let things go.  Hope for better things to come.  All those past hurts, all the mistakes and failures, we can let them go!  The things that we fear today.  Our worries about the future.  Past, present, future-it’s all covered!  We have that heavenly confessor and intercessor, in Jesus.  We can pray and unload all those things that shackle our very souls-the positive and the negative.  We have permission to bring them ALL before the Lord!  

To bring everything to the Lord means we have to trust that the message is not just for the world, it is for you and me personally.  That means we have to understand how God truly sees us, individually.  God is a God of the one, as well as of the many.    How does God see us?  In Genesis, when God created man, he didn’t say just that his creation was good.  He said it was “very good”.  Each one of us is the apple of God’s eye.  To be the “apple of the eye” means that you are very near and dear to God and he treasures you so much that he closely guards and protects you!  You are precious!  You are the apple of his eye!  Deuteronomy 32, in the NIV Bible, contains the song of Moses.  In verses 10 and 11 it says “…He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.  Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads it wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.  The Lord alone led him…”   In Psalm 17, verse 8 in the NIV Bible, David says “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.”  We see in the very first chapter of Jeremiah how well God knows us and how we are the apple of his eye.  In verse 5, the Lord tells Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”  and in chapter 31 verse 3, the Lord tells Jeremiah “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”  David describes the closeness of God beautifully in Psalm 139.  He says, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.  You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  If I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; there night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”  Does that sound like a distant and far off God to you?  This is a God who treasures you!  He sees you as the apple of his eye and he wants a close relationship with you.

God’s intent from the very beginning was relationship!  A close, loving, trusting relationship.  That’s why he created Jubilee.  That’s why he sent Jesus.  That’s why he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us today.  He wants you, his precious child, to be free!  He wants you, the apple of his eye, to be the very best that you can be!  He wants his church to be the very essence of Jubilee.  Trusting God fully doesn’t mean that your problems will magically disappear.  What it does mean is that he is here, truly here, now, today!  He was with you in the past and he will be right there with you in the future, if you’ll let him.  But the choice is yours.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Are you willing to do that?  Are you willing to let go of the hurts of the past?  Are you willing to let go of the worries of today?  Are you willing to lift up your hopes for the future?  That is what this service is meant to do today.  Individually each of us will write down, all the things from the past that we need to let go of.  Individually we will write down our worries of today.  Individually each of us will write down all of our hopes for the future.  They can be things from your private life.  They can be things from your public life.  And some of them may be things from church.  Whatever they may be, today is the day to release all, ALL to God!  Today is the day that we take hold of, and proclaim our very own Jubilee at First United Methodist!  We will gather them up and then together we will pray over them.  Then we release them to God by burning them.  We will let these things go!  And together we will praise God for this season of Jubilee!

God has great plans for each of us!  God has great plans for us as a church, working together.  Today is the day that we leave behind those things that burden us and walk forward, by God‘s grace, in liberty!  Today is the day that we wipe the slate clean and step in to a future filled with hope, peace, love and joy!  Today begins our season of Jubilee!  Let us proclaim our liberty!  Let us claim our Jubilee!  Thanks be to God!  Amen

Background on The Creation of A Service of Jubilee

Hello blog world!  Yes, it’s been awhile since I have posted anything, I know.  Life has been busy!  Between home and church I have kept hopping!  Needless to say the stress-o-meter went full tilt at one point and I ended up in bed for a few days.  If I made it through the day just getting the basics done and taken care of, it was a victory!  The past few months have been, in a word, exhausting.

One of the many items on my list over the past month or so, happened on Sunday.  Here in Missouri, Annual Conference was this past weekend, and those of us who are lay speakers usually cover the services at home.  So I preached this past Sunday-both services.  Actually, I did a little more than that, I created a service from scratch.  I called it a Service of Jubilee or, a Celebration of Jubilee.  I will post the format and my sermon notes in separate blog posts, but for now, let me explain the idea behind this service.

My home church is in a period of transition.  Our current minister is retiring.  Our new minister will be arriving soon.  It’s an interesting time for the congregation because it’s mixed with sadness and joy, fear and excitement and a whole lot of other things that run the gamut.  And sometimes we forget that God is in charge.  So, I thought it might be helpful to give people a safe way to express their fears and their hopes individually and as a congregation.  Long story short, I gave the congregation a chance to write down those fears and hopes on paper, with the understanding that no one else would see them.  We then gathered up the papers, prayed over them and released them to God by burning them.  I asked them to decide what they were willing to let go of, what were they willing to turn over to God?  It could be in their personal life, their professional life and even, their church life.  I used Paul’s exhortation of “forgetting those things that are behind and pressing forward.”  And thus, the Service of Jubilee was born as a way of letting go of things, in order to move on to the future with a “clean slate.”

I will tell you that I used some very traditional things in this service and I make no apologies for doing so!  Traditional things used wisely can have a powerful impact!  The prayers that the congregation said together are variations or actual word for word prayers that are found in the United Methodist Hymnal.  I also picked songs and hymns that went along with the theme, some quiet, but some really joyous because Jubilee is meant to be a time of celebration.  And, I believe in the importance of symbolism.  The papers were taken outside to be burned  so we didn’t set off the smoke alarms in church, but I lit a candle off of one of the altar candles to be carried outside….symbolic of the light of Christ, being carried out and used to cleanse and to lift the prayers skyward…Holy Smoke.  Symbols can be very powerful, as well.

One thing that, I think, would have made the service even better, is if we could have had Communion as well.  Something to think about if you decide to use this at your church.

The scriptures that I refer to, for the most part, come from the NIV Bible translation.  There was one exception, I used the Amplified Bible for one verse in particular because I thought that it more clearly emphasized the point I was trying to make.

If you are looking to do something different at your church, and you like the idea, feel free to use it.  At the very least, this idea may inspire you to create your own unique service that fills a need in your congregation.
Leading this service was a joy for me personally and I hope, that by sharing it with you, it will lead you to your own divine inspiration!  Be blessed!

Guess Who Is Still In Charge?

Once upon a time….

In a parallel universe far far away, there existed a planet, that the inhabitants called Earth.  On the planet, were many continents.  On each continent were many countries.  And in many countries there were states and provinces and parishes.  In each place, there were many churches and denominations.  

Then, one day, there appeared in the sky, ships that came from very far away, that carried beings that were alien to the humans that lived on earth.  The aliens were very advanced and capable of wiping out the human race.  However, they were clear, that they had no desire to invade or conquer, but they did have one request.  The leaders of earth were so overjoyed that they gladly agreed to the one request.  The aliens wanted to perform an experiment-one designated area of the world would have to give up the trappings of  their designated denomination.  They wanted to see what would happen and how individuals would react if their denomination suddenly ceased to exist.  So it was decided, that the only fair way to do this was by lottery.   The permanently inhabited continents were placed in a basket and North America was picked.   The countries of North America were placed in a basket, and the United States was picked.  Then the fifty states of the country were placed in a basket and Missouri was picked.  Then all of the various denominations in the state were placed in a basket and Methodist was picked.  On that day, at that time, the United Methodist Church was no longer allowed to exist in that state.  All the churches were closed, the assets sold, and there was no longer an official Methodist presence in the state of Missouri.

At first there was sadness and anger and grief.  Some simply chose to give up.  Some chose to go to other denominations.  But some realized that this might not be such a bad thing.  They could still see their friends and get together with them.  They could still converse on the phone or via the internet using Facebook and Twitter.  They could still gather together-in individual homes, or parks or various other gathering places.  They could still pray for and with each other, they could still sing songs of praise.  They could still study the Bible together and compare thoughts and notes.  They could still teach their children about God and Jesus and the Methodist traditions.  They could still work on projects in the community together.  They could still share their faith and beliefs with others.

 So, small groups of friends started to gather together in their local towns and communities.  They invited their friends, who invited their friends, who in turn invited their friends.  They began to network with friends in other communities and they would gather together at various times as one large group to sing, study, share stories of hope, pray and encourage each other.  The various community groups would work together on big projects, such as building homes or to raise money to send to the churches in other areas around the world to support their efforts.  The only thing these groups could not do was participate in the official United Methodist hierarchy.  There could be no Ministers, Superintendents or Bishops.  They could not have any designated church buildings.  They could not participate in any Methodist designated meetings such as Annual Conference or General Conference.

To the astonishment of the aliens, their faith did not cease to exist!  Rather, their faith grew and became even more effective in changing the lives of others around them!  The aliens discovered what many lifelong Methodists had known for years!  The church is not a building or steeple or resting place.  The church is the people!  The Methodists even had a song that said these very words in their hymnal!  The song, written by Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh was called  “We Are The Church”  and that song had been sung for many years in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and even in the church buildings themselves.  The “trappings and fixings” of the church may have been taken away, but the faith, the “church universal” carried on!

God in His wonderful love and wisdom proved, once again, that He is still large and in charge!

The End.  For now….

God and Ruth and Those Mysterious Ways!

What do you say about Ruth?!  She’s so important that there is an entire book in the Bible devoted to telling her story!  Ruth rocks!  She is yet another example of how God uses the most unlikely people, in the most extraordinary way!  First off, she’s a woman.  Second, she’s a Moabite.  Third, she is a widow.  None of these are helpful in the male dominated, Old Testament, society but, the combination of the three, spells disaster!  A female outsider, in a Jewish community, with no husband, does not make for a recipe for success in the natural.  But we’re not talking about the natural, we’re talking about God, and this story is yet another reminder that He doesn’t look at things the same way that we do!

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?  The story starts off by telling us about Elimelech and Naomi, and their two sons, who live in Bethlehem during the time of the Judges.  They live in Bethlehem but, at the time, there was widespread famine in the land.  So, they pack up with their sons in tow, and head out of town, in search of a place that actually has food.  They end up in Moab.  Here’s what you need to keep in mind-if you go back in the Old Testament, you will see that Moab and Israel were not the best of buds over the years!  Far from it! They actually attacked each other numerous times during their history.  Yet, the Moabites welcome the family and the two sons end up marrying Moabite women.  Again, this should be a red flag, because marrying outside of the faith was not something that was supposed to be done!

Long story short, Elimelech dies, the sons die, and Naomi is left with nothing but two Moabite in-laws.  So, she decides to go back to Bethlehem.  Hopefully, someone there from her family will, at the very least, take her in and give her a place to live.  Orpah and Ruth go with her, at least part of the way.  Somewhere along the way, Naomi realizes that she can’t offer anything to them, and she realizes that it would be best for them to go home to their own families.  If they do that, they stand a fighting chance!  They could remarry and have a chance at a new life filled with hope!  At first, both of the women tell her no.  Naomi tries a second time to reason with them and, at that point, Orpah decides to turn around, but Ruth stays.  So Naomi tries for a third time to change Ruth’s mind, but here’s what Ruth says in chapter one starting at verse 16 (Wesley Study Bible):

“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die-there will I be buried.  May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

Now that’s a spunky girl!  Here’s the really interesting thing to remember-there were no guarantees for Ruth!  I am reminded of that other gutsy and courageous woman by the name of Rahab-remember her?  Both women were willing to sacrifice themselves in order to protect and take care of those they loved!  And both women, although they did not fully understand who God was, still chose to follow, without any promises or guarantees that things would work out for them personally!  No matter, how you slice it or dice it, giving up everything that you know takes some serious courage!

Naomi and Ruth make it to Bethlehem, which causes a serious stir about town.  In verse 19 it says that the only thing the women of Bethlehem said was “is this Naomi?”  There’s a subtle understatement!  Uh-uh!  You better believe that there was some serious gossiping going on!  Oh, I’m sure, they were pleasant enough to her face, but you know they had to be thinking that she was being punished.  Not only did her family leave Bethlehem, but her sons married Moabite women for goodness sakes!  No wonder they all died!  And here she comes, slinking back into town, looking for help?!  Not only that but she brought one of those Moabite women with her, can you believe it???!!!  Doesn’t get more juicy scandal than that!  As my gramma would say, there was a whole lotta tongue wagging going on!

God works in mysterious ways though!  I can picture Him up in heaven just shaking his head, and thinking “ladies, you are in for one big shocker of a surprise by the time I’m through!”  Be grateful that God does have a sense of humor and a larger view!

The story continues on, Naomi and Ruth have shown up, just in time, for the harvest and Ruth suggests that she go out in the fields to glean.  I think at this point, Naomi figured they had nothing to lose, so she tells Ruth to go and give it her best shot.

Wonder of wonders, where does Ruth end up working?  In a field owned by a rich guy, by the name of Boaz, who just happens to be a relative of Naomi’s, on her husband’s side of the family!  Out of all the fields in Bethlehem she just happens to pick the right one?  Gee, does that smack of the subtle hand of God?  Hmm…I wonder….  Oh, but it gets better!  Boaz just happens to come out of Bethlehem to the field, at that time, and he just happens to notice this stranger gleaning behind his servants.  He asks his head servant about her, and the servant tells him that she is the Moabite, who came back with Naomi. She asked permission to glean, and she’s been hard at work ever since she got there!  Boaz now chooses to do something that he was not expected, or required, to do. Not only does he go to Ruth and tell her to stay with his reaping crew through the harvest, he also tells his servants to pull extra out of the standing stock so she has more to glean.  Understand, Boaz is not the kinsman redeemer, he is not first in line!  It is not his responsibility to take care of Naomi even though she is a relative.  But here is the glaring ,obvious, point that should not be missed-the kinsman redeemer is obviously NOT taking care of Naomi, because, if he was, Ruth would not be out in the field gleaning after the harvesters!  Boaz can not take care of Ruth and Naomi directly, but he CAN take care of them indirectly, by making sure that Ruth is under his protection, working in his fields, following his servants AND he makes certain that Ruth is able to glean enough for Naomi and Ruth to eat!  Boaz is doing what the kinsman redeemer should have been doing in the first place!

Ruth goes back to Naomi, after a successful day of gleaning, and Naomi is astounded by how much Ruth has been able to gather!  So she asks Ruth “where did you go? Where did you work?  Who took notice of you?”  So, Ruth tells her about her encounter with Boaz and what he said and how kind he was to her.  Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when Naomi put two and two together!  I bet her entire face lit up!  “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi tells Ruth.  Naomi may have been the grieving, bitter widow, but she’s no fool!  She knew full well who the kinsmen redeemer was and she understood that he had no desire to fill that role.  Boaz, on the other hand, would fulfill that role if given the opportunity!  The question then became, how to make it happen?

Naomi came up with a daring, risky plan to let Boaz know, that she was willing to let him fulfill the role of kinsman redeemer.  If it worked, not only would she and Ruth be taken care of, but her husband’s family line would live on.  She sent Ruth to the threshing floor, under the cover of darkness and instructed her to wait until Boaz had laid down for the night.  She then told Ruth to go, uncover his feet, lay down, and wait.  If Ruth was caught, it would be absolutely scandalous, but if it worked, Boaz would not rest until he took care of the matter!  Boaz discovered Ruth at his feet about midnight.  Ruth made her request “spread your cloak over your servant for you are next-of-kin.”  Boaz responded exactly the way Naomi thought he would!  In chapter 3, starting at verse 10 he says:

“May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.  And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman.  But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsmen more closely related than I.  Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin for you, good; let him do it.  If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will act as next-of-kin for you.”  

Sure enough, the next morning, he sent Ruth back to Naomi with six measures of Barley and got her out of there before she could be discovered.  Then, he went to the town square and waited for the closer relative to pass by.  In the presence of the elders he asked the kinsman redeemer if he wanted to buy Naomi’s field? At first he said yes.  Boaz reminded him that it meant he would have to marry Ruth and, he decided, that he didn’t want to “damage his inheritance.”  He passed the right of redemption on to Boaz!

Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son named Obed.  And Ruth, the outsider, is remembered as being greater than seven sons to Naomi!    She also had a very famous great-grandson by the name of David, son of Jesse, who went on to become King.  Further down the line of genealogy, came a young man, by the name of Jesus-King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  One more interesting little factoid for you-Boaz, is the son of Salmon, who was married to Rahab, that other outsider who risked her life at Jericho! One outsider, marries the son of an outsider, which produces the lineage that brings about the Savior of the world! How cool is that?!

If you had any doubt, let this story be a reminder, that God does work in mysterious, wonderful, ways!

Encourage Courage! Take Courage!

Have you ever run across something that was so eye-opening, so radical and revolutionary that you will never look at a certain thing in the same way again?  Hold on to your hats!  This is gonna blow you away!

Let’s start with Webster’s definition of three very ordinary words-courage, fear, encourage

Courage-the capacity to meet danger without giving way to fear

Fear-the instinctive emotion aroused by impending or seeming danger, pain or evil

Encourage-to give courage or confidence to

Let me expand the definition of encourage-to give the capacity to meet danger without giving way to the instinctive emotion aroused by impending or seeming danger, pain or evil.

Now let’s take a look at a familiar story in Matthew 14, where Jesus walks on water.  Even a person with a passing encounter with Sunday School will be familiar with this story!  Jesus had sent the disciples on their way, by boat, while he went up to the mountain to pray.  It says that the boat was battered by waves and that in the early morning Jesus came walking towards them on the sea.  It also says that the disciples were terrified because they thought it was a ghost.  Here’s where it gets interesting, verse 27.  The NRSV Bible renders the translation like this:  “…‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”  The King James version says “Be of good cheer.”  For me, neither one of these translations invoke a sense of powerfulness.  What I hear in my head is that old song from the late 80’s early 90’s “don’t worry, be happy!”  Sweet, but not exactly powerful.

Leslie Weatherhead translated it differently.  In the Positive Affirmation for day 18 he translates it this way:  “Courage, it is I.”  I could never recall hearing it translated that way, so I did a little digging and the NIV Bible says this for verse, 27:  “Take courage!  It is I!”  What do I hear in my head?  Every musical track that has ever been used in a movie when the hero comes to the rescue!

Talk about a powerful image!  Here are the men, on this boat, waves literally crashing over the top of the boat while they are tossed around, pretty certain that they are not going to make it, when all of a sudden, here comes this figure, walking towards them, stomping waves like a child stomps an anthill!  They are terrified!  Then suddenly, this big strong voice shouts out to them “ TAKE COURAGE!  IT….IS…I!!!”  Wow!  That is powerful!

Then we go on to verse 28 where Peter says “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  What does Jesus say?  “Come.”  We know the rest of the story, Peter does get out of the boat and does just fine until he gets distracted by the wind and then he becomes frightened again.  Down he goes, so he calls out to Jesus who grabs him by the hand and brings him back to the ship safely.  Jesus says to him “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Now, I want to throw out one more definition.  This word, has about a half page column in the dictionary but, I want to focus on the very first definition listed.

Take-to get possession of by using force or superior strength

When you think about this Bible story and what Jesus said, and the definitions of those key words, “take courage” is not a warm and fuzzy, comforting phrase.  It is a command!  Jesus is telling Peter to forcefully grab on to courage and not give way to fear!  This completely changes the dynamic of this story!  It also gives a new understanding to the question that Jesus asked Peter.  “Why did you doubt?”  Jesus is saying “you had it in your hands, why did you let go?!  Why did you let yourself get distracted?  Why did you give fear free reign again?”  

Think about how many people could use this type of message today!  Average, everyday people, just trying to get by in life.  They want to do something different, but they are afraid.  Their life boat is getting swamped by the waves of bill collectors, threat of house foreclosure, possibility of losing their job.  Their children are struggling in school.  They have a sick parent who needs assistance.  They are living at the mercy of the waves, just barely getting by.  They are baling as fast as they can but still the waves come!  They want to get a different job.  They want to go back to school.  They have an idea for a business but, oh Lord!  It’s just too risky!  They are barely holding on as it is!  What if they take the chance and fail?!  All the people they would let down!  All the things they might lose!  They are terrified, just like the Disciples in the boat!  Fear is a powerful thing!

Courage is equally as powerful if we can just take hold of it!  Look around you.  Is there someone you know who took a risk and against all odds succeeded?  Look at individuals in the military who go above and beyond the call of duty.  I guarantee that each one experienced fear, but they took hold of courage and did something extraordinary!  If you are fearful, look to others who inspire you and who have exhibited courage in their own life.   Or, maybe, you are the courageous one.  Can you be the person who reaches out to another individual and offer encouragement?  Can you help blaze the path?  In a society where fear runs rampant, when failure seems the only option, can you be that person who grabs on and doesn’t let go?

Imagine how different things could be if we made it a practice to encourage courage!  How much change would we see if we delivered this one simple message-take courage!  Even in a storm, we are never truly alone.  Encourage yourself, encourage others.  Imagine how different life could be if we all chose to “take courage!”

I will never look at the story of Jesus walking on water the same way again!  From now on, I will see it as a powerful story of how life can be if we stop living in our own private world of fear.  Take courage, Jesus said.  Take courage and believe!  Take hold of that powerful, awe inspiring message and boldly walk forward in courage today!

Joyous Days

Oh my darling readers, where to begin?!  These are the days that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice, and be glad!  Here it is, the last day of January, and I am busily doing laundry to hang out on the clothes line.  The smell of laundry fresh in from the line is utter bliss, in my opinion!  The weather over the last few days has been gorgeous here in Missouri!  Yesterday, we tied a record high that has been in place since the late 1800's!  I bravely decided to start some seeds for an early spring garden, my optimism running high.  Yesterday afternoon, after finishing up schoolwork, the children and I went outside for a raucous game of red light, green light and their favorite-Captain Midnight!  We took turns launching their Nerf Rocket into the blue sky (Kenny was home in time to join in on that fun) and Elizabeth and I took a walk in the woods on our property!  The birds have been happily cavorting around the bird feeders on the front porch.  The dogs have been joyously frolicking around the yard as though they had discovered childhood all over again!  These are the days when the soul and body sing joyously with creation, enveloped by the beauty that it has to offer. It has been a fabulous stretch of days!

The mail brought a pleasant surprise as well!  On Friday night, I had ordered a used copy of Leslie Weatherhead's book "A Private House of Prayer" and it came in the mail yesterday afternoon!  The book is even more amazing than the excerpt that I posted the other day from the book!  I'll be writing more about the book later on, but for now, allow me to highly recommend that you get your hands on a copy of the book, if at all possible!  It is a GEM!  I can not believe that Abingdon let the book go out of print years ago!

Sunday brought some wonderful surprises as well.  My friend Diana (who also happens to be our church secretary) mentioned that there were some old books in the basement that were up for grabs, so I went down to take a look, after Sunday School.  It was like finding the pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow!  I walked out of there with as many books as I could possibly carry.  I didn't even get through half of the collection that was down there!  One of the books is "The Other Side of Silence-A Guide to Christian Meditation" by Morton T. Kelsey and it has been a wonderful read so far.  I've already made it to chapter 4 and just in those few chapters, I have found some gems of insight worth writing about.  I also found a collection of Great Devotional Classics that Upper Room Ministries put together back in the 60's and although I haven't had a chance to read through them all, I have already found a gem to write about there, as well!  Add to that my daily Bible reading, which has produced some new insights and "ah-ha" moments, and I have about a months worth of blog posts floating around in my head!

Prayers, meditation, mystics, insights and joyous ordinary moments-it has been a splendid few days!  It's like somebody turned the tap from a trickle to a full blown gush!  I am breathless trying to keep up, and enjoying every minute!

Stay tuned, darling readers.  May you have a joyous day!

Food for Thought: A Private House of Prayer

For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know that prayer is one area where I feel I could be doing so much better!  In my on-going quest, I literally stumbled across this little gem the other day.  I thought you might enjoy reading it as well.  It is an excerpt for a classic book by Leslie D. Weatherhead called "A Private House of Prayer."  I had never heard of Leslie Weatherhead before but Rev. Jeff knew the name because of another book that he had written called "The Will of God."  From what I could glean, Leslie Weatherhead was a Methodist minister in England and wrote quite a few books over the years!  The excerpt is very short but I found it to be informative!  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!  Without further ado, here is the link:
A Private House of Prayer

Thank You Mordecai!

As I drove my son up to the bus stop this morning I noticed that my neighbor had walked up with the girls to meet the bus.  Fortunately, the rain had stopped so it was just wet and the bus was there pretty shortly after we had all arrived.  I stopped to offer her a ride back to her house but she declined saying that she needed the exercise.   Rain, snow, sleet, car or no car, she makes sure that the girls are taken care of and that they make it to school every day.  The thing that is so extraordinary about my neighbor is that the girls are not her children or grandchildren, they are her great grandchildren and she and her husband are raising them.  I have another neighbor with a similar story.  She and her husband are raising their grandchildren.  Where would these children be if these two couples hadn’t stepped in?  They would be in Foster care or some sort of group home as wards of the state.  These couples have made some enormous sacrifices in order to raise the children in safe, stable, loving, caring homes and it hasn’t always been easy!  But they made the choice out of love and I don’t think either one would have chosen any differently!


I was really struck by this particular point as I read Esther this morning.  Normally, when the book of Esther is talked about, we discuss her bravery in approaching the king in order to save her people.  But Esther would not have been in that position had it not been for her cousin Mordecai.  We are told that Mordecai took Esther in when her parents died and that he raised her.  If it wasn’t for Mordecai, where would Esther have ended up?  We will never know the answer to that question but I think it is fairly safe to assume that Esther became the woman that she did thanks in part to the loving care that she received from Mordecai.

I was blessed to be raised by two incredible parents with my siblings in a wonderful home.  My parents raised six children and they had done their duty!  But when I left my ex husband, restraining order in hand, my parents opened up their home to me and my two children and took us in so we would have a roof over our head.  My parents loved my children!  They helped take care of them when I got a job so they wouldn’t have to go to daycare.  My daughter started Kindergarten that year and my mother would get her on and off the bus every school day.  My father built my daughter a brand new doll house because her father had burned her old one.  My son was not yet in school so his days were spent with Gramma and Grampa.  I think he got his love of “tinkering” from hanging out with Grampa!  My parents rearranged their schedules and their lives in order to help provide a safe, stable, loving, caring environment for the children.  There was no way I could have financially swung raising the children on my own and if it wasn’t for them, I’m not sure where we would have ended up!  I would have done my very best, but quite frankly, the financial numbers didn’t add up!  They stepped in, when the children and I needed it the most!  That’s not something I can ever repay, but for which I will always be grateful!

I would be willing to hazard a guess that if you looked around in your church or your neighborhood, you would find similar stories.  It may be slightly different, perhaps the death of a parent, or a parent who is in the military and away on deployment but the outcome is still the same.  These are individuals who step up and do the right thing without question.  Their impact is huge and yet so many go unrecognized!

Without Mordecai we would not have Esther’s story.  Without families who choose to sacrifice and raise their young relatives we would not have such wonderful success stories of children who turn out well.  Perhaps it’s time we recognize and acknowledge what these individuals have done and continue to do in the lives of young people.  Perhaps it is time to thank them.  Perhaps it is time to ask them if there is anything we can do to help?  In celebrating the success of all the Esthers in the world, let us not forget to acknowledge the contribution of the Mordecais!  The world is a much better place because of them!

Thank you!

Taking Care of Business

Here’s an interesting thought from the very end of Deuteronomy 29 in The Message paraphrase:

“God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business.  It’s up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.”

What are the revealed things?  For the Israelites, it is the covenant given to them by God through Moses.  The “do’s and don’ts” of living, “right and wrong” of the moral code.  For Christians it is all of this and more.  It is loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  Turning the other cheek.  Praying for your enemies.

Much easier said than done at times, isn’t it?  It becomes a little bit easier at this time of year to be kind, give to others and remember those less fortunate because Christmas is coming!  What happens when January rolls around though?  Are we able to maintain that loving, joyous spirit, or are we back to the old grind?  Joy can be fleeting sometimes.  What we need to remember is that feelings come and go and if we can still do the right thing, even in difficult circumstances, even when we don’t feel like it, God will honor that commitment!

God told Joshua to be strong and to take courage.  Why?  Because God was striding ahead of the Israelites as they crossed the river Jordan.  He wasn’t far off and away, he was there with them.  Joshua had faith and also commitment.  But you know some of the Israelites had to be thinking “are you kidding me???  Cross here, take these people on???”  We know the previous generation had doubts and didn’t always do the right thing.  Thus, they wandered the desert for 40 years!  Faced with the choice of wandering another 40 years or doing what was asked of them, they chose to go forward, even if they weren’t feeling one hundred percent confident!

The revealed things are our business!  If we know about something, if we see something, we are supposed to do the right thing.  I love the story about the individuals who went into a department store and paid off items on lay away so families could have them for Christmas.  All the individuals asked was that those who benefited find some way to “pay it forward.”

So here is a project for you to think about and start planning for after the holiday season.  Look around in your community.  See a need?  It could be an individual or some organization that could use some help.  Make it your business to take care of business!  Find a way to help them!  Make it a goal to continue helping someone in some way through out next year.

Need some ideas?  Your local food pantry might be one place to help out.  I know in our area they have not gotten as many donations in as they usually do, so Christmas is going to be a struggle for them.  Imagine what January will be like!  How about the local Domestic Violence shelter?  Is there a service you could provide?  Are there items that they are in need of?  Could you help out at the local animal shelter?  How about the local veterans group?  Could you drive someone to and from their appointments?  Could you help put together care packages to be sent to troops overseas?  How about visiting the elderly and those who are unable to get out of their homes?  Can you change a light bulb for them or make sure they have an ice free walkway or run errands for them?

There is so much out there that we can do, if we will just make it our business to take care of business!  God will take care of the rest if we will just deal with the things he has revealed.  And if we open our eyes and ears, we’ll see everything that he has already revealed!

The Coolest Mystery that You'll Never Fully Understand

Yesterday morning turned a little crazy around our house.  My daughter called me in full blown panic.  She is being transferred to her new post and she has to drive herself.  Her Jeep was acting up again and she needed to find a place to live because there is no housing available on base.  All of this would normally be a minor nuisance except for the fact that she moves next week!  I don't care how old your children get-when something comes up, fully mommy mode kicks in because once a mommy, always a mommy!  Even if they are far away, somehow you find a way to help!  I spent the morning on the Internet and cell phone.  I do believe today will be a much calmer, quieter day-although there is still a lot of work to do!  There's a plan in place now to make the transition smooth!

Yup, my daughter is beautiful, intelligent, poised and level headed but every once in awhile she still needs her mommy!  I look at my children and am amazed sometimes because I wonder how in the world I managed to raise them!  Parenthood is part art, part science and a whole lot of mystery!  That little baby grew and became an amazing individual and in the whole scheme of things you're not really sure how that happened!

In The Message paraphrase Ecclesiastes 11 says this:

"Just as you'll never understand the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman, so you'll never understand the mystery at work in all that God does."

Parents can relate to that statement!  Scientists and doctors can explain the process and National Geographic can create shows that illustrate the mechanical points, but that forming life is still a miraculous mystery that we will never fully understand.  As we come in to Advent I think about Mary and what it must have been like for her and how gutsy and courageous she was in saying yes to God's plan.  She knew, going in, that this child was going to be unique and special.  (All parents believe that each child will be unique and special but Mary heard it from an angel).  I doubt that she could even fathom just how things would turn out.  If she knew that 33 years later, the child that she carried, raised and nurtured was going to have to brutally die on the cross and that she would have to witness this, I wonder if she would have had cause to pause. 

Conventional thinking at the time was that the Messiah would be the "new" David.  He would be a king after God's own heart ruling a kingdom here on earth.  It was envisioned that he would be king and rule justly and live to a ripe old age and then die a natural death and be buried, just like David.  Persecution, suffering, they were not part of the equation. 

No parent ever envisions the worst for their children.  No parent wants to see their child suffer or make wrong choices or worse, that the child dies before the parent.  That is never part of the future that we envision for our children!  We envision the very best!  And though sometimes we can explain their choices, sometimes what happens to our children is a complete mystery!  We don't know what the future holds!  Why do they turn out the way they do with all of the likes and dislikes and quirks and individual personality?  The same set of parents raises the same set of children yet each turns out differently.  That is truly the mystery!

If that is how it is for us as parents imagine what it is like for God!  Each and every one of us created, each and every one his child, yet each and every one unique and different.  God envisioning the very best for each of us.  God also knowing though that pain and suffering will come in to each and every human life, to each and every one of his children.  It is a part of the warp and weave of life here on earth. 

No wonder he created a plan to be able to claim his children again!  No wonder he chose the mystery of childbirth-the creation of a baby in order to fulfill his plan.  God knew that there would be suffering and pain involved yet he also knew that there would be great joy that would come as well! 

God is the ultimate parent and he envisions the very best.  Yet sometimes a child will suffer.  It must be difficult to watch sometimes.  Yet that is the mystery of children, each one individual, each one with free will.  Will they make the right choice?  That is the question and that is the mystery.  It is the coolest mystery that we as parents will never fully understand!  That is exactly how it is supposed to be because that is a part of the mystery of life!  Just like Mary, we made the courageous choice to see it through, not fully understanding what that choice might entail but believing the very best for our children and their future.  We said yes to the mystery!  I for one am glad that I said yes!  I think just about every parent would say the same thing!  Life truly is a mystery!

Spending Time in the Back End of the Hymnal

Have you ever actually looked at the services at the end of the Methodist Hymnal?  I was looking through the hymnal this morning cause I am still on the quest to shake my Grinch mood!  I really love the prayer from the morning praise and prayer service!

"New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world.  Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord." 

 There are some really beautiful prayers, affirmations and responsive readings that have sort of fallen by the wayside.  So here's a thought for those of you planning special services during Advent.  To add to the sense of expectation and contemplation perhaps it would be worth spending some time in the back end of the hymnal and reacquaint your members with some of those special words, prayers and services.  Teach them how to go beyond saying the words by rote and instead paint the picture with inflection and cadence-find the rhythm and flow of the words.  The spoken word can paint amazing pictures in the mind when spoken with sincere feeling!

Just a thought.

God Encircles His People

This phrase in Psalm 125 (The Message paraphrase) caught my eye:

"Mountains encircle Jerusalem, and God encircles his people-always has and always will"

The word picture caught my attention because I can visualize it in my mind.  Having grown up in Vermont, I can picture a place that is fully surrounded by mountains because, where I lived, no matter what direction you looked in, there were mountains!  Hunger Mountain, Camels Hump, Mount Mansfield!  They were always there, solid, unmovable, but always changing!  In the winter, they were brilliant white, with shadows of light and dark gray, or pinkish orange at sunset.  In early spring, the white would start to fade and the gray bark of the trees and the dark color of the soil would begin to show through until the leaves would start showing up in their lime green outfits.  Summer brought deep dark greens and blues depending on the shadows as the clouds drifted lazily across the range.  Fall was when the riotous colors of bright red, orange and soft yellow would dance across the landscape in a blaze of glory!  Same exact mountains, different faces depending on the season.

God does the same thing, although we may not realize it consciously.  He is always there, always surrounding us, even if we do not realize that he is present.  Unmovable but changing as the season requires.  Sometimes we perceive the bright fresh newness of his spirit.  Sometimes we experience the riot of colors during worship.    Other times, we may laze about like on a summer day and just enjoy his presence.  During our winters of discontent we may wake up and see the bright hope, like freshly fallen snow when the sun shines on its surface.  Same God, different faces.  Always present, always there.

There are a lot of things I miss about Vermont and the mountains would be one item that makes my list.  Good days or bad days, you could always look out of the window, or simply look up, and there they were!  On rainy days they might be obscured behind a bank of clouds, but you knew they were still there!  There is something very powerful and comforting about mountains.  Perhaps it's because they have withstood the ravages of time, the storms and the sunshine, and still they stand in all of their majesty and glory.  A testament that things can and do endure.  Something you can see, touch and perceive.

Does God still endure?  A strange question, but one that we "modern civilized" individuals should ask.  Do we believe that God can and does endure, even today, with everything going on around us?  Do we believe that God still surrounds us with his loving care and protection?  Can we sense his presence and see his varied faces during times of joy and sorrow?  How often do we notice what is right around us, when we are so busy trying to keep up?

Let me stop beating around the bush and be more direct.  For many who believe in God, they believe on an intellectual level.  It's a head knowledge belief, rather than a heart knowledge belief.  Oh, many modern day Christians believe but that's as far as it goes.  Even individuals who claim to have no religious affiliation would say that they believe that there is a God!  It's easy to say yes, I believe, but it's a lot harder to take the time to know who you believe in!  We're so busy, it's non stop go, go, go!  Seriously, when is the last time you looked up and saw the stars-really took the time to look at them?  When is the last time that you watched a sunset, or a moon rise and let it take your breath away? When did you just go outside and stand in the wind and let it wash all over you?  We have to do the same thing with knowing God. We have to get out of our head and connect with our heart.  We have to stop and look.  Feel and listen.  Experience in order to perceive.

We need to take the time to go beyond believing to knowing and we do that by experience.  Knowing helps you weather the storms.  Knowing makes you appreciate the joy of the sunny days in life.  Knowing helps you appreciate the presence of God through all of the seasons.  Just like the mountains that I grew up among, knowing means that you accept and understand that they are there even when you can not see them.  I didn't know that the mountains were there simply because I read it in a book or I saw a picture.  I had experience!  Can each of us honestly say that we know God is still there even when we can not "see" or "feel" his presence?  Have we taken the time to know God?  Can you say, yes I know because I have experience?

That is a question that we each have to answer at some point in time.  It can be a slow and tedious process to go from believing to knowing but don't worry.  God is there.  God is always there, surrounding you, like the mountains, patiently guarding and guiding you with his love.  You may not "see" him or "feel" him but he is still there, waiting for you to start to know him!  The Bible doesn't say "be still and believe that I am God", no, it says be still and KNOW!  Take time to know the God who encircles you-he always has, and he always will!

Am I a Dissenter?

Paul has some pretty strong words in Titus regarding "leaders" and "rebels".  In chapter 1, here is what The Message paraphrase says:

"Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst.  They've got to be shut up.  They're disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck."

In chapter 3 Paul goes on to say:

"Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand.  No insults, no fights.  God's people should be bighearted and courteous." 

Well, I'm not out for a fast buck, if I was I would have enabled the ad feature on my blog.  I do support my leaders in church and in government.  But I have been critical of some of the choices that leadership has made in recent months.  Does that make me a dissenter?  A rabble rouser?   Am I part of the problem?

It's a tough question but I think that we all have to ask ourselves this question every once in awhile.  It can be hard to be objective when you have to examine yourself but I ask myself the question to make sure that my moral compass is on track.  Am I doing what is being asked of me to the very best of my ability?  The whole point of blogging for me is not merely to criticize, condemn and complain but hopefully, to make people think and to inspire and encourage!  Yes, there are things that concern me and I do bring them up on this blog.  But there is so much out there that encourages me and, in my mind, they are stories that need to be shared and told and celebrated!

I look at the words in Joel chapter 2:

"Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters.  Your old men will dream, your young men will see visions.  I'll even pour out my Spirit on the servants, men and women both."

 There is a heart element to this as well.  A spirit element.  I know in my heart and spirit that the time is right to help ordinary people connect with the words.  The Bible is not merely a book.  It is a treasure trove of faith and hope, love and wisdom.   But if people are not being taught how to make the connection to their everyday lives than it has no depth and meaning!  I'm not a minister, nor a theology major, nor a professor.  I'm not a leader in government and I don't lead a church.  In truth, I am overlooked and ignored by these individuals. I'm just an ordinary wife, mother, citizen and an individual who happened to take the Lay Speaking course so I could fill in for the minister if needed or help at church in some way.  There is nothing that marks me as extraordinary or special.  I'm plain ole me.  Nothing more, nothing less.  How could I possibly have anything important to say?

The thing that drives me though, the thing that gets me up every morning and makes me sit here and type, is that I see a need to help others understand that they can make a difference!  Ordinary people, just like me, do have a calling and a purpose-they can have an impact!  And I am driven by the need to help people connect the dots.  Here is this parable, or verse and see how it is very similar to what is going on in our world today?  You can relate to the Bible, you can apply what it says and you can make a difference!  Ordinary people can do extraordinary things!

There is a lot of uncertainty in this world right now.  A lot more questions than answers.  But hope lives!  We need to remind ourselves of that fact every once in awhile!  I think the words from the prophet Joel are true today-I think this is the time when young and old will see visions and dream dreams.  Ordinary folk who will have a vision, make the connection and do what is necessary to fulfill those dreams and visions.  I would love to believe that our leaders will "fix" things and make changes but everything in my being says no.  True vision and true change is going to come from the ranks of everyday people-those individuals who are willing to dream and to work to make change happen.

So, if that makes me a dissenter than so be it.  I pray for my leaders and I hope that wisdom will be their guide.  I know, dear readers, that you hope and pray for the same thing.  But I know that I am called to serve the ordinary.  If one story that I share connects with your spirit and inspires you to go out boldly and do what you can do, to the very best of your ability, then I have done what I have been asked to do.

Take those dreams and visions and run with them my darling friends!  Others may view you as ordinary, but I know that your potential is not ordinary.  Your potential is extraordinary!   I will be here, cheering you on as you go out and change your world for the better!  God bless you for having the courage to use your gifts and talents to make a difference in the world around you!

And to answer my own question, am I a dissenter?  I'm pretty confident, the answer is no.  But I'm glad I asked the question.

A Couple of Good Videos to Share today

My cousin Tamzen posted this video on my Face Book wall yesterday.  You want to be inspired?  Watch this:
Look at yourself after watching this.

My friend Ted, posted this on my Face Book page as well.  I've seen it floating around on other Methodist blogs and it's just plain funny!  Keep in mind, I used to plan the Contemporary service at my church so I get what they're trying to say about meaningful worship versus performance worship.  Satire with a point!
Worship Gone Wrong

I have been studying the Social Principles in detail (getting back to my blog post earlier in the week) in the hope of trying to either figure them out or come up with an alternative.  There's an awful lot of baggage to unpack!  I hope to post my thoughts in more detail but right now, it's a lot of study time!  Stay tuned....

Let me close with a gem from Proverbs 22 that I found this morning in The Message paraphrase:

"Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor."

Food for thought.  How can we each bless others with our generous hands?  What can we do to sow those seeds of kindness?

Have a great day everyone!

I'm not so sure I would have picked those Disciples!

I'll be honest, I would happily have taken a pass on gleaning examples to use in my blog post this morning!  Yup, it was one of those kind of days, when everything that could go wrong, tried very hard to go wrong! 

The down hill slide started as Rob and I pulled up to the bus stop only to see the tail lights as the bus pulled away.  The bus was there 10 minutes early.  To say I was not a happy camper would be an understatement!  Seriously, the driver couldn't look in his rear view mirror and see us pulling up???  Wait a minute, that's a rather judgemental statement on my part, he has a bus load of children to keep track of!  Oops!  Then Rob suggested that I drive him to the Elementary school and he would catch the bus there!  Excellent, problem solved!  We got half way there when Rob realized that he had forgotten some papers that he had to turn in today!  Seriously, couldn't he have gotten all of his stuff together last night????  Oh, wait, that's a judgement call isn't it-he had a boatload of homework.  My bad.  So we turned around and came back home so he could get his papers.  Did I mention that I was driving the "it's o.k. to drive to the bus stop but really this is the in case of emergency" vehicle?  This particular Jeep has had some issues with overheating and it's gotten worse recently!  The drive in to Washington is measured in miles, not blocks, so needless to say I was more than a little nervous about getting stranded on the side of the road like Kenny did just last week!  I was doing a whole lot of praying and watching that temperature gauge closely!  As we were coming around the blind corner on our private road we met a car-on our side of the road!  Fortunately, it's gravel so you can't go very fast but we came within inches of being hit!  Seriously, she couldn't drive on her own side of the road???  Wait a minute, she is in a low riding car and the other side is pretty rutted, maybe she was worried about taking out the bottom side of her car.  Guess I shouldn't judge too quickly!

And thus, this morning, I got my very own life lesson about the hazards of judging others too quickly!  Here I was all set to talk about the opening of the Martin Luther King memorial and how wonderful I think it is and how this is a modern day reminder not to judge others based on one thing and one thing only!  It is a good reminder and I am so thankful that there is a wonderful memorial to this powerful minister and modern day inspiration.    I think what made him so profound was his ability to inspire faith and hope in others.  He didn't view himself as a leader, he viewed himself as a servant and that combination is rather rare these days!  In the whole scheme of things he was a very unlikely choice to be a leader of a movement!

Which brings me around to Jesus and his choice of Disciples as described in the book of Mark.  Look at who he chose-fisherman and a tax collector!  Seriously????  No credentials, no training, no indication that they could be anything more than what they were already!  Yet, he handpicked these men to become the messengers of the good news!  Jesus didn't judge on who these men were, or where they came from or what they did for a living.  He apparently saw something more-a servant's heart and untapped potential!  Honestly, how many of us would have made the choices that Jesus made based on our usual way of judging people?  If this morning is any indication, I would have to honestly confess that I probably would not have picked these men.  I would have been too busy making snap judgements rather than looking beyond and seeing the potential.  Methinks, it's time I take the plank out of my eye and stop worrying about the speck in someone else's eye! 

I have a long way to go on my walk of faith!  Thank goodness the Lord is patient!  Lord, forgive my snap judgements and stupidity and help me overcome my shortcomings!  It is painfully obvious that the problem is me!

And by the way, I made the trip in to town and back without the Jeep overheating.  Thank goodness!  There but by the grace of God go I.  And some days, I'm not all that graceful!

Leadership-Jesus Style!

Ooh I love it when my daily Bible reading and Disciple study reading converge!  I got so fired up reading today's scriptures that I couldn't wait to share!  This is good!

Let's start with Proverbs 16 because there are just some real gems in this one little chapter!  Here are just a few that focus on leadership.  From The Message Paraphrase:

"A good leader motivates, doesn't mislead, doesn't exploit...Good leaders abhor wrongdoing of all kind; sound leadership has a moral foundation...Good tempered leaders invigorate lives; they're like spring rain and sunshine"

Now let's head over to Matthew 12.  Up to this point Jesus has been teaching not only the Disciples but also using parables to teach to the crowds.  He's been working miracles, he's been confronting the Pharisees.  In Chapter 12 he heals the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath.  This did not sit well with the Pharisees and in verse 14 we read that this is the point where the Pharisees started actively conspiring against him in order to get rid of him.  Verse 15 tells us that Jesus departs but large crowds follow him and "he cured them all."  In verse 16 it goes on to say that he told these individuals the following:

"...and he ordered them not to make him known."

In other words, he was quite content with flying low under the radar.  That little tidbit right there is a key element that we tend to overlook when we talk about leadership!  The best leaders are servants first.  They are content to do what they have been asked to do quietly and consistently without a whole lot of hoopla and fanfare. 

Everything that I listed from Proverbs 16, Jesus did in abundance.  His leadership had a moral foundation.  He didn't exploit, he went to those who were being exploited.  He abhorred wrong doing.  He was a motivator and he brought a message of hope, just like a spring rain and sunshine!  He didn't mislead.  He invigorated people's faith in God.  Jesus did everything mentioned in Proverbs 16 as marks of a good leader!  And he did it without being in a front and center position of power or authority! 

My my, how different than what we see from our leaders today who rush out and do the rounds on all the news  programs!  Look at me I'm great and powerful!  I accomplish nothing but I sure sound good! 

No a truly good leader does their job and doesn't search out the limelights.  And that is because they know that it's not about their best interest, it is about doing the best for those around them.  Let me give you an example.  It's something that I did and I'm not sharing this to toot my own horn but hopefully to explain why I'm not going in to formal ministry full time like so many people have suggested that I do.  I'm very very comfortable with just doing what needs to be done and flying low under the radar.  I much prefer being low man on the totem pole!

Before I came to First United Methodist in Washington, a previous minister had decided to start a Contemporary service.  To put things nicely let's just say that there was a bit of controversy that surrounded this move.  I was not fully aware of this before I agreed to join the Praise Team and I inadvertently stepped smack dab into the middle of an undercurrent of disagreement that simmered just under the surface.  Long story short, some individuals left and it looked like the Contemporary service would have to be discontinued due to the lack of a leader for the Praise Team.  After discussion with those of us who chose to stay it was decided that I would be the one who would plan the music for the service.  I took this very seriously!  I would look at the upcoming sermon topics, the scripture and the points of the sermon and I tried to pick music that either picked up on a section of scripture or a point in the sermon.  But I didn't stop there.  I made sure that I sent out a list of songs to the minister, musicians, singers and support team for the upcoming weeks and asked for feedback.   I made sure that we either had the sheet music or had access to the sheet music and created a master file so we were not scrambling at the last minute at practice trying to get it all together.  Every week I sent out a reminder e-mail with the songs and also would add links to You Tube videos of the songs so the musicians and singers could listen to them prior to practice.  And at practice, if a particular song didn't work out-no problem!  We would just switch it out with a song that everyone was comfortable with playing and singing!  Basically, I paid attention to the details.  What did the team need to do their very best was the question that I asked over and over again.  My job as a "leader" was to serve the team in the best way possible.  My job was to make sure that they had what they needed, when they needed it, so they could do their very best!  And when the few people who knew that I was the one picking the music would praise me, I would thank them but I always ALWAYS pointed out the fact that I had a wonderful team to work with and that it was a team effort!  And believe me, being up front leading worship is a team effort, whether it is a traditional choir or a praise team!  Does worship uplift and inspire and challenge and point you to the source?  That's what a good leader can accomplish if they can put their ego aside and use their gifts to bring out the very best in others.  A good leader is first and foremost an excellent servant.  That's what I tried to be and from all reports, I did a pretty good job!  But as far as I am concerned that is exactly what I was supposed to do in the first place!

Look, there are things that I know that I am very very good at-I can preach a good sermon, I can plan an excellent worship service, I can teach an inspiring class and I'm not half bad at writing!  These are my gifts and I have agreed to use them at various times and that is enough for me!  If these gifts, used properly bring just one person one step further in their walk of faith then I have accomplished what I have been asked to do!  Jesus had it right!  Do what you are asked to do, be a blessing to others, do it well and fly low under the radar.  By serving others you lead by example. 

I've told you my story simply as an example.  You may have very different gifts than I have.  That's a good thing!  Maybe your gift is managing money.  Maybe your gift is being able to create really cool graphics on the computer.  Maybe you are really good at making others feel comfortable in a social situation.  How can you use your particular gifts to serve others?  That my darling friends, is truly the mark of a leader-when you can take those God given gifts that you have and use them to help others.  I know there is a leadership gift in each and every one of you!  Use that gift to serve others and you will be a leader-Jesus style! 

Leadership Jesus style is not person driven, it's not ego driven, it is servant driven!  And there but by the grace of God go I.  And by God's grace you will go there too!  Amen and amen!

Moments of Jubilee Amidst Anarchy?

So I have had an interesting convergence of daily Bible readings over the last 24 hours.  Yesterday's reading came out of Second Thessalonians, and today's reading was the last few chapters in Leviticus. 

Let's start with Leviticus because God was giving instructions to Moses about an amazing national celebration that involved rest and restoration-the Jubilee year.  The basic formula is based on the number 7.  God instructed that for six years crops would be planted and harvested but the seventh year of the cycle the land was allowed a rest.  No planting, no harvesting but you could live off of what the land produced on it's own for that seventh year.  There would be seven cycles of 7 adding up to 49 years.  Then the trumpet would be blown and the 50th year would be declared a holy year-a year of Jubilee.  It was a year where individuals would reunite with their families, where property that was sold would return to the original owners, debts forgiven and celebration would occur.  Jubilee-a year to celebrate God's abundant blessings.

There are ministers who like to preach on Jubilee who tell you to expect your time of Jubilee. That time when all goes right in the world and your ship comes in and all is well!  Well meaning, good hearted people do just that-they sow their seed and wait for a harvest.  Meanwhile all hell is breaking loose around them and they wonder what's going on and why their year of Jubilee has not come?  Where is their promised deliverance?  Are they not worthy enough?  Are they not faithful enough?  Did they do something wrong?  Did they miss the Jubilee boat?

Reading Second Thessalonians gives a slightly different picture.  This is most definitely a letter of encouragement from Paul!  In The Message paraphrase Paul says this:

"...you're so steady and determined in your faith despite (emphasis mine) all the hard times that have come down on you."

Paul then goes on to address the spirit of anarchy.  Other translations refer to this as the spirit of the anti-christ but I like the word picture that you get from using the word anarchy because it brings to mind chaos and disorder and it reminds me of what C.S. Lewis talked about in "The Screw-Tape Letters".  Here's what Paul had to say:

"That doesn't mean that the spirit or anarchy is not now at work.  It is, secretly and underground."

There's an important lesson here for today.  If you look at the headlines, even over the weekend, with the deaths of 31 service members in Afghanistan and the downgrading of the United States credit rating it does give one cause to pause.  Just when you thought things might be getting better why does it seem like they are getting worse?  If ever there was a time or need to call for national prayer, this is it, in my opinion!

What is the goal of anarchy?  Chaos, confusion, dissent, fear, loss of faith and hope and a host of other negative things.  Yes, these are things that are alive and well and flourishing in our world right now.  Yet, when you look at Paul's letter we know that the church was experiencing persecution.  They were living with anarchy yet they were able to hold steady.  That's the lesson in all of this-the ability to find your Jubilee within the chaos.  The ability to stay "steady and determined" despite the hardship.  That is the key!

I mourn with the families who lost a loved one.  I pray for them. Being the parent of a child in the service this one hits close to home because I know the possibility exists that I could get one of those phone call!  I mourn for the individual who lost their job because of downsizing and I pray that the next opportunity will be even bigger and better than what they had before.  I mourn for those who have lost their home because they couldn't make the mortgage payment.  In the midst of all of this though, I still believe that God is still large and in charge!  I mourn, I pray, I strive to keep my eye on the ball.  I pray for Jubilee. 

I see moments of Jubilee around me every day.  Right now, two of my friends are on their way to Joplin to do what they can to help out with clean up and to bring some much needed supplies.  Every step towards returning to a normal life is a cause for celebration!  They may have lost everything they owned but hope is strong and they are determined to re-build.  The veteran who chooses to endure grueling physical therapy to walk again is a cause for celebration.  They may have lost a limb but they are determined to stand tall and to move forward.  There are many other examples but the point is, Jubilee exists all around us if we just open our eyes and look! 

Bad things happening have nothing to do with a lack of faith or that someone did something wrong or didn't do enough.  Bad things happen because bad things happen.  The spirit of anarchy exists and is an equal opportunity opportunist!  You can respond the way that it would like you to respond-in fear and sadness and loss of hope or you can choose to stay steady and determined.  Even a little faith mixed with hope goes a long way!

To wrap this up, I'm going to quote The Message paraphrase because I think this is a good prayer for us all.  All of this comes from Second Thessalonians and it's powerful stuff if you can get a hold of it.

"May Jesus himself and God Our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.  (I)..pray that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something.  Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely."

I pray that you embrace the gift of faith and hope and courage and that you walk forth steady and determined.  I pray that you find your moments of Jubilee even in the midst of anarchy.  May God give you eyes to see what is right there in front of you!  Amen and Amen!

The Land of Milk, Maple Syrup and Mentors

The first thing you notice when you cross the border between New York and Vermont is the lack of billboards.  Many years ago, the state decided to ban billboards because they were considered a blight on the landscape.  It's an immediate shock to the senses for me because billboards are everywhere here in Missouri!  Don't let the lack of billboards fool ya though, there's a lot going on in the state!  All one has to do is get off the interstate and travel the back roads and you see small farms and businesses thriving!  Small signs posted at the bottom of a driveway tell you that you can buy maple syrup or that a roadside farm stand is just ahead.  Or, you can stop by the Cabot Creamery Annex and browse and buy locally made products to your hearts content!  Add to that the local chambers of commerce who promote everything in their small towns and you have a winning combination!  Compared to other places, there is a stunning level of cooperation between small businesses throughout the state!  Cabot Creamery makes the best cheddar cheese as far as I'm concerned but when you walk in the annex, you find far more than just cheese!  Homemade mixes for biscuits, scones and pancakes.  I counted four different hot chocolate/hot cocoa mixes.  Let's not forget the maple syrup, maple sugar and maple creme!  Plus, micro-brews, hard cider, jams and jellies, salsa, crackers, sodas and soap, the variety is amazing!  Each and every one of the items in the store is locally made by small businesses within the state of Vermont!

Restaurants are no exception.  They go out of their way to use local products from fruits and vegetables to locally raised meat and poultry.  And of course, they use local syrup and cheese and butter.  Believe me, you can taste the difference!  They're proud of the diversity and they're willing to support each other!  They are also willing to talk to complete strangers and answer questions.  Some places like Cabot Creamery and Cold Hollow Cider Mill offer either tours or demonstrations of how their products are made.  They are proud of what they do and they want people to see exactly how it is done.

I tell you all of this because I vividly remember a time when Vermont was not such a hopeful place to live!  Jobs for the average Vermonter just were not there!  Farms were being bought by out of staters for high end developments because milk prices tanked and property taxes went sky high.  There were some farmers who couldn't afford to hold on any longer!  It looked like the Vermont way of life was going to be ripped up and paved over to make room for yet another condominium complex!    Open fields were being replaced by cookie cutter housing.

There were individuals, however, who decided that they were not going to give up so easily!  The traditional way of life was important, it mattered and somehow a piece of it needed to be saved.  Farmers got creative and started creating events that brought people to their farm-the birth of agri-tourism.  Small businesses started creating "value added" products.  Instead of just selling strawberries, how about making some really cool jams?!  They chose to work together and when they started to see success they didn't keep it to themselves.  Instead they created workshops and gatherings where they could teach others to do the same thing!  The cottage industry movement flourished!

You could use a lot of terms to describe these individuals.  Creative, visionary, diligent, hard working, risk taker.  A couple of verses in Proverbs really reminded me of just how important their vision and risk taking were to the community and the state.  In Proverbs 14 (The Message Paraphrase) it says:

"Cynics look high and low for wisdom and never find it; the open minded find it right on their doorstep."

This verse in Proverbs 15 (The Message Paraphrase) also jumped out at me:

"The empty-headed treat life as a plaything; the perceptive grasp its meaning and make a go of it."

The easy out would have been to take the cynics route instead of looking at what they had right on their doorstep.  The easy out would have been walking away instead of trying to make a go of things.  When I say some of these folks took a big risk, I mean they put it all on the line for their vision and goals!  Believe me, they went in to the venture with a lot of fear and trembling!  But life is like that, isn't it?  There's a lot of fear out there in the world today and a lot of hopelessness being purveyed.  Sometimes though, you just have to use that fear to propel you forward to take a risk that you know is worth taking.  Sometimes you just gotta lay it all on the line and trust God that you have been given the skills and strength to fulfill your dream and vision!

The second part of all of this, is the mentoring (which I can not emphasize enough!)  Sharing with others what you did and how you did it and helping them avoid your mistakes and sharing lessons learned is incredibly important!  Even just offering encouragement can be the best gift that you can give someone.  I saw that lesson first hand on the last day that we were in Vermont. 

My 17 year old son Robert starts his Senior year this fall.  I don't know what he will end up doing but I can tell you that he is incredibly gifted and amazingly smart!  One of the things that he is really passionate about is blacksmithing.  He has his own little mini forge set up in our front yard under the trees down the hill.  He had shown an interest a few years ago and after doing a little research I found a local workshop here in Missouri.  I signed him up for so he could check it out.  I signed my husband and Lonnie up as well so the three of them set off on a weekend adventure!  Rob was hooked!  He loved it!  But, there were a lot of people telling him that he couldn't make a business out of it. They thought that he needed to think about doing something else and just keep blacksmithing as his hobby.  I, on the other hand, think that he should follow his heart and use his gifts to the best of his ability!  Long story short, we had passed by a local blacksmithing shop in Marshfield, Vermont and on our last day there we decided to stop so Rob could have a look.  Blackthorne Forge is owned by the wonderful and amazing Steven Bronstein who creates the most incredible pieces of work out of metal!  Steven not only took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Rob, he also helped Rob troubleshoot a couple of things that he had been having problems with at home!  He answered Rob's questions, but more importantly he encouraged him to keep at it and also gave him the name of someone to get in touch with who might be able to help him down the road!  His passion and dedication and his success hopefully gave Rob the encouragement he needed to pursue his dream! 

My hope and prayer is that you are inspired and encouraged to follow your heart and take a risk and use your God given gifts and talents to make a difference.    Life is meant to be lived not feared!  It's time to step forward and do what you were called to do!  And someday, you will be the one mentoring others and sharing your story!  I am looking forward to hearing your story!

What are you being asked to do?

The United Methodist Church currently has this big push "to go and make disciples" based on Jesus' commissioning of the disciples in Matthew 28.  They have lots of catchy campaign slogans and this is the foundation and driving force behind "Call to Action" and "Healthy Church Initiative" just to give you a couple of examples.  My personal opinion, I think they put the cart in front of the horse.  They have the right idea but they're coming at it from the wrong direction.

The beauty of Wesley's basic Methodism was that he understood that change comes from within FIRST and when you feel that love of God within you, you are compelled to share it with others.  If the heart is "strangely warmed", if change begins to happen within you, ideas start to flow.  You see and notice things that you didn't pay attention to before and you feel compelled to do something!  I think that's why Wesley emphasized (rightly so) the importance of reading scripture, of praying, fasting and being in fellowship with others who help hold you accountable and keep you moving on the right path.  You don't do mission work simply to do mission work.  You do the work because it truly matters to you!  It is a reflection of what is inside of you.

Some friends from church are currently down in Joplin, Missouri helping out with tornado relief efforts.  Cindy, who is the driving force behind this effort, posted on Face book one day "I'm thinking of going down to Joplin to cook, who wants to come?"  That simple question led to a group of friends getting together to go and help out in any way possible.  This wasn't organized by the church.  It didn't have the backing of some slick ad campaign.  It started from the heart of one person who felt compelled to do something! 

The same thing happened when my friend Sonia came up with the idea of creating a coffee house space at our church for young adults who didn't want to go to Sunday School on Sunday mornings but wanted some place to gather.  Sonia shared her idea with some other folks in her adult Sunday School class and Higher Grounds Coffeehouse was born.  One person, with a God inspired idea, who shared it with others to turn it into a reality because she felt compelled to do something!

I could talk about another friend, Crystal, who, as a young adult, felt that it was important that our church offer Vacation Bible School.  It wasn't really in the budget but she shared the idea with others and created a wonderful VBS experience for children on half a shoestring!  Crystal has also taken over as youth group leader as well because she wanted the youth to experience the same positive atmosphere that she did as a teenager!  There are a lot of other things she could be doing but she feels compelled to act and lead!

Great, God inspired ideas, do not come from committee or because they are on some arbitrary checklist.  They come from within, from the heart, from a compelling need to do something for others.  And a changed heart comes from following in Christ's footsteps.  You learn by reading scripture and meditating on what it is saying to you personally.  That leads to the prayer "God, what are you asking me to do?"  That's the point that I am at right now in my spiritual walk.  My guess is that some of you reading this are at that point as well.  I don't have an answer yet but I have hope that I will soon!  Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

Maybe God has already given you a plan or idea but you haven't acted on it because you don't think the church will back the idea.  Do it anyway!  If you feel compelled because your heart is telling you it's the right thing to do then do it!  If it's a God idea it's gonna go regardless of what others say or think!  If you feel strongly about volunteering at the battered women's shelter or starting a prison ministry or delivering for meals on wheels than do it!  Change comes because compassionate people act.  People are compassionate not because it looks good, it is because they have a heart for compassion. 

What is God asking you to do?  Study, pray, discern, act.  And God be with you!