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What has you experience been like? Leave a comment and tell us!

Everything changes – just look at nature. And as Christians, we know that God is bringing change in our lives. A lot of the time, we don’t want change – or we only want change that we can control. That’s not how God does it. The only organisms that don’t change are dead. We all go through tough times, but God is with us. Will we choose to seek God’s way? Or to give up. This reflection is an encouragement to stick with it and trust God to bring us through and complete the good work He’s begun in us.

Christians understand the idea that those who become Christians receive forgiveness in Christ, but many of us then expect perfection of ourselves – especially in Christian service but also in other parts of our lives (parenting for me). God calls imperfect people – knowing who we are – loves and forgives us all the way, and provides healing when we blow it!

Background

I’ve been pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in West Sacramento for almost 8 years now. And in that time, God has done many amazing things in us and through us. There has been great personal and church transformation… And Eleanor and I agree that – despite the many struggles and challenges – this has been the best time of our lives. God has been very, very good to us.

We were surprised to find ourselves being called out of Trinity. There had been signs that my time there might be wrapping up, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it. We had figured that we had 4-5 more years of work to do before a different kind of pastor would be needed, but it turns out that now is that time. At some point we felt that asking the same question again an again after having received such a strong answer wasn’t the right thing to do so we began to pray for the transition.

In late April, Eleanor and I committed to a discipline of daily prayer for discernment, and we got some of the clearest answers from God that we have experienced. Every single day the answer to “Is it time to leave Trinity” was yes. Every time. Down to the details. We both saw a date in our minds for talking to the chair of the personnel committee – and it ended up being the same date.

Concerns

I’ve heard a few concerns or positions that I would like to address:

“If he’s leaving then I’m leaving.” Please don’t do that! I believe that God has plans for Trinity.  I believe that my departure is part of a process that will allow the church to come together as a whole to claim its mission.  If the people who believe in our church’s mission leave, that’ll mess it up for everyone.  At the very least, please commit to praying and seeing what happens next before you make that decision.

“They shouldn’t be kicking him out.” After June 26th, my family and I will not be worshiping at Trinity.  It’s traditional in Presbyterian Churches for pastors to step aside and give the church space when they end their pastoral relationship.  In general, there are very good reasons for this, and in this case it’s even more important.  I believe that I have become the focus of a potentially church-splitting conflict.  My presence as a change agent – and that’s what I am – has become polarizing.  I need to step aside to let the church do its own discernment.  It’s way too easy to say, “That’s Steve’s plan.”  I don’t want that to happen, and if I hang around Trinity I believe the problem will still occur, making my resignation a waste!  So I’m voluntarily stepping out.  I believe it’s God’s will and God will bless my family.  (My kids will likely visit from time to time with my sister or parents or their friends.)

“What will you do next?” This one’s harder to explain.  All we know so far is that it’s time to step out.  I don’t have another job lined up.  But I am confident that God does know what’s next for me.  There are many possibilities.  I don’t think I’m going to know until I’m done with my ministry at Trinity.  What I am very confident about – and I have had it confirmed by a pastor from New Mexico who didn’t even know me when he told this to me as well as someone i met at a conference yesterday – is that God will be taking care of my family and me.  We are doing what we’re supposed to do, and when God’s people do that, God provides what we need.  It will be better than any of us expect.

“What about our friendship?” I’m allowed to have friends from the church; I just won’t be discussing the workings of the church with you.  This means we’ll have to learn more about each other since we can’t “talk business.”  Nobody’s asking you to shun us.

“What will happen next at Trinity?” For about two months after I go, Trinity will ask people to step in temporarily to preach, teach, provide pastoral care, and handle church administration questions.  Then they will hire an “interim pastor.”  Interim pastors are pastors who are specially trained to help congregations find their way through transitions.  They help the church with the grief process and also empower the church leaders to define themselves (by writing a “mission study”) and to choose a new pastor wisely.

Long-term, what happens at Trinity is up to you.  If you have thoughts, questions, ideas, or concerns, please make your voice heard!  Talk to your elders: Rob Armijo, Don Brooks, Steve David, Terri Davis, Sue Goodwin, Carla Hanson, Jill Thom, and Jill Whitney.  Talk to Pastor Tina.  You can also talk to me about it until June 26th.

Stepping into the Future

I’ll be preaching this Sunday (May 15th) about Moses and Joshua and explaining some more of this and how I see it working out.  Please come!

I have six weeks ahead to talk to people who want to talk – I’m hoping to set up a meeting time or two to explore it with people.  If you’d like to talk to me, please let me know!

Finally, on June 25th, we’ll be having a dinner to celebrate our ministry together.  They’re hoping for a roast, and I think it would be fun to laugh with you.  Eleanor and I have done plenty of crying too, but let’s end out time together on a high note!

Eleanor and I have committed to praying for you in this transition.  I hope you will also pray for Trinity and for us.  God knows what he’s doing so let’s give Him a chance to show us what He has in mind. Remember, our God “can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.”  (Ephesians 3:20).  Keep up the good work and remember that you are a family and the Body of Christ.

I’ll write more later.  Let me know what topics you might like me to address.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Steve

When the incident happens, it’s like I’ve swallowed a rock. Once you’ve swallowed a rock, certain things are just going to happen. It’s not what I was designed to eat, but it’s happened.

I can expect several different kinds of pain along the way, varying in intensity. Once I swallow the rock, I know that this will come. I can make peace with it. It’s OK to feel bad right now. After all, I just swallowed a rock!

The best part of the image is that even though I can count on the pain, emotions, exhaustion, etc., I also know that it will run its course. I won’t always feel this way. Different sizes of rocks take different amounts of time to work through the system, but eventually, I’ll feel OK again.

This same kind of confidence in the midst of pain is what I see in Psalm 42 – “My tears have been my food day and night” (verse 3) moves to “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (verses 5 & 11).

Try to be at peace during your rock digestion process. It’s normal for you to feel some pretty serious discomfort. You may not be able to do everything you could do before swallowing the rock. But (at the risk of ruining a nice blog post with a horrible pun), “This too shall pass.”

He has done it. Remember Joseph, Israel in Egypt, Manasseh, Jeremiah, Peter, and many others. He can do it still. He breaks the bars of brass with a word and snaps the fetters of iron with a look. He is doing it. In a thousand places troubled ones are coming forth to light and enlargement. Jesus still proclaims the opening of the prison to them that are bound. At this moment doors are flying back and fetters are dropping to the ground.  He will delight to set you free, dear friend, if at this time you are mourning because of sorrow, doubt, and fear. It will be joy to Jesus to give you liberty. It will give Him as great a pleasure to loose you as it will be a pleasure to you to be loosed. No, you have not to snap the iron hand: the Lord Himself will do it. Only trust Him, and He will be your Emancipator. Believe in Him in spite of the stone walls or the manacles of iron. Satan cannot hold you, sin cannot enchain you, even despair cannot bind you if you will now believe in the Lord Jesus, in the freeness of His grace, and the fullness of His power to save.  Defy the enemy, and let the word now before you be your song of deliverance; “Jehovah looseth the prisoners.”

From Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Past Deliverance Begets Faith
February 22

David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:37)   This is not a promise if we consider only the words, but it is truly so as to its sense; for David spoke a word which the Lord endorsed by making it true. He argued from past deliverances that he should receive help in a new danger. In Jesus all the promises are “Yea” and “Amen” to the glory of God by us, and so the Lord’s former dealings with His believing people will be repeated.  Come, then, let us recall the Lord’s former lovingkindness. We could not have hoped to be delivered aforetime by our own strength; yet the Lord delivered us. Will He not again save us? We are sure He will. As David ran to meet his foe, so will we. The Lord has been with us, He is with us, and He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” Why do we tremble? Was the past a dream? Think of the dead bear and lion. Who is this Philistine? True, he is not quite the same, and is neither bear nor lion; but then God is the same, and His honor is as much concerned in the one case as in the other. He did not save us from the beasts of the forest to let a giant kill us. Let us be of good courage.

From Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com

“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left [Jesus] until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13 NIV)  

“From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand [Jesus] over.” 

(Also see Mark 6:21, Romans 7:8,11, Mark 14:11/Luke 22:6, Jeremiah 46:17 and many others.)

But God’s people don’t wait for an opportune time.  We don’t need an opportune time.  When God decides it’s time, it will be possible to act, whether or not it initially appears so.  We act in God’s time. 

⁷ And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.  ⁸ Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ” … ¹⁵ Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.  (Joshua 3:7-8,15-17 NIV)

God told Joshua that it was time to act.  It was time to enter the Promised Land.  And God asked Joshua and the priests to carry the ark of the Covenant – the symbol of God’s presence – out into the river, even though the flood waters were raging.This was surely the least opportune time possible for crossing the Jordan.  But it was God’s time.  If God is for us, who can be against us?

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32 NIV)

What might it be God’s time for right now?  How might God be calling us to step into the rushing river waters today?  Can we count on God to part the waters and bring us saqfely through?  What would it be like if we decided to stop waiting for an opportune time and decided to rely on God’s timing exclusively?  Can you feel God’s leading right now?

I was just at Target picking up 7-Up and saltines for a sick kid, and I saw the $5 DVD displays.  In the past, I’ve looked them over to see if there’s anytrhing good there, but tonight it made me sick to my stomach.  If there had been a good movie there, I think I would have paid the same amount to rent it and avoid having it stay in my home.

I simply love what we do in the church at Christmas.  We remember Jesus’ birth and welcome him into our lives again.  Children and adults alike share their gifts.  People who are very different serve side by side to make sure that thigns go smootghly and everyone receives a warm welcome.  And my family had a great Christmas breakfast together and a wonderful dinner with my parents and my sister’s family.  I even received some stuff I can really use!  But the gift exchange felt out of place to me.  And I’d be happy not to buy anything for a long time.

I am thankful for my family and my life.  I’m grateful that God loves me enough to come into the world for me!  I need to pay the bills, and make sure my kids have what they really need, but it’s a lot less than I sometimes believe.  I’m going to pray to hang onto this perspective.

What has your experience of Christmas been like?  Do you feel the overload?  Or are you looking at it from a completely different perspective?

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his he, he will joy over thee with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

What a word is this! Jehovah God in the center of His people in all the majesty of His power! This presence alone suffices to inspire us with peace and hope. Treasures of boundless might are stored in our Jehovah, and He dwells in His church; therefore may His people shout for joy.

We not only have His presence, but He is engaged upon His choice work of salvation. “He will save.” He is always saving: He takes His name of Jesus from it. Let us not fear any danger, for He is mighty to save. 

Nor is this all. He abides evermore the same, He saves, He finds rest in loving, He will not cease to love. His love gives Him joy. He even finds a theme for song in His beloved. This is exceedingly wonderful. When God wrought creation He did not sing but simply said, “It is very good”; but when He came to redemption, then the sacred Trinity felt a joy to be expressed in song, Think of it, and be astonished! Jehovah Jesus sings a marriage song over His chosen bride. She is to Him His love, His joy, His rest, His song. O Lord Jesus, by Thine immeasurable love to us teach us to love Thee, to rejoice in Thee, and to sing unto Thee our life-psalm.

Sent from Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com

Wait! Wait! Let your waiting be on the Lord! He is worth waiting for. He never disappoints the waiting soul.  While waiting keep up your spirits, Expect a great deliverance, and be ready to praise God for it. 
The promise which should cheer you is in the middle of the verse — “He shall strengthen thine heart.” This goes at once to the place where you need help. If the heart be sound, all the rest of the system will work well. The heart wants calming and cheering, and both of these will come if it be strengthened. A forceful heart rests and rejoices and throbs force into the whole man.

No one else can get at that secret urn of life, the heart, so as to pour strength into it. He alone who made it can make it strong. God is full of strength, and, therefore, He can impart it to those who need it. Oh, be brave; for the Lord will impart His strength to you, and you shall be calm in tempest and glad in sorrow.

He who penned these lines can write as David did — “Wait, I say, on the Lord.” I do, indeed, say it. I know by long and deep experience that it is good for me to wait upon the Lord.

Sent from Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com/fcb

When I started seminary, I read an article that talked about the danger of making Bible-reading and prayer into part of my professional job description rather than a spiritual discipline, but I didn’t expect it to happen to me.

It makes sense.  I used to do computer programming as a hobby – until I started doing that for a living.  Who wants to go home and do more work?  I didn’t.  It was no longer a fun thing I did for myself.

Reading the Bible and even setting aside specific times for prayer were painted with the same brush as church administration, expense reports, newsletter articles, and even preaching.  Stuff I have to do.  As I became more and more burned out, more things moved from the “Things I’m Passionate About” list to the “Things I Have to Do for My Job” list.  At some point, without my realizing it, reading the Bible became something to do because I needed to teach a Bible study or preach.  Not a good place to be if you consider that we don’t live by bread alone but by the Word of God.

God was gracious and gentle with me during that time, but I always had a sense that it wasn’t supposed to be this hard.  Part of the difficulty came from turning the things God intends as a blessing to all Christians into an obligation for a job.

So I didn’t finish reading the New Testament – that felt like an obligation.  But I did get to re-experience the joy of reading the Bible.  I can read any part that strikes my fancy that day.  I can research a topic I’m interested in.  Or I can just experience the comfort of one of my favorite Psalms.

I’m not quite out of detox yet, and it will be a challenge as I re-enter my pastoral role to make sure I don’t slide back into seeing it as an obligation/job requirement.

Anyone have ideas?  Let me know!

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Choice Men (women too, -ed.)
August 27
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)
This has long been the motto fixed before our eye upon the wall of our bedroom, and in many ways it has also been written on our heart. It is no mean thing to be chosen of God. God’s choice makes chosen men choice men. Better to be the elect of God than the elect of a whole nation. So eminent is this privilege, that whatever drawback may be joined to it we very joyfully accept it, even as the Jew ate the bitter herbs for the sake of the Paschal Lamb. We choose the furnace, since God chooses us in it.  We are chosen as an afflicted people and not as a prosperous people, chosen not in the palace but in the furnace. In the furnace beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed, and yet here eternal love reveals its secrets and declares its choice. So has it been in our case. In times of severest trial God has made to us our calling and election plain, and we have made it sure: then have we chosen the Lord to be our God, and He has shown that we are assuredly His chosen. Therefore, if today the furnace be heated seven times hotter, we will not dread it, for the glorious Son of God will walk with us amid the glowing coals.

Sent from Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Good mission statement?  There are lots of ways to preach and send.  Literally preaching is surely important.  So is showing love in other ways.  It’s hard to contemplate the Good News when your family’s hungry.

You can’t send without showing confidence in people’s gifts.  And of course, no one can be sent unless they’re willing to reorder their life enough to make the time/energy.

Love the Church

Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. (Psalm 102:13-14)

Yes, our prayers for the church will be heard. The set time is come. We love the prayer meetings, and the Sunday school, and all the services of the Lord’s house. We are bound in heart to all the people of God and can truly say,

There’s not a lamb in all thy flock
I would disdain to feed
There’s not a foe before whose face
I’d fear thy cause to plead.

If this is the general feeling, we shall soon enjoy times of refreshing horn the presence of the Lord. Our assemblies will be filled, saints will be revived, and sinners will be converted. This can only come of the Lord’s mercy; but it will come, and we are called upon to expect it. The time, the set time, is come. Let us bestir ourselves. Let us love every stone of our Zion, even though it may be fallen down. Let us treasure up the least truth, the least ordinance, the least believer, even though some may despise them as only so much dust. When we favor Zion, God is about to favor her. When we take pleasure in the Lord’s work, the Lord Himself will take pleasure in it.

Sorry vegetarians, I have to agree with J&D’s – “Everything should taste like bacon.”

We had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Santa Cruz with Eleanor’s family, and someone in the group wanted to check out the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  After getting everyone settled and feeding them, we made the short (by adult standards) walk to the beach.  By now it was evening, and the Boardwalk was really crowded, so we decided to walk along the shore.  The kids kicked off their shoes and walked through the water as it washed up on the beach.  Everyone was having a good time.  But the kids started getting more and more energized.  They dared to run farther out.  They cared less and less about getting wet.  Eventually, they tore off their shirts and started wading in the cold water as it was getting dark.   We expected them to come to their senses at any moment.  We thought they’d notice how cold they were and come back out seeking warmth.  But it didn’t happen because, as I mentioned earlier, my children have no common sense.

As parents, we tried to stop them.  We knew that they didn’t have spare clothes.  We knew that we had to walk a mile to get back to the house.  We knew that what the kids found so fun right now  was going to make them miserable very soon!  But now it was done.  The die was cast.

We (the parents) started talking about how to help our children.  Eventually, we decided that I would run back to the house, grab the minivan, drive back to the beach, and pick up the wet kids so they didn’t have to make the walk back in cold wet clothes.  You see, we love our senseless children and are willing to do completely unreasonable things to ensure their well-being – even when the problem is one of their own creation.

As I was huffing and puffing on the run back up the hill, I thought about my own life and my relationship with God, which is a lot like my relationship with my children.  God loves me extravagantly and – even though I frequently seem to have no common sense – continues to go to unreasonable lengths to ensure my well-being.

In fact, as I was trekking up that hill, I realized that I didn’t know the house number of the place I was trying to find.  I knew what street it was one, and I would know it from sight, but it wasaloooong street, and the kids were waiting for me.  I heard, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own insight.  In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.”  (Proverbs 3:5)  I turned left and found the house with the minivan waiting right out front.  Even as I as working to care for my children, there was another pair of arms underneath, holding both them and me.

People make these as a way to express their grief and feel like they’re doing something about their loss. The church used to provide a place for that.  We used to be the place where people gathered to express their loss and comfort each other.   A memorial service followed by a reception used to be the place where people would find meaning and hope in a senseless loss – where people could share their pain, share their stories,comfort one another, and offer support.  If we wanted a lasting memorial to a person, we would donate to the church’s memorial fund and our loved one’s name would be recorded where future generations could read it.

But where do you go if you don’t have a community like that?  How do you find hope if you don’t have the hope of the gospel? Where do you go to share stories?

I think that these roadside memorials are a sign of spiritual hunger – of people’s search for meaning and longing for more in life.  We’re desperately trying to create it for ourselves.

I wonder how the church might respond.  I wonder if there’s a way for us to meet that need again the way we once did.  I wonder if we could make ourselves available for memorial services or even places to memorialize someone in a more permanent way.  How could we let people know that we’re there for them in their time of crisis?

What are your ideas?

Here’s the deal.  I’m not a morning person at all.  I don’t like getting up any earlier than I have to.  I don’t think very clearly in the morning either.  I’ve tried prayer journals and devotional books.  They’re OK, but I still need a lot of discipline and a measure of focus.  I’ve tried the “read the Bible in 365 days” plan too.  It’s great, but my brain doesn’t want to digest that much so early in the morning.

I’ve used devotional books too, including My Utmost for His Highest (Oswald Chambers), Morning and Evening (Charles Spurgeon) and These Days (various authors).  They’re inspirational, but there’s not a lot of Bible or prayer in there – mostly reflection.

What I really need is a prayer leader – my own private prayer service each morning.  So here’s what I’m doing.  Each morning, I’m praying along with a “morning prayer” podcast.  It’s based on the Episcopal Church’s daily office book so it had a Psalm and two Bible readings along with a prayer of confession, a creed, a chance to pray for others, the Lord’s Prayer and a blessing.  It’s also set to music – just the thing for me.  As a good Presbyterian, I pause during the prayer of confession to get a little extra confessing time.  I usually pause during the intercession time too.

It takes me 15-20 minutes for that.  On the good days I can pray and read more as I feel led.  On the bad days, at least I’ve started with prayer!

There are several audio resources available for prayer time with a computer or MP3 player.  Try them and see what works best for you:

Listen or subscribe to the Morning Prayer podcast from the Episcopal Church in Garrett County: www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/churchonthewebpage.htm

For a reading and reflection Monday through Friday, check out www.pray-as-you-go.org

For a weekly dose of scripture, prayer, music and contemplation, try the Taizé podcast www.taize.fr/podcast

There’s also an audiobook version of Eugene Peterson’s The Message that divides the Bible up into daily doses (with a day off for reflection and catch-up each week): www.amazon.com/Daily-Message-Complete-Bible/dp/1598594575

I hope one of these will help my fellow morning-prayer-challenged night people out there as much as this has helped me.  May God bless you on your journey!

On a recent coffee run I saw a sign at a local restaurant located near a major freeway.   “No Public Restroom (Customers Only),” it read.

The sign was posted on the front door where everyone would see it – in fact, that and the hours were the only things posted there.  It reminded me of a church I interviewed with years ago.  The church was having trouble reaching out to younger people, but when teens started hanging around outside the church so they had posted “no skateboarding” signs all over.  “They chip the steps,” I was told.  “Couldn’t you put a concrete repair line item in the budget and welcome them in?”  I asked.  Needless to say, I was not invited to pastor that church.

Isn’t there a way that the restaurant with the “no public restroom” sign could use the traffic to their advantage?

I’ve written previously about some issues we face again and again in the church I pastor.  One of them is a concern about the cost of food and drinks after worship.  “Can’t they eat at home?” some ask.  “What’s wrong with asking for a small donation for food – for those who really want to eat?”

We’ve found that when we don’t charge for things like coffee, snacks, paperback Bibles, devotional books and  sermon CDs, people feel welcomed and loved.  And they come back!  Our family grows and our financial needs are met.

Some time ago, I visited another restaurant – a Round Table Pizza – when I was on the freeway with a child whose bladder was about to explode.  They had a sign that said, “Our restrooms are for everyone.  If you’re not a customer on this visit, we hope that one day you will be.”

• Which sign had more impact?  (Note that I remember that Round Table Pizza restaurant and its sign years later.)
• Who made better use of their chance to interact with the public?
• What model is a better one for Christ’s church to emulate?
• What opportunities might we be missing right now???

When we’re planning an event at the church, someone will almost always say, “What if we advertise it and 5000 people come?  We won’t be able to handle it!”  My usual response is that “It hasn’t happened yet, even when we want to invite the whole community.”

Denny’s took a risk.  A big, expensive risk.  Would anyone come?  Would any of them come back?  What if too many people came and left mad?  What if they got bad press?

The way I see it, they couldn’t lose.  Either a) People would come and enjoy a good breakfast, learning where Denny’s was and what it offered or b) too many would show up making it a big media event – showing priceless images of people lining up around the block to eat at Denny’s.  Either way you win, right?  It was a gutsy move, and they hit a grand slam.  (Sorry, I couldn’t help it.)  I didn’t get a breakfast, but I wasn’t angry – it wasn’t Denny’s fault!

Usually in the church, we play it safe.  That means when we accomplish out goals, not much happens.  What if we tried to be like Denny’s?  After all, our “CEO” rewards those who step out in faith!

It’s kind of like some rechargeable batteries – they become less and less able to hold a charge over time.  More charging and less powering.  I was like that – less able to deal with adversity, less able to recharge, less able to think creatively.  I think the real answer will be a sabbatical in 2010, but for now, I’m taking a break, looking at new habits that will help me to be healthy and effective.

I don’t want to be like a worn out laptop battery, and I’m not planning on allowing myself to get so worn down that I can’t do my job.

If you’ve lost your resiliency – especially if you’re a pastor – it’s worth the effort to recover that ability.  For me this vacation is different than any other I’ve had.  My focus this time isn’t on escaping from my work but on allowing God to renew me, restore me, and transform me.

Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  (Matthew 11:29)  Jesus clearly states that one can wear his yoke andfind rest for one’s soul.  That’s all I’m looking for. 

I’ll let you know how it goes!

I hadn’t realized this until my wife was radio “channel surfing” this morning. She came across a Christian radio station and they mentioned “the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Is that a CD mom?” he asked.
“No. It’s on the radio.”
“Yeah, but is it the iPod playing over the radio?”
“No, it’s really on the radio. It’s a Christian radio station.”
“It’s about time!” Johnny replied.

My kids have an innate awareness that this isn’t a Christian world in a way that I never did. It will be interesting to see how that affects the way he sees being a follower of Jesus along the way. He’ll probably help me learn to be a pastor in a post-Christian world too.

I put on some recorded hymns as we ate breakfast.  As the boys and I worked on cleaning up the kitchen, the hymn “Come, Labor On” came on.  Now I’ve always wished that that hymn had a better tune.  It sounds like a funeral song, but the words are great.  They speak of our response to God’s grace.  We had already heard “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” with its line,

Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all

That’s true, and I really feel it.  I personally feel the call to service my Lord with my whole being.  That’s where “Come, Labor On” comes in.

Come, labor on.
Who dares stand idle, on the harvest plain
While all around him waves the golden grain?
And to each servant does the Master say,
“Go work today.”

Come, labor on!
Claim the high calling angels cannot share;
To young and old the Gospel gladness bear;
Redeem the time; its hours too swiftly fly.
The night draws nigh.

Come, labor on!
Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear!
No arm so weak but may do service here:
Through feeble agents, may we all fulfill
God's righteous will.

Come, labor on!
No time for rest, till glows the western sky,
Till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie,
And a glad sound comes with the setting sun,
“Well done, well done!”

Taken the wrong way, this hymn might sound like we have to earn the love of God. But that’s not what it means at all. God’s love for us and self-giving for us in Jesus Christ is secure.  Now, God has chosen to use us to do his work. And serving in God’s fields, bringing Good News and joy to others is generally pleasant work. Also, there’s nothing like the feeling that God is pleased with you – “Well done! Well done!”

It always puzzles me when others I meet don’t feel the same desire to serve the Lord. If you don’t know him, I get it. But when Christians say that they’re through serving God or too busy to serve, or it’s not a priority, it confuses me. I can understand saying, “I really want to serve God, but I can’t figure out how to do it with the kids and the job, etc.” That I understand. Sometimes, people need permission to rest a bit! Or a different way to serve that they haven’t considered yet. The song has a word for that too: “No arm so weak but may do service here.” Anyone who desires to serve God can do so.

Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

I know this because I just did my old weight program at the gym for the first time in just about a year.  Now I could make plenty of excuses.  I stopped last year because I got sick a few times in a row (thanks to kids and preschool).  Then I had to work at the preschool during one of my two times available for the gym.  And then we had a baby.

But those aren’t the real reasons.  I just got out of the habit.  It happens.  I used to have the same problem with church (now I’m pretty motivated to be there   You’re in a good groove and then something happens to interrupt the routine.  Even if it’s a really good thing to do – maybe especially when it’s a really good thing to do – it’s hard to get back into the routine.  And the time just gets away from you.

I’ve finally come to a point where I need to get my exercise so I believe I’ll do it.  I guess that’s the secret.  You really have to internalize the desire to achieve a goal or to have something good in you life in order to make the effort again and again.

So I faced it.  I dealt with the ground I’ve lost in a year.  And I’m ready to go back!

Do you have any good habits that have gotten away from you?  Let me know…

“Ye know not what ye ask.” Matthew 20:22
There are times in spiritual life when there is confusion, and it is no way out to say that there ought not to be confusion. It is not a question of right and wrong, but a question of God taking you by a way which in the meantime you do not understand, and it is only by going through the confusion that you will get at what God wants.
(You can read the whole devotional at myutmost.org)

I understand that confusion thing.  My life as a pastor and the life of the church I serve are both a bit confusing right now.  Along with some amazing things that are happening, there are some other things happening that are really confusing.  Things are complicated…

I’ve prayed about it, and I have felt reassured.  God seems to be saying that we will be transformed by this confusing journey.  I will be transformed as a pastor – growing into what I am meant to be.  And our church will be transformed as well – letting go of our fear and growing into the mission we have been given.  But first, we have to go through the confusing time and see, in time, how God comes through or us.  In that way, we’ll learn faith – both the church and I will.

God has done this before and I expect that God will do it again.  In the middle of it, it’s confusing and stressful.  Later, it’s clear and peaceful.  I believe that God will continue to do this until it’s not stressful for the church or for me – until we can trust not only after the confusion is resolved, but in the midst of it.  OK, God.  Your will be done!

Sometimes my kids are exhausting too. They have places they need to be. They want to run and play. They make messes. The baby is clingy. That’s all tiring. But it’s great too!

My wife needs help, and the house needs work. But it’s amazing that I am married to Eleanor. She’s incredible. And we now have a house that’s big enough for our kids. I’m grateful for that too.

Some things in life aren’t the result of blessings. I won’t list those, but we all have them. There are things in life that we have to deal with and we may never know why. Still, even when I’m dealing with those things, it helps to focus on the blessings God has given me in my life. I, my family, and our church have truly been blessed, and I am grateful. Tired and grateful.

As we sang on Sunday morning, “Come, thou fount of every blessing!  Tune my heart to sing thy grace.  Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.”

Edith Whitney at 102

My grandmother died almost two weeks ago now at 102, and I now have the bittersweet task of officiating at her memorial service.  My grandmother didn’t have an easy life.  As a polio survivor, her reaction time was slow and her sense of balance was unreliable.  She lived with a lot of pain at various points in her life.  But her faith kept her going.

Sometimes as a pastor, I find myself trying to package the good news of the gospel in ways that people can hear it.  So many words we use have been co-opted or redefined in ways that turn them into bad news.  But the truth can be so very simple.  My grandmother made it simple.  In a journal my sister gave her there was a place to fill in “something I would like you to know about me.”  Here’s what she led with:

I found Jesus.  Without Him, life would have no meaning.  Someday He will come for me and I will go to my real home.  Don’t grieve for me, but rejoice for I will now be happy. No more pain, tears nor handicaps.

It was so simple for her.  She never doubted that she would step out of this life and into the waiting arms of the Lord when her day came.  Now it has come.  We will shed our tears because there is a hole now in the place she held in our lives.  But she is now free.  Her pain is gone.  Her tears have been wiped away.  I can be happy for her and miss her terribly at the same time.

Please pray for me as I lead the memorial service this Saturday.  It is an honor but also a difficult task.

Right now in our church, we have people hurting, someone dying, people grieving (including me and my family for the loss of my grandma), people struggling to make it financially, people in difficult relationships, people with ongoing health problems and pain…  Lots of stuff.  And I’m finding it harder to handle than it ws five years ago.  The thing is that these aren’t just “people I know.”  They’re friends and part of my church family.  When your family is suffering, you hurt too.

Now the trick to dealing with all of this is to realize that I am not really the shepherd.  I can reach out, but I can’t heal people’s pain.  Only the real shepherd, Jesus himself, can do that.  I try to offer my hurting friends and family to Jesus for his care.  But he hasn’t made me of stone so it hurts along the way.

Even Jesus himself cried, so I know that I’m not doing it wrong.  People teach “detachment” and “strong boundaries,” but if they keep us from loving and connecting with people, they’re not from God.  Still, even Jesus had to face situations in which people he loved wouldn’t receive him (e.g., Mark 10:17-22)

I’m hurting right now, but only because I’ve allowed myself to care about people.  I do not believe that a life free of pain because it’s free of caring is worthy of a Christian – particularly a pastor.  Pain comes with the job and so does joy, in its season.

They started with some basic, practical ideas.  We’d like to have some younger people in the church.  We’d like to be able to meet our current budget.  (They church was a long way from that back in 2003 and was using a bequest to make up the shortfall.)  We need a new generation of leaders.  Then the big dreams started – we’d like to have an associate pastor.  We need a new church building – but let’s keep the existing one too.

Everyone was excited about those ideas then.  But it hadn’t occurred to me that part of the reason dreaming is fun is that the dream is not going to become real.  You don’t have to deal with the details, the scary parts, or what you might lose if the dream came true…

What’s happened at our church is that it looks like we will actually need a larger space in the not-so-distant future.  What will we do?  Dreams are a lot of fun.  Solving real space, staffing, and budget problems is real work!  Our church leadership will have to be very careful to bring along the whole congregation as we work toward being the church we’re called to be!

Here’s the connection.  Thinking about my poor soon who couldn’t keep liquids down for a full 24 hours, I prayed that we would have the kind of thankfulness that you have when you’ve been coughing for weeks and can finally breathe freely or the kind of thankfulness that you experience afetr getting over the stomach flu and can finally eat and drink again.  We get a glimpse of it and then promptly go back to beign dissatisfied with whatever we’re prone to be dissatisfied with.

I am on the road to fresh thankfulness for being able to eat, drink, and think clearly once again!  I pray that it will last a bit longer before I get back to financial, child rearing, and church future concerns again.  Hey, may I won’t go back at all!

My Dad suggested taking a trip to the channel at the end of the lake – maybe a mile.  There’s a state park there and we could row into it.  That sounded like fun so after dinner one night, we went out.  We started out playfully, following the shoreline around to the channel, but it took longer than I expected, and night was falling.  Stubborn Determined person that I am, I decided to go all the way anyway.  So we went all the way.

By the time I started back, the sun was behind the mountains and a wind had come up.  I didn’t want to be out on the lake at night without a light – invisible to the motor boats on the lake so I had to get back.  I decided it would be faster to head straight across the width of the lake rather than follow the shore, and I began to row as fast as I could.

In the middle of the lake, the waves were significantly bigger, and for a moment, I was concerned that my foolish plan had endangered my boys.  But they were never worried because Daddy was in the boat with them.  Fortunately, we made it back to the dock in plenty of time and without any incidents.

I found myself thinking about Jesus’ disciples going for a similar boat ride with him (See Mark 8:23-27.)  A storm came up and the disciples got scared.  I think I would have also.  Jesus was sleeping, not rowing.  But I believe that the point of the story was that if Jesus is in the boat with you, you don’t have to be afraid, as my sons were unafraid to be in the boat with me.  The good news is that the one in the boat with us isn’t just a decent kayaker, he’s the one who has the power to calm the seas!

July 18th’s morning reading from Morning and Evening:

“They shall go hindmost with their standards.” — Numbers 2:31

The camp of Dan brought up the rear when the armies of Israel were on the march. The Danites occupied the hindmost place, but what mattered the position, since they were as truly part of the host as were the foremost tribes; they followed the same fiery cloudy pillar, they ate of the same manna, drank of the same spiritual rock, and journeyed to the same inheritance. Come, my heart, cheer up, though last and least; it is thy privilege to be in the army, and to fare as they fare who lead the van. Some one must be hindmost in honour and esteem, some one must do menial work for Jesus, and why should not I? In a poor village, among an ignorant peasantry; or in a back street, among degraded sinners, I will work on, and “go hindmost with my standard.”

The Danites occupied a very useful place. Stragglers have to be picked up upon the march, and lost property has to be gathered from the field. Fiery spirits may dash forward over untrodden paths to learn fresh truth, and win more souls to Jesus; but some of a more conservative spirit may be well engaged in reminding the church of her ancient faith, and restoring her fainting sons. Every position has its duties, and the slowly moving children of God will find their peculiar state one in which they may be eminently a blessing to the whole host.

The rear guard is a place of danger.There are foes behind us as well as before us. Attacks may come from any quarter. We read that Amalek fell upon Israel, and slew some of the hindmost of them. The experienced Christian will find much work for his weapons in aiding those poor doubting, desponding, wavering, souls, who are hindmost in faith, knowledge, and joy. These must not be left unaided, and therefore be it the business of well-taught saints to bear their standards among the hindmost. My soul, do thou tenderly watch to help the hindmost this day.

There are some big churches who seem to be marching in to conquer the Promised Land with great resources,  filled with capable people who seem to have it all together.  But many of us smaller churches find ourselves in the tribe of Dan’s position – bringing up the rear and gathering those who have wandered away or who have been left behind in the march. We have an awful lot of people in our congregation who have been hurt by churches. Welcoming them is a really important calling, and one that smaller churches may be uniquely qualified to handle.

It may not be glamorous, but Jesus had different ideas about position and status than we do. In Matthew 19:30, he tells us that “many who are last will be first and many who are first will be last.”  I believe that helping those who have been left behind by those ahead is something Jesus celebrates.

I don’t want to cool the neighborhood!  (Of course I took engineering thermodynamics so I know that we’re actually creating more heat in the neighborhood, but that’s beside the point.)

Are you familiar with any of these classics?

In or out!
Don’t just stand there in the doorway!
You’re letting all the cool air out?

If you know others, feel free to comment.

But even as I face the inevitability of becoming my own father, I’m thinking about what it means to become like my Heavenly Father…  Is that as inevitable?  I thought my dad was nuts with his obsession with turning off light switches, demanding that the refrigerator stay closed, and all the energy around keeping the back door closed.  But I now see the wisdom of it – or the necessity of it.

Some of what God tells us to do has seemed unnecessary to me in the past – some of it’s still confusing.  But many other things have gone from being annoying to wise and helpful.  Much as I have become like my earthly father in many ways, I now hope to become more and more like my Heavenly Father as God helps me to grow in wisdom.  That’s probably the best thing that could happen to my wife and kids too!  But I’ll still be making sure the the door stays closed. 

The last time this happened, I had a talk with Josh.  Since he knows that it’s wrong, why does he keep doing it?  “Dad, could you put the crayons up high where I can’t reach them?” he asked.

I wish most adults were so wise!  When you’re experiencing temptation and falling for it again and again, the best thing you can do is to either get it away from you or get yourself away from it!  Joshua has uncommon wisdom for a three-year-old.  Hopefully more of us will learn from Joshua and deal with the things that cause us to stumble by “putting the crayons up high”!

Anyway, in the business world it was the same deal with the water cooler.  If you didn’t want to install a new bottle of water, don’t be the one to empty the cooler!

Well someone finally solved that problem.  This new water cooler sucks water out of the air, runs it through ultraviolet light to purify it, chills it, and then serves it up!  Five gallons per day.  Who wouldda thunk it?

This is even better than Tammy Faye’s air-conditioned doghouse!

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in the company and do not recommend that you purchase this item

Have you thought of starting a new (small) church? I love the idea of small churches being so appealing that they multiply like bunnies.

It’s really a reasonable thing to think about too – a different model for ministry.  Assuming that God continues to bring growth, there will probably come a time when our church would make the decision to start a new church rather than growing endlessly…

In fact, someone who has been through a similar transition with a church suggested that we consider allowing the older people to have their more traditional church and taking the younger people to start anew church.  But we believe we are called to be a multigenerational church – which is counter-cultural and not the easiest way to grow a church in a world where many seek “instant community” through a common context.

You could still split a church to form two small churches that could seek to serve God in their own separate ways.  I think if we served a large geographic area, that would be a very wise thing to do. But right now, I think we want to stay together and gro together.  Also, we have a pretty big vision.  We see more unmet need in our community than we have resources to address.  We have more ideas for ways to help people grow and serve than we have people to lead them.  And we have have yet to reach a critical mass of younger families and young adults.  We thank God for the pioneers who don’t have to be part of a larger group, but we know that people are more comfortable in a community when there are others their age in the mix.  We strive for diversity and also for enough people that people can also find others who share things in common with them.  (Right now, several parents are helping each other with childcare, for example.)

So I won’t rule it out, but I don’t think that we’re being called to start another small church right now.  It will be very interesting to see what God does.

For those who are interested, we decided yesterday to start a Sunday evening worship service at 5:00 p.m., followed immediately by the Alpha Course (at least for the first 12 weeks).

“There’s nothing to do!”

“You could ride your scooter or kick the soccer ball or pull weeds or throw your rocket football or play hide-and-seek with your brother or ride your bike or play with the hula hoop or look for bugs.”

“That’s boring.”

We have a great yard right now and a nice patio, and plenty of toys for the kids to play with. But they stop seeing that and see anything familiar as “boring.”

As I was thinking about how sad that was, I realized that I do the same thing! I focus on whatever is missing in my life at this moment and forget or discount the blessings that God has provided in my life.  Just like Johnny!

This morning, I asked the congregation to think about their blessings and then asked how many had thought of something that hadn’t recognized as a blessing before.  In one service, a bunch of people raised their hands.  In the other, almost none.

We have a choice.  We can be thankful for the blessings we have or we can decide that they’re

“boring” and concentrate on what’s not right.  It’s a matter

of an “attitude of gratitude,” and life’s a lot more pleasant and satisfying that way.

You can read an article on my talk “Pastor Advocates Speedboat Ministry” at the Presbyterian Outlook Website.  Feel free to comment!  The comments on this site were broken, but KC Wahe clued me in and they’re fixed now.

Our church has experienced a lot of growth lately and we’re having growing pains.  That’s partly because our building is way too small.  It was built in a time when a) churches didn’t have parking lots – they expected to fill the whole property with buildings and b) neighborhood churches were the thing.  There was a plan for a bigger building across what is now grass and parking lot, (it would never be approved under current building codes), but the small “chapel” that was built first was the only worship space that ever made it off the drawing board.  On Christmas Eve or Easter or at the memorial service of a beloved person we can fit 144 people in the pews (6 per small pew), but nobody will sit at that density the rest of the time.  The more realistic four per pew yields 96.  The subtract the first three pews that nobody wants to sit in (maybe they don’t think I bathe) and you have 72.

We almost always have more than 72 people.  Adding the Trinity Cafe, our video venue with coffee and snacks, we can get 120 people on a good Sunday at our 9:00 service.  At 11:00, people don’t sit in the cafe so it’s stuck at about 100 tops.

So we need to do something to make space to grow God’s family!  How do you do that in a small building?  The simplest plan is to add another worship service.  That means either reworking the Sunday morning schedule and maybe shrinking the existing services and fellowship time to make it all fit.  Or it could mean installing seating that would allow more people in the same space (you can fit 20% more people in separate chairs than you can in pews).  Or it could mean moving an existing worship service off site to a bigger space.

The things least likely to mess up what we’ve got going already are adding a new evening worship service and changing the seating in our sanctuary.  Adding a service is a big commitment and it requires a number of committed people to keep it going.  Buying new chairs is expensive (maybe $20,000 to get 150 nice-looking, comfortable seats with wooden legs that hook together).  I find both of those daunting – mostly because the needed resources are out of my control.

There’s that word again!  We’re called to make leaps of faith and to allow God to do great things, but God rarely writes the plans in the clouds of the sky or delivers the plan engraved in stone tablets.

We meet tomorrow to see what the group’s discernment (fancy theological word for looking for God’s will) has been.  We may be able to make a decision and then move ahead with making it happen.  I’ll keep you posted.

What we’re not going to do is sit idly by and allow the momentum that God has provided to die.  We do not plan to “quench the Spirit.”  We will do something and it will be risky.  But – whether it succeeds wildly or fizzles – God will be there with us.

If you read this, please pray for us (and me personally) as we step out in faith!  Where are you headed, Lord?  We want to follow you there!

I preached about waiting for God on Sunday.  Then as I was feeling frustrated today about a couple of things, I happened to hear two different people on the car radio at two different times talking about waiting on God…  And about how we can’t do anything of consequence under our own power.  I got the message…  at least for today.

I woke up today with “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” in my head, but I didn’t get the message until just now.  “What a friend we have in Jesus!  All our sins and griefs to bear.  What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.  Oh, what grief we often forfeit!  Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”  How many things are you trying to force in life?  Try handing them over to God – it’s great!  Sure I keep trying to pick them back up, but you can always hand them over to God again.  Hopefully you’ll get the message faster than I did. 

It’s a good day.