An Arm Waving Moment

During our annual charge conference, I was given an opportunity to give a report as Lay Leader about our congregation over the past year. I somehow forgot that I might be called upon to provide a report and did not “prepare” anything. Low and behold, I was called to provide a report. I reported how over the time as a member of this wonderful community of believers, I have seen growth in trying to reach out beyond our walls into the world. Our stewardship was improved. We were able to change events from budget meeting to needs meeting. Our fund raising events changed from budget crisis to raising funds for the Advance, UMCOR, Habitat for Humanity, our local Methodist agency (Open Door), and others.

We also started a building project to increase the size of our fellowship hall. I related that I do not “know” what mission (beyond our church fellowship needs) this new building project will bring, but I was sure that there was a mission coming. I could see it and feel it in our congregation. While I said this, I started waving my arms around (unconscientiously) as if to emphasize the spirit flowing among our congregation. Well our rather observant DS took note of my arm movements and continued to use this as an example a number of times after this!

I initially did not know what she meant, but realized after her reference, I had waved my arms around! How wonderful! Isn’t the Spirit like that? Flowing around, waving between believers, flowing in the community, moving, like the rushing of the wind and flames dancing even upon the unintentional movement of a lay leader's arms in an extemporaneous moment. Praise the flow of the Spirit!

Painting: “Women Waving”, by Sharon Hodgson.

What Me Worry?

So here it is....

Matthew 6:25–34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? …

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I know these things. I trust in the Lord. But, my retirement accounts are looking like the big drop on the world’s largest roller coaster. But I see layoffs of my co-workers with hundreds more coming over the next year. But I see my project winding down to nothing early next year. But I see no new projects coming in the new year or next.

But...but…but…BUT WHY DO I STILL WORRY!

Sigh…Time for casting that anxiety with serious prayer and petition, starting with the thanks for what God has provided.

Image: Alfred E. Neuman by Norman Mingo

Why?

New definition for Black Friday? Is it now to be a day of mourning? Has the American pursuit of mammon gotten to the point now where common courtesy and civil interaction with people are less important than getting that deal? This is why I never shop on this day. No deal/gift/item is worth the hassle.

There is another reason. If my loved ones can not deal with missing that special thing I just HAD to get my hands on for them, perhaps I am not understanding what loved one really means? Perhaps I would be missing what the real gift is?

Painting: Woman With A Mourning Shawl, VanGogh

Shall we return to a time when...

I am wondering if it is time to return to a time of the class meeting. There is a bunch of talk of emerging church, etc., but do we really just need a good old fashion re-emergenace? So here is the first part and 5 of the "such as" of the General Rules of the "United Societies" organized by Mr. Wesley. Do we need to update any of the language for our time? Do you think you could survive an accountability class meeting? What do you think? Shall we start them up again?

...



There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these societies, a "desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins." But wherever this is really fixed in the soul, it will be shown by its fruits. It is therefore, expected of all who continue therein that they shall continue to evidence their desire of salvation,


First, by doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced, such as:

• The taking of the Name of God in vain,


• The profaning [of] the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work therein, or by buying or selling.


• Drunkenness, or drinking spirituous liquors unless in cases of necessity.


• Fighting, quarreling, brawling; brother going to law with brother; returning evil for evil, or railing for railing.


• The use of many words in buying or selling.

Broken.

I’ve experienced a rash of brokenness within one week!

1. One car driven by son meets deer in road at 40mph.
2. Second car driven by other son meets rear end of another vehicle.
3. Fancy glass faux alabaster touchier lamp shade meets wall.
4. Rug cleaner stops working on the weekend I finally have available to use it (this is related to number 3).
5. Newly purchased low price old replacement car rear window meets disconnected pressure washer hose end (a smashing experience).
6. My normally mild temperament broken with lashing out at my loved ones.

Thankfully, there were no personal physical injuries involved in these. Some money for repairs and a new vehicle (well, a lot of money), some money for a new shade, some money for auto insurance, some money for a little Plexiglas/weather strips and some money for a new rug cleaner. 1 through 5 solved.

For number 6, some apologies and forgiveness and understanding from the family and some grace from above given to me for the asking…. priceless.

Lord, you are surely worthy to be praised!

Simple Church

In my first blog post, I mentioned I would talk about it later. It’s later. On that camping trip, I did finish reading Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. The target audience, it seems, is the every busy, program loaded, church leading, non-itinerant ministry pastor or church leader. (How’s that for a mouthful!) That is not to say I did not learn some things from the book, though.

The subtitle reveals the theme of the book, process. Process is not something new to me. I live and breathe all kinds of processes at work and have even help develop quite a few. I get process. The authors are introducing process to pastors and church leaders who have not had the opportunity to experience “process”.

Their process for making Disciples is Clarity-Movement-Alignment-Focus. In a nutshell, it is to be clear about your Church’s discipleship making goals, define a simple process to explain your church’s discipleship process, and implement it (Clarity). Keep people moving through the steps in the process (Movement). Align all your church ministries to the process (Alignment). Don’t be sidetracked by anything that is not the process and learn to say NO (Focus). Of course, the idea here is to create a unity to the discipleship process among the church members at every level, worship, small group, service ministry, building policy, generational, etc.

I did see some of Wesley’s Methodism concept in it, along the lines of Christianity is a life long process moving toward perfection, setting up the class meetings, etc. But I do not think Wesley had published process illustrations and alignment charts nor graphed the membership levels in the various process steps.

There was a lesson in making sure your church ministries are not busy using precious resources chasing after cherished pet projects that are not working. Nor should new projects be starting that are not supportable given your existing membership. After all, it does take a kernel of existing members to grow a ministry. If all your members are already producing fruit, can a new ministry succeed without another ministry wilting?

Beyond all that, I think discipleship is too messy to be defined in a simple process. The discipleship process seems to be an individual thing guided along by the Spirit. When the Spirit is leading Yes We Can is in order, even if the process says no. Bsides, God already defined the ultimate process.

Truth

It comes up all the time in my discussions with non-believers or doubters. Truth is relative. The Bible is myth. The Bible is mistaken. The Scriptures are culturally biased and therefore wrong. Barbarian men wrote it. etc. I'm sure you have heard it, too.

What is at the truth of it? Can't say I know for sure, but I will offer an opinion. I think it is an unwillingness to submit to God as the author of truth. It is really not different than the Garden of Eden sin, is it?

The thought of not "knowing" means "their" control is gone, when control was never theirs. It was given as a gift. For some, this drives the thought of God so far away, that a declaration of independence is issued. This is when you hear things like, "all truth is relative", for if truth is relative, then truth is not real.. It also takes the form of a never-ending search for truth in academia, or relentless attempts to acquire power, or the desire to control one another, or the pursuit of wealth at the expense of others. As those of us who believe already know, real Truth is not in these things. These are things of the world and many facts of life are evident in these things but real truth will never be found in these things. You may acquire facts or power or control or wealth, but the real Truth will elude you until you allow God to have it. Let God have the truth. This is the real Truth, the Truth that will set you free.

Painting: What Is Truth? By Nikolai Ge

I feel better now.

Now this makes me feel more like a real Unitied Methodist.

Thank you, Bishops!

Am I a Methodist?

I voted. I did not vote for Obama. Now I am wondering if I am a Methodist. I read the Bishops’ statement, this and other articles from the UMC news feed, and I wonder....am I really a United Methodist?

I fully understand and appreciate the significance and history of the election of a black person to the presidency of the USA. I am very proud that our country has reached one of many pinnacles that are there for this country and celebrate that my country reached the pinnacle of electing a black person as president! But to me, this election was never about electing a person of “race”. When I read these articles, it makes it seem like that is the important thing.

My political belief is one that supports personal responsibility. My first responsibility is to God, then to my country. As such, I did not think that Obama’s policies support that concept. In my opinion, Obama’s policies tended to have my county force the responsibility instead of allowing me to choose my responsibility. I am not bothered nor elated about who won. God is the center, and God was not on the ballot and God’s will be done.

This quote from the Bishops’ statement emphasized in the UMC news feed bothers me:

“We applaud your willingness to articulate a vision of change for the United States that is based on hope for all the people, especially those who are disinherited and disenfranchised.”

This implies, in my opinion, that my vote was not supporting the same thing. I do not think that this is what was intended by that statement, but it does trouble me. It makes it seem like the Bishops think if I did not vote for Obama, I believed otherwise. As a Lay Leader at my Church, one of my responsibilities is to teach about the connection aspects in the UMC. If I did not vote Obama, can I do that now? Perhaps if I read the entire statement, I might think otherwise? But I do not know the entire statement. Am I a proper United Methodist Lay Leader?

Another emphasized quote:

“Throughout his campaign, Obama refused to reject his ethnicity. At the same time, he refused to let it define him.”

Is the UMNS emphasizing that which we as Methodists already knew? The tone of the article is one that implies we Methodists who did not vote for Obama did not already know this. The article also seems to imply that if I did not vote for Obama, that I did not think that social justice issues are important. It even implies that because my uncertainty of Obama’s readiness to lead, I am acting in a racist manner. This is evident in the quote:

“Obama is "mysterious," "we know little about him" and on and on. So race in America is still an issue.”

Race was not the issue to me, but the quote troubled me.

Rev. Adam Hamilton’s article at least acknowledged the personal responsibility aspects of Obama’s policies, but I am still troubled by some of his other statements.

I am still left with the thought: Am I really a United Methodist?

polls Polls POLLS AHHHH!

Take a look at the definition for poll. For something like 22 months, all we have heard about is polls. I am ready to take definition number 6 and promptly apply it to my definition 5! But today it’s finally over (although after the election 8 years ago…maybe over today?). Our country picks new people to govern.

Some may find assurance in the results, some may not. One thing true for me is that assurance does not come from polls and elections. I find assurance in the strangely warmed heart…as Wesley put it:

"I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that He had taken my sin, even mine." - from Wesley's Journal

This is the kind of assurance I vote for, no matter who wins elections.

Artwork: Monet, Grainstack (Sunset).

Fall Back...

What do I do with an extra hour? Do I sleep in? Do I wake an hour earlier?

Right now I go with wake an hour earlier. I need the extra time to prepare for the Sunday School lesson. The author of our current teacher book quarterly is one I’ve done before, and quite frankly, he and I just do not connect on the same “teacher’s plane of thought”. It’s just one of those things, I suppose. I can tell from the class responses, I just do not seem to be connecting when I use this material. Other authors, I can whip up a lesson in no time and with enthusiastic response. Thank you, Lord, for offering different authoring of the student’s book. I am leaning more on that material than the teacher’s manual.

It is time like these that I long for an alternate or co-teacher, who may see the material in a different light, a different experience than I. What are you teaching me Lord?

Picture: Van Gough, Portrait of Dr. Gachet

FRAUD!

Turn on the news or read the newspaper and you see the word, fraud. Vote fraud, to be specific. Yet one person's fraud is another's myth or suppression. If you ask me, whatever is at the root of it, it is hurting all of us. Whether the charge of fraud is false or the claims of myth and suppression are false, the root cause is the lack of truth. Where is our modern day Micah?

"Listen! The LORD is calling to the city — and to fear your name is wisdom— "Heed the rod and the One who appointed it. Am I still to forget, O wicked house, your ill-gotten treasures and the short ephah, which is accursed? Shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights? Her rich men are violent; her people are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully. Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins. You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword. You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil on yourselves, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine. You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab's house, and you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations. " Micah 6:9-16

I'm just not hearing enough about finding the truth. I do not hear a cry for finding out if the scales of one person one vote are getting a short ephah. I do not hear a cry for "hearings" and "indictments" of the rich and powerful who wreaked havoc and violence against our economic systems, leaving the scales tipped against those who can not afford to lose a fraction of an ephah.

Are we all complicit? Are we all chasing the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab's house? Will we need to once again "Heed the rod and the One who appointed it"? I pray we do not. "Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth." Psalm 26:2-3

One of "those" days.

I sleep in a little late. I dial in on the morning telecon at the last minute. I browse my schedule on the laptop as I listen, punch off some email and think "I can get some stuff done this morning!" I chew on breakfast while pushing on the ear piece for my cell phone. My dogs on the deck at the sliding door get impatient waiting for breakfast and start to share their impatience by doing “growling-tugging at collar play”. The morning telecon goes longer than usual with an unexpected issue taking center stage. I manage to dress with the cell phone attached to my ear. I pack up lunch and then search for the bottled water in the pantry. Because I’m a little behind, every move I make wandering around the kitchen is a traffic jam, as my wife is now getting breakfast ready for herself. (Why did I like that breakfast counter in the kitchen again?)

It was “team building” day and our work group decided to have “soup day”, which I found out about yeaterday. Crock pot full of soup in hand, lunch bag on top, a very large 10 lb “tech” laptop in the backpack with the water , I make it to the pickup and load the backseat. As I am opening the front door I hear “Take this to the garbage can, they have not picked it up yet”. Back in the house I go. I lug the latest garbage to the curb, and then I’m finally off, earpiece still planted in ear, as I hear the latest status discussed in telecon #2 that started just before I walked out the door the first time.

The "team building" creamy chicken and mushroom soup I prepared last night is now sloshing in the crock pot and I can smell the delicious odor. This is not good. I took considerable care with the plastic wrap that should prevent the soupy goodness from escaping the warm confines of the crock. I failed (telecon now over). I dutifully stop at the “strike” line as required, even though there are no pickets there today (arghh!).

I deliver the crock pot and arrive at my desk. I dock the laptop and find out the clean schedule was there before is now a full slate of meetings from 8:30 to noon. There goes free my hours on Saturday.

Noon plus ten minutes. The meetings are over. The team building soup lunch is over. I go back to my office. I shut the door and breathe a sigh in the silence. I pray for peace as I lean my back on the door.....

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:11-14)

Some days I feel like Elijah. As I say amen, the phone rings.

Artwork: "Whirlwind" by Michael Lightsey

Campfire

One of the things I like best about camping is the nightly campfire. Now since this is October I will say that a morning campfire is quite nice, also! Much time was spent collecting wood and getting and keeping the fire going in the morning, so I lost some of that time I usually have for reading, but I don’t mind a bit. The crackling fire, the occasional hooting owl, and coyote cries help to season the conversational tone among my family members. For me and my family, it has always been the closest bonding moments and makes for some of our finest memories. It’s amazing what you can share and relate together without the cell phones, television, politics, email, computers games, and (fill in your favorite here), etc. This time it was just my youngest son and I, but it changed little. “Look at all those stars”…”Look at that orange moon rising over the lake”…”Look at those birds taking off together, it looks like bubbles the way the sun reflects off of them”…”Can you hear that? The sound of a flock of birds “whooshing” silently overhead”

That orange moon rising over the lake was something (why did I forget the camera!). What was this very large orange ball rising over the horizon? Look how it sends a straight column of orange reflecting off the stillness in the surface of the lake. The column making a path directly to me! It was spectacular! I no longer wonder about the origins of the “gods” from the ancient civilizations. The God of creation was trying to touch their souls through His creation. As humanity always seems to do, the ancient civilizations just got it wrong.

Paul tried to set the record straight in Athens:
“For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.” (Acts 17:23-26)

I shared these thoughts with my son by that campfire (telling Paul’s Athens experience in my own words). He said, in a matter-of-factly way…“Really? Hmm”.

Launch Day!

So on the day before I go away for a little extended weekend camping trip (Fall River Lake in the picture), I decide to launch a blog. Not that I am expecting anything huge to happen, but this is something new for me as I never really had been a journaling type of person, although I do frequent an online faith forum. Perhaps it is the Spirit at work, prompting me to move away from the short, couple of sentence interactions of a forum to the more introspective sport of blogging.

Anyway, while enjoying the quiet sounds of camping, I usually manage to catch up on some reading. I plan on reading “Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens”, by Neil Cole, but first I plan on finishing up a book I’ve already started called “Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples” by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger. Considering that the UMC mission is to “make disciples of Jesus Christ” (and as recently added at last General Conference) “for the transformation of the world”, I wanted to see what these gentlemen had to say about the process of making disciples. After getting through part of the book, I was wondering if these gentlemen ever read Wesley’s thoughts about Christian Perfection and the early Methodist societies and class meetings, because their process thinking would seem to line up pretty good with Wesley’s Methodism! Maybe I’ll post more about it when I finish.

I pray that God is leading me into something new with this blog thing. Please join me as I find out what new thing will be revealed!