Living Prayer

This past spring I taught a class for our District Lay Speaking School, and as our material we used "The Workbook of Living Prayer" by Maxie Dunnam. This is a wonderful source to use for anyone who would like to deepen their prayer life and learn different ways to approach God as well as to hear from God. I also read "Prayer: does it Make a Difference?" by Philip Yancey during this same time period, and together, those books helped to rejuvenate my prayer life and help me come to a MUCH greater understanding of how to "pray continually." Living prayer involves being in tune with God in an almost constant conversation with Him throughout the day. This is certainly not easy to do, and I am not even close to fully grasping how to live in such a way. But I'm much closer than I was before I read these two books and started experimenting with the different methods and practices the authors recommend. I like the way Philip Yancey summarizes prayer in one particular chapter of the book: 1. Keep it Honest. 2. Keep it Simple. 3. Keep it Up. There's a nice 3 point sermon for those who are looking for one on prayer!

"GIVE GOD THE GLORY."

Perhaps one of the most inspiring moments for me on my recent trip to England was when I saw John Wesley’s grave. This amazing man lived to be 87 years old, which was certainly a ripe old age in those days. As I reached out and my fingers came into contact with the cold stone memorial, I thought of all that John Wesley accomplished in his lifetime, and I was grateful to him for the life he lived and the foundation which he laid for us to build on as we continue to reach people for Christ through the United Methodist Church. I spent a moment reflecting on him, and thinking of what a great man he was. Then I walked around his grave and read the inscription on it, and was humbled by these words at Wesley’s resting place: “READER, if thou art constrained to bless the INSTRUMENT, GIVE GOD THE GLORY.” In other words, if anyone who is reading the accomplishments of John Wesley, and is inclined to think what a great man he was, Wesley’s memory says, don’t. Don’t think of the man, the instrument that God used, instead, give God the glory for using Wesley to accomplish His purposes.
In our churches today, we place a lot of emphasis on what preacher we have, what programs we develop, and on which person is doing what. All of those are important things, but they pale in comparison to the Almighty God we serve. We are tools in the Master’s hands, allowing Him to work in and through us for His purposes. May we look at our own lives in such a way that we let God use us as He will, and whether He chooses us for great things or small, may we always give God the glory! As though speaking beyond the grave, Wesley reminded me once again that it is not about us, it is about the God whom we serve. Give God the glory!

Dads and Grads

Today we showed appreciation for two special groups of people in our congregation - dads and grads. For the graduates, I wanted to do a little bit more than what we typically do, which is to call them to the front, present them with a gift (usually one of the 'devotions for graduates' books that they seldom if ever read - I still have mine from 17 years ago, and have never finished reading it!), say a prayer for them, and applaud as they take their seats. It's nice to recognize them and do all of that, but I've always thought we could do a little more to make it more memorable and meaningful. So, this year I asked their families to send me photos of each graduate, and I compiled the pictures into a powerpoint slide show, with "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts as background music. It went VERY well, and gave the congregation a glimpse into the lives of the graduates from childhood through high school. The goal was to send them off to wherever God is leading them with the blessings and affirmation of their home church, and to encourage them to remember where the roots of their faith took hold. I think we accomplished this admirably, and thank God for the inspiration for this addition to our worship service today. For Father's Day, I preached on Ephesians 6:1-4, specifically vs. 4 - "Fathers, do not exasperate your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." I shared how my own father had brought up me and my siblings in such a way, and highlighted some of the lessons we learned from him. Then I shared how those very lessons that my dad taught us, had been taught to him (and everyone else) in the Scriptures, and we looked at some of the important 'training and instruction' lessons from the Bible. A very touching and special service today, and one which I hope will draw people closer to God as our Father in Heaven.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate!

It is SO hard for me to delegate. But, it is so rewarding and beneficial on so many levels whenever I do. In the past 6 weeks, I spent a week and half in England, was back in the pulpit for a Sunday, then took a week's vacation to celebrate our 10th anniversary, then was back in the pulpit for another Sunday, then went off to Annual Conference for a week. Needless to say, I haven't been in the office much since, well, April. This Saturday we have a HUGE event at our church, our 4th Annual Community Day Festival and Flea Market. This Festival is a great outreach to our community, and we typically get a lot of response from families in the area. The Flea Market is a great fundraiser as well. For contact information, we always have a number of door prizes to give away, and people have to fill out a registration card to be eligible for the drawing. That is a great incentive for people to give us their contact info so we can follow up with them later, and it astronomically multiplies the number of registration cards that we get. A great tip for those who are looking for a way to get people to fill out contact cards at any event your church offers! Now back to my post. With me being gone so much over the past 6 weeks, I neglected to leave someone in charge of setting up the flea market this week. So when I returned to the office on Tuesday, our fellowship hall was piled high with items for the sale, and nothing was in place to arrange, price, and organize the items on the tables. Now my first response to a situation like this one is always to think of how I can organize my own time so I'll personally have enough time to come in, set up the tables, arrange the items, and price and organize them all. I planned on setting aside the entire day to do this. Then I thought to myself (in one of those rare moments of productive thought) - "I could spend hours doing all of this, or I could spend a few minutes on the telephone, swallow my pride over my neglect of this important aspect of our event, and ask a few others to come in and help me with it." I got on the phone, and an hour later, some of the wonderful people of Bethany UMC came together and by the end of the afternoon, EVERYTHING was priced, arranged, and organized perfectly. I spent a little time at the beginning getting them organized, suggesting how to lay out the tables and arrange things by category, then I was able to go back to the office and catch up on a load of things that had accumulated while I was away at AC. It gave the people of the church an opportunity to use their gifts of service, it gave me a chance to work side by side with them for awhile rather than trying to do it all on my own, and it then gave me a chance to get done with some other important things that needed to be done. Hopefully I'll remember this lesson the next time I need to!

Re-Opening an old debate: Why not?

Here we go, Keith. Let's pop open this can of worms again and see who's biting. This Sunday our church is celebrating Dads and Grads (and honoring God as well, of course!). For the Graduates, I have put together a musical power point show using pictures from their pasts - from infant and toddler pics to their Senior year graduation pics. Now for the can of worms part - I'm playing "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts as the background for the slide show. During a worship service. (gasp!) This will be early in the service, before we really get into the flow of worship, hymns, liturgy, etc., but it does take place during the worship service. I am doing it because I think it is a great song, and very appropriate for the setting in which I'm using it. It even mentions God's grace, so there you go! But, it's a country song, not a Christian/church song by any stretch. It is another example of my attempts to be relevant to the people in our pews, many of whom listen to country music. It's also an opportunity for our church to honor the achievements of these bright young individuals as they mark this milestone in their lives. I pray that in that, God is honored as well.

Annual Conference Afterglow

I always look forward to Annual Conference, and am always disappointed when it's over and we have to wait another year to get together again on such a grand scale. By far the biggest highlight for me is getting to see all of my friends and colleagues. A very close second is getting to meet the new people that are either coming in to the conference, or just new to me because I haven't met them before. I definitely enjoy the people aspect of AC. The legislation and voting, well, not so much. Every year I take home an overall impression that often sets my direction for the summer and even into the fall. Two years ago I was incredibly inspired by the (at that time) new Bishop, particularly his opening sermon when he took off his robe, put down his staff, came down off the stage (and, symbolically, the pedestal I had placed the office of "Bishop" on for years), and became a partner in ministry with us, while still being veiwed as our leader. Last year, the whole Believe Again! plan served as inspiration to me, and my summer sermon series was based on the "Find Your Path, Share the Journey, Believe Again!" concept, and I later preached on the 5 goals of the plan as well. This year, I'm not sure what I'm taking home with me. I think part of it has to do with the 'politics' of a voting year, which, for me, takes away from the spiritual emphasis of AC, no matter how hard we try to prevent that. While I was impressed with Dr. Vance Ross and thoroughly enjoyed (and was, at times challenged by) his preaching, I did sense an agenda in his presentations that took away from the spiritual aspect that I think would have been more prevalent had the agenda not been there. But, I realize that he was probably doing what he had been brought in to do, and this being an election year for us, I anticipated that our focus would be different. So, what did I come away with this year? First of all, I came away with a renewed sense of relationship - with my fellow pastors (many of you on the blogosphere!), with the probationers and ordinands who it has been my privilege and pleasure to work with, and with God whom we serve. Secondly, I came away with greater confidence in the democratic process of our AC. So often people get caught up in 'politicking' or championing their cause or their candidate, and we fail to see the hand of God at work through the people who make up our AC. I believe we saw God working this week through our process. Finally, I came away with a renewed hope and sense of calling. This comes primarily through ministry night and the ordination service, both of which I sometimes consider skipping due to the length, but which I am glad I attended because of the inspiration and experience of sharing in ministry, affirming the ministries of others, and celebrating together the high calling which God has chosen to place upon us. May we look forward to the year ahead with the anticipation and the challenge of living out that calling in ways that bring honor and glory to the One who has called us.

Refuse to Settle for Less

Many people are familiar with the Biblical account from Genesis 12:1-5 and following. Does the Scripture reference ring a bell for you? It is the Call of Abram, and it is an inspiring (and challenging!) text to read as we consider the ways God calls us in our own lives. What I found interesting about this in a recent study came not in the Genesis 12 text, but in the preceding verses from chapter 11. "Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran." Two key 3 word phrases stand out to me - First, Terah set out to "go to Canaan." Secondly, when they came to Haran, "...they settled there." It makes me pause and wonder - did God place a call in Terah's life to go to Canaan and find the Promised Land, but somewhere along the way, Terah got comfortable and decided to 'settle' in Haran? He isn't condemned for this or spoken ill of, and his story largely gets forgotten in the light of what God did through Abram. But for me, it begs the question - Did Terah settle for less? Here then, is the question for us - are there things God has called us to do that we start out doing, but along the way, we stop and settle for less? What things, great or small, does God purpose to do in or through us, but because we choose to settle for less, God must accomplish through someone else? Let's refuse to settle for less, and to pursue the fulfillment of God's purposes in our lives as we live our lives for His glory! (Not that I do this as much as I should either, but let's keep moving on to perfection!)