Birthday blessing

As of early this morning, I am now 28-years-old.  My life is a mixture of family, education, church activities, sickness, blessings and regrets.  Over the years, I have done many things I take pleasure in remembering.  At other times, however, I have done much to regret.  What I must always try to remember is that now is the only time I can come close to controlling.  I cannot go back and undo my mistakes anymore than I can continue to live in my past successes.  Each day, each hour, each moment of the present must be spent in growing and maturing as a person.  I want to be the type of person that other people can follow to a more Christian way of life.  I want people to be able to imitate me and, in doing so, become more like Christ.  I pray that we all will continue to grow up into the image of Christ regardless of what age we are.  May God continue to bless us as we continue to grow in Him.

We May Not Have...

We may not have a towering building in a booming part of town.
We may not have ushers with name tags at our doors.
We may not have fancy brochures in our foyer.
We may not have small groups for every age.
We may not have people who can sing all the parts.
We may not have a wonderful sound system and PowerPoint.
We may not have a well-organized youth program.
We may not have a wide variety of ministries.
We may not have a huge missions budget.
We may not have a talented music minister.
We may not have a preacher with a Ph. D.

But what we do have...

We have a faith that people can change for the better.
We have a belief that everyone needs a place to belong.
We have a hope that not even death can steal our joy.
We have a trust that Jesus paid it all and that's enough.
We have an honesty when we speak to one another.
We have a sincerity when we say we've been forgiven.
We have a outlook that our future will be better than our past.
We have a peace that only God can give.
We have an assurance that today is not the end of our story.
We have a desire to see God glorified and people changed.
We have a love that binds us together in good times and bad.

Never think that just because where you are is small that it is unimportant.

The gifts we bring to the family of God matter and are of eternal significance.  

Have a great week.

Whether in the corporate world, family life or ministry...

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." 

-Robert Collier

On Good Friday...

I am often reminded in the quiet of the house or driving to worship or in reading something beautiful that I have very little figured out.  What little I seem to know about my ministry is largely borrowed from other sources.  What I know about love I have gained from my family.  What I know about sports and entertainment I have gathered from television, reading and casual conversation.  There is not much I can claim as mine and I believe this is probably true of most people.  Two things I have learned from experience though.  Two things, like opposite sides of a coin, that are arranged in such a way that I do not believe I could have one without the other.

The first of these is suffering.  The pain of not understanding why things happen to us is a source of brutal confusion.  The actual effects of our pain are scarring.  The sense of shame one is left with when one's sickness is not visible to the eye but is rather present in the mind is overwhelming.  The absolute terror that you experience when you feel your mood change ever so slightly for fear that even the tiniest shift in the brain's chemicals can destroy everything you have worked for is maddening.  This is not even the worst of the illness but rather simply the recovery and on many days you feel like you are untrue to who you are, that you stifle your true personality and that the best word to describe your life is...fragile.

Having experienced the feelings just mentioned on a regular basis for a number of years, one could be left with somewhat of a hardened and cynical outlook on life.  Which leads me to the second thing experience has taught me: the grace of God is sufficient.  When I first became a Christian, I thought I understood grace.  I thought grace is what you received if you were a good enough person and followed all the rules. I now realize how small and limited that view of grace is.  I now can freely acknowledge that I realize that I will never be good enough.  I have also learned that I don't have to be.  Grace is free and based on nothing but the goodness of the Giver.  That doesn't make sense to our rational, human mind.  We believe we get what we earn and we are entitled to what we deserve, but thankfully, grace doesn't play by our rules. It isn't the end result of some formula or blueprint, it is simply an expanding presence to meet every need in the child of God.  Sometimes it is conferred by other people, sometimes by Providence and sometimes through undisclosed means.  It cannot be contained and it cannot be limited.  It needs only to be accepted and appreciated for what it is: the unmerited favor of God.

It is Good Friday.  A day marked with tremendous suffering, but also the day that makes grace both meaningful and possible.  A day of thorns.  Paul noted in Corinthians that he had prayed often for the LORD to take away his afflictions which he called "a thorn in the flesh."  He records as well that the LORD had gently refused, saying instead, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."  God did not say that the grace for Paul's trial was overwhelming or even problem-solving.  It was simply sufficient.  It was just the precise grace that Paul needed at that time tailored to his situation. No more and no less.  I truly believe that only those of us who have experienced and acknowledged great weaknesses in our lives can receive the complete power of God on our lives.  Only those of us who have been forgiven much and realize this fact can truly love much in return.  
May God continue to use broken but beloved people to extend His grace to the for the world.

"...all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” 

-C.S Lewis in Mere Christianity

The Hours In Between

Often times in life we will be scheduled to do one activity and then perhaps to take on another project later in the same day.  Between the two activities we may have anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours of "downtime."  I think in learning to use this time, which is so easy to waste, in something meaningful we can capture some moments in our day that could have otherwise have been lost or prodigalized away.

One time I have like this each week is the time between the morning and evening worship services on Sunday.  After lunch, I often feel like I have to wait several hours to go back to services in the evening.  Since I live too far to travel home to Alamo during this time, I often just have to look to fill the time with activity.  During this wait, it is tempting to surf the Internet, nap or watch TV just to have something to do in Dresden.  If instead of pursuing meaningless activity I can dedicate my afternoon to some good thing, I feel much better.  Looking over the night's lesson, reading the Bible or visiting folks from church are things that give the afternoon meaning and I can redeem time that otherwise would have been lost.

Another example of redeemable time is when one is taking a long drive.  I drive to Memphis each Monday to an appointment and I love spending this time thinking about the week ahead, sometimes listening to my audio Bible or even just relaxing with the radio.  The secret to redeeming the hours in between big events is to live with purpose.  As we live more purposefully we gain a better perspective on life.  By learning not to let precious time slip by unused, we are in essence expanding the amount of time that we have each day.  May God help us to be good stewards of our time.

Influence matters...

With the death of Whitney Houston this past weekend, worldwide attention was focused on her troubled life and untimely death.  The vast majority of us will never be known to the world outside of our small circle and, yet, we all still have an influence.  How will the people I interact with from day to day remember me?  The people who see me at work, at leisure or at a sporting event?  What about my closer friends?  What about my family who most likely knows me better than anyone else?

Hopefully we are doing our best to leave favorable impressions on everyone we meet.  If every professing Christian left a Christ-like impression on the world imagine the kind of world we would live in.  We would have a world with fewer broken families, fewer relationship scandals and fewer people enslaved to the darkness of the world.  Rather than discord, a spirit of harmony would grow between all people.  Evangelism would be much easier because people would be seeking us out to discover the joy we have in Christ.

Remember that everyday we influence others.  We cannot control that fact, but we can control what type of influence we will be.  Let us commit to do what is right and change the world for good.

New life in a new year

During this first week of the year, many people will assess their lives and seek to make what they hope will be lasting changes.  Plans to quit smoking, lose weight, further one's education and a myriad of other resolutions will be made this week.  Some will succeed in keeping their self-made promises in the next year while others will last only a few days or perhaps even hours.

As people of faith, we do not need the arrival of a new year to prompt changes in our lives.  Each night we retire to sleep and in the morning we are born again into a new realm of possibilities.  Each day, each moment is a gift and we should be careful to use our times for things that are of lasting significance.  The world we see is temporary and passing, but the spiritual and emotional lives we lead will carry on forever in our spirits and in the lives of people we influence.

A challenge for the year: make every day significant.  Whether in work or rest, play or worship, we can resolve to live a life of consequence.

Hope you are having a great start to 2012.

“I belong to the church of Christ; not a branch or wing of it, or a party in it; but to the church itself.  I propose never to stand associated with one special wing, branch, or party of the church.  My aim is to preach the gospel, to do the work of an evangelist, teach God’s children how to live, and, as long as I do live, to live as nearly an absolutely perfect life as possible.”

– T.B. Larimore.

Reflections on Sunday

We had an excellent service this morning in Dresden with several guests in attendance.  It was sad to have some of our members away, but the overall feel of the service today was very positive.  Due to the recent storms and trials that many in our number are going through, I chose to speak on prayer in the worship hour.  Using Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, I taught about the need for sincere, simple, personal prayer.  While standing before the congregation, my words struck a chord in my own soul.  How often I seem to try to work through problems before praying through them.  Many times I feel too sinful to pray and, while I realize intellectually that prayer is a means of the forgiveness of sin, I often let my guilt hinder my prayer life.  Perhaps you have felt the same, dear reader.

As I sit here in the quiet of my own house, I think of all the prayers I have prayed.  For a long time, I prayed to have friends (not realizing that I already had many people that considered me a friend).  Once upon a time, I prayed for a partner to share my life with.  I am slowly realizing that God has given me a different kind of life.  Not weird or bad, just different.  As a lady told me recently at Bible Study, "It's ok to be you."  I have often prayed to be something or someone else, but I am beginning to see that as messed up and confused as I often am, God can use me even in that.  I am terribly flawed, but I am learning to see that sometimes it is our flaws that make us individuals.  I hope that someday I will be able to use my adversity to help others and I know in some ways I already have.

God bless you and have a great week.

A question we all must face...

Jesus is standing in Pilate’s hall,
Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all;
Hearken! what meaneth the sudden call?
What will you do with Jesus?

Chorus

What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be;
Some day your heart will be asking,
“What will He do with me?”

Jesus is standing on trial still,
You can be false to Him if you will,
You can be faithful through good or ill:
What will you do with Jesus?

Will you evade him as Pilate tried?
Or will you choose Him, whate’er betide?
Vainly you struggle from Him to hide:
What will you do with Jesus?

Will you, like Peter, your Lord deny?
Or will you scorn from His foes to fly,
Daring for Jesus to live or die?
What will you do with Jesus?

“Jesus, I give Thee my heart today!
Jesus, I’ll follow Thee all the way,
Gladly obeying Thee!” will you say:
“This I will do with Jesus!”

A new day...

A new day has just started in South Dakota...

I realize what a poor, pitiful sinful person I am and it is only by the grace, love and mercy of God that I am not consumed by my own arrogance, evil, passions and pride each day.  I walked a little prayer trail today behind a Lutheran church that is made to look like a 900-year-old stave church in Norway.  I caught myself critiquing the statues on a prayer trail!  I realized it was time to pray...reflect...and then of course, blog.

In the sanctuary of the church was a small (about 18 inches square).  I had assumed (always dangerous) that this was the confessional booth.  My companion assumed the same.  When we heard the audio guide, however, we were shocked and humbled.  It was the window for lepers to come and receive Holy Communion in the days just following the Christian displacement of Nordic paganism in the Scandinavian nations.

Lepers?  Yes, lepers.  Just like in the times of the Scripture.  Just like there are today in India and other parts of the world.  Just like there are other groups of people that we treat as "unclean" in the good ole United States. 

The social outcasts. 
The poor. 
The different. 
The curious. 
The boring. 
The smart. 
The dumb. 
The strange. 
The queer.
The straight. 
The colorful. 
The colorless.
The anyone who isn't exactly like me and mine.
Me.

Tomorrow, Friday, September 24, 2010...

Vickie and I (Will) are leaving to take almost 800 large clothing items donated by the Lebanon congregation and our friends to Timmy Walker and his family (phyiscal and spiritual) in Huron, South Dakota.  We could not make this journey without your kind support whether it was financial, spiritual, prayful, thoughtful or provided in a myriad of other ways to numerous to name.

Join us as we plan to travel to the world's largest (and most tacky) drugstore, the Rosebud, the Chapel in the Hills, Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, to see outlaws and Christian family, to take and join in communion, to see the home of the Royals and Chiefs, the Cardinals and the Monarchs, to hear the songs of the Cheyenne and the Lakota and the stories of old women and older men...

We are going west, to grow up with the country.

We will be updating you peridoically throughout our "mission of mercy" and we plan to have some fun along the way as well.  So, as Timmy would say, sit back, grab a Mason jar of sweet tea (or cup of coffee if you prefer) and enjoy your mission journey with us!

-Vickie and Will (Peter & Paul)

today was...

Good music.  Good friends.  Out of Crockett for awhile. 

Less drama.  Two good meetings today.  Talked with good friends. 

Made a few new ones.  Was rebuked by a true friend I didn't know. 

Scolded by a busybody.  Had unity without Unity. 

Just for Today. 

Just for Today. 

Just for Today.

"The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it."

-William James