Keep it going...

It’s December 27^th (at the time of this writing).  And for many folks, the Christmas season is wrapping up (no pun intended!).  Gifts have been given, presents have been opened, and the exchanges of “thanks” have been shared all around.  The colorful papers once beautifully adorned the carefully selected gifts placed beneath the tree has now been gathered together and dispatched to the garbage can.  The Christmas music has turned back into the popular music of the day, and the stores have traded in their check-out lines for returns and exchanges.  The decorations, once hung with such eager anticipation, now wait in the expectancy of being once again boxed up and stored away for another year.  It is easy to think that the holiday rush is now past, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. 

But it wasn’t always this way.  Shortly after Jesus’ death on the cross, the first Christian martyr, Stephen, took his faith to the ultimate level.  The Stoning of Stephen is recorded in the Book of Acts 7:54 – 8:1, and has been historically attributed to December 26^th, the day after the Christian Church celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.  The irony of this death is that Stephen would be the first to die for his faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the one who has come to save humanity from its sin.  It would be a young Pharisee named Saul (later to become Paul the Apostle) who would oversee Stephen’s stoning.  Paul, arguably the greatest Christian Convert the world has ever known, never saw Jesus face-to-face.  Instead, he saw Stephen’s faith first-hand.

Perhaps the most difficult transition to make in this time of year is the one that asks us to understand the rationale for Jesus’ birth.  We’ve become so accustomed to the romantic and nostalgic flavor of the Currier & Ives Christmas that we’ve forgotten that the reason for this child’s birth was so that our sin would no longer separate us from God.  And just so we don’t miss the significance of this birth, or worse, dismiss it as old, out-dated, and merely an historical issue of long ago, in just a few days we will be reminded again of the importance of the birth by some strange astrologers from a foreign country who will come to pay homage to this infant.  The gifts the Wisemen brought were strange gifts for a newborn infant; gold – the symbol of royalty, frankincense – the symbol of priestly sacrifice and worship, and myrrh – a burial spice, the symbol for death.  Still, the arrival of the Magi represents the universal nature of this Messiah, who brings salvation from sin to all who will believe, and begins the next holy season in the Christian Calendar year – Epiphany, which means the Revealing of God’s Son to the world.

From Christmas to Epiphany, we find ourselves in a curious place.  The world has gone back to business as usual – planning parties and making resolutions for the New Year, returning gifts received for what we really wanted, and returning to our daily schedules and routines.  But for the Christian, Christmas marks the beginning of Salvation History – that is being renewed every day.  We do not - we cannot – forget what happened in that sleepy little village of Bethlehem, nor the journey that infant would take over the next thirty-three years that would lead him to a cross outside of Jerusalem. 

Christmas is the reminder that we are forgiven.  Epiphany is the reminder that all are given this gift of salvation.  Our task is to remind one another, and everyone who is searching for this gift of grace.  Please do not pack this away with your decorations for another year.  Live in the glory of this Christmas gift that keeps giving all year long.

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad

Family Lines...

Above my desk at home hangs an old picture frame with my paternal grandfather’s family register.  It lists in order his parent’s names, as well as all the children that were born to them.  It shares their birthdays, as well as when and where each was married, and finally their dates of death.  The last line was completed by my father when granddad died in 1990.

Granddad came from what we would call today a “blended family.”  His father died when he was just a toddler, and when she remarried, her new husband wanted her to raise his children from his previous marriage.  Her children were “farmed out” to other relatives, neighbors, and friends.  Thirteen children in all, with my grandfather as the youngest. 

At the top of the register scrawled in my granddad’s third-grade handwriting are the words, “to go to Bug and cate at my death. LD”  (My dad’s nickname is “Bud”, and my mother’s nickname is “Kate”, but granddad did the best he knew how.

Family trees are a big business these days.  Websites tout the latest is record searching databases and techniques, and promise that you will never really know what you will find, but that you just need to start looking. 

Scripture is replete with examples of a people of faith attempting to keep their family lines in order, and preserved for the generations to come.  Telling the stories of our ancestors ties us to the generations of the past in a unique and powerful way.  Remembering our ancestry is an important clue in understanding our present, and helping us to move toward the future.

The same is true for the Church.  We remember those who have guided us in our faith journeys as one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit. The letter to the Hebrews recounts many of the ancestors of the faith, their faithfulness, and their careful witness to the goodness of God’s abundant mercy and grace, and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  To recall these folks is to retrace the steps of the love of God across the generations to the very present place in which we now stand.  It is a recollection – a re-collecting – of the memories of the faithful who have brought us to the faith, and who surround us as witnesses to the power of God’s mercy.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with  perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Sunday, November 6^th, we will celebrate the lives of the many Saints of the Church who have gone on before us in the past year, guiding us in The Way.  Their lives have been a beacon of hope to us, as they have sought to faithfully live the calling of Jesus Christ in their lives.  We honor their memory with a special memorial service including Communion.  Their witness has given us a glimpse into life in the Kingdom.  For this we are thankful to God.

It is a part of our family line.  Our Family Tree.  Join with me as we celebrate these special saints in the church on November 6^th.  And consider how you can “run the race that is set before you with perseverance” and be the witness of Jesus Christ to those around you. 

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad

Urgent...

Urgent.  This word conjures up so many thoughts, feelings, emotions.  When I read that word, or hear it spoken, I sense that there is something that must be done, and it must be done yesterday!  Like getting the kids to school on time, or making it to the hospital when a parishioner has been taken to the emergency room.  Or perhaps it is more like when you look down at the inspection sticker in the corner of the windshield, and you realize that what you should have done two months ago is now two months overdue.  Urgency is that which is pressing, vital, or crucial.  It is imperative that something must be done, and that it be done with expediency. 

It is amazing how many things we allow in life to have that claim of “urgent.”  Appointments, deadlines, crises, and the like, seem to zap our attention and energy.  We seem to get “sucked into” the vortex of that which cannot wait.  And we are exhausted from trying to keep up. 

Time management gurus would have us believe that much of what is claiming our attention as “urgent” really isn’t.  Or more to the point, can be avoidable, or rearranged so as to not be so pressing.  “Better planning,” as they say, “prevents crises.”  While there is obvious truth to this concept (I have yet to figure out who “they” are, much less how one can plan to avoid all crises!), there are also flaws.  Sometimes events happen that do not lend themselves to much advanced planning.

And yet, there are some things that will forever be urgent, especially when contemplating the eternal.  There is nothing so urgent as the salvation of a soul.  Paul talked about the urgency of the Gospel message in his letter to the Romans. 

“For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’  But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?  As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Romans 10:13-17)

If we are serious about our faith, we know that there is nothing more important to us than what is most important to God.  If God cares about the least, the last, and the lost, how can we care any less?  To love God with all our being (our heart, mind, soul, and strength) is to love what God loves (love our neighbors as we love our selves).  This is the urgency of the gospel.  This the motive behind Jesus’ teachings and commands to “follow” him.  There is nothing more urgent than this – for all eternity is at risk for that one soul who has never heard.

Our task as Christians (not just pastors!) is to share this gospel with as many people as possible – so that every person has an opportunity to be reconciled to God and to experience new life in Jesus Christ.  It is our urgent task.  Anything less is busy work.

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

Clients...

For the last couple of days, I have been attending a Board of Ordained Ministry Retreat in San Antonio that was led by Gil Rendle, a consultant for the Texas Methodist Foundation and The Alban Institute.  It was a thought-provoking workshop on what our tasks are going to be for the next ten years.  Who we recruit and to what kinds of churches have as much to do with what characteristics we are looking for in our new clergy.

The main focus of the event was to begin to teach us to “ask the right questions” rather than seek the right answers. Oftentimes, we slip into a technical mode and think that every problem has a known solution, and if we just do the right things, everything will work.  But what happens when we don’t know how to state the problem?  Everyone knows that there is a problem (declining membership and participation in mainline churches), but no one has a clear solution to this problem.  Part of the reason is that we might not be asking the right question.

A church was in a two-year-long debate as to what color to paint the sanctuary.  Various palettes were examined, schemes and designers were consulted.  Still, the problem of what color remained.  Everyone had an opinion, and yet no one agreed with anyone else.  Finally, one lady spoke up at a meeting.  She said, “Maybe we’re asking the wrong question.  Instead of asking ‘what color’ maybe we should ask ‘for whom are we painting the sanctuary?’  If we’re painting the sanctuary for ourselves, why bother?  We all have been worshiping here quite comfortably for the last several years with the paint that is already on the walls.  But if we are painting the sanctuary for those who are not yet here, what color should that be?”  In essence, she changed the question from a technical one (what color to paint the walls) to an adaptive one (for whom are we painting?).  (For an excellent example of changing the question, see Luke 10:25-37).  Unfortunately, when we don’t know what to do in any given situation, we tend to do what we do know how to do.  But trying to do the same things over and over again, each time expecting different results is, according to the old saying, the definition of insanity!  To work harder and harder doing the same thing will not yield a different result.  It will only get us more of the same.

In essence, our Board of Ordained Ministry was asking how we go about recruiting pastors to fill the churches that are dying in our midst (a technical question).  We were asking how we could work harder at doing the same things.  But by asking the adaptive question, we discovered something radically different:  What kind of Church does God want us to be in the next ten years?  From that point of the end result, we can work backwards to determine our Board’s course of action.  Do we have the answers yet?  Of course not.  But we are on a new course, because we are asking the right questions now.

The same can be said of our church.  We must ask ourselves who are client is – is it the current membership (in which case we are self-serving) or is it those who have yet to come to the church?  In reality, neither is the correct answer.  Our client is the Mission of the Church, which is stated very clearly in the United Methodist Book of Discipline: “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” (¶120, 2008 The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church). 

If our client is “the mission of the Church”, then the question then becomes, what are we doing as a church to be spent entirely toward that mission?  Is there anything that we are holding back?  Are we sacrificing ourselves for the mission, or are we serving a different client – perhaps, ourselves? – than the mission?  By asking the adaptive question, we have to know that we are in uncharted waters.  It will get messy.  It will be painful.  And there are more unknowns in this wilderness.  But the mission of the Church in the 21^st Century is straightforward:  We are to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  To do anything less is, well, unfaithful to the One who has redeemed us.   

Rather than stay in the same comfortable place yet be unfaithful, I would rather risk the unknown, walking in faith, following the voice of the One who calls us.  Like Abram and Sarai, or like Moses and Joshua.  Each risked.  Each followed in faith.  And each were led by the One who takes us by the hand and leads us to the Promised Land.

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

Being a Spectator...

I’ve never liked to watch Tennis being played.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I enjoy the game, even though I am absolutely horrible at it.  (Once upon a time, I had a fairly wicked serve that was infrequently returned; however, if it ever was, the volley would not last.  I rarely had the talent to return the ball again if it came to me.  And if you ever wondered where I got my limp, I wish I could say it was from something more masculine, like Football, or Rugby.  But alas, it came from a game of Tennis.  Most folks get “Tennis Elbow” – I have “Tennis Knee”.)

Still, the sport is interesting to me.  The thought of the “game of Royalty” intrigues me.  I am fascinated with people who have the skills to play it well.  Just not enough to watch the game from the grandstand.

I guess, I am a limited spectator at best.  I like the ideas of people who have practiced and practiced for years – decades even – to become good, really good at something.  But I’ve never been one to want to watch them practice and practice.  I’d rather pick up a racquet, and try my hand at it, even if I wind up making a fool of myself.  It is better to get in there and mix it up than to watch other people do it.  And yet, many folks have become addicted to following this player or that on the pro tours. 

Christianity is a little like that, I suppose.  Most folks have become so accustomed to being spectators that they’ve forgotten that they’ve been invited to participate – to become one of the team.  To get in there and “mix it up” as my dad used to say.  They are more content to just sit on the sidelines and watch it all happen.  Some would even say that they have earned their retirement from the Church – “I’ve fulfilled my obligation to teach the children.  It’s someone else’s turn now” they say.  As if you could retire from the faith the way we do a job.

Still, the Church calls.  Because Christ calls.  Because there are people who are desperately in need – with the basic necessities of life, as well as a basic understanding of who God is in Jesus Christ, and how we are all related to Him.  The task is ever before us.  And we cannot simply sit by watching and waiting for someone to pick up the banner and carry it forward.

In just a few weeks, our regular weekly programming will be kicking off for the fall.  And there is something for every single person.  From being fed by the fellowship and on the Word of God in a small-group Bible Study, to being a role model for a young child who is searching for someone – anyone – to show them how much God loves them.  There are Sunday School opportunities for all ages – on both sides of the Leader’s Guide.  (That means we need teachers as well as students!)

In the meantime, the benches are still there.  But there’s plenty of room on the court.  Or the field.  Or the classroom.  Or the Super Wednesday dinner table.  And there are plenty of people of all ages who would love to share and learn with you.  Or maybe its time to take another look at the Bible - and take a refresher course in what you believe.  Think about where you sit.  Have you been on the sidelines too long?  Maybe it’s time to get back in the game!

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

Rest and Renewal...

It was a relaxing week in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Our family did the vacation-thing: we pulled the trailer to a campground in Hot Springs, then attempted to make the best of the record-setting heatwave that settled on south-central Arkansas for a week.  (After two flat-tires on the trailer, we made it fairly uneventfully!)

There was plenty to do there.  There were museums (a favorite of the adults) and the swimming pool in the evening (the kids' choice).  Of particular note to me was the Bath House Row that lined Central Avenue there.  Hot Springs got its name from the underground spring mineral waters that bubble up throughout the region.  The springs are actually hot when it comes out of the ground - 143 degrees Fahrenheit!  (Maybe that's why the pool was so warm every evening!)  History has it that Fernando De Soto discovered the spring waters when he came across several Native Americans who had been bathing and drinking the water.  (Little did he know that they had been coming there for several centuries before he showed up!)  The Federal Government assumed control of the land in the mid 1870's and declared it a National Reservation, later changing it to a National Park.

It became a popular tourist destination in the early twentieth century when folks discovered how the waters seemed to help in the treatment of various diseases and conditions.  For over 100 years, people had been making the journey - some by train, others by horse and automobile - to this place for rest and renewal.  Several Bathing Houses were founded along the main road that settled Hot Springs, where people could come and bathe in the hot mineral waters. 

Wandering through those old buildings made me ponder how many people had passed through their halls hoping to find the latest treatment for rheumatism and the like, and how many folks actually found relief.  It made me wonder if the water had any mystical, magical healing powers at all. What made that water so different than the waters in their own home towns?  Was it healing and rejuvenating?  Did it cleanse and purify the inside as well as the outside?  Did it last or was it merely short-term relief?  What did the waters do for the soul?  Or was it all snake oil? 

But then I began to think even further about the healing power of water.  That evening as we sat in the pool, I began to think about the waters of baptism.  I began to wonder what powers it held for me.  I began to ponder about the life-renewing power it has over me - and my sin.  When I was baptized, I was declared a child of God - welcomed into the fellowship of the Christian faith, and redeemed from my sin.  Forever marked as one of Christ's own redeeming, I am cleansed from within and without.  But it was not the chemical composition of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen that did this miraculous healing - rather it was the Holy Spirit of God that did the work of redemption in Jesus Christ.

Every single person who comes to Christ through Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, receives this same healing power.  The cleansing is real.  The healing is eternal.  And blessing is greater than any hot tub in the world. 

There is renewal in remembering our baptism.  And we can rest in the arms of the One who redeems and restores.  I pray you will find this rest and renewal in your travels and experiences this summer.  And know that the fellowship of Christian Believers is anxiously awaiting to get together again!

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad

Holy Spirit Filled...

In my daily devotional reading for yesterday, I read about the Pentecost speech from Peter, who quoted the Prophet Joel about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon all people:

"The pouring out of the Spirit is the signal for the beginning of the eschatological event - the pouring out of the Spirit upon all mankind...  Spirit in this context, int eh Old and New Testament alike, is not used, as the world often was, in the sense of breath, or angel or demon (or ghost or spirit of the departed), nor in the sense of soul or source of life, nor in the sense of the seat of knowledge and volition, the living ego of a man.  No, in this context the Spirit of God is referred to, the Holy Spirit; its holiness separates it distinctly from teh spirit of man and of the world." (From The Church, by Hans Kung, as quoted in A Guide To Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, Nashville: The Upper Room, 1983. p. 191)

And it has occurred to me that there are people who did not know this.  The Holy Spirit's arrival at Pentecost was not some wind or breath that filled every one's lungs.  It was not some mystical encounter with a representation of the divine in some form or fashion.  It was God.  God came into that room and filled everyone with God's self!  Their ability to speak in foreign languages at that time was not because their own spirits mingled with the divine Spirit.  Their spirit's were replaced with THE SPIRIT. 

It has further occurred to me that there are several people who mistakenly believe that in order to be fully faithful, we have to join our spirits with God's Spirit.  In reality we must surrender our spirit to God.  When we become filled with the Holy Spirit, there's not room for our own spirit (our will, our thoughts, our wants, our desires, our needs) and God's Spirit at the same time.  When God's Spirit is present, God's Spirit fills all and is in all.  Completely.

Perhaps in that Upper Room, for the first time, folks surrendered to the Holy Spirit in such a way that God could be fully present with everyone there.  Not one of those folks there every even thought that he or she had become God.  What a ludicrous thought!  No, each one understood completely that they were in the presence of the Divine Creator and Sustainer of the world. 

Wouldn't it be great if we could be filled completely with God's Holy Spirit - the very essence of God?  Can you imagine what Pentecost could be like today?!!!

This is my prayer: "Lord, remove from me that which gets in your way - and fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may fully and completely serve your will today.  In Jesus' name.  Amen."  Want to make that your prayer too?

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad

Second Thoughts...

This past weekend, the world was supposed to end.  At least, that’s what one radio preacher had predicted for Saturday.  Evidently, his method involved a fairly intricate deciphering of the scriptures, and through some form of mathematical calculations, the date was set at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, 2011.  People had sold property, cashed in assets and savings, and prepared for the Second Coming. 

And this is nothing new.  Folks have been predicting the end of time since almost the beginning of time!  Even in Jesus’ day, there was curiosity about when the world will end.  And Jesus’ response was simple – “I don’t know.  No one knows.  Only God knows when that will happen, and so far, God’s not telling.”  But the fascination continues. 

Hollywood has gotten in on the act as well.  Countless movies and films have not only tried to predict when it would happen, but also how.  Asteroids and comets, nuclear annihilation, cosmic alien invasions, catastrophic disease outbreaks, and so on and so on.  The topic feeds our curiosity, and fuels our imaginations.  But Jesus said, “no one knows.” 

So in the hubbub this past Saturday, I wondered if there wasn’t some kernel of truth to the rumor.  I wondered if somehow the end might come – that this radio preacher might have gotten lucky in guessing the date and time – like hitting the odds in the lottery.  What if the world was going to come to an end – maybe not last Saturday, or even next week, but sometime soon.  And I began to wonder about some of the teachings that Jesus had said.  Mark’s Gospel is written in such a way as to give a sense of indelible urgency to respond to Jesus’ invitation to join him in becoming a Kingdom people.  “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near” we hear in Matthew’s Gospel.  What if the nearness of the kingdom has nothing to do with the times, but with the soul?  What if the nearness of the kingdom has to do with the proximity of the inviter, rather than the timeline of the world’s demise?

I actually had second thoughts.  (I know, I know.  I’m not supposed to fall victim to the ravings of a radio preacher.)  It wasn't the radio preacher's prediction, but rather it was my relationship with Jesus himself that gave me pause to reflect.  Jesus’ invitation to me (and to you as well) made me think about how faithful I have been lately, and wondered if I was “ready” should he come again today?  And in that spirit, I began to evaluate my own life, my own faith, and my own witness.  Jesus’ sermon kept coming back to me.  “Repent…”  Perhaps there might be some good that has come from the radio preacher’s message.  If one person began to think about his or her relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and repents, then maybe the message wasn’t necessarily a failure. 

Still, I chose not to cash in my holdings…I might need them for the next time the world is supposed to come to an end…In the meantime, take this “second chance” as an opportunity to draw closer to God.  Find yourself growing nearer to the likeness of Christ.  Allow your spirit to be filled by the Holy Spirit.  And become the person God created you to become.  Because, “…the kingdom of heaven has come near…”  See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

On This Side...

On Easter, I shared with the congregation a message that spoke to the fact that those early disciples encountered something that was so dramatic, it literally shook their worldview – that is, how they came to understand their world and how it works.  When our worldview changes, we are changed.  We can no longer operate with the same set of notions and ideas that define us.  We are forced to redefine ourselves.

I gave as examples some dates in history that changed the way that we view the world: December 7, 1941, November 22, 1963, September 11, 2001.  These dates changed the way our world operates.  We began to turn around our world in late 1941, with an increase in manufacturing of war materials, of rationing, and of victory gardens.  We saw the world differently after Pearl Harbor.

Camelot came to an end in Dallas, Texas that late fall morning.  Suddenly, the hopes of a new generation were changed into a coping strategy as folks began to ask a whole new set of questions: “What will happen now in Cuba?”  “What will happen in Southeast Asia?”  “Will we be attacked by our enemies when we are so vulnerable?” 

Our worldview changed again in our post-9/11 world.  We even developed a new dictionary of terms: “9/11”, “Homeland Security”, “Airport full-body-scans” just to name a few.  And our worldview has not stopped changing, especially with the turmoil in the Middle East and Northern Africa.  The earthquake and tsunami have spawned concerns about global prices of goods and services.  Oil prices have become a part of everyday dinner conversation in many households, as well as other topics that are too numerous to mention. 

 
In short, our world has changed and evolved once again.  The once-sacredly held beliefs that were built on rock-solid foundations have crumbled, and we are left standing in the rubble.  To begin to pick up the pieces is but a small start in trying to understand what has happened, and how our lives will be different. 

This is much the same as the disciples encountered that first Easter morning.  Their worldview had totally changed!  The man they saw dead and buried had come back to life – not resuscitated, RESURRECTED!  And to top it all off, this man breathed on them and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit!  The same Holy Spirit that he had received when he was baptized – the same Holy Spirit YOU received when YOU were baptized!  Death was no longer the end – it was just a stage.  Sin was no longer a hindrance for us, but was wiped clean.  The cross was no longer a symbol of shame, but a sign of hope and victory.  With boldness, those disciples, who had been cowering just a few hours before, would now proclaim to the world that they have seen the Messiah!  And the world took notice!

With the faith and perseverance, they shared a message of hope and good news that God’s love was permanent – and was not based on merit.  It was a free gift of grace.  And people were (are) invited to live into that newly consecrated relationship with God in the resurrected Jesus Christ.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ has been raised from the dead – and so have we!  We are on THIS SIDE of the Resurrection – and we’ve a message to proclaim!  Christ is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen!

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

The Journey...

It has been said that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (I’m not sure just exactly WHO said that, but I’ve heard it said…) With each step, though, the destination draws nearer. The markers that define the journey draw nearer, and gather behind us as we travel. The same can be true of life itself. As each morning dawns, an evening closes. As each season approaches, another one fades from view. As each year advances, another one ends. Ironically, when we were younger, it seemed that the future was so distant, so remote, so small, so slow and long in coming. Now, as I grow older, it seems as though my middle years have started picking up speed. But each new chapter is a new adventure in the journey. And when I look back, I can see that I was not alone. It was almost as if there was a pattern, or a momentum that was drawing me in a particular direction.


Surprisingly enough, our faith has many of the same characteristics. I am forever being asked by people how we can have the faith that seems to sustain others so wondrously when they are in great need. “I want the faith that they have – they seem to have everything together,” they say. And yet, so few people are willing to invest in the steps that it takes to make that journey become a reality. It is as if folks want the benefit of the destination without the hassles of the excursion.

But the faith journey is one that doesn’t work on the microwave principle – it doesn’t happen quickly. The journey itself is fraught with peril, headache, heartache, joys, thrills, fears, and everything in between. The journey is just that – a journey. There’s no magic time-portal that enables us to know God’s will completely, without taking the time to get to know more about God.

This past Saturday, a person in a Mission Matters Conference that I attended, asked a similar question about mission work, and how to discern what God’s will is. When the leader of the small group asked me to help her out, I shared with the group that part of the discernment process has to do with the fact that we need to take the time to get to know God. We need to know what moves God, what God loves, what breaks God’s heart, in order to know what God wants us to do. That which breaks God’s heart is what should break our hearts, too. And that should motivate us to move and act. But this doesn’t happen – indeed it cannot happen – if we do not first take the time to get to know God.

And that is exactly what the journey of faith is all about. It is about taking the time with one another to get to know God together. And it doesn’t happen all at once. It happens over time. With intention. One step at a time.

Have you taken the first step yet? How about the next one? The good news is that each step you take draws you closer to God.

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

Holy ground…

“Moses! Come no closer. Remove the sandals from your feet, for the ground on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5, NRSV)


I’ve always been fascinated by this passage of scripture. God has told Moses that the place where he has encountered God (by the burning bush) is holy ground. During my recent trip to the Holy Land, I became intrigued by the many places that still had the same stone paths that were present during Jesus’ time. I saw steps leading up and down the hillside near Caiaphas’ house, as well as the entry ways to the many different gates to the city of Jerusalem. Just knowing that there were places where my feet touched the same paths as Jesus’ gave me a sense of elation and awe. Standing at the Western Wall, I wanted to take my shoes off, for the place where I was standing was holy ground!

Isn’t it strange that for many of us, we find that such places are holy ground, and yet we somehow can’t see where God’s Spirit is with us in our everyday lives? Just a moment ago, I went upstairs from my office into the sanctuary to retrieve my hymnal that I had left there yesterday after worship, and as I was leaving the sanctuary, it dawned on me how accustomed I had grown to this place. It was as if I were leaving any other room. Now, don’t get me wrong – that sanctuary is just a room with four walls and a ceiling! And yet, just a day earlier we had gathered in that place to encounter and worship the Living God.

But it made me stop and think. How many times have I been in the presence of the Almighty, and have not paid any attention? How many times have I shared the same space as the Holy Spirit, and been oblivious to my company? How many times have I entered a room with someone who holds the Spirit of the Living God deep within her or his soul, and have completely ignored it? This person may have been baptized in the name of the Triune God, and I have treated them as an object, or even an obstacle!

When we fail to see God in the other person, we miss the rich significance of the presence of the Holy. We are unaware of the fact that the ground on which we are standing is holy ground – that God’s mark is upon that other person. This true of not only the stranger, but our families and friends as well!

This week, as we enter into the season of Lent, I pray that we can all take a moment to reflect on the holy moments when we encounter the Divine in our lives. It doesn’t always have to be a brazen as a burning bush – sometimes God just whispers our name through the voice of a stranger, a child, a senior citizen, or even a loved one. Listen again for God’s voice as you are called.

And take your shoes off. You might just be sharing holy ground with the Almighty!

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad

Chronos and Kairos...

It seems that we now live in a time where time is not only relative, but fleeting. Yesterday I saw a commercial about a store issuing a new policy to “buy-back” any electronics purchase that would become “outdated” or “outmoded”. The surest way to have the latest gadget available is to buy it today and wait – tomorrow what you purchased would be outdated. Cell phones, cars, computers, tv’s…they all have progressed so fast that it is almost impossible to keep up.


This kind of time is what they Greeks used to call “Chronos” or the measurable amount of time. Our days are filled with seconds, minutes, and hours. We can march to the “Chronos” or chronology of our calendars. What is popular today will likely be about as useful tomorrow as our old Neru jackets of yesteryear.

But there is another kind of time. It is called “Kairos” and it isn’t measured by minutes or days. It is measured according to God’s terms. It is witnessed not in minutes, but moments. It is measured in the ways that God has acted across the spectrum of human history. At the appropriate time, according to God’s view of things, God acts. For examples of this, we can see throughout scripture how God has chosen to act at the appropriate time: “While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child” (Luke 2:6); and also “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Matthew 4:17). This sense of time is related to the events that have taken place, but refer more to the movement of God’s grace in the world.

March 9th is Ash Wednesday, and it marks the beginning of the season of Lent. For forty days not including Sundays (Chronos), we are drawn into a time (Kairos) of faithful discernment to reflect on our own lives, our faith, and our sinfulness. It is a time to recollect where our lives have diverged from God’s will for us, and to repent, to turn back God-ward. It gives us the opportunity to remember why Jesus came to us, what he did for us, and how we are redeemed in that act of selfless love.

What does all this mean? It means that in the midst of all the seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, etc., we are all invited to become more aware of the movement of God through the Holy Spirit in the moments that we are in. God has chosen this moment to speak to you – are you listening? God has chosen this moment to bring together all things necessary for you to experience God’s grace, accept it, and move closer to the One who loves you most. It means that you have been given a chance to inch your life forward toward that wholeness that can only come from the One who gives us the breath of Life!

We will be having a special worship service on Ash Wednesday, March 9th, at 6:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary, where we will impose ashes, and remember that we are in need of the grace of God. We will follow this with a special sermon series regarding the Lenten Disciplines which will help us to move closer to God. It is an excellent opportunity to grow in your faith, and become the Disciples God created all of us to be.

The only question is, Are you going to set aside the time (Chronos) to experience this act of God’s grace in this season of Lent (Kairos)? See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad

Packing...

It is interesting to me what I have learned in the last year with regard to packing.  With our trip last summer to Romania, Kaitlyn and I had to learn anew how to pack our suitcases for an overseas trip.  We learned that there were things that we could not just take for granted - like the use of our electrical devices - phone charges, camera battery chargers, and the like.  We needed to have the right equipment.  Voltage transformers and adapters became a quick purchase that we were not anticipating, until time to go.  Remembering to pack a second, expandable bag (just in case) for souvenirs and for dirty clothes to return home.  Packing a backpack, with books for the long flights, bathroom essentials in case we were held over some place for weather or other reasons, and of course money. 

I've begun to make a new list for the trip to Israel.  I've even called my bank and my cell phone carrier to let them know that I will be traveling overseas.   I have all the above items, and then some, and I know that no matter how much I plan, I will definitely forget something!  Folks who know I am going have already asked me for their list of souvenirs for me to bring back.  (I'm trying to remember to bring the list, too!)  It is hard to imagine that in a little over a week, I will once again be traveling to another world - a world that is at once present and ancient. 

Preparing for the journey is not just something that we do with regard to lists, but is something that we do with our hearts as well.  Last evening at Bible Study, someone asked me what I was looking forward to the most when I get there.  I responded that I am a visual person - I like to see it, and then it tends to make more sense for me.  I said I was looking forward to seeing all those places that I have been reading about for all these years!  Being able to see it in person, I can then check that against my imaginations from having read about these places for so many years. 

But I think there is something even deeper than this happening when one prepares for a journey.  It is not just preparing to see it, but to be prepared to experience the feelings that will accompany the footsteps.  Knowing that I will have walked where Biblical characters from both Old and New Testaments sends chills up my spine!  Not long ago, I had the opportunity to travel to the Old Spanish Mission Churches in San Antonio.  The experience of walking where faith pilgrims have been traveling for over 350 years was a blessing that almost defies explanation.  I am trying to wrap my mind around walking where faith pilgrims have walked for almost 4,000 years!

Come to think of it, the same can be said about our everyday faith journey.  While the geography may not be the same, the faith journey bears a striking resemblance to that of our forebears.  Dealing with the common and the not-so-common issues of life, viewed through the lens of faith, brings us closer to one another in ways that can almost defy words.  And yet, there is a connection there.  Linking the footsteps of faith with the generations who have come before us helps us to see that we are not so different.  Further reflection invites us to envision the footsteps that will follow ours - and one begins to ask, will those who follow us find our steps in line with Christ's? 

Meanwhile, back to packing...can't forget my sunglasses, nor my camera...

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad

How are you doing?

Seems like a simple question to ask – one that we seem to ask an awful lot.  “How are you doing?”  “How’ve you been?”  “How are things?”  Sometimes we get an answer back that is almost as short as, if not shorter than, the question. “Fine.”  “I’m okay, thanks.”  “Not so good.” 

When we ask such a question, what is our intention?  Are we asking from an honest desire to hear how the other is doing/feeling?  Or are we inviting the other into a conversation, and this was an ice-breaker question?  Or are we merely making idle chit-chat? 

It seems as though 2011 has gotten off to a roaring start, and I thought I had actually caught myself leaving as I was walking in!  District and Conference meetings in Kerrville and San Antonio, church meetings here at the Lake, and the host of other year-end and year-beginning routines have had me on what seems like a dead run, and I’ve had to catch myself from tripping over my calendar several times!

Someone asked me the other day how I was doing, and I honestly had to stop and ponder the question.  It really didn’t matter to me whether the person asking was truly interested or not; it was merely an opportunity to stop and take a pulse of my own personal status.  What was I feeling?  How was I doing?   This year has started off in a blaze of activities for me, and such questions are re-centering for me.  They allow me the opportunity to once again find my equilibrium, my center of balance.  They are good questions for all of us, given many of our hectic lives and the demands on our time, our attention, our sanity. 

One of the things that I did this year as a New Year’s Resolution was to take that question seriously.  When I ask it, I make myself slow down enough to actually try to hear the response that I get – and then to honestly evaluate if the answer is a quick dismissal of the question, or if there is truth in it.  (Sometimes folks will answer quickly to get the attention off of themselves, in order to avoid exposing something painful or uncomfortable in their lives at that moment.)  I also pledged to answer the question as honestly as I could when it was asked of me. 

Perhaps we might all take a moment or two each day and ask, how am I doing today?  And then take the time to do a quick but honest inventory.  What I have found is that when I do take that extra moment or two, I remember why I do what I do – and who I serve.  And I need that.  Don’t you?

So, how are you doing?

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad