(heart)+(peace sign)= (smiley face)

So I stopped at a gas station awhile back. I pumped my gas and headed into the station to pay my bill. As I was walking through the lot toward the door, I had to wait for one particular car to go past. This car was nothing special, but it was moving fast and paying no attention to any pedestrians. I had to watch out for myself.

As I waited for the car to pass, I noticed that someone- I assume it was the driver- had painted a message on the back window. It was interesting and a little uplifting. With well-known symbols the message was: Love and peace make happiness. WOW! It made my day. I watched the car go by and meditated on the message of peace, love and happiness. What a great Christian message for the day.

After the car passed, I continued toward the building to pay when I realized that I had not paid attention to my pump number. I turned to see if the gas pump was marked, when a girl getting out of that same car looked at me. She shouted at me across the parking lot, "Sir, please stop looking at me."

I was dumbfounded. Her message of love was a ruse. She did not love me. She did not want me to be happy. In fact, she was working not to create peace, but to disrupt it. I was embarrassed, hurt, disappointed and a little bit angry. The uplift that I got initially was shot to heck.

I'm afraid, however, that this is my story all too often. I look like a Christian. I believe like a Christian. But unfortunately, often I am impatient, unloving and judgmental. I want to be all that Christ calls me to be, but I am not. My attitudes and actions are not always consistent with the Christian image that I want to portray.

God help me to be what he wants me to be. God forbid that I be a hypocrite.

To My Friends at Howe and Pretty Prairie

There is no chance that we can adequately thank you all for your kindness, grace and love to us. For 10 years you have treated us as though we belonged here, and for that amount of time we have belonged here. You have been patient when I made mistakes and you have cared for us when we were ill. You prayed for us regularly and allowed us to grow in faith, even as we were leading you to do the same. This weekend (I am writing this on Sunday afternoon) you have gone completely over the top. You honored us with your presence at our Open House on Saturday, and you blessed us in worship today. We have received gifts, good wishes and heartfelt thanks. We have reminisced with you, remembering good times, silly experiences and the work of God. For all of this we thank you. We will take all of you with us to Argos and we will leave a little of ourselves here.

All Things New

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? Isaiah 43.19

There are new things happening all around us. Many people have just graduated from High School or College. There are others that are getting married during these summer months. We are celebrating the birthday of our country, which represents a new year to appreciate our freedom.

But there is one other “new thing” that is definitely going to affect my family more than any of these. In fact, most of you reading this will also be more affected by the fact that you have a new pastor than the other new things. It goes without saying that there are things for us all to learn and adjust to, but here are some of the new things that we can celebrate and anticipate together.

• We can all (perhaps, especially me) look forward to learning, stretching and changing in many ways. I am coming to Argos from a two-point charge. That means that for the last ten years I have been the pastor of two churches. Both of those churches are smaller than Argos UMC. Here is where we stretch. I have to learn to be a pastor in a larger church. Likewise, you will have to put up (at least initially) with my “country boy ways.”
• We can look forward to some awkward times of change and growth. I am thinking of this as a courtship. We have to get to know each other. I know that there are things that I will want to do differently than you are used to. I need to learn your traditions and stories. We will have to be patient with one another as we learn to get along.
• We should anticipate God working in our ministry together. I have learned to expect God to work in wonderful, marvelous and uncomfortable ways. He has asked me to do things that I have never wanted to do. Together we should plan on God pushing us to places that we have not been before and asking us to do things that will change us for eternity.
• We should expect God to change lives. I am planning on seeing God at work in Argos United Methodist Church. I know that he wants to be involved in our “new thing” together. I believe that I will grow in my relationship with him, that many people will begin new journeys of faith with Jesus and all of us will be challenged and transformed by his presence.

2 Corinthians 5.17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” I am excited to see who Jesus is going to make new in our church. God will call someone into full-time ministry. Many people will be called to deeper levels of commitment, faithfulness and life in Christ. I can’t wait to see who will become a new creation.

God is infinitely creative. He is always making things new. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next.

My Favorite Hymns

A list of my favorite hymns (in no particular order):

• All Hail the Power of Jesus Name (I love all three tunes)
• Great is Thy Faithfulness
• Holy, Holy, Holy
• Amazing Grace
• Christ the Lord is Risen Today
• The Solid Rock
• O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
• Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

Famous Last Words

Much has been made of the final words of people, particularly famous people. John Adams, for example, said, “Thomas Jefferson still lives.” Except that Jefferson died the same day- July 4, 1826. Others have not had such famous last words on earth, but are remembered for things they said upon leaving. Douglas MacArthur promised, “I shall return,” as he left the Philippines. The classic film, Casablanca, ends with Humphrey Bogart’s character, Rick, saying, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

And so now I am facing the prospect of offering some final words. However, I am sure that I have nothing new, original or especially profound. We have loved living in Howe and serving the church Howe and Pretty Prairie United Methodist Churches. You are great people and we love you. But the opportunities for saying things to you all are dwindling now. There are a few sermons left, there are some conversations, but this is the last article. Let me offer to you some basic, foundational words that you will be familiar with by now. In the coming years, I encourage you to practice the Four Most Important Things.

1. Bible Study. Spend time reading God’s word. Study it. Memorize it. Read about it. Discuss it. Time spent with God in his word will never be wasted time. Get to know God in a new way. We are currently in the midst of a one-year campaign to read the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. I hope that you will not stop just because I am not here to remind you.

2. Prayer. Learn to devote time to God. Talk to him. Listen to what he has to say. Ask advice. Request help. Get to know God in new ways. You will find if you spend time with God, you will always have enough time. He will make the time productive and a blessing to you, every time.

3. Fellowship. Learn to enjoy the company of other Christians. Spend time with the people who love God. They will support you in your faith and walk with God. You can support them in their times of trial and difficulty. Together the people of God can stand against temptation and become powerful instruments of God’s grace and healing.

4. Ministry. Always remember that following Christ is not the end of the line. We are to study, prayer and fellowship to know the Lord, but the result of all these things is that we reach out to and care for those inside and outside the body of Christ. In a very real sense we are the hands and feet of God on earth.

One more thing- the United Methodists who worship at Howe and Pretty Prairie churches have a great opportunity coming up. The United Methodist Church is organized as a “connectional” system. One way that this works is for us to demonstrate the value of our connection. Our churches do not have to struggle and search for leadership. Our new pastor will arrive next month. We know that Jean Ness is competent, trained, educated and experienced in all areas that will make her an effective pastor. By receiving her, sharing in her ministry and caring for her family we demonstrate to the world, and to ourselves, that we serve a great God who is bigger than our differences and changes that the world may consider to be insurmountable.

God bless you all.

A Brief Autobiography

I was raised on a small hog farm in East-Central Indiana. I graduated from Jay County High School in Portland in 1981. I attended college at Ball State studying Political Science when I felt called to the ministry. I transferred to Taylor University and graduated from there in 1985 with a major in Biblical Studies. Upon graduation I took a job as Youth Pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Lapel, Indiana. While I was serving there I met Shannon. We were married in 1987. Shannon and I have one daughter, Molly, who is 20 years old. We also have a "foster" daughter, KaSandra (Kay) who has five children. I went to seminary at Anderson School of Theology and was ordained an elder in Indiana in 1992.

In the following years I have served the following United Methodist Churches; Summitville, Russiaville, Decatur St Mark's, Warren, Elwood First, Howe and Pretty Prairie. I have currently been serving Howe and Pretty Prairie for 10 years.

During my time in the ministry I have been very involved in the camping program in our conference. I have served as director of elementary and middle school camps, and I have served as a dean for High School Institute. I have also led several mission trips (mostly with young people) to Jamaica, US Appalachia and inner-city Indiana. I am currently very involved with mission work in Uganda where I served in 2007.

Additionally, I have done some writing. I have published Vacation Bible School curriculum for Cokesbury and Bristol House. I am currently "editing" a series for Bristol House called, "The Story of the Old Testament."

There are three things that I try focus on in ministry; 1)Teaching the Bible and helping people to understand and love the Bible, 2) Renewing worship, especially within the United Methodist Church, and 3) Raising up leadership in the church, especially among young people.

Let's get to know each other. You can friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/revdewey. Or you can send me an email atrevdewey@gmail.com or call 260/562-2260 (home) or 260/336-2148 (cell). If you are interested you can check out a couple of blogs that I keep (with varying degrees of regularity). I post sermons, outlines and notes to http://leadership1234.blogspot.com/, and miscellaneous thoughts and reflections to http://revdeweysworld.blogspot.com/.

Basic Christian Stuff: The Christian Year

There are some things that we Christians all share in common. We all believe that Jesus is the Son of God that God created the earth and that prayer is an effective mode of communication with the Almighty. There are also some things that are not observed universally in the church. Each denomination, each arm of the church has particular emphases or doctrines that we hold. For example, we United Methodists are in the Wesleyan- Arminian theological segment of the protestant church. This means that we believe that all people are given the ability by God to choose their own destiny. Calvinists, on the other hand, believe that our destiny is determined before hand by God. This is often called “predestination.” We are still in the same part of the Christian tradition, but this is a significant distinction.

Another area of similarity in the church is the Christian Calendar, or the Christian Year. Orthodox Christians, those who live and worship in the East, celebrate holy days on a different schedule than western Christians do. That is one difference. Another is that evangelical, Pentecostal and independent churches tend to observe only certain parts of the Christian Calendar.

For mainline churches, United Methodists, Presbyterians, American Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ members, there is more to the Christian Year.

The Year begins with Advent and the celebration of the coming of Christ. For four weeks we prepare for the birth of Christ and at Christmas we share in and celebrate the birth. Epiphany is celebrated each year on January 6. It is a celebration of the visit of the kings to the baby Jesus. You will notice that there are twelve days (of Christmas) between Christmas day and Epiphany.

Following Epiphany is a season that we call Ordinary Time. This is a prelude to Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday. For 40 days, not counting Sundays, Good Friday or Maundy Thursday, Christians reflect on their lives, make sacrifices for the sake of Christ and prepare for the resurrection on Easter Sunday. The Easter season continues for seven weeks until it culminates with the celebration of Pentecost. On Pentecost we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. After Pentecost we return to ordinary time. There are other days that are special within ordinary time, like All Saints Day. All Saints Day is the first Sunday in November.

There are other things about the Christian Year that you should note:

• Thanksgiving is not a Christian holy day. It is essentially a secular observance to remember the grace and providence of God.
• There is a schedule of Scripture readings that coincide with the church year. The lectionary has four readings for each day.
• There are also colors to represent the seasons and days of the Christian year.

It is good for Christians to know and celebrate the times and seasons of the church year. By doing so, we will enhance our celebration of holy days and be reminded of all the works of God.