God's Answers

Are you ready for some honesty? Can you handle it if I share with you a real problem that I have? Don't think bad of me, but sometimes I get very frustrated because my prayers seem ineffective. I know that God is out there somewhere, but it seems that he is not listening to me. I am sure that there are times- sometimes it seems like weeks, months or years- when he doesn't answer at all. The Bible teaches me that God is there, that he cares about me, that he listens to my prayers and that he always answers me. But in reality, it doesn't always feel like that.
So, what can I do? How does God speak to me? What can I know for sure about God and his answers to my prayer? I think that there are many ways that God answers us, but his response to our prayers generally fall in only a few categories.

• Go. There are times when God answers right away. He looks at my life and blesses me. There are times when my desires are consistent with God's will and he gives me an answer to my prayers that is resoundingly affirmative. I can be certain that God is in charge and that he is encouraging me to move forward.
  
• Slow. There are other times when I think I know what is best, but it just doesn't work for the Lord. He may support the idea that I am praying for, but the timing is off. Maybe I need to work on my relationship with God, or with others, or even with myself, but his answer to me is “not yet.” This doesn't mean that God is telling me know, or even that he is not answering at all. It means that God is trying to work on patience in my life. There will be an answer, but I have to wait. I can proceed, but I need to be sure that I am operating on God's time.
  
• Whoa. Sometimes I get ahead of God. I have a great idea, or at least I think its a great idea, but God is not quite ready for it yet. I need to stop what I am doing, at least for a season. I may get to go again, but not now.
  
• No. Brace yourself. This is the answer that we usually don't want to hear. But there are situations in which we need to pay attention to God's denials. But remember this, when he says no, it is always because there is something better that God has in mind for us.
  
• I don't know. One point of clarification here: God knows everything. His answer is never “I don't know.” But, often we think the answer is I don't know. Almost always, when we think the answer is I don't know, we can find God speaking one of the other answers to us.
  

Today, you may be frustrated because you are not hearing from God, or at least you are not hearing what you want from God. Know that he is speaking to you. Remember that there are many answers that he might be giving. As you pray, ask God to help you hear his voice, even if he is saying something you don't want to hear.

Ways to Pray

This year we have been focusing on spiritual growth. Our primary exercises, or disciplines for doing this have consisted of Bible reading and prayer. There are many other things that will help you grow in your faith. Do not think that these are the only methods to use in getting closer to God. However, I believe that prayer and Bible study are the most simple, universal and effective ways to enhance your relationship with God. If you will do these things, you will find your faith growing significantly and quickly.

With all of that being said, let's look at some practical approaches to prayer. I am convinced that many Christians are simply intimidated by prayer. It seems so holy, so directed at the “other” that we don't even start praying. What follows, then, is a series of solutions that are accessible and simple for anyone.

• Pray with a journal. I often (almost daily) write my prayers. It gives me a record of what is important to me and what God is teaching me. This also keeps me focused on my prayer times. I can look in my journal and know how faithful I have been. If I am not writing my prayers, I may not be praying.
• Memorize prayers. Everyone remembers prayers that they said as a child; “God is great,” and “Now I lay me...” But there is value in memorizing prayers as an adult. Learn and pray the Lord's Prayer or the 23^rd Psalm. Make those prayers, and others, a regular part of your prayer time.
• Use prayer reminders. Write a prayer request on a sticky note and put it on your bathroom mirror, your office door or some other visible location. Every time you see the note, say a short prayer for that person.
• Pray aloud. I often find that praying silently easily leads to mind wanderings for me. Although this is very discouraging, it is avoidable. If I am actually speaking, I tend to stay more focused.
• Pray while you are driving (but don't close your eyes). There is a lot of driving time that is wasted. We listen to radio programs that may not be good for us and generally lose all the time we are in the car. Make your car a “prayer closet.”
• Text message prayers. Get a friend or prayer partner that you can pray with. Use text messaging as a simple, quick and effective way to keep in touch and up to date with needs and prayer concerns. Texting gives an immediacy to your prayers.
• Sing your prayers. Sometimes you will find that a particular song or hymn speaks exactly to the needs in your life. Sing to the Lord.

There are many more ways to pray, but you surely can find one here that will get you started on your path to a deeper relationship with God. 

How to Study the Bible

There can be little doubt among Christians that the Bible is the beginning place for spiritual information and growth. Our prayer lives are important, but we must never take for granted the Holy Scriptures as we learn about God and his will for our lives. The Bible serves as the foundation stone for everything else that we believe, do or value. We have spent time discussing the importance of reading and studying God's word, and we have considered some tools that will assist us in understanding the background and meaning of the Bible. Now let's consider how to study the Bible.

To begin with we need to reiterate the importance of reading the Bible. In the words of the famous Nike ad, “Just do it.” You do not need to learn everything before you start reading the Bible. Just start reading it. There are a lot of aids at this point. Find a schedule that will work for you. There are many online resources to help with this. In addition, we have a schedule that we are following as a congregation for 2012. Choose something and get started.

Now that you are started, ask yourself the following questions about your reading each time you read.

• What does this passage say? Decide what it is that the Biblical author is trying to communicate. You can do this by using some resources that will assist you in understanding. A study Bible or a commentary might be helpful. It could be that you will want to read the passage in some different translations. Start by reading the passage slowly. Ask the big questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Learn what is happening and what is being said in a passage before you move on.
• How does this passage apply to me? Bible study is perhaps the most important thing that you can do on a regular basis. But the value of that study is severely limited if you don't follow it up by learning what you should do about it. The Bible calls us to action. It is a great source of information, but more importantly it is a book of instruction. When studying God's word think about what you should do because of what it says. How does a passage affect you? How should you think?
• Why is this passage important? To begin with we need to understand that all the passages in the Bible are important. Some are more or less relevant to us than others, but all are equally a part of God's word to us. With that disclaimer out of the way, pray about the significance of a passage. Not how important it is compared to other passages, but rather, answer why it is important to you. What is God trying to teach you with this passage? What is it's significance in my life?

There was a Christian song that was pretty popular several years ago. The hook of the chorus was “Read the book; don't wait for the movie.” That should be our approach to the Bible. We need to jump in and have a go. Hopefully you are now feeling more prepared to do that.

Praying, Plain and Simple

I am convinced, as many of you are aware, that Christian people want to pray. They believe that they should pray more than they do, but they feel ill-prepared and untrained for the task of prayer. Part of this is because of some false perceptions of prayer. For example, we often labor under the assumption that praying is about telling God what we want. We read or recite a list to him, and we think that our responsibility for prayer is complete. However, as we grow in faith, we come to learn that prayer is not about a 'wish list,' but a relationship. Being with God is more important than telling him what we need.

As we continue on this year-long journey of spiritual growth then, we should agree that the two most important steps to improving our prayer lives are simply, 1) learning to pray, and 2) just beginning to pray. What follows are some samples of ways that you can pray. These models of prayer include times for asking God to meet our needs, but there are other aspects of prayer as well. These patterns will help you get started.

The idea behind using patterns for your prayers is not to enforce a strict formula, but rather to suggest some topics that will enhance and strengthen your prayers. Use the following patterns to guide you to deeper levels of prayer, rather than to oppress you with rules and obligations.

• ACTS- This is an acronym. The letters of ACTS give you a handy reminder of some areas for prayer. Use this to remind you to have a well-rounded prayer time. A- adoration: Praise and worship God for who he is. C- confession: Confess your sins and repent of your wrongdoing. T- thanksgiving: Thank God for all the blessings that he has provided for you. S- supplication: Ask God to meet your needs.
• PRAY- This is another acronym. P- praise: Offer to God words of praise and adoration. R- repent: Repent of the things that you have done, as well as the things that you should have done, but have not. A- ask: This is where you ask God for the things that you need, and for the needs of others. Y- yield: When we yield to God we echo the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will but yours.”
• PATH- Yet one more acronym. P- praise: Give to God your allegiance and glory. A- ask: Again we ask God for the things that we need. T- thanksgiving: Thanking God for answers to prayer is essential. Don't forget to also thank him for the blessings he provides that you haven't specifically asked for. H- help: There are areas in which you need God's help that don't fit into any of the other categories. We need help making decisions, finding direction and forgiving others, among other things.

There are some suggestions. Now its time to start praying. Try praying in these patterns for the next month. You will find that you grow much closer to God.

Why Should You Pray More?

As we have been reflecting on spiritual growth this year, we have been focusing primarily on Bible reading and prayer. Those are two of what I call the Four Most Important Things. The Four Things, in no particular order are:

• Bible Study
• Prayer
• Christian Fellowship
• Ministry

Each of these elements lend themselves to the spirituality of the Christian believer. Be sure to participate regularly in each of those “disciplines” for your spiritual health.

In this article I would like for us to think about the question of prayer, and especially why it is valuable for us to spend more time in prayer. To that end, let us consider the following answers to the question of why we should pray more.

• We should pray more because it will help us to know God better. Like a conversation with a friend, prayer will allow you to reveal things to God, and help you to gain deeper insights into his person and his will for your life.
• We should pray more because it is gives an indication of our level of commitment to God and his ways. When we love him more, we will spend more time with him.
• When we spend more time in prayer, we are able to pray for more needs. You can pray more specifically for more things; for missionaries, family members, lost loved ones, the ministries of the church, etc.
• When we spend more time in prayer, we long to spend more time in prayer. It is intriguing how this works. The more time you spend with God, the more time you want to spend with God.
• We should pray more because our conscience pricks us. We do not pray enough presently. For peace of mind, spend more time with God.
• We should pray more because our spiritual growth depends on it. If you want to grow in your walk with the Lord, spend time in prayer.

There are more reasons than these to pray more. In fact, there are enough different reasons that each person reading this could have their own specific rationale for praying more. But the bottom line is this: The reason you pray more is insignificant. You need to pray more. Get started. Don't wait another day. Pray to the Lord as if your life depended on it- because it does.

Why Read the Bible

For this year we have been focusing on getting everyone (as many people as possible, anyway) to read the Bible. To that end everyone is encouraged to read from the New Testament every day. By reading for just a few minutes each day we will have read the entire New Testament by the end of this year. What a great accomplishment for any Christian, but especially for those who are trying to learn as much as they can about God and his word.

The question that we haven't addressed yet is “Why should we read the Bible?” Most of us agree that the Bible is good, and that we feel like we should read it, but too often we don't think about it beyond the 'ought to' of it. Let's change that, shall we? Here are some reasons to read the New Testament. You can take them as that, or view them blessings that we receive when we read and know God's Word.

• Reading the Bible gives us valuable information. When we know what God has said in the Scriptures we can use it to help ourselves and others.
• Reading the Bible can help keep us from falling into error. It is easy to listen to some one's explanation of the 'truth', but if we have studied what the Bible says we know what the truth actually is. Compare the teachings of others with God's Word.
• Reading the Bible gives us information and context to share with others, those who are believers and those who are not yet Christians. One of the calls that all Christians shares is to teach and admonish others with the Word of God.
• Reading the Bible is the best way to learn about Christ. You can listen to sermons, attend Bible studies, read Christian books, but the way to learn the most and to grow the quickest is while reading the Bible.
• Reading the Bible is perhaps the best way to receive comfort in times of trial. In times of grief, stress, discouragement or loneliness we can turn to God's word for patience and comfort.
• Reading the Bible is a way to be approved by God. The expectations of the Lord for his followers are often too high for us to grasp, but a great starting place is to learn the Bible.
• Reading the Bible also builds us up, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. Scriptures are a source of healing, strength and encouragement.

There are a lot more ways that we will benefit from Bible reading and study, but that will give you a few ways to get started. If you haven't begun this incredible journey yet, now is the time.

Simple Bible Study Tools

This year I have been (and will continue) trying to encourage you (and me) to think seriously about developing spiritually. The focus of my articles (and sermons) has been to give you some practical tools for growing in faith. My hope is that by the end of 2012 we will all have matured as disciples of Jesus Christ.

There are two primary ways that we are looking at this year: Prayer and Bible Study. The more time we spend in each, the more we will find ourselves becoming like Christ. The problem that we have is that too often we are clueless about how to go about praying. We get easily overwhelmed by trying to read the Bible.

First of all, let me say that I believe it is a misconception to think that the Bible is hard to understand. In earlier English versions we find language that has become archaic. Consequently, since the language is difficult we assume that the concepts are difficult as well. This is a very easy issue to overcome. To understand the text of the Bible with complete clarity, get a Bible in a translation or version that you can understand. I use the New King James Version, but some more accessible versions include the New Living Translation, the Message and the New International Version.

There are some other resources that will easily help you as you learn more about God's Word. The internet has become a tool for many things, including the Bible. Some of my favorite, and most helpful websites, include http://www.biblegateway.com/ . Bible Gateway is a collection of Bibles that can be searched by word, topic or verse reference. I use Bible Gateway on a weekly basis. Another excellent resource is net.bible.org. It is a new translation that includes a multitude of study notes and explanations.

There are many other resources to consider in your Bible study as well.

• A study Bible comes complete with commentary, explanatory notes and concordance.

• A concordance will help you find a verse by know a word in the verse.

• A Bible commentary will help to explain a particular passage in a way that makes it easier to understand and apply to life.

• A Bible dictionary will offer definitions for hard to understand words and concepts.

All of these items are available for loan in the church library or the church office in addition to be available for purchase at any Christian bookstore or at christianbook.com.

Happy Bible reading! Understanding God's word will make a world of difference in your life.

Using a Prayer Notebook

Are you ready to learn the most important secret to my personal spiritual life?

I have a deep sense- I believe that it comes from God- that our congregation is to focus on spiritual growth for 2012. This does not mean that we will neglect worship, or mission, or the administrative parts of the church. It just means that I am going to spend the rest of this year encouraging you to grow spiritually. In reality that's the most important part of my job anyway. I am supposed to convince pre-Christians to accept Jesus and join the faith, and to get those who are already committed to the way of Christ to grow in it.

There are a lot of ways that we can do this. One of the easiest is to join in our congregational resolution of reading the New Testament this year. By reading God's word it will become clearer how we are to live, behave, think and believe. But Scripture reading focuses on the intellectual part of spiritual growth. There is more to it. We also need to be praying.

So, here is the big moment. This is the secret to my spiritual life and growth. (I hope you are sitting down as you read this.) I pray in a spiral notebook. Revolutionary, huh?

Most days I write my prayers to God on one page in a regular spiral bound notebook. I know this is anti-climactic, but it makes a huge difference in my life, and I think it could in yours as well.

• Writing my prayers forces me to slow down. I write more slowly than I talk, so when I am writing my prayers I often hear God speaking to me about an answer, a solution, or even something else altogether.

• Writing my prayers forces me to be a little bit organized. I cannot just sit down with my notebook and make words magically appear on the page. I am more intentional about my prayers.

• I limit myself to one page of prayer. I never want praying to seem a burden or an overwhelming obligation. I write one page each day (which gives me 15-20 minutes with God) and then I close my notebook.

• I use a variety of types of prayer in my notebook. On Monday I might use a prayer list and pray for needs of friends and family members. On Tuesday maybe I will write a love letter to God. Wednesdays might be used for writing Scriptures that I have memorized.

• I do not limit my prayers to my notebook. I pray way more than my 20 minutes of notebook time. I pray for needs that arise throughout the day. I pray for meals and for other things. When I close my notebook I am not done praying.

Give notebook praying a try. It is pretty inexpensive and can change your life.

A New New Year's Resolution

It's that time of year again. Like it or not the pressure is building to change your life, make a difference, do something new, right, better. You may have already decided what you want to do for this coming year. Hopefully you are not trying to accomplish the same thing that you failed to do last year. I resolved to lose weight for several years in a row before I finally gave up.

I have a suggestion for your resolution this year. It is something new for most of us. It will not take much time or sacrifice but it will dramatically change your life. It is simple and almost anyone can do it. In fact, if you are reading this, you are qualified to take part in a congregational resolution. I want for all of us to read the New Testament this year. There is a schedule in this newsletter to help guide you.

If you are conscientious to follow this program each day, by the end of the year you will have finished all 27 books of the New Testament. There are 260 chapters in the New Testament. That means that you will have to read less than one chapter each day. There are 7,956 verses and 138,020. Don't even ask me how many that would be each day. This seems like a very manageable challenge.

But I can already hear those who are hesitant. The resisters will argue, “I just don't have time to read the Bible.” I fully appreciate how busy people are these days. I am busier than I have ever been. But with around five minutes a day, reading the New Testament doesn't seem impossible to me. So let me give you some suggestions for getting your reading in.

Mute the television when the commercials come on and read your Bible then.
Do your daily ready while you are waiting in line at the BMV, the doctor's office or the WalMart checkout lane.
Set your alarm and get up five minutes earlier each day.
Give up reading People Magazine and devote that time to the Bible.
Do your reading while you are waiting for the movie, concert or ball game to start.
Do the daily reading as a family before anyone gets up from the supper table.
Take your Bible with you to work and read it on your lunch break.
Do your daily reading while in the restroom.
Read your Bible while waiting to pick your kids up at school.

You get the idea, right? In fact, I bet that you could come up with some suggestions of your own to accomplish this resolution. I am hoping that everyone will be reading the Bible in the New Year. I will be.

Advent Conspiracy

I am trying to do something different for Christmas this year. Oh, I will celebrate Christmas, certainly. I will sing carols and attend programs. I will buy gifts and decorate the house. I will go to parties and eat too much. I am going to celebrate in some of the traditional ways that I have always celebrated. But this year I am going to celebrate a little differently as well.

I think that a part of my problem is that all of those “traditions” of Christmas, at least the ones I mentioned, do not necessarily have anything to do with the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. And the birth of Jesus seems pretty important to me (duh!). So I want to focus on the things that will remind me of Jesus, God's son. I want to remember that God came into the world as human baby. He became the perfect gift, the ultimate sacrifice for you and me.

Now, I don't want you to misunderstand. I love Santa Claus, reindeer, the Grinch, Rudolph and my two front teeth. All of those parts of the holiday are great and I enjoy them as much as the next guy. But they don't help me worship. They don't lead me to Jesus. They don't alleviate any of my problems or take away any burdens. Only Jesus can do that.

On Sundays during Advent I will be focusing on what is being called the Advent Conspiracy. Each Sunday we will talk about a different element of what we might consider re-claiming the work of God in the Christmas holiday.

• Give More. We are all tempted to give at Christmas time. But we should take care in our giving. We should give to people, but we should give gifts that are meaningful to us and to the recipient. We might think about the time it takes to give, or the sacrifice involved. Our gifts should maybe be more thoughtful.

• Spend Less. Somewhere along the line we began to equate quality with money. I am an advocate of the idea that we can give great gifts, throw good parties and have the best Christmas ever without making a reservation for the poor farm.

• Worship Fully. It is easy to relegate worship to a secondary priority on our list of holiday obligations. And even when we do worship, we are so busy and distracted by other obligations that we don't give our best to the Lord. The truth ought to be that we give him our best, our most, our all, especially in worship.

• Love All. Often we think of our family and our community first. I think that's how it should be, but we also must be careful to not forget, nor neglect others, close to home and around the world. We should be giving and loving everyone- even those that we might think are unlovable.

Join me for an Advent Conspiracy. Let's celebrate Christmas as much as we can. And as hard as we can. And as thoroughly as we can. But this year let's also remember to celebrate Advent.

Mid-Life Crisis, part III

I have recently been writing about the 'mid-life crisis' that occurred near my 40^th birthday. Mine was not the normal 'rage against aging' that you hear so much about. I didn't dye my hair, buy a sports car or even run around on my wife. I felt a very distinct call from God to invest the rest of my life in valuable, kingdom-building, life-affirming activities. I believe that I have been called to spend the rest of my life changing the world.

Although I love both of those things, the thing that excites me the most is the third calling that God gave to me seven years ago. God called me to 'raise up leadership in and for the church, particularly among young people.' There are a lot of implications to that little saying.

Raising up leadership means that;

• We remind people of the importance of leadership and encourage people to answer the call of God in that way.

• We must not only identify leaders, but we must also train, equip, deploy and support leaders with our love, prayers and resources.

• We must never view ministry, or the church, as a personal kingdom that belongs to us alone. It is God's. He is the master of it. It is God who will call and inspire others to carry on the ministry.

• We cannot be offended when someone else hears God's voice in a way different from how we hear it.

A big part of this call is the church. I believe that the instrument that God has chosen to use to reach the world during our time, is the church. There are many para-church and other organizations that serve the purposes of God's Kingdom, but I am called to the church. My longing is for the church to be built up, enlarged and multiplied.

Finally, I am called to raise up young people.

• Because of that, I will spend time ministering to children, teens and young adults.

• I need to develop relationships with young people in the church and outside of the church.

• The key to ministry to (and with) young people is investing time. We live in a world that wants to trade money for time at almost every turn. But there is no substitute for time with our youth.

I am committed to this ministry. You should be too. Together we can change the world by creating an environment that welcomes, values, encourages and trains our young people to do the work of ministry.

Mid-Life Crisis, part II

Last month I wrote about my “mid-life crisis” when I turned 40. At that time I asked God to reveal to me what I should be doing with the rest of my life. I am very concerned that I do not waste my time, my energy, or the gifts that God gave to me. I want to be found worthy of God's call on my life and to do his work with all my heart.

To that end, God gave me the mission to do three things with the rest of my life. I wrote about the first of those last month, “Renewing worship in the church.” Today, let's turn to the second part of this renewed call; “Teaching the Bible and instilling a love for God's Word in God's people.”

A big part of what I have devoted my life too is learning God's word. I read the Bible every day. I have made a commitment to read it through at least once each year for the rest of my life. I regularly read books about the Bible. I take classes and listen to sermons on the Bible. I am resolved to base my sermons, lessons and writings on God's Word. It will be the basis from which I orient my priorities in living, teaching and planning for the future.

This is all true partly because,

1. The Bible is the best place to get information on how to live in God's will. Without a foundation source, we cannot really know what God wants, or how to measure ourselves.

2. The Bible comes to us as the actual, revealed Word of God. God has spoken to us so that we can know his ways, his works and his will.

3. The more we know and study the Bible, the more we will want to know and study God's word. Knowing about the Bible causes us to want to know more about the Bible. Reading His word, makes us want to study it more. We will learn that we can never know too much Biblical information. God's word is addictive, in a good way.

4. The Bible reveals to us how we can grow in our faith. There are too many Christians who struggle just to maintain their faith experience. Many more have no clue how to experience the abundant life that Jesus promises (John 10.10). To grow in your faith, spend time with God studying his Word.

I promise you, that to the best of my ability, I will teach you what God teaches in the Scriptures. I will challenge you to read, study and meditate on the Bible so that you can experience God in new ways. How about joining me on this journey into God's Word?

Mid-Life Crisis, part 1

When I turned 40 years old (it was several years ago) I had what could be considered a mid-life crisis. I didn’t have an affair, use drugs, start a rock band or buy a sports car. I didn’t get overly ambitious or dangerously slothful. I am pretty unusual, so I prayed. I knew that my life-expectancy ought to be around 80 years. That meant that at 40, I was half way finished with this world. I prayed about what I should be doing with the rest of my life.

I believe that the Lord gave me three answers. There are three things that I am supposed to do with the rest of my life. Everything I do, propose, think about or support should lead toward the accomplishment of one or more of these three things. None of my three things are especially unique or special; they are just the things that God is calling me to do. So, part one of my life’s calling is:

I am to facilitate a renewal in worship in my congregation, and in the United Methodist Church.

Let me explain this briefly. Often we think of worship as a set of practices that we participate in at a prescribed time (Sunday morning) and place (a church building). Although I agree with that definition, it does not go nearly far enough. Worship cannot be contained in our traditional ways of thinking.

• We need to view worship as a relationship, rather than an event. Worship is not what happens for an hour on Sunday morning, it is a lifetime of speaking to and listening to God. It is an ongoing conversation throughout the week, and throughout our lifetimes.
• We need to think of worship not in terms of style, but substance. There are many people who get worked up about the type of music, style of prayer, etc in the worship service. But God is not limited to our stylistic preferences. He can speak to us in hymns, gospel songs, choral anthems or even hip-hop.
• We need to remember that worship is something that happens (or does not happen) based on our attitudes. When we worship we must be prepared to meet God, not thinking about how we are fulfilling some sort of obligation. If our priority is our Sunday afternoon tee time, then worship on Sunday morning will be more difficult.
• We need to think of worship as an experience rather than an obligation. We don’t “have to” worship, we “get to” meet with God.

It will take some adjustment, but renewal in worship is possible, and preferable.

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.

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.

Getting Ready to Say Goodbye

The news is out, but we have several weeks to go. You have no doubt heard by now that the Millers (and the Martins and Permans) are leaving Howe at the end of June. We will begin a new chapter of our ministry lives on July 1 at Argos United Methodist Church. At that time you will get a new pastor as well. I am sure by the time you read this you (and I) will know who the next pastor will be. We should all start praying for that person right away. We should pray that the transition would be easy, that the new pastor will love the people of Howe and Pretty Prairie, and that both congregations will embrace him/her.

In the mean time, I would like to reflect a little, and dream about what the future might hold for all of us.

To begin with, we have experienced a lot as a family here. Molly started and finished middle school. She started and finished high school. She started college. Molly also went to her proms, got her driver’s license and performed in the school musical. Life was pretty good for Molly in LaGrange County. Shannon worked in two different jobs that she really loved- the current one she hates to give up. She had surgery to remove ovarian cancer. I struggled with gout and had skin cancer. But we both have felt that the community of Howe and the congregations of Howe and Pretty Prairie were perfect for us.

In ministry we have had tremendous success through the years. At Pretty Prairie we have repaired all the windows, re-oriented and replaced the porch/ front steps, built a ramp, re-roofed the church, installed central air-conditioning, fixed the issues with the bell tower and built a lovely home for the bell. At Howe we have upgraded and replaced our sound system, got a new organ, remodeled the restrooms and put a new roof on the church. But none of those items are ministries.

We have not lacked in ministry, though. We have had several years of very positive ministry with Kid’s Club. We have housed and then sponsored the only pre-school in Howe. The Coconut Hut has become one of the outstanding outreaches of our churches. We have had great music programs. One of our members has entered the ministry. Several members of both churches have completed Lay Speaker’s training. We have provided worship services monthly at Life Care Center. We are very involved in ministries with our cluster group at Pioneer Estates, in worship and in Mission Possible. We connected with Master’s Commission. Both churches have supported- and participated in- missions in Uganda and Jamaica, among other places. Our churches are the primary support of Wesley School in Uganda, and the only support of Kanyike Joseph. We have done great things, and God willing we will continue to do great things for God.

So what does the future look like? Who can really know? I think it looks good for both churches, and for our family. Everyone gets a new, fresh start. We get a clean slate. And that’s what the Christian faith is all about. We get to start new ministries, breathe new life into old ones and to continue the work that God has given us. New lives will be won to Christ and others will grow in faith. More people will be called into ministry and God will be glorified.

We will miss Howe and Pretty Prairie. We will always hold our time here as a blessed period in our lives. We are looking forward to a new kind of relationship with folks who have been parishioners, but will now be fondly thought of as friends. We will always be praying for you. And we hope that there is kindness in your hearts toward us, and that you will be praying for the Millers.

Basic Christian Stuff: Sacraments

The sacraments are very tricky in the church. Some denominations celebrate, or recognize different sacraments than others do. There are some groups that do not refer to them as sacraments at all. They prefer to call them “ordinances.” This somehow provides some distance between the current celebration of the acts and the traditional approach to them. My personal feeling is that this is a way to provide some emotional distance from the Catholic aspects of the sacraments.

Since I am a United Methodist, and I serve in a thoroughly United Methodist context, my comments should not be construed as normative for all people, groups or times. I am sharing my thoughts on the sacraments, nothing more.

United Methodists recognize only two sacraments, baptism and Holy Communion. There are groups that would include as many as seven sacraments. Those churches also recognize things like “last rites,” matrimony and confirmation. All of these are valid representations of elements of worship, but for me they do not meet the criteria for sacrament. There are two specific requirements for a sacrament:

1. Its observance is commanded by Jesus. As far as I can tell, baptism and communion are the only ones that meet this requirement.
2. It is an outward sign of the inward work of the grace of God.

When we celebrate baptism, we are not just symbolically getting wet and remembering what Jesus did. We are experiencing the grace of God. God is at work in the act of baptism. Our obedience to his Word activates the miracle power of God. When we eat and drink in communion, we are not receiving elements to remind us of God’s work, we are experiencing the work of God itself.

Remember that receiving the sacraments is not optional. Jesus instructed us to do these things. When we are baptized, we are obeying God (Matthew 28.19). When we eat the Lord’s Supper we are fulfilling God’s will (Luke 22.19).

One more thing: There is some controversy surrounding the frequency of celebrating the sacraments. People want to have communion less often than they do, and be baptized more often than they are. John Wesley believed that every time believers are together they should have communion. I see no reason to think that this is not a good and workable arrangement. It is not necessarily true that increased frequency of communion would diminish the significance of its meaning. We should eat at the Lord’s Table often.

As to baptism, we would do well to consider the words of Scripture. Ephesians 4.5 makes it clear that there is only one baptism. This essentially means that we receive God’s grace when we are baptized and that being “re-baptized” would be a questioning of God’s power. It is completely possible, however, that a person may desire to renew commitments that were made at her/his baptism. This could even be done with water, either in a sprinkling or immersion experience. This is not a repudiation of the grace of God, but rather a celebration of it.

Basic Christian Stuff: Why We Worship the Way We Do

The Christian church is generally a positive, accepting, open, hopeful place for people of all sorts. Occasionally we come across a person or a situation that gives us pause. We hear isolated stories of conflict in churches. But for the most part, it seems that Christian people can get along with one another, and be a generally positive influence on the community at large. However, in every generation it seems that there are church divisions of the style of worship.

This conflict is usually confined to musical styles- hymns vs. modern praise and worship, southern gospel vs. classical, casual vs. formal- but there is a lot more to the controversy than that. Usually we are committed to one style of music or the other based solely on our personal preference. We need to get over this. God is bigger than our favorite style of music. In fact, I bet that God can even work through a rap song.

It is important, though, that we realize what really goes into worship.

· Prayers- We pray in worship because it is the most basic form of communication between God and humanity. There are invocations- prayers that invite God’s presence, benedictions- prayers of blessing for God’s people, pastoral prayers and unison prayers. All of these are historically significant and very current and beneficial for us today.

· Music- There is no end to the variety of music for worship. There are instrumental numbers that help us to meditate and focus on God. There are also performance numbers by soloists and choirs that are designed to inspire, inform and enlighten us. All of these assist us as come to God.

· Scripture- We read the Bible because it is the Word of God, and it is the basis for all that we believe and do. It serves as a reminder of who we are in Christ.

· Creeds- We share our beliefs with one another. There are a number of creeds that we might recite or sing.

· Sacraments- Although there are several activities that might qualify as sacraments, in most churches we recognize at least baptism and Holy Communion. These sacraments are important because they are ordained by God. Jesus instructed us to do these things. We experience them in worship because Jesus commanded us to do them and their power is increased when we do them together.

Of course, there is a lot more to worship than this. There are questions about who worship is directed to, or what our responsibility is in worship. But we should always know that at its most basic, worship is being with God. When we worship, let’s set aside our differences and our expectations and help one another experience the presence of the Almighty.

Merry Christmas, at Last

It is time for my annual Christmas message. Sometimes it seems that everything that can be said about Christmas has already been said. I feel like I have said all that I know about Christmas. Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun, and yet every year we work to make Christmas new, fresh, and interesting. This year I refuse. I am not looking for anything new. There will be no original Christmas thoughts coming from my mouth. I will not lose sleep over how to phrase my holiday greetings. I am going to be simple, and traditional.

On Sundays I am going to focus on the message of the angels who appeared to the shepherds. (It’s hard to get more traditional than that.) There will be four messages, and they all come from what the shepherds heard a couple thousand years ago.

• Good News. The basic message of Christmas is good news. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth that God became a man and dwelt among us, that is good news. That Jesus continues to live and fellowship among his followers, that he still seeks those who are lost and do not yet have a relationship with him is good news. It’s not a new message, but Christmas is all about Good News!
• Great Joy. Suicide rates go up at the holidays. People are more depressed and lonely. Men and women (and young people) focus on what life is not and lose hope. But, Christmas for the believer is about great joy. We are not alone for God is with us. We do not need to live in depression because the King of kings has borne our griefs. When my burdens are lifted and when I live in the hope of Christ, that is Great Joy!
• Peace on Earth. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. To many for Christians to talk about peace seems to be a contradiction. After all, much of the violence in the history of the world has come from Christ’s followers. However, we live for peace. We can have peace. We follow peace. Jesus is the only way that we can truly know Peace on Earth!
• Goodwill to Men. Not everyone is nice. I do not like everyone I meet. But I do know that there is no one who is inherently better or worse than me. We are all the same in God’s eyes. Jesus came to earth to level the playing field. We are to love one another, even as Christ has loved us. He offers us a chance at equality and understanding with and for one another.

The Family Lists: The Family of God

…that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Galatians 4.5-6

Here is something to always remember. You are a child of God. He has adopted you and included you in his family. You are no longer a part of the world. You are in a new family with all the rights and privileges that this family enjoys.

• We are children of the Creator of the universe. I love my Dad. He is the greatest man on earth. But, that is nothing compared to being a child of God. I am a son of God.
• We are brothers and sisters of Christ himself. Our relationship with the Messiah can be greatly enhanced by understanding that in a very real way, we are connected to him as family.
• We are brothers and sisters of one another. It seems like a quaint idea from a simpler time to call other church members Brother Smith or Sister Jones. But what a great reminder of our relationships.
• I have a whole church full of family members. The people that I worship with are advocates for me. They love me. They defend and protect me. They take care of me and my family.

Being a part of that church family comes with responsibilities as well.

• I must look out for others who are a part of the family. I must work to protect and defend them always.
• I must help to correct and guide them, but always in a loving and godly way.
• I must share with those who are a part of the family. That means that I will share material, advice, nurture and prayer.

One more thing: My “family of God” is not limited to the Christian people of my local congregation. I have brothers and sisters around the world. I know some from Africa, from Asia, from Europe. They are everywhere. It is a wonderful, great, huge family. You should appreciate this family and take advantage it. It was Bill Gaither who said, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family of God.”