No Church's Hope Lies Inside Its Walls!

I'm no expert in anything.  However, I do have about four decades of church experience: serving in and through them, being employed by them, leading them, coaching them, and observing them.  This includes everything from churches with a dozen in weekly attendance to those with hundreds attending each week.  I probably haven't learned much, but there's one thing I can say for sure...no church's hope for a fruitful future lies within its walls.  I mean both the literal walls of a church facility or campus and the figurative containment of the people, the leadership, the systems, the traditions, and the processes that define any particular congregation.

I'm not saying that churches do not have great pastors and leaders, faithful congregants, good worship, and impacting ministries.  That's not the point.  I am saying that if a church believes a secure and successful future will come from all just those people and just that stuff that is "within", that church will certainly die.

There is a tendency within congregations to believe that once they get their internal act together, once the people within the walls are happy and motivated, once the internal organization is perfected, and once ministries to those on the inside are at their peak, then and only then will the church move outside its walls, engage its mission field, evangelize the lost, meet unmet human need, and get about the business of transforming the world for Jesus Christ.  Declining churches express this with proposed internal solutions typical of declining churches:  tighten up the budget, get the perfect pastor, get the pastor to do more visitation, bring the inactive members back in, get a dynamic youth or children's leader because "we need young people again," make worship like it used to be when the church was full, etc.   Growing churches as well have their way of focusing on perfecting the internal stuff before taking the next growth step:  get the structure right, fix "the communication problem", pin down the discipleship process, corral the directors who are "big spenders" with the budget, solve the "traditional/contemporary" worship tension, etc.  Either way, the assumption is this:  Our hope for whatever God has in store for us will come from within us.  If left unchecked, this results in a subtle but strong priority shift.  Whether growing or declining, churches come to believe the primary aim is to focus on those already in the fold.   In declining churches, this means that the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ is lost entirely.  In growing churches, the vision gets weakened by talk of, "We need to stop focusing so much on unreached people outside our walls and feed the ones who are already in!"  All of this is anchored by the belief that hope comes from within those already in the club.

This phenomenon did not come from the Body of Christ's birth as a movement.  Prior to ascending, Jesus did not say, "Go back to Jerusalem and get organized.  Create a budget and follow it.  Make sure you have an organizational flow church.  Get your internal act together.  Once you have all that done, I'll send the Holy Spirit."  They were just praying and waiting in Jerusalem; the Church wasn't even a "thing."  They had no hope from within.  Without organization, credentials, marketing, or traditions, they were thrust by the Holy Spirit outside of themselves as Jesus followers.  It was not about them.  Their future hope was in 3,000 people outside of them who were on the threshold of meeting Jesus and didn't even know it.  From the get-go, hope for the Church is always outside of us.

As Jesus-followers in churches, hope is not within us; it is outside of us.  We commit to Jesus and a church's mission SO THAT we will engage the mission field around us.  We grow as followers of Jesus SO THAT people outside of our walls will see Jesus in us.  We get our hands dirty in service SO THAT we can be the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus beyond our church campuses.  We give money SO THAT churches can be resourced to be the front line of bringing unreached, under-served, unloved people into the arms of God.  We share faith SO THAT someone else can meet Jesus.  It's never about us, our churches, our buildings, and all our internal stuff.  It's always about Matthew 28:19.    Hope comes from outside of us.

One old canoeist/kayaker's opinion...I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

I Have 69 Slaves Working for Me!

Last Sunday at our church our featured speaker was Sean Gladding - church planter, leader, and author, currently living in Lexington, KY.  He's the author of a book entitled TEN: Word of Life for an Addicted, Compulsive, Cynical, Divided, and Worn-Out Culture.  (We've been in a sermon series based on his book.)  Sean and his book have helped us see the Ten Commandments not just as legalistic rules in a land where many people think they should stay posted on courthouse walls, but few can remember and recite all ten.  Rather, Sean, our lead pastor Aaron Brown, and other pastors on our staff have helped us see these words from God as life practices, designed to help us be a people free from that which would bind us.  Then, as free people, like the Hebrews who first received them, we can be a people who demonstrate the light of a living God in a world mired in darkness.

Seeing the Ten Commandments this way is convicting and transforming.  For example, consider this commandment:  "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."  (Exodus 20:7, New International Version.)   As a kid I was taught that this means I should not say the name "God" in any other way than speaking to God or about God.  That's certainly part of it, but a small part.  Sean helped us see that, as a life practice for a people set apart for a particular purpose and mission, this is much bigger.  In the Hebrew worldview, the name of God encompassed God's identity, nature, heart, passion, and purpose.  So, as Sean observed, "taking the LORD's name in vain" isn't just asking God by name, aloud, to damn something or someone.  Sean said, "When we fail to care about what God cares about, we take God's name in vain."

As an example, he steered us to www.slaveryfootprint.org.  The words of this website assert that there are 27M slaves in this world, many if not most of whom are shackled in supply chains that ultimately benefit North American consumers.  I challenge everyone to go to the website and take the survey.  According to it, I have 69 slaves working so that I, personally, can maintain my lifestyle!  Is the survey stylized to make a point?  Probably.  Is it entirely scientific?  Likely not.  Is it pointing to the fact that product and service production outsourced to forced labor, child labor, or below subsistence labor has created many of the goods in my life.  Beyond a shadow of a doubt, yes!  Just like I have a carbon footprint on this planet, I have a slavery footprint.  And this contributes to the bondage of people loved by a God who took human form for them and died for them.  And THAT is a far worse use of God's name in vain than shouting out, "G...D...it!" when the hammer hits my thumb!

That's the level at which we need to allow the Ten Commandments to speak to us, convict us, and change us, way before we argue about whether or not our founding fathers believed and followed them and whether or not they should be posted on courthouse walls.  I can't speak for anyone else or make demands on anyone else.  All I can do us humble myself, seek the mercy of a forgiving God, and get about the business of reducing my slavery footprint, regardless of how it affects my convenience or my purchases and finances.   Ask me about it; hold me accountable to it.

Just some food for thought.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

I May Be the Reason Christianity's Not Growing in North America

Many who study our movement offer both theories and data which help explain why Christianity struggles in North America, while it grows and thrives in many places on the continents of Africa, Asia, and South America.  While exercise-walking and listening to some music of our faith yesterday morning, I experienced some conviction about this.  The Holy Spirit invited me to take a look at my life as a Jesus-follower.  Specifically, I thought about how much time I have spent defending causes, taking positions on push-button issues, arguing for this position or that position, and pointing out the flaws in someone else' position.  I felt compelled to compare this with the amount of time I have taken to choose to love someone first, to let God's grace come first, and to let my first concern be introducing someone to the living, saving presence of Jesus.  The rest of the walk was humbling.  I'm afraid there may be other church folks in North America like me; more issue-driven than mission-driven.

Jesus-followers of all stripes fill up social media with saber-rattling over the placement of the Ten Commandments in courthouses, same-gender marriage, whether the Confederate battle flag is heritage or racism, and who knows what else.  I'm not saying it's not important to know where we've been called to stand and to stand there faithfully.  But what if all the energy we've spent on these and other battlefields had been put into loving the least and the last, and humbly evangelizing all the lost?

I don't know the answer.  All I know is the lyrics of the song that convicted me yesterday morning:

"Jesus, Friend of Sinners"  (Casting Crowns)

Jesus, friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name, but the sword was never ours to swing.
Jesus, friend of sinners, the truth's become so hard to see.
The world is on their way to you, but they're tripping over me;
Always looking around but never looking up, I'm so double-minded,
A plank-eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided.

(Chorus)  Oh, Jesus, friend of sinners,
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointed fingers.
Let our hearts be led by mercy,
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors.
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our heart for what breaks yours.

Jesus, friend of sinners, the who's writing in the sand
Made the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands.
Help us to remember we are all the least of these.
Let the memory of your mercy bring your people to their knees.
Nobody knows what we're for only what we're against when we judge the wounded.
What if we put down our signs, crossed over the lines and loved like you did...

You love every lost cause; you reach for the outcast,
For the leper and the lame; they're the reason that you came.
Lord, I was that lost cause and I was the outcast,
But you died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at your feet....

Again, we are a unique people; not better than the world, but not defined by the values and structures of the world.  Yes, there are stands that will be taken.   But Jesus didn't suffer and die on the cross to promote causes.  He did so to love, embrace, heal, and transform human beings - all human beings.  The Body of Christ's mission of loving like Jesus did and making disciples is greater than any one issue at a specific point in history.  At our church, our lead pastor, Aaron Brown, talks about us being a mission-driven church, not an issue-driven church.  That's the kind of movement of which I want to be a part.  And I think the Holy Spirit reminded me of that yesterday morning.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.  (Be careful - lots of rain this week, and the rivers are up!)

The Charleston Shooting - A Disturbing Undercurrent

First and foremost, we who claim Jesus as Savior and Lord must stand in solidarity with the people of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC.  Wherever the Body of Christ is in pain and grieving, the whole body of Christ is hurting.

There are so many questions an event like this raises, both from within the Body and from those observing the Body.  Is there ever going to be an end to the cancer that is racism in our land?  Are we a culture disproportionately prone to firearm violence, or is this about personal choices and behavior, apart from methods and weapons?   Are people born evil, or is venomous hatred something taught or learned?  Is a horrid occurrence like this a part of some detailed matrix of determined events, or does God really step back and allow such horrific decisions?  How do lonely and pained persons on the margins of society's attention gravitate to groups fueled by hate, and who all are responsible for that gravitation?   Should churches now become as secure as schools and government buildings, and how far should security measures go?  (Tomorrow morning I will give my last message at a church that has an awesome in-church safety team.  They approach it as a ministry, and I'm grateful for that.)   And how do family and friends of nine innocent victims find the capability to pray for and seek forgiveness for someone who ended a loved one's life?

I don't pretend to be any kind of an expert on the inquiries above, except possibly the last one.  However, there's an additional issue related to the shooting on which I'm compelled to offer comment.  It's a subtle and indirection matter, and it seems to be oozing within the ranks of Jesus-followers.  On social media and in other conversations I hear intimations that this tragic event is the reason that churches should be wary of strangers.  The hint is that this is the problem with churches that focus more on the needs of new people than they do on the needs of those already in the "fold."  It's the reason everyone in the church needs to know everyone else, some say.  The Emanuel A.M.E. shooting shows why we should look warily at "those people" who are "not like everyone else" in our churches.

I don't have enough ways to say an emphatic "NO!" to this response to the Charleston shooting.  Those who gathered last Wednesday night at Emanuel's facility welcomed Dylann Roof because that's what followers of Jesus do.  The radical hospitality (thank you, Bishop Robert Schnase) of Christ's love is our trademark.  Jesus welcomed the least, the last, and the lost; "those people" who spend their lives as the objects of suspicion.  He did that at great risk; a risk that eventually got him pinned to a cross.

Hospitality is a risk.  Claiming Jesus is a risk.  In many places throughout the globe just gathering to worship Jesus is a risk.  Why would we think anything else?!?  To the best of our knowledge all of the first group of apostles except one paid for following Jesus with their lives.  The movement has largely grown most powerfully throughout history as it is watered by the blood of martyrs.  John Wesley was thrown of the churches of his own denomination because of his passion for reaching the "lower class" of England for Jesus.   We simply must abandon this pointless North American myth that Church is all about safety and security for those who are already in.  It is, always has been, and always will be about stepping out in faith, way beyond our boundaries of comfort, trusting in God alone (no matter the outcome), on the chance of bringing one more person into the arms of God.

If I was a betting man, which I'm not (subject for another post), I'd bet my last dollar that a Bible study, a time of worship, a season of prayer, or something will happen at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston this Wednesday night.  And I'll bet if a stranger shows up, that stranger will be welcomed. Because they're followers of Jesus.  It's a risk worth taking.  It's what we do.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

A Message for Delegates to the 2015 Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

This post is specific to those who will be representing United Methodism at the 2015 session of the Missouri Annual Conference in Springfield, June 5-8.  The upcoming conference promises to be another powerful experience in our common mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  One issue might occupy a fair amount of our time and attention this year - The decision of our conference's Board of Camping and Retreat Ministries to move away from permanent site church camping to a more mobile and adaptive form of disciple-making through camps and retreats.

This has sparked a great deal of reaction and discussion, as one would expect.  Missouri United Methodism has owned camp and retreat facilities for decades.  Many past and current followers of Jesus met Christ at these facilities.  People grew as disciples and embraced a variety of calls to ministry through camps and events held in such places.  To step into a new and different frontier in this type of ministry is a massive shift.  In the last several months, many UM Missourians have offered numerous thoughts and insights from a variety of perspectives in and around this matter.  For what it's worth, here are some things that keep rolling around my mind and heart.   Ultimately, I don't think this issue is really about camps and sites.  I believe it is about transition.  How do we preserve what matters as the future envelopes us?  It is also about identity.  Who and what are we now as a Conference?  And, depending on who and what we are, how do we make major ministry decisions?  Finally, it is about focus and energy.  How does this or any issue rank missionally, and, from a missional standpoint, how much time and effort should it get?

One of the most impacting and pivotal moments in my discipleship and ministry took place in 1977 at a place near Arcadia, Missouri called "Epworth Among the Hills."  I was about to enter my last year in seminary, and I attended the annual United Methodist Men's Retreat.  Hundreds of men were there to worship, learn, pray, and to have some fun.  Our featured speaker was an explosively fun story-teller and mission leader from Texas named Glenn "Tex" Evans.  It was a life-changing event for me.  United Methodism has long since let go of Epworth Among the Hills.  The men's retreats there ended many years ago.   Those decisions took place without my input.   Yet that doesn't change the power that place and those events had in forming my walk with Jesus.  Men's ministry has morphed into something that bears no resemblance to what Arcadia looked like in August of 1977.  Even so, what's happening now in many ways was birthed out of what happened then.  William Bridges says,"It's a paradox:  To achieve continuity we have to be willing to change.  Change is, in fact, the only way to protect whatever exists."  I think that's where we are on the camping matter.  It's a time of necessary transition.  We've had them before, and we'll have them again.   The continuance of something important means transitions.  The core purpose remains the same, while the methods shift.

Some feel that the Camping Board did the right thing.  Others feel it was the wrong step, and perhaps even a violation of proper process or principles.  I suggest the the evaluation of the action depends on who and what we are as a conference now.   Are we more of a representative democracy, wherein no action is taken without the rule of the majority of representatives?  Or are we more like a movement or an army, in which command intent is clear, and the various components are empowered and expected to act in accordance with that command intent?  Did we want the Camping Board to be more of a fact-finding group, to bring some kind of a report back for the corporate body's consideration?  Or did we entrust and empower them to carry the conference's mission into their area of responsibility and to make decisions accordingly?  In the last decade and a half we have aligned ourselves more around the Great Commission and the Great Commandment than I have ever seen in nearly four decades of ministry.   We have decided that all which we do will be measured by our disciple-making mission.  We have promoted structures and procedures to allow this central emphasis.  We did this seeking to minimize meetings and internal maintenance, and to maximize leadership, agile decisions, and ministry outside the walls of churches.   I believe we are a different conference than we were two decades ago.  If we in fact are different, then decision making, authorizing, and dispatching will be different as well.  It's good that we'll have discussion around the Camping Board decision.  Our new identity will need testing to become as strong as it needs to be.  However, it's not really about camping alone.  It's about our missional identity.

Finally, I'm always conscious of how we spend time and energy.  This is because I'm aware that people outside of our tribe who are watching us are aware of how we spend time and energy.  Where we focus will say more about us than any words we offer.  What would an outside observer say about the 2015 session of the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church by noon on June 8?  Would that person say, "Well, all I can remember is that they had long and lively debate over what should be done or should have been done with some pieces of camp property."  Or would that person say that we praised God with passionate abandon, no matter where we stood on the camps issue?  Would that individual have vivid memory of how loudly we celebrated the people who have met Jesus since we last met, and how loudly we lamented where we failed to bring people into his arms?
Would it be apparent how diligent and resolute we were to grow our own discipleship and learn how to better help others to do so?  Would that person see United Methodists straining at the bit to get our hands dirty in our mission fields?  Would generosity at a near reckless scale be evident to a stranger?  
It's not that the conversation about camps isn't important.  But it had better stay in perspective.  More than we realize, and unreached world is watching.

That's enough on this subject from me.  I pray that I keep an open mind and heart on this matter, and I pray that you do the same.  No matter how it turns out, I'm eager for our 2015 session.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

The Hardest Point In Ministry

For followers of Jesus, what is the hardest point in ministry?  I'm speaking of any ministry, whether a full time vocation or volunteer service, the ministry of an ordained/licensed person or a layperson, ministry within the walls and structure of a church or ministry out in the mission field.  Some might say the hardest point is answering God's call in the first place.  Others could make a case for the starting point of any ministry being the most difficult spot.  Times of discouragement in ministry could provide the greatest hardship.  Maybe it's those occasions wherein we have to reinvent ourselves in order to adapt to a new setting in ministry or to changing circumstances in our present setting.

There's probably no right or wrong answer.  I just happen to be at a point in my life, ministry, and discipleship where I have discovered another answer, at least for me, for right now.  The hardest point in ministry is to realize that ministry has a season, and seasons come to an end.  The hardest point in a ministry is to know when you're being called to step away from it.   As far as I know, there's no set program or pattern for how this happens.  Some may experience it as an inner restlessness or uneasiness.  Some may notice a diminishing of effectiveness in themselves in some way, shape, or form.  Some may go through the pain of hearing the suggestions of it from those who love them.  Some may still be passionate about their ministry, but unable to overcome a core level of weariness in the doing of it.  I don't know.  For me, it came as I looked at the next great stage in ministry to which God is leading the awesome church I serve and realizing a deep soul fatigue within me.  Taking about a year to explore that soul fatigue, I came to understand that it was the voice of God telling me that my days as a lead pastor of a church were done - not just where I serve now, but for good.

It's been a great run; almost four decades.  However, the best race has a finish line.   So, like it or not, I'm learning some things about a ministry coming to an end.  I'm surely not suggesting that I'm navigating it the right way, nor that I'm doing it well at all.  Most of the time I feel as though I'm just stumbling through it.   One way or another, though, here are some things I'm learning:

• It's a grieving process.  Someone I know and care about is dying - Geoff the lead pastor, who preaches most every week, teaches, leads the church in outward focus, etc.  It's the only way I've known myself for most of my life.  I don't really know myself apart from it.  Grief is real and just has to be faced.  I'll get through it.
• My identity is not tied to being a lead pastor.  Before that and more than that I am a child of God, saved by the love of Jesus the Christ, equipped with the Holy Spirit.  That doesn't change.  Not that I'm putting myself ANYWHERE CLOSE to the league of these people, but Moses didn't get into the promised land, Elijah didn't get much past being pursued by Jezebel, and John the Baptist didn't get to see Jesus risen while walking this earth.  The end of their ministries did not mean the end of their identity in the eyes of God.
• I am loved by a God who makes all things new.  If I regard this transition as just an ending, that's my choice, not God's.
• Transitions out of ministries remind us of the one we must trust.  I knew that my lead pastor days where done months before I had the slightest clue what would come next.   When all we know is, "Not this, anymore," but we don't know what's next, all we have is faith.   We just have to lean into the future, understandably scared, but excited in a God for whom nothing is impossible.

I now know the next ministry to which I am called.   It's totally different than what I've been doing for 38 years.  That's daunting, to be sure.  Yet there's also a freshness about it.  I kind of feel like I did in 1978 when I first got out of seminary and was just getting started in all this.  Trust me, that's a nice feeling for this 62-year-old duffer!

It's messy and it's hard.  For any of you who are in ministry, I know it's the last thing you want to think about - knowing when to step away.  Don't be afraid.  Whenever it happens, you still belong to a God who continually makes all things new...all things...even you.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.  Two more sermons before this float is over.

God Shows Up At Yardsales

Elaine (my wife) and I are in the midst of moving.  We have a contract on our house here and a contract on a house in the community where we will be living next.  We're downsizing, so we've been working on jettisoning much of our stuff.  So for the last two days we've had a yard sale.  I'd say I've been looking forward to it, but I'd be lying.  Dragging all the earmarked stuff out to our carport and driveway in the wee hours of the morning wasn't my idea of a fun-filled holiday weekend.  And this is not to mention the embarrassment we both had at the amount of stuff we'd accumulated in the last several decades.  (Typically over-indulged North Americans, but that's the subject for another post.)

Not being a veteran of many yardsales, I'd have to say that I enjoyed the whole experience much more than I thought I would.  Most all the folks who came by on Friday and today were friendly, gracious, and interesting.  Way beyond that, though, God showed up at our yardsale.  I can't say I anticipated that, though I don't know why I should be surprised by it.  Here's how God did it.

Yesterday a little girl came with her family; a child of maybe three or four.  She was mesmerized by three little decorative ceramic eggs.  A little shy and hesitant, she brought them over to me, saying, "I want these please," using only her bright but tentative eyes to speak.  Elaine had been in the house briefly during this time.  When Elaine came out, as I received payment from a parent or grandparent for the little eggs, the child went immediately over to Elaine and hugged her.  We have no idea why; the little girl didn't know Elaine and Elaine didn't know her.  Sometimes grace shows up as a complete surprise, from little sources.

One of my best friends came by on Friday as well.  He and I sat on a couch on our driveway, (still unsold, by the way!), and talked most of the morning away.  He is one of the many Christ-like companions I have in this area whom I will miss greatly.  Jesus reminds us, as recorded in the Gospel of John, that he calls us his friends.  I experience that through so many people who bless my life.

An older woman stopped by.  Her hands were gnarled and swollen with arthritis.  But she was the most amazing, positive lady.  A grandmother of 17 grandkids, she frequents yard sales to get little gifts for each of them.  We had a few semi-old-school tech items on the tables.  Rather than being intimidated by any of them she was fascinated by them, eagerly asking Elaine questions about them.  She even bought one of them; a hand held back-massage device.  She had never seen one.  Two things impacted me watching Elaine and this sweet lady talk.  Rather than being intimidated by rapid changes around her, this spunky octogenarian still chose to see life as an adventure.  She inspired me to choose to remain hopeful and eager about the future.  In addition, it's always an uncommon blessing to watch my wife interact with older adults.  While our culture tends to dismiss them as non-productive, Elaine consistently sees them as the children of God they are.  The older woman enjoyed talking to Elaine so much that she came back today!

An eighty-three year old man came by whose wife of over five decades died a month ago from complications after a stroke.  He didn't need to buy anything; he just needed to talk to someone.  So we listened for the better part of an hour.  We were ready for however much he needed; lonely is everything it's cracked up to be.  I returned from an errand midday to find a young man talking with Elaine.  He had asked her about the tremor in her voice.  (Elaine has what's called "essential tremor."  It runs in her family.)   He asked how she coped with it, then shared his own burdens.  He had a debilitating accident several years ago.   He's been through a heart-breaking divorce, and he just recently lost his job.  He's a person of faith, but he's struggling to stay hopeful.  Again, we tried to listen and encourage.  I gave him my most recent copy of a daily devotional designed for persons walking in dark valleys - STREAMS IN THE DESERT.  (I highly recommend it!)  We joined hands with him and prayed for him.

So the yard sale really wasn't about downsizing and getting rid of extra stuff.   It was about being humbled by these opportunity to see the real presence of Jesus in others.  I repent of any selfish resistance to doing the sale.  I would have missed The Lord showing up in a timid but loving little girl, in a good friend in Christ, in an older lady whose hands were crippled but whose soul was not, in a man who just misses the love of his life, and in a guy struggling to keep his head above water and to keep his faith intact.

We serve a God who shows up.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

How Did I Want the Last Easter To Be?

Easter is my favorite holiday, and it is my favorite day as a part of the Body of Christ.  Far less commercially tainted and secularly co-opted than Christmas, it's a day when the message stands less hindered.  And the Resurrection Day contains not just a message about Jesus, the heart of God, and the purpose of the Church.  Easter is THE message.  Without it, nothing else matters.

It was about last Wednesday that the personal truth about Easter 2015 landed hard in my previously distracted mind.  This was to be my last Easter to preach the Resurrection message as a lead pastor of a church.  As of June 28 Elaine and I will be in a new location and I will begin a whole new type of ministry.  I'll be assuming a newly created executive pastor position at a missionally strong, outward-focused, disciple-making church in southwest Missouri.  It's is an exciting step in this church's growth, and I'm honored and humbled to be asked to participate.  It's the type of ministry I feel called to provide at this point in life, and it's the perfect position for an old duffer within a half decade or so of retirement!  And it's not the role of the lead proclaimer.  So, after preaching every Easter since 1978, continuously, it ended yesterday.

During the latter part of what's known as "Holy Week" (the week before Easter Sunday), I've been thinking about how I would like my last Easter as a lead pastor to be.  In sum, 04.05.15 was everything I hoped for and more!  Our always excellent musicians simply outdid themselves giving glory to a risen Savior.  Pastors and staff leaders worked tirelessly above and beyond the call of duty, and led Easter worship all weekend with Resurrection joy.  Volunteers served as if the Kingdom itself depended on it, and hospitality workers opened the very arms of the risen Jesus.  They all made it easy to preach on what was a somewhat bittersweet day.  More importantly, they helped me to take my self-centered focus off my particular circumstance and put it precisely where it should be - on joining with them in offering a living Savior to people who need to see Him.   This is a truly great church, and it will be hard to say goodbye.

However, here's what really made this Easter everything it should have been.  This is part of a text I received Sunday afternoon from one of our church's many prayer warriors:  "I went in the prayer room toward the end of the service and prayed with two different men.  As they walked out I noticed a lady on her knees praying.  I knelt down beside her and put my arm around her.  She jumped and quickly turned toward me.  I just began to pray for God's Holy Spirit to come over us.  He came!  She was broken and not sure what to do.  She was seeking a new life in Christ; tired of the battles and her old life style.  She had never accepted Jesus in her life.  I had her repeat a prayer after me.  She confessed her sin, repented, and asked God to come into her life and save her and (become) Lord over her.  The amazing thing was that this morning she asked God if He was real to show her a sign; to send her an angel.  (I guess they were all busy, so He sent me.)  Anyway, it was a very real, emotional moment.  It was an Easter encounter.  Praise God!  She desires to be baptized."

That's it.  THAT'S what I hoped Easter would be; what I've always hoped for each Easter to be.  Last Easter sermon, first Easter sermon, any Easter sermon in between - it doesn't matter.  That's what a complete Easter is about - not just the great news that Jesus is risen, but going and telling it, and helping others to see Him.   Couldn't have asked for more...

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Next stop - Joplin!

I'm in the midst of a triple celebration of blessings from God!

For the last ten years I have experienced the uncommon gift of being a part of an amazing church experience at First United Methodist Church of Sikeston, Missouri.  This great assembly of Jesus-followers purely is an act of God.   God has worked through great staff and lay leadership and a deeply committed, brave congregation.  The ministry has grown in commitments to Jesus, in deepening discipleship, and in life-changing community impact like never before.  FUMC-Sikeston has become a movement which is obedient to Matthew 28:19 and wherein "the church has left the building!"   God's grace alone has allowed Elaine and me to be a part of this exciting chapter in this church's history.  I did not anticipate it and I did not earn it, but it was freely given.  Words fail to express our gratitude.  We will miss this, but we will always be grateful for the chance to be a part of it for a decade.

And the best is yet to come!   The Holy Spirit has moved through the discerning ministry of our bishop and district superintendents, and the leader for First UMC-Sikeston's next chapter is on his way.  The Reverend Mike Wondel is a man of deep faith in Christ who is totally sold out for the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  Mike has led his current congregation, Trinity United Methodist in Moberly, MO, in a complete turnaround that has led them to a whole new point of fruitfulness for the Kingdom of God.  Mike is a strong leader, a skilled communicator, and a great visionary.  He is deeply invested in community involvement, and knows how to get things done, even in the face of challenge.  Mike and his wife Jill will be moving to Sikeston in June.

When I told my bishop and district superintendent that I thought my days as a lead pastor of churches were done, I had no idea what they would do with that leaning.  I did not make their job easy.  But God is good, and, as I said above, our bishop and his Cabinet are Holy Spirit-driven.   Starting late in June I will have the great privilege of becoming the Executive Pastor at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Joplin, Missouri.   St. Paul's is the largest United Methodist Church in the Southwest District, averaging over 900 in weekly worship attendance.  It is a dynamic, mission-minded congregation, leading the way in disciple-making in the region.  Like First UMC in Sikeston, they are moving becoming a multi-site ministry.  St. Paul's was an anchor in disaster recovery, even as their own sanctuary was destroyed by the devastating tornado of 05.22.11.  Their lead pastor is Aaron Brown, one of the strongest leaders in Missouri United Methodism.  Aaron was the featured speaker at the national memorial service in Joplin, following the tornado.  He is a gifted communicator and faith leader, passionately committed to the disciple-making mission.  My job as executive pastor will be to coach, guide, supervise, equip, and evaluate the growing staff.  I am to enable them to most effectively contribute to the mission, as well as to identity, develop, and deploy leadership in their ministry areas.   I can't tell you how excited I am to work with a man of the caliber of my friend Aaron as St. Paul's moves into a future of even more Kingdom fruitfulness.

Change happens, but God is still God, and God is still good - all the time!   I'll see you around the next bend in the river...this time probably Shoal Creek near Joplin!

Fast 'Til 5 on Friday!

We live in a land of excess.  We can spin it any way we want to, we can excuse it any way we want to, we can sidestep it any way we want to.   Many of us live lives awash in "too much..."   Christian author Jen Hatmaker pinpoints seven key areas of excess in our culture:  food, clothing, possessions, media, waste, spending and stress.  We have too much of it all.  So much excess engulfs us that what we now define as "normal" most of the rest of the world regards as luxury.

We can address this reality in a variety of ways.  We can just ignore it and go on accumulating.  We can adjust our thinking to convince ourselves that we deserve our over-abundance.  (Some people of faith believe that excess is the way God "blesses" us or shows us God loves us.)  We can beat ourselves up about it and just feel bad.  Or we can do something to create when Jen Hatmaker calls a "mutiny against excess."

Here's what I'm going to do.  (It's not much, but it's a start.)  I'm going to observe FAST 'TIL 5 FRIDAYS.  On Friday (or whatever day works best in a week's time), I'm going to go without solid food for breakfast and lunch.  One day a week I'm not going to indulge in what is over-abundantly accessible to me.  I'm going to assume that going without those two meals means around $20 I would not be spending on food for me.  I am a follower of Jesus, committed to serving him in and through a local church.  That $20 each week will go to support life changing ministry in some way shape or form.  (Between now and May 8 it will go to FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN.  Google it and check it out.)  I don't plan to do this just for one worthy project nor just for the season of Lent.  (A 40+ day period leading up to Easter which many Jesus followers use as a time of repentance and sacrifice.)   I plan to make this a discipline for the rest of my life.  I invite all who are reading this to hold me accountable to this.

And I invite any who would do so to join me.   For those whose health and economics will allow, fast Friday until 5 p.m. or one day of the week, and give $20 to a charity or to a ministry of your place of worship, if you are a person of faith.  Do this ABOVE whatever you already give - that's important!  In a year's time that's over $1000 that will be withheld from feeding your own excess.  I believe it will be worth it for us all.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river - hopefully traveling lighter!

Fifty Shades...

While the weather has taken over the number one news spot in my area, there's still much buzz about the Valentine's Day release of the film "Fifty Shades of Grey."  (Google it if you're unaware of the sensation it's creating.)  I don't hear many neutral reactions to the movie.  As is often the case, social media thoughts and pronouncements seem to move to the extremes.  For some, "Fifty Shades" has evoked a moral outcry.  They see at as representative of a perceived "ethical decline" in American culture.  "It's just mainstream pornography," is one sentiment I've heard.  Others express outrage on behalf of women.  They believe the film glories a sexual approach toward women that is demeaning, objectifying, and violent.  And there are those people who defend the film and/or the right of filmakers and production companies to create and market such a cinematic product.  Many of these folks are frustrated with people who critique the film without seeing it or reading the book.  They say the behaviors within involve two consenting adults and point out that we live in a land that values free expression.  They believe that other films are more violent and graphic, sexually.  "If you don't like it, don't go see it," they suggest.  I admit, I leaned hard to one of these extremes, initially.

I most likely won't see the movie or read the book.  This more about simple disinterest than it is about moral outrage.  While I'm suspicious of the message sent regarding treatment of women, I'm not in a position to judge the books, the movie, the filmmakers, those who see it, or those who promote it; nor do I want to do so.  And I'm painfully aware that too often followers of Jesus in North America tend to be known more by what we stand against that for which we stand positively.  Still, this is a significant social phenomenon in our land, and silence is itself a message.

The truth is that we all have specific lenses through which we view human relationships and the role of sexual expression in relationships, whether by design or by default.  Those lenses will impact how we view and evaluate "Fifty Shades of Grey,"  or anything else in our culture that focuses on sexuality.  So rather than say anything one way or another about the movie, let me simply explain my lens.

I believe all human beings are of sacred worth, period.   It's not a worth that we have earned or achieved.  It is a value given us by a God who has imparted the image of that very God to each of us. It makes each of us worth pursuing by this God, as much as we have tarnished the image of  God within us and between us.  I believe this rescuing, liberating pursuit is known in the life, death, resurrection, and promised return of the one called Jesus - God with us.  Because of the God-given, God-pursing value we each carry, how we treat each other matters.  Part of this God-given value includes the gift of human sexuality.  I personally believe this gift is most fully celebrated in the singular commitment of a marriage.  Regardless, though, sexual expression at its best is mutual, assuming equality in identity and power in the partners, and is as much or more focused on the fulfillment of the other as of oneself.  My tribe (United Methodism) expresses it this way:  "Violent, disrespectful, or abusive sexual expressions do not confirm sexuality as God's good gift...where one or both partners are exploitative, abusive, promiscuous...are ultimately destructive..."  (THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH-2012, Paragraph 161.H.)

So that's what I'm for.  That's my lens.  I'm not saying that has to be your lens; I'm just sharing mine.  Maybe the benefit of a cultural event such as "Fifty Shades of Grey" is that each of us can pause and consider the interpretive lens that informs and forms our views.

So don't tell me what you think about the "Fifty Shades" buzz.   I'm hearing plenty of that.  Tell me the lens that determines what you think.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river...

Leaving Sikeston

As of the first of July, 2015 First United Methodist Church of Sikeston, Missouri will receive a new lead pastor.  My time as lead pastor of this church will come to an end as of the last of June.  This is my decision, and not something proscribed to me by our bishop and district superintendent.  Bishop Schnase and District Superintendent Fred Leist are in full support.  It is not a decision entered into lightly.  Elaine and I have weighed this and prayed over this for several months.  This is not an easy decision.  We love the people and the ministry here and it will be extremely hard to leave.  However, we discern that it is time.  There are three main reasons for this:

• God is calling Elaine and me to a new, different direction in our discipleship and ministry.  The Holy Spirit has not made the specifics of this known to us at this time.  I am person under appointment, and I always fully trust the discernment of our bishop and district superintendents.  Having said that, it seems to us that my days of being the lead pastor of churches are coming to an end.  However it all plays out remains to be seen.
• God has brought First United Methodist Church-Sikeston to an amazing point in the ministry of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  We know that an even greater era in disciple-making ministry lies ahead.  I do not possess the necessary combination of gifts, skills, and sustainable energy level to provide the leadership needed for this next bold step forward.
• Even now God is preparing and equipping the person who will step into the lead pastor role for the next chapter in this church's great story.  For me to stay would inhibit this important God-designed step.  I trust the Holy Spirit, our bishop, and Conference leadership completely.  Bishop Schnase is totally committed to evangelism, reaching the unreached, "the church has left the building," and all the emphases that now make up our church's identity.  His investment in our church's future is deep and strong.  He will send a new leader who will not allow our church to take one step backward in our Great Commission focus - not one step!  

I have been in full-time pastoral leadership for 37 years.  I have been blessed to be a part of five awesome appointments.  In particular, in my wildest imagination I never could have pictured the life-changing, community-transforming impact God has demonstrated in and through the ministry of First United Methodist Church of Sikeston, Missouri.   I am so thankful for the faithful and courageous leaders and servants here, and to be a part of what God has done over the last decade.  I am excited about all that is ahead for this wonderful congregation.

Elaine and I invite your prayers as we venture forward into unknown territory.  For all that has been, we say thanks be to God.  For all that is ahead, we say amen; yes.  Come, Lord Jesus!

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.  Headed for a new stream...

Time to Abandon Facebook?

What follows may be unnecessary.  Once again we baby-boomers are chasing younger generations off of a social media outlet.  I'm told Facebook is on the decline and may not have much of a future.  However, right now it remains a communication force for some.  I know it is supposed to be a lightweight means of general communication.  I'm concerned, though, by the amount of negativity, venom, and outright hating that makes its way to daily posts.   I don't know what's underneath all this.  Don't get me wrong; I'm all about free speech.  For those of us who claim Jesus, though, it's not about free speech.  It's about representing the King of Kings.  We play by a different set of rules.  If we can't or won't do so, whether on Facebook or anywhere, then we have to reconsider, seriously, our primary allegiance.

I know I'm far from guiltless.  I have posted negative energy, thinly veiled though I may have offered.  I've thought seriously about just opting out of Facebook.  Many of my colleagues in ministry, clergy and laity, have done so, essentially.  However, at least for now, Facebook continues to be a part of the electronic grid "marketplace."  Maybe I just need to establish and abide by ground rules or guiding questions before I post anything.  See what you think of the following:

1. IS THE POST POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?  If I'm just wanting to vent my feelings and I'm looking for an easy, wide audience, is this the best use of my Facebook presence?  There's more than enough negativity in our world.  How does it help lift up Jesus if I add to it?  Even if the post makes a fairly good point, if it's delivered in a negative tone, I should not post it.
2. DOES THE POST ADD VALUE OR REDUCE VALUE?  Will the persons who read the post feel more valued in reading it, or will they feel belittled?  Will the post cause them to value other human beings as the children of God that they are, or will it contribute to readers seeing others as "those people."  If what I've written doesn't add value, I should not post it.
3. DOES THE POST ENCOURAGE OR DISCOURAGE?   Simply put, do my words add to a sense of hope or detract from it?  If the latter, I should not post it.
4. DOES THE POST FOCUS ON GOD AND/OR OTHERS OR DOES IT FOCUS ON ME?  The greatest commandment is to love God with my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love others as God has loved me.  If what I've written doesn't reflect this, I should not post it.
5. DOES THE POST SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE?   Love without truth is indulgence.  Truth without love is legalism.  It's possible to for me to state that which is in fact true, and thus justify that it needs to be posted.  However, I can state truth in a way that is judgmental and caustic.  If I do so, I am not representing Christ, and my words should not be posted.

If I continue on Facebook, these will be my guidelines.  Please hold me accountable to them.  If anyone feels led to try them as well, please do so.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

The Poems

Once upon a time a young man fell in love with a young woman.  From the moment he saw her from afar, she captured his heart.  The young man made up his mind to win her heart to his.  He wasn't rich, so he couldn't impress her with lavish gifts.  The young man was a poet, though.  He had a gift of expressing deep emotion and white hot passion using words as his brush and canvass.  So he began pouring his heart into poems.  He worked hard over each theme, prayed over each word, brooded over each line and stanza.  And he sent the poems as gifts to the young woman.  Like great works of art, each poem conveyed his heart and his love for her.  Not just the words themselves, but the artistry of his calligraphy and the ornate nature of the page were things of rare beauty.   And his poetry won her heart, and they were married.

Years passed.  And the young man, now a mature man, continued to give his bride the gift of his poetry.  At every special day of their lives - birthdays, Christmas, their wedding anniversary - she waited with excited longing for the envelope he would hand her that contained his latest poetic expression of his love for her.  To see his carefully and lovingly chosen words, the flow of his pen, the artistry of the pages he created was life itself to the woman.  As the years went by she kept these written treasures in a special place in their home.  Sometimes, when her husband needed to be away for a time, she would open her cherished collection of her husband's poems.  She would reread them, pour over them, linger with them, and look longingly at them.  To see his poetry was to see his love for her.

More years passed.  The man and woman were now older.  She became ill one year, and a horrible thing happened as a result of her illness.  Slowly but steadily, the woman's eyesight faded.  Eventually, she was completely blind.  This devastated them both.  She could no longer see her husband's poetic works of art.  Her eyes could no longer linger over his masterful expressions of his heart and love.  The sight of the sweep of his hand and the artistry of each page became a dim memory.  For the man, the way he had first expressed loved her and the gift he regularly gave her had died.  This made them both very sad.

Yet one day, something important came to the man's awareness.  He realized that, as much as he loved to write and present artistically presented poetry to her, writing and giving the poems was never his objective.  His aim was to show his love for her.  The written poetry, as much as they both loved it, simply was a way to express that love.  It was like a tool in his toolbox or a brush for his pallate and canvass.  If he returned to his original purpose, he reasoned, he would find a way to continue gifting her with expressions of his love.

So the old man continued to write poems for his bride.  Instead of presenting the written page as a gift to her, he read each poem to her aloud.  Every birthday, every Christmas, every anniversary, he poured out the artistry of his love not with his pen, but with his voice.  And in his voice the man discovered a new artistic instrument.  And the woman discovered a new thing to cherish from her man; not just his words, but the sound of him delivering the words.

And so the poems went on, and the love with which the man first won the woman's heart continued, through the rest of their days together.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Do We Offer a Jesus Who Is Too Gentle?

Sometimes I wonder if we who are followers of Jesus offer the unreached world a Jesus who is too gentle.  Not that the soft side of Jesus isn't of supreme value.  People need a Jesus who will comfort them when they are in sorrow, love and forgive them when they fail, encourage them when they are discouraged, and walk with them when they experience pain or confusion.  All of that is important and true.  It's just that, with notable exceptions, mainline Christianity seems to default to this care-giver kind of Jesus alone.

In the testimony of the Holy Spirit at work in the first century, the book of Acts, the author (the physician known a Luke) breaks the narrative periodically to describe what it was like in those first gatherings of Jesus-followers.  Covering a variety of dimensions of life in Christ, two elements are present without little variance in each of these descriptions:  The Lord adding daily to the number of people being saved, and signs and wonders.  (See Acts 2:42-47.)   People unable to walk leaped up and danced.   Sick people were healed.  Prison walls came tumbling down.  Dead people were alive again.  Pagans met Jesus.  Oppressive religious authorities were challenged.  Politcal and economic systems shook.  This is not a gentle Jesus alone.  This is a Jesus of power.  

During this summer I became gripped by a worship song that simply says, "There is POWER in the name of Jesus, to break EVERY chain."  A hurting, damaged, confused, frightening, aimless world certainly needs comfort.  But it also needs power; power to break all the chains that bind us, both now and eternally.  We see evidence all around us of chains that must be broken:  inner chains (Robin Williams), relational chains (Ray Rice, etc.), emotional chains, economic chains, political chains (ISIS, etc.), and on and on.  By all evidence the first century Church was marked by evidences of raise-Jesus-from-the-dead power.

Let's admit that many of us in the so-called "west" are uncomfortable with this.   False, manipulative, and showy "faith healing" efforts have made us gun shy.  Or we are so steeped in an Enlightenment, rationalistic, imperical view of reality that we refuse to acknowledge the presence of signs and wonders; holy acts of power.   Many so-called "third world" Jesus-followers do not function with this restriction.  The number of people added to those being saved in these settings is astounding, while mainline churches in North American continue to decline. Is there a connection?

And, if there is a connection, how do we unleash signs and wonders power in our midst?   The truth is that we don't unleash it.  We don't create it with another seminar, book study, or small group.  We can only humbly, continuously, and centrally invite it.  We have to pray and wait faithfully.  I'm sure not expert, but here are some things to try.

1.  As individuals and churches, we can practice yielding prayer.   We can come before God with the following:  What chains need to be broken in my heart and life?  What are the chains in the world around me that need to be broken?   What does my church need to do to break those chains?  

2.  Designate spoecific times for those who want to be involved in corporate chain-breaking prayer.  Our fellowship has designated 5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.

3.  Speaking for me, fasting needs to be a greater part of my prayer life.  I think that does need to involve foregoing meals or other things,  But I think it must also be an Isaiah 58 fast - doing chain-breaking acts of both mercy and justice.

My thoughts are still formulating on all this.  I just know it burns in my heart.

What do you think?  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

This Is What Friendship Looks Like

On August 18 one of my greatest friends died suddenly of complications that resulted from surgery.  Chris Ricks of Jefferson City, Missouri was and is an uncommon human being.  He was a man of deep faith, seeing and practicing Christianity not as a religion, but as a relationship with a living Savior.  Chris was a passionate and energetic husband, father, and grandfather.  The pastors, leaders, and servants who have been a part of Wesley United Methodist Church in Jefferson can attest to Chris being a churchperson at a sacrificial and impacting level.  United Methodism throughout our state and our region have been impacted by this joy-filled follower of Jesus.  And generations of church camp campers' lives have been blessed by his leadership.  A Missouri State Highway Patrolman for most of his adult life, Chris served the Patrol in many capacities, whether on the road, providing security for Missouri's governors and families, or leading and teaching at MSHP's headquarters and academy.  As a citizen Chris gave selflessly to service clubs, the Jefferson City public schools, and Jeff City Jays' athletics.   Those of us who know and love Chris are struggling now to figure out what the world is like without Chris Ricks in it.

There's no way I could summarize adequately what it means to me to have enjoyed Chris' friendship for the 31 years we've known each other.  Chris and I were both a part of a Christian growth movement that came out of the Spanish "Cursillo" experience.  Chris and his wife were part of what is known as "The Walk to Emmaus", while Elaine and I participated in "Camino in Christianity" and then "United Methodist Cursillo."  One thing these expressions share in common is a simple slogan:  "Make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ."  Chris could have been the originator of this marching order.

Make a friend.   Chris went beyond simply befriending those who happened to be people within the natural spheres of his existence, people who mirrored his personality, or people who shared his likes or dislikes.   He intentionally pushed beyond his comfort zones to make friends.  I am an example of this.  Chris had a very gregarious, out-going personality.  I am a much quieter, more introspective person.  Yet Chris went out of his way to build a relationship with me, without requiring me to be anyone other than who I am.  Beyond this, Chris did not keep his friendships within the circles of church persons.  He knew that we cannot share Christ with those who do not know him unless we befriend those persons.

Be a friend.   Way too many friendships wane over the years.  They diminish and dissolve as time, distances, changing circumstances, differences and other elements vary.  I've certainly been guilty of allowing this to happen.   Chris did not allow it.  His friendship was solid in and out of season.  Chris is one of those people who has stood by me and so many others both when we were at our best and when we were at our worst.  And, again, those for whom Jesus was just a name or a word found in Chris what the relentless, sacrificial love of God looks like.

Bring a friend to Christ.  This is that which fueled Chris' heart; to aim someone toward the welcoming, nail-scarred hands of the Savior.  Never did Chris do this by coercion, argumentation, judgmental Bible-thumping, or callous disregard for the present state of the individual.  He just did it with unconditional, affirming love.

This is what friendship looks like.  If I accomplish a small fraction of what Chris did in my lifetime, it will be a life well lived.

Go rest high upon that mountain, Chris Ricks.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Thoughts on Robin Williams' Death

I had planned to stay off of any electronic media until a sabbatical leave ends on September 3.  However, I feel led to weigh in on the death of entertainer Robin Williams.  Just as many people have felt impact from this, his passing seems to hit me like a personal loss.  His quick and uncanny wit and his explosive humor have been a part of my entertainment world all of my adult life.  Williams was a master artist with an incredible range, from side-splitting comedy to poignant and compassionate drama.  All day long I have watched and listened to tributes being given to this entertainment giant.  I have heard little to nothing said about the cause of his death.  Robin Williams, a depression sufferer, apparently took his own life.   While I respect everyone's views about all this, there are just some things I just need to express.

First, for Jesus-followers, I find absolutely nothing in the Bible that identifies suicide as the unforgivable sin.  Is it something that breaks God's heart?  Absolutely.  Is it in God's will?  Never.  Is it something God desires?  Absolutely not.  Yet I do not see it identified as that which automatically separates a person from God eternally.  We need to be thinking less of assigning eternal categorization to a person who makes this decision, and we need to be thinking more about prevention and about the devastation a suicide brings to surviving family members and friends.

Robin Williams suffered from depression.  Contrary to the popular belief of many, depression is not  a character flaw, it is not a weakness, it is not a lack of faith, it is not a moral failing, and it is not something a person should just "snap out of."   It is an illness; a generally treatable disease, but a serious disease.  Some of the most influential leaders of history suffered from it, including Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Abraham Lincoln.  Known causes of depression are diverse, and can include catastophic events, general life circumstances, body chemistry, substance addictions and abuse, reactions to medications, personality type, family history, and any combination of those or other factors.  The vast majority of depressions don't end up with a suicide decision, but some do.  No one is immune.  (The son of an influential Christian leader, Rick Warren, took his own life recently.)   I am familiar with depression by way of loved ones who have suffered from it, by dealing with it myself, and by knowing friends and parishoners who suffered from it.   Diseases sometimes cause unwanted behaviors.  While I must do everything within my power to prevent a person from taking his/her life, I cannot judge what is going on in the mind of a person feeling that much pain, nor can I assess how that pain may have impaired the person's thinking or judgement.

Instead of presuming to assign eternal location to a suicide victim, my job as a follower of Jesus is to get busy on the front end of that which would lead to such a horrific end.   Churches and Christians must create space where broken people can come, (including people broken enough to consider ending their lives), and be embraced by people who will walk with them in the dark valley, while working and sacrificing to get them out of it.  We must be Jesus with skin on for a broken world, and that means we must face the reality of deep soul darkness that exists.  We need to deal with the fact that people will come to us who don't feel "that joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart!" just because the choir or praise band is singing it, who feel guilt and sadness through the "greet your neighbor!" exercise, and who are just asking, "Does anyone here know my pain or care?!?"   I don't know about it you, but it seems that I hear about or know of more suicides than ever.   We are the Church, the Body of Christ, the hope of the world.  We need to answer the bell.  The less famous but no less depleted Robin Williamses are all around us.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.  And if your soul is as bleak as Robin Williams' was, climb on in the canoe with me, and let's paddle these rapids together.

I Want To Be Like Robert

From July 4 through September 3rd I'll be taking what's called a sabbatical leave.  Officially, it's for rest and renewal as well as learning and retooling.  Most of July will be downtime: relaxed time with God, Elaine (my wife) and family, as well as lots of fishing.  In August I'll visit 4-5 churches that effective in making disciples for Jesus the Christ and which are somewhat larger than ours.  Our church is blessed with being at another growing-point, and I need to learn what leadership and ministry looks like at the next level.  I'm grateful to the leadership of our congregation for allowing me this opportunity!   I'm blessed to serve an awesome, dynamic congregation, and I will miss them.

In fact, though, there's simpler, deeper reason for this time apart. It can best be explained in a story.  A couple of Sundays ago, prior to worship, I spent some walking around the south part of our property in a little time of prayer, thought, and preparation.  This is my normal routine when the weather is good.  That morning, though, a storm was moving in fast from the west.  Just as I thought it might be better for me to head indoors, I noticed someone walking northbound toward our church facility.  Though he was about a quarter of a mile off, I knew who it was by his distinctive walk.  It was my friend Robert.

Robert came to our church a couple of years ago thanks to the ministry of another friend - Danny.   I'm not sure what the currently "acceptable" term is that describes someone like Robert.  At one time it was "special needs persons," but that's probably old school now.  Robert has some challenges with speech and cognition.  His thinking process is careful, but slow.  His gait is a little different.  Some might see Robert as socially awkward, but he's always genuine and accepting.

As Robert came on to the church property and walked over to me, he was beaming; carrying most of what is his in a Walmart sack, as he usually does.  "I got here before the rain!" he proudly announced.   I commended him on walking the distance to church on such a threatening morning.  He said, "It's church.  They told me not to come because it was going to rain.  I told them, 'It's church.  I'm going to go!'"

That's Robert.  He doesn't drive, but he finds a way to get to worship.  He's there all morning, arriving with the musicians and hospitality folks for the first service, and there until everything is put up from the second service.  He's always looking for ways he can help.  He joins in our prayer circles before worship; he's actually led them a couple of times.  He stacks chairs, makes coffee, greets people, prays; whatever he can do to contribute to lifting up Jesus and drawing people to them.  He takes my sermon notes home after the last service to study them more.  On the Sunday on which he beat the rain he asked me if I could get him a book on prayer.  During our last service he usually sits up front with me.  To watch him worship during a song of praise or prayer is to watch the simple, unbridled joy of being in the arms of Jesus - unhindered by any baggage.

I think about how I approach worship sometimes.  I think about how fickle my motivation to worship can be, depending on the state of my attitude or the circumstances of my life.  I note how easily I can be distracted by something I'm happy or by something I'm unhappy about.  I realize how my mind can swirl with my self-imposed complexities of life and ministry - what program needs to start or stop, what's working in worship and what isn't, who's pleased and who isn't, how much money do we have or not have, or should the thermostat in the worship center be at 68 or 72 degrees.  Then I look at Robert, who just loves Jesus and looks for every opportunity to serve, with minimal distraction. The world might look at me and then look at Robert and say that I am surely the one more "blessed" or "successful."  I look at Robert and say that he is the one who is rich beyond measure, and I have much to learn from him.  I'm grateful that God has graced me with knowing him.

So my spiritual hope for these two months is to be more like Robert; to let all the scaffolding collapse, and to just stand before Jesus in wonder, awe, and praise.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.  Have a blessed remainder of the summer.

 , "It's church

The REAL "Common Core"

It seems to me that we live in very divided times.   In many ways, people are as polarized as I've ever seen them.  Divisions happen over everything conceivable: politics, faith, economics, morality, sexual orientation, ethnicity...You name it, human beings can fight over it.  And this goes way beyond difference of opinion.  It spills too easily over into personal assault.  We often think nothing of degrading an opponent's value, staining his/her character, and judging his/her worth.

I live in a great community that is currently experiencing a high level of division, unfortunately.  We are one of many American communities torn apart over what is known as "Common Core."  Common Core refers to federally mandated educational standards for primary and secondary students in public schools.  (Google it...I don't have time or space to describe it in detail here.)   Some defend Common Core as a good and necessary measure of a student's learning and capabilities.  Others benignly accept Common Core simply as the latest in a long line of standardized expectations that accompany federal funding.  There are those who don't see Common Core as the end of the world, but do have significant questions, concerns,or even worries about it.  And still others are gravely frightened by it, and sincerely believe that everything possible must be done to dismantle, at least in our community, and preferably throughout our state.

As an aside, I am in the third group listed above.  Common Core is the latest standardized measure handed down from Washington, joining the other such standards that essentially date back to the "No Child Left Behind" effort years ago.  On the one hand, much of what people might perceive to be a change in content of learning is actually a change in method.  (For example, when I was an elementary school student back in the Jurassic Era, I was taught to memorize multiplication tables.  I was drilled that 8 x 8 = 64 until I could recall that like I can recall the Pledge of Allegiance.  Our seven year old granddaughter is being taught not only THAT 8 x 8 = 64 but WHY 8 x 8 = 64.  It's a different method than rote memorization.  Both ways, 8 x 8 = 64.)   And I'm told that all along our particular school district has been ahead on prepping for standardized testing.  On the other hand, I've always thought it shady that compliance to federal standards is tied to federal standard compliance.  I don't like the fact that teacher evaluations are tied so heavily to test scores; testing only measures so much, and teachers are under enough impossible pressure as it is.  Data retrieval via Common Core does leave open the possibility of "data mining," it seems to me.  And, while I understand basically where the Common Core standards are headed in math and science, the social studies arena seems strangely vague to me, and I could see where questions could possibly be formulated that promote particular ideologies or political views.  Finally, it bothers me that Common Core was basically developed by a political and business group, and not specifically by educators.  So, I have some concerns about Common Core, but probably don't think of the situation as being as dire as some do.

Frankly, I'm concerned less by Common Core than I am concerned by the painful divisions it is creating in communities.  So I want to offer some thoughts to all of us, regardless of where we stand on this or any issues that divide people:

1. My late father once told me that the quickest way to distract people and to galvanize them to follow ill-advised leadership is to give them something or someone to hate.  And that, my father said, is universally wrong, no matter what the cause is.  The Roman Empire citizens of the first century were given the Christians to hate.  The Germans of the mid-twentieth century were given Jews to hate.  From North American lynchings to African and Eastern European ethnic genocide, this dynamic is a toxin that poisons even the most positive political position.  All of this may seem a far cry from our local situation, but I get fearful when I see and hear people skirting the borders of this dangerous territory.  This warning applies to EVERYONE on ANY side of any fence, beginning with the one typing.
2. With this specific local issue, regardless of what happens or does not happen with Common Core, I trust our teachers.  Our public schools are loaded with Jesus-following teachers who have willingly accepted the call to one of the most challenging and important mission fields of our era - public schools.  Regardless of the standards, they will find a way to build thinking, caring, value-driven students.  These teachers did not have anything to do with bringing Common Core to our state, no matter how each individual teacher feels about Common Core.  And no matter where I stand on it, I refuse to make their already hard job that much harder by holding them accountable for its existence.
3. I am a person of faith in Jesus, the crucified and risen.  Following Him, I know that division between people that is fueled by enmity is not of God; it is of the Devil.  Anyone in any of the four Common Core-related groups I identified above can fall victim to this.  I can be on the side of a disagreement that is absolutely right in the eyes of God.  But if in so doing my heart is governed by enmity toward the one with whom I disagree, and if I vilify and demean my opponent, then I am a servant of Satan, even if the stand I have taken is right.  The Enemy loves to have us distracted by fighting among ourselves.  It keeps us from pouring energy into the central task of loving each other and leading each other into the arms of Jesus.
4. For followers of Jesus, we are still under the governance of love above all.  We are to love each other as Jesus loved us, even when we disagree.  He did not demonize or attack those who opposed Him; He died for them.  I Corinthians 13 has not been repealed.  Love is our REAL "Common Core."

That's it.  Just had to get this off my chest.  Thanks for reading, regardless of where you stand on this or any issue that divides us.  We're all still worth the life, death, resurrection, and promised return of the one who has loved us with a greater love than we could ever know.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river...

A Negativity Fast

This Wednesday begins a season of the year which some Jesus-followers recognize.  It's called LENT.  Lent is a period of time of about 40 days (excluding Sundays) leading up to the observance of the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  During this time, many who follow Jesus engage in prayer and meditation, focusing on the enormity of Jesus' sacrifice, and his limitless passion for us.  Many Christians engage in acts of sacrifice and service in recognition of this, and in an effort to manifest the image of Jesus.  Some of those sacrifices are called "fasts" - giving up something for Lent.  People have been known to go without certain foods, meals altogether, specific activities, luxuries, etc. or to sacrifice money, time, or whatever.

People in the church of which I am a part have sacrificed all kinds of things during Lent.  I was thinking about what we should sacrifice this Lent, when I heard this idea from a friend of mine - Matt Branum of Charleston, Missouri.  He suggested we need to fast NEGATIVITY.  Wow, I thought, if there's one thing we need to give up for Lent 2014 and for always, it's negativity.  We're awash in it; so much so that I'm afraid we're  becoming immune to it.  Politicians completely abandon statesmanship and make negative onslaughts into business as usual in our national politics.  Cyberspace gives hurtful, caustic, negative thoughts a world-wide forum.   Both the news media and consumers of the media feed on negativity for than positive and hopeful dimensions of life.  Road rage is at an all time high.  We'd rather sue each other than work it out with each other.  Irritated theater patrons shoot other patrons.  Churches all over the land spend more time battling over worship styles, music preferences, and the color of the new carpet than they battle to seek and save the lost.  I'm ashamed of how many times I had the choice to think positive thoughts and use positive words, and defaulted to the other direction.

Great spiritual lead, Matt Branum!  Let's just give it up for Lent.  Fast negativity.  The world we're called to reach has no shortage of negative energy.  Let's do something different.  Consciously capture every negative thought, word, and/or action; confess it and release it to The Lord.  Replace it with humility and joy.  (See Philippians 2:1-10.)   Get an accountability partner who will ask you how you're doing with releasing negativity.  Keep a journal and take a fearless spiritual inventory at the end of each day - where did you consciously release negativity and where did you give in to it?

And when the world around you gets toxic, and it's just too easy to let a negative spirit take hold in your life and heart, think about this motivation.  God has every reason to give in to a negative spirit.  We, the creatures God created in God's own image, turn our backs on God and break God's heart with reckless abandon and self-centered delight.   Yet God CHOOSES to give up a more than justified negativity.  Jesus, crucified and risen, is the living proof of that.  More than anything, that's what the Lent journey is about.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.