Life is a "Moving" Target

Seems like I've been involved in a lot of moving here lately.   We moved some of my late mother-in-laws furniture to our home; a trek of some 350 miles in a U-Haul truck.  Last week we helped by son and daughter-in-law and our grandchildren move from one town in Missouri to another.  And over the last couple of weeks, I have been moving my office from one place in our church facility to another, as part of an overall plan to deploy all our staff in the places that best suit their gifts and skills for their part in the ministry of leading people in new life with Jesus.

Moving is not easy.  It's in the top stresses in life.   It's tiring, to begin with.  I had moments when I thought, "I cannot lift one more box; I cannot drag one more piece of furniture."   Moving can be overwhelming.  ("When did I accumulate all this stuff?!?")   Above all, it's totally disorienting.  I My staff can tell you that I've spent time over the last two weeks sort of staggering around between my old office and my new office, looking kind of lost and bewildered.  I saw the same look on my wife as she struggled with what to do and where to place her mother's furniture in relation to our existing furniture. And I know our son and his family are still in a daze of unpacking boxes and getting acclimated to a strange, new setting.

Unsettling as it is, though, moving brings its own kind of energy.  First, it can be cleansing.  Moving to a new office forced me to get rid of a lot of stuff that I've had for years with no purpose.  Also, there's excitement and potency in a fresh start.  My new office has the feel of hopefulness and eagerness I have about our church's future in continuing our disciple-making mission.

The Church, the Body of Christ, the hope of the world is a movement.  We serve a God who makes all things new, and we follow a risen Savior who commands that week keep moving into our mission field, to change lives and to transform the world.  Continually moving forward is not easy; it can feel much easier just to try to stand still.  Sometimes moving forward leaves us dazed, disoriented, and tired.  But we have to keep our eye on the prize and remember that the most important word in the Matthew 28:19 Great Commission is "GO!"

How God REALLY Wants You to Vote!

A political campaign season can be really wearying for those of us who are independent voters, especially if we are people of faith.  There's no shortage of parties and political groups claiming to most fully represent the Divine.  Stressing personal morality, Republicans claim God is on their side. Emphasizing social compassion, Democrats claim God is on their side.  As if any humanly constructed movement or organization could remotely capture all that God is and all that God's heart wants.  Please...!

Admitting that I'm biased, I think the founder of our movement got it right.  John Wesley is credited for starting the phenomenon known as Methodism in the 18th century.  In 1774, giving advice to those in so-called Methodist classes and bands who were casting votes in England, regardless of how they voted, he suggested they commit themselves to the following:

1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy,

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against,

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

Now there's a voting strategy that is closest to Christ-like!  How much of this do you see on the Right or the Left or anywhere in between?   If we all voted this way, neither Republican nor Democrat nor Independent nor anyone else would have the gall to claim to represent God.  We would simply yield to the Holy Spirit, make an informed and humble decision, and do so in love.  Then maybe this current embarrassment which is the American political scene might become something different.

Okay, that's enough from this old political cynic.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.