I Am Blessed!

What a day…actually what an evening! Jill & McKayla are in Centralia, Hannah went to Sesser for something, and I am here with you know who…both of them! I know there is nothing like quality time with my girls, but remember, too much of a good thing is still too much! Well, we got most of the homework done…took a trunk load of recyclables to Olney and rewarded ourselves with supper out. Once back home we played till dark, took our showers, and just retreated to bed to read before it’s time for lights out. I mention this because this too is life in the Spirit. As I understand God’s will for my life, I am a pastor, but more important a father and husband. Even more important than that, I am a child of God. All of these relationships are important, as are many others, and they are all important to God! In fact, all of my relationships are interrelated. My relationship with God is influenced and enhanced by all of my other relationships and all of my other relationships are influenced by my relationship with God. So then, life in the Spirit is lived at church, at home, at work, when I play, recycle, do homework, and pray. Speaking of which, I gotta go…it’s time for prayers.

Dreaming Like God

Just got home from a strategic preaching conference in Fairview Heights all day today...the best conference I have attended in quite some time! I'm way too tired to share any of it now (16 hour day & my rear is tired from riding!) but you will hear of it in the near future. Until then, here's something to chew on that came out of conversations during the drive there and back. Why would a church settle to be pastor dependent when it could be pastor led (providing of course the pastor is led by the Spirit)? These are two extreme opposite ends of a continuum. One leads to growth, both spiritual and numerical, while the other leads to death, both spiritual and numerical. One should be turned outward while the other has definately turned inward. One is a church and the other is a chapel...so why would a congregation choose to be pastor dependent? I am not sure one answer fits all, but it seems to be a very comfortable place to be, at least if you are not concerned with the future. I have also observed that far too many churches dwell on the past, are stuck in the present, or never dream about their future...and when they do dream, they are afraid to dream God-sized dreams. That seems sinful.

Life in the Spirit

What is life in the Spirit? Is it knowing salvation is of the Lord? Is it knowing that when we face temptation God provides us a way of escape or that our Lord walks with us thru the valleys? For me life in the Spirit is so much more than these. Don’t get me wrong, these are very important; in fact, they are necessary steps that lead to a life in the Spirit. Does life in the Spirit mean one will speak in tongues? Not necessarily, Billy Graham lives life in the Spirit and I do not think he ever claimed to speak in tongues. Is it working miracles? Yes, but not in the sense you’re thinking of right now. Mother Teresa was perhaps the most Spirit-filled person of the last couple of decades, and while she never laid hands on anyone to heal them, she was used by God to heal many. I would define life in the Spirit as a life that loves to do the will of God…a life that is not only transformed, but also transforms others…a life that is love. Here’s the problem with life in the Spirit…too many people settle for much, much less. Believers are satisfied with the hope of salvation, yet struggle with knowing they are saved. Followers settle for the mediocre, lacking the abundant life Christ promises. Some even accept the shackles of religion, missing out on the freedom Christ offers! In short, we stop our journey long before we have arrived. Wesley talked about ‘going on to perfection’ and too many have understood that as us being made perfect…I am of an opinion he was actually referring to us moving toward living life in the Spirit…the perfect Spirit of God. It doesn’t happen the day you profess Jesus as your Savior and Lord, when you are baptized, or become a member of some church. It comes by daily moving forward with the Spirit of God living in you…guiding you…loving thru you.

Too Busy???

Okay, so I’ve been really busy…evidenced by the fact that I haven’t blogged for a week or so and I will soon download three weeks worth of sermons on the website (someone tell David they are there)! That brings me to the point I want to raise today…can we in the Church be too busy with all of the formalities and business of the Church to actually be the Church? Of course we can! It seems I struggle with it weekly, but what do we let go of and what do we hold on too fast? Making disciples (the mission of the church) can happen in many, many things…and specifically evangelistic efforts at times come up short. I have been frustrated with reports and statistics in the past, but I have also used them to advance the Kingdom…there are times I have wanted to scream because of conference requirements, yet I have repeatedly seen the benefits of being connectional. I guess the bottom line is there is value in many things if God wants me to do them…and no value in those things I do contrary to God’s will. That’s a pretty good lesson to learn early in life, regardless of your status, resources, or desire. So here’s what I intend to do…whatever God wants in order to invite others into the mystical relationship of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit…that might be visiting, preaching, blogging, or even filling out charge conference forms (chringe!).

Go!

I am writing tonight from Marion, IL just after a rousing worship service at Aldersgate UMC. I am here for the Collins Pastor’s Conference, which features Dr. Douglas Powe from Saint Paul School of Theology (I completed my course of study there in 2000). The title of the conference is “Fishing with a New Generation,” and while I am so looking forward to the workshops, tonight’s attraction was worship with Bishop Gregory Palmer. Now, if you have heard Bishop Palmer preach before, you will relate to what I am about to say…if you have never heard him preach, you are missing a blessing needlessly. Bishop Palmer has a powerful way of opening the Word and allowing the Spirit of God to use him in sharing the truth. His text was from Matthew 28 and he came to this conclusion: Jesus, in the authority given to him by the Father, has commanded us to go into the world, preaching, teaching, and baptizing. Additionally, he promised to go with us. The response of the church was to circle the wagons and hunker down! How can we justify our actions? Do we not believe God’s word? Do we not think Jesus will keep his promise to us? Now, stop and think about this for just a moment…what keeps us from fulfilling our commission? Take any of the gospels, the command is clear. In Matthew, Jesus tells us that he will be with us always…to the end of time. This was not a promise to the first century church…it is to all of his disciples…to us. So, what is keeping us from doing what we are told to do?

God Must Feel Frustration Too!

I will confess my frustration with one of my girls (Anna doesn’t want to be identified) who, rather than do what she knows must be done (homework), will constantly choose to avoid it in hopes of either me forgetting or Jesus returning first. This is our daily ritual just moments after getting off the school bus: “Do you have homework?” “Me?” “Yes you, do you have homework?” “You mean from school?” “Yes from school.” “I got some papers for you to look at.” “Good, but do you have homework?” “I don’t know.” “Let me see your planner.” “Why?” “Because your assignments are written in it and I want to know what you need to do.” “Oh, that homework…I’ll do it later.” “No, you will do it now.” “Why?” Well, to spare you the drama, the conversation usually ends soon with both of us frustrated, sitting at the kitchen table…doing homework. I wonder why it has to be this way every night...then I remember what God puts up with in dealing with me. “Do you love me?” “Who me? Yeah!” “Then why do you continue in sin?” “Who me? That’s not really sin…it’s just that…” “If you loved me you wouldn’t want to do that.” “It’s not that I really want to…it’s just that…” It’s about then that God reminds me that anything less than total obedience is really disobedience. My prayer is that I might be as graceful with my children as God is with His.

God At Work

What a privilege I had last Sunday to pray with a young lady and lead her in accepting Christ…and the most amazing thing was that I had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was a lay person in our church who (at a rather inopportune time) asked me if this girl could come to the altar and pray. He had been doing the work…he had made her aware of her need for a relationship with Jesus…he had shared with her the love of God…he had even invited her to the altar! It would have been so easy for me to blow the moment off, but the Spirit told me to meet her there…then God so graciously allowed me to be a part of that joyful moment. He could have even done this without me, but he followed the Spirit and did not. Yes, God is good all the time, even when we aren’t mindful of His goodness! So now I am wondering how often have I blown off the Spirit and missed a moment like that? How often have I stuck to my agenda instead of being flexible enough to follow God? How often are we too busy to see the need or listen to the Holy Spirit? The only response I have is too often. If we miss one single opportunity to follow the Spirit’s lead…whether it is planting seeds or harvesting the crop, we’ve missed the boat! We are out of God’s will…perhaps not far out, but out is out. And when I am out of God’s will, I find I soon try to justify my position and test myself to see if I can go it alone…that is one place I never want to be (again)!

Are You Ready?