Change

What a year! It is still January and we have already experienced a new president and now a new governor here in Illinois. Who says change comes slowly! I wonder what will be next. Scripture talks of change. In Matthew 18, when asked who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (the disciples were referring to themselves, not Jesus), Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Pride is something that gets in our way, regardless of what we do, but for some it becomes a hindrance…even a hindrance to getting into heaven. These were Jesus’ disciples who posed this question to him…his followers. You would think that if anyone would get into the kingdom they would, but Jesus corrects them. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Sort of puts us in our place don’t it? Doesn’t really matter if you’re the worship leader, a team chair, or the senior pastor…not if you fail to humbly fill that position casting aside arrogance and self-exaltation. I don’t know what the rest of this year holds for us, or the rest of this month for that matter, but I pray we would continue experience change, becoming the people God intends us to be.

Wintertime Blues!

Okay, here we are…it is Thursday afternoon. There hasn’t been school for three days now and I just found out there will not be school again tomorrow. Our four girls have been cooped up since Monday. They have not been out of the house, not even to play in the snow, until today when Jill went to work and I took Anna to the doctor as she has an ear infection. I know the Lord says that children are like arrows in the hands of a warrior and blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them (Psalm 127:4-5)…but please! I do not think Solomon wrote those words after having his arrows cooped up for three days! I love my children, and they love me…at least they did as of noon today…but I praise God that I have been able to get out of the house and slip and slide the eight blocks to church! I praise God for teachers…I don’t know how they do it. I praise God for bus drivers…I cannot imagine doing that. And yes, I praise God for my loving wife…how she manages a one year old who is cutting teeth, a four year-old who has too much energy, a six year-old who doesn’t feel well, and a seventeen year-old who wants to go somewhere, I will never know. My gifts pail in comparison to hers…I suspect she could manage a 1000 member church with little effort…alone. All that being said, I must go now...it's time to pray for a heat wave...again!

Courageous Prayer

I am convinced there is nothing more important to our relationship with God than our prayers…that is after our salvation, of course...and I have been convicted by insincere prayer. Michael Casey writes these words in Toward God, “To pray well I must first find out where I am. Self-knowledge is never obtained easily. To pray well I need to face up to realities about myself that I would rather ignore: my anxieties, fears, private griefs, failures, lovelessness, and my utter lack of resources. To accept the truth about who I am, what I am, as well as the truth about others, demands courage. If I do not pray well, it is usually because I lack that kind of courage.” Seems to me what Casey is saying is that we must be honest with ourselves. We might fool others; we cannot fool God; we are very good at fooling ourselves. If we are to have a relationship with God, an honest relationship, then we must start by being honest with ourselves…examining thoroughly our own thoughts, actions, shortcomings, and desires. This is hard work, it is at times painful work, but it is required work. Our prayers are much more than words or thoughts…they are how we willfully present ourselves before the Divine Presence…wanting, yearning, exposed, expecting.

A World Without Sin?

I just realized that I did not post this earlier today...sorry about that, my only excuse is our wild weather.

Max Lucado asks us in When Christ Comes: “Can you imagine a world without sin? Have you done anything lately because of sin? At the very least, if you are normal (what is that?), you’ve complained. You’ve worried. You’ve grumbled. You’ve hoarded when you should have shared. You’ve turned away when you should have helped… Because of sin, you’ve snapped at the ones you love and argued with the ones you cherish. You have felt ashamed, guilty, and bitter. Sin has sired a thousand heartaches and broken a million promises. Your addiction can be traced back to sin. Your mistrust can be traced back to sin. Bigotry, robbery, adultery—all because of sin. But in heaven all this will end. Can you imagine a world without sin? If so, you can imagine heaven.”

Lucado challenges us to look within: have we done anything lately because of sin??? If you could hear the excuses that I (or any pastor) hear weekly, you would realize how absurd the question is…of course we have! But where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20). No, I cannot imagine a world without sin. Not here in Sesser or any other community I have lived, however, I can imagine a world with grace; a world with forgiveness and mercy. Make no mistake about it, this world is not heaven, but grace will get us thru all of our trials here and move us into God’s presence with confidence.

Like Welcoming Jesus

This week has been a blessing. I rejoice as I recall the many people who played a part in my formation. Some have invested a great deal of time and effort in me; others made much smaller donations. Some worked very hard and I am sure they became frustrated with me; others crossed my path just briefly. However, they all contributed something that helped to make me who I am today. I share this because I have spent the last several days as proud as I can be as Hitomi, our first Japanese daughter, has been visiting with us from Japan. She lived with us as a foreign exchange student for only eleven months during her junior year of high school, but she has truly become a part of our family. We have kept in touch the past nine years as she moved back and forth between Japan and the States and we have grown closer over time. I am blessed that I (and of course my family) was able to contribute to who she has become as an adult and she has made great contributions to our family. Matthew 18:5 tells us, “Whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me.” I can honestly say that our family’s experience with welcoming children into our home has been a joy and blessing…much like what I imagine being in the presence of our Lord will be like.

God & Heros

I sat amazed last week, as I am sure most of you were, as I watched the news reports of U S Airways pilot Capt. Chesley “Sulley” Sullenberger and his crew making an emergency landing with a jetliner in the Hudson River. No doubt his years of Air Force and civilian flying experience contributed to his composure as he faced certain disaster with 155 people on board…not to mention the untold residents of the communities and workplaces he flew over for those few minutes. Everything I have read praises the captain and crew members for their professional reaction to the disaster and they are to be commended. I will also say that I don’t think they acted in this manner because of their paychecks…something more was going on. I have no idea of any of the crew’s religious affiliations, but it is apparent they see human life as sacred (and not just their own). This crew, under the leadership of “Sulley” is a model for the Church. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:29 that we are to “build up others according to their needs,” but too often we are guilty of embracing the world’s notion of “me first.” I do praise God for “Sulley” and his crew and I also believe we have witnessed a “miracle.” I’ve heard it said that Captain Sullenberger is a much needed hero for troubled times…yeah, but perhaps it’s more than that. This might just be a really big “God wink” for his troubled church. Either way, praise God!

Join the Team!

I received this email yesterday from a friend and thought it followed the thought of yesterday's blog; so here it is.

To highlight its annual picnic one year, a company rented two racing shells and challenged a rival company to a boat race. The rival company accepted and on race day to the consternation of the host company, the rival team immediately moved to the front and never looked back. It won by eleven lengths. The management of the host company was embarrassed by its showing and promptly appointed a committee to place responsibility for the failure and make recommendations to improve the host team's chances in a rematch the following year. The committee appointed several task forces to study various aspects of the race. They met for three months and issued a preliminary report. In essence, the report said that the rival crew had been unfair. “They had eight people rowing and one coxswain steering and shouting out the beat,” the report said. “We had one person rowing and eight coxswains.” The chairman of the board thanked the committee and sent it away to study the matter further and make recommendations for the rematch. Four months later the committee came back with a recommendation: “Our guy has to row faster.”
The solution for their rowers’ lack of effort was to encourage the one rower to row harder. How absurd does that seem! Yet, many times we as Christians can be accused of the same thing.
If you are involved in a good church, who would you say does all the work around the church? Many times the pastor has the privilege of preaching each week but is also responsible for other areas of ministry! The Bible commands us as believers to help the pastor and enter into his labor with him. How can you help your pastor? One way is through prayer. 2 Corinthians 1:11 says, “As you help us by your prayers…” Prayer is the most powerful way you can help support your pastor. You may not be able to mow a lawn, visit the elderly, or clean a bathroom; but you can pray for God’s blessing on your pastor. You can also help by getting involved in the church ministries. Sign up for soul winning and be faithful each week. Volunteer to work a nursery once a month. Ask if there is any handyman work that needs done around the church. Write letters to the widows. Think of a way you could be a blessing to your pastor and volunteer to be involved in whatever needs to be done. No matter the size, every church needs help. As we saw in the story, one person cannot carry the weight alone. God has placed you in your church to be a blessing to your pastor by helping out. Think of a way you can be involved and ask someone at church what you can do to help. After all, when you help support the pastor, you are really helping support the Lord’s work.