The Greatest Non-Showman: Jesus

   A friend took my brother and me to the movies last week to see The Greatest Showman. Featuring Hugh Jackman and a really talented cast of actors, the movie is sped along by catchy tunes with great lyrics, and inspired me to see the gospel good news at numerous points. Before the week was out I had seen it again, this time taking friends with me to share the joy.
   It is very loosely based on the larger than life story of P.T. Barnum, who lived in the 1800's and is best known for the circus company he started. While he never actually said the quote about suckers born every minute, he did say his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers." He did a lot of good, in the end, but the movie title gave me pause to consider how Jesus would compare. A similar movie title about Jesus might be The Greatest Non-Showman. Now, lean in for this. Many people who only know the high-points of the Gospel stories might take exception, but I think the evidence is strong. Consider:

• Jesus' 'career' only lasted three years, by his choice
• Jesus rarely traveled outside the circuit of small country-side villages
• Jesus would change locations whenever the crowds would seek to elevate him to something he was not (rebel leader against Rome, etc)
• Jesus instructed his followers that generous acts are to be kept secret from even your other hand
• Jesus' messages were so challenging, crowds got smaller over time
• Jesus' message was about sacrifice, submission, forgiving, humility - the opposite of an attractive show
• Jesus chose to basically not speak in front of the crowds at his trial and instead submitted to the will of God

   Jesus was the opposite of a self-promoter. In John 5 he says he does not testify about himself, but lets God take care of that. Opting not for self-promotion, Jesus chose the way of humility and submission. It led to the greatest story ever told, and retold!
   Grace and peace, Scott

An Ancient Prayer for a Modern Tragedy - Psalm 71

Our nation grieves, again. Hear this word, from long ago, through the cries of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, following the violence in Las Vegas or any of the other 257 mass-shootings (defined as 4 or more victims) that have occurred in the United States since January 1 of this year.

My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked;
    rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor
because you are my hope, Lord.
    You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.
I’ve depended on you from birth—
    you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb.
    My praise is always about you.
I’ve become an example to many people because you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
    glorifying you all day long.
Don’t cast me off in old age.
    Don’t abandon me when my strength is used up!
Yes, my enemies have been talking about me;
    those who stalk me plot together: “God has abandoned him!
    Pursue him! Grab him because no one will deliver him!”
Don’t be far from me, God!
    My God, hurry to help me!
Let my accusers be put to shame, completely finished off!
    Let those who seek my downfall be dressed in insults and disgrace!
But me? I will hope. Always.
    I will add to all your praise.
My mouth will repeat your righteous acts
    and your saving deeds all day long.
    I don’t even know how many of those there are!
I will dwell on your mighty acts, my Lord.
    Lord, I will help others remember nothing but your righteous deeds.
- Psalm 71:4-16

Forget the devil, God is in the details

   The popular saying is that "The devil is in the details." I imagine it was first said when someone had gone searching for an error and finally found it hidden in something small. Anyone who has every worked on a car, assembled toys late on Christmas Eve, tried to copy their grandmother's recipe, learned a musical instrument, or any number of other examples can relate.

   God is really into details.Think about it: God created DNA and fingerprints, butterflies and beautiful clouds, every grain of sand and every star in the sky. No two of any of them are the same. Luke 12:7 says, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.How did God do it? Of course, God is into details.

   Allow me to take a detour; I read this week that Georgia Tech Basketball's coach, Josh Pastner, hired a friend of a friend to come spend three days in Atlanta this month teaching his coaching staff everything you could possibly know about making a lay-up. Some folks have made fun of him, but he believes that teaching his players to make even 1 or 2 more lay-ups they could win a lot more games. But, everyone who has ever played basketball knows that the lay-up is the first thing a kid learns when they pick up a ball. So, why have to relearn it? Because, when you have to execute it surrounded by the other team every detail of how you jump, turn, focus, and even apply finger strength matters. The details matter.

   Do we bring the same attention to details about the most important stuff of our lives? We know how to use a TV remote, and log onto Facebook? What about praying daily? What about reading the Bible with our families? What about saying I'm sorry? God is into the details.

   Grace and peace, Scott

Stop Spinning Around and Around

   It is silly, but these are all the craze with children and kids in their early teens. They are called fidget spinners. I don't know where they originated, but I do know they are being made by the tens of thousands overseas and shipped to homes. They are even found on the counters of local convenience stores - I got this one just a mile from here on the corner of Moody and Hwy 96.
   Made out of plastic or metal, they feature a ball-bearing in the center that spins and spins after you've loaded it with energy with a good push. What little advertising is associated with them suggests they are good for keeping a person focused, or relieving stress. I doubt the FDA would support either claim. This one will spin for nearly two minutes before finally coming to a stop.
   How long can you go before finally running out of energy? The terrible truth is we regularly test our limits. We work too long, play too much, sleep too little, and wonder why we finally come to a complete (crashing) stop. The wisdom of the Bible makes this much clear: we are not made to work and go forever. We are made to rest in between. We are made to stop, from time to time, and reset. We are made to live in the rhythm of being on and off, of work and rest; it is the rhythm of Sabbath and the devotional life.
   It is hard, I know. Taking the time every morning (or evening) to sit in front of the word of God involves overcoming a wealth of obstacles, not to mention the force of inertia that tell us to keep going once we've started the day. But, we are not made like toys. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). We are made to work and rest, go and stop, spin and sit still. Grace and peace, Scott

The emptiness of Easter

   Thousands of eggs will be found on Sunday morning by little hands. They will fill up baskets and bags with eggs containing enough treats and candy to make any dentist weep. The eggs were filled by the generous efforts of dozens of volunteers who took the time to make sure that kids would have something to delight in - what a blessing it is to think about the people who make things happen in service to the love of God!
   I don't blame a child for wanting every egg to contain something special inside. But, Easter is more about emptiness than anything else. Frederick Buechner said this,

"The symbol of Easter is the empty tomb. You can't depict or domesticate emptiness. 

You can't make it into pageants and string it with lights."

Think about the abundance of Christmas images and items that point back to that first Nativity: a baby in swaddling clothes, a kneeling mother, mangers, stables, angelic choruses, admiring shepherds, and even adoring animals. Now, think about how most of the images of Easter are about things that have nothing to do with the actual first Easter morning: eggs, bunnies, chicks, etc. Isn't it because it is very hard to sell emptiness?
   Our story begins with the empty tomb. The best news the world has ever heard is not something that can be monetized. The hinge of history turns on something that wasn't there (a body). The foundation of our hope is emptiness! No wonder the first disciples stumbled out of the garden that morning. No wonder they ended up temporarily returning to their previous jobs before the week was out. We want every present to contain something we can cling to, something we can show others. Instead, the emptiness of Easter is too grand and magnificent to be kept inside an egg, a tomb, or even a painting over the mantle.
   God is inviting me - and you - to look into the empty tomb and find power over death, love that conquers fear, and something greater than anything we've put our hands on. Grace and peace, Scott

The Greatest Gift we can give to One Another...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight.

- Proverbs 3:5-6

   I try and find the time, everyday, to listen to a daily podcast by JD Walt. He started this New Year reading and commenting through the 31 chapters of the Book of Proverbs to match the 31 days of January. Day 3 stopped me in my tracks when he took this passage and pointed out the importance of the word all, used twice. He said, "The Christian faith of the Bible is all or nothing.... If you push back on my emphatic “all or nothing” assertion, it’s because you lack the courage to choose. Settling for the easy out of, “At least I’m doing something,” is not biblical faith. It’s nominal Christianity. The enemy of our age is not doing nothing. It’s the mentality that says  something is enough." He went on to propose that must happen to be all-in for God requires, "trust and submission, or surrendered-ness. This must be resolved at the subterranean level of one’s will—far beneath the ephemeral nature of emotion."
   He then closed with a line that made me pull over the car in order to capture correctly!

The greatest gift we can give to one another is to become graciously,

yet brutally, honest with ourselves.

- JD Walt

   Grace and peace, Scott

The Next (Huge) Thing You Are Going to Do

   What is it? Think about it: the giant goal, the amazing project, asking him out or asking her to marry you, the next purchase, starting that degree, or transitioning into that career field. What is the next, big thing you think about when you find a little quite time apart from the demands of the right now? Let me come back to that...
   We are all thinking ahead, at least some of the time. The difference between the "get-things-done" folks and the the others who stop at dreaming is that the first group is able to convert their dreams into actionable next steps. Planning for a great future is about taking something too large for today and turning it into small, achievable tasks that move you forward.
   Worship is like this. My goal, every week, is that we would hear from God, we would adjust ourselves back in the right direction, and that we would commit to the Holy Spirit's next steps for us.
   Christmas is like this. Christmas is more than a single day. Christmas is about the amazing truth that God came to earth to save us. It is so big we must approach it in small parts. This is the very reason that the church spends four weeks preparing for Christmas.
   It all starts this weekend, in worship. Christmas is still four weeks away, but we begin the journey now. 

   So, about that next, giant thing from earlier. Have you prayed about it? Have you asked God for feedback? Have you starting making a list? Have you make the napkin-sketch plan for how to get from here to there? Have you shared it with your best friend and asked them to hold you accountable? 
   Grace and peace, to us all, as we look to the future.

Resentment is Not Right

   I pray that you are living this day and all of the days ahead with the deep, uniquely Christian awareness that

• God is good
• the future is filled with hope
• and that our witness to the world matters.

   C.S. Lewis, the popular, British theologian of the last century, was fond of writing about the future in fantastic ways. He also wrote some about politics. He said that the person who focuses too much on politics can be tempted to spend too much time comparing themselves to others. The comparison lie leads to measuring others in unfair ways. He goes on to say person then...

...therefore resents every kind of superiority in others; denigrates it; wishes its annihilation. Presently he suspects every mere difference of being a claim to superiority. No one must be different from himself in voice, clothes, manners, recreations, choice of food: “Here is someone who speaks English rather more clearly and euphoniously than I — it must be a vile, upstage, la-di-da affectation. Here’s a fellow who says he doesn’t like hot dogs — thinks himself too good for them, no doubt. Here’s a man who hasn’t turned on the jukebox — he’s one of those highbrows and is doing it to show off. If they were honest-to-God all-right Joes they’d be like me. They’ve no business to be different. It’s undemocratic.” - from Screwtape Proposes a Toast, 1959

   Did you catch that? If we're not careful, we begin to hate our differences, living as though, "People who are different are bad." You and I know that Jesus is not in such thoughts. But, how often have our thoughts moved down this exact same path?
   My prayer is that we focus on what is kind, honorable, and true. May we not fall into the trap of thinking about ourselves as compared to others, but instead stand firm on the truth that God is good, our future in Christ is amazing, and being led by the Spirit is the greatest witness we can have.
   Grace and peace, Scott

In Position to See God

   I tried to stay focused on the words as the young people stood in front of everyone to receive their Bibles. It was difficult. I was really proud of them. What a moment for them, to be recognized for being present and for wanting to learn and grow. Those two traits will take them far in life and faith. The words of the Church in that moment were,

Receive the Word of God. Learn its stories and study its words. Its stories belong to us all, and these words speak to us all. They tell us who we are. They tell us that we belong to one another, for we are the people of God.

  

I keep returning to the truth captured here; the Bible contains old stories that we grow up to realize are our stories. We are the lost sheep, the wayward son, the parent who celebrates. We are the sinner who comes back, the disciple who still has doubts.

   Our church is literally changing the lives of children every week. It happens because we rely on the Word of God and it happens because of adults who serve with love and grace. 

   The theologian Karl Barth suggested that reading the Bible is like walking out of a building to see everyone standing in place and gazing up at the sky, only to realize that what they are looking at is blocked from your view by the building. From the expressions on their faces, you know you want to see what they are seeing. So, you move yourself into position to see for yourself. I celebrate every parent who is moving their child into position to see what we see in the Bible; the grace of God, the love of Jesus, and the ongoing power of the Spirit.

   Grace and peace, Scott

The God of Jane, of Julie, of Joe

   "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" is one of the fundamental names by which God was known. It probably had something to do with the fact that the first believers would not pronounce the name of God, understanding it to be too holy. This name also caught on because God was first encountered because of the people who shared about their knowledge and relationship with the One Above All. Think about it; when you encounter God because of a person, like Abraham or Isaac or Jacob, you are encountering God because of that relationship. Because of your witness, people have come to know God through you. They might not use the name, but some people have come to know the God of Terrie, or Melissa, or Chris, or John.

+ + + 

   This truth should apply to how we 'do church' today. Every person has been created by God. Every person, of every age, needs Jesus to overcome the separation caused by sin and restore us to right relationship with God. As a church, we share Jesus with the young and no-longer-young, every Sunday. But, the earliest years of a person's life are the most critical. A Barna Group study indicated that 43% of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior do so before reaching the age of 13, and that 64% of born again Christians made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday. We need to be for all people, but we really need to be 'all in' for some people.
   One of the most powerful ways that a church can reach and raise up children and youth is through placing committed Christian adults in their lives through small groups. This is where we teach that the God of Connor, or Trish, or Taylor, is also the God of the teenage boy or elementary-age girl. It is exciting to know that this Fall our Youth Ministry is introducing small groups for Middle School and High School that start next week. Meeting in homes, they will be another place for committed adults to share the God they know and follow with receptive ears and hearts. Our Kids Ministry actually started its first small group for girls a couple of weeks ago! This happens when people generously share their gifts and their time.
   Our church is committed to sharing the Good News in ways that work. Small groups are one way to reach one group in need of the Gospel. In the coming months, we are will be finalizing and offering church-wide training on how sharing the Gospel happens most effectively through individuals in order to reach people outside the church.
   Grace and peace, Scott

I want what I want and I want it now

I am sure I have said those words, or at least words similar to them. I am sure that I have thought ideas that are similar to them, as well. Haven't you? Haven't we all?

Isn't that what politics, at least the simplistic rhetoric of modern American politics, is putting on display in every news cycle? It sounds like this; a vote for me is a vote for you to get what you want! Doesn't this sound like every demanding boss or person in authority you've known? In every case, the means of achieving what I want right now is always about a grab for power. Yet, the message of the Gospel and was the message of this past Sunday's teaching is that Satan tempts with power and Jesus resists because that is not the way of God. Here is the same message from a different voice:

"Before we get too carried away with the thoughts of God's power, we should listen attentively to what St. Paul says about the "weakness of God" (1 Corinthians 1:25), which is a vital part of gods self – revelation. If we look at the way in which he discloses himself in Jesus Christ we have to acknowledge that he does not come into our world with a great display of superior power; in fact, this was one of the temptations which our Lord had to resist as being contrary to his mission, contrary to his true nature (see Matthew 4). He does not come in strength but in weakness, and he chooses the foolish and weak and unimportant things of the world, things that are nothing at all, to overthrow the strength and impressiveness of the world. As we saw earlier, he is like the judo expert who uses the strength of his opponent to bring him to the ground; it is the art of self-defense proper to the week. This is why, if we keep clamoring for things we want from God, we may often find ourselves disappointed, because we have forgotten the weakness of God and what we may call the poverty of God. We had thought of God as the dispenser of all the good things we would possibly desire; but in a very real sense, God has nothing to give at all except himself."

- from Prayer, written in 1975 by Simon Tugwell

May we place our trust in a God who is powerful enough to do anything, but doesn't overpower anything. God loves differently than that. May we love each other in the midst of our weaknesses, and speak the truth in love to every person who can hear it. Grace and peace, Scott

Christmas and Easter

But when the fulfillment of the time came, God sent his Son, born through a woman, and born under the Law. 

- Galatians 4:4

   The early church did not believe that the circumstances of Jesus' entrance into the world were by chance, or some random event. Paul captures this perfectly when he writes that God was operating in the fullness of time.
   I think one of the greatest contributions that the church has offered to the world - right alongside covered-dish suppers, Easter egg hunts, and the perfection of a baby dressed in white being baptized as God and all the congregation looks on - are the seasons of Advent and Lent. They each offer a period of time in which to prepare for the great thing to come. Advent reminds us that we are in need of a savior: the child born at Christmas. Lent reminds us of our mortality, our sin, our utter helplessness: right up to the point that Jesus conquers all of this out of his amazing grace and unconditional love.
   I love Christmas and Easter people, because we worship a Christmas and Easter God. We worship a God whose timing is always perfect - even when we are not. We worship a God whose plans are always magnificent - even we fail to follow through with them all. We worship a God whose forgiveness is unmatched - and for that I am most grateful.
   The morning that we have waited, prayed for, and read toward is arriving. May Easter come with our hearts filled with the hope that Jesus provides. Grace and peace, Scott

Play and Have Fun - A Serious Suggestion of Jesus

   Children are many things: filled with energy, quick to trust, in a perpetual state of wonder always asking why. I would add to this list playful; children are playful at their core. So, it is worth noting that Jesus points us to children as the models for those who will enter paradise.

“I assure you that if you don’t turn your lives around and become like this little child, you will definitely not enter the kingdom of heaven." - Jesus in Matthew 18:2

I am reading A Failure of Nerve, the book that Edwin Friedman was working on at his untimely death in 1996. He was an ordained Jewish Rabbi, family therapist, and leadership consultant, whose earlier book, Generation to Generation, is an all-time best for leaders and pastors. The book I am reading now is phenomenal, as it predicted so much of the decline of civility in politics, in families, and in the public sphere. Based on his years of experience and wisdom, he offers the causes for the chronic anxiety that families and our world are struggling with. In the middle of the first point on reactivity he says, "What also contributes to this loss of perspective is the disappearance of playfulness, an attribute that originally evolved with mammals and which is an ingredient in both intimacy and the ability to maintain distance" (p. 63). Fascinating, but surely this is true. We act badly, in part, because we have lost the ability to turn off seriousness. People don't play enough. We no longer value fun.
   What a brilliant word for Bonaire Church as this weekend approaches. We are offering two opportunities to simply have fun. On Friday evening, we will listen, sing and eat for no other purpose than to enjoy life. On Sunday afternoon, we will gaze upon children running here and there in pursuit of candy-filled eggs. Jesus says he came that we might have life abundantly; I think he believes that involves more than paychecks, deadlines, to-do lists, and earthly pursuits.
   Grace and peace, Scott

Don't Stop Grace (or Peace) or Love from Flowing

   Sitting down for lunch with some friends at the most hospitable and welcoming restaurant around (Seriously, they greet every person who walks in with, "Welcome to Moe's!"), I pulled the straw out of its plastic wrapper only to find a problem: one end was not open.
   How many times have people told you that "one out of two ain't bad." How many times has someone mentioned that a .500 batting average would put you in the Hall of Fame as the greatest baseball player, ever? However, the truth is that with drinking straws you have to have both ends working. I think the same applies to grace in the life of Christians. Jesus said,

On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, "All who are thirsty should come to me! All who believe in me should drink! As the scriptures said concerning me, Rivers of living water will flow out from within him." Jesus said this concerning the Spirit.
- John 7:37-39

In the Scriptures, living waters referred to water that was moving. Jesus is offering a gift that is flowing, moving, and not stagnant. Jesus is offering the very Spirit of Heaven that is available to every person seeking God. But, is this grace simply to stop at us? Is it flowing from Jesus to us only to then back up there, as if we were some sort of dam or obstacle? I think not.
   For me, one of the most powerful moments of all the Scriptures comes in Genesis 12, when God offers Abram the chance at a new life through the Covenant. Abram had done nothing to deserve it, yet God is offering something new that will extend to every nation in the world. God says, "I will bless those who bless you, those who curse you I will curse; all the families of the earth will be blessed because of you." But, imagine if Abram clamped the other end of his life. God's blessings are intended to flow to us and then through us. We are heirs of this Covenant, made new in Jesus.
   They will know we are Christians by our love...only if we don't stop it from flowing through us. To be a Christian means allowing grace to flow in and through us. Grace and peace, Scott

An Prickly Epiphany from Above

   It happened just the other day. A reminder from God literally fell out of the sky. I had been working in the front yard, picking up pine cones, and enjoying Blue skies and mild temperatures. I think I had already taken two wheelbarrows full back to the pile to later be burned, and was particularly proud of the progress I was making. I slowed down for a moment to send a text message on my phone when all of the sudden something caught my eye as it passes by: a pine cone fell into the very ground that I had already cleaned up. The message could not have been any clearer had this foreign object fallen directly onto my head like the apple upon Newtons!
   When Christians observe the Season of Lent, we are preparing themselves for the celebration of the resurrection at Easter. Specifically, by fasting and self-denial and living lives of moderation, we have more energy to devote to God's purposes and a better vision toward the service and well-being of others. We are also able to root out the sins that have fallen upon the landscape of our lives and assist the Holy Spirit in the removal of those actions, thoughts, and pitfalls that lead us away from God's best desires for us.
   The single pine cone reminded me of the truth that we all know. Listen,

It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

May we spend these days diligently removing, with prayers and patience, the very things that have turned us away from our best selves. May we be encouraged that we travel this journey alongside of brothers and sisters in our church and surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have gone on before us. May we not lose hope. Easter is coming; sin has been defeated. 

   Grace and peace, Scott

Money: the (bad and the) good side

   Have you followed the story from the campus of the University of Missouri? It started back in August with racial slurs, inappropriate actions, some really disgusting stuff, and finally a failure at the top of the University's leadership to respond, all brought about protests calling for action and justice. Before it was over, it seemed like everyone was protesting:

• the Student Body president
• ad-hoc student groups frustrated over racial tensions
• a coalition of on-campus Jewish groups
• nine faculty Deans of various schools/departments on campus
• the University Faculty Senate
• people speaking on behalf of the Republican party
• people speaking on behalf of the Democratic party
• on November 2, one student went on a hunger strike
• elected members of the Missouri State Legislature

But, nothing really happened. Until the threat of the school losing money entered the conversation.

   On Saturday, November 7, thirty football players announced they were boycotting team events (practice, games, etc) until a resolution was delivered. The next day, November 8, the entire team made it clear that they stand united: no football until people resign. So, after more than two months of trouble and protests, which included literally tens of thousands of people, the President and Chancellor both resigned within hours. It is unfortunate that it is widely-held that two people losing their jobs and status was what right looked like. I am glad that the right thing was done. I am not glad that it took the potential loss of millions of dollars of football revenue to finally prompt it. It is clear that money held sway in bringing about a resolution. Sports is powerful, but what does it say when it takes the threat of cancelling a football game before the right thing is done? Money has power, because we let it. [I don't blame the football team - they used the money they generate for good. I worry that we would not see the role we have in propping up an industry that wields such power through profit.]
   The scriptures are clear, it is not money that is the root of all evil, but the love of money (see 1 Timothy 6:10).
   How do you use money? For good? Do you invest in others? Do you give money away as a sign of your belief in God's ongoing abundance? Do you save money as an antidote against the deadly illness of over-consumption? Do you have a healthy relationship with money, or does it control you in ways that are not healthy? Money is neutral - it is the place that we give it in our life and the ways that we use it that cause it to be good or bad. The Ten Commandments start with, "You shall have no other gods before me."
   Grace and peace, Scott

A lesson from broken glass

We are created with an inner drive and necessity, that sends all of looking for our true self, whether we know it or not. This journey is a spiral and never a straight-line. We are created with an inner restlessness and call that urges us on to the risks and promises of a second half to our life. There is a God-sized hole, in all of us, waiting to be filled. God creates the very dissatisfaction that only grace and finally divine love can satisfy. We dare not try to fill our souls and minds with numbing addictions, diversionary tactics or mindless distractions. The shape of evil is much more superficiality and blindness than the usual listed 'hot sins.' God hides and is found precisely in the depths of everything. Even, and maybe especially, in the deep fathoming of our fallings and failures. Sin is the stay on the surface of even holy things, like Bible, Sacrament or church. If we go to the depths of anything, we will begin to knock on something substantial, real and with a timeles quality to it. We will move from the starter kit of belief to an actual, inner, knowing. 

- Richard Rohr in Falling Upward, published in 2011

   I am a little more than halfway through Richard Rohr's book and it is quickly climbing up my list of all-time favorites. This quote particularly struck me, as I've been wrestling with the challenging truths that the Sundays teachings have revealed about time. When he talks about God hiding in the depths of things and that sin is what happens when we just stay on the surface, I realize that is precisely what happens when we pile on too many rocks. Busyness, even with good things, leads us away from the great things that the abundant life God offers has in store for us. In fact, Jesus said that when we find that abundant life we have found him (see John 14:6). But, we instead opt for the average or mundane, which is all we can fit in to our containers because we are otherwise...too busy.
   I think going deeper is more about doing less than working harder. As if I needed an extra lesson for my own life about what happens when you pile on too much, the glass jar of my illustration broke in the first service on Sunday, at 8:30 AM in the Chapel. For those who missed it, it happened when I starting placing the small rocks on top. The extra force of the trivial, little opportunities was enough to break the container. I snapped a photo of it before I cleaned up the cart and prepared to try again at 9:00 and 11:00. Maybe the memory of that will stay with me in the moments I am tempted to pile on the trivial instead of first placing the God rock in properly.
   I love serving as the pastor of this church and being a part of this community and am humbled that you join me in breaking glass, stacking rocks, and going deeper in the great love of God. Grace and peace to you, Scott

The quiet way of God

   I love trains. My dad's father was a depot operator for the Savannah to Atlanta Line nearly a century ago. My grandmother grew up with those tracks in her front yard. I have grown to have a deep appreciation for what they mean to our nation's history and how they continue to serve our country's economy. They are pretty impressive. Lately, we've been most impressed with how loud their horns can sound from a mile away. And, I am impressed with how cautious the drivers engineers are when approaching a crossing. Of course, we live a few hundred yards from two crossings, so we are often alerted to their presence in our community. Which is, at least, three times around midnight every night! Despite my sarcastic tone, I really do want them to blow their horns loud every time, so drivers can hear and take heed. 

   There have been many times in my life that I wish God was more like a locomotive engineer: you know, more deliberate at getting my attention. That is rarely God's way. The Bible includes a few instances of God taking the loud approach - Noah and the flood, Pharaoh and the plagues, Daniel walking from the lion's den, or Paul on the Damascus road. Generally speaking, hearing from God is more like the experience of Elijah in the wilderness. The story from 1 Kings 19 begins with Elijah fleeing for his life from the evil Jezebel. He ends up on a mountain and is told to listen for God speaking. It says:

"Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him..."

The voice was in the silence. This is how God often speaks to us, still today: when we turn down the noise of the world and are silent ourselves. 

   I want to hear from God, not just as a pastor, but also as a husband, parent, and friend. Sometimes it is because the train is bearing down and I'm in harm's way. Mostly, it is because God's voice reminds me of who I am: a child of the King. 

   Join me this week in taking an extra ten minutes every morning to sit quietly in order that God might speak. Grace and peace, Scott

I grow better in light than darkness

   I walked by some flowers earlier this week that caught my eye. I snapped a photo of them that you might appreciate their beauty, as well. God's creative ability is amazing. I regularly marvel at the colors that are found within nature. Just think of the million different hues and tints of colors that can be found on flowers alone, each created by a slightly different reaction to water, soil, nutrients and their own unique chemistry. Just the science of how flowers are adorned causes me to worship the greatness of God. Jesus used flowers to teach against worrying when he said in Matthew 6, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these." He saw what we see; flowers are evidence of God's handiwork. 

   But, the flowers I saw caught my eye for something else. I couldn't help but notice the direction they were facing: they were bending toward the sunlight. The very thought of that captured my heart; oh, that it would be that easy for me.   Instead of bending my life perfectly toward the light that nourishes, I so often choose to twist and contort toward the shadows and darkness. When I gossip, worry, fail to forgive, hold a grudge, fixate on money, or get too busy to pray, it is like a flower choosing to bury it's head in the shadows and turn away from the very thing that gives life. 

   We were made for better. I think this is exactly what 1 Peter 2 was talking about when it encourages:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

   May we grow in grace by turning into the light that shines brighter than any other: the love and grace of God offered to us though Jesus Christ. Amen!

   Scott

Moving: Between Fear in rejection and Faith that God loves us

   “Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, ‘Prove that you are a good person.’ Another voice says, ‘You’d better be ashamed of yourself.’ There also is a voice that says, ‘Nobody really cares about you,’ and one that says, ‘Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.’ But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.’ That’s the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.
   That’s what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us ‘my Beloved.'”
    - Henri Nouwen

   This passage is from Henri Nouwen's The Still, Small Voice of Love.  Lately, I have been reading a lot of Nouwen, in part, for my final 120-page project at Columbia, which first requires that I read 12-15 books on the subject I am studying. But more than just something required from the exterior, I find that I am drawn to Nouwen from some interior prompting. I need to hear his message that I am God's Beloved, now, more than ever.
   Moving is hard. Moving from a place that you love so dearly, is very hard. With just a couple of weeks before the last box is headed east on Highway 96, the thought of leaving Epworth, our friends, this home, and the myriad of familiar places around town is looming larger. When June comes, the task is made only more difficult; in the midst of grieving, we are also going. We are going to a new place, with new people, and new expectations.
   As is my nature - human and frail - the thought of what to expect has turned into what to fear in the weeks since our move was set. Of course, fear is the opposite of faith. I also think it is rooted in a poor sense of identity. Let me explain. When I allow fear to dictate my thoughts about the future - what people will think, or do, or say - because I want to be liked, or admired, or relied upon, then I am turning away from my true identity and, instead, leaning on other's opinions of me to be the foundation for who I am.
   As Houwen writes so eloquently above, God speaks the truth to me in a still, small voice. It is the voice of love. I am God's Beloved. Not because I am right, or smart, or dependable, but because I am God's. The other characteristics come and go, but God's love for me remains.
   Pray for the Hagans in the transition. Pray that we don't stray far from this true sense of who and whose we are. And, pray for the Crosbys, as well. They are surely leaving Alma to arrive at Epworth with some of the very same emotions. I know that when they do arrive, they will be welcomed by a congregation who believes we are all God's Beloved.
   Grace and Peace, Scott