The Cars Zooming Past

   I was sitting at our men's table group that gathers at 6:00 AM on Tuesdays. There was a lull in the conversation for guys to eat and I found myself gazing out the windows. The headlights of the cars, moving quickly past the Chick-fil-a on Highway 96, seemed to appear out of nowhere and continue on into the darkness. The shape of a school bus caught my attention, as it crossed under the traffic lights going north on Houston Lake Road, zipping along and heading to its first stop.
   "This is a great big world," I thought to myself. Something in that moment tugged at my heart. It has stayed with me.
   I had been thinking ahead to two morning meetings, a list of a dozen things that had to get done that day, and a week filled with opportunities to 'advance the ball down the field' for the church and God's work in our community. Yet, something about those cars moving past gave me reason to pause: every car, truck, and even school bus was loaded with expectations of a new day and all the tasks to be accomplished. We are all more alike than we often realize.

---

   The season of Advent begins this week. Observed in churches around the world as a time of waiting and expectation for the arrival of a child born in a manger, the word itself is derived from the Latin word meaning "coming." Advent is about preparing for Christ to come into the world. Paul tells us, "But when the fulfillment of the time came, God sent his Son, born through a woman..."

   Maybe it was a little bit of Advent moving in my heart on Tuesday morning. The Holy Spirit works just like that. I certainly need to be daily reminded of my small place in the world. Christmas is like a reset button, reminding me that even though I am small, God's plans include me and everyone else zooming through life.
   My prayer is that we would allow the word of God, heard in worship and through our own personal devotional life, to take root in our hearts to prepare a place for Christ to enter again this Christmas. God has plans for us and for everyone. Plans for our good and his greatness. Grace and peace, Scott

The Gospel in the Middle of The Table

   Over the centuries, the church has given a variety of names to the meal that Jesus instituted as a commandment for those who follow him. We know it as the Lord's Supper, is breaking bread, the divine liturgy or mass, the service of table, or the sacrament of holy communion. It is known by all these names but none is more ancient than the name Eucharist. It is a Greek word that literally means thanksgiving. This sacrament, passed down directly from Jesus Christ to his followers and referenced throughout the Gospels as the center of worship for Christians, was named early on for the central prayer of thanksgiving, or eucharistia. The Eucharist is and means thanksgiving.
   When trying describe what the bible intends for our meals together, James White, noted United Methodist professor of worship, places thanksgiving at the top of the list. He writes, "It is hard to imagine thanksgiving as absent from the joyful action that bubbled over as the Jerusalem church broke bread with glad and generous hearts" (in Acts 2:46). In fact, Jesus lived out this thanksgiving with every meal he shared with his friends and followers. Thanksgiving is at the center of the Gospel.
   What we do this week, gathered around tables, is the very stuff of the Gospel. Thanksgiving is the good news. We sit and are thankful. We are nourished by what, for the most part, others have gathered and prepared. We suspend rivalries and enmity and celebrate. We slow down long enough to appreciate what we have and from where we have come. All of this is Thanksgiving and all of this is the life of faith. This is what it means to do life together as Christians. 
   You are in my prayers this week. Wherever you are, you are loved. You are forgiven. You are blessed and you are called to be a blessing. May these days find thanksgiving at their center. Grace and Peace, Scott

Like Lightning Following Thunder

Grace always demands the answer of gratitude. Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning.... Here, at any rate, the two belong together, so that only gratitude can correspond to grace, and this correspondence cannot fail. Its failure, ingratitude, is sin, transgression. Radically and basically all sin is simply ingratitude.

- Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics

   What a word: like thunder following lightning! Arguably the most significant Christian theologian of the past century, Karl Barth’s stood against the rise of fascism in Germany through two world wars. 

   His quote prompts me to ask, "What follows the lightning in my life?" When good things appear out of nowhere, what follows? What about when bad things happen?

   I believe that God's grace is available in the good and the bad. Am I willing to see it for what it is? I am keen on suffering, for no person should be. But, if in the suffering I am led by grace into a deeper of trust of God, then it seems that gratitude should follow even suffering. I am not fond of persecution. But, if others speaking against me causes me to pause, reflect and repent of the part of their story which is true, and repentance leads back back to the worship of God, then gratitude should follow even persecution.

   It is perfectly appropriate to offer up gratitude for the good, as we gather around tables of turkey this coming week. It is divinely right to reflect on how God is at work in the not-so-good to grow us in trust and love. They will know we are Christians by our love. May the good and bad of life be turned to love and thanksgiving, by God's grace.

   Grace, peace and cranberry sauce to you, Scott

The Secret to Changing Others

   I’ve had a number of conversations lately on the topic of getting others to change. Many of these conversations have been in my head, others have been in my office, and others have happened in hallways or grocery aisles or out and about in the daily rhythm of life. To be honest, this topic has been at the forefront of most pastoral conversations I’ve had since submitting and entering the ministry in 1999. We all long for change: mostly other people to change. More about us in a second. 

   Is there is a clear-cut, fool-proof way to help other people change. Of course not. Yet, there is a truth from the scriptures that is born out from our experience. People rarely change because they are shamed into it. Change rarely comes because they are forced into it. And, lasting change almost never happens because of some transaction - "If you do this, I will do this." I read this just the other day:

Humans change in the process of love-mirroring, not by paying any price or debt. 

- Richard Rohr, p 132, The Divine Dance

   If I want others to change, it begins with me. I have to show love. It is like a mirror that reflects an image back to the other. The image I am reflecting must be love. Change in the other person of a relationship always begins with me. 

   Christianity is a social religion. We learn it from others and are commanded to share it with others. Really very little of it is personal or private. If there is, it is my own personal willingness to be changed, by grace outside of my own ability. Change is grace. Change is submission. It starts with me.

   Grace and peace, Scott

Memory prompts Action: Remember and Give Thanks

   We remember and give thanks.
   That’s what we do in the church. We remember … and we give thanks. We remember the story, from before time was kept through our own time and forward still, and we give thanks. We remember the story of Jesus Christ - who lived and loved and showed us how to love - and we remember the gift of the Holy Spirit that gave birth to Christ's church and are thankful we can be a part of God's ongoing work. We remember and give thanks.
   This weekend, as we celebrate All Saints Sunday, we will remember how the ministry we share now was embraced and lived by generations before us. We will remember by name those of our church family here at Bonaire who in the past year entered into the Communion of Saints. Names will be read, candles lit, lives honored, and holy memories stirred. We cannot begin to capture the fullness of their lives, but we can recall their place in our congregation and the ministry we carry on from them. And, no doubt, our minds will turn to others who touched our lives with God’s grace and showed us the way of faithful living. We will be invited to call their names, too.
   Finally, before each hour of worship is done, we will remember the words of Jesus, who said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me," in 1 Corinthians 11. Together we will share in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Jesus instructs us that memory prompts action. We remember and give thanks.
   May we be changed for the better by it. Grace and Peace, Scott

We all need encouragement

   It was just the boys and I for dinner the other night, so we pulled into a fine dining establishment. It is one of those with a drive-through and is perfect for three hungry guys. As we were standing at the counter placing our order, a dozen employees to our left all shouted something at the same time. When it happened a few minutes later I asked an employee, standing nearby, to explain. She said they shout together whenever someone working the drive-thru has a big order come through, as a way of encouraging each other. I loved it!
   Maybe we need more shouting in church, rallying around people as a way of encouragement. We are all in need of encouragement. We are a community of women and men following Jesus. Following is not easy. We need the encouragement. I am reminded of that quote from a few weeks ago: Be aware, every person you meet is fighting a great battle.

• We should rally around the parents of small children and the parents of teenagers. And teenager with parents. They all need encouragement!
• We should rally around those facing illness. We should rally around those in helping professions who go to work everyday to deliver healing. 
• We should rally around educators, and workers, and anyone who goes to work to make a difference, great or small. We all need the encouragement. 

   Every time someone walks through the doors of our church, God is ready to use us. Every time. We have the chance to give encouragement, to share a plan, to offer a call to action that would lead them to victory. Maybe we need more shouting and noise in church: in worship, in the hallways, in our classrooms.
   Grace and peace, Scott

My Mary and Martha Life

While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his message. By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So Martha came to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself? Tell her to help me.” The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. 

It won’t be taken away from her.” John 10:38-42

by Caspar Luiken, 1672-1708

   The heart of God, revealed through the Word, is intended to jar us out of comfort and return us to a place of unease that results in our trusting God for everything. This is why so many passages strike nerves and catch us off guard. None more, for me, than this passage about these conflicted sisters.
   You see, I am both of them; at least, I strive to be like Mary. I have been seeking a sense of inner peace and rest, nurtured by a rhythm of prayer and release, for a few years now. I believe that my heart is being turned toward the way of Mary. I also know that my mind works like Martha! As I write this I have a scribbled list beside me of the dozen things I need to do before my head hits the pillow tonight. I have to complete them all today, in order to have time tomorrow to get that list done. Each day, in this regard, feels like the previous.
   Yet, there are moments that the beating of my heart reaches the corner of my mind and I remember, "Before I ever accomplished anything or every failed to achieve the tasks before me, I am God's Beloved." In the frantic pace of trying to get it all done, I too often rush past this Word that must be heard. I am God's Beloved.
   You are, too. You are precious in spite of your productivity, or lack of it. You are loved, in spite of your lengthy to-do list. Grace and peace, Scott

(2617 is not an acceptable number)

   Every number is relative. What if I told you 2,617 is the number of times that the average American touches, swipes or taps their phone in a day. Every single day.
   I read an article this week - which I ironically found on my phone and then tapped twice to save to my email - that points out a growing concern that as well as addicting users, technology is contributing toward so-called “continuous partial attention”, severely limiting people’s ability to focus, and possibly lowering IQ. One recent study showed that the mere presence of smartphones damages cognitive capacity – even when the device is turned off.

   “Everyone is distracted,” Justin Rosenstein says. “All of the time.” He is a 34 year old veteran of tech-companies that is really worried about our ability to discipline ourselves. He is particularly aware of the allure of Facebook “likes”, which he describes as “bright dings of pseudo-pleasure” that can be as hollow as they are seductive. And Rosenstein should know: he was the Facebook engineer who created the “like” button in the first place. Talk about irony!

   Earlier this year a few hundred folks paid up to $1,700 to learn how to manipulate people into habitual use of their products at a technology development conference organised by Nir Eyal, who has spent years teaching techniques he developed by closely studying how the Silicon Valley giants operate. “The technologies we use have turned into compulsions, if not full-fledged addictions,” Eyal writes. “It’s the impulse to check a message notification. It’s the pull to visit YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter for just a few minutes, only to find yourself still tapping and scrolling an hour later.” None of this is an accident, he writes. It is all “just as their designers intended.”
   Where are you in this pitfall? Are you a victim? Do you have ways of resisting being caught up in their techniques? What about loved-ones? What things are suffering as we spend more and more time lost in these virtual worlds of social media? If these struggles are true, shouldn't we talk about them? How can we help? We were made for a rhythm of work and rest, going between being on and off. Are devices preventing you from turning off?
   Grace and peace, Scott
PS - I encourage you to read here for the full article.

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

Every Person you Meet is...

   Babies want to look around and see the world, as they develop, but especially want to find other eyeballs with which to connect. It happened to me twice last week. First, standing in the entrance of a large auditorium in the middle of a worship service on Thursday, I spent a few minutes exchanging glances with an infant child, being bounced by his mother, as she swayed back and forth in that soothing pattern every parent holding a child knows so well. Later in the week, standing in line at Kroger, I realized the eyes of a child, no older than 6 months, were fixed upon me from one row over. Each moment prompted me to smiled and marvel at the miracle of life before me. I also appreciated the care-free life of children, that the world too quickly takes away.

   I believe the simple ritual of looking a person in the eyes is a part of the larger spiritual practice of seeing a person as the Beloved of God. How can we claim to love someone if we do not know them? How can we claim to know someone if we do not look at them? 

   A word of wisdom, shared with me in my first year of ministry, over 17 years ago, continues to return with truth and goodness. It is a word that helps me to see those I encounter in a deep, spiritual way, that even my eyes cannot see. The word is:

Be aware, every person you meet is fighting a great battle.

This piece of wisdom might not apply to those infants, being gently held and rocked as the world moved around them, but it is surely true for everyone else. I find that seeing others in this way changes my approach to them.
   Despair, debt, fear, fatigue, finances, marriage, childlessness, injustice, hopelessness - these are but a short list of the battles any of us are facing this day. Can we see into the eyes of those we greet and offer the kindness of Christ in the midst of the battles others are waging? Can we point them to a place of surrender, knowing that not every battle is even ours to fight?
   Grace and peace, Scott

Jesus is Alive through our Church

   Since starting as the Bishop of the South Georgia Conference as September, Lawson Bryan has kept our focus steadily on the question, "Where are we alive together in Christ?" He loves the verses from Ephesians 2, "But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ..."
   It was my friend Allison Lindsey, who helps coordinate disaster response for the 650 UMC congregations in South Georgia, who referred to the amazing "ALIVE sightings" during the past month of storms. She included local churches opening as shelters, Wesleyan College opening their campus to evacuating families of their students, and our Methodist Children's Home in Macon hosting the Florida Methodist Home kids and staff.
   I've seen and heard of similar amazing "ALIVE" sightings in our own church just this week:

• A mom and her two sons spent all day Tuesday serving local older couples, they'd never met before, in their yards
• A family pooling their $10 talents to provide care packages for utility workers
• Another family baking and delivering cookies and drinks to utility workers all over Houston County as they worked 
• One woman coordinating a host of others to prepare meals to feed evacuees housed at Trinity UMC
• People donating diapers and wipes to help flooded families in Texas
• One family of three donating filled UMCOR cleaning buckets and then collecting money to fill more of them
• Others opening their homes to welcome people without power

   Hear Paul's words, again, "God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ." Jesus is alive in Houston County when his church loves its neighbors! Grace and peace, Scott

Little Chapel on the Bonaire Prairie

The Bonaire Methodist Chapel, by Marie Holly

   It was this month, in 1894, that the Bonaire Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was completing construction on the chapel built by a handful of families from the farming community. Earlier that year, the Rev. M. B. Ferrell, a preacher at the Sandy Run church, choose Bonaire as a spot to try to plant a new church because it was the next stop headed south on the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway. That February a committee was formed to consider the formal development of an ongoing, worshiping congregation, and soon afterwards Mr. W. S. King donated land. By mid-summer, he and his two sons were joined by five other men in the actual building on the structure that we still worship in on Sundays.
   We don't have photographs from that August 1894, but mind does create images as I wander back there with questions about life in our community one-hundred and twenty three years ago.

Was that August as hot as it is now?
What did they do about the mosquitoes?
Who provided the saw mill to cut the timber used in construction?
How much traffic passed by on a average afternoon when the men worked on the church building after completing their work on their own respective farms?
How vital was the support they received from their wives and families, that they saw the project completed in a such a short period of time?
What visionary sketched out the plans for a room large enough room that it would still be used today to welcome new friends and guests?

   At the century mark, Earline Cole compiled a wonderful history of our church. She choose Psalm 102:18 as a theme, Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord. It is so true. We have been blessed by men and women, who could surely never have imagined the stream of persons yet unborn who would enter our little chapel. We are sending out invitations this week for our Church Anniversary on September 24 to give witness to the greatness of God. Mark your calendars now.
   Grace and peace, Scott

The Storm Around You and Me

Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?”
- Mark 4:37-38

Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633  

   Panic is what we are tempted to do when waves come crashing in on the boat we are in. The disciples gave in to the temptation, even to the point that they accuse Jesus of not caring. The disciples were afraid. They knew the lake well, most of them growing up on its shores and working its water from their youth. When things suddenly change, people panic and that reaction, left unchecked, tries to replace common sense and truth. 
   Trust. Fear was not the only option, though. Jesus was not acting based on fear; in fact, he was asleep on a pillow. Jesus trusts that the waves cannot do more than they can do. They cannot touch his soul or the souls of the men on that boat. 
   We are 10,000 miles from that lake. It happened 2,000 years ago. The languages spoken there are now dead, but the story is still very much alive. This story is important. When the boat we are in is being battered by the waves, we have a choice to give in to fear or to trust. This is a word for America. This is a word for me. Is it a word for you, too?
   We are called to trust. We are called to give witness to the power of the one who calms the storms. We are called to not panic. The means of grace, given to us by God, to stay grounded in such trust include prayer, the scriptures, worship, and fasting. These get us through the storm.
   Before the story is over, Jesus spoke and the winds and storm were immediately calmed. He has that kind of power. Our task is to trust and not give in to fear.
   Grace and peace, Scott

Throw Your Best at the Problem

   The subway system of New York City is wishing it were not in the news so frequently, lately. The system has experienced 32,000 delays in the past year, caused by overcrowding, crumbling tunnels, and an out-dated signal system that will take one billion US dollars and 50 years to fully replace. Did you know over 6 million passengers board the trains every day? They enter at any of the 472 stations along the routes that run under four boroughs. Earlier this week, to address some of the manageable causes of the delays, they deployed 1500 workers one night along the lines to make repairs.
   I know Houston County is a long way from New York City and very little about the subway makes you think about the church, but we do the same thing down here. We throw our best stuff - people - at our biggest concerns and challenges:

• When Jesus’ spoke to his disciples in his final moments before ascending to heaven, he told them to go.
• When we learn someone lost a loved one unexpectedly, we go (with food).
• When the Spirit moves us to feed and clothe our neighbors, we go get friends to help make it happen.
• When we see an elderly neighbor needs help sprucing up his yard, we grab some gloves and go.
• When our friend rises to make their way down front to pray at the altar, we go.
• When the truck drops off tons of food to be packed and shipped around the world with Rise Against Hunger, we go pitch in.

   The same is true for the families who gather with us every week. There is no greater responsibility than that of raising the next generation, so we send our people as parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, foster and adoptive parents, and even kind neighbors to help shine the light of Jesus on the concerns and challenges of growing up.
   We believe the church is called to partner with families to shine the light of Jesus into our kids’ worlds. This is so important, we throw our best at it every week: you.
Grace and peace, Scott

A Lifetime of Changing Seasons; Every Week Matters

   There is a season for everything, says Solomon in the first verses of Ecclesiastes. He says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens. 

First Day 2017

   This past week has marked the passage from the end of summer vacation for many families in our area and the start of school for students and teachers. Our prayers continue for all of the teachers and staff who daily give their hearts and minds to helping shape young people by God's grace. It is a holy calling.

First Day 2009

   This is also the season of first-day of school photos. Need proof? Simply open up any social media page and you will find them shared by the thousands. With Julie always already out the door to serve as a teacher herself, I have had the privilege of snapping these photos of our boys for a decade now. I love it. Traditions that allow you to mark the passage of time are particularly special. My boys suggested that this year should be the last of the first-day photos, but I am simply going to ask nicely again, next year.
   While Solomon's book of Ecclesiastes is mostly a downer, realizing his wasteful pursuit of pleasure over and above everything pure and good, he certainly gets it right with this passage about changing seasons. Julie and I keep these photos every year to remember when our boys were little, but we also mourn a little that these days are passing so quickly.
    Our church is committed to helping families make good use of every week to grow kids in wisdom and courage. Every new day marks the passage of time in front of our eyes. I am thankful you are on the journey with us. Grace and peace, Scott

A small but important change sitting in front of you...

   The best research shows what every parent already knows - children move through phases every year of their young lives as they grow and change physically and emotionally, and in intelligence and personality. Whatever is happening with a child - be it good or bad - is Just a Phase!
   We are committed to being a place where children are able to thrive in every phase. With that in mind, Bonaire Church is returning to a tradition of having children in worship with us. This means that in the beginning of each Sunday service, your child will worship right alongside you! We want the younger members of our church to feel comfortable and welcome in the big worship environment as they grow up – especially for children who will be aging out of Children’s Church within the next couple of years.
   Our families with small children have already received this news in a couple of different pieces of communications over the summer, so I am writing to the rest of the church. Starting August 6th, children will attend the beginning of the service with their parents to sing, pray and participate before being dismissed to spend the remainder of the service in Children’s Church. Families have options; preschoolers thru first graders will have the option to be checked into the nursery before the service and then join the older kids halfway through the hour.

   We are sure of these things when it comes to our ministry with Families:

• No one has more potential to influence a child’s relationship with God than a parent.
• No one has more potential to influence the parent than the church.

   This change coming August 6 is another way we are continuing to live into these truths. Grace and peace, Scott

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

From Scripture to Song to a Spirit-led Church

   It is probably silly, I know, but one of the many cherished things that my Grandfather passed down to me is a collection of poems and clippings that he typed out from notes of his own past sermons. I look through them from time to time and this week came across one that caught my eye. Of course, it is not a poem but a beloved song. My Grandfather even wrote in the name of the composer, Peter Scholtes. This is the clipping...

   I love this. I love that he loved it. Indeed, John 13:35 said it perfectly, "This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other." I believe this is what the church is about: one in the Spirit, walking hand in hand, working with each other, with all praise to the Father. 
   I love serving a church that puts all of this on display, so regularly. This has been our history, this is certainly our present, and I am so excited about our future.
   Grace and peace, Scott

The thought of freedom

   The world continues spinning, but our nation slows down this week to mark the passing of one of our most important anniversaries. It was on July 2, 1776 that the Second Continental Congress voted to declare their independence from British rule. The next day, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America." Of course, it was the date of ratification, July 4, that is the day everyone remembers. We can all agree that the date doesn't matter; it is the thought that counts.

   We celebrate those who first thought up freedom, and we celebrate every man and woman who has served our nation to preserve our freedom. With freedom comes responsibility. The Apostle Paul said as much,

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. - Galatians 5:13

   With freedom in mind, I am considering two changes to my routine in July. I am going to free myself from some of the time I spend with digital devices: television, cell phones, ipads, laptops, etc. In place of the time I am too often chain myself to these devices, I am going to take the four weeks of July and read through the Gospels, in the order they were probably written: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. May I share them with you, that you might consider something similar.

   Thank you to those who have served, allowing us the freedom to serve one another through love. Grace and peace, Scott

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow | All happening right now

   By the time Sunday has arrived, we will have spent three nights with children and families in the craziest week of the year - Vacation Bible School. In just three hours a night, for a total of only nine hours, our goal was to have every child play, eat, run, jump, sing, dance, and sit still just long enough to hear this clear message: God made each of them special in order for each of them to make a difference.

   We are so blessed to have women and men who are willing to engage children at VBS and throughout the year to make them feel special and share the love of God. As I walked through the halls this week I saw child after child spellbound by the volunteers standing in front and alongside of them. Ask a kid what was happening right then, they would have named the activity and maybe the names of the people in the room. Of course, I saw history being made.

   Kids are only kids. They only see "now." To them, adults just drove them to school, ate a meal with them, told them a story, bought some groceries, or played ball in the driveway. But, adults know better. Adults see that yesterday, today, and tomorrow are connected. 

   Being present in the life of a child makes history by connecting the right now of today with their tomorrows. We have the power to prepare them for challenges and triumphs, good and bad, tough and terrific. We can teach them faithfulness even when the world seems to be falling apart. 

   May this Father's Day be a reminder to men and women everywhere that the moments we spend with children help shape eternity. Grace and peace, Scott

They gathered in the summer heat to remember...

Decoration Day, around 1927

   On a spring afternoon over 150 years ago, a family stepped off the wagon bench and made their way across the cemetery to find the crude marker erected for John. He would have been brother, son, maybe even husband and father. John would have been one of the hundreds of thousands that were similarly remembered at cemeteries hastily lined out on the very fields of battle of the Civil War. They came out to remember and hold on.
   In 1866, the practice of remembering one person extended to many persons. Three women in Columbus, Mississippi decorated the graves marking fallen from both sides with flowers. The US Department of Veteran Affairs gives Columbus, Georgia a nod as possibly being one of the first cities to observe the day - a distinction that apparently is hotly debated. By 1868 the practice of decorating soldiers' graves had spread. The earliest Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the day and attend to local cemeteries.  It was known as Decoration Day for the first many decades of its observance.
   Regardless of the name of the day, or the soldier memorialized, the tradition that was started for one war has been extended to the wars and conflicts since. It has extended out from the families of fallen soldiers to families of thankful Americans everywhere. No longer can we leave the work of Memorial Day only to those most closely affected.
   My prayer is that the memorials we offer last longer than cut flowers.  My prayer is that we would be unfailing in our prayers of thanksgiving and efforts for peace.
   The church gathers to say thanks to those who have served, to those who are serving, and to remember those who gave their lives in our nation's efforts to establish freedom. The Scriptures use the word Remember over 200 times. Apparently God knows that even the command to remember is something we will forget. It is a theme and an action we must continue to pick up and carry on.
   Grace and Peace to you, 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

You Know Me

“Lord, you have examined me.
    You know me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
    Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.
You study my traveling and resting.
    You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.”
Psalm 139:1-3

   I was stopped going through security two weeks ago, about an hour before time for the flight back to Atlanta was supposed to depart from Chicago. I had removed my belt, slipped off my shoes, and placed my wallet, keys and phone into a basket that was being scanned. Nevertheless, the full body scanner showed something that I had failed to remove! It was a single mint in my left front pocket that showed up as a flashing yellow square on the screen.  The airport security officer looked me dead in the eye and said, “It doesn’t miss anything.” He was right and I snapped this photo as evidence!
   We sometimes think of God as this Divine Scanner in the Sky, waiting to catch us holding onto or doing something wrong or dangerous. Instead, God's power is intended to open us up to being loved. Consider that Psalm 139 ends with, "Look to see if there is any idolatrous way in me, then lead me on the eternal path!" When we go to God in confession and prayer, it is about more than coming clean and admitting we're caught. It is about removing the layers of weight and sin that cover up the best of who we are. This is the essence of Genesis 3 and Hebrews 12. Let us not hide or be weighed down.
   As we draw closer to Easter, may the routine of daily readings from the Praying for 5 booklet, your attendance in worship, and the powerful grace of God all together prepare us for what God is revealing to us. Grace and peace, Scott

BANG...that made me jump!

   It was already in the third inning of the baseball game when it happened the first time...BANG! The report of the gun bounced across the stands where we were sitting and caught most of the crowd by surprise. The sound came from a starting pistol and marked the start of one of the first races being run at the track meet on the other side of the high school campus. The sound-waves had already traveled 300 yards by the time they made all of us jump. It was not the last time. The starting pistol went off another dozen times before the game we were watching was over, and each time caught folks off guard.
   Most of us are used to being caught off guard from time to time. How high did you jump the last time the sonic boom of an F-15 came just as you stepped outside on an overcast day?
   Jesus was doing his best to prepare the disciples for what was to come in the days leading up to Holy Week. In Mark's Gospel he literally starts in the middle, the eighth chapter of Mark's sixteen chapter book, with the first of three predictions or words of warning about what will happen to him. They don't understand. I can imagine that in the closing weeks, as they journeyed to Jerusalem for the last Passover they would attend together, they had little idea of what was coming.
   Who among us like to be caught of guard? No one. We would rather know now, what lies ahead, that be surprised tomorrow. But, life rarely unfolds like that. The story of Easter is one of surprise, sadness, sorrow, and then something else.
   Like the starter's gun the other day, the Book of Hebrews likens the journey of faith to that of a race, pleading that we would continue to run and not give up (Hebrews 12). As we draw closer, keep praying for your friends and yourself: pray that we would all be caught off guard, this Easter, by the sheer joy of God's love for us. Grace and peace, Scott

Offer (Yourself) Grace

   These things are true...
1) we love it when someone says something that sounds like something we've said before, because we all like knowing that others share our thinking.
2) we love it when someone says something that applies to me in a positive way.
Both of these truths come together in a little note that my friend, Jay Hanson, and his team included in the Praying for 5 devotional book we are reading through as we prepare for Easter. On page 13, they instruct us to

"Offer Grace. We often think about offering grace to others or whether or not others are offering grace to us, but it's really important to remember to give ourselves grace as well."

They were writing to encourage each of us to develop and stick with a routine of praying, specifically, for others as we read through each days' brief devotional entry. I love this instruction because I need it and I try to practice it with myself. I get into great habits and routines, and then fall out of them just as fast. Let us be clear, the world is not working to help us keep our good routines, but our God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 103)!
   I love the fact that we take time out of worship to greet each other with words of grace and peace every Sunday. It is who we are, and it is something we need. So, this Monday through Saturday, do your best to keep the routine of reading the Praying for 5 book and lifting up 5 people (or more) by name that you are traveling through life with. God is surely calling you to encourage them to receive the grace and peace found in the body of Christ, if they are not already. Pray about ways you can share your story and invite them to see for themselves.
   Much grace and peace to you and me, Scott

Lent is Here

   We begin the Season of Lent this week on a day known as Ash Wednesday, so significant that one city prepares all year long for the party* that wraps up the night before.
   What is Lent? Lent is a forty day period, excluding Sundays, during which disciples of Jesus Christ prepare themselves spiritually for the remembrance of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection.  The name is derived from the Old English, lengten, a reference to the lengthening of the days in the spring.
   Beginning in the second century, Christians would undergo a brief period of fasting and prayer in preparation for Good Friday and Easter. By the fourth century the period had been extended to forty days to coincide with the forty days that Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. The number forty also corresponds to the forty years God's people were wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus.
   It was common to fast from meat and dairy products during Lent, and many Christian converts made their first professions of faith in Jesus as Lord. It was also a time of repentance for those who had abandoned the faith. The season is a time for more intense and intentional spiritual growth during which we remember the message, the life, the suffering and death of Christ.
   Our annual Ash Wednesday Service begins at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary, where we are marked with ashes as a sign of our desire to repent of our sin and follow Jesus, and offered the chance to write out our prayers of confession and then destroy them following the service. I invite you to attend this special service.  It will be brief, but the experience will stay with us. It will be a time spent well in preparation for Easter.
   In the tradition of the ancient church, we're inviting you to do three things this Lent:
1.  Be in worship every weekend you are in town.
2.  Give up something as a fast and expression of your faith and identification with Jesus' suffering.
3.  Join the whole church in reading through the devotional book, Praying for 5, available at the church this Sunday. We can make Easter the best ever for folks who need a church home!
   Join us as we start this journey on Wednesday. Grace and Peace, Scott

* New Orleans is the city, and Mardi Gras is the party.

"It's a great morning..."

   I was standing at the counter, early one morning this week, at Chick-fil-a. Waiting for a refill on my Diet Arnold Palmer  - unsweetened ice tea mixed with no-calorie lemonade that is just sharp enough to make one eyelid quiver - one of the employees passes by in front of me. All of the sudden, she starts talking to no one in particular.

"It's a great morning at Chick-fil-a, how may I serve you."

   Just like that! She was talking into her headset and taking the order of the next person arriving at the drive-thru. We know that thousands of cars will pull up to place their order there, every day. But, do we take for granted that someone will always be on the other end of the speaker welcoming us? Think about it, the quality of their customer service is based, in large part, on having the right person with the right attitude ready to welcome people at the right time.
   What about the church? We are blessed to have people who sign up to serve as greeters and to stand ready to welcome people as they enter our building. We have people and families visit us for the first time, literally every week. Our greeters deliver smiles and beautiful words of welcome. Of course, we can always use more. Contact Jessi Marlow about helping out at any of our three services (jessi@bonairechurch.com)!
   What about out in the world? I think this is what our witness is all about. We never know when someone will pull up to the drive-thru of our little world, in need of something God has gifted us with. Think about the menu that every Christian is called to offer: forgiveness, Good News, encouragement, love, grace, kindness, joy, peace, patience, and the list goes on and on. It happens all of the time. Walking across the room, and something speaks clearly into our headset. "Go speak to that person." "Go help that person out." "Go offer that person a word of comfort or share some word of wisdom with them.
   I am not suggesting that we can never have a bad day, but the Bible is pretty clear that we must be ready for anything. Matthew 24:44 says, "Therefore, you also should be prepared, because the Human One will come at a time you don’t know."
   May we be ready, and may the Holy Spirit provide for us what that person needs. Grace and peace, Scott
 

Too Much Defense is Exhausting (Football & Life)

   The outcome of Sunday's Super Bowl was devastating to Falcons fans. The Patriots won, mounting an historic comeback, as the world watched the Falcons fail to stop them on three consecutive drives down the field to end the game. Of course, Tom Brady is great, but I think something else helps explain the final score. Consider this...

The final statistics show that the Patriots' offense was on the field for 93 plays, 

while the Falcons' offense only had 46 plays from scrimmage. 

   The Falcons, early on, were scoring quickly and often. Was it too often? The Falcon's defense was on the field for all 93 of those Patriots' plays. Watching from home, the defensive players were exhausted. They had nothing 'in the tank.' And no wonder, because their teammates on offense left them playing defense, too long.

   We were talking as a staff about how exhaustion is true off the field, too. Karen Clay offered this beautiful analogy from the Old Testament: Job was similarly exhausted from playing defense because of his friends. It would up getting him severely scolded by the Almighty.
   What kind of friend are we? Offering advice, even criticism on occasion, is sometimes needed. But, do we leave people on defense too long? Are we ever encouraging? Do we help people out? Are we willing to carry a burden for them, generous with our time and our praise?
   Let us seek out companions who build us up. The Apostle Paul was right to say, "Don't be deceived, bad company corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33)." For, we too want to one day receive the trophy held for those found faithful. Grace and peace, Scott

Dear Christian in America

Dear Christian in America,

   I know you join me in praying for our elected leaders. Two weeks ago I suggested we pray “Guide our Leaders, Lord.” Let us be vigilant in praying for those who lead us. However, we have our own part to play in the direction of our nation.

   The stakes are high and old ways of behaving are no longer acceptable. There has never been a time in history that more is at stake for our country and for our planet than in these days. Globalization now has us competing for resources in ways never before imagined, cultures are colliding, news travels faster, all the while more nations, and even rogue networks, have access to weapons to advance their agendas. Yet, worse than any missile, there is an even more devastating weapon that is being used in evil ways everyday: half-truths. Christians are as guilty as anyone in repeating them.

   First, we need to stop filtering our news more through who than what. Many people are more concerned with who says something than if what they are saying is true. Whether or not a fact suits your perspective on the latest item in the news does not make it any less or more true. The problem is, sometimes people you disagree with are right. Truth does not have a liberal-conservative bias. The truth is the truth, and regularly comes down for and against both sides. I am as guilty as anyone about ‘considering the source’ when I hear something, but if such consideration clouds my judgment that I miss the truth when I hear it, then I am wrong. And so are you.
 
   Second, we need to listen more. For as many times as we’ve said it, we need to do it. I really like what Beth Moore said this week: If we’re going to be wise people, we are going to have to let somebody else win the Internet while we actually try to think before we speak. James, the brother of Jesus, also said it well when he penned the words, Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry (1:19).

   Finally, we need to pray. Pray that God would expose that within us that needs confession and removal. We have taken truth for granted. We have put our trust in people instead of God, and repeated the half-truths we have heard from them. We are a part of the problem, but can be the start of the solution.

   Grace and peace, Scott

What are you Saying?

   They say when people are asked to name their greatest fear the most frequent response is public speaking. Yet, have you ever considered how frequently the opportunities to speak in smaller settings come to each of us? Someone asks for advice, or you see something that needs to be addressed? Consider these three unrelated moments I’ve had in just a few short days:

• Sitting across from a couple talking about baptism and raising children, I share how baptism functions - what does it do? Since we do not believe baptism is the same as salvation, what do we believe is happening when parents stand to present their child? I found myself talking about...
• Standing at the end of a bed in the ICU, where I had been called to offer a prayer for someone I’d never met, I felt led to say one additional word...
• On the edge of my seat in the circle this week at GriefShare, I was about to lead more than a dozen folks who were walking through a deep sense of loss and sorrow in an opening prayer. I found myself sharing...

I was led to say nearly the same thing each time. I said,

“You are God’s Beloved. You are loved by God before your best day ever happens and after your worst. Before you accomplish anything and after it feels like everything is lost, you are God’s Beloved. God’s love for you is larger than all of it and small enough to squeeze into even the smallest spaces.”

   It took me forty years to finally have these words take effect. I am still a long way from integrating them into my life completely, but I am learning hby speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ.”
ow true they are in a wide range of moments. Ephesians 4:15 says, “
Next time you are asked to speak, what will you say? Is it true? Is it worth repeating? Does it build someone up?
   Grace and peace, Scott

Guide our Leaders Lord - by Melissa Killian

Melissa Killian wrote this in 2004, but when it was shared with me this week I knew immediately that it was still God's word for today. This is literally a word for all of us this inaugural week. The original book is Breath Prayers: Simple Whispers That Keep You in God's Presence, published in 2004 by David C. Cook.

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. - 1 Timothy 2:1-2

  Listen to the news. Read the papers. Hear what people are saying. Most reports about our elected leaders are critical and negative. It doesn't take long to recognize the difficult position in which many of our public officials find themselves, especially as viewpoints grow diverse and naysayers become louder. We know that the loudest voices are not necessarily the wisest and that it is impossible to please everyone.
  Pray for our leaders. Pray that moral clarity and excellence will govern our elected leaders. As small interest groups become more vocal, pray that principle takes precedence over popularity. In today's media-driven political campaigns, pray that character is valued more than charisma. Today more than ever, we must pray for our political system and its leaders.
  ....Killian goes on to write that the three simple words, Guide our leaders, can be prayed on our breath in each of these instances:

• when they are struggling with decisions in foreign-policy 
• when fear and confusion blind us to justice and truth 
• when moral clarity is confused by complexity 
• when Christian leadership faces strong opposition 
• when their first reaction is to blame the other side

  Let this be our prayer for leaders of both parties: Lord, Guide our leaders. May our first reaction to every news story be pray and not anything else. 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