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

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

Do Worry What People Think (and See)

   There is merit in the adage that we are not to worry about what other people think. Life should not be measured by popularity, or public opinion. There is more to life than getting so-and-so to like us. Paul says in Ephesians 4 that we are not to be blown around by the efforts of other people.
   And yet, there is something to be said for what people see in us. Specifically, a fundamental tenet of classical Christianity is the witness that our lives give to our beliefs. How do our actions support the claims we make with our hearts? Jesus says of his own ministry, "For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you," (John 13). He came to be an example and we are to be examples, too.
   All of this was stirred up on Monday, when I found an offering envelope in front of the church, surely where it landed when boys hit the front doors after worship to spend a few precious moments throwing the ball in our church's front yard. First thinking it was trash, I soon discovered the hidden treasure sketched on the back. It is the family tree that Carter drew. His parents confirmed the hunch I had based on the fact that he was listed first, before all of his siblings. My eyes were immediately drawn to his representation of his parents, Kelli and Stacey. He showed them holding hands.

   I love this. There is no better witness to a child by their parents than the image that you love your spouse. I love this.
   How do people see you? How would those closest to you draw you? What actions or emotions have you left in their minds and their hearts?
   One of the core values of our congregation, spoken into reality through our Vision Team earlier this year, is that Epworth is real people. What you see is what you get. People are watching and our responsibility is to set an example for other believers and even those outside the church of who we are and what we believe. What better time than December to show people what we stand for? Our witness is in our attendance, our speech, our giving, and our Spirit.
   Grace and Peace to you, Scott

"Helicopter Parents" Ruin Easter Egg Hunt

   Did you read or see the story out of Colorado Springs this week? Read it here. It seems organizers of an annual Easter egg hunt attended by hundreds of children have canceled this year’s event, citing the bad behavior of parents who swarmed into the park last year, determined that their kids get an egg. Instead of a few moments of fun and adventure by children searching and finding, too many parents had jumped a rope set up to allow only children into Bancroft Park in a historic area of Colorado Springs. Organizers say the event has outgrown its original intent of being a neighborhood event. Parenting observers cite the cancellation as a prime example of so-called “helicopter parents” - those who hover over their children and are involved in every aspect of their children’s lives - sports, school, and increasingly work — to ensure that they don’t fail, even at an Easter egg hunt.

   There is so much to say, and so little room to say it. 

• First, aren't we glad the miracle of Jesus' love for us and the power of God's over death cannot be ruined by pushy parents! These are the real events of Easter. 
• Second, it is getting more and more difficult to parent well these days. We want our children to grow, but worry so much that their growth might be hindered by a fall or a failure or a lack of something that we are tempted to meddle where we shouldn't.  
• Finally, the church is needed more than ever to speak the wonderful words of life into the families in our community. The truth of God's abundance and love for us would do wonders to ease anxieties and fears.

   This is what ORANGE is all about, and certainly what we are setting out to do at this weekend's  Family Picnic and Easter Eggs-travaganza. We want families of every size from ! on up to join us on Saturday afternoon. Come help us show our neighbors the love of Jesus and have fun doing it.

BREAKING NEWS: John Travolta's Vintage Mercedes Stolen

   It seems John Travolta's vintage Mercedes sports car has been stolen. It happened in Santa Monica, California. Travolta parked the car on a residential street Sunday afternoon and stopped in at a nearby Jaguar dealership for about 10 minutes. When he returned, he found an empty parking spot and no sign of the car, a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280-SL. You can read about it here in the AJC. There, you can also read about the efforts to have Troy Davis' execution stopped, a shooting at a preschool, deals on travel packages to Canada, a 3-year-old who fired a shotgun inside a automobile, a review of the first night of Dancing with the Stars, the latest on Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher, and plenty of talk about the Atlanta Braves' recent woes. 

   It is staggering to think about the limitless stream of events and stories happening right now... How does any one newspaper decide what to cover and what to leave off? I think editors have a difficult job. This struggle extends out to a wide-range of media: newspapers, television, radio, and even internet sites. In one way, their task is reactionary: they print the news as it happens. In another way, they have some discretion as to what to send reporters out to cover. They have to think about sales, so winnowing down the list of topics must include some thought about public interest and preference; Columbus' residents are not interested in local politics of Saskatchewan. 

   In a real sense, we all have the same challenge, though. Each of us makes decisions daily on what gets our attention. What will we listen to on the television in the morning, in the car as we drive, or at night when we sit down to unwind? What stories do we read in the paper or online? I am no different; I get my print news by browsing the headlines that come across my twitter feed, where I follow news agencies around the country and world. I tune into one specific station on the radio, too. I am making conscious choices about what I tune into, with my ears or eyes. 

   From a very young age, we have learned that gaining and keeping attention is power; think about a young child calling their parent's name over and over and over again. It has been true across the ages. We grant power in our lives to those people and things to which we give our attention. Jesus said using our eyes can lead to destruction, and went so far as to suggest serious steps to prevent it from happening in Matthew 5. The Hebrew prophets proclaimed that we must give attention to the commands of God (see Jeremiah 7) and pointed to heartache and suffering when we failed.
   So....pay attention! Avoid gossip. Listen to people who speak the truth. Avoid conversations  on trivial matters. Tune into news that matters. Read good books and lengthy articles that expand your mind. Do all of these things that you might use the gift of your time and your mind for the glory of God, and not for the glory of something so much less.