Let's Hear it for God!

As I was working on my sermon for Sunday, I discovered a story that I just do not have time to include, and yet it is quite profound...

My wife and I recently went on vacation and took along a camera and several rolls of film. Upon our return, my wife began proudly showing off our latest set of vacation photos; she’d then tell me her coworkers’ reactions. After a few days of this, I noticed a recurring theme. Invariably, people would say, “Wow, your husband must have a really nice camera!”

Even though people liked my photos, I was disappointed. I wanted them to acknowledge what a good photographer I am, not what a good camera I have.

I ranted to my wife: “Why do people do this? Nobody looks at a painting and says, ‘Nice brushes!’ Nobody looks at a skyscraper and says, ‘Nice drafting table!’ Nobody looks at a sculpture and says, ‘Nice chisel!’ What’s wrong with these people?”

It felt good to get that off my chest. Until my wife reminded me, “So, how often do you look at creation and say, ‘Nice work, God’?”

— Larson, Crag and Elshof, Phyllis (eds.).1001 Illustrations that Connect. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.p 122.

The world that surrounds us is amazing, far beyond anything that people have been able to adequately describe through the years. Let us take time to celebrate the One who has given us life in this most wonderful world. Let us praise the Creator for this marvelous work!

Let's hear it for God!

For Those Who Rely on their Spell Checker...

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
-Sauce unknown

The Roads Paved with Good Intentions

I have been reflecting on the announcement that President Obama will receive a Nobel Peace Prize. As I have examined the rationale, I have noticed that many of the reasons point to his positions, his assertions, his statements -- in other words, who President Obama may be in the future. Personally, I do not have a stake in whether or not our current President receives this honor. I do find it very interesting that President Obama is being judged, it seems, by his intentions rather than his actions.

There is a chronic disease in our society that has been festering for years -- our words are lofty, our intentions are great, but our actions are weak and inadequate. In the early 1860s, Charles Dickens created a character just like this in his novel Great Expectations. Herbert Pocket was a young man who had grand plans, but instead of fulfilling his dream, he spent his time "looking about him." He made plans for years without doing anything about them.

Over 100 years before that, John Wesley preached a sermon called The Almost Christian where he addressed the path of intentions directly...

...do good designs and good desires make a Christian? By no means, unless they are brought to good effect. "Hell is paved," saith one, "with good intentions." The great question of all, then, still remains. Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart? ... Do you then love your neighbour as yourself? Do you love every man, even your enemies, even the enemies of God, as your own soul? as Christ loved you? ..."

In other words, in the eyes of God, it's not our good words, our great intentions, that matter -- it's our lives that count. What really matters is the way that we live out the love of God in the world.

• Not "we intend to feed the hungry," but "we have given the hungry something to eat."
• Not "we want prejudice to end," but "we have begun to break down the walls."
• Not "we are hoping for world peace," but "our actions have brought the peace of Christ into places that were once torn by war."

Why does it matter? Because in the end, we will not be judged by what we intended to do, but by those things we actually did.

It could be worse

Just as I find myself in the midst of sermon preapration, housework, charge conference paperwork, Disicple Bible Study preparation, pastoral care calls, etc., I remind myself that it could be worse. Take this letter from a number of sources on the internet:

Dear Mom,

Scoutmaster Webb told us to write our parents in case you heard about the flood and got worried. We’re all okay. Only one of our tents and two of our sleeping bags got washed away. Nobody drowned because we were all on the mountain looking for Chad when it happened. Oh yeah, please call Chad’s mother and tell her he’s okay. He can’t write her because of the cast on his arm.

I got to ride in one of the search-and-rescue Jeeps! It was neat! We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn’t been for all the lightning. Scoutmaster Webb got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Chad said he did tell him, but it was during the fire, so he probably didn’t hear him.

Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? It was so cool! The wet wood still wouldn’t burn, but one of our tents did, and some of our clothes. Boy, Johnny is going to look weird until his hair grows back!

We’ll be home Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn’t his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked good when we left. But he said with a car that old you have to expect something to break down. That’s probably why he can’t get insurance. We think it’s a neat car. He doesn’t care if we get it dirty, and if it’s hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 15 people in the car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and yelled at him.

This morning all the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn’t let me because I can’t swim, and Chad was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. And Scoutmaster Webb isn’t crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn’t even get mad about us leaving the life jackets behind. He has to spend a lot of time working on the car, so we’re trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess what? We passed our first-aid merit badges. When Dave dived into the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Also, Wade and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. He said they got sick like that with the food they ate in prison. I’m so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he figured out how to do things better while he was doing time.

I have to go now. We’re going into town to mail this and buy some bullets and more gasoline. Don’t worry about anything. We’re doing just fine.

Love, Your son

—Anonymous (various Internet sources).

IT is so easy in life to focus on all the ways that things have gone wrong; to see the negative in life. In the middle of even the most difficult of days, God is at work. I am reminded of the old hymn "Count Your Blessings."

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

I am more blessed than broken. I am more hopeful than helpless. I see more future than failure. I just wish that my first thought would have been, "Oh, how I am blessed" rather than "It could be worse."

Gracious God, turn my eyes and thoughts toward the countless blessings that I have. Help me live a life of overflowing gratitude that my thanksgiving may match your grace given to me. Amen!

Sermon Exerpt from Sunday, August 23, 2009

.........I am the father of Thomas and Jordan…I am the only father that they have – no one else can be their father…others can fill in when I’m absent, can help to meet a need if I am unavailable, but they are missing something if their father is not present and active in their lives. Who can do that? You? Of course not, that’s not your role, that’s not your calling. If there is going to be a father for Thomas and Jordan, it has to be me. Whether or not they have a father is measured by my action or inaction in their lives…agreed?.............

If there is a church here, YOU are the church…However active or inactive you choose to be determines how active or inactive the church is. And Paul says that you are part of a holy people – set apart for a great and specific work that only you can do. Christ lives in you -- So go, tell everyone about Christ.......

The future and direction of this church depends on you, because you are the church.

Your choices, your decisions, your priorities, your stubbornness, your generosity, your openness, your graciousness, your words and deeds ARE the shape and form of this church – you are the brick and mortar laid on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ!......................

When leaders fall: My Two Cents on Governor Sanford

Okay, I have to admit it; I am very disappointed today. I realize that many people have thought many different things about Gov. Sanford and his stances and policies over the years. Many have been crying out against him as he said 'no' to $770 million in government stimulus money.

Whatever your opinion regarding his policies, he is the governor of South Carolina. He stands as the chief executive of our state and has chosen a place of service under the highest of scrutiny. When anyone chooses the public life, their decisions impact not only their family, but the people they govern.

Today's news of his 5 day disappearance to have an affair with a woman from Argentina has hurt our state. It breaks confidence in our government; it undermines current and future leadership. Even worse, it sets a horrible example for other men in leadership throughout the state. It has destroyed any chance he had to run for President of the United States.

I can't help but think of another leader. He was a man in his prime who was known for standing on his convictions. He lead his people through some rocky times -- hard transitions in shifting political leadership. People admired him, fought for him, and died for him. King David had a promising future; he was a "man after God's own heart."

And yet, in a series of selfish decisions, he had an affair with a married woman (okay, it was much worse; he had her husband killed after he slept with her so that he could marry her). What was the end result? No sin is hidden from God -- David was confronted with his sin; and the cost was terrible. The ripple of that impact touched the leaders of Israel as each one following David were less obedient than the one before. David's sin impacted the whole people for years to come.

Through all this, David came to recognize his need to fully rely on God. We find that his beautiful prayer in Psalm 51 comes as a response to being confronted by his sin. God was still able to do great things through David; however, the consequences of his actions continue to live in Scripture today.

None of us may have nearly the public eye as Gov. Sanford. We may never draw national attention for what we do (or fail to do). But, each of us has an audience -- a world in which we serve as a leader for others. They watch us, trust us, rely upon us, and look up to us. When we fall, their trust is betrayed, and great is the hurt and pain that follows.

If we are on the wrong course, headed down the path of a series of bad choices, it is time to stop. Read through Psalm 51 -- not as a lesson for learning, but as a prayer to God. God can change our hearts, and redeem our lives.

Let us pray for our leaders and their hearts, that no more may have to fall...

Grace and Peace to you all.

Just for fun

It has been such a serious couple of months that I thought some levity was in order.
Here is a list of "Famous Last Words." Enjoy...

Famous Last Words:
1. What does this button do?
2. It’s probably just a rash.
3. Are you sure the power is off?
4. The odds of that happening have to be a million to one!
5. Hey y'all! Watch this!
6. Which wire was I supposed to cut?
7. I wonder where the mother bear is.
8. I’ve seen this done on TV.
9. I’ll hold it and you light the fuse.
10. This doesn’t taste right.
11. Nice doggie.
12. I can do that with my eyes closed.

Why did God wait to send Jesus?

I had someone ask me today, "Why did God wait to send Jesus? God would save; the people would fail. The people cried out, and God would answer. Why not send Jesus in the beginning and just skip all of the ups and downs?"

My wife and I recently replaced our family mini-van after the transmission failed. I have actually known for a long time that it needed replacing. There were hints and clues all along the way. It would jerk and change gears in awkward ways -- only on occasion. Most of the time, we were cruising along just fine.

Whenever trouble arose, we addressed it. We would send it to the mechanic for repairs. We flushed out the old transmission fluid and put in new. But we never considered replacing the van with a new one until the old one no longer worked. Why? Because of the cost.

The repairs for transmission maintenance were expensive, but we were able to handle them within our budget. A new vehicle was more than we could squeeze into a single year -- it would cost us thousands of dollars; a price we only wanted to pay if there were no other way.

I imagine that the same could be for God. Sure, God could have sent Jesus to save the world years earlier, but instead, there were countless times of restoration, countless moments of forgiveness. Why? Because of the cost. The recent days through Holy Week we recalled the sacrificial death of Christ. These days point to the cost Jesus paid for us -- the agony, the shame, the loneliness.

More than this, we fail to recognize how impossible it would be for one of us to have a child die for someone else. And not just anyone else, at that, but to die for someone who had turned their back on you...who had hurt you...who had abandoned you.

This is not to say that God hesitated to offer Jesus. No, this was not the case. Instead, the length of time in human history that passed before Jesus came and walked among us is an acknowledgment of the true breadth and depth of the love offered. People had failed to be faithful. We could not save ourselves. We needed a great High Priest who could stand in our place and make a perfect offering for our forgiveness. In spite of the pain, regardless of the cost, God sent Jesus when we needed him most.

Trying to walk with Web feet...

I have always felt that technology comes pretty easily to me. I have never had to ask for help setting a VCR, alarm clock, or most anything digital. But I find myself caught in between two worlds...the world of the always-on, always-connected digital generation and the generation (s) that still does not know what to do with all of this. I have been looking into social networking, podcasting, Twittering, blogging (obviously), and many other avenues for connection over the internet and digital world.

Let me know what you think...which directions you travel. How do you keep in touch with people day-to-day? What would help you get more connected with the church like you are with your friends? How can the church reach out to other people just like you so that we can share the love and grace of Jesus with them?

I am looking forward to our conversation....

Pastor James

New Beginnings

I guess everything deserves a new beginning; that includes pastors who have been hesitant to begin posting on the web.

I will seek to answer some of the questions that have you struggling, even as I ask some more myself.

This first post is just the trial run to see what it takes to share my blog with you.