On being thankful ...

For many, Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November is the “ready, set, go” to the panic that has become the holiday season. I prefer to think of Thanksgiving as a significant pause from the push and pull of life – three or four days of reflection and calm before we have to rejoin the crescendo of activity that builds until we gather on December 24 to once again sing, Silent Night. Have you ever noticed how your soul longs for quiet and contemplation and the world keeps screaming at us to run faster, jump higher and perform louder.

How do we guard our quiet times from a world that wants to push in on us and demand that we cut short our celebrations so as to not miss the pre-black Friday sales? How do we say no to the noise that would crowd in on us and demand our attention, suggesting to us that our contemplation needs to take a back seat to sporting events and parades and food? Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not a kill-joy! I love to watch football and the Macy’s Christmas Parade and eat turkey just like every other AmeriCanadian.

I’ve discovered that what helps set my perspective is that I have to have an object to my gratitude. I cannot just have a thankful attitude, but I have to give thanks to the One who has provided the abundance that I enjoy. I cannot just muse on the fact that I have more than most people in the world and that I should somehow feel satisfied in that, but rather I must humbly offer my thanks to the gracious God who provides for me and recognize that he expects me to steward my wealth with that same spirit of gratitude.     

So as we approach Thanksgiving, lets prepare for those moments of quiet when we can express our thanks to Almighty God who blesses our lives lavishly. In the midst of our abundance, lets practice contentment and push back against the noise of greed and selfishness that wails at our door. Let’s remind each other that our heavenly Father is the one who should be the object of our praise.      

I Like What I See

Recently at the breakfast table we were talking about how we are adjusting to our new life in NE Georgia. I said to Ruth, “I don’t always know what I’m looking at, but I like what I see.” Those of you who have ever lived in a culture that was not your own can appreciate my thought. Sometimes what we see and experience is just different from what is familiar to us. Now different is not bad – in fact different can be very good. That’s why I say,  “I like what I see”.

I had never experienced a chicken mull until last month. While I didn’t know what I was looking at I liked that I saw friends cooperating in a centuries old tradition, one generation teaching the next the value of their heritage.

Where I grew up there are no BBQ joints - let alone one on almost every corner – but it doesn’t take you long to discover that good smells and good food can come from a place named The Butt Hutt. I like that pulled pork and tea can result in meaningful conversation and friendship.

I’m not used to hearing young people reply with a respectful “Mame” or “Sir” but I like it when I hear it.  The respect and polite manners common in southern cultural add value and dignity to others. I’ll take it over “huh?” or “what?” any day of the week.

We have been made to feel welcome from the first time we walked through the doors of Antioch Church back in November and there has not been a Sunday that has gone by that someone has not said, “We’re really glad you’re here!”

While it’s easy to spot differences, it’s also easy to spot similarities. Each Sunday we worship together with people who love God like we do. We have been welcomed by people whose hope of eternal life is based on their faith in what Jesus has secured for them through his death and resurrection. We have become part of a family that desires to reach their county and the world beyond with the life changing power of the gospel. Ultimately this is what binds people together – their identity and their purpose.  When I look at the church I know what I’m looking at and I like what I see!

No News is Good News! Right?

We've all said it at one time or another when waiting for the result of an important decision, "No news is good news." As long as we don't know that our desired outcome has slipped away without becoming a reality we still have hope that it will somehow work out. Our hope may be in vain, but as long as we don't know that we hope in vain we still have the prospect of good news.

For the past 2 months and 13 days I have adopted a "no news is good news" attitude toward my circumstances. On July 29 I was told that the job for which we had left Ohio and moved to Florida was no longer mine. "It's not going to work out", I was told. I was done!

The emotions coursed through me - anger, fear, anxiety. My head was swimming. It was the first time in my life that I had to come to my wife and tell her that I was unemployed. It was the first time in thirty years of ministry that I wasn't surrounded by a church family.

But I have changed churches before. I have put together a resume and successfully landed jobs. I know how this is to be done. I just need to get on the job sites, check in with a few friends, get some talk going and it wouldn't be long before a church somewhere would be calling to tell me that they believed I was just the guy for whom they were looking. So I started sending resumes to those churches that  looked to be a fit. I made contact with search committees and senior church leaders who were looking for staff. And the answer I got (when I was given the courtesy of an answer) was "no news yet - we're having a meeting soon or we're talking to several candidates or we're not sure the position we advertised is the position for which we want to hire." And so I wait.

Every day is becoming the same. Each morning, and several times each day, I check my email. "Surely today I will hear something from someone," I say to myself. I have breakfast with my wife before she heads to work and then I scour the same websites to see if someone somewhere has posted a  church ministry job to which I feel led to apply. If nothing new presents itself then I start on the secular job market. I'm going to have to make some money some how and soon. If convincing a church to hire you is a tough deal, trying to get a secular employer to take notice is something else altogether. I have skills of administration and management, finance and communication, but I'm beginning to think that when a potential employer sees my resume all they can see is a middle aged pastor type with little real world experience. I can't blame them, I mean really, who wants to take a risk on that.

So tonight I still have a few active prospects - the ones that have actually acknowledged receiving my application and say they will get back to me when they have something to report. And because they haven't yet said no, I choose to  to continue to believe that no news is good news.

My Missing Tithe

This little piece was originally written as a reminder and encouragement to the supporters of Graceland Ministries. I think there is a general application for all of us, no matter where we have committed to lend our support.

Last week, my wife Ruth said to me, “Shall I write the tithe check for this Sunday?” I was somewhat confused by her question for a couple of reasons. Since I am paid on the last business day of the month and the one closest to the 15^th in the middle of the month our tithe checks typically hit the basket on the first and third Sundays of each month. This was now the fourth Sunday and I had assumed – incorrectly apparently – that our check had already been deposited to the church coffers and had already cleared my account. 

I was further confused, for a quick glance at the account balance on an ATM slip had lead me to believe that the tithe check had already cleared. I logged onto my account for a closer look and low and behold it had neither cleared nor was there enough money left in the account to cover what I had determined would be my midmonth contribution. I told Ruth not to write a check and that I would get one in before the money was counted and deposited on Monday. On my way to the church office on Monday morning I went by the bank and moved some money from another account to cover my tithe check. In the rubble that I try to pass off as a filing system on the front seat of my pickup truck I was sure I had a checkbook for my account. Three books of checks for other accounts – not one single check for the account I needed. I sheepishly told the volunteers counting the offering that I would have to leave one for next week – looked like I was going to miss this deposit as well.

I know that as I write this silly little anecdote, many of you will identify with my plight. Often the money runs out before the month, unexpected summer expenses – some important and some frivolous chip away at our finances and all of a sudden we are unable to do what we have committed to do. The important thing almost got missed because of my inattentiveness. The giving lines of my personal budget are at the very top of the page to remind me that they need to be a priority for me. But unless I’m diligent in keeping those line items as a priority, other needs, cares, concerns and wants will vie for their position.

Last week I spoke with my friend Ron, who is the treasure for Graceland Ministries in Canada. I wanted to check in with him and have him reassure me that the funds that support Graceland’s budget are continuing to be received from our supporters and friends throughout the summer months. The news however was not what I had hoped. While giving from churches has increased some over last year’s average, giving from individuals has dropped off by about 33%. I suspect that for some of our Graceland supports the priority of giving to this important ministry has been replaced with other priorities over the summer. There are probably checks that were suppose to get written that didn’t, good intentions that got side tracked and not acted upon and some checkbooks that got lost in the shuffle of paper on someone’s desk (or car seat.)

Jesus said it best, didn’t he? “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:21

Well, my check has been written and placed on the desk where those who are making next week’s deposit will find it. I’m grateful that I was still able to do what I had committed to do and my own inattentiveness did not leave the ministry of our church short changed. I know that many of you who will read this feel the same way about your commitments to the work of God that you support. Let me encourage you to be faithful to do all that God has placed in our heart to do both for your home congregation and for the ministries, like Graceland, that rely on your faithful, generous support.

I trust that the rest of your summer will be safe, fun and faith-filled as you enjoy your time with family and friends.

Healing

In the past couple of months our church has witnessed the miracle of physical healing in the lives of a couple of our members.This past week as I was preparing to preach I was confronted once again with Jesus instruction to his disciples to anoint and heal the sick in Mark 6. While working through that passage I received this testimony of God's healing grace in the life of a young lady I have never met, as told by her husband who I only knew casually for a brief time several years ago. I was very moved by the way God has worked in their lives and I know you will be to. They have asked to remain anonymous and so I have edited the original story to respect their wishes. I'm sure you will be blessed as you read.

Nancy's Story ...
After attending a friend’s funeral, my wife Nancy and I took a couple days at the family cabin to think and pray about life. I remember asking the Lord that if there was anything he wanted to teach us or to do in our lives, that we wanted Him to do it. Two hours later, while driving home a guy ran a stop sign and our lives were changed forever.

The accident wasn't that bad, but I could see there was something wrong with Nancy from the moment of impact. She was shaking and couldn't seem to coordinate herself. We went to the hospital and they gave her some pain killers and told me to take care of her. The fire department had used the “jaws of life” to bend our fender out from the tires so that the car could be driven home, and so away we went.

In the next couple weeks, I watched as her nervous system shut down. It became evident that something happened that was preventing her body from receiving certain messages, while at the same time she was receiving pain sensations from absolutely everything. The doctors put her on a cocktail of Demerol, methadone and other drugs that took away the girl I'd married and left me with a fragile and broken shell of who she used to be. Through the next few months, her mobility decreased to the point where we had to purchase a scooter. She could hobble around the house but she could not get around anywhere else. The final word from the specialist was that she would not be getting better. This was to be her life, and the sooner we got used to it, the better off we would be.

August 20, 2008 – the anniversary of the accident - came and went. Three full years of believing in a God who was able to heal but was choosing not to. At the same time our insurance company was stonewalling. We were spending hundreds of dollars a month out of our own pockets on naturopathic care, which was the only thing that was helping. I had been working my 40-50 hour week at my job, then picking up another 20 or so hours of side work just to keep our finances on track.

On the morning of August 23rd I came to my breaking point. I was trying to rebuild our home after a flood had left us with black mold. I wound up taking 7 months off work to renovate our home because we couldn't afford to pay anyone to do the work that was required. The day before, I received an entire truckload of windows for the house and didn't have a clue how to install them. All the guys who had promised to help me cancelled out and I was left to do it myself.

As Nancy and I visited that morning, she noticed that I was carrying a larger than normal chip on my shoulder. When she asked me why, it all came out. I told her I was sick of it all and I was tired of a God who is able to heal but won't. I ranted and raved and made a fairly large ass of myself. And then the girl who had every right to be upset told me that she refused to be upset at the Lord, but that His ways are perfect and even in this miserable situation she had seen me change from being self centered to being there for her. God was working and that she was confident that this was his will. Our friends who had told us that we had sin in our lives and insufficient faith were wrong. God allows suffering to bring about character we wouldn't otherwise develop. Over the next several hours we prayed through all kinds of stuff... and that's when we heard it...

Nancy looked at me and started to say something, and I told her, "I know, I heard Him too." We both heard a voice that said, "I am here to heal you today". I put my hands on my wife and started to pray because that's what was on my heart to do. As I prayed I could feel her being straightened back up and I could feel a heat and a vibration. When we were done praying, nothing seemed different. A few minutes later, Nancy hobbled to the bathroom and that's where she heard a voice say, "get up and walk." For 3 years, when she tried to lift her legs, they would only come up an inch or two, but when she attempted to lift her right leg, it came all the way up to her chest. She tried the left leg and the same thing happened. She called to me and I went and saw what the Lord had done.

 
For the first time in 3 years she was able to grab our sons, pick them up and hug them.That week we started dance lessons because she had always wanted to dance, and I figured, if you're able to dance, then I'm there. I can't even tell you all the things I have learned through the experience of those three years. We both agree that if we were given the opportunity to go back in time we would choose to go through it all again. What God did in us was worth the difficulties along the way.

In Honor of Father's Day

Well that day on the calendar has come and gone that is reserved for dear ole dad. Each year I dutifully look for some appropriate expression of my thoughts, but I always feel a little misrepresented by the store bought cards. Some are too sentimental, some try too hard to be manly while others attempt humor that just never seems to be truly funny. And so I sign my name to the best compromise I can find and hope that my dad knows that I'm thinking of him even if the words are a little goofy or sappy.

I think my problem with finding the perfect card is that none of them accurately represent my dad. He's never been a very sentimental guy although I know his feelings run very deep. I wouldn't describe him as macho although he has never shied away from hard work. When it comes to getting a job done he is the first one in and the last one out. He is not a humorist but he does enjoy a funny store or a clever joke and when he finds one worth telling he will do so with aplomb.


Those things in which Dad found significance are probably the things that have shaped my adult life the most. He loved God. He worked hard. He served others. He was faithful to his commitments. Each one of those simple statements could be developed more fully but I'll refrain for now.

A year ago I had the privilege of taking Dad with me to Poland. It was a trip of a life time for him and he participated fully. Whether it was the long flight, unfamiliar food, the interaction with students at Graceland Ministries, the visit to Wawel castle, the 700 steps at the salt mines in Wieliczka and the sobering day at Auschwitz, he took it all in stride.

Probably the memory of that trip that will live longest with me was when one morning at our group devotional time Dad lead out in prayer. It was a prayer like I had often heard him pray when I was a kid, but not for quite some time as an adult. It wasn't that it was profoundly worded or well organized - it was my earthly father speaking to our heaven father about the things that concerned him. His family, scattered all over the continent, ministries and missionaries that he has followed for years, friends who were sick or facing difficulty and so on. Somehow his words were like anchors or a foundation that connected me strongly to the past and the heritage of faith that has become mine.

As my dad reaches his mid seventies he shows very few signs of slowing down. His life is still filled with ministry and purpose just as it always has been. On the phone a few weeks ago dad asked, "So when ya goin' back to Poland?" I know the unasked question was "Do ya think I could go along?" Absolutely - anytime.

Thanks Dad, for your life, your love and your faith.

Planting and Harvesting

Sunday evening, after a very full day, I potted a couple of tomato and pepper plants for our patio. It's not really a garden, but hopefully it will give us a little taste of freshness sometime latter this summer. Monday morning I looked out the patio window at my pots with their 6 inch plants and jokingly reported to Ruth that we still didn't have any tomatoes as if I had expected they would appear over night.

That's not how growth and maturity happens, is it? It will take many weeks for my plants to grow to maturity, for the blossoms to appear and then for the fruit to form and ripen. So it is in our spiritual life. We have to plan and prepare for growth. The planting that is happening in my life right now will bear fruit weeks and month from now as the seed germinates and the resulting growth is cultivated and nurtured. The fruit that is maturing in my life right now is the result of seed that was planted sometime in the past.

As partners with God in the sowing of seed in peoples lives, we need to be looking for the fertile soil - the place to sow that God has prepared. Where is that in your life? What is it that God has specifically called you to do at this time? Where will you sow your seed? Where will you participate in the harvest?

If you have read this far why not hit the comment button and leave your thoughts. Let's work together for the harvest.