Good afternoon, friends!
Today we continue our journey to Jerusalem. This week we will be talking about proclaiming the gospel, the good news of God's love.

Our passage today comes from Luke 1:19, where Gabriel lets Zechariah know he will have a baby. When the priest doesn't believe him, he shares who he is. "19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news." He then strikes him mute for 9 months. 

We need to find our self-image, and who we are, from being in the presence of God, as the angels do. God's Spirit lives inside us and will help and guide us at each step of our journey. Live today knowing God's presence and blessing in your life!

Sight & Belief

 It is ironic that we are talking about sight and belief today. Today is the 80th birthday of my father-in-law, Larry Smith, the closest thing I have had to a father for 24 years. I am blessed to know and be loved by him. 

Larry says we have to believe. We should believe enough to follow Christ and do what Christ wants us to do, including living out our faith, being honest, and generous, and sharing what God has done for us.

Many say seeing is believing, that they will believe what they can see and understand. I think of Larry and a couple of others who would argue. 

Judy was the wise elf in The Santa Clause. She said that rather than that, believing is seeing. 

Saint Augustine went further. He said, from Hebrews 11, that faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.I think they are right. When I believe, and live out that belief, I am getting the vision of what God wants my life, others, and the earth to be. As I see God's vision, I begin to see what I believe, about God, myself, and the world. Believe and you will see!

 

Early Morning Thanksgiving

 It was almost a quarter century ago. I had a baby boy who would wake up about this time. He and I would go into the other room, letting Mom sleep. He would have an early morning bottle, and I would sit and hold him, check email, and give thanks. I spent a lot of other days with him in his life, but those early mornings were special.

Stephen is grown and married to a marvelous lady. They love other people and their kids in Franklin, Tennessee. Later in life he had a sister, who he has helped to love and grow. I am blessed to spend these mornings with her, seeing her grow into a wonderful Godly young lady who makes the world a much better place. I am amazed that the Lord has given us two such wonderful young people, As Sarah said the other day, we have a blessed life.

On occasions I still wake up about this time and give thanks. There are lots of things going on in our church, the families in it, the ministries I am a part of, our community, nation and world. They demand attention, concern and seem at times to be clouds and storms in our lives.

Sometimes we see what to do, and other times we aren't sure what steps to take. As I look at these people, places and times, I know where to go. The Lord calls me to relationship, communion, life together with the Almighty. From that, God leads. There are things I can't change, things I can pray about, and things God allows me to work on. Most of all, I can pray and allow God to change me, to work with the Lord in these situations.

Lord, thank you for early mornings, children and adults who grow in you, and the blessings and challenges we have. Help me to work with you, and let you work in me, to be the person who can love those you place in my life and be part of your transformation of lives and this world.

LENT- A Cure for Microwave Christianity

Tomorrow starts a very important season for Christians today- Lent. Some don't even know what it is, and very few truly celebrate it. It is the season from tomorrow until Easter, when we do without, when we fast and pray, when we meditate on Christ's journey to Jerusalem and the cross. 

But Lent is vital for us in 2022- for it brings us a Godly perspective many have left behind.

Lent is the cure for our modern microwave life and faith. In giving more time to God, in denying ourselves "normal" things, in focusing on Christ's journey to Jerusalem, not our own paths, we are changed. We become part of a global, eternal body, not the specific time, meeting or group we find ourselves in. We share life with the Church and God's people for thousands of years, taking time from life to celebrate who God is and what God has done. 

So briefly, I ask that you hear the church's call to Lent- 

Seek God's face and let God lead you to do without this season. It may be one or more meals. It may be a food, or drink, hobby or media. It may be a habit or even an addiction that has you under its control. But ask God what you should do without to better concentrate on the Lord. And keep that denial between now and Easter.

As our days grow warmer and brighter, and as our time gets busier, take more time in these days to seek God. Spend more time reading the Word. Spend more time in prayer. Spend time simply thinking about the Lord and about scripture. 

And celebrate- celebrate Jesus' path to Jerusalem. The miracles, the teaching, the times with his disciples. Celebrate our God in worship, by yourself and with God's people. Share these times with your family- celebrating God's goodness each day and teaching your family to follow God as you follow God. 

Turn off your microwave schedule and use this lent to find again the waiting, the seeking, the gentle joy of God in Lent. 

Forever, ooh.

One of my favorite times in life was a Ministry Outreach team at Trevecca in 1987-88. It was my girlfriend Teresa my best friend Tim, Jerry, Belinda, Avis, Stephanie, Rhonda, Billy and some others from time to time. We worked played laughed prayed traveled together and had chances to do awesome stuff in local churches across the region.
We also did skits and songs and other things at those churches. One of the skits that I think was by Hicks and Cohagen was called Sunday School. In that skit two of the characters have an argument and one of them ends by saying forever! The kids watching say ooh!
Forever- ooh!
Well now I've been a pastor for 18 years. I've been married for 32 years. I've married a few dozen couples counseled others and seen hundreds of relationships go up and down and stop and start.
I've seen a lot of singles, couples marriages and formerly married people talk about how bad marriage is. My oldest child is getting married in about 50 days. As that happens I think again about how much I believe that marriage is not a sentence but a blessing.
Early in our marriage Teresa and I had regular  fights over stupid and serious things. Part of that was both of us being used to getting our way, working full time and going to graduate school full time, and part might have been natural energy and balance. We had an argument every other Saturday evening for months.
A very few times one of us would almost decide we were done. When that happened each time one of us- a different one at different times- would bring us back to what we knew. We knew we loved each other we knew that we believe God has put us together and we knew that we had made a commitment for life before God our families and our friends.
I have pastored individuals and couples through counseling through arguments and even a few times through divorce.
I do not believe that every marriage will succeed. I do not believe that every marriage is God's will. But I do believe in every lifelong relationship there comes a point where both parties decide whatever happens We are US, not you and me. It no longer becomes me and you or you and me but it is we. In the movie The Marrying Man, at a significant point in their relationship there was a chance for a couple to stay together or pursue individual dreams. He said this is best for both of us and she said don't go I Believe in Us. I think that discussion and some form happens in the hearts and minds of every couple.
For my wonderful son who married above and his wife, for my daughter Sarah and our adopt-a-man Paul, and everyone else, I would encourage all of us to make our decisions carefully and when we have decided to decide that we believe in US. Forever- Ooh! :)

What I Wish I Knew When I Became a Pastor

Sunday evening I celebrated a pastor's installation. There was a beautiful covenant between pastor and church, and God's presence and blessing was there. I pray it is a long successful pastorate in our flagship church here.
But as that happened, I thought about recent and older conversations I have had, successes and failures, and what I have learned. So I am trying to write down the things I didn't know when I started pastoring. I know there have been books written about this. I'm not writing a whole book. But this is what I have seen in ministry that I want those with and following me to hear.
It's a simple list, colored by my life, education and experiences. I am in my 50s, have been married since 1989, parent a teenager and newlywed young adult, have a B.A. and 2 graduate degrees, and have ministered in a hospital as chaplain, 3 YMCA as afterschool director, and 3 churches. A child of laymen, I volunteered and had leadership roles in my home church, 2 college churches and seminary church. I received an excellent education from men I still honor, and had two great pastors while in school.
My first pastoral role was head of a church school and daycare. I had a 1 year interim that was a blessing, and have pastored where I am for 22 years.

But there were things I needed to learn. Some of this was taught in school (marked *), but learning how important it was came later. I pray that my words and lessons might make your journey better.

1. Jesus' language is love*. Most of a pastor's mistakes include forgetting that at some point. I did not understand how important it is in what you do, how you treat and work with others. Whether all together or in conflict, seeing blessing or experiencing trials, letting Christ's love rule your thoughts, words and actions is ALWAYS a priority. 
2. The pastor's job is to pray, pastor, preach,  disciple, administer and equip*. These things have no backup. If you don't do them or get them done, your church will suffer. Even if these aren't all your strengths, you have to do make sure they are done well. 
3. You are not the Lone Ranger*. Work with your people, your leaders, other pastors, your community, denomination and others God leads you to. Get to know them, listen to them, learn from them, and cooperate for the good of the Church and Kingdom. 
4. Your learning never ends*. Keep reading, keep listening, keep learning. But assimilate what you learn into your ministry, call and context with your people- don't just come home preaching someone else's message.
5. Pay the bills at home before becoming the big person somewhere else. Don't do your hobby- it evangelism, singing, another job or politics- to the neglect of your church. 
6. You cannot be Rick, Andy or Steven. But you can learn from them, as well as others. Meet and get to know the pastors in your community, mission group and denomination. A wise man can learn from a fool, but a fool cannot learn from anyone. Do not be the person who thinks they know it all. They end up preaching to the people who don't know better. 
7. Your church will accept a lot if you just love them and help them love Jesus. But you should not be satisfied with that. Continue to improve. Strengthen your weaknesses and build on your strengths.
8. If you find folks who love God passionately, love others generously, or accomplish things repeatedly, hang on to those folks. Everyone is loved by God, and should be loved by the church. But those who succeed, those who care strongly (in word and action), and those who are head over heels in love with Christ are few and far between. If a church is led by folks who have trouble making ends meet, being on time and appropriate, loving others to Christ, and getting things completed, that will affect what the church can do. You can help people find Christ, but character is a different matter. Those who work with God in outstanding churches have outstanding laypeople, be it 5 or 500. I am fortunate to have the best collection of leaders and almost-leaders our church has had in these days. 
9. There is no time clock. But you need to outwork your best leaders. You need appropriate rest, sabbath and retreat. But you also need to invest 45-60 hours in ministry (25-40 if part-time) and work smart. Enable leaders & others, use technology, get better to be more effective- but put in the work. 
10. Accept God's grace and forgiveness as peace and motivation. You don't have to do it all, but do have to keep pushing forward to the calling of Christ. Do not spend time kicking yourself. Repent regularly, accept forgiveness, and go on living more like Christ because of your failure.

What do you think? Share your ideas and suggestions. Maybe together we can write a book!

Send Troublesome Givers to Eastside, Please!

I have a question, and perhaps need suggestions from Pastors...

I got a note from a respected "help the churches" group yesterday telling me that 31% of my giving was going to come at the end of the calendar year.

Earlier, I also received a note about how all the churches are scared giving will drop because there is less tax incentive to give. Apparently the IRS tax policies change how much people give.

I also see how some churches are scared when their $50,000 a year giver gets upset about something.

...

So my question is- Where are those difficult and particular givers?

My second question- Can you send us some of them?

I pastor a small church in eastern Gastonia, NC, just 20 minutes from the Charlotte airport. We have a nice building, but welcome anyone who wants to come into our church. We Love God, Love Others, Make Disciples and Let God Change Us. We help all sorts of folks in different ways, and let just anybody come in.

But I haven't found any of the folks mentioned.

- My people (well, most of them) give their tithes to support the work of the Kingdom, not for some tax benefit. We could use folks wanting a tax benefit to give.

- Our folks also give when they get income. We could use an extra push from someone who only gives once in a while. Send me one of those.

- Our folks are working people, or on fixed incomes. We only have 4-5 that have what you might call a "professional" position. No one gives $50,000. We could use one of those.

So I guess I will keep doing what I can to Love God and Others, Make Disciples and Ask God to Change me. If you can tell me how to get these other folks, please share. But if you need to get rid of someone who only gives for the tax benefit, or who just gives at the end of the year, or who gets upset after giving a lot, send them to us. We'll love them and let God change them, too! :)