Being Better

I want to better.  I want to send emails and write blog entries with  no spelling errors.  I want to be healthier.  I want to be a more compassionate person.  I want to be more effective in my time management.  I want to be neater. I want a better relationship with God.  I want to give my family more quality time.  I want to cook more and eat out less.  I want to drink less soda.  I want whiter teeth.  I want to be in a better place financially.  I want to be a better listener.

The list of my wants goes on.  I imagine I am not the only one who wants to be a better version.  The way I live my life is a testament to God, so every error seems to be letting God down.  My imperfections are glaring and ever before me.  I imagine that is why I like Peter so much.  He routinely makes mistakes in the Bible.  He is rebuked, warned, and scolded.  He denies Jesus.  Yet, it is on him that the church is built.

Peter shows us that we are not expected to be perfect.  We are expected to do our best to honor God.  We are expected to realize our need of God’s guidance.  We are called to realize that we need other people to help us and hold us accountable.  No one is perfect.  We all want to be better.  We can only expect a certain amount of self improvement, the rest is god improvement.  Especially this week, let us be molded and shaped by the one who loves us unconditionally.  Let’s not pay attention to the small things, but let us pay attention to the large things.  Let us pay attention to Jesus, our faith life, and how we share our faith with the world.  Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.  Do you deny Jesus?  Do you deny Jesus your time or attention?  Do you deny Jesus a place in your decision making?

Maybe we cannot get all our wants met, but we can grow as children of God.  We can in our imperfect states be builders of the kingdom.  Allow God to work in and through you.  Accept God’s offer of relationship with you just as you are.

Taking Care of the Babies

One of the joys of my ministry is supervising Epworth Day School.  I get the privilege of visiting with the children and staff on a regular basis, including the infant room.  The other day I walked into the infant room, and it seemed to be in chaos.  There were babies crying, some loudly, and babies needing to be fed.  I quickly realized that the staff had everything under control.  The one on my left was crying because he couldn’t get out of a particular spot.  The staff encouraged him, and he eventually got himself out of the spot he had gotten himself into. He needed to work it out for himself so that he could continue to learn how to move his body.  Directly in front of me was the loudest “cryer.”  I later found out that  he is colicky and has some bad hours.  This happened to be one of them.  The staff was in control of what appeared to be a very chaotic situation.

 

Sometimes life feels out of control.  We have situations where we get stuck and cannot seem to find our way out.  We get frustrated.  We are upset, and we don’t even know why.  No matter what situation we are facing, God is with us.  We are not alone.  Sometimes we need to work out our situations so that we will learn.  Other times we cry until we allow God to hold and care for  us.  It all depends on the situation.

 

We can rejoice that God is present to help make sense of our chaos, but there are others who don’t know.  They don’t know that God is present to support them in the chaos of their lives.  There are some who are crying out, but they don’t know that Jesus is waiting to comfort them.  They don’t know that God is always ready to hear our cries.

 

How do we help others to know that they are not alone?  How do we comfort the afflicted?  These are some of the questions we will wrestle with this Sunday at Epworth United Methodist Church.  You are invited to join us.  Worship is September 15 at 11 am.  Everyone is welcome.

Music for the Soul

We all wander – we can all come Home

Always

God uses the ordinary

When many of us think of an evangelist, we think of someone who has much more personality or knowledge of the Bible than us.  An evangelist is a someone who has great faith, much more than ordinary folks like us.  Or, at least, that is what we imagine.  The truth is that evangelists are ordinary people who seek to do what God wants everyone to do.  God wants us to share our faith with others so that they might find their own faith in Jesus.  We tell others how faith shapes and informs our lives so that they can be open to the possibility of faith in their own life.  It is like sharing the insider information for life.  We go to those around us to find service providers, such as mechanics and hair dressers,  so we do the same thing with something much more important.

St. Patrick’s Day is known for the joyous celebration of Irish heritage, green beer, and leprechauns.  Yet, if we take the time to look up St. Patrick, we find someone who went from a wealthy family to being kidnapped.  He was forced to be a slave in Ireland.  While a slave, he heard God calling him to flee Ireland.  Eventually, he went back to Ireland to share his faith with the people.  The place of his enslavement was also the place where he reached out to others.  Many accounts paint him as an ordinary person, although we don’t know much about him.  We think that he probably died on March 17, so we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on that day.

We learn from him that no matter what our background, God can use us.  We are all called to share our faith.  God can use each one of us, but we have to open ourselves to God’s call on our lives.  As we move through the season of Lent, I wonder what God is calling you to do.  It may be that God is calling you to invite friends and family to worship with you on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.  It can be about more than eggs and bunnies.  It can be an opportunity to share faith.  St. Patrick used ordinary items to share faith.  What will you use?

Which Way?

 

Learning Together

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” is a saying that most of us have probably heard.  But, we are not dogs!  We are followers of Jesus.  We are people who continue to grow and learn until our lives are over.  The cartilage in our bodies continues to grow, including our noses and ears.  We also can continue to grow in wisdom and knowledge of God.

This spiritual discipline is an act of piety.  It allows us to reflect upon our lives and God.  These acts of reflection prepare us to receive God’s grace more fully.  Study allows our minds to grow.  When we study with a group of other people, we are able to grow even more because we have the benefit of their knowledge.  We can learn more when we study together.

We also have the chance to grow our relationships with others which is an added benefit to becoming involved in a study or small group.  Church membership is not required to get involved.  Below are some of the types of classes and groups:

Bible Study:  God has given us the Bible so that we may learn about God.  There are many ways to study the Bible.  Some of these studies occur during a morning class such as Sunday school.  Some of these are long term studies.  Others focus on a specific biblical theme.

Virtual Classes: These on-line classes offer a digital class experience.  Some of the course are at a specific time and offer interaction with the group while others are done at your own pace and in your own time.  Many of these are offered through the United Methodist Church.

Workshops: These are usually one or two days and focus on a specific topic.  We often have workshops with outside trainers and teachers to gain new knowledge.

Book Study: The number of times these groups gather can vary.  Some will meet once to discuss a specific book while other groups will meet over a course of weeks to glean insight from a book.  These are great opportunities for those who like to have time to process information before sharing thoughts about the information presented.

Thematic Study: Sometimes we want to delve into a topic or theme.  These studies can vary in length, but they are usually focused around a specific topic.  Our church is focusing on spiritual disciplines, so we will have a study on prayer as well as Sabbath.

There are many types of classes and ways to get involved.  The important thing is that we never stop growing.  In order to grow, we must find time for growth, study, and fellowship.

Tempted, Tried, and Loved

God is Love

Celebrating Valentine’s Day can be a joy or a burden.  Some struggle with the constant reminders of romantic love.  Some struggle with the pressure to buy traditional gifts regardless of personal preference or finance.  Some mourn a love lost.  Some mourn a love that has never been. Others are truly celebrating.  They are full of love and want the whole world to know.  There are often surprises for some and for others life changing decisions.  No matter how you feel about Valentine’s Day, God loves you.

God loves you completely and unconditionally.  It is a love larger than any love that one person can feel for another person.  It is a love larger than what we feel for ourselves at times.  It is a love that is present before we are even aware, and it is a love that continues always.  This love is not only for us, but it is a love God has for everyone.

This Valentine’s Day maybe we should consider how we respond to God’s love.  In this season of reflection and preparation, maybe it is time that we look at how we share God’s love with others in the world.  Are we as loving as we can be, or are we pre-occupied with our own feelings?  Are we wrapped up in ourselves and our circle of friends, or do we consider those beyond our personal circle?  Do you show care for those in your daily life, or do you demand that they march to the beat of your drum?

Many in our world spend a great deal of time and energy on finding and cultivating a romantic love.  What if you gave God a tenth of that time to showing love to other people?  If we reached out to one new person each day for the rest of Lent, would our perspective change?