Just a vapor...

This afternoon I did the funeral for a precious baby girl who lived just 48 hours outside of her mommy's womb.  It was a difficult yet beautiful service as we celebrated the fact that little Lily Bug was in the arms of Jesus in a place where there was no pain, where the suffering that certainly would have been a part of her life because of her medical condition (trisomy 18) would never be experienced, and where she would be forever embraced by the Lord, free from the ugliness and sin that is so much a part of our world.  We looked to the Lord and in Him we found grace and strength, comfort and care as He embraced Lily's parents and family.  It was one of those services that I as a pastor struggle to perform, yet find such blessing in doing as I minister the grace the God.

In preparing for the service, I sat at my computer contemplating what James wrote in the fourth chapter and fourteenth verse of his epistle, Your life is but a vapor, here for a moment then vanishes away.  As I thought of those words, I remembered a phrase I've often considered -- You have but one life to live, so live it well.  What an incredible statement of challenge and import.

I live in what I tend to think of as a protected world.  While I am surrounded by the world and all of its ugliness, much of my life is lived within the insulation of the church -- separated from the ugliness of sin and the brokenness that affects so much of humanity.  But in that protected world, I often get glimpses of how painfully short real life can be.  The temptation is to live as if we have forever to make right choices and to choose Christ.  But the reality is this -- we have this moment -- and our next is not guaranteed or assured.  Our lives truly are but a vapor, here for a moment then vanishes away.

So how are you living the time that God has given you?  Have you put Jesus before everything so that your life is full and filled with His presence, peace, and grace?  Or are you struggling to find your way?  Lily Bug reminded me today that I have this moment -- and I challenge you to live it to its full in Christ with me!

Living in the Bullseye

Every once in a while I run across a verse or verses that jump off the pages of Scripture and hit me square between the eyes.  The ensuing period of reflection is amazing and God always uses these times in the "bullseye" to speak to my heart, provide correction where necessary, and let me know I need to trust Him more.  Such was the case this morning when in Eugene Peterson's paraphrase The Message I encountered Matthew 11:28-30.  Listen to how Peterson paraphrases these words from Jesus...

Are you tired? Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to Me.  Get away with Me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with Me and work with Me -- watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with Me and you'' learn to live freely and lightly.

Ever been there?  Are you living there now?  I am...tired, worn out, even burned out on the religion that surrounds me that is so much less than what God intended for a relationship with Him through His Son to be.  I am learning more and more each day about the importance of balance and living as Peterson paraphrases in the unforced rhythms of grace, that place where you lean on and trust in God more than your own abilities and resources.  In that process I am learning a few other things...

I am learning that some things can just be slid to the side, or even left undone completely.  

I am learning that the telephone is for my convenience and is not supposed to be my master.  There are times I don't have to answer just because it rings, and every text doesn't need my immediate attention.  There are some calls I will always answer -- from my wife, my children, my mom or my sisters -- or my inlaws -- or my secretary (she only calls when its really important).  But not every call gets my immediate attention.  There are times when it rings the caller has to leave a message, and if they don't I deem the call not very important, and certainly not worth returning.  And if they do leave a message, I will get back to them -- when it is convenient because that what phones and answering machines are supposed to be all about -- convenience.

I am learning that some emails just don't even need to be opened -- like forwards or advertisements or  things from people I've never heard of and don't know.  I know that email is a great way to communicate, but like a text on my phone, it is not preferred to verbal communication -- and if what people really need to share is really that important, they will call and if I answer, share it with me, and if not, leave a message for me to respond to at my convenience.  

And then there is that whole thing of social media.  I don't do Facebook very much.  I keep up with a few of my loved ones posts, and occasionally I even post something myself -- or on someone's page.  But I'm not all excited when someone messages me, or shares their latest pic or chronicles their night out with friends.  Its just not that important to me, and usually they share stuff that ought not be shared...at least if they don't want some corporate head hunter to find out about them and disqualify them for a job because of the friends they keep or the things they say they do and all that kind of stuff.

But then there is Twitter.  I actually like this one -- saying things profoundly yet simply in as few a words as possible.  Now the emphasis is on profound.  I don't care if you have a hole in your sock or you're hungry or whatever.  But when you share a link to an article that is worth reading, or a verse that provokes response from my heart, or an insight that causes deep thought -- that is why I like Twitter.  And I use it too...although not as perfectly as I wish I could.  And when someone whom I follow begins to use it as a tabloid for the inane...I cut them off -- it is a really refreshing feeling.

And all that is to say nothing of why I don't like watching live tv (I prefer to dvr shows -- then fast forward through the waste of time commercials...you can watch an hour show in just over 35 minutes), or junk mail - I throw it all away without ever looking at it (no wonder the landfills are full), and I always hang up on sales calls and surveys (even though I know that can be rude).

So why this rambling -- because I am learning that I am responsible for my fatigue, and my feeling worn out, and my experiencing burnout, and if I don't do something to crowd the craziness of my world out, it will continue to push and shove its way in and leave me feeling like I've lost me.  I have entered into a period of recovery...of taking Peterson's paraphrase of these verses seriously -- of learning the unforced rhythms of grace that I can reconnect with the Lord daily and in that, find the me He created me to be too.  It is amazing what a simple no, or unanswered call, or ignored text message, or not checking your Facebook, or looking at every piece of junk mail and the like can do.  It is amazing what happens when you put the important ahead of the cacophony of the urgent.  It is unbelievable how rested, and renewed, and reborn you can begin to feel...just by taking time to bask in the unforced rhythms of grace. 

You ought to try it...maybe like me, you'd begin to enjoy life again too.  I promise...it's worth the risk.

Catching Up...

It has been a long time since I sat down to share on my blog.  These have been challenging days as I have sought to understand the direction of ministry, the rhythms of life, and the range of emotions that accompany the empty nest.

In terms of the direction of ministry, I find myself more and more practicing what I call the slla model…stop for a moment, look and see what God is doing, listen for His voice and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and then act -- only as the Lord clearly directs my path.  While the place of ministry has not changed, the direction of my heart and what I perceive God wants to do in this place is changing -- we are seeing Him do a new thing, and there are incredible blessings to be experienced along the way.

In terms of the rhythms of life I am learning more and more what it means to find His strength in weakness as arthritis continues to ravage my body and the daily challenges of living with pain once again come against me.  I am thankful that God's grace is sufficient and that though prayer, diet, exercise, and just plain being tough, I am managing well in spite of the issues confronting me.  I am by no means overcome, and in Christ I am enjoying life, even if I am moving just a little slower.

In terms of the empty nest, well suffice it to say I miss my kids.  Our children have always been the center of our lives and now that both are "all grown up, married, and on their own" I am supposed to be excited about what the future holds for Debbie and me.  And while I am excited about the future, I must confess that I was made to be a dad and no matter how grown up they get, I still enjoy those daily phone calls, FaceTime chats, text messages, and occasional long distance hugs we get to share.  God blessed us with two kids that have now become four and we could not be happier.  And as for the empty nest -- well the house is just too quiet!

What this is all saying is that God is at work in my heart, shaping and making me more and more to be what He desires me to be during a season of change.  In the midst of it all He is reaffirming His call upon my life, helping me to find peace in the midst of the craziness that often accompanies my living, and is giving the strength that I need to remain faithful at the task.  God is good, and I am so blessed to live in relationship with Him.  Which brings me to another thing…

The whole concept of relationship has taken on a new image for me.  Over the last two months, we have celebrated the salvation of eight people in our Anglo services, and at least that and more through our Hispanic ministries.  With new life comes new opportunities, and it is exciting to see my people energized to DO the Great Commission.  We are a disciple-making church and in the midst of it, God is blessing our efforts with great new believers, a renewed emphasis on telling our faith story, and on leading people to Jesus.  And that brings me to a question for you -- those few folks who venture across this blogway to see what I am up to…

What is God doing in your life, and what are you doing to share Him with those He sends across your pathway?  Let me know -- I'd love to hear what I call your "fruit story!:

Palm Sunday 2013 -- My Thoughts

Thoughts on the story of Palm Sunday from Luke 19:28-40...

If you could have written this script, what would you have included?  What would have been important?  What would have been some of the “must haves” - the things that had to be present to communicate the story?  And what was the story?  What was this whole thing all about?  What was happening...going on...taking place...some 2,000 years ago that was so important and so significant that it would be memorialized forever...and even have a day named after at?  

Palm Sunday...this day...one week before Easter every year.

Why is it when it is?  Why today?  Why not let’s say the first Sunday in June, or August, or October?

In A.D. 325 at the Council of Nicaea, the date for Palm Sunday was set when the date for Easter was made the first Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the vernal or spring equinox.  Now I know what you’re thinking -- that really helps.  Let me add a little more.  In the Jewish Calendar -- which sets the Christian Calendar, Passover occurred on the paschal full moon.  And since the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples occurred on the Passover, and Easter then happened on the Sunday following that Last Supper, then Palm Sunday falls one week earlier -- this year, today, next year on April 13 because the moon phase is kind of weird and moves around a little. 

Anyway, let’s get back to those questions.  How would you have written the script?  I mean if you were the Grand Director and it was all up to you, how would you have Jesus enter into the Holy City?  When would it have happened?  What would He have done?  What would have to have been included?

This really is an amazing event.  Coming on the heels of a host of amazing miracles and parables, just after Jesus’ conversation with the rich man and His time with Zacchaeus...suddenly He sets His sight on Jerusalem and prepares to make what we call His triumphal entry.

But think about it.  In that day the concept of a triumphal entry would have meant the possibilities of being delivered from the rule of Rome and the oppression of the Jewish authorities who had turned faith into a profitable business.  A triumphal entry might have meant freedom and hope and promise and blessing.  But in anticipation of this time, Jesus had said in Luke 18:31-33 that He would be handed over to the Romans and mocked and treated shamefully and spit upon and flogged and whipped and killed...and oh yeah, He also said He would also rise again to new life, but verse 34 says they didn’t understand any of it.  Do we?

What would be triumphal about all of that?  And then the manner in which He came?  Riding on the foal of a donkey.  In ancient days, that’s what a rival king did when he came for a visit.  It symbolized peaceful intentions.  But then they mixed the metaphors and added the palm branches.  Those represented victory and triumph.  How could you be peaceful and victorious in the same moment?  What was really going on here?

It’s not so easy to think about writing this script is it?  When you know the story and all that was about to happen -- what had been prophesied and told about for centuries that now was suddenly coming to light in total fulfillment...it really is an amazing moment.  And today we join Christ’s Church in remembering what happened and reliving those events and thinking about that amazing story of how Jesus came to the shouts of the people and the songs of highest praise and the affirmation -- Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

It really is an amazing day.  It would be filled with the tears of Christ as He contemplated the failures of His own people to see the true meaning of His coming -- this visitation.  Luke tells us that it would include the cleansing of the Temple -- something that Mark said actually happened the next morning after he cursed the fig tree.  His authority would be challenged.  His ministry would be ridiculed.  His motives would be questioned.  But He would come and over the next few days He would teach about sacrifice and death and resurrection and new life and new hope and a new day if people would believe.  And then He would gather His disciples for the Passover and what we call the Last Supper and the betrayal and the Garden Prayer and His arrest and trial and beating and crucifixion -- all because He loved us too much to leave us where He found us -- sinners in need of a Savior, broken-world people who desperately needed the only hope that could lift them out of their misery and lostness and despair.  And then that glorious morning -- when everyone thought it was over, when the ladies came to anoint the body of a dead man -- when the biggest question of the day was who would move the stone while the biggest concern on their hearts was really what was next -- to what do we turn now?  But then it happened -- just as He said it would, just as He promised -- He was alive.

So how would you write this script?  What would you include?  What would you leave out?  What would have to be there?  What is this day supposed to be all about -- what is it supposed to say?  Why are we here this morning?

The answer is really pretty simple -- to get ready.  To search our hearts, to prepare our lives, to contemplate our future, to consider our destiny.  To answer that one big question that ultimately determines the answer to every other question -- what have we done with Jesus?  Have we confessed our sins to Him?  Have we received His forgiveness?  Have we invited Him into our hearts to be our Savior and Lord?  Have we welcomed Him in to be our everything and our all?

Palm Sunday celebrates His coming -- but its story only finds significance if we enter into what it communicates -- if we become a partaker of what it brings.  You see, until He becomes our King that speaks peace into all of the chaos and the cataclysm caused by sin in our lives and until He is victorious and triumphal over raising us as a new creation -- sinners saved by grace, the dead now living, the blind now seeing, the deaf now hearing, the mute now speaking, the lame now running -- victors, victorious, a new people living a new day because Jesus has set us free -- until He becomes our King and His victory becomes our life and living -- this is just another day and this week will have no real special meaning.

But if...if we dare to write our lives into Christ’s story by believing in Him...then this Palm Sunday becomes the first day of a week that will ultimately lead us to new life -- to celebrating the joy of Easter, the promise of sins forgiven, the hope of an eternity in heaven -- and the certainty that we will have a story -- a story that celebrates our entrance into His story -- HISTORY -- if you will, of how God sent His one and only Son into the world as an expression of undeniable, all consuming love, so that everyone, anyone, you and even me -- by simply believing would not perish as people with no hope or help for eternity, but rather that by simply believing in Him we might have -- we might receive the gift of eternal life.  You see, that very God who loved us so incredibly through His only Son did not send that Son into this broken world to judge us and condemn us a part of its brokenness, but rather that through that Son we might be saved.  You see, that God loves people at their worst and through His Son offers them the possibility of experiencing the best that through Him they might know life eternal.

That’s how He wrote the script.  Why would we change it?  What could we change to add to its message or meaning?  Absolutely nothing, except to say that “my name is in His story -- and that He came for me.”

This morning we celebrate His triumphal entry into a city and I pray into our lives -- and in His coming we are offered the opportunity to experience triumph and victory over sin and a peace that passes all understanding as He sets us free from sin and its dominion that we might live forever with Him in love.  

But that introduces another question -- do we realize how deeply we really do need to experience that love?  Do we understand that His hope and His help -- His grace is the only way we can be forgiven and the only way we will receive the gift of eternal life?  Do we know this morning that Jesus is the only way to the Father’s heart, the only truth that communicates the essence of forgiveness and fullness of joy, and the only life that will ever be eternally experienced with Him and our Father in heaven?  Do we know, do we realize that Jesus must be before everything else in us if we are to know all that this sacred week provided?

Today, this morning, right now -- Jesus is here -- and just as He came that day riding on the foal of a donkey with palm branches waving and cloaks marking His pathway so He comes to us asking but one thing -- “Do you have room for Me in your heart?  Will you let Me be all that I came to be for you for life, forever, beginning right now during this season of love and passion?”  

How will you answer?  What do you say?  What are you doing with His invitation this Palm Sunday, this Easter?

That’s what the first Palm Sunday was all about -- His coming and the people reflecting on what His coming would mean to them.  We though see through a different set of lenses.  We see what happened after He came -- His passion, His sacrifice, His death, His resurrection.  We see that this day celebrated but a beginning of the giving of a gift He called eternal life.  And today, He comes again -- to me and to you -- offering us exactly what He offered then -- eternal life...if we only believe.

Romans 3:23 tells us that all of us stand before Christ on a level playing field -- all of us are sinners and come short of His glory.

Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of those sins -- what we get for what we’ve done is death -- eternally separated from God...BUT the free gift of God -- if we accept what He offers -- is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9-10 tells us how we can receive what He longs to give -- all we have to do is confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and we will be saved -- we’ll receive the gift of eternal life from Him.  Because it is by believing in your heart that your are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

So the questions remain...How will you answer?  What do you say?  What are you doing with Jesus’ invitation this Palm Sunday, this Easter?  He is here right now to give life to me and you.  Will you receive His gift and this moment enter into His story?

On liking, loving, and honoring those difficult people in my life!

I'm sitting here this afternoon going over the material for my Sunday morning sermon and listening to the Lord as He speaks to me about the application of several difficult passages of scripture.  Tomorrow I will preaching on what it means to not just love, but to actually like people in the world around us.  We'll look at a number of scriptures and some key components on how to make this a reality.  The problem though is that words are easily spoken but not so easy to apply.  Seldom do we struggle with the command to love one another.  But how often do we realize that you can't really love someone without first liking them?  If my heart is not predisposed toward relationship, what is the purpose of the extending of love?  Relationship demands a sense of like long before it becomes love and when we finally realize that, we are released to truly embrace and fulfill Christ's command.

I live in a world where I often hear people say, "I'll love them, but I don't have to like them."  Last week I shared with my congregation that you can't say that and truly express love.  Love demands like and vice versa.  But what happens when the people in your pathway are unlikeable or unlovable?  What happens when they grate you the wrong way and you'd rather lash out than reach out in unity and love?

Christ calls us to a higher standard.  It is what sets Christianity apart as a relational belief system.  In practicing our faith, we must move beyond platitudes and embrace authentic action.  We must learn to like and then to love even the most difficult people in our pathway.  I don't like that anymore than the next guy.  There are people in my life that are what HB London called, "joy suckers."  They suck the life right out of you when you are around them.  But if I am who I claim to be, I can't turn my back on them.  I can't reject them.  I must show Christ to them and that means that I enter in a relationship of like and love with them that through me they can see Jesus.  It hasn't been and isn't easy.  I often fail.  But on those occasions where I let Christ lead the way, it is amazing how even the unlikeable suddenly seem to have things about them that are attractive to me.  It's amazing how the unlovable suddenly seem to have something magnetic about them.  With Christ pointing me forward, I find myself liking and loving and even showing honor to them.  It's His call.  It's what it means to be like Jesus.  It's what our world needs if we are ever going to get beyond all this relational brokenness.  The question is, "will we respond and let God work this liking, loving, honoring work through us?"

Join me on this journey and let's see if we can't just make a real and lasting difference.

Be The Change

Gandhi once wrote, "Be the change you want to see in the world."  As I think about that statement and consider all that it means for me, I realize how great a responsibility I have - in fact we all have - to be agents of change and transformation in culture.  Someone once said that if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten.  Too often we sit back and find fault with things around us that remain the same and continue to be the proverbial "burr in our saddle" not because they have such great and lasting power and are oblivious to change - but because we have simply failed to address their fault and offer something different.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that at the point where grace intersects our life we are made new.  The word he uses there is a Greek word that refers to something that has never existed before.  In other words, when we give our lives to Christ we are transformed - changed from the inside out and made into a completely new being.  That grace transformation issues itself in a new world of responsibility, for a few verses later we are called "ambassadors."  That is a powerful word.  It refers to one who goes on behalf of or represents another with all the rights and power of the one they represent.  In this case, we would go on behalf of Christ Jesus - with all the rights and power of who He is with the ability IN HIM to effect change in our world.

That brings me back to Gandhi.  If I want to live in a world filled with love and grace and goodness, then I must be the very reflection of the love, grace, and goodness that I seek.  If I want my world to embrace the Gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ, then I must be the very reflection of one who has embraced the Gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ.  I want my world to change.  I am tired of the negativism and the suffering and the brokenness that is so much a part of the people and the lives that I encounter on a daily basis.  But that change to something different, something better - to become transformed by Christ won't just happen.  I have to lead the way.  I have to be the change that I want to see.  I must reflect His heart, His love, His grace, His transforming power at work in me, so that through me He can bring those things to my world.

That is my heart's desire.  It is all that I want.  I wonder...would you join me on that journey?  Would you help me to transform our world by being the Christ-centered change that we want to see?

PDCA - A Model for Navigating Change

As part of my doctoral program I developed a project for addressing the process through which churches can navigate seasons of change.  Deming's Model has been very helpful in times past and I share it here as a process for navigating change not only in the church, but in any area of our lives.

Deming’s PDCA Model for carrying out change.  Developed as a business model for continuous improvement, I have found this model to be an excellent process guide for working through change in the church.

Plan. Recognize an opportunity and plan a change.

Do. Test the change. Carry out a small-scale study.

Check. Review the test, analyze the results and identify what you’ve learned.

Act. Take action based on what you learned in the study step: If the change did not work, go through the cycle again with a different plan. If you were successful, incorporate what you learned from the test into wider changes. Use what you learned to plan new improvements, beginning the cycle again.*

* Source: http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/project-planning-tools/overview/pdca-cycle.html, (accessed January 30, 2013).

Applying the Model for Working Through Change in the Church or Life…

Plan. Pray and establish a clear sense of vision and direction. Determine necessary changes to be made.

Do. Launch the changes slowly and as small steps.  Crawling always proceeds walking and running!

Check. Evaluate response, buy-in, mission/vision understanding, and make adjustments as needed.

Act. Implement change as the Lord leads through the process, and repeat the process over and again as you continue seeking to fulfill the mission/vision for the church!

Refocus

In his book Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin shares this thought: "God hasn't called us to be successful or popular -- He's called us to be faithful." In a culture and age that is driven to following the successful and popular, I wonder how much would change in the church if we only sought after the faithful?

Too often the church seems enamored by those who get the highest ratings or draw the largest crowds. But what about those who serve in the relative obscurity of the smaller crowds with the ordinary facilities and the not so flashy programming and ministries? What about those who have never written a book, or spoken at a conference, or got their name quoted by some big name star in the mega-church movement? What about the guys who still make their own hospital calls, and still perform the weddings at their church, and still bury the saints and conduct the board meetings, and vacuum the carpets and occasionally clean the bathrooms? Are they any less successful? Should they be deemed any less popular or significant?

I believe that the church has largely lost its focus. We are attracted to all the wrong things. Jesus never called us to be successful or popular as Bob Kauflin writes! He called us to be faithful...and my heart's pledge to Him is that will be my daily focus as long as He gives me life and breath!