Change

Merriam-Webster online says that as a transitive verb (an action tied to a specific object), change means to make a shift from one to another.  As an intransitive verb (an action that is not tied to a specific object) it means to undergo transformation.  As a noun it means the act or process of changing.

In my life and in my church right now we are in a season of change.  Transitioning from a pastoral staff driven model of ministry to a lay-driven model of ministry that focuses clearly on the utilization of everyone's spiritual gifts and abilities.  This change is creating amazing opportunities for growth and excitement and at the same time for some a spirit of hurt, disequilibrium, and in some cases, anger and disillusionment.  The reality is that is what you always confront with change.

Change requires flexibility -- a fresh look at where you are, or at what you are doing, and then examining the possibilities of what could be.  Change never comes from the same influences.  Sometimes change is the result of conflict -- you have to change because things are no longer working.  Sometimes change is the result of opportunity -- responding to the possibilities or needs that are being presented.  Sometimes change happens out of necessity -- change or die.  Sometimes change happens by choice -- you seek something better.  Sometimes change is thrust upon you -- situations "change" the current circumstances you find yourself in.  Sometimes (as in our case) a fresh vision from the Lord leads you to strategically do something different.  Regardless of the motivation behind change, change is a normal and natural part of life.  Think of it in these terms: look at a picture of yourself from 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago.  Now look in the mirror.  See anything different?  You've changed.  I've changed.  Maybe its your looks, your weight, your hair color, the texture of your skin.  Some of those changes have been intentional.  Some just happened.  Some were welcomed.  Some have caused great pain.  But nevertheless, you have responded and found your way through...change.  And that is the "struggle" I find myself confronting now.  Change.  For some it is exciting, for others disconcerting.  For some it is as natural as accepting what you see in the mirror.  For others it is hurtful and difficult and a source of contention.  But change is essential -- it is a part of what we call life.

As a pastor, I've largely done ministry one way for 28 years.  For the majority of that time, the style of ministry I worked with was good -- and God blessed it.  But somewhere along the way, old paradigms became less effective.  Needs changed.  Whereas when I started people were comfortable with a pastor who largely did the work of ministry, today people are wanting to be involved.  They long for connection, the ability to make a difference, to no longer be a spectator but rather to become a participant.  One wasn't bad and the other good -- it's just different, a reflection of change.  For me personally change is exciting but it's difficult and no matter how you approach it, people will always respond, well...like people.  Some will like the new.  Others will hate it.  But that's the way we always respond to change.

Awhile back I was diagnosed with a disease.  There is no cure for it.  While you can manage its symptoms with high priced medications, it will always be there, slowly eating away at my health.  It causes pain, discouragement, frustration, and CHANGE.  I can't do what I used to do.  I don't have the same energy.  Some days the pain is crippling.  Other days it is just this constant nagging that wears you down.  It requires CHANGE.  I have to change what I do and how I do it.  I've had to change the activities that I am now a part of, leaving behind some things that have defined my life.  It's not fun, nor is it easy.  I hear "NO" a lot.  Sometimes it comes from within.  Sometimes it is the voice spoken from someone around me.  Like it or not, where I find myself has caused me to have to shift from one way of doing things to another.  I have had to transform -- change -- to deal with my own situation and now learn a new way of doing life.  It hasn't been easy or fun, but its been necessary and I am learning that change is good -- really good.

I read an article today in Psychology Today online that just helped me think this whole thing through.  It was written by a psychiatrist who daily helps people navigate the waters of change.  In it, she shared five simple steps to help you find equilibrium.  She called them the 5 P's.  I found them helpful.

• Learn patience. Generally, things do not happen overnight. In fact, it may take some time before a desired and/or reasonable outcome is reached. Don't be impulsive or try to rush the results. Patience will help you arrive at the best possible place you need to be.
• Be persistent. It's easy to want to give up, especially when things are not going your way, or are even looking glum. Keep on chipping away at the issues; the outcome or solution you're seeking may be just around the bend.
• Be practical. Some changes require an immediate response to remedy a situation, but in most instances, there's simply no rush to the finish line. Go about your life in a way that focuses attention on maintaining balance. Stay present, firmly rooted, in the here and now. In other words, create a structure that provides stability and support while you're in the process of transitioning.
• Be positive. Expect "up and down". In fact, that's more the norm while you're going through change. A sense of optimism will help equalize the hills and valleys and will keep you focused and committed.
• Have a purpose. No matter how many major changes and transitions you go through during the course of your life, having an organizing guiding principle that is vital to you and gives meaning to your life is essential.*

That fifth principle is key for me.  I like what it says: have an organizing guiding principle.  There is only one way in my perception to deal with change -- and to survive.  That is to seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near, (Isaiah 55:6).  When He becomes my focus -- especially in times of change, I find a sense of direction, an understanding of a clear path -- and I begin to encounter what is His preferable future for me.  Usually it involves change.  But when God is the one leading you to and through change you can never go wrong.  That is, unless you let others (people or things) get in the way.

In these days of change -- where I am releasing a 28 year paradigm of ministry for a new one, and where I am now trying to lead others through that transition as I follow the Lord, I am encountering personally and professionally every conceivable emotion and response you could imagine.  But in this process, as I follow the Lord I am learning the power of being patient, persistent, practical, and positive, and I am learning how to keep my eyes in a whole new way on focusing on God's clear and intended purpose.  My prayer has become simple:  Lord, guide me, lead me, and help me to navigate this journey of change, bringing Your people with me and following You wherever You lead.  That's where I am, and for those of you who do life with me I am praying that will become where you are too.  Join me in seeking the Lord while He may be found; calling on Him while He is near.  He will bring us through and in the end, His plan will become our preferred, present experience and through our changes He will use us to build His kingdom.

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* Taken from "In Flux: Embracing Transitions and Change" by Abigail Brenner, M.D., found at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-flux/201107/5-tips-help-you-respond-effectively-change.  Accessed November 5, 2014.

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Starting Off on the Right Foot!

Today marks the beginning of the 2014th year of coming of our Lord.  All across the world people will be making "resolutions" that focus on good intentions, new year's plans, and things they want to change.  People will focus on wanting to lose weight, get their financial house in order, be nicer, kinder, gentler, more positive.  You know the drill.  We've all made them, and unfortunately many of us have watched them all go by the wayside before the end of January.  I've long since quit making resolutions.  I like to make covenants.

Covenants to me are much more serious.  They invite accountability...and in my case that accountability comes from the Lord and from a small band of brothers who I share life with in a small group.  Both make certain that I stay on the narrow path.  Both make certain that I am sincere and honest.  Both ask tough questions and make me consider the consequences of disobedience.  Both are bent on my success at keeping the covenants I have made and living differently because of them.

I have learned over the past few years the value of living life this way.  It requires intentionality and a sense of being serious about everything -- even having fun.  It allows me to leave no stone unturned or issue unchallenged.  It keeps me honest before the Lord and in concert with a group of men whose lives have become very important to me.  And when I choose (and that is really important) to walk in step with what God is doing in my life and what my accountability group is asking and challenging me to do, life is filled with incredible joy and constant victory.

I don't know what your plans are for 2014.  Let me challenge you though to consider this: live honestly before the Lord and invite His leadership in your life.  Then pray that He will bring into your life a band of fellow travelers whose hearts are pure, whose intentions are holy, and whose desire is to join in a journey of being intentional followers of Christ.  Then enjoy the journey in a walk where God can lead (moving you here and there through the voice of His Spirit) and your accountability group can help you to maintain the covenants you have made to live for and walk in relationship with Jesus.

Happy New Year!

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?