Eclogues

Divine Appointments

2012-01-26T14:11:00.001-08:00

The past few days there have been some divine appointments, some meetings that God provided that were just ordered for me to make contact with some folks I otherwise would not have.

And then, this morning, a really rare time, one of those that when I spent time in scripture and prayer with someone suffering, we found a "way into" the life of Jesus. That's a phrase I have been batting around for a bit, a phrase that is about something like breaking past sentimental notions of Jesus and into the real power. Sometimes it is about breaking through mechanical descriptions of doctrine.

Today, it was His words "greater love has no one than this, the he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13)

Growing up around airmen and soldiers, I know this is a favorite verse of those in the military. And so, it is doubly likely that I would see this as the ultimate, sacrifice, enduring the moment of death.

But today, we wondered if it does not also express a kind of continuous self-denial, a continuous suffering endured for the sake of loved ones?

Come, Lord Jesus.

Liberating ______ Theology

2012-01-26T10:24:00.001-08:00

I picked up an interesting book, "Liberating Black Theology," by a guy I follow on Twitter, Dr. Anthony Bradley. He says something about black liberation theology that struck a chord in me:

"many [black liberation] theologians denied orthodox starting points such as the final authority of scripture, biblical definitions of sin and redemption, the doctrines of God and redemption by means of substitutionary atonement" p.28

What I found particularly interesting is that this same thing can be said about United Methodists. Our quadrennial General Conference is coming up in 2012, and we will again be torn apart over the issue of homosexuality. And yet, homosexuality is not the real issue. It is one of many, simply the one that is the flashpoint.

The issue really is the places in our church and theology where we depart from "orthodox starting points such as the final authority of scripture, biblical definitions of sin and redemption, the doctrines of God, and redemption by means of substitutionary atonement."

The issue of accepting homosexuality as a legitimate Christian lifestyle is merely one place where we deny the authority of Scripture and biblical definitions of sin. Other places are where we want to claim that Wesley did not teach "sola scriptura" but rather "prima scriptura" or maybe even "sorta scriptura." Or, when we claim that we are saved by faith AND works we also reject Scripture and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus' death on the Cross.

The real issue is, finally, scripture. Is it the final authority for us? Answer that question and you will see much more clearly what we are really fighting about.

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A Gospel Preached in Oakland Lives In Me

2012-01-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

For a variety of reasons, I like Oakland, CA. Some of it is being a Raiders fan. Some of it is its contrast with San Francisco.

At any rate, Jessie, the boys and I went there about 3 years ago I guess it was. We were looking for some contacts we had, got lost, and ended up somewhere that was important to us for some personal reasons, we just did not know that's where we would end up: Tyrone Carney Park.

Tyrone Carney Park, I saw in a news report today, has been fenced off because of a gang that has taken over the park. There's a lot of sadness in that because of everything Tyrone Carney represents.

Tyrone was studying for the ministry. He was 20 years old. He volunteered to go to VietNam so that another young man would not have to go. He was "in country" just 6 weeks when he was killed in combat in the Quang Tri Valley.

Isn't it terrible that a man who made that sacrifice-- "greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friends"-- the park in his name is a place of murder and destruction?

Tyrone's brother, Glandion Carney, is my spiritual director. Glandion said in those terrible days in 1968, he had to make a choice between joining anger and fighting back and following Christ.

We're going to DC over Spring Break. Panel 56W, line 012 will be our first stop.

China Pentecost

2012-01-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

Friday evening, we had a dinner at our house for our church's missionary to Mexico. There are really amazing things afoot. It turned out that we had 7 Chinese folks come to the dinner as well. It struck me that we could not simply sit there and talk about missions in Mexico without explaining why we do missions and that means Jesus, so I took the opportunity to talk about salvation in Jesus' name twice that night, and it gave me a chance to pray with them about their needs.

It brought to mind the vision God has given me about Pentecost, about reaching people from all nations and languages. Jerusalem was full of people who heard the message in their own language. America is full of people from around the world, and if we can reach them-- in their own language, welcoming them into our church, into a relationship with the Lord-- when they call or write home, when they go home, they will share the gospel, perhaps seem will become pastors! We are in the midst of a new Pentecost that is crating a huge missionary explosion. There are so many "unreached people groups" in America! Will we reach them? Do you care?

We have a mission in Mexico because some years back Morehead UMC started an Hispanic ministry, ministered to a man from Oaxaca, who is on his way to being a pastor back home...
Will we be able to say the same for China?

Ting, who will be baptized on Easter, said last night at Wednesday Night Service, that she wants to teach a Chinese language Sunday School after she has learned more about the faith.

Let's pray and lift this up! What if one day we can say that we have a mission and have a relationship with a church--or more than one!-- in China that started because we were faithful to the mission field here?!

Snowpocalypse and You Might Be A Redneck If...

2012-01-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

While everyone else is heading to the store to get milk and bread, I was getting cat litter. Why? Because I have been outflanked, out-strategeried by wife and kids.

They have been working me over about a cat or a dog. We have had two rabbits.

So Jessie comes into the office and tells how Kay Stiner is spoiling Nay and giving her anything she wants, and how Saundra Newton is not any better because The Nay was playing with a kitten and screamed when she had to leave, and Saundra just off-hand said, why don’t you take the kitten? so there’s a cat in the garage.

I was cooked, done. Like the dad in The Christmas Story. Jessie got the cat for Nadia so she could say that the boys need a dog to keep things fair. And needless to say we are already talking along those lines.

But at the end of the day, I love animals, I just am not sure the boys get the responsibility that will come with it. We have a cute black kitten.

A great scene unfolded in the Fuzzy Duck today. I got a book and Sara Peyton was ringing up the sale. One of the owners was telling me about how he got a job because he bought his boss some Coors when you could not get it, Smokey and the Bandit days, and all that. The other owner, his wife, thinks that she should tell him, “Hey wait, this is Aaron, Sara’s minister, be careful about a beer story, etc”

But she was unaware how it started. I was buying maybe my fifth copy of Wendell Berry’s What Are People For? I have given all the other ones away. It’s a huge book for me. Wendell Berry is horrified that it evangelized me. well, not horrified. But the way I came across the book as a young atheist was that a friend who lived out in the country asked me to pick up a case of beer on my way to his place. When I got there he did not have any money to pay me so he said I could have a book and I took What Are People For? and things have never been the same. So, I say “You might be a redneck if you ever traded a case of Natty Light for a Wendell Berry book.” True story.

That’s how it got started. So, instead of the preacher being embarrassed by a beer story, Sara was embarrassed by her pastor’s beer story.

My work here is done.

Jerusalem

2012-01-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

I’m running a flickr slideshow of the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, a church built on Caiaphas’ house, where Jesus was taken after he was arrested in the Garden, and where Peter denied knowing Jesus. Thus, “in gallicantu,” which means “rooster’s crow.” [flickr is a web site that has all kinds of uploaded photos from users around the world]

I think I could go to Israel three times a year and not wear it out. I guess in some ways I want to become as familiar (and more) with Jerusalem than I am with some other big cities I know... San Francisco, Stuttgart, New Orleans...

Of course, there is so much more to Jerusalem. Somehow I feel like I live in its shadow, or maybe more properly under its blessing?

On the trip to Israel I took last year, thanks to the generous offer of Tom Smith, I was asked to pray on the bus ride into Jerusalem. Whoa... how did they choose that? How did they know I was committing Psalm 121 to memory in Hebrew?

And how did they know that Matisyahu’s “Jerusalem” was rolling through my mind?

I am sure they had no clue about all that, but it seemed stunning to me... one of the things I really wanted to see, to experience, was going up the hills into Jerusalem... to get to pray about it...

So when I got up to pray on the bus, climbing the steep hill, realizing, seeing what it means to come into the city set on 7 hills... I don’t remember what i said, babbling something about looking to the hills..

A few years back, I was in California at about the same time of two different summers. It was kind of cool, because i try to read 5 Psalms a Day, and was pretty regular about that for a few years. So regular that going to Cali, I was reading the Psalms of Ascents both times. I was looking at the Adelaida Mountains, thinking about how when I was a kid I would lift up my eyes to the hills... those hills seemed so solid... there was always some call they had on me. I wanted to go into and over them, to follow them north as they change to the Ventana Mountains and Santa Lucia mountains--the only place you’d see snow was on the peaks-- and go over them to the sea at Big Sur. Isn’t it weird? As a child I would think vaguely, one day I will go into those hills and disappear.

It has been a strange metaphor for my spiritual journey, disappearing from the world, to the place where I am known and fully known (I Corinthians 13:12)

I plan on going to Jerusalem a lot, Lord willing.

Awesome Outreach

2012-01-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

My youngest son Joseph is 9, and he is a basketball fanatic. Morehead is a great place to be if you are a basketball fanatic. A group in our church had a dinner for the men's and women's basketball teams last night, and they invited our family to come. It was a great time for the athletes and the sponsors of the dinner.

And it was a great outreach. It was not just that we fed some kids who are away from home. It was not just that we invited them into the church. There was a lot of chance to talk, get to know people, and have some spiritual conversation. It started quickly. As soon as I said "Amen" to my prayer, a player came up and asked me about praying in Jesus' name. Is it the same as praying to God? We talked a few minutes and then I think we got to something... He is from a large city far away from here. And he is in Morehead, so there is some culture shock. Let us pray for spiritual openings and that they are filled with the good things of Christ!

My heart is warmed and I am encouraged to be among a group of believers who will do what it takes to reach others for Christ!

Simple as Prayer

2011-12-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

When Nadia and go outside, the steps in the garage are a little tall for her. She just reaches up her hand, knowing my hand will be there.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

On this Christmas Eve, my family and I wish you a blessed, Merry Christmas! What a wonderful time of year when the blessings of the Lord (a warm, dry house; a chill in the air; time off from work) conspire with the meditating we do on the Second Person of the Trinity left the Glory of "Heaven's High-Councel Table" (as Milton said) to come into our "darksom House of Clay" (MIlton, "On The Morning of Christ's Nativity").

We have been blessed through and through this year. As hard as it was to leave the ministry at The Rock La Roca, and all the people who blessed us for 5 years, we are also blessed to serve in Morehead. It is a wonderful thing that across such different churches, the Methodist system takes care of the preacher and his family. Indeed, we are blessed.

John is 11 now. He likes to read and imagine and make vehicles that have never existed, such as strollers powered by the wind. He is very happy to be in Morehead, as the university environment fuels his curiosity, and he is close enough to the country to start on his plans of being a cattle baron.

Joseph is 9 and loves video games, reading, and sports, especially basketball. Morehead is basketball crazy, so Joseph is in his glory. He has his own dance for when he makes a good shot.

Nadia is 18 months and is such a joy! She sits with me in the La-Z-Boy after church and watches football. She loves her brothers and will sneak up into their room after bed time to sleep with them. She knows a lot of words and phrases. She is spoiled rotten, too. I try to be firm with her, but it just doesn't work. She says "Daddy..." and it's all over.

Jessie is the children's pastor at Morehead United Methodist and is bringing her knowledge and desire to share Jesus to children's ministry. She really looks forward to being able to spend more time on Cave Run lake and the trails around it.

I am blessed when my family is blessed, and there has been great freedom in preaching the gospel and that is all I need.

Rejoice with us in our Savior's birth and in the blessings He has poured out on us. He is faithful, always faithful!

New Year's Wish/Resolution

2011-12-23T05:34:00.000-08:00

My resolution is also a hope for Christians at large:

That we will be as interested in letting people know about Jesus as we are about broadcasting our political/social/environmental views; as we are about our favorite bands and sports teams;

That we will focus first on Jesus: His death and resurrection; forgiveness of sins and new life found in His name;

That we would quit believing, teaching and preaching that if we do some good that's good enough;

That we would speak simply that we can be saved only by Jesus, by His grace, through faith.

And my deep prayer is that as we come to know Jesus--to really know Him, who He is, what He has done for us in His death and resurrection-- a life of discipleship will flow from us. I pray that we will accept no counterfeit thoughts and actions that spring form our will or our own sense of of our own righteousness.

Thinking Clearly About the Good News

2011-12-20T17:42:00.001-08:00

Maybe I'm not so much thinking as remembering. Sometimes we have to go back to an experience to get to something deeper than the places the experiences we have had since then have brought us.

So, when I got saved, I was not so much overcome by the death and resurrection of Jesus. I was on the one hand angry that there were such things as miracles that I could now accept... more than accept, I believed. On the other hand, I was also very much relieved that my sins were forgiven, that I would escape wrath.

I sometimes wonder if we can only think about the gospel in terms of where we are right now. AS we have matured and learned more, we obviously have a deeper sense and appreciation for all that the gospel implies.

But at its heart is relief for the sinner because he has escaped the wrath of God. What if we quit talking about that because we already have it and have moved on to other things pertaining to a maturing Christian life? Is this why we have such little emphasis on evangelism? Have we forgotten that we had to simply plead the blood of Jesus for forgiveness of sins? Are we embarrassed that we were such beggars?

Let us not expect and therefore substitute mature discipleship for the basic milk of forgiveness of sins by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

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Getting Home

2011-12-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

I went to pick up the boys. It is a bright, cold day. Sun is going down behind the hills. As I came back to the house, I saw smoke coming from the chimney; Ica started a fire. And when I came in there was the smell of onions cooking. It was a really nice sight and smell.

Last night I stopped by a parishioner's house to pray with the family before some medical procedures this week. You think you are going over to provide comfort and they send you home with a bucket of kindling and a bag of turnips.

Friday night, there was a dinner at the church that a Sunday School invited us to. Such good food and fellowship. We have been having Advent breakfasts and it feels like we have been living at the church... and that has felt like a very good thing. I remember Norbert Itoula, from the Republic of Congo, used to talk about how we should live in the Church, for worship and prayer and fellowship. It sure feels like we could do that; the Spirit of the Season is inhabiting us...

Worship was wonderful today. My best friend in seminary, David Crow, taught me an old Methodist phrase, "having great freedom in preaching;" I had that today for sure.

The Waning of the Reformation

2011-12-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in a District Meeting, over a plate of ribs at The Ribber in Portsmouth, Ohio, Tami Coleman, the pastor at South Shore, said she heard a well-known speaker say that every 500 years the Church goes through a crisis. The last one was the Reformation, so we are due for another, and this time we are rejecting sola scriptura, the doctrine that scripture is the authority for Christian life and practice.

Now, Tami was not supporting this view, she was just passing it along as part of a larger discussion we were having.

We ARE rejecting sola scriptura.

But that is nothing new, not a recent trend, 500-yr cycles or otherwise. It is a constant temptation for the Church and individual believers. It has been a temptation from the beginning. It is a sad trick that the Roman Church rejected the doctrine, and then somehow claims that their medieval innovation is the apostolic tradition... And so the average Protestant seems to believe, even, that somehow the Reformation was/is a “recent” invention, and not the return to the sources of the Church it in fact, is.

We don’t have the space to rehearse it here, but a great source to find the proof of this is in excellent works like Thomas Oden’s “The Justification Reader,” and David King and William Webster, eds., “Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, vol. 3” Both of these show plainly and clearly that the Foundational Reformation principles of Justification and Scripture are not “simply” interpretive schemes of Scripture, but run throughout the Patristic literature.

So, sadly, the rejection of sola scripture is not as simple as thinking we are turning back a misguided Reformation, but is, rather, a rejection of the faith itself. It has been the constant temptation of the Church and individual believers because the Lordship of Christ means, simply, that we are not our own bosses, cannot do as we please, and this human beings have never been able to abide.

So sometimes we claim the Bible doesn't say what it clearly says.

Or sometimes we are bold and claim that the Bible is kinda like some suggestions or something.

Neither will hold up under scrutiny. But it is popular. If you and your church are more sold out to continuity, institutional survival, and being acceptable to the larger culture, I recommend you reject sola scriptura, too.

But if you are committed to Jesus and the Truth, stick with the Reformers and the Fathers and the Bible.

A Magnificent Night

2011-12-12T18:37:00.001-08:00

We got to have our first Christmas Party/ Ladies Night Out with the United Methodist Men. It was a great evening with church family, and especially getting to sit with some folks I don't often get to spend time with.

There was, of course, good food and fellowship.

And we had a great reading of the Christmas story. J.D. Reeder read from John 1, Luke 4, Isaiah 9, and Luke 2, weaving it together. I was struck how much the Word authenticates itself. We know it is the Word of God.

And I was wondering, thinking back on something. When I was in grad school studying medieval literature, I used to wonder about the first Anglo-Saxons to accept Christ. How in their cold and war-like world, there must have been many who, to varying degrees and at different times wondered if things could be different, wanted them to be different. And perhaps after dinner, they may have heard:

"Every warriors boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. He will reign upon David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness. The zeal of the Lord almighty will accomplish this" Isaiah 9:6-7.

Can it be?

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Car-Free Shopping

2011-12-09T09:34:00.001-08:00

You can get $109 worth of groceries on your bike:

Granted, you need an xtracycle (click here to see what it's all about).

Morehead is not as bike friendly as the Northside of Lexington. I will say that if you get south of Main in Lexington, it is not very bike friendly. At any rate, right there at St Claire Hospital a guy in a maroon truck honked pretty long at me. I waved--maybe he knows me? He must have! He waved back, and let me know he thought I was "Number One," holding up one finger at me.

And yes, that is a 48 pack of Waffles tied down with bungees. Don't you judge me. I rode my bike to Kroger and need to refuel. Don't you judge me.

Something about cold weather makes me want to bike more. Some of that, no doubt is that an idealistic streak in me sees a bike as an alternative to a car. I have always like riding bikes, from the time I was 6. I have only had 6 bikes, including the one I had when I was 6, and I have 2 now. My first long trip was when I was 12 and I talked my mom into letting me leave our village and ride to the big city, Homburg. Of course, in Germany, bikes were about as common as cars in those days, so it was safer than it sounds... I rode a bike for a year because i was in a feud with an insurance company over their drunk driver who totaled my car and I would not accept their pathetic settlement. So, yes, you can do a lot without a car. I used to ride to the District Office, but I am not sure Raceland is a feasible trip from Morehead...

It's not just about distance or our crazy ride to Annual Conference. It's also about seeing if I could get by without a car. And yes, I could. We have two, so if one dies, I probably won't replace it. If the second dies, well...

Bikes aren't toys. Not simply recreational or for exercise. They can and should be about daily tasks. The xtracycle has been awesome for me. Yesterday I had a bunch of chairs I needed to take to the church. It was cold. Why not load up the X?

It only took me 17 minutes to get from Kroger back to the house. I won't lie, that hill is a killer, especially with 40 extra lbs.

I think I have the only xtracycle in Morehead, and yes, my vanity likes that! I had one of the first 3 or 4 in Lexington, and then hipsters started getting them and I had to leave town...

Sunday and Monday After

2011-12-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

what a great day yesterday! wonderful worship across three services, Stephanie McNeill sang the Scripture for us (Matthew 1:1-17, who knew there was a song in that!), great freedom in preaching, holy communion, and we baptized Megan Alldredge! Praise God for His work among us!

Monday after Communion Sunday means communion service at Cave Run Manor, an assisted living facility. What a wonderful time with the people there! Something sweet happens in the small group that hears the Word and takes communion together. It is a special place, feels like a family there.

I fretted over how to put the Scripture together for Sunday's sermon, but glory to God, He worked it out in spite of me! This week, preaching on Joseph and already the Lord is throwing Scriptures at me, putting things together. I look forward to preaching on Joseph!

I am taking Nadia with me to have communion at Cave Run Manor... they won't let me in without her ever again. They're serious. She is such a joy. She will jump up and run to me when I come in the door. She will say "Da Da" over and over again. I am blessed by her cheerfulness... and even her mischief!

Scenes from Morehead

2011-12-03T15:18:00.001-08:00

One of the first things Bruce Nettleton, th former pastor here, did was take me to Eagle Lake and show me the trailhead. Ha! I was glad to know there was someplace so close by, so quick, to head out into the woods. And there is lots of climbing so you get a good work out. Theres no better way to get thinking than to be out walking (or riding a bike). Bruce said there was a trail that went off the main trail and led up to the ridge. I found at least one of those yesterday. Steep path, great views. Reminded me of being in Germany, where there is so much walking in the woods and over the hills.

I took a few walks with Nadia today... Trying to get my mind around the sermon. It was pretty cold early this morning when I went out and she was insistent about going. But she also hates to wear a hat and mittens. I told her, "you have to wear your hat and mittens."

I went to put my shoes on and she came in with her hat on and her mittens in her hand. She knew what it would take! It was a great time to walk with her.

I have been having some trouble with my knee... Not unusual. Some of you remember how summer of 2010, I was intending to ride my bike to Annual Conference, but had to bail after the first long training ride. Took physical therapy ad came back to ride in 2011. Got thru without much knee pain and got thru cramps that always seemed to hit at about 40-45 miles. Well, it has been bothering me for no real reason.. No long rides to irritate it. And there is a bony knot on my knee cap which makes it hard to kneel. The sawbones here, Tom Fossett gave me the straight dope. It's an after effect of surgery years back and when they do surgery on you your knee won't eb the same so deal with it and get back to what you do. I was really worried it was gig to slow me down, keep me from riding or walking as much as I like to. It sounds foolish, but I feel really happy to know that its just how it is and I can still do everything I want to.

Paul Ousley brought me a truck load of wood. Ica got a roaring fire going... We're going to need more wood, Paul. Feels very good to sit of an evening reading there...

Speaking of cold night reading:
In college, you don't get to read the big fat hairy novels as much as you should. Here's 10 to keep you occupied. I can only put the first few in a favorite order, and I bet that will change year to year:

Les Miserables

The Brothers Karamazov

War and Peace

Don Quixote

The Bones of Plenty

Kristin Lavransdottir

The Count of Monte Cristo

David Copperfield

The Faerie Queene-- so it's not a novel. Deal with it.

Middlemarch, the shortest on this list

I think this Christmas I will reread Adam Bede, by George Eliot

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Praise

2011-11-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

So let's see...

Great dinner by Diamond Dave Sheffel.

Big crowd studying Romans 10.

Little kids working on their Christmas play... December 11, 6-8 pm... they are going to be awesome!

15 kids in youth!

One of the Chinese who has been studying scripture with us wants to be baptized. She said, "But I think I need a class, to teach me what we believe, because we can't talk about this where I come from."

Sunday's Sermon

2011-11-30T10:43:00.001-08:00

This week's sermon is working me over. There's a lot to talk about when we dig into the importance of the Israelite Exile and the life and ministry of Jesus.

So for those of you from Morehead who get a chance to read this blog, here is the Scriptures we will be looking at this Sunday:

Matthew 1:1-12

Jeremiah 16:14-15

Deuteronomy 26:5-9

1 Peter 1:10-12

Matthew 13:17

Matthew 3:19-23

Matthew 4:12-16

And, of course, we may dig into more... but I figured I should help you out a little bit, and give you a heads up!

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Sanctuary

2011-11-28T17:43:00.001-08:00

Last night, the church decorated the sanctuary and Wesley Hall. It is amazingly beautiful. There is something about the simplicity of a Protestant Church that is just... Beautiful in a dimly lit time like a Christmas Eve service. I am really looking forward being in the services this season.

We had a whole bunch of kids getting ready for their Christmas play. They are so cute and it is really neat to see how some of them come out of their shells... Or how they intensify who they already are!

Jonathan Powers talked me into reading the New Testament through Advent. Like I needed much arm-twisting. As is was reading the first 12 chs of Matthew today, I was really hit with an anticipation about what reading Revelation will be like in the days closest to Christmas!

You can read the Bible in 90 days! Matt Baker I think got me started on that kick. What an amazing thing! You get that much scripture in your life, things happen. Maybe best of all, the greatest way of reading the Bible will open to you! Letting Scripture interpret Scripture opens up whole new worlds of understanding. If you want to understand the Old Testament, you'll need to understand Jesus. And if you want to understand Jesus, you'll need to understand the Old Testament. No better way to do that than to read lots and lots of Scripture.

What a way to start the New Year, than by starting a 90 day Bible reading plan!

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A New Year

2011-11-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

This morning, Tom Burns died. He had not been able to come to our church in some time. A kind saint in the church put together a list of our shut-ins, and that list has brought such great ministry! First, it has created a monthly communion service at a nursing home. And second, it gave me a chance to meet Mr. Burns before he died. Tom and Ada were married for 70 years! Longer than many people live. It is hard to imagine how deep her grief must be. We shared Scripture and prayer, and hopefully will have more time to be in prayer and ministry with her.

How very thankful I am for the wisdom of my mentor in ministry, Howard Willen, who so strongly emphasized visitation of the sick and shut-in with prayer and Scripture reading.

My mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and niece came into visit over Thanksgiving. We had time to grill ribs, eat turkey and visit. I guess it hits me now that everyone is gone that we are blessed with jobs and homes and we hope that 2012 can be a year of rest and regrouping and growing stronger, building on the joy that God has given us. May we all be found healthier and happier and even more sensible of our blessings!

I am veyr much looking forward to preaching tomorrow... first Sunday of Advent!

My mom brought me a tin of Lebkuchen, German Christmas gingerbreads. What a wonderful memory of the times we went to Nuernberg at Christmastime. In some theological circles we gripe and moan about Christendom... whatever else we may say about this thing we derisively call "Christendom," it set apart and sanctified time and space. 12 Days of Christmas would be awesome in so many ways. Kids have it off, but we stay busy... we could be busy by worship and feasting the great news of Jesus' birth!

Prayer: The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn

2011-11-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

Last night I was woken up by a new direction for Sunday's sermon. Of course, Lord, You couldn't do that on Monday when I had not worked all day Tuesday on the sermon... :) ANd also to pray for two people. Whenever I get woken up like that, I have to pray...

And today on Twitter, someone said something like intercessory prayer is being willing to lay down your life for the person you're praying for. Maybe so, maybe not, but it's worth thinking about.

Nadia did not want to take a nap today, but she sure needed it. I held her until she fell asleep, then put her in her crib. I regularly think about the mystery of a baby... you can know them for less than a day, from the moment they are born and you feel you could never live without them... And indeed, I can pray deeply (according to the definition above) for Nadia or Joe or John or Jessie because I would, simply, quickly, with no thought, lay down my life for them.

I made the mistake some time ago of asking the Lord to break my heart for people who don't know Jesus and that I would love the poor like they are my own children. I think, no, I know, that the difficult parts of my life socially come from that prayer. It's not that I live out the answer to that prayer as fully or even as often as I should. It really is bad form to talk too much about spiritual "lostness." Not a great conversation starter at parties. Doesn't always go over well in worship! And to really take care of the poor, well, you have to do things that people who also want to take care of the poor think is the wrong thing to do!

But today, slapping some ribs on the smoker I really had a hard time thinking about all the people who don't know Jesus in Morehead. So much prayer it's going to take. And... would I lay down my life for them? So much work to do in my heart before I am a good shepherd.

Great Day in Worship

2011-11-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

When you get to preach three times, it's a great day.

When you get to preach on holiness, it's a great day.

When you get to baptize a new believer, it's a great day.

We baptized Johnny Bajusz today. We kept it country, in a trough. I know some wondered why we just did not go down to the Baptist or Christian church, but I wonder why we don't have a baptistry? And I wanted as many people as possible to be there, to see him in this great moment.

And then afterward, a time of packing gift boxes for the Christmas Child Program. A great time of fellowship.

There has been a lot of prayer going on lately in our church, a lot to pray about... sometimes tough times do that for us.. bring us the blessing of prayer.

Sense of Place

2011-11-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

There's hardly anything better than a restaurant you've been going to for years, where the staff has been there as long as you've been coming and you've been let in to the lives and on-the-job banter of the staff. That place for me is the Gold Star in Hamburg.

It sounds dramatic, but it's like a sailor sailing into home port. Nothing like chili on a cold winters night. Great to see old friends and familiar faces; one of the servers has a girl Johns age, and we started coming a little after John was born... So each time she sees the boys it sparks talk of her kids... And now one of the boy's favorite babysitters, Steffi McKinney, is here about to get off and her little boy, whom I baptized is here to pick her up.

I don't get over here as much anymore. But if I cruise into town I do try to stop by. Maybe I'll end up here on a cold, snowy night, and I can tramp in and be warmed up.

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Evangelism Almost Never Takes Place Unless it is Planned

2011-11-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

I am posting this from a paster I got from Dr C. Akbar, India Outreach Missions. Even though it is from India, it applies to our churches here.

EVANGELISM ALMOST NEVER TAKES PLACE UNLESS IT IS PLANNED

Since only abiding in Christ makes the Christian fruitful, urge members to abide in Him and feed them properly so that His Word abides in them

Since prayer plays a major role in evangelistic effectiveness, significant attention must be given to personal prayer life and corporate prayer ministries

EACH CHURCH SHOULD:

Have a strong attitude of personal evangelism

Have a consistent soul-winning pastor who takes a leading role in evangelism

Plan outreach on a regular basis

Incorporate evangelism as a prominent feature in every activity

Encourage every member for personal evangelism

Continuously emphasize from the pulpit on the need for salvation and witnessing

Designate intercessory prayer time for corporate prayer for the lost

Use definite evangelism and witness methods

Provide continuous witness training to its members

Watchfully maintain the consistency of its evangelistic attitude

Evaluate its evangelistic growth on a regular basis

Set annual evangelism goals for each of its departments

Conduct revival meeting every year

Plan evangelistic events on a regular basis

Encourage Sunday School teachers to present the plan of salvation on a regular basis

Have a “welcome class” for people interested in the gospel and the church

Be actively involved in church planting

Hold regular seminars on evangelism, witnessing, and church planting

Integrate evangelism in its youth programs

Adopt strategies to reach different people groups for Christ

Provide members time to share their witnessing testimonies

Designate a significant portion of their income for evangelism

Evangelism Update

2011-11-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I posted on the fellow who left a note on an old sofa, click here to read the post

Well, I went by and knocked, got no answer and left a note that I was a pastor, and I would tell him there is a God who loves him.

I found out that one of my parishioners went, too. Kay Stiner felt she just had to go. So she left him a note telling him God loves him. When I told her I went, too, she said that the fellow might be pretty freaked out!

Keep telling people about Jesus!

New Church Development Meeting

2011-11-14T11:39:00.001-08:00

I am in a meeting w the Bishop, Superintendents and pastors who will help lead a movement to plant new churches.

The Superintendent leading the charge to plant churches is Paul Brunstetter. He gave us some statistics to think about.

77% of Americans do not have a consistent relationship w a local church.

When 5000 churchgoers were asked what is the main purpose, 88% answered "to serve the congregation." we will not reach out until that number is as close to zero as we can get!

In 1900, there were 27 churches per 10,000 ppl. In 1996, there were 11 per 10,000. The scary piece of this statistic is that the avg church size is THE SAME as it was in 1900. So mega churches have not evangelized the culture.

For United Methodists, to compare today to 1968, we have:
80% of the churches we had

78% of attendance we had

57% of ppl making a profession of faith for the first time

44% of the youth and children we had

We need to plant 1% of the total number of churches we have to maintain. 2-3% to grow. That means we must plant 8 UM churches in KY each year just to survive. 16-24 to grow!

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Sweet and Lovely

2011-11-13T10:47:00.001-08:00

Go get your Thelonius Monk out and put on "Sweet and Lovely." I know you have it.

SO, what a day in worship! The two 11 o'clock services were all in one place for Bill Arnold to preach. Bill is an Asbury Seminary Professor of Old Testament, a great pastor, teacher, mentor and friend. He gave a great sermon on "Love and Fear." I think we all know how to love God a little bit more now.

After the service, Ryan Neff said to me, "That's the best sermon you ever preached." I deserved that. But I will get him back.

Because it was a mixed service, we had a mixed bag of music-- very traditional, folkgrass, and praise songs. Our organist got backed up in traffic, so the folkgrass group played the Prelude. It was just nice to have so many people able to jump in and make the service work.

I don't know what it was, but I was just feeling worship all day long. I hope others were, too. At the altar call, I was praying with two folks and then I noticed Bill Arnold praying with Joseph. I had to wipe away some tears because I know why Joe is at the altar. He wants help from God to not be so sad about his mom dying. And there is Bill, someone so close to Joe's mom, Melissa, from years before Joe was born, praying with him and ministering comfort to him.

The evil one has been trying to discourage me on Sundays lately. Today it was fear that if something were to happen to me, how devastated would the boys, Nadia, and Jessie be, esp the boys. And would our mixed family get split up, and the boys not see their baby sister as much. Irrational, I know, but it's how the evil one works to discourage people, filling them with fear that can only be cast out by love. And so I knew also the touch of the Lord seeing Bill there with Joseph.

Scripture, Scripture, Scripture

2011-11-07T13:36:00.001-08:00

I received a really sweet noted from a saint at the church. She laughed at how she wrote the word "blessing" so many times in her letter. She said as she read it over, she was struck that she sounded like all she was saying was "blessing." She said she realized it was because of the Upper Room. She was reading the daily devotion, and the Scripture and the devotional thoughts that followed repeated the word "blessing" nine times.

Thanks for the blessing!
_____________________

In Bible study today, we were in Isaiah. I have really been living in Isaiah 8, off and on for a few months. Back into it not only bc of the Bible study, but be Chad Brooks talked me into reading the Prophets during Advent! Well, there is a section in chapter 8 where Isaiah is prophesying against people who consult oracles, mediums, etc. He says that we should look to the Scripture instead:

"When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn."
______________________

And then, what generated the most discussion was this passage, Isaiah 28:23-29:

Listen and hear my voice;
pay attention and hear what I say.
When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually?
Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil?
When he has leveled the surface,
does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin?
Does he not plant wheat in its place,d
barley in its plot,e
and spelt in its field?
His God instructs him
and teaches him the right way.
Caraway is not threshed with a sledge,
nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,
and cummin with a stick.
Grain must be ground to make bread;
so one does not go on threshing it forever.
Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it,
his horses do not grind it.
All this also comes from the LORD Almighty,
wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom."

Thoughts?

Evangelism Question

2011-11-01T12:26:00.001-07:00

We sometimes hear, and I myself have said, that Christians must be good examples to win people to Christ.

I wonder if we are stretching that too far, or I wonder if we are being a bit dishonest to get our hearers to act with more consistently Christian character?

Does the Gospel have a power unto itself, independent of us, to reach out? To convince people of the truth of Christ?

We all know the bumpersticker theology of "Lord, save us from your followers."

Did I need to see excellent Christian witnesses? Is that what brought me to Christ? Why did they do it above and beyond terrible witnesses I saw?

Put another way, a repulsive math teacher I had did not make me doubt the transitive principle of arithmetic.

Have I put too much faith in the people around em who brought me to Christ? I hope not. I hope that I can say that their direct efforts took me to Christ who drew me to Himself by the truth and power of the Gospel.

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Praise

2011-10-30T14:52:00.001-07:00

I was kind of off schedule eating today, and the whole family was hungry but I was not. I ran over to the church while they were eating. I was gone maybe 15 minutes. When I came back, I found something awesome: Joseph was reading John 10, "leading" the Bible study! He is really pumped up to find out when Jesus' "time" is.

I really cant ask for more than that, that the boys would know its time to read Scripture after the meal is finished!

Thankfulness

2011-10-29T19:24:00.001-07:00

I suppose it doesn't take much to make me happy. I am so pumped to have a two-car garage, I don't know what to say. And, in a fit of un-American behavior, I have both cars in there! When I was a kid, my dad let me start the car in the morning. Of course, it was a trick to get me to be the one to go out in the German winter to scrape the windows... because first we had a 74 VW van, and the heaters were no good; and second, it was so cold it did not matter if you had heat anyway. I have ever since hated scraping ice in winter. Now, no more. Very thankful.

Nadia now says, "Powerbomb." She actually says, "Ba-bom." Then I power bomb her. Its awesome how good a wrestler she is. When I drop her on the bed she groans, "oh!" After she gets out of the bath tub, she asks for power bombs. Like dozens of times. She also imitates something else I do, that cheesy thing where you hold out both hands, with the index fingers pointing. She growls when she does that; not sure where that comes from... She also does the Elvis playing the guitar thing. like I said, doesn't take much to make me happy!

And then there is a great joy lately in our Bible study. We read from the Gospel of John at the dinner table. The boys have noticed talk in the Gospel of it not being Jesus' time. So tonight, reading John 9, Joseph asks excitedly, "is it Jesus' time yet?!?" I cannot wait to get to chapter 12!

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Quotation from Ichabod Spencer

2011-10-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

Ichabod Spencer's "A Pastor's Sketches" is a great book. Spencer was a committed pastor, seeking to save souls, and his encounters with people needing the Lord and their various responses, is a great resource. This quotation struck a chord with me.

"I have often thought that a truly regenerate man cannot have any doubt about the total depravity of his heart. If he does not see THAT, he probably does not see his heart. And hence his repentance, his faith in Christ, his reliance upon the holy spirit will probably, all of them, be only deceptions."

Night Prayer

2011-10-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

So a few nights ago, I was in my bedroom and Nadia had followed me in there. I was on the side of the bed away from the door, between the bed and the wall. She was right there with me. I turned off the light and realized right away that I should have left it on... not only for me trying to stumble around the bed in the dark, but also for Nadia. I thought she will feel all alone in the dark, not able to see me, trying to find her way out from the corner. I felt her grab my leg and then next thing I knew, her hand was in mine and we just walked like nothing.

I am glad for such confidence in prayer, to stumble along in the night and reach up a hand knowing the Father is there.

We Have Work To Do

2011-10-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Still don't think it's serious?

Still don't think the Gospel is precious and time is short?

I was walking back from the store, cherry pepsi in hand. Walked a back way, a kind of skid row by the hospital where some shotgun houses are. in front of some kind of apartment there was an old upholstered chair sitting in the weather. On the arm rest was an old phone receiver positioned perfectly on a piece of paper. And here is the piece of paper, and what it says:

If you can't read it, it says, "The first person who tells me 'there is a God,' may go to Hell forever. I don't know, but they don't either."

No one home, but I will find him. Times are strange, Morehead Methodists. Are you ok paying me to hunt these people down? I usually don't do much hunting-- they find me, or letters like this crop up in my life more than I can explain.

I won't be able to sleep tonight. I hope you won't either. Get down on your knees and pray. Lord, break our hearts.

Retreat

2011-10-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

I spent Mon-Wed at the Upper Room in Nashville, for the second and final retreat of the Companions in Ministry project. CIM tries to spiritually equip pastors to form small groups to help carry on the work of ministry without burning out.

It was a good time of being away, apart, in an environment suited for reflection. We were led again by Trevor Hudson, a great South African Methodist pastor. I have had time to think about how and why it is that two S African pastors, Peter Storey and Trevor Hudson have had the impact they have had on me...

Trevor Hudson does a wonderful job of opening us up to ways Jesus wants to work in our lives. A good Methodist, he knows that we must be transformed by the love and grace of Christ before we can be any earthly good.

At the end of the day, having some time and some space and having some leadership from Trevor, I got to a place that God has taken me twice before on retreat: a very simple command, a very clear word from Him for my spirit: "Go home and love your wife and children."

I suppose I should want to unpack that; or perhaps you need me to. Oh well. It is what it is.

Staff Meeting

2011-10-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

Something just happened. We finished staff meeting... And then everyone just hung out and there was lots laughter and hanging out.

Something good happening when the staff just kicks around

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Forgot My Bible

2011-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

I left my Bible in the Upper Room Chapel after Trevor Hudson preached.

I went back to the bookstore to get it. The woman behind the desk said, "I can tell it is precious to you. I looked for a name but saw what you had written in it and all your bookmarks..."

She has no idea how precious it is to me. Perhaps even I had no idea.

It's a Bible I have lost numerous times.

I have been blessed so much recently, and to find my Bible again, and to hear "I could see how precious it is to you..." that tops it all off.

There is so much noise and talking; blogs and songs; so many people talking about God. Listen to Him in His Word.

I suppose some of what has come from this time of retreat is an encouragement in and intensification of a direction I received from the Lord about 4 years ago: the sermon is to be written in and from the prayer bench not the study desk; and I am to give Him His Words back, not to speak mine.

And saying that I am and have been aware that this could be a bludgeon--are my sermons infallible pronouncements of Truth? Only insofar as they are in accordance with the Word. Get your Word out! Do not, oh do not ever let the preacher or latest devotional book be your authority! Let only God reign in your heart and mind!

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This morning

2011-10-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Lord's Day!

I was preaching out of Exodus 15:1-5, Miriam's Song about the destruction of the Egyptian army, sermon on salvation.

There were two Chinese men there, who work at a local restaurant. A woman who does some work in China brought them. One is a Christian and his friend is "learning." They need an early service, and we have one, and the woman said she had heard great things about our church. That's amazing. man, what if we got an in to do work in China? What am I saying! We need to import their Christians here! They'd rip it up!!

At the altar in the two sanctuary services, people came to the altar as I asked them to thank God for His great power of salvation. Some came because they were seeking literal, powerful salvation for those sick to the point of death. Others themselves are in that place where their days are much shorter than longer. In the early service two men were there seeking and thanking Him and all I could say is "He is a good God" and tears began to flow.

Can't Believe I Forgot

2011-10-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

At the revival this week I was so blessed. I got to meet some truly sweet people who have great hearts full of love for the Lord. I was really touched during the prayer time when one of the men said he thought they should go ahead and bring me back next year and I could see that they had been revived. A preacher can't ask for more than to know people want you back, because in revival you have to say some frank things.

I told him that I would love to but they really needed to seek the Lord. Maybe my message is just for a season. Later one of the dear saints told me that they could only make that decision by prayer and fasting. How happy I was to hear that! A church can go a long way with people who will fast.

And then... the last night of the revival... How blessed was I to see seven people from the Morehead church! I was shocked and touched... People drove an hour to the little country church. What more can you ask for than for people to support you like that?

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Revival, Family, Random Notes

2011-10-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

I was invited to preach revival at Rose Hill United Methodist Church in Nicholas County, Kentucky. A new friend, Jimmy Humphries is the pastor there. I have to say, I was really blessed by the time and the people!

Rose Hill is a small country church with a part-time pastor. Which is to say they are small and dwindling. Country churches have generally had trouble navigating the modern American cultural/religious landscape. Their problems mirror the problems of country people generally.

Our society in some ways pays homage to the countryside as the place where our roots are, where we were forged as a nation. We can romanticize it sometimes. We think we'll all go back to the farm and all will be well.

But we also denigrate the country-- backwards yokels; a boring place; not sophisticated-- and I'm being kind with what is thought and said.

I heard from one old man in the church something I had never thought about: the church, he said, had always been poor. So I was struck by how much, indeed, they have done over the 100 or so years they have been there.

Our country churches built our denomination. They constitute the vast majority of our roughly 40,000 churches. They represent a time when Methodists CONSTANTLY planted new churches. We literally went everywhere there was a community of people. We've quit doing that and these little pioneer churches are struggling to find their way in a depopulated countryside and an American scene that has let go of religion. I don't think we are as much anti-Christian as we are apathetic about it. Who knows, our churches might grow radically if we were being beaten and imprisoned for our faith.

Of course, this is just a snapshot of the issues facing small churches. Wendell Berry can explain it much better than I can.

And, you know me, I am not pessimistic about the work of the Lord. So my message to the folks over the past 5 nights was to remind them of all that God has done for them and how because of such great love and power we cannot be silent about it. We have to speak about it, tell our neighbors what God has done in our hearts and bodies.

So I talked to them about being willing to follow this great Lord to the places He went to preach the Good News, to places where we have never been: the house down the road; among the unsavory characters of our community; to the good folk who simply do not know Christ...

It's a veyr simple thing. It's so easy that no one believes it's true. There is only one thing you must do to help a small church grow: invite your neighbors. All the time. Even two years later when they still have not come. It would be a simple thing for each small Kentucky church to grow by 5 people per year. That would add 3000 or more people to the church.

All you have to do is invite them.
_________________

The boys had Fall break Thursday and Friday. We had some hiking plans Thursday, but rain kept us in, so we worked on the robot. We had a good time learning how to use its color sensor to see colors and then respond. The cool thing is that John adn Joe programmed it, using the graphical programming language and entering the settings. It is really fun to see them do this. Today we are going to finish the first big project and make a robot that shoots balls. NIce.

Thursday night, we left revival and drove to Dayton, OH. Not very far, really. Friday morning we spent at the Air Force Museum. I lived in Fairborn, Ohio, outside Dayton, in 4th grade while my dad was stationed at Wright-Patterson. I loved the Air Force Museum then and had not been back in 30 years. It is still awesome!

In Louisville I met a guy who had flown P-47s in WWII. It was neat to see the plane. I guess as an Air Force brat you like to see how planes developed from the Wright Brothers' first machine to the F22, and all the stuff in between. Remember that the Wright Brothers were bicycle mechanics and inventors!

My brother and I used to sit outside and name the planes by how their engines sounded. I love the smell of JP-4 in the morning.

Got to see the B-29 that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. Sobering to see the thing.

I came back with a stash of my favorite toys as a kid: balsa wood planes with rubber-band powered propellers. We used to put fire crackers on them and let them fly and we'd "shoot down" the commies.
_______________
I was looking on my shelf and realized I have two volumes of all of Shakespeare's plays and poems. It's weird how what was once fairly popular culture--go to the play, people reading the plays together of an evening-- is now largely an academic pursuit. Same with Dickens or Eliot or Hardy; in their day people eagerly awaited the serialization of their novels. Now, you have to take a 300 level or above British Lit class to read them!

And I know that we have tv now. And cars so we can go different places. Entertainment has changed. But... the weekly installments of The Office or whatever... we have really descended!

If we are looking for peace and quiet, we'll have to pretty much shred just about everything we're doing.

I Don't Even Have to Pack My Bags

2011-10-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

...the Misty Mountains are just outside my door!

It's interesting; I have been trying to make sure that I don't take the view of the hills outside the church, outside my door for granted. Morehead very quickly shows you that it is a special place, in terms of its location and its people and its institutions. You see why people come and don't leave.

Well, Sunday, after church as I was greeting people at the door, three people commented on how beautiful the mountain looked as the Fall colors were coming out. I told them of my desire to not take it for granted, to hopefully not wake up one day and just not even acknowledge it's there. We always take stuff for granted, and I guess we have t make some priorities about what we won't let become ho-hum.

Well, as the colors come on, there is even more reason to rejoice. In the lushness of summer, it is a mass of green, and it's top undulates.

Now, it is not only getting colorful, it is getting wispy. You can see individual trees by their bare branches, and the outline of the top looks almost frail.

Hard-Core Books on the Desk

2011-10-09T13:32:00.001-07:00

Catholic Apologists are doing a great job pounding away at the Reformation cornerstones. Of particular interest to me is the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, that Scripture is the standard of authority for the churches, and that everything that is necessary to salvation is contained in the pages of Holy Writ.

Many of the Protestant Pastors who have converted to Catholicism have done so because they believe there must be some extra-biblical authority (Tradition and the Teaching Magisterium of the Catholic Church) to explain what Scripture means.

So here are some important books to help you understand Sola Scriptura. Methodists particularly need to work hard to hold on to this doctrine.

Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of our Faith, vol. 1 by David King: A Biblical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura published 2001 by Christian Resources

Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of our Faith, vol.2 : An Historical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura, by William Webster published 2001, by Christian Resources

Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of our Faith, vol. 3: The Writings of the Church Fathers Affirming the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura, eds. David King and William Webster published 2001, Christian Resources

Disputations on Holy Scripture, William Whitaker (Whitaker's treatise against Robert Bellarmine) from 1588. Republished by Soli Deo Gloria

Evangelism Encouragement

2011-10-07T13:08:00.001-07:00

I got to thinking about putting together a chronology of people and methods that came together in helping me find faith in Christ.

The first witness I remember came my freshman year in Texas. I had ridden my bike maybe 15 or 20 miles and stopped at my high school where I saw some guys playing football. I joined in for a bit and then cussed at being covered too tight to get open. A guy told me they were Christians and didn't like talk like that.

Summer of tenth grade I think, a guitarist in a band witnessed to me about saving faith in Jesus. I just didn't get it.

Summer of 11th grade a guy with me at a summer camp talked to me about Jesus dying for our sins and did I want to accept Him as savior. No, I didn't.

I remember being perplexed that in college, far from the open-mindedness I expected to find, Christians were ridiculed, and I was only too happy to join in here and there.

Junior year college I met a guy named Larry Isitt who began a long conversation (5 years) of why I was an atheist, what the Bible says about humanity and God...

Sometime in my senior year, two girls from a Baptist Church knocked on my door and asked me if I knew where I would go if I died tonight. I was probably a few sheets to the wind no doubt, but I answered truthfully if snarkily, "Southern California." True enough, my mom would come get me and bury me there. I just did not know how to think about eternity. And I am not sure they really asked it very well. [I need to make a note here. Some people hate the Evangelism Explosion question. Too bad. It may not be elegant, organic or whatever, but it works when the time is right. My experience is not any kind of condemnation of that method. It's just where I was... or was not... in my process of getting to know my need for God]

In grad school, a combination of Larry, Dane Conrad, Drew Barnes and two professors, Stan Hauer and James Sims, really worked me over with their positive lifestyles and intellectual abilities. You can see at this point I remember names. SOme of that is because it is closer in time, I was an adult, etc, but the single biggest factor is that the seeds that had been planted had grown and now I had a greater consciousness of the things of God, so His messengers seemed more lovely and I was paying a lot more attention.

Around that time I got my Gideon's Bible, my first Bible.

And there nearing the end of my MA in English, in October of 94, I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior.

I put this together quickly. But I hope it is useful to you in your evangelizing, to see that the work crosses time and space and methods, and that if it were a human endeavor, there is no way to have planned the guys playing ball in Texas, the guitarist in California or a former Air Force medic in Mississippi to come together to bring someone to faith.

But the Holy Spirit is active in places and ways that are beyond our comprehension.

Those two Baptist girls do not know that I got saved.

I hope that they, and you, know that it is not important for us to know that someone accepted Christ. It is nice and wonderful to know that someone we desired to be saved is saved, even better if we are the ones who get to help them directly there!

I just want you to be the guys playing ball, to be someone nameless, faceless, unremembered along the way to someone giving their life to Jesus.

No one will come to faith unless believers are those kind of witnesses. So keep on keeping on!!

Quotation from Augustine

2011-09-30T06:11:00.001-07:00

I am back blogging at http://weeklywesley.blogspot.com check it out, you can subscribe to it. Basically it is my attempt to present some Methodist doctrine and issues that we have forgotten/ignored/not known. I try to focus on the lives of the early Methodist preachers, Christian perfection, and Wesley's 52 standard sermons.

But back to the lecture at hand:

I came across this quotation from Augustine. It deals with how we navigate the intersection of the Old and New Testaments. We have been studying Leviticus on Sunday evenings, and it brings up a lot of this issue.

"if we are asked why we regard [the Old] Testament as authoritative when we do not observe its ordinances, we find the answer to this also in the apostolic writings, for the apostle says , "let no man judge you in meat or drink, in respect of a holiday or new moon, or of a Sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come..... So when we read anything in the books of the Old Testament which we are not required to observe, or which is even forbidden, instead of finding fault with it, we should ask what it means; for the very discontinuance of the observance proves it to be not condemned, but fulfilled."

Robot Night

2011-09-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

So John Crissman and Michael Kramer turned me on to Lego Mindstorms NXT, a robotics system for Legos. Basically, there is a computer (called the "brick") that controls the various motor and sensor functions. It can be programmed graphically on the brick, using a graphical program on you home computer, or directly by downloading programs in a variety of languages.

I was totally stoked and Jessie said "we totally have to get this for the boys."

So it came yesterday and we had to fight really hard not to tear into it! We had church so we did not get to play with it last night. but tonight we ordered pizza and sat around, then busted out the robot. it took John and Joe about 45 minutes to build the frame. Then we put the brick on, connected it to the motors and a touch sensor. Then in about 2 minutes keyed in a sample program by scrolling through icons. The program tells the robot to go forward until its touch sensor is activated then it goes backwards until the touch sensor is activated and it goes forward.

There are other sensors that it will be cool to mess with: ultrasonic, to measure distance; a light and color sensor. There are some after-market stuff like compass, gyroscope, thermometer, or linking a number of bricks together...

I am hoping that this is something that is fun enough for the boys but also gets them into science and technology, esp computer stuff. Here is the robot, ready to go:

Can't get a video uploaded... later.

A Geography of Love, part 1

2011-09-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was in the doctor’s office this morning and ran into a parishioner... for a variety of stream-of-consciousness reasons, here’s what I ended up thinking.

Here and there, some in the Christian Community will talk about “community.” or “authentic community.”

Some of you who have been friends of mine for a while know I cringe when I hear the word “community” because it has become a buzzword, a word that lacks meaning, a word that if you say it immediately trumps the content of what is being said...

I think I may have figured out why the word as I have experienced its usage rubs me wrong.

I know some people, some for a long time, some just now getting to know in Morehead, who have known each other for a long time. Like decades. Their devotion to one another is touching-- coming to get them for church, taking each other to doctor’s appointments, hanging out for lunch...

I don’t think they would say they “have community” or “are community for each other...” They don’t need a word-become-a-theory-turned-into-a-book-and-speaking-engagements...

They are... friends? Christians?

Most of the talk of community seems to have an expectation that it should happen quickly; that small groups or watching the Office, or whatever will create it.

No, only time in obedience to love will create it.

15 years it ago it was not at all clear that Steve McKinney and John Crissman would be my best friends. There were many other people in our circles.

But time and love...

Holiness

2011-09-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

For us Methodists, Holiness is the theme of the Bible. God is love precisely because of His Holiness.

For a month or so we have been studying Leviticus on Sunday evenings. I know, I know, you can't really believe Leviticus would draw a crowd, but it does. It's a book that is easy to dismiss, easy to freak out about on a surface reading. But if you spend some time with it, try to get into its mindset and then understand how Jesus dealt with it--both in His teaching and on the Cross-- the rewards are great. As evidenced by last night.

We have spent the last three weeks on chapters 11-15: food laws; purification after childbirth; regulations concerning mildew and infectious skin diseases. You wonder, why is this in the Bible? What does it have to do with us?

Well, maybe Dave Saxon summed it up. He said something like this about holiness in light of Jesus' work on the Cross and the nature of the Law: there's no middle ground. You're not following orders. It's about the condition of your heart. And other people need to see it in you.

That, I think, is the holiness Leviticus would impart to us in light of Jesus' work as priest and sacrifice.

The Beatitudes

2011-09-24T06:27:00.001-07:00

At the Methodist Student Center, I got a chance to talk to the students about my favorite of the Beatitudes... Blessed are the peacemakers. I know, I know, everyone knows I'm a straight up brawler, so how can that one be my favorite? Maybe later we'll talk about that... "blessed are the peacemakers" means something much different than the surface look reveals...

What was going on with me that night was I was sitting around with the students, thinking about how some of them are under pressure for their faith, have been; some have given their whole young lives to Him. It's not like I came in at the last hour, but it's more like 3 o'clock The Lord came to the city square and found me doing absolutely nothing (oh, I was busy, but it was a big pile of nothing) and said, "Go work in my vineyard."

I got there late, had to learn the job quick.

I have a sense of profound unworthiness that only can be overcome by the grace of God.

I remember my first communion at Annual Conference as a probationary member. I was there with my boy David Crow--we should have known the days were short--they are always short. Anyway, Debbie Padgett was serving communion and I was struck by her smile, of course, but also by the thought that here is someone sold out for a long time to Jesus. And I was thinking, "Man, if they only knew... they would never let me in." I was thinking about how guys with a prison record probably wouldn't make it-- and most of what I did just wasn't illegal. Or there's no piss test for my sins.

So, yeah, communion is pretty sweet.

Random Notes

2011-09-22T18:59:00.001-07:00

Lets see... There has been a lot going on lately. Good stuff. Some men in the church cleaned the carpet in our multi-purpose building. It gets a lot of traffic, and man does it look good now. It's another piece of how well Morehead UMC functions-- something needs doing, it gets done.
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Even staff meetings are creative and productive. Looking forward to Christmas in more ways than one is all I'm gonna say.
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We had a great time in bible study on Wednesday. Heavy stuff in Romans 5, great testimonies about personal faith and God's grace. It was one of those special moments with the Word

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I just finished John Noble's book, I Was A Slave In Russia. He was an American citizen arrested by the Soviets. A very interesting read. Heartbreaking.

It will come as no surprise that I have a small collection of books on or by GULag survivors. Part of it is a kind of morbid sense that we aren't free of danger from such atrocities, and we need to know what it is and how it infests a society. And another part is wondering why concentration camps seem to be a fundamental feature of socialism.

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More on Hard Time Witnessing

2011-09-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is from Theo, Francine's husband:

It gets better

Addendum to the old ultra man

We mentioned that church was good for the soul, to which the old man vehemently replied that idea had been dead for 2000 years. While he stomped off in disgust at these two Christians, one of us called after him "We'll see who's right". Modern humans have made themselves comfortable by the lie that there is nothing after death. After the old man turned the corner and disappeared into the hills, we were left with a sense of having seen a legend in the running world, a hero to us ultra folks, come down hard to being a tragically lost person in great need of a Savior. He is 80+ years, and physical death is around the corner, time to make up your mind buddy. He probably thought we were a couple of Jesus freak ultra runners in need of a therapist. Don't feel bad for us. We were (and every time still are) elated at having been given the chance to be one of the, on average, seven witnessing people it might take before a person comes to faith. So, there is hope! Christ said "Go" and promised He will always be with us. He was given authority in heaven and earth, who can beat that? Evangelism is not hard at all if we humbly accept that we are His messengers and He is fully in control. Don't count the number of converts, He will do that, He knows the total number required before He comes back. Can't wait for that day, and yet, the harvest is waiting, is ripe and abundant. Now go! Thank you Jesus, for letting us do Your work, for giving us the credit.

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Hard Time Witnessing

2011-09-21T06:06:00.001-07:00

This comes from my friend Francine, telling of a time that just even a simple word about church freaks people out...

Aaron,

This summer when we were in Colorado, Theo and I went out for a run and then met an old guy (80), who was in great physical shape. He was one of those ultra-guys, he had been out since that morning (it was now 7 pm or so), hiking and running in the mountains.

So we talked about that, running, hiking, mountain climbing etc. Nice talking, and he shared that that weekend there was going to be a big event in town (Bike Fest, which we had seen advertised) and on Sunday there was a special race. If we wanted to come?

So we said, "No, we are going to church on Sunday, nicer to go there (church)."

It was as if he had seen the devil, he turned abruptly, and ran off, cursing on his way down, "church? No way man, don't give me that!" He couldn't get away form us quick enough.

________
What does something like this mean? On the one hand, there is a trope in Christian writing and communication where we beat ourselves up, talk about how we do a terrible job witnessing with our lifestyles, etc...

But we also have to keep in mind that people are afraid of the light, for deeds done in drakness will be exposed...

In truth, evangelism is hard work. On the one hand, yes, the Church can give itself a bad name. On the other, the difficulty of repentance keeps some from the Good News.

Nothing can make you feel like a failure like evangelism can. Perhaps worse than being cussed is the apathy?

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Arts and Eats

2011-09-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Morehead/Rowan County hosted the Autumn Arts and Eats Festival yesterday. By all accounts, it was a very successful day-- way more people than anyone expected.

I have to say I am still being blessed by the thought of what happened. The church decided to purchase a booth and sell "Walking Tacos--" a bag of Fritos with chile and cheese poured in. Man, is it good. We sold close to 300.

But what was so amazing was the number of volunteers from the church. More than 30 came to work at our booth. Many, many more donned the red shirts we had made. No doubt, there were more of those Morehead Methodist red shirts than any other shirts that were out.

Our kids were amazing-- a group of elementary kids came and passed out cards. 400 cards inviting people to our church! The kids were all over the place. I was really proud of them!

I was able to do nothing else but talk to people about the church and their spiritual lives. There were so many volunteers, so many of our church people introducing me to their friends...

And what's wild is that the Children's Ministry Team first started putting this together as an outreach to the community! So from the start, we went into it as an outreach. Can't beat that.

If our church will stay focused on getting out of the doors and helping people to find their way to Jesus and to church, great things are going to happen here!

Sleepy Kids

2011-09-17T04:58:00.001-07:00

Joe and Nadia are up, but barely.

John in still asleep.

We had a pile of kids over for Johns birthday and there was lots of excitement and games.

Nadia just pointed at the helicopter, waved her arm around and said "go go go."

Today is the autumn Arts and Eats Festival. We are hoping to get the word out about our church in the community. That's most in my heart for prayer today--that the world may know.

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You really do need to set aside the time to read this 1400 page book...

2011-09-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Great writing comes from great tragedy, from the deep suffering of a people.

It’s always risky to figure out what “cultural artifacts” will endure: what is the great writing of today? What will we pass on to centuries yet to come? Some of you know this is why I half-jokingly say I have not read much past the 4th century; it saves me from worrying about whether what I am reading and spending time on is just a waste of time, because it will be quickly forgotten. I remember a fellow college freshman telling me he thought Midnight Oil would be remembered just like Beethoven... So I won’t have much of an answer for you about Rob Bell or Francis Chan-- not just because I suspect they are hipsters, but will what they write matter in 5 years? Will you read the book again 25 years from now?

Literary critics have spent an inordinate amount of time on Joyce, Faulkner, and Proust (to name a few), only to find that Steinbeck--who was relegated to the second tier-- gains more ground as time passes; that precisely because Steinbeck was not navel-gazing (which, whatever the stylistic merits of the aforementioned Trinity may be, they were navel-gazers), his works continue to speak to readers. There’s a big difference between reading obsessive Oedipal memories and experiencing the cultural pain of something like the Dust Bowl and labor unrest from 1920-40.

It makes me wonder if there is not some great Chinese writing to be discovered for us English speakers, detailing the horrors of that nation’s experiments with socialism. I know we have not paid enough attention to the African American Diaspora from the South...

And then there is Solzhenitsyn. A titan. Someone who is not only a brilliant stylist--Joyce, Faulkner, Woolf and others imitated each other, but what Solzhenitsyn created in GULag Archipelago, we are still sorting through what to call that “style.” A new style, a new genre, had to be created to deal with something unprecedented: the systematic torture and destruction, over a period of 40 years of people in Lenin and Stalin’s death camps.

I first read GULag Archipelago when I was 12. It’s a testament to Solzhenitsyn’s power that even a 12 year-old can understand the book! I remember the Preface, which I suppose is indicative of what Solzhenitsyn was about to unleash over the next 1400 pages... To this day, I think it is the greatest opening in all of literature:

“In 1949 some friends and I came upon a noteworthy news item in Nature, a magazine of the Academy of Sciences. It reported in tiny type that in the course of excavations on the Kolyma River a subterranean ice lens had been discovered which was actually a frozen stream--and in it were found frozen specimens of prehistoric fauna some tens of thousnads of years old. Whether fish or salamander, these were preserved in so fresh a state, the scientific correspondents reported, that those present immediately broke open the ice encasing the specimens and devoured them with relish on the spot.

“The magazine no doubt astonished its small audience with the news of how successfully the flesh of fish could be kept fresh in a frozen state. But few, indeed, among its readers were able to decipher the genuine and heroic meaning of this incautious report.

“As for us, however--we understood instantly. We could picture the entire scene, right down to the smallest details: how those present broke up the ice in frenzied haste; how flouting the higher claims of ichthyology and elbowing each other to be first, they tore off chunks of the prehistoric flesh and hauled them over the bonfire to thaw them out and bolt them down.

“We understood, because we ourselves were the same kind of people ‘as those present’ at that event. We, too, were form that powerful tribe of ‘zeks” [prisoners in the Soviet system of death camps], unique on the face of the earth, the only people who could devour prehistoric salamander with relish.

“And the Kolyma was the greatest and most powerful island, the pole of ferocity of that amazing country of Gulag which, though scattered in an archipelago geographically, was, in the psychological sense, fused into a continent--an almost invisible, almost imperceptible country inhabited by the zek people.

“And this Archipelago crisscrossed and patterned that other country within which it was located, like a gigantic patchwork cutting into its cities, hovering over its streets. Yet there were many who did not even guess at its presence, and many, many others who had heard something vague. And only those who had been there knew the whole truth.

“But as though stricken dumb on the islands of the Archipelago, they kept their silence...

“...I have absorbed into myself my own eleven years there not as something shameful nor as a nightmare to be cursed: I have come almost to love that monstrous world...”

I suppose there was no writer I wanted to meet more than Solzhenitsyn. He was impressed into my mind early because a distant cousin was part of debriefing him when he was expelled from the Soviet Union. That was just a family story that perhaps put the book on the shelf. Or did my dad know that this was the most important work published in the 20th century? The most important work in how many hundreds of years? We might say this one book tore the Soviet Union down.

The book was Solzhenitsyn’s blackmail; the KGB wanted to kill him, but the book had been smuggled out by (if memory serves me correct) Mstislav Rostropovich, and Solzhenitsyn threatened to publish it if he should disappear or die mysteriously. (side note: many copies of it were typed out on 3 carbons in Voru, Estonia, for all you First Methodist missionaries!)

Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and other intellectuals tried to stop the publication (!) because it would reveal them to be liars and propagandists for the socialist cause, for the excuses and denials made for and about the millions who perished in Lenin and Stalin’s perverse world.

If you want to read anything past the fourth century, you can’t go wrong with Solzhenitsyn. “First Circle” and “Cancer Ward” are easier books of his to break into, but GULag Archipelago is the book to read if you’re only going to read one.

Mean Streets

2011-09-15T08:42:00.001-07:00

Working on details for the service in the office, I felt this tug to go get some fresh air, to think through things on the front steps of the church. It's a good, cool day, rainy, windy.

I look across the street and see a sight I know well--not just Slone's Market and the mountain behind it, but a disheveled fellow. Homeless, alcoholic.

I walk over and sit next to him on the bench, we introduce each other. He jumps right in, "Would you help a brother out one time?"

"More than one time," I said.

"I'd like a little something to eat."

Slone's has great sandwiches, hot or cold, good, solid stick-to-your-ribs veggies... "Sure, would you like me to get you something in Slone's?"

"Well, I like Arby's." It's just down the street. "Let's go," I said.

"I was wanting to eat a little later."

"Ok, I am the pastor at the church across the street. Come get me when you're ready."

"I don't know when it will be, could you help me out?"

"I don't give anyone cash. I'll buy you something to eat if you need it, but no cash."

He shrugged. We got to talking about where he is from--Pikeville, but he moved here from Lexington 2 days ago. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not.

After we have just sat for a few moments, saying nothing, I said, "Do you know God loves you?" He just turned his head away.

"He wants to set you free from drinking."

"I am trying to sober up..."

"No you're not. You're drinking mouthwash, and that's going to kill you."

A long silence.

I pointed to the church. "You know where to find me."

My phone buzzed, had an email. I walked down the sidewalk a bit, turned around and he was gone, like a ghost. No one can disappear like a drunk.

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Evangelism Visits

2011-09-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today I set out early, not so much to do some evangelism visits as to do some pastoral visits among some folks in the local Senior Citizens Center, a few folks who don't have much support outside of the church. As I got there, I saw one of our folks who I did not know lived there. So I walked over to the bus stop where she was and we talked a bit. I asked her if we could read some Scripture. Psalm 46 has been on my mind a lot lately. And by lately, I mean the last 6 years. So we read it. And then I asked how I could pray. She shared some concerns and then we prayed and I was not quite prepared-- instead of just standing there, she gave me a big hug while we prayed. we talked a bit afterwards, and I am not sure I have been thanked for anything quite the way I was thanked simply for stopping, reading the Word and praying. She told me of a few friends she wants to bring to church, who feel they have been forgotten. I sure hope we can do something about that.So, I went over to visit the three I had intended to visit. Two of them were out on the porch enjoying the cool morning. We sat and talked for a bit, and then I asked how was it with their souls? Problems, worries, health concerns, but peace with Christ.I asked about prayer concerns, and they are a bit afraid of some neighbors, some slim shady who is taking advantage of his grandmother, some kind of thing like that. Lots of noise, profanity, threats against people who complain.I was not quite ready for the direction Psalm 46 would take us."God is our refuge and strength,an ever-present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fearthough the earth give way and mountains fall into the sea." Psalm 46:1-2So far, I was getting it. Yes, we will not fear."The Lord Almighty is with us,The God of Jacob is our fortress" Psalm 46:7And still, I am right there, tracking along, Lord.But then this, and I was reminded how important it is to read the Word with the poor:"He makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth;He breaks the bow and shatters the spear,He burns the shields with fire."This is what grabbed me. It's not just that God is with us. One day, He will create such peace that we will have no need for a shield. It is not simply that we ourselves might have no swords, it is that there will be such peace ordained by God that there will be no swords anywhere. No need even for a shield._________After some visits at an apartment complex, I had to go back and get some more cards. I was really feeling that the evangelism visits were going well enough that I probably should not stop. I came back by the Senior Citizens Center to hit a few places I had not and came across a guy sitting outside under a gazebo. We chatted a bit. He just moved here from Lexington... we were almost neighbors; he was over off of Anniston Dr. He was not much interested in going to church (yet) but as I left he did say that if we had a bus, there are a lot of folks that might like to go to church but can't get there. I asked him if I get a bus ministry running, would he get the word out? He said he would. So even the non-believer is willing to help. I was blessed today for sure.Just before lunch I was able to visit a street and meet two folks who do not go to church. Hopefully the Lord will work on their hearts. I am going to write some notes to them now to remind them of the Lord's love for them, and their need for Him.

Stabat Mater Dolorosa

2011-09-11T05:16:00.000-07:00

On the way over to perform Lynanne and Shawn’s wedding, I stopped off to see a family I had not seen in some time. They were a family that started coming pretty soon after I got to Winchester but came only occasionally because their youngest son, Lee, was very sick. He has a disease where his body does not produce a critical enzyme, and so occasionally all his muscles basically cramp up. Sooner or later, the heart, which is a muscle, will be affected.So I met Lee when he was about 10 or 11. He was the most cheerful kid. He used to have titanic wrestling matches with his figures and some cool rings. When he heard I had not seen “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” he let me borrow his copy. We have some great memories stored up.I left Winchester for two years then came back to Lexington, got a call from some old friends who tole me Lee was in the hospital at UK. I went in and saw his mom. Lee’s disease was in full force and he was unconscious. Doctors thought they should pull the plug; there did not seem to be any brain activity. But his mom is a bulldog for him and she contacted a specialist they saw at Johns-Hopkins who said it looked like he was dying, but really he was in a deep, deep sleep and would wake up. And he did!I had not seen him since. I heard from some friends at the wedding rehearsal that he was bed-ridden. I stopped by and it was so nice to see his parents. Lee is in a hospital bed at home, occasionally on a ventilator.The affecting thing was that in my mind, he is a young boy. But there he was, a man’s face, hair on his chest. I could only think of Mary, receiving the promise of the Christ-child, knowing him as the infant and child and boy with child-like skin and voice... and then to see his broken and battered body.We wonder at the Cross, its brutality, asking how on earth is that the means of redemption. But in that question, we miss not only the deep reasons why it is redemption (about which more later, perhaps...) but we also miss that it is God’s solidarity with us in our suffering. The world will destroy this “robe of flesh” we wear.The Cross, however, is God’s tender, “I know, I know...” to us in the agony not only of sin, but of suffering and death

Into the Desert, Into the Night

2011-09-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

So, I get to preside over Lynanne McGever's marriage to Shawn Gallagher. Lynanne was in the youth group at my first church, Dunaway United Methodist. Her family's roots in that church are deep--mom, aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins... going all the way back to the first settlers who came with Daniel Boone and built the first church building in 1815... I was very happy to see her and her family again and to be able to be a part of the wedding.I also had a great time just looking around. We got to the church in June 2000. I looked at the little parsonage! How interesting that we were so happy there, in such a small house. We always want bigger and more...The little church is simply one of the most beautiful you will ever see... a small white building on the hill surrounded by trees.I suppose there is always something that gets me there. When I came back for Stephen Horton's wedding. I was able to pick a flower from the clematis we planted.This time, I saw some zinnias that grew volunteer from a patch we planted in a bed that we had dumped all our compost into... they grew to almost 5 ft tall!And then, I came to the place that God apparently appointed for me to reflect on, a picnic table under a pavilion behind the church. Seems plain enough, but...I used to sit there each morning and read. I was doing what I now know to be lectio divina. I was reading no more than 5 verses from Mark's gospel, sometimes as little as 1 or 2 verses. Chewing over them again and again to almost memorize them. Then I would meditate and pray over the words. Takes a while to get through a Gospel that way, but it is worth it. Then, I also would read a selection from the ancient Church, perhaps the Desert Fathers, or Chrysostom and Tertullian.I was struck last night by how much of my spiritual formation came from this little church, and more specifically, from that little table under the pavilion.Those were such happy days! Almost carefree. Compared to what was coming when we left, they were carefree!I am impressed that those days of lectio divina, fasting, prayer, Psalm reading-- things that seemed simply prudent and good in themselves in the moment-- actually turned out to be a survival training. I was headed into the desert, into the dark night and there would be no way to survive it without the wisdom of pilgrims who had gone before. How many times did the Psalms provide a prayer when there was nothing I could say? How often did fasting destroy hopelessness? And how easy was it to find the Lord, to know His presence and His voice because I had waited on it when the tree was green? What if I had gone into the dry and weary land without knowing I could take a well with me? How clearly did the wisdom of the words appear: "physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things" (1 Timothy 4:8)?

Prayer Meeting

2011-09-07T09:55:00.001-07:00

I missed last weeks prayer meeting because I was on the road.

Back this week and again good stuff. Tom said he knew we had a soul when he attended an autopsy as a student.

Others encouraged me; they have been here for decades and say they are still impressed by the grandeur of the hills, so I probably won't take it for granted...

The hills were shrouded in mist and as I was thinking I could not see them but knew they were there, I also thought how beautiful it will be when the leaves change colors...

A woman from an Orthodox background said she wants to join here because she feels at home. Hooray for the Creed and Eucharist!

Why do we smirk at weakness? My bud James Williams is heart sore that some smirked at a homeless woman in his church. We patronize children that way, too. Their games and lack of so-called knowledge. Nadia was not feeling well last night, and neither was Joe early in the morning... What else could be done except to comfort them when they are not sure what's wrong?

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Blessed

2011-09-05T19:38:00.001-07:00

Got to worship at the Methodist Student Center tonight. It is really good to be able to sit w my family! To praise with them.

I was reminded how Jessie has said she knew she was called to minister to widows and orphans, she just did not know that it would mean marriage!

As there is so much great ministry to be done, I'm also reminded that Jessie and I have been in weird and tough places, and some blessed places...

We look forward to the work that is ahead: sowing and reaping-- we met in a garden, so it comes naturally!

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Kindersprache

2011-09-02T05:41:00.001-07:00

I could never wait for the day the boys, and now Nay, started speaking. I wanted to know what they were thinking. What they found funny. What games they would play if no adult scripted it for them.

I guess it's my fascination with learning about other cultures and languages.

In the early days of speaking, you have to work to understand some things? There is in Nay Nay's language only slight stress distinctions between the word for "baby," "bubba," and "belly.". All three words are "bebe.". There's a natural poetry in babies!

Anyway, "milk" has been an interesting word for all three. John called it "mauk.". Joe called it "nu," and it took us a bit to figure out it was because we would say we would get him a "new" cup of milk. Nadia calls it "more," because we ask her if she wants more.

7 or 8 years ago Cindy Patton gave me an idea to start a journal I was going to call Teknalogy, or "children's words," a journal of children's prayers and spiritual formation written by children. Now that Nay is with me, I have that desire again...

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Will You Help?

2011-08-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

Voice of the Martyrs has some great stuff on their website, www.persecution.comI just wrote a letter to an Iranian pastor who is imprisoned, under sentence death. You can write to persecuted brothers and sisters, too!Go to the website. Click on Prisoner Alert. A persecuted believer's "file" will come up. You can choose to look at some other believers who are also under persecution. Over to the right there will be a link "write an encouraging letter." Click on it and it will lead you through some phrases that will be translated into the prisoner's language and you can then print it off and send to the prison address they give you."Remember those in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourself were suffering" (Hebrews 13:3)

Crazy Week

2011-08-30T04:12:00.000-07:00

So much good stuff going on makes it a crazy week.

We have been having some small gatherings in homes, a kind of get-to-know-the-pastor meetings, and it has been wonderful to hear peoples' dreams for their church.

Tomorrow I meet with a church planting/evangelism guru from Southern Seminary. We both had our first churches in Winchester, so it's cool to swap tales...

Sunday, we started our new worship service. Pastor Bruce had really laid the groundwork for this. It sounds nuts to be in a church less than 3 months and start a new service, but the hard work had already been done before I got here. I am totally reaping where I did not sow. We start at 11 in Wesley Hall, our multi-purpose facility.

That sounds weird-- to have two services, both of which I will preach, at 11. David Peyton, one of our members and musicians had a great idea... the we could run the services concurrently, not simply offset, say 1 at 11 and the other at 11:15 or 11:30. He and Drew McNeill had timed things in the sanctuary and we realized that if I preach first thing in the new service, I have plenty of time to head to the sanctuary, where lay ministers lead the first part. After some long talks with Phil Hogg who has some experience with concurrent services, we decided it was the best way to start a new service.

We had 111 in the service, so we are feeling really blessed. But the week after the opening is always tough because the numbers go down as people who just came to check it out don't come back. Hopefully we will keep up our inviting... there's no way 111 people showed up without lots of people seriously inviting everyone they know. Emma Newton, one of our youth, stuck invitations in the lockers at the high school!

It was a great service-- awesome music. It's amazing to have so many people who can play instruments, lead worship, and then take over when the pastor heads to the sanctuary. And how crazy is it that there are so many lay people in the sanctuary who can lead the church through the liturgy without the pastor!

And to top my week off, and it's only Monday, so who knows what else will happen! I got a chance to preach in the Methodist Student Center to a group of kids totally primed for the Word by awesome music! I shared a bit of my testimony, really focusing on how important it was to have some guys around me who were Christians, and I challenged the students to be the kind of friends who will being people to Jesus.

There was a great response of students seeking God to fill them with the Spirit to share Christ!

And then... a young woman comes up and says, "I think I am where you used to be. I don't believe in God. A friend brought me here tonight. I'm a scientist and I just can't see how to believe in God."

We had some talk-- there's not a lot you can say in just a few minutes. I shared with her that God has to break through in our lives with the gift of faith. It's not something we are going to figure out or pluck from the world around us. And then she said something that hit home: "I don't have a Bible and I am not sure how to get one." I was not either. I never went to the section of a bookstore where they had Bibles! And what would you do if you saw the bewildering array of translations? If it had not been for the Gideons giving me a Bible...

So I got a student leader to tell me where Drew keeps his stash, and we got her a Bible! Let us pray that God reveals Himself in a powerful way!

Sabbath

2011-08-26T10:30:00.001-07:00

So, today... I try to take Fridays off because it sure isn't a Sabbath on Sunday for a preacher.

And today Jessie is visiting a friend and it is Nadia and I. daddy-baby days I have been calling them for years now. I look forward to the days when I have a big chunk of time with one of the kids.

Nadia and I have played, snuggled, napped, walked around, had lunch... You can kiss a baby to sleep, and that is a wonderful thing.

When you say it's time to pray, Nadia says, "amen" and will continue saying it throughout the prayer.

Today she has been a love bug, constantly throwing up her arms for a hug.

I was reminded when I was holding her right after she woke up that we really need to cultivate that kind of place of rest. A place where there is perfect peace, perfect trust.

Tomorrow it's back to grinding hard, but today, God willing, will be an important time just re-creating with my family... Any wait for the boys to get home... That has always been my number one commitment, to carve out the real time to be with family. I don't want to be that pastor who loses his kids because they don't know him, or whose kids hate the church for taking their dad. Or wake up one day and realize how long it's been since we just hung out.

Have you had that experience with God? You know, you go to pray and realize it has been months since you prayed? Don't let it happen!

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Prayer Meeting

2011-08-24T05:06:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the men's Wed morning prayer meeting and I want to get some things down that are fresh on my heart.

This is a group of older men-- they won't mind me saying that, they say it all the time!

What strikes me first is that they know each other. To know and to be known is a blessing, especially within the bounds of the Church, within Christian love.

But this morning I realized that it has been a while since I have had a group of godly older men around me. Maybe 10 years, I guess. They have 50, 60, 70 years of Christian experience. It was great to hear their testimonies-- things like learning to pray as an adult; learning that your name is an important thing to guard; to hear from a doctor that color vision is a miracle he enjoys every day with the sunrise...

And a devotion from Philippians 3:12-17...

________

Yesterday after school, we all headed to Eagle Lake, at the back end of Morehead State. The previous pastor, Bruce Nettleton told me about it, showed it to me and said what a great place it is to walk. So we all went and walked around the lake. The boys loved it, I loved it, Jessie loved it, Nadia rode on my shoulders and loved it. Very serene, reminded me of Germany, get around a bend and forget how small the lake is and I was remembering the Bodensee...
_________

We have been having some "get acquainted" meetings with the church in different parishioners homes. It has been a greta chance to meet people and hear a bit more of their stories. I know I keep saying it, but Morehead is a special place. So many people say they came here in 56 or 77 to stay two years... what can you do? The lake, the hills, the small town with a university... an awesome Methodist Church...

Rejoice With Me!

2011-08-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

Back at my first church in Winchester, the Mynhier kids were part of the youth group. John and his twin sisters, Mary and Martha. We had some epic adventures. A staple of life together was for me to say to them, "Now, when we get close to your house, I'm just gonna slow down, and y'all jump out. Remember to tuck and roll!"

This phrase, "tuck and roll," became a greeting and a good bye or just something we'd say at random moments.

I think I blogged a few days ago about getting back in touch with John. So imagine my surprise and joy when, walking down Main Street today I hear someone yell, "Tuck and roll!" I look and there is Mary! With her mom Arvilla!

I ran out into the street, almost got killed. But it was so good to see them, and to meet Mary's 4 yr old daughter, Destiny.

Arvilla is the reason we had such a huge garden at the Rock, a big part of the explosion of gardening in Lexington. Arvilla had a huge garden and kept me in beans, peppers, maters, corn, you name it. She wanted it to go to the hungry, so we began a program to make sure that we could get extra produce to the people who needed it. When I got to Lexington, I knew I'd want to do some gardening-- to feed the hungry, do some evangelism, but especially to beautify the neighborhood.

So while very few people may know Arvilla Mynhier, she was huge in getting some great stuff going.

You know, there are some people I have always known I would see again, would find again, no matter how often we lost touch or for how long. The Mynhier kids are in that category. It's another reason I was happy to come to Morehead, because they are from Rowan County, and I knew I could at least start on the trail of finding them.

But Mary found me first. Something as silly as "tuck and roll" brought a tear to my eye today. Rejoice with me!

Stoked

2011-08-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

I hope all y'all preachers are stoked to preach this Sunday and every Sunday!

Have you stopped to think how good we have it?

We get to preach the Word!

Salvation in Jesus' Name!

Or what about this: we get to study the Word throughout the week!

I'm so pumped right now-- I get to sit down with about 30 pages from that great North African Bishop, Athanasius, to prepare for this Sunday's sermon!

I almost feel bad; I mean, they are paying me to go deeper in the Word! What?!?!

I only pray I can go deeper and point others to The Way!

Faith

2011-08-15T09:34:00.001-07:00

What is Faith?

It's not what I thought when I did not believe in God. In those days, I thought it was a crutch for weak-minded people who could not handle life on life's terms.

At best I may have said it was a kind of giving yourself over to a Fate you could not comprehend or predict, and so faith was a kind of spiritual wisdom, a kind of "let's see what happens.". But thats still just coping. It may lead to bold and extravagant living, but it is simply coping.

Faith, biblically speaking, is a sure and settled conviction that God is trustworthy because He has proven Himself trustworthy forever. There is very little leap of faith, it seems to me.

But what does it mean? What does it do?

Faith, before and after it's theological definition, makes the Word of God active in our lives. We not only find our trust miraculously placed in Jesus Christ, the promises of God become truer and truer with each new experience.

How else to describe the Christian experience of the Beatitudes, to take one example?

Blessed are those who mourn? How? If you have ever grieved and known the comfort of the Lord, then you know. In fact, you will take all the mourning you can get because God is close to the brokenhearted, and the blessings of His presence in the time of mourning is better than being free of mourning!

We are surrounded by a great could of witnesses who can testify to such phenomena in every aspect of their lives... The promises of God came to life, were made flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.

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Preview of Coming Attractions

2011-08-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great day of worship at Morehead United Methodist today. Good crowd, great music, freedom in preaching.

Sunday August 28 starts a new experiment! We have known for a while that we need a contemporary service. But... when? The single best time is Sunday at 11 a.m. But we already have a sublime service going on then. We decided that we would run them at the same time. In the new Wesley Hall I will preach right out of the starting gate, and then the service will enter the time of praise and worship, while I head to the sanctuary to preach in that service.

I am looking forward to it, because I will preach as often as anyone will let me! It's going to be different, a little strange, but I think it will bear fruit in the long run for us. We don't have any room in the sanctuary for new people... a GREAT problem to have!

This coming Sunday, I will be preaching on "What I Learned About Jesus in Las Vegas." I was in Vegas with John, who was 4 then. One afternoon while he napped, I went all Jim Wallis on the Gospels. That is, I started to read them closely, looking--not as Wallis did, for verses about the poor--but for verses where Jesus indicates that He is the only way to salvation.

This is a very offensive idea in our times. We are supposed to pretend that all religions are valid, that "we're all going to the same place, just by different paths." I don't buy it. But I wanted to look closely.

What I found shocked me: you'll be left with very little in the Gospels if you take out the parts that assume the exclusivity of Christ. At almost every turn, Jesus demands that we understand His uniqueness. Along the way, we'll unpack the meanest thing Jesus ever said...

Can't believe I forgot...

2011-08-12T05:46:00.001-07:00

I had a great lunch yesterday w Jay and Sue Barrett talking about missions.

There is so much going on, so much supported from Morehead: Peru, Kazakhstan, Mexico, local missions... Looking forward to Estonia

Morehead Methodist is a wild place-- so much ministry going on, so much happening... The mantra is keep doing what we're doing and add to it

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Great Day of Ministry

2011-08-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, somedays, the Lord is just all over it.

A few things conspired to make me realize that I had to totally give the day up to God or it was going to get bad. I didn't fast yesterday--I forgot, and I can tell you when I don't fast things can get rough.

After squaring away schedule stuff, I went to visit a parishioner who does not get to come very much. I found out that this person is sick, days are shorter than longer; doesn't have much money-- making it, but... And then these words that blessed and convicted me: "All I have is the Lord."

Early this morning someone had posted to Twitter that you don't know how much you need Jesus until He is all you have.

So this was going through my mind: here is a person that, really, by the world's standards, is not someone to spend any time on, not someone who adds anything. But isn't it amazing that this person feels the presence of the Lord more than ever? How amazing! The Lord gives His presence and love in powerful and extravagant ways to the very ones we overlook.

I wonder what it would be like if we related like that, like God does?

Then I had an impromptu meeting with the Program Director at the Morehead Inspiration Center, a residential treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction. That is going to be a great relationship for our church. We already do a lot with them in terms of giving them space for classes, but I hope we can do more and really look to the spiritual care of the guys.

I had a great meeting at a nursing home that turned out a number of folks from the church are there, so it was like a mini-service!

And capped it off tonight with a meeting for a couple about to get married and it turned into a great time of prayer!

First Day of School

2011-08-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was with each boy privately as they both told me of their worries about starting school in a new place.

They had been at Arlington Elementary in Lexington, a very special school with a staff that really came around the boys when they were in the toughest times I hope they ever have to face. So it's not just that we moved to a new school--we left a school that was a great space for the boys, not just in terms of the building, but in a kind of emotional landscape.

I went to five elementary schools in 4 states and Germany, 2 high schools. So i've been the new kid a lot. Came to terms with the fact that all my friends were going to be strangers. So last night, I could tell the boys that it's ok to be the new kid.

But this morning, to see the boys sitting there awkwardly, off to the sides, not knowing anyone... I know how that feels... and there's this weird line between knowing it's ok.. or it will be ok, and wishing it wasn't that way. At the end of the day, I know that they will come home excited, new friends, excitement of learning and getting to know their teachers.

Whenever I am reminded of the darker mode on my peripatetic life, I'm in a California mood, so until the boys come home, it's P.O.D. and The Offspring in the iPod.

Tuesday

2011-08-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

Taking a short break from the sermon... I know, I know, you wish you could too on Sunday! Ha ha ha. Having fun with this one-- history of the Roman sewer, old school paganism, Christian social ethics... what's not to love?

But something struck me, totally unrelated to the sermon.

It's so easy to lose sight of, track of, what's important, valuable, precious to us.

Another way to say that is: it's hard work to NOT take good stuff for granted.

You're around your family and friends all the time, and so it becomes routine. When they're not around, you really miss them.

Maybe you live in a place like Morehead, KY, and you forget to be in awe of the beauty, or take advantage of the lake (this one worries me. I can see 2 years from now no longer looking up to that mountain outside the church. It becomes a backdrop that I don't even notice.)

Or a struggle I have to revisit periodically: what about the things you do that give you life? What if they get crowded out by the everyday? Or "important" stuff that's on your plate? You have to step back sometimes and remember what it was that brings life and joy, what you're called to.

Monday

2011-08-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

A very productive Monday!

The guy I needed to see came into the office... nice. Thanks, Wes! We got a killer confirmation plan for the youth.

Flowed out a new members' class that I will offer a few times each year.

Set the hymns for the projected sermons until Advent.

Got a document ready on the preaching schedule for the next 15 weeks so people can have something specific to invite their friends, family and co-workers to!

Working on getting a set of inserts ready for this Fall's Keyword Sermons so people can follow along and take notes. We're going to be going deep into Hebrew and Greek, and letting the Bible define its terms for us. So often we come to the Bible, read a verse and then think we say whatever we feel like... but this is God's book, so we want to let it speak for itself, so that when we say words like "sin," grace," and "forgiveness" we actually know what we're talking about!

2 more things on the punch list and then the rest of the week is for the sermon and visits in the community.

9 Years

2011-08-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we celebrated Joseph's 9th birthday. It seems like yesterday we had his eighth birthday, like yesterday that he was just born. I can still remember holding him right after he was born, showing him to family. What a precious boy! What a wonderful blessing! A big strong boy (half inch shy of 5 feet tall!) who will still sit with me, curled up under a blanket in the La-Z-Boy.

Jessie's mom came down, and that really made his day! I told him we'd have a special guest when he woke up, as Grandma was coming in late. When he saw her, he told me that he was so happy. He said, "I thought maybe it was somebody from Lexington!" It meant a lot to him to see her, all the way from Illinois.

I think back to that strange time after Melissa died, and we were at a birthday party for this person we did not know, Jessie. In pictures from that party there was Joseph and John everywhere Jessie's mother was. We joke that they wanted Jessie because of her mom.

I think of my little man and all that he has been through. I tell him all the time how much God has blessed me through him.

Good Things

2011-08-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

So, Tom Fossett, a member at Morehead got us a pass to the National Park facilities around Cave Run Lake. tuesday, we loaded up the family and I worked on the sermon while Jess and the kiddos swam and played. It was a great day under some pines. I like to be outside when I work on my sermon, used to like a place on the Palisades in Jessamine County. Of course, the week I got to spend on sermon prep on the Baltic was pretty nice. I guess the highlight for me was hearing the pages of my Bibles turn when a breeze blew. I love it on sunday morning when people are turning the pages and following along in the Bible with the sermon.
_________________
John said tonight, "I can't wait til I am a Daddy." I got a chance to tell the boys that of all the things I have done in life, being a Daddy is the best.
________________
And it's easy to be happy to be a Daddy to John, Joe, and Nadia.
________________
Nadochka may be the cutest thing I have ever seen. She has this smile where she throws her head back and leans forward and shows her teeth. Why am I so blessed?

She says Amen now pretty regularly. If you start to pray, she says it. If you say the words "Jesus" or "heavenly Father," she says, "maymen."
________________
Blast from the past. a few days ago, Jessie asked, "Do you know John Mynhier?" Yes, I do! He friended her on facebook looking for me. He was a youth in my church in Winchester. We had a lot of good times together, especially doing evangelism on the back roads of Clark County. We called a few sinners to repentance. And one day, we were way out there, and we got to a long driveway that we drove up only to find and abandoned house. But, we alos found something else: blackberries! Now, we were so far out in the woods you'da had to go back towards town to hunt, and so not even the birds had found these blackberries! Our faces and fingers were purple. I remember telling John we needed some ice cream, but he said they were pretty good as is.

I think this is one of my favorite memories.

The list of people who wanted to kick my butt was shorter. [don't worry, the list of people who want to and CAN is very short. And if you think you're on that list, forget about it. you're not]

Simpler times.

We did not fully appreciate the battle with the enemy, and that there might be fewer of us.

But then, John Mynhier's family got the whole garden madness going!

This Sunday at Morehead UMC

2011-08-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

This Sunday at Morehead United Methodist Church, we'll be looking at the Nature and Use of the Ten Commandments. In short, the commandments exist for one reason: to make us despair of of our own righteousness. No matter how hard we try, we have all broken several if not all of the commandments. But there they are, so simple, so plain, so common sense!

When we knuckle under and realize that all our best thinking and good intentions got us to the place where Jesus had to die on the Cross to save us from our sins, then we know that there has to be a righteousness that comes from God, not from us. And we learn that this righteousness comes by faith in Jesus. It is His righteousness we need.

And when we believe in Him, repent of our sins, and turn our hearts and minds to live a godly lives, then we find that, indeed, His righteousness lives in us. And we can fully obey the Ten Commandments not because we decided to, but because Christ lives in us.

This is a mystical reality, not a mechanical process. It is by faith from first to last.

Factors that Lead The Unchurched to Choose One Church or Another

2011-07-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

The unchurched reported on a number of factors that led them to choose a church that reached them. 90% report the pastor and preaching as the most important factor, and more specifically, "Preaching that teaches" is the single most determinative factor.

1. Pastor/Preaching 90%

2. Doctrine 88%

3. Friendliness of Members 49%

4. Other Issues (not sure what these were) 42%

5. Someone from Church Witnessed to Me 41%

6. Family Member 38%

7. Sensed God's Presence 37%

8. Relationship Other than Family Member 25%

9. Sunday School Class 25%

10. Children's/Youth Ministry 25%

11. Other Groups/Ministries 12%

12. Worship Style/Music 11%

13. Location 7%

Source: Thom Rainer, Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and How to Reach Them

Preaching is Critical in Reaching the Unchurched

2011-07-30T05:31:00.000-07:00

Thom Rainer's research uncovered that the most critical factor in reaching the unchurched is preaching.

The preaching is heavily expository (a verse-by-verse explanation of the Biblical text); by way of comparison, narrative preaching is the least used style by these pastors.

The preaching does not shy away from deep, difficult, or controversial topics.

The pastor of churches reaching the unchurched spend about 22 hours per week on the sermon.

The pastors of churches that re reaching the unchurched place preaching as their most important task. By comparison, pastors not reaching the unchurched place pastoral care as their most important task. I think I read somewhere that among UM clergy, Will Willimon and Henri Nouwen are the most widely-read authors. Great guys, and Nouwen is definitely one to emulate... but where is the passion for reaching those who don't know Jesus, who have stepped away from church, who need to hear the Gospel?

Summary of Insights About the Unchurched

2011-07-29T19:04:00.001-07:00

In a few posts, I'd like to summarize for you some insights from Thomas Rainer's book, Surprising Insights from the Unchurched.

The unchurched-- people who are either unbelievers or inactive Christians-- are who we are trying to reach. No, it's who we should be trying to reach. We are going to have to reach them at an increasing rate. Better to start now than in 10 years when the situation for the average American church is going to be desperate.

Rainer looked at a number of unchurched people and also at pastors who are reaching the unchurched. It's eye-opening stuff.

Let me say at the start that even tho I am constantly warning about the coming decline of the church in America, I am optimistic. I have mentioned a number of times that I am optimistic because the Lord knows exactly what to do in times like we are facing. The New Testament is a manual for precisely the times we face and will face increasingly. The Book of Acts. Nuff said.

Ok-- so Rainer jumps in with some myths about the unchurched.

Myth 1: "Most unchurched think and act like Anglo, middle class suburbanites with not church background."

I must say, this is going to be hard for the church, which has generally been a place of "good behavior.". What will we do with people coming out of addictions? People who have been formed by secular culture? It is going to be hard, charitable work.

Myth 2:"The unchurched are turned off by a denominational name in the church name.". This is actually pretty good news for Unite Methodists, as we have a very good reputation among the unchurched. Stop naming your church something or other Community church.

Myth 3: "the unchurched never attend church." they are there at Easter and Christmas and sometimes they come just to make sure church is still as lame and hypocritical as they think it is!

Myth 4: "the unchurched cannot be reached by direct personal evangelism." It is critical to not only invite people to church, but to invite them to accept Christ!

Myth 5:"The pastor Must be a dynamic and charismatic leader..." Good news here! Just be faithful!!!

Myth 6: "The Church should not communicate deep and complex Biblical truths that will confuse the unchurched.". Rainer will later discuss that doctrine is a critical issue in reaching the unchurched. People want to go deep... Maybe because they know the root of sin goes deep?

Myth 7: "Sunday school and other small groups are ineffective in attracting the unchurched." The formerly unchurched are more likely to be active in Sunday school than transfer members!

Myth 8: "The most important evangelistic relationships are in the marketplace [your network of acquaintances]". While not downplaying this, Rainer says that family relationships prove to be the most significant.

Myth 9: "The unchurched are concerned only about their own needs." Te unchurched come to church often for their children. Rainer doesn't say this, but I wonder if the Methodist good name is a factor for us UMs as our good name comes largely from the perception that we do a lot of good in mission?

I am pumped to share some of the other insights Rainer shows in his book. It's important for us to look squarely at the challenges we face, but also to know the Lord is with us.

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Poor Paul

2011-07-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

Read an introduction to a book on the Didache, by Tony Jones. He hints that it's a good thing that the Didache, as a manual for an alternative Christian community, doesn't know about Paul's theology.

Let's assume for a minute that's true and then let us reflect on what a poor model for Christian life it must be.

The Didache would know nothing of grace-- because Jesus never said a word about it.

There's a segment of the church that wants to get Paul out of the Bible. But they grieve the Holy Spirit.

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Bible Reading

2011-07-28T08:06:00.001-07:00

So I am thru Galatians. I may not get thru the new Testament as I planned. But it will be close.

Reading thru the last few chapters of 2 Corinthians, I was struck by Pauls worry for the church there in Corinth, that he had grieved them by taking a stand against sin.

I wonder if congregations know about the struggles their pastor has?

The concern for all those in the community who do not know Christ.

The grief that some in his church have not found salvation by grace, thinking they will be saves by good works-- or perhaps thinking they do not need to be saved at all.

Some do not pray. Most do not fast.

What if they are tempted by the pleasures of the world?

What if they are carried off into captivity by the desire for wealth?

What if they are caught in sin?

Adultery? Addictions?

We feel the pain of wayward children, of frightening diagnoses...

So what will we preach on Sunday? The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Takin Er Easy fer All You Sinners

2011-07-26T16:36:00.001-07:00

So, my vacation is going as planned.

Not getting out of my swimming trunks.

Hitting the sauna hard-- sauna, cold shower, sauna, cold shower... Repeat many times.

Hanging with my family.

Going to read the New Testament.

Taking naps.

Yours,

The Dude

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No Time For Church

2011-07-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

Someone told me recently they did not have time for church. An honest answer-- better than lying and telling me they go to church when they don't. And also better than a slammed door or a curse.

I have been thinking about that response-- no time for church. I think I have to agree. I don't have time for church.

But I do have time and make time to worship God.

So, don't go to church. Go to that building where they worship God in singing, praying, offering, and preaching the pure word of God!

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Car Free Day

2011-07-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

I really like car free days. They should be as simple in Morehead as they were in Lexington, for the most part. You tend to have to drive more in rural areas, but there is a lot downtown, and the church is just a few minutes away by foot. Additionally, I plan to use some of the longer distances I might need to go to stay in shape. Our brutal ride to Annual Conference this year showed me a few things. First, I liked riding the long distance. I was a little afraid I might get off the bike and hate life and decide I was done riding. NO, I really liked it. Sick, I know.

Second, I need work on hills. And boy is this the place for it! Just a ride to the Morgan County line would be a real beast for me right now.

I just did some evangelism visits and made a quick grocery run on the xtracycle:

The xtracycle is an add on to an existing bike. I bought a Diamondback on sale and added the xtracycle with the wideloader platforms. I can carry about 200-250lbs of cargo, and have. Everything from turkeys for the poor to kids to a wheelbarrow. As you can tell, I love my xtracycle!

Are you familiar with Sustainable Morehead? Check out our church's website, www.moreheadmethodistchurch.org Some folks from the church started the organization to promote sustainability in transportation and the food system.

If you're new to this blog, especially because I left a card at your door, welcome! I hope you'll come back frequently and check out the church!

Olney Lullaby, part 2

2011-07-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

The second verse:

Let us praise the Lord who bought us,
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by His grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes

In some ways, this hymn reminds me of "Amazing Grace," with a kind of journey-- first verse tells us of the purpose of the 10 Commandments, to at once hold out a standard of righteousness and show that we cannot meet that standard. So therefore, God must save us by grace, a free gift.

This second verse begins to talk of the Lord and His mercy, how He simply cannot let us go to the Hell we would create. Christ dies for us while we were powerless, while we were His enemies. Sounds strange for a lullaby, but there is something of the tenderness of a parent for a baby-- helpless, nothing to offer in their own defense, for their own sustenance. It's why we know to call God "Father." That family relationship is critical. We ought not be surprised when the Lord loves us in spite of ourselves, when He calls out to us with salvation while we are still sinners, pouring out love and grace, to lead us into a full, mature life.

This hushes all our loud striving.

Church Without Jesus

2011-07-16T08:54:00.001-07:00

I want to follow up on a tweet I sent out, something like, "the church that can do what it is doing if Jesus never existed will not survive the current American cultural landscape."

That is a twist on something George Hunter has cautioned against, churches that can do evrything they are doing whether there ever was a Jesus.

There may have been a time when a church could just have service and people came bc that's just what you did.

But no more. It's not just that for 50 years Christians did not win their children to faith; we did not win anyone else either. This creates a dangerous illusion: the church still has lots of people we know in it, so there is a false sense of security. Give it 10 more years tho. Those two generations we failed to win-- their absence will be keenly felt.

Here's the issue: church was an entertaining social function. Not to say there was no power or spiritual vitality. But here is how churches do what can be done if Jesus never existed:

You can go anywhere and hear good music.

You can go anywhere and sing songs we all know-- a baseball game is a great example.

We can go to YouTube and see and listen to interesting speeches about being a better "you."

We can give money to any number of charitable concerns.

We can gather in groups to study books.

We can join lots of groups that will have civic service projects.

There is no need to go to church to do or find or experience these things.

So why go to church for such things? Clearly next to no one is going to. The future is bleak for church in America.

Unless...

We commit-- and beware! What the church will become in the future will be committed to doing nothing except what can only be done in Jesus' name under the discipline of the Holy Spirit.

It cannot be about the style of music.

It cannot be about the preacher.

It cannot be about the people who are there.

It must be about praising God.

It must be about preaching the pure Word of God.

It must be about being a disciple of Jesus and obeying His great commission.

The church must have a desperate desire for souls. Our hearts must be broken so that we will pour our time and money and effort into seeking those who do not know Jesus, and offering forgiveness of sins and newness of life in His name.

The crucial question, issue: will we do this before we have to? Will we do it before it is such a drastic change that many will perish and return to slavery rather go where the Spirit leads?

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Thoughts from my friend Theo

2011-07-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Aaron
some thoughts that I wrote to a Missiologist/Missionary Professor friend off ours who has too many immature churches with too few pastors in his region. This grew historically so skew because westerners pumped in money without developing the indigenous people in their church stewardship.

Anyway, we know about the early church growing very fast but having the benefit of evangelizing among Jewish people who were already used to tithing and to religious leadership. However, further growth in outlying areas such as Greece, Roman Empire, Germania and Scandinavia must also have grown quickly. Can we learn from what happened during the Reformation and the Great Awakening itself?

All of this brings up the question, are we really ready for a revival? We pray for it but do we have a mechanism in place to absorb and feed the multitudes of immature Christians. What if the Spirit would move the people of an entire country to repentance? We assume He would also supply the tools. Or would He wait til we show a willingness to be ready. Perhaps Christ is calling the Church to make better preparations before He will poor out His Spirit. Perhaps we corporately don't even know what to do because we have been so focused on feeding ourselves. We have forgotten the Great Commission and staying largely in beautiful church buildings with well-paid pastors. How much of a building does one really need, how much maturity of a congregation does one need to be able to replicate, are elders able to feed and safeguard the flock while only seeing a preacher/pastor once in a while? Do we need more itinerant preachers, circuit riders?

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2011-07-14T05:34:00.001-07:00

So a member of my Staff-Parish Relations Committee comes in to a meeting and asks if I got my tape?

I looked puzzled and he said, "The clerk at the post office saw me and said, 'your pastor bought this roll of tape and forgot to take it with him..."

I had been at the post office with Kulothungan, sending a package to India, and in the confusion of customs forms and getting the weight down... Talk about customer service, tho!

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Location:Morehead

And I Always Thought It Would Be A Pimp That Got Me

2011-07-13T04:58:00.000-07:00

Back in high school, my friend Ching Cruz wrote in my yearbook: "You have a quick mouth. One day it's gonna get you hurt real bad." In the movie they make of my life, ZZ Top's "Under Pressure" will be playing during that scene.

I wear a clerical collar for a variety of reasons, but the first is because one day I went to visit one of my toughest parishioners. Tough as in mostly the life he had led, did lead. The first time i met him he was renting a bathtub in a house so he would have a place to sleep. Once we cranked up the Monday Night Service, Billy started coming. Got to know his story, like how on his birthday two years ago he passed a milestone: he had finally been out of prison for more time than he had been in...

Well, I asked if I could come see him and he gave me an address on Upper Street, north of 7th, a tough street, no doubt.

I did not remember that he had also told me that sometimes pimps and dealers take over his house, kick him out and then sell drugs and women. It's a lot easier than having your own house, apparently. Pimpin' ain't easy.

Well, I go to visit Billy and three dudes come off the porch next door and head right to me. You don't have to be a genius to know that a beat down is coming. Luckily Billy had been exiled to a back room and he stuck his head out and hollered, "Hey! Hey! It's the preacher!" So they left me alone, and even let me come in to the house. NOte: the next time I came back I was able to share the Gospel and pass out some tracts, and a playa in a big brightly colored car took some, saying he was not ready but maybe some guys he knew... how weird.

Anyway, I always figured if I was going to be beat up it was going to be by one of those dudes. Or my neighbors. Come to think of it, that list could get LOOOOONG....

So imagine my surprise when on Twitter, after posting about evangelistic techniques that I think we Americans could learn from our Indian brothers and sisters, a thread was started that began with being told I better not set foot in India!

Time

2011-07-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ever had that feeling there isnt enough time? Maybe it's not quite that as much as it is the things to do keep rolling. There's time to get it done, but it seems like each day passes faster.

We had a great time with Brother Kulothungan of Maharashtra Village Ministries. Starting with the Evangelism Resources Dinner in Wilmore on Saturday night, it seems we have been doing lots of praying and singing and dreaming of how not nonly to advance missions to unreached groups in India, but how what Indian Christians know can help us in an American context that is a kind of secular Hinduism--pluralistic, syncretistic.

When I stop and think of all that we have before us to complete the mission of Jesus Christ--the Gospel will be preached in the whole world (Matthew 24:14)-- organizing children and youth ministries, preparing Christians to witness to their Lord, planting new churches... the things to do keep rolling. Tomorrow will be another full day. So praise God, the only thing to do it to take care of today!

Disturbing. Be Sure You Know What Youre Doing If You Watch This

2011-07-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

This is a video I got from twitter. It is hands down the most graphic and violent thing I have ever seen. This is the death of a Christian in Afghanistan.

A few questions. If we believe the Gospel, Latif is our brother, his widow our sister, his children our children.

And then, what is it about the Gospel that has inspired such responses over time?

Do not click on the link if you cannot handle it. I believe that you have probably never seen anything this brutal.

Click here

Olney Lullaby, part 1

2011-07-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

You know John Newton and William Cowper from two great hymns they wrote, "Amazing Grace" and "There is a Fountain Filled With Blood" respectively. But did you know they were close friends and wrote many, many hymns?

Newton was an Anglican priest (after his long experience as a sailor) and Cowper was a parishioner. They would meet together for prayer, and would write hymns for these meetings. Michael Hughes turned me on to this after I asked him to learn a hymn I love, "Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder." The hymns, of which "Amazing Grace" and "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood" are a part, are called The Olney Hymns, from the village they were in.

I plan to delve into this a little more, as Michael Hughes has put music to two of the hymns, "The Lord Will Provide" and "The Good Samaritan," and the words are just too much, touching the soul.

But to the point: "Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder" has become a lullaby for Nay Nay. And it is just so sweet to see her curled up in my arms, about to go to sleep. I suppose not simply the tune, but also the words are peaceful:

"Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior's Name.
He has hushed the Law's loud thunder,
He has quenched Mt Sinai's flame."

Of course, "hush" is the point of a lullaby. but what peace to the soul! The Law's loud thunder and Mt Sinai's flame are equivalent and mean the Ten Commandments. Mostly we think of the Ten Commandments as basically good advice. But are you aware of their awesome power? They are what the New Testament means when it talks about The Law. The Bible tells us that all the Ten Commandments can do is condemn you!

Yes, they are great advice--if we would or could live them!!

As it is, when we hear that we should not make idols, we are condemned for all the idols we have made-- anything that takes the place of the Lord in our hearts. When we hear that we should not commit murder, Jesus reminds us that anger is enough--the heart is where the terrible passions that spill into open sin come from.

So the Law condemns us. It is loud thunder and powerful fire. But praise God, Jesus has taken the punishment meant for us. On the Cross, He took the Law into His own hands-- and feet, as it were. And so indeed He has hushed its loud thundering against our souls and has quenched its burning flame.

And in its place has brought us His righteousness so that where we, in the natural body and mind might desire to follow the Ten Commandments yet find that we cannot, now under the discipline and power of the Holy Spirit, we can follow the Ten Commandments by following Jesus, by trusting that He will lead us.

I think this lullaby is more for me than for Nadia.

Evangelism Tactics

2011-07-07T12:15:00.001-07:00

You knock on doors and pass out cards during the day pretty much to NOT meet anyone. That sounds strange, but... You will meet a few people, and get to talk to them, but generally, you are looking to get out as many cards as you can, to let people know when you worship, where you are, etc. You're trying to get them to recognize the church when they see you later (because you'll go back won't you? Who goes out visiting just once!?!?) or when they hear something about an event at the church or see your people working on a Habitat House... Get the word out, savvy?

You take a stack of cards with you walking through neighborhoods of an evening for the people you will meet. This is slower but more fruitful.

As I was going out today, I noticed that Pizza joints and Chinese restaurants put stuff on people's doors. Is what they have worth more than Jesus?

I heard from a church member today that he went door-to-door for two months to get his business started.

Here's a secret: I can go out and visit and knock on doors all day long. But that won't bring as many people in as if each family in the church would pray and then invite a friend to come to worship with them. So, who will you invite to church?

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Flashback

2011-07-06T04:23:00.000-07:00

We have to go back to about this time of year, 11 years ago. I had just arrived at my first appointment as a United Methodist pastor, at Dunaway UMC, in Clark County, KY.

It was a small church, and to be honest, I was not sure what to do! Other than that my mentor Howard Willen had instilled in me the value of visitation-- in homes, hospitals, jails, wherever. So I made a card with basic info and hit the road. I had a map of Clark County and was intent on visiting every house in my end of the county. And I I'd. Each house once, many houses twice, a few, when led by the Spirit, as many times as I felt I needed to!

But pretty quick into my time there, I kept finding that someone had been there before me: Ark of Mercy Church of God! They even left a card at the parsonage!

They had a real dynamo of a visitation person, Sister Anna. She was a spry older lady. I would tell Dunaway that I was so sick of hearing about Ark of Mercy! I wanted them to hear that Dunaway had got there first! (Now, I was not really sick of them! I admired them!)

But one day they really got me good. Sister Anna came out of a house in a hurry-- she had seen me working the other side of the road. "Brother Aaron! Come quick! There's someone in here who has accepted the Lord! You need to pray with them!"

I was rejoicing, but I was also wondering, when will the Methodists get this serious?!?!

So now here I am in Morehead, having a flashback. Two families I have seen out and about that I have invited to church tell me they already have a church, Crosspoint. I have the sinking feeling they are going to be Morehead's version of Ark of Mercy. I don't know that they have a a hard core visitation going on, but it seems that lots of folks go there.

I don't know what they do to be so successful. Don't care. I admire them for reaching people with the gospel. But rather than worry about it or imitate it, this is what I want to see: the people of Morehead UMC to simply invite friends and family and total strangers to worship. If each family-- not even each individual-- invited one person, we would not have room!

It's just that simple.

Years Of Struggle, Part 2

2011-07-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

The reason I am not bummed by the coming crisis for the Church, the reason why others I know are not bummed, is because we have faith. Not a faith that means thinking everything is going to work out just fine. Listen to me now and hear me later, I do not expect God to pour money into our current system to keep it afloat. I fully expect that in many, many deep ways, the current system will be scrapped. And what will have power, what will have resources, is the plain work of the Gospel.

More than that, I am totally pumped when I think of what is coming. Sure, I can look at the pain that we will face, the continuing sense of shame and inadequacy clergy will feel as they watch what they have known and worked for slip away, or rather, just be ignored in the "marketplace of ideas."

But what keeps me going, what gets me excited is to know that apostolic times demand apostolic ministry. We are living in times that are more like what the apostles faced than at any time in 1800 years (speaking of Western Christianity). We live in a world that does not believe there is only one God or only one way of salvation. We live in a world of multivalent sexuality. A world of growing inequality between rich and poor. A world that does not believe in such a thing as truth. Yes, we live in a world Paul, John, James, and Peter would know all too well.

That's what excites me! Faithful Christians will get to have a ministry like the apostles did. Full of hardships and persecution, but also full of signs and wonders, the power of the Holy Spirit; full of bold ministry, marked by repentance and conversion. Becoming a Christian will be like having your eyes opened after years of blindness! And we will get to see and participate in that!

There is one coming reality, but multiple options.

Wait and see, and you're done.

Try to fix the finances, and you're done a bit more slowly.

Accommodate the culture, and Jesus will spit you out.

Or you can live and pass on what is of first importance, that Jesus died to save sinners and was resurrected on the third day. It's that simple, but we have not yet seen how powerful it is!

Years of Struggle, Part 1

2011-07-03T05:07:00.001-07:00

This post is one of a series, maybe just two, but who knows.

There are some years of struggle ahead for churches. Many churches now don't see it-- things are going along fine. But I guarantee you, denominational leaders see it. The big question is, will we do anything about it? Will we make changes and take initiatives while we can control the outcomes, or will we have difficult measures forced on us?

The problem appears to be financial, but it is really not. It looks like we have about 10 years before there is a severe drop in giving. Most giving comes from people over 60. In some way, that is only right; their earning power is generally greater, and with kids out of the house, their income is more "disposable." But as you go down in age, not only does giving decrease, there are fewer people in each age group in church. There are not enough 50 year olds to replace the current 60 year olds. Get below 30 years of age, and you can see that if 60 year olds are our best givers, there will not be much left of the United Methodist Church in 2040. It will be a precipitous decline. But, we have been watching it happen for years. In some sense, we are in the middle of it. It looks bad, but it's not so bad yet that we feel like we have to do anything drastic to alter course. In fact, there are people starting ministry now who will be able to finish their careers without seeing too much pain of decline in their ministry. There will always be growing churches. The denomination as a whole may be croaking, but there will be exceptions, and each Annual Conference, there will be people flocking to figure out what the growing churches did. Sadly, the power of the guru will grow.

I said the problem only appears to be financial. I guess I should say that if we try to solve it financially, it will only drive us further into ruin. We may drag it out a little longer, but that's it. Sure, we will have to cut salaries, staff, buildings, programs, denominational spending, but we probably won't do any of that until we have to, and it won't be in ways we can control, ways we can downsize with an eye to be more effective. We will be forced to change, with little time to think, even though we have seen this coming for forty years...

If we look at it only financially, we will be trying to preserve the form of the institution, not the work of the Kingdom of God. We must recapture our love for the mission. We must have a zeal that compels us out of the walls of the church to find those who don't know Jesus and tell them of His great love and salvation.

If we look for new members thinking that will affect the bottom line (which it will, but watch out, that is Judas thinking), then we wont be making disciples. And if we're not making disciples, God will be done with us. He'll let us go.

But if we return to our first love, saving souls, everything will be fine. More than fine. the Holy Spirit will have His way in our churches and we will find our institutional forms lining up with His purposes. We may not have the money we want in the places we seem to want it now, but we will have the sources for the work God would have us to do. We will be "aligned" with The Lord's purposes. And then, sometime in the future, after we have again become complacent, someone will have the same problem we have, pushing against a ponderous institution that cannot clearly see, articulate or implement mission in Jesus' name.

All that said, sounding negative and pessimistic, tune in for why I (and others I know) are not discouraged, but rather are pumped up and ready to roll!

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Questions

2011-06-30T17:01:00.001-07:00

When Jessie got the email from her friend that a missionary pastor in India had been badly beaten, we both had some uncomfortable questions, questions we have asked a time or two before.

How zealous are we to share faith? We don't suffer persecution, so what keeps us from telling people about Jesus?

Are our hearts broken for those who don't have faith in Jesus? Do we do anything about it?

How do we support Christians in places where they are persecuted?

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Missionary Pastor Titus

2011-06-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

Here is an email from Jessie's friend in India, Omana Gaikwad. This is an update on a native missionary, Titus, badly beaten for his faith.

Hi Jessica,

Details of Pastor Titus:
I request you to kindly uphold our missionary Pastor Titus in your prayers. He was beaten badly yesterday for his faith and now is in the hospital. Yesterday, after he was beaten, he was not able to walk for nearly 4-5 hours. One of the nerves near the neck has been badly affected due to the beating because of which he is not able to speak properly and is also having complications around the abdomen.

In the month of February this year, there was persecution in his mission field itself in Andhra Pradesh in South India when new believers were beaten badly and were forced out of the village. The anti-Christian elements had plans to kill Titus during that time itself. However, the LORD, in answer to faithful prayers has been protecting Titus and his family as well as the believers.

I request you to kindly uphold Titus in your prayers. His two children Abhishek and Mahima are studying at our Project Anupama - the Missionary kids home. Please pray for Titus and his family and stand by them in this time of crisis.

In His grace,

Omana

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