I preached from the prophet Micah for the first time in ministry this past Sunday. The reason I preached from Micah this Sunday as opposed to never having preached from Micah in 23+ years of ministry was a very pragmatic one: the lectionary passage for the Gospels was Matthew 5:1-12 (the Beatitudes), and I just preached an entire series on the Beatitudes back in the fall. As I prepared my preaching calendar, I thought to myself, “self, you’ve never preached from Micah.” So, I decided it was time. It was a hard sermon to write!

In the process of writing the sermon, I used a word that I’m uncertain as to whether I’ve ever used it in a sermon before–religiosity. Someone even made the remark after the sermon that they had a new word to add to their vocabulary, and would try to use it in a sentence this week (wonder how that’s going?). I’ve heard the word before (obviously), but I can’t recall ever using it in a sermon. Webster’s Dictionary defines “religiosity” as “the quality of being religious; religious feeling or sentiment; religiousness.” Makes sense, huh? I guess it really boils down to “how religious are you?”

Here’s how I used the word in the my sermon:

It’s interesting how the people answered. “Just what do you expect from us anyway? Is there ever anything we can do to please you? Really, we’re good Jews. We go to the Temple. We make our sacrifices. You want us to give more sacrifices? You want us to give our first-born? Is that what you want?” For them, they thought the “right stuff” was the outward demonstration of some religiosity. The problem was the outward religiosity wasn’t translating into a transformed world. It wasn’t translating into right relationships either with God or with the people around them.

I won’t bother to go into all the details of how I came to employ the word (twice in the same paragraph, mind you!). Suffice it to say, the Hebrews were demonstrating a public religion, but it wasn’t translating into a changed culture (sound familiar?). Imagine my surprise when I log on to the web this week and find an article dealing with “religiosity” in the United States. Coincidence? I don’t think so! The author actually employed the word twice in the same paragraph just like I did (am I sensing a new trend here?).

The article was reporting the findings of a Gallup poll for 2013 gauging the overall religiousness of the nation, and actually gave the rankings for the most and least religious states in the nation. Rankings were gauged on a continuum from being “very religious” to “not religious,” with those falling in the middle as “moderately religious.” You can see the entire article by clicking here. A “very religious” person was one who attends worship every week, or almost every week, and considers religion to be very important in their life. 41% of Americans consider themselves “very religious.” I wonder where those 41% are on most Sunday mornings. A full 29% of respondents considered themselves “not religious” (meaning they don’t attend services and don’t consider religion an important part of daily life), with another 29% classifying themselves as “moderately religious” (falling somewhere between the two extremes).

Honestly, I thought the number of non-religious people would be lower in the United States, and the number falling between the extremes higher, but the Gallup organization stated the numbers are virtually unchanged since they started tracking “religiosity” in 2008. So, the long and short of it is that the United States is a somewhat religious nation, and there are some places where religiosity is higher than others. For once, it was good to see Louisiana at the top of a list instead of the bottom, although it might actually be a dubious distinction, especially in light of the fact that we deal with such a high level of poverty and we find ourselves on the lower end of educational achievement. Perhaps the findings of the survey prove the point of my sermon.

The ten most religious states are:

Mississippi: 61 percent are very religious
Utah: 60 percent
Alabama: 57 percent
Louisiana: 56 percent
South Carolina: 54 percent
Tennessee: 54 percent
Georgia: 52 percent
Arkansas: 51 percent
North Carolina: 50 percent
Oklahoma: 49 percent
Kentucky: 49 percent

Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana (along with Utah–it’s the Mormon’s, you know) top the list, yet all three states struggle with poverty and all its companion social ills. I don’t know whether to find that disturbing, alarming, confusing or infuriating. Perhaps it’s some combination of all of them. I’m simply asking the question “Is our religion making any difference in the transformation of our culture?” That was pretty much the point of my sermon on Sunday. I must admit, though, the egg is on my face. This is not an indictment of everyone else. It’s an indictment of myself. I’m a “religious leader,” and if the people are largely unchanged, is it because I’m largely unchanged? If we’ve failed to transform the culture, is it because we’ve failed to submit ourselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit? Have I spent my life simply going through the motions, checking off a list of religious “do’s and don’ts” thinking this is what God wants from me? Dare I ask Him the question: What do you want from me, Lord?

I dare not ask Him that question. He might answer, and if He did, He might say, “It doesn’t matter what you do on Sunday, if you are not walking humbly with me Monday through Saturday.”

I might protest and say, “But Lord, I live in a Christian nation. I’ve spent the better part of my life proclaiming the Gospel to the world.” And He might say, “It doesn’t matter if you post the Ten Commandments on all your public buildings if only certain people get justice. It doesn’t matter that you stand up for prayer in schools, if you fail to pray at home and at work. It doesn’t matter if you are adamantly pro-life, if you refuse to provide the resources to keep them fed, healthy and educated once they’re born. It doesn’t matter that you protest loudly when somebody wants to take ‘In God We Trust’ off your currency, if your whole life is consumed with consuming, with acquiring, with buying the things those dollars can buy.”

I dare not ask Him because that’s exactly what He’s likely to say, and perhaps I don’t want to hear it because I know I might only be “moderately religious.” I might actually discover it’s not my “religiosity” that matters. It’s my relationship with Him. He transforms me, and the long and short of it is that I’ve not allowed Him to do His best work in me. Yet, one more indication of how much I need His grace–of why I’m not the perfect pastor.

Huh? Maybe I’ll just put the word “religiosity” out of my vocabulary. It might make life a lot easier for me.

Until next time, keep looking up…

 

 

I made the commitment not to see the inside of a restaurant for the month of January. I thought on this last day of the month that I’d report back how the month went.

Actually, I’ll confess…I went to four restaurants in January. One trip, Vanessa and I went with two colleagues, and it was a trip that we planned before I made the commitment. I suppose that counts, but it didn’t feel right to cancel on our friends. It WAS Mexican food, though! The other three trips to restaurants came in the span of three days in the middle of the month, and had to do with hosting a guest speaker that was in town. Feeding him around his speaking schedule necessitated restaurants, so I’m not going to beat myself up too much about those trips either. Besides, our guest speaker requested Burger King and KFC. Seriously, do those even count as restaurants?

There were a few benefits that came from not eating out so much in the month of January. First, I’m six pounds lighter now than I was at the beginning of the month. I’d like to think it was because I stepped up my work-outs at the gym, but that wouldn’t be totally truthful. I did meet with a trainer a couple of times and alter my work-out, but I haven’t worked out more. I’m still at my four-five days per week I’ve done since 2007, so I pretty much have to count the weight loss to not eating out so much.

Another benefit has been that our food “envelope” lasted much deeper into the month than usual. It costs a lot to eat out! We’ve saved a ton of money in the month of January on food costs. Vanessa also experimented with some recipes she’d been wanting to try. I suppose not eating out gave her more time to spend on pinterest because that’s where the recipes came from, but we did discover a couple of things we’ll have in the future. One was a chicken casserole that reminded me greatly of my grandmother’s famous chicken pie. If Vanessa hadn’t made that dish, I might be 7-8 pounds lighter this month. It was fantastic, and yes, I ate too much (this is not a blog about gluttony, so save your comments!).

Yet another benefit of the “no restaurant” commitment is that I freed up (as I figure it) about 25 hours to do other things. I read more. I worked more. I watched more TV (no redemption in that, I know). I sat on the couch with Vanessa more. How, you ask, did it free up that much time? You don’t really understand how much we were eating out. And, eating out takes a lot of time (unless you’re eating at Burger King or KFC). I’ve never been the fast food type. Most of it is just not that good. So, I figure it takes, on average, one hour to eat at a nice restaurant, and it was not unusual for me to eat out at least once a day, four or five days per week. If I figure drive time, too, that probably adds up to 25 hours or so. That’s a lot of time!

There was a drawback, though. Living in the church world, so much of what we do centers around food. I declined several invitations to eat with folks simply because it would involve restaurants. It’s not that I didn’t want to eat with them, but I wanted to see if I could keep the commitment. There is so much business that gets done over a meal, and there is a ton of pastoral care that can happen over a lunch meeting. I probably missed a few opportunities to accomplish both. Lunch or dinner is the best time to engage some of my leaders. Everyone’s schedule is so busy, but we all have to eat. It’s so convenient to schedule a lunch date or a dinner date to get some work done, or simply to build a relationship. I have missed that, for sure.

So, I’ve made it to the end of the month. Vanessa told me yesterday that she hasn’t missed the restaurants at all. I can’t say the same thing. There were a few times I wanted to throw in the towel. It’s almost like I was addicted to restaurants. I haven’t had Johnny’s Pizza in a month, I missed El Jaritto (we usually went once a week), and near the end of the month I was really craving some fried catfish. Luckily, my son and his family went to Catfish Charlie’s one evening, then stopped by my house afterwards. They had leftovers. They brought them in. Yes! I ate the leftovers. I got the yearning for catfish out of my system. That one almost made me break my commitment. Vanessa said eating my son’s leftovers counted as breaking the “no restaurant” commitment. I disagreed. I didn’t go to the restaurant, and I didn’t pay for the food. We just had to agree to disagree (and we still enjoyed our time sitting together on the couch).

I’ll also confess that I’ve missed the restaurants. I’ve missed the fellowship around the table. I’ve missed watching the people in the restaurants, and I’ve missed the food. But, I’ve proven that I don’t have to eat out all the time. I’ve proven that it can save us a ton of money, and it can obviously help the waist-line. But, I’ll still head back to the restaurants in February. I’ll probably get my fix by having lunch with church folks and colleagues, and Vanessa and I will probably eat out far less frequently than before (just because we proved we can).

Now, I’m really not sure why I’ve told you all this. Not sure you really care, but this is my blog, and one of the purposes of my blog is personal catharsis. Maybe that’s why I’ve written this morning (that, and I was up at 4 a.m., and didn’t want to work on a sermon). Maybe you can find something useful in my cathartic exercise. Maybe not.

Until next time, keep looking up…(and, wave when you see me in the restaurant!)

I am an early riser, and it’s early as I write this morning. I’m not up early this morning because I choose to be, but because the security company that monitors the church chose for me to be. The alarm (and subsequently my phone) went off at 3 a.m. My first response was “disregard.” I thought I would go back to sleep. I didn’t, which is probably best because the phone rang again at 3:20 a.m., and the word was the motion detector was alarming once again. This time, I asked them to send the police to check things out. They did. My phone rang a third time at 3:32 a.m. They needed me to come to the church. They discovered a door unlocked. That’s why I’m up this early today. Way too early, even for me. No need to let an opportunity pass, though.

Early is when I usually meet the Lord. There’s some biblical evidence that God gets up early, too. I get the sense from reading the Psalmist that God is waiting to meet us:

Psalm 5:3

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

I am a United Methodist, and proudly so, if as a United Methodist and a Christian I am allowed to use the word proud. I have been UM all my life, literally born into a Methodist family. Therefore, I love the United Methodist Church, and I am deeply concerned about its future.

For those who have been living on Mars (or for those who simply live there lives giving themselves to others so as to have no time to worry about such things), the UM Church has fallen on hard times in the past 45 years or so–hard times because the congregations are growing older and smaller, and if the trajectory for both continues, by 2050 (which isn’t that far away) there may actually not be a UM Church. That would be a shame.

Having served as a UM pastor for over 20 years, and having served as a mid-level judicatory official (that’s a District Superintendent!), I’ve been privy to some interesting conversations, and have been charged with reading lots of statistics, numbers and reasons for the continuing decline of the UM Church. I’ve discovered there are a lot of people who have a perspective on what’s wrong, and almost all of them have the recipe for what will fix the problem (or turn around the church, as it were). Some think the problem is theological. Some believe we’re too liberal, and the liberal theology is driving people away. Some think we’re not liberal enough, and if we could just be more open and accepting, more people would respond. Others think we’ve lost the evangelistic zeal that drove John Wesley, Francis Asbury and other early Methodist leaders to share the gospel of Jesus Christ (which is, itself, a theological problem), while still others think we don’t “take” Jesus anywhere (another theological issue).

My point is that the longer I sit in denominational meetings, the more I read commentary on the issue, the more I watch denominational agencies, the more I believe we’re looking for a magic pill. If we could just be more conservative theologically, things would begin to change. If we could just be more liberal theologically, things would begin to change. If we could just reach out to the poor better, things would begin to change. If we were more open to change, things would begin to change. If we could just reach young people, things would begin to change. If we could…you can fill in your own blank. There are a thousand solutions that have been offered to the problem, as if any and all of them are the magic pill that will cure all that ails our beloved denomination.

I bet you’re thinking by now that I am going to offer my own magic pill. That’d be a good guess, but you’d be wrong. I don’t have one. I wish it were that simple, and I really wish I were that smart, but it’s not simple, and I’m not that smart. I think there’s probably some truth in the problems, issues and solutions that have been offered, but no one thing will right a ship that’s been taking on water for 45 + years. To think otherwise is to oversimplify the issue. Now, that’s what I really think. I think the issue of denominational decline (among UM churches and others) is too complex to be boiled down to one issue, or one solution. There is no magic pill.

This point came home to me after spending another day in a denominational meeting, and after listening to, of all things, a TED talk. Are you familiar with TED talks? Here’s what it says on the TED website:

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference and TEDGlobal — TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.
TED conferences bring together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). TED Website

The particular TED talk I watched was Benjamin Bratton, associate professor of visual arts at UC-San Diego, whose entire premise was that TED talks were oversimplistic, taking complex problems and offering simple solutions. Imagine using a TED talk to say TED talks are worthless. I wonder if that was over-simplistic? Dr. Bratton did say one thing that struck me, especially as I reflected on the denominational meeting I had just sat through. He said:

“If we really want transformation, we have to slog through the hard stuff (history, economics, philosophy, art, ambiguities, contradictions). Bracketing it off to the side to focus just on technology, or just on innovation, actually prevents transformation. Instead of dumbing-down the future, we need to raise the level of general understanding to the level of complexity of the systems in which we are embedded and which are embedded in us.” 

Bratton, of course, was speaking of technology and innovation, but I believe it applies to transformation of the church, too. The issues surrounding institutional decline are simply too complex (like my play on words?) to be dumbed down to a magic pill. We can start with the lack of trust in the authority of institutions themselves. This lack of trust is reflected not only in the church, but also in our government institutions. No one trusts the church anymore, and no one really trusts the government, either. We can point to the turbulent (some would say “revolutionary”) times of the 1960’s as the time when this lack of trust made an entrance, but I believe it precedes even those years. The Church has done nothing to foster trust among the general population when you consider the television evangelist scandals of the 1980’s and the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in more recent years. The growing lack of trust in society in general has extended its reach into the Church. How do we address that in a simple way? Well, we could start by changing our behavior, but that might seem too simple.

Adding to the complexity of the problem is the idea that people now consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious.” A recent Gallup poll identified as many as 33% of the population now calls themselves “spiritual, but not religious,” meaning they are choosing to live out their spirituality in more independent ways, creating their own “buffet” of beliefs and behaviors that are rooted more in ideas of American individualism and libertarianism than in theological distinctives. They no longer need the institution of the church to help shape them theologically or spiritually. They do it themselves because it’s their faith.

Another layer of complexity is added when we consider that people are discovering community is more and more places than ever before. In the “glory days” of church growth, community was defined by life in the schools and life in the church. Children and their families went to school and they went to church. Those were the primary activities of the community. Now, there are sports leagues, extracurricular activities, social gatherings, work-related communities, on-line communities, and on and on the list could go. A growing number of people, including a growing number of those who identify themselves as Christians are finding community (as in human relationship) outside the Church. The world doesn’t need the Church to form community, and that’s a problem.

Adding yet another layer of complexity is the fact that the Church seems to be living without much of a purpose. For hundreds of years the Church was responsible for building schools, hospitals, clinics, orphanages and other social institutions that helped transform society. There was a focus to the work of the Church, and there was a way to engage the community in helpful and meaningful ways. The government and private enterprise have taken the place of the church in leading social change and transformation, and with almost every increase in taxes on the government’s part has brought a decline in charitable giving to the Church. Why does the church need to do what the government is already doing? That’s a rhetorical question. I know why, but those who are outside the church (and even some within) ask that question. How many hospitals have we United Methodists sold to private enterprise or closed? How many institutions of higher education have we United Methodists closed in recent years? Those are not rhetorical questions, but having to ask seems to indicate that we’ve lost a sense of meaning and purpose. Sure, we buy lots of mosquito nets, but there are lots of parachurch organizations doing that, too. Who needs the church to buy mosquito nets? Don’t answer that. It’s rhetorical.

And, don’t even get me started on the whole faith-based organization/government partnership thing. While I think it might be great in theory, it may be one of the most telling ways the Church has ceded its vision to something outside itself. The reality is if an entity takes government money, the entity must do it the governments way. Not to mention the fact there’s this little thing called sin, and how many news stories have we heard about “churches” that have been closed, or “pastors” who have been arrested for misusing funds. Those partnerships become nothing more than means of enriching the people who ran the programs, and that’s sad.

I could probably add another layer of complexity to the situation of church anemia if I were to write about the explosion of parachurch organizations and other non-profits. There is a non-profit agency or organization for every need in the community (sometimes three or four or more). These agencies do good work, no doubt about it, but many of them are doing work the Church used to do, and they are drawing volunteers away from the Church in the process. This is not a complaint because they are, in fact, (mostly) doing good work, and many Christians are serving in and supporting these organizations, but it is another example of how the vision, focus and resources of the Church are further divided.

I’ve written way too much this morning. All I’ve written probably wouldn’t fit in a TED talk, not that I’d ever be invited to give a TED talk–I haven’t offered any simple solutions or meaningful innovation to the issue at hand. I haven’t offered any because I’m not sure there are any. Sure, we must be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we must continue to proclaim that there is no other name given than by which we might be saved, but even that has become incredibly complex in such a pluralistic world. It’s a hard job, but somebody’s gotta’ do it. I pray I’ll be found faithful to the task when Jesus returns.

Sorry I wrote so much. I probably made something simple more complex than it needed to be. I keep looking for that magic pill that will make everything right, but I’ve yet to find it. I’m sure someone reading this blog will discover what it is and share it with me.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Today is Epiphany.  What does that mean to most people? Not much, at all, but for Orthodox, Catholics, and now, many Protestant Christians, it is the 12th day of Christmas and signifies the “manifestation” or “revealing” of God in human flesh in Jesus Christ. It is also the day that tradition says the “three” (?) wise men (?) visited the baby Jesus.

I put the question marks in the previous sentence because it is questionable the number of persons who visited the Christ child, and if, in fact, “wise men” is the proper designation for those who visited. Forget the suggestion that there is no such thing as a wise man. I recall someone asking the question “What if it had been wise women who visited the baby Jesus?” The answer?

• They would have stopped and asked for directions so they would have arrived on time.
• They would have helped deliver the baby.
• They would have taken the time to clean the stable.
• They would have prepared a casserole.
• And, they would have brought cute little outfits for the baby Jesus to wear home.

I’m not writing to unravel all that tradition and legend tell us about the wise men. Suffice it to say that we know more about them from tradition and legend than from scripture, and that can be perilous if we’re not careful. One thing we know for certain is that these “magi” came bearing gifts, and from them we get our tradition of gift-giving during the Christmas season.

I preached yesterday about gifts. I talked about the various types of gifts that we give and receive. I think it was John Maxwell who first defined three types of gifts: 1) gift for a gift, gift, 2) gift for a favor, gift, and 3) grace gifts. First, there’s the gift for a gift, gift. You get me a gift, so I need to get you a gift, too. Next, there’s the gift for a favor gift. That’s all about spreading around IOU’s. We expect something in return, just not necessarily a gift.

The grace gift is different. It can’t be repaid because it can’t be earned. This was God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ. Jesus was the first grace gift. It is ironic that the wise men came bearing gifts to He who was the gift himself, and though we talk about the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, the real gift they brought to Jesus was the gift of their worship and adoration–it was ultimately, the gift of themselves.

As those who seek to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, is not the greatest gift we can give the gift of ourselves? While the gift of ourselves seems so intangible, may I suggest there are tangible ways in which this giving may be lived out. First, the gift of ourselves to Christ can be lived out through our worship. Gathering together regularly with the body of Christ as a means of acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus Christ may be the most significant gift we have to offer Jesus. Why? Because it takes our time  and our intentionality, and in a world filled with events and activities clamoring for our attention, we must be intentional in making the commitment to offer our worship, praise and adoration to the One who offered Himself to us. Time is the most precious commodity any of us possess, and to take that precious time to gather together regularly makes an incredible statement to the world, and to ourselves. Corporate worship is a tangible gift we bring to Christ. Prayer, bible study, meditation, and fasting are other tangible ways in which we offer ourselves to Christ. These, too, take a commitment of time and intention on our part, but these are grace gifts that we offer to Christ because He has offered Himself to us.

May I offer one other tangible way we offer ourselves to Christ? Through service. When we offer ourselves to others in service, we are actually offering ourselves to Christ, too. And, there are tangible ways we do this, too. The Perceptions I recorded on Friday, January 3rd, says it this way:

     BUILDING HOMES FOR “HABITAT FOR HUMANITY.” VOLUNTEERING AT A HOSPITAL. VISITING A SHUT-IN OR A NURSING HOME. PARTICIPATING AS A BIG BROTHER OR SISTER. GETTING INVOLVED IN AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, HELPING “AT RISK” CHILDREN LEARN TO READ. DONATING BOOKS TO A PUBLIC LIBRARY. WRITING LETTERS OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS. DRIVING FOR “MEALS ON WHEELS.” COACHING A LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL, BASKETBALL, OR FOOTBALL TEAM. SINGING IN A CHOIR. THANKING A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION TO YOU. TELLING A TEENAGER THAT THEY HAVE A LOT TO OFFER. SEWING A WARMING BLANKET FOR A CHEMOTHERAPY PATIENT. GIVING A YOUNG PERSON MUSIC LESSONS.
     NONE OF THESE THINGS COST MONEY, BUT THEY DO TAKE SOME OF OUR TIME. IT IS A NEW YEAR AND A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR SOMEONE ELSE. AND IT’S REALLY TRUE – HELPING OTHERS IS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO HELP OURSELVES. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND!

Gift-giving isn’t just for the Christmas season. Generosity should be part and parcel of our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. Let’s begin 2014 with a commitment to give ourselves to Jesus and to one another, and let it be a daily offering.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Today begins a new year. But, you know that, and if you don’t, you’ve got bigger issues. I love the New Year’s holiday. I’m not so sure it’s not my favorite holiday next to Easter. No, it has nothing to do with the black-eyed peas and cabbage. It has to do with the inherent grace I find in changing the calendar. Not only is it a new day…it’s a new year! The New Year represents an opportunity to start over, to begin again…it offers us a new beginning. Certainly, much of the previous year goes with us, but there is an equal amount of opportunity ahead of us. It is wonderfully akin to the working of God’s grace in our lives. Certainly, all that was our life pre-Christ still influences us, and even, in some respects defines who we have been, but as God does His transforming work in our lives, all that is past remains in the past, and we are offered new life, new opportunities, and yes, new beginnings. 

I think that’s what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NIV).

Of course, the New Year is also when we reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the new. I’ve stated before I’ve resolved to make no resolutions because I always break them. I do have a few things I want to do better with in my life, so rather than make a resolution, I’m going to make them goals, and I’m even going to write them down here so someone (anyone, please!) can hold me accountable. I’m not very good at holding myself accountable. It’s too easy to make excuses to myself. I really do buy my own lies. I fool myself very easily. I’m not a very good accountability partner for myself. Besides, I heard someone say something that made sense to me this week: “A goal is not a goal until it’s written down. Otherwise, it’s just a dream.” I have lots of dreams. I need a few goals.

So, here are a few of my goals for 2014:

1. I am setting a goal to blog more. Blogging takes time. I’ve fooled myself into believing I don’t have time to blog, but I’m remembering how cathartic it is to journal from time to time. I may not blog every day, but once a week would be a manageable goal.
2. I am setting a goal to be restaurant free for the month of January. Honestly, this may be a much harder goal than the blogging once a week. It’s incredibly easy to meet folks “for lunch” to conduct pastoral visits or tend to administrative matters. Seriously, everyone has to eat, and if you can multi-task in the process, even better. Vanessa and I eat out way too much. It’s easy to walk in the house after a day of ministry and say, “Let’s go get something to eat.” Vanessa has been home most of the day, and she’s usually ready to get out of the house, too, so we load up and head out. I’ll be interested to see how it affects our bottom line and my waist line (which brings me to my third goal).
3. I am setting a goal of losing 40 pounds in 2014. That’s right! I said it! 40 pounds! I’ve been in Monroe for 2.5 years, and in that time I’ve gained 15 pounds. There are a number of reasons I’ve gained that much weight. One, as a District Superintendent, I attended very few meetings where food was not involved. One of the things the Cabinet does best is eat, and we all know that restaurants are not very healthy places to eat. A second reason is we’re back close to Mom and Mom’s cooking. You know how it is, right? You go home. Mom’s taken the time to prepare all this food. You feel guilty for not eating it. After all, she might be offended, and who wants to offend their Mom? Not me! So, I eat. Thirdly, I’m not running nearly as much as I once was. I was averaging 20-25 miles per week for a long time. Now, I’m blessed if I get in 15 miles in a week. It was okay for me to say when I was running 20-25 miles a week that “I run that much so I can eat anything I want.” Not so much when I’m only making 15 miles on a good week, because I’m still eating like I was running 25.

Yeah, I know. I should set some goals around spiritual disciplines and spiritual formation, but I find those a bit more difficult to quantify (that’s probably one of the reasons I’m not the perfect pastor). Yes, I want to read the Bible more, but who doesn’t. Seriously, though. I read the Bible a lot already. Define “a lot”? Well, every day. I read devotionally, and I read for study as I prepare for worship and other related activities. Sometimes, I’ll read whole chapters. A few times I’ll read a whole book. Other times, I’ll read only a few verses. I come to the end of 2013 and I think I haven’t read enough. As I look to 2014, I think I should read more. It’d be a discipline. But I’m not quite sure how to quantify “more.” Can you feel me?

Then, there’s prayer. I should always have a goal of praying more. I should write it down (or did I just do that?), but then again, how do I define “more”? I pray a lot, and even as I say that, I’m thinking I don’t pray enough. I begin each day with a devotional prayer. Sometimes it’s long. Sometimes not. I end each day with a prayer of gratitude and a prayer for grace. Some are long, others are short. I pray with people throughout the day. I say “breath prayers” continuously. Still, I feel like I should pray more, that I should be more disciplined in the ways that I pray. But I’m not quite sure how to quantify it to write it down. Perhaps you have a suggestion for this not-so-perfect pastor.

I could go on, but the clock is ticking, and I’ve got things to do as the New Year kicks off. I’ve got to get busy achieving these goals and I have to do it now (there’s another goal I should have–learning and practicing patience–but HOW could I ever quantify that?). At least I’ve already accomplished one of my goals (to blog more–it’s been a long time since the last post on here!). That was pretty easy. Let’s see how long it lasts.

Until next time, keep looking up…

It’s funny what comes to mind every day. I had a great conversation with a parishioner yesterday which prompted thoughts of former parishioners. One former parishioner in particular came to mind, Joe D. Waggonner, as a result of yesterday’s conversation. Mr. Joe was a member at Benton UMC when I pastored there, and I had the privilege to serve with Dr. Donald Webb in conducting his funeral in 2007. Mr. Joe was also a retired congressman from the 4th District of Louisiana. Mr. Joe was a man who knew people, who could name drop political names on a first name basis, yet every time we visited, he wanted to talk about Jesus. As a matter of fact, almost every Sunday he attended worship he would come out by me and say, “Just give ’em Jesus!”

Of course, that memory also prompted another memory, not of a parishioner, but of a mentor. Rev. Jimmie Pyles, who was my District Superintendent when I went to seminary, used to always remind me (and I’m sure many others) “Just tell ’em about Jesus.”

“Just give ’em Jesus!” What a statement! What a reminder of what the world needs. The world needs Jesus. Unfortunately, the more we see the world in need of a Savior, the more we find the world is rejecting the very one God sent to redeem it. It’s hard to “give ’em” Jesus anymore. God, now there’s another issue, but Jesus is just not in vogue these days. We can feel free to talk about God all we want, after all, God is so generic, and that allows everyone to participate in the conversation. Let’s not get too specific and talk too much about Jesus, though. That can be too divisive.

No one would ever say Jesus was unwelcome in our public conversations about deity. Well, that would be exclusive and intolerant, wouldn’t it? But it’s almost an unwritten rule that when I’m invited to pray in public that I shouldn’t pray in Jesus’ name. I might be seen as intolerant and exclusive. After all, we’re all God’s children, and to insist on Jesus as the “only” way to God’s salvation, well, that’s too exclusive and just down-right arrogant. It’s like the world is ready to accept God, but we can keep our Jesus.

How can we not give them Jesus? Isn’t that what we’re called to do in the Gospel? Don’t we believe there is something special about Jesus that sets him apart from all the others who claim religious followers? But then, doesn’t that make us (and Jesus) rather exclusive? Quite the conundrum, huh?

I don’t believe Jesus is exclusive. I am thinking of his words in John 12:32 when he said, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” I think Jesus was saying that the ground is level at the cross. There is something exclusively inclusive in what Jesus had to say that day. Perhaps there is something exclusively inclusive that we have to say to the world as we seek to “give ’em Jesus.”

There is something that makes Jesus exclusive. He’s the only one who claimed to BE God. We believe Jesus is Emmanuel–GOD with us. That is a unique claim, and we have agreed with that claim for over 20 centuries. We agree with that claim every week in worship when we profess our faith in the traditional “Apostle’s Creed.” When we speak of the Trinity, of God who is Father, SON, and Holy Spirit, we’re saying we believe there is something different about Jesus, and I can’t help it, but that’s a little bit exclusive. Asking me to give that up is like asking a Muslim to give up Mohammed, or at least asking a Muslim not to talk about Mohammed.

Perhaps my confusion lies in the fact that we can’t “give” the world anything. Maybe a better word is “offer” them Christ. “Give” them, “offer” them…it’s all semantics. Don’t ask me to not talk about Jesus. Let’s keep Jesus in the God conversation and see what the Holy Spirit might do. I’m not saying anything about the eternal state of anyone’s soul. I haven’t been given that privilege. That’s God’s. I also know that Jesus used a parable where weeds and wheat were growing together, and it wasn’t for the worker’s to pull up the weeds while the crops were growing, so I’ll leave the judgment part to God–to the God who has been revealed, I believe, in Jesus Christ.

I’m not trying to enlist arguments for or against ecumenism or anything like it. I’m just wondering if I can be faithful to the Gospel by removing Jesus from the equation? That’s likely to make me unpopular because it can sound a bit exclusive, and the most terrible thing a person can be these days is exclusive.

What to do, what to do? I’m not sure, but I think I’ll just try to “give ’em Jesus.” 

Until next time, keep looking up…

Several people have asked about a few things that have appeared in my last two sermons. For those who don’t attend FUMC, Monroe, I’m currently preaching a series entitled Happy, Happy, Happy: Discovering the Keys to Happiness in the Beattitudes.  I’ve had a couple of lists that peaked some interest, and a couple of illustrations that some have asked about, so I’m posting them here (that and I’m not feeling very creative this morning).

First are the Ten Rules for Happier Living which were a part of Happy and All Heart from Matthew 5:4:

1. Give something away (no strings attached)
2. Do a kindness (and forget it)
3. Spend a few minutes with the aged (their experience is priceless)
4. Look intently into the face of a baby (and marvel)
5. Laugh often (it’s life’s lubricant)
6. Give thanks (a thousand times a day is not enough)
7. Pray (or you will lose the way)
8. Work (with vim and vigor)
9. Plan as though you’ll live forever (because you will)
10.Live as though you’ll die tomorrow (because you will on some tomorrow)

Next, this week’s message, Happy and Gentle, included five practical ways we can practice gentleness in our lives. They are:

1. Actively seek to make other feel at ease. Be sensitive to other’s opinions and ideas.
2. Show respect for the personal dignity of the other person. Use persuasion and kindness rather than intimidation and domination.
3. Avoid blunt speech and abrupt manner.
4. Don’t be threatened by opposition.
5. Don’t belittle or degrade or gossip about someone who has fallen—instead, grieve and pray for them.

I also included a video in the New Beginnings worship that a couple people asked about. Here it is:

The horse in the film (whose name is Joey, by the way–and it’s a great film) is a great example of what the Greeks would call a “meek” animal–power under control.

Finally, I made my confession in this week’s message that Perceptions (my weekly radio and TV devotional) has changed my behavior for the better. Here’s the story I shared this week:

“Does meekness describe us? I’m not sure it quite describes me as much as I would like. I can tell you, though, Perceptions sure helps. Seriously, I have to be nice now. It’s amazing how appearing on TV three times a week and on the radio five days a week can change your public behavior. I’m not nearly as likely to blow my horn at people who cut me off in traffic anymore. They might know who I am! I’m much nicer to the slow cashier at Wal-Mart these days, too. Let me tell you. I was in Gulf Shores last week. One evening, Vanessa and I went over to the Ribs and Reds restaurant. I ordered a nice big plate of ribs for dinner. My mouth was watering. It was going to be great. The waiter brought our food over, sat Vanessa’s plate down, and just as he went to sit mine down, the whole slab of ribs slid right off the plate into my lap. My first inclination was to jump up and shout, call the guy a few choice names and storm out. I didn’t, though, and I didn’t even have on one of my shirts with the fumc logo on it. You know what came to my mind? Perceptions. Somebody might know who I am. Somebody might see me. You know what I did? I picked those ribs up off my lap, put them back on the plate, wiped the BBQ sauce off, told the waiter not to worry about it, and ate my ribs. Vanessa couldn’t believe it. Neither could I! Maybe God is doing something in my life.”

Hey? If you were in church on Sunday, this is old news to you. If you weren’t in church on Sunday, you should have been! Seriously, I hope you have as much fun reading as I have writing. I love getting to preach every Sunday!

Until next time, keep looking up…

“To fail to plan is to plan to fail.” That’s a nice, catchy cliche, huh? Here’s another: “It’s good to plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.” Here’s the best one: “Want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans.”

I “planned” for our staff at FUMC, Monroe to go on a planning retreat yesterday. We did. The Holy Spirit, however, decided to throw me a curveball. Oh, we went on the retreat, but the Holy Spirit started pitching very early in the morning.

The first pitch came during my devotional time. As part of my devotional routine each day, I include a reading from Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young. The very first sentence of yesterday’s devotional was “You will not find my peace by engaging in excessive planning: attempting to control what will happen to you in the future.” 

I think I struck out on one pitch. The rest of my morning was off balance. I knew that we should go away from the office, away from the phone calls, away from the distractions, and reflect on ministry. Isn’t that what church staffs are supposed to do? Yet, I heard the Holy Spirit saying very early in the morning that we can rely too much on our own plans, as if our planning is what makes all the difference.

I had “planned” a very specific course of action for the day away. I had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish in our time together. I really wanted to come away from the time with a “plan” for ministry for the year 2014. What would be a theme? What would be some ideas for sermon series? What studies would we plan? That was the “plan.” But, God had other plans. The day became a day of reflection for us. We brainstormed. We talked. We named our strengths. We named our weaknesses. We identified some potential opportunities. We acknowledged some threats. We ate. We laughed. And, at the end of the day, we had one idea.

One idea. All day away, and we came up with one idea. It’s not what I was planning to accomplish, but maybe it was all we needed to accomplish. Maybe that’s the one idea God wanted us to discover yesterday. It’s not helpful that I still have sermon planning and study planning to do, but at least we have one idea (no, I’m not going to tell you what the idea is–our staff knows, we’ll roll it out soon enough) as we move into the new year.

My plans are just that–my plans. I’m quite sure the man in Luke 12 wasn’t planning on dying when he decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. That’s what we do way too often. We make our plans and then ask God to bless them. All the while God’s got other plans. I wonder if that’s why too many congregations struggle. Rather than looking for what God is doing and going to join Him in doing it, we decide what we want to do, and then ask God to come go along with us, and we sure would appreciate His blessing along the way. But, whether He chooses to bless it or not, we’re often so obstinate that we continue to do it anyway.

So many congregations plan the same ministries year in and year out. If we just work a little harder this year. If we just do a better job of communicating to the congregation and community. If we could just get people more committed. If we had more workers. If, if, if…and we never realize, it’s not the lack of hard work (the church has plenty of hard workers), it’s not the lack of communication (okay, sometimes it is), it’s not a lack of commitment. Our failure comes in refusing to listen to the Holy Spirit. Our failure comes in taking our plans and laying them out and failing to hear where God is actually leading us. Perhaps we don’t hear because we don’t even ask.

I know this probably sounds a bit self-righteous, but I think I got one right yesterday (even a blind hog finds an acorn sometimes). I woke up with one plan, and God totally changed that plan. For some reason, I think He confirmed it for me this morning. For years, I have read Our Daily Bread  as part of my morning devotional. Would you like to know what the title of this morning’s devotion was? God Had Other Plans! There is a sentence at the end of the devotion that sums up the whole planning and doing process: “Write your plans in pencil and remember that God has the eraser.” That is keenly akin to what Dwight Eisenhower said, ““In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

Planning, for those is congregational leadership, is indispensable, even if the plans end up being totally useless. It’s all in God’s hands anyway.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Sitting on the beach for six hours a day will give you plenty of time to think, especially if it’s the low season and there aren’t a lot of people on the beach. One of the things I like to do on the beach is people watch, but with less people this time of year, I’ve had more time to think.

Sitting on the beach is conducive to thinking. The waves rolling, the birds chirping, the breeze blowing. I’ve thought about a lot of things the past two days. Part of that thinking this week has been self-reflective. I didn’t plan this vacation with the intent of being self-reflective. It just kind of happened. I suppose the fact that I’m soon facing the big 5-0 might have something to do with it.

One of the things I’ve reflected on is how blessed I am as I face that big number. I told the congregation in the message on Sunday that it’s easy to give God the credit and the praise when things are going well, so I confess, this is the easy part for me. Someone asked me a few weeks ago how things were going, and my answer was, “I couldn’t write a book or a script to make my life any better.” Well, in the interest of full disclosure, if I were writing a book or script, it would include a chapter in which I received a great financial windfall, so technically, the statement wasn’t the truth, but that’s another story–literally!

I am, however, incredibly blessed, almost to the point that I’m embarrassed to say. Seriously? Who gets to be married to the best friend for almost 32 years. We have a great life together. We have incredible children and grandchildren, and they’re all healthy. Blessed, I tell you! And, when I came to ministry almost 22 years ago, I never, ever envisioned that I would be pastoring such as great congregation as the the one at FUMC, Monroe. I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the past couple of days thanking God for His blessings. I know they are his gifts to us, because I know I don’t deserve any of them. I hope that doesn’t come off as a “humbler than thou” attitude, but I’m just a blessed man.

I’ve also done a fair amount of reflecting on the state of our denomination. I have said in the past that I love the United Methodist Church. I love it enough to want to stay and see it make a difference in the world. There have been a few times I’ve considered leaving for another denomination, but the reality is I don’t know what denomination it would be. Not many people know this, but coming out of seminary, I flirted with another denomination–even went out of state to visit a denominational official and the church they wanted me to pastor–but, in the end, I’m a United Methodist. For better or worse. I’ll be United Methodist until there is not a United Methodist Church. If there comes a day in my life time when there’s not a United Methodist Church, then I’ll consider being something else. In the meantime, I’m going to do all I can to live out my discipleship where I am, and I’m going to do all I can to insure that we people called Methodist continue to seek “holiness of heart and life,” and that the life-changing grace of God made real in Jesus Christ is made available to all who seek it.

Of course, that does make me wonder if I’m being faithful, or if I just don’t like change. I prefer to think it’s the former, but I sometimes know it’s probably the latter. It’s easier not to change. It’s the path of least resistance. I suppose it’s like so many other areas of my life. The Holy Spirit convicts me. I respond, but usually only momentarily, and then things return to “normal.” It’s like if I sit real still, the Holy Spirit will note the futility of his efforts and move on. He never does, he keeps coming back confronting me in the areas he desires to transform in my life. Transformation is hard (and sometimes messy) work. Again, this week, the Holy Spirit has been working on me. He’s spoken pretty clearly into some areas that he’s working on. I’ve heard him loud and clear. There’s more than a little anxiety as I explore some next steps because they will require change. But, isn’t that what transformation is all about?

I’ve pretty much come to this one conclusion–if there had been more people here to watch I wouldn’t have done so much thinking. Oh, well. Maybe next time I’ll come to the beach during high season.

Until next time, keep looking up…