Christianity

Suffering for Lent…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

I received a question last week that I didn’t answer immediately. I had to ponder it a while. I had to ponder it because it actually was a great question, especially for the season of Lent which began this past Wednesday.

The question was, “When He says pick up your cross and follow me, is that referring to laying down things of this world and utilizing our gifts to serve Him?”

I initially assumed that the asker was referring to the time Jesus encountered the “rich young ruler” in Mark 10:

20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”

21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

Mark 10: 20 – 21

but, I remembered that Luke’s Gospel was an encounter with all the disciples, and that it carried a broader idea than Mark’s encounter:

22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Luke 9: 22 – 23

I initially wanted to answer, “Yes,” to the question, but that would have been the easy answer, but I’m not so sure it is the correct answer. As I’ve pondered the question over the past week, I think the correct answer lies in grasping the concept of suffering…a concept not too many of us want to think much about. We like our easy life (and let’s confess, most of us have it pretty easy in these United States of America), and we want to keep it that way.

Actually, there are a lot of preachers of the prosperity gospel who tell us if we’re not having a great easy life, it’s because we don’t have enough faith. But, that subject is for another blog post. I’m rather certain that if any believers in or purveyors of the prosperity gospel read this that they will vehemently disagree with me. Oh, well!

For Jesus, the call to his disciples to “take up the cross” was a call to enter with Him into His suffering. He’s fairly clear on that matter. He says that, “The Son of Man must suffer many things…”

So? Let’s talk about suffering! Such a fun topic, right? Who wants to suffer? Suffering is so un-American, right? This is the land of opportunity and so many of us have done so well “suffering for Jesus.”

I mean, really, if anyone should be suffering, surely it would be those called by God to serve in ministry, right? Ha! I was 28 years in vocational ministry and I never missed a meal. All my bills were paid and I put up a nice little nest egg for retirement. Actually, I was doing pretty well at the end of my vocational ministry journey…pulling in six figures and all that. Yeah, I often wondered if I was worth what I was making (those who were paying me were probably thinking the same thing), and I often thought, “I can’t believe they pay me this much to do what I do.” Yup! I’d call that suffering for Jesus!

Please don’t take this as a knock on those who are serving in vocational ministry (and doing well doing so). It is not intended to be that. I know very well what Paul told Timothy:

17 The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

1 Timothy 5: 17 – 18 (NASB)

But, I also know what Paul told the church at Corinth:

15 I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.

2 Cor. 12: 15 (NLT)

Taking both of those passages in their context, one would have to say John Wesley had it right: “Gain all you can…save all you can…give all you can.” (For the full context of Wesley, click here).

I don’t mean to make this blog about money, either earning or giving. I’m just tying to answer a question that is not an easy question to answer. So, let me try to answer the question: I believe that the idea of “taking up our cross daily” is about entering the suffering of Jesus. It is about joining Jesus in His death so that we might also join Him in His life…eternal life.

Three things I would note about suffering:

First, suffering is to be expected. Jesus was pretty clear on that matter. Remember what He told His disciples in John’s gospel?

33 These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

John 16: 33 (NASB)

Second, suffering builds character. In this, Paul (Romans 5: 3-5), James (James 1: 2-4) and Peter (1 Peter 1: 6-7) are all in agreement. Our suffering is not in vain! Just as there was a purpose behind the suffering of Jesus, there is purpose behind our suffering.

Third, suffering is only temporary. One of the best quotes I ever heard was “Jesus could face the cross because He saw beyond it.” Jesus looked at the cross with the resurrection is sight. The Apostle Paul was able to see the resurrection as well. I love his counsel to the Corinthian church:

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4: 16 – 18 (NIV)

It is hard for us to see past the cross, especially during the season of Lent. Remember, though, we can’t get to Easter without going through the cross.

No, we in western culture have had the benefit of a couple of centuries of Christian influence that has prevented us from enduring too much suffering on Jesus’ behalf. Perhaps that time is coming to an end and the suffering Jesus warned His first century disciples about may soon be upon us. Who knows?

I know that if it is, we should embrace it, learn what it is that Jesus wants us to learn, serve Him faithfully through it and come out the other side of it spiritually renewed bringing glory and honor to Him and building the Kingdom through it all. We should “take up the cross” and follow Him.

I’m not sure that answered the guy’s question, but at least the question prompted me to think. Maybe I have a little more thinking to do.

Until next time, keep looking up…

More Random Thoughts…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

Whether it is a lack of time or a lack of inspiration to write anything serious, I share today a few of the devotional thoughts I’ve pondered throughout the week:

The Majesty of the Mundane

Reflecting on Luke 24: 13 – 35 this week and one particular phrase “We were hoping…”

In this “Road to Emmaus” encounter with Jesus, the two disciples, in trying to explain to Jesus all that has happened in the preceding days (a rather hilarious image, by the way), make the statement in verse 21: “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.”

These disciples were dejected because circumstances didn’t turn out as they had hoped. Imagine that! I think that’s called life. It was in their dejection that they missed the fact that Jesus was right there with them. Jesus was walking with them in their hopelessness. They had been looking for earth-shattering changes in their lives due to Jesus Christ. What they got was Jesus in the midst of their brokenness, and they missed it.

We spend much of our lives looking for earth-shattering, life-changing events and episodes and we end up missing Him walking to Emmaus with us. There is much majesty in the mundane circumstances of our every day lives, but if we spend our time looking for the earth-shattering we will miss His majesty that is with us moment-by-moment, day-by-day. While I was hoping for something grand, I missed him in the moment of the ordinary. Silly me!

The Cost of Sanctification

I’ve been thinking a lot about sanctification (holiness) these days. That’s probably because it escapes me, but that’s for another blog. I was prompted by Paul’s writing to the Thessalonians:

“May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

I’ve asked myself the question, “Am I ready to be sanctified?” Undoubtedly, I’m not, or else I would make Jesus the center of everything. Holiness, I’ve discovered, is not within me. Holiness can only come from outside me and can only come as I surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps I should say it this way: I need to stop pursuing holiness and allow myself to be captured by the holiness that is pursuing me. I have to be totally given over to the Holy Spirit’s power in order for Him to do His work in me. As I’ve said before, surrender is hard work. I love the benefits of salvation. I deplore the costs of sanctification. What a shame. I’m missing the best God has to give me.

Saved and Sanctified

We are saved and sanctified to become spiritually exhausted. Oswald Chambers intimates that we are not spiritually exhausted by sin, but rather by service. We are to be “broken bread and poured-out wine” for other people’s nourishment until they learn to feed on God. That, my friends, can be exhausting! That only means I must find my own supply by feeding on the Lord.

Finding my supply in the Lord means that I must first be “broken bread and poured-out wine” in prayer. To be poured out in service before I am poured out in prayer will lead to burnout and disdain for those whom I serve. Everything in the spiritual life begins with prayer. Prayer is the beginning, the middle and the end of the spiritual life. Until we are prayed up we can’t be caught up to the heights of glory God has planned for us.

Concluding Thoughts

You’ve gotten a glimpse this week into some of my devotional thoughts. I’d love to get a glimpse into yours. I invite you to leave a comment below about what the Lord has been saying to you this week.

Until next time, keep looking up…

A Reflective Week…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Just gonna’ take a moment to reflect on a week’s worth of devotional thoughts. Nothing special, but I thought they were worth re-sharing…

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

“God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character.” Oswald Chambers

My redemption must drive me to the desire to see others redeemed.

I do not pursue holiness to gain redemption. Holiness comes as a result of redemption, and I pursue holiness BECAUSE of my redemption.

God does the redeeming. God grants the holiness. Both are gifts to be received, not rewards to be earned. Beware though, the gift of redemption is given to be shared with others.

Honestly, I’m still working on receiving the gift of holiness. My pursuit of holiness has often fallen short. I’m changing my strategy. I’m going to work on receiving the holiness only Christ can give. Come Holy Spirit!

Friday, February 2, 2024

“Our Lord never requires the same conditions for discipleship that he requires for salvation.” Oswald Chambers

I count three calls of the Lord in the life of every believer:

1)The call to salvation,

2) The call to discipleship, and

3) The call to preach/evangelism.

Every call goes to every believer, but each call requires deepening levels of obedience, deepening levels of sacrifice and deepening levels of surrender.

In the call to salvation, our Lord says, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).

In the call to discipleship, our Lord says, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men…” (Matt. 4: 19).

In the call to preach, our Lord says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28: 19).

In answering the call to salvation, we say, “Lord, I am a sinner…”

In answering the call to discipleship, we say, “I must follow Jesus…”

In answering the call to preach/evangelism, we say, “I must tell others the Good News of God in Jesus Christ…”

Too many of us stop listening for the call after hearing the call to salvation. Salvation is the easy part. Discipleship and evangelism is when the hard work begins.

My prayer? “Lord, don’t let me be lazy! Let obedience, sacrifice and surrender compel me to answer Your every call in my life.”

If you can’t tell, I’m incorporating Oswald Chambers‘ My Utmost for His Highest into my devotional time this year. This year is actually my fourth time around with Mr. Chambers. I recommend it if you’re looking for an addition to your own devotions. It’s never too late to start.

Overheard this Week…

“Did I offend some of you? I’m sorry. I meant to offend all of you!” The quote wasn’t spoken in this regard, but it prompted me to consider the nature of the Gospel that so many people find offensive. If the message of the Gospel offends you, I’m sorry. I’m called to offend you.

“Why am I comforted by the idea that the Bible is wrong?” A question every progressive (and some not-so-progressive) Christian should ask themselves.

“I don’t know if Jesus smiled at everyone He met. I know He died for everyone who sinned.” Uh! Yeah!

Concluding Thought…

A look inside my mind is never a pretty thing. I’m sorry, but a look inside my heart might be even less pretty. That’s why I need Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus.

Until next time, keep looking up…

A Look into Life…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

I’m always on the look out for a good book to read, and Rev. Max Edwards, the General Superintendent of the Evangelical Methodist Church recently made the recommendation of A Look into Life, the autobiography of Dr. J. H. Hamblen. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Hamblen was the driving force behind the founding of the Evangelical Methodist Church. (Order your copy by clicking here).

Dr. Hamblen was a Methodist preacher. He was part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and subsequently (after 1939) part of The Methodist Church (which would later become the United Methodist Church). Dr. Hamblen would say he was a Methodist preacher because he grew up with a shoutin’ Methodist mama.

I’m not going to give you an in-depth analysis or review of Dr. Hamblen’s autobiography in this blog. I’m simply going to recommend that you put it on your reading list for 2024, especially if you’re a Methodist or a history buff. You’ll be glad you did.

The book is an easy read (I read it in three sittings), yet it is filled with stories and reminisces of past appointments and experiences in each one. I could almost see him riding that old horse and buggy for the forty miles between appointments as he rode the “circuit.” Reading it is like listening to a wily veteran share stories from the war. If one is interested at all in hearing how the appointive process in The Methodist Church worked in the “old” days, this is a great chronicle.

What I found most interesting was the unfolding of events that eventually led Dr. Hamblen to form the Evangelical Methodist Church. “Modernism” had made its way into The Methodist Church in the early part of the 20th Century and it was his position against the “program” of the Methodists that led him in 1946 to call a prayer meeting in Memphis, Tennessee to address this issue. Out of that prayer meeting the seeds of the Evangelical Methodist Church were sown. Dr. Hamblen eventually paid the price by forfeiting both his pulpit and his pension in The Methodist Church. He never regretted the sacrifice.

I admit that I felt some kinship with Dr. Hamblen as I read. The issues he dealt with and the challenges he faced in the “modernist” controversy were not unlike the challenges and issues that led to many of the disafilliations in the current United Methodist Church. I felt like I was reading a contemporary biography, rather than one whose primary events happened in the 1940’s. I guess the old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” is true. King Solomon said it best:

What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.

Eccelesiastes 1:8 (NIV)

Dr. Hamblen included in the book two essays written by a friend, Dr. Robert Shuler (also known as “Fightin’ Bob”) who pastored Trinity Methodist Church in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Shuler is definitely a character you should research. Dr. Hamblen included the essays in the book because they encapsulated for him the essence of the philosophy underlying the EMC. I mention them here because (with the changing of a very few terms) reflect the current divide in the UMC. Here are a few quotes from Dr. Shuler’s essays:

“I am a Methodist. I am a Wesleyan. I am committed heart and soul to the Arminian position, up to the point where that positions veers off toward humanism. Moreover, I deplore the fact that thousand of Methodists, who feel that they can no longer conscientiously remain with the Methodist Church under present Unitarian and Socialistic leadership, find themselves adrift and are joining the Pentecostal movements and other religious groups that are not distinctly Methodist.

“It seems to me that the Evangelical Methodist Church is a God-sent organization, if for no other reason, in that it offers tens of thousands of loyal Methodists, who can not go with present Methodist leadership, a church home, in which the may continue to be loyal, active Methodists. But that is not the only reason for its existence. So far as I can discover, The Evangelical Methodist Church is in every particular what original Methodism purported to be. It is a Bible centered Methodist Church and a soul-saving centered Methodist Church. The distinctive doctrines of primitive Methodism are the doctrines that are accentuated by The Evangelical Methodist Church.”

Dr. Shuler would further write, “Christianity is today in a state of flux in her organic processes. There are two schools of thought that cannot and will not live at peace with each other. Methodism is split wide open at this very point. We have thousands of Methodists…who believe what the Wesleys believed and taught and we have thousands of other Methodists who have accepted Unitarianism, Universalism, Socialism and even Humanism and made them a part of the Methodism which they promote and direct. There is no blending these two varieties of Methodism.”

As I mentioned earlier, exchange a few terms and it is an accurate reflection of the current United Methodist Church.

I’m not writing to get anyone to consider the Evangelical Methodist Church as a landing place, although I do invite you to explore it as a possibility. I have found a home here. You might, too, especially if you are committed to a traditional interpretation of Wesleyan/Arminian theology. We remain a small denomination, but we are strongly committed to Jesus and to being a “soul-saving centered” church.

I am writing more as a means of processing some of my own anxiety over having left the United Methodist Church. Unlike Dr. Hamblen, I didn’t pay the price with my pension, though I did lose the “big” church pulpit. Like Dr. Hamblen, I did lose valued friendships and long-term, meaningful relationships. Also like Dr. Hamblen, I haven’t looked back. The Lord has blessed us through it all. For that, I give Him thanks.

Let me commend A Look into Life to you for reading. Maybe you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Still Some Dying to Do…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

The past week has had me contemplating death…yes, even my own! What a morbid way to begin a blog, right? Hear me out, though!

Certainly, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve thought about my own demise. My dad died at age 63, so I’m a mere three years younger than he was when he passed away. I’ve thought about that often since October.

Honestly, that’s not really the death I have been contemplating recently. It may have been the ice storm left me with too much time on my hands, or the fact that I preached on Jesus’s baptism last week, but the death I’ve been contemplating is death to self. In that regard, I know I have a little more dying to do.

I am reminded of the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who said in The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” We die to pride, we die to selfishness, we die to our own will, our own desires, and we are raised to be like Christ.

As much as baptism is a symbol of the forgiveness of sins, it is also a symbol of our dying. The Apostle Paul said as much to the Roman church:

3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.

Romans 6: 3 – 8

Baptism is our acknowledgment that we have heard God’s call to come and die. Baptism is our acknowledgment that we are not sent to work “for” God, but are sent to be “used” by God for His purpose. We acknowledge that we are His vessel so that His grace can be poured out through us. For that to happen, I must die.

My pride must die. Pride has no place in God’s presence. Pride cannot be sustained in God’s presence. If I’m still struggling with pride (and I am), I still have some dying to do.

Death is a frightening thing, though. We avoid it like the plague. Yes, even dying to self, especially when we live in a culture that tells us life is about self-realization, self-actualization and self-fulfillment. No, I’m sorry! That is not what the Bible says and that is not God’s call upon our lives. God’s call is to self-surrender. God’s call is to selflessness. God’s call is to self-denial. In that regard, I still have some dying to do.

Paul says we are dead to sin. Oh, really? It sure doesn’t feel that way some days! It’s probably because I still have some dying to do. God’s call is to holiness…to sanctification (that $3 theological word we Wesleyans like to throw around). We Wesleyans believe that baptism is an acknowledgment that God’s sanctifying grace begins its work in us so that God might do His work through us. We believe that a life of holiness is real and attainable, but it will only come through death–death to self. We must die to live. An oxymoron, I know, but according to Paul, it is imperative.

Then why is it that many (most) days, I feel like I actually regressed in the pursuit of holiness? Honestly, some days I get tired of trying! Death is hard! Faithfulness is hard! Pursuing a life of holiness is exhausting! Well, duh!

The last week of reflection has shown me that it is so hard because I’m the one doing all the work. I’m the one doing all the work because I still have some dying to do. The “old self” hasn’t died enough to realize that forgiveness is a gift…salvation is a gift…the Holy Spirit is a gift. I heard the call of God and then “I” went to work instead of receiving the gift and allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in me.

I work so dad-gum hard to become a better me that I never realized that the Lord wants to make me a different me. He’ll do all the work if I just get out of the way and let him. The only way I can get out of the way is through death–death to self.

How? How can I die to self? I can’t! I’ve figured that one out. This death is not within my ability to accomplish. I have to quit trying. I have to surrender even my desire for self-denial to the power of the Holy Spirit. I cannot overcome the temptations and pride of life in myself. It is only through a power outside myself. My only prayer…my only hope is “Let the Holy Spirit fall on me!”

I still have a little dying to do. Come Holy Spirit! I’ll not die without You!

Until next time, keep looking up…

Devotional Musings…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

For some reason, every time I sit down to write I think I need to write something profound and earth-shattering, but the reality is I rarely have anything profound and earth-shattering to say. Today is no different. So, I’m just jotting down a few of the collected devotional thoughts I’ve pondered throughout the past week. It is my feeble attempt to maintain the discipline of writing. Perhaps someone, somewhere will find these random thoughts helpful.

Reflecting on the call of Isaiah in Isaiah 6, I am struck by the fact that God never called Isaiah by name. God’s call was very generic in nature:

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)

I wondered if God calls any one of us specifically, or if God calls us all generally. I wondered if what makes the difference is in who is listening. Only those who are listening for God’s call will ever answer it. Isaiah had to hear the call, but it wasn’t enough only to hear it. Isaiah had to answer God’s call. Isaiah was attentive to the Lord, so he was able to discern the Lord’s voice. Isaiah was also willing to be obedient even before he knew what the Lord was calling him to do.

Attentiveness and willingness: two prerequisites to walking in the Lord’s will. I wonder how often I’ve exhibited those characteristics. I also wonder which precedes which? Does willingness come before attentiveness, or must I first be attentive before I can be willing? Even if I am attentive, does my willingness depend on what He is calling me to do? Hmmm? I wonder?

God’s call will always be challenging. God’s call to Isaiah was not an easy one, for sure:

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah 6:9-10 (NIV)

God’s call to Isaiah? Go tell these people something they won’t understand. It’ll make them mad. Very few will listen. Very few will “get it.” But, do it anyway. How challenging is that?

I want to believe that God is calling all of us–calling us to be evangelists–to share the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. I wonder how many of us are listening and willing? We are called to be evangelists to our families, to our co-workers, in our social networks. Can I get comfortable with the reality there will likely be many more people who reject the message of hope than who hear and accept it? Then, I remember that it isn’t dependent on me. It is dependent on their own attentiveness and willingness. My task is obedience.

How do I listen? How do I cultivate attentiveness and willingness? It starts with worship. At least that is where Isaiah’s started:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Isaiah 6:1-3 (NIV)

Worship sets the stage for us to hear God’s call. Worship ushers us into God’s presence and allows us to glimpse His glory. Compelled by the sheer glory of His presence draws us to a place of repentance for our own sin…an acknowledgment of our own unworthiness. Only then can the Lord use us for His purposes.

Worship isn’t the only attitude that will prepare us to hear God’s call. If we truly want to understand what God is saying, we must open His Word–the Bible. If we can’t hear God’s voice, perhaps it is because we haven’t spent time in His Word. Consistent Bible study is imperative to hearing His voice.

Prayer, too, is key to hearing God’s voice. I need to remind myself that prayer is more listening than talking. I think that in my prayer time I must continually talk to the Lord, to tell Him all my trials and troubles, but how can I hear Him if I am the one doing all the talking. Yes, lift my burdens to the Lord, but then sit quietly to listen to what He has to say. What He has to say will not always (it will rarely) be about what I was talking to Him about. I get distracted by such trivial matters. He is concerned with the whole world. I am concerned with just such a tiny little part of it.

Being able to hear the voice of God does not necessarily make us willing to be obedient to the voice of God. I wish there was a secret formula to being willing to be obedient to God’s call. I wish I knew what that formula was. Maybe some of you know. If you do, could you please share it in the comments below? Let me learn from you, please, because it is in the area of obedience that I struggle the most.

Yes, I wake up every day committed to obedience, but then I am faced with a challenging word or task, and fear or timidity or laziness soon triumph over any initial willingness I possessed. I begin every day with the willingness of Isaiah: “Here I am! Send me!” Most days end will feelings of dejection because I give in to the fear, timidity and laziness.

Hope! Hope is what I need! I have hope in Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is my (our) only hope…in this life…and in the life to come. I need you, Jesus! I long for you, Lord! Help me to hear your voice. Guide me through worship into the place where your voice becomes clear. Fill me with power so that my willingness to be obedient shall not be overcome by either fear, timidity or laziness. Amen!

Enough randomness for now. It’s time to get ready for worship.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler..

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

For those of you keeping score, Christmas is finally over. Though some say we should keep the spirit of Christmas year round, Christmas officially ended yesterday (Saturday, January 6th) with Three King’s Day or Twelfth Night (You know? As in the Twelve Days of Christmas?). For those following the Christian calendar, the season of Epiphany officially began yesterday.

The beginning of Epiphany can only mean one thing: King Cake! No, actually it means so much more than that. I won’t go into all that it means. If you want a deep dive into Epiphany, just Google it. You’ll be reading for days!

For those of us in Louisiana, it really means Laissez les bons temps rouler! Yep! Let the good times roll! Epiphany marks the beginning of the Mardi Gras season. Mardi Gras is that time of year when normally sane people find an excuse to dress up in lavish costumes, organize and attend exuberant parades, attend balls and otherwise act in ways they wouldn’t normally act (define that as “eat and drink a lot”).

I just have one question: Why? Why do Christ-followers participate in what have become purely pagan celebrations? I don’t ask the question in a condemnatory or judgmental fashion. It is a serious question that I am earnestly trying to understand. Perhaps by asking the question here, someone will share with me what disciples of Jesus gain from participating in all the “revelry” that comes with the Mardi Gras season?

I know most folks love a good party and when one is looking for an excuse to have a good time, any excuse will do. I suppose Mardi Gras provides a good excuse.

I’ve never considered myself a party animal, so I’ve never been attracted to all the celebrations centered around the season. Sure, I’ve attended Mardi Gras parades (I did pastor in Morgan City, you know?), but it was always more out of a sense of obligation (gotta’ take the kids, or when in Rome do as the Romans do, etc.) than a desire to be in a crowd and catch beads and trinkets (especially when it’s cold outside), or dress up in opulent costumes for balls. If that’s your cup of tea, more power to you.

I do, however, want to understand the mindset behind followers of Jesus participating in “krewes” that carry the names of pagan gods from centuries past. Google “Mardi Gras Krewes” and you’ll find krewes named for Janus, Bacchus, Morpheus, and Iris, among others who take their names from characters portrayed in Greek and Roman mythology.

I just can’t seem to square that circle. I suppose I need to remember Paul’s words to the church at Corinth when he addressed the issue of eating meat offered to idols: “…we all know that an idol is not really a god, and that there is only one God and no other” (1 Corinthians 8:4b). In the broader context of his letter, Paul’s argument is that you can’t offer a sacrifice to something that doesn’t really exist, so…

He would go on to say, however, if in doing so (eating meat sacrificed to idols), my actions cause another person to stumble, then shame on me. Actually, he said he would never eat meat again if it caused a brother to stumble.

I suppose I’m really struggling with the question of where does my Christian freedom end and my responsibility to my brother/sister begin? I don’t know that I can answer that question here (maybe some of you can), but I believe the answer begins to emerge when I surrender myself to the law of love found in Jesus Christ. I discover that my responsibility to my brother/sister takes precedence over my own Christian freedom.

As a follower of Jesus, yes, I CAN laissez les bon temps rouler, but SHOULD I? I suppose that’s the question I really need to answer. And I need to get comfortable with the fact that every Christ-follower will answer the question differently. Maybe I’m just one of those weak Christians Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 8. Kudos to all you strong ones. I suppose I’m just not there yet.

So, go ahead and do your Mardi Gras thing (I’ll eat my fair share of king cake, for sure). It won’t bother me and I certainly won’t judge you for it. I won’t understand it, but I still won’t judge you. I’ll just be over here doing my own kind of sinning in my own kind of way, and like the rest of you, I’ll look forward to Lent when I can repent of my sin and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. He’ll grant it because He’s good like that, and sans the great work of the Holy Spirit, we’ll just start the cycle all over again.

Laissez les bon temps rouler…

Until next time, keep looking up…

Praying in the New Year…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

As I sit in reflection of another passing year, I am overwhelmed by the blessings I count. It was a quiet Christmas evening that really began what has been almost an entire week of reflection. Gratitude and humility have been “top of mind” for me all week long. Seems an appropriate way to end the year.

Now, we await the dawning of a new year. A new year will bring a new devotional routine for me (just because I need a change), but I can’t think of a better way to begin the new year than with the Wesleyan tradition of the Wesley Covenant Prayer. I invite you (the three of you who read this regularly) to join me in renewing our covenant for the new year.

“I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”

That, my friends, is a bold prayer! The prayer was adapted by John Wesley for the renewal of the believer’s covenant with the Lord. Wesley first used this prayer in a covenant renewal service held on Monday, August 11, 1755, in London, with 1800 people present. Since then, the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer has been used in Methodist services around the world on the first Sunday of the year.

Well, this is the last Sunday of the year, but I’m praying this prayer anyway. Nothing like getting an early start, right? Perhaps starting early will prepare me for the changes the new year ushers in. What changes you ask?

First, I have announced to the leadership at Lakeview Methodist Church that January 28th will be my last Sunday to serve as their interim pastor. Earlier in December, the congregation voted to align themselves with the Congregational Methodist Church. My original commitment to the congregation was to shepherd them through the process of re-alignment, and that process is now complete. I can commend them to the care of the Congregational Methodist Church as they begin the process of calling a new pastor.

I do leave them to the care of the Congregational Methodists a bit reluctantly, but only because I hate to leave them high and dry until they find a pastor. My doing so has more to do with a big change in my business that simply doesn’t leave me time to be fair to the congregation in my devotion as an interim pastor.

December 22nd of this year was the last day on staff for the manager of the business. It was a big change for him, for the business and staff and for me. Everything is well. He left to pursue an opportunity he believed he couldn’t pass up. I wish him only the best. He has been a tremendous asset to the business and to me personally. He is perhaps the best mechanic I’ve ever seen, and I would gladly trust him to fix any problem with my vehicles. No doubt, it is a loss for SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service in Ruston, but we will persevere.

With my manager’s departure, that leaves me to serve as the manager of the shop for now. No, I won’t be the mechanic, too! You don’t want me turning too many wrenches on your vehicle. I have become in the automotive industry like I was in the hardware business with my grandfather. In the hardware store, I learned to identify what you needed to fix your problem, you just didn’t want me to fix it!

Don’t worry! I do have another mechanic on staff, so we’ll get those mechanical issues taken care of, for sure. But, until I can identify a new manager, the manager will be me, and that means generally opening and closing the shop six days a week. Not much time for anything else for now.

I regret it for the congregation. I had hoped to be with them until they called a new pastor, but I suppose the Lord had other plans. It seems as though the Lord always has other plans. What’s the old joke? Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans!

So, we’ll see what plans the Lord has for 2024. I think that really is the essence of the Wesley Covenant Prayer. Lord, show me Your plans. Whatever those plans are, I’m down with them. I really can’t think of a more appropriate way to begin the new year. Will you join me in that prayer?

Happy New Year everyone!

Until next time, keep looking up…

God with Us…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

My wife, Vanessa, and I like to get away to L. A. as often as we can. No, I’m not talking about Los Angeles. I’m talking about lower Alabama. Driving across southern Mississippi we go through a lot of little towns on Highway 49. One in particular is Mt. Olive, Mississippi. Driving into town there is a prominent sign that says “Birthplace of Steve McNair.” Steve McNair was a professional football player who played quarterback, and spent most of his career with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.

A little further down Highway 49, you enter Collins, Mississippi, and again, at the entrance of town there’s a sign that says “Birthplace of Gerald McRaney.” Gerald McRaney is an actor who played in series such as Simon & Simon, House of Cards and more recently, This Is Us. I don’t know how many of you have driven through Mt. Olive or Collins, Mississippi, but there isn’t much happening in either of those places. They are simply little towns nestled between the bigger cities of Jackson and Hattiesburg. Their claim to fame is who was born there.

Now, picture in your mind, riding your camel across the Judean desert southward out of Jerusalem in the first century. About five miles out of Jerusalem, you start to enter a sleepy little town called Bethlehem, and as your camel glides into town you see a sign that says, “Birthplace of King David.”  

Bethlehem’s claim to fame was that it was the birthplace of the nation’s most famous and popular king. One scholar says, “’At the beginning of the first century AD, Bethlehem was a village with not more than a thousand inhabitants: a small set of houses scattered along the side of a ridge and protected by a wall that was in a bad state of repair.”

We sing the Christmas carol O Little Town of Bethlehem with the emphasis on “little.” It was not where anyone was expecting anything special to happen. It certainly wasn’t where anyone was expecting God to show up. Sure, there had been this prophecy from Micah that said,

 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
    whose origins are in the distant past,
    will come from you on my behalf.”

Micah 5:2 (NLT)

Micah’s prophecy was long since buried in the recesses of the nation’s mind. Even the nation’s king, Herod, had to call on the experts to be reminded of Micah’s prophecy when the wise men showed up looking for this “new” king that was born. 

Nobody really expected God to show up, or for God to do anything special in Bethlehem. If God was going to show up, God was going to show up in Jerusalem. That was the happening place for the nation of Israel. Of course, God might show up in Rome, or even Athens, Greece. Those places were the center of first century culture, politics and power. If something is going to happen, it would surely happen in one of those places, not sleepy little Bethlehem.

That’s what we expect, too, and we have the benefit of bible stories and an annual celebration to remind us that God shows up in unexpected places. What do I mean? God is a big God, and if God is going to make a difference, it’s because He’s going to do it in a big way. Right? Sure, like in New York City or Washington, D. C., or maybe Paris or London. Those are the seats of power. We certainly don’t expect God to show up in places like Minden. But, He does, and isn’t that Good News? Sure it is…sort of…

If God shows up in Minden (or wherever you live), that brings Him awfully close to home, and we’re just not sure we want God that close. We like having a little space between God and us. You know how we like our space. Don’t get too close. Don’t believe it? Notice what you do next time you’re waiting on the elevator and the doors open and it’s got more than four people on it. Most of us will wait on the next one. Let me tell you, Bethlehem is evidence that God doesn’t really respect our space, and we don’t quite know what to do with a God like that. 

What do we do with a God like that? What do we do with a God who shows up in the most unexpected places? I tell you what we do—we build places where we will COME and meet God. We’ll come, sit down, listen for an hour or so, get our God fix, talk a little bit about how it’s been going for the last week, be reminded of the things we need to work on, resolve to do better and ask God to help us out. Most of the time we’ll leave saying, “Hey, this has been a good session. We’ll do this again.” We leave and we expect that God stays, but…that’s not the evidence of Bethlehem. That’s not Emmanuel—God with us. That’s not the point of Christmas at all!

The point of Christmas is that God is with us in all the unexpected ways and all the unexpected places of our lives. That’s what we sing in the words to the third verse of the song Phillips Brooks wrote in O Little Town of Bethlehem: 

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given;

so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.

God imparts to human hearts. God is born in us. Christmas is God being born in us—you and me! And, that is an even more unexpected place than Bethlehem. Christmas means that God goes with us to work. When we’re standing on Monday morning at that blasted copy machine that never works the way it was designed to work.

God is with us at home with our families, around the dinner table, and God is with us when we’re living at the homeless shelter. God is with us when we’re going through the divorce and when we’re battling the addiction. God is with us when we’re shopping at Wal-Mart and when we’re driving our cars. God goes with us on vacation.

God is right there with us when we’re confronted with choices that challenge our values, and God is right there when our co-workers, or friends, or children make lifestyle choices that challenge our sensibilities, and who don’t understand who Christ is because we’re the only definition of him they see. 

Yes, God is with us in the great, high and holy moments of our lives, but God is also with us when we’re struggling with the difficulties of life. Christmas is God giving Himself to us, to be with us, to invade our time and space for one purpose and one purpose only—to have a relationship with us, to save us from our sin, and to give us life through His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s the evidence of Bethlehem. That’s the point of Christmas!

That only leaves one question: Will we allow Him to be born in us today? The last verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem becomes our prayer this Christmas and every Christmas. Listen to Brooks’ prayer again:

O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;

cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!     

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

Merry Christmas, y’all!

Until next time, keep looking up…