Starting... Now...

A few years ago Katie, the boys , and I were visiting my family on a typical holiday weekend and our boys were driving us crazy. Parents, have you also noticed that your normally great kids just get annoying when they get around other people sometimes? I don’t know if it’s the need to show-off, the changed environment, or the hope of a present from Grandma and Grandpa, but it drives us crazy. This particular time, Katie had gotten to her wits end - as had I - and she said, “Okay, we’re starting over right now!” But unfortunately, she didn’t have God’s power to speak things into existence and her declaration had little effect. But she didn’t give up. Katie would go on to start over about fifty times that day, hoping one of them would work. My dad still teases her about starting over… “now”.

There are times that we do need to just start over. Some of those times are because we need to put the past behind us and begin anew with open hearts and fresh eyes. We do this when we obey Jesus’ command to forgive each other and offer grace.

But sometimes we start fresh for positive reasons instead of negative ones. A few weeks ago we completed our pledge drive to finance the new parking lot and we celebrated and dedicated our lot by having worship outside on it. It was an amazing day! I’ve written all about that experience here because it really was phenomenal.  One thing that struck me that Sunday morning as we committed to use our parking lot for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom was that it is a new beginning for us. Of course, the fact that we have new concrete isn’t remarkable, but on October 4th as we worshiped outside, we have a day to remember God’s faithfulness. Though parking our cars is a small part of what needs to happen on this land God has provided for our ministry, He still gave us what we needed to repair a dire need. God proved His faithfulness. If He will be faithful in the parking lots, why should we ever worry that He will be faithful in other ways?

Two prayer warriors of our church shared with me that they have felt that the parking lot may be step one to big things God is doing in us and through us here. And I believe them. God’s desire is to radically change this world through His church, and we have the chance to be a big part of that here in Mount Pleasant and our surrounding area.

So what if we start… now? What if we look back on God’s faithfulness in 2014 and say “that was the beginning”? It doesn’t matter what has happened before, good or bad. We are going to go forward with the knowledge and experience that God is going to be faithful to us so we will be faithful to Him.

This gets me so excited for what is coming. I want to be a part of something that matters, don’t you? I want to see that my life has mattered, and that I haven’t just wandered lazily through the life God has given.

So let’s start over. Let’s start now, knowing that God has plans for us and He’s going to lead us, provide what we need, and come through faithfully.  This is going to be fun… starting… NOW!

Faith in the Furnace

I just came up from telling a bunch of preschoolers the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and it reminded me that it’s one of my favorite stories in the Bible.  You may or may not know the story so here’s a summary. These three men from Judah, along with Daniel, were made into leaders within the Babylonian government and were found to be wiser and more helpful to the king than any other advisors.  In Daniel chapter 3 we find that the king has built a statue that he requires everyone to bow to.  Of course, the three men of God refuse and are tattled on by others.  

This is where the story gets good.  The king brings up these trusted advisors and angrily gives them one more chance to bow. There, before the king, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego show their faithfulness.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.  But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

Having heard this story my whole life, it’s easy to imagine these three men choosing to follow God because I know the ending. Of course God saves them so the choice was simple.  But they didn’t know that God would save them. They trusted in God’s power to save, but they weren’t sure that He would choose to do so. They followed anyway.

It seems to me that this is what faith is really about. Does following God mean that He will always protect you from harm? Absolutely not. And having problems in our lives doesn’t mean we have too little of faith. If that were the case, then Jesus would have never been faced with the cross.

The words of these three men remind us that our heroes of the faith didn’t always know God would come through for them. Abraham didn’t know God would stop him from sacrificing his son, David didn’t know he’d defeat Goliath, Elijah couldn’t be sure God would bring fire for his altar, and Daniel didn’t know the lions’ mouths would be shut. But they all walked in faith anyway, and gave God the opportunity to work.

I want to be someone like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; willing to follow God’s leading even if He doesn’t protect me from the consequences. After all, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Running for Good

Dare I say it? I’m a runner. I don’t know when it happened.  I have run off and on for exercise over the last 10 years but never with any consistency.  Whenever I’d spend a few weeks getting going, I’d find a reason to miss some runs and before I knew it, I was out of the habit.  Last summer I did some running but it was always in spurts.  But this summer I’ve been running with more consistency than ever before. I can’t believe this, but I’m actually starting to really like it. It feels good to have some soreness in my legs all the time, and I love to push for faster and farther runs. After a few 5K’s and a 10K, I’m signed up and ready for my first half marathon on October 11th. (Pray for me.)

Recently I was on a long run training for my half marathon and I was struck by an idea. I was running 14 miles around and through Mount Pleasant, beginning on county highways.  With no real space for pedestrians, I was running against traffic forcing many of them to go wide around me.  As I did, I found myself waving to each passing car, knowing that I was imposing on their normal driving space and trying to acknowledge their kindness in not running me over. 

I don’t know if it was the voice of the Spirit or if two hours of running is just too long for me to remain focused on the music in my ears, but I began to recognize as cars and houses passed me that each one contained people created by and loved by God.  Someone should be praying and offering a blessing to these strangers on my route. Finally it clicked and my run became a prayer run. My waves at passing cars instead became a prayer of blessing and a motion of the cross towards them. I began to pray for the people living in the homes and neighborhoods I passed, knowing that God would know their needs even if I don’t.

Then I had a thought. What if I started doing this on every run? What if I did it while driving through town. What if we all did? I can’t claim to fully understand how intercessory prayer and blessings work. But it’s clear that we are told to pray for others and there are people throughout our communities that are in need of God’s touch on their lives. What if we were a church that prayed for those we saw in passing?

Here’s what it did for me while running:

· It helped me to notice.  Before I was oblivious to the people I encountered on my run; instead paying attention to myself alone. In prayer, I noticed every house, every car, every pedestrian.

· It eased my anger at those texting and driving. After some close calls on the highway while drivers didn’t see me cause their eyes were on their phones, I was pretty mad. My prayer running allowed me to instead see them with love.

· It reminded me that I don’t pray enough. As a follower of Jesus and as a pastor, I should be connected to God in prayer more than I’m connected to the internet. I need an “always on” connection like my phone has through its cellular network.

So what do you think? Want to be a prayer-runner with me? Or prayer-walker? Or prayer-driver? Imagine what God will do in our community when we pray.

On the move

I'm still flying high from yesterday.  What a great day we had as we worshiped together on our newly poured concrete parking lot, dedicating it to the work of the Kingdom.  We prayed, we sang, we wrote blessings in sidewalk chalk.  The cold wind and sprinkles of rain gave way to sunshine and warmth all in the course of an hour of celebration.  I can't remember a better Sunday.

But that may be a problem.

Preparing for this Sunday worship was a joy.  I was excited that we were taking a risk and doing something different.  And believe me, everything about this was a risk.  First, we took a risk by choosing to take on a parking lot restoration project that cost more than our yearly budget.  (A yearly budget that we are often behind on, by the way.) And we didn't just decide to raise the money, we had the construction company start the work.  Talk about risk.  We aren't one of those churches that complains about being behind financially while sitting on an endowment or large savings that no one wants to touch.  We have what is provided by those that give in faith every Sunday.  And we cut it pretty close sometimes.  The parking lot was a risk, but in a matter of a few months, the work is done and as of yesterday, all $157,000 has been raised through donations, gifts, and pledges to be paid over the course of a year.  God is faithful.

The parking lot was a risk, not just financially, but in regards to following God's plan for our church.  I didn't even want to do the thing.  I couldn't wrap my head around putting an unbelievable amount of money into the place that we park our cars.  Aren't there other places we could invest that kind of money that would be more in line with our call as a church? But the reality was that it had to be done. We didn't have potholes, we had craters two feet deep and ten feet long.  Someone was going to be hurt or a car was going to disappear into the underworld.  But would God bless the use of money for something such as this? We had all the conversations and ultimately had to make a choice.  Like Jonathan and his armor bearer, we decided to push forward and know that if it was a success, then God was on our side.

Our Parking Lot Worship was also a risk. When I shared with our church that we were meeting outside for the entire service in October, there were some skeptical faces.  Thankfully, this isn't the first time I've asked people to do something weird.  After all, not that long ago, we left worship on a rainy September Sunday to take "Christian toilet paper" door to door and pray for those we encountered.  This seems tame by comparison, but the cold can cause some problems.  My first conversation of the day as I was setting up outside and the first people were coming for Sunday School went like this: Senior Adult: "Are we still having church outside?"  Me: Yep, it'll be brisk."  Her: "Well, I have a coat."  It was a great way to start our day. I didn't encounter someone complaining about the cold, but ready for what God had in store for us.

And Parking Lot Worship really was awesome. But what about the rest of our weeks in worship?  I have to admit something here that's hard to admit as a pastor.  I don't always get so excited for a Sunday morning.  Actually, between you and me, I sometimes dread them. Yes, I know, I should love to come together with our church to worship; and in a lot of ways I do. But it's also a stressful day full of work and pressure to lead the time together. I want the music - that I help lead - to usher people into God's presence.  But I also want it to sound good. I want my sermon to help people to grow closer in their relationship to Christ.  But I also don't want to sound like an idiot.  Every week I fight through my challenges to try to be the leader I'm called to be among God's people.

I think maybe it comes down to one thing.  I'm super excited when I can see and feel God moving.  And I wonder how many Sundays out of the year our churches can say that is really happening.  Rev. Eddie Cruz was our speaker at the Mid-American Baptist Churches Biennial this weekend and something he said speaks directly to this. He told of an encounter he had with some young adults who had little interest in church.  They told him the typical responses: it's boring, it isn't relevant.  It's like going to a funeral.  He then reminded us that there are great celebrations that we see around us.  In celebrity culture there are Grammys, Espys, Oscars, Emmys, etc, and what do those people have to celebrate other than their own accomplishments?  But we have a God and a Gospel that give us a reason to celebrate. With that to celebrate, how could our gatherings look more like a funeral than a celebration?

I need to get excited about every Sunday because it is a celebration of the God of the universe who gives us life in Jesus Christ. It shouldn't take doing something crazy to be excited.

So what do you think? How do we as the church make every time we gather in Christ's name a time where we see and feel the movement of the Spirit?

Cause I'm up for feeling like this every week.