Entries from July 2006 ↓

After worship services on Sunday, a quick lunch, and some final packing, Joleen and I headed for Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY around 1:15 pm. We made good time (good weather and traffic was not bad at all); we arrived in Wilmore about 10:15 pm. Needless to say, it was a very long day!

Our first day is now "in the books." We’ve been a little tired today (understandably), but it’s been a good day, too. Dr. Russell West ("Russell" from now on), our professor for this class, is a sharp guy; we look forward to the rest of this class.

Russell uses some creative approaches to teaching so this is definitely going to be an interesting and challenging week! In fact, you will probably see more of these approaches (I think we’ve tried to do some things along the way) played out in our ministries in various contexts — meetings, leadership development sessions, and even worship gatherings.

Yeah, some people won’t like it, but the same people wouldn’t have liked Jesus’ approaches, which were very creative and edgy for his day!

Anyway, we spent the first hour today playing a game — tossing around a beach ball, then several other fairly safe objects — at the same time! Actually, it’s a game we’ve used in youth ministry settings before; it’s a good way to learn names, if nothing else. Russell gave brief instructions and left us to play on our own and even make up our own game. The object was to help serious people to loosen up so they can learn. It took us a while!

Hopefully, we’ll do better tomorrow, and even better by the end of the week.

This is our 8th and final leadership class in this D.Min. program. Only the dissertation writing class remains after this one. We’ve enjoyed every class and they’ve all been different. This one looks to be a good class to bring together a lot of what we’ve learned up to this point.

The first day of class is usually a getting-to-know-you kind of day, a day where we’re all getting acclimated into the environment. Now that we’ve begun building this foundation, things should really start to get exciting around here!

I hope to write each evening this week, so be sure to check in from time to time!

We begin a new series today called "The Character Tour," which focuses on character in the lives of a few biblical characters. Next week we’ll take a look at Joseph and then Daniel. Today, we’re going to talk about Samson.

Character

• “Charisma without character leads to catastrophe.” (Peter Kuzmic)
• “The price of greatness is responsibility.” (Winston Churchill)
• “Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.” (Woodrow Wilson)

Samson came as a result of an extraordinary birth. The story is told in Judges 13.2-5 …

In those days, a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, "Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will rescue Israel from the Philistines."

We’re not told much about Samson’s childhood, except …

When her son was born, they named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up. And in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, the Spirit of the LORD began to take hold of him. (Judges 13.24-25)

Read Judges 16

Samson’s Weaknesses

• Samson does not honor God or his vow to God
• Samson is overly self-confident and assumes God’s presence
• Samson relies on his own strength
• Samson appears to be immature
• Samson plays with temptation

In the next couple weeks, we’ll talk more about developing strong, Christlike character. Romans 5.3-5 will shape a lot of that discussion …

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. 5And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

“What we do on some great occasions will probably depend upon what we
already are, and what we are will be the result of previous years of
self-discipline.” (H.P. Liddon)

While Samson is a tragic story overall, amazingly enough, he is listed among the great men and women of faith, where the writer to the Hebrews says, "Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to
recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
David, Samuel, and all the prophets." (Hebrews 11.32)

The good news from Samson’s life is that it’s never too late to come back to God. You may have messed up in the past but you can come back to God! Samson did, and you can, too!

O God, thank you for men and women who model the way of faith for us - people in Scripture, people who have gone before us, and people in these churches! We pray that you will build and develop strong, Christlike character in each of us. And as you work on us, please mold and shape us into your image! Amen.

We live in a day and age when we are not used to waiting. We live in a microwave age; an instant society. You tell me, if you had to choose between a crock pot and a microwave, which would it be?

We are impatient when we have to wait in line at the checkout counter. “Why don’t they open more lanes?” we ask. The other day I was in the turning lane behind several other cars and watched the cycle of lights go round and round with every lane getting to go but mine. That happened at least two times. You sure could tell we don’t live in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia – not a horn sounded. We just sat and waited and waited.

And when we finally got the light I saw that the first vehicle in line was a motorcycle, probably undetected by these “smart” lights we have nowadays.

Yes we like things fast. And yet there are some things that still take time.

~Last time I checked mothers still have to carry a baby for 9 months before giving birth.

~We plant seeds or small plants and we wait … we wait and watch as they grow; we wait and watch as blossoms come on; we wait and watch until finally fruit appears.

~There are still 12 years of schooling required to get a high school diploma – now some really smart people can accelerate the pace, but they still have to do the required work.Most the time we don’t do a good job of waiting before the Lord.

If you wait for something that means you think something’s going to happen: a baby’s going to be born, a traffic light’s going to change, there’s going to be a crop to harvest.

The Psalmist said that he prays every morning and then “I wait for your answer.” (Ps 5.3b). He expected God to answer. Do we expect God to answer our prayer? Or do we just want him to do what we ask? Do we think that he knows what we need?

Too many times we think we know what we need and we just go to God with the list … here it is God. This is what I need. Now give it to me. And up and off we go. Oh, we may not really say, “Now give it to me.” But we don’t wait to see if God agrees with us. We don’t wait to hear from God whether what we think we need is really what we need. Heaven forbid if God would disagree with our prayer! Oh, that would imply that we really mean what we pray when we say, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

And now with the confidence of children (children who trust; children who depend; children who sometimes don’t know what is best for them) as children of God, let us pray,

Our Father, who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name,Thy kingdom comeThy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our trespasses,As we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,But deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Mark 1.29-39

Today is a day of new beginnings for all of us. It’s my first Sunday at the 12th Street UMC in Huntingdon, PA.  And it’s also the first Sunday for the newly merged Hope UMC (formerly Alexandria and Barree UMCs). This is also the beginning of a new charge - the Huntingdon 12th Street/Hope charge. I am grateful for God’s work in my life and in the lives of these congregations. I look forward to working with all of you in the future as we seek to be God’s faithful people in these communities!

As we move forward together, I seek to lead us to …

• Make disciples
• Develop leaders
• Transform our community for Jesus Christ!

Jesus said to his disciples after the resurrection: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (John 20.21). Great words. May we go into our communities with the good news of Jesus Chrst!

Mark 6.30-44

How many of you have been on a picnic this summer already? How many of you have plans for a July 4th picnic? The extended family of my mom’s husband’s family have been hosted by my step-brother Dave each year the past several years. It’s becoming a family tradition, a reunion.

Picnics are fun times to gather together, to visit with one another, for kids to play together – in this case for me to get to know extended stepfamily, which is overwhelming. But each year Dave provides meat for sandwiches: hamburgers, hot dogs, meatballs, Italian sausage – there is variety and there is plenty. And everybody brings a covered dish and it is a feast. A time of celebration.

Dave and Rhonda put a lot of planning into this gathering. This year for the kids there was a with balloon drop with prizes, sack races. They now have a about 8 acres, so there’s a horse and each of the kids got to go for a ride. He always closes out the evening with fireworks and this year he had parachute fireworks he put off before dark so the kids could run after and gather up all these little parachutes. Plan, they do.

The Bible recounts a story of an unplanned picnic. Jesus was traveling around the countryside and one day as he was in a very rural area I large crowd had followed him, some 5,000 men plus women and children. They were hungry to hear what he had to say, to learn from his teaching. They desired to be healed and delivered. They wanted to see the miracles that Jesus could do. They were there all day long until finally the disciples said that they needed to send the people home so they could get something to eat.

Perhaps it was the disciples who were worn out, weary, and hungry. But Jesus had another idea … a picnic. In all of the 5,000+ people the disciples found one young boy with just five loaves and two fish – not near enough to feed this gathering of more than 5000.

But Jesus took the bread, gave thanks for it and broke it. And he divided the fish among them. And not only was there enough to feed the more than 5,000 so that they were satisfied, there were leftovers: there were 12 basketfuls of pieces of bread and fish remaining. They ended up with more than what they started with!

These people were not issued an invitation to the picnic. Jesus and the disciples headed off to get some rest. But when they arrived at this place, the people had followed them, desperate to hear more and experience more.

No, they were not invited, but Jesus as always is compassionate toward all their needs and received them graciously, as a good host. And so it is as Jesus graciously invites us to this table, this picnic he has prepared in advance for us. There is one small loaf; one cup to feed so many. But there is more than enough.

Some of us will come to this table spiritually hungry, and you will be filled. Some of us will come with physical needs, and you will be healed. Some come weary, and you will receive strength. Some will come to this table searching and you will find God’s direction. Some of us will come to this table with doubts, maybe even wondering who and where this God is, and God will be revealed to you. Some will come to draw near to God, and God will draw near to you in all of his fullness.

This is the table of bounty. This is the table that never runs out. Because there is no end to God’s love. We cannot ever go beyond the reaches of God’s love. This is the table where God invites all and all are welcome. This is the table where saint and sinner come. Adult and child. Male and female. Caucasian or not. This is the table where we gather as one and are made one. This is the table where all come poor, with nothing to offer, and we all leave rich. We come as orphans and we become family. We come as homeless, and find home.

As more than 5000 ate and were satisfied, Jesus invites us to come to this table and be satisfied. Again he has provided the feast. When the 5,000+ were fed it cost nearly eight months wages. The cost of this feast was his life. This feast is his body and his blood.

Holy Communion

It seems Jesus was always ready for a picnic. He was always ready to sit down and dine and talk about the important things in life. When he too was human, he was never at a lost for food or the provisions that he was in need of. Though he did not have a place to lay his head, though he did not have much by the world’s standard, people sought him out because he had what they were seeking. He had peace. He had contentment. He was one with the Father. He was obedient to the Father. He was the presence of God. He had healing in his hands. He had an understanding of the Scriptures. He was love. He was kindness. He was compassion. And he still is these things. And people still seek him, or at least they seek these things, perhaps not knowing that He is the source of these things and it is really He whom they seek.

And now as we have eaten at his table, we are filled with Him. We are one with him. We are one with each other. And we are joined as one in ministry to all the world. We have become his hands and his feet. Where we go we carry Christ. We carry his healing. We carry his love and compassion. We have become his presence in the world. As he gave himself for us, we go forth to give ourselves to others. As he counted himself a servant, we go forth to serve one another and the world. As he was sent, we are sent. And as he was given the freedom to choose whether or not he would give his life, we too are given that freedom.

Will you choose to say, “yes” to God’s call and God’s sending? Will you choose to obey? Will you share the feast/picnic? Will you invite someone to share in the picnic? Who will you invite to the picnic?And let us remember that as we invite others to share in this table, we invite them to share in another picnic. For as we come to this table we expectantly await another. For when Christ’s comes in final victory, when he comes to take us where he is, we will feast at his heavenly banquet/picnic.

It is at that banquet that all things will be complete. And it is with that hope that we say, “Come Lord Jesus.”