Ode to the New Year

January 2014

Jeremiah 6:16 Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look,   and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’

Once in a great while, I wax poetic.  So if this offends, I apologize:

A New Year is on us, the old one is gone

Clang all the cymbals, hammer the gong

The old is over, it is done, it is through

Now we can start better and all is new.

But is newer the better? Is shiny the best?

Will having the latest, give us a rest?

Will all this new stuff we found at the tree

Really be what’s best for you and for me?

Yes the New Year is here, but don’t throw out the old.

For it was there we grew and came in from the cold.

We made new friends, and found some we lost

We lived our life, and yes even paid a cost.

The Old Year that past, was it really that bad?

Did all go wrong, did we lose all we had?

Can we look back, and see what is past

Or would we rather take the future so fast.

As for me and my house, in God we will be bold.

For He gives us the past and the future to hold.

He shows us the way that is better to walk

And He shows us love, even when we do balk

So look to our God, for the pathway to take

And travel in praise for God’s only sake

A New Year is on us, the old one is gone

Clang all the cymbals and hammer the gong.

May God give you a Happy, Joyous and Prosperous 2014.

Amen

The House

December 2013

Psalm 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’

 

Do I have to go to church?  But I don’t want to go to church… these statements and many more seem to fill the Sunday morning air as we prepare for the Lord’s Day.  Not often do you hear what the Psalmist says above.

Why is it that people don’t want to worship God?  That is a question that continues to befuddle the experts in this country.  I have a theory, but it may not be one you want to hear.   It has to do with what Church is all about. 

 

Please understand, worship is not about what we wear, where we set, or how great the music is.  Worship is not about lights and power point, nor is it about the comfort of the pews (or chairs).  Worship is not about our comforts, wants, or desires.  It isn’t about us.  Worship is only and truly about God.   Yes, you heard right, worship is about God. 

 

You see, we come together as a community of faith to give praise to our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier.  We stand in praise of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We shout in reverent response to all that God has done for us and is doing for us in our lives.  Sunday morning worship is not about who we are, but about whom we praise.  

 

Just think of what would happen if we came to church to truly worship God.  What if we came to give, and not to receive?  What if we came with the attitude of love, rather than an attitude of obligation?  What if for that brief moment in time we didn’t think about ourselves and thought only of God.  Would it truly ruin our lives if we left our cell phones at home and actually participated in worship?  How would our lives be different if our focus was on the creator, and not the creation? 

 

Advent starts the new Christian year, and reminds us that we are never out of God’s thoughts.  Maybe we need to return the sentiment.  My prayer for all of you in this Nativity season is that you can share with the psalmist and be truly glad when they say “Let us go to the house of the Lord”

Amen

The Difference

PK’s Corner                                                  

November 2013

Luke 18:14 “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

Do you know the difference between a tax collector and a Pharisee?  Both were in the temple, both were praying to God, both were men of prayer.  The difference was this, the Pharisee saw himself as a shining example of what a godly man should be and thus did not see his own short comings and sins.  The tax collector knew what he had done and was doing.  He knew that heaven was not for people like him.  The tax collector knew that all he could ask for was mercy, he deserved nothing.  Interestingly enough, the tax collector left blessed by God.

When the end of time comes, there will be a separation of people.  Some will go to be in Heaven, and others will go to Hell.   What we often forget is the only difference between the two peoples is that while both were sinners, only those bound for heaven asked for forgiveness and mercy. 

People seem to have forgotten about consequences, and have start trying to justify their mistakes and sins.  It hurts us to think that we might have to regret something, so we hide it in our locker and tell people that we have it all under control.  The reality is oh so different.

Asking for forgiveness is the first step to a new life in Christ.  Asking for forgiveness means you are ready to let God work in you to become a new creation.  We are all called to be new creations, but only if we accept Christ.

Heaven and Hell is a choice.  You can choose to live in heaven, or can choose to live in a place where it is always hot, no air conditioning.  I pray you will choose Heaven and God’s forgiveness in your life.   ( …for further reading  look at Luke 18:9-14)

Amen

Meeting

PK’s Corner                                                   

 September 2013        

Hebrews 10:24-25 ²⁴And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

According to recent polls, regular attendance at church consists of 1.8 times per month.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I always understood  regular attendance to mean being at church every time the doors were open.  Today we are seeing a mass exodus from the church and in order to make it look less bad, we have adjusted requirements for attendance.  This is not the way of God, nor the intention of the church.

The writer of Hebrews knew the human condition all too well.  It is too easy to wake up on the Lord’s Day and say, “It’s too hot, I’ll go to church next week” or “It’s too cold, maybe it will be warmer next week”.  We can find excuses upon excuses for not coming to church.  But Hebrews tells us to not accept excuses.

To stop the decline of the church in this country, it seems that there is one thing we have not tried... Encouragement.  When was the last time you encouraged someone to attend worship with you?  When was the last time you overrode objections so your friend could be at church?  When did your church last adjust a worship time, or prayer time so that others could come?

The church has been called to change lives, but unless we as the body of the church encourage people to attend and be part of a faith community, the church is impotent and spiritual death becomes the norm.  We cannot allow this to happen.

Here is my challenge to you for this month; Think of 10 people who are not regular church attendees. (Regular being at least once a week)  Now take it upon yourself to encourage those persons to come to church with you.  Go out of your way to help them with rides, or to over ride whatever their objections will be.  By doing this you will be working for the Kingdom and we can stop this exodus from the church.

God has given us a great gift that is meant to be shared, please share it.

Amen

 

Rural Work

PK’s Corner                                                                               August 2013 

Matthew 9:37-38

³⁷Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’ 

I have spent most of my life in rural communities.  The town I grew up in had more cows than people, and more dogs than kids.  In fact my dad often jokes about living on “poke and plum” street, it is where you poke your head out of the window and you are plum out of town.  Small rural communities have been the life blood of this country since its founding, and still they have a lot to offer.  

But, it seems the church and the world would just as soon leave them behind.  Big farming is making the family owned farm untenable, and factories are shutting down that brought hope to the economy of the rural communities around them.  Whole denominations are turning their back on the people of those rural areas for the more lucrative crowds of urban communities.   

We need to stop letting this happen, and we can start right here.  These rural areas are areas of harvest that can bring change to a hurting world.  People in these areas need to know Christ and what Christ can do in their lives.  We as a church need to start working the rural fields again, and start harvesting what was planted and then plant what will be harvested later.  

It isn’t easy work, but it is a mission.  It is a mission that Doniphan and Neelyville UMC will share in as we explore and implement ways to change the world through these rural communities.  We don’t have to do a mission trip to Honduras to reach people for Christ, we have our mission cut out for us right here. 

In the coming months, I ask that you lift up our mission in prayer, and that you pray the Lord will send workers to the field.  We have people in our midst that need to know Christ, and we need to get to work.  

Amen

A Blue Elephant Gun

PK’s Corner                                                                   July  2013

John 8:11

¹¹She said, ‘No one, sir.’^* And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’

 

There is a children’s joke about how do you shoot a blue elephant, and then it asks how you shoot a pink elephant.  Elephants are wonderful animals, and a lot of fun to talk about, until you have one in your room.  The elephant in the room is that thing you know is going on, but you don’t talk about it.

 

Every church has an elephant.  The elephant can vary from infidelity issues to questionable business practices in the congregation.  Everyone knows, or thinks they know what is going on, but we don’t talk about it.  It makes for some very uncomfortable situations.  Rumors start, and instead of church, you end up with hurt, pain and misunderstanding.  Meanwhile, the elephant drains the resources and the energy of the church, and yet the elephant continues to be in the room.

 

As a church, we want to love, but addressing the issues may mean making others uncomfortable.  In the scripture today, the dialogue is between a woman caught in adultery and Jesus.  The Pharisees came to Jesus with her and asked what to do, by law she was to be stoned.  Jesus told them that the one of them without sin was to throw the first stone.  Thus we have an elephant in the room.  We can talk about the desire of the Pharisees for political and spiritual fallout from what Jesus could have said.  We can talk about the unjustness of a law, or the justness of that law, but the bottom line is, someone watched her commit adultery, else they could not accuse her. 

 

But what happened after every one left?  Jesus tells her that he does not accuse her, but to go and sin no more.  Jesus did not give her a blank check, nor did he give his approval, he knew who she was and what she did, but he did not accuse her, and only told her to go and sin no more.

 

Elephants are hard to manage at times, but they need not be dealt with in an angry and self-righteous manner.  Elephants need to be dealt with in love and we need to seek understanding.  As a church we need to offer correction, love and hope to all parties affected by the elephant.  To approach an elephant with self-righteous anger is a mistake that can only increase the damage and fall out.  Love, Prayer, Counseling, Correction, Encouragement, these are the tools we need to use and we need in our own lives, because the elephant is in us also.

 

When the elephant makes itself known, let’s follow Jesus and not accuse, but help the elephant to sin no more.

 

And now the joke: How do you shoot a blue elephant?  You use a blue elephant gun.  How do you shoot a pink elephant?  You hold its nose until it turns blue then you shoot it with the blue elephant gun.

 

God Bless

 

Amen.

Turning

PK’s Corner                                                                                      June 2013

 

Galatians 1:6 “ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel…”

I believe in God the father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth…, thus starts the Apostle’s Creed, the nutshell statement of our faith as Christians. This is the short form of what we believe as followers of Christ. Yet, we have so many churches and so many in our churches running away from this belief.

Paul was astounded that the church in Galatia was turning from the teachings he and other ministers had taught them.  They were following poor advice about what it meant to be and what was required to become a Christian.  Galatia was being led down a road of false teaching and darkness.  I look at the world today and I wonder if we are any better off.

Today, many churches teach a feel good gospel.  In fact it has become so epidemic that people leave a church because “It had nothing for me”.  I find that rather humorous in a sad way since Christ called us to “pick up our cross and follow me”, not pick up our Latte at the door and enjoy the show.  We are at risk of losing the message of Jesus because we are uncomfortable with what is taught.  We turn from the truth to live in the lies that the world would have us to believe.

Following Christ is about forgetting ourselves, not about comfort.  Following Christ is about putting God first in our lives.  Yes, that means church before entertainment, tithes before bills, and worship before diversions.  God calls us to partake of him, and that means putting God first.  Until God comes first in our lives, our lives will be filled with meaningless trivial activities. 

God puts us first on his to do list.  We are first in his thoughts.  Christ came to earth, not as an afterthought but as a first choice to bring salvation to us.  We need to stop turning away, and start turning to God.

In the coming month, I challenge you to put God first.  Not just in word, but in action.  Be at church every Sunday, schedule your life around worship and prayer, and make God the priority in your worship, praise and life. 

Stop turning away and start turning into the person God has called you to be

Amen.