Planning, Potholes & Pit Stops -- It's All here!

¹⁶ God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. ¹⁷ God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! John 3:16-17 (CEV)

  The story of God's strategic plan is in all of our holy story from Genesis' creation to Revelation's new Jerusalem.  We know it didn't always go smoothly, remember the Garden of Eden--oops, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness--oh my, and the disciples scattering after the crucifixion--yikes!  We also know the powerful success of God's strategy of Love at the empty tomb--yes, the Holy Spirit's fire at Pentecost--wow, and the power of the Body of Christ infectiously Loving through the Church--amazing.

Palmyra First UMC is beginning a strategic planning process, and to be sure it will parallel the ups and downs of God's story.  We'll get some things right the first time, and we'll make a few humbling stumbles.  We'll enthusiastically embrace where God leads us, and we'll rebelliously grumble in our discomfort and discontent.  Perhaps, most importantly, God's redeeming grace will shine through in the end, when we choose this  journey.

Strategic planning will stretch us personally; God will call and nudge us to new places.  Sometimes we'll say "Yes" easily.  Most often we'll doubt, dodge and ditch God's invitation for a while.  We'll need one another for honest feedback, loving challenge, and mutual support, while we adapt and love on.

Strategic planning will stretch us as a church; God will call and nudge us to new ministry, forms, neighbors and places.  Sometimes we'll embrace the new with excited hard work.  Frequently we'll avoid, forget, and distort God's invitations to us.  We'll need much prayer, holy conversation, and Jesus-inspired boldness, so that we can adapt and love on.

Strategic planning will stretch us in our resources; God will challenge us beyond what we can see.  Sometimes we'll step out faithfully with generous choices.  Anxiously we'll act protectively, territorially, and selfishly--both as a church and as individuals.  We'll need God Moments told joyously, personal faith lived entrepreneurially, and administration lived transparently, assisting us to adapt and love on.

Saved and stretched, stretched and saved, is the story of God's Love in Jesus, the holy story, the Bible's story.  This timeless invitation and challenge starts from the inside-out, "Will I trust God and go where I don't choose, can't see, and quite possibly am not comfortable?"  My prayer, as pastor and follower of Jesus, is that we all help one another answer, "YES!" because we trust the life transforming, world changing, soul saving Love of God in Jesus Christ.

   

10,000 Joys in the Way of Jesus Christ, Pastor Dave

   *All bible story references and genuine conversation about them available from  dave@pfumc.us

Re- Flect, Joice, New

Events collide begging for more.  Ferguson, MO.,  Advent, Thanksgiving, life with family and life with church.  It all crosses paths.

Today the Advent meditation above and the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote, to the left, drew me to the hope of  Emmanuel, God-with-us.  I am thankful that there is more than my mind and strength to bring peace & sense in a world that is too often distressed & senseless.

May you find hope and reason for thanks in the days ahead.  I pray that in some way I may be a reminder that God loves you and that I might be a part of the work that strives toward shalom, peace.

Blessings & 10,000 Joys in the Prince of Peace.

#Hope  #UMC #United Methodist #LiveLove

Round Three -- Knock Out Punch

There are lots of times in life when it looks like evil wins, when bad people triumph, when dishonesty, lying and cheating have the upper hand.  That's frustrating!  These last hours of Jesus' life also look like evil wins.  That's why a bigger perspective on life is important.
     Imagine a boxing match.  Round one was Jesus' ministry.  Evil was being driven back, good was winning, people were being healed, and lives were being changed for the better.  Life was winning over death... light over darkness.  Round two is at the cross and now it looks like evil is back with a vengeance and is winning big-time.  It appears that death is going to have the final say.
     There is still round three to come.  That's the story of Easter, of the bible, of Revelation, of Life... when it looks dark, like a cancer diagnosis, a marital breakup, a job loss or no job to be found, then there's still round three.  In round three there's a knock-out punch to death.  In round three life wins over death.  In round three there is HOPE!
    That's the journey of faith, knowing that in following Jesus there is always a round three.  It doesn't make the second round go away or get all warm and fuzzy.  It does give us hope to work our way through the dark times, the struggles, the moments when we feel hopeless.  It gives us a confidence to share that hope with a friend on the journey. 
     I don't know what round you are in.  I can speak with confidence that round three will come.  There is Hope!  Where are you.  Comment and ask for someone to remind you of hope, listen to your pain, or walk with you/pray with you through round two.  I'll look forward to hearing from you.  

Finding Confidence

I'm energetic, optimistic and joyful as a rule. I'm also introspective and prone to over-thinking. So, some days, I have to go looking for my confidence. I can cloud my joy by taking people more seriously than God (usually fueled by the over-thinking thing).

Good news is that with my propensities, I don't get over-confident, at least not for long, nor do I get gloomy for long stretches. I do go up and down. I'm finding that experience and time is helping to modify this inner thrill ride, but I haven't left the emotional amusement park altogether.

I'm noting this here because we all have our stuff. I find that fact strangely comforting, that I'm not alone in my humanity. I was reading a bible story (Luke 24:36-48) and noticing that even the disciples, with three years personal coaching from the Master under their belt, had disheartening and confusing stuff. The rest of the story is that God knows, and offers them coaching, along with some potent promise, to move through the stuff of life.

That's all. Life's got stuff. God's got bigger good stuff. Paying attention to that works for me. Life's an adventure. Let's go live it together, you, me, and God.

Easter is Messy!

A friend died this week. He was a genuine man with a servant's heart and a playful spirit. His faith and spirit together truly made him a gift. His loss leaves a hole. His departure got me to thinking...Easter is messy.

How inconvenient to have him die! No one asked me if I was ready, or if the calendar would permit, or...well no one asked me. Yet, there it is. Life...and death happen. People die and so do things like dreams, expectations, ideas, friendships, hopes, projects, pets, and more. It stinks when they go. It hurts. It tweaks the world like looking through a soda bottle, nothing looks right.

Then Easter comes--God gently and purposefully shows up. New life, hope in the midst of loss, fresh starts, and all those things that I believe and hold close. What I think is that in the mess and the hurt and the loss and the stinky stuff, God is able to do important work. I miss noticing lots of it God does, but once in a while I see something. That's a gift.

Easter is messy. I'm glad. If it were too neat and tidy, too clean and clear, too removed from the muddle of life, then I'm not sure I'd really know about the gift. Or maybe without the mess, I simply wouldn't accept the gift.

I can't say for sure, but I'm glad for the gift in the mess. I'm glad for some God stuff that acknowledges my stuff. I'm just plain glad...not because my friend is gone, or that anything else is gone, for that matter, but that God is audacious enough to get into my mess and set up shop right at ground zero.

So for now, I'll grieve and celebrate; I'll receive the richness of knowing my friend and wonder how to fill the hole; I'll experience death and life together and know that in the mix there is good and God.

May the blessings and the mess of Easter come alive for you, bringing hope, life and indeed joy.

10,000 Joys in Jesus
Dave