Renewal – Page 3 – From a Pastor's Point of View

When the World Spins Way Too Fast!

Last week I hit the ground running. My week consisted of running from meeting to meeting, dealing with issues both in the church and beyond, and trying to find some time to write a sermon. I didn’t even mention fighting for family time. When each day ended, I felt overwhelmed and unable to feel like I accomplished the tasks that needed to be achieved.

All of the chaos of the week reminded me of what is most important in the life and work of the pastor. It is maintaining and leading the body of Christ in worship. I felt stressed because everything that pressed upon my time took me far away from what I was called to do. While I know that all that I do contributes to the welfare of the church, there are times that I just want to stop the craziness and refocus my attention on the One who called me into ministry.

We all have the kind of weeks that I described. Our children get sick, we have to manage people who are not so good at managing themselves, or we must press on due to a diagnosis that we didn’t expect to hear. It is difficult, to say the least. Whatever the issue may be, we must set our eyes on Christ, who leads us through the chaos, and continues to create beauty.

Praise be to God, who leads us through the rough times. I remember reading a passage by a writer who once said, “God never promised to stop the storm that a rough sea may bring. He promised to calm the storm in us.” This is where the greatest of work is done. It is performed in the heart.

May we embrace the message of hope that is found in God, and be comforted. We are children of the Most-High God. Let us live like it, and remember whose we are. Through this, we will claim the promise of a peace that passes anything that we can ever hope to understand.

Blessings in a Crazy Week

Last week was an adventure in survival. I had a paper due for a class I had taken, my wife had back surgery, I flew out of town and back for a meeting, and preached on Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon, I was passed out on the couch. I had nothing left in the gas tank.

Life is like that. There are times that we just coast through, but more often than not schedules are rarely predictable. Such is the life of a pastor. The only thing that we can do is be present in the moment. Anxiety can sometimes take over, and I can easily forget to simply breathe and enjoy where I am at the moment I’m there. Now is what counts.

As I rattled off my busy schedule, I didn’t talk about the blessings that came my way as a result of my crazy time. I celebrated another academic course completed. I gave thanks that my wife had a very successful surgery. I met new friends, and spent a few moments with some great friends. My flights, while adventurous, got me safely to and from my destinations. Sunday morning was filled with celebration and joy. These are the wonders that come with a busy and fulfilled life.

I give thanks to God this day for the gift of servanthood, that I was asked to take part in a consumer panel in the bleeding disorders community. I am grateful that I can connect with a community who longs to hear my story, and the story of my family. I was honored to hear other’s journeys, and the strength and hope that they find on their paths. Their stories are an amazing tapestry of an incredible society of men and women who struggle to make their lives rich and meaningful despite the presence of a bleeding disorder.

I think it is safe to say, that we are a part of many different cultures and societies. It was great to be reminded that I am a part of the hemophilia community. I struggle, just as those around me, to find normal in a world that involves daily infusions, hospital visits, and a medicine closet packed full of medical equipment necessary to give my children a chance at their best lives.

My hope is that through all of the chaos we may remember to find the beauty in the moment. Let us never throw away a single second. Let us give thanks for what we are given. Praise be to God, who never ceases to amaze his children.

The Road that We Did Take

I constantly wonder about the journey that I have taken concerning my life. Should I have stayed in the music business a little longer? How far would I have gone if I tried harder? Am I on the right path for me? These are the questions that whirl in my head on a consistent basis.

Of course, the answers are muddled. I mean, do we really know that one road would have brought more joy, or one choice would have brought a deeper sense of being? Who knows? The joys, hopes, and dreams that are present are a result of the choices that we did make, the road that we choose to travel each and every day.

As I search for the answers to the questions that I bring to the table, I am confident that my journey was led and directed by the amazing God of All. I am here in this moment as a result of following the One, who guides me and shows me the path on which I am called to walk and serve. Other dreams are reserved for another life, but not my life. The hopes and joys that are available to me now are a result of the gentle guidance of the Divine, loving me through the difficult way and into the waters of comfort.

And as for the joy meter in my life today, this day as a result of the choices that I did make. I am happy to say that I have a loving wife, who continues to walk this path with me. Two amazing men who call me their father. A congregation that every week, teaches me about the greatness of God, and who holy love transforms us all. All of these blessings are as a result of listening to the presence of the Most-High God, eagerly being transformed into the person that the Holy One created.

Today, I am grateful for my path, and grateful for the many people that surround me, encouraging me to become better, become holier, become more passionate. Praise be to the One, who gives us the victory in Christ, His son. My hope is that we take the journey to which we are called. I hope that we walk boldly, holy, and passionately. I hope that as we journey, we are surrounded by the light of Christ.

Walking Around the Fire is Not an Option!

I have to admit that I do not like walking through the fire. I like to tiptoe around it. Try to avoid it, and wrap it up in a pretty bow. Maybe if I ignore the fire, I won’t be burned by the flames. Of course, while I tiptoe around and ignore what is in front of me, the flame continues to grow larger and larger, until there is nothing left, but ash and smoke. More often than not, where once there was a possibility of creation, now exists only a clump of mess incapable of sustaining any sort of life.

The hardest part in life is walking through the fire. Only when confronted with the hottest heat can we breathe onto it refreshing water. Gushing from the spirit at the wellspring of who we are is a chance, an opportunity to find redemption. We save the earth, our hearts, our souls, from the ravishes of generations of chaos that burns with fury into the very recesses of who we are. No, we must move through the hardest part to get to the other side.

And the promise of our faith is this, even though we must walk through the fire and deepest darkness, we are not alone. That is the promise to which we are divinely appointed. God is with us. We need only look at the darkest part of our faith, Holy Week, to see the magnificent claim of divine love that redeems us, that calls us by name. We are children of the Most-High God. We are made new, having come through the ravages of the past. With our amazing creator, we have the power to put out the fire. But we have to walk through it first, always trusting that the one in whom we trust will deliver us and make us whole.

It’s Easy to Get Stuck

I am grateful for my time in Austin. While attending Austin Presbyterian Seminary, I was able to walk the campus of the University of Texas. Ah yes, that beautiful campus with the tower. As I walked down the stairs of the main building, I was taken back to my eighteen-year-old self who was enrolled as a freshman. I thought of the many mistakes that I made that would drastically alter the course of my life. Some of my choices left long lasting marks of shame and regret. I kept asking myself the age old question, “What happened to that kid? Why those choices?”

What a frustrating place in which I found myself. No matter what resolution I could find, it would not replace the opportunities that no longer existed. And then that horrid feeling of being stuck in my inability to fully resolve the issue kicked in. What a mess. I knew that in order to move forward I would have to let go of my insane thinking. You know, the kind of thinking that allows you, in all of your folly to think that you are capable of changing the past.

All of these thoughts seemed to illuminate from my soul as I looked at the past with eyes in the present. I began to talk to that 18-year-old boy. I gave him permission to be himself, that he was more than the scars of his childhood. I assured him that he would move past the effects of the battle wounds that he inherited, and that he would thrive past his wildest dreams. He was, and his more than the sum of his failures.

So, after dipping my foot into the healing waters of forgiveness, I turned and headed back to the seminary. It was time to leave the past behind, and continue forward. I gave thanks for being able to shine a light on the realization that, while I falter, there is always the promise of a new day. If my heart learned anything, it was a sense of forgiveness of myself, along with the need to keep moving in a direction that guides me to the eternal light of God.

Praise be to our wonderful Creator, who never allows us to remain in the past. And blessed are we, as we remember that we are all created in the image of God. That includes who we were, what we are, and what we will be. May we carry that promise into a future filled with the riches of our amazing Savior.

When Souls Collide

This week I had the amazing privilege and honor to be one of ten people in a discussion group with theologian Glaucia Vasconcelos Wilkey. I walked away from this wonderful experience feeling honored and blessed to have had the opportunity to hear her teach and share her journey. She is an incredibly powerful woman filled with God’s presence and light.

As our incredible scholar left the seminary, she turned to me and offered me an amazing blessing acknowledging and reaffirming the full authority that God has given me to preach and teach. She spoke straight into my soul, and I left feeling blessed and renewed. Here was this scholar sharing a special blessing with me. Grateful could not begin to describe how I felt when leaving her presence.

There are people that we encounter that leave us feeling better about who and whose we are, simply by being present. There are no magic words, just a keen awareness of the Holy Spirit. We are left knowing that the Truth is within us, eager to be free. Our joy is renewed and invited to be released into a world that needs to know the source of our happiness.

As I reflect on my encounter with the blessed theologian, I hope that I may be like her with everyone that I encounter. People may be renewed in the presence of divine hope as the Spirit of Truth dances between us all, encouraging us to be the light of Christ for the world. Praise be to God, who constantly reminds us that we are chosen to share the message of the Gospel.

A New Start: A New Beginning

Here we are in a new year. Many of us set new goals, with new expectations in both our personal and professional lives. Yes, we are given a chance to start over. We are encouraged to change our way of thinking, our way of managing our lives, our way of approaching problems that have appeared to have no answer. These are all the hopes and wishes in which we invest as we move forward into 2016.

The problem, however, is that we still bring our baggage along with us. Many of us, I am pointing the finger back at myself, truly don’t live as if we have a new beginning. A new start will include some failures, but will never give up until we achieve our goals. What holds us back are the ways that we cling to the past. We give up on our resolutions, only to fall back into the very familiar patterns of behavior that we promised to leave behind. We fail to hold on to the assumption that our fresh start is indeed that, a fresh start.

I could really move from preaching to meddling with the following question: “How does this mirror your faith journey?” I mean, we start off with incredible energy. We proclaim to the world that we were not the people that we were before. We keep this enthusiasm of new life, only to see it fade as we surrender to the pressures and demands of our places in the world. We continue to drift away, until we wonder where and who we are.

Hear the Good News! We are a people who have a chance to begin anew every waking day of our lives. We do not need to wait for something like a new year to initiate change. Each day for us is a gift, given by the one who encourages you to embrace your life with the passion with which you started the journey. This is the promise that we are given with each passing moment. Praise be to God, who gives us the strength to overcome our weaknesses. May your “New Year” begin today, and may you know the blessings of God, beyond your wildest imaginations.

How Many More Days?

We have a little Christmas calendar, but is in the shape of a clock. My youngest son is the keeper of the calendar. Each day he adjusts the hand that signals one day closer to Christmas. As we get closer and closer to the big day, he gathers more excitement in his voice as he announces that we are one step nearer to Santa’s visit. We all laugh and encourage him to keep us on track.

MacDonald the Younger’s excitement reminds me of the eagerness that comes with the anticipation of what is to come. Whether it be the joy of the Christmas season, the possibilities of traveling to new and exotic places, or a planned night out with my wife, I am guilty of being caught up in what lies ahead. I recapture the energy of my youth. There is a magic to this time of year.

I continue to think of the idea of joy and happiness and wonder if my life emulates this kind of excitement. Have I become stale in my faith? Heaven forbid that I have lost that moment when my life changed, and I surrendered my heart fully to the presence of God. Have I truly forgotten the feeling of divine peace? May it never be so.

My hope is that this Advent time will remind me of the joy of being a newcomer to the faith. As I reclaim the special moment of my conversion, I hope to continue forward sharing the hope that is found in my faith. Perhaps that is why we celebrate a season of anticipation every year; so that we can embrace and remember the freshness of belief. This may be the time that hope is reborn, and excitement comes in our recalling of how we were made whole.

Imagination is a Good Thing

We are blessed with the gift of imagination. It allows us to fill in dots in innovative and creative ways. We explore, we learn, we grow. All this from the brain that is hard wired to express our own unique view of the world and the Creator that fashioned us in the image of the Divine.

We are blessed to be given the ability to live with a passion that moves us and motivates us to have a sense of meaning and purpose in the world. When we connect spirit to spirit with the Prime Mover, there is nothing quite like it. We are energized and equipped to have an awareness beyond our own comprehension. This reality cannot be explained, it can only be experienced.

Beware of those who try to steal your joy. Run from those who seek to overpower you and attempt to cast judgement on your own unique approach to understanding the world. These people are wolves in sheeps clothing. They cast doubt and despair on your joy. To say that they are dangerous is an understatement. Be on guard against them, for they will disguise themselves as well intentioned people filled with the spirit of God, only to leave you dazed, confused, and hurt. You must avoid them at all cost.

Direct your energies to the God of your understanding. Allow the joy of your unique vision of the Creator to be your primary focus. This is what will sustain you and bring you joy. This is the well spring of hope; this author and creator of all that we are.

Today, I am grateful for the people who strengthen me, and encourage me to look beyond the limitations of those who try to steal my joy. I am grateful for a God who continues to work through me and empowers me beyond my own imagination. Praise be to God who gives us a renewal of spirit each and every day. I pray that you may live in the power of God, in your own language, in your own way. Thanks be to God.

The Land of Milk and Honey

“The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and He brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut. 26:8-9 NRSV).

There are times in our lives in which the promises of the above passage are as real to us as air. We catch a glimpse of God’s handiwork in our lives and feel like we stand right in the middle of the “land flowing with milk and honey.” We feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as a real and powerful source of our strength and hope. The planets seem to be aligned and all is well in our world. To sum it all up; life is good!

Then there are times when God’s presence seems so far away that we will never get back to the warmth of the heavenly light. We struggle to stand up as the wind races through our lives and chills us to the bone deliberately ridding us of our joy. We are hopeless. The last place that we feel like we are is in a “land of milk and honey.”

Our hope as we struggle is that God’s promises are true and that our faith in His abiding love will pull us from the pit of despair. I know what it is like to feel separated from God’s presence. My youngest son was just recently in the hospital. One day I was sitting with him in his hospital room and I tried to think through how many times he had been hospitalized in the last three months. I couldn’t remember. There had been too many times to count. I lost track. It is bad enough that my sons have bleeding disorders, but the constant hospitalizations are overwhelming. It is hard to feel like I am in the “land of milk and honey” when I am sleeping on a tiny mattress in a hospital room.

When I am stressed beyond all measure I reach for something that will sustain me and give me hope. That is when I discover God’s presence. I read that God delivered us out of the land of Egypt where we were slaves and had no place in society. God radically saved us. This is where the center of my hope springs out like a fountain. If God saved the people of Israel from the weight of slavery, I will be rescued from my situation. The “land of milk and honey” may not look as pretty, but on the inside where it really counts I will know the goodness of God. This promised land’s source is the Spirit of God. Divine love pours out of us and through our world restoring life to all that it touches. We are to be the wellspring by which the Heavenly One flows.