What Is New With You?

This question is often asked in conversation to help us catch up with a friend. We want to hear what is the recent news. We love to find what is new and hear about what is the latest. The business world understands this insatiable desire to find happiness in newness. McDonalds has a new premium chicken wrap. Taco Bell has a new black bean burrito. These latest products are advertised to lure us into the store. And how about the new automobile advertisements on TV? They make happiness appear to be easy to find with new car keys in our hand. We are excited to think about a new home, new car, new friend, or new job. The prospects of greater satisfaction in life are increased with a fresh experience on the horizon. This hunger for the new can get us into trouble if we think we can find our soul satisfied in new outward material objects and new people. The mint condition wears off of all things and even relationships. We can make a big mistake to think changing these outward things for a newer product or fresh person will meet our needs. This shallow idea of trading in our relationships for a new one can cause us to go from one marriage after another when the brand-new feeling and excitement is over. The Lord wants to fill our deepest need for happiness with a newness of being. This is very different than the newness of possession. He wants to make each of us new in His image and likeness. This can only happen if we are willing to be made new by Him. This is a process of giving up our will for His will each day. This is exciting to me as I near 70 years old. With my Lord's Spirit at work in my character there is new growth and new spiritual adventure with His leadership. I am not done yet. His Spirit is on the side of newness. To experience His freshness each day I need to embrace newness of prayer, service, worship, learning, and activities. Yes, I need to get out of the rut of old habits. The death of my spiritual growth is my comfort zone of just doing it the way I always have in the past. A big part of trust in God is expressed in embracing a new journey or a brand-new generous way of giving. So, my question to all of us if we want to be alive in the Spirit is, "What is new with you?". Let me know so I can rejoice with your baby steps out of the comfort zone into a scary and promising up to the minute experience with our Creative Spirit. So, what is new with you? I do not mean what new object or status or person you possess. What is new in your being?

The Value Of A Coach With Questions

We just returned from a stimulating Chaplains Conference in Adrian, Michigan. It was sponsored by the United Methodist Chaplains Group. The presentations were on the value of being coached to experience our true potential. A coach is a person who cares for you, knows what you are capable of, and calls forth the greatness within you. This is a different relationship of a counselor who listens and reflects your feelings. A counselor may need to help us to understand our past wounds to learn lessons from grief or failure. A coach instead calls us to look at our current situation, where we want to go in life, our abilities, future goals and action plans to get moving. We took turns offering a coaching session for each other as brother or sister chaplains. It was a growing experience to be challenged to think of the next step to take to be more fruitful as a person made to be achieve creativity. Each of us is created to be a great person because we are made in the image and likeness of God. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the great potential we have within us to do positive and creative actions. It is our own responsibility to discover and bring forth the great potential within us but coaching can help us. When we are blind to our potential it is profitable to be given powerful questions by a coach to make us think again about our attitudes and practices right now. Let me be your coach with this blog. Please consider some of these questions for your own life journey in the here and now. I hope they will be positive for your growth. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says there is a time for everything. What time is it for you right now? What needs to happen for this year to be the best year ever? If you gave us worrying, what would life be like? What really matters for you? I thank our instructor J. Val Hastings, MCC, for sharing many life changing questions for us to ponder. Yes, I bought his book of questions! I will continue to share some of them on my blog as they help my soul work!

Helper of the Helpless.

Have you heard it said, "God helps them who helps themselves?". I have heard this proverb spoken all my life. Some people claim it is in the Bible but they are not correct. What this saying attempts to say is we need to cooperate with the Lord for Him to have our permission to work for our good in our life. I think Augustine said something like this, "The Lord did not need our permission to create us. But the Lord needs our cooperation for His salvation to come into our hearts." This truth is important to remember for we must always do our best to become better people. We can not just ask the Lord to do our salvation all for us without our best effort. St. Paul said it well in Philippians 2:12, "My dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Yet, deep spiritual truth always has two sides in this mystery of life. At some times we are forced to admit if we are honest that we are helpless unless the Lord intervenes. This past week when our grandson Owen was struggling to fight against a terrible infection it was a helpless situation. The doctors were debating among themselves what to try to do to stop this aggressive invasion of his body. This moment reminded me that our money, power, connections to expert medical care, and technology does not guarantee that life can be saved. Psalms 72: 12-14, says, "For He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death." We cried out to our Lord when we had no human help for Owen's life to be spared. Thank the Lord that He is the Helper of the Helpless. This is Wednesday, 5/1, and we rejoice that Owen could came home today! He is using a walker and is still on heavy duty medicine but much better. Thanks all of you for praying for the Lord to show His deliverance in Owen's life. Although we must always do our best to solve our problems I do praise the Lord that He is still the Helper of the Helpless. When we face a struggle with anger, jealousy or depression may we always look to Him to help us when we know our strength is all used up.

The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us.

In the ancient liturgy of the Christian Communion service it features the prayer of the Great Thanksgiving. The words of this prayer move my heart. "It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets." My heart is filled with thanks to our Father Almighty for hearing our prayers for mercy for our grandson Owen. Last week he was on a breathing machine and in a coma while his body was fighting a terrible infection. Last Friday the surgeons were able to operate and remove a large pocket of infection from his hip area. We are so grateful for his rapid rebound since the surgical intervention. Now Owen is out of the ICU and off of the breathing machine. He is able to eat regular food. He is still in isolation but is able to be in a regular room. He can talk with us again and enjoy watching a baseball game. We hope he may be able to return home next week! It was a helpless feeling to see Owen struggle this past week. It is humbling to be reminded that life is fragile and we are not in control. We do believe that the Lord touched Owen with His healing intervention when his life was hanging in the balance. It is a reminder to me of the precious gift of human life each day. We live by the grace and power of the Father Almighty. He has created us, heals us and sustains us. Our hearts go out to the parents and grand parents of children who have died by accident or disease this past week. There is no guarantee that we will have our precious little ones. Each day is a gift to be valued and cherished. The song is right when it says, "The time is now to fulfill each vow, for I may never pass this way again." The ways of God are beyond our understanding. We pray for healing for all children but some do not live. May we all take the time to do good things with our little ones for we do not know if we will have a tomorrow with them. Mary's words of praise in Luke 2:49-50 are ringing in my heart this evening, "For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.". We praise the Mighty One for touching Owen in the hour of his deepest need. We thank the Lord that Owen is recovering. Thanks to all of you who lifted up your prayers for Owen to be helped by the Great Physician.

Got Faith ?

What does it mean to have faith in God? As we pray for our dear grandson Owen in ICU and for our dear friend Andrew who is fighting cancer how does faith help us? We also pray for the victims of the terrible bombing of the Boston Marathon that they will experience faith in God. I believe that our Lord is with our loved ones when they suffer. Our Lord is not a distant Creator who has left us to face the hard times alone. In Matthew 28:20 the resurrected Lord says, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." He suffers with us and bears our burdens with us. I need to remember this. I trust that our Lord is with us in a caring and committed way. The apostle Paul confidently states in Romans 8:31-32, "If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?" The Lord is for us! He knows our needs and is helping us. He wants to give us His generous help if we ask. I have confidence that our Lord has the power to heal and redeem. He is able to deliver us from whatever comes against us. He is the Living Lord who works for the good of those who trust and serve Him. Paul says this well in Ephesians 3:20,"Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory." I trust that our Lord is working behind the scenes when we endure suffering to bring good out of it. There is a gift in the grief when we keep loving the Lord no matter how hard it gets. The Apostle Paul speaks with conviction in Romans 8:28,"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." It is my view all people are called to do His purposes and His love is with us in a special way as we seek to do His will. Finally my faith in God rests upon the greatness of His wisdom. My little mind can not understand the big picture of life. Only the Lord can see how things work together for our good. We do walk by faith and not by sight. In my prayers I do not tell God what to do. Only He can decide what is best. How little we really know in comparison to the Maker heaven and earth. Paul praises God's wisdom in Romans 11:33,"O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways." My hope is not in the amount of faith I have. My faith gives me strength because I place it in the Eternal Love, Power, Nearness, Wisdom and Victory of our Lord Christ. This is not just thinking positive. It is placing my hope in the Eternal One.

The Power Of An Assist!

We are so proud of the Drury Panther basket ball team for winning the national Division 2 Championship in a 74-73 thrilling comeback victory over Metro State last Sunday. Did you know they were down by 17 points in the first half? They showed so much character, energy and resolve to come storming back. They finally caught up the lead in the last minute of play. They closed this amazing season with 23 straight wins! There is spiritual lessons to be learned from this team. Their coach, Steve Hesser, described their win in these terms in the newspaper, "Very collective. They defended collectively. And when we were efficient offensively, we did it together." This was a team effort with strong support from the bench when needed. This reminds me of the power of working together for a common goal. The players were not showing off their own talents or trying to grab some glory for self. Did you know that basketball counts and gives an official credit for an assist? This is the action of passing the ball just right to enable a team mate to score a basket. This official credit shows that the passing of the ball is just as important as making a basket. I find it refreshing when some players have 10 or even more assists after each game. Is the Lord asking you to give an assist to a family member or friend who needs some encouragement to succeed? We often think of success in only an individual perspective. In reality we only win togehter as a family, basketball team, church, or work team. We find fulfillment when we do not think only of our own success but in the ways we can win as a group. Maybe this is partly what the Apostle Paul meant long ago when he challenged us to see our success in life in the image of a healthy biological body,"If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it". He also said, "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." How many assists can the Lord give you official credit for today in your church or family? Remember we win together. The victories of the spiritual life require self-discipline just like a basket ball player, but fulfillment only comes when he learns the power of an assist. May we each find ways to help others do great things that honor God.

Easter Continues To Energize Us!

Easter was celebrated last Sunday. It was a good time to declare anew that the Lord is risen, indeed. Our church had a good community wide Easter Egg hunt the day before Easter. There was so much holy energy among the children and families who attended. I am proud of the congregation to host this event now for about 20 years. Being with children at Easter helps me remember the powerful way the Lord gives us new little ones to bring us joy. Another way I still find Easter energy is by sacred music. I feel my soul stirred by "The Russian Easter Overture" by Rimsky-Korsakov. This musical classic features a crescendo which reminds me of the powerful build up of resurrection energy in the Lord's tomb. This gradual increase of volume and musical power speaks to me of the time of waiting in the tomb for our Lord to then defeat death. This overture ends with an enthusiastic climax of joy. I find it helps me meditate and draw near to our Lord. This Sunday we will show that the power of Easter continues as Alexandra, a senior in high school, is baptized. Wow, baptism declares that the power of the risen Christ comes to live in our hearts when we receive Him as Lord and Savior. He did rise from that old tomb long ago, but right now He fills us with His risen power when we crucify the old sinful nature and welcome Him into our hearts to rule over us. Just a few weeks ago we baptized Jerris and her son, Dayten. We are so blessed to witness the holy vows of these precious children of God. Easter shows the power of resurrection also in nature. I love to see how green the fields are becoming. I love to see the flowering trees start to blossom forth. I even planted beautiful red tulips given to us by precious friends on Easter morning. It means much for me to get my hands in the cold, moist, dark soil. It is a symbol to me how the Lord can bring forth beauty out of the darkness of defeat and despair if we surrender to His leadership and power to give us new life. How is the power of Easter continuing to minister in your life?