Imagine No Malaria

       I just attended our Missouri Methodist Annual Conference. We are blessed to do great things for others in our combined efforts as disciples of Jesus.  The United Methodist national conference and our state conference have been fighting the terrible disease of malaria since 2008.  At that time we together worked with the "Nothing But Nets" program to bring needed mosquito protection to our brothers and sisters in Africa.  For nearly 2 hundred years Methodists have been in partnership with African Christians to give help to the sick, increase sanitation, and promote healing.
     Our Bishop has challenged each church to give a special offering to this new program called, "Imagine No Malaria".  He asks that we give $10.00 for each person who is average in attendance in worship. This means Rogersville UMC is being asked to give $300.00. This generous giving is putting our faith in action.
      This new program of "Imagine No Malaria" distributes insecticide -treated bed nets, it delivers sustainable and accountable public health systems. It works closely with the village elders, teachers, pastors, and mid wives who all know the people who need help. This system means that the medical supplies and nets are not stolen and then sold by thieves. This way of ministry means that there are regular and on going checks by trained local medical workers to make sure the supplies are being used in the proper life saving and preventive way.
       James 2:14-17 is the foundation of our efforts to give aid to our family in Christ in Africa,
"What good is it, my brothers and sisters; if you say you have faith but do not have works? If a person is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." It is good to see the Methodist Church in action to make a difference to save children from dying from this preventable disease.  It only cost $10.00 to purchase on insecticide-treated net!
      The World Health Organization reports that in Africa every day 3,000 children die under the age of 5 years.  In 2010 reported malaria deaths were 660,000 with 90% of those in Africa. As Methodists we can and will make a difference.  Many lives are being saved, churches are being started and communities becoming healthier because of the generous sharing of the Methodist Church.
    Here is an African proverb to consider, " If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito."

Look, Grandpa, Did you see it?

     "Look Grandpa, look", I heard this excited refrain often from our 8 year old grandson, Daegan as we gave bread to some ducks. He just wanted to feed the ducks and we experienced much more.  As we walked he held a small loaf of bread proudly in his hands. He was careful to make the bread last for our 30 minute adventure.
      He noticed so many wonders of nature on this stroll around the pond. He pointed out marvels like two flat backed turtles sunning on a rock barely emerging from the water. As we crossed over the foot bridge he called my attention to the little fish flipping on the surface to snatch pieces of bread he threw down.
     The geese honked loudly in an effort to scare the ducks away from the broken bread being thrown. He pointed out the funny way the ducks waddled over to snatch bread from his hand. The loud chorus of honks and quacks was hilarious.
    He told me to keep looking as the ducks swam in a tight V shaped pattern as we circled around the lake. He was excited about the ducks following him all the way around as he stopped often to give his feathered friends another snack. He was proud to notice how the duck band came to him repeatedly.
     Near some tall bushed he shouted out, "Look, it is a wild turkey!"  In my amazement we observed a turkey hen as tall as Daegan skittering away into deeper cover. With her different shades of brown feathers the turkey blended quickly back into the leaves.
      As I was contemplating these wonderful sights he called out , "Look at these big leafs on the water plants!"  I had not noticed the vibrant green and proud stand of water lilies.  I had glaced at them but not appreciated their beauty and freshness. He helped me take note of their full buds about to burst into yellow blossoms.
       I need to view the greatness of our Lords' Creation through the eyes of a child to restore my sense of wonder. Even if we do not have a child at hand we can take heed of the words of Jesus and take time to look carefully around us, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil or spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow for reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6: 26, 28 and 29.
      Worry is a big problem for me. I think one way to escape from the misery of worry is for me to take some time each day to dwell in wonder of our Lord's beauty in creation.  I want to experience more wonder and less worry. How about you? The Lord is speaking to me in Daegan's drum beat, "Look, Grandpa look, look!"

The Lesson Of The Clematis Vine.

      A large Clematis vine grows 6 feet high up on the back of our bricked mail box. It loves to climb tall. Each leaflet has 3 balanced soft green leafs. The flowers are purple with hints of yellow and white in the middle. The flat pedals are as large as my hand. They constantly turn towards the sun light.  It's loveliness moves my heart to praise our Lord for His design in creation.  It's delicate gracefulness brings admiration from people who look it's way.
      We can mirror the beauty of our Creator. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, it says, "Seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit."  This promise of positive change encourages me. The Lord is able to reflect His love, mercy, faithfulness, and generosity through my little, temporary and fragile life.
      The greatness of the Maker of heaven and earth is reflected in our small flowering vine.  With the Clematis this expression of the Lord's beauty is natural.  In my life this demonstration of His goodness depends upon my daily choice to follow Christ in meditation, trust and obedience. His transformation of my words, actions and character is promised as I intentionally keep turning my focus on His light.  May the Lord give me grace to focus less on worry and fear. I do want my mind to dwell upon His goodness.

Growth Is On The Side Of New Practices

May last blog asked the question, "What is new with you?". Let me reply to my own question with some new things I am learning to practice. At the YMCA I have under the guidance of a patient instructor started a new way of fitness. Now three times a week I am bouncing a 6 pound medicine ball off the wall. The instructor was careful to show me how to do this with out killing myself. We do need help from experienced people when we try a new practice. Today I will begin a new adventure with MANGO. It is a program offered free by our library system to teach us a new language. Yes, I am excited about brushing up on my Spanish I played with as a prison chaplain. The Mexican inmates were kind to coach me on some basic words and phrases. This evening at the YMCA I will try a new fitness class called SELAH. It is a unique combination of pilates and yoga. It is an hour experience of stretching while listening to Christian praise music. It will be a miracle of sorts if I can make it through the whole hour. The pace is up beat to keep up with the music! Maybe my newness here will be 30 minutes of the class. In the battle for my soul I am challenged by a Korean Chaplain friend, Vescinda McDonald, to not permit my thinking to live in the room of anger, fear, resentment or worry. When I find myself dwelling in these negative rooms that drag me down I am practicing a new thing she strongly suggests. When aware of this negative down feeling I am rebuking Satan in the name of Jesus my Lord. Then I am giving those weeds of the soul to my Lord to burn up in the fire of His love. And in the here and now I practice thanking my Lord for the abundant ways my life is good. Her book , "Twisted Logic, The Window of Depression" is ground breaking for me to practice some new ways of the Spirit. If you want to borrow my copy of her book let me know. So here are my questions for you this week, "What do you want more of?" and "What do you want less of in your life?". The answers are in your heart.

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.