Playing Catch Up

I was about to get on a roll here...

So two weeks ago, the pastors of LifePoint Church and I, as well as the head of our board and all the spouses, went to a conference in Austin, TX. called Verge. It was a really good conference, full of great ideas and excellent speakers, and not a few surprises. I'll do a future post on the experience, but between the conference itself, my wife's illness while we were there, and travelling there and back, there wasn't any time to post. Sorry.

Then, the week I'm back, it's the typical, "Pastor's been gone a week" week. It never fails that when I'm out of the office, there's more than twice the work waiting for me when I get back. Decisions on Easter, seeing our newest admin have to leave to move to California, pushing on our Student Pastor search, and getting ready for our 'Thanks To You' volunteer appreciation event. Somehow things always back up when I'm going to be gone.

So I'm still in catch up mode. I'm pushing to get interviews set up for the Student Pastor search, trying to make a few minutes here and there for work on my talk at Easter, plus all the rest of the stuff. But this is also what I love about my job: it's totally unpredictable. I never know what each week or even each day will hold. I have to trust God for wisdom and strength each day, starting when I get out of bed, and continuing till my head hits the pillow at night. The constant variety is one of the appealing parts of what I do, and the constant reminder that it's God who is in charge.

A book written in sorrow, Lamentations, contains this amazing reminder: "The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." (Lam. 3:22-23 NLT) As I attempt to catch up in my life, as we press forward with all manner of agendas, projects and deadlines and as we anticipate the celebration of Easter in a few weeks, we all need to be reminded: God renews His love and mercy for us each day; it's fresh and new every morning. There's more than enough for what we're up to today, and God won't run out before tomorrow.

Now, on to the next on my "To Do" list...

Remembering 2010 - Part 1

I can recall a few years in my life where I was so happy to see the end come that the New Year's Party was a celebration of survival, with a huge does of, "Thank You God for bringing an end to this, let's get on with what's next!!"

1989 - While happy I graduated from college, my world was crushed by a broken engagement. I was happy to see the new decade begin.

1993 - One year married, being asked to leave a ministry job where I was successful because of church politics, homeless on our first anniversary, three different churches on my resume' in six months, and a move to Riverside, CA. Couldn't wait to be done with that year.

2000 - Started the year with struggles at church and at home, Beth with a difficult prengancy (that produced a beautiful baby girl!), and ended with shingles and massive stress. Partied like it was 1999 (yep, Prince reference...)!

2004 - Went from needing hernia surgery in January to needing chemotherapy and radiation in February to needing IV antibiotics for menengitis in May, and finally getting the hernia surgery in October. Words fail to describe how much I wanted that year over.

But as I write this, I don't think 2010 qualifies for this list. There were hard things for sure, like candidating at a new church, leaving the people I loved for 14 years in Pocatello, seeing the pain that has ensued since I left there, leading my family to start a new life in a new place, selling our house in a crappy market, then trying to buy one is a different kind of crappy market, adjusting to a new job, dealing with layoffs and credit union policies - to be sure, the transitions of my life this year have been many, varied, at times difficult, and full of surprises.

But in reality, there were just as many good times: finding out that God still had a plan for my life, and seeing it unfold each day, knowing I am right where He wants me, receiving the loving send off from friends and church family that we will never forget, knowing that our time in Pocatello was not wasted but very effective, being received with love by a great church family here, seeing the grace of God grow in my kids, watching my wife blossom in this new environment, seeing my own gifts of leadership and teaching affirmed and blessed as leaders around me grow and prosper, making new friends and having new adventures, and growing as much as I've ever grown in my life. All of that more than balances the scales.

No, 2010 is not a year I want to run from. It is going to be one that I will cherish, hard parts included. God is good, the rest is details. I'm going to celebrate the close of this year with some looks back over the next week, then lay into the year to come. Feel free to comment...

Giving Myself a Gift This Christmas

I figured out what I need for Christmas. I'm not sure what I want (I want a lot of things, but they are just that... wants. And not many are going to fit in the budget, but that's a post for a different day), but I know what I need.

I need permission.

I have some feelings. I'm a guy, so I have a harder time verbalizing them or even recognizing them, but I recognize the symptoms of having them. I'm feeling those symptoms today, so I know that there are some feelings rattling around in my life.

So I was talking to a friend today, and they said that I needed to give myself permission to feel those feelings. It was the most simple thought, but it was huge for me, an epiphany, "like lightning hit my brain!"

I am going to give myself permission this Christmas to feel my feelings. I'm going to be okay with having them, with acknowledging them, and with dealing with them. Period. It will be the best present I can give myself this year. Permission to feel? GRANTED! I can feel what it is like to be in a new place for Christmas, what it feels like to miss my friends, what it feels like to want to be with my family and know that I can't. I can feel anticipation for Christmas and the little nervousness of wanting to do well my first time at LifePoint Church on Christmas Eve. I can feel the awkwardness of new friendships and the distance of old ones. I give myself permission.

I was reminded that emotions and feelings are all over the Bible, even among leaders of God's people. So I'm in good company. Moses, David, Jeremiah, even Jesus had feelings. Mary was scared, so the angel said, "Don't be afraid." Peter got mad, Paul got frustrated, and on down the list. We all have feelings.

Do you need permission to feel this Christmas? It's okay, give yourself the gift of feeling your feelings. Then, each time you do, say a prayer and ask God to show you if there is bitterness, or fear, or unforgiveness or something else under those feelings that needs to be rooted out and dealt with. Because the greatest gift you could give yourself is the freedom that comes from allowing God's help into your life to deal with difficult emotions, feelings and situations.

This Christmas, enjoy the gift of feeling. Feel all of it: the wonder, the love, the grace, the amazement of the gift of Jesus Christ. Feel it all. Take it all in, and give great thanks to the giver of all good gifts.

Seeing God In The Mess

Yesterday was one of the top five hardest days in my ministry. No lie. I can only think of a couple that were much more difficult.

Our LifePoint family has been made aware of the difficult financial situation we are in as a church, and the potential of layoffs for staff. We got to that point over the weekend, and I had to deliver the bad news to both the individuals that were being laid off and to the staff team as a whole. As a pastor, called by God to love and care for the flock, being a part of that was not easy, not fun and not without real pain on my part. I love to share good news (and The Good News), but this was bad news. Hard news. News that was going to hurt when it landed.

But God did what He always does and what I too often forget that He will do: He showed up in the middle of the mess and made Himself known. All the folks who were laid off were amazingly upbeat about it, and each one was willing to offer whatever time they would have in the future to volunteer in ministry. Instead of hard feelings and running away from the pain of losing a job, they were understanding of the situation, and even encouraging in the midst of this. Honestly, I was touched deeply, humbled and blessed to have the privilege of working with such high character people.

Difficult times are what God uses to reveal our character, and the depth of maturity exhibited by these folks was very evident. I've been privileged for much of my career to work with high character, high capacity people, but this was a special moment of getting to see the bedrock of people's character revealed, and I'm just in awe of God's handiwork in their lives.

Once again, when I'm trying to look at what is happening and what might happen from it, God is already there in the middle of it all, bringing peace, pointing a way forward, and loving everyone through the mess. A friend told me recently not to run from pruning seasons in my life. While there is no escaping the pruning God is doing in this season, I also sense there are deep lessons to come in my life and in the life of our LifePoint family that come with this season. Right now, the main lesson is: God is with us in this. He doesn't abandon us when the going gets tough. He's walking through this with us, and all the work He's been doing in our lives has been preparation for these moments.

I'm clinging to that truth. I'm aiming for a better future, knowing that the mess we're feeling isn't the end of the story. God is the end of the story. Keep reading!

What Do You Talk About At Christmas Time?

I was at the gym the other day, and a guy whom I see there a lot stopped me with a question:

"So what are you talking about Sunday?"

What you need to know is that this man is what we in the church call 'de-churched,' he used to go to church, but he quit going years ago, let go of his faith and never looked back. We have conversations from time to time about spiritual subjects, and I've invited him to church a few times. He threatens to show up. I'm still hopeful.

Back to our conversation at the gym: he asked if I was doing the old stand-by stuff this Christmas. That's the interesting dilemma that we have as speakers in church - the Christmas story is pretty well played out for some folks. There's all the players - angels, Mary, shepherds, Joseph, the inn keeper, the wise men, the manger, the star... who hasn't heard all of that? Maybe a few people, but there are few over the age of 10 who haven't heard at least a majority of all that. What do you say that's fresh? How do you tell the same old story in a new way?

I told him what we were doing, the Thoughtful Gifts series. I told him about having frankincense in church and how it came from trees. He asked me what myrrh was. I told him he needed to come hear for himself on Sunday. He smiled. Pray with me that he does.

It's always an interesting process to go through, figuring out what to say at Christmas time. It's interesting all the time, but especially at Christmas. So this year, my goal has been to do two things - share the same old Christmas story in the most creative and thought provoking way I can, and then not worry if people have heard any of it before. All of us need a reminder of the hope that Christmas brings, and if there is anyone who comes who doesn't know the real reason for celebrating Christmas, they'll hear it as clearly as I can say it.

I just finished the message for this Sunday. No, I don't have any myrrh, sorry. But it's going to be the most hopeful and most challenging message I've ever given at Christmas time. Don't miss it. I can't wait to see what God does with this one.

Which leads me to Christmas Eve next week. Make plans to be there, and bring someone with you who needs some hope this year. For some, it's been a hard year on many levels. Bring someone who needs to know Hope was born in a stable in Israel 2000 years ago. And if you've heard the story, don't let that get you so jaded that you forget there are thousands of people in our community that haven't. They may know the players and the plot, but they don't know how it really ends. Bring them for the Christmas surprise of their lives! Jesus came to set us free from sin! All our guilt can be gone! All our hope restored! All our hearts made new!

Remember that this is the easiest time to get someone to come to church with you. Remember that Jesus died for your friends and neighbors as much as He died for you. Remember that Christmas is a gift that you can give. Remember Jesus this Christmas.

Why You Should Bring a Friend This Sunday

The deal with church is as simple as it gets: people are more willing to come with someone than they are to come alone, and survey after survey tells us that people would attend church if someone they ALREADY KNOW invited them to come. So if you're fired up about what God is doing in your life, or if you're fired up about what God is doing in our church family, or if you are fired up about the people in your life finding forgiveness and a fresh start from Jesus, here's three reasons why you should target this Sunday to invite a friend and bring them with you to FBC:

1. Baptisms - We have three people lined up to get baptized this Sunday!! Three people who have found Jesus and are going public with their faith, three people who have been nurtured and encouraged by our church family, and three people that are ready to celebrate the life change that God is bring in their lives right now! As a church, we do and AWESOME job of celebrating people stepping from death to life, and this Sunday will be no different. Bring a friend to come see the celebration of changed lives!!
2. Grace - the message will be about grace. God's grace in our lives, the amazing, wonderful, powerful, life changing grace of Jesus for all of us who have ever blown it in our lives. The message will be clearly about the forgiveness and restoration that Jesus wants to bring in the lives of people, and your friends who need to know that God loves them and wants to forgive them NEED TO HEAR THIS MESSAGE!! Especially the woman who has something in her past that is haunting her today. God wants to set some people free from the guilt of their past this week. Bring a friend to hear a message of freedom!
3. Jesus will be there!! The truth is, none of the 'events' of the day are more important than the presence of Jesus. The music, the message, even the baptisms are nothing without the living presence of God in the room. And He has promised to be there!! Your friend that needs hope, help or healing in their life needs a touch from Jesus, and the Bible promises that Jesus is there when we gather in His name.
   

I'm fired up about this Sunday! I'm fired up about the lives God is changing, the work He is doing in my life and the lives of others, and whatever surprises He has in store for us along the way. Bring a friend and let them see and hear the truth of God's grace this Sunday. You won't regret it, and maybe someday soon, you'll be the one lighting a candle for them (or even getting to do the dunking!) when Jesus changes their life forever!!

See you Sunday!!