Divine Appointments

 

I went to UT Tyler hospital to visits a member on Friday.  I parked in the garage and was walking just outside the parking garage when a woman called over to me.  She was asking me a question from the parking garage entrance.  I could tell she thought I worked there.  My first thought was, “well great.”  But then I thought I might be able to help her because I do come here often.  When I got close, she explained that her car was missing.  I was thinking, a long time ago my car was stolen and it’s a weird feeling.  She went on to explain that she parked in the handicap spot next to the elevator, but her car was gone now.   Several ideas ran through my mind.  One was it towed by the hospital, did someone steal it, or did she park it somewhere else?  Yea but now I was part of the search for a solution. 

            I thought  that towed by the hospital was the most likely, but she explained that the car was marked with a handicap sticker.  Then I also thought, I have no idea who to ask at the hospital about it being towed.  Then she explained that she had arrived two days before and her husband was in the ICU.  She had been there either two or three days and had not slept much.  My thought was “I just got back from Japan and was jet lagging hard.”  Our combined IQ was suspect at this point.  But it then occurred to me, it was really likely that she just did not remember where she parked.  Time to go on a search.   

            So, I suggested we go for a walk.  Let’s go up to the last place you saw the car.  My mom taught me to look in the last place I remembered something.  She said by the bridge that goes over to the hospital.  So up we went and sure enough her car was not there.  All the while she was telling me about the experience of coming to the hospital and her concern.  I was thinking, this is apparently a pastoral call while looking for a car.  After some walking around and my brain kicked in, I asked if I could borrow her keys.  I had an idea - push the panic button and see if the car honked.  I pushed the button and you could hear the car, but not see it.  Humm, I leaned over the side of the parking garage to see was it up or down.  Answer; down for sure.  So, we took the stairs down one level.   It took a bit, because now I understood why she had a handicap parking sticker.           

            We came out of the 2^nd floor and I pushed the button and her car was right there.  It honked and flashed lights.  She was excited, stating, “Hey that’s my car!”  I returned her keys and she was on her way. Jesus states in Mathew 5: 41 “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.”  This is from the sermon on the mount.  The ethical call of Jesus for the kingdom of God.  I doubt this took me very long, but it meant something to this tired woman.  It was not in fact not my job, and when she first asked, I was thinking how do I get out of this?  But our ethical call is to be there for one another.  Jesus calls us to be aware of divine appointments.  To love others as ourselves.  It was a small thing for me, and something important to a disorientated person.  May we all pay attention to our diving appoints.  

 

Pastor Pat

 

Sermon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrIwUAgaAFY

Mission

What is the mission of the church? Or as one pastor put the question for what purpose does your church exist? You may have noticed by now my preoccupation with mission. Every organization should know why it exists. Mission brings focus, clarity, vision, and makes teamwork possible. I was reading the Twelve keys to an Effective Church by Kennon L. Callahan and He made this statement. “Indeed, the first and most central characteristic of an effective, successful church is its specific, concrete, missional objectives.” Did you catch that, “the most central characteristic…” That would be an important thing. As we have all heard it said “keep the main thing the main thing.”



One of the things that a mission should do is to lead us beyond ourselves. Our mission should be to more than to just our members. Let me provide an example of how fixated our thinking is on members. While at annual conference a person asked me “how large is your church?” The answer she was looking for was the number of members. I could have answered that question in many ways. For example the size of the sanctuary, the number of acres for the campus, number of parking spaces, or class rooms, this would be our physical plant. The other answer would be our average attendance in worship, and Sunday school, and bible studies, or our number of members. But both of these answers focus on how large the church is not how large our mission is. I will grant you this we often talk of these things because they are easy to quantify. We know these numbers. But how large our church is can be defined in how many non-members we reach. It could be measured in our mission field.



Here is a good question and I almost never hear it asked, “How many people are you serving in mission?” The mission that I read in the Gospel is serving. When Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God he says the “first shall be last and the last shall be first.” If we want to be great then we must serve! I am so very proud of the great things that this church does. From the clinic, to share, to basket ball, to summer camp, to UM ARMY, and this past week to VBS. I personally have come to find that in serving I have found life. I know as we serve together we will continue to find life in Jesus Christ.

Feeling Guilty

This past week I was driving the church suburban. It needs to be driven occasionally and checked for maintenance issues. As I was driving it, I noticed that the inspection sticker seemed to be out of date. I noticed it but was unable to take it in for an inspection until the next day. As I drove I became aware of every police officer on the road. I was wondering; would the next officer notice and pull me over and give me a ticket? As I drove the sight of an officer made me feel guilty. I was driving with guilt on my mind. The next day when I took the suburban in for its inspection I found out that the inspection sticker was valid. Turns out it was good through 2013. There was no need for a new inspection! The feeling of guilt left me.



This incident reminds me of how some people feel about church. The sight of a church can make a person feel guilty. The sight of a priest, a cross, a steeple or any other sign of God can make us feel guilty. The irony is that under the blood of Jesus our guilt has been taken away. As believer in Christ we have been set free. Sin has been defeated, yet often guilt nags at us. At a deep level this guilt is able to obtain a foothold in two places. One is in our lack of trust in God, and two is in our mentality of self-accomplishment. Both are places of spiritual warfare.



Under the spirit of self-accomplishment, the short answer is pride. Pride is a sin. When my niece was two years old, she used to tell me, “I can do it me own self.” She would say that when she wanted me or other adults to leave her to her own devices. And, sometimes she was able to accomplish the task; but there were other tasks she was unable to accomplish. Often we can be like a two year old. We are unable to see, because of our pride, our inability to solve a problem. The problem we will never be able to cure is our atonement for sin. Only Jesus can atone for our sin. Atonement for sin was accomplished on the cross.



Our second issue often is our inability to trust in God. I think we are unable to trust God because people have let us down. So we wonder, “will God let me down as well?” Faith can be difficult if we are wondering, did God really take care of my sin? Does God really love me? The good news is that the answer is always yes! God is worthy of our trust! God loves you and loves me and God has taken care of sin. We just need to accept that

God has done the work. We need to accept it as a gift.

To return to the analogy of my inspection sticker guilt: God has placed a new inspection sticker on me! I no longer need to feel guilt for my old sins, Jesus has declared me clean. There is one step in this whole removal of guilt process, we must accept God’s gift as a gift. I did not deserve a new “inspection sticker”. In fact I could not have passed the inspection on my own, but God offered me the “Jesus inspection sticker” I just needed to accept it. So I encourage you to grab hold of God’s forgiveness and let go of your guilt as I let go of mine.

Hospitality

Strangers and Hospitality




Here in Crockett we recognize the need for hospitality. People in the country seem to be more hospitable by nature. There could be several reasons. One is that we just don’t see as many people. In big cities there are people all around but here a new person is novel. So we are more interested in a new person. I think a second reason is that we seem to know our need for one another better than people in the city do. We understand the value of a friend. Third is that we just may be curious. We may also just have more time. More time for each other as apposed to being rushed as city folk are. For what ever the reason we seem to be willing to be more hospitable. That is a good thing.

In the gospel it talks about offering a glass of cool water. In the biblical times that is a saying. It is a saying not just about water, but about offering hospitality. To offer someone a cool cup of water is to offer them hospitality. More than just water is being offered, your friendship is being offered. You were offering the person shelter and protection. You were offering them love. It makes since when you think about it. In a desert land water was life itself.

That is what one of the church’s jobs is; to offer a cup of cool water. We are to offer hospitality. What is funny about offering a cup of cool water is that today in Crockett is would that be understood as an offer of hospitality? I think not. It would just be a cup of water. The challenge is to understand the needs people have. The challenge is to speak their need language.

I know that our congregation is a people that believe in hospitality. We believe in welcoming strangers, and inviting them into our company. So how do we do just that thing? We need to look at our church as though we are the stranger. That is a hard thing to do, but often a valuable thing to do. I invite you to look at our campus and see what it says to a stranger. What does it say to a stranger who is not like me? What does it say if you are in a wheelchair? What does it say if you use a walker? What does it say if you have children? What does it say if…..? Well you get the idea. I invite you to think about what says to you “you are welcome to be here, and we want you here.”

What do I own?

What do I own?For much of my life I considered working and earning a wage for the work I did as the way of the world. Earning a wage for working was only right. And that meant that how I spent what I had earned was up to me. Then one day I began to consider that I should give to God a portion of what I earned. I saw it as biblical and understood that I should do it just for that reason.
But as time has passed a new understanding of what I own and what is mine has begun to creep up on me. I have come to understand that my gifts and talents are from God and that God has given me talents to be used for God and for people. Then I came to understand that my earnings are His, and that the opportunities that come my way me are of His making as well. So what do I really contribute to this equation? I show up and try? Yet often I am not even giving my best effort. Well, I never did when I worked for money. When I worked for myself I often worked just hard enough to get by. Then things changed for me.
I find a much more beautiful world when I consider it all a gift: Each day a gift; each person and relationship a gift; the abilities I have, and strangely enough the things I don’t have--all gifts. The irony here is that when I was holding on to what I thought I owned, I felt I never had enough, and I was always trying to acquire more, but in letting go of ownership of all these things, I have come to find I had too much. I find that my talents are for other people, my gifts to be given away, and my soul is in a place of joy and serenity. And working hard, it’s not hard when I am just paying attention and being present in the daily divine appointments that have been made for me. In owning nothing I have come to possess all I need. I receiving gifts, I have been able to live as one who is beloved of God, because I finally understood myself to be beloved.

Moving To Crockett

This past week has been a week of unpacking and saying hello; of meeting new people and trying to find my clothes in one of the many boxes scattered around our new home. But just the week before was a week of saying goodbye. That is the way of life; we say hello and we say goodbye. Several years ago while living and going to seminary in Kentucky, I made the deliberate decision to make friends. I made those friends even knowing that there would come a painful day of saying goodbye. Life can be filled with bittersweet memories, but I think often these are the memories that mean so much.
As I was saying goodbye in Kentucky to my spiritual mentor Reg Johnson, he commented that being a professor at seminary was difficult because he had to let go of students who had become friends. He knew that all seminary students arrive with plans to leave. He could close his life off to making new friends as a way to avoid the inevitable pain of letting go, but it would also cause his heart to grow cold. So he had made the deliberate decision to open his heart to new friends. I had been one of the people who received so richly from his experience. So I made the decision that I would also open my heart to making new friends. This is a decision that opens us up to the possibility that one day we will be hurt by saying goodbye. But it is also a decision that opens us up to the possibility of knowing friendships that leave us all the more rich.
So as I unpack boxes, put things on shelves, and hopefully find my clothes, I trust that I will make new friends here in Crockett. Friendships that grow over time spent together as we come to know each other’s strengths and each other’s flaws; friendships that grow through loving and caring for each other through good and difficult times. I believe that Reg was correct in saying that friendships start with a deliberate decision to make friends. I also believe that friendships are so worth it. For in the end, friendships are the only things that we are able to keep and to take with us.

A Football Game Gives Hope

Johnny Carson - Jimmy Stewart - Beau Poem

Why Prison Ministry

This was written by a man who goes and does Prison ministry. It may explain why.

Got Milk?
The milk of human kindness is an expression Shakespeare coined some 400 years ago. It speaks of the kindness, care, and compassion for others. I think I was fortunate and am fortunate in that I see the milk of human kindness in many people around me. When I was a youth, I saw it in my grandparents. They were loving, caring people. Grandpa grew a garden and had milk and eggs and fruit so that no one ever left their home without a sack of produce or eggs, milk and a smile. Grandma took care of an old man for 20 years, fed him three squares a day and fixed up a snug room for him in the barn. I remember those things as if they were yesterday. Granddad had a different approach; he mowed the “old ladies” lawns and patched their roofs and gave them fish he’d caught earlier that day. Granny cared for those same old ladies in their waning years, many times hers was the last smile and kind voice they heard before leaving this earth.
Mom and Dad were the products of their parents and were/are the same way. Dad died in 2002. He and Mom were never rich by any American standard but they had enough to be able to give to others. Their technique was to always give anonymously, but as their son I couldn’t help but know the truth. Dad was a Boy Scout leader and a model of what manhood is all about. He was a father to a dozen cousins who lost their fathers and needed a good example. If he did it for those cousins, I think of the other folks who looked to him as a strong shoulder to lean on from time to time. Mom is known far and wide for her baking and cooking in general. You can’t visit Mom without being fed. It’s just not going to happen. Before she rolls out of bed each morning, she spends time talking to God about the folks who are hurting, needing prayer. I guess you could say I was destined to see how goodness is bestowed, without hidden agenda or motivation.
This milk of human kindness was thought to be too much of a good thing in Shakespeare’s writing. There was some suspicion about why anyone would be so filled with a loving, giving spirit. That doubt still happens to many people when they witness or are the beneficiary of unearned or undeserved thoughtfulness. There is a logical answer to why so many would think this way. It is much more common to encounter thoughtlessness and selfishness. Being thoughtful and selfless is almost counterintuitive. We are used to thinking, “What’s in it for me?” We are more accustomed to seeing people who act in such a way that their lives say, “I’m looking out for number one.” It is not surprising that this would be a common approach to life, common but not the best – not by a long shot.
Learning the miracle of kindness, care and compassion is a greater discovery than finding the Hope Diamond! Upon realizing that giving from a thankful heart is a bank account with no limits, it is easier to share the wealth. You cannot bankrupt the account. For every ounce of kindness you offer, you will see your account deposited with a gallon in return. You will never be disappointed. Even if the recipient never says thank you, you have the fulfillment which overflows from the Creator. You may have never heard God say, “This is my son (or daughter) in whom I am well pleased.” But you can feel it. It is a sense that comes from the heart and soul – not prideful or egotistical but soulful. The soul speaks for God and says, “Well done.” At some level of our thinking, we know that we did “the right thing” and for the right reasons. The right reason is to honor and aid another human being, another creation of God.
This inexhaustible source of benevolence is not measured in dollars and cents or any of the other typical units of measure. It is measured in the immeasurable of love and consideration. And it is measured in one measurement that we use daily – time. The time you spend listening to another person’s circumstance or dilemma is time in a new dimension. The replies you give do not have to solve the problem. Those replies may serve to heal or mend or restore or begin that process. The gift of our time and a caring ear can literally be the medicine that creates an environment in which healing can take place. Amazing.
I would hesitate to speak about this milk of human kindness if I had never been blessed by it. The things we witness we can speak about with authority. Gardeners believe in the future and have faith in the outcome of their faith in the future. They know the bounty of the harvest is almost always more substantial than the seeds which were planted. The crop from a row of corn and tomatoes and cucumbers overwhelms the gardener with its overflow. Family and friends and neighbors are able to share in the reward of this confidence in the yield of the harvest. This same truth applies to our consideration for others. If we plant with confidence and nurture those seeds, God will be pleased. And we will be blessed as we extend a blessing.

Sal goes a hunting

A family moment

Africa 1

11-10-2009

Daily Bread 11-10-2009

Scripture: Mark 1: 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;h with you I am well pleased.”

Observation: That Jesus was loved before completing any work. God loved His son before He did anything.

Application: We are loved even before we have done anything.

Prayer: Dear Lord let me move out of a profound understanding of your love for me.


h Or my beloved Son

11-09-2009

Daily Bread 11-9-2009

Scripture: Mark 1:4-5 4 John the baptizer appearede in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you withf water; but he will baptize you withgthe Holy Spirit.”

Observation: That Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit living with in us. The power of God is living with in us.

Application: I feel so limited at times. What is it I can do to really change anything? I forget that God is living in me and He is more than able to change me and change the world.

Prayer: Dear Lord wake me up to your presence living in me. Teach me about your presence and allow me to hear you. Amen.
e Other ancient authorities read John was baptizing
f Or in
g Or in

11-05-2009

11-05-2009
Daily Bread

Scripture: 2 Samuel 2:5 Is not my house like this with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?

Observation: The scripture comes out of humility before God. The author equates good leadership with fear of God. It is an important to understand that leadership is a covenant to God that blesses the world. The Godless have no such covenant and are difficult if not impossible to deal with, and they bring no blessing to the world. This is a harsh idea.

Application: We are to understand that we should be humble before the lord to lead.

Prayer: Dear Lord, open my eyes to my lack of humility before you, teach me to love your people as much as I love you. Amen.

Daily Bread 11-04-2009

Daily Bread November 4, 2009
John 18:37

Scripture: 37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Observation: I notice that Jesus corrects the question that Pilate is asking. Pilate wants to know if Jesus is a King. Jesus then states the purpose that he came into the world. Jesus came “to testify to the truth.” Jesus came bearing witness to the truth. The interesting part of the testimony is that Jesus was not only witness to the truth He was and is the truth.

Application: Where is it that I get my example on a daily basis for how I live? Do my ways come from the world or for God? Jesus is the pure truth, how often do I look to His example in scripture as apposed to looking for my example from my own learned ways. Sadly all too often I learn from the world not the word.

Prayer: Jesus teach me and strength me to follow you and your witness in the world. Allow me to see the truth through you. Enable me to live in your ways, even when the world’s ways seem to be so expedient.

10-09-2009

10-09-2009

Daily Bread

Scripture: And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Mark 8:27

Observation: Jesus was teaching the disciples. What are some of the possible things Jesus was looking for from the Disciples? Was Jesus concerned from a standpoint of what people thought about him? Was in an ego feeding time? No I think not. It may speak more about us as to who we think Jesus is. Are we looking for Jesus to be a good teacher, or the very Son of God?

Application: How I view Jesus has real applications as to if I see the world properly. It has applications as to if I have my faith in the right place. Is my it all faith in me, or faith of Jesus in me?

Prayer: Dear Lord, be the lord of my life. Teach me to walk in your ways, to have faith in your providence, give me your sight, your wisdom your daily bread, your body, so that I may be in the Body. Amen.

Daily Bread 10-07-2009

10-07-2009
Daily Bread

Scripture:

Mark 8:
Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t’ you see the point of all of this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” They said, “Twelve.”
He said “do you still not get it?”

Observation:
I notice that the disciples did not get it. They seemed to never get it. Not getting it seems to have caused strife. Was the conflict driven by a loss of sight of who they were in the presence of?

Application:
Do I get it? Am I blind to what God is doing? Has sin in my life left me disconnected and unable to see God at work?

Prayer:
God restore my sight to what you are doing. Return me to your presence and fill me with a vision for you Kingdom. Let me not squabble about bread but let be aware of your presence and be about your presence. Cast me not from your presence but wake me up! Let me rest in your doing, let me be still and quite.

10-06-2009
Daily Bread

Scripture:
Mark 8
His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

Observation: I notice that the disciples were looking at their resources and Jesus was looking at the need.

Application: That I need to quit looking at what I can do in my strength and my resources and look to put God at the center.


Prayer: Dear Lord set me free from worldly thinking and set me free to be doing your work for your glory. I lift up my eyes to you who’s throne is in heaven. I look to your for my strength, my recourses, for the work I do is for my King. Amen

Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Pastors

Sometimes we just need to laugh!