Getting Close to the Fire

The secretary of the church just returned from a week of vacation in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Her extended family went away for a week of camping and relaxation.

For all intents and purposes, it was a great week to go camping. There were no major storms that hit their area and the weather was generally cooperative. However, the expectations of warm temperatures were met by the unexpected cooler temperatures that we experienced last week.

The secretary was telling me all about the week and how it was just nice to be away. It was a nice relaxing week away. But, she explained, the evening temperatures were much cooler than they expected. They had a bonfire each night, and some in the family even pulled out some heavy coats.

She continued, “But you can imagine what it was like with 27 people all huddled around the camp fire. By the end of the week we couldn’t get close enough to get warm. By Friday night, we had to build three separate camp fires.”

Have you ever had the experience of talking to someone and get stuck on one thing that the person said to you? You think about what they said, and you don’t hear much of what they said after that? That’s what I experienced when I heard that statement about the fires.

I know that I am probably unlike other people. I sit and hear stories and think about the theological implications. I go to movies and look for the Christ figure. I think about everyday situations and conversations, and look for God.

So back to the conversation; I was struck by the theological significance of that one statement. “Try to imagine 27 people huddled around the camp fire. By the end of the week we couldn’t get close enough to get warm. By Friday night, we had to build three separate camp fires.”

There is a message in that statement. I think the message is about the church and about our relationship with Christ. Often our relationship in church happens in a group. We grow and we grow in our relationship, that sometimes we grow so close that we can’t help but split up into separate groups. Our relationship with Christ is the same way. We are attracted so much by the fire of Christ that burns within us, that we can’t help but to want to be closer to the light, the fire. Sometimes, the only way that we can get closer is to divide.

Last’s week’s E-pistle was about small groups. I called them accountability groups. This is another way of thinking about a small group. It is a group of people getting closer to each other and to Christ. At some point, however, small groups can only get so close – and they need to make more fires.

This campfire made me think of the early church and how it grew. Acts Chapter 2, with which many of you are familiar says,

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. . .Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

We are getting closer to camp fire season; the program year is about to begin. As we move closer and closer to the end of summer and the beginning of what you might call the church calendar year, we will have more and more opportunities to grow closer together and to Christ. One of those opportunities will be in October when the whole church will be studying together, “Treasures of the Transformed Life” as we look at how God is calling us to be the church. You can look at it as time around the camp fire. I hope that you will find those opportunities to get warm and to invite others to the fires of Life and Hope.

Remember, It only takes a spark . . .

“Dear Lord, we thank you for all that you have given to us, and for the message of your love and grace. Help us in these summer days, to grow closer to you and to those we call brothers and sisters in Christ. Give us the opportunities to open our circles to others, to share the message and to multiply those who are being saved. You are such an awesome God. Amen.”

This week, I will begin a two part series on our Sacraments in the church. This week we will be discussing and receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Have a blessed week, and I hope to see you in worship.

Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.

Greg

Back to Normal

For the past several days, our house has been dramatically quiet! And for that matter, Tracy and I were able to relive a day when we only had one child. Sarah went to the Children's School of Christian Missions at Grove City College on Sunday and we took Bekah to Mini Camp on Tuesday.

Elisabeth was an only child at least for a few days. She enjoyed her time with mommy and daddy. She even enjoyed proclaiming, "Whose the onlyest chiuld" from the back seat of the van.

Sarah returned late last night and this morning we picked Bekah up from Jumonville. We enjoyed our time with Elisabeth, but we are happy to be back to normal.

Accountability

Thursday morning, I went to the dentist for my semi-annual check-up. Ever since I was a little kid, I remember going to the dentist twice a year. There was a routine involved and little changed from visit to visit. The dentist was quite familiar, and the dental assistant was always a familiar face. While I have a new dentist now as an adult, there are things that just don’t change.

I sit in the chair and I’m greeted warmly. I’m asked if anything has changed since my last visit. We go over my current medications, I sign my name on a dotted line, and away we go!

Light is on, chair reclined, open mouth, general observations with a sharp instrument; let the pickin’ begin.

Well that’s not too bad. At this point in my life, I can almost guarantee which teeth will need more attention than others. I’ll spare you the details. All is well (most of the time).

Then comes the cleaning. I lament over the fact that as a kid, I was given the choice of some nifty flavors. I don’t get a choice of bubblegum, grape, or mint anymore, but I guess that’s OK. Regardless of the flavor, it’s all gritty toothpaste! The hygienist tells me to open and close; I am almost lulled to sleep by the whir of the instrument.

When that’s over, out comes the dental floss. By this point, I know what’s next and this is actually the part that I hate the most.

“How are you doing with your flossing?” she asks.

“Darn it! I hate this question!” I don’t actually verbalize that part, but I’m thinking it anyway.

“Well, . . . I’m always good about flossing right around the time that I get my teeth cleaned. Then I start to slack a little.” This is always the answer, and the response is always the same. “Try to pay attention to flossing a little more. It is important. Your brushing is good, just try to floss regularly.”

At 36, I’m relegated to being 8 years old twice a year!

But, if I am completely honest with you, I need that in my life. I need someone holding me accountable for my flossing. I know that it should just be part of the routine in the morning, but sometimes I get out of the habit for a while and it’s hard to get back into the swing of things. It’s always the hygienist who reminds me – “how are you doing with your flossing?”

All of us need to be held accountable in one way or another. Some people need it in order to lose weight. Some need it to adhere to a deadline. Some need it to simply make their bed in the morning.

For that matter, all of us need to be held accountable for our Christian walk. Oh, I know that there are some that say that they don’t need it, but you do. You need to be held accountable for your Christian walk.

In the early Methodist Church, there were groups that were called classes and bands. There were people who held the group accountable for their daily walk, they were called class leaders. In one way or another, they would ask the members of the group if they were spending quality time with the Lord.

I am in an accountability group. We meet regularly to just check-up on each other. But most importantly, we hold each other accountable for our Christian walk, and for our leadership responsibilities within the church. There is a routine involved. We don’t ask if each one is flossing regularly, but we do ask how each is doing. I need that in my life.

But it is not just pastors who need that accountability. We all need that in our life. Without that regular check-up, we fall out of routines, and it is easy to forget how important regular disciplined study, prayer, and worship is in our lives.

“How is it with your soul?” That’s another way of asking if you are flossing regularly or for that matter if you are spending time with God. Are you held accountable for your actions and your thoughts, for the things that build up in your life, and the things that weigh you down? Do you have anyone like that? For that matter, have you ever asked someone close to you that very question?

“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.” Hebrews 4:1

How is it with your soul? And while we’re checking – How is your flossing?

Gracious and loving God, I thank you for this day and everything that you have given to me. I pray that you would bring wholeness and healing to my life, and that others would hold me accountable for the things that I do and say. Help me also, to reach out to others; to listen when I ask, “How is it with your soul.” Bring us into account with you, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This week, we are going to be sharing a message on prayer. I hope that you have a blessed week, and I look forward to seeing you in worship.

Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.

Greg

The World Is Flat

One of the books that I pick up every so often but have yet to finish is entitled, The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman. "What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet."

How true this is. Last night, Tracy told me that Preachercox has readers in North Carolina. While I am flattered, I am also somewhat embarrassed. Not only to the readers in NC, but to all, thank you for putting up with my mindless tripe. While I'm at it, apologies for that of my fellow bloggers.

But since you are out there in the blog-sphere, let me put a shout out to you and say welcome! Don't be afraid to post responses. But also, can you please have a Goodberry's Concrete for me? Thanks

Method To My Madness

I have been posting what I am calling an E-pistle on my blog. Each week I am sending out the E-pistle to church members and friends. I'm cheating in a way by posting it also on the blog. But, the blog serves a different set of people, and also allows for further discussion, while a blind-copy email group doesn't. The previous post was an example of the E-pistle. Some may see both, but I hope that if you do get the email, you will be able to respond here.

Plus, those of you on the blog roll can participate in the shenanigans too.

Let's see how that works.

Faith Comes through Hearing

I love that old question that asks, “If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear it, did it really make a sound?” I love the question because it will often spark debate or a friendly conversation. We could enter into a debate at this point to discuss it, but I will save you the energy. The answer is “No.”

I think that the question is asked to evoke philosophical and emotional discussions. I was one of those that entered the debate until I heard the answer described from a scientific perspective. From that scientific perspective, hearing takes both a transmitter and a receiver. If any one of the two is missing, there is no sound. In other words, there has to be someone in the woods for the tree to make a sound when it falls.

I like that perspective, because I’m one of those people that like things spelled out for me. I like things to be clear and concise. That explanation for me makes sense. In order for there to be sound, there has to be a transmitter and a receiver.

The same, I think, holds true with a message. There has to be someone giving the message, and there has to be someone who receives it. If any one of those two is missing, or becomes distorted in any way – the message is not heard.

Those who deliver messages have to think about that quite often. Words have power, and the words that we use have influence. Different people hear those words and the way that they receive them influences how the message is heard.

Further, there are times when a message is just not clear. The receiver is ready and willing, but when the message is unclear, the true intention of the message gets lost in the communication. I’ll ask for forgiveness in advance, this E-pistle just may be one of those messages!

We have to think about clarity of message quite often. How many times have you ever said to someone, “you just weren’t listening,” and in truth it was the message that was distorted? Or how many times has someone said to you, “I didn’t hear that,” and yet you were as clear as you could be about the facts. How many times have you taken a sip of coffee and then said, “Man that’s hot!” only to read in bold letters, CAUTION – CONTENTS HOT!

I have to think about how I say things in a letter that I write to campers each year. In order for the message to get across, I need to be clear. But sometimes I need to write things in BOLD so that people can get the message. The message is so important that I want them to hear. But inevitably, there are those who just don’t get the message. Each year at adventure camp, I know that we have communicated that we go biking, white water rafting, swimming, climbing, and CAVING. Inevitably, there will be someone who shows up who can’t swim, is afraid of heights, has never been on a bike before, or WHO IS AFRAID OF THE DARK. Believe me – I don’t like hearing “I’ve never ridden a bike,” when I am about to start on a 15 mile bike trip; or “I’m afraid of the dark,” when we are in the deepest and darkest part of a cave.

I also have to think about communication each and every week when I prepare for worship. Regardless of how good we are at communicating, there are always things that slip through the cracks. This past weekend, we had two couples show up for worship at 10:30 a.m. thinking that our worship began at 11:00 a.m. The great news is that they showed up early for our worship hour in our program year. During the summer, we worship at 10:00 a.m.

Was it their fault? – NO! It was mine. Actually, I’ll take half the blame and will cast the other to sea. The first couple called the church. The voice mail message on our church answering machine was old – it still said that worship began at 11:00. The other couple looked at a conference publication, and it said the same thing. Both circumstances were clearly instances of the message being wrong.

Those circumstances make me think so much about how the message of the Gospel is shared. Clearly, there are some who will not receive the message either because they just don’t want to hear it, or because they are not there to hear it. Maybe you could ask, “If a sermon is preached and no one is there to hear it, does it make an impact?” And regarding the transmission, there are so many who want to hear it proclaimed, but the message is lost because the message is garbled, messed-up, or just plain wrong.

Paul says in Romans 10, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believe in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” Later, he continues by saying, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

The church has some work to do. We have to constantly work at sharing the message. Sometimes, there isn’t much we can do but continue to preach hoping that the message is heard. Sometimes, regardless of how well we communicate, the message is lost. However, we have to continue to preach! Secondly, we have to work on the message. There are so many people who are hungry, thirsty, and really yearning to hear the Word spoken and proclaimed. We have to get it right for Jesus sake.

I hope this message has been transmitted well, and received. If you know someone who needs to hear that they are loved, send this message along, and remind them that they are loved by God. Don’t just assume people know – say it!

“Gracious God. We thank you for your message of love and forgiveness. We thank you for your love. Strengthen us for the journey of this week, and give us the message so that we can share it with others with hope and faith. And when we share, let there be ears to hear. Bless us, O Lord, in Jesus Name. Amen.”

By the way – worship starts at 10:00 a.m. this week. If you invite someone to worship, remember to stress that!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my wife's 41st Birthday. I know that some women don't like to have their age revealed, but that is not the case with Tracy. She celebrates her life daily and gives God thanks for it. I celebrate with her today. I love you Tracy, and Happy Birthday!

From the world of the Bizarre

Check out this local story from Meadville. Thought it was interesting enough to share if you haven't seen it yet. Enjoy.

Wrinkles and All

Our parsonage is a flurry of activity this week. We are getting new carpet this Thursday on the first floor. That doesn’t sound that complicated, until you hear what you have to do in order to get the carpet. If you’ve been through this – you can relate.

The girls asked initially if we needed to move all the furniture. We were happy to say “no, the carpet installers will do that.” However, there was a “but” at the end of that sentence.

All of the books on the bookshelf need to be taken down. The knickknacks need to be put somewhere safe. The china in the china closet needs to be taken away. The computer needs to be disconnected, and the stereo too.

All of this sounds simple, until I tell you that with the exception of the kitchen and the play-room; the entire first floor, the stairs leading upstairs, and the landing at the top of the stairs are being carpeted. It would be quite easy if we could move the aforementioned stuff into the other room, but it’s just not that simple. We have to find space for all that stuff amongst the space that we won’t have carpeted, and where it will cause the least disruption. “Guess what kids? Your toy room is not just a toy room this week!”

There’s not much of a choice. (Last night however, I found that the dumpster is an excellent alternative.)

We’re getting new carpeting in the parsonage because the present carpeting is just plain worn out. No one has records to know exactly when it was installed, but it is at least 10 years old by some estimations. That may not be that old for some, but this carpeting has seen better days. The main problem is the wrinkles that have developed over the course of the past two years. They have gotten only become worse. It is stained, worn in the high traffic areas, and cleaning the carpet has only made the situation dire.

There have been times when we have tried to limit the amount of eating that happens in the family room, but those efforts have largely failed. Three children under 8 years listen well, until they see dad drinking his coffee in his recliner.

Well – Thursday’s it! The lady of the house has laid down the law! When the carpet is installed, there will be no more eating in the family room!

Wow! Just think of it. No more popcorn while watching a movie. No more fruit loops while watching Hannah Montana. No coffee or oatmeal watching the Today show. Oh the humanity!

We have to change our ways – and now!

This has made me think about how hard it is for us as Christians to truly repent. To repent is to change, truly change – 180 degree change. When we repent, we move away from our former self or a former way of life and we move in a new direction.

In Acts chapter 2, Peter is preaching to a multitude with the message of repentance. In verse 38 he says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

What a wonderful promise. Like our carpet, we have a chance to start over when we repent. In the end we are washed clean. No more wrinkles (spiritually speaking) and no more stains. But even then we have work to do. We must continue to deny that former self and all that stuff we used to do, so that we can remain clean.

July is not the traditional season of repentance, but what a great time to think about it. What do you need to remove from your life or change in order to be made new?

My Lunch

As I am sitting here typing, I am eating my lunch. And my lunch is the reason for my post! Actually, it is more than my lunch, but my lunch made me think of something that relates to my sermon this week.

We are beginning a 3 part series on Bearing Fruit. We are looking at the fruit of the Spirit and will be talking about how we can bear that fruit in our lives.

I went to a local farmer's market yesterday and bought some fresh tomatoes. I have some sliced on my sandwich. Wow! How awesome it is to have that fruit. It is making my sandwich out of this world.

It reminded me how much better our lives are with the Fruit that the Spirit offers. Much better than the nasty stuff that Paul urges us to resist in Galatians 5.

I am excited about Sunday . . . and I want to finish this sandwich.

Back in the Saddle

Not to be outdone by Brett, but I too have just returned to the office after being at Jumonville for a week of camp. It was a great week. Although I am totally exhausted, and bruised, I am renewed in Spirit and Love. To see kids really seek God's face is amazing, and to be able to see that develop over a week is even more amazing.

We are fortunate here in Western Pennsylvania to have three absolutely fantastic camps. They are all unique, but they all do one thing very well - they give children and youth an experience with God that is life changing.

Tracy and I were fortunate to have our oldest, Sarah, with us for the first time at Adventure Camp. She was great, and we enjoyed having her there. You should see her climb!

Now it's time to get back to the pile of stuff on my desk.