We Have a Change in Plans

Have you ever had a change in plans?  As I have heard often, 'you want to hear God laugh? Show Him your plans.'  Change has been about the only unchanging part of my life!   I changed my major in college.  That is not unusual.  God had called me to preach, and I changed in response to His call. I have changed locations a few times, I have changed clothes, opinions, and sizes.  All of us at one time or another have wondered, what is with all of this change in my life.  Change fatigue seems to have infected most folks, as if it were a virulent strand of the flu.  I have been doing some thinking lately about the many folks in the Bible who experienced times of change.   Abraham left the familiar for the unfamiliar because He heard the voice of God.  Moses changed from caring for the sheep of his father-in-law, to leading a rather large and at times unruly crowd.  Simon Peter changed from a fisherman to shepherd of the Lord's sheep.  

Of course some change is wonderful and exciting.  I am wanting us to consider what happens when your plan is changed by God.  I am meaning something you had your heart set on, you really believed God was in, and now it is nothing short of a broken dream?
In the sixteenth chapter of Acts, Paul and Silas thought they were following the way God wanted them to go, when they received the message to come over to Macedonia.  They were confident it was God's will and they changed direction.  In a short while they would be put into prison.
What do you do when you follow the Lord and it does not work out as planned? Paul and Silas give some insight:  Pray, Sing, Praise.  It is still the formula today.  Nothing started to shake and change until they prayed until God gave them a song.  I believe this is a definition of praying through.  Pray until God gives you a song. Because they were in prison, a jailer, his family and the prisoners experienced the power of God.
Whatever our plans, they must always be placed in God's Hands,  He knows what He is doing!   He places us strategically where He can work through us.
Though at the first the change that Paul and Silas experienced did not seem to pleasant, it turned out to be a divine moment.  God can use my praise, my pain, my problems, my perception, my past and yes my plans, for His glory.  God's plan will always be better than my plan.

I am all for plan B, if it God's plan.  God has you today right where He can use you.  

It is a New Day

We all seem to enjoy the word 'new'.  Think of the way(s) we use it: New attitude, new career, a new year, and of course a new you.
You have heard it said that yesterday ended last night, and today is a new day.  How do you face a new day, or a new challenge?  Imagine the challenge that Joshua faced when he heard from the Lord.."Now Moses my servant is dead?"  What do you do when a saint, a legend is gone?  Do you just give up?  Do you try to muddle through?  Things happen, nothing stays the same, change is in fact a reality.  Moses had been the leader for a long time.  Leaders come and go, God stays the same.  The reality is, a new day calls for a new leader.
I wonder if Joshua felt up to the task?  Do you think he felt ready for the challenges ahead? It is not just leaders who feel jitters, it is felt by all of us.  Not just preachers, but parents, painters, plumbers, poets, and people everywhere have felt ill-prepared for the job at hand.
God promises that just as he was with Moses He would be with Joshua.  Whatever you are facing today.  Your strength comes from God.  He will lead you and help you in the path that is laid out before you.
God tells Joshua not to be afraid.  We have many moments of fear.  How can I do this? will I make it through this?  The future seems frightful when we think of our resources.  This year focus on God and His unlimited resources!  When we focus our own limited and finite resources we become quite discouraged.
God tells Joshua to listen to and obey the word.  We should saturate our hearts and minds with the word of God.
Remember fear is what keeps us from starting, and discouragement keeps us from continuing.  The word of God and His presence will help us to remain calm and will also keep us from getting discouraged.

What new territory does God have for you this year?  What new thing is He desiring to do through you?  When we walk with Him, He leads us to trust Him and lean on Him.

You can make it with God!

New Year Perspective

Well 2011 is in its final hours.  2012 is on the horizon.  Many are concerned as we move into this new year.  It is a leap year, so we get one extra day.  News stories are already appearing regarding the end of the world as we know it.  The Mayan calendar and other signs point to this being the last year.  I am an old enough to remember the Late Great Planet Earth and the promise that I would be in heaven before I got the opportunity to attend college.  Let me say that I believe that Jesus is coming back again.  I too, can see that the world is a mess.  Let me add my two cents worth.  Should we not concentrate on doing all we can to make a difference?  Shouldn't we trust God?  Shouldn't we seek to be salt and light?   Shouldn't we be people of the 'cup of water in His name' crowd?  

In preparing for this post, I read some of the doomsday scenarios laid out by folks.  Talk about a discouraging read!  These articles are filled with tsunamis, cyclones, planets crashing, fire coming from the center of the earth, and that was just a start.  Calamity and crisis evidently are big sellers.  Holiness and Christ likeness, not so much.   The sky is falling seems to be easier to say than "Believe in God believe also in me"  

I am not giving in to my basic optimistic nature, I am well aware of Jesus saying "In this world you will have trouble."  I am likewise aware of his words "but, I have overcome the world."  

This could be the year that everything as we know it comes to an end.  I also said this last year and the year before...  Do Christians seem to be more susceptible to fear, and self-preservation than the general population?  I don't know the answer but I love raising the question.  

I believe in being prepared, spiritually, and all other ways as well.  But I am going to refuse to live a fear-based life.  I want to live a faith-based life.  Worrying is not going to solve problems.  Rugged faith and trust will keep us steady.

What should we do while entering a New Year?

I am glad that you asked!!!

• Trust God
• Love people
• Serve the poor
• Pray expectantly
• Pray constantly
• Love our neighbors
• Pray for revival
• Pray for peace
• Serve others
• Give generously
• Adjust our attitudes
• Love unconditionally
• Witness boldly
• Be a servant
• Make a difference
• Embrace change
• Hug everyone (well at least the ones who want a hug)
• Embrace justice
• Embrace mercy
• Embrace hope
• Be Kind
• Be considerate
• Praise God
• Help others
• Hold things loosely
• Listen intently
• Fear Not
• Dream boldly
• Take action
• Listen to the District Superintendent  (okay, okay I know, but I had to add one selfish one)

These are a few of my New Year's resolutions.   May the Peace of Christ reign in your hearts and lives and you seek to make a difference for God in 2012

Happiest of New Years to You and Your family

A Week Between

Most of us are waking up this morning trying to get ourselves ready for a week of transition.  We are trying to keep track of our gifts.  Lets see...we have a keep pile, a return pile, and a let's put this in the back of the closet pile.  We are getting ready to move around and go to the store, you know with the return pile.  Things that are either too small, too large, or too, well you know just too...special!  Some of the family are compiling dishes of leftover hash and stew.  We are trying to remember what day it is, as everyday for the last few days has felt like Saturday.  Some will be loading up cars for the return trip home.  Some are going back to work, and some are trying to remember where they work.  We are thinking about taking a walk, reading a book, we are, as they say, in transition.

Transition from Christmas festivities to New Year promises and reality.  We have a few days off work and out of school to reflect.  Reflect, you know the time of year when we promise ourselves that next year will be different, better, and more fulfilling.  It is the time of year in which we are thankful for family, and yet can't wait to get back home.  This is the time of year when we are both grateful, and yet rueful.  Wondering about all the 'what-ifs, and why-fors?'  This is a week of transition from the traditions of family celebrations, candle-lit church services and sacred and long practiced traditions of family and faith.  Now we are moving toward the unknown, a New Year.  Late December and early January are times to look backward and forward.  Take a moment and reflect on 2011.  For me it has been a year like no other.  January opened with a major Church problem.   A year ago, I wondered if I or the congregation would make it through the ordeal.  I can now look back through the lens of time and see that God worked it out better than I could have imagined.  The Church leadership rose to the occasion, and I will never forget their faithfulness.  Our District Superintendent could not have been more helpful and supportive.  Yet the my highest accolades go to the congregation of the Detroit First Church of the Nazarene.  They rallied and have to this day inspired me with their Christ-like compassion and commitment.  The church did not just weather a storm.  The church has come through with it's ministry and integrity shining brightly.  That is something I will never forget.  On the last day of February my sister died unexpectedly.  I was once again reminded of the sacredness of life.  To live each day to the fullest, and to take nothing for granted.

On August 1, I was elected District Superintendent of the Indianapolis District Church of the Nazarene.  Can I just say this has been a year of transitions!

That is a  brief look back, be sure and take the time to do the same.  Now, a look ahead.  I have no idea what the new year holds for me or anyone else. I am sure there will need to be course corrections, and that I will experience reverses and blessings.  It is always that way.  Christ has promised to guide and lead me, and to that promise I cling.  This year I want to be a "learner,"  I want to know Christ better and in deeper ways.  I want to be an 'encourager,'  for I have felt the difference a word of encouragement has made in my own life.  I want to be 'kinder,'  there is too much harshness in the world today.  I want to be a better leader, and seek to be constantly adjusting and learning.  I want to take time for that which is important, Faith, Family and Friends.

Well, this may be the most important week of our lives.  We should take time to reflect on a years of blessings and trials and grace.  We should also take time to prepare for a New Year of blessings and trials and grace.  Mostly we should take time to Praise God from whom all blessings flow...

Merry Christmas

Is it just me or does it seem that Christmas was just here a couple of months ago?  I read somewhere that Christmas does 'seem' to come faster the older you get, after all I have been alive for over 50 Christmas seasons, whereas a child has only experienced 8 or 9 Christmas seasons.  

This morning I arose from my bed in Northville, Michigan and there was light dusting of snow, no more than a 1/2 inch of the white stuff.  For those who wanted a White Christmas your wish has been granted, for those who did not want a White Christmas, your wish has been granted as well.  From the outlook of my front window the sun is melting much of the snow.  

What do remember about Christmas?  The gifts, the parties, the pageants, or the family gatherings?  It can mean a lot of things, but I want to remember that God came to earth, and things have never been the same!  

The world is a cold, mean and lonely place. Yet Advent means that God loved and still loves us so much that He stepped down into this mean, cold and lonely place to show His great love for us.  Advent reminds me that no matter how dark it is in this world, the Light of the World has come, and in spite of the best efforts of many a despot, His Light Still Shines!!!!

He came into a world in which there was no room for him in Bethlehem that night long ago. He said to His disciples, in my Father's house there is plenty of room for you.  In a world where at times we feel crowded out and left on the sidelines, Jesus is preparing a place for us, He always Has room for us!

When He came, Caesar was the most famous person in the world, today the Christ child is known on every continent and island of the sea.  He has inspired poetry and songs, and Has impacted the way we order our calendars.  Yet He saves His best work for us, for the change He works in transforming lost causes into Hope filled disciples is simply and unbelievably  amazing.

Merry Christmas, gather your family and friends close to you and be of good cheer.  Remember it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.  Please don't forget the one who Angels sing, and shepherds see, and all the redeemed still sing His praises.   Merry Christmas, and Happy Birthday Jesus, I am so glad you came!

Do not despise the small things!

The prophet Zechariah talked about "despising a day of small things" (4:10)

It was in a small town, Bethlehem where He was born.  He came as a baby, you can't get any smaller.  No big announcement to Kings, priests, or politicians.  Just some shepherds on the hillside.  They represented the outcast class of the day.  So from a small out of the way town, a small baby, from a fairly insignificant place, is the Messiah.  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and yet his coming seems obscure and small.  We can make sense of it from the Christmas story, yet do we not still in our day despise little things?  Little things like children, and character, and leadership, and even manners!  We are in love with the big, bold and audacious. I must admit I like big and bold, and lofty and large goals, and big plans and enormous amounts of energy and planning.  Okay so I admit it, how about you?  Do you ever miss the small by wading through the forest of big?

My family came to the Lord in a small town, Paulding, Ohio in the early part of the last century.  Nazarene evangelists led my great grandmother and her sisters and their families to faith in Christ.  What if the evangelist had decided that Paulding was too small and not worth their time?  What if they had Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland in their sights?  Don't get me wrong I am glad the gospel has been taken to large cities, I am really glad that some Nazarene preachers did not despise small towns.
My first two churches would qualify as small.  They were small statistically when we started, but the people made a big impact on our lives.  It was in those places that I learned lessons that have had an impact on my life to this day.  I learned that praying and preparing messages and trusting God can be life-changing for both the sheep and the shepherd.  I learned that if you love people 98% will love you back.  I learned that if you sow small seeds, the Holy Spirit will allow you to reap a harvest.

The thing about small places is that most will not notice.  You work and pray and love God and on the surface it seems there is little to show for the effort.  That is a mistake, God is always doing more beneath the surface than we can see with our human vision.  Many, many have come to Christ through the ministry of smaller churches and even smaller towns.

This past Sunday I was in a worship service in Madison Indiana, a small town located on the Ohio River.  Our church facility there is very nice.  A young pastor and his wife Scott and Dawn Casto are serving in Madison, it is their first lead pastor assignment.  On Sunday morning there was no live music.  It was as the detractors say "canned".  I sat on the front row as the pastor led us in a couple of choruses, and two beautiful carols "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing".  The instruments and the voices of electronically invited musicians were powerful and I noticed that all in the building sang heartily.  It impacted me more than I can express.  I was ushered into the presence of the King.  The pastor prayed and received an offering, I especially enjoyed the greeting time.  If you have never been to greeting time in a small church, you don't know what you have missed.  Everyone greets everyone, it is like a law.  I noticed that the people genuinely cared for one another, I mean they really cared.  When it came time for me to preach, the people encouraged me by their responses.  At the conclusion of the message, the people continued to respond to the move of the Holy Spirit.  It was an uplifting and inspirational worship service.

After the service I met with the church board, again the unity was in evidence.  Then we did what every small church does better than all the mega-churches in the world.  A pot luck, pitch-in, old fashioned Indiana/Hoosier Christmas dinner.  Again, the people were friendly and welcoming.

What are you saying Blake?  Every church should be small?  No, I am saying that in our desire to reach people, remember there is a place for everyone.  In honor of the Christ who came as a baby, let us not be guilty in our day of despising little things.

Be encouraged and Have a Very Merry Christmas

Mamas Don't let your sons grow up to be "Shepherds"

 We are told that the birth of Christ is announced by the Angels to shepherds.  I believe if I were in charge of announcing the birth of the messiah, I would have gone to the palace of the king.  I would have gone to the temple and made sure that the religious leaders knew.  I would have gone to the halls of learning and made sure that the thinkers and philosophers were informed.  I would have made sure that the 'movers and shakers' were notified.  But God wanted to make sure that everyone knew the message was "Good News of Great Joy For ALL THE PEOPLE!!!  

Perhaps no group in the culture of Christ's day better represented that everyone is valuable more than shepherds did.  Though their work was indispensable, because they were on the 'job' 24/7 they were unable to participate in religious services.  Thus they were ceremonially unclean.  Shepherds were not allowed to give testimony in court, they were considered unreliable.  They were social outcasts.  They worked with smelly sheep, and most thought like sheep, like shepherd.   A popular song at the time was "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be shepherds."

Good News came to people who had not heard much good news. The gospel is for all, it makes no difference who you are or where you have come from.  The Gospel is indeed Good News for everyone.  No exclusions, no exceptions, and no excuses.

After the shepherds heard the message from the angels, they did for shepherds a very unusual thing.  They decided to leave the Sheep and go and find the Lamb of God.  They did something that everyone needs to do concerning Jesus, go and see for yourself, go check it out yourself!  After the shepherds saw the Christ child, they went out and spread the news.  

You can learn something from everyone, even shepherds, they have taught us that once you find Christ, you just cannot keep it to yourself.
Have yourself a Merry little Christmas