Renewed or Worn Out

We just got back from Epworth-by-the-Sea and Winter Campmeeting. For one who seldom gets to hear any preaching, I have heard six sermons since Sunday night and three Bible studies. While some might want to say it is payback for having to sit through so much of my preaching, I can only say that I hope my preaching and teaching is as good as what I was able to hear. I came home today aware that my spiritual life had received some much needed nurture, but that my body was a bit weary from three days away from regular schedules and routines.

It is always good to be in settings where there is an opportunity for worship and nothing is expected of me except being present to participate. And to be able to have that kind of moment at Epworth is always a plus. Epworth is a place of many memories, some of which go back to my teenage and young adult years when I was beginning the journey of faith.

We all need moments of renewal from time to time. Revival meetings used to be the thing which we looked to provide those times, but those kinds of moments have all but disappeared from the life of the church. The world is a different place now and all the books are quick to tell us what different things must be done to reach the different generations, but one thing common to us all is the need from time to time to be renewed in our walk with God. Not to put ourselves where being renewed is possible is to risk waking up with a faith so stale and stagnant that it is mostly useless. I wonder where some of you have found moments where your faith has been renewed.

Three Rules

One of the recently read books posted on the sidebar is entitled, Three Simple Rules. Written by Rueben P. Job, it is sub-titled, A Wesleyan Way of Living. To be honest the small 77 page volume was given to everyone at last year's June session of Annual Conference. My copy just recently turned up again from some clutter in a cabinet so I decided to read it. Actually, I knew the Three Rules. No ordained member of the United Methodist clergy would want to acknowledge ignorance of these important Wesleyan words. In recent years asking the about to be ordained to recite Wesley's rules has almost become a ritual at Conference.

The three rules are simple. Memorizing them is not such a difficulty. They are:

1. Do No Harm.

2. Do Good.

3. Love God.

I have often recited the rules, but never given the kind of thought to them which Rueben calls his readers to do. As I read what he wrote, I realized again how these simple words can define a lifestyle. What is called simple takes us to the heart of what it means to follow after Jesus. After reading the book, I ordered a number to give away. An email request will get you one.

Geneva

On a recent trip I went through Geneva. Not Switzerland. Georgia. The Geneva surrounded by places like Junction City, Waverly Hall, Box Springs, and Talbotton. For those who are not so well versed in travel lore, Geneva, Georgia is not too far from Columbus. Geneva, Georgia is one of those places which has changed very little since I pastored in Talbotton over 30 years ago. Aside from a re-working of a traffic intersection and a new Post Office, it looks much like it did back then. Of course, for me the biggest difference is the absence of the Geneva United Methodist Church.

People who travel through the town today would never even know one used to be in that vacant area near the convenience store. When I was in Talbotton, folks gathered in the Geneva Methodist Church for worship as they had for decades upon decades. The changing times closed the church. Not enough people and not enough money probably drove the decision to shut it down. Later the actual church building was sold (to a Columbus doctor is what I heard) and moved to another place for another purpose.

It always bothers me when I drive by and see the church that is no longer there. I understand some traditions have rituals for de-consecrating holy space, but I have often wondered how that happens. How do you ignore the fact that holy work has been done on certain earthly spots even though there is no building to somehow preserve? I am not so sure about suddenly declaring holy space not holy any more. It bothers me. Too much happened on that spot of the earth. Maybe that is why we have markers. Not only is our agricultural land under attack by the cement and asphalt people, but our sacred spaces are in danger of disappearing as well.

2008

Looking back for a moment at the end of the year is something most all of us do. Being no exception, I found myself thinking about those moments, those events which God used to touch my heart and take me to a new place in my journey with Him. In retrospect I suppose this blog would be one of those things. Blogging has been for me a new way to share my experience of God. Some of those experiences have been foundational in that they came long ago; yet, still have great impact on how I live in faith today. Others have been more contemporary causing me to see that God is still being patient, pushing and dragging me to some place He wants me to be.

Two events stand out in this year's trip. For the past several years I have been privileged to offer sessions on preaching and worship at our Conference's School for those needing certification as local pastors. Having 9 hours to talk about two of my passions and having an audience that seems like a sponge has been a great blessing. As I left these men and women who are at the entry point of ministry this past February, I knew that God had renewed this old preacher once again. Already I am looking forward to my 2009 trip to Epworth for this great time.

The second thing remembered is the way the fall season became a time for me of being encouraged and renewed in my prayer life. The Terry Teykl Prayer Conference certainly had an impact on my personal life, bringing renewal in prayer and worship. And it was also during this time that I found myself devouring what John Eldredge had written about prayer being a moment for dialogue. Both of these spiritual leaders have caused me to want to pray more which has at least kept me pointed in the direction my heart truly wants to go.

And, finally, I am thankful for you, for those who have shared this year's journey with me. Some have been kind enough to give affirmation to my desire to be useful to God and some have shared faith, blessing me beyond measure.

Significant Personal Change

Long ago I gave up the resolutions of the New Year. I never seemed to do very well with them. Maybe it has to do with motive. Maybe it is too much about what I am able to do. The resolutions of year's past speak volumes about my inability to make significant change in my life when I have the wrong motive, or when I depend upon the wrong source for the strength to change. Doing something because it is January 1 is not much motivation and sometimes I prove to be my own worst enemy when it comes to making significant personal change.

To reflect upon the significant changes in my lif it to realize that they are more likely to happen when God is the Grand Director. When we ask, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" and then actually listen, we are more likely to see some different things happening in our lives. So, I have been consciously trying to put myself more in a listening mode in these recent days. It is has been a different kind of prayer experience for me as I have a history of talking too much and not listening enough in my prayer relationship. I have not had the success I had hoped in the beginning, but I do have a sense that it is movement in the right direction.

And the truth is that hearing does not always translate into significant change or movement forward in a different way. Sometimes what I hear or sense in my spirit is not what I want to know, so I do like Gideon, I ask in a different way. Sometimes, too, I hear so clearly that there is no need to ask again. All that remains is to act on what I know. Somehow I think here instead of New Year's Resolutions is the beginning point of real significant personal change in my life--maybe yours as well.

December 19

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of my Father's death. The evening of that day remains crystal clear. Even now I can remember being upstairs looking out the window seeing the uniformed men getting out of a car coming to our front door. Something inside of me caused me to know it was not good news being brought into my life. For me there is a barely remembered life before that day. Since then, every day of my life has been impacted and shaped by what happened that December afternoon.

One thing for which I have always been grateful is the knowledge that my Father came to a place of accepting Jesus before he died. I can never remember him as a church going person, but I do remember him going some before that December day. I was told it was his intention to be baptized there in the base chapel in January and years later, going through some old stuff, I found a chaplain's notes in a memorial book speaking of my Father's faith and his intention to be baptized. For those who say such does not matter, I would beg to differ. It has mattered immensely to me. Whether we will actually be able to recognize our loved ones in heaven is really something hoped for, but mostly a mystery. Knowing that he is there and a part of that great cloud of witnesses in the heavenly place is enough.

Over the years of ministry, I have learned that there is one thing the grieving really want to know. They want to be assured that the one who has died was a person of faith and is with the Lord. I am no different than are they. The one important thing we can give to those who are important to us is a life that would never give them any reason to doubt that our faith in Jesus Christ is the most important thing to us. It is never something which they should wonder about when we are gone. By God's mercy, we have the time to make sure they know.

Music

It is a known fact that I am not so gifted when it comes to music. The youth around here were amazed the other day when a guitar was needed and I could loan them one from my closet! I am not sure what was more amazing--that I had one which means I must be able to play, or that a guitar could be over 40 years old and still sound good! The bottom line is that I know I am no musician, but it does not keep me from appreciating and enjoying it. Perhaps, it started as a boy when I got introduced to some long playing records which had the music of folks like Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. It was somewhat mesmerizing for me even as a child.

Over the years I have come to appreciate the place good music has in worship and in my spiritual journey. I have been blessed with some great Ministers of Music over several appointments. They enabled me to see that there was more out there in church music than what I knew from The Cokesbury Hymnal. When I was in my early 30's at Talbotton, I even tried my hand at conducting the choir. I knew music would make a difference in worship and I let my desperation take me somewhere I would now never go!

All this came to me again with such clarity the other night during the Service of Lessons and Carols. Choirs of all ages, handbells groups, a brass ensemble, and a chime group offering ministry and music made me once again so very thankful for the way that music has been used by God to touch my soul time and time again. How impoverished the journey would have been without music to sing along the way!