Remember when everyone told you that you're wedding day would be a blur.  That great advice to take in as much as you can, because it will be over before you know it.  Well, if you're married, then you know that those who told you that, were right.  I did my best to soak in as much as I could during the day, but following our pictures after the ceremony all I can grab onto about the reception is simply blurry glimpses.  We kind of rushed through our reception in some ways because we had to be out of the church building by a certain time.  I don't think we even got any of the food except for the ceremonial feeding each other the cake thing.  We took some more pictures talked with different people and ran out to the carriage.

It seems that every Sunday for the past 18 years has been that for me.  There is something about being a minister and for Leah, the minister's wife, that the day becomes just a blur.  I soak in as much as I can but in the end it goes faster than it came and I'm using the rest of the day trying to remember what just happened.  I have a policy about Sundays.  If you want me to remember something you said to me (meaning if you ask something of me) then you need to email me that week to remind me of our conversation.

I promise I'm not trying to be rude or that something isn't important, it's just that it is a big day for me (my biggest of the week) and there are so many people vying for my attention.  There are many Sundays that I think back to people I was talking to and worry that I may have cut them off or ended our conversation abruptly because I was interrupted by someone or something else.   I really am in the moment of every conversation.

After this long I really don't know what it is like to just come to worship and really just soak in everything.  And probably if I did, it would feel truly uncomfortable for  a while, like I was suppose to be doing something and wasn't.  The blur of a Sunday really isn't all that bad, it reminds me of something really crucial to my life on the journey with Christ.

Sunday is not all there is to being a disciple.  James the author of one of the books in the New Testament calls our life a vanishing mist.  What he is saying that time flies here on Earth and it is a blur compared to eternity that comes afterward.  If my life is a blur, then I want to use it as thoughtfully and purposefully as I can.  That is how I approach each Sunday.  I use those days of the week as intentionally as I can.  However, if Sunday is a blur, then Monday through Saturday means a lot to my life of discipleship.  It gives me adequate time to think on the mission of God and His heart and how I can journey with others and join God in what He is already doing.

You know the wedding day is such a blur.  But the marriage is where we get to slow down and truly put in the work, love, care, and joy towards our spouse and our covenant with one another.  Monday through Saturday is that for our life of discipleship.  And as we blur through our entire life, we find that when we soak up God in the most powerful ways, we begin to understand the idea of eternity so much fuller.  

On this July 4th I’ve been thinking about our nation and the Christian Faith.  I have had some thoughts that I would like to share briefly.

Free to Assemble and Free to Worship

In the country that we live in, we are free to assemble as a church or religion and we are free to worship whoever we claim to be our God.  I thank God that we have this type of freedom.  However, even if we didn’t just like China we would find a way to worship and assemble even if it is unlawful.

My thought today was even though we have this freedom, if we the church do not break free from our comfortable walled-off settings of worship in order to go out and do the Kingdom business of God we are still in great bondage.  Satan seeks to lie and manipulate.  So strives to make us so thankful to have a place to worship that we won’t ever leave it to actually make a difference in the world around us.  So we must be careful to not allow our freedom of religion create a slavery of complacency.

Americans and Christians

  We are Christians who live in America

This is a great country that I appreciate, respect, and love.  I take pride in our flag, our soldiers, our forms of government, and our bond.  However, I am not a Christian because of America.  I am not an American because of Christ.  This may seem like a no-brainer, but sometimes we really do confuse the two or better yet act as if they are synonymous.   I am an American because I was born in America.  I am a Christian because I choose to do my best every day to live in the Kingdom of God and follow my savior Jesus Christ.  There are Christians in other countries.  They don’t follow Christ because its easy or in order to become good citizens.  They follow because he saved them and they wish to live for the Kingdom.  Being a good American doesn’t make me a good Christian.  Being a good Christian won’t make me a good American.  They are not synonymous, although since our country was founded by Christians there is quite a bit of overlap.  Enough said I think!

True Freedom

True freedom comes at a cost.  Freedom from the tyranny of other countries has cost our nation many lives.  Those lives were not lost in vain.  They died so that we could have certain unalienable rights.  We should honor those that have fallen, those that have suffered, those that have sacrificed, and those that have supported this country.  We honor these because of what they have done in the name of freedom for our country.  I honor them because without them I could not live the life I live in the United States of America.  I am thankful!

There is another freedom for which I’m thankful; a freedom from sin and death.  I deserve the sentence of death due to my own sin and brokenness.  However, I have been freed from that bondage because of what God has done IN me, Christ has done FOR me, and the Spirit has done THROUGH me.  It also has come at a great cost.  One I can never pay back.  One that is ultimately not owed.  Christ didn’t die so we could work our way into His grace.  He died that we might have grace immediately and life abundantly. 

While I enjoy, appreciate, respect, and live in both freedoms only one will last throughout all time and in any place…Freedom in Christ!  It is the freedom in Christ that taught our forefathers of this nation how to fight for its own freedom as a country.  I live in the unshakeable Kingdom of God that extends freedom to all who enter and live.

Last Word

I pray that as Americans we can see all people who reside in our country as Americans.  Not only those who have realized “The American Dream”, but with the eyes of Christ we can see all races, all economic levels, both genders, and all that express their American freedom the way they choose as Americans.  More importantly I pray we can see them as people who have a story and that are on a journey that will one day, if they haven’t already, intersect with God and us so that we can continue to build on the great story of God and His people.  With global eyes we will see that Christianity is stronger than one person, one church community, one nation and also see that America’s freedoms are something we can appreciate and celebrate.  Now, let’s go join God in His work and celebrate the Kingdom!

This week and next I'm attending a class at ACU that will certify me to do pre-marital counseling using the tool "Prepare and Enrich."  I'm excited to learn this tool and counseling techniques to help those that are thinking of marriage (prepare) and those that have been married (enrich).  As I have completed the first week I'm really conscious of my own marriage and see that although Leah and I have a wonderfully healthy marriage we can always use reminders.


Sometimes our journey with God is the same.  Sometimes as we travel this Christian life we are totally trying to prepare ourselves for the journey that lies ahead.  What possible obstacles could occur?  How will we react when things are great?  How will we react when things are challenging?  Sometimes as we continue on in the journey we are in need of reminders or enriching our present walk with Christ.  How has my routine jaded my vision?  How can I move past complacency to more of Jesus?  How can I thrive rather than survive?


The journey with Jesus is much like a marriage.  Things are great at times and troubling at times.  Sometimes you want to leave.  Sometimes the love seems vacant.  And yet, the covenant to our spouse and the covenant to our Lord keeps us on the path and moving along.  Neither are always roses, but in the end we will have sustained an unmatchable relationship!

A couple of days ago I went shopping with my wife.  It was awesome because my mother-in-law kept the boys so we actually had time alone.  As soon as we walked into the first store I followed Leah straight to the first rack she chose to look at.  She looks up at me and kindly suggests that I look at the men's section.  I realized that I wasn't helping her, but simply hovering over her.  We really weren't there for me so I went to the shoe section, sat down and played on my phone.  After about 10-15 minutes I realized that Leah had no clue where I was and this could be bad.  So I got up to go find her.  Sure enough, just like when I was a child, I lost her.  I had no clue where she was and she had no idea where I was. 


Two things about the journey that came to mind during this experience.  We are called by Jesus to follow him.  Just like his apostles we are called to leave the situation we are currently in and just start walking behind him. Taking one step at a time and as we do we change to be more like him.  Our stride will begin to match his stride.  His stops will be our stops.  When he points to the scenery we will gawk and hum in agreement.  Whatever Jesus does we will do.


However, there are times when we look up and through all the clothes racks and other people we have lost sight of Jesus.   We are looking up and down every isle and yet have no clue where he is.  And we wonder, "Does Jesus know where I am?"  The answer is, "of course!"  As we continue to seek him and use scripture, tradition, history, the church as our spiritual compass we find Jesus and again his stride is our stride and we are back on the right path.


It's not a race.  It's a journey!  We follow, get lost, follow, get lost, follow again!  And through it all Jesus is longing for us to match his stride!


Fortunately, I texted Leah and she was in the dressing room, crisis averted!  

There is a season for everything.  Ecclesiastes says this best:


Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything 

1 There is a time for everything, 
       and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, 
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, 
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, 
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 6 a time to search and a time to give up, 
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, 
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 8 a time to love and a time to hate, 
       a time for war and a time for peace.




Or if you prefer the song:

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to build up,a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

-Turn Turn Turn by the Byrds

There is a season of new at the congregation that I work with.  Yesterday we celebrated a baptism (New creature), a baby blessing (obvious), new kindergartners, new college freshmen, and a new minister.  It was  a great day where the Spirit was very alive.

Sometimes as we journey along in our churches we find a comfortable pattern.  We take the adage, "If it's not broke, don't fix it" too seriously and over time it doesn't break, it just decays.  We need newness individually and corporately.  When we find time to be renewed we find refreshment, new vision, and energy.  Then we can continue the mission of God that never grows old..."Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." -Matthew 28:19

What do you do in your journey to be renewed?  What has your church done lately to be reenergized?

-Michael

There are many journeys or treks shown through scripture.  There are countless in the Old Testament when the Israelites were pursuing God through worship, wandering in the desert when disobedient, or crusading when conquering in His name.  There are positive journeys where the Israelites followed God's plan and were rewarded and times when they ended up exiled to foreign lands because of their arrogance and disobedience.  In the New Testament we are quickly shown that Jesus doesn't stay in one place too long.  Paul has several missionary journeys and even John when receiving his great revelation was moved swiftly from place to place and vision to vision.  Sometimes these movements were calculated and expected and other times where those traveling are pleasantly surprised like on the road to Emmaus.  The book of Acts and the sets of letters that follow are sure indications of the church moving and growing as Christ is being preached and the Spirit is working miraculous things.


Then there is today.  We have gone through strong periods of time where "journey" language has been lost and finding the right way of thinking and arriving at certain destinations have taken over.  Whether those destinations are praying Jesus into your heart, baptism, or being a radical servant when we think we have arrived, we are on dangerous ground.  Life with Christ is a journey.  Sometimes we are on the right path and sometimes we lose our way.  The key is finding that path with Christ and walking on it together.


If we take this journey alone we are sure to get weary, lose our way, or just give up.  We need one another to continue on the journey.  Together we can challenge one another, dream new visions, and spur on one another.  I'm excited by the journey we are all on.  Now how do we take this journey together with so many differences and preferences.  Next time let's talk about what it means to be gathered together to share the journey.


-Michael