The Times They Are A-Changin'

Beginning Saturday I will only work with the church where I've been privileged to be interim as a behind the scenes coach. (There is a pastor being considered for full-time, long-term position.) This will take about 10 hours a week instead of the current 20 as interim. While I've appreciated the role I've played in this local church, I also look forward to being more focused on my work with the District. My mind races to all the ways I can be of help to pastors and churches within our geographic area. Churches are full of people and people are full of surprises. There will seldom be a dull minute.

Next week I'll join the other Directors as we look ahead to the next year and see if we can discern both our individual role and the specific areas where we need to be involved, and also our collective direction and what it will take to help the pastors and churches we serve to "glorify God by multiplying healthy churches among all people."

If you're a person who prays, join me in praying that our Directors keep the big picture in mind as we move into 2008 and not get bogged down in the administrivia. Each of these Directors wants most of all for God to be honored and for people to come to Jesus.

Remembering How Middle-Class I Am

I found myself without a car this past week, so I rode the bus to work. Two things impressed me. One was how different I was from most of those riding the bus. My clothes, my skin tone, my accent. The second was how limited I was in what I could do. Most days I run errands after work. Go grocery shopping, pick up dinner, buy an iced coffee drink. I couldn't do any of those things because I didn't have the change necessary to get back on the bus if I were to stop along the way.

All this reminded me of how much I take for granted the life-style to which I've grown accustomed. What's it like to have to plan your day around the bus schedule? How do you get your groceries home if you don't have a trunk in which to put them? Expectations are funny things. Since I expect to get in my own car and drive myself to exactly where I want to go, I don't think about what it would take to do it some other way.

All this to say, I found myself praying for those who lack the resources to live life the way they'd like to. I'm praying for those whose choices are far more limited than mine. And I'm praying that I will never take for granted the resources I have, but will live with open hands toward those with less.

Preach, Pray or Die

The Bible college I attended often emphasized the need to be ready to "preach, pray or die" at a moment's notice. That came home this week when I was asked last Wednesday to preach at a church in the Bay area this Sunday. I began to pray that I would choose a passage that will speak to this congregation at this season in their corporate and individual lives. (I think God has answered this prayer.) I prayed that I would not be overly concerned about preaching in a new setting among people with whom I have no prior relationship. (I keep drifting into concern, so I keep praying.) I prayed that God would once again use the foolishness of preaching to draw some to Himself. (I'll know God's answer to this sometime after I'm there.) I continue to pray that God will quiet my heart as I marinate in the passage I've chosen to preach. (I have seasons of quiet followed by moments of panic.)

By noon on Sunday, I will have preached and prayed. Hopefully I won't have "died" as a preacher. For those who know me, I ask you to join me in prayer. Ask God to use His word to transform lives.

Death is Present With Us

Death is present with us every day of our lives, it behooves us to take note of its nearness, not as a threat, but as our common experience on the way to grace. —Abbot Radulfus in The Leper of St. Giles by Ellis Peters

In addition to the recent, unexpected bridge collapse in Minneapolis, in my circle of friends there are have been, what seems to be, an increased incidence of death and near-death experiences of family and friends. I received a phone call last evening from a friend in Santa Margarita whose dad went in for a routine procedure and is now in critical condition. A friend in Huntington Beach was on vacation with his parents when his father suffered a serious heart incident.

All of these situations remind us that life is, in fact, what Isaiah describes in the Hebrew scriptures,

“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.
The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord.
And so it is with people."

As the Abbot in the above-mentioned novel points out, this is not a threat. It is a fact of life that God intends to use to help us to live fully in this life and to prepare fully for the next. Maybe it’s middle-age, and the limitations that come with it, but I find myself less enamored with what I can do and more receptive to what God can do. Death has a way of putting my earthly life in context.