At The End of the Day, Or Year

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

There are great challenges ahead in 2011.

2010 was begun in great anticipation on the heels of the best year we had experienced yet at New Hope. And yet from the very first Sunday as the sermon called on people to be willing to change... change happened.

I wrote:

It (the sermon) seemed to have the potential to challenge people to make some changes to adjust to where God was calling them. That was my hope.  Couple of quick notes about that -
The changes may come, but they might be unexpected and have unwanted effects..
And just repeat that for the second note.

After the sermon a couple called me aside and said they were leaving New Hope because we didn't have enough for their children. It was abrupt. I was gracious. But it shocked me and rippled through the church. No one saw it coming. To go from the core to the door... It hurt personally - hurt Bunny a great deal - but it happens.

And yet, all you can do is to say "God bless you, go in peace." As far as I know the move has given them the church they believed they needed. We did all we could do.

Fast forward through all the roller coaster ups and downs of the year.

At the end of the year, another core family has relocated to Texas. Job related, and probably the best move for the family as it keeps the dad home and not deploying to Afghanistan every 6 months. Another couple we loved, and children we cherished as well. They've left a hole.

Churches lose people. Stats say that the average congregation has about a 10% turnover every year and more in "high velocity" areas like military towns. This year we saw that happen plus some.

For 12 years we have grown at New Hope every year. Some years more than others, but we've always grown. Grown numerically. As we close the books today on 2010, we cannot say that any more. Stinks. We did some great things in 2010, reached out, cared for people, grew closer to God. But...

When a congregation grows like a family does, it enjoys the feeling of seeing it. Everyone wants to know that they're involved in a place God is at work, and numerical growth is easy to spot. "Nickels and noses" are definitely two indicators. But there are others.

I am praying...
I am praying that God sends people to New Hope who need a new life and a new family.
I am praying that God's people at New Hope get their second wind in 2012 and see God be glorified through New Hope.


And I'll pray that I might know the truth of that old hymn and live as one redeemed. Looking back over the year, I cannot say I did not sin. But I can say I tried every day to follow Jesus and love His church and His people. And at the end of the day, or the year..

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

May your New Year be a blessed one. Come see us at New Hope!

As We Close A Hard Year

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."
— Anne Lamott

Chew On This A While

Following the Supreme Court's ruling on school desegregation, Clarence Jordan got into serious trouble with racists and members of the Ku Klux Klan when he tried to assist two African-American students in their application to a formerly segregated business college. This led to shooting, bombings, and vandalism against the Koinonia Farm. But Jordan steadfastly refused to leave. He spoke of these adversaries as people "with their personalities twisted and warped by prejudice and hate . . . If there is any balm in Gilead; if there is any healing in God's wings; if there is any hope — shall we go off and leave people without hope? We have too many enemies to leave them. The redemptive love of God must somehow break through. If it costs us our lives, if we must be hung on the cross to redeem our brothers and sisters in the flesh, so let it be. It will be well worth it. To move away would be to deny the redemptive process of God."

What's your initial response to pain and suffering?

It's not what you just read, is it?

When people hurt us, when trials and suffering comes, we tend to turn away - to cut people off.

And yet Jordan's words track with what I've learned over the years - "Hurt people... hurt people."

Was eating lunch with a good friend yesterday who has known me for many years now. He brought up an incident many years ago at New Hope where an acerbic member came to the church one burning hot Saturday afternoon and found me cutting the grass. She then proceeded to tell me I was doing it wrong.

I can laugh at it now, but at the time it was just another sniper's bullet in the war that was raging between me and a group who opposed changes I believed God would have us make as a church to reach more people who were far from God. That was a tough period of time. Some very hurtful actions and words were thrown at me and even my wife.

I confess I didn't practice what Clarence Jordan did. I moved away and minimized my contact with her and those engaged in the war. Forgiveness is something I have learned to give people who hurt me, but opportunities to hurt again?

Not so much.

A work in progress,I am.

What about you? Are you able to stand in the place of pain and be God's person of peace?

Pray with me for grace sufficient to be who Jesus wants us to be.

The Best Christmas

Sitting here today thinking about all the blessings of this Christmas. I read today one writer's opinion that everyone's best Christmas happens at the age of 10, and it's downhill from there. I guess that depends on your point of view.

From where I'm sitting, I wish people who thought that could have seen the joy in the eyes of a little girl when Bunny and I (like several other people at New Hope did for others) delivered Christmas dinner and some toys to her house last Sunday. Her mom cried, we cried, and Bunny got a huge hug from the little girl.

There's no way a ten year old would understand what the items Bunny and I delivered to Shelter House Friday would mean to the women and kids served by that group. Some of the Child2Child girls that led us in that collection and made the Christmas stockings that the women raved over might be tickled to realize just how much they helped, but they couldn't grasp what it meant, and that's the real joy in the giving to "the least of these."

I don't think a ten year old would have appreciated how awesome it was after our incredible Christmas Eve worship to go with some other New Hope folks and surprise a young woman who had to work as a waitress on Christmas Eve. We ate, laughed, and loved each other around the diner table.

And I'm not sure a ten year old would have been nearly as excited as our friend Allan was tonight when he showed up at the front door (dripping wet from the rain), and we gave him his Christmas presents - a new Bible (with a cool cover that included a compass) and a Hershey Bar. As I drove Allan home, he kept saying how happy he was to have such good friends.

You know, I cannot remember the Christmas when I was ten. But I'll remember this one.

I'm thinking it has something to do with giving. You know, I hear someone once said that was the more blessed way not just to celebrate, but to live.

Merry Christmas everyone.

What we see that the shepherds couldn't

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen.
We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created.
For everything,
absolutely everything,
above and below,
visible and invisible,
rank after rank after rank of angels
-everything got started in him
and
finds its purpose in him.
He was there
before any of it came into existence
and
holds it all together
right up to this moment.

Colossians 1:15-17
The Message

Mary held her son. The shepherds saw it and rejoiced at Messiah's coming.

What they couldn't see is what we know - He holds it all.

And we are held in love, by Him.

Merry Christmas from all the Wilson family.

Sunday Recap 12/19/10 - There's Something About Mary

The Sunday before Christmas and all through the house... okay, couldn't resist it. But there was a great Spirit present at New Hope yesterday. From the initial gathering of people in the fellowship hall for donuts and coffee, through Bible study and into worship, this was a group of people who wanted to spend time together with God and their friends - their family. It's tangible. I LOVE IT!

We keep the worship casual and well known at Christmas, choosing to do carols almost exclusively. One of the things we've learned out of that is that less young people know the carols every year. Pretty sad, really. But without singing them at home or at school, and only singing them a couple times each year at church, it does really constrict our worship. There's nothing like hearing a congregation sing - really sing. So this week we went with:

Joy To the World - awesome opening song to focus us on what we are there for

O Come All Ye Faithful - well known, warm

Away in A Manger - sweet but theologically rich

and Amazing Grace

Taking a look at Mary's amazing act of faith seemed to be exactly what we needed to do during this season. This young woman,when confronted with an angel's message, was understandably afraid and confused. Not about whether God could do this - but about what it might mean. Big difference between her reaction and that of Zechariah the priest who asked "How can I be sure...."

What a faith-filled woman! Loved preaching this because each and every follower of Christ could one day be asked to do something extraordinary for God. Will we be ready? We need to decide now.

I closed the message by reading the Magnificant - Mary's gift to her God. It is pure heart-speak. She praises what God has done for her and for her people, even for things that haven't happened yet, because as far as she's concerned, if God has promised it - it's as good as done.

What are you giving God for Christmas?

Sunday Recap December 12th 2010

Sunday was the third Sunday of Advent and of our Advent Conspiracy attempt to refocus our Christmas on what God did through Jesus Christ.

We flipped the switch and sung all Christmas carols which the congregation really seemed to enjoy even if Sean and I on guitar got dizzy from all the chord changes. The praise team really did well and especially the vocalists on "Silent Night" which they sang without instruments as an intro.

The message was rooted in John Chapter 1 and the idea behind it was to show just what Christmas means to the outsider - like all of us were once.

After the service we had our Christmas fellowship meal. Every time the folks at New Hope get together you hear laughter, see hugs here and there, and see people serving unselfishly. I love being a part of that.

Small group that evening was really helpful, I think. People really seemed to open up and share about what was happening in their lives and what New Hope means to them.

Blessing upon blessing.

We Can Do No Great Things

A small group of us here at New Hope have been going through Francis Chan's "The Forgotten God" book the last few weeks. The group has ebbed and flowed like all groups do nowadays, as people have lives to live. We've had so many we ran out of chairs and we've had a few. But every week those of us who gathered gained insight - into the work of the Holy Spirit, and into the hearts of the others in the room. That's why I love small groups in the home.

The book has caused us to wrestle with some pretty big concepts and I think realize one singular thing - that we as individuals and collectively as a church do not live up to our potential because we do not allow the Holy Spirit to lead and to flow into and through us. We say to God in many different ways "I GOT this." But we DON'T.

This past Sunday we talked about some of our fears regarding the future.

And we talked about what we have together - about what we have seen - about what God is showing us.

Reflecting on that the last two days, and praying for a "what's next, Abba?" revelation, a quote from Mother Teresa popped into my mind.

She said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

As I think about New Hope, certain "small things with great love" came out.

• One friend, Frank Weech, drops by another's (Ian Anderson) home with some peppers, because Frank and Ian share a love of HEAT.

• One adult (Bunny) shared how much it meant to her when the girls she works with surrounded her in a hug on Sunday, and how one of them, Kira, told Bunny "I'll be your granddaughter."

• Last night the phone rings and one of our senior saints, Jewel Hughes calls wanting Laura Marston's cell number. Laura's family is moving this week, and Laura and Jewel have been prayer partners. Jewell wanted Laura to have "a little remembrance."

The brick church on the corner here will never be confused with a mega-church. We can't do the mega-things other churches do.

But we can do small things with mega-love.

And we are.

Praying for Those Who Are Limping

"You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp."
— Anne Lamott

Another reason I love Anne Lamott's writing. That's just real life.

Happened again recently- the hurt flooded back and seized my heart for a second. It passes but the hurt still lives in my soul. This season of joy also comes with reminders of who's not with us anymore. Its not just cold outside - there's a chill inside too as you remember what used to be - who used to be here. Was reading recently about some churches holding a "Blue Christmas" service to help people deal with their grief and loss at Christmas. I hope that's helpful. There are so many people suffering with loss even at Christmas - or especially at Christmas.

For me, the best way forward is to acknowledge that there's more ahead - more love, more grace, more hope, more joy. No doubt it'll be different. No way it could replace what's lost.

And yet, our God is good. Staggeringly, extravagantly good. He gives and gives because He is a giver at heart. Sure life takes its toll, but God is enough to meet every need.

With Him, you come through.

And eventually, you do learn to dance with the limp.

What are you GIVING for Christmas?

Don't race by that question or auto-correct it.

I know that "getting" is what we have been trained and train our kids to think of - but is that really the godly way to approach Christmas?

I don't think so, and from what I gather from the Scriptures, neither does Jesus. He was quoted as saying "It is more blessed to give than to receive" as well as other scandalous statements about giving coats away, going extra miles, and opening your home to strangers.

So if you are really, really committed to keeping the "Christ" in Christmas, my suggestion is start right here.

What are you really excited about GIVING this Christmas?

There are so many opportunities.

Toms Shoes gives a pair of shoes to a person in need for every pair you buy.

The Water Project provides clean water to thousands through drilling wells, repairing older ones, and purification. Every item in their store gives someone life giving water.

The Heifer Project gives you a chance to provide a way out of poverty for someone and your giftee gets a card letting them know just what your gift has done in their name.

Christian Flights International is an organization that serves the people of Haiti. New Hope is sponsoring their "Angel Tree" initiative and angel ornaments that were hand painted by the children in Haiti are available for purchase in our lobby.

What are you giving for Christmas?

You Need To Know This

Love Wins!

You need to know that. I need to know that. LOVE WINS!!!!!

I'm sitting here tonight finishing the power-point for tomorrow's sermon and praying.

I'm praying for people.

A dear friend from church who's headed to Georgia tomorrow to help his family get ready for his father's funeral. My pastor friend in New Hampshire who laid the body of his mother to rest this week and doesn't think he has anything to give to his church tomorrow. Another pastor friend who is supposed to leave his church at year's end but doesn't have anywhere to go. The family of another friend who was touched by grief this week. All of those whose loved ones exist now only in memories - this season is hard for all of them.

So I pray.

The friend still without a job. His wife recovering from open heart surgery. Our niece struggling with cancer. The elderly woman who can't make ends meet. Another with a teenager who tests the limits on a regular basis. Families separated because of a war that seemingly will never end. People trapped beneath a mountain of wrong choices. People dealing with chronic pain, with heartache, with loss.

I pray for them, that God would supply all their needs through Christ Jesus. That the author of all compassion and comfort will surround them with His love. That they will see God and know He loves them.

And I pray for New Hope.

We're the church in the neighborhood, with a heart for anyone who comes through our doors. We've seen many people come to faith here, and others deepen in faith here. But we have many needs. Life in a smaller church has been likened to draining the bathtub with a colander. Sure you seem to be busy, but are you making progress? God is sending us more and more children from broken homes, triple-blended families, and hasn't sent the relief workers yet. And some of our people really could use some relief.

And yet we're realizing there are more needs in our community that we ever knew were here, and God is moving within us to act as His hands and feet right here in Valparaiso and our area. We're getting more opportunities to help with other missions while still trying to take care of basic needs. We're sending out families through PCS moves and other life-changes but we haven't received the replacements for them. I know God is in charge of outcomes and everything comes in His will, in His time, but... now would be nice.

So I'm praying. Earnestly, passionately - praying.

But here's the awesome truth - Love Wins.

No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it-
What God has arranged for those who love him. 1 Cor 2:9 The Message

I stepped back in time today.

Attending a funeral in a Baptist church, I heard a choir sing a Southern Gospel song, a pianist play a medley of several more, sang two songs from the Baptist hymnal, and heard a retired pastor bring an expository message that called upon the hearer to be saved.

I loved it.

Right here I pause to let a few of you clean off the screens of your phone, tablet, or laptop. Sorry, I should have warned you.

But I did. I loved it.

The person the funeral honored would have too.

First, he would have noticed I was wearing a suit. That's kind of a big deal for me.

Then he'd have been crazy about the music. He loved hymns and gospel music. The choir assembled from the base chapel sang "Midnight Cry" like they believed Jesus was coming tonight. The congregation sang "It Is Well With My Soul" like they had inside information. Even the mighty organ was contributing its deep bass voice. He'd have liked that

And the retired former pastor sharing from his heart about what his friend lying in rest was all about in genuine love and humor made me thank God for the job God gave him and gave me. Friend, to be asked to "say a few words" at a funeral is an honor, regardless of for whom. But to be able to stand before a congregation and tell them what your friend's life meant - meant to you, meant to his church, meant to his family, meant to God - well I have heard this pastor preach several times, even shared responsibilities at funerals with him a couple times, and he has never been better. He had a pacemaker installed two days ago and when I went up after to tell him what a great job he did, I asked him if he had that pacemaker set on "11."

The fellow who was honored today didn't like the changes in the church. He never connected to contemporary music, liked his pastors in suits and behind pulpits. And yet, the most moving part of the service was the use of the video projector (which he opposed) to show pictures from his life, and the airing of a recording of him singing. At the end of it, we heard his voice asking us to sing along with him, and weakly at first, but then stronger, the congregation did. I've gotta believe he was smiling as we carried his music forward even after he was gone.

Here's the deal. In that context, with a group of people where the non-gray head was the exception, even though the event was a funeral - the focus was on God. On praising Him, on giving thanks to Him, on examining one man's life and how he lived it and why it mattered. It mattered because he gave it to God without reservation. So when that group today was grabbed by the Holy Spirit the whole congregation responded in praise. When the preacher was grabbed by that same Spirit he preached his heart out. It was one of the best funerals I have ever attended and I get to a few in my line of work.

Yep, I went back in time today and I loved it.

With Arms Wide Open

Was just at our local Dollar General and heard one of the employees laughingly say to another "you'd better get ready, Allan's coming." The other replied, "I've already seen him twice today." Here's what was remarkable about that conversation - it was filled with smiles.

Allan's developmentally disabled, has a profound hearing loss, and cannot speak clearly. He's very persistent, and frequently very animated as he tries to interact with people. He has his routines that he likes to go through in conversation. Ours centers around our dogs, our oldest son Adam, having me tell Sean to "get out of my way", and Scooby-Doo. If you ever walk by my office and hear me doing my "Scooby-Doo, where are you - over here", I haven't gone crazy - Allan is with me.

While I was checking out today, I told the clerk who had been laughing about Allan's impending arrival that - yesterday, in 28mile an hour gusts of wind and rain coming down in buckets, Allan showed up on foot at New Hope to bring Bunny a "Get Well Soon" card.

Allan loves Bunny, and wanted her to know that. He never said one word about the weather, all he wanted to know was "Is Bunny feeling better?"

She smiled and said "That's Allan."

I told her that at New Hope, we think Allan's God's appointed messenger to teach us how to love better.

She smiled again and said "I think he does that for us too."

Friends, God is using everything He has to help us learn to love as He does. Our friend Allan is part of that.

Are we?

Because

He was just 16 in a time when children were seen and not heard. Only a little while ago he had been an unbeliever. But he came to know Jesus as Savior, as Friend. His heart was changed so radically that he decided he had to write a song and sing what his heart was feeling. It was the only song anyone ever knew he wrote. It was first published anonymously and only after his untimely death 11 years later did anyone know that William Ralph Featherston had written this heart song.

Are we living and loving "because He first loved?"

I love this simple song.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Now and Not Yet

When I asked the youth yesterday in Sunday School what the best gift they had ever gotten for Christmas was, my friend Kira had a problem. See she knows what she's getting for Christmas this year, a new state of the art iPod touch ("with two cameras!"). It's already been purchased. But she doesn't have it yet.

Still, it's what she wanted to claim as her best Christmas present ever.

I can feel her pain. As I read the Scripture opening the season of Advent yesterday from Isaiah chapter 2, there was so much there that I wanted NOW.

2 There's a day coming when the mountain of God's House Will be The Mountain— solid, towering over all mountains. All nations will river toward it, people from all over set out for it. 3 They'll say, "Come, let's climb God's Mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob. He'll show us the way he works so we can live the way we're made." Zion's the source of the revelation. God's Message comes from Jerusalem. 4 He'll settle things fairly between nations. He'll make things right between many peoples. They'll turn their swords into shovels, their spears into hoes. No more will nation fight nation; they won't play war anymore. 5 Come, family of Jacob, let's live in the light of God.

Isaiah 2:2-5 (MSG)

Almost every day of my life opens with a prayer for God to come and put things right - for people to come to know Jesus as Savior - for peace. And though God has given me so much - so many blessings - even though I know that Jesus will come and do everything this passage says, chances are that I'll awaken tomorrow with the same hopes to pray.

It's life living in the now and not yet.

So what should we do - today?

"Come, family of Jacob, let's live in the light of God."

We face life together as the people of God - as family bound by blood.

We LIVE! Not fearfully or anxiously - we know the outcome - we win!

We follow Jesus as the Spirit leads "in the light of God."

I'm looking forward to seeing Kira's face after Christmas as she proudly shows me her new toy. But as cool as that might seem now, what Kira's going to receive one day from her God (what we all will receive as believers) is so much better it boggles the mind and warms my heart.

Come join us as we live out Advent at New Hope in the "now and not yet."

I Wonder

Had a friend I worked with years ago named Ray Cagle. I was a bivocational pastor at the time, and Ray was a member of a nondenominational church and seemed to me to try and live out his faith. We stopped by his house on the way back from lunch one day and I when I went to flip a light switch I noticed a bible verse was taped to it. Looking around, I saw other verses taped on things like the TV set.

I had to know - so I asked Ray about it. He said that as a family they were trying to get as much Scripture in as many ways as possible into their hearts. So they chose Scriptures and printed out slips that would cause them to think about their devotion to God.

After all these years, I'm still impressed by the sincere desire Ray expressed that day to follow Jesus and lead his family to do the same.

Haven't thought about it for years.

But it's Christmas season.

So I wonder... if we printed out slips of paper with "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21 and taped them to our checkbook, to our credit and debit cards - would it cause us to consider whether what we were about to spend was the best God honoring use of the money God has blessed us with.

I wonder.

Might make a difference this Christmas...

An Advent Conspiracy Begins

Something is wrong with Christmas in America.

We work ourselves into a frenzy during the season of hope, peace, joy,and love - rushing around buying presents with money we don't have for people who don't need what we are giving them. By doing that, we are robbing ourselves of an unforgettable Christmas experience.

Well at New Hope, we've decided to step off the Consumerist merry-go-round and give more presence and less presents. During the next four weeks we will focus on worshiping fully, loving deeply, spending less, and giving more of ourselves to God and to our friends and family.

Our worship gatherings will point us in that direction and our efforts on behalf of Shelter House, local needy families. Haitian orphans, women in Malawi, and to drill a well in the Sudan will cause us to focusing on giving, not getting and play our part in God's plan to love the world with the love of Jesus.

We're joining thousands of other Christ followers in forming an Advent Conspiracy Come join us - Christmas can still change the world.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more" begins Henry V as he rallies the English at Agincourt. It's Monday - I can relate to that.

There are days when being a pastor is a consuming joy. It's a job you enjoy because it's making a real difference and you're operating out of passion and conviction. That's why I love it.

I've had other jobs I liked a lot because of the challenges inherent in them and the rewards gained through your effort. And I was good at them. Because I worked hard, kept learning and growing in my craft, and operated out of personal integrity and trust. Do that, and you succeeded.

But this one, this job, places you at a completely opposite place.

You can do your best in every way - in prayer, preparation, execution and follow through - but the efforts aren't guaranteed. The outcome is out of your control.

I struggle with that.

Anyone who observes how I work quickly sees I'll do whatever is necessary to help New Hope be everything that it can be. There's not a job I haven't done except keeping the nursery during the years I've been here (I'm kind of busy during the services). Yard work - check. Maintenance - check. Cooking supper - check. Office work - check. That's over and above the "normal" pastoral duties.

Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned. There are certain standards we have to maintain or exceed and if I need to pitch in or step in to help, I'm going to do it. Loving the mission, loving the people, loving my job - it's just what I do.

It's not a sacrifice on my part at all- It's simply a response to love, in love.

But having done that, emotionally there are times when I'm expecting God to reward the effort - not just my effort, but the efforts of my New Hope family.

And I want them pretty quickly.

In a way I can see.

When He doesn't - and after all, my efforts - our efforts together - don't mean God HAS to do anything at all except His will - I sometimes struggle with that. I was reading an article by another pastor, who is in a very successful church, and was confronted with this.

From: 5 Prices A Leader Must Be Willing To Pay by Perry Noble

#2 -There Is An Emotional Cost – Leading in the church is one of the most emotionally draining things you will EVER do. You will discover that you can go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows with one email or phone call. On most days you will feel overwhelmed and unworthy of your calling…and all of this requires that we be willing to pay the price emotionally.

Yep.

And that's about all I'm going to say about that.

Let's Skip Christmas

1 The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:

2 There's a day coming

when the mountain of God's House

Will be The Mountain—

solid, towering over all mountains.

All nations will river toward it,

people from all over set out for it.

3 They'll say, "Come,

let's climb God's Mountain,

go to the House of the God of Jacob.

He'll show us the way he works

so we can live the way we're made."

Zion's the source of the revelation.

God's Message comes from Jerusalem.

4 He'll settle things fairly between nations.

He'll make things right between many peoples.

They'll turn their swords into shovels,

their spears into hoes.

No more will nation fight nation;

they won't play war anymore.

5 Come, family of Jacob,

let's live in the light of God.
Isaiah 2:1-5 (MSG)

Come quickly Lord Jesus.

What I'm Reading - Shadows In The Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines In World War II

Shadows In The Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines In World War II

Currently reading this book that I bought off Books-A-Million's markdown table.

There's so much of even our recent History that we don't ever learn in the classroom. I took a WW2 course at Mercer with 8 people in it - all except me were military. The professor pushed us hard and we did several papers on obscure battles and campaigns. But even though my father fought in this area - New Guinea, Biak Island, Mindanao - I knew very little about this campaign and nothing about the group in this book.

It's well written and well researched and as easy to read as anything Clancy or Griffin has written. The accounts of action are raw and real. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to fill in the blanks between Bataan and "I have returned."

Christmas Can Change the World - Again

It starts with Jesus. It ends with Jesus.

This is the season we should stop and realize just what God did - and is doing.

This is the season we should move closer to God and to each other in love.

For the next four Sundays at New Hope we'll be looking at how hope is reborn, love wins, peace breaks through and lives are changed - forever!

So love well this Christmas. Give a well this Christmas.

No one wants a Christmas worth forgetting.

Sowing Seeds, Reaping A Harvest

I attended a webinar Tuesday that was probably the most helpful one I've ever participated in. I'm sharing the video of it below and here's the link to the page as long as it stays up. New Hope folks, lots of ideas in here as well as positive identification on what we aren't doing that we need to be doing. Very, very, helpful. Take a minute and check it out.

4 Areas for Churches to "Sow the Seed" of the Gospel from Chris Walker on Vimeo.

Blessing Upon Blessing - Thanksgiving 2010

Collard greens, pecan pies, cornbread cooked in a black skillet. Kids playing football in the yard, women laughing and cooking in the kitchen, men huddled around a black and white TV. When I think about Thanksgiving's spent growing up in Macon that's what I remember. Food, fun, laughter - it was a blessed childhood.

To be a part of that family came with a history of struggles. We met in my Aunt Geneva's house most years, on the fringe of the mill village where most everyone worked or had worked. But you'd never know it on Thanksgiving.

I've never known a more thankful group of people.

They didn't have much - but they shared it.

And they loved each other deeply, from the heart.

I am so thankful to have been able to experience that. And to know them.

Then I got married to the most wonderful woman I have ever known. A whole other world opened to me. Another family filled with love. Our years seeing all our kids come into the world and sharing the joys of life and sharing the sorrows together added another level of joy. To say that my wife's parents were just "in-laws" is to trivialize the sacred. They were gifts from God, just as their daughter is a gift from God. Through those relationships I was led to faith in God, became a husband and a father. Blessings followed blessings.

Eleven years ago we left all of that to follow God's call to a small church in a place we'd never heard of. We left a lot behind even though we were able to keep in touch by phone, through email, and infrequent visits. But as the years rolled on, we realized we gained another family. We've been through a lot together - great joys and deep sorrows. Yet we have seen God at work in incredible ways. We've cried and laughed together. They are family too.

Heaven's Thanksgiving table is going to be amazing when all these people get together.

And I am so thankful to God for everything He has given.

"I Know What It's Like To Be Poor"

Katie and her kids

We were gathered around the table Wednesday night after our fellowship meal, preparing to pray for the needs of friends, family, and others. As we got started, in walked Evelyn Brown and Jimmie Hill, two of our "senior saints." Taking their places at the table, we continued request time. When I asked people to pray for our efforts during "Rice and Beans" week to focus on the poor, Miss Evelyn spoke up.

"I know what that feels like."

She then told us about her life as a child (she's 80+), and how what we ate this week was not all that unfamiliar to her then if you substituted potatoes for rice. As she looked back, she told us of those rare Fridays that her Mother would buy a small piece of pork (streak o lean - which said another way is stripes of fat) and cook the greens or beans with that, and then carefully cut it into small chunks to put on her children's plates. She spoke about a Christian neighbor of theirs who would share her meager food with the kids when their mom was working late. After she painted the picture for us, she finished with "I know what it's like to be poor."

I should mention to you that even though Evelyn has medical issues that prevent her from eating beans, she ate a rice dish every night for supper this week.

Out of all the people around the table that night, Evelyn had first hand knowledge of what we were trying to experience. We hoped to better understand what it meant to eat what the poor eat everyday.

Evelyn already knew.

And she did it again anyway.

Would you? If you had grown up with the crushing weight of poverty? Most people who break free swear they will never go back there again.

I think Evelyn heard her Savior's call to come and follow Him - and she did.

Awesome faith. What a great heart for God and for the poor. I LOVE NEW HOPE!

Tonight we'll meet and share our stories and give an offering that will go directly to care for orphans and those in critical need through Amazima Ministries

We're investing in God's work. Join us. Tonight at 7PM.

33 "Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. 34 It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

Luke 12:33-34 (MSG)

But We Want To Come

On Wednesday night, our smaller church shares a fellowship meal with each other and with the kids of our neighborhood. Nothing fancy, here's how you'd know - I cook. But it gives the kids a good meal, their parents a break, and leads in to our missions organizations for boys and girls. We've been doing it for years.

Last night we had black-eyed peas and rice, along with cornbread and some other dishes brought in by our folks. I had to cut and run to worship practice so I didn't get to hear how the kids fared. Did get to taste the peas later, and you could tell Bunny supervises all my cooking because they were good.

In prayer group they told me that we had over 30 children here last night. To put that in perspective for you, only 4 or 5 of those are from families of kids whose parents or grandparents go here. The vast majority are kids from the neighborhood. They outnumbered the adults by plenty too. It was awesome.

God must really love us, to trust us with telling those kids about Jesus.

This coming Wednesday night is the night before Thanksgiving, and we have learned over the years that turnout from adults is low and so since many of our volunteers are gone, we don't meet that night.

But last night, when our RA leader Joe Stoy told the kids that, they said, "why?" Joe explained and they looked at him and said "But we WANT to come here." He told them that if they were here, he'd be here too.

I am so thankful for the people God has placed here at New Hope. This is often a tough place that demands a lot of our volunteers. Lost people, kids or not, have a disturbing tendency to act, well, lost.

But love wins, friends. Love wins.

And as long as we have people like Joe loving lost kids like that, we're going to see God smile on a place called New Hope

He's Speaking

As a pastor, over the years I have received different responses from people about the Harry Potter series when they found out I had read them all. And at times I've had questions from parents about whether their children should read them - those questions coming not because of what they knew personally from reading them, but what they had heard.

Well after I finished the last of the Harry Potter series, I'm not sure that as time goes by we might see theologians treating the books and their author much more kindly. For in this book I found words I have always treasured in the most uncommon places.

When Harry ventures back home to where his parents are buried, he comes across the gravestone of his mentor Dumbledore's mother and sister. The Mother was killed trying to protect the daughter from herself, and later the daughter died too. On the gravestone were these words.

Where your treasure is, there your hearts will be also.

This of course comes from Christ's words in Matthew "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matt 6:19-21 (NIV)

Then Harry finds himself at the graves of his parents, who both died trying to protect him from an evil wizard, and the reader sees these words on their monument.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Coming again from Scripture - 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

1 Cor 15:24-26 (ESV)

The themes of "the Greater Good", of sacrifice, of selflessness, of laying down your life for your friends run all through this last book. If you cannot see that, it's not that you have read too much fiction.

It's that you have read too little Scripture.

Reading for information isn't enough. You have to read the Bible with a sense of anticipation and wonder, relief and amazement that God - this God - the One and Only God - would sacrifice His One and Only Son - for you. And that through your love for Him, you would lay down your life for your friends - no matter what. You know you are flawed, but that He is able to use you to change lives for eternity. And you have to be convinced in your very soul that your life matters to God - that what you do matters. You have a part in the Big Story of God's reconciling the world to Himself.

If you can see that connection with your own life's walk, then it will be easy to spot it wherever it appears in any variation whether explicitly Christian or not - even in fictional books like the Harry Potter series. God is speaking through His people through many different works - art, books, film, music. A heart tuned to Him will hear Him there.

I'm grateful for J.K. Rowling's work, and the treasures I found in The Deathly Hallows. But I'm immeasurably more grateful to the God who through the sacrifice of His sinless Son, gave me freedom from guilt and shame, a purpose for living, and the hope of eternal life with Him, when death will be destroyed and love will triumph over all.

Shalom,

David

Will we eat?

I've never gone hungry.

Ever.

For my entire life I've been taken care of by parents or had the wherewithal to buy food for me and my family.

That's not to say there weren't times when I ate something other than what I wanted to. But I've never been hungry, or had to eat something I would rather not for more than a meal or two.

One of the things this week is causing me to come to grips with is the grinding nature of eating pretty much the same thing day, after day, after day.

We live in a place where we ask each other "what do you feel like eating?"

In lots of places, they ask "will we eat?"

day three of rice and beans week and already I'm amazed at the strength of the poor, who given so little, have so much to teach us

For He satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry He fills with good things.
Psalm 107:9

You Are More

It's been an interesting day.

-Beans and rice day 2 and I'm just overwhelmed with how blessed we are here and how little we get that.
-Wound up praying in Food World for a man who suffered a seizure.
- Finished "The Jesus Manifesto"- one of the best books I have read this year.
- Fended off a telesales person who really, really, really wanted us to try - just try - a $187 Max Lucado small group study on his upcoming book. "It's really moving," she said.
- No, what's moving is sitting here thinking about the people who are in some way attached to New Hope and what they struggle with everyday.
- Or about the families of the kids who come here on Wednesday. How those families could be radically changed if they'd only hear and respond to the gospel.

-Was praying for them, and then checked my email and saw a link to this band. Normally wouldn't check them out but "10th Ave North" is the exit to two things I love - The Varsity, and Georgia Tech.

-Awesome song and you can download it free here by letting others know.

Tenth Avenue North - You Are More from Provident Label Group on Vimeo.

Friends, it's Jesus who believes in you, even when you don't believe in yourself. he didn't die for perfect, straightened out, flawless specimens of humanity.

"While we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us..."

You are MORE.

Come see us at the church of second chances - New Hope

Love Is Patient - A Year With the Airedales

This is me and Stevie, one of the two Airedales we adopted last year from rescue. After the passing of our dearest dog-friend Henley the Great Dane, we were heartbroken. We cried every day, at things no one else would have even noticed. He and his routine were such a part of our lives that every day, many times a day, we'd mark the loss of his fellowship with tears. This went on for weeks and had almost reached two months when we got a call from Airedale rescue that two Airedales were in need of a new home.

They were brother and sister, and had started life in Florida but went into rescue and were moved with the rescue person to just outside Cordele, Georgia. They had been living on a farm initially, and were living in the country then. The first pictures we got of them were of two wild looking dogs running inside a pen fenced with what we always called "hog wire."

Stevie had even been bitten by a snake while in Florida and the feeling from the rescue folks was that they needed to be kept together, and that they need to go to a good home. We went up just to look, were talking all the way that we'd probably only want to take one, and then wound up taking them both home that evening. We were prepared for their personality being different than our Great Dane. Since we had previously had mini schnauzers, and Bunny had spent a lot of time in the last couple of years with a friend who had an awesome Airedale, we thought we were ready.

Sure they were different, but there was more than that going on. Mick, the male Airedale, was extremely stand-offish and hesitant to let anyone really have close contact with him. There was to be no holding that guy, or sitting with him on the couch. He freaked out whenever anyone tried to hold him for any reason, and would run away. It about broke our hearts again to think that this big strong Airedale had apparently been mistreated.

So we worked at letting him know he was safe and that he was loved. It was aggravatingly slow work. But here they are sleeping together on the bed. I'm asleep on the other side - Bunny took the picture.



There are times now when Mick is a loving dog. He's still nervous sometimes. But he's so lovable. Stevie is one of the sweetest dogs we have ever known and will sit with you for hours and cuddle as long as you want. We're so glad we got them both, and know that we'll be loving them both for many years to come.

Love is patient.

We'll Hold the Ropes - A Week eating rice and beans

"I will venture to go down, but remember that you — you who remain at home — must hold the ropes." -William Carey, father of modern missions

I can remember the first time I heard about what God was doing in Uganda through Katie Davis. Admiration and amazement came to me in equal amounts. How this young woman would see caring for orphaned children in Africa as better than life here in the USA and then how in the world was she able to do it?

Once I spent some time reading her blog and hearing her stories, it was obvious that God was using this woman to teach a lot of others about living for Him. Amazima Ministries is the organization that grew out of her desire to love and care for these children. One Sunday School class at New Hope, led by John and Amy Anderson, started supporting the work there and last year all of New Hope joined in a week long focus on it. Many of us decided to forgo our regular meals for 5 days in favor of eating rice and beans. For most of the world, that's their staple diet. The idea was to identify with them,and then take the money we would have spent on our normal food and eating out and give it to Amazima.

We're doing it again. Bunny and I ate rice for breakfast and lunch today and we'll eat rice and beans for supper tonight. Is it a HUGE sacrifice? No.

But is it one of those decisions you make that can cause you to focus on Jesus, His work, and the "least of these"? Yes, I believe it can.

What you can do. Pray for us. And if you are moved to support the work of Amazima, great.

Not many of us will ever be able to care for orphans in Africa in person.

But we can hope the ropes for those who are.

Wag More. Bark Less.

Think about it.

The tendency of so many of us is to think about and dwell on what's wrong. We gripe and complain. We bark.

If we'd just look around and see how blessed we really are.

When I saw the sticker I had just left a Publix store where I had access to foodstuffs from across the world. Whatever I wanted was laid out for me there, from Polish Ham, to Chilean Sea Bass. There were pastries, sushi, and it all was fresh and organized. Walking to the front, I saw a little girl, maybe 9 years old, playing a game on her iPod. She was so into it, holding the iPod out front of her and turning it this way and that, and grinning all the while. Her joy was infectious.

When I checked out, I simply swiped a piece of plastic and signed my name. We left and entered the beautiful Florida sunshine, passing a man with a whippet wearing a polka dot sweater on a leash. Then we put the groceries in the trunk and drove away.

The vast, vast majority of the people inhabiting this planet right now would have seen what we did as incredible. Were they allowed to experience it, they would have seen it as the most blessed day of their life. It would have been surreal.

And you know what?

It was just an ordinary day. A ridiculously blessed ordinary day.

What if we were to step back and take a real hard look at what we have and how we take it for granted. What if we were to take moments every now and then and thank God for the blessings we have instead of complaining about what we lack.

What if we wagged more, and barked less?

Just Can't Get Over It

Last Sunday's message centered on the actions of Jonathan, son of Saul, prince of Israel as he decided that the status quo was not acceptable to God and decided he'd find out if he, Jonathan, might be God's instrument of change.

He had received no clear direction - "Thou shalt go!" from God.

His superiors - his father the king and the religious leaders - were laying low and had not given him permission.

Nothing about the situation had suddenly changed. The Israelites were still outnumbered - 30,000 to 600, and outclassed 2 count 'em 2 swords to thousands of them.

And yet on that day, something stirred in Jonathan.

Now that stirring wasn't even a clear call as far as action goes. Jonathan looks out and lays out a plan that would take into account the very real possibility that his plan and God's will did not coincide. The strongest word Jonathan used to describe the chance that he might be in sync with God's plan was "Perhaps..."

But here's the thing. The thing that keeps beating me brutally about the head, shoulders, and heart. Jonathan knew that doing nothing wasn't an option for him, or for his people, and he was willing to be a test of whether the time was now.

It was.

And you know what?

It is.

Sunday Recap 11/7/10

Well the week is picking up steam so I'd better get the recap of last Sunday down before I have to do a duplicate post. It's officially fall here now and with the daylight savings time expiration and the weather I knew it'd be interesting. It was.

Bunny helped out with the elementary kids (Kidmo) and I took the youth filling in for Brenda and Pam. I think we both came away with the impression that we have a golden opportunity to reach these kids with the gospel. But you knew that already.

Our worship set Sunday was:
Mighty To Save
Blessed Be Your Name
Consuming Fire
I Surrender All

Of all of them I'd have to say that "Mighty To Save" seemed to pull people into worship. As much as I want "Consuming Fire" to touch the congregation's hearts as it does mine, it may be that it's more of a praise band song. Still, the words helped with the message in the morning as well as in small group Sunday night.



The premise behind the message was for us to look at the actions of someone who placed his confidence in God and was sensitive to the Spirit. Jonathan was convinced that God wanted the Israelites to triumph over the enemies of his people and he was tired of seeing Saul's men cower in fear. So he and his armor bearer deliberately picked a fight with the Philistines. The only way they possibly could have won is for God to have enabled it - He did - and it sparked a rout of the whole Philistine Army!

For us here at New Hope, (and for you) it's important to realize that if God calls us to do something He will provide what we lack to do it. Notice I did not say "what we need" because it may be that part of what we need is already here - just not being used. Could be a person who isn't serving. Could be money we haven't given. Could be a relationship we haven't formed. But God can be trusted.

After all didn't we read..."...for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!” Sam 14:6 (NLT)

The battle, my friend, is the Lord's.

It's Percolating

percolatingpresent participle of per·co·late (Verb)

1. (of a liquid or gas) Filter gradually through a porous surface or substance.

2. (of information or an idea or feeling) Spread gradually through an area or group of people.

So it's Saturday morning, and we're slowly easing into the day. There are things to do later, and lots to do tomorrow. Right now though, in the background, the message for tomorrow's worship gathering is percolating. Earlier in the week I read the texts I'll use - several times from several sources. I spend some time reacquainting myself with their context. After jotting some notes down about my impressions of what they reveal and what they might say to people today, I move on.

What did others who have walked down the same road see? In their eyes, what was God doing?

What did He want us to know and to do?

While the Spirit speaks to me just as He did to them, I want to hear from their context - from their heart - too. Most of the time, they provide me with nuances of understanding, glimpses of another perspective that because my experiences and training differs from theirs in some way, I might not have seen. If I can find these across ages - even better. To read from the early church fathers, or rabbinical writings and then up through the years to today is to hear the Voice across the ages as God tells His Story and each person, in his time, repeats it.

By the end of the week, I often will have read hundreds of pages in that effort.

All the while I'm making notes, mental or otherwise, of those thoughts that tug at me, at my heart, or that open my mind to what is there from God. They come at odd times. I've had sermons open up while shopping with Bunny in fabric stores. I've had whole passages reveal themselves at the beach. I've heard from God while doing lots of things unrelated to my study or my office at home.

It's as if the whole idea of what the message is to be is percolating - through my soul.

I'm so very thankful for the honor of sharing what I've heard.

Wednesday Recap: Smaller Church - HUGE HEART

Wednesday recap from New Hope -

-This afternoon we had 15 - I counted - kids from the neighborhood waiting outside in the rain when I got back from the Post Office. It was over an hour before our fellowship meal and I didn't have the heart to leave them in the rain. It was like herding cats. Pray with me about what we could do to build relationships not just with these kids, but with their families. Is there something we could do before supper with them to help that happen?

-We had two developmentally disabled adults with us for supper tonight. Sometimes they can go overboard with the volume of their interaction and persistent pursuit of it. And yet they teach us so much about how we are to relate to people with the love of Jesus. So we love them as they are. And in the doing of it, we change to be more loving.

-It was potluck night and cuisine from all over the world covered the table. People brought their best to share with their family of faith. Some set up, others cleaned up. We celebrated a birthday together (Happy Birthday Kira!) We celebrated BEING together. We partied like it was AD 34. (Insider joke - Christians shared everything back in the day - everyday)

-Once dinner was over, we spent some time around the tables talking about the needs in our community agonizing over the number of families we could help get through the Christmas season. There's more of a need than ever. We're going to do everything we can. A lot of times in church people get mad because in their view the church is doing too much. Well, the quickest way to start a fight last night would have been to try and do too little.

-And then we prayed.

There's no telling how many prayers I have heard over the years - thousands, no doubt. But the sound of multiple people praying - hearing the same names repeated over and over and petitions lifted -never gets old.

Tonight there were several times as I prayed silently and listened to others praying that I quietly said "amen". From our lips to God's ears as they say. Let it be so Lord. Hear our prayers.

But then Diane prayed for our niece Abby - and her mom, and broke down in asking God to bless Abby's mom, confessing she didn't know how anyone could handle it. Diane's heart just couldn't contain everything she was feeling. I think it got really quiet in heaven as God heard her and the silent pleas of the rest of us for God to give strength, comfort, and hope to a girl, a Mom, and a family in need of it all. You could feel the Holy Spirit at work - right then - right there.

Prayer... matters.

I thanked God again last night for being placed in the company of the saints at New Hope.

Faith. Hope. Love.

And the greatest of these is love.