Teachable Moments

It was the Friday before our week of state high-stakes testing called the FCAT. The pressure on kids and teachers was building minute by minute it seemed. The kids know that the tests decide whether they pass or not. The teachers know that the desire or lack of it to pass, the way the children might feel, or any number of factors they can't control might literally cost them their career. So the anxiety builds day by day.

We try to lower it through thorough preparation - through encouragement and praise. We test to find out where the weaknesses are and we teach and reteach. It's systematic and professional. We're told - and we hope that pre-work - will be effective. But there are certain things that go beyond that. There are moments when teaching happens - really happens. One of those occurred yesterday.

Every morning, I have the kids do an opening activity. It can be a few math problems, a topic to research quickly on the PCs, or a short one page story to read and answer questions on. The idea is to help build skills over time. Recently one of the best teachers I know sent my the worksheets she uses. They have a fact about each weekday on them and have been well received by the kids.

Well yesterday in was about Apollo 13's "Houston we have a problem."

I had other work scheduled for the first hour of the day after they completed the task. But they kept asking me questions about the worksheet.

So I went to the PC and found the clip from the movie, and Tom Hanks captivated them.

More questions shot out, so I found a National Geographic clip with the actual film of the astronauts and support people explaining what it was like - punctuated with the real film of the events as them happened. At various points I'd stop and ask and answer questions, relating them to what we had learned this year.

Jim Lowell had to hand input the coordinates at one point to ensure the spacecraft was aimed at the right point. Off one way and they'd shoot past Earth into space. An error the other way would mean their death as they burned up in Earth's atmosphere. Lowell did the calculations as we watched. It was Math we had practiced the day before.

Then he asked Houston to check his work. Like we do.

That sort of thing went on for 30 minutes. At the end of the film, when the astronauts splashed down safely, the kids clapped.

And I asked them "Did you see Jim Lowell do that Math?" "When do you think he learned that?

4th grade.

"Do you think it mattered whether he had worked hard and learned all he could in fourth grade?" "Do you think it could matter whether you work hard for me while you are in the classroom?"

One child said "It sure could. They could have died if he had goofed off in school."

SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wrapped it up reminding them how proud I was of them, of how hard they had worked, and how I knew they were going to ROCK the FCAT. Then it was time to leave for PE and they were out the door.

Teaching. It happens sometimes. :)

The Silence of Saturday Before Easter

"It's over." "He's gone."

We miss it almost every year. We forget that the people we read about in the accounts of the events that make up Easter weekend even had a Saturday filled with nothing more than grief, loss, and crushing doubt. The day before they saw their worst nightmares come true before their eyes. Everything they had given three years of their lives to - the central pivot point to every step they made - was dead and buried.

They shared one of the questions that dog us even today - What now?

Some are paralyzed with grief and become almost catatonic, unable to do anything at all. Loss does that.

You lose a family member that has always "been there for you." Now you and the rest of the family have to figure out how to relate to each other - how to live as a family.

You lose a  job that provided for your family, and gave you satisfaction and a sense of identity - is lost. Now you are dealing with a pack of howling doubts about how you are going to make it, and even whispers asking who are you and are you capable of getting another job. The tightness in your throat, the rumbling in your stomach just won't go away. And your family is looking at your for guidance and for security.

Others make peace with the loss and move on, doing what they believe they should do. Little noted in the accounts of the days of Easter are the women who went shopping on Saturday for the spices they'd use to make sure Jesus' body was prepared to the max. If they couldn't change the past, they'd be found faithful with what they could do.

That's living on Saturday, isn't it. The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter.

Living in the fellowship of suffering.

So let's embrace it for what it can teach us about God and His relationship with those who love Him.

First, let's eliminate the biggest fear. God is not dead, He is not asleep, He isn't pretending not to notice our pains and sorrows. We might think so based on what we've seen happen, but if Easter teaches us anything, it should be that God is always at work - even when we can't see Him.

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Deut 31:6 (NLT) BTW, that's repeated in Hebrews 13 as well.

So God is at work, then what is this experience designed to do? Well, what were we told about faith?
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Heb 11:1 (NLT)

Listen - I've been there and done this too many times. When the storms come, you have to move toward a deeper understanding and practice of your faith. You have to put your fears and doubts behind you and use them as a push to go farther. It's NOT EASY. You might say "I can't do it." And really, many of us can't.

But GOD can.  - your absence of what it took created the perfect opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. God showed up BIG TIME that first Easter weekend, and His power is available to you today. 


Resurrection power.

Think about it. Pray about it.

Then go out and live an Easter life no matter what day it is.

Because the believer in Jesus knows life's greatest secret.

It may be Saturday - but Sunday's coming.

We all need people

36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.”37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed.38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Matt 26:36-38 (NLT)

It's hard.

Hard to admit you need help.

Not help moving, or "show me how you...", or "can you loan me $20?" help.

Help with your heart. Help with making it through.

They taught me in seminary about the so-called "ministry of presence." I can remember at the time, filled with all the hubris a new pastor could have, thinking I could go into the hard places, tough situations, and bring a "word" that would almost certainly help. In no way would I ever say that the Word can't make a difference, but there are times when words - our words - fail.

There have been times in my life when it felt as if I would slip under the waves of sorrow. Reaching out, I'd only grasp more pain.

And into those places came people who loved me and cared enough to draw near.

I cannot imagine how Jesus must have felt. Just thinking about it brings me to tears. To read that the most loving and joyful person who has ever lived was "anguished and distressed" and felt crushed by grief makes me feel the shame that the reason in part He had to endure it was my sinfulness.

We need each other. To divide the sorrows and multiply the joy.

Come and join us as we mourn tomorrow night.

Come join us as we rejoice Easter Sunday.

On the good days

Was just sitting here while  the TV plays in the background and thinking about music for Easter Sunday, our Good Friday service, my teaching portfolio and the papers on the couch next to me that need to be graded - almost simultaneously - and not making progress on any of them. Had a tough day at school on the heels of a roller coaster ride yesterday with church and if you pressed me, I'd describe the way I feel right now as "weary."

On the good days, preaching and teaching are two of the most rewarding things I can ever imagine doing.

You get a front row seat. How cool is that?

Things happen in the lives of people that literally change them and the trajectory of their lives forever. You are right there when it happens. When they "get it" and when they "get Him."

On the good days.

On the other days people refuse to listen, choose not to care, put themselves above everything and everyone despite everything you try. Sometimes they'll even drag others with them away from where they know they need to go. It happens. No matter what you do.

The veteran pastor is now telling the first year teacher to give it away to God and go back to school tomorrow believing that someone's life will change. He ought to know after years of seeing people rise and fall, grow close to Jesus and fade away. You do all you can, every time you can, and you trust God.. You believe, even though you cannot see. You have faith.

Good days or bad days, you have faith, because He is good.

"In this life you will have trouble. But take heart, for I have overcome the world."

Thank you Jesus.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

They say Julius Caesar fought a very short war in Turkey and when someone asked him about it, he very uncharacteristically (Caesar liked to hear himself talk) quipped "Veni, Vidi, Vici" - "I came, I saw, I conquered." They threw a Triumphant Parade for Caesar when he came home.

They threw one for Jesus too.

We are on the cusp of a very special week as I write this. Sunday will begin Holy Week in Christian churches all around the globe. In thousands of languages and dialects, the story of Jesus' Passion will be told. Don't miss it. Give your time and attention to this week and use it to regain your focus on what really matters. Palm Sunday is a day of beginnings.

John 12:17-19 (Msg) The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. [18] It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. [19] The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: "It's out of control. The world's in a stampede after him."

If Gallop, Barna, or Harris had taken a poll, Jesus would have been proclaimed king in a landslide that Palm Sunday, as even his enemies admitted that His popularity was at an all time high. People thronged to see Him enter Jerusalem. But within a few days, people in Jerusalem were crying for Him to be executed as a criminal. And so He was. How did Jesus handle not just a change in popularity, but intense rejection? How can we learn from what He did?

Now we'll never enter Jerusalem at the head of thousands of our followers. But we enjoy being praised, and we like being liked. What happens to our convictions when we aren't? How do we handle it when our beliefs are opposed, ignored, or even ridiculed?

What principle can we look at to guide our way?

Well what did Jesus do?

John 12:27-28 (Msg)
"Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. [28] I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.' "

Knowing that this celebration would end, and that the week would find Him bruised, battered, and crucified, Jesus looked not to His circumstances for direction, but to God. He didn't put a finger into the wind. He didn't take a poll. He didn't ask His friends.

He went to God the Father. It was God's will that He used like a homing beacon. It was His passion to please God and glorify His name that kept Him going. And it was His love for the Father that drove Him to the cross.

What are you here for?

Glorifying God. That's why you were placed here in the first place.

Take the next week and use it to redirect your focus off the things of this life. Use the lens of Jesus' Passion to help you push toward deeper things - toward God. People aren't going to always be cheering your efforts you know. Sometimes you will miss that shot at the buzzer. Sometimes you'll dribble off your foot.

But God will always be in your cheering section, encouraging you. The cheering may stop here, but heaven will raise a ruckus when you come home. Jesus came. He saw our needs. And He conquered death.

That's Grace!

Cleaning Up Everything But the Memories

 

Well, it finally happened. Those of you who know me well will laugh (maybe even out loud) when I write that I cleaned up my office this week. No, not the one at church - that's a national treasure trove - but the one here at home is almost organized. It was time and I had time.

In the process I found a lot that I needed to keep.

Some of the things, like my Mother's New Testament that she carried during World War 2, or the picture of my friend Henley the Great Dane, I keep close to me always. But as I waded through the bits and pieces of literally a couple of years, I found a lot that made me think - that made me remember times both good and bad.

I found the note from the bank that precipitated the crisis but turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg we had struck. I laughed quietly thinking about how bravely I went to the people of New Hope and said "We have an opportunity to see God do the impossible." We committed ourselves to pray and to trust our God to provide.

And He did.

It didn't rain manna. No waters parted. But notes began arriving from people - some who had never attended New Hope - and many who had. The notes had checks from Maryland, Alaska, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, Florida, even Nigeria. Miracles every one. Answers to prayer.

As I found each envelope, I stopped and took a moment to remember the people who sent them, and thanked God again for every one of them. One note said to wait a couple of days before depositing the check as the funds had not been transferred yet. I wondered if someone tapped their 401K or emergency savings to help a church they used to be a member of (and are still a part of ) make it through. Other notes asked about how Bunny and I were doing. The crazy thing is that we knew that the situation was perilous, but we believed that no matter what, God was on our side. Even if New Hope ceased to exist, and we had to find a way to make a living and learn to live without our friends of almost 13 years, God could be trusted. He was good. He is good.

Friends, you have never truly lived out your faith until you are on that tightrope. No skill can save you. Nothing can get you over except God.

He did.

And He still is.

The Beast

The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars.

Johnny Cash

We watched "Walk the Line" years ago and were moved by the story and began to appreciate Johnny Cash more. Johnny Cash was one of those things that you take for granted growing up, assuming that they will always be there. Now he's not. Just when the world realized what a treasure we had, he left for heaven. His video of "Hurt" filmed in the months before he died was the most raw video I have ever seen. It was like seeing poetry, art, drama, and music pressed into one. Sitting like Solomon writing "all is vanity," Cash showed us just what "vanity" looked like.

He was a man who had horrendous flaws in his character. And he didn't excuse them away. His understanding led him to turn away from his strength - that frail and fragile strength - to search for something more than fame and success. He turned to faith in Jesus.

Funny thing was, he once had been a regular attender at church. It was easy. "You went every week, put in your time, and went home. But nothing changed. You still lived the same way during the week."

It wasn't until Johnny had almost lost it all and had contemplated taking his own life - that He and God "got back together."

"How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man."
Johnny Cash

Thank God that Johnny was able to have the time he needed to come home - to get off the fence and leave that chasm behind forever. There must be millions though who are still stuck there.

We saw a man dressed in black. And yet, inside him, was the Light.


Eugene Peterson's Message Bible gives us this version of an awesome piece of Scripture. Just a scrap, really. But as I sit here and think about my own walk with God- as I sit among tokens of both failure and success - I realize again just how far God had to reach to save me.

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 - The Message

Friends, it's never too late to let God take over. Incomparable power is there if you'll just let go, seek forgiveness, and turn toward God. For me, it was a life saver. It could be for you too.

A Good Place To Be What God Wants You To Be

I'm sitting in the lobby here at New Hope Baptist Valparaiso. 


In front of me is a bulletin board filled with faces of kids people in our congregation sponsor around the world. You can do this! Check out Compassion, World Vision, or Amazima.


To my left are bags made by women in Africa that we sell to help give them better lives. Check out Africabags.org


There's a banner from Soles4Souls, Inc., flyers from The Water Project who we've helped drill wells - our congregation exists to love God and love people - all over the world. 


I was sitting here thinking about how instead of asking for money to pay salaries, or build bigger buildings-instead of  asking people to give to help New Hope - Bunny and I field calls from people asking "what do you need?" and we spend most of our time during the announcements telling people how to send their money away to other ministries who we feel God has His hand on.


We're delivering over a 100 meals in our city now every week. It's totally an act of God's provision. Totally.


And we should thank Him every day for the privilege of seeing Him at work in such a clear and present way.


If you want to learn how to be a giver and live a generous life - this is a place that will teach you how and give you a chance to make a difference. If you need to "be fed" you probably can find a place on every corner.


But if you want to feed people - if you want to feed the Spirit of Christ in you by service and sacrifice?


Come and see.

Rubber, Meet Road

When I looked at this week's Scripture, I knew that all I had to do was get out of God's way and let the Scripture speak. It's a very counter-cultural message. The world tells you to live for today. Christ calls us to die to self and forsaking all else - follow Him.



We spend so much of our lives and lead our children and others to do it as well - on things that really don't matter. Day after day, we make decisions about how to spend our time, what priorities to set, how to use our resources. Then we get to the end of our days and realize that we have reaped what we have sowed.

We have to make the decision in advance to give our lives away. A few years ago in Iraq, two Marines were sent out to man a guard post on the main access point into a base at Ramadi. They met that morning for the first time. One was from the barrio the other from Long Island. They probably got their orders from their SGT in typical Marine  fashion. "You know what to do now go do it."

They did.

When did they make that decision?

When they swore to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

How did they prepare for that day?

By living a life of sacrifice, dedication and commitment every single day.

The motto is Semper Fidelis - Always faithful - not sometimes faithful - when I feel like being faithful - when it doesn't fall in conflict with band, or baseball, or soccer, or Nascar, or the beach, or what someone thinks is important.

The law of sowing and reaping isn't up for debate. It isn't going to change.

You only get one chance at life.

You only get one shot as a Dad or a Mom to parent a child in the way God would have you do it. They look to you to learn what really matters in this life. And yet we worry more over how they are doing in school, in sports or some other earthly pursuit than we do about the most critical question of life - are they a disciple of Jesus? Ultimately that's all that matters. And most of us would give lip service to that, but day after day, week after week we keep sowing to the world and not to eternity and then we're amazed when our projected future turns out so differently.

I've been a pastor for a long time now.

Believe me when I tell you, I've seen the results of sowing the wrong seeds.

Don't waste your life.

Plant it deep in Jesus.

Fast friends

These two just met each other.

One of the girls was new to us yesterday - a transfer from another school in the district. They are new to the laptops too.

The laptops were a donation from a person who is both retired military and a retired teacher who has children serving now. I've received 4 so far and I am so thankful for them. When I posted about what I wanted to do in my classroom on an IBM Thinkpad forum, they responded with "what do you need?"

My immediate answer was more technology - specificially - laptops. And they came. So generous. We're so grateful.

The district provides 3 desktops for a classroom. We now can have up to 8 kids on at one time with the laptops that have been donated and if I let them use mine.

They are setting up their avatars for a math game that every student seems to be crazy about. Math. Crazy about. They can drill against the computer and every play each other online. Why there was even a rumor that one of the junior math wizards beat the teacher... twice. Hand eye coordination skillset is strong in that one.

Amazing what good technology can do. If I was able to get every kid engaged at the same time... :)

The FCAT is coming in April and my kids started the year behind. They won't finish there.

Too much to say and too little time to say it

I know, I know - I haven't been writing as frequently as I once did. To think that this is the same guy who wrote a devotional every day for years and then to now look and see how little I write - life changes have grabbed a lot of the reflective time from me that fuels my writing. So many days now are just a blur- the feeling is like when as a kid you were on that playground device that you and several others sat on and pulled a bar at the top and pushed one at your feet - spinning wheel that went round so fast you'd get dizzy - that's the sum of almost every day.

I'm out the door around 6:15 and at work a few minutes later, then home around 5. We greet and eat and then I might chill for a little while, but then the grind of grading papers or planning for the next day just snatches the minutes until it's time for bed. Rinse, wash, and repeat. Except Friday when Bunny and I can enjoy some down time. Saturday is the get it done day and then that evening it is sermon finishing time.

Wednesdays are super, super long for Bunny who is cooking the meals that I'll help pack and sometimes deliver later in the evening with our New Hope friends. When I went to work at school I was cooking for 75 people. Well now we deliver more than that each week. She works all day long here at the house doing that and getting the music ready for the praise team practice at 5:30. Then she teaches piano, comes home, turns around, and comes back to New Hope for the practice and stays after that to teach New Hope's girls.

It's a lot.

So when we get home, more often than not she'll go to bed at 8:30 and I'll work for another hour or so and follow. Up at 5 again for Thursday and whatever it may bring.

So I want to write. I really really do.

But ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sunday

It's Sunday!

Due to the jumbled and chaotic nature of life since school started and I started teaching, I appreciate the weekends more than I ever have. Friday is joy because I get to spend the weekend with my wife. For so many years we were almost always together during the day as I worked at home and then we both headed to church - for her to teach piano and for me to catch up with things I couldn't do here - so the separation of 9-12 hours a day is very different. When Friday afternoon comes, I spend some time reflecting on the week, make some preliminary plans, clean up a little - and I'm headed home.

Then Saturday comes and we usually have things to do that we couldn't get to during the week. Yesterday it was more of a rest day, but Bunny did have me outside helping as she cut some plants back. And of course we went to Walmart. Every Saturday ends with me working on the PowerPoint for the message I'll give the next day. We've been examining the Letter to the Galatians and I'm pumped to continue that today.

This week started poorly with feelings of frustration and doubt. But it ended at school with a group of kids who made progress in every area. Praise God! We said goodbye Friday to one child whose family is moving overseas. He walked up and out of the blue gave me a hug and said "I don't want to leave this class Mr.Wilson." I offered to swap with him, (since my wife and I would love to go where he is going) and he laughed and was fine. He'll do well. When I sat them all down Tuesday to tell them that our Monday wasn't our best and we talked about how we could make it better - when they pledged to follow our procedure on raising hands before speaking, he had said "We'll do better Mr.Wilson. You have my word." That young man is being taught honor and integrity at home. I will miss him. You know I'll never forget these kids.

To teach is to take on responsibility for someone else - not just in the ways that are scrutinized with standardized testing or wrung out in the grind of worksheets, quizzes, and practice. To teach is to shepherd, to pastor, to love and care for, to lead and guide toward progress in learning and growing. There are very few waking hours that I do not think about my two flocks. New Hope - my first love and primary calling - captures my heart every day as I think about the people there, those we've scattered who have moved away, and those we minister to and are trying to reach. We're up to 75 meals delivered each week and are about to go to 85 since we had none to leave for the fire department and police last Wednesday. That's not good, since those two serve us all here and deserve everything we can do to serve them, but especially since we found out that the police have been taking some of the food we leave them and feeding some homeless people camping out in a tent on a vacant lot. It's amazing that we can see God at work in visit after visit as we serve our neighborhood "least of these."

So it's Sunday and I'm going to go to New Hope and see my friends and co-laborers for the gospel. We're going to sing like there's no tomorrow - even though our tomorrows are secure in Jesus. The pastor is going to do his best to let God be God and let the Spirit speak through Scripture. We will all be in the presence of God.

And a new week, filled with the love and grace of our God who is staggeringly, amazingly, lovingly - GOOD - will remind us all again of just how blessed we truly are. This evening I'll be in lesson plan and grading papers mode, getting ready to see just how far we can go in the week to come. Knowing that prayers of my fellow believers go with me makes a huge difference. Thank you so much for them and for your encouragement. As I tell my kids "we'll get there." :)

Not A Good Day

"Some days are diamonds, and some days are stones..."

Double heaping serving of the latter please, with sprinkles of bitter disappointment.

Very tough day at school as the kids were extremely hard to keep focused and on task. They seemed to pull out all the tricks - well some of them did anyway. I got them to the end of the day but was exhausted, disappointed in myself, and still had tutoring to do.

Highlights:
"word expanding" exercise - they rocked it. They came up with words that weren't even in the list I had.
Having one boy who doesn't work much if I'm not on him - work all day.
Hearing a child care about another that doesn't get along with them. Ray of hope?

Lowlights:
9 minutes into the day one girl starts running it with another. 9 minutes in. The girl pulled every dramatic trick in her bag today. Amazing.
Having to prod, push, cajole, and move the kids to do the work all day long.
Realizing that I must not have explained well enough or produced compelling enough lessons because they can't all be "off" that much in one day.

Came home and dumped a load of all that on someone I love who is still hurting from her loss, yet still giving everything she has to her students, to New Hope, and to me, and thereby making her day worse. Then tried to get a head start on tomorrow at school and do some soul work - prayer and Bible study. Got convicted of just how awful a sinner I was today. Sigh...

I thank God for grace and forgiveness because I'm needing both tonight.

Thankful His mercies are new every morning and calling this day over and  done.

Pray for me, that I would live my faith out better tomorrow than I did today.

Simply True

Christmas Eve at the Wilson's and the simplicity of the coming of the Prince of Peace is what's on my mind. At New Hope, we don't put on a lavish production on Christmas Eve, it's a few carols, communion, and candlelight. But that, though simple, doesn't begin to capture that first night.

A feed trough. The stink of animals. The wonder of childbirth comes to a virgin and her betrothed.

And God draws near.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

The Shepherds and Angels

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,

and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. Luke 2

Break

The late Vance Havner said "If you do not come apart, you will come apart." I guess that's why teachers get a break at Christmas. I sure need it. Not only have I pushed myself harder than ever, but I've got work to do to improve my skills. Teaching today is far different than most of us remember. The kids are different, the tools are different, and the accountability is far different. I came face to face with the possibility of failure Friday, and I do not want to feel that way again.

So I'll be taking some time off from the classroom, but I will also be reaching out to tap some very skilled and accomplished teachers, reading some books on classroom management, and practicing the discipline of organization in a way I never have before. New Hope needs me to do this. My family needs me to do this. My kids need me to do this. And I need to do this.

Would I have done this if New Hope didn't need me to do it? No. Pastoring a church is a full time job. But this is where God has us and this is what I need to do to live out my calling. Teaching is a calling as well and I'm struggling right now to do it in a way that meets the principal's expectations.

Teacher friends who read this blog, touch base with me. I really can use your help in getting where I need to be as soon as I can.

On Advent's Joy

Thinking about it this week, joy is what's missing from Christmas for so many. We get so caught up in forcing happiness into what is really a sustained riot of consumer madness that we never really stop and reflect on just what Christmas does. It changes lives as the Incarnation is lived out through Christ's people. As we live with the knowledge that God truly is with us, we touch others with Christ's love.

I was walking by the communion table this morning and stopped to put it back into place. On Wednesday nights our girl's ministry "Child to Child" meets in the sanctuary so they use the stage. I was making sure the Advent wreath was placed correctly and saw the cross and crown of thorns over by the prayer bench. So I replaced it to the center of the table behind the wreath.

As I did, it struck me how many people were at the communion table with me this morning. Their gifts were all around me and would continue to give to the people at New Hope this Christmas as they had for years.

The cross was handcrafted by my father-in-love Curtis Clinard, whose talents are not only in shaping wood, but in shaping lives through his example as a follower of Jesus. The crown of thorns was given to me by my dear friend Reggie Gable. Reggie is one of the most faithful men I know and an inspiration in the way he lives out his calling. The covering of the table was made with love by Pam Roberts, who poured her life and her talents into New Hope for many years. And the table itself was here when I came 12 years ago, so that means people like Glenda Marcus, Larry and Brenda Powell, Larry and JoAnn Smith, and others who have moved are still giving to this day. Oh and the kneeling bench I retrieved the cross from? Handcrafted by Pam's husband J.C. I can look around everywhere and see the gifts they have given. I thank God for those gifts.

Advent reminds me  - count it all joy.

Joy that we've been able to lead people to know Jesus as Savior.
Joy that we've seen lives changed and Christians sent out to serve in love.
Joy that we've had a chance to serve alongside some amazing people, even if only for a season sometimes.
Joy that God continues to speak so clearly even through the simple furnishings of this, His church.
Joy to be honored with the calling to care for this church and its people.
I count it all joy.

I realize now more than ever that today is the day we inhabit, and today is the day we need to rejoice.

So from a quiet New Hope sanctuary, I pray you receive all the Joy of Christmas.

Come see us.

Comfort Ye My People

I've been sitting here this rare afternoon in my office at church and reading the Scriptures and listening to Handel's Messiah. Oh. My God!

Today was a training day for me, so I wasn't teaching and got to do what I have done literally a thousand times before - sit in my office here at church and meet with God. It's true you know, you don't know what you have until it's gone. For me now, an uninterrupted block of time that I am not working on something for school or scrambling to squeeze the meaning and purpose out of a text to teach or preach is so incredibly precious that I found myself in tears several times.

Harboring no doubts about what I've chosen to do to not just continue to serve New Hope but to see her grow in every way, still... I needed today. This past Sunday I preached my heart out through Isaiah 40. That message was built during the week prior a little here and a little there - the same way I did for years as a bivocational pastor. I was excited to be able to bring it to the congregation, gave it everything I had  and begged God for everything He would give. It seemed to resonate with people and I hope the Spirit spoke healing and direction into people's lives. I thank God for the gifts He's given and pray every day to be able to be found faithful in whatever He asks me to do.

But oh I needed today.

I'm what they call a contemplative.

My life now is so frantic that I don't get a chance to do that as much. So today, in my office, with no agenda save one - listen - I did. And it moved me so.

So before I plunge back into the flood of papers to grade, lessons to plan, and kids to think about, I'm going to listen to the incomparable Matthew Ward one more time and remember just how good my God is to me.

Shout!

Advent. It's a season that can get you to examine things you've been covering over and pretending not to notice. I've been trying to follow the readings for each day even during the busyness of teaching and pastoral work. Advent is preparation.

Behind the pulpit, and in the classroom, a lack of preparation will cause you to quickly experience fear. And that fear robs you of the effectiveness you need to speak and explain. It almost paralyzes me. The feeling is of being tied to the train tracks and seeing the light of an approaching locomotive. I just cannot preach or teach off the cuff. I have to prepare. Advent is preparation.

Sure, in the back of everyone's mind this time of year Charlie Brown and Linus are on a darkened stage. People know the story of Christmas well. But they don't necessarily know why Christmas matters or why Advent matters. Advent is preparation.

In my new dual role as pastor/teacher, I'm learning more about how the world is working and my research is returning a clear finding of "not good." "A new generation arose knowing not Joseph" wrote the scribes. Well, new generations have risen believing that the world revolves around them and that there's noting more to life than what they can see or hold in their hands. Working with kids every day, each of whom are precious in God's sight and dear to my heart, I can see the effects of society's message. And one day Jesus will return and set everything right. Advent is preparation.

"A voice said 'Shout!'"


"Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field."

Advent is preparation for life here, and life eternal with Jesus. It's acknowledging that some things God has done are simple yet complex, warm and fuzzy, but incredibly costly, and the effects that we can see may be only a fraction of what God has done. A baby was born. No big deal, right? Babies get born every day. But this one changed everything.

One day people will wake up. Maybe it'll be a week day. Or maybe the weekend will see Him come. But one day Jesus will come, not as a babe in Bethlehem, but as the leader of Heaven's Armies - as King.

Advent is preparation for that day when the Shepherd of Israel returns. To His enemies His wrath will come. To His beloved... "He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with her young." I LOVE that picture.

But while we wait...

"And so dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight."


Make every effort.

Advent is preparation. 

Take time this weekend to worship Him and study His Word.

Learning

“You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.” 
― Dr. Seuss

We are one month into the great adventure of teaching 18 third AND fourth graders at Eglin Elementary School located on the base. It has been intense. I have put a lot into getting a handle on all the myriad of little things I need to know and DO in order to not just teach but motivate my kids to learn. There are days - like today - where I get up early and work late in order to make darn sure that I am as prepared as anyone teaching tomorrow. There are some things that would make my work easier - a projector, document camera, and a Mimio would change my instruction and make it far more engaging. But here I am.

On days like today I leave school and go directly to church to help with the supper. We are now sending out 70+ meals every Wednesday evening all over Valparaiso. When Pam Roberts came to me with the idea I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to do 30. And yet here we are. Not only that, but we are feeding five families for Thanksgiving and helping with their Christmas. Once supper is loaded and gone, then I go help with music. That used to mean playing guitar but now it's serving as another pair of ears to get the sound right and occasionally filling in for the media guru, Michael Weech. Once that is over I head over to lead prayer meeting and teach.

So yeah, Wednesday is a long day - and it gets extended now so I can get ready for school tomorrow.

It's a balancing act and once I get established in the teaching side of things, I hope to be able to spend more time on the pastoral side again. I've rediscovered the tricks I used to use when I was just starting out as a pastor to get the preparation done when time is available, whether it's planned or not.And I'm praying. praying for me to learn and grow deeper as a Christian and more able as a teacher. I'm praying - for every child every day and for their families, just as I pray for the members of the congregation.

Hardest thing I have ever done. I remember times when I was growing up that my Mother would have me doing something I felt was too much work. She'd tell me that she knew it was a lot of work, but it would make me a better person and she was doing it because she loved me.

God must love me a whole lot. :)

Why I Love America

Our school (Eglin Elementary, on Eglin AFB) had a wonderful Veteran's Day walk Tuesday. The whole school went over to the All Wars Memorial on base, and when the buses parked, the kids and their parents (many of whom were in uniform) walked together to the memorial. The program was great. In preparation that morning, I had the kids writing about "Why I Love America". They worked for a while, and as I walked around and looked at their work, most centered on what they owned - X-Box 360, or what they could do "play video games, eat McDonald's" etc. A few said "freedom."

But not nearly enough.

So I got them all together and explained that when I was in elementary school, I was asked to recite something in a veteran's day program.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.


I then launched into an explanation of just why out of everything I knew or experienced of America in my life what I learned when I was about their age had stuck with me. I wanted to share it today with you. This isn't the way I explained it to 3rd and 4th graders, but my readership doesn't hold a high percentage of that demographic. :) So for you, gentle reader, here's why I love America.


We - that was huge, because until those words were penned, there was no "We", only a collection of states born from different motives and filled with people determined to live their individual lives for their own reasons. "We" was the binding principle that said to the world "We may all be individuals, but when it comes to knowing, believing, and defending at the cost of our lives if necessary - "We" are one.


Hold these truths - In the era we live in, people feel free to live their own truth. They pick it from here or there and preach toleration of whatever anyone chooses to believe. At the birth of our country, out of all the "truths" that were out there, our forefathers decided to proclaim to the world that this nation would live out a creed higher in purpose than just making a living.

That all men are created equal - I know, I know - maybe the first thing you think of is how that lofty goal took many years and the shedding of thousands of lives in a civil war to approach. And maybe you think we still aren't there. But for a nation whose inhabitants came from the rigid caste system of Europe to write this into their founding document sent to the world as why they were forming a new country - it was explosive. It marked out one corner of the world where freedom was real - or would be.

That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights - "lex rex" - the King is the law- meant that a man's rights were whatever the King said they were, or whatever the government said they were. This phrase places man's rights beyond reach of King, parliament or Congress, grounding them in God. Again, the mere idea is so far beyond anything that had ever come before in Europe, when the common man read this he knew there was one place in the world where a king's or nobleman's whims held no power over them.

"...that among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." - We frequently focus on the three mentioned, but should also notice the founders knew enough to know there were more than just those three. "Among those" means that while America wanted to let the world know that those three - "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" were at the core of what America aspired to be, there were things already acknowledged and truths accepted across cultures that would be part of America's genus as well. If we guarantee that rights are "inalienable" because they are given by God, we do not have to name them all.

The uniqueness of these phrases, regardless of the imperfectness of how we lived it out is why I love America. And I learned that in elementary school.

If we aren't inspiring kids today to remember what makes America great, the loss will be... everything.