Wilmington Conference

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12

I had the enormous privilege to be an Assistant Director at Wilmington Conference this summer. The opportunity came unexpectedly, in the middle of the rest of life, you might say. Several other plans were set aside (with no small sacrifice made by Heather, to whom I am amazingly grateful), and through much prayer the decision was made to accept the invitation. I have to say up front that it is strange going to camp as an Assistant Director when I had never before even attended a CYF Conference. This was Patricia’s first year at Conference as well, so the two of us, rookies both, headed up to Camp Christian together.

The week itself was filled with laughter, filled with the Holy Spirit, and filled with this inner sense that what I was witnessing was a glimpse of the kingdom of God. Male and female, pale skin and dark skin, 1st year and 4th year, adult and teenager, all part of God’s work to build up the hearts of God’s people. Nic Turner was such a great Boy-co (Co-President of the Conference). You see, Nic was serious when he needed to be, knew when and how to be silly and playful, and generally led the Conference through all the variety of the week. This young man, whom far too many of us have known his whole life but still don’t really know, showed depth and warmth and friendship and faith. And he wasn’t alone. Nic’s leadership would not have been as strong as it was without the support of his lifelong friends Zakk and Alex. Of course, they were the ones on the silly side of life, but that was good. Molly is and was the friend her peers could lean on. Then there was my Patricia, who drank in the experience and had a terrific first year.

As I pray over the week, my prayer for all of us is that we will consider those times when we have seen the kingdom of God all around us, and that when we do those times will stick with us as we live our faith. You see, the kingdom of God is more real than the “real world”, because life in God’s reign will last forever, and in the end, love and faith and God have the last word. I will always remember the week we shared. Thank you, God, for getting me there and for opening my eyes and my heart. And thank you, Mt. Healthy, for the honor of sharing my heart with you.

In Christ,

Michael

Amazing What a Little Relaxation Can Do

This week we've been on vacation. Not the get in the car, drive several hours, do so much that you need a vacation from your vacation kind of vacation. Instead, this has been a vacation where we get out of bed when we wake up, we sit on the back porch sipping coffee and watching the cars hurry to wherever they are going, we laugh and play, we can be quiet and reflective, and generally, we can be thankful for the life we share together and grateful for the way God moves in our lives and in the lives of our churches.

After a couple of days, it became clear just how much this vacation was needed. I had begun to lose focus on the life of the church and how we can serve our community. I got caught up in the immediate, day to day operation of the church. But amazingly, prayer this week has been full of the voice of God. Little mustard seeds, creative ideas, future-oriented and big picture stuff that makes life in Mt. Healthy seem more exciting, more challenging, more about God, more about being followers of Jesus.

So, as I reflect on that, here's something for you: do you need a vacation? Ask yourself a couple of questions. What happens when you pray? Are you seeing the big picture? Are you "seeing visions and dreaming dreams" when you take time to listen for the voice of God in your life, in the church's life, in the community's life, in the world?

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:3

In Christ,

Michael

What Happens When the Holy Spirit Comes?

When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes--the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father--he will confirm everything about me. John 15:26

As I prepared to share a message in worship on Pentecost Sunday (which was yesterday), I struggled with how to talk about the Holy Spirit. Too often, we just ignore the concept and even the person of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We believe in God, and we believe in Jesus. But when the Holy Spirit comes up, we get uncomfortable. And I think that is a huge problem. Why? Because my observation is that our discomfort with the Holy Spirit is more about our idolatry of self and less about a misunderstanding of who the Holy Spirit is.

Yes, idolatry. The Holy Spirit is God alive in our midst, active and alive, filling, protecting, leading the people of God into God's mission in the world. We, however, are uncomfortable. Why? Because if we were filled with the Holy Spirit, that would mean that we are no longer in charge of our own lives. And isn't that the point? Look at life the way you have lived it, and at history. The reality is that when we mistake our own comfort, our own convenience, our own agendas, for God's mission, we mess things up big time. I am very familiar with how this works out in my own life. My heart is as prone to this idolatry as anyone's. Still, the purpose of being filled with the Holy Spirit is so that we can join God on the mission of Jesus Christ. Are you hungry for that kind of life?

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and not filled with ourselves, this is what life looks like:

1. We are energized and motivated to share Jesus so that other people will know him and love him as Lord and Savior.
2. We are hungry and active in the pursuit of a stronger faith, and our lives look more and more like Jesus' life.
3. We live by the truth of God, and are no longer distracted by the lies handed us by the world.

We are called to have that kind of life. Thank you, God.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created anew, and you will renew the face of the Earth.

In Christ, Michael

Gifted People

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Romans 12:6

This month, the church celebrates the day and begins the season of Pentecost. The word means “50 days.” 50 days, with Easter being day 1. The celebration also coincides with a festival in the Jewish tradition that takes place on the 50th day after the Passover celebration called the “Feast of Weeks”, when the farmers of Israel would present their tithes (of their crops) to God. Christians celebrate the day as the arrival of the Holy Spirit, when the message that Jesus had shared with the world was now given to followers of Jesus to live out. What does that mean? It means that since Jesus is no longer here, we have been called and empowered to share the message of faith, hope and love, and that we will be led and protected by the same Spirit of God that lived inside of Jesus.

Which brings us to the subject of spiritual gifts. You see, as followers of Jesus, we too are given the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. Every Christian is unique and special, with particular gifts to share so that the world may know Jesus, and so that the church can be strengthened and more faithful. Did you know that you have a calling to ministry that only you can accomplish? That is the whole idea behind the concept of spiritual gifts. Jesus talked about it like this: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

How do we discover what our particular gifts may be? It takes looking inside of yourself and discovering who you are on the inside. Are you by nature generous? Do people seem to turn to you when they need encouragement? Can you keep a clear head when everyone around you is panicking? Do people ask you to pray for them a lot? Do you seem to be able to motivate others to action? Can you speak to others in a way that inspires them to grow in their faith? Can you tell the difference between the truth and what is either hype, fluff, or a lie? Do children seem to be magnetically drawn to your smiling face? All of these things are possibilities.

Look inside yourself. Discover not only what you do well, but also find the things that either excite you or break your heart, and there you will find your calling, your gifting. When we all find our spot, our giftedness, amazing God-sized things will happen. Can you see it yet?

“And we. . . are being transformed into Jesus’ image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

In Christ,
Michael

Faith, Like Baseball

“Well, beat the drum, and hold the phone, the sun came out today.
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.” John Fogerty

If you know me well, you know how much I love baseball. When I was a kid, I would leave my house at 9:30 in the morning during the summer (I would have left earlier but my mother said 9:30 was early enough), ride my bike over to Bill Siedler’s house, and Bill, his brother Bobby, and I would play baseball in their backyard until dark. Yes, we took breaks to eat. Sure, others would join us sometimes, or we would join them for awhile (the Woehr brothers, who lived next door to the Siedlers, seemed to always bring Danny's pet rats outside during a game we were playing), but mostly it was just us. Many nights, we would try to get that last inning in before it was too dark to see the ball. My childhood memories of summer are surrounded by baseball. When I did stay home, the nights were filled with the voices of Marty and Joe and their tales of heroes and villains clothed in uniforms of white and gray. Even now, baseball captures my imagination, and teaches me a lot about how life, and yes, how faith, work.

People can approach their lives like baseball fans do, and watching the behavior of fans gives an example. Yankee fans expect to have the world on a platter. With 20-something World Series championships, anything less than winning the World Series is a disappointment. Then there are Cub fans (Red Sox fans used to be like this, too, but they have won 2 World Series since 2004, so it’s different now). Cub fans, no matter how good their team is (and lately, they’ve really been very good), are always looking for disaster to strike. That will happen when it’s been over 100 years since your team has won it all. In ’69, the Mets stole their miracle after the black cat ran around in front of their dugout. In ’03, they were so close to the World Series they could taste it, but then Steve Bartman became the goat of the hour. Since 1945 (the last time they made the Series), they have lived under the so-called “curse of the Billy goat”. Reds fans (and I am one), as Paul Daugherty writes, are not so much demanding as expectant that after 9 years of losing and 14 years without a playoff berth, something good has to happen for their team, and soon.

So—what does any of this have to do with faith? Well, don’t we all deal with disappointment and hunger in life? Aren’t we thrilled when life is going well and people are excited about what the next day might bring? Don’t we all wish that sometimes people would be as loyal to faith when times are tough as they are to their ball clubs? Or maybe it’s the other way—fickle fans make us glad that our loyalty to God, and to our church, is stronger than that. After all, the result of our faith is more certain than the results produced by our favorite baseball team. Jesus has conquered death and offers us life that lasts forever. Which leaves us all with a question—do we get just as excited about God as we do about sports? I pray that we are more excited than that.

To borrow from Joe, this is the old lefthander rounding third and heading for home (remember, in life as in baseball, if you swing the bat, you’re dangerous).

In Christ,
Michael

Thoughts on Lent

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. Matthew 6:33-34 (The Message)

What is the primary lesson we learn as we travel through Lent? Do we learn that the discipline of sacrifice is difficult? Do we learn that loving others as God has loved us is difficult? Do we learn that what others consider empty rituals have life and meaning after all?

We learn all those things, yes, but none of them is the primary lesson we learn when we observe Lent. The primary lesson is a refresher on the Great Commandment—“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Everything else in the life of faith is commentary on those two commands. Lent prepares us to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead with a real appreciation for the sacrifice that was required in order to get there. How can we be grateful to Jesus for dying for us, if we do not see why that took place and the real difference his sacrifice makes for our lives?

I’ll close with a story from the material we are sharing together at Mt. Healthy on Wednesday nights. “The Talmud teaches that every person should fully repent one day before his death. ‘But how will I know when that day is?’ you may ask. ‘Treat every day as if it were the day before your last.’ Arrange your life around what matters most. Starting today.”

In Christ,
Michael

Life by the Spirit or the Flesh?

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives,

much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—
things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity.

We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart,
and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people.

We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force out way in life,
able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)

As I write this, Valentine’s Day weekend is approaching. People everywhere are searching for some romantic gift, some loving experience. We all want that special someone to know how much we love them, and we look forward to their expression of devotion in return. But sometimes people get caught up in living for themselves. All their work, all their thoughts, everything, serves their own interest and seeks out their own way all the time.

This stuff got discussed in the Bible all the time. Paul had a phrase to describe it. He called it, “Living by the flesh.” And he also described what it was like to live that way. Here is how Eugene Peterson paraphrases things in The Message: “It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all consuming but never satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.” Galatians 5:19-21

Do I really have to explain why that is no way to live? I didn’t think so. But in contrast, Paul spoke of life lived God’s way. He described the good life which bears fruit for God. That kind of life fills the days and the years with joy, and gives meaning to the special events we celebrate, like Valentine’s Day. If that was the only day the person we cared about ever told us we were special, it wouldn’t mean very much, would it? A full life, however, lived God’s way, bears fruit not only for God but for the people with whom we share life. The fruit of the Spirit is the result of a life guided and filled by the Spirit. The traditional version of that list reads like the best result of our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When others look back at your life, let that be what they see.

In Christ,
Michael