Through out my 54 plus years on earth I have often times reacted to the response of people around me. If some one cuts me off in traffic, I will make a less than complimentary remark or gesture. If someone does not respond with the attitude I expect from an expression of generosity on my part, I would categorize them as ungrateful and turn my actions away from being generous in that way again. I am then able to develop the mindset all people in need don't appreciate my help so I am not going to help them.
Last summer all of this began to change in my life when I decided to change (I guess one can teach an old dog new tricks) due to a mission trip I went on down to the gulf coast. The change began during our orientation time when the pastor of the church talked with our group. One of the things he said was these people have been dealing with this for a long time and they might not express the thanks you would expect from your efforts because they have been overwhelmed by their experience. I took that statement to heart and began to realize I was not on this mission trip to feed my ego based upon the thanks I received from the people I was helping. I was on this trip because I felt called by God to help people in need.
This past week I was talking with another person who had taken several to the gulf coast with a group who had gone several times. He commented to me that he would not go back on another trip because on the last trip he had taken someone in his group asked the people they were helping why they were not working along side the group rather than stand around watching the work that was going on. When they did not receive the answer they wanted the group decided that was their last trip. I might add that one of the houses we worked on last summer the people stood around and watched and did not help and I received comments from our people about their inactivity but I was able to respond in a way that enabled them to see we were there not based upon their thanks or their work but based upon our call to help those in need.
As a child of God and one who lives by faith I can not expect everyone to respond to my actions in the way I expect. I do have control over how I respond to the call of God in my life. I have finally figured out that God desire for me is to be faithful to my call and not base my actions on the response I receive from others. That change has made all the difference in my approach to ministry.
How do you approach your call from God?

At the start of every year people who keep track of trends publish a list of things that are trendy along with a list of things that have become passe'. One of the things I continue to struggle with in my own faith journey is the temptation to jump on the latest bandwagon of the latest trend when it comes to the church. Rather than taking the time to stop and pray about if this is right for the church or for my life it is easier to try to grab a hold of the latest trend to see if it will work. In most cases I have found such an approach to have excitement for a while but the long lasting results of that style is really short lived.
It is easy to give into the temptation of the moment because it is right in front of you and can be had for a minimal amount of effort. But if long lasting results are what I desire (and i do) then I have discovered I have failed miserably at the overall goal. Trend jumping from latest gimmick to the next great thing that comes along only takes away energy that could be used in more productive areas.
Rather than jump from trend to trend I have discovered the need to put an idea to prayer rather than jump into a program or idea headfirst. This helps me to seek the direction of God for this idea along with allowing the excitement for the project level out so a more balanced decision can be made rather than on just emotion alone. Praying about such an idea also gives me the time to share this idea with some other people to see how they respond to it and see if God is leading them to make such a commitment to the project. It is much easier to move forward with others on board for a project rather than try to push others to get on board an idea they have not had time to think about.
Patience is needed on my part because if something is long lasting it will stand the test of time rather than just go out as last year's hot idea.

I have become more convinced as time goes on the strength of a church lies in it's prayer life. I have seen very good churches struggle when they forget to pray. I have also seen struggling churches take on new life when they begin to develop an active, vital prayer life. The same can be said for individual Christians: the stronger the prayer life the more vital their faith. I know this for a fact when I am going through a difficult time it is more than likely because I have not taken enough time to pray about the issue.
But effective prayer is not treating God like a genie in a bottle, something we use when we wish for something to happen but more often than not that is the extent of the prayer life of a lot of people. Effective prayer is simply communicating with God, talking to God and listening to God. It is making contact and allowing the presence of God to touch your life.
About thirty years ago I was asked the question: if your whole church had your prayer life would it be considered a praying church? At that time I was a college student and had a very active prayer life. I would be constantly talking to God about everything that was going on in my life. Since that time when I have thought about the question I think back and wonder what happened. My prayer life is not what it what once was I have gotten busy with other things and put prayer aside as an option for my life or when I really get in a mess.
Let me share with you a story of two churches: the pastor of the first church wanted to make prayer a priority so a time of prayer was started prior to the services on Sunday morning. The service was sporadically attended by a faithful few but there was always room in the chapel where the service was held to put a few more people. The pastor talked for a while about how he wanted the church to be a praying church but the time spent in prayer in worship and in the meetings and in the groups of the church stayed the same. Other than the program beginning nothing else changed.
In the second church the pastor also wanted a renewed emphasis on prayer and it began in the meetings of the church. They decided before they make any sort of decision in a meeting time needs to be spent in prayer over the issue seeking the direction of God for the church and for people's involvement. After a while some things began to happen, people began to take a more active role in the church, then tried new ideas, the began to reach out more and life in the church became much more vibrant.
After several years both churches have changed pastors and have had their share of issues but the second church has been moving forward while the first church is struggling and I believe it is because they only give a verbal appearance of how important pray is for the life of their church.
How is your prayer life?

Learning From Life

I had two things happen today which spoke to me in the same way. I attended and participated in an ordination service for a person in my region. I love going to ordination services because they remind me of the day I was ordained and when the candidate is acknowledging their vows for ministry I am reminded of the vows I took almost 26 years ago. In giving some advice to the candidate the speaker giving the sermon reminded the candidate (and all the people present) that ministry is not about us but about being a servant of God.
The second thing which happened today was I was reading a blog of a colleague who is staring a new church and in that process he is striving to turn his life over to God. In doing so he is getting out of the way and allowing the Spirit to work in his life in this most important mission.
As I thought about both events I began to realize both are saying the same thing if I am going to be a follower of the Christ then I need to trust God with things both big and little and then I begin to see how God is able to work in my life and the lives of those around me.
Take a moment and think about the thing which are hindering you from having a closer walk with God. What are some of those things and what would it be like to turn them over the the Christ?

Several years ago I had the opportunity to tour a monastary in Southern Indiana. As we were on the tour we entered the sanctuary of the main church and the brother leading the tour called our attention to the mural of Christ at the far end of the sanctuary. He gave us a little information about the giant mural, the artist had come from Europe and spent several weeks completing the painting. It stood about 20 feet high, it was massive. Then he made a statement about the painting: "When one looks at the painting from this distance (we were at the farthest point from the mural we could be and still be in the church) the Christ seems rather cold and harsh, the colors look dark and unfriendly, but as you get closer to the mural you will notice the colors will brighten and the friendlier and warmer the Christ appears. The same is true with our life when one is far away from God; God seems cold and harsh, but as one gets closer to God the warmer and friendlier God appears to ones life.
With that story in mind if you were to rate your closeness to God on a scale between 1 and 10 with 1 being far away and 10 very close how would you rate relationship with God?What would cause your relationship to grow closer? What are some of the things which would cause you to move further away from God?
Let me know what you think

One of my goals for the near future is to make better contact with youth of my congregation. I have reactivated this blogspot with the hope of engaging in a spiritual conversation with the youth of Good Shepherd, and any other interested party which includes other church members and other youth or adults. Every week or so I plan to ask a question or make a statement of a spiritual nature with the hope it will generate some thoughts or ideas concerning your own spiritual life. It is my hope to then respond to each person and carry on a spiritual dialogue with the aim of helping you to grow in your faith. I will also take time to answer the question I ask because I don't believe it is fair to ask a question of someone and don't take the time to answer it myself.
With this in mind this weeks question: Who has had the most impact on your spiritual life?

I can think of several people who have had a major impact on my spiritual life. Early in my life my grandmother was very influential because I used to attend church with her and even when I was in college I would spend a lot of time talking with her and about spiritual issues. I always felt she would listen and not give me advice but was always encouraging me in my pursuit of education and going into ministry. My home pastor also gave me a great deal of direction and encoragement as I grew in the Christian faith. His door was always open when I wanted to discuss an issue I was struggling with at the time. In addition I have always been impacted by people in each Church I have served. I have had people who spent time praying for my ministry and were very behind the scenes people but they way they quietly lived out their faith has always had a big impact on my life. Finally there are my family members especially my wife and daughters and sons in law. In their own unique way each of them has challenged me in my journey of faith. Take time to let me know what you think about the question.