Trying On

When our daughter Julia was 6 years old she did not want to try riding her bicycle without the training wheels. The idea of giving up the safety and stability of those extra wheels seemed ridiculous. She was perfectly happy with her current reality of training wheels.

As parents we could see and imagine for her what she could not – two wheel bicycle fun and freedom! Without training wheels she could go farther, faster and with more flexibility. We could see it for her, but she couldn’t imagine a future different from her present. So, she was having none of it whenever we suggested taking off the training wheels.

As parents, students, and business owners we all find ourselves in similar situations. How do we lead people to a future that is different from the present? How do we help people step out in the face of their fear? We can’t push folks too hard or they dig in their heels, resisting change even more. So what can we do to lead people into a future different from the present?

No doubt, this is a dilemma that God has thought a lot about too. Throughout the Biblical narrative one can imagine God scratching his head over people’s stubborn refusal to follow his commands – the ones that would lead them to freedom and joy. God tried several options to get people to change – threats, punishment, even exile. This seemed to work for seasons and yet the world remained unchanged – stuck in current reality.

Then God did something that had never been tried before – certainly never tried by anybody else’s god. God “tried on” the sinful flesh of the people who were so stuck. God identified with the people who were so scared, so stubborn, so resistant to change.

The Apostle Paul put it this way: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 1Corinthians 5:21

It is an extraordinary act of love to be willing to “try on” ideas, behaviors, dreams, and experiences that are different from your own. It is risky. You could get dirty. You could get hurt. You could die. All these were indeed a reality for Jesus.

And it also happened to be this very act of humble, self-emptying, “trying on” out of love that broke open the possibility of a future different from our present.

Starets Zosima in Dostoyevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov put it this way: “At some thoughts one stands perplexed, above all at the sight of human sin, and wonders whether to combat it by force or by humble love. Always decide ‘I will combat it by humble love.’ If you resolve on that once and for all, you can conquer the whole world. Loving humility is a terrible force: It is the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it.”

What ideas, experiences, dreams, music, or way of life is God compelling you to “try on” in loving humility? Who knows, you might be surprised to find that eventually the training wheels come off and a whole new wonderful world comes to life!

A Grace-Full Church

[Carolyn and Julia and I have begun a new chapter in ministry as we have been appointed as co-pastors at Grace United Methodist Church in St. Augustine. We wrote the following for the church's print newsletter. It's a reflection on ways we've observed the five practices of a fruitful congregation at work among the people of Grace UMC.]

We are quickly falling in love with St. Augustine and Grace United Methodist Church! For the past few weeks in worship we have been highlighting the “Five Practices of a Fruitful Congregation.” The first practice is “Radical Hospitality.” We have certainly felt your hospitality from the beautiful parsonage prepared for our family to the many cards, gift cards, and food you all have shared with us. Thank you for your hospitality to us! Furthermore, we are proud to be the pastors of a church that is full of people who are committed to the mission of making disciples of Jesus for the transformation of the world!

We have been inspired by the many different ways we have seen the people of Grace putting faith in action and making God’s love real. (The fourth practice of a fruitful congregation!) As we have met some of you and heard your stories there have been recurring themes that have come out of our conversations: compassion for the poor and homeless, care and prayer for the homebound and sick, celebration of the spiritual gifts of youth and adults with disabilities, and a commitment to improving the church's ministry to and with children, youth and young adults.

That faith in action has undoubtedly both flowed from and nurtured the church’s “Passionate Worship” and “Intentional Faith Development” (the second and third practices of a fruitful congregation). We gather each week to worship with expectation that the living God will meet us where we are and give us just what we need in order to go out and be a witness to God’s reign in the world. Grace church is doubly blessed in that we have options to worship using both traditional and modern forms of music and liturgy – both of which God is using to draw spiritual seekers and strengthen followers of Jesus.

Then we gather intentionally in smaller groups for studying God’s word together, learning to interpret and apply what we’ve learned in our everyday life. These groups help us grow up into the people God created us to be, strengthening our bond with one another and with Christ. We are so proud that Grace church understands the importance of both nurturing existing discipleship groups and regularly creating new ones – making space for the community of faith to grow!

Finally, the fifth practice of a fruitful congregation – “Extravagant Generosity.” It has inspired us already to see children as young as third grade and adults who are homebound set an example for the church in extravagant generosity.

Ava, a third grader, says, “Whenever I get money I have three jars, a giving, a savings and a spending. Ten percent goes in giving, ten percent goes in savings and the rest goes in spending. So my dad asked what I wanted to do with the giving and I made the decision to make little bags and give them to the homeless. The bags had a sandwich, a water, an apple, a dollar and a handmade card. And on Saturday morning we go out and ask people if they had breakfast. If they were hungry we’d give them a bag.”

Mrs. Pope, one of Grace’s members who can’t attend worship regularly anymore, found out that the children at Vacation Bible School were giving their money to help send some of our friends with disabilities to camp this fall. She was so touched that she said, “I’d like to send a check to help with that. Where can I send it!”

The grace of God pours out of churches that intentionally practice and improve upon Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity. Let’s keep practicing these habits together and rejoice in the amazing ways God will use us to transform the world!

Do Chairs Matter? A Reflection on Space and Mission

From the title you may be wondering if this is a blog about NASA. It's not, but I bet the chairs on any spacecraft are carefully arranged with the mission in mind.

In this blog, I’m talking about the chair arrangement in our worship space at Spring of Life. I decided to change up the arrangement this past July as part of a message series on “Becoming the Body of Christ.” Instead of having rows all facing the same direction toward the stage, altar, speaker and worship music leaders, I put the chairs in a kind of “U” shape semi-circle with the stage/altar as a kind of completion of a circle. You might think of it as a “church in the round.”

Here are some of the results I’ve heard as a result of this new arrangement:
“I can see other people more than I could before.”
“I am sitting closer together with others because there are fewer chairs in the room.”
“The altar and worship leaders are a part of the community circle and in some cases at the center of the gathered community.”
“I am uncomfortable because my usual spot is gone, the sight lines are different and it feels less like a traditional church.”
“I like it.”
“Change it back.”
“I personally feel a little more exposed sitting on one of the front rows like I do because I sense people can see me a little more than before (whether that’s actually true, I’m not sure. It’s just how I feel).”

I’ve explained briefly in worship and had a couple of conversations with folks who have asked about the new configuration. It has prompted me to reflect more intentionally on the connection between the space where we meet and the gospel we proclaim. I hope this helps deepen your appreciation for the space where we worship, draws us deeper into becoming who God has created us to be and at the very least gives you food for thought.

At its best, the design of worship space is determined by the church’s mission. The first questions to ask are “What is our mission? And how can the space arrangement help us achieve that mission?”

Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And our vision is to be a church where people come as they are and become who God created them to be. This year in particular, our church leadership has been living with the theme of “Becoming the Beloved Community.” To put it another way, we have focused on the ways that disciples of Jesus transform the world by becoming the beloved community where we recognize, understand, appreciate and celebrate our differences as a reflection of God’s present and coming Kingdom.

This is the primary reason behind the chair set up in our worship space at Spring of Life. In the middle of July, there were some other practical reasons that made sense, such as lower weekly worship attendance and having fewer chairs made the room feel less empty. And there was the teaching moment of dealing with life change and transition by recognizing that God is with us in it and calling us to place our trust in Him. The primary reason, though, is the mission, vision and theme mentioned above.

Once again it is worth asking: What is our mission and what kind of community is God compelling us to become in proclamation, pursuit and embodiment of that mission? Here are some of my thoughts.

First, the church’s mission is not to get people to believe the right things so that their souls go to heaven instead of hell when they die. This is a common over simplification and distortion of the whole gospel (good news) that Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead for. Jesus didn’t call people to believe a list of things about him. Jesus called people to follow him and find their life in him. Jesus welcomed all kind of people into this community of followers and this got him into trouble with the religious gate keepers and rule followers of his day. Jesus came proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God and taught his disciples to pray “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” So, it might be better to say that the church’s mission is the same as that of Jesus mission – to live life on earth in a way that makes sense in light of God’s present and coming kingdom. And whether we live or whether we die, our life is found together in Christ.

It might also be helpful to remember that from the beginning of the Bible we learn the story of a God who calls and constitutes a people (Israel), promising to be their God and blessing them so that they would be a blessing to the nations. God restores, corrects (and you might even say resurrects!) this people of Israel along the way. (Weren’t the people of Israel as good as dead, enslaved in Egypt when God brought them out and raised them up by his mighty hand?) Further, God doesn’t protect His people from pain, but walks with them through it. He delivers them from enemies that are larger and more powerful militarily. In Israel’s weakness as a people, God shows his strength. He provides food and water for them in the wilderness. He shows them that they are deeply loved personally and that He will always save them corporately, as a community. God would be right there in the center of this community in the form of fire, cloud, the prophet voice, the priestly sacrifices, the calling of kings and the law that He gave.

Through Jesus, the Bible tells us that God would now be right there in the center of this community in a way God had never been before – in the flesh. And through Jesus, the rest of the world is now “grafted into” this story of the people of Israel. The invitation is open to live life together with Jesus at the center, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to show the world a glimpse of God’s hope for the world. To put it simply: The church’s mission is to reveal the kingdom of God by making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Our life together as a church ought to bear the marks of God’s Kingdom for the world to see. And God’s kingdom by its very nature is community on earth as it is in heaven. So, when we gather we aren’t just coming to hear a teacher or preacher give us an inspirational message. You can find more inspirational preachers on tv or the internet! We are gathering to be reminded that we need each other as much as we need God. In fact, God in His wisdom has chosen to reveal himself through the community called “the body of Christ.” So, an arrangement of chairs that helps us see each other and look for God in and through each other as the Body of Christ is helpful.

Last Sunday I heard a woman share a little of her story. She said, “In order to deal with my disease of alcoholism and drug addiction I need to be reminded of the truth that I need the help of a community. I need help to remember that I can’t do this on my own. I need people that I can trust to “tell on myself” when I mess up.” She was describing her need for a recovery group. I thought she might as well been describing the church with the different gifts of the Spirit that God gives to different people and the gift of confessing our sin to one another so we may be healed.

So a mark of this beloved community called the Kingdom of God is that we watch over one another in love and if we can see each other better in this seating arrangement, then that’s a good thing. That’s part of God's mission in Christ to call and constitute a people called "The Body of Christ."

Here are some questions to consider:
Do you notice people you don’t know?
Do you notice people are missing?
Do you see and hear children?
Do you see people who make you uncomfortable or distract you?
Do you hear from people other than the clergy?
Do you feel a little more exposed?
Do you get the sense that being a Christian is about becoming God's beloved community on earth as it is in heaven?

I don’t know if an arrangement of chairs can help you answer yes to any of those. But if so, that’s a good thing because wrestling with those questions is part of our mission as God's people becoming a reflection of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

How about your thoughts on the connection between worship space and the church's mission? Share away . . .

Tell Me Why You Love Me?

Early in our marriage, Carolyn and I decided we would tell each other one reason we love each other every day. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think Rod Stewart’s release of “Have I Told You Lately” the year Carolyn and I met had something to do with it.

I ain’t gonna lie. We don’t do this every day. But every so often we are wise to renew the practice.

If you’ve been married for any length of time, you know that there are some days when answering that question takes more work than others. Take heart! It is the days when it’s work that I really know it’s an act of love.

M. Scott Peck said, “If an act is not one of work or courage, then it is not love.”

It is this working and courageous kind of love that sustains marriages, families, friendships and churches for life.

I was reminded of this while reading 1Corinthians in preparation for worship this Sunday. Paul who wrote this letter to Corinth begins with a word of thanksgiving for the community to which he writes.

“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and knowledge – God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-6

Don’t think for a minute that these words of love weren’t work for Paul. It might have been easier for him to launch into a long list of criticism. Corinth was a church riddled with problems and Paul would eventually address those. But despite all the present problems, Paul sees this church as the work of God in the world, and he discerns in their midst gifts for which God is to be thanked.

Would you like to see your marriage, your friendships, your family, your church as the work of God in the world? Then I encourage you to follow the example of Paul and Rod Stewart . . . . do the work of telling them why you love them.

How Is Your Daily Connection to God?

"Tell me what your daily connection to God looks like?"

That question felt like someone flicked on a giant spotlight as the crowd went silent in anticipation of the answer.  The perfect question to hold me accountable to the kind of life God has called me to live.

And like other accountability questions, there are days when an answer comes easily and days when beads of sweat begin to form and the answer is a struggle.

I was inspired as I heard a middle and high school student in our church answer this question by talking about reading the Bible, listening to music, "spoken word" poetry and prayer.  It was an encouraging reminder to me that God doesn't see this division of "sacred" and "secular" like we do.  Because God became flesh and dwelt among us, the light of God has shown in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

God is not compartmentalized into a worship service on Sundays, a weeklong mission trip or Vacation Bible School.  God is present in the everyday ordinary days as well.  Meeting God during those special times are meant to remind us that God is also walking with us into those places where we may be ignoring God.

The God we know in Jesus Christ seems to have this weird joy in showing up where he's not welcome and disturbing things in a redemptive kind of way.  More times than not, Jesus comes looking for us than we come looking for him.  And when we do go looking for Jesus, he rearranges our expectations and shows us how different his ways are from our ways.

So, your daily connection to God requires your intentional decision to meet with Him in prayer, Bible reading, worship music, poetry, serving, etc.  AND your daily connection to God is entirely up to God who has proven to be relentless in showing up even where He is not invited.  It's not either/or. It's both/and.

If you are looking for looking for some material to read this summer, here are some options that God may use to mess with you.

• Common Prayer for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and others. (You can get this in hardback, kindle or search iphone apps "Common Prayer" published by Zondervan
• Life Journal Bible Reading Plan.  Contact Rob Githens. He is placing an order. They are about $6.50.
•  The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak. It's about living the great commandment to love God and love your neighbor.
• You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving the Church and Rethinking Faith by David Kinnaman.

The Father's Day Gift that Keeps on Giving

When there is something important that I don't want to forget I usually put a reminder in a place that I'm going to see it - a note on the fridge, bathroom mirror, scheduled reminder on smart phone, etc.

So, now I get why God chose circumcision as a sign of his covenant with Israel. God needed to put this important reminder of His covenant in a place where men (in particular) would see it - literally put their hands on it, multiple times a day, so as to not forget it!

What could be more important to remember than God's faithfulness? What better place for God to put a permanent reminder of God's faithfulness than on a dude's genitals? Brilliant God.

The fact that I'm just now figuring this out after following Jesus nearly forty years, getting a Master of Divinity, pastoring a church for 17 years and being circumcised my whole life, is telling. God knows I need a lot of help remembering to walk by faith.

When I told my wife about this revelation she wondered why God didn't give her this particular reminder too. I said because God knew how interested husbands would be in showing it to their wives - regularly.

This all dawned on me as I pondered what I might share for a Father's Day message and I was reading these words of Stephen, the church's first martyr, in Acts 7.

"Then God made a covenant with [Abraham] and signed it in his flesh by circumcision. When Abraham had his son Isaac, within eight days he reproduced the sign of circumcision in him. Isaac became father of Jacob, and Jacob father of twelve 'fathers,' each faithfully passing on the covenant sign." (Acts 7:8 MSG)

The original Father's Day gift that keeps on giving!? Circumcision. God's covenant signed in the flesh!

Think about it guys. You might lose your job. You might experience failure in business, marriage, school, etc. You might lose everything. Heck, God might tell you to sell everything, give it to the poor and go follow Jesus into a place you've never been. It might be a place where you don't get to bring your smart phone to schedule reminders, and the bathroom mirror you look into might be a different one everyday. And if all that were true, you'd still wake up wearing your birthday suit and see a visual reminder of God's faithfulness to you first thing in the morning.

I don't have any tattoos because I am just not that cool (plus my mother may disown me). However, I have been told that there is a story behind every tattoo. There's something deeper than simply the mark on the skin. Of course the same is true of the Biblical reason for circumcision. Beyond the mark in the flesh is the story of God's claim upon us individually and as a people.

Perhaps God knew men, being statistically more ADD than women, needed the physical reminder of God's faithfulness to keep his promise, to lead us, to provide for us, to restore us when we wander, and to even raise us from the dead. But of course this promise isn't just for men. It's not even just for Israel. It is for all people.

And there is a flip side to this wonderful promise God gave us in the flesh. It's all too true that men in our culture are obsessed with our outward appearance and accumulation of stuff. Obviously we think the marks we have and the size we are matters for our worth. Who are you without your car, your job title, your degree, your clothes or your tattoos?

The Jews and early Christians started missing the point of circumcision when they gained a measure of wealth and power. They began to use it as a badge that pushed others away and and a means to elevate themselves rather than remember how God made them something out of nothing. This is how prone we are to turn good things into bad things.

So the Apostle Paul had to remind the church in Rome that it wasn't their outward appearance or marks in their skin that made them special in God's eyes. It is the condition of their heart that made them children of God.

You might have a lot of marks of success and things are going really well for you now. But what are you doing when no one is looking? How are you using the possessions you have in a way to point to God rather than yourself? Do you find yourself thinking more about protecting what you have or sharing it with others? Are you practicing generosity through tithing and regular giving? Are you setting limits at work so you spend time with those who are most important?

Funny how different our perspective is when we have nothing but our birthday suit and a mark to remind us that God will always be faithful. The reality is that no matter how much stuff you have or accumulate, you will leave this world the same way you came in - with nothing but God's mark, God's claim upon you. It's a gift from our Heavenly Father that keeps on giving.

Happy Father's Day. Remember you are God's.

Why Worship

Worship attendance is important on a number of different levels.  On a personal level, a school principal would agree that students do better academically if they don't miss a lot of school.  Coaches would say players do better on game day if they don't miss a lot of practices.  On an institutional level, that same principal and coach could use school and practice attendance as a measure of their institution's health. Not surprisingly, pastors and church leaders think about the same kind of things.

Worship attendance will impact your spiritual health personally and it also affects the church insitutionally.  You know that you arent going to have a deeply moving experience of God or spiritual epiphany every time you go to worship.  There will be those days you leave worship and think, "I didn't get anything out of that."

This reminds me of something that I've heard Bishop Willimon say that goes something like this: "God has a lot of big things to deal with like natual disaster and starvation.  Maybe you didn't get anything out of worship today because it wasn't for you today. God was busy working on someone else. And who knows, maybe God was hoping to get your help speaking to that someone else on God's behalf."

This opens my eyes to see that worship attendance affects both my personal spiritual health and the institution's health.  In other words, there are bigger reasons for attending worship than whether or not I get something out of it personally.  

There are times when God will encourage me to keep the faith, step out in the face of fear, or lay down my bitterness once again, just by being among those God gathered for worship.  It's hard to describe.  The "community gathered" is itself a proclamation of the gospel of Jesus resurrection.  There have been times when I've heard, "Jesus is Alive!" through the presence of others: young, old, rich, poor, male female, black, white, spanish, english, strong faith, weak faith, no faith, republican, democrat, not even American.... better than I've heard it through the sermon.

So the next time you think, "I didn't really get anything out of that" when you go to worship - consider that God may be using you as His message to someone else.  And didn't a wise man once say that we will only find life when we give ours away?

Don't take a vacation from worship this summer! Even if you are on vacation, look for a place to worship. You and God's church will be healthier for it!

When Chronic Anxiety Meets Chronic Love

This may be one of many ways to describe the relationship between human beings and God. We are chronically anxious and God is chronically loving.

You can find this theme reoccurring over and over again throughout the Bible. Adam and Eve are anxious to know what it is like to “know like God” (Genesis 3). Abraham and Sarah are anxious about waiting on God’s timing (Genesis 16). Moses is anxious about answering God’s call (Exodus 4). Israel is anxious about starving in the wilderness and being destroyed by their enemies (Numbers 14). Martha is anxious about many things (Luke 10).

In every case, God meets our chronic anxiety with chronic love.

This description of God is a regular refrain throughout the Bible:
“God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient – so much love, so deeply true – loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.” Exodus 34:6-7

I’ve been asked, “But what about when someone is being abusive?” A common way of coping with our anxiety is to be actively and passively aggressive. How do we love someone that is abusive? Do we stay and “take it”? Do we dish it back? Do we leave?

God told the Israelites to flee the slavery of the Egyptian Pharaoh rather than stay there and remain a less-than-human, corporate punching bag. God had better plans for them than to be enslaved. Pharaoh would need to figure out how to make money without abusing Israel. Pharaoh wouldn’t figure out how to do that unless Israel said, “I’m not going to be your punching bag anymore.” In this case leaving was loving. In many ways, it would have been easier for Israel to stay than to go. To go . . it took great courage. It took great faith. It took being in community. It took God. Interesting.

This is why we cannot say that separation and divorce are always wrong and unloving. To be sure, separation and divorce are not good if they are the easy way for us to avoid responsibility for our own habits, hurts and hang ups. Every effort must be made to work on our own stuff through counseling and prayer. Avoiding responsibility is not a loving thing to do. Sadly, some folks are avoiding responsibility by getting separated and divorced. And ironically, there are some folks who are helping their spouse avoid responsibility for their abusive behavior by refusing to consider a separation or divorce, even after living in an abusive relationship for years. This is because they can’t imagine that leaving would ever be loving. But here is the deal: Pharaoh isn’t going to find a new economy unless Israel leaves!

God is the same way with us. God will not allow us to make God into whatever we want. When we try and turn God into a genie-type wish dispenser, God will have nothing of it. God isn’t a smorgasbord for us to pick and choose what we like and leave the rest. God says, “Follow me.” “Worship God alone.” This effects everything else on our “to do” list because, as my friend Aaron Rousseau likes to say, God is our “to do” list. God won’t let us use God as a punching bag to avoid responsibility for our hurt, habits and hang ups either.

Even on the cross, when it appeared that God was letting us have our way with God, God was having God’s way with us! The suffering of God exposes our sin and God’s love. The cross is the place where our chronic anxiety and God’s chronic love intersect. It is the place where God leaves us (“my God, my God why have you forsaken me”), the place where God stays with us (“father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing”) and the place where God dishes it back (“here is your son, here is your mother.”)

God has not allowed us to have our way with God ultimately. God has refused to go looking for another spouse. And God has given us back a new way of relating to one another, a new understanding of being sons and daughters, husbands and wives.

It’s nothing short of freedom, redemption, and new creation when God’s chronic love meets our chronic anxiety.

Questions for reflection:

Is there someone or someplace you want to leave in order to avoid responsibility?

How would knowing a “God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient – so much love, so deeply true” help you stay and take responsibility for your own behavior in this situation?

Do you know anyone who lives with someone who has an addiction and is abusive? What makes it hard to leave these relationships? How does the story of Israel and Pharaoh speak to you? Can “leaving be loving?” Why or why not?

Have you ever tried “playing Pharaoh” with God or another person – trying to use God or someone else for your own purposes? How has God or that person shown you that He will not be controlled/enslaved by you?

Pray for people with addictions and those living in abusive relationships.

Relay for Life Lake Nona Sunrise Devotion

The images of darkness and light are so significant during this Relay for Life Event.

Here we use Darkness and Light to help us to tell our story.

Everyone who gathers here is touched by the disease of Cancer in some way. Like a thief in the night, cancer has robbed us and those we love from the life we want to live. When we think of cancer – we appropriately think of DARKNESS.

And while that darkness of cancer is real. The light tells us it is not all that is real. More than once I've heard people with cancer say, “I am more than a diagnosis. I am more than this disease.” That’s not a denial of the darkness. It is simply to say, “Darkness isn’t the only part of our story.” The light reminds us that there are survivors of cancer because of research, medicines, treatments, and communities that have pushed back on the darkness. When we think of those survivors and hope for a cure – we appropriately think of LIGHT.

So during this event, we once again tell the story of CANCER and CURE with the images of DARKNESS and LIGHT.

This is not unique or new with Relay for Life. The ancient words of the Bible show that these images of DARKNESS and LIGHT are really as old as creation. And they not only tell OUR story, they tell GOD’S story.

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and DARKNESS covered the face of the deep . . . Then God said, “Let there be LIGHT” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Genesis 1:1-5

Some things to notice about this:

1. God did not create darkness, yet God works in it.
2. God created light with his word.
3. God did this on the first day of creation.

What I find so amazing about God is that God takes what He is given – even something like DARKNESS and makes it into something that serves HIS WILL. God did this from the beginning, on the first day of creation, when he created LIGHT and mixed it in with the DARKNESS that was already there.

In paring Light with Darkness, God created the beautiful rhythm of Day and Night which are vital to God’s design for creating and sustaining life.

Interestingly, in God’s hands, darkness becomes something beautiful.

In darkness, we are conceived in our mother’s womb, we find rest and sleep, we grow, we heal and we are restored. All things that we need.

In darkness, we must remember, God is at work too.

Eugene Petersen reminds us that God’s day begins at Sundown. When we are winding down and preparing to rest, God is just getting started . . . right there in darkness.

God speaks to us about this through the prophet Isaiah when he says:

“I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by name.”
Isaiah 45:3

By walking through the night during this Relay for Life we, perhaps unknowingly, have been saying something about how beautifully God works in darkness.

The words of the Easter story in John’s gospel echo in my ears when I think about how God works in darkness.

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.” John 20:1

I love how John’s gospel echoes the Creation story in Genesis.

Here, we have God at work once again on the FIRST DAY – this time it is the FIRST DAY OF NEW CREATION! And notice once again, God is at work WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK.

Mary was walking in the dark toward Jesus’ tomb, expecting to find a dead body. She did not realize at all that God had been busy at work there in the darkness!

What we know that Mary didn’t know is that WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK, Jesus, the Light of the World, rose from the dead!

I don’t know of better news for people who find themselves walking through the darkest valley’s of cancer, mental illness, drug addiction, anxiety and uncertainty. While it was still dark, when we didn’t have a clue, when we were expecting to find death at best . . . God is at work rising the dead.

This is God’s story and our story: The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

How the Light Comes:
A Blessing for Christmas Day – Rev. Jan Richardson www.janrichardson.com

I cannot tell you
how the light comes.

What I know
is that it is more ancient
than imagining.

That it travels
across an astounding expanse
to reach us.

That it loves
searching out
what is hidden
what is lost
what is forgotten
or in peril
or in pain.

That it has a fondness
for the body
for finding its way
toward flesh
for tracing the edges
of form
for shining forth
through the eye,
the hand,
the heart.

I cannot tell you
how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.
That it works its way
into the deepest dark
that enfolds you,
though it may seem
long ages in coming
or arrive in a shape
you did not foresee.

And so
may we this day
turn ourselves toward it.
May we lift our faces
to let it find us.
May we bend our bodies
to follow the arc it makes.
May we open
and open more
and open still

to the blessed light
that comes.

"Trying On" a Third Worship Service

If you have attended worship a time or two at Spring of Life you may have heard these words:

“Come as you are and become who God created you to be.” They seem to say, “This is the kind of church God wants us to be – a community where anyone can come and become who God created you to be individually and corporately.”

During our church’s strategic planning retreat last August, the lay leadership of the church, who make up the Church Council asked these questions: Who is Spring of Life now? What kind of church is God’s Spirit compelling us to become?

We celebrated the beautiful things this church is right now: A place that welcomes the community, offers ministry to a broad range of ages – children, youth, adults and seniors, offers shared pastoral leadership from a man and a woman, offers a blended worship services with traditional and modern musical elements, preaching and communion every week, and a place that looks for ways to put faith in action through serving.

We wondered together, “What kind of church does God long for us to become?” This question can’t be answered with clarity in a minute, or even during a 24-hour strategic planning retreat. It requires laboring together and seeking God over time in worship, study of Scripture, prayer, and service in the community. Eventually, a vision emerges! God is faithful!

We considered the immediate mission field where we live. What are the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of our community? We considered the gifts for ministry that God has already given to the people at Spring of Life, and wondered what new gifts God might stir up among us as the church grows?

While the specific details of the future remain to be seen, the next step is clear. The Church Council is committed to “Building the Beloved Community” at Spring of Life. We recognize that our community is diverse (particularly across Anglo and Hispanic culture). You might be surprised to know that within an 8 mile radius of the church building there are about 57,900 white people and about 57,700 Hispanic people – 57% of whom are Puerto Rican. There are many other cultural differences too. You may be interested in looking at this Mission Insite report that gives demographic information about our community.

The Church Council recognizes this diverse mission field we are in and recognizes that God has given our church gifts for ministry to witness to the Gospel of Jesus in our mission field.

This past summer, Evelyn Teran joined Spring of Life. She is a gifted bi-lingual teacher and pastoral leader. Our church affirmed her sense of call to licensed or ordained ministry by recommending her to the District Committee on Ordained Ministry to become a Certified Candidate for Ordained Ministry in the United Methodist Church (this happened at our annual Church Conference on October 22.) Evelyn has been leading a Hispanic Ministry at 10:30 a.m. simultaneous to our second worship service. And on Sunday, December 30, Evelyn, Carolyn and I shared the sermon together because we felt the Spirit prompting us through the story of the three Magi/Wise Men/Kings that Spring of Life is like a “manger” where many different cultures are invited to come and worship the world’s one true king.

So, as this ministry opportunity continued to unfold, we increasingly felt like the separate and simultaneous English and Spanish worship times were not serving our mission to transform our world into “the beloved community” God created us for. We thought, having the Spanish service stay in the youth room at 10:30 would keep it successfully small, second class and separate from the rest of the church.

So a new vision was cast for Spring of Life to “Try On” launching a third worship service that would be primarily in Spanish at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Evelyn would be the primary preacher since she is bi-lingual. Pastor Dave and Carolyn would now be able to share in the worship leadership too. Space is instantly available for the service to grow and this is something that Spring of Life is doing together in an effort to become a multicultural community of faith that recognizes, understands and appreciates our differences in light of the kingdom of God.

We’re just getting started and the way forward is to keep on laboring together and seeking God over time in worship, study of Scripture, prayer, and service in the community. Eventually, a vision emerges! God is faithful!

There are two specific things I’d like to invite you to consider as we “try on” the launch of our third worship service.

1. Sign up for a “Dinner of Eight” group. These groups are 4 couples, 8 singles, or any combination that will get together for 4 meals over 4 months. We will equip the groups with table conversation starters and encourage people to share about their culture with food and stories. At the end of the four months we will have a big church wide potluck where people will be encouraged to bring a dish that is from their culture and offer an opportunity for people to share things they learned about each other in their "dinner for eight" groups. Click Here to register.

2. “Try on” serving at the third worship service. We need help with hospitality, greeters, ushers, etc. Email Julie at the church office if you can help.  We will be meeting at 3:00 pm. on Sunday, January 20 with everyone who would like to serve on the third service launch team.

My Christmas Confession

As I understand it, Christmas has a history of being hijacked. And I confess, I hope it gets hijacked again.

The first hijacking took place by the early Christians when they took December 25 from the Roman pagans who were worshipping “the unconquered sun” around that date. This may have been more about survival than anything. Long before the Christians had lots of money, giant cathedrals and political influence, they were a small, persecuted bunch whose story was continually in danger of being absorbed by the dominate culture that surrounded them. (Think: Being a Hindu or Buddist in Orlando today). So, the politically insignificant Christians thumbed their nose at Rome and said, “We know the ‘unconquered Son.’ His name is Jesus, and he is Lord. This is who we will remember on December 25.” Those were dangerous words at a time when proclaiming anyone but Caesar as Lord was punishable by death. That was the first hijacking.

I’m not sure where to pinpoint the second hijacking or who to pin the hijacking on. It was 1933 when the first Sears Roebuck “Christmas Wish Book” was published. In that catalog you could find “Miss Pigtails” doll, an electric (battery powered) toy automobile, a Mickey Mouse watch, fruitcakes, Lionel electric trains, a five pound box of chocolates, and live singing canaries. It was 2009 when, South Park’s Eric Cartman sang his version of O Holy Night. “O holy night! The something something distant. It is the night with the Christmas trees and pie. Jesus was born and so I get presents. Thank you, Jesus for being born.”

Was it Sears, South Park or someone else that thumbed a nose at the early church and said, “We know Jesus got presents on his birthday and we think it would be a good idea for everyone to get presents on Jesus’ birthday.” Strike that match in the middle of free enterprise and human greed and it isn’t long until you’ve got the kind of Christmas fire that we see in full blaze before Halloween in showroom and online stores. That was the second hijacking.

There’s a third hijack attempt that is about as popular as that first hijacking was with the Romans. This attempt meets with resistance from people inside and outside the church. I’m more familiar with the resistance inside the church since I feel it within my own soul. It is very difficult for me to imagine going through the “birthday party for everyone” version of Christmas and really honoring the incarnation of God and appropriately anticipating the coming reign of God on earth as it is in heaven. This has been a tension for me for as long as I can remember.

Lately I have thought that it’s a shame that this whole “birthday party for everyone” we know as Christmas couldn’t be sometime in July and called something other than Christmas. I’m not saying that I don’t like hanging lights, decorating trees, playing pretty music, eating great food and exchanging gifts. That’s fun! Who doesn’t like getting presents? Who doesn’t like making the ones we love smile – even squeal with joy – when they open up that present we gave them to find a great surprise or the toy they had been wanting? All that is great.

I just think we miss so much of what God’s incarnation in Jesus is about when it gets wrapped up in Eric Cartman’s version of O Holy Night.

Jesus wasn’t born so I could get an ipad, an xbox or a Furby. In fact, Jesus is known for calling a man to sell his ipad, xbox and Furby and come follow him. Jesus chose a life of homelessness and spent his time eating with outcasts and proclaiming that a new world was possible – a world without violence, where the hungry are fed, the vulnerable are noticed, the powerful are humbled, the blind receive sight, and people do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

The third hijacking of Christmas will not be as flashy or cool as the second hijacking. It will not appeal to our desire to be entertained. And if you work for Sears, it probably isn’t going to help your paycheck. This hijacking is born out of a desire to take Jesus more seriously than anything else, to live our lives in a way that make sense in light of the gospel that Jesus was born to proclaim, and to push back on a dominant culture that threatens to absorb the Truth that defines our lives.

If you are compelled to participate in this third hijacking of Christmas, I would recommend a little book called “A Different Kind of Christmas” and “Christmas Is Not Your Birthday” by Mike Slaughter. I would also recommend an online Advent retreat that is being offered by friends of mine, Rev. Jan Richardson and Garrison Doles. Perhaps you would also like to meet together with other Christians who would like to support you in your quest to remember the incarnation and anticipate the coming reign of God that look different from the “birthday party for everyone” version. Let me know and I will facilitate that gathering at Spring of Life.

Vision for 10 Years and Years to Come

It’s a big weekend for the people at Spring of Life United Methodist Church. We are celebrating ten years of ministry together. That we have become a community of faith with an average weekly worship attendance of 232, an average youth ministry participation of 25, an average children’s ministry participation of 60 and an average adult and youth discipleship group participation of 65 is a miracle of God.

Those are significant numbers of people and of course the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

From the time of our first worship service together on November 3, 2002 at the North Lake Park Community School cafeteria, we have said, “Spring of Life is a place you can come as you are.” So we all come with our habits, hurts and hang ups. We come with different levels of understanding about the God and the Bible. We come rich and poor, gay and straight, divorced and married, young and old, black, yellow, brown and white, faithful and unfaithful, confused and assured, anxious and at peace, sad and joyful. We come as we are to Spring of Life.

In time, we added to that by saying, “ . . . and become who God created you to be.”

Our conviction is that the God who has revealed himself fully through Jesus Christ is on a mission to remake the world. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the “first fruit” of God’s new creation. The forces and powers of evil at work in the world have lost their ultimate power. The victory over them has already been determined by Jesus’ victory over death through his crucifixion and resurrection.

The gift of God to us through Jesus is that we now have the power to live our lives in ways that make sense in light of God’s good news of Re-creation. We have the power to extend ourselves in vulnerable hospitality to strangers. We have the power to forgive our enemies rather than nurse grudges and seek revenge. We have the power to take responsibility for our brokenness and sin by saying, “I am sorry” - making amends with those we have harmed. We have the power to pay attention to the cries of the poor and powerless, and use our power as allies for the vulnerable and voiceless. We have the power to use our resources rightly, acting as good stewards of what God has entrusted to us, rather than being consumed by the consumerism of our culture. We have the power to recognize, understand and appreciate the differences that exist among us as we seek to become the beloved community that God created us to be. We have the power to hear God’s call in our lives individually and collectively and take the next step on the way with Jesus.

This is the vision of who God created us to be and who Spring of Life is becoming by God’s grace.
We bring what we have – all that we are – to God and God takes that raw material and weaves it into a beautiful tapestry.

Last week as Carolyn, Julia and I stuffed envelopes with financial commitment cards to send to people at Spring of Life, I recalled the many things God is doing through this community of faith. I leave you with this celebration of what God is making out of the people at Spring of Life!

Spring of Life is a church where people . . .

• Provide meals, hospitality and love to families at Ronald McDonald House

• Give us space to remember that God invites people of every nation, tribe and tongue to worship together

• Give encouragement to parents of teenagers

• Pray for our loved ones who are sick and comfort us when we grieve

• Help us to die with hope for resurrection and new creation.

• Help us find ways to serve God with the gifts and talent he gave us

• Pray for our children when they get into trouble

• Clothe the naked, feed the hungry and house the homeless

• Teach us who God is through Bible study and challenge us to live according to His will.

• Celebrate our marriage and support us in our married life

• Welcome us when we feel alone

• Help us guard against crippling debt and loving money and stuff more than God.

• Help us recognize understand and appreciate our differences politically – finding unity through Christ rather than our national identities

• Listen to our confession of sin and remind us that we are forgiven and free from guilt and shame

• Give us a sanctuary space when life is uncertain and chaotic

• Strengthen and heal our marriage when we are hurting

• Help us heal through a divorce that we didn’t want

• Show us the value of having relationships with people of all ages

• Support us when we are caring for a loved one who is ill

• Keep faith when we cannot make sense of why things happen the way they do.

• Show us the value of doing hard things that are right and good rather than taking the easy way out.

• Encourage us to take risks by stepping out of our comfort zone to serve God

• Welcome us into a life of following Jesus through the sacrament of Baptism.

Election Day Communion

On Tuesday, November 6 millions will be voting for a new president along with other amendments, state and county leaders. This is important work for free people to responsibly engage, and we have reminded the church to take this work seriously. I’ve reminded the church many times that there are faithful Christians at Spring of Life who will choose to vote for Barak Obama, others will choose to vote for Mitt Romney, others will choose to vote for another candidate and others will choose not to vote at all. I am aware that these differences will not bother God as much as they will bother some of us.


Therefore, on a day when many of us in the church will be choosing differently, we thought it would be important to remember to choose one thing together.The most significant thing that the church has to offer the world is the self-giving love of Christ that recognizes our differences and unites us in a way that no nation or state ever can. For this reason, Spring of Life will be offering Election Day Communion in a very public and invitational way outside, near the entrance to the church property. We will have a 20 minute liturgy with all who gather to receive God’s grace and place their life under the authority of Christ. The times will be 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 6:00 pm.

Let’s meet at the same table,
with the same host,
to remember the same things.

We’ll remember that real power in this world — the power to save, to transform, to change — ultimately rests not in political parties or presidents or protests but in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus.

We’ll remember that, through the Holy Spirit, this power dwells within otherwise ordinary people who as one body continue the mission of Jesus: preaching good news to the poor, freeing the captives, giving sight to the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:16-21).

We’ll remember that freedom — true freedom — is given by God and is indeed not free. It comes with a cost and it looks like a cross.

We’ll remember our sin and our need to repent.

We’ll remember that the only Christian nation in this world is the Church, a holy nation that crosses all human-made boundaries and borders.

We’ll remember that our passions are best placed within the passion of Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

We’ll remember that we do not conform to the patterns of this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

We’ll remember that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

And we’ll re-member the body of Christ as the body of Christ, confessing the ways in which partisan politics has separated us from one another and from God.

On Tuesday, November 6,
make a choice to remember.
Let’s meet at the Lord’s Table.
Let’s remember together.
Please join us for communion on Tuesday, November 6, at 7am, 12pm and 6pm.

Election Day Communion is a grassroots, multidenominational campaign inviting churches to express their unity in the face of increasing polarization, by holding a communion service on Election Day, November 6, 2012. Originally started by two pastors with no funding or organizational backing, Election Day Communion has quickly grown to include more than 425 churches from over 20 denominations. www.electiondaycommunion.org

A Call to Ministry

Recently we finished a series of sermons on different "call stories" in the Bible. My friend Evelyn Teran (pictured left) will be presenting her understanding of God's call on her life to ordained/licensed ministry in the United Methodist Church at Spring of Life's Charge Conference on Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. Below is her written account. We celebrate Evelyn's gifts for ministry and are grateful to be sharing this journey with her.

I was born and raised Catholic but at the early age of ten I experienced a renewal of my faith through the Disciple of Christ church. I started to develop a passion for ministry as I was able to participate in various ministry opportunities such as Sunday school, youth group, choir, bible study, prayer services and hospital visitation with a group of young adults. Even when my parents remain attending to the Catholic Church, they liked the idea that I was attending the Disciple of Christ church because they were able to witness and experience my dedication to ministry. Since my early youth I have been drawn to pursue a spiritual journey that will lead me to a spiritual formation that reflects the grace and the love of God for me and others!

Through the years I have experienced this call as making disciples of all nations. In 1989, I moved from Puerto Rico, to the state of Virginia, where I became a member of a Pentecostal Holiness church. After serving in the church as a Sunday school teacher and volunteer for various other ministries such as drama team, Hispanic Ministry, and as an usher, I was approved and sent to Youth with a Mission, a missionary international and worldwide organization.

During my six years of missionary work I was given the opportunity to disciple and evangelize to nations in the South Pacific, Europe, and North Africa. I became part of the leadership team that trained and equipped others missionaries. During the time I was committed to the mission field I was still looking forward to one day becoming the pastor of a local church. As part of my journey I have been given the opportunity to serve as a youth pastor and also as pastor of a small Hispanic congregation on a military base in Germany.

Throughout my 25 years of ministry serving God and the community I finally have been able to enter a pathway that will lead me to the final acceptance of my calling.  I have a passion for discipleship, leadership, and community.  I believe God has prepared me for a moment like this where I can serve the church with my talents and spiritual gifts. For the last four years I have dedicated myself to the Central Florida area serving as a hospital Chaplain and have been able to support and empathize with people during their darkest hours. I have as well had the opportunity to minister with prayer and counseling to staff and family members of the hospital. I believe God has guided me to serve as a Chaplain to form and affirm my pastoral identity with the intention to prepare me to do the work of a local pastor.

As I was seeking God and ways to better serve Him in the community His hand led me to the Spring of Life church. As I started to function as the leader for the Hispanic Ministry I found myself engaging in a pastoral role. Within this new role and my cross-cultural experience I believe that God is calling me to embrace a multicultural ministry that is compatible with the Gospel of Christ, where every nation and every tongue will worship together. In my calling I feel directed by God to lead and encourage others to walk in unity.

I believe I have the skills and spiritual gifts to teach, exhort, and discern to help and disciple the church to come near God and to develop an understanding of His love and grace. For the past few years I have pursued and accomplished pastoral clinical education in preparation in response to my calling. As I reflect on my journey I know that I have love and passion for the word, order, and sacrament within the church. I am passionate about empowering others to fulfill God’s call in their life, unifying and strengthening the church with the intention of making disciples of all nations. Within this journey one of my most sacred “memento” was the first time I was able to serve the communion for the Hispanic Ministry in Spring of Life, I felt the love of God in my heart affirming my call to serve others!

A Community of Extravagant Generosity

From support for those fighting cancer, giving to stop hunger now, doing minor home repair, to providing funds and labor for a wheelchair ramp, I see the generosity of the people of Spring of Life. I see many of you continuing to practice habits of good financial management in your own households so that you are free to give when God calls. You continue to push back on the culture of over-consumption as an act of worship. This hard work of financial discipleship is what we learn in Financial Peace University, and over time, we discover the joy of generous giving and the peace of being debt free.


Last Sunday in worship we heard Lenora talk about a call to ministry that she sensed for herself as well as her business (Cambridge School of Ballet). You might not think that teaching people to plié and grand jeté would be able to help put an end to human trafficking or provide clean water for people in Africa, but this was the vision that God laid on Lenora’s heart. Wow, can a business answer a call to ministry too?

A couple weeks ago in the Disciple Bible study on Wednesday night we read about God’s covenant (promise) that he made with Abraham. God said, “I will bless you and make your name great. I will make you a great nation so that you will be a blessing.”

“ . . . so that you will be a blessing.”

I remember one time after I had finished a funeral for a young man in my church, his dad came up to me and handed me a check for leading the service. I pushed back, trying to be gracious, and said, “Hey thank you, but I don’t need it. I’m well taken care of, thank you.” He just kept holding the check out and said, “Well, you know this doesn’t have to line your own pockets. Please take it.”

“. . . this doesn’t have to line your own pockets.”

Right. We are blessed so that we will be a blessing. God wants the world to know that he is a generous and self-giving God who notices the cries of the poor and oppressed. And so, we order and manage our financial life and our business so that we can reflect our generous, self-giving God to the world.

There is a person in our church right now who has been left alone by her family and unable to work right now because of surgery she recently had to remove what they thought was cancer in her abdomen. Thankfully, it turned out not to be cancer, but she remains vulnerable without a spouse, without family, and without a job to pay for food, shelter and healthcare. As you can imagine, she is afraid and lonely.

Those who know her at Spring of Life have told her. “We are your family. You are not alone. We are praying for you and we will make sure that you have food, shelter and friendship to get through this hard time.”

God says to his people: Do not to neglect the orphan, widow and vulnerable in your land because at one time you were vulnerable too. (see Exodus 22:21-22)

“. . . at one time you were vulnerable too.”

God is good to remind us when we have more than enough food, clothing, shelter; more than one means of transportation and a vast support network of family and friends that at one time we had none of that.

“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” 1Corinthians 4:7

“. . . what do you have that you did not receive?”

The truth is that we need friendship with those who are vulnerable as much as the vulnerable need friendship with those who have material resources. Interestingly, the Bible says, “God is close to the brokenhearted” and “blessed are the poor.” Jesus, himself, chose a life of homelessness and called the rich young ruler who wanted to see eternal life to sell everything, give it to the poor and come be a homeless follower too.

So Jesus doesn’t model a life of throwing a few bucks at the poor, he lives among the poor, in friendship, and by so doing, redefines blessing for the world.

Questions for reflection:

What about giving brings you joy?

Are there barriers to generous giving in your life? What are they?

What do you have to give when you are feeling vulnerable and alone like the woman in our church?

What do you have to receive from friendship with the poor?

How do you think it is true that the poor are blessed like Jesus says?

Now and Not Yet by Lenora Rousseau

I remember as a pre-teen sitting in the back seat of our station wagon for a number of family road trips from California to Florida, anxiously looking forward to arriving at my grandparents’ house in Pensacola. The first day of our trip was always the same. I couldn’t get in the car fast enough. By the third day, there were never enough rest breaks, and my younger brother would inevitably test my waning patience, triggering that age old lament… “Are we there yet?” The answer was always the same…“No!” And, more often than not, it was accompanied by the following admonitions (fired in rapid, ping pong succession by my parents): “Stop whining!… You’ll know it when we get there!… You need to learn to enjoy the journey!” Prophetic words, indeed.

In our recent worship services, while reflecting on Jeremiah’s call story, Pastor Dave posed the question: “What do you suppose God wants you to be now and when you grow up?” This was aimed primarily at our youth, but served as a thoughtful reminder to the entire congregation that God calls each of us to serve him in different ways during every age and stage of our lives. For the past three years, I have been exploring a call to ordained ministry within the United Methodist Church as a Deacon. When I think about how this journey has unfolded, I don’t have a ‘burning bush’ moment I can point to. Hearing a call to ordained ministry has evolved over time, being revealed one step at a time, with just enough insight for the next step. In many ways, it has mimicked those long family road trips. And along the way, I have discovered that my call is really twofold: who God is calling me to be now, and who God is calling me to be in the future. The phrase now and not yet comes to mind.

Those of you who know my background might be wondering how a Jewish girl ends up becoming a Methodist in the first place, and then goes on to discern a call to ordained ministry. A road less traveled indeed! Well, the simple answer is grace, and lots of it! When I first arrived in a United Methodist Church ten years ago, I was extremely broken emotionally and spiritually. At seventeen, I had accepted Christ as my Savior. But by the end of my twenties, I needed much more than a shining white knight to save the day, or a golden ticket to heaven ‘when this life was over.’ I needed (and wanted) to be fully transformed from the inside out; I was desperate for a life of faith that I could sink my teeth into and be made truly new. The message of grace (in its fullness), a theological cornerstone of the United Methodist Church, enabled me to encounter the unconditional love of God in such a unique and deeply profound way that it changed my walk with God forever. Learning to incorporate the means of grace into my life– worshipping, sacraments, serving, praying, studying, giving, fasting, and such– has continued to mold and shape me. Ten years later, I can honestly say that who I am now is closer to who God has created me to be than ever before. For now, God has called me to be a wife (to the most amazing husband ever), a mother and homeschool teacher to three wonderful children, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an artistic director, a member of the praise team at Spring of Life along with other leadership roles, and a seminarian. All of which would be impossible without the grace of God.

It’s no secret that worship, especially worship arts are a passion for me. For the past five years, I have been blessed to be the Artistic Director of Cambridge School of Ballet, running all of our classes out of Spring of Life UMC. During this time, God has given me a vision for redeeming the arts by using it as a tool for discipleship while making a difference in the lives of less fortunate children around the world. Our logo incorporates the tag line, “Pursuing passion with a purpose.” I have sought to live that out that purpose through the M6:8 Mission (based on Micah 6:8) to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. If you are interested, you can learn more about the M6:8 Mission at www.csoballet.org.

Ultimately, serving at Spring of Life UMC and directing the ballet school these past five years have been catalysts for discerning a call to ordained ministry. Yet, I would be misleading you if I didn’t admit that this has been a slow and lengthy process. Why? Because I have been fearful and resistant, stubbornly hiding behind a long list of excuses. Yet, God has continued to call, and I have continually sought to answer that call. Why Deacon? I heard it said once that “worship equals change,” meaning whenever and wherever God is worshipped, redeeming change is inevitable. For many of us, Sunday worship (or time spent at the church itself) is the only time we experience this kind of transformation. But as the people of God, we are called to live a life of worship Monday through Sunday, redeeming this world for His glory. Often, the challenge becomes bridging the gap between the faith we celebrate on Sundays and the reality of our everyday, ordinary lives. St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “Preach the gospel always, when necessary use words.” This is probably one of my favorite quotes. If we are going to be agents of Kingdom change in this broken world, we must learn to be the gospel message in all that we do. Using my gifts and experiences, I believe that God is calling me to support the worship life of the church, bridging the gap between the church and the world by leading and helping others discover how God is calling them to live out their faith – doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly one step at a time.

In June of 2011, I started seminary classes at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL. I am currently working towards a Masters of Arts in Theological Studies, with the intention of potentially going on to pursue a PhD in the area of worship theology. In addition, I have completed the Ministry Inquiry Process with Pastor Carolyn. I plan to enter the Candidacy process by attending the retreat in January 2013. I welcome your prayers as I continue this journey - that I may continue to discern God’s call in my life and to have the courage to follow where He leads. Likewise, I pray that God will sustain and encourage you in your journey as you discover how He is calling you now and in the future. Whatever God calls you to, wherever He leads you, I am confident of two things: it will stretch you beyond your wildest imagination, and (thankfully) He won’t stop calling. Praise God for amazing grace!

You can contact Lenora via email at this address: csoballet@yahoo.com

Smells Like Jesus

You know how certain smells trigger a memory? Green bottle of Polo cologne . . . I'm back in Junior High School.

The Apostle Paul uses this fragrance metaphor in his letter to the church in Corinth. "Through us spreads in every place the fragrance of knowing Jesus," he writes.

This week I was having lunch with a friend and he mentioned that he longed to live his life in such a way that people noticed something different, something that pointed people to Jesus. I thought of this smelly metaphor.

Indeed, what would our lives be like if they smelled like Jesus? What if that smell was as ubiquitous as green polo in a 1984 junior high school? Awesome.

Jeremy Troxler from Duke Divinity School gives us a whiff in this blog. Check it out: The Tie that Binds. A divided world does not need a church free of conflict and sin but a church that models how conflict and sin can be transformed into peace. [read more...]

The journey continues...

Hello, friends.  Aaron here...

This Sunday marks the six-year anniversary of the first time I joined the Spring of Life community to worship God. I remember it well because I had just moved from south Florida to Orlando for a new job and Lenora and Gabrielle had not yet joined me; so, not only was I experiencing the awkward feelings typically associated with trying a new church, I was also alone and without my family.  Shirley Stoffer greeted me at the door, made me a name tag, and immediately made me feel welcome.  I completed a connect card and Pastor Dave called me the next day.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out that Spring of Life was going to be our new church home, which was an enormous relief because the only regret our family had when making the decision to leave south Florida was that we would have to leave the church where Lenora and I were married, Gabrielle was baptized, and where we were part of a praise team we loved very much.

I tell you this because Spring of Life has been, and always will be, an integral part of my faith journey. It is now my sixth year leading worship and third year leading youth. Had you told me those things were going to be in my future when I attended that first worship service in September 2006, I never would have believed you. Had you also told me that I would begin preaching in July 2008, discern a call to ordained ministry shortly thereafter, and begin seminary in June 2009, I never would have believed those things  either. And I certainly would not have believed that I was going to take a tremendous leap of faith and leave the job I moved to Orlando for in the first place so I could attend seminary full-time and make myself more available to serve God and the good people of Spring of Life. Finally, I probably wouldn’t have believed that our family would grow by two more children either. Let’s just say that the years that we have spent at Spring of Life have brought a whirlwind of change for the Rousseau family. God indeed works in mysterious ways!

Yet, through it all God has been faithful to us as we’ve sought to follow His leading. You, the faithful people of Spring of Life, have been a source of strength and encouragement for us and we are so thankful for your love and prayers.  Answering God’s call can be both fulfilling and wrought with challenge, so having the support of great pastors and a great congregation is truly of the utmost importance. As many of you know, I appeared before the District Committee of Ordained Ministry (DCOM) last Thursday to be interviewed and considered for their recommendation to the Board of Ordained Ministry (BOOM) as a Provisional Elder in the Florida Annual Conference.  I was disappointed to learn that they would not be recommending me to for Provisional Elder at this time.  Nonetheless, they affirmed my call to ordained ministry and the gifts that I possess for ministry by keeping me on the Provisional Elder track and re-certifying my candidacy.  Still, they felt that there are some areas of growth I should address to help me reach my full effectiveness as a minister, and I was assigned some contingencies to work on until my next interview as a result. The chair of the DCOM did tell me, however, that they will consider recommending me to the BOOM as a full-time local pastor at their September meeting. Simply put, this could be a means for me to find a full-time appointment in the Florida Annual Conference and serve as a stepping stone until I am approved and commissioned as a Provisional Elder. Lenora and I will be meeting with the District Superintendent in the coming weeks to discuss possibilities.  Like anything else, there are no guarantees, but if such an appointment does become available, it won’t be until next summer, after I have graduated from seminary. 

Now you know what we know, which I confess at times this week hasn’t felt like much. I thank Dave and Carolyn for being there for me this past week. I thank all of you for your prayerful support. In spite of the initial emotions that came following the DCOM’s decision, I remain grateful for this process and feel confident that I will be better for it.  While there have been times of question and doubt these past few years, I can tell you with all certainty that every decision I have made to answer God’s call has proven to be a right one.  I look forward to a year of great growth and what I know will also be another great year in ministry at Spring of Life.  Thanks be to God.  

Learning How to Fail

The title of this blog may seem a little ridiculous. Who needs to learn how to fail? Every human being seems to come by it rather naturally. Nobody is perfect right?

But I want to suggest that the church has a role to play in teaching people how to fail well.

This week I was reminded again that the church isn’t different from the rest of the world when it comes to causing harm. There are plenty of examples to choose from. Churches are going to be communities where people hurt one another. They are made up of human beings.

If you haven't been hurt at your church yet it is only because you haven't been there long enough or haven't gotten very involved. God’s hope for the church is that it would be different from the rest of the world in the way that it responds when hurt happens. This is where we must “learn how to fail well.”

Because of Jesus and his Spirit living in us, we can learn to fail well. We can admit when we are wrong and cause harm – either intentionally or unintentionally. We can speak the truth in love to someone who has hurt us. And we can forgive. Forgiving means we make a decision not to get even. We choose not to hold a grudge or nurse bitterness. It doesn’t mean we say, “What you did doesn’t matter.” It doesn’t mean that we “forget.” And it doesn’t mean that we begin to immediately trust the person who hurt us. Forgiveness means that we no longer hold the offense against someone by continuing to bring it up and thereby allowing it to continue fracturing our communion with one another and with God.

These two gifts, confession and forgiveness, are really what makes the church different from the rest of the world. Followers of Jesus do well to use these two gifts from God to show the world how God wants us to fail.

I believe that it breaks God’s heart when we fail and do not use the gifts of confession and forgiveness. I believe that because I know that the reason God sent his son into the world was for the purpose of reconciliation.

“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:19

I found a great resource for helping people who want to get better at this and other practices that reveal God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It is called, “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals” by Claiborne, Wilson-Hartgrove and Okoro. It is a book to strengthen the prayer life of the church and a book that has helped me to learn how to fail well. I recommend it highly!

Here is an excerpt from the book on the topic of confession that I’d like to share with you:

Confession

“The Scriptures have much to say about not coming to the altar if we are holding something against a sister or brother. We are told that we will be forgiven inasmuch as we forgive. The early church was known for its public confessions of sins. Many traditions of Christianity have practiced public confession, and many great revivals have been sparked by folks beating their breasts and confessing sins to one another.

Consider ways of creating a space for confession to happen. We have built in some space for confession in each evening prayer office, but there may be other community rituals you want to practice. One practice used in some communities is “Prouds and Sorries,” where each person is given the space to share something they are proud of and something they are sorry about. Just as we confess things that are wrong, we also need to be reminded that we are better than the worst things we do. Reconciliation is one of the fruits of confession, and it is worth thinking about ways of speaking into each other’s lives as we hope to restore whatever may have been broken or lost. (Some communities respond to confessions by saying together, “We proclaim to you God’s forgiveness and ours.”) Confessional prayer assumes that our worship takes place in a deeply flawed community. The church has always been a worrisome and dysfunctional place. But by grace we can take small steps to restore trust. Maybe it is writing a note to someone we have offended or calling up someone we have murmured to (or about) and asking for their forgiveness. Maybe it means each week choosing to do something nice for someone it’s hard for you to like. Sometimes we call this “doing penance.” It’s not that we have to do an act of penance to earn God grace; it’s the opposite – because we have experienced God’s grace, we can’t help but do some act of grace toward another person.”

Life Together in an Election Year

The election season of 2012 will be starting in earnest with a primary election on August 14. As a pastor I am compelled to propose some agreements that would guard the unity of the Spirit within the Church as we move through this election season.


I begin with these words from the Apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus:

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:1-6

Paul reminds us who follow Jesus that our primary identity and allegiance is to our one Lord who is “above all and through all and in all.” That means that we are first Christian brothers and sisters, united in Christ, before we are Republicans, Democrats, Independents or Americans. Our identity as children of God transcends all those other identifiers. It is important to remember that all the time, but particularly during an election season.

It is important to remember that there are faithful Christians in your church who will be voting for different candidates. There is no single candidate or party that will be “the Christian candidate or party.” There are issues that are important to us as Christians that each candidate and party will seek to address in different ways. And it will be important for us to prayerfully consider how these philosophies, if carried out in our nation’s laws, will make for a more just world that reflects the Kingdom of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

With this in mind, I propose that we live by these agreements out of love for God and one another, and for the sake of our Christian witness in the world.

I agree to have one on one conversations whenever possible with people who disagree with me, and I will “seek first to understand before being understood” (expressing the humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love that Paul speaks of). This means I will resist the temptation to participate in emotionally charged arguments via email, Facebook or blog comments. Instead, I will meet face to face for conversation whenever possible.

I agree to pray for the unity of the church as Christ prayed for the unity of the church in John 17. This is not a prayer that everyone would think the same, vote the same, etc. It is that we would give our allegiance to our one Lord and remember at the end of the day that our unity comes from our being Children of God rather than having an affiliation with a particular political party.

I agree to be responsibly engaged through study, dialogue and prayerful participation in the election process. If I am not registered to vote, I will get registered and participate. (Click here to register to vote).

I agree that if someone does not want to talk about politics I will respect that out of love for my brother or sister in Christ.

I agree not to make personal attacks or accuse another brother or sister in Christ of being unchristian for their political convictions. This includes agreeing not to post vitriolic messages, articles or comments through email, Facebook, Twitter or blogs. There is a way to have passionately held convictions without being mean spirited and accusing people of being evil. Remember that God doesn’t make evil people. We can all be complicit with evil without realizing it. Remember Jesus’ prayer? “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” That applies to all of us at times. The power Jesus gives us to resist evil is to first surrender to God ourselves through confession of our own sin and secondly through self-giving service and love. This is the way Jesus disarmed evil (see Colossians 2:15).

Understand that you will not hear support for a particular candidate from your pastors or church staff. But that does not mean we will not participate fully in the election. Our calling is not to advocate for a particular political candidate, but to proclaim the gospel of Christ and to equip the church for Christian service in the world. We fully recognize that there are faithful Christian men and women at Spring of Life who will vote for candidates from every party.

Out of love for God and one another, and for the sake of our Christian witness in the world, I will agree to live in this way and be held accountable for it by my brothers and sisters in Christ.

How about you?