epiphany

I have attended dozens of seminars and conferences ....mostly for the fellowship and time out of the office ...at church expense… how is that for honesty? Some of them have been helpful, good and timely wisdom for life and ministry. But I must confess that for all the time and money invested, moments of epiphany have been rare. I do, however, remember one moment of emotion so complicated that no single word can describe it. How do you mix fear, dread , confusion, insight and hope.
I can not remember the speaker’s name but more than ten years later I can remember his passionate appeal and some of his words reverberate in my mind to this day. He said something like this ....., In very important ways our children will not be like us...... They will have different values , different preferences, and they will not share our loyalties to institutions and traditions. They are being shaped by cataclysmic sociological and philosophical forces and it will be our ultimate challenge to transmit to them the absolute essentials of our Christian faith. In response to his words, I remember the weird mixture of relief and fear. Fear that those troubling words could define the future (demise) of the North American Church but also glad that a personal devil, finally had a name. For years I had been wrestling with a growing awareness that for whatever reason we were not effectively ministering to an entire generation now called ”postmodern” . The old gospel presentations, appeals to logic , four spiritual laws etc. met with blank stares, a language not understood.
A lot of people attending the seminar that day left shaking their heads at the alarmist rhetoric. But the speaker was right all those years ago. His words have proven to be prophetic and the church is still attemting to deal with the implications of the future reality he described, now present.

that's good news

She appears a little on the tough side, hair too blond, nails too red, with that wary look of one too conscious her reputation. In a little town like this, every one knows about her "checkered past". She slips into the pew and it takes a moment for her to leave the difficult world of the outside, for her spirit to thaw in the warmth of worship. You can tell she feels like she belongs here though, the frail old gentleman next to her gave her a warm welcoming smile as she entered the pew and she held his hand during prayer. There were some less warm, not exactly sure how far God’s grace extends. But most of the worshipers show at least the courtesy due one who is “headed in the right direction”.
She probably could not articulate her hope using the familiar language of the Church. Theological terms like justification, regeneration and propitiation are a foreign tongue her. But her tears clearly measure her deep response to ancient words from Zechariah 13:1 put to music in the last century , "There is a Fountan filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuels veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."
There are some who would tell us that “old songs" like that don’t speak to this post-modern world but the songs of the redeemed have a power that transcends culture and history. This battered soul hears loudly and clearly ....the good news.... that God is a God of forgiveness, healing and new beginnings. Sinners are welcome , the song says, and transforming, healing power is available from the One who created mercy in the first place.

simple faith

His smile was dazzling! It also had that “not quite right” look to it , ....kind of like .......nobody can be that happy.
He stood behind the lectern and read the scripture passage slowly, with exaggerated enunciation signifying the great effort with which his task was being performed. At the end of the reading he favored everyone again with his unbelievable grin and every one returned the smile, all relieved that he had successfully navigated what was for him, a challenging assignment.
None of us really want to live his life , to face every day the realities of his mental handicaps that make almost every aspect of his life a challenge. No one would really want to trade places with him ......but some admit to a little twing of jealousy at times . His joy and simple faith are infectous, his guileless transparency apparent in his open face and manner. He really believes that God loves him ......not in the general sense ( God loves everyone), but more in the sense of...." God loves everyone but I'm his favorite ". He has in his own way accepted that his loving heavenly Father intentionally created him frailties and all and that circumstances beyond his control are simply not his problem.
Ok ...I am a lot jealous at times.....

Does God still heal people?

This is not a story some one told me ..about a friend… who had a friend… like one of those stories that are touching ....but impossible to verify. I was physically present when all of the important elements of this story took place.
She was a new believer, young mother , a university student struggling with all the normal things common to that period of life. She was trying to balance marriage, baby, and studies, but she had also been diagnosed with a dangerous physical condition that required two or more treatments a week. Her life was an endless cycle of… good day.. bad day.. treatment day… OK day …and the prognosis was that she would probably live this way for life unless some new treatment method was discovered.
One Sunday evening at the close of service, an invitation was given for anyone needing special prayer to come forward. She came ...with all of the emotions of her roller coaster life playing on her face. Without hesitation she specifically asked for prayer to be healed of her condition. Following the custon of our church she knelt at an altar rail, one of the ministry staff made the sign of the cross in anointing oil on her forehead while the ministry staff present and elders placed their hands on her head and shoulders and prayed for her. I was there but I don’t remember who lead the prayers , neither do I remember any particular or dramatic words spoken. Our offerings were simply the heart-felt expressions of brothers and sisters sensing the pain of a suffering loved one . We prayed for her husband , child , university studies, and that God would have mercy on her and heal her physical infirmity.
At the end of the prayer she rose with tears, gratitude and new found hope We continued to pray for other needs and eventually went home. Nothing particularly remarkable about that event, I have witnessed and participated in this ritual many times.
A few days later I recieved an excited, hopeful phone call about a missed treatment .....then a week without.... stretched into months until it was obvious to all but the most jaded..... that God had stretched out his hand in a miraculous way that night. We had witnessed ..a healing .. like in the Bible ….like Jesus used to do …right in our church!
Why her? Was she believing in just the right way? Why that prayer .....did someone get all the words in the just right order?
Or does the sovereign God, in his own time, and for his own purposes, sometimes send us a special gift...a reminder of his extravagant love and absolute power over the material and spiritual worlds..... a faith building object lesson just for us!

courage my good friend

A young pastor friend of mine just called.....to be honest , when I saw his name come up in the caller ID... I didn't want to take the call. I hate to talk on the phone in general but calls from good friends are welcome, and then there are some whose calls are a special treat. We are fellow warriors, this friend and I, and we enjoy the camaraderie that comes from shared sorrows and celebrations. I cringed just a little, however, because I knew that this call would be difficult and would leave me angry ....again. He is currently sheparding a tough church , some have called it a "Pastor Killer". Each time he calls lately,there is a new story of another painful attack , stinging, personal, profoundly unfair. I have felt that pain and know that in these times it is impossible to dream, hard work to smile,difficult to remember why we ever felt compelled to accept this life-calling.
Not all the "sheep" there are mean .... many are genuinely salt-of-the-earth kind of people.
Interesting that this church would never tolerate in its leadership, one who was unfaithful to marriage vows, party to shady financial dealings, or lacking in accountability…..
Why is it then that they openly permit the grievous sin of divisiveness to flourish in this church, treating the worst offenders as victims, deserving a place at the table to air imagined grievences.
There are just a few such individuals , but their shameless gossip , manipulation, and complete lack of respect for the pastoral office, will color and contaminate the enviroment of worship gatherings , and ministry efforts.
When are we going to have the courage to call this grevious sin by the proper name? How long are we going to ignore the clear principles of Matthew 18 …… and fail to insist that this powerful teaching of our Lord be our "normal" .... the way business is done in the Church. There is a terrible toll being paid in our churches, spiritual carnage caused by our disobediance. Until we repent ....we will also suffer the unneccessary loss of many gifted and able warriors, shot in the back by the most dangerous enemies of the church.