I thought today would be like any other day. I planned on going out and digging out the rest of the front walkway and finishing up my sermon for Sunday. Then I got the opportunity to call a friend that I have not talked to in 6 months or so. We used to work together in ministry but have each gone our own way.

She has gotten things settled in her life and is now “retired” (I doubt this person will ever truly retire). We got to catch up with each other. We talked about what is going on with my ministry up here, what is going on in her life. We joked about the past and poked fun at some situations that had previously caused us both headaches. We talked about everything from Church all the way to motorcycles and the impending death of land-line telephones. Before I knew it, we had been on the phone for two hours….quite uncharacteristic for me to spend more than 10 minutes on the phone. It was so good to catch up, she even gave me some much needed words of encouragement as we approach Fusion’s first monthly service.

The reason I tell you all this is…..do you have a friend that you’ve fallen out of touch with? You were close but its been some time since you talked? Call this person! E-Mail them! Facebook them! Reconnect with them and I promise, it will bless your day!

Ravi Zacharias, associate professor at Oxford, is a well-known author and speaker. He has set out to provide a book on apologetics that every Christian can use. He was once asked by a Hindu friend, “if this converstion is truly supernatural, why is it not more evident in the lives of so many Christians that I know?” Beyond Opinion is a response to that question.

Zacharias pulled together several colleagues to compose this work. It is refreshing in that it is more conversational in tone than most books on apologetics that one would normally read. The goal is to build relationships with people instead of just an argumentative form of apologetics. Too often Christians are unaware and uninformed of the faith they live and how it interacts with other faith opinions.

The first third of the book addresses issues such as atheism, Eastern Religions, Islam, and natural science. These topics are addressed by influential thinkers such as Allister McGrath and John Lennox.

The second third devotes four chapters to the philosophical challenges faced by Christianity in today’s culture.

The final third addresses how the typical lay person can engage and be grounded in apologetics.

It is important to remember that Zacharias only writes two chapters in the book. However the introduction to some of his peers is great because they are also very skilled communicators.

I believe that this book would be of value to most Christians. I especially enjoyed the first third that dealt with other religions. There is an affirmation of things that can be applauded by the Christian faith, a critique of the worldview, and then tips for sharing the gospel with someone within that worldview.

Where the book falls short, to me, is the final third devoted to grounding Christians in apologetics. At this point, the conversational tone of the book becomes self-defeating and probably does little to actually equip a layperson for defending the faith.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Last night was such a long night…..long, but good overall.  I went to the Cubs/Cards game at Wrigley. It was a really good game, it was everything you’d expect out of the I-55 rivalry. The Cubs have actually looked like a ball club since the all-star break instead of a girl scout troop, and the Cards are battling for first place with the Reds.  I got to go with my wife, my buddy AC, and my best friend. Us three guys got to go to a game several years ago together and I really enjoy it when we’re all together.

Few things give me more pleasure than watching America’s favorite pastime. I really don’t discriminate between watching it on television, or live whether it be little league, high school, or professional. I love the roar of the crowd, their cheers, their boos at umpires. I love the zing of the ball and the sound when a team serves up some lumber. Even though my team lost last night, I still loved it. I do not care who is playing, I’ll watch it….I just love the game.

One of the things that does, however, bring me more pleasure than watching baseball, is watching it with my wife. I knew I had someone special the first time we watched a ballgame on tv together when we started dating. Now, she may not share my intensity for Sunday afternoon football, but when it comes to baseball she’s right there. She loves the game almost as much as I do. We watch random games together on tv, we love to watch ESPN’s top plays each evening. When we get the opportunity to see a game at Busch or Wrigley, I relish every minute of it. I always remember my mom just looking around for what kind of vendor was coming next and getting up every 5 minutes. Not Brittney. She’s just as glued to her seat as I am.

As much as I love baseball, as much as I love going to a game with my best friend and other friends, I love my wife more…and I love it that she loves the greatest game on earth!….even if she is a Cards fan.

It seemed like a good idea. As a part-time local pastor going to seminary full-time, I thought, “I could definitely use some extra cash.” I began the process of becoming a substitute teacher. It seemed like it would be easy enough. I would get called in every so often and get paid to spend the day with students. The process was simple, I sent in an application and got fingerprinted. It was not very long into the school year when I got my first call to our local grade school. I spent that first day teaching junior high math. Soon after that I got called to the town where our local students go to high school. I truly enjoyed working there. I formed an instant rapport with the students and got to know a majority of them. Toward the end of the school year, I had the opportunity to teach high school Spanish on a daily basis for several months to cover a maternity leave. The daily interaction with the students helped to take the relationships deeper. Day after day, I began to see them in a different light. They were not just pupils that I was given charge over, they were so much more. They were beloved children of God, many of whom had deep struggles, burdens, pains. Many were troubled or came from troubled families. I began to see what started as a side job for extra cash as a ministry. I began praying over the halls as I walked in each morning, that God would give each student exactly what they needed; that God would equip me to perhaps be the one that could help a student have an encounter with God. Slowly but surely, students began sharing with me. Sharing about life, struggles, deep questions that they desperately needed answered. I even found myself in a position to be in ministry with other faculty members.

I began to have a burden for that small town, for the families there. I shared that burden and sense of ministry there with my District Superintendent. As it turned out, he shared my burden for that town. His burden began several years earlier as he drove through that town on his way to another church and began to feel that it was in need of something from God. We talked together and began to formulate a plan for extending more effective ministry there. The next thing I knew, I was meeting with Mike Crawford and the plan became more concrete. As of July 1, my appointment was expanded to include planting a new Church in that town.

The funny thing about God is that I never even entertained the idea that substitute teaching could become a ministry. The original concept has become one of the most vital pieces of my ministry and I will continue to substitute.

If you are looking for an avenue to deepen your ministry, especially when it comes to young people in your community, I strongly encourage you to pursue substitute teaching. All you need is a Bachelor’s degree and $30. More information can be found at http://www.isbe.state.il.us/certification/html/substitute.htm.

You Can Be Everything God Wants You to Be by Max Lucado

It’s about living in the sweet spot. Anyone who’s ever played baseball or softball knows exactly what Max is talking about. It’s that spot on the bat that when the ball goes sailing away from your swing you think, “that felt good.” The sweet spot that max is talking about is the convergence of your strengths, your everyday life and God’s glory (p. 25). Too often we try to be someone we’re not or do something that does not jive with our God-given ability. Living outside of our own strengths typically causes depression, bitterness and resentment. Max Lucado is offering, in a way that only he can, a guide to finding and staying in the sweet spot.

I have been a Max Lucado fan for a long while and enjoy using his books for devotional material. This book, with its 29 short chapters, makes for an excellent daily devotional. Max brilliantly blends Scripture and storytelling in a way that inspires the reader to find their own sweet spot that brings glory and fame to God.

The fine print on the inside cover makes clear that portions of this book are reprinted from a previous book. I find this disappointing to a degree. Even with this, and despite my disagreement with Max’s obvious leaning toward Calvinism, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking to find that special area of life known as the sweet spot.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I’m in Wilmore, KY right now at Asbury Theological Seminary for an intensive week of class. It was a long drive down here, and I quickly learned that the state of Kentucky does not believe in wide driving lanes. I arrived on campus and found out that I was placed on the top floor of the dorm and moved my stuff in on a very hot Sunday afternoon. The room is small (for those who were in Timothy Hall at Lincoln Christian, this dorm makes the Hole look like the Hilton). The class is from 8am-4pm daily on ancient church history. Knowing all this, I was ready to pack up and leave…when I get into complaining mode it’s hard to stop. But then God started speaking….

Everyday, walking to and from class, I pass through what is called “Wesley Square” here at Asbury. In the middle of the square is a life-sized statue of John Wesley preaching. Behind the statue is a plaque with a famous quote from John Wesley that says:

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodist should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and disciple with which they first set out.”

I started thinking about this fear from our founder of the Methodist movement. Then I started thinking about some of the things that hit me at Annual Conference a couple of weeks ago. A few things hit me at different times during conference. At the Good News Dinner, Rob Renfroe started talking about why we sing “And Are We Yet Alive?” at the opening of Annual Conference. This is a tradition that dates back to the Wesley’s. I always liked singing this song to begin conference, but had no idea why it was such a strong tradition. Rob explained that the early circuit riding pastors never knew who would make it to conference from year to year because of death. He also explained that the first 300 circuit riders who died in America were under the age of 30. These pastors were so dedicated to making disciples of Jesus Christ that nothing kept them from going out. I once heard it said that when the weather got really terrible it was said, “it was only fit for crows and methodist preachers.” So they would sing this song at the early conferences and look around to see who had entered the Church Eternal while in the service of God. Nothing, not even death, could stop this movement!

Then in class this week, we talked about the early church. The faith was so illegal that persons were requested to renounce Christ by offering sacrifice to the pagan Roman gods…those who refused were put to death. Some went to their martyrdom in the belief that God was even going to use their death to advance the gospel. What dedication! What faith! What resolve!

I started to put the two together…the early church and the early Methodist preachers. As I walked back to my room yesterday, I noticed Wesley Square in a new way. I stood in the warm Kentucky rain and contemplated the fear that Wesley had…that we should exist as a dead sect having the form of religion without the power. How did he know? How did he see it?

We sat at conference a few weeks ago and closed 8 churches…eight! I wonder how many gave pause to reflect on what this meant instead of just casually voting yes with their fancy little keypads?

I want to stand in the tradition of the early church and those early Methodist preachers. I refuse to be a part of a dead, religious sect. I am saying that closing churches should be unacceptable! Ineffective clergy who underperform because of guaranteed appointment (not making a statement either way on that topic…yet) should be unacceptable! I’m praying for the UMC today…that God would bless our churches with a vision of transformation. I’m praying for our clergy…whether they are young or old; progressive, moderate, or conservative; male or female; ordained or licensed…Rise up! Be bold and prophetic!

I’m standing up today….I want to hold fast to the doctrine, spirit, and discipline that made us alive in the first place!

We are alive and we can and WILL make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!

And are we yet alive,
And see each other?s face?
Glory and thanks to Jesus give
For His almighty grace!

Preserved by power divine
To full salvation here,
Again in Jesus? praise we join
And in His sight appear.

What troubles have we seen,
What mighty conflicts past,
Fightings without, and fears within,
Since we assembled last!

Yet out of all the Lord
Hath brought us by His love;
And still He doth His help afford,
And hides our life above.

Then let us make our boast
Of His redeeming power,
Which saves us to the uttermost,
Till we can sin no more.

Let us take up the cross
Till we the crown obtain,
And gladly reckon all things loss
So we may Jesus gain.

Last night, several folks from Cornell (myself included) gathered at the Blackstone building which has been closed now since Christmas Eve. Our task was to begin going through all the rooms, the cabinets, the kitchen, and seeing if there was anything that could possibly be used at the Cornell Church. We were in a bit of a hurry, because someone was showing great interest in purchasing the building. We loaded up the obvious, the altar, the communionware, the candlesticks. But then there was the not so obvious. We started going through books in the cabinets. I found and kept a Methodist Book of Discipline from 1964, four years before we became The United Methodist Church. We found financial records from the 1960’s the catalogued the generosity of this once thriving church. We found film strips, which natrually led to the finding of an antique film strip projector (the kind that can only be operated by hand). We found so many “treasures” that we filled up two trucks and a trailor.

As we were preparing to pull out of Blackstone and take our convoy to Cornell to unload, I went back into the sanctuary to start turning the lights off. That’s when it hit me. The church was one “treasure” that we could not pack up and take with us. The beautiful little church out in the middle of nowhere couldn’t fit in our trailor. I gazed over the altar area and the solid oak pews. I noticed the way the lights hit the stained glass. At the moment, I became aware of what Blackstone UMC had been about for over 130 years and what would now be missing. I knew the building will never be used as a house of worship again, and I suppose thats not our business once a sale is complete. But in that moment, I became painfully aware that this particular house of divine worship was through; it was the last time any of us would be in that church together as a body of Christians. It took my breath away. I felt God’s presence surround me standing in the back of that sanctuary for the last time and I cried.

Why does it only take a moment to say hello, but forever to say goodbye? That was the question I posed througout the last Sunday morning worship service, but the question never meant so much to me as it did last night. It seems like just yesterday I stepped into that church with big ideas, and at that moment it looked so empty. I didn’t want to say goodbye, I still don’t. I shed a tear last night, because I know that I’ll always miss that little church.

Here is a video slideshow that I put together for the last service, so you too can see the beauty of this little church:

After reading Robb McCoy’s blog I thought I should take some time to appreciate all the pastors in my life!

Keith Zimmerman, my district superintendent who has been a constant source of encrouagement and support.

Bob Swickard, who has served as my candidacy mentor despite his insane schedule as a pastor at Springfield First.

Deron Boyer, started off as a teacher at L2P school but became a close friend and confidant. We’re movie buddies, even though he’s a cards fan.

Dan Perry, who is so much like me its not even funny! I hope when I get to be his age, God will have used me 1/2 as much.

Casey Taylor, for always being willing to have an intelligent conversation.

Arthur Roemer, who’s always loved me even though I’m Methodist (he’s Christian Church).

Grant Armstrong, man I wish I had his sense of style!

Dan Garvin, for showing me that pastors can still have fun.

Nelson Reiber, for showing me a life of prayer.

Chuck and Barb Anthony, their love for God and eachother inspires me. And chuck makes a mean cup of coffee!

Mark Amenda, need I say more?

Bishop Palmer, somedays I just need to hear a good sermon.

Pamela Hoffman, for being my very first pastor as a brand new Christian teen and for encouraging me in discerning my call to ministry.

My list, like others, could go on and on and on with all the Pastors in my life. For all these and more, I appreciate and love you all!

With the H1N1 visus reaching pandemic status, I’ve heard a lot of responses about what churches are doing to respond. Some of them are better than others, some make me want to scream!

In the wake of this pandemic and in preparation for flu season, our 2 churches have implemented some changes to our communion practice that will make us all a bit more comfortable. Our servers will now be sanitizing their hands before handling the elements (I have always kept some germ-x under the pulpit especially for communion Sundays). Instead of those receiving communion tearing off their own piece of bread it will now be torn off for them by the server. The servers will be tearing off large enough pieces to keep people’s fingers from getting into the chalice. I think this change effectively deals with our uncomfortableness over the spread of germs through the sacrament. This change is one that I find to be good.

Some churches, however, are preparing to stop having communion altogether. Let me rephrase this…they are preparing to not celebrate communion fully. Many churches will not be including the cup of wine/juice as a part of the sacrament. Some Catholic Dioceses have placed a ban on receiving the host on the tongue. As far as I’m concerned, not receiving the sacrament fully is the same as not having communion.  This is a crying shame. We’re more worried about a virus than we are about participating in a sacrament that Jesus gave to us by clear example in the Scripture. This makes me want to scream!

Some churches, are doing away with Greeting/Passing the Peace. There will be no shaking hands, no hugging. Maybe we should take it a step further and we should have the ushers sanitize the pews after every service so the germs from last week don’t transfer. Or maybe we should fit every member of the church with their own official United Methodist BUBBLE! That way they don’t have to worry about touching the unclean. I mean, seriously, what’s next….no fellowship time after church? What if an “infected” person breathed near your cookie? This makes me want to scream! Maybe we should just lock the doors to our churches until flu season is over and the threat of H1N1 is over!

Thank God Jesus didn’t ask for sanitiation, didn’t ask for a bubble when he reached out an touched a leper. The most unlean of the unclean:

⁴⁰A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

 ⁴¹Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. (Mark 1:40-42)

Maybe instead of all these extreme precautions we should encourage the members of our churches to take some responsibility as adults and wash their hands. Make hand sanitizers available at the doors and in the narthex. Not avoid human contact. Human contact that is a basic need of life.

The best resource I’ve seen for exercising discretion with all of this came from the UM General Board of Discipleship. These are the do’s and don’ts:

Swine Flu Officially Declared Pandemic: What to Do and Not Do in Worship
by Taylor Burton-Edwards
	On Thursday, June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization officially declared that the influenza virus known as Swine Flu (H1N1) has reached global “pandemic” stage.What does that mean? It means that there is now evidence that Swine Flu is spreading in at least two distinct regions of the world. To date, approximately 30,000 cases have been reported, with 144 fatalities globally. In addition to our existing resources on Swine Flu and Holy Communion, here is a list of “Dos and Don’ts” for worship that balances attention to theological integrity with appropriate pastoral concern. What to Do: Do celebrate worship and the sacraments fully, and be not afraid! Use common sense, but always remember this: Jesus is more powerful than germs! Wash your hands before you touch food you will share with others. This simple directive has long been practiced in most cultures on the earth. It has an honored place in historical Christian worship as well in the use of the lavabo, a basin for Communion presiders and servers to wash hands. If having water present is problematic or awkward, the CDC recommends using hand sanitizer containing alcohol. Just be sure to make this action gracious, not glaring! Receive the bread from servers who have washed their hands. This has actually been the instruction in every official ritual the United Methodist Church and its predecessor denominations have published. We all receive from others, rather than taking the bread for ourselves. If you use intinction, have those serving the cup tilt it slightly toward those receiving so no one needs to dip their fingers into the juice/wine to receive. This takes a bit of skill. Practice with your servers beforehand if they have not done this before, using water in the cup. Then wash the cups and get ready to celebrate! If any infectious disease is actively spreading where you are, exchange the peace and greet others in ways that don’t require you to make skin to skin contact. Keep in mind that Communion poses hardly any risk for spreading disease. The major ways people catch this flu are through skin to skin contact and through airborne particles (coughs and sneezes). If you normally keep water in the baptismal font, be sure the font is cleaned regularly and the water is fresh. If you leave water in the font for a long period of time, it will start to grow harmful bacteria and other agents. So keep it clean! And keep the water fresh, preferably for each service (especially if people will be invited to touch it during the previous service). Pour the existing water into the earth. (Remember, this water will have been blessed, just as the bread and wine of Communion!) Clean the font with an anti-microbial cleaner, rinse thoroughly, and refill. What Not to Do: Do not come to worship if you are sick with something you can easily spread to others. That applies to pastors, worship leaders, and participants in the congregation. There are no special “Brownie Points” awarded for showing up at worship, work, or anywhere else you can spread what you have. Stay home. Take care of yourself. And get well. Then come to worship and thank God for helping you recover. If you are well and able to come to worship, do not fear germs more than you love Jesus! Unless your own immune system is seriously compromised, don’t bother with facemasks, latex gloves, or other medical paraphernalia that give the impression that worship may be an unsafe place to be or that the elements of blessed bread and wine we share may be more physically dangerous than holy. If your immune system is seriously compromised, consider staying home and letting others extend the Lord’s Table to you. Do not cough or sneeze on others if you do come. If you have a cough or are likely to sneeze, practice making it a habit to grab a tissue and cover your mouth each time. Then, if you’re in an area where an infectious disease is spreading rapidly, excuse yourself to wash your hands at the earliest convenient time. Remember, it is airborne particles (from coughing and sneezing) and skin to skin contact (if you have these particles on your hand) that are by far the most likely means to transmit Swine Flu (H1N1) and many other infectious agents. Do not use little disposable cups or disposable “all-in-one” packages of elements for Communion (pop-top Jesus?), thinking these might be safer.They aren’t safer. It’s not just what’s inside that’s the problem. It’s what’s outside — the cups or sets themselves and all the people who will inevitably have touched these things without washing thier hands before you do. Neither the containers themselves nor the outside of these containers can be kept sterile. Worse, the use of elements in this form essentially forces the congregation to violate our teaching about believing and respecting the real presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine. The United Methodist Book of Worship tells us, “What is done with the remaining bread and wine should express our stewardship of God’s gifts and our respect for the holy purposes they have served” (p. 30). “This Holy Mystery,” our official teaching document on Holy Communion, further specifies. If any bread and wine remain, they should always be disposed of by (1) the pastor and/or others at the pastor’s direction, consuming them in a reverent manner immediately or directly following the service; (2) returning them to the earth by pouring (2 Samuel 23:16), burying, scattering or burning.” Throwing little cups into the trash that will inevitably have blessed elements in them constitutes neither good stewardship of God’s gifts (these are not recyclable), nor respect for the holy purposes they have served, nor the more specific forms of reverent disposal required by our teaching. Far better care for creation, the real presence of Christ, and the unity of the body in him can be expressed through the use of a common cup, or multiple chalices poured from a common flagon, or even individual nondisposable cups poured from a common flagon. All of these can be safely cleaned and reused, and none of them requires disposing of the blessed juice or wine in the trash. Be not afraid! This bears repeating. When we gather for worship, we are there to offer ourselves in praise, thanksgiving, and joy to our God, in songs, prayers, dance, art, music, drama, and with water, Scripture, bread and wine. The perfect love of God who meets us here casts out all fear. So do worship! And do show reasonable concern for the health of others as you worship, especially during times when illnesses are spreading rapidly. But do not confuse appropriate concern for over-reactive panic. Rejoice, and fear not!

This is reprinted from a piece I wrote in 2007… I’ve updated a few things:
It is 11:00pm on July 4. The family cookout is over, the last of the fireworks have been sent into the air (much to the neighbors delight) and everyone has gone home…and for the first time in my life I find myself truly contemplating the meaning of this day. It’s not about the fireworks or the food; it’s about something much deeper…Independence. And I’m not just talking about this nation’s declared indendence from the British Crown 233 years ago…but about our independence in every aspect of life; especially spiritual independence.

Look at the first part of our Declaration of Independence, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Clearly the governing forces over the colonies had become destructive and the people had the right to abolish that tie. Fast forward to 2009. Are we truly free? I know I’m not. I am bound to my sins, my hang-ups, my addictions, my destructive behaviors. And I think if you’re honest you are bound to something destructive as well…a secret sin? anger? depression? an addiction? gossip? whatever it may be we are all bound by something. Where is the freedom in that?

Suddenly, what they did in 1776 makes a lot more sense to me. They were slaves to a destructive force that was only using them. They wanted freedom. Yes, they did have to fight a long war to gain that freedom in the end, but ultimately our battle has already been fought. The battle was won 2,000 years ago on a hill called Calvary. Read Paul’s words to the Romans “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death,” (Romans 8:1-2). Whoa, back up the happy train here! Are you trying to say that I don’t have to be a slave to my sins and whatever else is holding me back from true life? Yes, that’s what he’s saying!!! God says that we don’t have to be slaves any longer, we can live a life of freedom and, yes, INDEPENDENCE from those things!

Wow, what a promise! Let it be known that on this day, July 4, I officially declare that I am no longer a slave to the destructive things in my life! I choose to live a life of freedom in Christ….no chains to hold me back! Will you join me on this road to freedom?

Happy Independence Day, indeed!