Merry Christmas!

Titus 2:11
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all.

Every day, every single day, has with it the potential for being the first day of eternal contentment anf fulfillment because the grace of God has indeed appeared.

Christmas Eve services at Central UMC in Decatur at 5:00 and 11:00.

Merry Christmas!

We have services here at Central UMC in Decatur on Christmas Eve, Thursday, at 5:00 and 11:00. We hope to see you there!

Colossians 3:12,13
"As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive."

Bring meaning to someone else this Christmas season.

God is With Us

Even in the busyness... ESPECIALLY in the busyness.. God is with us. I love this prayer from Robert Wood.

Father God,
Why is it that I think I must get somewhere, assume some position, be gathered together, or separated apart in the quiet of my study to pray?
Why is it that I feel that I have to go somewhere or do some particular act to find you, reach you, and talk with you?
Your presence is here
In the city - on the busy bus, in the factory, in the cockpit of the airplane; in the hospital - in the patient's rooms, in the intensive care unit, in the waiting room; in the home - at dinner, in the bedroom, in the family room, at my workbench; in the car - in the parking lot, at the stoplight.
Lord, reveal your presence to me everywhere, and help me become aware of your presence each moment of the day.
May your presence fill the nonanswers, empty glances, and lonely times of my life. Amen.

- From A Thirty-Day Experiment in Prayer by Robert Wood

Regular services this Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 am and on Christmas Eve we will be gathering to worship at 5:00 and 11:00 pm. See you there!

Merry Christmas!

God Is With Us

What fun we had last night singing the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah! One more Sunday of the Advent season and then Christmas Eve and the beginning of the Christmas season!

Isaiah 7:14
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel."

Matthew reminds us that Immanuel, of course, means "God with us." This reminds us that the Christmas message continues to be about God's presence with us in the here and now and not just about a long ago event in a place far from here.

I pray that the meaning of Christmas continues to find it's way into your heart in the midst of your holiday preparations.

Grace and Peace,

Merry Christmas!

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord, your God, is in your midst.

Who do you look like? Do you have your mother's eyes? Who do act like? Do you have your father's sense of humor? One of the powerful messages of Christmas is that Jesus was both like his father and his mother. Jesus is fully God and fully human. And because of his mother, mary, he truly came to be in our midst. Jesus isn't just in a manger somewhere else, but right here in our home or workplace or lunch gathering with friends.

Slow down and look for Jesus this busy holiday season! He's right here!

Children's Christmas program tonight and Chick Filet fund raiser dinner.

Grace and Peace

Advent Season

"God presents himself to us little by little. The whole story of salvation is the story of God who comes." - From The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto

The God who comes is NOT just the God who came...... Sometimes we treat as Christmas as the celebration of the God who came...way back in the past...

But Advent is all about preparing for the God who came and is coming and will come again!!! Are our preparations for our children and relatives and friends more diligent and extensive than our preparations for our Lord and Savior?

Children's Christmas program tomorrow night (Wednesday) here at the church! Food at 5:00 and a program at 6:00.

Grace and Peace

Advent Season

Malachi 3:1-3
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight - indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.

Many see Christmas time as an opportunity to unwrap the present of baby Jesus and then simply set it aside as we give thanks to God for His gift. But this passage reminds us that the purpose of that gift is to initiate change. We are to be challenged and thus refined into something better. Jesus is not a picture to hang on the wall and looked at from time to time, but a treadmill to exercise upon until we are indeed changed for the better!

What Advent traditions have you already started this season? Andrea and I attended a nice Lessons and Carols service last night at St. John's Episcopal Church.

The Advent Season

Jeremiah 33:14-16 -
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: "The Lord is our righteousness."

These were days of military defeat and exile. And yet....

Things could not get worse. And yet....

Advent is not just about who came in the past, although that element is surely present. It is primarily about who will be coming in the future! The days are surely coming, says the Lord!! How important is the schedule sitting on your desk right now compared to the promise of eternity? The church calendar is in large part a tool for helping us remember our priorities.

The Lord is coming. Are you ready?

Happy Thanksgiving!

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to His Name: He forgets not His own.

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender wilt be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation:
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
- Anonymous

Have a most blessed weekend!

See you on Sunday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"No, brothers and sisters, it is not enough to change laws. You have to change hearts. Otherwise, when you have completed the journey of your social labors you shall find yourselves right back at the beginning - only this time it is you who will be the arrogant, the rich, and the exploiters of the poor." - From I, Francis by Carlo Carretto

A common phrase often repeated states that you can't legislate morality. Outlawing pornography isn't really effective as long as there are people seeking it. Changing attitudes is the real task of the Christian Disciple. As we look forward to a few days of plenty and feel the call to address the shortcomings of society, let us remember to do so one heart at a time!

Have a Blessed Week!

In 1350, give or take a few years, a theological book was written in Germany which ended up being called Theologia Germanica. The Protestant Reformation was still 100 years away but their were still many conversations taking place about the integrity of the Christian Faith and how we can best experience a relationship with Christ in the here and now.

As a foundation upon which to build, the Theologia first states that, "One says - and rightly so - that God is above and without rules, measure, and order, yet renders to all things rules, order, measure, and moral integrity."

I think that this is exactly right! Structure and discipline have to be in place before one can truly be open to all that life has to offer. And as we approach a very busy time of the year, you can believe that a structured calendar will very much be your friend.

We are a week away from Thanksgiving. For what are you truly thankful?

Here the purpose and meaning of prayer dawned upon me for the first time. Here I was privileged to see more clearly than ever before the purpose of prayer: to glorify the name of God.

The scales fell from my eyes. I saw in a new light the misuse of prayer and the difficulties connected with prayer as well as the place of our own efforts in prayer.

Prayer life has its own laws, as all the rest of life has. The fundamental law in prayer is this: Prayer is given and ordained for the purpose of glorifying God. Prayer is the appointed way of giving Jesus an opportunity to exercise his supernatural powers of salvation. And in so doing he desires to make use of us. - From Prayer by O. Hallesby

On Sunday, Nov. 22, we recognize Christ as King! The following Sunday begins the Advent season and we start reliving the bible narrative all over again. Everything we are and hope to be is instructed and influenced by the faith statement we are able to make at this time.

And... I have just learned... Breakfast for dinner on Wednesday night in our Wednesday Night Cafe!! See you there!

Marinated chicken tonight for dinner in the fellowship hall! This is my favorite meal, followed closely by the marinated pork.

"Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know,
to love what I ought to love,
to praise what delights thee most,
to value what is precious in thy sight,
to hate what is offensive to thee.

Do not suffer me to judge according to the sight of my eyes,
nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men;
but to discern with a true judgment between things visible and spiritual,
and above all, always to inquire what is the good pleasure of thy will." - Thomas a Kempis

"All prayer is thus activity, just as all generous activity (mixed motive and all) is a form of prayer. Prayer and action are one. To pray is a form of the verb to do, while to do is a form of the verb to pray." - From Tensions by H. A. Williams

Sincere Christian commitment is more than just thinking about what it all means.

God be with you!

Fall Festival tonight! Come support the youth and enjoy Halloween food and fun. I believe we are having barbecue as well as potluck items brought in by the youth.

"Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that he is actively present in our lives - healing, teaching, and guiding - we need to set aside a time and space to give him our undivided attention. Jesus says, "Go to your private room and , when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place" (Matthew 6:6). " - From Making All Things New by Henri J. M. Nouwen

We are beginning a three month stretch of busyness and marketing and priorities that may or may not be the same as our Lord has. Intentionally schedule on your calendars some private God time every week through the end of the year!!

Grace and Peace be with you

"The man who is proud of anything he thinks he has reached, has not reached it. He is proud of himself, and imagining a cause for his pride....Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they are of the same spirit as God, and of nature the kingdom of heaven is theirs." - From Life Essential by George MacDonald

Who are we really? The wider we cast our gaze the more able we are to recognize our place in the universe. How about this Fall season appearing around us?

Fried chicken and green beans for dinner tonight at our Wednesday Night cafe! Come join us and stick around for a lesson or some good fellowship.

Have a Good One!

"All our merely natural activities will be accepted, if they are offered to God, even the humblest: and all of them, even the noblest, will be sinful if they are not." - From The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

We continually have to struggle with attaching value to our own perceptions of beauty and accomplishment, forgetting that true value comes from offering what we have to God.

Stay warm! We have had a cold couple of days here in Alabama! Have a blessed week!

Immeasurable Love

More Julian of Norwich -

"God only desires that our soul cling to him with all of its strength, in particular, that it clings to his goodness. For of all of the things our minds can think about God, it is thinking upon his goodness that pleases him most and brings the most profit to our soul.

For we are so preciously loved by God that we cannot even comprehend it. No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them. It is only with the help of his grace that we are able to persevere in spiritual contemplation with endless wonder at his high, surpassing, immeasurable love which our Lord in his goodness has for us." - From Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

What will take to learn to love like this?

Meatloaf and mashed potatos tonight at Central UMC! First time visitors eat free!

Pledge cards going out soon for next year's budget. Prayfully consider how to best please God...

See you tonight!

I came to a new understanding why Jesus passed up the religious establishment of his day, the economically secure, the socially prestigous, and sought out the poor, the outcast, the sinner, the broken, the sick, the lonely. He felt, as we so often do not feel, their sorrow. He was acquainted, as we too seldom are, with their grief. On Calvary he died of a broken heart. but that heart was broken long before Black Friday, by the desolation of the common people. "In all their afflictions he was afflicted." - The Captivating Presence by Albert Edward Day

So many people are seeking understanding. Who can you listen to today?

I stand by the door.

I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,

The door is the most important door in the world -

It is the door through which men walk when they find God.

There's no use my going way inside, and staying there,

When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,

Crave to know where the door is.

And all that so many ever find

Is only the wall where a door ought to be.

They creep along the wall like blind men,

With outstretched, groping hands.

Felling for a door, knowing there must be a door,

Yet they never find it...



So I stand by the door. - From I Stand By the Door by Samuel Moor Shoemaker



People depend on us.....



Have a great week!

Another good old fashioned pot-luck supper tonight at 5:00 in our Fellowship Hall! We have three classes on tap for tonight as well. I will be leading a discussion on perseverance, our pastor will be discussing Adam Hamilton's book Enough, and a book study is taking place in the library. Tonight I am bringing a corn pudding for dinner.

"God gives us the boat and the oars, but then tells us, "It's up to you to row." Making 'positive acts of faith' is like training this faculty; it is developed by training, as the muscles are developed by gymnastics." From Letters from the Desert by Carlo Carretto

Stewardship is not just about money.

See you tonight at the church!

Job 23:1-6

Then Job answered: "Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me.

We keep wanting to read Job as if it will answer the question of why bad things happen to us. And the author's answer is simply bad things happen. This isn't very satisfying and we have to discipline ourselves to look for the answers that ARE provided. For example, in this passage we learn that it is all right to want to argue with God and complain about bad things. And in a very comforting way, we also learn that although God may not chnage anything at all about the way life is treating us, he will still give heed. He will still listen. God still very much cares.

We've got another pot-luck supper coming up on Wednesday so come on out to the church and say hello! I brought a macaroni and cheese dish on Sunday so for Wednesday I will be making a simple corn pudding.

Have a great week!

A great day yesterday as we experienced Sunday in then Park in the Fellowship Hall! We will also be continuing our month long study of what it means to have 'enough'.

In the meantime... Julian of Norwich (1343-1413) Julian is the most popular of the English mystics. She lived as a benedictine nun in Norwich, beside the St. Julian Church, from which she most likely took her name. She wrote a book called Revelations of Divine Love, which was one of the first popular works written by a woman. She wrote about wanting to know God more completely.

"On the year 1373, on May 13, God gave me a three-fold revelation. This was his gracious gift to me in response to my desire to know him more. The first was a deep recollection of his passion. The second was a bodily sickness. The third was to have, of God's gift, three wounds.

As to the first, it seemed to me that I had some feeling for the Passion of Christ, but still I desired to have more by the grace of God. My wish was to have been present with those who loved Christ and were with him at his passion so that I, with my own eyes, might have seen the passion which our Lord suffered for me, and so that I might have suffered with him as the others did who loved him. I never desired any other sight or revelation of God."

We sometimes approach this strong desire to more fully understand the passion of Christ during the Lenten season, but there will never be a bad time for reflecting upon just how much God has done on our behalf through His Son. There are football games every weekend at the college and pro levels and Halloween will soon be followed by Thanksgiving which gives way to Christmas. And Jesus died for you and me.... Again we remember to start with the basic truths of our faith.

Have a blessed week!

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust:
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put
to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly
treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

From Psalm 25:1-5

Sunday in the Park this Sunday at Delano Park at 10:30! I'm bringing a macaroni and cheese dish that is always well received. Of course I've never been to a pot luck where macaroni and cheese wasn't well received! Mitchell will be preaching from I Timothy 6:6-10.

I'm also leaving for Nashville this morning to pick up my mother-in-law who is arriving from San Antonio.

Have a great weekend. We'll see you on Sunday!

To be humble in our actions, to avoid every appearance of pride and vanity, to be meek and lowly in our words, actions, dress, behavior, and designs - all in imitation of our blessed Saviour - is worshipping God in a higher manner than do they who have only stated times to fall low on their knees in devotions. - From A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law

Sunday the Park is just around the corner here in Decatur, Alabama! Join us in worship on Sunday morning at 10:30 over at Delano Park and stick around for a good ol' Methodist pot luck meal afterwards! Casual dress is most welcome!

See you on Sunday!

More Thomas Merton -

Meditation is sometimes quite difficult. If we bear with hardship in prayer and wait patiently for the time of grace, we may well discover that meditation and prayer are very joyful experiences. We should not, however, judge the value of our meditation by "how we feel." A hard and apparently fruitless meditation may in fact be much more valuable than one that is easy, happy, enlightened, and apparently a big success. - From Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton

Worship is, I would offer, similar in that we do not attend as consumers but as disciples. If we judge the worth of a sermon or worship service by "how we feel," we are completely missing a basic understanding of what it means to make a committment to Christ.

Marinated pork loin tonight and a discussion about whether or not we are becoming more uncivil in our conversations with one another.

See you tonight!

The contemplative tradition (the Prayer-filled life) gives special attention to loving God. "True, whole prayer is nothing but love," says St. Augustine.

Born in Prades, France, Thomas Merton had a trying and painful childhood - his mother died when he was six, and his father died when he was fifteen.

In his mid-twenties Merton experienced a profound conversion while attending Columbia University, and he joined the Roman Catholic church. At the age of twenty-six he entered Gethsemane Abbey in Kentucky where he would live the rest of his life as a Trappist monk.

One of his more famous works was a book called, "Contemplative Prayer." Yesterday we spoke of the difference between learning how to praise and developing a full time attitude of praise. Merton uses similar language.

"In meditation we should not look for a 'method' or a 'system,' but cultivate an 'attitude,' and 'outlook': faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, joy. All these gfinally permeate our being with love in so far as our living faith tells us we are in the presence of God, that we live in Christ, that in the Spirit of God we "see' God our Father without 'seeing.' We know him in 'unknowing.' Faith is the bond that unites us to him in the Spirit who gives us light and love." - From Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton

We have spoken of this before. It is the difference between attending church and being church.

Marinated pork loin for dinner on Wednesday night and pot-luck dishes being gathered on Sunday morning for lunch after worship at Delano Park.

See you on Wednesday night!

Short, but powerful:

Thus, one who makes it a rule to be content in every part and accident of life because it comes from God praises God in a much higher manner than one who has some set time for the singing of psalms. - From A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law

Pray unceasingly! Don't just learn how to praise, develop an attitude of constant praise!

We are meeting at the park on Sunday for worship and a pot luck meal afterwards. Join Central United Methodist in worship at Delano Park on Sunday, October 4 at 10:30.

See you on Sunday!

I was preparing a lesson for our older adults for their regular Wednesday afternoon Bible study when I came across this passage from Henri J. M. Nouwen.

A Letter to My Father

The death of husband, wife, child, or friend can cause people to stop living toward the unknown future and make withdraw into the familiar past. They keep holding on to a few precious memories and customs and see their lives as having come to a standstill. They start to live as if they were thinking, "For me it is all over. There is nothing more to expect from life." As you can see, here the opposite of detachment is taking place; here is a re-attachment that makes life stale and takes all vitality out of existence. It is a life in which hope no longer exists....

I think there is a much more human option. It is the option to re-evaluate the past as a continuing challenge to surrender ourselves to an unknown future. It is the option to understand our experience of powerlessness as an experience of being guided, even when we do not know exactly where. Remember what jesus said to Peter when he appeared to him after his resurrection: "When you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go." Jesus said this immediately after he had told Peter three times to look after his sheep. Here we can see that a growing surrender to the unknown is a sign of spiritual maturity and does not take away autonomy. Mother's death is indeed an invitation to surrender ourselves more freely to the future, in the conviction that one of the most important parts of our lives may still be ahead of us and that mother's life and death were meant to make this possible. Do not forget that only after Jesus' death could his disciples fulfill their vocation. - From A Letter of Consolation by Henri J. M. Nouwen

God Supplies Our Every Need

Norman Harrison in His in a Life of Prayer tells how Charles Inglis, while making the voyage to America a number of years ago, learned from the devout and godly captain of an experience which he had had but recently with George Muller of bristol. It seems that they had encountered a very dense fog. Because of it the captain had remained on the bridge continuously for twenty-four hours, when Mr. Muller came to him and said, "Captain, I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon." When informed that it was impossible, he replied: "Very well. If the ship canno0t take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down into the chart room and pray."

Tha captain continues the story thus:
I looked at that man of God and thought to myself, What lunatic asylum could that man have come from. I never heard such a thing as this. "Mr. Muller," I said, "do you know how dense this fog is?" "No," he replied, "my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life." He knelt down and prayed one of those simple prayers, and when he had finished I was going to pray; but he put his hand on myu shoulder and told me not to pray. "Firstly," he said,, "because you do not believe God will, and secondly, I believe God has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it." I looked at him, and George Muller said, "Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up and open the door, and you will find that the fog has gone." I got up and the fog was indeed gone. George Muller was in Quebec Saturday afternoon for his engagement."

- From I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes by Glenn Clark

Most of us fear community because we think it will call us away from ourselves... What a curious conception of self we have! We have forgotten that self is a moving intersection of many other selves. We are formed by the lives which intersect with ours. - From The Promise of Paradox by Parker Palmer


We are who we are PRECISELY because of our relationships with all others. Give thanks for the similarities but truly value the differences.

Grace and Peace,

See you on Sunday!

James 4:1 These conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?

Remember that the very people who upset you most, are in all likelilhood the people you will be spending eternity with. These are the very people Jesus came to save. So conflict resolution is not just a good idea for helping us feel good today...it is about the necessary preparation for eternal life with people who are vastly different than us.

See you on Sunday!

James 3:13 - Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.

Why do we do the things we do? Do we do them with a gentleness born of wisdom? Something to think about...

Thanks for the many birthday wishes sent my way! Dinner at Chili's to celebrate. I am still a burger and fries kind of guy. Tonight we are blessed with Chicken Pot Pie for our Wednesday NIght Supper. There is a marriage enrichment class in the library and we will be discussing a Christian response to the President giving a speech to school children in room 208. Have a great day! We are halfway through the week!

Therefore, be attentive to time and the way you spend it. Nothing is more precious. This is evident when you recall that in one tiny moment heaven may be gained or lost. God, the master of time, never gives the future. He gives only the present, moment by moment, for this is the law of the created order, and God will not contradict himself in his creation. - From The Cloud of Unknowing

Are we able to sit down and really recognize that which is important and that which is merely in front of us?

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible. - From Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis


Everything we say and everything we do does in fact matter greatly in the long run.

See you on Sunday!

When one gives up self, his past sins will no longer oppress him. It is enough for the good life that God lives, that the All-perfect exists, and that we can behold him. - From Creation in Christ by George MacDonald.

Why let the past bring us down when we have already been set free for the future?

Fried chicken tonight in the Fellowship Hall at 5:00!

See you there!

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy.

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. - St. Francis of Assisi

Being in a community isn't an option and God calls us to always be in reconciliation with our neighbor. After all, we will be them forever......

Fried chicken for dinner tomorrow night at Wednesday Night Supper!

Wow! This from Henri J. M. Nouwen..

Here we have come back to the compassion that must be formed in one's heart, a compassion that comes out of a deep experiencem of solidarity, in which one recognizes that the evil, sin and violence which one sees in the world and in the other, are deeply rooted in one's own heart. Only when you want to confess this and want to rely on the merciful God who can bring good out of evil are you in a position to receive forgiveness and also to give it to other men and women who threaten you with violence. Precisely because Merton had discovered this nonviolent compassion in his solitude could he in a real sense be a monk, that is to say, one who unmasks through his criticism the illusions of a violent society and who wants to change the world in spirit and truth. - From Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic by Henri J. M. Nouwen

See you on Sunday!

Only by a stronger passion can evil passions be expelled, and...a soul unoccupied by a positive devotion is sure to be occupied by spiritual demons. From The Manhood of the Master by Harry Emerson Fosdick

We've had this lesson before.... if we don't fill ourselves as much as possible with the Will of our Lord, we allow other temptations and priorities and desires and interests.... to lead us away from an eternity in paradise.

Read the Bible daily! Pray continuously!

Meatloaf for dinner on Wednesday night and a beginning of classes including a look at the Christian response to the life and death of Ted Kennedy and a five week look at how to enrich our marriages.

And Not Hearers Only

C. S. Lewis says we get into trouble when we make assumptions about each other instead of actively praying and acting. In his book, The Screwtape Letters, he writes from the perspective of a demon attempting to distract people from God.

When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are almost unendurably irritating to the other. Work on that. Bring fully into the consciousness of your patient that particularly lift of his mother's eyebrows which he learned to dislike in the nursery, and let him think how much he dislikes it. Let him assume that she knows how annoying it is and does it to anny - if you know your job he will not notice the immense improbability of the assumption. And of course, never let him suspect that he has tones and looks which similarly annoy her. As he cannot see or hear himself, this is easily managed. - From The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

It is Wednesday, August 26 which means that we once again will be offering a Wednesday night supper at the church tonight at 5:00!! If this is your first visit you eat for free! See you there!

Be Doers

On Sunday, we will hear our pastor speak about the passage in James where we are encouraged to be "doers of the word, and not merely hearers."

Acts 10:34-35
Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him."

Church is not where you attend... Church is who you are. Don't simply go to church, Be the Church!

Wednesday night suppers begin again and if this is your first time as a visitor, your meal is free! Join us at 5:00 for a delicious meal with friends!

John 14:1
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

When is it exactly we find our hearts most troubled? It seems that the more we consider difficulties from our own limited experiences, the more we give credence to the idea that we are not truly trusting God. And the less we trust God, the more troubled our hearts are just naturally going to be.

We had fun at the park with free ice cream sundaes! Coime join us on Wednesday night for our last summer potluck supper at 5:30! I am going to be making Italian macaroni and cheese from a Southern Living recipe......

Have a Great week!

I'm coming in on Fridays now..... We are still having ice cream sundaes at Delano park on Sunday at 5:30!

Matthew 4:18-19
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the seas - for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."

Our task is not to build better singles programs, youth programs, music programs, children's programs etc.... UNLESS we are actually making disciples with these programs. We are not a community organization to either join or not based on what we offer.... we are a church with a given task to make disciples of all the world.

Go in Peace and have a great weekend!

Don't forget that we are gathering for ice cream sundaes in the park on Sunday at 5:30 over at Delano Park!

My God, thank you for the physical sight to see both light and darkness around me. Thank you too for the insight that comes with the vision to tell the difference.

Lord, hear me as I say, "Let my eyes be opened." Amen. - From Visions of a World Hungry by Thomas G. Pettepiece

Good advice as we seek not only what to do... that which is in the light.. but as we seek what to avoid!...that which is in the dark...

Have a blessed week!

Come out to Delano Park on Sunday at 5:30 for some ice cream sundaes as we prepare for a new season of worship! It is always fun to eat ice cream with friends and watch the children play.

And now, think about this:

Only when we have come in touch with our own life experiences and have learned to listen to our inner cravings for liberation and new life can we realize that Jesus did not just speak, but that he reached out to us in our most personal needs. The Gospel doesn't just contain ideas worth remembering. It is a message responding to our individual human condition. the Church is not an institution forcing us to follow its rules. It is a community of people inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its tables. - From Reaching Out by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Back from upper state New York! Beautiful setting on Lake George and great weather while we were there. You simply cannot visit a place like that and not acknowledge God! Happy 70th birthday mom!

We continue to celebrate the season of Pentecost where the church is encouraged to share the Gospel and make new disciples!

O Christ, my life, possess me utterly.
Take me and make a little Christ of me.
If I am anything but thy Father's son,
'Tis something not yet from the darkness won.
Oh, give me light to live with open eyes.
Oh, give me life to hope above all skies.
Give me thy spirit to haunt the Father with my cries.

- From Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald

Not much you can add to that! "Make a little Christ of me."

II Samuel 7:18
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?"

Thomas à Kempis (ca.1380 – 25 July 1471) was a late Medieval Catholic monk and probable author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the best known Christian books on devotion. While contemplating this same question, first asked by David, Kempis wrote, "My Lord Jesus, I beseech you, do not be far from me, but come quickly and help me, for vain thoughts have risen in my heart and worldly fears have troubled me sorely. How shall I break them down? How shall I go unhurt without your help?"

The paradox of faith. I know you are there. Are you still there, Lord?

II Corinthians 5:16
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.

William Cowper (pronounced 'koo-per') was born on November 15, 1731 in Great Berkhamstead, England. He had a shy and somewhat sad childhood and was never able to fully outgrow his tendency towards depression. He later moved to the small village of Olney where he met a former ship's captain who was responsible for transporting thousands of slaves from Africa. John Newton was so ashamed of this practice he gave up the sea and eventually wrote one of our most famous hymns, Amazing Grace.

Hundreds of hymns would be written because of the friendship formed between these two men, including Cowper's O for a Closer Walk With God

O for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame,
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb.

Christian ministry is more than doing good. Ministry is an act of service performed either consciously or unconsciously in the name of Christ. Ministry is Jesus Christ expressing his life through us. It is born, therefore, not in activity, but in solitude, where through the Spirit we experience the power of life from within. No one becomes a "minister." Rather in trust we so open ourselves to the Spirit that Jesus Christ can express his ministry through us....To know this intimacy we have only to let go. Instead of relying on our own initiative, where we are in control, we discover that we are participating in what God has already initiated within us. - From Ministry and Solitude by James C. Fenhagen

Suffering is increasing in the world today. People are hungry for something more beautiful, for something greater than people round about can give. There is a great hunger for God in the world today. Everywhere there is much suffering, but there is also great hunger for God and love for each other. - From A Gift for God by Mother Teresa

When we think about the daily mana we think we need, we are reminded to think in terms OTHER than of our physical needs.

Our Sunday evening chapel service begins again on Sunday! Come join us at 5:00 in the chapel.

Exodus 16:4
Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not."

Of course the people of Israel did NOT follow the instructions and attempted to gather in MORE than they needed. hmmm trying to acquire more than was needed... Good thing we don't have THAT problem! Be grateful for what you have and know that God will continue to provide what is needed! A hard lesson to learn, but taught repeatedly in the Bible.

Didn't Summer just arrive yesterday? Why does it seem as if it is already approaching the end?

We are the agents of the Creative Spirit in this world. Real advance in the spiritual life, then means accepting this vocation with all it involves. Not merely turning over the pages of an engineering magazine and enjoying the pictures, but putting on overalls and getting on with the job. The real spiritual life must be horizontal as well as vertical; spread more and more as well as aspire more and more. - From The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith

Not bad... Don't just read the Bible looking at the pictures, but get into life itself and do the work we are called to do!

Have a blessed week!

Revelation 21:1-3
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;"

We already know the end of the story! Death and crisis and sadness and sickness and confusion all take their turns harrassing us from chapter to chapter of our lives, but the end of the story has already been determined, and it is a good one!

Movie night here at Central UMC on Friday night! And we hope to

See you on Sunday!

Lord, we do not hope in ourselves, our technology, our governments, our laws, our tenacity, our courage, or our will, though these things are all necessary to conquer hunger and provide justice. We hope in you. Amen - From Visions of a World Hungry by Thomas G. Pettepiece

Psalm 44:1

We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old.

We can reflect on what our parents and grandparents have told us and this is usually a good thing. Ask them where and when God has been particularly active in their lives!

We can also reflect on what we will be telling those who come after us. What stories of God's deeds will you share with others as they start their own spiritual journeys?

Have a great week! Start it with a prayer.

I'm in and out of the church today and will be picking up my lovely bride to go see Harry Potter and the Mid-East Oil Crisis, or whatever is next..... But spotted this in some reading I was doing this morning and had to share it. Kind of short, but it really spoke to me.....

Laughter is the purest form of our response to God's acceptance of us. - From Tensions by H. A. Williams

God comes like the sun in the morning - when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not creator. We must do this because it is not our right to do anything else; the initiative is God's, not ours. We are able to initiate nothing; we are able only to accept. - From The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto

The weekend fast approaches and are we waiting for God or do we already have all our plans made regardless..? What DOES God expect of me today? I guess I can always ask.....

See you on Sunday!

Isaiah 12:1-2
You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

We will be discussing this tonight in our Wednesday night Bible study. Salvation is mentioned twice in the second verse and since it is such an important term for us, we will take the opportunity to discuss what it might mean.

When do you first remember hearing about salvation and what are your earliest associations with it? What did salvation mean to you and what does it now mean to you today? How did your understanding of the word come to change over time? "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."

Yesterday I shared some interesting G.K. Chesterton. Today, from a book that was given me by my mother for Christmas, I have an interesting passage from C.S. Lewis.

Talk to me about the truth of religion and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand. - From A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis

This is a rare moment where I might disagree with him in part. Admittedly, Lewis wrote this while contemplating and experiencing the death of his wife, Joy. Consolation would not have been readily accessible, and from our limited human point of view and finite lifetime, religion wouldn't really have much to offer. So, from our point of view he is correct, but when we remember to consider the world from a different point of view, from the vantage point of a loving creator of all time and space, consolation eventually becomes apparent. The end of the story is a joyous one even if this particular chapter is sad.

Next Sunday is the seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Our task is still very much before us!

From Boredom to Contentment

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough.... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. - G. K. Chesterton

I first became acquainted with G. K. Chesterton through his Father Brown mysteries. I love the thinking detectives like Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes and with Father Brown I received the added bonus of a religious hero. Have a great day!

Love to pray. feel often during the day the need for prayer, and take trouble to pray. Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive him and keep him as your own. - From A Gift for God by Mother Teresa

How much of God do you carry within? Do you feel the need to enlarge your heart?

Our distrcit superintendent, Mike Stonebreaker, will be preaching on Sunday while Mitchell is in North Carolina at the wedding of his son. Come join us for worship! See you on Sunday!

The essential part of the Christian message is the idea of salvation for the whole community of people, of which the individual is a member. - From The Church by Hans Kung

Am I pursuing salvation for myself or my community? Does one necessarily preclude the other? If they are both required, are they equal in status to one another? What does it really mean that God loves the whole world? God loves my enemy.

And yes, the peach pie was well received, thanks for asking! And now a decision must be made concerning Wednesday night's potluck supper. Two weeks ago I made macaroni and cheese. But the staff has enjoyed both my blueberry cheesecake and the more recent peach pie. Should I make a vegetable plate or a desert?

See you on Wednesday!

Isaiah 1:16-17
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

If this was how God wished to define the church, how would we be doing? What are we already doing well? What needs improvement? What needs to be changed in how we live out our calling to be the body of Christ in the world?

I hope everybody had a meaningful Independence Day celebration at some point over the weekend. We did not get an opportunity to watch either of my two favorite Fourth of July movies. I like 1776 and the Music Man for this particular weekend. I was given some fresh peaches, however, and was able to make a peach pie which I will be sharing with the staff this morning. Potluch supper at the church on Wednesday!

II Corinthians 12:7b-10
To keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Whenever I am weak, then I am strong. That doesn't even make any sense! Unless... We are reminded to not simply view the world through our own finite point of view, but open ourselves to God's perspective. When we allow God to lead and direct and guide, it is God's infinite strength that acts. We can thus, in our weakness, allow God into our lives which provides a strength greater than anything we can imagine, and in our weakness we are made strong. When have you truly experienced God in your weakness?

We had a nice Emmaus community gathering last night and it was good to be given some spiritual guidance for ways in which we can be more attentive to the needs of our church family.

No plans for the Haines family this Fourth of July weekend, but blessings and prayers for all who have served and continue to serve this great country of ours! May God truly continue to bless America, and indeed all the world....

See you on Sunday!

Our Father, we have listened to thy word, and loved it; we have found comfort and inspiration in song and psalter; we have enjoyed the companionship of those who, with kindred minds and hearts, have praised and worshiped thee. Now help us understand that, as we leave this sacred House of God, we shall become thy Church in the street. - Anonymous

Who saw you in action today? Did they see Christ?

There is a meeting of those who have attended Emmaus tonight in the Fellowship Hall and a study of Isaiah at 6:00 up in the couch room of the office wing on the second floor.

When we begin to ask what the conditions of inner renewal are, we receive essentially the same answers from nearly all of those whom we have most reason to respect. One major answer is the emphasis upon discipline. In the conduct of one's own life it is soon obvious, as many have learned the hard way, that empty freedom is a snare and a delusion. In following what comes naturally or easily, life simply ends in confusion, and in consequent disaster. ... Excellence comes at a price, and one of the major prices is that of inner control. - From The New Man for Our Time by Elton Trueblood

What does your daily routine look like? Where are you most disciplined? Where are you least disciplined?

Paul's letter to the Philippians tonight at 6:00 in the library!

And so when we had s decision to make, we would open the Gospel at random, after having said a little prayer, and then we did whatever was written, without adding anything. - From I, Francis by Carlo Carretto

Have you ever simply opened the Bible to a random page in order to receive instruction? Why or why not? How often are your daily decisions made with God's Will in mind?

We will be reading Paul's letter to the Philippians on Tuesday night and we will be looking at Isaiah 6 - 7 on Wednesday night. Thanks for stopping by!

Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."

Here in the midst of the Bible Belt where I live, it is not hard to stand up and claim a Christian belief. But I remember growing up and wondering whether or not it was 'cool' to hang out with my Christian friends or not. When do we seriously make the committment to Christ and when do we hold back and continue to treat Christianity as an option? I'll attend worship IF the kids don't have a soccer match this morning....

We had a great time at the Gordon Mote concert last night! I have been three years in a row and I think I enjoyed last night's concert the best. I will probably be buying his new CD next month when it is released. We are reading the letters of Paul on Tuesday nights at 6:00 in the library and you are welcome to join us!

II Corinthians 4:16-18
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

"Our outer nature is wasting away." THAT part I can understand. Every day I get just a tiny bit older. And I understand the idea behind my "inner nature .. being renewed day by day." But is it really happening? Do I treat my Christianity as a journey or as a destination? What kind of steps do you take each day to keep the journey going?

Movie night here at Central UMC on Friday night at 6:00! And, of course, I'll see you on Sunday!

When you undertake some special endeavor, do not concentrate your attention and heart on it, but look upon it as something secondary; and by entire surrender to God open yourself up to God's grace, like a vessel laid out ready to receive it. - From The Art of Prayer

Pray for the church that we also strive for doing God's Will rather than simply doing ministry to the best of our ability. Instead of worrying about whether or not we will find the volunteers, or the finances, or the leadership etc...for a special ministry, we can be reminded that simply giving it to God is the surest way of guaranteeing success. What kind of ministry has God placed on your heart?

The Cost of Servanthood

Acts 7:54-58
When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. but filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Do we have the courage and fortitude to speak the truth in love to those who do not wish to hear it? What is the difference between courageously facing conflict and going out of our way to court it?

Matthew 12:46-50
While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

We are again reminded to widen the scope of our priorities. Is our focus on the people of our immediate surroundings or is it on the totality of God's kingdom and all that are invited into it? What kind of calling from God most readily draws you from your own circle into a larger awareness?

We have our staff meeting today. Pray for the church both locally and universal!

O Lord, thou knowest what is the better way; let this or that be done as thou shalt please. Give what thou wilt, and how much thou wilt, and when thou wilt. Deal with me as thou knowest, and best pleaseth thee, and is most for thy honor. Set me where thou wilt, and deal with me in all things as thou wilt. I am in thy hand; turn me round and turn me back again, even as a wheel. Behold I am thy servant, prepared for all things; for I desire not to live unto myself, but unto thee; and Oh that I could do it worthy and perfectly! - Thomas a Kempis

The Cost of Servanthood

Luke 14:25-30
Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

Obviously context is important, for God did not create within us a hatred of life or of spouses and children. Indeed we are told to love all! But not at the expense or in place of a love for God's eternal kingdom, here on earth as it is in heaven. So within that context of priorities, we are warned not to place the welfare of our own earthly concerns above the heavenly concerns that Jesus came to show us.

Summer has arrived! We had a very successful Vacation Bible School last week and now will prepare for ongoing activities including a Fanily Ministries movie night on Friday!

Third Week of Pentecost

II Corinthians 9:6
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Have a great weekend! See you on Sunday!

Lord Jesus, I believe that thou art able and willing to deliver me from all the care and unrest and bondage of my Christian life. I believe thou didst die to set me free, not only in the future, but now and here. I believe thou art stronger than sin, and that thou canst keep me, even me, in my extreme of weakness, from falling in its snares or yielding obedience to its commands. And Lord, I am going to trust thee to keep me. I have tried keeping myself, and have failed, and failed, most grievously. I am absolutely helpless. So now I will trust thee. I give myself to thee. I keep back no reserves. Body, soul and spirit, I present myself to thee as a piece of clay, to be fashioned into anything thy love and thy wisdom shall choose. And now I am thine. I believe thou dost accept that which I present to thee; I believe that this poor, weak, foolish heart has been taken possession of by thee, and that thou hast even at this very moment begun to work in me to will and to do of thy good pleasure. I trust thee utterly, and I trust thee now. - From The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith

Philippians 4:11-13
Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

I often speak of those who complain about the hand they were dealt in this game we call life, rather than giving thanks that they were invited to the table to play at all! When and where did you learn how to be content with what you have?

During a dry season in the New Hebrides, John G. Paton the missionary awakened the derision of the natives by digging for water. They said water always came down from heaven, not up through the earth. But Paton revealed a larger truth than they had seen before by discovering to them that heaven could give them water through their own land. So men insist on waiting for God to send them blessing in some supernormal way, when all the while he is giving them abundant supply if they would only learn to retreat into the fertile places of their own spirits where, as Jesus said, the wells of living waters seek to rise. We need to learn Eckhart's lesson, "God is nearer to me than I am to myself; he is just as near to wood and stone, but they do not know it." From The meaning of Prayer by Harry Emerson Fosdick

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

What makes you tired? What drains all energy from you? Do you turn to God for new energy, and if not, why not? We are finishing up a very well received Vacation Bible School and again children teach us about trust and limitless energy!

Our progress in holiness depends on God and ourselves - on God's grace and on our will to be holy. We must have a real determination to reach holiness. - From A Gift for God by Mother Teresa

How determined are you to truly be holy?

Psalm 28:1-2, 6-7
To you, O Lord, I call;
my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

Hear the voice of my supplication,
as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.

Blessed be the Lord,
for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

When Hercules wrestled with Antaeus he found that every time he threw him down upon the ground the enemy arose stronger than before. But when he discovered that Gaea - The Earth - was the mother of the giant, and that every time her son fell back upon her bosom he rose with renewed strength, the Hercules changed his tactics. Lifting Antaeus high in the air , away from the source of strength, he held him there till he brought him into subjection.

We, who are not children of Earth but children of God, could learn much fromthe lesson of Antaeus. We too, whenever troubles cast us back upon the bosom of our Father, rise with renewed strength. But just as Antaeus let Hercules, who was smaller in stature than he, lift him away from the source of his power, so circumstances, infintely small and trivial, may drag us away from God. - From The Soul's Sincere Desire by Glenn Clark

Where have you experienced weakness today? Where have you experienced strength? What does that tell you?

I Corinthians 2:1-2
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Good advice in this third week of the Pentecost season! As we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst, we are reminded that it is the Holy Spirit that will do the serious work and all we have to do is be sincere in our obedience to Christ. We don't have to get complex or fancy with our evangelism, just be straightforward in our experience of Jesus in our lives. Can you remember a time when your words had a real impact on someone else? Did this require a written paper or doctoral thesis? Were your words prepared in advance or were you simply responding to a friend in need? What does that tell you about what is necessary for sharing faith?

We must learn to pass through situations like a fish, rather than carrying them all with us like a snail. We should certainly emerge with a little bit more experience of life, but there is no need to carry more with us than we have to - each situation carries quite enough trouble with it by itself! - From Prayer by Simon Tugwell

Look for ways to experience this weekend rather than for more burdens to pick up and carry! See you on Sunday!

II Timothy 2:3
Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Share with whom? Should we seek out suffering in order to more fully enter in it with someone? Some would say yes! I believe that it is more of a communal request so that as we become more fully aware of what is happening in the life our community, opportunities for sharing in botht the joys and the sorrows of daily life will become apparent. And we should then take the time to share more completely in the suffering that sometimes comes upon our brothers and sisters in Christ. Who do you know right now that might be experiencing suffering?

We must not think that as we progress in prayer everything will necessarily become much more overtly holy. What it will become is more simple, more humble, more actual. - From Prayer by Simon Tugwell

As we progress in prayer.. Are you praying better today than you did one year ago? Why or why not? What does it mean to progress in prayer? If, in fact, our prayer life should be one of maturation and improvement over the course of our life, what kind of measuring stick can we use to check our progress? How does one discern spiritual growth in one's self?

I Timothy 4:8
Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Be reminded that physical training is of some value. It is important to take care of yourself, SO THAT you can continue God's work here on earth as it is in heaven. But we are also reminded of our priorities. Take care of yourself, with your physical body being important, but with your spiritual self being more important. Walk a mile every morning and read your Bible every night, but place the greater emphasis on your time with God.

So often we are too full of what we think should be happening to us in our spiritual formation to notice what God is actually teaching us. We must be still enough, simple enough, humble enough, to let plan the course, and use whatever opportunities there may be for our instruction. - From Prayer by Simon Tugwell

Tonight, before going to bed, ask yourself, "What did God teach me today?" Can you imagine a whole day going by without God having made some kind of effort to say hello?

Galatians 5:22,23
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Can you write down every day for a week at least one visible action of one of these fruits? The card of kindness or the phone call of love or the silence of patience? In a journal, or on your calendar, look for an opportunity to write down one action each day.

Have a blessed week!

God will know how to draw glory even from our faults. Not to be downcast after committing a fault is one of the marks of true sanctity. - Dom Augustin Guillerand

How does one confess one's sins, and acknowledge wrong doing without being downcast? Honesty with both our strnegths and our weaknesses is sometimes a lot harder than it should be.

Luke 18:18
A certain ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Now according to C.S.Lewis, the question is faulty because we have all been told that eternal life is already ours. It isn't a question of whether or not we will live eternally, but rather a question of HOW we are to live eternally. A better question would be, "What must I do to inherit eternal life with you?" We are going to live eternally in one place or another, so what can we do to end up in the right place? Of course, Jesus answers this question as well. Follow my father's commands.

Look for an opportunity to do God's Will today! Make someone smile.

The biblical picture of God as "heavenly Father" reinforces the idea that he is loving and caring. We do not ask as beggars but as sons and daughters, since he is the Father of all by creation and the Father of Christians in particular by adoption. God is also likened in the Bible to a divine Mother who seeks to gather her brood under her wings (Matthew 23:37). - From The Struggle of Prayer by Donald G. Bloesch

Jesus goes out of his way to teach and illustrate just how much we are loved by God. And yet it is still easy to maintain a distance. Why is this? Are you close with your parents? Why or why not? How do we overcome this distance we sometimes keep between ourselves and God?

Please pray for the North Alabama Annual Conference meeting this weekend at Clear Branch United Methodist Church just north of Birmingham.

Ephesians 1:3, 5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will.


Remember when fathers couldn't wait to hand the family business over to their sons? We encourage more independence now from our youth and the really established businesses are starting to disappear one by one. Christianity is much more concerned with the connection we have with one another through the ages and with God. When Paul uses language that suggests that we have been adopted by God, it is done purposely and with every expectation that we will take on the family business! Their is security and assurance and well-being in our knowledge that God is taking us on as his own. But their is also responsibility! We represent a great and respected family when we accept the family name of Christian. What expectations does your own family have of you? How about your Christian family?

To gain a true awareness of the depth and breadth of Christian prayer, it is necessary to understand something of the nature of the God who originates such prayer. This God is first of all a Personal Spirit who is self-sustaining and who is the ground of everything that is. - From The Struggle of Prayer by Donald G. Bloesch

It is Necessary! So says Donald Bloesch. How much of God do you understand? If you don't yet understand all that is (as none of us do) are you at least comfortable with the idea that you are getting to know more about God on a daily basis? What steps might we take, not just to increase the efficiency of our prayer life, but to increase the depth of our relationship with God.

I Corinthians 12:4-7
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Is there anything sadder than a child who can't recognize self worth? "I can't" are the words that can easily depress any parent or caregiver. And yet, in the face of the many promises given in the Bible concerning the gifts and graces we have all received, we still hear from people regarding the teaching of a Sunday school class or serving on the finance committee that they can't. The Holy Spirit resides in all of us if we would but recognize that presence and let the miracles begin! Where have you recently responded with "I can't"? What might help you reconsider?

Christian prayer rests upon the irreversible fact of the self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ and its confirmation in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is the basis of true prayer as well as its goal. Prayer, as biblical faith understands it, is made possible by the triune God and is directed to this God. - From The Struggle of Prayer by Donald G. Bloesch

What do you think he means by this? I thought prayer was about talking and listening. Why should the "self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ" be one of my daily goals in prayer? I confess I also don't often seek "confirmation in our hearts" as I pray. I share what I am thinking. I attempt to listen for any response or directive from God. And I go on.

What would it mean for our prayer life to actively involve all three aspects of God each and every time we pray? Do you find yourself mostly praying only to God the Father, or to Christ Jesus?

John 5:39-40
You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples and isn't this an interesting look at how we read the Bible! How often do we read about Jesus and forget to do anything about actually strengthening our relationship with him! How often has church become more a matter of what we know rather than who we are. Is your Bible study actively encouraging you to make a difference in the community on behalf of the One who sends us, or is it simply...interesting....

The Spirit works where he wills. The Spirit of God cannot be restricted in his operation by the Church; he is at work not only in the offices of the Church, but where he wills: in the whole people of God. He is at work not only in the "holy city", but where he wills: in all the churches of the one Church. He is at work not only in the Catholic Church, but where he wills: in Christianity as a whole. And finally he is at work not only in Christianity, but where he wills: in the whole world. From The Church by Hans Kung.

Why would we think that the Holy Spirit only works in certain times and places and not in others? Have you ever thought that instead of the Spirit urging you on to greater things, you were instead holding it back from a more complete potential?

Deuteronomy 6:4-6
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.

This approaching Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost. It is also widely celebrated as Trinity Sunday. We lift up that God continually finds new ways to reveal God to us including the three aspects of God we call Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is much we still do not understand or know about God, but one way of truly loving God totally is to focus onthose things we DO know. The Trinity helps us experience, and thus love, God in ways we might otherwise not discover. Which aspect of God helps you draw closer? Who do you pray to most often?

Zechariah 4:6
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Why do we so often doubt? If WE don't raise enough money, the church will fail. If WE don't provide a ministry for singles, they will all turn from God. If WE don't do our VBS program exactly right, the children of the city will be lost for all time. Not by means that we consider strong, "not by might, nor by power", will God's kingdom be made real all over the world, but by trusting in God and relying on God's Holy Spirit as shown at Pentecost. When, even with the BEST of intentions, have we ever gotten in the way of God's Will by relying on what we considered mighty or strong? How can we consistenly learn to step back and "let go and let God"?

A service for Dr. George Hansbury is being held this morning at the church at 11:00. Please continue to pray for his family.

Pentecost - The fiftieth day after Passover. What happens as a result of the sacrifice made on our behalf? As the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles on this day, the name was applied by the Church to the feast celebrating this event.

Acts 4:33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

Pentecost is about potential we aren't even aware we posses and responding with grace and energy to the needs of our community. Share the good news! You aren't alone.

That structural position in the Church which the humblest Christian occupies is eternal and even cosmic. The Church will outlive the universe; in it the individual person will outlive the universe. Everything that is joined to the immortal Head will share his immortality. - From The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

What does it mean to outlive the universe? Have you ever thought about what it really means to live eternally? What does that mean for the here and now? And have you thought about what it means for those who are NOT a part of the Church? We have a great responsibility! And God goes with us.

Pentecost is Coming!

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves this past Memorial weekend! The letter to the Hebrews reminds us of that "great cloud of witnesses" that have gone before us, and in similar fashion we pause to recognize that great number of soldiers who have gone before to make liberty and peace possible. This morning's passage comes to us from the book of Acts as we prepare for Pentecost Sunday.

Acts 3:1-7
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk." And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

Pentecost is not just about admiring Jesus from the sidelines, but in learning to be more Christ-like in all things, including the power to heal! We often hold ourselves back from allowing God to accomplish great things through us. Pentecost is a reminder that we have been called to do marvelous things!

I Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Remember those instructions on the airplane that tell you to put your own mask on before assisting those around you? You have to take care of yourself first, in order to more effectively help others. God created a very specific you and our first task is to discover and awaken the calling that God has placed in our hearts, in order to better serve God in the helping of others. When you look at yourself, where can you still see a temple? What might need a little cleaning up?

In an atmosphere of security and trust, persons are likely to be more ready to change. The child who trusts the mother lets go and takes the first unaided step. A social prophet is better received when listeners have learned to appreciate his or her integrity and friendship. Healthy growth more easily takes place when all participants interact in a mutually supportive environment rather than when some manipulate others to secure the ends of the manipulators. - From Liberation of Life by Harvey and Lois Seifert

If we are called to make disciples of all the world. How important is it that we first strive for doing so in a "mutually supportive environment."? When should we state our case and when we should we be more subtle?

I Corinthians 6:2,3
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels - to say nothing of ordinary matters?

Whatever happened to "judge not, lest ye be judged"? There is a difference between passing judgment on a person and passing judgment on that same person's behavior. God will judge each person, but we are still obligated to assist each other by monitering our behavior and correcting as needed. When do we look the other way in the face of obvious wrong doing because of fear of passing judgment?

Let him who cannot be alone beware the community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community.

But the reverse is also true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. - From Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer


Obviously, this has something to do with balance and finding the best way to relate to others while remaining true to ourselves. What has this to do with Christ? Doesn't God want all of our attentions? What kind of balance should we seek in our relationship with God?

Philemon 1:11
Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.

What changed? Where have you experienced uselessness in one situation, only to discover usefullness in a different setting? When have you seen a friend really blossom when he/she moved to a different location? What does this teach us about how God finds value in us? What kind of usefullness is God calling forth from you?

An old rabbi was once asked why so few people were finding God. He wisely replied that people are not willing to look that low. Jesus was born in a stable, and God is especially concerned for the poorest, the lowliest, the lost, and the neglected. - From Liberation of Life by Harvey and Lois Seifert

Where did you last find God?

Ephesians 4:7
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.

We were created in the image of God. We were given gifts and graces sufficient to the tasks that God has called us to perform. What interests you? What talent do you have? How do you use these in expanding God's kingdom?

We are still in the Easter season! celebrating and sharing the story of Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf! Share the good news!

We should try to be so closely united to Our Lord that we reproduce his life in our own, that our thoughts and words and actions should proclaim his teaching, so that he reigns in us, lives in us. He so often enters within us in Holy Communion. May his Kingdom reign in us. - From Meditations of a Hermit by Charles de Foucauld

One season follows another and as we continue through this Easter season we might ask ourselves how to best prepare ourselves for the summer. Are our thoughts on a summer vacation? Reasons to be away from church? Or are we taking advantage of a new season to make new plans to welcome Christ more fully into our hearts that we might truly "reproduce his life in our own."

Romans 5:3-5
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.

I can understand learning how to deal with my sufferings, but boasting about them? What kind of prayer life must it take to produce an attitude of joy regarding our sufferings? List the three best moments of your life. List the three worst moments of your life. What, if anything, did you learn?

Let us, then, take care not to quench the Spirit. All evil actions extinguish this light: slander, offences and the like. The nature of fire is such that everything foreign to it destroys it, and everything akin to it gives it further strength. This light of the Spirit reacts in the same manner. From The Art of Prayer

How many things do we do each day that feed our sinful nature? How many things each day do we do to feed our spiritual side?

I'm back

Sorry for the long absence! My wife and I have just returned from a two week anniversary vacation. I hope we can pick back up with some daily readings and reflection!

Genesis 9:8-10
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 'As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the earth.'

God's plan is not just for me and a few church friends. God's plan covers every single living being on the face of the planet. This is difficult for me to remember at times when thinking about those who strongly disagree with me. What can we do to overcome differences that God clearly wants us to overcome? We are still in the midst of an Easter season recognizing God's gift to all the world! Share with a friend!

Galatians 2:20
It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.

How much of my day, my week, is made up of plans that I have made for my own benefit? How important is it that my day truly become filled with the priorities of Christ for the world?

Rebuilding Together on Saturday! PACT family fun day also on Saturday! Decatur community CROP walk on Sunday afternoon! There are plenty of opportunities for seeking God's kingdom this weekend! Have a blessed day.

Romans 8:1-2
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Free to do what? Now that Easter has become reality, how will you go forth from this day?

Acts 18:9
One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you."

God speaks to us through His Word. When we read these stories of other people, we are also reading about ourselves. God is thus also saying to us, "Speak and do not be silent." Have you ever refrained from offering much needed insight to a friend? How did that turn out?

Approaching the third Sunday of Easter

After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations; but cried out, and they fled away. they returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and he "sent me help from his holy place." And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conquerer. - John Wesley

hmmmmm.. When we strive under the guidance of God's direction we always conquer, but when we strive under our own guidance, because we know best how to answer life's obstacles, we often fail.

How often do we have to learn THAT lesson before it actually sinks in?

Acts 13:44,48
The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.

What a great day we had yesterday serving the community and living out our call to BE the church rather than simply going to church once a week. Hopefully our work had a similar impact of those we went to serve and left them praising the Lord and becoming believers.

When was the last time you shared even a small word of the Lord with someone in need?

II Corinthians 4:1
Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.

It isn't so much what I have to do today as seeking what I can do to further God's kingdom today. The more I engage in the work of our Lord, the less I worry about my own weaknesses and give thanks instead for God's strength and mercy! So...

What would God have you do today?

Thomas More was appointed as royal counselor to King Henry VII in 1518. Later, he refused to support Henry when the king took on the title of Head of the Church. This led to his imprisonment, trial, and execution.

He wrote about the joy of remaining focused on God and not being distracted by the world. This is an excerpt from A Godly Meditation:

Give me thy grace, good Lord,
To set the world at nought,
To set my mind fast upon thee.
And not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths.
To be content to be solitary,
Not to long for worldly company,
Little and little utterly to cast off the world,
And rid my mind of all the business thereof.

What draws your attention away from God? What prayer of focus helps 'rid your mind' of worldly business?

Partakers of Eternal Life

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Abundantly! We are a part of something much greater now! Why do we feel the need to turn away from abundance? The Lord is my shepherd... my cup overflows. If I pour water into a cup until it overflows onto the ground, I have wasted it. But if the Lord fills our cup until it overflows there is no waste because there is no limit to what God can provide! God never runs out of resources or love! Look for opportunities to receive fully from God this week and live your life abundantly! Where has God blessed you so fully you can't even contain it all?

Scripture and tradition habitually put the joys of Heaven into the scale against the sufferings of earth, and no solution of the problem of pain which does not do so can be called a Christian one. - From The Problem of Pain by C.S. Leiws

If you knew that you were in fact to live for another ten thousand years, and that everyone you knew and loved would also live for another ten thousand years, what would your greatest concern be?

Easter is a Season, not just a day

Acts 11:21-24
The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabus to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord.

It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called "Christians."

Now that you have experienced anew the power and joy of our resurrected Lord, what next? In Sunday school we talked about the different ways we experience what Jesus has done for us. Is it more meaningful to say that Christ died for us, or that he rose from the dead? The two ideas do not have to be in opposition to one another, but they speak differently to the way we will respond to the gift of life we have been given. We are called to be an Easter people. Go forth and share!

John 13:7
Jesus answered. "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

We sometimes give ourselves permission to NOT understand. We can't do this or that because, after all, we are only human. We don't know what Jesus was thinking. We limit the work God can do through us by refusing to strive for a more complete submission to Christ's Will. But we are reminded here, that we will grow, just like children, and to stop trying to fully understand is to deny God's plan for us. "Later (we) WILL understand!"

What have you put off simply because you were 'only human' and therefore unable to do in God's service?

Easter Prayer

O God, our Father, at Easter time we remember the great hope of eternal life which you have set before us, and we feel within our hearts the longings for goodness and for you. Grant that nothing may hinder the hope of eternal life from coming true, and the desire for goodness and for you from being realized. - From Prayers for the Christian Year by William Barclay

Psalm 22:1,25
My God, my God, wgy have you forsaken me?...From you comes my praise in the great congregation.

What begins as a sorrowful cry of despair, closes as an exuberant song of praise. Jesus starts with the narrow view of his own circumstances, but then remembers the bigger picture and what it is God has planned. God's Will is such that Jesus can't help but be filled with joy. What brings you back to the bigger picture when you get stuck in the small view?

Meatloaf tonight for Wednesday night supper! Remember that first time visitors eat free! Come for dinner at 5:00 and stay for classes at 6:00!

Isaiah 53:11
Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

This passage is often used to describe the journey of Jesus. When have you also learned through pain or suffering? When has God been revealed through your anguish?

Stations of the cross will be available tomorrow (Wednesday) from 12:00-3:00, and again on Thursday and Friday, for reflection and prayer. Come meditate on what it means to see light through anguish!

Sin is not a distance, it is a turning of our gaze in the wrong direction. - From Waiting for God by Simone Weil

How tempting it is to see sin as bad behavior rather than "turning ..our gaze in the wrong direction." Once we've turned our attention the wrong way, ALL behavior is sinful! What are some of those first reminders that we have gotten turned around the wrong way?

Maunday Thursday and Good Friday services will be held this week at 7:00.

I Corinthians 11:23,24
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

What have you received from the Lord that you have been able to pass on to someone else? Many have backed away from being a Sunday school teacher because they believe they are poor teachers. They forget that every word spoken and every deed done is in fact a lesson to someone else. What will you hand on to someone else before this week's celebration of Easter?

The main question indeed is not a question of doing, but a question of being. When we speak about (being) a living reminder of God, we are not speaking about a technical specialty which can be mastered through the aquisition of specific tools, techniques, and skills, but about a way of being which embraces the totality of life: working and resting, eating and drinking, praying and playing, acting and waiting. Before any professional skill, we need a spirituality, a way of living in the spirit by which all we are and all we do becomes a form of reminding. - From The Living Reminder by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Would a stranger know you were Christian after only observing you for an hour? Would everything you say and do remind someone of the living Christ?

This Sunday is Palm/Passion Sunday. In John's gospel, half of it is about the ministry of Jesus before this week and the second half is all about this last week of the life of Jesus.