All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't your.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder.
• Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

These are the words that were penned by Robert Fulghum in his 1990 book titled All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. I've been thinking about this words the past few days or so as I mourn the loss of my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Engel. Mrs. Engel was my very first teacher in school, and one of the ones I remember most fondly. While I don't have many specific memories of days in kindergarten or specific lessons taught, I remember her grace, her ease and her passion for the 5 year old children whose lives she would touch and change.

A few years after I left elementary school, Mrs. Engel and her family became members of the church I attended. This gave me the opportunity to once again get to know and be touched and inspired by Mrs. Engel. For years she would greet me each Sunday with a hug and smile that only an elementary school teacher could give. She was at church the first time I ever spoke publicly, the first time I ever provided leadership for a service and the first time I preached. She was there to celebrate my high-school graduation, college graduation, my engagement and my graduation from seminary.

To Mrs. Engel, I was and likely will always be that skinny little boy with the bowl hair cut who was in her class in 198whatever at Carrolton Oaks Elementary School. But to me, Darlene Engel was more than a kindergarten teacher, someone who helped me learn how to read and write, to tie my shoes and count to ten, she is a woman who strangely warmed my heart with her love, gentleness and kindness.

Mrs. Engle, I'll miss you.

Chris

A call late on Saturday night

So, as a pastor, I have come fear the phone ringing late on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning (along with these, also emails, texts or messages via Facebook). Typically, it is someone who has some form of Sunday morning leadership role calling (or using whichever form of communication they prefer) to notify me that they are going to be unable to fulfill their role for one reason or another. My first few years in the ministry, I used to actually feel my heart rate quicken and my blood pressure rise when these events took place as I would have to scurry to adapt and figure out how to move forward in this time of "crisis." Well, over the past few years I have experienced this phenomenon more and more frequently and have become much more adept at adapting to this natural, and now expected, occurrence.

Well, it happened again this weekend. The piano player and my smaller church called me around 8:30pm or so and informed me that she was not going to be able to be at worship. She is a wonderful servant and a very spirited-filled piano player who makes up in passion what she (self-admittedly) lacks in natural talent. I thank God daily for this woman because she has stepped up and filled the void of music leadership when there was no one else willing and or able to play the piano. This was the first time I have had such a "crisis" (the late notice phone call and needing to find a replacement) since I took on this new position so I am not as familiar with who my "go to" people are, so my pulse did quicken a bit and my blood pressure rose for a few minutes. After the initial panic (which didn't last nearly as long as I would have expected), I said a quick prayer for help figuring out what to do, and God just told me to relax and get back to the work I was doing (painting the hallway and living room while the rest of the family was out of town). God assured me that everything would work out and worship would be just what was needed for people to encounter him.

So, Sunday morning arrives and we still have no piano player. My song leader arrives about 2 minutes before worship and I inform him of the situation. He just says to me, "no problem. I guess we are going to worship 'Church of Christ' style." And so we did. We had no musical instruments expect for the ones God provided us naturally, our voices. In the midst of the silence that would otherwise have been filled with the piano, God's voice came and spoke. In the singing of the "old Gospel favorites" in the hymnal which was printed in 1938, our voices were heard praising God and it was truly a joyful noise.

My heart was strangely warmed yesterday morning in the silence and peacefulness of a "Church of Christ" style worship service. Lord, thank you for not only calming my heart, but also warming it.

Blessings,
Chris

What's in a name?

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while the leader was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ and Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

From The Journal of John Wesley, May 24, 1738

The name of this blog site is a reference to the famous moment in the life of John Wesley, when, several years after being ordained and serving as a minister of the Gospel, he had a moment that changed his life. The moment is described in the above excerpt from his journal when he recalls hearing a reading of Martin Luther's and describes how it helped him to finally understand what he had professed for so long, assurance of his salvation. John submitted to the will of God by going "very unwillingly" to a Bible Study and was there able to hear what God had been trying to communicate to him.

God reveals himself to us every day in numerous ways. The trouble is, so often, we fail to look for God and recognize him the everyday. The goal of this blog is provide an opportunity to reflect on the ways God is warning my heart on a regular basis and to encourage others to recognize God in the everyday as well.

I encourage you to take every opportunity to put yourself in the presence of God, even if sometimes it is "very unwillingly." God wants to speak to us, touch us, lead us, inspire us and teach us. Let us all be open and available to God.

Blessings,

Chris

Like the Little Children

So, I am starting up the blogging thing again. I have decided that, following the name of this blog site, I am going to post the moments when my heart is warmed by the actions, words or thoughts I see that can only come from God.

Yesterday, we took child one to see a couple of doctors because of a rare and somewhat strange condition he has in one of his eyes. As we were visiting with one of the doctors, he wanted child one to run down the hall, turn around and run back and tackle him. Well, child one is not the rough and tumble type (that would be child two). Instead, he ran (light jog really) down the hall, turned around and ran (again, more of a light jog) back and when he got to where the doctor was, instead of trying to knock him over, as he was instructed, he gave him a great big hug.

For a father who wants to raise his boys to be caring and loving, this truly warmed my heart. I know I am reading way more into this than was actually there, but here my little boy chose love over violence, beautiful.

This reminded me of the stories in the Gospels where Jesus pointed the religious and the seeking alike to the little children and instructed all those gathered to follow the examples of the children. May we all seek to chose the path of love over violence and share some of God's love with all who we meet, even our doctors.

Blessings,
Chris

Clarify the win

I am reading "7 Practices of effective ministry" by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner & Lane Jones. Thus far I have read the narrative overview of all 7 practices and the extensive description of the first practice, of which I am very intrigued: Clarify the Win.

Stanley et al use baseball imagery and metaphor throughout the book to help make the concepts easier to understand (at least for those who are familiar with the world of baseball). Stanley states that the first practice of the effective ministry is to clearly define what success looks like for a certain ministry. He explains that every church should understand what it means for them to be successful and what success means when it comes to the world and work in which we engage. He discusses and acknowledges that defining a victory in the church is much more difficult than doing so in baseball. (Although, from my experiences in athletics, I know that even though one may fail to win an individual game, it may still be a success because of experience gained and skills improved that better position one to be victorious in upcoming opportunities.)

This is difficult for me as I struggle to understand what victories might look like. Obviously baptizing someone into the faith would be a victory, having people make a commitment to the membership of this church would be a victory, but what are other victories? Those are victories that don't happen every week and can only happen for someone once (at least in UM theology). But what are the victories that can occur from work with those who are already a part of this congregation? What are the victories that occur from those who have been a part of the church since Jesus was a little boy? (I give my father credit for this phrase, as it is one intended to mean folks who have been around for quite sometime and are very schooled in the ways of the church.) So, I guess the question I am asking and struggling to find an answer to is, what is a victory for a church that has existed for more than 150 years and been in a state of plateau or decline for the past 20 or so years? What victories can we achieve or expect that will be enough to create the momentum we need to break out of the patterns of the past 20 or more years?

Another of the concepts he introduces is the need for church to, once they have clarified the win, celebrate the wins and keep a scoreboard. If your team has been losing for the past 20 years, do you really want to put up a scoreboard so everyone can see how miserable you have been? When a victory is achieved, especially when it is a rare occasion, you better believe we celebrate it in grand style, but the problem is, how do you keep up morale when the victories are few and far between? Perhaps this is more reason to clarify the win and perhaps even create a few more opportunities for wins by creating new categories.

I hope this has been food for thought for you, as this reading will certainly stimulate my thoughts for quite a while.

Seeking the best for His Kingdom,
Chris

Rev. Daddy

Sometimes is it tough balance the two huge jobs of being a father, responsible for raising, caring for and loving the children the Lord has entrusted me with and being a pastor, caring for the congregation and community in which the Lord has sent me. Often times the responsibilities of the church require me to be aware from my family, to miss putting the boys to sleep or giving them their dinner or taking care of them when they are in need. Sometimes the responsibilities of fatherhood require me to miss the occasional meeting, to not be present with someone at the exact moment they need me or to have to get up from the table to go chase one of the blessings.

Walking this fine line is ofter very difficulty. When I am at the office I constantly think about what I am missing not being at home with my boys, the hugs I am missing, the darnedest things I will not hear them say, the smiles that would light up my soul and the opportunity to see them at an age they will both too quickly grow out of. When I am at home, I have trouble thinking about the tasks and others things which need to be accomplished at the church, the sermons that need to be written, the books I need to finish reading, the cards that need to be written, reports that need to be reviewed and visits that need to be made.

I suppose it is this way in most professions, but for some reason I feel it is especially difficult for clergy. One of the joys of my job is that I can have flexible hours if needed. The other day I had to leave early to pick up a sick boy from the sitter's house. While there was nothing on my schedule for the day and plenty of time remaining in the week to finish the week's tasks, missing out on being available and here when there was a group of 20 or so people was difficult.

I have made it a point to put my children as a priority over my work at the church. The list goes: 1) God, 2) Family, 3) The church. It wasn't too far into my ministry career that I realized the need to separate (in my mind that is) God and my work in the church. If I say no to something at the church, I am not saying no to God. The problem I had was that I did not understand the difference between my relationship with God and my work at the church. Saying no to the church about a meeting or event is not the same as telling God I will not do something. (As I reflect on this, I wonder if lay people ever worry about this when they tell me or the nominating committee no all the time?) Once this distinction occurred to me, it helped me understand how to make family a priority over the church without sacrificing my relationship with God or having feelings of guilt.

Being a pastor and being a father of young children is a difficult balance. I hope I never stop wanting to spend as much time as possible with my boys. I also hope that I never stop wanting to do the work of God through the capacity he has called me to. I also pray that He continues to give me His wisdom and guidance to know is the right and necessary time to do which.

My prayer for all those who read this is that God give you the guidance and ability to discern when you need to be employed by him or laid aside by him (for the sake of your family).

May the peace of Christ be with you,
Chris

Mydays, sabbath & faithfulness

So I have been delinquent in my posts the past few days.

I had a wonderful day of sabbath on Friday. I started referring to Fridays as Mydays. I love Mydays. Perhaps it is somewhat to very selfish and not right considering my wife doesn't get Mydays, but I feel like I am truly starting to understand this whole sabbath thing. On Mydays I only do things that I chose to do, nothing that I have to do. It used to be the pattern that I would do laundry, clean the house, mow the lawn etc., you know, the chores. As I have begun to further understand the need for sabbath and what it really means, I have come to see the chores as work, something we are commanded not to do on our sabbath. So now, sabbath means for me a day to only do those things I want to do, play with the boys (or take them to the sitter), go to the city to do whatever it is I want to do, mess around down in my wood shop and maybe be productive, just rest and relax and watch bad TV or movies (and soon, baseball).

My reflections on Saturday mainly revolved around being busy and tired, yet fulfilled and happy. I logged more steps on Saturday than I have thus far and got most of my project for the boys finished. We spent some time with friends and with each other, and generally took it easy.

Yesterday was the day that caused to most reason for reflection. It was a snowy and cold Sunday morning and we had very light worship attendance. Our attendance has been down significantly from last year, and this really concerns me. We have had several people leave because they don't agree with the direction I am leading the church. This doesn't bother me as much as it does some others because I feel I am being faithful to God and leading the church where He needs us to go. If people don't want to be on board with where God is leading the church, that is up to them. I suppose that we have had many people go out the "back door" and have many others who are not nearly as committed as they once were (for a variety of reasons, none of which really make sense to me other than their priorities need to be better arranged) and have not been getting as many in the front door. I guess this means I am not doing my job of replacing those leaving as well as I should.

It is tough though, I feel like I am being faithful to God and doing what the Kingdom needs. I have challenged this congregation to live out their faith and have said that this church will not participate in an activities that do not help us further the Kingdom of God. The congregation members think this is an unreasonable request. I have been told that my job is to find out what the people who are already a part of the church want, and do that. I have been told that my job is to take care of the members and that I should spend the majority of time doing just that (visiting every member at least once a month in their home, calling every person once a month, generally being their best friend and tending to their needs). I am not sure how taking care of the healthy is part of the work of the Kingdom. Jesus did not spend his time teaching the religious people about God. He talked to those who had never heard about Him. He spent his time with the sinners and tax collectors, those who needed to know that someone cared for them and that there was hope for their loves. He didn't just make the healthy feel good about themselves.

So that I am being as faithful as I know to be doesn't trouble me. That the results are not good does. Preaching the Gospel and teaching about the responsibilities of Christians to live out their faith (not just sit in the safety of the church) has caused many people to leave, and often with a bad taste in their mouth. Who we have (overall) is a strong group of faithful persons, but it worries me that our numbers and those who want to be a part of the work of God continues to decrease.

Well, enough rambling and complaining. Please be in prayer for communities that are trying to reclaim their calling and responsibilities as Christians and stop just sitting on the sidelines watching people suffer.

Keep the faith,
Chris