Reflections from Sunday Evening

First the ambivalent. Paul Newman died at 83. He finally lost the battle with cancer. But still he lived 83 good years. I saw one of those things that asks what your favorite Paul Newman movie was. One of the first movies I remember him in was "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." For some strange reason they showed that at a Methodist Youth sub-district event one time. Go figure. I remember the line from "Cool Hand Luke": "What we have here is a failure to communicate." "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" came out in 1968. It sure seemed later than that. But that was probably my favorite. Of course when "The Sting" came out a few years later that was a really good follow-up. It's not like Paul Newman was one of my favorite people or anything. But there is something to be said for someone who spent his life in Hollywood. He made movies. He raced cars. He produced salad dressing! But he was also married to the same woman for over 50 years. That is pretty amazing considering the environment and culture he lived in. So maybe that's why it seems worthwhile to give a thought to a life that was apparently well-lived. I'll probably watch the movie list and watch "Butch and Sundance" one of these days.

Things get better. We gave the 3rd-graders their Bibles today. That is one of the neatest things we do. This year I asked the third-graders to read the book of Philippians. It is a short book: 4 chapters. It is a letter Paul wrote to a church he apparently really loved. It is full of good news. I'm looking forward to the 3rd-graders telling me about it!

Walter had us at a Willie Nelson concert! If you weren't there it doesn't make much sense. But if you were there ... it is amazing how God can enter into any environment and bring transforming power to change lives. Many of us went home today humming "I Saw the Light."

And then there are the Chiefs. What was up with that? Rookie cornerbacks playing like all pros. Scored 33 points. Isn't that more than we had scored in the first three games? And all against a very good (I think) Denver team. You just never know.

Maybe that's the whole idea. You never know when the day will come for this earthly sojourn to conclude and move into the blessedness of eternity. You never know what a third-grader will see in a book of the Bible. It would not surprise me to see one of these young people hear God's call into ministry. The Word is alive. You never know when something totally unexpected will happen (Chiefs victory over Denver). And as people of faith we often find the surprising grace of God bursting into our lives. Like a transforming moment at a Willie Nelson concert! So this week don't be surprised when God surprises you with grace.

It was a good day. Tomorrow holds promise too!

Preview

I had the opportunity to meet with a number of our members who came out last evening to hear where we are and where we hope to go as a church. I spent most of my time talking about purpose, mission, vision, goals, values and of course $$$$$. It is really all good news. Our debt is below $500,000 with over $700,000 outstanding pledges. With a year to go it is reasonable to believe we will pay the debt and have excess funds. Somebody asked what we'd do with extra money. It's new ground! What do you do if you oversubscribe a capital project? We promised to use all the money received for debt retirement and have been completely faithful to that commitment. I'm sure we will figure it out!

My main concern is our 2009 budget. What do we do? Obviously these are difficult financial times. We have some inflationary issues (utilities are going up significantly). We want to increase compensation for our great staff. We want to move forward with programming. Does it make sense to ask for an 11% budget increase next year? I didn't get the answers to my questions but continue to sense a positive spirit among our people.

We talked about the houses around our church. What do you do with houses that would require an investment in to rent them? Glenn Ladd worked us through some of the challenges and I felt brought us to a place where we can reasonably assume these issues will be resolved in the right way (whatever that turns out to be) toward year's end.

It's always good to have an opportunity to share thoughts and ideas with the people who make up the congregation. We'll do it again one of these days.

Reflections From Sunday Evening

We have two more weeks in the 7 Seasons of Change sermon series. I think we have the point that we live in a time of very rapid cultural change. Today we illustrated that with the different "family" television shows down through the years. We moved from "Leave it to Beaver" to "All in the Family" to "Dallas" and "Dynasty" to "The Sopranos" and "Desperate Housewives." There is a vast difference between "Leave it to Beaver" and "Desperate Housewives."

There were others we could have mentioned. Relationship shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" reflected the ideas of a generation. I could have gone back and looked at some other old family shows. We could have mentioned "The Addams Family" and "The Munsters" (does anyone else think Billy Donovan, the basketball coach at Florida, looks like Eddie Munster?). Of course those shows were sort of kooky.

The interesting point is that culture is reflected through the broadcast medium. The good news is that we (Christians) may always be "counter-culture" people. Our culture is the kingdom of God. Our culture is one led by the risen Lord Jesus Christ. So wherever the winds of change blow we find ourselves being the reflection of Christ in the midst of our world.

On another note ... We are getting the budget ready for next year. There is a lot to think about. I am going to be in the sanctuary this Thursday evening at 7:00 to share our vision and and talk about what might be on your minds. Where are we with our debt? Are there building ideas for next year? What does our budget need to be next year? How is the staff doing? Do we have any money in the bank? How is attendance? If you have a question please come and hopefully we will be able to work toward an answer.

Here's a thought. We should spend more time at church. Hopefully it will help take our mind off the Chiefs.

Today was a good day. I hope you had a good day.

doughnuts and pie!

First let me follow up on the great donut mystery from last Sunday. To make a long story short, we believed our donut supplier was back in business but when Sunday came -- obviously they were not. But not all was lost. I LEARNED something.

To start with I'm not a great fan of having donuts in the fellowship hall on Sunday morning. They are not the most healthy food! But the main reason is that I like them! I see them and I want to eat them. And I'm not one to cut a donut in half. Nope. I'd rather eat three of them and half of one! So when I walk past the donuts I want to eat them until they are gone. That is why I don't particularly like having them here.

But here is what I learned Sunday. I heard the word -- no donuts! I walked down to the dining hall. There was no one there. Deserted. Empty. Nothing. Then I realized how wonderful a gift donuts are. When we have them there is life in the dining hall. There are people clustered together talking. Fellowship. Joy. Children are happy! And so is everyone else. The donuts create fellowship. Be there Sunday. Donuts should be back!

I am invested in this. After all, I had a preschooler tell me it was my fault there were no donuts Sunday.

Now on to something even better than donuts. Pie. I've been doing great. A few years ago my idea of a diet was eating one piece of pie rather than the whole thing! I've cut back. I've been watching my pie intake. Then we had that pie auction last week. We bought a cherry pie and a lemon pie. I ate about half of both of them. They were good. They were Carolyn Andler pies!

Today the story took an even better turn. I got my very own special pie today. Sat it right down in front of me at staff meeting. Homemade mincemeat pie! It is great. I could offer a piece to people and not get any takers. So Reuben and I got to enjoy our pie. He is the only one I found who appreciates the finer pies -- mincemeat, gooseberry, sour cream raisin.

Anyway, I've got to go home and eat the rest of this pie so I can start cutting back again! Maybe I'm just trying to rationalize but doesn't a person need some "sacred pleasure" in life? As long as I keep working out and not eating the whole pie every week, maybe it is ok to enjoy mincement today.

God has created some wonderful things and given us these gifts for our enjoyment. It's not just donuts and pie. There are signs of fellowship, grace and love. Not guilty pleasures. Godly pleasures. I hope you discover the pleasure God is offering you today.

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Oh boy. I've been watching the Chiefs since the 1960s. They were really good when I first became a fan. I was with them through the glory years. Two Super Bowl appearances in the first four. A World Championship. Then came the mid-70s when everything went south. They were simply not good. I watched them in the 90s when they were practically unbeatable at Arrowhead. Sure they disappointed us in the playoffs but they were good. Then came the high scoring years. If they could have only played a little defense. Now this. Oh boy. It takes a real fan to sit through something like this game today. Nothing. No offense. No defense. No nothing! Oh well. Maybe next week things will take a good turn and out of nowhere a great game will come forth.

There is a good side to this. If the Chiefs keep on like this I predict church attendance will pick up on those Chiefs Sundays!

Which brings me to a better thought. We had a great day today. This weekend church was meaningful. Ginger preached Saturday evening and got us off to a super start. Eveything clicked today. (With the exception of the donuts!)

Here's the thing. The donut supplier assured us they would be reopened this weekend. Well, I guess they weren't. Kenny Harper bailed us out. It's different to walk into the grocery store and tell them you'd like 10 dozen donuts!

But other than that, it was really good day. The music was uplifting. Did you notice the acolytes? Those young people walked in and brought the light of Christ into our midst and we felt it. I really like Walter putting together Amazing Grace with Peaceful Easy Feeling. I'm still hearing that one in my mind this evening. And that's a good sign.

It's good when something from church stays with us. I hope something that was sung or prayed or spoken or preached will stay with you today and through the week. That word from God is what keeps us going. That gets us through the day -- the week. That's what makes for a good day. Worship, prayer, singing, the privilege of preaching the gospel -- they outweighed a disappointing football game. It was a good day. I hope you had a good day too!

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Wow. This has been great weekend. Nineteen youth and seven adults participated in a "30 Hour Famine." Ask Roy all about it. I know they took a bus trip from downtown to the east side of town. The interaction with people they do not regularly meet was good. We should all be proud of these young disciples as they grow in God's grace.

But that's not all. Church today was really uplifting (at least it was for me!). The music ... the prayers ... the children ... communion. I looked out at the various congregations today and just know God was moving among us and touching people's lives. Isn't that was it's all about?

But that's not all. We were reminded of Saturdays 2 Serve coming this Saturday. Kathy Cole shared a number of opportunities our people will have to engage in hands-on ministry. More lives are going to be touched.

But that's not all. The Chiefs only lost by 7 points to New England. 'Nuff said.

But that's not all. God is alive. I keep bumping into Him! A little boy (Brady) excited to serve as an acolyte. New people joining the choirs. People taking time to listen and represent Jesus Christ to those in need. People serving. People giving. People praying.

But that's not all. I know there is more going on than I realize. These are exciting days to be part of the Body of Christ. These are exciting days to be part of what God is doing at Platte Woods UMC. It's been a really good day. If you were in worship today I'm pretty sure you had a good day too.