Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today Pastor Christine shared a powerful story in her message. She was one of three pastors in the context of worship in a congregation primarily serving the homeless community of our city. In the midst of worship a man (Ice Pick) came up to her saying he needed to talk to her right then. In his words, "I feel like I need to kill somebody today." When Christine turned from the front row where she and the man were standing and headed up the aisle to a room where they could talk an amazing thing took place. Those in the congregation had no knowledge of the conversation. But when they saw their pastor and this man walking up the aisle a number of homeless men stepped out of the pews and followed them to the room where they could talk. These men stood at the entry to that place like "angels" protecting their pastor. Of course Christine tells it much better but I hope you get the idea. I thought it was a great image. Intuitively men sensed their pastor could be in need and stood in support. It is a good reminder that we are never alone. God can raise up a cadre of homeless men to stand in support. God can provide all the support and encouragement any of us might need. God may also use you and me among the support systems for others. But we are never alone. It was a great reminder for me. I trust you will be encouraged by the image as well. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

I decided not to fill out an NCAA tournament bracket this year. I was very intentional about not filling out the "Buffett Billion" bracket. I thought about it and decided the odds of winning (1:9.2 quintillion) were just too much of a risk that I would win. What would it do to my life to have one billion dollars? After 56% taxes there would be 440 million dollars. After tithing there would be 340 million dollars. What would I do with that much money? Frankly that would cost my the ministry I have been called to and the life God has given. The opportunity to give away most of the money would be pretty cool. But what about the "first one out" (to use an NCAA tournament phrase)? After you pay off the house and any other debts as well as helping your family there would still be more money than I would make in 100 lifetimes. So my day would be spent setting up charitable foundations, managing money and slipping into the worry of trying not to lose what I had. I would have to learn an entirely new set of skills. Frankly the temptation would probably prove to much for me. So I did not want to risk winning. I could have set up our church forever. There are problems with that. If I did that we would soon forget about our own generosity and the spiritual discipline of stewardship. Again, too risky. I've decided that my gift is not making large sums of money. I know people who have been gifted in this way. That is tremendous. My place is to help you be a great rich person. I can help you find how to be generous. I have great respect for the people I know with significant resources. I actually make a very good salary and the majority of people in the world would consider me "very rich." But I am not sure if I would be a great rich person. Proverbs 30:8 sums up what feels right for me. "...Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. (v. 9) Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." There is no question in my mind that riches are better than poverty. (Poverty is a bad thing). Still riches pose unique challenges to followers of Christ. Frankly I have plenty on my plate to give leadership to the church and seek to serve the church in a Spirit-led manner. I don't have time to figure out what to do with millions of dollars. Now should someone desire to give millions of dollars to our church I definitely have some ideas! So there you have it. That's why I did not fill out the "Buffett Billion Brackett." The odds of winning were simply too great and represented more risk that I could take. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. Oops. There went another bracket buster. (Had I filled out a bracket I would not have lasted past Thursday morning!) blessings, steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Cough, cough, sputter, sputter. That has been my primary activity the past few days. I remember when I would come down with a cold like this and go "sweat it out." I have run with a fever. (No fever this week.) I have played basketball with a fever. When we were in our early days of marriage Cindy drove me to a basketball tournament where I was referring because I was too sick to drive! Of course I refereed the games. Oh how times change. I could feel this coming on Tuesday morning. I seemed to tire easier during my workout. I had a little scratchy throat. I took a allergy pill hoping to knock it out. (Next time it will be zinc. Thanks Dr. Kimbal.) Following staff meetings Tuesday and lunch I went home and slept for two hours. I never sleep in the day! Then I left the building committee meeting early and went home to bed. I was committed to taking care of myself so I cancelled one appointment and made another with my physician. No strep or flu but surely a cold that was knocking me down. About the best I could do was treat the symptoms so that is what I have been doing. Saturday I was thinking about how I was going to be able to preach four times this weekend and it began to sink in that I was not acting very smart. It dawned on me that I work with a tremendous staff. I fully trust them. So even though I love to preach and that is what really keeps me ticking, why not turn it over to Ginger and Curtis. Our congregation deserves better than my "C" game so I reached out and asked Ginger and Curtis to preach this weekend. Ginger preached Saturday. Curtis preached this morning and Angie preached at NEXT. I am sure everyone was blessed by their "A" game rather than what I had to offer. So now that I have shared the details of my little cold what is this really about? Yesterday I became aware that my friend Bob Farr has spent the last few days in the hospital with cluster headaches. I just saw him last weekend. We are among those who tend to go go go until we are gone gone gone. I recently read Len Sweet's new book, "The Well-Played Life" that basically invites Christians to a life of play. Certainly we work but life consists of much more than how many hours we can work and how much we can get done. God reminded my that we have a great staff and I should never hesitate to welcome them into ministry. I am not indispensable. I am human and susceptible to wearing down. Life is an adventure to be lived fully and joyfully. And on and on and on. So I have embraced a few days to rest and read and stay home and not spread germs to everyone else. (I did manage to share this is Cindy - bless her heart). The days ahead will tell if I have received insight from God. In the meantime I will just recognize that this has not been a bad week. There were some good basketball games on that I would not have normally watched. So in reality it's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. Be well. See you soon. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

It was great to have a good weather day. Our crowd at church reflected people feeling good to get out and come to church. My highlight came during the 11:00 service when during the sermon I noticed a tennis ball roll to the front of the church almost at my feet. I must admit that was a bit of a distraction and rather than trying to ignore it I simple stepped down to the floor and picked it up. I had no idea where it came from but quickly a girls (yes Jordan)dad pointed her out. He gave her up quickly! I noticed a name on the ball. I gave it back and went on with the service. In case anyone wonders why we have tennis balls rolling around the church there is a very good reason. In confirmation class the students get a tennis ball. Their name is written on the ball and another member of the class takes their ball and they become the person they pray for. I picture tennis balls for prayer flying around classrooms but they only roll on the floor in the sanctuary. It seems very appropriate that the tennis ball with a confirmand's name on it would roll forward to the communion rail during worship. This is where we come to meet with God. This is where we come to pray. The symbolism is clear. The confirmation class brings one another forward for prayer! It made for a great day. It is a tremendous joy to serve the people of Platte Woods UMC. Today was yet another reminder of the blessed place we gather to know, worship and serve the Lord. It's been a great day. I hope you've had a great day too. steve

Reflections From Sunday Evening

Well we got most of our church services in this weekend. We actually doubled our usual attendance on Saturday evening. People wanting to be in worship and getting ahead of the anticipated storm. We did cancel 8:15 this morning and sure enough, 5 or 6 people showed up at that time. It is a real struggle when decisions about cancelling church come along. A few years ago it seemed I had to decide on whether or not to have church, Wednesday programming or other scheduled activities more times than usual. I missed every time! But that is another story. The struggle stems from the high value given to worship. We do many things to honor and serve God and others in the life of the church. Worship is central to our life together. We witness for Christ but evangelism without worship only adds numbers. We serve our community and other people but without worship we merely slip into good works. We engage in mission work but without worship we miss the focus of our mission. We seek justice but apart from worship we only effect societal changes. We practice generosity but apart from worship we get reduced to fund raising. Worship. We worship in community. We are not alone. We experience the presence of God. We are filled with the love of God. We express our love and devotion to God. We find encouragement in the life of following Jesus through worship. There are many other things to talk about here. But the point is that worship is central to our life in Christ. We will continue to encourage people to worship. We will continue to seek ways to offer worship in non-traditional ways. (some are not physically able to be with us so we need to take worship to them.) We will continue to seek God and offer worship that is meaningful, relevant and compelling. Worship. I look forward to our next time together as we seek God's grace together. It's been a good day. I trust you have had a good day too. steve