24 July 2011

We were driving to Kokomo on Friday to meet some friends for lunch. The 18 wheeler in front of us on State Road 26 suddenly slowed for no apparent reason. As we came to a complete stop, we were able to see what happened. Across the highway there was a car, upside down on the edge of the cornfield. A woman was sitting on the bank of the ditch, holding her head, and being tended to by a passerby. A van in one direction and a motor home in the other had stopped to help. No emergency vehicles were yet on the scene. The semi ahead of us and we were flagged around the motor home by a volunteer traffic director.

I rolled down the window and asked if 9-1-1 had been called. Assured the call had been made, we continued on to Kokomo and whispered a prayer for the driver, wondering what had happened. Had she fallen asleep? Had she gotten too close to the edge of the road and lost control? Was she distracted by texting while driving? Had she tried to avoid something in the road?

Life can be messy, and sometimes hard things happen around us, and even to us. Some of the tragedies seem to be the product of our choices and culture. My father died at 69 from lung cancer after a lifetime of smoking. Abortions abound in a culture that refuses all restrictions on expression of sexuality. Violence fills our TV screens, our movie houses and our city streets.

Other tragedies are not so easily explained. Norwegians are a peace-loving and non-violent people. It is all the more shocking when a gunman/bomber blows up a government building and kills dozens of teenagers at a youth camp. What happened? How could this be? Where did this come from?

Whether it seems like it in the world or not, the Bible assures us that God intended something else for us and is working toward that something else without fail. We can join Him in the pursuit of a Kingdom of justice and peace and healing and love. We can ratchet up the level of compassion and prayer and kindness and love in the face of violence and tragedy and brokenness. We can refuse to do nothing. We can live our lives believing that a Day is coming when every wrong will be righted and every tear wiped away. And in the power and love of God’s Spirit, we can live our lives NOW like that Day has already arrived in our hearts – no matter what the circumstances of the world around us.

Please pray for the people of Norway as they pick up the pieces, mourn the dead and seek to make sense of it all. Pray for our nation as we struggle with massive cultural, governmental and religious challenges. Pray for strength and courage and love in the face of violence and tragedy and despair. And keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, because He is our strength in the battle. Don’t give up. The Day is coming when every wrong will be made right. We have His promise on that.

17 July 2011

We held Vacation Bible School last week at Dayton Church, and it was simply amazing! The children were so excited to worship ‘in concert’ with the Go Fish Guys, and the music was energetic and joyful. Dozens of volunteers shared Christ’s love with the children, including many men. For some of the children, a positive male role model for this week is just HUGE. Our youth served Christ in so many ways, including some amazing drama skits that put the truth at the children’s level.

Shirley and I led a group of 13 kindergartners and first graders. Six of them made first-time commitments to Jesus, and six more renewed their commitment to Christ! Overall in the Bible School, 37 children asked Jesus into their hearts, and 32 others re-committed their lives to Him. I thank God for every person who gave time, energy and effort to make VBS a powerful experience of God’s love for the children.

At Bible School we receive an offering each day for missions. This year, half was designated for Vacation Bible School in India through Peter and Esther Pereira, and half for translation of the Bible into the last languages that don’t have it – the official project of the curriculum we used. The kids caught the vision of helping boys and girls in India learn about Jesus in Bible School (including a meal every day for children who suffer from hunger), and of helping other children to have a Bible and learn about God’s love. The offerings, and the excitement, built every day, and the children gave $1,500 to missions through VBS! Wow!

Evening VBS makes for a long day, and every evening Shirley and I went home and dropped into bed exhausted. But it also allows working moms and men to be part of this amazing ministry, and that trade-off is well worth it. Dayton UM Church’s DNA includes commitment to Biblical truth, passionate worship, significant missions work, and ministry to children and youth.  Our daycare and preschool, our Upward sports, our Kids Hope USA mentoring, our Sunday School and our Vacation Bible School provide powerful avenues of the life-changing Grace of Jesus Christ into the lives of children.

I’m so proud of the faithful servants of Christ at Dayton Church! I can hear the whisper of the Spirit of Jesus saying,‘Well done, good and faithful servants! Well done!’

10 July 2011

What was the last thing you were MAD about? Did someone cut you off in traffic or jump ahead of you in line? (I plead guilty) Perhaps you are one of the folks who is seething about the outcome of the Caylee Anthony trial. (Remember, ultimately NOBODY gets away with it before God) Your spouse left the seat up/left her pantyhose on the shower curtain bar AGAIN! (Sometimes it's the LITTLE things) The government and taxes? (You had to bring THAT up, didn't you?)

Of course there's another sense of being MAD about something or someone. That's being MAD as in being MAD about golfing (not me - I'm a card-carrying "duffer") or rummage sales (like my mom). Or there's being MADly in love with your partner in life. This sense of MAD is not anger, but insanity. Out of touch with reality. Not in my right mind. Of course, some things carry BOTH meanings. The Cubs come to mind. I'm pretty much MAD about them in both senses!

But there's still another meaning for MAD. Making A Difference. Just stepping out and doing SOMETHING to lighten a load or lift a heart. Perhaps MAD takes the form of a random act of kindness, like paying for the next person's meal at a drive-through. Or maybe Making A Difference means serving meals once a week at a homeless shelter or coaching little league when you DON'T have a child that age. Make A Difference. Make life count.

I believe God is interested in all three kinds of MAD. I believe He wants to deliver us from rage and calm us down in our emotions. I believe He is greatly blessed when we are just MAD about His Son, Jesus. And I believe He calls us to MADness in the sense of Making A Difference every day. I strive every day to be MAD about Jesus - so in love with Him that it shows. And I also strive to be MAD for Jesus - making a difference in the life of someone else.

What do you think? Isn't this a good day to be MAD?

3 July 2011

Father, on the eve of the birthday of our independence we pray for our nation. You are the God over all nations. Thank you for the amazing blessings you have showered upon us. Thank you for grace that blesses far beyond our deserving. Forgive us for all the ways we have squandered those blessings on ourselves. Deliver us from selfishness and greed. Grow in us the very same spirit of generosity and blessing so that others may find help and hope in you.

Today your people gather to worship without fear of arrest or imprisonment or death. Thank you for this great freedom. We pray today for those who follow Jesus and who live in nations that persecute them. Grant them strength and boldness and hope. And teach us to follow their example of faith. Please, Lord, let our country never become a place where such freedom is taken away.

Please, Lord, give great wisdom to our leaders as they deal with the serious problems that face our nation in this hour. Deliver them and us from doing nothing more than fighting over competing visions of how to solve the problem. Lead us, as a nation, to do what is right and holy. Help us each do whatever we can to make a difference, and work far beyond us to make the difference only you can make.

We dare to pray for an awakening, Lord. Move across our nation and draw people to yourself. Change hearts as people turn to Jesus for forgiveness and new life. We claim the promise you made long ago, that if my people who are called by my Name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Start with us, O God. Set us on fire to love you with all our hearts and love others with your great love.

Father we know that our influence and impact is limited. Yours is not. Go where we cannot go. Do what we cannot do. Change what we cannot change. And please, Lord, give us the determination and will and commitment to live all-out for you, no matter what.

In the strong name of Jesus. Amen.