Monthly Archives: August 2011

I had great plans to post every Monday. Then Monday happened! This past Monday I was in Salem for a task force meeting regarding the future of local Commissions on Children and Families in Oregon.  It was an interesting meeting and the process of formulating options for the future of this system is ongoing.

After Monday then came Tuesday. And then, well, all my best laid plans sort of fell through as other demands piled on my desk. Now its Thursday and I’m looking at a long several weeks ahead. A wedding this weekend and a visit from a young couple that may be interested in serving as an associate pastor; then next weekend a memorial service for a church family whose father passed away recently, then the next weekend is our town’s annual festival plus a leadership training event sponsored by our regional network of churches…and then…well, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.

In the midst of this never-ending stream of events and projects Sunday and Wednesday messages still need to get finished; Sunday worship powerpoints need to get done; the bulletin needs to be readied; people need to be visited; the administrative stuff of ministry goes on and on and on….

Then out of the blue I was asked again to consider going overseas next year to do some teaching with a program called Masters Bible School. So, whatever happened to Monday? I think I got lost in the week! That tends to happen among the demands of ministry.

So, maybe next Monday…wait a minute…I’m supposed to volunteer for a couple of hours at the middle school helping in 7th grade orientation…Hmm….

Twas the Monday after Camp and … well … I am still trying to catch up on feeling rested! We had a great week with 50+ campers from Salem, Florence, Roseburg, Winston, Myrtle Creek, Glendale and points in between. Several young people made public their declaration to live as followers of Jesus Christ. Many young people were touched by the presence of God in many different ways.

But, it’s back to the real world for us today. Some of those young people are going to camp this week to serve as kitchen workers for our Association’s Children’s Camp. For most of us it is back to the normal patterns and places of our lives.

The challenge for campers and staffer’s alike is to capture the sense of God’s presence and power away from the emotionally charged atmosphere of camp. Spending a few days away from the normal patterns of our lives helps open our hearts and minds to the reality of God’s presence. Now we need to learn how to carry that sense of God’s presence and power into the routines of family, school, jobs, and the daily routine.

One strategy I have used is to try and keep the same pattern of spending time alone with God. It is different at camp when everyone affirms your need to be alone with God. At home the phone rings, parents need us to help with chores and caring for brothers and sisters, school demands an ever increasing amount of time…and getting alone can be hard. Then to try and get alone with God can almost be impossible. Yet, it is critical that we find ways to do just that. Ask for permission to close the bedroom door and read God’s Word and pray. Find a place in the home that is as quiet as possible and make that your place to meet with God. Whatever it takes, find time to meet with God.

When you find the time, choose a pattern by which to read God’s Word. http://www.blueletterbible.com; http://www.youversion.com are just two websites among thousands that can give direction.

When you find that time and place, keep a prayer journal. Write down your concerns, write what is on your mind, record those passages from God’s Word that are meaningful in your day to day reading.

Finally, find other believers that can help you grow. In Acts 2 when three thousand people responded to the call of Christ, the disciples organized them into groups that could meet from house to house- small enough to get to know one another and do life together. Find others in your own church…and  keep your eyes open for those outside your fellowship who can stand with you in the midst of the demands on your time.

Don’t let what you experienced at camp be relegated to your past. Keep in step with God…and we’ll come together next year, Aug. 13-17 at Fir Point Bible Camp!

I rarely post two consecutive days in a row but a thought is stirring in my mind and I need to express it.

A fellow pastor and I were having breakfast together this morning (great fellowship). We commiserated with each other about how busy we are. But here’s the question we both struggle with. What exactly does a pastor do? How are we to invest our time every day? Oh there are plenty of things to do…visits to make, phone calls to return, mail to sort, odd jobs around the church (fixing that running toilet, putting paper towels in the restrooms and so on), and an always increasing number of people with needs- rent money, grocery money, gas money, lonely people needing someone to listen, hurting people who need encouragement…and the list grows daily.

I know the answers I’ve been trained to hear: The seminary training: prepare to proclaim the Word and do the work of an evangelist and catch a vision of God and His purpose for His kingdom. The denomination suggests we invest in reaching younger adults and finding new ways to reach people and new places to start churches. The church member expects the pastor to always be present whenever there is a need.

As I’ve been reading the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah I came across the passage in Jer. 27 where God told Jeremiah to fashion for himself a yoke and chains and wear them publicly. Simply to live as a visible reminder of God’s purpose and plan.

Makes one wonder what a pastor really ought to do…

The past few Sunday’s I have been preaching from Colossians 1:15-23, likely an early devotional hymn about Christ used by Christ-followers during the Apostle Paul’s itinerant ministry. As I have looked at this passage I have been convicted by my own lack of spiritual depth. This past Sunday I was trying to express how the reconciliation achieved by Christ at the cross is more than just an individual, personal issue. Paul wrote, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col 1:19-20).

ALL THINGS… the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus begins the process of bringing the created order which prior to sin’s entrance into the world God had declared “very good” (Genesis 1:31). All that is going on in the world around us is part of God’s plan to bring His creation back to its original purpose of displaying His glory.

Because of God’s act of reconciliation in Jesus Christ we have confidence and courage to face the uncertain and unstable time in which we live.

Yes, my confidence in rooted in the truth of what God has provided me through the cross, but even more, I can trust God because in the cross this world though it seems out of control and headed for collapse-will ultimately be brought back to God’s purpose as an awesome display of His glory!