Consistency

Life has been anything other than consistent this summer. I had two great vacations: one to Colorado with friends and another to Texas with family. VBS was great but it sucked the life out of me. I've had a couple weeks to commit to the office but they were full of planning activities. Then we had a week of great loss where two wonderful people were laid to rest who passed away in the same day. In all of the previous activities, a lot of regular visits to our elderly, sick and worship guests were minimized which is my focus this week. However, last week I decided that some things needed to be consistent again. So, little by little I'm gaining some ground with working out (biking, walking, weights), scripture reading, meditation/prayer, family time, reading and getting outside (even though it's bloody hot!). Remarkably enough, I'm starting to feel better. When we increase stress in our lives and decrease stress reducing activities we begin to feel bad. I had developed headaches and a lot of shoulder/neck pain along with needing more sleep. These are symptoms that something is wrong. So, I'm not surprised that when I've worked out the last five days and spent some time meditating and doing things that I enjoy that I feel better.
Now to personalize this. How do you feel? Have you missed consistency in areas of your life that help you feel better? Maybe it's time to work on some consistency with me:) Pick something small this week and experience a win for consistency next week! And let's pray for each other too:)

Prayer Group

Kim Kirby, our Council Chair, has invited anyone to come pray at the church every Wednesday at 12:05pm. This last Wednesday, Kim, Betty and I prayed about the following things (and invite you to pray with us now):

Brook Stokes- motorcycle accident

Mike Walsh- hospitalized over reaction to medicine

Taloff Family

Eskridge family and friends

Pastor Jim, his family their vacation to work out and also for you mission, vision, service and leadership

Ben Taylor- friend of Voigt's in hospital

Jolie’s father- Paul Norman's sister

Dick Emery- hip surgery recovery

Hayworth family including Mary and Lynn

Our community and those that are in financial trouble and need help

Divorce – couples, kids & their property problems

VBS – planners, kids

Our body of Christ – our missions, service, small groups and the garden to be abundant to feed anyone that needs it

Our city government – including the Mayor, Aldermen and workers

Kyle Torster – his safety, his return and Jen and the kids

Join me in Prayer for the Normans

Lord,
This morning I lift up my suffering friends. Please continue to give Sue courage and strength. Allow her to give all the love she can muster to her family and to rest herself sufficiently. Father, please give your daughter peace, joy and faith despite her slowly failing body. As Tori and Emily are in school today, help them to enjoy their friendships and receive love from others. Holy Spirit, please walk with them and give moments of comfort amongst a time of chaos and fear. Continue to give strength to your son, Paul. Give him guidance and knowledge in the days and weeks ahead. Give him clarity as he cares for his family and makes the best decisions he can amongst deep pain and loss. Be with their extended families as they travel back and forth to visit and offer support- please keep them safe. And Lord, comfort the Weston community as they grieve and hurt for this family. Store up within us an enduring care and love as our time to help will last for months, years and lifetimes. We need your help Lord! Be with our friends and give them everything they need to sustain the day.
It's in the name of your Son that we pray today Lord,
Amen.

Good Sermons on the Financial Crisis

I try to listen to a few podcast sermons a week. Adam Hamilton at Church of the Resurrection (United Methodist) just finished a great sermon series that addresses the financial crunch that many of us have experienced first hand. His sermons address greed, evil, consumerism, relationships and the love of things (there's a word for that, I just can't remember it). The three week series is named "After the Fire" and you can listen to the sermons at http://www.cor.org/worship-sermons/sermonarchives/. If you have time I would highly recommend them!

Genesis 15:17> A New View!

So I downloaded an app on my iphone that allow me to do a daily reading plan. Since I'm only a couple weeks into it I'm in Genesis. While reading Genesis 15:17 a couple of days ago I had an "aha" moment. Scripture is cool like that, it will never cease to surprise you if you commit to being a life long student of it.

In 15:17 God is proving to Abram that he will be a father of many nations. He also tells Abram that his descendants will be in captivity for 400 years but they will eventually escape and go to a land that will be their own. In order to prove His power, God asks Abram to cut a bunch of cattle in half and lay them "half over against each other". Later that night God has a torch and a smoking pot travel between the two lines of slaughtered animals; through the blood. Now this sounds familiar, doesn't it?! Later in Exodus, the Hebrews escape Egypt. God was present with them as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day. Now maybe I'm reaching but do you see the similarity: smoking pot=pillar of smoke and torch=pillar of fire?

Now the theological similarity. With Abram a covenant was made as the fire and the smoke passed through the blood. With Moses the people were saved as the fire and smoke passed through the water. God made a covenant through the blood and saved them through the water. Almost 2000 years later Jesus saved us through the shedding of his blood and gave us the waters of baptism as a sacrament of salvation- through the blood and the water (also check out 1 John 5:6-8).

So, here are the symbols through out scripture that are full of power: smoke, fire, blood and water. What kind of emotions and memories do these symbols evoke for you?

Remember to Pray

Yesterday I challenged everyone to pray for the future direction of our church; where is God leading us? I plan on asking God for direction everyday this week. I hope you will join me in committing to this prayer as well! And I've already had one person come in and joke with me about my museum- good thing you all have a sense of humor:)

Addition to Book List

My newest edition to my book list is "Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists" by Henry (or Hal) Knight. Hal is a professor at St. Paul Seminary in K.C. and is a fantastic Wesleyan theologian! I'm into the third chapter of his book and already finding it very beneficial. If you are looking for a book on spiritual disciplines and spiritual formation, I would recommend Hal's "Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists". I even have an extra copy:)

Feeding the Angel, Purging the Demon

Simple, regular practices make us healthier people. I'm attempting to create two morning practices that make me a healthier person; I like to think of it as Feeding the Angel and Purging the Demon. I try to spend some time during each day in prayer, meditation, scripture or other growth focused reading; this is how I feed my angel (so to speak). I also try to exercise almost everyday. The picture is of the home gym in my basement that my brother's, father-in-law graciously gave to me. I rotate weights with mountain biking during the week. When I do this I discipline my body, push it hard, focus my energy and purge my demon (so to speak- again). Both of these practices help me with stress management and creating a more peaceful me. How do you feed your angel and purge your demon?

Morning Devotion- Brother Lawrence

My morning devotion material centers around a short book named, "The Brother Lawrence Collection" and I am currently in "Practice and Presence of God". I found an exert this morning that I had to post immediately. I hope you enjoy it- I don't think any explanation is necessary:
"When we are in doubt, he continued, God never fails to show us the right way to go, as long as our only goal is to please Him and show our love for Him.
He thought it was a shame that some people pursued certain activites (which, he noted, they did rather imperfectly due to human shortcomings), mistaking the means for the end. He said that our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves". - p. 55

Addition to Book List

My book list has changed a little bit. I finished Thomas Merton's "Spiritual Direction and Meditation" and began "The Brother Lawrence Collection". Merton's book was a quick read and very enjoyable. He poses many challenging thoughts on discipleship, meditation and mentoring. I would highly suggest it if you are interested in those topics. Brother Lawrence was also a Monk who experienced the "Presence of God" in incredible force while he did his mundane kitchen duties at his monestary. I'm currently reading the letters he sent to those he was mentoring or encouraging. This morning I particularly enjoyed the following quote, "Be not discouraged by the repugnance which you may find in it from nature; you must do yourself violence". Brother Lawrence is addressing our sinful nature and believes that we should attack and hate it with all that we are. I believe whole heartedly in that statement. It's only by hating our sin that we can embrace the teachings of Jesus. Do you hate your sin?? Maybe it's time to do violence to it?

This Mornings Devotion

My morning devotionals have centered around the book "Spiritual Direction and Meditation", by Thomas Merton. I read a small section and then meditate by clearing my mind and asking God to lead my morning prayer process. Sometimes I immediately lift up others and sometimes I focus on only a word or a phrase that I feel God is leading me in for personal reflection. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this morning:

"Meditation is for those who are not satisfied with a merely objective and conceptual knowledge about life, about God - about ultimate realities." - p. 53

"Meditative thought is simply the beginning of a process which leads to interior prayer and is normally supposed to culminate in contemplation and in affective communion with God." - p. 54