Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter

Jesus is risen.  Jesus is Lord.  Life wins.  We are forgiven. The tomb is empty.  Never do we again have to live in fear, worry or under judgment.

These are pictures of the garden tomb site outside the Jerusalem walls.  It is a place of quiet,

a place of peace, a place of pilgrimage.  45 of us got to visit the tomb last month.  May you go there in your heart right now and sense the presence of the risen Christ.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Easter parking

Good morning.  Tomorrow is Easter.  Please join me in making room for others.  Please park at the cancer center and take the shuttle in to the building.  Staff, choir and Hospitality members can please park at Delta Woods.  Please leave spots up close for those who really need them or for those who are visiting.

Please attend an hour other than 10:10.  we have a sunrise service at 630.  The services at 8, 905 and 1115 will be just the same and just as good as 10:10.  Services will also be held in the worship center at 905, 1010 and 1115.  We expect the 1010 hour to be a zoo so please come earlier or at 1115.

Thanks for all that you do to make room for others.  Thanks for all that you do to help us fulfill our mission.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Good Friday

Our annual Good Friday service is a highlight for me and for many.  Quiet, contemplative and deep are three words that I would use to describe the service.  Narration, song and pictures tell again the story of Jesus on the cross.

You are welcome and encouraged to join us tonight at 7pm.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Maundy Thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday.  It is the day that we remember Jesus' last supper with his disciples.  We will celebrate this event tonight with a special service at 7pm in the Sanctuary.  Holy Communion will be served.

You are encouraged to attend.

What ever you do this week, please be mindful of the suffering and death of our Lord.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

to get or give

To get or give, to take or give, to give or receive.  It is a question that we wrestle with every moment of every day. Those who are takers may think that they get more, but it is still better to give than to receive.

Givers of time, givers of love, givers of money, givers of effort are always much happier than ungivers.  Yes you can grow tired of giving, you can feel like you give too much, you can be in a work place or a marriage where you get little in return, but it is still better to give.

Givers are filled with joy.  Their giving keeps their focus on others and off of themselves.  Those who give have discovered the secret of joy in this life.  We were created to give, to live outside of ourselves.

It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

nothing new

Ecclesiastes reminds us, "there is nothing new under the sun."  Nothing new.  Same old stuff.  Yet we preachers are expected to bring a new spin, a new angle, a new idea in our sermons.  It's kind of funny because the story is still the same.  2,000 years and the story has not changed.

For that matter, we humans get bored with life because we want to be entertained.  We want something new.  Some new angle on life.  Well, it is the same stuff, the same old stuff, but let us be sure to remember that it is good stuff.  Life is good stuff.  We grow accustomed to it all and get bored, but don't ever forget how good it is.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Thank you

I can't say thank you enough.  For those of you who worked so hard to make yesterday a great day at Woods Chapel.  Some came up at 6am and helped to shovel snow.  Several staff stayed in hotels or with friends to make sure that they could get here.

Everyone was flexible.  We had to make a lot of adjustments due to the weather.  At the end of the day, it was a great day and will hold many fond memories.

Attendance was down of course, but over 150 homes watched the services on live web stream. 

As always, the best part of all of it is the kind ways that you all go out of your way to accommodate others and be the hands and feet of Jesus.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Snow Days at Church

Schools get snow days, some churches get snow days, Woods Chapel does not.  I have tried to imagine what kind of storm might happen that we would close the church, but I cannot.

Eight inches of snow last night?  We have people who are bringing their snow blowers to make sure the sidewalks are clear.  Good team of folks.  If you read this at 530am today, you may want to slip up here and help them out.  Bring a shovel.

I have always believed that there is a special blessing for those who come to church when the going is difficult.  Rule number one is be safe.  Rule number two is, the church doors are open.

I have never remembered such a special weather visitation on Palm Sunday.

Its a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

tournament time

So it is March madness.  NCAA tournament time.  I find it interesting how much ego we humans put into the outcome of a game. 

The best and worst comes out of people when they are watching their team play.  Some folks root against teams they hate.  Some folks are braggadocios.  Some display great sportsmanship and class.

Basketball season comes and basketball season goes.  We are all much happier when our self worth is not tied to the outcome of a game.  Even if your team goes 2-24 on the season, God still loves you.  Let's keep our lives in perspective.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Friday, March 22, 2013

G.K. Chesterton

I have been reading a book about G.K. Chesterton.  He was an English author who lived about 100 years ago.  A very bright man, Chesterton is known for his defence of the faith and his pursuit of joy and common sense.

One of my favorite sayings of his is "the world is full of wonders.....the problem is that we humans have forgotten how to wonder." 

All around you are the wonders of our God.  What will you wonder at today?

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Home

Judy Garland said it best.  There's no place like home. 

After passing thru Israeli security, a 12 hour flight to Newark, customs, a long layover, terminal changes- twice, and another three hour flight to KC, our Holy Land group is finally home.

The dog and cats were glad to see me.  My wife was glad to see me.  Several employees at church were glad to see me!  Very exciting!

We had a great trip.  The 45 folks from our trip were all wonderful.  That should not surprise you.  We had a great bunch, and if any of you are reading this that went on the trip, I really mean it, you guys were great.

Well, I slept from 9pm to 5am.  It was a great night.  Work to do at home this morning and then I am back in the office at 8am.

There's no place like home.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Holy Land 8

Animals that we saw.





It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Holy Land 7

Flowers.  The Holy Land is a beautiful place, full of many different kinds of flowers and trees.  The climate is much warmer and so there are all kinds of things that grow there all year round that we only see in the warm season, or cannot grow at all.






It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Holy Land 6

Jerusalem.  What a beautiful city.  We walked today where Jesus walked.  It is hard to describe the feeling.  It was a touching, heartwarming, moving day.

Mosque on Temple Mount

Dome of the Rock, temple mount
Zion Gate


Armenian Church of St. James the lesser


It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Holy Land 5

More Ruins.
the name of this place is Beit She’an






It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Holy Land 4

Churches.  Oh, the beautiful churches that we have seen. Oh how the world strives to reach God.  Oh how worshippers seek to find him and to tell him of their love.

 
Joppa
 Nazareth

Nazareth
 Mount of Beatitudes

Oh how the heart and mind of the creation continues to yearn for the Creator.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Holy Land 3

Ruins
Our guide keeps saying, it is against the law to ruin the ruins that have already been ruined.

crusader ruins at cesarea by the sea

amphitheatre at sephoris

roman road at sephoris

capernum synagogue


One man's ruins is another man's inspiration.

It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the ruins as good.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Holy Land 2

I am not sure what day it is.  But our trip is so fantastic.  The 45 folks from Woods Chapel are so wonderful.  You guys are such a great church family.

Today we rode on the sea of Galilee.  Here are some pics.

sunrise over galilee

Eric Kennedy is the King of the world

boats on Galilee

peaceful rest spot at Capernum


It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Holy Land

Good Morning-

it looks like I have missed a day in posting.  Sorry about that, but between an 8 hour time difference and a 15 hour plane flight, I am not sure what time it is where.

We had a wonderful first day.  Long flight.  But good flight.  Everyone made the trip safely except one, pray for Nancy who is in the hospital in KC.

Today we arrived here about 4pm Israel time.  We saw the ruins of Joppa where Jonah ran away and was later swallowed by a fish.

We rode in a bus for a long time.  We had a great dinner.

We are exhausted so I am going to bed.  Read some great stuff on the plane about GK Chesterton.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Monday, March 11, 2013

wedding

I officiated at a wedding on Saturday night.  [this post is not about the Holy Land, because we are travelling today.] Anyway, I officated at a wedding on Saturday night.  Good folks.  I enjoy weddings a lot when I can tell that the bride and groom love each other.

Usually when the bride walks down the isle, I think of the bride and groom and true love.  I think of my own dear wife.  Saturday as the bride was walking down the isle, I thought for the first time about the father of the bride.  Here he is, walking his little girl down the isle.  I started to cry.  Although none of my children have weddings scheduled, they are probably on the horizon in the next few years.

I saw myself in this man's shoes.  I was both happy and sad.  What changes life brings to us!  It is also interesting how I made that moment about me.  We humans are so funny like that.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Holy Land

I will be at Woods Chapel and I hope to see you there.

Tomorrow, On Monday, I am leaving for a 10 day trip to the Holy Land with 45 other Woods Chapel friends.  I will try and post every day [depending on internet access] with a picture about what we did on the trip.   Please remember us in your prayers and be sure to support your church family by attending church.

While we are on the subject of travel, I have learned that I am a person that needs to get away from time to time to renew my soul.  Last month I spent a couple of days on a sail boat in the gulf of Mexico.  It was so quiet, so peaceful.  I got more done for God's kingdom on those three days.  Please understand when I am gone and know that I am renewed by the quiet times.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

wisdom

I graduated high school in 1975.  I still remember the words in a graduation card from my Aunt Jewel, "wisdom is it's own reward."

It reminds me of the words of Jesus in Luke 7, "wisdom is proved right by her actions."

To me this means, that when you are doing the right things, you know it in your heart.  And when you are doing the wrong things, you know that too.  People can eventually tell who is behaving with character, class and wisdom.  All things become apparent in time.

And so, if you can help me be a better person or pastor, I welcome your words.  At the end of the day, I want to place my head on the pillow and know that I have done my very best, that I have challenged my own foolishness and sought to be the person that God calls me to be.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Friday, March 8, 2013

the power of the tongue

Mom said it, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."  I recently read an excerpt in a book that was a bit unkind to me.  It was also 75% untrue.  We have decided to do nothing about this, not to contact anyone or try to make a case for our "side" as it would probably would not change how this person feels.

The point of this blog is to say that it is very easy for someone to disagree with something or be hurt by something, and then in their pain, go spinning off on a tantrum, leaving a lot of body parts in their wake.

I think that everyone has done this at one time or another.  We are in pain, and we are not thinking about those who may be hurt by our outbursts whether they are verbal or in print. 

There is never anything to be gained by hurting back.  In fact, usually when I have felt a pain, if I could find the person and talk it through, we always got it patched up.  It is always better to say nicer things about someone than they deserve, than to allow your hurt to further drag a person down.

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone(V) and to be holy;(W) without holiness no one will see the Lord.(X) 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God(Y) and that no bitter root(Z) grows up to cause trouble and defile many.  Hebrews 12:15

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see, and say the good.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

leaving well enough alone

I am a big believer in getting it right.  Doing it right.  Doing a thing with excellence.  Doing it to the best of your ability.  Fulfilling one's potential.

[can you hear my guilt laden, repressive upbringing shining through?]

As much as excellence is a good thing, and something worth pursuing, sometimes there is something to be said for leaving well enough alone.  Sometimes if you pick at a small thing, it will only get worse and the thing that you were trying to improve will instead become less.

There is a thought for me, in the pursuit of excellence, you can actually chase something so hard that you end up breaking more things than fixing them.

Relax.  Its good.  It is certainly much better than it used to be.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

a new thought

I had a new thought the other day.  It goes like this........ "some of what I have been doing is insulting to life."

Wow.  I never thought of some of my behaviors in this manner.  But, I love life and I love the idea of life.  I love the joy of life, the miracle of it and the dance of it's challenges.  Some of what I have been doing is insulting to life.

I may just change some of those behaviors.  Life is short.  Life is good.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

perspective

A true story I recently heard.........

A doctor's wife is near death.  She has been in the hospital for months.  Yet every day he has people in his office with a sore back, a bad knee or a broken ankle.  They are all miserable and complaining.  How does he deal with it?

I don't know how he deals with it, but it makes me a bit more appreciative of my small bodily ailments.  So what, my back is sore sometimes.  I don't always see well.  My knee is really goofed up.

I am not in the hospital.  I am vertical.  Up and around and alive for this day.  I have much to be thankful for.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Monday, March 4, 2013

the parade

Please take time to watch the parade today.  Many people have gone to great lengths to prepare for this special event.

What parade you say?

Today is the day when all of the bands from the local high schools line up downtown and march fourth.

[this was my grandmother's joke, passed on to my mother, and now to me and now to you.]

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

to say or not to say

One of my favorite old sayings....
"Those who say, don't know.  Those who know, don't say."
or "Those who say, don't know.  Those who know, don't have to say."

Jesus said, "Wisdom is proven right by her children."

When a person is right about something, you don't have to run around blowing your own horn.  In fact it looks bad.  It sounds bad.

Sometimes, there is no point to argue.  Maybe even no benefit in speaking.  Just do what you do and make sure you do it.  Maybe no explaination, maybe no defense is needed.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good. 

Saturday, March 2, 2013

unselfconscious

It probably isn't a word.  Unselfconscious.  If not, then lets make it one today.  The righteous are unselfconscious.  True spirituality is unselfconscious.  That is to say that such folks go about doing good and it becomes such a part of them that they are not even aware of it.

I was hungry and you fed me.  I was in prison and you visited me.
When did we feed you?  When did we visit you?

Loving kindness is such a part of the life of truly spiritual people that they are barely even aware anymore that they are doing good.  They just do it.

May we all aspire to be such people.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Friday, March 1, 2013

kindness remembered

Today I got word of the death of a retired pastor's wife.  I saw his name and it brought back so many memories. 

Memories of how difficult it was coming into the Methodist system.  How many pastors there were that seemed to have enough friends and didn't need to spend time with me.

Then there were the few who really reached out.  One of these was Byron Gilbreath.  My sympathies to him upon the passing of his wife, Joyce.

When I was a young minister Byron was always friendly and supportive.  Even all these years later, I appreciate his kindness.

Never underestimate the long term effect of your kind words that are delivered to others.  You may forget a moment of kindness extended, but they may just remember it forever.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.