The season of Ephiphany

Epiphany is the church season that runs from the Day of Epiphany, January 6th through Ash Wednesday. It is a time when we remember the Wise Men coming to find the young child Jesus, in the house with his parents.  It is a time to consider the sense of giftedness in this life.

Epiphany is also a time when we consider “aha” experiences. The wise men were a pleasant surprise. Life sometimes brings to us positive surprises that enlighten our lives.

Probably one of the most important epiphanies to me was the revelation [when it finally sunk into my thick skull] that God really did love me and that I did not have to run around carrying the guilt for what I had done in the past or for what I was doing in the present. Life just isn’t about if you are good enough for God. God just loves you.

May you find an awakening of God's love today!!!

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

Home Church

After serving for 6 months at the Oceanview UMC in Juno Beach, I was back in my home church of Ft. Pierce First UMC. I loved being at Oceanview, but it was good to come home as well. I loved seeing my friends and catching up!

I had not been there for six months and First UMC Ft. Pierce had some surprises for me.  [three actually]  The first was the fantastic life sized nativity. I thought it was awesome.

The second was the attendance at church. The place was very full. Much more so that before I had left. Maybe I should leave more often? Something is happing… something good is going on… Glad to see the big crowd.

The third surprise was a children’s time at the altar!!! I was so excited to see that. In the 8 years that I have been hanging around, it is great to see children in church again!

Congratulations to Pastor Tim 3 and the entire First UMC congregation!!!

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

St. Francis

My friend Courtney sent in a picture of the St. Francis in her yard with her favorite St. Francis quote.

“As you announce peace with your mouth, make sure that greater peace is in your hearts. Let no one be provoked to anger or scandal through you, but may everyone be drawn to peace, kindness, and harmony through your gentleness. For we have been called to this: to heal the wounded, bind up the broken, and recall the erring”. -St Francis

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

Leadership

The other day I watched the movie, Heart of Champions.  A fictional sports story about an Ivy League rowing team.  I give the movie and A or a B or an A.  I have mixed feelings, but there is certainly more good in it than bad.

A quote from the movie... "Leadership is not something that can be assigned.  Leadership is measured in the hearts of those who follow."

This reminds me of something that I have always thought:  Fathering a child does not make you a Dad.  Being assigned to a church does not make you someone's pastor.  You are never their Pastor until they tell you that you are.

Leadership is a character trait that is recognized, validated, and affirmed by others.  We cannot take it unto ourselves.

If you are in charge of something but the people are not affirming you, maybe it is time for a little more love, a little more compassion, a little more empathy.  If people know that you love them they will follow you to the ends of the earth.

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

Questions

From time to time we all have questions.  One of the things that we used to do when I was in full time ministry was to solicit questions for a sermon series "ask the pastor."  I think they still do it at Woods Chapel and probably many other places.  It is a great way to get some relevant topics on the table and it honestly gives the pastor a break for a couple of weeks from having to cook up some idea for a sermon.

So do you have any questions that you would like me to address?  I love writing the blog, but sometimes I wonder if anyone is relating to whatever it is that I am writing about.   It would be nice from time to time to say "someone wrote in and asked...."  and then to write about that.

Not that I have all the answers, of course, but I look forward to hearing your questions.  I will give them my best shot.

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

commercial

There are lots of TV commercials.  Some I like, some I don't.  From time to time, one hits the spot.  

Recently, I have fallen in love with this Subaru commercial.

The commercial informs you that Subaru supports the Make a Wish foundation.  In the commercial, a teenage boy who is a cancer patient makes his way down the hospital hall to the room of Alli who also has cancer.  He asks her if she will go to the prom with him.  She shakes her head yes.

When they meet up at the prom, she says to him, "so you wished for a prom?"  He says, "no, I wished for a prom for you."

I am sure that he wanted to go to the prom as well, but the commercial reminds me of a very important life principle... Perhaps the highest form of love is to wish the best for someone else.  To set aside one's own self interest and seek the good of another.

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

nothing can be taken away

I had lunch with my seminary professor Bob Tuttle the other day.  He has some serious memory issues.  He didn't remember his birthday or how old he was.  Over the course of an hour he asked me 10 times at least if I had children and how they were doing.

We talked about the past.  I had to remind him of where he taught theology... Fuller Theological in Pasadena, Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Garrett Evangelical in Chicago and Asbury in Orlando Florida.

He kept apologizing for things that he did not remember.  I tried to get him to focus on all that he had accomplished.  I talked to him about all of the students that he touched and then exponentially, how many people those students had touched.  I told him, this, "you may not remember everything, but no one can take away the truth of what you accomplished and the lives that you have touched."  He cried.

I was talking to a friend about my days, I mean, our days, of working at Woods Chapel.  I will never forget them telling me, "no matter what happens, no one can take away from the good work that you did, that we did for those 22 years."

Please remind yourself and others... things may change, you may get down in the dumps, but the good things that you have accomplished in life can never be taken away.  It will always be true that they happened and that many lives were touched.

I take some comfort in that, I hope that you do as well.

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

If you get the nudge

Lately I have had the nudge to reach out to two of my mentors:  Hubert Neth and Bob Tuttle.  You know I was busy with this and that and I put it off.  

But finally I took action.  Tuttle is at home under memory care.  I scheduled a day to have breakfast with him thru his caregiver.  I will pick him up and we will go to IHOP.

I called Hubert and talked to him for a bit.  He has moved to an assisted living facility across 50 high way from Lees Summit medical center.  One of my best friends lives right over there, so I told him that when I get to town I will def come for a visit.

I was so glad that I reached out to both of them.  I am so glad to get to see both of them.  They invested so much time in me and my life.  Just to spend a little bit of time will be so rewarding and I want them to know how much I appreciate them.

Sometimes we get so busy in life that we can forget about people that have meant so much.  It is too easy to lose track and to lose touch.  

If there is someone on your mind that you need to reach out to, please do so.  You will be glad that you did.

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

Gratitude

My friend Elaine shared this story from the Jewish heritage...

She wrote:  The post from a few weeks ago about gratitude struck me with such meaning I have to share with you. You posted this during Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, where Jews celebrate, with gratitude, the oil lasting 8 days that should have only lasted 1 day while fighting the Hellenizers. 

It reminded me of a song of gratitude that's sung during the Passover Seder called, Dayenu, which means it would have been enough. 

It would have been enough that God brought them out of Egypt. Dayenu! It would have been enough that God divided the Red Sea so it could be crossed. Dayenu! It would have been enough had he only given them manna. Dayenu! 

On the song goes with God leading them into the promised land. Dayenu! I love this song because it reminds me how gracious God is, for what he has done for us and that his love is enough. Dayenu!

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

Happy New Year!!!

The older I get, the faster it all goes by.  That is why we need to pay attention to each moment.  You know the cliches: live in the moment.  Seize the day.

I will add another one to it:  See the good.

Cliches or not, paying attention to each day and each moment is a blessing for those who will do it.  Taking stock of each moment fills one's heart with gratitude.  It also makes us mindful of those around us.  It creates a sense of connectedness to others and keeps us humble.

Do you want to have a happy new year?  Pay attention to each moment that God gives you.

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

Christmas Cookies

We have neighbors that we have lived next door to for ten years.  Over the years we have had some uncomfortable moments... less than pleasant moments.

But we have also had some good moments.

For the last few years I have wanted to reach out to them.  So on Christmas day, I found a little backbone.  I loaded up a plate of cookies and a bag of various candy and headed to their door.

When he opened the door, he looked at me and smiled.  I couldn't say a word.  I was on the verge of tears.  He said, "can't you talk?"  I finally got out a Merry Christmas.  He gave me a hug.  His boys came around the corner and we had a nice talk for ten minutes.

I am so glad that I finally reached out.  It felt so good.  It felt so right.

If you have someone on your mind that you should maybe reach for, I encourage you to do it.

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

statement of faith

My friend Mike shared this statement of faith that was written by his sister Denise. We prayed for her last week if you recall.

"Cancer cannot defeat God’s purpose in my life.  If God heals me, it will inspire faith in others.  If not, every difficulty and pain will press me closer to God’s heart, inspiring others to fearless faithfulness.  I cannot predict what lies ahead, but I assure you, He has been and continues to be with me in this fire. There is nothing in life sweeter than God’s faithful love."

What a beautiful example for others to follow.  What an amazing choice to see the good.  

Lord please bless Denise and bring healing to her body.  Guide the doctors and bless their work.  Help her to feel your arms around her.  Amen

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

correlation between love and grief and sermon link

Here is the link to the my last sermon at Ocean View...

click here if you want to listen or watch

Now on to today's post...

We have all found a bit of grief in this life.  Make no mistake, it hurts.  

A friend dies.  Someone moves away.  You grow apart.  There is a fracture.  Grief comes in many  forms.

One of the things that I have learned over the years is that the depth of grief is exactly proportional to the depth of the love.  The deeper the love, the deeper the grief.

People die that we do not know and we feel little or nothing.  But when our loved ones die, when difficulty comes our way, it can really hurt.

For some reason there seems to be a lot of grief around the holidays.  If you are grieving, please remember that the grief is a sign of love.

That thought helps me.  I hope it helps you.

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

Thank you!

Six months ago I started an interim Pastor position at Ocean View UMC in Juno beach.  Today is my last day.

I want to thank Karla K and Nancy Y for coming to visit me while I was there.

I also want to thank the lovely congregation at Ocean View.  I have met some fantastic people.  I have come to love them.  I will miss all  of you and I hope that we can stay in touch.

My future plans include a cruise the weekend of Jan 9-12 and a trip to Kansas City Jan 22-Feb 4 to fill the pulpit for my friend Chris Able at the Blue Springs First UMC.

Again, Ocean View friends, you lovely people, thank you so much for welcoming me.  God bless you as he leads you into your future.

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

always appreciate

I think one of our biggest sins in this world is that we get used to amazing things.

You live in the redwoods and for a year you say "wow" but then after a time you don't see them anymore.

You live near the beach and after a while you stop going.

You get used to the beauty of a sunset and lose the sense of awe.

I never get tired of these guys... Sand hill cranes.  The smaller one on the right is their baby.  Usually you just see the two of them.  They are very territorial.  If you approach them, they will square off with you.  I love to have them in the yard because they will pull a mole out of his tunnel and eat him on the spot!

Are there beautiful things in your life that you have grown too accustomed to?

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

Life Finds a way and Christmas eve worship

First of all, I am attaching the link to the Christmas Eve service at Ocean View UMC.  The song O Holy Night was sung so beautifully... as wonderful as I have ever heard it done.  The sermon might be Jeff's last Christmas Eve sermon ever... who know???

click here to listen or watch

And now on to today's post-

So we have a guy that does our yard.  He mows and trims and is supposed to keep the flower beds clear of weeds.

Well, he sprayed way too much and killed two of my favorite plants.  

A couple of days ago I was going to pull them out of the ground and throw them away.  Look what I found!!!

St. Francis is courtesy of my Ocean View 
friend Vanessa Hewko

Now if I can just keep the lawn guy from spraying them. 😕

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

Merry Christmas!

We had this little nativity
when I was a kid.

I am wishing all of my friends who read this blog, and others of you that I may have never met, I am wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

I wish you a very healthy and prosperous life ahead, and I am praying for the very best for you.

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

Why Christmas is more important than Easter

I grew up in a world where the main point of Christianity was the death and resurrection. We were saved by that. The birth was just a cute, true but cute story. The cattle are lowing and all of that.

Not to diminish the death and resurrection, but I have come to believe in my old age that the birth sends a very powerful message as well. Maybe more powerful. For without the birth, there would be no life, no death and no resurrection.

So what is the message of the birth?

In sending Jesus to be born on this earth God said, "YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!" "YOU MATTER!!!" "I LOVE YOU!!!"

This Christmas, hear the message. God so loved the world. You were worth it all. YOU were worth it! You are loved, and nothing can take that away.

YOU MATTER!!!

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

praying for the sick

My friend's sister is very sick. Please join me in prayer for her.

I sent him this email...

Five years ago, my sister in law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer that had spread to her lungs, liver and spine.
We all thought the worst.
Today, she is still alive and doing well.
My wife works in medical research. She likes to say, "if a person is going to be sick, this is a good time for that because the medication is so much better than it was even 20 years ago."
Remember when we were kids? If someone got leukemia, it was a death sentence. Now, that is not the case.  
I will continue to pray for your sister.

We can thank God for the knowledge that he has granted to the medical profession as it brings us hope.  And we can continue to pray.

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

Christmas songs

I take issue with a couple of Christmas songs

Winter Wonderland was written in 1934 by Felix Bernard.  

Original lyrics included: In the meadow we can build a snowman and pretend that he is Parson Brown.  He'll say are you married you'll say no man.  But we can do that job when were in town.

A version came out in 1947 that ditched the good old parson brown for a circus clown.

The second song that I cringe when I hear is Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas... The original was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin.  

The original lyrics were "through the years we all will be together, if the Lord allows."  This was changed at some point to "through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow."

I guess it is my opinion that Christmas is better with Parson Brown and the good old Lord.  I will gladly get rid of the fates and the circus clown to have the Parson and the Lord.

But that is just me.

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

Chicken Fried

One of my favorite songs is Chicken Fried by the Zac Brown Band. Here are the opening lyrics:

You know I like my chicken fried.

Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

The song is a celebration of life in America. Later in the song he thanks God for his life and for the stars and stripes. Which is good. But as I listen to the chorus:

You know I like my chicken fried

Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

I have become aware that most people in the world have no idea of what a life like this is like.  We can eat chicken any time we want to.  When I was in Mozambique, as a treat for the visiting Americans, the Methodists bought a cows head [just the head] from the butcher and picked the little slivers of meat off of it to put into a soup.  They don't get chicken whenever they want it.

And if you want a beer, you can probably get one, or two or three.  This little treat is out of reach for most people in the world.

A pair of jeans that fit just right... again, the ability that we have to buy stylish clothes is unheard of in most places around the world.  How many sets of clothes do you have hanging in your closet?  In many countries, people are wearing the only set of clothes that they have and it was shipped over from the USA and it is our old donated stuff.

Enough said.

I love the song.  I love the feeling of the song.  But may we also keep in mind that we live in the richest country in the history of the world.  We are so blessed.  Let us never take what we have for granted.

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

thoughts on talking things through...

Sometimes there are disagreements with friends or family members or coworkers.  Especially during the holidays, things happen.  Heck, in life, things happen...

Whenever you find yourself in the midst of an issue, whether it is a surprise or not, when things come along, always work to make sure that everyone has a chance to get their feelings out.

People are important.  Relationships are important.  Living with kindness is a must.

Something is going on???  Something needs to be talked about???  Fine.  Of course... things happen.  Just please take the time to make sure that everyone gets a chance to be heard.

Keeping families, friends, and such together is not easy.  But things always go better when we talk...

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

2 questions

I was thinking the other day about how the world effects us.  What effect does the goings on around you have on you?

I win the lottery = good.
I have an illness = bad.
I don't understand something = troubling
I didn't get the job = bad.

Then there is the other question:  What effect are you having on the world around you?

I win the lottery= show generosity.
I have an illness, show courage.
I don't understand something- show patience and grace.
I didn't get the job- stay positive and keep looking.

So you see there is how things come to us, and then there is what we give back to the world.  Understand that you have power in every situation.  We can whine and complain, we can be surly and negative, or we can show love.  We can respond to everything that happens to us in this world with kindness and love.

That is why we are here.  

Which question is controlling your life?  What the world brings to you or what you bring back to the world.

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

Gratitude

 I can't say enough about the power of gratitude.  We should think of it all the time.  We should incorporate it's principles into our every day life.  Our thinking should be marked by a dedication to the pursuit of an attitude of gratitude.

My friend Sue H sent me this picture:

When we focus on what we have or don't have, we want more.  When we look at what we have and give thanks, we turn what we have into enough.

It is enough.  We have enough.  We don't need more.  May we all learn to want less and enjoy what we have more.

Gratitude.  Catch it.

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

Happy Holidays

I know that some companies are steering their employees away from Merry Christmas and towards Happy Holidays.

I don't like it.  I think it takes so much of the warmth out of the greeting.

Recently, I was signing up or trying to sign up for a home health visit, it is an annual requirement of my Medicare plan.

I tried to do it online, but the link was broken so I got into a chat with a United Health Care rep.  She gave me the number to call and at the end of our chat, she said this... "Merry Christmas!  I wish you a very healthy and prosperous life ahead, and I am praying for the very best for you."

I loved that.  What a kind and gracious message!  Merry Christmas!  I wish you a very healthy and prosperous new year.  And I am praying for the best for you all!

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

ambiguity

I have said it before and I will say it again, we humans prefer certainty over ambiguity.  That is why high demand, fundamental churches are growing.  People prefer to be told what to do and think.  We humans prefer certainty.

However, ambiguity is something that comes with all true spirituality and introspection.  It is the awareness that we do not have all of the answers.  It is an admitting that possibly no one has the answers.

I love ambiguity, but I also find that it is sometimes difficult to live with.  We wish that there were answers, but sometimes, there just aren't.  And we work hard on being ok with that.

If you are struggling with some of life's questions, I would say this to you... take a deep breath and relax.  You are not along.  Everything is ok.  Even though we don't have the information or the answers that we want, God is still with us.

That is why we talk about the "peace that passes understanding." Philippians 4:7

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

Speaking of the Italy trip and Sundays Sermon Link

So here is the link from yesterday's sermon if you want to listen or watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9bUMcqKI_8&t=1616s

click here

And now on to today's post...

We set up a what's app group for the Italy travelers so that we could stay in touch.  A few days ago, some of them started sharing their favorite pictures from the trip.  I loved this one:

In this picture, two old friends are catching up.  Joe [on the left, me on the right] was one of the first people that I met when we moved to Woods Chapel in 1994.  We have been low maintenance friends ever since.

We are sitting in the square on the Isle of Capri overlooking Naples Bay.  It was a beautiful day and we have a marvelous visit.  Oh my, the value of friendship!

Picture credit to Deb Totten.

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

Armadillos

The Armadillos was the church softball team that I played on for 15 years.  Here is a picture circa 2002.

Back row, left to right:  Gary Vaughn, Doug Hawley, Me, Kent Chappelow [dec.]
Stu Elliot and Jon Cundiff.  Front row:  Bruce Letner, Joe McMurtrey, Robin
Fisher [dec.] and Darren Evans.  Not pictured:  Matt Swanson

For a while we had a bunch of teams.  All named for road kill.  The possums, the anteaters, the dingos, the woodchucks, turtles, squirrels, coyotes, wolverines and there were more.

On my recent tour of Italy, four members of the Dillos made the trip.

Front to back:  Joe McMurtrey, me, Stu Elliott and Matt Swanson.

It was fantastic to be together with old friends again. 

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

gratitude

I found this quote about gratitude and thought that it was very helpful...

"Even in pain, we can find a place of gratitude, a place where alongside the agony of loss we still count and appreciate what remains."
—Brian D. McLaren

I love this because I think too often we are thankful for the good and unhappy about everything else.  This quote reminds me that an attitude of gratitude is a place that we can land.  An outlook, a posture of gratefulness is a life theme that we can engrain into our being, regardless of outward circumstances.

And those that choose a life of gratitude become truly beautiful people.

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

scars and last sunday's sermon link

Here is the link to last Sunday's sermon if you are interested in watching or listening...

click here

Now on to today's post...

I was watching a show the other night and this lady was praying, "Lord, you have given me a lifetime of scars."

That is a lot of scars.  I certainly have some.  I am sure that you do as well.

Let us remember that scars are a part of the healing process.  The fact that we have a scar is a reminder of God's healing power in this world.

And sure, count the scars if you like, but also consider what you learned from the wounds.  Wounds hurt, but in time we can grow from the experiences.

Count scars maybe, count blessings for sure.

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