tis the season

Tis the season for really big crowds at church. Thank you for attending, and thank you for being faithful to your congregation.

However, due to December crowds, especially at the 10:10 service, please consider one of the following options.....
1. attend the 8:00 service.
2. attend the 9:05 service.
3. attend the 11:15 service
4. attend the 10:10 branch service in the gym.

Every time I ask folks to consider such things, someone always says, "hey, why is my pastor asking me to leave the service that I prefer?" Please do not look at it that way. Please consider making a change so that we can make room for others. Please remember that others sacrificed in the past to make room for you.

Thank you for being committed to our mission of connecting people to Jesus Christ.

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

bell ringing report

Yesterday I rang the bell from 10-12noon. I got to see some cool cars drive by. A couple of Mustangs and one of the new Camaros. Cool.

The weather was great. 50 degrees. I counted how many people would walk by. 30 walked by until the first person gave. Then it was pretty busy. Lots of givers to the red kettle. In fact, there were lots of bills. Ones. Fives. And one woman put in a 20$. Her husband said, "hey, that's my allowance."

I was so pleased at the generosity of the people. Parents teaching their children to give. Awesome. Young, old, rich, poor. Lots of different kinds of people coming together to help the needy.

Time well spent.

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

ring the bell

Tis the season to ring the bell for the Salvation Army. There is nothing that is easier to do. Nothing that is more fun to do. And there are no more deserving people than those served by the SA.

Today I am ringing from 10-12 at the Walmart in Lees Summit.

Bill P from church has reserved the entire day at that Walmart on Dec 12 for friends from WCC to ring. If you want to ring that day send me an email. If you want to ring any other day go to www.ringkc.org

It is a great feeling to do something for someone else.

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

Thanksgiving

And the world stops. For one day each year, the world stops. At least the world in the USA stops. There is no school, there is no mail, every business is closed. This is serious. Even McDonald's is closed.

It is thanksgiving day. Like it or not, it is a day set aside to give thanks to Almighty God.

It is a day set aside. Everything stops for thanksgiving. That is because you cant be on the run and be thankful. You have to stop and look the person in the eyes and say thank you.

I hope you did that yesterday. I hope you can do it everyday in the future that God gives you.

Stop. Set everything else aside. Look into God's eyes. Say thank you.

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

Wednesday and Thursday

Well, yesterday, Wednesday was wonderful. The anticipation of the thanksgiving day. People get off work early. The restaurants are full. It's like a Friday night. Everyone is off tomorrow. The grocery store is full. Find a place to park if you can, get your groceries, and get out of Dodge.

The holidays are here and everybody is rushing around. The line at Burger King has 11 cars in it. Maybe friends will call you to come over to play trivia. That is like winning the lottery. Maybe random relatives will come over. They're not perfect, but they are related to you. They are who God has given us in this life.

We have 100, no 1,000 things to be thankful for. Good kids. A wife that loves me. Wonderful friends. Plenty of food on the table. People that help you see the good. There is so much good.!

Give thanks. If you can find one thing to be grateful for, then everyday becomes Thanksgiving.

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

change

I read something noteworthy yesterday: That which we need most, may come in the form of words that we do not want to hear.

That is so true of human nature. It is hard to hear things that we do not like. It is hard to be honest with ourselves, to take that "fearless moral inventory." But the ability to do so contains within it, the seeds of greatness. The unexamined life is not worth living.

Great people usually welcome new thoughts and savor them. Painful as they are some times to our life paradigms, taking in those challenging thoughts always makes us better.

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

thanksgiving

Well. Tis the season. Are you thinking about what you are thankful for?

I saw a flock of 16 turkeys running around the other day.

Dave Owsley gave a wonderful sermon on Sunday. Beautiful decorations have gone up all over the church. The congregation's response to the thanksgiving food drive was almost 500 grocery bags full. The adoption of needy children for Christmas has begun, with more needy children than ever, but I know we will pick up every single one.

My children are home. The turkey is in the fridge. My neighbor is putting pressure on me to put up our Christmas lights. He got the jump on me this year, usually I get mine up first.

I actually know what the sermons are going to look like all through the month of December, including Christmas eve. That is great news! It can be such a nervous time.

I visited a man in the hospital today who reminded me that we should be thankful simply to be alive. I agree. We have much to be thankful for.

If you made a list, where would you stop? Friends. Family. Love. Grace.

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

travel mistakes, part two

So this is a couple of weeks ago. Cathy is dreading leaving town again. We stay up late and tell stories on Sunday night. She falls asleep in the chair. She was sleeping so soundly, that I decide to leave her there.

Now, she had told me that she had to fly out at 7:10am the next morning, but it doesn't occur to me that she might miss her alarm if she is sleeping in the chair.

Well, about 2:30 she comes upstairs and she is unhappy that I did not get her set up with her alarm in her comfy bed. So, she sets her alarm and wakes up when it goes off, two hours later at 4:30am. Morning routine follows: Shower, dress, pack, coffee, leave for airport.

She is driving to the airport and there is a big wreck on the Missouri river bridge. Traffic is backed way up. She is tired and stressed. She only got 4+ hours of sleep and some of that was in the recliner. Now she is stuck in traffic and worried that she is going to miss her flight. She calls in to Delta Airlines. Now, when I do this, I get a recording, forever. She has a special number since she is one of their favorites. A human being answers the phone and she asks him to check her in for her flight so that she can go straight to the gate.

He says, "Mrs. Brinkman, I have to tell you, I don't have you scheduled for a 7:10 flight this morning, I have you for a 7:10 flight tonight.

She got up at 4:30 am and drove to the airport for a 7:10pm flight. Ha! When I got up I was surprised to see her sitting in the same recliner where I had left her the night before. I asked her if she had missed her flight, she fessed up.

We had a good laugh. I hope that you do as well. Be sure and ask her about these stories.

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

travel mistakes, chapter one

So my wife has a trip last week. Denver, Nashville, KC. Her Nashville site is in Germantown. Are you onto this yet?

She flies to Denver and does her stuff there. Then she flies to Nashville, rents a car, hooks up the gps and the gps tells her that it is 3 hours to her site in Germantown.

Hmmmm. Germantown is not a suburb of Nashville, it is a suburb of Memphis. My wife has flown into the wrong town!!

So she has to drive to Memphis, 3 hours, stay in the hotel that she has made reservations at, and then work the next day. Drive back to Nashville 3 hours, turn the car in, and fly home.

Simple travel planning mistakes. Wrong town. Long drive. It gets better. Chapter two is tomorrow.

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

Mercy

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
or
Blessed are those who hold a heart of grace for they shall obtain grace.

Mercy rejoices over judgement.
I do not judge you.
I do not condemn you.
I do to you as I would have others do to me.
Granting mercy to others, frees us.
I release you from your prison.
If you are holding anyone hostage, release them.

Mercy rewrote our lives.
God is his goodness, granted to us the gift of grace.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

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

home

Today the girls will come home for Thanksgiving break. Scott has class next week, but will be home by 4pm Tuesday. I am looking forward to having everybody around. It is such a strange thing to have them gone. We spent so many years together, it will just feel "right" to have them back.

If we can take any clues about God from human life, God is probably also pleased when we come home. When we stop by and spend some time with him.

I had a thought a few weeks ago. We talk in terms of being with God, that we have to do something or another to be closer to him. We have to stop our lives and go find him, or go catch up with him. What if, instead of looking forward to some time in the future when we were going to make time for God or catch up with him, we brought him into our daily world.

If we believe God is everywhere, then we don't have to wait until we get home. We don't have to wait until we have more time. We can drag God into our every day existence. Now that is kind of a funny way of looking at it, because we don't have to drag him to us. He is already with us. All around us. Now. Whatever you are doing, where ever you are, God is there.

Renew the relationship. Become aware of what is true and real. You are never alone. The loving God stands by your side every moment.

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

prayer

Luke 6:9-12
9Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" 10He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. 12One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Jesus had a bad day, so he went up the mountain to pray. He prayed all night long. Don't know for sure, but I guess he prayed that his father would heal his heart. The pharisees had worked him over. I bet he prayed for his disciples. I bet he just listened some, and took in the goodness and glory of his father.

When we pray, it is great to pray for others. But we have to let God heal our hearts. We have to spend some time just listening and soaking it in. Then we have to go back down the mountain and re-engage with life.

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

the light

The light at the end of the tunnel. I saw it for a moment yesterday.

Something happens to your kids when they turn 14. They won't kiss you goodbye anymore. They roll their eyes all the time. Overnight you, the parent, has turned into a total nerd.

As a parent, you cannot fight this. It is going to happen to you. They pull away. They won't talk to you like they used to. They have some things to figure out.

It is tough. It is painful. For years people have told me that this period will end. That I will be smart again, one day. Just hang on, and the aliens that have been inhabiting our kids will depart.

Yesterday, for a moment, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

I received a phone call from one of the kids. "Hey, Dad. What's up. Don't want anything. Just hope you are having a good day." Strange. What is going on? Later I get a text from the same Brinkman caterpillar: "it's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good." [now this is a secret code from this kid to me......hey Dad I read your stuff and I am getting it.]

I fall on the floor. Chest pains. Last straw. Something is wrong with this kid. Find kid later in the day and discuss said communication. There is no explanation. Just wanted to say those things to Dad.

Wow. Is it possible? Am I becoming acceptable again? A glimmer of hope. A flicker of light.

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

the impossible dream

the lyrics from the song...............


To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear the unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To be better far than you are
To try when your arms are too weary
The reach the unreachable star


This is my quest, to follow that star
No matter how hopeless,
No matter how far
To fight for the right

Without question or pause
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest
That my heart will be peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world would be better for this

That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star


Now a couple of comments.............

What are your dreams for God? What are our church's dreams for God?
Shouldn't they seem a little scary to us?

If we aren't dreaming impossible dreams for God, whose dreams are we living?

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

at 52

At 52, Tom was a loving father, friend and husband. He was a heart patient. He was a frequenter of Gov. Stumpy's in Brookside. He was the brother of one of my friends. Yesterday, I went to Gov. Stumpys for a bit of a wake. He was 52. Hmmm.

A couple of thoughts of note. When people love you, they come to see you, even if they did not know your brother. Also, when people love you, places like Gov. Stumpys, which is not open on Sunday, opens on Sunday to welcome your group.

What sense can you make of an untimely death? What sense can we make of the passing of a fun, friendly, popular young man? There are lots of pat answers that people throw around, but let's face it, life is a mystery and death is one of those parts that we just can't control.

An untimely death does send us a message: "love on the people that are in your life. Celebrate every day. Smile at every one. Scratch the back of every dog and cat. Don't waste time fighting. Learn something new every day. Make the most of today for tomorrow is not guaranteed."

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

rejection

Yesterday I drove 2 hours to Pitt State to visit Scott. Then I drove 2 hours home. 4 hours in the car is good quiet time to think and sort your life out with God. Working on the sermon in my head while driving. Trying to figure out how to get from this part to the next. If it doesn't make sense to me, it won't make sense to anyone else.

Trust. Fear. Rejection. All kept dancing in my head. I wonder if rejection is the one thing that we fear the most.

My kids won't take my advice = rejection.
Someone is mad at me = rejection.
Something in my brain tells me that I am not good enough = rejection.

I sure am glad that we are not rejected by God. We are accepted and loved by him. It makes me feel better even now in this moment of writing, to express that truth. We are welcomed and loved by Almighty God.

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

Not Alone.

The truth is, sometimes I feel very alone. It’s not a surface kind of feeling, really. I think it’s an awareness of something deep inside me that is not connected to people like I hope to be.

When I first started coming to Woods Chapel, it was also around the time when I began to seriously follow Jesus. Maybe I’ve been a Christian for a long time. I don’t really understand the criteria there. But I certainly was only beginning to fall in love with Christ.

Around that time, when we would take Communion, I would cry. I mean, I would just sob a sort of sniveling man-snob. I’ve noticed when I’m about to cry, my body will start rocking back and forth ever so slightly – like when I have to pee really bad and I need to hold it. And I lock my jaw so no one knows I’m crying unless they look at my eyes. I think I can make an argument that tears are masculine, but not if there is sound involved. Anyway, I would look in the faces of the people walking by to take Communion, and something inside me would well up and overflow.

The same thing happens in other contexts, too. Two times recently come to mind. Once, my wife and I were watching a short film. They were interviewing people on the street. “If you could make just one wish come true today, what would it be?” The answers didn’t matter as much as the faces. People I’ll never get to know. One of my favorite musicians, Jack Johnson, calls them “all the people in the street that I’ll never get to meet if these tracks don’t bend somehow.”

Again, I cried a lot. A good cleansing, mysterious sort of cry (but one I’d prefer to share with only my wife or my mom.)

The other time I was at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS for their Leadership Institute. They showed a video of three young adults who have been hurt by the church in some way. Each described some really heartfelt, valid reasons for their negative opinions of church. And I just cried there in my seat at this church, feeling sort of helpless and asking God if I can be the one that helps bring these people home. Because…

Well, I missed them. That is the only way I can describe what I felt for those people. And I started to think of all the times my heart breaks around people. Why does it do that? I miss them, I guess. I miss every damn one of you.

You know, we have the same Father – all of us. And what father wants to see his children separated, isolated from each other? Scared to make eye contact with each other. Scared to hug each other. Scared to need each other. To be vulnerable. To say we feel alone.

We are not alone. We were not made to be alone. And even though this is the state we often find ourselves in, our God is not detached. He is not looking down on us with consternation or even pity. He loves us enough that He came to be “God with us.” Alone with us. Scared with us. Vulnerable with us. “Screaming along side us” to the death. Then He beat death, and not only death but all the things that feel like death to us. Like our loneliness. He showed the way to new life. I believe that all of us who are following Him are being restored. Out with the old and the broken, which is death, and in with the new and whole, which is life.

I am being shaped. It is pretty uncomfortable, and I’m scared I’ll always have this awkward, unfinished look about me. But He knows what He’s doing, I suppose, and that gives me hope. It makes me think that other people might feel this way, too. And that maybe our family can be reunited. That would be like Heaven for me.

But why wait?

With Love,

a young shepherd.

take aways

Well, last night a bunch of us went to hear Rob Bell at the Uptown Theatre. I saw several preacher friends there. There is now a little secret club of Methodist Pastor, Rob Bell fans.

There were several take aways. Let me mention one. God does not waste anything. When you are suffering, when things are not going well, there is at least this consolation. God does not waste anything.

He can pick up the pieces of the worst disaster and make something good. We can learn from the worst of moments.

So, if you are in the pits. If you are struggling with pain. God wastes nothing. Something positive can come from where you are at. We need to stop asking "why" and instead ask, "what next."

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

a good methodist

Like a good Methodist Preacher I was reading in the latest version of Interpreter magazine. There is an article in there about a fellow, Dan Merchant who has made a movie called "Lord, Save us from Your Followers."

It has been in a limited number of theatres and will be out on dvd after the first of the year. The point of his movie is that Christians often do very unchristian things. He asks the question, "why is the gospel of love dividing America?" What a good question.

The article ends with a poignant thought, "it's hard to have a conversation with someone when you are really just waiting for your chance to correct them."

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

a nice card

I received a very nice card yesterday from one of our members. Just kind of a "thank you, and I think you are cool" kind of card. The message on the front says, "do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world" Desmond Tutu.

I like that quote. I was commiserating on what a nice message the card had when I turned it over. The logo on the back is "the bird sings." There is a web site, http://www.birdsings.com/.

I checked it out. The owner of the site has created this line of cards. They are available through out the Midwest. They carry them at Price Chopper on Woods Chapel road. I just thought it was cool that besides myself and Shawn Franssens http://hearingthebirds.blogspot.com/, there is someone else that wants people to hear the birds sing.

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

why I like the history channel

I like the history channel. I like the discovery channel. I watch shows about war, ships that sink, disasters, famous people, etc. I watch shows about animals. I am amazed at the different kind of animals that God has made. Just consider the Meerkat for a moment.....God has an amazing sense of humor.

I also like to play trivia. Questions about the past, science, geography, and religions are my favorite. What year was the war of 1812? Who fought in the Spanish-American War? In what country did the french revolution take place? Trivia. Good stuff to know.

I think I like the history channel and playing trivia because I think my brain likes to think. I refuse to go through life as a robot. The wheels are always turning. Maybe sometimes, turning too much. Too worried, too introspective.

But thinking none the less. One of the great gifts of this life is to think. When we are thinking constructively, we have the chance to better ourselves, to know where we are at, and to see where we are going.

The history channel makes me think. It makes me appreciate my life. I learn from those who have lived before. I like it!

So, if you need a change of pace, look up the history channel or the discover channel and expand your brain.

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

more on the blues

A friend shared this.

We are going to have periodic bouts with the "moody blues." It seems much more productive to say "every human since creation has had this thing, and we always will have."

The only time the blues become a signal that we need help, is when they become immobilizing. I wish you times to look the blues in the face and say "hey this is normal, so what am I on to next." I think the best thing that can happen for all of us when we feel blue is to not feel guilty, but to just get out and walk in the fresh air (further than we really planned to walk that day) or just get out among people.

I also enjoyed another one of your comments. The person said, "so go help someone. Getoutside of yourself. Give yourself away."

Keep your chin up. It is all good.

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

He paid a debt

A song was running through my head that I learned in youth group. The words go with the sermon.

"He paid a debt he did not owe,
I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand new song: Amazing Grace.
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay."

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

the blues

I have had some blues lately. And I am not very good at hiding my feelings. If we have talked at all in the last few weeks, you probably know that I have been struggling with the blues.

Yesterday I had lunch with a couple of friends. One of them had a couple of comments.

"Jeff, anyone who looks at you and your life would wonder what the heck you have to complain about."

Good point. I can't disagree. I have no reason to have the blues. There is no good reason. My problems are boring.

He said something else to me that really struck a chord, "so what are you going to do about these blues?"

Well, that is a good question. When you have the blues, you just sort of wallow in them. You think and commiserate about what ever you think is bothering you. But it usually doesn't occur to you to do something about it. The blues just happened to you and you think that they will go away by them selves. You know, it's like you are a victim of the blues and they are a freeloading cousin that you hope will leave, but you don't know when.

Enter the comment. "What are you going to do about these blues?" Well, that reminds me of a simple truth that I need to be thinking about. Here it is: Seeing the good does not come naturally or easily to many of us, most of the time. Seeing the good is a choice.

So what can we do about the blues? Maybe the answer is simply to stop wallowing in them, stop giving them room in your life and just choose to see the good. See the good. See the good. It is there.

And here is the closing statement: It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Jesus wants to save the Christians

I have just started a book by Rob Bell entitled, "Jesus wants to save the Christians." This is a book about things that Christians think that are not what Jesus would prefer. I don't think that I am going to like this book. That is because I think it is going to make me feel uncomfortable. You see I am all glad with Jesus challenging your life, but I don't want Jesus to challenge my life.

We are all like that. We are all for sacrifice as long as it belongs to someone else.

If Jesus took an inventory of your life, your beliefs and practices, would there be some things that he said, "Hey, wait a minute, this is not what we are supposed to be about."

We don't even like to think of such things.

Rob Bell is going to be at the Uptown theatre this coming Thursday. Several from church are going. Come join us.

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

the idea of a thing

The idea of a thing is sometimes better than the thing itself. You want to have a child, but then pregnancy is miserable. You want the child to be born, but then it cries all night and keeps you awake. [now don't read too much into those last two lines, I am just trying to make a point.]

You want to be a Pastor, then you feel burdened from the pressure to preach something really good every Sunday. You want to start a new church, then you feel funny when some of the wonderful folks at your church, whom you have asked to consider going to the new church, actually make the decision to go. [that was a run on sentence]

We have asked folks to sign on with the new church. I want some of you to do that. We need more of you to do so. But, when I find out who they are that are leaving, it hurts a bit.

Well, that is just too bad. Sometimes you have to hurt. The baby never gets born without labor and delivery. The child never grows up without struggling through the passages of life. And new church starts are joyfully painful.

On the Sunday when the folks for the new church [the Beacon UMC] come up front and are prayed for and are sent out to start the work, I will cry. But I will also be happy, for I do believe that this is one of the most Christian things that a church can do.

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

when souls collide

When I meet someone, I hope that we can be friends. Sometimes, an amazing thing happens. In a way that is hard to describe, we find a connection. Souls collide. We understand each other. There is a forgiveness and an acceptance that is without question. It is like you are brothers or sisters. Part of the same family. Twins separated at birth who now have been reacquainted.

DT DH and 100 others. What a gift it is to make a friend. We should always celebrate the presence of those special people in our lives. I hope you have them in your life too.

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

thankful

Last year during November I asked you all to be thankful for something everyday during the month. Not a bad idea. Today is Nov 3rd. I am a few days behind. Tho I was thankful on Sunday and Monday for several things.

Today let me thankful for my wonderful friends. I got an email from one of you yesterday challenging how my brain worked about my vacation. It was interesting and helpful. I am thankful for each of you and wish I had more time to just hang out and talk. I am enriched by knowing you and interacting with you.

I have no friends from grade school. I stay in touch with no one from high school. No one from college. no one from Seminary. No one from any previous church in any ongoing manner. In my life I never had more than one friend at a time. here at WCC, I have won the friend lottery.

Thanks. All of you, for being you.

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

that's all

Love God, love your neighbor.

That's it and that's all.

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

trick or treat

Well, that was a bit uneventful. Last night I mean. We had maybe 30 trick or treaters at the most. The good news is, I have lots of candy left over.

It was nice to see the kids out with their Dads and or Moms. When our kids were little I used to take them around to the houses and Cathy would stay home and hand out treats. One year Scott was a Ninja Turtle. They were always so cute and so proud of the candy that they would collect.

At night I would pick through it and steal their milk duds. They would always catch me, and I would end up having to buy them more at the grocery store.

I miss hanging with the other Dad's and going out with the kids on Halloween.

But, it's all good. Cathy and I sat on the couch and watched a movie, interrupted by 30 kids. No problem. It is a fun night.

Families are awesome. Young kids are great. Enjoy them while you have them.

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