fortunate

From time to time, I run into people my age who are in poor health, and it causes me to think.

I am so grateful for good health.  I am so thankful that at the young age of almost 67, I can still work.  I can climb ladders and swing a hammer and I love it.

From time to time I pinch myself.  My gosh, here you are Jeff... you can see pretty well, you can hear pretty well, you can walk pretty well [thanks to a knee replacement] you have your wits about you, you pass the annual memory tests, and you are in good health.

I think about this every day and I give thanks to God for all of these things.

IT IS A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN GOD'S WORLD, BE SURE TO SEE THE GOOD.

submitting my attitude

Years ago, when I was the Sr. Pastor [code for old guy] there were times that I had to send difficult emails or have difficult conversations with someone.  Sometimes members, sometimes employees.

Somewhere along the way, I learned to submit my emails to key staff for their review.  They would often offer some edits to make the email sound nicer.  I was always glad for their input.  We get smarter when we run our attitudes by solid humans.

If I had to have a difficult discussion with someone, I would sit down with my XO, still the XO at Woods Chapel, Sherri Swanson.  A brilliant human.

I would run through what I was planning to say and she would listen to my spiel and almost always say, "the content is fine, but it needs to sound nicer."  I was always grateful for her advice.

If you have to have a difficult communication with a friend, family member or employee, you might want to run it by a trusted person.  Others can see things in our words that we often cannot.

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

hurt

Recently, I was hurt by someone.  It is not you, for the person who hurt me does not read the blog.

I know what the person was trying to accomplish by their words, but it still hurt.  And as I reflect on the communication [I tend to reflect on things...] I feel strongly that the tone was not necessary.  

We can share our messages, our thoughts and our words without hurting others.  It may take a little practice, but it can be done.

The words that we share echo in the minds of those who receive them.  Hurtful words bring pain that lingers for days.  Kind words bring joy.

How we come across is so important.  Let's be those who work hard at expressing words in constructive, helpful and kind ways.

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

gratitude

I love this quote!!!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have, into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity...  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

Melody Beattie

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

the loud person

So I am staying at a hotel in West Palm.  After the free breakfast, I am on the way to the elevator when I hear a good deal of noise coming from the front desk.

It sounds like someone is being hateful to the desk clerk.

My brains says, go see what is going on.  Then my brain says to get on the elevator.  But as the door is closing, I keep thinking about the clerk at the desk.  I open the door and follow the noise.

I get about ten feet away and I realize that the guest is not being ugly, she is just loud, very loud.

- - - - 

And so I ask myself what I was going to do if the guest was being ugly.  And I know the answer.  The first thing I would have done if the person was actually being ugly, would be to go stand at the desk a few feet away.  Sometimes the presence of another human can pull an ugly person out of their rant.  Had that not worked, I would have made intentional eye contact with the guest and the clerk.  Finally, I imagine, if the imagined hatred continued, I would have said something to the effect of "this is a person you are talking to... being nice isn't that hard."

I hope that we don't encounter any mean people today.  And I certainly hope for sure that we are never the mean person.

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

missing the good

"It seems to me that we often, almost sulkingly, reject the good that God offers us because, at the moment, we expected some other good."   C. S. Lewis

Or to say it another way...  we miss the good in an ordinary day because we selfishly longed for something different.  We miss the good that our Father has put in this day because we could not, would not, see that it was good.

We should learn to accept things as they are and see the good in them instead of always wishing for some unreasonable ideal.

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

yesterday's sermon

I had the wonderful opportunity to deliver the message yesterday at my home church, Fort Pierce First United Methodist.

Someone asked me after service how I thought it went.  I told them, that was like asking the cook how the meal was.  They should ask the folks who were in the service.

Personally, after having a very difficult experience at a church 3 weeks ago, I thought that yesterday went well. 

If you want to watch or listen, here is the web address and the link.

https://www.firstchurchfp.org/worship

click here and scroll down to 6/23/24 classic worship

Those of you who actually try to watch or listen, let me know if the instructions are helpful and if the link works.  thank you.

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

happiness or?

So I am watching the series "Vikings" on Netflix.  In season two, the father is having a talk with his son.  The son wants the father to send away his mistress.  The son says, "All she brings here is unhappiness."

The father responds by saying, "get used to it son, in this life, unhappiness is more common than happiness."

I got to thinking about that.  Stop for a minute and ask yourself, do you think that unhappiness is more common than happiness?

There certainly is a great deal of unhappiness in the world.  Political strife, wars, food scarcity, immigration, drugs, and such... there is plenty of unhappiness to go around.  Plenty of pitfalls, plenty of traps, plenty of quicksand in this life.

And into each life a little rain must fall.  We must choose.  To focus on what is wrong, or to focus on the good.  To see the pain, or to look past it.

For those who want unhappiness, the roads into it are by the 1,000's.  But there is also a road, a way to happiness for those who choose, in spite of circumstances to see the good.

May you and I both be among those who choose to see the good.

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

believe or follow

How many times did Jesus say, "believe in me?"

And how many times did Jesus say, "follow me?"

When he was recruiting disciples, did he ask them to believe in him or to follow him?

If we only choose to believe, then we fall into what the church tells us about who he is.  We choose our beliefs and we are saved.  Because they told us what to believe.

But if we choose to follow, we step outside of what the church taught us.  We simply look at where Jesus went and what he did.

Believing can be contrived.  Following is simply about watching what he did and emulating that.

It is much easier to believe than it is to follow.  That is why Jesus is still looking for those who would follow.

Where did he go.  What did he do?  Do you wish to follow?

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

preaching

So, I am preaching this Sunday at the Ft. Pierce First United Methodist Church.  That is, I am preaching if the Lord is willing and the Creek don't rise.

I have been thinking about this for a month.  I have been worried about it.  Seems odd, but when you don't do it, don't preach very often, you get pretty nervous.  Well I guess I was worried in the old days when I did it every week...

Pray for me.

I guess that you hope that when you stand in the pulpit or the holy desk, you hope that someone will hear something that will help them.

That is what I am hoping for, praying for...  for Sunday...

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

wrong

I am wrong about many things.  I think I know what is right.  I think I am taking the correct steps.  But then life surprises me.  I am not as smart as I think.

Each of us are navigating the river of life.   Sometimes we float down stream as if we know the way the river runs.  But none of us have been this way before, and none of us will travel this way again.

If you are 51 years old, it is the first time, and the only time that you will be 51.  The same is true for me at 66.  For my daughter at 36.  And for each of us.  We will never pass this way again.

We are not as smart as we think that we are.  Consequently, may we all walk with a humble and gracious heart.  May we all understand that there is much to learn along the journey.

I am, we are, wrong about many things.  There is much to learn.

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

I love you, but...

I love you, but.  But, there is this thing about you that I don't love.

Some have said, "hate the sin, love the sinner."  What a nice sounding bit of religious mumbo jumbo.  I love the sinner, but I hate what you do.

How does that sound to someone?  I love you, but I hate that you are a democrat.  I love you but I hate that you will vote for trump.  I love you but I hate some of what you do.

Is this love???  Who can tell me that this is love?  Again, we have found a way to practice excluding and shaming people and somehow call it love.

Here is how I see it... there is no, but.  I just love you.

What ever your weaknesses or faults are, I just love you.  I think that is how Jesus rolled.  Hate the sin, love the sinner??? Jesus never ever said anything like that, ever. 

He just loved people.  And so should we do the same.

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

If I have an asterisk, it is not love.

An article from the KC Star, shared with my by my friend Jim...

Kansas pastor taking LGBT books out of public library has an odd view of Jesus’ love

Opinion BY JOEL MATHIS REGULAR OPINION CORRESPONDENT UPDATED JUNE 10, 2024 3:51 PM 

Kyle Lammott, lead pastor of Exodus Church in Wichita, urged men to “go empty the local library of all their LGBTQ+ books” during Pride month. exoduschurch.net; Screengrab from Instagram 

For the moment, at least, Kyle Lammott might be in possession of one of the largest collections of LGBT literature in Kansas. Let’s be clear: That’s not because he’s a deep reader of such materials. TOP VIDEOS Instead, the lead pastor of Exodus Church Wichita doesn’t want anybody else to read those books. That’s why he went to the Andover Public Library recently to check out as many as he could — reportedly more than 100 in all — in order to take them out of circulation during Pride Month. Then he posted the results to Instagram: A picture of bags and shelves stuffed with titles like “The Gay Best Friend,” “Be Dazzled” and “To My Trans Sisters.” 

“It’s Pride Month, a good time to recalibrate what it means to love your neighbors,” Lammott wrote. “One way you can love your neighbors and your community is together some of the men in your church and go empty the local library of all their LGBTQ+ books. Start with the kids’ books and work your way up. “This,” he concluded, “really is a great way to love your neighbors and serve your community.” 

Not really. I’ll explain why in terms I hope Lammott might understand. For more than a century, Christians around the world have guided themselves with a simple question: “What would Jesus do?” It was first posed by Charles Sheldon, a Topeka minister, in his novel “In His Steps.” “After asking that question,” Sheldon wrote, “each one will follow Jesus as exactly as he knows how, no matter what the result may be.” And so the question here is: Would Jesus raid a library to make sure that nobody else in his community could read books he didn’t like? I’m skeptical. TOOK AWAY ANDOVER LIBRARY PATRONS’ CHOICE The Jesus I grew up learning about tended to love people by, well, loving them.

 He didn’t bully them, nor did he try to control what they could see or hear. Given a chance to condemn an adultress, he told her accusers that the one without sin could cast the first stone. He dined with men of ill-repute, like Zaccheaus the tax collector. The one time he really showed his temper was when he drove the money changers out of the temple. Grifters got on his nerves. Everybody else was welcome. 

“Jesus never said ‘Love your neighbor, except …,” said the Rev. Nancy Tuma, pastor at Ward Parkway Presbyterian Church in Kansas City. “Jesus said, ‘Love God, love your neighbor,’ and your neighbor is everyone.” Tuma, as you can tell, didn’t much approve of Lammott’s actions, or his anti-LGBT interpretation of what it means to “love your neighbor.” Love “means allowing people to see themselves in literature and books, and where many people find those are in the libraries,” she said. “I don’t think love means taking things out.” We won’t resolve any theological debates today. People believe what they believe — often, it’s stuff I don’t believe — and it’s usually impossible to change their minds. 

Ideally, we should all be willing to live and let live. The problem, of course, is that Lammott didn’t live and let live. He didn’t quietly decide not to check out LGBT books for his family, nor did he advise his congregation to do the same. Instead, Lammott decided that he has the unilateral right to make a decision for the entire community — Christian or non-Christian, straight or otherwise — to deprive every single other patron of the Andover library of the ability to decide what they will and won’t read. That’s antidemocratic. A bit authoritarian, even. The good news here, if there is any, is that Andover should get its LGBT books back. In an email, Lammott told KMUW — which first reported this story — that he plans to return the stacks of books he checked out. But the damage has been done. Let everybody else learn a lesson: You don’t “love” anybody by trying to control them. 

Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.

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

Change your mind

It is ok to change your mind.  In fact, some of us need to change our minds.  We need to change our opinions on some things.  Because frankly, sometimes we are wrong about things.  You are wrong on some things and I am wrong on some things.

It is not a sin to decide that you have been wrong.  It is a sin in my opinion, to continue to hold to antiquated beliefs simply because that is what you were taught or because you have held them for so long.  Some refuse to change their beliefs about certain things because they are filed away in the "faith file..." they were taught such things by their pastors so they must be right.

Just because a pastor taught you something, does not mean that it is right.  There is a good deal of toxic "christianity" out there and it has been swallowed by way too many people.

My heart and mind started to change when I started to see how my ideas were hurting people.  I don't want to hurt or judge people anymore.

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

Barbara Bass

Barbara Bass was a lovely woman with a huge heart. When she smiled at you, she made you feel like you mattered. She passed away a few weeks ago after a long battle with cancer.  She will be missed.

She did a good deal of journaling during her illness. Some of what she wrote was read at her memorial service... I found these words of hers to be quite profound...

Don’t be afraid of death,
Be afraid of unlived life.
You don’t have to live forever,
You just have to live.

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

Too Funny

I find this too funny to not share it.  Here is a little background.

We always tried to teach our children a sense of humor.  The first joke we taught Allison was this... "what do you call a cow with no legs."  answer... "ground beef."  When she was first telling it at 3 years of age, she would go up to someone and say without a pause, "what do you call a cow with no legs ground beef."  So then we had to teach her timing.

Now she is 36  years old and has a 4 year old daughter.  Alli has grown up to be a very very funny human and some of this has evidently passed on to her daughter Bella.

I have always loved rubber chickens so I have made sure that Bella has had one since day one.  I keep one at the house so that she can play with it when she visits.

So in this video, Dad [Bobby] is watching TV.  Alli is taking a nap on the couch.  Bella grabs the chicken and with encouragement from Dad, well you can see what happens.

The video ends with Alli thanking me for sending the rubber chicken...

link to video on youtube

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

Close to God

There is an old saying... "if you are not as close to God as you used to be, guess who moved."  When I was young, I loved this saying.  Now, I hate it.  I think it is terrible theology and it places a tremendous amount of guilt and shame onto anyone who takes it in.

First of all, feelings are fickle.  How you feel about God has nothing to do with God's presence in your world or his love for you.

Secondly, God is everywhere and in everything.  If you don't "feel" close to God, I would suggest that you simply start paying attention to what is around you.

The beach. An oak tree. Baseball. Your dog. A friend. The ability to think. There are 10,000 things around you and I right now that remind us that God is here and that he loves us.  One of my favorite quotes...

"You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink." –G. K. Chesterton

For those who are paying attention to the gift of life, there is never a question that God is present or that God loves us.

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

A note from Grayson Murray's parents

As you probably know, a professional golfer, Grayson Murray took his own life a few weeks ago.  He was 30 years young.  My friend Mike sent in this news article.  I thought the article was touching.  I also want to take a moment to reach out to anyone who is thinking of suicide... the pain that is left behind is enormous.  Please find it within your heart to know that you are loved...

Statement on behalf of Eric and Terry Murray [Grayson's parents]:

We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone. It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare.

We have so many questions that have no answers.
But one.

Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and – it seems – by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.

We would like to thank the PGA TOUR and the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support. Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.

Please respect our privacy as we work through this incredible tragedy, and please honor Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else.
Thank you.

Jeff continues... please honor Grayson by being kind to one another.  Please honor Jesus by being kind to one another.  Please honor and value the gift of your life by being kind to everyone and by being kind to you your self.

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

no preacher needed

The pirate Captain Charles Vain is going to be hung in season three, episode nine of the Netflix series "Black sails." The pastor comes to see him before his execution and asks him to repent. The pirate says, "whatever I have to say to God I will say to him or not. I have nothing to say to you."

That reminds me of the joke about an airplane flying along. There is a boom and an engine goes out. The Pilot comes on the microphone and tells everyone, "yes we have lost an engine, but we still have three good ones, but if you are concerned, for your consolation, there are 4 clergymen on board." A bit later, another boom and another engine goes out. Again, the pilot comes on, tells everyone that we are still ok, and reminds them of the 4 clergymen on board. Of course, as jokes go, a third engine goes out... the pilot tells everyone that they should be ok still, flying with just one engine. And of course, for your consolation, there are 4 clergymen on board.

About that time a flight attendant is walking up the aisle. A passenger gets her attention and says to her, "please tell the captain that I would prefer 4 good engines and no clergymen on board."

While we are on the subject, my favorite conversion stories and stories where people felt like they were touched by god, my favorite ones are the ones that happen at home. Just the person and God. No clergyman or clergy woman was needed.

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

How time changes us

My friend Bruce sent me this picture.  It got me thinking about how we change as we get older.  There is an old saying, "when you get older, you can get bitter or you can get better."  May we all choose the better.

I would also say that as I have aged, I see that the most important thing in life is to show kindness and love... as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 13... if I do all of these things, but have not love, it is nothing.

and now on to the picture...

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

what do you choose to love?

Some have contacted me lately and informed me that they love the bible so much that they cannot love certain people.

I told them that they are reading the bible wrong.

Friends... Jesus used the scriptures to love people.  He did not use them to exclude people or to set them aside.  

If you have put a "love" of the bible before a love of human beings... well something is wrong with that line of thinking.

In God's world, everyone is loved, everyone is welcomed, everyone is included, and everyone is accepted. 

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

John Wesley speaks to those who disaffiliated...

So I have to tell you that I am very disappointed that the Princeton and Mercer MO Churches that I served from 1991-1994 both voted to disaffiliate. They have left the denomination. I don't blame the churches because this is a result of their pastoral leadership.

And so I ran across this quote from John Wesley that someone attached to those who have chosen to leave the denomination...

"I dislike your speaking of yourselves as though you were the only [ones] who know and taught the Gospel ...But what I most dislike is your littleness of love...your want [lack] of union...your want of meekness, gentleness, long suffering; your impatience of contradiction; your counting every [person] your enemy that reproves or admonishes you in love; your bigotry and narrowness of spirit, loving in a manner only those that love you...your censoriousness... of all who do not agree with you; in a word, your divisive spirit.” 

 ~ John Wesley
Letter to the perfectionists in London
November 2, 1762

Some day, love will win out.  Someday, people will stop disguising exclusion as love.

Until then, let us love each other.  Let us love one and all.  Let us show our love on every day, in every way, to everyone that we can.

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

ways to save money

In response to my post about inflation, my friend Bruce sent in some ideas about how to save money when things are tight.

I love lists like this... everyone needs to save money these days.

-eat at home, Dave Ramsey says beans and rice
-take a look at your cable bill and figure out how to reduce it.
-take a look at you cell phone bill, mint mobile is an inexpensive option
-shop Aldi’s
-don’t go to Starbucks
-only buy what you need
-cut entertainment by using city parks
-use the public library

Please send in any ideas to me that you have about saving money.

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

preaching clothes

So, last Sunday, June 2nd, I was the guest preacher at the White City UMC in Ft. Pierce.

Evidently their pastor left the UMC for the new Global MC and they are left without a pastor until the new one arrives in July.

So I got to fill in for one Sunday.

And I had this very interesting experience.  On Saturday night June 1, I got out my "preaching clothes."

This is a suit and tie.  This is my black dress shoes.  The whole ensemble does not get out very much.  I was so excited to get out my preaching clothes.  It was almost a year since the last time that I got to fill a pulpit.

On a side note, two of my handyman customers here in Florida made the trip to be in service.  That made me feel like a million dollars.

I am not sure of the value of this post to anyone else, but it sure made me feel good to be back in the game again, at least for one Sunday.

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

I started

I started a prayer.  I started a prayer - - - and I got stuck.  I got lost in this prayer...

Dear Father, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you. 

One of my favorite quotes of all times is from the medieval mystic, Meister Eckhart who said, "if the only prayer that I learn in this life is thank you, that is enough."

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

I can't see it

I get emails from time to time with "funny church signs."  I think that many of them are photoshopped and are not real.

This is real... I am driving in Niagara Falls, NY and I see this school.  I see the sign and I start to laugh.  Who would name a school this?

In case you don't believe me, here is a link to their web page

Who would name a school this???

I just can't see it.

And that reminds me of a joke.  The nurse answers the phone at the doctor's office.  She shouts, "doctor doctor there is a man on line two, he says that he is invisible."  The doctor replies, "tell him we can't see him today."

And on it goes... the invisible man married the invisible woman... their kids aren't much to look at!!!

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

a letter to a friend

So I was engaged in an email exchange with my friend Bob in Texas. We are on the same page on probably everything in life.

I wrote him this... I wanted to share it.

I spent many years judging others.  I wasted many years that I could have been sharing love.
Whatever I have left, I want to be engaged in loving others.   I want to show kindness in every way that I can.
I hope that other people, who are still currently engaged in judgment as I once was, will see the light sooner than I did.
I can't change the past, but I can certainly paint a new tomorrow. Love to all.

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

If I want something from you

If I want something from you, it is not love.  If I want something from you, I am not seeing you- - - as I am mostly focused on whatever need I want to have met.

When you love someone you see them and you value them.  When you love someone, what you want is turned off.  When you value someone, you enjoy them for who they are with no strings attached.  When you love someone, you invest in them and you help them work for what is best in their lives.  

When we make it about us, it is not love.  So, lets make our lives about seeing people and investing in them.

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

2 days

Read recently...

"There are two very important days in your life.  The first is the day that you were born.  The second is the day that you find out why."   Mark Twain...

And so in my 60's I have determined the why.  To show kindness.  I cannot think of a better reason to live.  I cannot think of a more fulfilling goal than to wake up every day and to do one's very best to be kind.

You and I can make the world, our world, a better place, just with the practice of kindness.

It is a beautiful day in God's world... see the good and show the kindness. 

Gracie

I was watching Netflix in my hotel room. It was about 8:30pm. I heard knocking on the door of the room next door. More and more knocking. Then pounding, then crying. Finally sobbing. I decided to investigate. In the hall I found a young girl trying to get into the room next to mine. I told her my name and I asked her for hers. Gracie she said. I told her that she had a lovely name. I asked her how old she was... I am six. I asked her what was going on. She said that her mom would not answer the door.
I told her not to worry, that everything would be ok. I said, well, lets go to the office. At the office I explained the situation to the employee who was from another country. The employee did not seem to grasp the gravity of the situation. [This could have easily escalated to a police and family services matter.] Finally we figured out that Gracie had a grandma in room 231 upstairs. So the clerk called grandma and grandma agreed to meet us at the top of the far stairwell.

I walked Gracie down the hall. I told her again that everything was going to be ok. We got to the stairwell and her grandma was calling. Gracie was back in her grandma's room, safe and sound.

I will probably never see her again in this life, but she left a mark on me. When we were talking, I told her that I had kids too. I told her that they were 32, 34 and 36. She said, Mr. Jeff, you don't have kids, you have adults!!!

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