JoAnne and I are so thankful for all the kindness and generosity that has been expressed to us over the last few days. For our moving time yard sale that JoAnne organized, all kinds of people volunteered in one way or another to help move things in and out of the house or office or to tend the sale itself. While we didn’t make a fortune, we moved some items and more importantly we had great conversations with many folks. Turns out it’s a great way to meet people. But most impressive to me were all the friends who helped us, in spite of the 90 degree days we had. And some of them were the best customers too. Thank you so much everyone.
We also received a gift from our new church at Copper Hill to help with our move, a gift they were not required to give but chose to give out of kindness and generosity. We feel blessed indeed. Thanks to the folks at Copper Hill too.
I’ve completed thinning out my library according to the guidelines I published earlier. Several associates, teachers and mentees have perused the boxes. Some books were displayed on our yard sale as well. However, few lookers took more than a small handful. Seems like I remember coming away from such opportunities 20 years ago with armloads. But the internet, the availability of cheap books and the busyness of contemporary life has created a different day. So far JoAnne and I are finding that the demand for used books is very small. A few classic authors were still desired. But most who looked at the books said they already had too many books and didn’t have room for more. There will still be opportunity to look over some of my books of books for a couple days. I will probably start disposing of them early this next week so I can start packing the shelved ones to go to CT.
I’ve been saying for many years that a church’s website has now become it’s primary way to get information to prospective attenders. Here’s an article by a blogger on Christian Post agreeing with my premise.
It can help us here in Kirkville to take the next step in our already developed website. It can also serve to guide those developing plans and capabilities for new websites such as my new friends in Copper Hill CT are now doing.
At this time in my life, as I get ready to move, and try to sort through the accumulations of 22 years living in one house, I’m reminded of the words of Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4-6 (NIV)
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: …
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away…
This has been particularly obvious as the time has come for my wife and me to sort through our libraries. While the parsonage that we are moving into may have more square footage than the current one, the amount of book space and office space may be less. That is because my office will now be in the parsonage as opposed to having a separate office in the church. In addition, there is the simple issue of weight. Movers charge by the weight of the shipment and books are heavy; so it is best to take only what you will need. Furthermore, there is the whole issue of what is happening in our culture with regard to books; books you hold are slowly losing ground to electronic ones. A few weeks ago we sorted out four or five boxes of used books from our home and took them to two used-book stores. One bookstore owner sorted out a few and paid us about enough to buy one new paperback; the other did not want any. So we donated the rest to the Salvation Army. A great deal of this is due to the rise of electronic books. As a result of these facts, my wife and I have set a goal to downsize our libraries by at least one third.
How are we doing it? Here are some guidelines we’ve used to achieve the goal.
If I haven’t read it in all these years, is it going to make it to the top of my list anytime soon? I’m giving away some brand new books because I felt the answer to that question was “no.”
Is this a reference book that I do not need to use any more because I have access to the material in a program or on-line? My Bible program has replaced several of my books, including at least one set.
Will this book help one of those I have been mentoring more than it will help me? If so, let it go.
Is this a book I do not need because by a combination of experience and material I have read, I have covered the material? If so, I should let the book help someone else, even if it is one I have valued in the past.
Is this a book I have quoted often and will probably continue to cite? If so I should keep it.
Everyone has favorite authors. I’m keeping almost all the books by my three or four favorite authors – John Maxwell, Jim Cymbala, E. Stanley Jones, Bruce Wilkinson.
Is the book outdated? Unless an older book is by a famous person, it will not be that useful to quote. A few may be useful to read anyway. They might be by someone else’s favorite author.
Is the book a classic I wish to pass down in my family? We don’t have many of these, but there are a few.
With these guidelines, I am getting it done, as the picture shows. My mentees and church teachers will be able to choose from the sorted books before we figure out what to do with the rest.
The remaining weeks of our time here at Kirkville will be busy ones. We have saved a few weeks vacation to help us have time to pack and visit our family in CT and western NY. I am also doing some reading in preparation for my new part-time position at Copper Hill UMC. You know what I always say, “If the leader is not growing, the people will not be growing either.” This chart tells you when I will be preaching here and who will be preaching when I am not. Thank you for your prayers during this time of transition. I am praying for you too.
Today it was announced at both churches that I have a new part-time pastorate in Connecticut starting in July after my retirement from full-time ministry here in Kirkville. I will begin serving as the pastor at a very old and historic United Methodist Church at Copper Hill, Connecticut. There is a very roomy parsonage that comes with the assignment where JoAnne and I will reside. The parsonage is 10 or 12 minutes from the church and both are about 30 minutes from Keely and Mark and Sam.
The sanctuary of the church is well preserved and was built in 1839—that’s four years before the Wesleyan Church was founded. It was near the site of a famous camp-meeting grounds. Like my home church in Haskinville, NY, it was built at a country crossroads. However, today the hills and vales are thick with modern houses so there is a great opportunity for expanded ministry. There is also a golf course across the street and a rails-to-trails trail a few hundred yards away as well.
The best part was the warmth and genuine sense of ministry anticipation that we saw in the staff parish committee with whom we interviewed. They made us feel very welcome and appreciated from the start. I could sense the faithful perseverance in the Christian faith that has enabled the church to survive all these years. I think they will be very receptive to our ministry there.
This position for us is an answer to prayer. We were looking for the good works prepared in advance for us to do after retirement. This will be very meaningful without being too draining. The economic boost will help us to handle Connecticut costs as well. So we are very thankful for this provision and looking forward to serving God together with the folks at Copper Hill.
The generous will themselves be blessed. (Proverbs 22:9 NIV2011)
Are those who tithe better off financially?
How much people choose to give to charity is a very personal question. Certainly no one should have to compare their giving to that of another. And we also resist the idea that our giving could be guided by some universal standard. But in biblical times there is little doubt that such a standard did exist. It was the tithe, ten percent of the yield of field and flock (Lev. 27:30-32). The concept shows up early in the Bible narrative when Abraham sets the example by giving a tithe of the plunder to the priest of Salem, Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20). Later, it was standardized in the Levitical code. Research says that few people today practice this Biblical idea. Most probably feel that if they were to use such a rule in modern times it would impoverish them. But according to the interesting study of tithers summarized in the graphic below, that is apparently not the case. The chart is impressive.
Somehow, we should not be surprised
In the last book of the Old Testament God had promised, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Mal 3:10 NIV2011). It is the only area of life where God ever invites us to test him. In the New Testament we find a parallel truth. “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Lk 6:38 NIV2011). So the principle of God’s economy is this. God honors generosity. And his standard for giving raises the bar for us as to what generosity might look like.
Is it an investment scheme?
We’ve all heard of crass preachers who misused this principle by promising earthly financial rewards, sometimes even with percentage gains attached, for gifts to their ministry. What charlatanry that is! While God has promised to bless those who are faithful to Him, God’s blessings are often of different character than money. And even when God’s rewards are financial, they sometimes do not coincide in timing or mode with the financial sacrifice made by the offerer. For example, there was a time in our ministry as pastor and wife when we felt led to make a significant gift (for us) to a special project of the church. It was a sacrificial gift that did draw down our finances. Now God didn’t refill our coffers per se, but it just so happened that we “co-incidentally” during that time frame received several unexpected non-monetary gifts of things we needed to help us along the way. One such blessing was a huge scholarship that our daughter received to go to graduate school. But giving, like deeds of service, is definitely a future investment. The Bible does say, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:20-21 NIV84).
I have just finished outlining our Sunday morning message series for April. It actually takes off from the Easter Celebration service message. It draws some topics and resources from Andy Stanley’s book The Principle of the Path.
The Principle of the Path
Date
Sermon title
Text
Speaker
Suggested Hymn
Mar 31 (10 AM) Celebration
Power for the Path
John 20:19-31
Pastor Kelvin
Christ the Lord is Risen Today (231)
Apr 7
The Principle of the Path
Proverbs 7:6-27; 27:12
Pastor Kelvin
Trust and Obey (320)
Apr 14
Grace and Truth for Our Path
Jer. 17:9; John 1:17; 8:32
Pastor Kelvin
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Stuart Townend)
In preparation for my retirement from Community Wesleyan Church in a few months, Steven Sgroi, my web technical guru, and I are working to untangle my internet presence from the church’s internet site. As a part of that process, my blog will have a new location in the future. For now, if you try to access it from the old address it will redirect you to the new one just fine, but eventually, you will want to find me at the new address site—learntobewise.com.
Living wisely is the focus
I am excited about the possibilities of this name too. Just think about the fact that one whole section of the Old Testament is devoted to wisdom. I think also about the last words of Psalm 107 which might just be good mission statement for my blog at learntobewise.com. I should be writing in such a way that my reader would want to take the Psalm writer’s advice. “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord” (Ps 107:43 NIV). I have always felt that one of the jobs of a pastor is to live wisely and help others live wisely also. So I think this new domain name will be a great fit. I also like the idea in the name that we are not wise all at once. Rather, we are always learning and becoming wiser.
This afternoon as we drove back from visiting our daughter and family in Connecticut, I noticed numerous robins foraging on the ground wherever they could find an open spot in the snow cover form the recent storm. As I drove in my driveway here in Kirkville, one flew away from the portion of lawn that had been exposed by the plow blade. Last week I had seen grackles and a couple blue herons. This afternoon my wife also remarked on how the buds on our red maple were expanding and turning their characteristic spring hue.
But winter is hanging tough
But seeing the robins was a small comfort after hearing the weather reports predicting more cold and another potential weekend storm. As if the piles of snow were not enough to indicate exactly how bad the contradiction is this year between the lingering winter and the emerging signs of spring, I was sitting on my porch watching the birds for a few moments while putting on my shoes late this afternoon and suddenly realized that those birds on the thistle feeder were not goldfinches or purple finches. They looked different and they had little red topknots–those were redpolls! They are Canadian birds that only occasionally irrupt into the states when the winter is bad in Canada. I could not believe I had just seen a flock of redpolls and a robin in my lawn on the same supposedly spring day! Now there’s a once in a lifetime birding event for this area, I would say.
