Prayer Team leader, Larry Nemitz, and I have recently chosen a new series for Wednesday evenings. Intercessors’ Group had completed their series, When You Don’t Know What To Pray, and needed another. The title of our new study is `The Biblical Way of the Cross,’ a series of meditations on the last week of Jesus’ life. Since Lent was fast approaching this seemed very appropriate.
On my right is Pastor Than Aung of Lyncourt Wesleyan’s Burmese Congregation who translated and assisted me. On my left is Pastor Par Thoo of Utica Karen Wesleyan Church and his wife. The class followed an intensive schedule meeting for 10 hours each of three weekends during January. The School is headquartered at Lyncourt Wesleyan Church and led by Dr. Thuam Khai in partnership with the local pastor, Rev. Wayne Wager, Jr. It is sponsored by the Central New York District of the Wesleyan Church (http://www.missionforchrist.net/bbs). Threads/topics, each of which was covered in multiple sessions, included: preparing the preacher, sermon outlining, illustration, and supporting disciplines. In addition, we spent time with Dr. John Maxwell via video, drawing from his series, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. The students were eager to learn and I found teaching them to be a great joy.
I always wondered what went on in those houses where Christmas trees remained visible in the windows many weeks into January. Well, now we’re one of those houses. So I can share the secret inside our house that keeps the Christmas tree up so long.
(Psst!) I’m a small time railroad hobbyist that sets up multiple O-gauge trains under the tree in a display that takes up half the living room. I can’t bear to take the whole thing down right away! It is a three level display that includes a Christmas village, farm scene, bridges and tunnels, and the Christmas tree is built in. It can’t come down until I move enough train stuff so we can reach the tree. Thankfully, my wife tolerates, maybe even enjoys just a little, my affection for model trains and associated Christmas villages; so she doesn’t object too much that I take up some floor space for two months of the year.
But that is only one-half of the story. The other reason for the display staying up so long is this. The most fun comes when I invite children over to play with the trains. And everyone is far too busy for that to happen in December, so we wait until January. All during the month, JoAnne and I invite children from church to view and play engineer with the trains. Well, yes, it is a little dangerous to the train cars and parts and model vehicles because there are wrecks, but it is so much fun to watch the boys and girls having fun that it is definitely worth the risk. JoAnne bakes cookies and I get down on the floor, give instructions in how to operate things, take pictures, and try to keep the trains running. It is the best part of the hobby.
So now you know. In case you still don’t believe me, here are a few photos for evidence. But now it’s February tomorrow and I really do have to take down the Christmas tree…
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It is a moment when we remember the faithfulness of God in helping our congregation in the struggles of the past. It is a time when we confess together as we sang together in worship this morning, “Your grace is enough for me!” The song is based on the word of Scripture, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Co 12:9 NIV). We also sang of God’s faithfulness. This is also a point when we look forward to what God is going to do through our church in the future until Jesus returns.
As I move through the senior years of my ministry, I find I am blessed and my ministry is truly enabled by remembering and putting into practice a basic principle of leadership; the networking of people resources.
Letter writer, David C. Ashley, in today’s Post Standard opinion page decried a lack of obvious clergy leadership in changing the climate of political discourse in our country. I have good news for him. Just such a leadership move has been in the works for awhile and at this crucial time has just begun to be publicized http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100326/conservative-liberal-christians-vow-to-model-civility/.
This initiative is authored and signed by many prominent clergy of various denominational backgrounds. It is called A Covenant for Civility: Come Let Us Reason Together. It is inspiring to read and is very Biblically based. If implemented, it would bring the Golden Rule back to American politics, something we haven’t seen since politicians discovered that slander via advertising works in election campaigns. I have personally joined those signing this important document and encourage others to do so. I found a signable copy and list of many of the chief signers at http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.display&item=100308-civility-covenant. I intend to honor it (I hope I already have been) as I blog and as I preach.
The following is copied from an email my wife received from World Hope International, an organization that has been in the forefront of addressing this issue for many years. I include it to highlight the issue. I am wearing blue today too.
Human Trafficking Awareness Day – 1/11/11
Support & Celebrate Freedom – WEAR BLUE
By the end of 2011:
Next Sunday begins a new series of messages with the exciting theme, Love Can Build a Bridge. Marilyn Wilsch suggested it to me after hearing the song by that title sung by the Judds. After thinking and praying about it and looking at the kinds of messages needed for our winter calendar, I decided it was just the right series for this time between the New Year’s messages and the beginning of our Lenten emphasis in March. Shaun and Mystical Harrington, father—daughter duet, will be singing the theme song for us. One of our drama props folks is making a sturdy bridge to be the focus of the platform décor for the series.
A big thank you today goes out to our church webmaster, Steven Sgroi, for giving me a new look. I’ve been blogging for a year and I thoroughly enjoy it, so we are marking my year anniversary with a new theme. Don’t you love it? The theme called Mystique comes in black, but Steven knows I don’t like black so he achieved some continuity with the old color scheme by changing the black to the textured blue. I hope you enjoy the new functionality on the right side too. I was looking for an archives feature and now I have it. I will learn to manage some of the right side features better as time goes along, I am sure. The new theme also allows for “read more” so you will see that feature being used in future long posts.
One of the key elements of our daily time alone with God is the devotional resource that we choose. How do we go about choosing what to use?
First of all, a good devotional resource for you has to fit you and the kind of time alone with God that you are planning to have. Do you like to read or is reading not your thing? How much time do you have? If you are a neophyte, I recommend something fairly short such as the Our Daily Bread booklet from Radio Bible Class that our church distributes. But if you are planning to spend a half hour or 45 minutes at prayer, you might want to try something meaty like A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants (Reuben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck).