Memorial stones

When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan (on dry land) God instructed Joshua to have twelve men pick up one stone each from the middle of the Jordan (where the priests had stood as they crossed; put the stones on their shoulders and to carry them to the place they were camping that first night. These stones were to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. Whenever future generations passed by and asked why these stones were stacked in a pile they would be told that they had walked across on dry ground. The stones were a memorial of what God had done. There are other places in Scripture where they followed a similar practice.

Several months ago I visited the cemetery where my parents are buried and found the grave markers – stones place there to mark where they are buried and give the dates of their births and deaths. Standing at the foot of their graves, my mind was flooded with memories. Every stone in the cemetery marks more than a burial plot. They represent stories – stories of sadness, of joy, of relationships.

I have tried to think about markers in my life – what memorials are there to remind me of those things God has done? I thought of several:

• We have boxes and albums and computer files of pictures. Every picture tells a story. I was recently given a packet of pictures that included my parents’ wedding picture, pictures of my grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents. Each one tells a story – a wedding – a war – a man of prayer – simple farmers.
• We have certificates, diplomas, ribbons representing seminars attended, degrees earned, events entered – all are reminders of events requiring trust in God.
• I have received plaques recognizing years of service in particular ministries. While my name is on them, they really are the story of God and what He has done through the years.
• Perhaps the most significant for me are the containers of cards received through the years. There are expressions of appreciation for a particular ministry, graduation invitations, funeral cards. Once in a while I look through those cards and remember someones story and what God did in that life.

We need those memorial stones – those prompts that urge us to tell stories to our children and grandchildren. They need to hear about the events – lessons learned – experiences in our lives and the role of faith in our journey.

 

Speck and beam – still a kid?

When I backed my car out of the garage this morning, it was pouring rain – the kind that requires the steady, rhythmic motion of the wiper blades rather than the intermittent action. The rain was accompanied by fairly strong gusts of wind that forced it to go nearly horizontal at times.

As I drove through the sub-division I saw children standing on street corners waiting for school buses. I chuckled at two little girls. They were standing with their umbrellas resting on their shoulders. They may have been keeping their hair dry but there was no attempt to cover any other part of their bodies. Shoes, jeans and shirts were all getting wet and they appeared to have no cares in the world. They were busy talking with each other.

A little further down the street was a lone boy – I assume about 10 years old – no umbrella, no hat, no attempt to keep dry. He could have stood under an eave or even in his garage but instead stood in the middle of the driveway in the pouring rain. Water was dripping from his hair and running down his face.

My first thought was that they should know better. I wondered where their parents were. Why wasn’t someone watching out for them? Then I thought, “O to be a kid again.” I remember days of playing in the rain – running through mud-puddles.

I continued my morning drive thinking about those children standing in the rain. My thoughts went back and forth between wanting to scold them for using such poor judgment and celebrating their youth and their lack of concern for wet clothes, a little discomfort, and what others might think.

In the middle of all these random thoughts I was reminded that at 6:30 this morning I went for a five-mile run – IN THE RAIN! I ran with clothes soaked, shoes sloshing, wind blowing rain in my face and water dripping from my cap – and it was great. I remember watching drivers stare at me – some seemed disapproving while others appeared to think I was a bit loony – probably the way I looked at the kids in the neighborhood.

Perhaps one of the reasons I run is that it is most like being a kid again. For those minutes, the cares of the day seem small. I can reflect, daydream, pray, wonder what drivers are thinking and rehearse the words to recent songs I have heard.

As I think back over the kids and me, I am reminded of how easy it is to look at others and criticize without even thinking about our own actions. Jesus reminds us to be careful about our judgment of others – we are to make certain the beam is out of our own eye before we try to remove a speck from another. It is so easy to be critical.

I think (as I sit in a dry library) that rather than being critical of those kids standing in the rain, I’d rather go stand with them.

 

Enlarging the circle

It feels like a busy week already. Today is a study day – reading, taking notes, filling in the details for Sunday’s message. But the week is punctuated with numerous other activities:

• Tonight is my small group – studying “Toward a Deeper Walk” by Marcus Warner. We are just getting started – we will be addition another person to the group tonight – enlarging this circle of people.
• Tomorrow – a pastors prayer retreat from 8-11 AM – I will leave a bit early for a luncheon appointment at 11:00. The pastors’ prayer retreat keeps me connected with what God is doing in the city.
• Tomorrow – lunch with a leader from the church who is ministering to men in his work place – although he is very involved in ministry at the church, he sees his greater ministry to be in the workplace – his circle is bigger than the church.
• Tomorrow evening – hosting a community meeting to discuss an addition to the sewer near the church – an opportunity for us to simply minister to the people in the community – another circle.
• Wednesday – an appointment to interview a possible part-time secretary – to enlarge our capacity for ministry – to enlarge the circle.
• Thursday – lunch with a man who has recently begun attending the church – who is looking for greater involvement in ministry -
• Thursday – meeting with a committee to finalize our church directory (the inside front pages challenge people to think about friends and family who are not a part of a church who should be in the next edition of the directory – enlarging our circle)
• Friday – early morning coffee with two young leaders who are already having an impact on the lives of others – they are continually enlarging the circle.
• Friday – mid-morning – meeting with a man who recently committed his life to Christ and wants to grow in his faith – another arc in the circle.

Several of these appointments require that I enlarge my circle of friends and therefore influence. It is much easier most of the time to remain within the same circle of friends but God is all about enlarging the circle. I’d rather spend my time in expanding relationships than chairing meetings.

My prayer is that God would continue to give us opportunities to expand the circle.

 

Distractions from ministry

It seems to nearly always happen. You set goals, make plans and begin to look forward to implementing the plans and then reality hits. Life doesn’t allow you to put all the effort into the plans you had envisioned.

I am working intentionally with several people to help them grow as disciples of Jesus. I am also working with others to help them do the same. All of this takes time and planning – planning around work schedules, school activities and family times.

This is one of those week that MY schedule is the difficult one. For the next two days I will be involved in meetings that have nothing to do with my personal efforts to multiply disciples. I may have opportunity for input into systems that may help in a regional way. Notice the word “may.” I am on the district leadership board of my particular tribe of churches.  While I appreciate the privilege, it feels like a distraction to my personal ministry.

I will leave those meetings early tomorrow for a local church meeting focused on our own outreach – then on to my small group. Tuesday it will be back to the district meeting followed by a meeting with a small group leader.

Wednesday a funeral in the family (which takes me from two other scheduled meetings).

Thursday is our leadership meeting and then Saturday, a meeting with those interested in disicpling others or being discipled.

Friday is the miracle day – no meetings.

When I look at all the meetings scheduled so far this year and all the ones I attended last year, I have to wonder how much was really accomplished. Do we (I) spend so much time in meetings that there isn’t time to really impact lives? Do the tasks associated with meetings keep us from the real ministry of connecting with people?

Right now I am seeing growth in several people. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to help them to the next step because I was in a meeting.

But I guess I will go look over the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. Perhaps there will be some opportunity to make a difference.

 

A New Year’s Day

The beginning of a new year is usually a time of reflection – looking back over the last year – dreaming, planning, setting goals for the new year. For many it is a day of football and food.

• I began the day praying, thinking, reading. I’m not great at resolutions – they create a lot of pressure and then guilt when I don’t follow the resolve. So I pray about things I believe need to happen and share the responsibility with God. Most of what I’d like to see happen in 2009 can’t happen without Him anyway.
• Then I went for a 5-mile run which was a continuation of the praying, dreaming and thinking about the new year. This was the longest run since surgery and I was reminded how fortunate I am to be able to run.
• I spent time reading  on Caringbridge.com about Lia, the three week-old daughter of friends in Idaho, who is battling for her life. I grieve with them because there seem to be no answers for the health issues she has.
• I’ll spend part of the day making ginger bread men with my grandchildren. It has become a tradition. This is probably the 7th year.
• I hope to watch a little football – perhaps take a nap (they seem to go together).
• Tomorrow I am meeting with two men. We are trying to study the life of Christ together to learn more of His discipleship strategy. Both of these young men are serious about their faith – so I will spend some time today praying about how best to challenge them and continue to help them grow.
• There will be a leadership meeting next week. I will spend some time today preparing for it – looking for ways to challenge them to each have prayer partners and to think about their individual ministries as discipling opportunities – asking them to find someone to really invest in this next year.
• A part of my praying this morning and my reflecting as I ran was about how to really create a disciple-making movement. I believe the stage is set. I don’t want to miss the opportunities.

New Year’s day is an odd day. It marks the change of a calendar. It comes as often as not in the middle of the week – sort of an interruption to the flow of normal life. It isn’t like Christmas which is a holy day and it seems one should keep it a bit more sacred. Today is simply one of those secular holidays (oxymoron). It does provide a break – a time to catch up on unfinished stuff and perhaps gain perspective as we look to the new year. It is also an excuse to be with family.

So it is a good day. It started well and I assume it will finish the same. The challenge will be not to finish the day well but to finish the year well. I’m thankful for a good start.

 

Is gratitude enough?

During this recent blast of winter that left Fort Wayne with a covering of ice and at one point 90,000 homes/businesses without electricity, we were able to remain in our heated and lighted home. Several times during these past few days (as we heard of another family without power)we talked about how fortunate we were that our power only went out for perhaps a total of 5 hours. We were and are thankful.

Earlier this week I received an e-mail prayer request regarding friends who now live in Idaho. They have a new baby with life-threatening birth defects. Our children are both grown and our grandchildren are healthy but I did stop and reflect on how fortunate we have been through the years. I am thankful.

I just came from visiting a ministry colleague whose wife is ICU in one of the local hospitals. She fell 10 or 11 days ago and hit her head. She has been in a coma ever since.  As I left the hospital I remember feelings of thankfulness for the health we enjoy.

The more I thought about it, the more “gratitude” seem like such a small thing. Gratitude is about me and not about these friends who are suffering. I think it is important to be thankful but I also know my gratitude pales in comparison to those who have power for the first time in 5 days; or compared to a young couple when they are finally able to carry their new baby home; or a husband who will have his wife back with him.

As I expressed my loss for words to my ministry colleague he told me of a friend who said that in a particular language in Africa there is a word for those speechless times when we want to comfort but can’t find the words. Roughly translated it means, “I am here.”

So I am wanting to find ways to let others know “I am here,” rather than simply being thankful that I am not experiencing what they are experiencing. I want to be there.

It is interesting that for thousands of years God had been speaking to suffering people through prophets and angels. And then one day, He decided to come in person and announce “Immanuel” – “I am here.” Perhaps what makes me truly thankful is not that my circumstances are better than another but that I have assurance that He is here.

Since He is here, I think I will sit with Him awhile.

 

Is it time?

We took a couple of days of vacation with our grand children this summer. The most frequent question: “are we there yet?” In their minds, it was time. They had waited long enough.

This morning I went out to clean the driveway of the nearly 2 inches of snow. I have a snow blower that my father-in-law bought in 1980; which means it is 28 years old. My father-in-law died in 1984 and I inherited it a few years later when my mother-in-law could not longer use it.

This morning, it wouldn’t start. I pulled and pulled on the rope but nothing… It has an electric started so I tried it. No luck. In fact I am certain the gears stripped on the starter (I replaced them once before so I know the sound).

I resorted to the handy shovel. After I had cleared about 2/3 of the driveway, my neighbor offered his snow blower.

Do I put money into getting this 28 year old snow blower running or do I bite the bullet and buy a new one? Is it time to let the old one die? I realize this is not an earth-shattering, life or death decision but it reminds me that we are frequently looking for the right timing for events, connections with people, job openings, etc.

The Bible talks about time. In Galatians 4:4, Paul says that God sent His son at just the right time.  Ephesian 1:10 suggests there is coming a “time” when God will bring heaven and earth together under one Head – Christ. Another place, He tells us that we cannot know the times of that event.

If there was such a thing as a perfect time to buy a snow blower, what would be the determining factors? Price? Death of an old one? Relative health and age of the potential operator? Economy? Would all of those have to align themselves just right for it to be the perfect time.  If there was a perfect time, could we know it?

Most of our time decisions are made with the best information we can gather. On the other hand, God, who sees the beginning from the end, knew the perfect time to send His son and knows the perfect time to bring things to completion.

Having said all of that, I think I’ll go shopping.

 

Church 101

A man called today to tell me that his father and partner in business had fallen off a ladder and shattered his leg. He is in the hospital, will require surgery and will be off work for an undetermined number of weeks. The man who called is not just any man. He is a part of our church and more specifically a part of the small group I lead. His dad does not attend any church.

I e-mailed the rest of the group members to alert them to pray. I then went to see the father in the hospital. We visited for a while – retold the story of the accident – talked about farming (he farms between 70 and 80 acres and I have some farm background). I prayed with him and promised to continue praying for his recovery and that God would meet their needs.

Now the next challenge. How do we respond in tangible ways to the needs of this family. I have asked the group to pray about ways we can support this family in tangible ways. Perhaps we will expand that to the church.

In Acts, it says that the people of the Church had everything in common. They shared what they had with others. Perhaps the most important thing we can share is time and perhaps labor. It is one thing to tell people you care it is another to get your hands dirty and show that love. We have been talking about living our faith. This will be an opportunity for the classroom to go into the field and demonstrate our faith.

 

Long Distance Relationship

I wrote a couple of posts ago about a man I met at a train station in Montevideo. I have e-mailed him twice and have received responses each time. My time with him was so short and yet I care about him and his family – three daughters and wife – that I never met.

When I e-mail him, I find myself looking through my in-box each day to see if he has responded. I have also been able to connect him with another friend in Montevideo and they are making plans to meet.

I am anxious to see how and if this relationship can develop across the continents. I don’t yet know if I will have opportunity to return to Uruguay but I hope to return. If I do, I want to make contact with this long distance friend.

 

Eagles’ Wings

You can’t see it but Siegfried can see. Eagles’ Wings is a ministry of Operation Mobilization in Uruguay. It is a fruit farm that is being transformed into a conference center for ministry to teens. Right now, when you drive onto the property, you see fruit trees to the left of the driveway and a couple of new buildings to the right. There are more than 30 acres of land – some with peach, plum, and lemon trees – some with various other kinds of vegetation.

That’s what the average person sees. Siegfried is the director of Operation Mobilization in Uruguay. He sees much more. When you walk with him through the property and listen to him describe it, you can almost see it, too. Dorms for teens to stay, picnic areas, soccer field, conference center, a bakery and more.

Siegfried has a passion to stem the tide of teen suicide in Uruguay. His focus is not about suicide prevention but about helping teens find a personal relationship with Jesus who gives hope. The name for the property and ministry comes from Isaiah 41:30-31a:                                                     

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall: but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles:

When I listen to Siegfried, I become excited – not because he is such a great communicator (he is good) but because I think it is a God-sized vision that can only be done if God is at work. It is just one of the places God is working in Uruguay. Imagine what could happen if a generation of teens found new hope through Christ.