Confession

Confession is good for the soul. And that holds true for individuals as well as for organizations. I have often wondered if individuals, who make up the Church, ever pray a prayer of confession for the Church as well as for themselves. Confession is an admission of guilt or fault needing correction. Confession is the first step towards forgiveness, both that sought from the offended or violated person, as well and just as important for the one making the admission.

We have at our disposal one of the greatest prayers of confession that we should use more often for ourselves and for our Church. It is the one found in the beginning of our hymnal, and one prayed monthly at most of our churches:

Merciful God. We have a God of mercy rooted in love. All of scripture speaks of God's lovingkindness and readiness to forgive. This is a great starting point.

we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. Honest and realistic. We tend to love others or other things more than we love God. But our confession is personal and we should confess that we have not loved God as we should.

We have failed to be an obedient church. Just attend a meeting, any meeting, and ask yourself, What is this meeting about? Is it about doing what God expects of the church or is this meeting more about us?

We have not done your will, Not just the meeting, look at the calendar of events scheduled for any week of that church; does it reflect going beyond our walls and campuses to our neighborhoods to do good?

we have broken your law, Again, back to that "law" of loving one another or getting along with those who disagree with our points of view; and even the ten found in the Ten Commandments. Should we be reminded of what they say?

we have rebelled against your love,Love from God is free, but to accept it means our willingness to love others in everything we're about, our thoughts, words, and actions. Are these three holy and pure before God? Are they geared to making disciples for Jesus Christ?

we have not loved our neighbors,This in every regard is true. We don't know those who live across the street from us or who live across the street from our church, let alone love them in ways that bless and help them during their times of need. Most of us drive quietly into our parking lots of worship and leave the same way. We sometimes refuse to acknowledge all people as our neighbor. Remind yourself of the conversation Jesus had with the one who asked, "Who is my neighbor?"

and we have not heard the cry of the needy.Most of our dwellings and churches are comfortably air conditioned, the music is soothing (usually) and we are insulated from hearing anything from the outside; and when we do we express our frustration with our frowns and scowls or the eye contact we make with our "neighbors" in worship.

Forgive us, we pray. Lord, truly hear our prayers when we do ask for genuine forgiveness, meaning we want to repent, to turn away from this old way of living towards a new way, a better way, a more inclusive way.

Free us for joyful obedience,Joy is still allowed in church, but we wouldn't know it in some. Obedience is what is expected of those who love God and seek to do God's will. What did we use to sing? Oh yeah, "Trust and obey, for there's no better way!" Obedience lived out joyfully is a blessing to God and to us.

through Jesus Christ our Lord.All things center on Jesus, especially all done in the Church,and it is through Jesus that we should pray all prayers.

Amen This is like the "Like" button on Facebook, or the "10-4" from old days on the road, or "Roger" for those who fly or "May it be so" for those who truly pray in Jesus' name.

May it be so.

Observe & Receive

Read a story once about Albert Einstein. It said on the day he and his family were set to move, he was, as was his custom, in another world. He had been working in his home work space and came out to the street and encountered a little boy. "Little boy," he asked, "Do you know where my family has moved?" The little boy said, "Dad, Mom knew this would happen and that's why I'm here waiting for you!" I don't know how true this story is but it proves the point; we can sometimes be so wrapped up in what we're doing we miss the bigger picture. Is the glare of a smartphone or tablet screen dimming your view of the bigger picture?

If we observe more carefully at the bigger picture, we're set to receive a bigger blessing of what God has, is, and will, do in our surroundings. I've shared numerous times how when arriving to a charge conference I noticed a little girl playing outside her home across the street from the church. She and I shared the same skin color and that made her pause to see me get out of my car at this particular church. I smiled and waved at her and entered the church. During the charge conference I asked if anyone in the church knew that little girl's name. No one did. Is the glare of the routine dimming our view of the bigger picture?

Two men worked side by side for over thirty years. They both retired on the same day, and it was on that day they discovered they were both United Methodists! Thirty years of hello-how-are-yous, and not once, How was church? Thirty years. At least on the last day they finally shared at least their faith background. Is the glare of the mundane dimming our view of the bigger picture?

Think of all we have missed because we've not observed or shared as we should. Think more of what others have missed because we have not shared our faith story with them.

In reading from Acts this morning, it strikes me as how important the church once took sharing. In chapter 8 of that awesome book, in spite of the persecution, Christians running for their lives still found ways to share their faith stories with others. Philip, guided and blessed by the Holy Spirit, was able to share even while on the road the good news of Jesus Christ. Is the glare of fear dimming our view of the bigger picture?

Inward?

Nellie and I worshiped in a church not from our district, nor from our conference. As the pre-worship announcements were made, and a couple of people walked up to the pulpit to make these, one of them made my wife write in pencil on our bulletin a single word: Inward! Yes. My wife thinks like I do, that our church is turned inward and we cater to the whims and fancy of our members and care not much about the culture outside our walls. As we drove home the discussion was about what good such an event serves. I answered that it builds up the Club.

Christ said, "Go into all the world." Yikes. That isn't inward at all. Pentecost was an outward event spilling the disciples out onto the street, acting drunk, according to some, but joyfully telling of the great works of God. Think about it; the disciples had been inward during those uncertain days, but when God's power was poured out, outward they went.

We have that same power.

Go!

Listen & Love

A pastor that I introduced recently to a local church shared his philosophy of his first year at the new church. "I'm going to listen and love." I was impressed. I've heard of pastors that come into the church with a plan or plans without having made time to listen and love. Someone once compared that to a doctor walking in to the examining room and prescribed treatment or meds without having touched the patient. Truly listening is a gift one can share with others. To not listen is an offensive posture. Yes, we get distracted, but as a leader in a church setting, we must listen. The common statement used by many is "God gave you two ears and one mouth so that we would listen twice as much as we speak." We can show love by listening. Listening leads then to processing and reflecting, certainly to prayer to discern with God's listening ear that which we have received.

We are also to show love. This was the new commandment that Jesus gave so that the world would know we are indeed His disciples. How we show love varies and depends on personal preferences, but generally, respectable demonstrations of genuine love. People who share with us many times just want us to listen. We may not have anything profound to share with them but we share love. To have spent time listening to them also shows them love.

Listen and Love. Build on that foundation for the relationships that matter to you.

Shared Journey

There are sacred places in all our journeys. For many of us here in this area of Texas it just might have been Mount Wesley. For my children, it was Sacramento. For you, some other place where during the summer for a week you spent getting to know God a little better, making new friends, avoiding old ones, and getting to know yourself a little better. It was at Mt. Wesley that I came to sense my call into ordained ministry. My faith was always confirmed there and I enjoyed the company of those who wore the Methodist brand proudly. We didn't all agree, but we had fun. It was the shared journey. If all were still alive and could be called back for one hour I know the journey for each of us had taken us in different directions. The shared-ness would be our destination, still the same and shared with all humanity; the certainty of leaving this earth. The purpose of those weeks during those summers was to teach us how to live better lives and to know of the love of a God who wants to see us return home. I pray that we have not lost that part of our destination.

Whatever bumps or obstacles have come along your journey, think back to those days for the inspiration and charge you might need to go just some more miles forward, and with God's help, upward. Lend a helping hand, open a loving heart, and speak loving and encouraging words to each other. This journey from ashes to ashes is best traveled with deep love for God, self, and neighbors.

Jumping to Conclusions

Last night I got a FaceTime call from our oldest granddaughter, Saraí Evangelina. As soon as her image came on the screen she was crying. "Grandpa, something terrible is happening!" My mind is thinking the worst! "My tooth is really loose and it's about to come out and Mommy's trying to trick me!" Whew! It is the worst thing for a seven year old to lose a tooth and I heard her cry and say that she believed her mommy was trying to take it out before its time. I said, "If Mommy ties a string to your tooth and then to the door, then she is tricking you!" Her eyes showed the horror of that thought. I could hear her mommy laughing behind her, and Grandma says, "Grandpa's going to say a prayer for you so that you can be okay." I start thinking about what to say to God about a 7 year old and a loose tooth when I hear Sarita say, "Oh, something wonderful is happening! My tooth just came out!" Indeed, wonderful. She held it up so that Grandma and I could see it. I had already prayed silently and then we all said, "Thank God, mijita!"

Our mind has the incredible capacity to run at lightening speed to the worst possible scenario which usually ends up with nothing coming true as we expected. And usually we have to say, Thank God! The same is true about jumping to conclusions without having all the facts or having time to think and reflect on what is best for all concerned. In the movie Office Space, a man stuck in what he believed to be a dead-end job kept thinking he would get rich with a game called "Jump to Conclusions" in which a mat had a list of possible conclusions on which one could jump. We know it isn't that simple. Our mind usually takes care of that if we're not careful.

The antidote for fear is faith. The outcome of all life according to the Bible is God wins. And if we're believers of God, we're on the winning team. Paul, who suffered and endured much wrote, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13). We can do the same through Christ.

Initiative

I don't know when I learned the word bored, and still can't remember when I first used it. As a child I always had something to do and always found "toys" in what was around me. I was like most kids, one who could imaginatively use the box of a stove or refrigerator as a big toy. I will never forget coming home from school one day to hear how my new bride had enjoyed a day babysitting a fellow seminarian's daughter. The girl was tiny and not even four, but Nellie said, "She said she was bored!" Bored? asks I. "Yes! Had you ever heard a child say they were bored?" No. I had by then used the word more than I needed, but to hear a child use it at that time astounded me.

In my career I have heard pastors say they are bored. And like hearing it from children, I don't like hearing that. It indicates to me that something is either wrong with the individual or his/her perception of the place where she or he is serving. As I was becoming a superintendent, a mentor who had twice served as DS said he once heard a dear friend and longtime colleague complain to him that the church had never appointed him to a place of opportunity. The mentor was sitting in his office and right across the street was an elementary school. He couldn't resist and said, "Look across the street, what do you see? I see opportunity that you're not taking advantage of!"

Initiative defeats boredom. Boredom, like being in a rut, indicates stagnant vision that has drained creativity and energy from a person. The child, like the pastor, that cannot see joy and fun possibilities in all things, needs our prayers. The person of initiative looks beyond the usual, sees possibilities and turns them into opportunities, and with passion, starts something new. Initiative sees a school and imagines children's ministries starting, with adult tutors and readers deployed to help impact lives, all the while calling attention to the spiritual background from which these new leaders and helpers come.

Initiative is hitting the piñata with eyes open, seeing the candy inside as yours!