Thanks Be To God

"Helloooooooooo, Dustin"

These are two words I will never hear again.  At least, not in the way that Wallace Cox said them every Sunday morning for the past year at 9:30 on the dot.  You see, Wallace passed away last week.  He was a man much admired in our church community and within the wider community of Haskell.  Wallace was one of those people who made you feel welcome, important, and loved.  He was easy to visit with and always had time to let you bend his ear.

Wallace's passing gave me the opportunity to reflect back on the past few years.  When I first received my calling into full time ministry I suppose I didn't really know what that would mean.  If I had, I'm not sure I would have been emotionally ready for it.  When my family and I moved from Muleshoe to Wilmore we had to leave many friends and family behind.  We left a community that we knew and that knew us.  We left people who have been important in my life for as long as I can remember.  We left the comfort and security of the known for a new life that was foreign.

First United Methodist Church, Muleshoe, TX

After we arrived in Kentucky, we slowly settled in and made new friends.  We adopted our Sunday school class as our new faith community where we could grow spiritually with brothers and sisters in Christ.  We got used to the colder temperatures and the extra rainfall.  We really fit in and we loved it.  But, once again, we were called away from a place we had made home.  It was time to leave and to move on with the mission that God had placed on our lives for his namesake.

Estes Chapel, Asbury Theological Seminary campus

So we have been here in Haskell right at a year.  I have continued to learn and grow in my own spiritual life and we are doing everything we know to do to make Haskell our hometown.  But honestly, it is getting harder to do that.  Because I know that my family will not be in Haskell forever.  A part of the Methodist system is that you agree to go where you are sent.  I have a lot of respect for that and I continue to trust the leadership of our conference with those decisions.

First United Methodist Church, Haskell, TX

I know that no matter how long we stay in one place that God is with us.  I know wherever we go that God is already there.  I know wherever we are sent that there are men and women we will grow to love, just as we have here.  I also know that even as hard as it is to say goodbye to people, for whatever reason, that the love and the joy I have gained from knowing these people far outweighs the pain.

At the end of 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul makes this statement, "Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."  I strive to remember these words from St. Paul as I continue to walk the path that the LORD has placed before me.  I seek to continue to labor for his glory, even if it means the painful reality of loving people only to move on again.

When we left Muleshoe, a good friend of mine dedicated this song to me and my family.  It is a song I have come to cherish when it's time to say goodbye.  And so now, as I finish my farewell to Wallace, I play this song for my brothers and sisters in the faith who I have had to leave.  I am a better man and a better Christian for knowing each one of you.  And even though I miss you, I also know that we continue our relationship through the Communion of the Saints empowered by the Holy Spirit.



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Washing Spoons

"Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?"

"Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?"

"According to the grace given to you, will you remain faithful members of Christ's Holy Church and serve as Christ's representatives in the world?"

"As members of Christ's universal Church, will you be loyal to The United Methodist Church, and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?"

"As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness?"

In just a few days the confirmation class 2012 of Haskell UMC will take the vows stated above in front of our local congregation.  This is no small undertaking.  These vows are important.  They represent a commitment that is becoming less and less common in our self-centered culture.

It seems as though our society has forgotten what it means to save, to follow through, and to focus on the good of the community instead of personal gain.  I saw this posted on Facebook the other day:

I found this to be an interesting commentary on our consumerist society.  So many people today think that if it is easier on them individually then it doesn't matter what the cost is in the long run.  But Christianity doesn't teach us to think this way.  According to the teachings of Scripture we are to place others in front of ourselves.  For example, in Ephesians St. Paul states that we should "submit to each other out of respect for Christ"(5:21) and he says in Galatians that we should  "...be guided by the Spirit and you won't carry out your selfish desires.  A person's selfish desires are set against the Spirit, and the Spirit is set against one's selfish desires.  They are opposed to each other, so you shouldn't do whatever you want to do."(5:16-17)

So as a counter cultural move and in response to their calling, our confirmands will have to agree to the vows of the church.  My prayer is that they will do so with sincerity and conviction.  My prayer is that they will do all they can to continue to build their faith in Jesus Christ.  My prayer is that our local congregation will continue to commit to these young people and to one another out of devotion to God.  And my prayer is that each person who claims Christ as his or her master will learn the lesson of putting others ahead of ourselves.

But the amazing thing about faith is that we are not left alone to uphold these vows.  The phrase I love in these vows states "according to the grace given you..."  Even in the midst of taking vows and making promises, God's grace abounds.  Even when we do fail to be an obedient Church, God's grace flows through in order to convict us of wrongdoing, help us repent of our failures, and reinstates us as his sons and daughters.

God's grace is enough.  It is wondrous, marvelous, and timely.  It never ceases and continually calls us to be grace-filled so that we can extend grace to others as we have received.  Even though God's grace is freely given, it cost him greatly.  That's why it is so important to never cheapen grace...that's why we must cooperate with God in order to fulfill his calling in our own life.

This Sunday, as these young women and men take their vows, I will renew my own.  I will continue to strive to fulfill the vows I have taken to the Church as both a member and as a pastor.  But most of all, I will remember that without the grace given to me, none of my Christian life would be possible.  And as I grow in God's grace, perhaps some day I will be mature enough to remember to wash the spoon.  Until next time...

+May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.



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Confirmation 2012

Last week three other sponsors and I took our confirmands on a week long hiking trip in the mountains of Colorado.  When I signed us up for this trip I had no idea how incredibly hard it would be.  When I was a kid my parents took us camping and for day hikes every summer, but this was my first experience backpacking.  There is no comparison in the two.  Backpacking is much more difficult than simply camping.

But in spite of the difficulty and labor that was exerted by all of us, we manged to have a fantastic time. Take time to look at these pictures and see these kids on the trip.

Here we are with the Great I AM.  This was the day before we headed out for our trip.

First day of backpacking.  "Our" mountain is the one on the right.

Mykaylee taking a short break.

Riley the trailblazer.

We finally made it into the national Forest.

Heading up the mountain.  Unfortunately, we missed our turn.  But it was gorgeous 

Chase resting up for the next leg of the journey.

Coach Josh Damron scouting ahead.  

Shannon enjoying the view.

Anyone who knows me is not surprised by a flower picture.

Alec and Sarah on break.

Alec and Sam enjoying a cool dip after hiking.

Chase and Vickie resting at lunch.

Cathy and Chase are up to something...

Abby and Mykaylee having fun after we got back.

A proud moment...we made it to a great look out.  It was incredible.

On July 8th, we will have our Confirmation service.  These young people will take their vows to the church and they will become full members of the UMC.  I cannot explain how much I learned from these kids and how much they mean to me.  On one of the evenings at camp, we talked about what we learned from Confirmation this year.  I learned to respect, care about, and love all eight of these youngsters.  I am so proud of them for everything they learned and accomplished these last few months.  It is my pleasure to have been their pastor through this process and I am so excited to see where God leads them over the coming years.

Here is "their" passage from 1 Timothy, "Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."--4:12

A blessing for UMC Confirmation Class 2012
May the good Lord be with you 
Down every road you roam 
And may sunshine and happiness 
Surround you when you're far from home 
And may you grow to be proud 
Dignified and true 
And do unto others 
As you'd have done to you 
Be courageous and be brave 
And in my heart you'll always stay 
Forever young, forever young 
Forever young, forever young 

May good fortune be with you 
May your guiding light be strong 
Build a stairway to heaven 
With a prince or a vagabond 

And may you never love in vain 
And in my heart you'll always remain 
Forever young, forever young 
Forever young, forever young 
Forever young 
Forever young 

And when you finally fly away 
I'll be hoping that I served you well 
For all the wisdom of a lifetime 
No one can ever tell 

But whatever road you choose 
I'm right behind you, win or lose 
Forever young, forever young 
Forever young, forever young 
Forever young, forever young 
For, forever young, forever young




Proudly dedicated to Sam, Mykaylee, Alec, Abby, Riley, Sarah, Chase, and Vickie

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Jaya Ho!

This next week marks an important time in the life of Haskell UMC.  Since Ash Wednesday, I have been teaching a confirmation class on Wednesday afternoons.  With the help of a few volunteers, 8 youth from our church have been exploring Christianity, faith, worship, Scripture, Methodism, and spiritual growth.  These young people have inspired me, challenged me, and have made me laugh throughout our time together.

One of the lessons on worship that we explored together gave us an interesting activity to work on.  Few Methodists may be aware of the fact that John Wesley was somewhat of a control freak.  One example of that is found on page vii of the UM hymnal.  On this page are written John Wesley's "Directions For Singing."  These directions were written by Wesley himself instructing his Methodist Movement the proper way to sing when they came together.  Honestly, these instructions are really good.  They tell the singers to sing in harmony, to follow the words, and to make sure to sing with excitement and a desire to honor God.

Well, the activity that was included in the lesson was for the confirmands to practice singing songs from the hymnal.  We divided the class into two teams.  One team pulled a rule from a hat and had to break it.  The other team was supposed to guess which rule was being broken.  The boys team (of course) got up to sing a song and they began to chant "Jaya Ho! Jaya Ho! Jaya Ho!"  The girls team couldn't figure out which rule they were breaking and I couldn't figure out which song they were singing.  They were giggling so hard that they never could get their act together.

When we finished the game I asked them which song that was and they told me to turn to number 478.  Sure enough, the song is called Jaya Ho.  It was a song written many years ago and translated from Hindi into English.  Apparently, it was a song that was quite popular during the 1950's.  Here are the English lyrics:

We come before thee, O Great and Holy,
We bow our heads to thee, Great and Holy,
Low at thy feet we bow in quiet reverence,
then sing thy praises, evermore repeating:

Lord, let us see thee, grant us a vision!
Sins and denials, dear Lord forgive us.
Take us and keep us in they strong protection;
safe in they refuge, we will sing they praises.

When those boys chose this song to chant, they were being silly.  However, I believe that the Holy Spirit led them to this song.  I find in these words exactly what Confirmation is really about.  It is learning who is supposed to be first in our life.  It is growing in our relationship with our King.  It is about knowing our place in his realm.  Confirmation is about accepting God's forgiveness and seeking out his vision for our lives.  It is about learning to trust in him and spending our lives singing praises.

So Cathy and I have adopted this song as the theme for our upcoming hike.  It will show up in the lessons and other activities next week.  You see, Jaya Ho, roughly translated, means "Victory Song."  And as these boys and girls become men and women of faith the song they will be singing is a victory song.  Until next time...Jaya Ho!




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Ring of Fire

One thing you need to understand about me is that I'm a slow learner.  Many times it takes awhile before I begin to comprehend what everyone else seems to figure out fairly quickly.  For example, when I was in school it really took me a long time before I was able to even start to understand mathematics.  My poor parents struggled with me as I tried to work through addition and subtraction.  Then it got worse with multiplication and division.  I'm not sure how I made it through school enough to get a degree; I guess it was simply by the grace of God.

But math is not the only place it has taken me awhile to figure what is happening.  Even though I was raised in a church, it took me 28 years to figure out what Christianity and discipleship really mean.  My mind was so focused on myself that I was unable to see beyond what I wanted.  Even though I attended church, read the Bible (occasionally), and sang along with Christian radio, my mind did not figure out the reality of the resurrection and what it means to follow Christ.

We Methodists have a long history of that.  In fact, our father in the faith John Wesley was a slow learner.  Even though he had been raised in a family with strong ties to Christian service, he didn't seem to get it either.  When you read through his journals you can certainly see that he knew the doctrine, but he didn't live it out according to God's desire.  Methodists love to tell the story of John Wesley's faith journey and how his "heart was strangely warmed" while he attended a Bible study.  And we love to show off Father Wesley after this episode of catching on to God's way of living and doing.

When we look back at Church history, it becomes clear that the same thing has happened over and over again for 2,000 years.  After Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, he sent the promised Advocate.  His arrival was nothing short of amazing.  Here is how it happened, "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."--Acts 2:1-4

This coming Sunday we will commemorate this important part of our collective history.  After the Holy Spirit descended upon those disciples, you see them changed.  Peter, who had denied Christ, suddenly became an incredible leader among the others.  All of the disciples who had abandoned Jesus when he was crucified suddenly were able to testify who this man is and what it was that God was doing in their midst.  The danger was still imminent; the Jewish leadership were still riled up; the Roman authorities still had the ability to kill them.  And yet, here are the same men who, just a few weeks before, had fled and are now unafraid.  They are willing to die for what they know and for what they have experienced.  Why the change?

Clearly, the difference is the Holy Spirit.  He has come into their lives and has given them the authority, boldness, courage, and willingness to stand up and tell the truth in love.  He has engulfed them with the very fire of God and they are now equipped to go forth and tell the world the wonderful and amazing news of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Last week the western half of the United States witnessed an amazing natural wonder.  Many of the newscasters described it as a "ring of fire."  Here is a picture my dad took of the event last Sunday.


In the picture, you can see the moon in the middle of the sun.  The sun still shines forth from behind the moon. It makes the entire picture glow with awesome power and glory.  This is how I think of my own Pentecost experience.  Yes, my Pentecost was a ring of fire.  I can honestly say I am not the same person I was when I fell into the ring of fire.  I suppose that I continue to live there within the ring.  I like to think that I am the moon and the Holy Spirit is the sun.  Even though he is behind me, he is the one that matters.  He is the one you really notice first.  He is the one with the power, light, and strength.  Johnny Cash's song "Ring of Fire" pretty well sums up my Pentecost.  I did fall into the ring of fire.  The love of God flows through that burning ring.  I love living my life here.  This burning, fiery love fills me and it helps me to desire to follow God's will in my life, wherever that may lead me.

It seems to me that at some point, every Christian has his or her own Pentecost.  Suddenly, Scripture makes sense.  You realize that life is not worth living without a daily interaction with God.  You realize that every other relationship you have is second only to the relationship you have with the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit.  You desire to know God better and you are willing to do whatever it takes to know him.  All of that comes about because of the Holy Spirit's activity in your life.  Thanks be to God!  Until next time...

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Don't Forget...

In 1907 a wonderful ministry was begun by a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church (the forerunner of the UMC) by the name of Anna Jarvis.  She organized a special service in her home church in Grafton, West Virginia.  In that service the congregation honored her mother who had died a couple of years before.  Within a year, she began to push that all Methodist churches have a service to honor mothers.  Eventually, the idea caught on and it literally swept across the globe as countries all over the world adopted some form of a Mother's Day celebration.

Just like with many other holidays, Mother's Day can be commercialized.  Stores try to sell more stuff, greeting card companies try to guilt us into buying expensive cards, and flower shops push their wares.  But as Christians, we should rise above the hoopla and regain the true essence of the holiday.  It's really not about the gifts, cards, or flowers.  It's not even about dads trying to fix a nice meal for their wives or children coloring pictures to hang on the fridge.  It's more about saying "thank you."

To be honest with you, I didn't really learn to appreciate my own mom until my wife became a mother.  I will never forget that first night that Myranda and I spent in the hospital after our eldest child was born.  It had been a long day.  We were both exhausted.  That night, the nurses came and picked up our baby to take her back to the nursery and we quickly fell asleep.  And then it happened...at about 2:00 in the morning the phone rang.  We both sat up, bleary eyed and still out of it.  The voice at the other end said, "It's time to feed your baby."  Myranda said, "What baby?" and I thought "Who's calling us at 2:00 a.m.?"  Needless to say, we finally woke up enough for Myranda to nurse the child.  Unbeknownst to us at the time, this was just the first of many sleepless nights and confusion on what we were to be doing as parents.

For the last 13 years, I have watched my wife mother our children.  Each one is different.  Each one is special.  Each one drives us up the wall in her own way.  And each one is loved so much.  As I reflect on Myranda's mothering ability I can't help but think about God's divine love for us.  His love goes deeper than even a mother's love.  He cares for us even when we cry and throw a fit.  He watches over us even when we do really dumb things.  He continues to show us the right path to follow even when we don't listen.  Sounds a lot like a mother loving her children, doesn't it?

In 1 John 5:1 we are told "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child."  I have found this to be true in my human relationships and in my spiritual relationships.  The people who have loved me for as long as I have known them also love my girls.  The people I love their children I love too.  I guess that's what makes Christianity so amazing to me.  I love God with everything I have.  Sometimes I disappoint him.  Sometimes I fail to live up to his standards.  Sometimes I spend more time disliking others than I do trying to understand them.  But the truth is, I no longer doubt his love.  I know he loves me and I am doing everything I know to do to love his other children too.

So this week we get to honor mothers.  We get to celebrate a love that reflects the love that God has for people.  We get to give back in a small way to women who have borne us, loved us, showered us with attention, and watched us grow from needy infants to real people.  May God allow us to catch a glimpse of his love through the love of a mother for her child.  Until next time...




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Holiness of Heart and Life

The reality of the resurrection should be making a difference in the lives of the people of God.  In fact, it is clear when we read Scripture that God has an ultimate goal in mind with people.  He wants to bring their joys to completion.  He wants to bring true peace and fundamental assurance to the hearts of human beings all over the world.  His one desire is to see people come to him and to allow him to transform them into who he wants them to be.

Many times, we read about God's transforming Spirit in the writings of John.  However, the truth of salvation is sprinkled throughout Scripture, from the Old Testament all the way through the New Testament.  Infusing humanity with God's holiness and love is the point the apostolic witness we read in the epistles.  One example that has spoken volumes to me and continues to speak to me each time I read it comes from 1 Corinthians.  Paul says, "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived!  Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers--none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.  And this is what some of you used to be.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."--1 Corinthians 6:9-11

I love this statement from St. Paul!  This is what you used to be.  I certainly see my former self in that list.  However, because of the love of God, he takes something vile, evil, and dirty and cleans it up.  He washes, sanctifies, and justifies his children and turns them into something new...something clean...something that is worthy of inheriting his Kingdom.  That is what true salvation is.

After these verses, St. Paul instructs the congregation in Corinth that they are to live their new lives in accordance with God's design.  They are are reminded that they were "bought with a price" and that because of this, they should "therefore glorify God in [their] body."

Holiness is what I thirst for.  Righteousness is what I desire.  God's Spirit is active in the lives of his children and because of his love he replaces the former desires we had with a desire to serve, love, witness, and teach about what God has done and what he wants to do.

As you listen to the words of this song, allow God's holiness to wash over you and remind you that you are indeed on the road to perfection.  +May God's full salvation graciously enter into your heart as you continue to walk by faith.  Until next time...




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