Voices

We heard from our son, Joel, today. He called us on Thanksgiving all the way from Liverpool, England. Homesick and missing his family he was able to speak to us and share a few moments together. It was so rich and rewarding that he purchased a phone card and called again on Saturday for a longer, more extensive call. It was heartwarming and rich to speak to him.
As I write this blog I am very conscious of the fact that the written word cannot replace the warmth and joy of the spoken word. Today in my sermon I used the illustration of Helen Keller who was once asked if she could recover only one of the senses she had lost (speech, hearing, and sight) which one would she choose. She replied that she would want to hear because it is so lonely in here. I believe that hearing the voice of someone you love is a joy beyond measure. I know to have spent the week with one of my sons and to hear from the other across "the pond" was an exciting week (I called my other son, Doug, but we have not made contact yet). Nothing can replace the excitement of hearing someone's voice.
In the Bible we have the written Word of God. It is a priceless gift from God. Yet, there is an even more priceless gift He gives us - He makes the written Word come alive when He speaks it into us. To hear His voice and to know His will for my life is to hear the Living Word of God. All of scripture cries out to us to hear the Word of the Lord. We dare not go through our spiritual lives without hearing His Voice. Nothing can replace that joy.

Thanksgiving

Today part of our family arrived. I have three sons who live in three different places. My oldest son and his wife live in NE Ohio and my youngest son and his wife are living in Liverpool, England for the year while they do graduate work. But today, my son Jonathan and his "wife" Maria came in for the week. They had flown into LA and spent two days with her folks and then her Mom, Dad, and brother brought them up to Fresno and we will share the holiday week together (although Maria's family will go back tomorrow).
I find that it is far more fulfilling to be with family than for Joanie and I to be by ourselves. Don't misunderstand, Joanie and I are very much in love and we love being "empty nesters". What we don't like is being alone. Ministry can be a very lonely experience. I don't mind being alone and enjoy the idea of solitude very much. I don't like being alone when it feels lonely - and both ministry in general and the lifestyle of California work against spending large amounts of time with others. Growing up in an atmosphere where visiting and fellowshiping together were normal occurrences, it has been hard since the boys left home to get used to not having people around the house. We are both very social creatures and enjoy the sharing of ourselves with others.
If I had one desire in my life at this point it would be to find myself in a social setting with others where being pastor was not an issue or a prerequisite. I don't mean to equate myself with Jesus, but I do have an inkling as to what he felt like at times. The crowds crush in for an official word and you seek solitude. Then you have a desire to spend time with others and they don't have time to share. It can be a lonely existence. Thanksgiving will be a special time because the loneliness will be gone and the ability to share together will be at the forefront. I am very thankful for that privilege. Amen.

Back to the Future

Life is full of difficulties. Some are real and some are imagined. Some are big and some are shadows that make you think they are bigger than they really are. Like a shadow they get smaller the closer they are to the light. Some like living in the shadows - making mountains out of molehills. I do not. I accept the reality that there are difficulties and that difficult situations need resolution. I just don't want to spend my life putting out smoldering piles of leaves when there really are houses on fire. Know what I mean?
Why do people like problems? Difficulties? Discontentment? I have never really, fully understood why people like reveling in the dusk and dredging up those things that try to drag themselves and everyone around them back to what used to be or to difficulties that are in the past. But they do. You will pardon me if I choose not to go in that direction. I was always fascinated by the movie title, "Back to the Future". The premise seemed to be that if we could go back to a pivotal moment in our past, we could change the outcome of the present and, by acclimation, the future. It was a great movie (series of movies) that I enjoyed immensely. But it was a movie. It was fantasy. You can't go back and you can't change the future by living in the past. We must go forward. For us it is "Forward to the Future" and not "Back to the Future". God, help us not to get stuck in the loop of a past that cannot be changed by dwelling on it. Amen.

Praise Gathering

I am spending the week in Indy at Praise Gathering. Three days of Ministry Council meetings and two days of Praise Gathering makes a full week. It has been great to see Maria and Jonathan - they were out in California last week to visit with her family as her Dad was installed as the pastor of the Church of God in Long Beach, Ca. She is doing well but cannot return back to work for another week. Her sternum has to heal before she can return to the Coronary ICU unit. They will continue to struggle financially for quite a while. Anyone who would like to assist them in paying doctors bills, hospital bills, regular bills while Maria is out of work, etc., please let me know! Jonathan is doing well and continuing with his graduate education. They are both still in love and planning a wedding for the spring-summer time.
Last night I spent 3+ hours in a concert at Praise Gathering. Talk about diversity! From Randy Travis to the Katinas to Steven Curtis Chapman. Wow. I am continuing to learn that style of music is not commensurate with the act of worship. I am not a country western music fan but loved listening to the Isaacs blue grass and Randy Travis' music. Message means more to me than anything else and they all had a great message. I am not sure that it is even appropriate for a Christian to worry about the packaging of the message - I think it is only appropriate to evaluate the quality and truth of the message. The packaging always changes but the message does not. I remember the disciples telling Jesus that they stopped someone who was healing in the name of Jesus because they didn't know him. Jesus rebuked them because he was not concerned about the packaging but he was concerned with the message. We do not all praise God the same way. So what? We do not all hear the same way. So what? Let's concern ourselves with message, substance, and truth and not volume, style or beat. It will change the mood of the church and help us to live out the call of God.