Sitting Outside

I really like working in the community in which I serve. Let me be clear in what I mean. I love to once a week work remotely at a location in the community of Fort Worth. It always brings a feeling of blessing. Today I am sitting outside Central Market in Fort Worth. Each Thursday I come to a remote location from at 4:00 pm to work for awhile outside the church, but also invite students to come by if they want to hang out.

It’s a win win for me because I get to experience the beauty of God’s creation, connect with the community and connect with youth at Arlington Heights UMC.

Today as I sit outside Central Market I am reminded of the fact that Jesus did this a lot.

Rarely did Jesus stay in one place for an extended period of time, but kept connecting with people in all communities of the region he lived in at the time of his ministry. Jesus and the Disciples were constantly moving from place to place with the sole purpose of connecting people to God’s Kingdom. Not only that but Jesus would be teaching to His disciples or hundreds sometimes thousands of people of this important connection.

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time in the office, maybe I’m spending too much time there.

Maybe I need to be going from place to place connecting people like Christ did.

It’s worthy of reflection at least.  We will see where it leads me and where it leads us.

Don’t Pull A Homer

 

When I was younger and even now I was a big fan of a certain TV show, The Simpsons. The Simpsons have been on television since December of 1989, for the majority of my life. For those of you who do not know the Simpson are an interesting family. Homer and Marge Simpson are the parents and they have three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. As I have grown in age my love for the show hasn’t changed but I have. Homer is one of comedic aspects of the show, but as I have grown older this character has become somewhat of a cultural norm for us.

Homer is what the world expects of us. He is who we are comfortable being, or maybe not. I am not comfortable with my life being like Homers. So, today we are going to analyze who Homer is, where he is going, and why he is going there and through this we will see hopefully that there is a better way.

A week in the life of Homer J. Simpson is a bleak one. He drinks, a lot, goes to work which is pretty much a joke to him which is quite telling, because Homer works at a Nuclear Power Plant, where if he pushes the wrong button the whole community could have a nuclear explosion. When he is not at work he is at the Bar, Moe’s Tavern where he is drinking with his buddies, usually coming up with a terrible scheme to get more money or fame, which always ends badly.

To answer the question Homer isn’t really going anywhere and being anyone.

Hey, from our end its funny. Sort of, until this becomes our life.

Parents, how many of y’all want your kids to grow up to be a Homer? Not many of you. The most telling of this entire thing is Homer goes to church, but you wouldn’t be able to tell, because he is like many of the current state of the church. Not transformed. Just present in a pew, physically present anyway.

His life is not changed however by his presence at church because He is not really there. His being at church is not a decision on his part but one where Marge, his wife has said we are going to church. Going to church doesn’t make you a disciple just like a car just being a garage makes it a GTO. Our lives are not changed by a presence of osmosis, but by a decision, a commitment, a covenant with God.

God wants so much for us, so much more abundance and we see Christmas’ go by every year and we set New Years resolution and fail them time and time again. Jesus wasn’t bored to tears in heaven; His coming may the most intentional creation that God has done in the history of everything. He meticulously designed this great moment and has been leading to this moment and every part of this moment screams to all of creation who God really is or more importantly who He is not!

He chooses Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, Wise people from across the world and a stable to reveal Himself to the world. All will be a part of this story and in this very action God is saying all are welcome in my kingdom and in this abundant life.

Mary today is possibly the best image for what we do now. “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.”

No negotiations, no complaints, just faith and surrender. I am sure she thought of all the doubts, the concerns, and all that would happen.

Mary continues on in verse 46 by praising God:

“Mary said, “With all my heart I glorify the Lord! In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant. Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored because the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name. He shows mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors him as God. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed. He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.””

Listen to something similar from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you,
Praised for you or criticized for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
And now, O wonderful and holy God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it also be made in heaven.  Amen.

Who are you and I? We are Gods children, we are no longer slaves to fear and doubt but at our core we belong to God and He to us.

Where are we going? Where He leads us and we are going there because He is good and worthy of our trust and faith.

Don’t let this season of renewal in Christ go by without saying Yes to the life that God deeply wants for you, so much that He gave His own Son. Let us transformed from the inside out so that through us we can partner with God in transforming the world.

Don’t just exist in the life that God has for you, LIVE that LIFE with ABUNDANCE.

Amen.

 

Grandma

I wanted to share something that I wrote for my Grandmother’s memorial service. I think it clearly expresses even more what a great woman of God she is.

Hi my name is Bradley Alexander and I am one of Mary K’s grandsons. As I stand here this morning I find it difficult to honor someone that did so much for so many people. Where do you even start? Mary K or Grandma was like a connection magnet. She loved connecting. From early on in her life she was deeply connected with God and his son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and even was known to say that doing ministry to and with the least of these was a deep connection she had as well and we all have.

She was deeply passionate about her faith and living out that faith. She was actually very passionate about connecting with her family and it was always too soon when we had to depart. Definitely feeling that today. She revitalized our family reunion years ago and it has been going to decades under her leadership. Grandma always loved connecting with people, she just did. She loved being around people at church, teaching Sunday school, being with family on holidays like thanksgiving and christmas.

The deepest that Grandma gave us though was something else entirely. She connected all of us to who she saw us to be. She would always tell me when I lived with Grandma and Granddad while I attended Texas Wesleyan University that I was so capable of doing many great things, it was just about showing up and seeing yourself for who you really are. Before the Texas Rangers ever used the phrase Never Ever Quit Grandma used it frequently by the way she lived her life and loved the people in her life.

Grandma, I love you and thank you for all that you did for me and I promise that I will always seek to do what you taught me. To Love God, To Love People, Speak from the Heart always, and to speak the truth at all times even when it hurts. Even further I promise to follow the recipes as written in our family cookbook.

I love you Grandma!

Youth Specialties: YS Palooza!

Last year I went to a youth ministry training conference that was very instrumental in helping me organize and begin to empower student leaders. This year I am happy and very excited to be going back to this conference again, but this time I will be bringing along our new Director of Fusion Student Ministries, Jocelynn Stewart.

YS Palooza is two jam packed days full of youth ministry training that is organized and ran by Youth Specialities. For the last couple of years I have been beyond blessed with the resources, empowerment, and encouragement that companies like Youth Specialties give youth workers around the country.

It’s no secret that ministry as a whole can be a very overwhelming task to undertake, but one that I believe that we all are commanded to be apart of. (Check out Matthew 28:16-20) Companies like Youth Specialities, Simply Youth Ministry, YouthMinistry 360 just to name a few make this overwhelming task much more doable and even empowering to not just the students but the leaders as well. I am very much looking forward to what we will experience in worship and in our super sessions this weekend.

Here is a picture of what this weekend includes:

12:15 – Registration Opens
1:00 – Super Session (Doug Fields and Shane & Shane)
3:00 – Break
3:30 – Learning Lab – Five Burning Trends in Youth Ministry (Walt Meuller)
5:00 – Dinner
6:45 – Learning Lab – Spiritual Mentoring – Investing in Students for Long Term Impact (Brian Berry)
8:00 – Break
8:30 – Super Session (Kara Powell and Shane & Shane)
10:15 – Close

Day Two
8:30 – Coffee
9:00 – Super Session – Jim Burns & Audrey Assad
10:30 – Break
10:50 – Learning Lab – Gender: Knowing the Difference for More Effective Ministry – Crystal Kirgiss
12:10 – Lunch
2:00 – Super Session – Les Christie, Efrem Smith, and Audrey Assad
4:00 – Close

Actually that is more than a picture, that is the entire two day schedule. I share the complete schedule with because I am asking that you pray for everyone that is coming and all the leading of this great training and fellowship experience. Last year I developed some friendships at YS Palooza that I am sure will be life-long friends.

In Youth Ministry there is a statistic that is share that I think we always need to keep in mind.

98% of youth will deny their faith when they go to college and they will come back to that faith only when they have kids later in life, that’s if they come to it.

I don’t share this stat to scare anyone but to remind us that we have a responsibility of passing on our faith to future generations. This weekend could be instrumental in giving youth pastors across the dallas fort worth region the tools we need to develop and empower student leaders for the future of the Kingdom of God. So please keep this event in your thoughts and prayers. I give you the times because I want to completely envelope this entire weekend in prayer, I want it to be bathed in prayer. I will be sharing more about what happens throughout the weekend so stay tuned!

Thanks and God Bless!

My Prayer for Always

The Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.