Going Deep

Friends- I am "Going Deep" and starting a daily and weekly blog under Five Minute Ministries. Please find me and like us on facebook! www.facebook.com/fiveminuteministries
Look for daily encouragement & devotions, as well as a weekly message. God Bless!

Surviving Christmas in Pain

Surviving Christmas in Pain

I am blessed to have a wife whose Christmas spirit is so bright that it literally lights up the neighborhood. She is one of those who really get into it-really dedicating herself to all that is Christmas. This year, for the first year in a long time, I am excited about joining her. I feel the spirit of Christmas awakening in my body. For the first time in a long time I anticipate the reliving of the birth of our savior, the joyful lights, the smell of pine. Could it really be that this year I say "Merry Christmas to all!"- instead of just "to all a good night!"? 

For many- Christmas can be a negative time. A sad, depressing period when everyone else in the world seems happier than you. When everyone around you exhibits a sense of cheer that you can't pretend to have. Lights? Tacky. Gifts? A Waste of Money. Manger Story? Cliche. Depression and anxiety can be exacerbated by the realization of all, what, and who you don't in this life. So how do you survive? How do you get by without stringing up those joy-loving nuts by their lights? Here are four simple steps that will help to pull you from your slump and get you sitting on the pine tree stump: 

1.) Focus Inward and Upward. 

This season, make it your Christmas mission to take care of yourself and your relationship with God. In addition to focusing on daily or regular physical exercise and good eating- flex your spiritual muscles by praying and getting into God's word. Especially if you don't feel like it. Feeling bad? Focus on the book of Job. And we think we have problems?! 

2.) Get out- Help Out. 

It's easy to draw the shades and call it quits- especially when its dark outside at four thirty. Make a commitment to help others in need. Whether your shopping for donations or serving in the soup kitchen- a sincere and  heartfelt thank-you is sure to lift anyone's spirit. 

3.) Keep it Simple. 

Christmas is the time of year when schedules can spin out of control. Intentional or unintentional- we often overdo it. You aren't the Grinch for blowing off the Christmas pageant. Making time for down time should be one of your top priorities. 

4.) Repay Evil with Good.

This one is for the person having anxiety over that "special somebody" coming to visit this holiday. Repaying evil with good is a given any time of the year- but it's time to put that skill into overdrive. Not only can failing at this skill flunk your holiday- it can stretch the pain into months or even years to come. Tip: practice some "nice rebuttals" or simply an exit strategy before your event. 

Keep your head up- and don't give up. Avoid loneliness and self-loathing. If times are really tough- team up. An accountability partner can be your saving grace. Before you know it, spring will be upon us again! 

Confessions of a Hypocrite

There was once a time in my life, when people who were close to me called me a prophet. A time when I felt so unimaginably close to God that during a tightly-clinched eyed prayer, I was physically unable to open my eyes for fear that He would be standing in front of me when I did. A time when I could literally feel the weight of sin. It was during this period of my life when I could meet strangers and end up crying with them as they told me their stories. When on more than one account, people whom I didn't know came up to me and said that I was so vibrant and alive that it was noticeable. It was after I first accepted Jesus into my heart and I was free in every sense of the word.

Not everyone has had this experience. In fact, I can imagine that many people would even say that it sounds crazy. I was a person who felt that such a thing is impossible. Until God opened himself up to me in a way that was the greatest and truest gift I'd ever received. However, it was a gift that was abused and squandered.

I write to confess today that I wasted this gift- throwing it away- by letting my desires, personal interests and self-serving attitude rule my life. Little by little I gave it away. And then I lived a long period of my life when I became separated from God. Resented Him even. Yet during all of this time I cherished the gift I threw away.

I am in a position in my life now where I have come back to Him. Where things have aligned in such a way as to allow me to pursue that gift and try to pick up the pieces. I learn more about the plan God has for my life every day. I am trying to align my life with His plan, but because of the foolish decisions I have made in the past it is strenuous and taking a long time. God has already abundantly blessed me and the path I am on now. And I thank Him every day for that.

I am a hypocrite- I've lived my life the way I thought was right and watched it fall into destruction over and over again. Then I blamed God for the disaster I brought upon myself. Only now have I really dedicated myself to living rightly. And I pray that one day I will once again feel the way I felt in those days.

This season of lent, as I go deep spiritually and in my practices, I challenge you to take the honest look at yourself and your decisions. And ask yourself, How can I deepen my spiritual walk, so that I can become close to God and learn the path he wishes that I take?

Peace and Love be with you all.

Going Deep- Part 2- Clarity

            

Part 2- Clarity

If you have or had children- chances are you, at one point, made the attempt to make goldfish your child’s pet. You get them because you believe that it will be easier than dog or cat or a bearded dragon. For most of us, it never works out- We probably flush more fish than we feed. Personally- we are on first name basis with the pet shop owner just down the street from the house. Maybe some of you have gotten the fish tank down- and if you have- chances are that you have been bombarded with questions from everyone else like me clueless about it. Through the last few years and dozens of fish later I can tell you that the toughest thing about managing a fish tank is the clarity.  It can be cloudy. It gets gunky. Algae build up, whitish hairs gather on rocks and of course there is the poop. Any number of things affecting the quality of the water and the life of fish themselves.

                Life is much the same, just like the fish tank.  Our lives can become cluttered, dirty, gunked up or overcrowded. And just like the fish tank, we think up all these things to help it. Whether its self-help, pills, cleansers or attempts to dump everything out and start over, we treat our lives like the fish tank. And in this metaphor, we are the fish. So think about how they usually turn out.

                Last time I challenged everyone to “go deep” with an area of their lives. Whether it was a person, a thing or a ministry, the challenge was to take it the one person or thing on your heart and run with it. How do we do that when we are having difficulties managing our own tanks? The answer is the filter. The best way we can manage the clarity in our tanks by having the best filter possible. For us Christians- this filter is Jesus Christ, his word and the church (the Christian community). By doing this, we can approach life with the power to make change, the love to overflow to others, and the spiritual clarity we need to understand the direction God wants us to go. This is accomplished by reading his word. This is accomplished by praying and meaning it. This is accomplished by joining small groups, where you can build strong relationships with other people who will help you and encourage you. Who will even hold you accountable when you need it. Getting and maintaining clarity in your spiritual life is essential. Galatians 5:22-23 says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. If we want a life full of this- we need to update or replace our filter with one that’s direction comes from God.

Going Deep- The Beginning

Going Deep: Lets start today with talking about Paul and Barnabus. For those of you that may not know, let me give you a quick history- Paul (who was named Saul) was a religious leader of Jesus’ time that really hated these followers of Jesus- not just disliked them- He was the one basically leading the charge to hunt down and kill/injure or destroy anyone who even thought about following Jesus- so needless to say was not a very popular guy among the followers. God ends up reaching through to Saul and he ends up becoming a Christian himself. Its really an amazing story and I want to encourage you to read it. 

So Saul converts/becomes Paul and goes off to Arabia for three years and then comes back and wants to join the disciples in building churches. So when Paul comes back to Jerusalem- the early Christians want nothing to do with him. The scripture says that the people could only remember what he did to them. You  could imagine people saying: Saul- the guy who hunted us? The guy who imprisoned my brother? Who beat my mother and sisters? You cant be talking about that guy! You must not know about HIM. He is the worst of the worst! There’s no hope for a guy like that! There’s people like that around us aren’t there? The people who it seems everyone has just given up on. People that everyone seem to talk negatively about- People that have made choices in their lives that seem unforgivable. I see them. And in my job I work with them. 

Enter Barnabas. In my opinion a man that receives less credit than he deserves. Barnabas sees something in Saul. And when everyone else has given up on Saul/ has discredited him (in fact some wanted to kill him) Barnabas takes him in as his student. Sticks up for him even. Barnabas risks his own reputation and probably his own life. And subsequently they become friends. Barnabas mentors him, and builds him up, leads him. And what happens? A little later in the book of Acts we see a little shift.

After years of mentoring, after years of teaching, after years of leading him hand in hand through trials and hardships- the student became the teacher. And what a payout! Paul goes on to plant churches everywhere- and takes the gospel of Jesus worldwide. Thousands became Christians through Paul in his time and BILLIONS have become Christians through Paul since, as he was the writer of the majority of the New Testament! Barnabas, through his discipleship, through his love, fostered a relationship that subsequently changed the entire world. 

You may or may not know, but our United Methodist Conference, and some surrounding conferences have recently undergone an “audit” of sorts- a consultation that evaluated all the ministries that the “church” offers, and the effectiveness of those ministries. What was discovered? Well like you might imagine, we do a lot. The Upper New York Conference of churches has a list of active ministries so long that I wouldn’t have the time to list them today. And that’s incredible. It’s a testament to the passion we have as a people to serve others. But what was also discovered is that there aren’t many ministries that we are doing effectively. And that’s the part that makes me sad. Because the heart is there. Its just that we are trying to do sooo much- that we aren’t doing anything really well. On top of this- church numbers continue to dwindle. 

So whats the answer? It may even sound good to you. And it’s the title of today’s message. We need to go deeper. Instead of doing a lot of everything- we need to do less and do it better. Instead of scratching the surface with people- we need to reach out to them and go deep with them. Mentor them. Be there for them. To literally be Christ to them. It’s by doing this that we create disciples. 

After all, and forgive me for thinking of things thematically (which is how they train us social workers) this is how Jesus did it. He didn’t just call the disciples- he built them. Years of his ministry and energy, was poured into them. So that they could take the message of Love, and carry it throughout the world.