Go West, Old Man!

The year 2008 brought dramatic change for Helen and me. A year ago right NOW our house on the Cape was for sale, but we had little hope of selling as the market had begun flooding with foreclosures, the Cape prices falling ahead of the general market it seemed.

I was serving on staff in a Methodist church that showered us with love and provided plenty of opportunity to minister.

Then in rapid succession I went to the hospital with a fast infection that refused to be knocked down with the strongest IV antibiotics. In and out again and finally diagnosed (after bone marrow examination) with CML, a serious form of leukemia. Then our oncologist (or person in his office) located a foundation which underwrites the really expensive co-payment for a 'miracle' drug which does not cure, but keeps the production of cancer cells from happening; side effects are a bother but manageable-- then offer to buy-- at $100,000 LESS than what we were assessed taxes for-- decision to go for it--

...then Mark and Joy and Steve and Sharon along with Ben and Russ and Russ IV climaxed the packing of 18+ years of accumulation into a PODS unit-- after we had FILLED a large dumpster with stuff-- some semi-precious but only to us-- years worth of notebooks, etc-- gave away boxes of books . . . drove to oHIo and lived with Sharon and Steve for two or three months. They had set up our own bed and very comfortable quarters.

We began looking for permanent housing solution . . . ended up in a condo that seems near perfect for us. Were able to pay cash, andf anticipate that the monthly condo fee will be manageable- no snow to shovel or grass to mow. Found doctors. Found library. Found swimming pool (Helen's therapy!) Have NOT found church home- (have Bible, will travel!)

We've had several things published this very year, and submitted a book October 31 (on deadline) that was written (finished) in the midst of all this change. I do feel useless at times, but that ultimately, is the problem of my Owner. He has taken good care of us, and we are profoundly grateful.

It is a cliche I suppose that growing old is for the brave.But we (Helen and I--this is her 76th Birthday TODAY) are looking forward to the new year with anticipation of bearing fruit even when we finally get old! (John `5:8) And we are even claiming the promise that not only will the Lord not forsake us but that even in this economic stress our children will not be begging bread (Psalm 37:25).

Happy New Year! Godf bless you!

"Ding-Dong" and "ding-ding"

Two old laymen met at the back fence by chance, a deacon from one church and a trustee from another- solid pillars in their respective churches. It was in character for them to talk about their churches which they loved.
"How was church yesterday?" one asked. With a faint sigh the answer was, "I'm afraid the same old 'ding-dong. ding-dong.'" "You're fortunate," said the first. "All we get is 'ding-ding, ding-ding.'"
Of course that was years ago. Maybe today the conversation might be "DING-DONG"' and "ding-ding" due to electronic amplification.

Anyway-- in sermons and services-- there is no substitute for clear notes, beautiful melody, varying dynamics, and humble but sincere presentation. The unpardonable sin in worship is human manipulation, or making what should be the most exquisite joy humans can know a matter of performance or excitement instead of openness to divine invasion.

Reading Habits

How do you read the Bible? I'm not preaching now- just interested in how to do a better job myself . (I wish I knew how to maneuver this type/format!). .

Helen and I read the lectionary passages together each morning-- the scriptures leading up to the next Sunday's Gospel -- then we pray together. It is the best part of the day for us both.

Then I use a One Year Bible, the NKJV version, but do not always get all the passages each day-- and often 'catch up' --always Psalms, NT and OT. This time of year --the end-- comes Revelation. There is a promise at the beginning I take literally: " Blessed are those who read these words and those who hear" But that does not mean I understand all the symbolism, or even believe I am supposed to understand-- still there are some portions that are amazingly understandable: the promises, warnings, and blessings in the first three chapters-- what Jesus says to the seven churches.

What Made Them Follow?

...a recent assignment has me looking particularly at the way Jesus was a leader, how he inspired peopke to follow him. What would make fishermen lay down their nets and walk away from the family business.. or what went through the mind of a tax collector to push back from his collection table.. or, for that matter, what persuaded YOU (and me) to follow this One whom we have never seen but whom we love and serve? What is the Motivation that persuades us to put our present mortal existence on the course we have taken, to seek a Kingdom of Promise in preference to values that are so important to so many other people? How has Jesus persuaded us?

Whatever the reasons for starting out with Jesus might be I am persuaded- (or as Reuben used to say 'I think I think')- I am being persuaded that somehow I am tenderly loved. The way Jesus leads us is by persuading us that we can trust him- that his way is the good way, the right way, and that he himself will go before us- that is what leading means- and at the same time he will be with us- and by his Holy Spirit- he even will be IN us. I think it is dawning on me that this is why I follow.

I think this might have been what Peter was thinking when he said to Jesus "Lord, we have left everything to follow you!" I don't think he was complaining, or even doubting, but just stating a fact and sort of looking for the reassurance. It came.

So by the grace of God I intend to keep following. Faith to follow is a gift, a precious gift. I ask for it even as I use it up. Lord, we have followed you-- maybe imperfectly, but without reservation or turning back. Lead on. Let us be with You and it is enough...

New Home

It has been more than a month since my last blog entry - September 5 to November 11- and what a lot has transpired!
Helen and I are now in a 'new' home, a beautiful condo in Mount Vernon. We were guests at our home church in Wollaston last month for a mortgage burning, and saw a lot of people we have loved across the years. We have met new and old friends here in Mount Vernon. God is good to us.
We've heard from people we haven't seen in years- and from people we miss a lot because of blessed ties in recent years. I miss having communion each Sunday. I've been trying to keep up in my writing; I hit one deadline (November 1) a week or so ago and am trying to make another on (Jan 1) for an article on the leadership of Jesus. I'm grateful for the assignments because I haven't had a chance to plug in here-- haven't preached in weeks!
Anyway-- if you stumble across this blog "hello!" and say a prayer for us-- and if we can pray for you let us know.
I'll try to get back into sharing ideas . . . as they come . . .

Russ

Ohio Update

Nearly three weeks now since we landed . . . new doctor, new bank, new driver licenses, new Ohio car plates, new library card, new voter registration . . . and at times it still seems unreal that we are here.

We have visited and worshiped in three different churches, and feel the need for a worship-family-church-home. We have looked at multiple condos, houses, and considered building plans- and don't mean to be finicky, but nothing has fallen into place just yet- we're comfortable ensconced at Stephen and Sharon's beautiful "shire" . . .but God has been so Present in our journey that I am confident He will guide us. Your prayer would be very much appreciated.

In it all I really want to be John 15:8-type-fruitful-- MUCH fruit! Helen and I have more to give! Abraham started out westward when he was 75. He rode around the Fertile Crescent to the Promised Land in a camel caravan. We started west in a Toyota Camry at 77 and 75. Ohio may not be the Holy Land but there are similarities in our journeys. We belong to the very same glorious and blessed God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit- that watched over Abraham's tent wherever he pitched it. He knows exactly where we are right now. And while we are waiting for a house to call our own, we have each other, we are loved by family, we are in God's family-- and we ARE at home!

Step-by-Step

'We cannot see what lies before.
And so we cling to Him the more...'
a snatch of rhyme from an old quartet song we used to sing almost every night, was it more than 56 years ago? Anyway that's the way it works ...

and you know what?

It worked for Abraham . . . and it is the only way to go. God is faithful...

Bob K

This morning I got a notre from a friend I haven't heard from for years . . . I'm staying with my Son Steve in Ohio with whom I shared the brief e-mail comment on "Promises Promises". He told me to tell Bob K that he remembers hium and always thinks of Feb 2 as "Bob K.." Day. I recall how you were in our home often and alway welcome. We'd love to get in touch-- if you can.. Our sons thought o you as family...Bless you,
Russell Metcalfe

OHIO DESTINATION

It was exactly this time of year in 1962 that Helen and I, along with John, Stephen, Mark, and Russell, left Atwater, Ohio, to sojourn in the East. Yesterday Helen and I left Pepperell, Massachusetts, and turned westward to return to Ohio-- exactly 46 years later. We arrived in Mount Vernon last night to find our bed set up in a lovely room that is more like a hotel suite, where I'm sitting in a window overlooking a bird/flower garden.

Later today we will begin to 'thaw' and I'm sure we'll take a bit of time to adjust-- after all we're a little bit older than Abraham and Sarah were when they moved a few hundred miles to their west. But God has been in this move- we're 'homeless'- but not really at all-- not even for one day!

Mark set up a facebook thing for me- which I don't pretend to understand yet but already quite a few old (and young) friends have joined. I'll try to close this saga out soon on this blog and get back to pontificating, but today I am simply grateful to Almighty God for His goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men..and all the rest from Psalm 107! Bless you, too!

Russ

D-DAY!

I'm writing this in the Falmouth Toyota waiting room, about 8:01 a.m. where I am waiting for my car to have a new water pump installed. Helen is at Barbara and Jane's house where we stayed last night-- our last night in Falmouth. The house on Norris Path is cleaned out and ready for the new owner; we are scheduled to pass papers in Barnstable at 2 p.m. and then we are officially "homeless." We're hoping to drive four or five hours westward this afternoon on the way to Mount Vernon.

We've had the house in Falmouth 18 years- the last nine full time since our 'retirement' and we have been blessed with the privilege of keeping pretty busy for the Lord. And I certainly hope we're not finished yet!

Thanks for your prayers-- let us know how we can pray for you! Stay tuned-- we'll be right back, Lord willing!

Russ

TWO MORE DAYS!

...the PODS unit goes out of here Thursday! Yow!

Yesterday out of the blue Donald W. MacNeal and his wife Ruth Ann, from Pennsyklvania, dropped by for a brief visit (welcome!) and prayer on the back deck. They have been in their church just west of Pittsburgh (New Brighton ?) for 28 years! Faithful and good-- and a blessing to have them stop by.

Today Mark and Joy from Pepperell and Steve and Sharon from Mount Vernon are converging on us to finish packing and clean up. If you read this pray for us all--

and God bless you, too!

Russ

COUNTDOWN CONTINUES...

Yesterday we drove to Wollaston for their 8:30 service and a "goodbye" on our part- afterward we had breakfast at Cliff and Sue Hersey's. I remember my first worship services at Wollaston in the old Gymnorium as a freshman student in 1949, and the building of the basement church during that first freshman year. I led the singing Sunday evenings- many times-- it became a paid job before I left ENC- and I recall coming back to that basement as pastor in July, 1977. I recall the building of the current structure in 1980-- the dedication-- then 22 years went by and our 'retirement' in 1999-- a little plaque I could put on the wall that says I am "Pastor Emeritus"- although -- anyway-- God bless Wollaston Church of the Nazarene!

Now== off to Ohio-- if we can just get this house cleaned out by Thursday!!! Help!!

God is GOOD!

MORE OLD FRIENDS DROP BY . .

Today our guests were Jim and Marilyn Stark, now residents of North Carolina, but old Wollaston members-- I was their pastor more than 20 years... we had a wonderful time on the deck-- reminiscing, and laughing and praising the Lord for His faithfulness. Yesterday David and Ruth Trauffer, from West Virginia- great old memories . . .

...the PODS unit is getting loaded box by box and the countdown continues... we are due to have it removed next Thursday-- we are scheduled to pass papers Friday and, Lord willing, a week from today we will be "homeless" -- either at Mark's in Pepperell, or, more likely, in Ohio.

God is good!

MOVING MEMO

Yesterday a PODS unit was delivered, caty-cornered (sp?) across our front lawn-- 8 x 16 feet- and today we begin loading: piano, heavy furniture and boxes boxes boxes . . .it dawns that we really are leaving Cape Cod.

It has been a good ride here- God has been so good to us- we've had a place to serve and people to love- and they have loved us more than we can tell you in return. The John Wesley United Methodist C hurch here in Falmouth is one of a kind!

These last few days it seem that God has been sending in old friends and words from the past-- sometimes more than 40 years past-- just now David Trauffer is coming up the front steps so I'll finish this later ., . .

much later as iut turned out. We had a nice visit, David, Ruth, Helen and I out on the deck..hadn't seen Dr David Trauffer in years; he was speaking at Camp Taconic last week.

He was interrupted by the crew we had hired to move the piano and heavy furniture to the PODS unit out front.. and a lady from the (Methodist) church that came to help Helen pack the kitchen cabinet contents into boxes-- we're "camping" in our lovely Cape house for the last few days.

God is good!

PROMISES, PROMISES . . .

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I AM thy God; I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.

That's in King James language, which is how I first "discovered" it on September 2, 1949-- my first day away from home--on my way to college in Massachusetts from Ohio. It was 'alive' for me that night in a tourist cabin in upstate New York, half way on our journey. It was as if God was letting me know he knew where I was even if I did not-- and I literally did not.

Isaiah 49:2,3 "I will go before you and make the crooked placed straight; I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut asunder the bars of iron; I will give you the treasures of darkness..." quoting from memory doesn't sound quite right-- but that was what gave me courage to move to New Jersey from Ohio in August, 1962, after seven years on the old Akron district Church of the Nazarene.

And you know, God has made a way for us-- these 46 years in the east.

I won't give you all the promises in between-- but now we are headed west again-- from the Cape to Ohio. When I retired from Wollaston nine years ago I got "You shall go our with joy, and be led forth withe peace." and I should look up that reference because I know it but my forgetter is working-- it is true and you can look it up yourself . . .

Now we need a promise to take us back to the heartland . . . "My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest!" That will do!

As thy day..so thy strength . . .

. . . and do I ever need that promise these days. My prayer for several weeks has been each day "Lord, help me through this day!" And you know, He has!

Helen and I are moving and that in itself is a stress producer.

But we have a grandson living with us who is potentially homeless once we leave.

We have the gatherings of 33 years in Massachusetts and 50+ years of pastoral and personal correspondence. Anybody want some personal notes handwritten by Bertha Munro? We've pitched out, tossed away-- better us than some poor folk who would have to bring shovels...

So-- in spite of it all-- this our adventure. I'm only two years older than Abram was when he left Haran to go-- westward-- as the Lord led him.

A Call to Adventure

Helen and I are leaving Massachusetts next month-- after thirty-three years here in the One Party State and after 46 years total in the 'Liberal East', the other thirteen years being spent in
the metro NYC area. We love the Cape and have lots of dear friends here in the East. But there are compelling reasons. Three of our sons live in Massachusetts and it grieves us to move far from them. We're moving in an attempt to be as self sufficient as possible in our later years while at the same time being nearer to family than we are now in terms of daily contact as necessary or possible.

We're heading back to Ohio, the land of Helen's birth, and where we met and were married 54 years ago. Married, that is-- we met eight years earlier...in Akron. We're moving to the Mt Vernon area. It is an adventure, and at our age we haven't got too many more adventures in us.

There's surely things left for us to do . . .

My Ecclesiology

Ephesians 4
CELEBRATE THE CHURCH!
Just about 70 years ago a young Lutheran evangelical pastor began a sermon with words something like this (translated, of course:)
"There is a word that, when a Catholic hears it, kindles all his feelings of love and bliss; that stirs all the depths of his religious sensibility, from dread and awe of the Last Judgment to the sweetness of God's presence; and that certainly awakens in him the feeling of home; the feeling that only a child has in relation to its mother, made up of gratitude, reverence, and devoted love . . .
"And there is a word that to Protestants has the sound of something infinitely commonplace, more or less indifferent and superfluous, that does not make their heart beat faster; something with which a sense of boredom is so often associated. . . .
"And yet our fate is sealed, if we are unable again to attach a new, or perhaps a very old meaning to it. Woe to us if that word does not become important to us soon again. . . . Yes, the word to which I am referring is church."[1]
What comes to your mind first of all when you hear that "c" word? Is it a warm fuzzy? Or is it boredom or something completely different? An honest answer here might give more insight into yourself than into your definition of "church"! The word "church" means different things, perhaps, to different people at different times. Often people come into this sanctuary and say, "What a beautiful church you have!" I always smile and say, "Yes. This building is beautiful, too." We all know that first of all somehow the church is people. The Bible tells us the church is composed of people to whom God has given eternal life and called his own.
This chapter (Ephesians 4) is a Golden Chapter of the Bible. It is a rich description of the church as the body of Christ on earth. It is also a practical prescription for being and becoming an integral part of that body. I commend it to your study and meditation at least for some portion of this summer's reading.
From this chapter are derived the basic doctrines of the church. Although there is great diversity in expression and interpretation, all orthodox Christendom, from Roman Catholic to Anabaptist, from Eastern Rite to Pentecostal, from Calvinist to Wesleyan-Arminian-- all of Christendom agree that the marks of the church are four. (Learn them well!) The church is one, holy, catholic, apostolic.
Other working definitions help give insight. Luther said the church is 'where the gospel is preached and the sacraments duly administered.' Wesley would agree. My own humble thought is that the church is wherever God meets his assembled people who have come to worship Him. (Store fronts, cathedrals, house churches, underground meetings . . .) But at the risk of making the pulpit sound like a lecture podium, it might be profitable to think briefly on the four marks of the church.
The church is ONE. There are many manifestations, many denominations. Many of them claim to be the one true church. But the scripture makes it clear that there is only one God, one Lord, and all who call Jesus Lord are members of the one church. No true reformer ever started a new church, nor intended to start a new church. No denomination is the true church. No human institution can make that holy claim. Timothy George speaks well when he says that all too often we evangelicals "have sinned against the body of Christ by confusing loyalty to the truth with party spirit, and kingdom advancement with self-promotion."
The church is HOLY. Of course only God Himself is holy in an underived and absolute sense. And of course the church is made up of imperfect and even sinful human beings like you and me. But we are called to live holy lives, that is-- lives dedicated to obedience of God's will. And one powerful definition of holy is "that which belongs to a holy God." The true church belongs to God, and it is HIS!
The church is CATHOLIC. Many contemporary evangelical fellowships have abandoned the word "catholic" and have even altered the traditional wording of the creeds so they don't have to say the word. But that does not change the fact: if we belong to Christ's church we are catholic. The church is world-wide. It fits the cultures, it reaches humanity wherever it goes. We worry about being confused with Roman Catholics. But in a sense Roman modifies Catholic and is to that extent less than truly universal. Don't be afraid of the word. Christ's church is world-wide. It is catholic.
The church is APOSTOLIC. "Built on the foundation of the apostles" (Eph 2:20) Some branches of denominations take this to mean an unbroken line of authority handed down from the apostles, particularly Peter, the first church leader. But there are serious problems with this definition. No one could be absolutely sure the line is pure and unbroken. And it is NOT this succession that gives the church its vitality. For apostolic refers to the same pure foundation of a gospel which was delivered by the Risen Lord to his disciples. By the power of the living Spirit we have the assurance that that same message is alive and well in the church today!
These marks of the church lift our perspective of what the church really IS from the partial and often imperfect impressions we may receive in our own spiritual journey. Wherever we begin our walk with God we have come by way of some expression of the church. We think "THIS is the church!" And it IS! But that expression may well be incomplete and even inconsistent. But it is the Spirit-- Christ's Spirit-- that validates our experience, and helps us build our understanding of how rich the church really is.
What was your experience of the church when you found Christ? Where did you begin? As a boy of six or seven, my parents landed in a city church not far from the factories of north Lansing, Michigan. It was a plain tabernacle of a building. The aisles had hard rubber runners instead of carpets. Most of the members were "blue collar", although there was a sprinkling of all kinds of people. But they were all fiercely serious about their faith. It had old theatre seats with arms that sometimes came off and when you turned them over they looked sort of like a boat and you could play with them while service was going on and on and on.
I know that often the sermons were extreme, and I often went home frightened that something terrible might happen, I wasn't sure just what. But I also know that the gospel was proclaimed, and I know that there were people in that fellowship that absolutely knew Jesus! They had His love radiating in their lives. They were the ones that helped reach me, not the fear, nor even the facts-- but the love. Not the distinctive doctrines, now, either-- but the Person of the Risen Lord.
I was eight years old when I joined that tabernacle church. I knew what I was doing-- and yet I couldn't know ALL that it meant that day. I do recall many times thinking as a boy of ten or twelve when I would hear what had to be the finger of suspicion pointed at other Christian churches-- how could it be that out of all this big world we Nazarenes have the very corner on truth! I knew my aunts and uncles knew Jesus, too. And some of them were Methodists and some were Baptists. I don't think I knew any Catholics. But the seeds were already there to believe that Christ's church is not some little sectarian group somewhere.
Our salvation is not based first of all on what we know, or even the purity of our understanding, but rather on Who we trust Before the doctrine comes the convicting, converting Spirit. After the doctrine, again, the Spirit! Keen observation by Rob Staples in latest "Herald of Holiness":
"In Fundamentalism knowledge is the foundation, and salvation is the superstructure. In Wesleyanism, the opposite is the case- salvation is the foundation and knowledge is the superstructure." Once our hearts have been warmed by his assurance, then we can, as Peter says,
"Add to your faith-- virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and agape love or charity!"(2 Peter 1:5-8) This Golden Chapter closes, not with a doctrinal lesson of profound truth about the church, but with some absolutely essential steps to making our local fellowship a living, vital part of the one, holy, catholic apostolic church to which we already belong. You might say that Paul could paraphrase President Kennedy's famous Inaugural challenge by saying:
"Ask NOT what your church can be doing for you! Ask what YOU can be doing for Christ's church!"
NO UNWHOLESOME WORDS BE SENSITIVE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT (Don't grieve Him! By dividing the church!) KINDNESS! Ephesians 4:32 TRY TO BE LIKE FATHER GOD! We're his dear children! PUT ON CHARITY! Place the center outside yourself!
Conclusion
What comes to your mind first of all when you hear that "c" word? Is it a warm fuzzy? Or is it boredom or something completely different?
[Bishop Michael Baughan spoke here several years ago. He told of 300 churches in the See of Chester, England, which are under his care, that use the same form or liturgy. But Bishop Baughan said that as he went from one church to the next, on church would "worship" and another would simply go through a form. The difference was the evident Presence of the Living Word among those worshiping.]
Prayer - Lord Jesus Christ, whose very name has been given to us to make us your church, open our eyes and help us to see You, and help us to love You better, to the glory of God the Father, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God high and holy, world without end. Amen.

AT HOME WITH GOD

AT HOME WITH GOD

John 14:23

When I was a little boy my parents were song evangelists. We literally lived out of suitcases, on the road at least 36 weeks a year. Our "home" was simply the address of an aunt and uncle in Lansing, Michigan.
I guess I didn't think of traveling all the time as strange because it was the only life I knew. I think I felt sorry for other kids who didn't get to see new things all the time. But at the same time I looked with great longing at houses, homes, permanent places to live. How I looked forward to coming back to Lansing to be with aunts and uncles and cousins by the dozens! How I valued that aunt and uncle's home!
Still I think I learned something very early in my life that applies to this scripture lesson today. It is good-- best perhaps-- to have a sense of place and permanence. But being "at home" finally is a people matter. When we did not have any permanent house whatsoever when I was with father and mother I was "at home." Their security was my security. Their peace was my peace. Occasionally, their discontent was mine, too-- for while they were people of integrity they weren't perfect.
That first lesson, then, was where the people you love and trust are-- _there_ is home, at least in the sense of security for the child.
Later, when circumstances made it necessary for my parents to leave the itinerant ministry, our first-ever house of our own was a bungalow at 610 South Magnolia in Lansing-- you know-- two blocks over from Hayford Street. I had a room that was mine, and I slept in the same bed every night, and could have my own closet and my own pictures on the wall. It was far from heaven. But there I had my family, and I had a sense of permanence as well.
I know it is a stretch of imagination to apply this homely and personal understanding of what it means to be "at home" with God, but the facts somehow seem similar:
The reality is that we are not yet at home. [The choir has sung "I Feel Like Traveling On" because "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through..."] The promise of Jesus early on in this great passage is that in the place where he lives are many dwelling places, and that he has gone to prepare a place for us so we can be where he is permanently. The passage from Revelation is not so much descriptive, to my literary understanding, as suggestive of a glorious reality that transcends everything we know now.
But the reality also is that God Almighty, YHWH-- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit want to be "at home" with us while we travel towards home. This kind of being at home with God isn't the final word on glory or fulfillment or permanence. We are not yet what we are going to be. But if in fact God is wi-i-i-i-ith us!! as the choir sang last Sunday night and Tom Waltermire has been TRYING to sing all week-- if God is with us on the road, and we are at home in him-- then we need to make sure this has happened in a personal way in each of our lives.
"IF YOU LOVE ME," said Jesus,

"YOU WILL OBEY ME, AND THE FATHER WILL LOVE YOU, AND WE WILL COME TO YOU AND TAKE UP PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN YOU."
God not only WITH us-- God not only WATCHING OUT for us-- God not only SAVING US FROM SIN-- BUT GOD AT HOME IN US WHILE WE ARE ON THE WAY!

A WORKING DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WE CALL "HOLINESS!"
How do we go about making God at home in us??
Love is the key.
Love is not a feeling, but a centering, an act of will and covenant.
In the case of humans there is a submission to covenant.
In the case of divine-human relationship God is always right.
He accommodates our weakness but cannot compromise dishonesty or selfishness so he must be obeyed, but obeyed because of trust/love.
The everlasting "YEA" is the doorway to everything of significance in the kingdom of God. You know whether or not you have come to the place in your walk with God where you have deliberately said "yes!!!!YES!!! Y E S!!!!!" to God for time and for eternity!
That is the place where God moves in to make Himself at home.

Prayer: There is room in my heart for You, O Lord!

TRINITY SUNDAY

The Sunday after Pentecost is called Trinity Sunday, and marks the end/beginning of "special time" when we remember Christmas, Christ's COMING, and Easter, His victory of sin and death, and Pentecost, the Gift of the Holy Spirit to breathe life into the Church-- and of "ordinary time" when we celebrate the Book of Acts, and seek to let the Holy Spirit live through "ordinary people" and keep writing new chapters in that unfinished story.

Ordinary time indeed! The Holy Spirit is not for special occasions only!

Trinity! God in Three Persons! Blessed Mystery! Holy Wonder!

We SEEK after God (Hebrews 11:6) because faith pleases Him, and he is a Rewarder of those who seek!

We WANT TO BE LIKE JESUS (Ephesians 4:32) because that is how God wants us to be: kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, even as God in Jesus Christ has forgiven us!

We ASK TO BE PART OF THE MISSION of God (John 15:8) by bearing MUCH fruit, and so proving we are Christ's and glorifying the Father.

Father...Son...Holy Spirit... with us, in us, making us alive!

So how may we have this Pentecostal fullness?

We ask!

Luke 11:13 (Jesus said it:) If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask ?

I believe that! I am asking right now! Will you join me?

O Father in heaven, please fill me again, just NOW, with your Holy Spirit, and use me this very day to tell someone You are GOOD, and that You love them! Amen.

Pentecost for Today, Now

What happened at that first Pentecost after the Resurrection? What really happened?

Acts 2 gives an account. Joel gave the prophecy years before. The Holy Spirit was given to rank and file believers.

Common people communicated to other common people in a way that could not be misunderstood. Everyone there heard the good news in their own language.

The essence of what happened then is not what we usually talk about. We know the story: sound of a tornado- tongues like fire on each person's head- speaking in foreign tongues- and we think that if only...

But the heart of Pentecost is the Holy Spirit filling praying people and then using them to let other people know they are welcome to join in the blessing.

The very same Holy Spirit-- is what Jesus promised the Father will give us if only we ask. Luke 11:13: If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.

We have Jesus' word on it!

This Sunday, May 11, is Pentecost Sunday. Will you join me in asking the Father to do it again? Fill your church, Father-- as YOU see fit-- in your way! Jesus promised! We ask! Amen

Truth- more than Words

John 5:39 "Search the scriptures," Jesus said, "for in them you THINK you have eternal life; but (the scriptures) testify OF ME!"

It is NOT enough to think-- to "comprehend"-- to agree with what we perceive as "truth", no matter how precious. Jesus said "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life!" HE is Truth!

The Bible is not true because it is written-- it is written because it is TRUE. That means a lot to me-- and I press into the knowledge of Jesus, as He reveals Himself to me, byt he living Holy Spirit that takes the written word and make is come alive.

Charting the Changing Scenes in Corporate Worship

(Article written and published for Preacher's Magazine
by Dr. Russell Metcalfe, Pastor Emeritus,Wollaston Church of the Nazarene,Quincy, Massachusetts )

Just what goes into the Sunday morning worship service at your church and mine? Why do we do what we do? Why do we have Wednesday night Bible study? Why does there seem to be a conflict between some of the needs, interests, and purposes of various representative groups in our congregation? What should we be seeking to accomplish in worship? Is worship a means to an end, or an end in and of itself?

Some of the tenets we stress, and some of the concerns we ignore, may reflect ecclesiastical and doctrinal battles that were old long before we were born. Some of the things we hold as absolutely sacrosanct may be handed down from scriptural times, or they could be derived from idiosyncrasies or personal convictions of some strong personality of comparatively recent years.
God has not been included in this study as a "component part" of worship, for God is what worship is all about. Worship is centered in God, and is directed to Him--or should be. It is taken to be a "given" in this article that real worship will be our attempt to bring our best, our all, to the loving praise of God's glory; and that real worship is not complete unless and until a dynamic connection takes place, a Presence.

Seven elements of worship, according to James F. White, in a fairly recent book, are people, piety, time, place, prayer, preaching, and music. People are "the primary liturgical document." Piety, Time, and Place are what he terms the circumstances of worship; while prayer, preaching and music are the acts of worship.
In graphic form the elements of worship might look like this:
2. Piety 5. Prayer
3. Time 1. People 6. Preaching
4. Place 7. Music [1]

1. "People," to quote James White, are "the primary liturgical document."[2]
Worship which does not connect culturally is like instruction in a foreign language. In any normal church setting there is a wide range of levels of moral and intellectual development represented. Age groups see similar issues from different slants. Birthright Catholics see things differently from past Pentecostals or former Baptists. When there are a variety of cultures represented, a special challenge obtains.

Added to this are the changing attitudes of society at large, attitudes that are often all-too-quickly reflected in the church setting. Deliberate choices must be made by worship leaders about when to seek to be like other voices in current society (culturally correct?) and thus "connect" with people in tune with entertainment, pop psychology, and success-oriented thinking, and when to confront popular thinking, me-ism and television influence with demands for clear separation of lifestyle. Currently we see some odd combinations of living in the name of Christ-likeness.

Much is currently written about the influences of the baby-boomer and baby-buster generations in American society. Depending on how recent trends are interpreted, the flower children and peace-niks of the late sixties and seventies gave way to narcissism and introversion of the eighties, with continued emphasis on physical appearance and youth.

Some of the changing dynamics reported in various denominations have included lack of loyalty to any tradition; supermarket mentality in consumerism; lack of interest in Sunday School or midweek services, and more recently in the necessity for two services on Sunday; relaxed dress codes reflecting sometimes relaxed behavior codes; swing away from classical modes in music, literature, worship styles; instant gratification; preaching that affirms instead of confronts sin or wrongdoing; increasing conflict between a movement's drive and a denomination's stability. [3]
2. Piety refers to the climate in which we relate to God and to each other.

Probably it has most to do with the deeply held concepts of God that we have formed.
People who think of God first as a "God of vengeance," always looking for faults and sins, will worship differently from people who conceive of God as "keeping score, but willing to forgive," which is different from others who see God as predominately interested in sharing His life and joy.
Worship can cover a spectrum from totally evangelistic, with the assumption that everyone present needs to be severely chastised for falling short of God's glory, to almost totally praise and positive thinking, assuming that the assembled church is already "family."
For the purpose of categorizing only, think of three viable evangelistic modes or "sets" of worship as:
evangelistic;
penitential (with confession/absolution as central focus); and
resurrection, or rejoicing and celebration.
It is my contention that an ideal evangelical church will have a blending of all three, without getting stuck in any one category.

3. Time refers to the various chronological cycles in which a church worships.
These can be thought of as daily, weekly, yearly, and lifetime. Also under the general heading of time in worship, we consider punctuality or lack of it (often a cultural key,) and the usual length of services, and that length in relationship to the overall time-usage of the worshipers. Highly scheduled people will respond differently from more casual approaches to time management.
In a lifetime cycle certain churches expect their members to do certain things at certain times of their lives in certain ways. Sacraments and sacramental-type events, baptism, joining the church, weddings, passages, and even funerals are observed in widely differing ways, even in the same denomination, in different areas of the country, and in different cultural pockets.
Each church has a yearly cycle, whether or not such has been officially recognized by pastor or people. The American versions of the free church often substituted their own local or national observances for the ancient church calendar abandoned in Europe by immediate forebears. Ethnic-based evangelicals brought old-country celebrations or prohibition of celebrations with them to this country when they came. Evangelicals of many denominations in recent years have discovered the richness of the yearly cycles observed by Christians across the centuries, of days of Advent, Lent, Pentecost, Trinity, and many others.
Also under yearly cycles come such events as revival meetings; district events such as assemblies; as well as unspoken or tacit "attitudes" at various times of the year, such as "easing off" in the summer time from choir and from strictness of form in worship to accommodate vacation habits of large proportion of our people; the gathering of intensity as school starts in the fall; the unspoken and often unrecognized weariness and temptation to negativism in the spring when fatigue sets in for many who have been "flat out" for eight months or more.
Weekly cycles, too, should be examined. How often do we observe the Lord's Supper? Why? Why do we worship at 11 a.m. on Sunday? (Why NOT?) Why do we hark back to a mid-week prayer service for as long as we can remember? What does a church encourage its members to do regularly in order to maintain vigorous spiritual health?
Daily schedules might refer to what is expected of each participant in a congregation; what sort of prayer/devotional schedule/time management is practiced as the norm (or professed.)

4. Place of worship is the third "circumstance" of worship and is probably more important than usually thought.
There is a saying among those who make worship a study: "The building will always win." That statement is probably very nearly true. Many churches have been started in very unlikely places, and "wherever Jesus is, 'tis heaven there.'" But function is often shaped by form. Certain types of worship are almost dictated by certain arrangements of seating, furniture, and participants, as well as respect demanded by or given to the place of worship itself. Building materials of themselves are not sacred, but even as we love and cherish our houses until they reflect our personalities and become our homes, so the House of the Lord becomes more than the sum of its constituent parts.

The "acts" of worship:
5. Prayer is a universal in worship.
It is unthinkable that there should be worship without prayer. How do the people speak to God? Literally, how do they call Him?--"Thou" or "You"?
[Is there something somehow "holy" about addressing God in Elizabethan language? Do we realize that even then the "Thou" was the more intimate and familiar address that one would use with close friends? But when one has grown up hearing only this form of address to God, it becomes a "language of prayer" and connotes respect; so often the "Thee" or the "you" simply denotes the generation of the pray-er.]
What form does the main prayer of the worship service(s) take? How about he use of printed prayers? Is it a "no-no"? How often is the Lord's Prayer used? Is that important? How are people taught to pray? What emphases on prayer are regularly reviewed?

6. Preaching is another basic "act" in the drama of worship.
It is central in most evangelical services of worship. Exegetical, doctrinal, evangelistic, narrative, topical are all styles or types of sermonizing, plus there are always "fads" of various kinds (participatory, team preaching, drama) that come and go. Personally, I have an almost mystic faith that preaching "connects" when God is Present' that the written Word becomes the Living Word for those who listen with the anointing of God as the preacher preaches with the same chrism.
Others have less lofty ideas of preaching, although it remains central in most Protestant worship orders. James White speaks of one task of preaching as "stressing the corporate memories." [4]
Preaching probably at once shapes and reflects, defines and describes, spurs and soothes, enlightens and condemns, influences and is influenced by the entire church and all of worship. It is not beyond the discussion of the governing board, but is so arranged in my mind that I need a separate agenda for talking about it.

7. Music is the last "act" of worship that we discuss here.
Like preaching, music has "life of its own" in the church and we can approach it from many different directions.
The songs and hymns a congregation often sings say a great deal about the communal mind-set. Spiritual songs and hymns reflect all the tenses and moods of all of life. But in worship we tend to begin and end where our emphases are.

First-person songs tell about "I" and "We." They reflect experience, and they are important and useful. They can also begin and end with "me." God is important because of what He has DONE FOR ME! Of course He is to be praised for what He does for us! To paraphrase another author, we sometimes get the idea that "Jesus, Lover of MY Soul" would be turned around to "MY SOUL, Lover of Jesus!" We easily become self-centered, even in our so-called spirituality. We attract attention to ourselves in insisting that WE will do it such and such a way, etc.
But, too, it is hard to improve on "The Lord is MY Shepherd!"

Third-person songs tend to be statements of fact. They can be exalted statements that lift and bless. But in them we stand back and make observation. "Isn't HE wonderful?" (Of course, He is!) "To God Be the Glory!" lifts us as we sing--and all can freely enter in the praise. Many great doctrinal hymns of the Wesleys and others are in this mood.

But second-person songs and hymns address God in the "I-Thou" mode; they are actually prayers put to music. Whether they are older, accepted hymns ("O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder") or choruses ("Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy O Lord!) they address God directly, and put the assembled congregation into dialogue with God in prayer even when it is not called prayer time.

This second-person music must have a central part in any significant plan of worship.

Music is highly significant in the shaping of thought; it reflects our state of piety and belief. Nowhere in the church have the emerging technological advances made more impact; we not only have instant accompaniment by professional sound track musicians in the smallest churches, we have television-trained soloists to clone the stars that make the hits. In some cases, they are cloning the clones of secular singers. These technical facts are not in and of themselves bad or good. What we can lose sight of is the fact that genuinely good music is:
highly subjectively judged; and
not necessarily correlative to genuinely popular church music; and that
there are no spiritual short-cuts to becoming a means or channel of God's blessing, even though it is relatively easy to prepare a performance.

To sing the words and sound the tones may evoke excitement and even applause. To convey the message God intends for the particular occasion still requires preparation for which there is no instant fabrication.

Addenda:The public worship experience itself is dynamic. In my lifetime I have seen a shift from passive participation, if that is not an oxymoron, where just showing up for church was considered worship, to a demand for more active participation in worship, with an emphasis on saying and doing and responding to the Word.
Where we go from here is hard to predict. I have my own strong preferences, but my tastes are far from universal. Hopefully those who chart a course of worship in their local churches will remember they must speak in a language their people can understand, but also that they do not necessarily need to always say, indeed they dare not always say what their people want to hear. As Wesley urged his preachers to preach Christ in all his offices--prophet, priest, and king--so we who seek to determine the direction of corporate worship must use all the elements of worship in sacramental intentionality solely for the glory of God.

1. White, James F. The Study of Protestant Worship,
(Westminster Press, 1989).

2. Ibid., p. 44.

3. See "The Christian Century," July 10-17, 1991, article by
Paul B. Tinlin and Edith L. Blumhoffer on the 'Dilemmas of
the Assemblies of God.'"

4. White, p. 112.

BEST Morning! - An Easter Poem

Best Morning!

I could never forget His face,
Sweet face of forgiving,
Stern face of Temple-cleansing,
Marred face on Skull Hill-
I saw them all.
And yet that morning,
That best morning,
I did not recognize Him
When first I saw Him.
But in my heart a curtain tore
From top to bottom,
Tore when He spoke my name.
And something within me
That had been sorrow
Became eternal life!

-by Russell Metcalfe

I wrote this more than fifty years ago. This is the meeting of Mary Magdalene with Jesus near the empty tomb. If you look at all the post-Resurrection meetings with Jesu in the Gospels you see this seeming hesitation, and then the assurance from Jesus Himself. The definitive "text" that seems to make this come alive is 2 Corinthians 5:16 wher Paul says even if we knew Jesus while he was teaching and doing miracles, which some of the Corinthian people seem to have done, they do not know Him that way any longer. No, "if ANY person by in Christ he or she is A NEW CREATION. (2 Corinthians 5:17) This exciting declaration means that we, you and I, can know Jesus in the same way that the disciuples knew Him after the Resurrection: He comes and speaks to us, and calls us by name. He calls that sorrow and discouragement within to faith, and like Mary, like Thomas, we say, "Master! My Lord and my God!"

Derogatory Cartoons about Jesus

Osama Bin Laden has been threatening Europe because a newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet in a derogatory manner. Mohammad is not supposed to be pictured in any manner because of possible idolatry. But the Boston Globe recently had a series of cartoons in its "Dilbert" comic strip, a satire on office workers, that has a character named "Jesus" (which was to be pronounced 'Hay-soos') which performed silly miracles that mocked New Testament incidents, like changing water into wine-- but on an absolutely mocking scale. No reprisals were threatened-- but in my mind there was great disrespect for all devout followers of Jesus Christ. When I wrote to the editors my protest was never published.

Scraps from notes for a new book????

I've been thinking about putting together thoughts on pastoral ministry-- although it has changed drastically even since I retired and beyond belief since I began in the '50s !!

Here is an excerpt from "Leadership and Management" called "Understanding Power Structure":
Understanding power structure
Every church has its own unique way of arriving at decisions great and small. This decision making may or may not coincide with the simple rules laid out in the denomination’s handbook or Robert’s Rules of Order, but it is a fact of life that in each church there is a core group of leaders who, for motives pure or not, pretty much guide the church on its way.
The pastor may or may not become a leader to this core group. It certainly makes a lot of sense if he or she understands something of the dynamics of how decisions are actually made. The pastor may think that simply by virtue of the authority of ordination and Manual he or she may expect full cooperation. In any healthy church the pastor is received with every good intention, and the governing boards stand ready to buy into his or her leadership. But leadership trust is to be earned, and a wise pastor will work with the people who have been carrying the responsibility of leadership long before he arrived on the scene.
Begin earning trust by being a specialist in appreciation. No matter how poorly organized or mis-managed the church business may seem there are always areas that can be sincerely appreciated; no matter how ‘incompetent’ the preceding pastor, that work can be remembered with kindness and understanding. It is always a mistake to bad-mouth a predecessor. It is also usually true that people who are quick to tell the new pastor the old pastor’s faults will soon be the ones who are most critical of the new pastor. Believe the best of everyone you can.

SEE Jesus . . . BE Jesus !!

I’ve been praying a new prayer of late- well, maybe not new so much as just sharpening the focus of me relationship with God.

I find myself asking, “Father, please fill me with your Holy Spirit just now so that I can see Jesus, and be Jesus where you can use me. Amen.”

I want to be able to see Jesus in people that I meet; see Him in the faces of His people and their fellowship; see him in the need of those who do not know Him and be reminded that Jesus said ‘If you do unto the least of these, you do it unto Me.”

And though it certainly seems audacious, I want to be Jesus—that is let HIM look through my eyes and smile through my face—give me the kindness that is really HIM. I’m no Mother Teresa and have no illusions, but I am a Christian and I want Jesus to live in me.

Assurance of Salvation: Soul Rest

Exodus 33:14 My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people ofGod; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work,just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort toenter that rest . . . ENTERING GOD'S 'REST'
My grandson, Ben, is 'going down the tubes.' He is a Bruins fan!Last week, through the kindness of one of his uncles, he saw his veryfirst B's game at the (Boston) Garden.
Now Boston at night is no place for a little boy of five-going-on-six. And if you have ever attended a sporting event inBoston Garden you know it is not the place for the timid or thedelicate. Ben began his night by spontaneously praying for a parkingspace. His dad was foolish enough to drive into Boston. They foundone immediately! It cost $9.00!
Once inside and seated, Ben introduced himself, more or less, toall the people in his section. He felt right at home. He shared hispopcorn. He made a number of new friends.
About the middle of the second period Ben had had enough hockeyso he lay down in his seat and put his head in his dad's lap and hisfeet in the lap of the lady on the other side. She was not at alloffended, according to the report I got. But for some reason daddecided it was time to go home, and Ben never woke up when he was putinto bed that night.
It is wonderful to have such a simple trust, and not have thattrust violated! I admit that Ben and hockey are a far cry from Mosesand the text. But there is a parallel here: see if you can see it.I'll give you a hint: It has to do with trust!

Moses is a BIG (important) man! Moses is SMART, too! Moseshas accomplished the impossible as he has obeyed God.
But now Moses is daunted! He has begun a great task. Hedoesn't see how in the world he can complete it!
So Moses prays! He says, "Lord, please show me HOW!"(Doesn't that make sense?) But God answers, "First I need to show you WHO!!" And thenGod spoke about a place "near to Me," - a place near God!
God's reply to Moses' prayer for guidance says two things thatWE can take as our own. It says first, "My PRESENCE shall go withyou!" When you are seeking to do my will, you are NOT simply 'on yourown.'
And then God said "I- my Presence with you- will give you REST!"
When we are conscious that God is near, and all is right between "us"there comes an inner assurance! Again and again we need to go intothat assurance! Again and again we need to find the "place near toMe!"
Then God instructed Moses, and there was a special time whenMoses beheld something of the power and wonder and glory of God in amarvelous way, in the cleft of a rock.
One question we ask when we read of great mountain-peakexperiences of assurance such as Moses had is, was this a one- timesort of thing, or did he then have/ can I have this assurance and restall the time?
It WAS a time of great reassurance! Certainly the uniqueexperience of God's Presence passed, but Moses could never doubt thatGod had given him assurance. Maybe that is one of the purposes whatthe holiness people have always called the "second work of grace." ItIS important that we have those times of consecration and glory inresponse to our cry to God for His Presence!
General Superintendent Lee M. Haines of the Wesleyan Church in atheology conference in February, 1992, Kansas City said that he callsthat special time "an intensifying moment of sanctifica tion."
Instead of being just a one-time "blessing," for Moses, thisone-on-one walk with God became a way of life: in times of crisis,Moses went to God in private. God gave record in Holy Writ that evenin those Old Testament times He spoke with Moses face-to-face!
But you and I are tempted to say, that was Moses-- and none ofus is Moses! Is there such a place near to God for EVERYONE? Is THATwhat Hebrews 4 is saying? Can we live "by the Presence?"
Robert Coles is a Harvard teacher. Robert Coles is also anauthor. He is a psychiatrist specializing in what makes children tick.
Robert Coles came to faith-- or was profoundly changed-- byseeing the reality of the "rest of God's PRESENCE" in children offaith, particularly in one six-year-old girl named Ruby.
Ruby had tremendous occasion for stress. She was the only blackchild in an elementary school in 1960 in New Orleans at the time whenfederal law said there must be integration. All the white childrenthen were removed from the school by angry parents, so Ruby was theonly child in the school. And twice every day hundreds of angrypeople met Ruby at the door of the school to taunt and swear at her--six years old! In Travels with Charlie, John Steinbeck described Ruby,although he did not at that time know who she was or anything aboutwhat was going on in her insides. His description of the terribleanger expressed and poured out on the delicate little black child ispowerful and almost nauseating.
Robert Coles was also in New Orleans in 1960, on personalbusiness. He was fascinated with the stressful situation; he hadstudied children in stress here in Boston. He asked for and received permission to interview Ruby and her family during the most stressful time in their lives. To his amazement he found that Ruby and her family were sustained and upheld by a very real and profound peace. He came, almost grudgingly, to realize that the peace was genuine!
Here is some verbatim dialogue Robert Coles recorded in1960. Ruby's teacher had told Robert Coles that morning that Ruby hadspoken to the people who were shouting at her. He was very interested:
I asked her, "Ruby, how was your day today?"
She said, "It was okay."
"I was talking to your teacher today and she told me that she asked you about something when you came into school early thismorning."
"I don't remember," Ruby said.
"Your teacher told me she saw you talking to people in thestreet."
"Oh, yes. I told her I wasn't talking to them. I was just sayinga prayer for them." "Ruby, you pray for the people there?"
"Oh, yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
I said, "Why do you do that?"
"Because they need praying for," she answered.
"Do they?"
"Oh, yes."
"Ruby, why do you think they need you to pray for them?"
"Because I should."
"Why?"
"Because I should."

Then [Coles continues] Ruby's mother came into the room. She had heard this line of inquiry and she said, "We tell Ruby that it'simportant that she pray for the people." She said that Ruby had thepeople on a list and prayed for them at night.
I said, "Ruby, you pray for them at night, too?"
"Oh, yes."
"Why do you do that?"
"Well, because they need praying for."
Mrs. Bridges told me Ruby had been told, in Sunday School, to pray for the people. I later found that the minister in their Baptist church also prayed for the people.
Publicly.
Every Sunday.
I said to Mrs. Bridges, and then to her husband later, "You knowit strikes me that that is a lot to ask of Ruby. I mean, given what she's going through."
And they looked at me, very confused.
"We're not asking her to pray for them because we want to hurt her or anything," said Mrs. Bridges, "but we think that we all have to pray for people like that, and we think Ruby should, too."
And then she looked at me and said, "Don't you think they need praying for?"
"Yes, I agree with you there, " I said. "But I still think it'sa little much to ask Ruby to pray for them."
But Robert Coles marvelled that he, a trained child Psychiatrist, could not pick up any devastating symptoms of tension int he Bridges home. And he went on to say how Ruby Bridges and her'inexplicable prayers' had caused him to think of how he had neglected the connection between the study of justice and ethics and fairness and the humble practice of living by the words of Jesus.1

To be honest, I don't know if I could have the simple, profound faith of the Bridges family. But the promise of our text is very direct and clear. Let's look at it again:
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from
his own work, just as God did from His.
Let us,
therefore, make every effort to enter that rest .

Hebrews 4:9-11 It is NOT a "rest from work" or a promise of an easy lifewithout trials and even, finally, physical death. But it is the sameanswer that Moses got when he asked God for a crash course in"migration management principles."

Remember? God's reply to Moses'prayer for guidance said two things that WE can take as our own:

MyPRESENCE shall go with you! When you are seeking to do my will, you are NOT simply 'on your own.'
And God also promised (My PRESENCE)

- I - WILL GIVE YOU REST!When we are conscious that God is near, and all is right between "us"there comes an inner assurance! Again and again we need to go intothat assurance! Again and again we need to find the "place near toMe!"

Like Ben at the hockey game, we know that if we go to sleepbefore the game is over, we will wake up in the morning where webelong!

1 Christianity Today, August 9, 1985

Drawing Near to God in Lent

GOD'S CALL IS TO MORE THAN WE ARE OF OURSELVES.
Jeremiah is just one in a long line of people God has called-- right down to this very moment-- that said to God, "But LORD! I am only . . . ." In a way that is a standard, and even GOOD reaction! HUMILITY is a virtue that opens the doors of prayer! When we are so cock-sure that we are the ones! we are disqualified! GOD'S WORD TO JEREMIAH WAS: DO NOT SAY 'I AM ONLY . . .'
But more, these lessons reminds us that GOD LISTENS WHEN WE VOICE OUR DOUBTS.
It is not a sin to have an honest dialogue with God. There is a difference between doubt and unbelief! God doesn't ask us to believe the absurd or obviously untrue-- he does ask us to trust Him!
GOD'S CALL IS GOD'S ASSURANCE OF GOD'S PRESENCE
WHERE FAITH COMES IN IS DARING TO GIVE OUR ALL AND TRUSTING GOD WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE . . . and if He has called, God WILL! The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is in all four Gospels, and we know it was a miracle that took five loaves and two fish and fed the multitude. But only John told us where the five and two came from: a lad-- "only a boy" -- had enough for himself and maybe his little sister. But he gave his all to Andrew, who in turn brought them to Jesus-- and the rest is history ! [Maybe I need to remind some of us to bring our five loaves and two fish to Faith Promise yet!]
GOD IS WORKING ON US . . . to make us into a community of love and fellowship that will make a difference right here in our world, where we live!
PRAYER
Oh, Father, help us to 'step back into grace', and let You make us into the kind of loving community that You can use to let You change our world in our generation. This we ask in the name of your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen

Thank You

Any who have commented-- I don't know how to personally get back to you on e-mail, but I thank you this way.

Russell

The JOY of Being Clean

THE JOY OF BEING CLEAN
Mark 1:41 I will: be thou clean.
We Americans are obsessed with physical cleanness. Not all of us, maybe. But it is hard to imagine how a great part of the world lives and in fact, how we used to live before we had the kind of plumbing we have today. I know I'm really old, but can you remember when we took baths once a week? When we might wear the same shirt and pants to school over and over again? Some cultures even today seem to enjoy various kinds of odors we would just as soon not talk about. Some even think some odors are attractive. In our own country perfume used to do more than just be an accessory: it was a cover-up. But we all know there isn't really any substitute for being clean!

I used to wash my face to come to the supper table. Sometimes I just got the front sort of wiped off. My mother had a way of looking behind my ears. (And she also had a disgusting way of looking me over before we went into church and if she saw a spot she'd take her handkerchief and touch it to her tongue- spit on it- and then wipe my face hard! Ouch! Yuck)! As I said, there is no substitute for being really clean.

TO BE IN GOD'S PRESENCE IS TO SEE HOW MUCH WE REALLY NEED TO BE MADE CLEAN -

(Whenever in the Bible people meet God there is usually a sense of shame or fear.) The prophet Isaiah was a very good man. A priest. But as he started to really draw near to God he said, "Woe is me! I am in big trouble! I have a dirty mouth! I live with people who have dirty mouths! I have seen God now what am I ever going to do?"

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN ONLY BEING REALLY CLEAN WILL CUT IT

The Old testament lesson today is a fascinating story about a truly important, even great man but one day he looked at his arm while he was bathing and saw a strange sore. He asked his doctor about it. The doctor called another doctor. Then they just shook their heads. "You're unclean!" they said. "You have leprosy!" Naaman was going to die!

Naaman's boss was upset. Everyone in Damascus where he lived was upset; at least the one's who knew it. They kept it a secret as long as they could because leprosy was like AIDS today: incurable, and bad bad news. Then, through a strange coincidence, (the Lord seems to use a lot of these), a slave girl from Israel gave her mistress, (who was Naaman's wife) a tiny ray of hope. "There's a man of God in Samaria, Israel, who could help the General," she said.

That began a chain of events that finally led to a really impressive caravan pulling up in front of the man of God's house in Samaria. How they finally got there is a fun part of the story. (Maybe I'll tell you.)

Naaman was willing to pay any price. He came prepared. "Would you like to be a millionaire?" he was waiting to say to Elisha. But Elisha didn't even show. He sent Gehazi his servant to the door with instructions. "You're unclean. OK, go wash seven times in the River Jordan on your way home. That will do the trick. Goodbye." Very strange treatment for a VIP by the prophet.
And believe me, Naaman did NOT like it!
"Let's get out of here!" he said.

No price could pay for it! It couldn't be bought. But at the same time nothing but submission and obedience could receive it. Naaman's servants talked some sense into him. They pulled up by the river and off came the jacket with the five stars. Off came the sandals and all the rest. Down into the shallow Jordan walked the general. He dipped, and dipped, and dipped again and again. Seven times. Six times nothing. Seventh time miracle! No more unclean! Grateful, Naaman headed back to the prophet's house to give him his zillion dollars reward.

NOW the prophet came down, smiling. "Nope, I don't want any money. This is God's miracle. Just be grateful."

"I am! I am!" It is wonderful when you have been unclean to realize I am clean! I am clean! What a luxury to have a clean heart! Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart!"

The Old Testament seems to discriminate against anything unclean. There were unclean foods. There were unclean animals. There were a thousand ways to get unclean. One reason, and in my mind, the reason for this is the fact that God is HOLY. We need to see that fact as well as the true fact that God is love.
Only God is holy in a pure, underived, absolute sense. So everything that belongs to God, or approaches God, or wants to have to do with God has to be clean.

And there is our Catch 22. We have to be clean to come to God, and we can't come to God unless we are clean and yet we can't make ourselves clean. When Isaiah saw God he immediately felt he was unclean.

That is where the message of grace comes in. Our unclean-ness does NOT keep us from asking God for help. For forgiveness. For inner cleansing. Isaiah was made clean as soon as he cried "Woe is me!" God cares when we want to come to Him. And God makes a way where we could never make the way ourselves. Naaman was willing to pay, but he could never have enough to buy clean-ness.

The leper that came to Jesus cried for help, and said, "If you wanted to you could-" In both cases their cry for cleanness was heard. What a luxury it is to have God not only save us and grant us his forgiveness for sin, but to fill us with his Spirit, and make us clean on the inside! The Holy Spirit will do that for us. And we can be filled with God's Spirit just for the asking.

But maybe first we need to see how much we need the cleansing. Maybe Naaman can teach us a lesson. He did not look for the cheap way. And when he found out it took humbling, and obedience, and washing he repented and relented and the miracle took place.

Our hearts can be made pure. Not just a cover-up. But a cleansing- an on-going cleansing. Not some sort of absolute perfection, but a freedom from the power and filth of sin.

"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean!"

"I will! Be clean!"

Prayer

Praying Friends, Luxury or Necessity?

Looking back on happy days in the pastorate, one thing stands out as tremendously helpful and a source of help and blessing: REGULAR PRAYER WITH OTHERS

These regular prayers took various forms across the years, but they consistently served as a means of grace and growth in grace.

One regular time of prayer across the last twenty-plus years was with everyone who was on staff at the church. Secretaries, custodians, ministers- those who possibly could were expected to meet first thing Tuesday mornings for scripture lessons and prayer. After prayer we could discuss programs and challenges if we needed to- debrief on Sundays past and plan for Sundays coming-- but THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT ORDER OF BUSINESS WAS TO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, TO SHARE CONCERNS, AND PRAY.

Another regular time of prayer was with a few men in the church who had expressed a desire to draw closer to God. I did NOT lead this group, even though initially I guess it was me who got it together. EARLY on Wednesday mornings we would meet, sometimes at the parsonage, but in later years, usually at the home of one of the other men in the group. We would read the lectionary passages for the week. We would share concerns. AND WE WOULD PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, EVERY ONE OF US WOULD PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. That group is still going strong, and I've been retired nearly nine years-- I miss it a lot!

One other group was made up of ministers who had a heart for God. I would say "evangelical" but across the years there were Episcopal, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, American Baptist, Finnish Congregational, and others who were drawn by a desire to draw closer to God through His Word and prayer. We would meet in a home on Friday at noon and for an hour eat a brown bag lunch and laugh and talk. The for a second hour we would continue a Bible study where we left off the week before- the exact format varied- and then we would PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. The usual procedure was to go 'round the group and each one express any needs or requests, then WE WOULD PRAY AROUND, EACH ESPECIALLY REMEMBERING THE ONE ON HIS RIGHT. I cannot tell you how rich this fellowship became, nor how many wonderful, wonderful blessings spun out of this simple time of prayer across the years. One time or other each one of the group would come burdened beyond words, and find God's touch in the intercession ofn the others. We will be brothers forever-- literally!

I find myself praying these days for a group or two like these. Helen and I pray together every single day, and that is precious to both of us-- ma veritable life-line. But I miss that fellowship of men seeking to draw closer to God-- to become 'men of God!'

Jesus Never Asked a Foolish Question

What do you want Me to do for you?

How would you answer that question? Think about it in the perspective of today- but also of tomorrow, and of all the unknown beyond tomorrow.

In Matthew 20 Jesus was in Jericho, and two blind men got his attention. Jesus stopped and asked them this question. Hey- they were blind! What answer would you expect from them? “We want to see!”

In Matthew 21 Jesus is talking about prayer, and of praying in faith. He is trying to help us into the place where we resonate totally with the wil of God. God is good. He loves us. Jesus says, Whatever things you qask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

I want a lot of things. I hope and sincerely pray that what I want is not purely selfish. But I ask the salvation of MY family: I KNOW that God loves each of them, and it is His will they come to know and love Him. Can I claim this promise for others, for MY ‘others’? I do!

What do you want Me to do for you?

We can be filled with God’s Spirit, and keep on being filled. But we must ask! And we must we willing to empty ourselves of the ‘stuff’ that might hinder us from coming alive in Christ. Shall we pray?:

Lord, I want You to help me pray powerfully, according to Your good, acceptable, and perfect will (Romans 12) and with the help of Your Holy Spirit (Romans 8.)

Some things I wish I'd learned sooner...

From "Ecclesiology 101..."


I don’t have a monopoly on either truth or personal piety. People who know and love and follow Jesus wholeheartedly may see some things differently from the way I see them. I do believe that people who know and love Jesus and seek to follow Him wholeheartedly have much more in common than they might at first think. That is why I’m glad I finally learned:

If you begin discussion about the “whats” you probably will disagree along the line. If you begin with the “Who” and invite Him into the conversation He will help you to disagree like brothers and sisters, and to discover new facets in His love for His Bride.

I do have a claim on all the rich history of the Church across the centuries. It is as much “mine” as it is any denomination, ancient or new. At the same time, I do not own these sacred traditions; I must reverence them, even as I seek to apply them, use them, let them use me in the bewildering changes of the culture in which I live.

The sacraments of the church must be reverenced. The scriptures must have a central place in public as well as private worship. The offices of Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King must be reflected in the messages I preach, and model the pastoral role I seek to follow. I must seek to be Trinitarian, letting the full orb of all God reveals to me have access to the whole of my being; my innermost thoughts, my most private moments, all in glad surrender to God’s revealed will.

A Golden Chapter

Psalm 107 is a treasure!
Wherever you or I or anyone else may be on our spiritual journey, there is hope and help just a prayer away!
The Psalm begins by declaring that God is GOOD! And then it demands that the redeemed of the Lord tell that glorious fact!

There are four examples of people in trouble in Psalm 107.
First, the people who were lost and wandering and didn’t know where to turn.
When they cried to the Lord, they found a way- they were LED to a dwelling place, a city of hope.
Immediately the refrain of the Psalm
“O that men would give thanks to the Lord for his GOODNESS, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.”

Next the people who rebelled against authority, and specifically the word of God. They were in darkness and despair.
When they CRIED out to the Lord they were set free of the chains and darkness.
Again, the call to thankfulness and praise!
“O that men would give thanks to the Lord for his GOODNESS, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.”

Third were the know-it-all self-saviors, who thought they knew better than the word of God, and ended up in the very gates of death.
But even from therem when they CRIED to the Lord they found healing and deliverance.
“O that men would give thanks to the Lord for his GOODNESS, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.”

The last example is in a different tense. One, two and three are what God has done in the past for those who have been in trouble. But this example is in the present tense. It says that when people run into the storms of life, and they will, they will be challenged to what seems the limit and beyond. The picture is a perfect storm at sea.
But the result is the same again: when they CRY to the Lord, he HEARS them and brings them home!”

I need this Psalm! I believe it! Psalm 107 closes with these words: “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.”

Simplicity beyond Complexity

A passing glance at the business page in the Boston Globe recently mentioned the Dunning-Kruger effect, and piqued my curiosity. I looked it up in Wikipedia and came up with this definition: “The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge think that they know more than others who have much more knowledge.”
Hmmm, I thought-- I know people like that in my field. Wait a minute, was my second thought-- I hope I’m not one of them.
We Christian would-be thinkers deal with mystery at the end of every avenue we pursue. God is beyond comprehension, and yet reveals himself as a loving Father. How? Why? Want me to explain? If I can’t, there are a thousand amateur theologians down the block that have all the answers…
What is going to happen to the billions (with a “b”) that have never once heard the name Jesus Christ? Do you believe no one is saved, or can come to the Father except through Jesus? I do. I do believe. Will they (the billions) all be lost? Ask the guy with the latest prophesy book. You will never lack an opinion, loudly voiced.
I believe in revelation- the communication of truth from God to seeking hearts. I am a seeker after God. I believe God will reach the heart and mind of those who diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) But truth is not democratically decided- truth IS. Is a PERSON, ultimately. It dawns that God loves...ME! (YOU!!) God cares! There is a simplicity of faith beyond the complexities of our formulaic understandings of truth. There is a Reality of covenant with God. I cherish the doctrines I have been taught, have learned- and believe they have opened the way to God. I can’t explain them. I don’t know how or why John 3:16 is true, or why Jesus loved me enough to come and die for me.
I am persuaded that God is good. I truly believe God loves you and me.

A Pattern for ANY Year

THE LEGACY OF ABRAHAM
Genesis 15:6 "And Abram believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness."

Abraham is the first three-dimensional character of the Old Testament. Come with me for a brief overview ofthe whole sweep of his magnificent faith walk.
Abraham was
1. A second generation pilgrim. His father, Terah started for Canaan,but settled down in a civilized place and died there. Abraham had theformidable task of respectfully surpassing his own preceding generation. Maybe that is no problem to the hubris of the youth today. It certainly was for me.
Abraham had
2. A trail-blazing obedience. (12:1) Abraham started for Canaan eventhough he had never been there before, nor knew anyone who had. He made his mistakes; he lived in tents; he fled to Egypt. He prospered.But in it all he walked by faith.
Abraham had
3. A self-effacing humility. ( ) He would rather give up things than to stand and fight with friends and loved ones. He said to his nephew"You choose!" And in effect he was saying to God "When it comes to my pathway, YOU choose!"
Abraham displayed
4. A noble faith. (15:6) Abraham was unwilling to accuse God, even though he did not understand why he seemed to be misunderstanding the original promise. "Maybe I need to lower my idea of what you meant?"he seemed to ask.
In reply God took Abraham out under the stars. Sometimes I wishour children could look at the stars more than they do!
It is hard tohear a word from God when all our leisure time is filled withspiritual emptiness at best-- and spiritual garbage at worst.
Perhaps a comment or two on our viewing habits is in order here?I don't think it is totally irrelevant that we are a generation offaith-pygmies and we watch TV, while Abraham was taken out of his tent and under the canopy of the heavens to get a perspective on just how small he really was in comparison to how big God's Creation really is.
I've seen some pretty awesome things on the 19-inch tube, but they're still just images of the real thing.
And some of the things we absorb from that tube positively stunt our possibilities of nobility and growth in faith! In an old Herald of Holiness there was a powerful paragraph written by Paul and Marilyn Turner in their "marriage enrichment"column. Listen:
"We do not arrive at a healthy self-esteem by
absorbing the voyeuristic daytime public confessionals,
erroneously called talk shows. These are strange
programs in self-esteem that reward people for amassing
weird aberrations but dispute others for claiming to be
healthy. If you're healthy you may be accused of being
"in denial." We pay a big price for a pathology that
lessens our inner peace and fills our minds with
trash." [J. Paul & Marilyn Turner in Herald of Holiness, January, 1993 issue.]
This noble faith of Abraham joined with the promise of theEternal God in this seemingly uneventful chapter (15) and became a COVENANT. Perhaps this is the essence of the Bible: God is a covenant making God dealing with believing men and women! "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness!"
Abraham prayed!
5. Abraham was a major-league intercessor. He saw his nephew delivered even as he saw God's judgment on the evil citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah . It may be that we stand closer to God's wrath than we realize today; perhaps we are more like Lot than we are like Abraham.But we do see the principle that righteous people are somehow a deterrant to judgment day wrath. And we see the powerful influence of one person who has the courage to ask God to spare others!
Abraham made mistakes--
6. Abraham tried to help God along, and instead produced forces thateventually became rivals to his own interests. Ishmael should never have been born, although the Arabs believe the other way 'round!

Abraham put God absolutely first!
7. Abraham gave up his dearest love for the love of God, and in so doing he became actually a living portrait of God the Father in His love for a needy world. (22)
Abraham is remembered- and more--
8. Abraham rates 10 chapters in Genesis, and countless references in the New Testament. In Romans 4, and Galatians 3, and in Hebrews 11 we are reminded again of the "father of faith," Abraham, the man who dared to believe God. James ( 2:21,23) calls Abraham "a friend of God."

We cannot be giants of the same stature as Abraham. But we can have the very same quality of integrity in our dealings with God. We can be honest. We can be obedient. We can give God our most precious gifts in the confidence that He will not waste them...
Bertha Munro said it--"God will notwaste a consecrated life!"

Pray with me: "Where He Leads Me...I will follow!"