Faith -- It is not an occasional sprint, it is a marathon!

If you were going to run a marathon, would you show up on race day without ever having run a race or practicing? If you did, you would not do very well in the marathon. If you were on a sports team, how well to you think you team would do without practicing? If we want to hone our skills in anything, we need to practice. That is the way it is with our relationship with God and with discipleship as well.

Casually working at something or trying to fit it in after all the other things of life are done is not going to get us very far. The Christian life is meant to be something that is practiced, something we dedicate ourselves to, it is something that demands our attention and our focus. Spiritual growth, discipleship, and our relationship with God does not happen by accident. Gotta stop now it is devotional time.

Blessings for the journey!

Marty

Trusting God

In our study on Wednesday we were discussing the question of trusting God and entrusting our lives to God. And the quesiton was: how does that work in your life? The easy answer to the question is: It works well? So I asked: how do you make trust in God work in your life? And it seemed that was another matter.

I think that trusting God has the same issues as trusting another human being. If you are desperate, you will trust almost anyone, anytime. So when life is in turmoil we are not only willing to trust God, we want him to take control and fix things. So what is it that lets us trust God, or anyone for that matter, all the time?

I think it is just like how we begin to trust another person. We don't immediately trust anyone. We get to know them and the more we know them, the more we are willing to tell them until the time comes that we know them so well that they may even know us better than we know ourselves. And I think it works the same way with God. We have got to know him and have a strong and personal relationship with him.

So, when I asked how we do that, several of the people in the class said simultaneously, we get to know God in Bible study. And I think that is exactly right. In Bible study, we hear how God and Jesus encountered humanity and we find ourselves in the story. It is in those times that we begin to understand what God wants from us. And the more we study, the more we pray and as we do those things, we draw closer to God and are therefore more willing to trust all of the time, not just when we are in trouble or things are out of control.

So then how do we literally put our trust in God and entrust our lives to God? Perhaps a way to do that is to start each day seeking God's guidance and asking God to guide us in all we do. Then as we encournter the challenges each day presents, we first seek God's guidance before we do what we think best. We can't anticipate all the possibilities, but God certainly has all the answers if we will just seek them.

Then as we are willing to entrust our lives to God we find that the Holy Spirit begins a transformation in our lives. It is then that we have given our will to God and been willing to be the people he created us to be instead of the people we have fashioned of our own ideas.

So do I know this is right? No, can't say that. But I can say that I have seen it work in many lives, so I am thinking it is a pretty good bet. But the challenge is this, getting to know God is a lifetime thing just as getting to know a member of your family is. So I pray that you will put your trust in God and see what God can do with, through and in you.

Blessings for the journey --

Marty

Are You on Track

When I was young I had an HO guage trainset. I loved playing with my train and had a whole city set up and the train ran in and out through the city. If I ran the train too fast, it jumped off the track. And sometimes I was running to train at the proper speed but it jumped the track because two pieces of the track had gotten separated. For the train to work right, it had to stay on track.
It is the same way with us and our faith. For us to feel the joy and know the peace of life in Christ, we need to stay connected to God's plan and purpose for us. Proverbs 3:5 reminds us to put our full trust in the Lord and not lean on our own understanding, and the Lord will make our paths straight. Sometimes we know what we want to do and we just do it before we even consider what God might have us do. And when we get going that fast, we often find ourselves off track and we wonder why God has abandoned us. Sometimes we tune in and have an idea what God wants us to do, but in the midst of trying to follow what God wants of us, we sometimes have an idea to improve on what God has asked, so we disconnect from God and set our own course. And when we do, we find ourselves getting off track and again we wonder why God abandoned us.
Several times in the past week I have been involved in conversations with folks who have said "I want to do this or I want to do that." In each instance, I have said I understand want you want to do, but the question in my mind is what does God want. We need to listen for God's direction, trust in his plan, and the obey with unquestioning loyalty. And when we do that, God will make our paths straight and we will experience the joy and peace of the life offered in Christ. So, stay on track. Listen for God's direction. Put your full trust in God and trust with your whole heart. And follow God's plan with sincere commitment and obey God with unquestioned loyalty.

Blessing for the journey --

Marty

Awesomeness of God

There is a popular contemporary worship song titled "Awesome God". It is a fun song and it is a great thought. But as much as we might like to sing it and as much as we know that God is awesome, I think as we go through the routine of each day, the awesomeness of God escapes us. I was reminded of this during our Sunday school class this week, during the Disciple class last night, and today during our devotional time.
The wonder of creation with its intricacies and majestic nature is awesome in and of itself, but to think that God created all of it is just beyond my comprehension. Even people who do not believe in God are awed by the miraculous nature of the known universe.
Our devotion today suggested that we try the following exercise when God's awesomeness escapes us. Contemplate the vastness of this creation; then contemplate the amazing details of it; then consider all the things God has done in redemptive history and also in your life. Then realize the awesome truth: The God of all that power, who has done all those things, and who continues to sustain it all, is the God who is watching over you.
Our God is an awesome God!

Day of Reflection

          Today I had the opportunity to reflect on how God has intersected with my life and taken me to places that I did not want to go but places that made an extreme difference in my life.  I wanted to be an orthodontist but ended up as an army officer then a pastor.  I wanted to be a father but that did not work out and I had to settle for being a dad.  I wanted to go to Hawaii and he took me to Misawa, Japan where I adopted my daughters.  I wanted to teach third grade, he wanted me to listen.  I thought my life was ruined when I was divorced and he showed be a new life beyond my wildest expectations.  So many times when I was in the Army he put me in the right place to use the gifts he gave me.  He sent me to Bethel to use the gifts he gave me and to pass on the lessons I had learned in my faith journey.
          Today I wonder how many of us go through life trying to do things our way and being satisfied with what we can forge for ourselves.  It took me a long time to realize that my vision for myself was so limited and so self-centered.  Life is so much different today.  I do not try to please others, or even myself; in what I do I try to please God.  And you know what -- it may seem a daunting task but it is not.  I have begun to realize that there are some things I can do and some things I am not so good at.  And if I can just focus on doing the best I can at all that I do, God will not ask any more of me.
          I wonder how many of us try to be the best persons we can.  I wonder how many of us focus on being the best spouse we can be.  I wonder how many of us focus on being the best parent we can be.  And as we do all that, I wonder if we realize how God is leading us AND how we resist!
          Stay tuned, there will be more to come.

What's up with the discipleship and the relationship with God thing?

Many of us who grew up in church were encouraged or required by our parents to come to Sunday school and church every week and perhaps to even be a part of a youth group.  Our parents were serious about the vows they took when they had us baptized.  They tried to set an example and follow through so we would know about God and church when the time came for us to be in confirmation class and join the church. 

In those days, there were no Sunday children and youth sports.  The stores were all closed because of the “blue laws”.  Sunday was a day when families went to church together in the morning and then enjoyed some time together in the afternoon.  Sunday was set aside for church and family, so we did church and then had family time.  It all seemed to go together quite well.

We learned about the disciples and we were taught that Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.”  In those days, I remember being encouraged to do activities with the church to help people who were less fortunate than we were.  But I am not sure I understood I was supposed to be a disciple, even though my teachers did teach us that we should learn from and do what Jesus did. 

Given all that, I am not so sure why I was surprised a few years ago when I preached about discipleship and several of our members asked me why it was not enough to just be a member.  I equated the vows of membership to the task of discipleship and for some that did not equate at all.  So is it the case that prayers, presence, gifts, service, and now witness were things only to be done on Sunday?  Or are they the essence of the work of a disciple who is following, learning from, and emulating Jesus?

And given all of that it is not surprising when people ask me when things changed such that we are expected to have a relationship with God.  Going to church and Sunday school was what we were taught so why would we think anything more is required?  But the fact is as you read the Bible there is no mistaking what God is wanting and that is a relationship with us.  And in Jesus that relationship became very personal.

So what is up with being concerned about discipleship?  Well, that is what Jesus called us to do.  He said to make disciples in all the world and the fact is: to make one you need to be one.  And as disciples, we are to follow, learn from, and emulate Jesus.  When we do that we grow in our relationship with Jesus. 

Why do we need a close and personal relationship with Jesus?  I can’t tell you how many times people have told me that they have prayed and prayed and not heard an answer from God yet.  First, it is hard to recognize a voice or nudge unless you are familiar with the person.  With God there is no caller ID, you have got to know the voice.  And just one other question.  How would you react to someone who only called on you when they wanted something from you?  The good news is that God is not like us and he keeps reaching out and hoping we will take him up on the offer of real relationship.

So, discipleship and personal relationship are interrelated.  And whether we were taught that or not as young persons, it is what God wants.  And in God’s grace he keeps reaching out to each of us and hoping that we will respond.

Blessings for the journey –

            Marty

What is going on around here?

During my evaluation this year, your Pastor Parish Relations Committee and I examined some statistics concerning our church.  One of those statistics was average worship attendance.  For the last four years our worship attendance has been about the same – right around 155.  That raised the question, are we stagnant?  And the answer is: in some ways we have been.

We wondered what is going on.  Well, it seems to me that many of our longer term members are getting older and are unable to attend regularly.  Because they attend less frequently, they know fewer and fewer of the persons attending, so Bethel has taken on a new feel that they are unaccustomed to.  It seems that our younger couples with children have had their children grow old enough to engage in activities that occur during our worship times.  And it seems that we are all feeling the pressure of the lack of time so, Sunday morning becomes for some a time to sleep in and rest.

Beyond worship there are other indicators that something is adrift.  Many of our studies begin with 12 or 20 participants and have ended with only a handful.  To some of our leaders, it seems that the same people are engaged in everything.  It is almost as if as the church has grown in membership that people have felt like they are not needed so they do not participate.  And there is more talking about people than with people going on.

It is as if we have reached a plateau.  And that is precisely what was described to our leaders two years ago at a leadership retreat.  The leader of that seminar posed that we were standing on the edge and we would either take a step forward or begin a decline.  He posed that thought from the experience of churches our size who have experienced growth like we have and reach the point we have.

But all the news is not bad by any means.  Our youth group has grown by leaps and bounds and is postured to have an increase next year too!  Our worship attendance has grown significantly this year so far.  Our missions team remains aggressive in calling us to serve others.  We still support many local organizations.  And our fiancés have not been in this good a shape since we began our building program a few years back.  By all other measures we are still doing better than most churches our size or bigger.  But God does not ask us to be better than most, he has set us apart and asked us to live a life of love.  Most of us know that if love stagnates it is not good. 

So what do we need to do?  We need to recommit ourselves to becoming disciples.  We need to study – it is a lifelong pursuit.  We need to engage in acts of service – everyone is not called to do everything but everyone should be engaged in something.  And most of all we need to open our hearts to hear what God is calling us to do and be in this community and then set our goals to achieve that calling.

When things are stagnant, people take what could be productive time and use it to worry or to grouse about things.  When things are stagnant, new energy is needed.  This summer we are going to have an offsite meeting to revisit the vision of Bethel and to discern where God is leading us and how we will get there from here.  If you are interested, stay tuned and come join with the church leaders so your voice can be part of what helps us achieve the future God has for us.

Blessings for the journey –

            Marty