JM Lenten Devotional

Devotional 4-24-11

2011-04-23T19:50:00.000-05:00

Please read Matthew 28:1-10

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

We blend the birth stories of Matthew and Luke into one nativity story so that our collective memory of the Nativity includes both shepherds and wise men. The same is true, I think, with the gospel accounts of the first Easter. In our memory, there is only one story, albeit with differing details and emphases.

As you read this Easter morning’s Gospel lesson from Matthew, you may be so familiar with the details of the story that your mind filled in details that aren’t present.

Try taking this quiz after reading the above scripture: Why were the two Marys going to the tomb?

If you answered that they were taking spices to prepare the body, and they had to wait until after the Sabbath, then you are, well, wrong. Okay, you are not necessarily wrong; you have demonstrated that you paid attention in Sunday school and church and that perhaps you have knowledge of the various gospel accounts of Jesus’ post-crucifixion appearance to the women. But if you only had Matthew’s version of the events, and you could divorce your mind from other memories, then you should have answered, “They were going to see the tomb.”

Matthew says nothing of spices or preparing the body; these two women, devout believers in Jesus’ words, were going to see. The two Marys had been witnesses to the words and acts of Jesus during his lifetime. They had seen him do great things and heard his great teachings. Matthew recounts several times when Jesus had said that he would be killed and arise on the third day; no doubt the two Marys had heard him.

It had been a dreadful weekend for Jesus and his followers. There was nothing to be joyful or hopeful about. Jesus had been betrayed, arrested, denied, abandoned, mocked, and crucified. Jesus died on the cross.

Jesus had died.

Jeff Taylor

Devotional 4-23-11

2011-04-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Thankfully, we know the glorious end of the Easter story, and we know that Christ has given us the key to heaven’s gate. It is a never-ending challenge, though, to carry that key. Our Father’s disappointment in us must sometimes be unfathomable. It is on this day that all our sins are brought into perspective.

We are unworthy of so great a sacrifice. At the very least, we can take the time to contemplate what was given for our salvation. We realize today, when the price of our redemption seems so tangible, that we must more diligently walk in love and humility.

Today is the Day of Preparation. The body is being treated with myrrh, wrapped in linen, and is placed in the tomb. Imagine that we are sitting next to the stone after it is rolled into place. In our mourning, we might pray the following:

In the midst of life, we are in death;

From whom can we seek help?
From you alone, O Lord,
Who by our sins are justly angered.

Lord, you know the secrets of our hearts;
Shut not your ears to our prayers,
But spare us, O Lord.

O worthy and eternal Judge,
Do not let the pains of death
Turn us away from you at our last hour.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty,

Holy and merciful Savior,
Deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death.

(A burial rite anthem from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer,
© 1986 by the Church Pension Fund)
Natalie Wray

Devotional 4-22-11

2011-04-21T22:11:00.001-05:00

As I write this devotion for Good Friday, it is a spring-like day in the middle of February after a length of weeks and months of cold, cold weather that seemed would never end. An obscure text from the 19^th chapter of Leviticus is the Old Testament lectionary reading for the week. The text is a reminder that God is God – we are not God. God is holy, and because of that, we also ought to be holy. And the text defines holiness, not with sanctimonious behavior and smug prudish glares at others but with a reinforcement of God’s holiness codes, including the 10 commandments.

Holiness is defined in Leviticus by not harvesting the entire field: leave some for the poor or the traveler. Holiness is not stealing or dealing falsely or telling lies. Holiness is not withholding the wages of others until the next day when they need the pay now to provide food for their families today. Holiness is caring for those who are disabled and certainly not providing hindrances for them or making fun of them. Holiness is loving the neighbor as you love yourself. Holiness is not showing partiality to anyone or deferring to those with high position. Holiness is remembering that God is God and that we belong to God – we are not God. Holiness simply means being ‘different’ from behaviors that are motivated by self-centeredness or by the ways of the world.

The teachings of Jesus and our heritage from John Wesley reinforce this. Jesus taught that we should be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Wesley said, “There is no holiness but social holiness.” Filling ourselves with self-centered pietism is, well, unholy.

On this holiest of days, when we recall the crucifixion of our Lord, we would be well served to remember the teachings of Jesus. Not that we can attain that level of perfection, Jesus was teaching the same lesson as the Levitical holiness code, making the same demand of his followers as taught in the early days of Judaism: we are to be holy as God is holy. We are to be different from worldly ways. We are to imitate God – the same God who demands social holiness. To be holy is to put on our work clothes and join in the labors of God in this troubled world.

Put another way, perhaps harshly sounding, to serve only ourselves and not to remember the expectations of God that we love and serve one another is to mock the gift of God’s son to the world and to join with those who stood at the foot of the cross jeering, taunting, making fun.

“Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; abide in him always, and feed on his word. Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak; forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek.”

Prayer: Gracious and merciful God, forgive us when we fail you. Help us to seek holiness, not as we might define it but as you do. Empower us, with your Holy Spirit, to answer “yes” to your call for holiness at work, at school, at play – for holiness with friends and strangers, at home and at worship. Enable us to be different – holy – from the ways of the world. Strengthen our desires to be your faithful people. Give us the boldness we need to live our lives as though the crucifixion of your son means something to us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

Rev. Jack Lipphardt

Devotional 4-21-11

2011-04-20T22:05:00.001-05:00

Scripture: “And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him”. Luke 22:14

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread and blessed, and broke it , and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him. . .” Luke 24:30-31

When I was about four years old growing up in Parkersburg, West Virginia my family moved from our house on Lynn Street to what I have affectionately called my home-place on 19^th Street and Oak. One of the stories told in our family is how my mother wanted the kitchen remodeled before we moved in. She wanted cabinets all around and lots of counter space. Mom wanted a large oversized kitchen bar. The builder/contractor argued she didn’t want it large. But, our mother insisted she wanted it oversized with room to sit all around it on three sides. Needless to say, she won! That kitchen had a large kitchen bar with bar stools all around it. It was the center of the kitchen and even the house!

I have special memories of that kitchen bar because so much of life in the F. Kase Wilson family centered around it. We ate our evening meal there promptly at 5:15pm every weekday evening when Dad would come home from Parkersburg Steel Company. We laughed and talked and yes, even argued many times around that table. Sometimes I would spread my homework out on the kitchen bar. Sometimes my parents would do their paperwork there. My father would spread out the newspaper all over it. I sat across from my mother at the kitchen bar many times late in the evening to share my struggles and life decisions. It was there I discussed with my family that I was going to be a Methodist preacher.

Every Sunday when we gather as the Church to worship we gather around a table. We call it the altar or the communion table. How special for those who gather at United Methodist churches each Sunday to sit around the table (some literally, others symbolically by what we call the “altar” or “worship center”). Like my memories of that kitchen bar in my home-place in Parkersburg, we who are in the Church gather to share life together around the table. We laugh, we cry, we make decisions and yes, we even argue and have our differences around the “table”. A powerful image of Jesus is that of being at the table with his disciples. On this day (Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday) we remember the special meal Jesus had at table. He shared his life with and for each of us as he gave his body and blood. He gave us that memory as sacrament – “a visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace”. Like growing up and having a wonderful family in Parkersburg, the Church gathered around the “table” is where we are nurtured, fed, and nourished in order for us to go out and share his love with others. What a special place to be fed as we gather time after time as the Church.

Dr. William H. Wilson (Bill)

Director of Connectional Ministries-Assistant to the Bishop
West Virginia Annual Conference – The United Methodist Church

Devotional 4-20-11

2011-04-19T21:18:00.000-05:00

The scripture readings for the day include: Isaiah 50: 4-9a; Psalm 70; Hebrews 12: 1-3, and John 13:21-32. These are wonderful readings (and I hope you will take time to read them all). Please focus for a moment or two on the passage from Hebrews 12.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right had of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

I was surprised to find this as a text for the Wednesday of Holy Week. I usually think of these words as a text for All Saints’ Day celebration. I find great comfort and hope in remembering the faithful cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and are now cheering us on as we share in the race that is our own life. In a memorial service years ago at annual conference, Bishop William Boyd Grove, offered a picture of the church with no roof. The balcony then extends heavenward with those saints filling the pews, looking in upon us, concerned for us and our race, cheering us on as they pray for us. It is a wonderful and comforting image. Reading these words during Holy Week reminds me that I find that comfort and sense of hope only because of what Jesus has endured for us.

It is Wednesday and we have been through all this before. We know the story of the next few days. We know what had to be endured before that great cloud of witnesses could take their place. We know that tomorrow we will gather in remembrance of a Passover table where bread and wine were shared as an enduring covenant of love and everlasting life. We know that after the supper there will be shame and humiliation as Jesus is taken and tried. We know that Friday will bring pain and suffering and ultimately death. Yes, we know those are not the last words, for we are an Easter people.

know there is Easter joy coming. I know there are new life possibilities through Christ. But sometimes life is tiring. Sometimes I get so caught up in the “busyness” and the everyday things of life that I lose heart. I whine (one of my “spiritual gifts”) and think that I am running this race alone. The preacher/writer of Hebrews encourages us to keep on in faithful living (even when it is difficult) because we have a relationship with Jesus. Jesus endured the shame and pain of all that we humans could do to him. He did that for us. He didn’t count the cost. He gave himself for us. That cloud of witnesses is there to cheer us on because Jesus loved us enough to give himself for us. (There is even the promise of a place for us in the balcony seats among those great witnesses because of Christ’s great life gift.)

Sometimes it is helpful for me to hear these words of life and hope in a different voice. Hear this paraphrasing of this Hebrews text as Eugene Peterson offers it in The Message.

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over the story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Prayer:

Loving Christ, we are amazed at the way you faithfully lived through all of life’s humiliations, shame, and pain. Help us to keep our eyes focused upon you that we may faithfully live today and tomorrow as we run this race of life. Amen.

Mark Conner

Devotional 4-19-11

2011-04-18T21:15:00.002-05:00

We say, “I could never do that; I don't know how, I would be too nervous, I would not do a good job, I am not gifted to do that.”

Paul says, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

Several years ago, I would decline when asked to pray in public. I would pray, but I wanted time to prepare. I wanted to know what I was going to say before I actually said it – and there is nothing at all wrong with praying that way. In fact, when prayers are prepared ahead of time, they can be beautiful and poetic, and they reflect time spent with God.

God has moved me from the comfortable place where I was to somewhere else. What I do now – both at church and at work – requires that I pray in public with no notice and no preparation. I fought it at first, but I finally came to realize that if God has brought me here, he will equip me. So I stepped out of the boat, and just prayed. Now I find joy in it.

God did that, not me.

We say, “I could never do that; I don't know how, I would be too nervous, I would not do a good job, I am not gifted to do that.”

Isaiah says, “Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me.” (Isaiah 49:1)

He called you before you were born. He knows every inch of you and every dark corner of me. He knows your strengths, my weaknesses; he certainly knows the gifts he has given to us. He loves us, in spite of it all; because of it all. And, knowing all of that, he calls us.

A few months ago, I asked someone to be lector. The person said no (which is fine!). A few minutes later, the person came back to me, and told me yes. God was calling, and this person listened, and said yes, even though it was out of the normal comfort zone. When the time came to answer the call, she was perfectly equipped and did a wonderful job.

God does that, not us, and we can trust him to be faithful.

The Psalmist says, “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.” (Psalm 71:5-6)

We say, “Send me,” and we lean on the Lord with faith and trust.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-18-11

2011-04-17T21:02:00.002-05:00

For many years the Upper Room Disciplines has been one of the devotional resources that I use. This publication is a sister piece to the bi-monthly devotional resource that is available through our church. The primary difference in the Upper Room Disciplines is that it follows the Common Lectionary and the writers are responsible for an entire week’s devotional pieces.

Last week’s devotions were written by Ray Waddle of Yale Divinity School. He reminded readers of a phrase first made popular in the 1990's. The phrase asked the question: What Would Jesus Do or W. W. J. D.? Obviously that phrase was intended to challenge believers to live a more Christ centered life. It was, and it is, something that we all need to follow throughout our lives.

Ray though, in these devotional meditations has taken it a step further. He added three letters: D., U., and T. So, now the letters make up the acronym W. D. J. W. U. T. D. Can you guess what the difference is? Spelled out the message now becomes What Does Jesus Want Us To Do? In some ways the message and its implication are the same. The implication being that we are to live so others might see Jesus in us.

Yesterday we celebrated Palm Sunday and the triumphantal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds had received him gladly. What a difference the next few days would bring. These same crowds and even the disciples themselves would betray him. What will this week reveal about our own following of Jesus and our willingly putting him first within our thoughts and actions? Will W. D. J. W. U. T. D. enter our thought at all? When all is going well in our lives it is easy to profess our faith and our loyalty to Christ Jesus but what about when the dark clouds of doubt and despair darken the horizon. Will we too fall asleep at a time when our witness is most needed? Will we too deny that we know him by our actions and words?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, may WDJWUTD be in our thoughts and actions this day and every day. Amen.

Thom Malcolm

Devotional 4-17-11

2011-04-16T20:51:00.000-05:00

Scripture: Luke 15:17-24

But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

Part II: The Solution

. . . CONTINUED FROM MARCH 24, 2011

Once upon a time there was a man who had come to realize that he had spent his life trying to avoid sin by doing the right thing (actions) and in doing so, had fallen victim to Sin (estrangement from God). He wanted so bad to fix it, but he did not know how. So he decided to pray. First, he sat in his recliner and laid back and looked up at the ceiling (as if to look toward heaven). He prayed for three whole MINUTES and his prayer focused on how much he loved God. He decided that this prayer was too soft (like his recliner, his prayer was easy and comfortable). He knew that he had not fixed his relationship with God. Second, he climbed to the top of a nearby mountain and kneeled on the hard rock and closed his eyes and bowed his head. He prayed for three HOURS and his prayer focused on all the things that he had done wrong in his life. He decided that this prayer was too hard (the confession hurt as much as his knees did). He knew that he had not fixed his relationship with God. Third, he sat in his car and said “I don’t know what to do. God help me. I just don’t know what to do.” This prayer was (as in all Goldilocks type stories) just right.

Somewhere in the silence following his words, he realized that God loved him despite all his actions (bad or good). He had been loved by God the whole time! It wasn’t up to him to get everything right. The answer to Sin was not some three step prayer or five pronged approach or even some ten step sermon (which tends to be more like my grass in the summer – too long!). The answer to Sin is Grace! And Grace does not depend upon our actions, because Grace is God’s action!

The prodigal had his approach laid out. He would go to his father and say that he had sinned and was not worthy to be the son and surely he would be given a job as a hired hand. But the father didn’t get that memo. The father never stopped loving him as a son. A robe, a ring, sandals, and a fatted calf party were symbols of the even more powerful gift: LOVE!

The man realized that it didn’t matter where he prayed or how he prayed (kneeling or sitting or standing, eyes open or shut, head bowed or not). What mattered is that he shared his life with God (he pictured walking in the door from work and hearing God say to him, “how was your day?”); what mattered is that he his attempts to do what is right were a response to God’s love rather than an attempt to earn it.

. . . TO BE CONCLUDED, through the living of our lives!

Prayer

Gracious God,
you love us, yet while we are still sinners;
you don’t make us earn your love,
because real love can’t be earned!
So we thank you,
and we respond to your love with our love for you
and we ask that you surround us with your love,
so that we will be empowered to love others, the way you love us:
UNCONDITIONALLY!
In the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

David A. Stackpole, M.Div., J.D.

Devotional 4-16-11

2011-04-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Atomic Batteries to Power
Turbines to Speed

As a boy of the 60’s we loved to hear those words. That meant that Batman and Robin were on their way to Wham, Pow, Zonk some bad guys. We are Easter people and we are about to enter “our time”. Once during a discussion about the star in the east, the magi and the virgin birth, I heard a minister say, “Come to Christmas by way of Easter. If you believe that Jesus came, died and rose AND He did it all for you, then Christmas is easy.” We are Easter people. As this beautiful season unfolds we are reminded of life anew. By the flowers and trees greening around us. By the warm sun on our faces. By the breeze in our hair not forming icicles in its wake. We are also charged up and with utility belts firmly buckled on are ready to go Wham, Pow, Zonk some sin. We will see people at Easter who haven’t been to church for a while. We will want them to know all that they have missed. We will want to immediately immerse them into our world – our church. I know I will. Early vacationers to the eastern shoreline learn as they emerge from a dark, cold winter and run scantily clad, into the surf, unaware of what awaits - they get scorched by the sun. As our friends return to church, perhaps following a long, dark period and run to the Son for warmth, let’s not scorch them with a chronology of exactly how long it has been since we saw them last or a needs list -- you need to come to our Sunday School class, you need to come to early church, you need to join this committee, you need… (Possibly the single best word to distance me from as task).

When Jesus traveled, he walked. No 24-valve, dual overhead cam, high horsepower chariot. Hurry was not on the agenda. “Jesus, come quick. There’s this dead guy.” Still no hurry. “Jesus, come quick. There’s this guy’s daughter -- she’s sick.” So much not in a hurry we get the story headlined in our Bibles – ‘The miracle on the way to a miracle.’ When He spoke, he didn’t use a hi-amp microphone. He spoke softly. He talked the talk and walked the walk, showing us how to live by his actions. And when the road was ended, He showed us, slowly and quietly, how much we are loved -- “It is finished.”

When we see our friends, let them see and hear the Son through us.

Steve Matthews

Devotional 4-15-11

2011-04-14T20:05:00.000-05:00

It seems appropriate to me that for a devotional that is going to be published on April 15, we take a look at Matthew, the tax collector. Tradition says that he wrote the first Gospel. We know that he lived in the region of Galilee. The people who lived there were not important in the eyes of the world, farmers and fishermen, regular folks. Unfortunately, the position that Matthew held in society was one of the most despised ones in all of Israel. He was a tax collector, also called a publican. Tax collectors were hated by all of Jewish society, even more than the Romans who occupied Israel at that time.

Publicans bought tax franchises from the Roman emperor and then extorted money from the people of Israel, money that was added to the Roman treasury and also padded the publican’s own pockets. Tax collectors were considered lowlifes and were treated as such. For a Jewish man like Matthew to be a tax collector was even worse. He was a traitor to the nation, a social outcast. He was also a religious outcast. He could not go in any synagogue. He was forbidden to worship and sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. In terms of religion, he was worse than a Gentile.

But God had other plans for this man. Matthew 9:9 says “as Jesus passed on from Capernaum, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me.’” So Matthew got up and followed him without thinking. He put his old life aside and followed Jesus. He did not lie about his past. He did not try to hide anything. He did not make any excuse for what he did or what he was doing. He just agreed to follow Jesus.

Even though he lived on the fringes of respectable society, I think he must have known the Scripture well, because in his Gospel, he quotes from it time after time, the Law, the Psalms, the Prophets, every section of the Hebrew Scriptures. Since he couldn’t hear the word in any place of worship, he must have studied it on his own. I have no idea what went through Matthew’s mind when he decided to become a tax collector in the first place, something that he must have known was wrong for a pious Jew. Whatever prompted that choice, he believed in God and through his study of the Scriptures was waiting for the Messiah. He must have heard about Jesus long before me ever met him. He learned about the miracles, the healings, the teaching. So when Jesus asked him to follow Him, Matthew had enough faith to drop everything and follow. Then he invited all of his friends (tax collectors and other sinners) to meet Jesus. Of course the Pharisees found fault with that.

I think this is a great story for Lent because these are supposed to be forty days of discipline and examination. I wonder sometimes if these stories have not lost their edge over the centuries as the Christian church has become more and more a part of mainstream society. Many of us would be Pharisees who criticize Jesus for being with the sinners and outcasts of society. Today that means the homeless, the child abusers, the drug addicts, the people that I often think I’ m better than. But if Lent is a time when we examine ourselves honestly, we have to admit our own sinfulness, our own poor choices.

At my church in Fairmont I have been doing a preaching series called “Fearless, the Courage to Question” for Lent this year. It’s about not being afraid to take anything to God. Anything, the things we’re proud of, the things we’re ashamed of. Anything. I am trying to honestly look at my life right now. What relationships are important to me and which ones aren’t anymore? If they are important, what lengths am I willing to go to maintain them? I am also looking at the lifestyle choices I’ve made. Am I treating my body well? Am I on Facebook and the Internet too much? Spiritually, I am discerning if God is leading me on the same path that I’ve been on for years, or should I go in a new direction? And, oh my, what if I did make those changes? What would people say?! I don’t know what goes through your mind this year, but I am convinced that there is nothing we cannot take to God.

Matthew took himself with all of his flaws and offered them to Jesus for His use. Jesus used him. He can use our brokenness, our completeness, our joys and our sorrows for his service. Lent is a time to remember that in spite of our sinfulness, God still uses us, just as he used that tax collector Matthew.

Rev. Dorcas Linger Conrad
Highland Ave. UMC
Fairmont, WV

Devotional 4-14-11

2011-04-13T20:59:00.002-05:00

Ever since the Memory Garden was built at Johnson Memorial, I have tried to make it grow and thrive. The Memory Garden to me is so important because it was established to remember all the loved ones that have been a part of our church from time immemorial. I have planted many plants there and most of them have struggled to survive. Was it because of poor soil, lack of water, or neglect after original planting? Scott and I amended the soil, mulched the plants, and watered them, but they never did well. The garden was supposed to be a place where we could go and reflect on the people who have made our church what it is today, and I could not find anything that would grow and flower there until last fall. I finally planted winter pansies. Winter pansies are such a delicate looking plant. They really do not display the attributes of a species that could survive freezing temperatures. To my amazement those little flowers bloomed even in our harshest cold this winter and even when covered with snow. This spring they are even more beautiful than they were when I planted them in the fall. Not many members of our church have seen those pansies. I know they are there, just like I know that God takes cares of us, and we do not know it. If God can make frail little pansies grow in the harshest of times, what else can He do for us that we do notice? We daily take advantage of his many blessings that we pay no attention to. I worked to find the right plant for the Memory Garden, but I know he finally helped me to make them grow through all the efforts of finding the answer to my wishes for our Garden. It is there for those who can only find access to our sanctuary because they can no longer climb our steps or are on their last journey into their church. Have you seen those pansies? They will be there until about May then I will try to find a plant that will survive the summer. Is my seeking the right plant for our garden not unlike our seeking of Christ? We are constantly trying to find the answer to what will work to make our life what we want it to be, but we have to try out a lot of things before we discover that He is the way for us to bloom and flourish even if nobody sees it.

Jean Ramsey

Devotional 4-13-11

2011-04-12T20:12:00.000-05:00

WISHING

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever. Let Israel say: His love endures forever.” Psalm 118: 1-2.

A friend shared with me that he would soon be retiring. My immediate was response was to say, “I’m so jealous, I wish I could, also”. I started paying attention to the number of times I wished it was some other time, that I was in some other place or that I could bring back some ill-said words. It seemed I was doing a lot of “wishing”. I was wishing that the day’s duties were completed; that the semester was over; that the snows (and now the rain) would end; that I hadn’t embarrassed someone with my words; that I could go to the beach for spring break, etc. Lent is almost complete—have I also been wishing Easter would hurry up and arrive?

Was that what Judas had in mind when he went to the Jewish leaders? Was he wishing that the kingdom that Jesus spoke of would be revealed sooner rather than in some distant future? Wasn’t Judas just “helping Jesus out” by providing a little jump start push? Did Peter wish he hadn’t betrayed Jesus 3 times? Did the other disciples wish they had acted or said something differently? Surely there were more regrets than were written about in the scriptures.

We have the benefit of knowing the sequence of events of Holy Week from a wider perspective and even we can’t seem to act without regret. We wish we were more faithful, or more generous, or more loving. We have betrayed Jesus in any number of ways with our neglectful behavior and sinful actions. I wish I were a better person but even as willful and stubborn as I am, I cannot change on my own. My regrets are many.

How totally uplifting, in light of these regrets, to read in the psalms that God is good and his love endures forever. My regrets can become a plea that God will grant my request for mercy. God uses our choices and failings in ways that we cannot fathom or discern. God’s plan is revealed only as we live in the “today” of our lives. Wishing ourselves into the future or wishing we had acted differently in the past, does not bring us joy. Only when we surrender to God’s plan and time frame do we find forgiveness and peace. In these last days of Lent may we celebrate the infinite grace and enduring love of God that grants us all that we need for each moment of our lives.

“Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
Thomas Chisholm~~~

Dear Loving and Gracious God,
We are ever grateful for all that you have done for us and for supplying all that we need even before we became aware of our need. We are sorry for our many shortcomings. We regret that we have wished for other times and places when you have placed us where we need to be. We regret uncaring words and actions when you have shown us in the life of Jesus the actions that we should be modeling. Please grant us your forgiveness once again. Grant us mercy in spite of our lack of worthiness. Fill us with your love so that we might live as Easter People—redeemed and reborn. Amen.

Chyrl Budd

Devotional 4-12-11

2011-04-11T21:31:00.000-05:00

Worry, Worry, Toil and Trouble

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.” (Psalm 118:24 NIV) But, how can you do that when you feel like every time you take 2 steps forward, the world knocks you back 3? We can sometimes feel overwhelmed with worries and grief as David did when he wrote, “Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.” (Psalm 31:9 NIV)

Do you sometimes lay awake at night thinking of problems, running different scenarios through your mind? I do, and because things never turned out the way I had planned I started playing a game with God. I think of every possible way a situation could unfold--plan A, B, and C. God inevitably comes up with D! I am definitely not in charge! There is something very freeing about that. I don’t have to have all of the answers. All I have to do is my best. But, what about the things I can't do anything about? Most of my worries seem to be about things I have little or no control over. I worry about other people. It is easy to have all the answers for someone else--so much easier than dealing with your own problems! But once again, I am not in charge. I can’t make someone else do something they don’t want to do. The only person I can control is myself, and I need a lot of help from God to accomplish that! Why would I even think that I have all of the answers for someone else? All I can do is love them, support them, and offer their problems up to God. Again coming to that realization is very humbling and freeing.

David gave us the answer when he wrote, "But, I trust in you, O Lord,...my times are in your hands,...Let your face shine on your servant, save me in your unfailing love.” (Psalm 31:14-16 NIV). We are to humble ourselves before God, admit we don’t have the answers, give the problems and the worries to God to solve. Instead of telling God what needs to happen, tell Him you don’t have a clue what to do and ask Him to show you the way. In other words trust God to be in charge. Then thank Him for all of your many blessings. All too often we let our worries over shadow our blessing.

Humble yourself, trust God, and thank Him for your blessings. Then you can truly rejoice and be glad in the day the Lord has made because He is in charge!

Margaret Williams

Devotional 4-11-11

2011-04-10T19:55:00.000-05:00

The Brother With the Donkey

Matthew 21:1-11

“Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will quickly find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, say that the Master needs them and he will send them at once.”

I love Holy Week and I love this story. I love a parade. And this was the beginning of a parade for Jesus. A few weeks ago I was in New Orleans for a church conference, and I saw two parades -- one in downtown New Orleans and another in Biloxi, Mississippi. They both were wonderful. I loved them both. I thought about all of the preparation it took for the bands to practice and people to build the floats. I thought about where this brother had met Jesus before this day.

How did you know? How did you know it was Jesus who needed a donkey? Did you have a vision? Did an angel appear in a dream? Was it hard to give? Was it difficult to give something for him to use? Did you have any idea that your generosity would be used for such a noble purpose? Did it ever occur to you that God was going to ride your donkey? Were you aware that all four Gospel writers would tell your story? In making such a request, Jesus is claiming to be king.

It could be that God wants to use your donkey during this Lenten season and enter the walls of another heart, another city, another community or another nation. Will you let him? Will you give it? Or will you hesitate?

That brother who gave Jesus the donkey is just one in a long line of folks who gave little things to a big God. Scripture has quite a gallery of donkey-givers. In fact, heaven may be a hall of fame to honor God’s uncommon use of the common.

It’s a place you won’t want to miss. Look through and see Joseph’s coat, Rahab’s rope, Paul’s bucket, David’s sling, and Samson’s jawbone. Put your hand around the staff which split the sea and smote the rock. Sniff the ointment which soothed Jesus’ skin and lifted his heart. Blessed is he or she who comes in the name of the Lord.

Rev. Jeremiah Jasper

Devotional 4-10-11

2011-04-09T22:18:00.000-05:00

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE

JOHN 11: 1-45

I thought of the admonition “You can run but you cannot hide” when I read John 11:7. Joe Louis is attributed the author of the saying when he stated, “He can run, but he can't hide" about his fight with Billy Conn, the light-heavyweight champion and a highly-regarded contender. Jesus and the disciples had just left Judea and made their way across the Jordan after a close call with being stoned. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was severely ill or dead he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea.” The disciples were incredulous. They could not believe what they were hearing. The scripture lesson gives Jesus a lot of metaphorical words and examples as his response to the disciples when he heard their response to his desire to go back to Judea. These are the words I wished the writers had put into the dialogue. Jesus replied to the disciples, “You can run but you cannot hide”.

In terms of our spiritual walk with the Lord truer words have never been expressed. We do run and we do hide, but not well. It is difficult to hide from God. We fool ourselves into believing that God is like our family and neighbors or worst yet the media. It is all about “spin”. If we say something enough times and frequently, it will be believed. God knows us. God know our limitations as well as our gifts and graces. God knows our sin as well as our blessing.

During this Lenten season we need to travel the road to Judea where the possibility of being stoned resides. This road to Judea is the road to salvation. At the end of the road lies the death of all the ideas, images, and beliefs that keep us from growing spiritually. It is fearful to travel this road. Scott Peck called this the road less traveled. It is a road that at times is not only scary and difficult but painful. That is why we do not want to travel on this journey. We have grown comfortable in our spiritual pain. We believe that if we buy some new toy the pain will recede. We believe we will feel better but that never works. The spiritual pain continues to lurk and wait to inflict itself upon us.

As you move through this Lenten season, I invite you to travel this road to Judea and repent. Repent the self centered nature that keeps you from being honest with yourself. Repent the petty feeling of jealousy, envy, hostility, and negativity that you have for others. Repent the ill will that you hold toward those who created the hurts, slights, and misdeeds done to you in the past. Repent the emptiness that pushes you to fill the hole with drugs, alcohol, possessions, and noise. Repent because “You can run but you cannot hide”.

Rev. David C. Johnson

Devotional 4-8-11

2011-04-08T20:47:00.002-05:00

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The Lord whispered my name.
I felt his hand upon me,
and I saw a valley
through his eyes.

Bones. Death. Disconnected pieces of ruined life.
Scattered across the ground.
Silent and dry.
He led me into the valley.
With my steps, I tried to avoid the white decay,
but it was everywhere.
Bone dust rising with our steps.

"Child, is there life?
Anywhere around you?"
I doubted it.
I couldn't imagine life among these bones.

"Tell them about me," God said.
"Have enough faith to just speak about me.
Tell them to listen to me.
Have that much faith.
Believe that I can bring life from death.
Believe that my breath, my spirit, can do
what is unimaginable.
Have enough faith to say it."

I lay my doubt like a dry bone
upon the ground
and believed.
I did as I had been commanded,
and spoke of life to death.

As I did, with a great noise
the bones began to move.
Click and clack, snap.
Chalk rubbed against dust
and the bones stood together.
Assembled into the ghosts of life.
The bones were covered with flesh,
dry and wrinkled, holding the skeleton of life
into the appearance of men and women.

"Pray, my child, for life.
Ask for the spirit to enter this death.
Ask for my breath to come.
Ask for me to make a difference."

I asked.
I took from God the faith to ask.
To believe.
To have enough faith that God can make a difference.
That God can breathe life into death.

Death became life
and before me stood uncountable people
Once dead, now alive.
Once bone, now breathing flesh.
Alive in God's spirit.

In the valley of death and bones
God changed everything.
Where there was no hope,
God created hope.
Where there was no life,
God breathed his spirit into death.
And bones stood and came to life.

Do we ever stand among death?
Do we ever think a church is dying?
Do we lose hope; do we see only bones?
Do we have enough faith to speak of God?
Do we believe enough in the power of God to pray?

And you will know He is Lord
when he opens the grave of death and bones
and brings forth life.
Even you. Even me. Life.
And he will put his spirit within us, and we shall live.
Not a life of dry bones, but a life lived in God.
Awakened by his breath.
God among us.
God abiding in us.
Life.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-8-11

2011-04-07T22:57:00.002-05:00

Please read Psalm 91
Here are two more Biblical references that might start us thinking about worship and music:

Chronicles 16:8-9 – Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name; make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works.

Proverbs 8:17 -- I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me.

Worship and Music

It seems to me that our worship of God is an ongoing, continuous thing. Yes, we worship in church. We also worship at home, maybe at work or just about anywhere or any time. There may also be times when we would like to go to a secret place to be alone with God. Such a place could be a special room where we can shut out the noises of the world – or our favorite place could be a hilltop with a beautiful view of the landscape below; or perhaps, a spot on the bank of a quiet stream --- any place where we can commune with God with no distractions.

Woven into the tapestry of our prayers and praise is our love of music – hymns, anthems, requiems and glorias; or maybe, just humming a simple tune while we pray.

While meditating about worship and music, I rediscovered a piece that seems to combine the various facets of our worship: a singable tune written by a great composer – Felix Mendelssohn with lyrics adapted by Carl Fredrickson from the familiar 91st Psalm. The title is Thy Secret Place.

Here are the lyrics. I hope they aid you in your worship as they have me.

In Thy secret place, Lord most high –
In the secret place of the Almighty,
I shall dwell in peace and in safety.
I shall dwell in safety in His presence.
His wings shall be my refuge, my God,
In Him I put my trust.
No evil shall befall me.
In thy secret place there is safety.
I shall never fear the noisome pestilence.
I have made the Lord my refuge,
And His secret place my habitation.

To Thy secret place, Lord, I come.
I shall dwell in safety in Thy presence.
I will trust in Thee, Thou my fortress,
And Thy truth shall be my shield and buckler.
Thy wings shall be my refuge,
No evil shall befall me.
He shall send His angels to keep me.
They shall watch and guard me from the fowler’s snare.
He hath set His love upon me.
I shall praise and show Him my salvation.

Prayer
O God, our creator
We have so much to thank you for –
Our very life
Our health
But we pause now to give you special thanks for your constant care and protection in our daily lives.
Surely, if we had to depend only on our own wits and abilities to solve the problems and dilemmas that assail us, we would be lost in no time; but, because you have aided us and sheltered us from the storms of life, we raise our joyful songs of praise to you. Amen.

Charlie Lewis

Devotional 4-7-11

2011-04-06T21:08:00.000-05:00

My definition of treasure changed drastically when my daughter, Rachel, died. In her closet I had stored several brand new miniature tea sets. Each set represented a different animal. I had enough tea sets to give her one for her next ten birthdays. I had many more items that were precious only to Rachel, and I had to decide whether to part with, or keep them. whether to part with, or keep them. Silly as it sounds, a pencil she used, or hair bow was a major decision. Every picture she drew, unmatched pair of mittens, or socks became “treasure” for a while. I stumbled through her favorite dresses, shoes, toys, books, etc… A desolate feeling would come over me when I thought about keeping all these personal things, but then knowing that someday these same “precious items” would be part of an estate sale where people would not have any idea in what way they were significant to her or us, was heartbreaking. It was stressful. Everything was a treasure but a burden also. I began to need to give things away. I needed to give them to someone who would know what they meant while they still meant something. Mainly, though, what I did was begin to re-think treasure.

I realized my memories were my treasure to keep. I humbly acknowledged that my true treasure was Christ because He was with me every moment through my life. I became conscious that each moment with my sons, my husband and my family where we found joy or grief was my treasure because we were living. I grasped the tiniest bits of hope every moment that I could, and labeled them treasure.

When treasure comes to mind now, I do not think of money, gold, or stocking away tea sets for days that might not happen. Instead, I think of a moment spent with someone I love, or the hope of shared time. I hear a child’s laugh. Beautiful fall colors come to mind shimmering bright in my mind. I imagine digging in dirt, and planting a beautiful blue spruce that will live. I cherish walks where I see a deer, living free, and hearing music that makes my heart soar. In my mind’s eye I see a smile on someone’s face because I made their day easier, or fulfilled a need. I treasure reading a book in my hammock while the wind rustles through the trees above me. I think of God, and I am overwhelmed because the God of all things considers me, and you, His treasure.

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Barbara Smith Lavalley

Devotional 4-6-11

2011-04-05T22:25:00.000-05:00

As we move through the days of Lent, we must focus on the meaning of these days preceding Easter. God sent us his only son to suffer on the cross and to die in order to save us from our sins. What a sacrifice to make for all mankind. Unfortunately, there are those in our world who hold grudges and grievances against other people. Sometimes words are spoken that may hurt another's feelings. Satan then takes hold, and blame, accusation, and an unforgiving attitude emerges. Christ died for us, but on Easter Sunday, Jesus arose from the dead, giving us the promise of new life, joy, and happiness.

Are we willing to forgive those whom have hurt us, or do we allow Satan to perpetuate our hatred and continue to hold anger against others? God tells us to forgive as He forgave us. When people look at you, do they see Christ's kindness and humility, or do they see anger, the lack of compassion, and an unforgiving spirit?

We must allow the power of Easter to overtake our lives, understanding that God has forgiven us of our sins, and for us to enjoy and to appreciate all the gifts He has given to us. When we look at the beauty of the Earth, we know that God lives within all of us if we allow him into our hearts. Let us be like the beautiful season of spring, refreshed, renewed, and forgiving of others.

Matthew 6:14-15
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (NIV)

Colossians 3:13-14
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (NIV)

Theo Tippett

Devotional 4-5-11

2011-04-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

No More Dry Bones

Almost every time a violin student quits taking lessons, parents usually say that they don’t have time to practice. The novelty wears away, and the well of interest becomes hopelessly dry. It’s such a shame to hear, because they rarely give it a fair chance. A little bit of sincere effort can lead to such a gratifying experience. To “deny oneself” by putting time into something can yield great results. We all have something we’d love to do… if we just had more time.

To give up a luxury during Lent, while keeping genuine spiritual focus, always leads to personal fulfillment. To sacrifice of our time is even better, because it can also positively affect others. Donating time to the church-- from pulling weeds outside to attending services within-- would be the best form of giving more to get more. In most cases, we know it’s not about having time; it’s about making time.

One of this week’s scriptures is Ezekiel 37:1-14. I’ve read an encouraging comparison of those “dry bones” to some churches, saying that God can breathe new life into a church just as He did those bones. It would be amazing to see our Church revitalized. More fellowship, more unity, and more children!

Ezekiel didn’t believe those dusty bones could be revived, and we might sometimes feel as though the church is beyond (literal and spiritual) repair. God can make the dead walk. One bone connects to the next, which connects to the next, and so on… until the body is complete. Just think how He can use the living to wake a slumbering church. One person’s actions add to those of the next, and the next… until the complete body bustles with renewed vigor. Let us make time now to pray for the life of the church and find ways today to help it along. In closing, I quote the closing line of the well-known song about Ezekiel’s dry bones: Hear the word of the Lord!

Natalie Wray

Devotional 4-4-11

2011-04-04T10:53:00.003-05:00

Jim Perry

PEACE BE WITH YOU

Read John 20:19-23

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

(John 20:21, NIV)

I volunteer at the VA Hospital twice a week as well as help with Common Grounds, and I see many sad looks and faces that show a beaten down spirit. It seems as if many people are merely existing.

Everyone has to deal with heartbreaks and challenges. Jesus’ words to his disciples, “Peace be with you,” brings me solace no matter what I face. For me, remembering that Christ offers us peace takes a heavy weight off my spirit so that I can live a fuller life.

Some of the people I see reflect peace in their appearance, their mannerisms, and how they treat others. I feel drawn to these people. As a result, no matter where I am, I have tried over these years to share Christ’s peace. Giving peace to another person involves more that our words. We can communicate Christ’s peace with our smile, the kindness in our eyes, or the touch of a hand when someone is going through tough times and by doing so we draw others closer to Christ.

As we open our hearts day by day, Christ’s peace can fill us so that we are able to freely share it with those we encounter.

Lord, fill us with your love and peace so those we meet will want to know you because of what they see in us.

AMEN

Devotional 4-3-11

2011-04-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

Valley Property for Sale

What does your “valley” look like? We have all experienced valleys. Are you living in yours? I’ve sent a change of address form to the Post Office because my valley has become so comfortable. It seems that’s how I’ve chosen to live the past several months…becoming complacent, self-absorbed, grieving the loss of a job, living with my parents while I recuperate from surgery brought on by my failed attempt to rescue a baby raccoon. I have almost found myself believing Kenny when he jokingly says, “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Don’t you feel sorry for me? My attempt to do what I believed a good, valiant deed resulted in nothing but loss. The raccoon died. I can’t wear “big girl shoes,” or walk without limping, or lose weight, or maintain the belief that I’m irreplaceable at the office because I truly care about doing my job honestly and well. By now I’m sure you get the general idea. I’m just a joy to be with, especially because I’m a Christian, and my life demonstrates my faith, a life transformed by God! Really?

The first verse of the Old Testament lectionary reading for this week stopped me cold. “The LORD said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’” (I Samuel 16:1) NRSV

Looks like I need to reassess the property value of my valley. Even though it has been my preferred pouting place several times, this particular pilgrimage has been filled with God’s blessings, and I chose not to see or appreciate or be thankful for them. My husband, my children, my parents have all been cheering me on – especially during my frequent melt-downs; my church family has visited me, prayed for me, stayed in touch with me, given me reassuring hugs; the love of Christ has been given to me on a daily basis, but I let the darkness of my valley blind me to the light of love these wonderful people continue to bring.

I must confess and ask forgiveness for grieving over past failures – and sins – and ask that God’s grace will allow me to see how God is opening a new chapter in my life. And in the process, I’ll be completing another change of address form …. and if you’re my neighbor here, let’s move forward together in the warm, loving light Christ shines on the path out of this valley, confident that God has better plans and a better place for us. Amen

Linda Summers

Devotional 4-2-11

2011-04-02T23:27:00.002-05:00

A part of my morning routine is working the Sudoku puzzle that is in the newspaper. “They” say that the activity keeps our minds sharp. It sounds so easy –just get nine numbers into the correct boxes- but if they are not in the correct place (box), the result affects all nine boxes which make up the entire puzzle. Just like our lives, when we put just one area of our life in the wrong place, our entire life does not feel right, and in fact things just don’t go the way we want them to go, and then it is difficult to put the puzzle pieces (our lives) back in order. What do we do? Fortunately we do have a guide book to help us through these problems, and the answers are included. How good is that? But there is more. We have another guide. We have not put the puzzle pieces in the right places, we are in trouble. We can talk to God about this problem. Time goes by, and we do not get the answer that we want. Has God forgotten us? Did you ever look back and realize that his answer to you was no. I have. You did not get the answer that you wanted. Sometimes as you reflect on events you realize that no was the best answer. It was hard to realize at the time. Or perhaps you did not do your part in helping a thing to happen. God wants us to be proactive and positive. We cannot expect God to do it all. That is why he made us with abilities that we might use them- to solve the Sudoku puzzle or to be a positive force in our world.

Matthew 9:27-29 As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, ”Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us! When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him, Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why yes, Master!” He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.” It happened.

Marilyn Holleron

Devotional 4-1-11

2011-04-01T23:53:00.001-05:00

Read John 9:1-41

“You can’t see the Forest for the Trees”

How many times have we heard this in our lives? We are working on a project, and at every turn, there seems to be another wall. Then, usually from what we believe to be an unlikely source, the answer drops in like a lightning bolt. That “Ah-Ha” moment, and everything continues to fall into place.

In John 9:3, we read, “he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed to him”. After this, Jesus makes some mud on the ground, rubs it on the man’s eyes, and tells him to “Go wash in the pool of Siloam”. He goes, and washes and is granted the gift of sight.

I believe this story is teaching us much more that the fact that Jesus was able to restore a man’s sight. In verse 39, Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind”. The scripture explains this further, explaining that we are neither gaining nor loosing physical sight. What we are made to see is the Glory of God in the example of the works of Jesus on earth.

So, when does our “Ah-HA” moment come? When do the walls come down, so that we are granted sight? That is up to each of us because God’s grace is given to us freely. We don’t deserve this gift, but all we need to do is say, “Yes Lord, I believe”, and we will be made to see.

During this season of Lent, we reflect on our lives, and listen for God. Hopefully we find ourselves saying “I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now, I see”.

Grace and Peace,
Hulse Budd

Devotional 3-31-11

2011-03-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:19-20

Back in the early 80’s, Carla and I went to Florida to bring my mother north for the summer. She told us she had just gotten back from the doctor, and he found a spot on her lung. We ended up sending her to my brother’s home in Cleveland for treatment of cancer. Within three months, it took her life. She had expressed a desire earlier, to have her minister from Florida perform her serve is she died. My brother was returning from a business trip when he got the news she had passed away. He called from the airport to the Methodist Church in Florida, but they told him the minister had left for vacation, and there was no way they could get in touch with him. He had mentioned our mother’s name to the woman on the phone, and a man at the airport stopped behind him. When Jim hung up, the man said, “I have a Velma Traxler in my church in Florida.”

You can guess who this was. We were so blessed for him to perform the service for our mother.

Do you doubt that God works in mysterious ways?

John Traxler

Devotional 3-30-11

2011-03-30T19:56:00.000-05:00

Banana Fever

J. D. Salinger wrote “ A perfect Day for Bananafish” in 1948. It was the first in a series of short stories about the Glass Family. Seymour is the main character. He and his wife are on vacation at a beach in Florida. His wife is talking on the phone with her mother about nothings so Seymour leaves the room to go to the beach. Seymour is a veteran of World War II and the conversation of Muriel, his wife, seems too trite to him. He meets a young girl at the beach. Seymour tells the girl about bananafish. The fish never know when to stop eating so they get bigger and bigger until they burst. Then Seymour goes back to the room and shoots himself in the temple.

The story is still well known because of its abrupt ending. Why did Seymour kill himself? We are given enough background in the story to know that Seymour had previously attempted to kill himself. Some interpretations say that he was suffering from mental problems associated with the war. There are many different interpretations that we find over the years. Salinger died a recluse at 91 in 2010. One interpretation reminds us that life is more important than fancy clothes, cars, and houses. Muriel was discussing clothing on the phone with her mother.

When I taught this story, we discussed the problems in the world. We become like the bananafish. We begin to “own” hungry children’s plight, earthquake victim’s situation, tsunami in Japan, 911 and other such global problems. Some of us become like the bananafish so we get bigger and bigger. This becomes the fever. How do we deal with this? Certainly, we do not want to do as Seymour did. We can contribute to different charities and web sites. Some of us become frustrated with others because they do not act as we think they should. We keep hoping and thinking that we should be responsible for changing others to no avail. This is another aspect of banana fever. What else can we do?

We can place ourselves at the feet of our heavenly father. He is our protector, He is our salvation. He gives us permission to LEAN ON HIM. Instead of getting bigger and bigger as the bananafish, we can help but not own by letting Him bear the burden for us. As we approach the Easter season, we must remember that He died on the cross for all of us. We must have faith that He will help us carry life’s problems until they become as light as gossamer angel wings.

Let us pray:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Grant us the wisdom to know that we do not have to carry the world on our shoulders but to lean on You to help us deal with life’s global problems as well a personal problems in our lives. Help us to know what is important and what is not important.
Amen

Carolee Brown

Devotional 3-29-11

2011-03-29T20:43:00.001-05:00

Ephesians 5:8-14

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light - for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

This past winter seemed to me to be extremely long. The grey skies and decreased length of the day does bother some people more than others. No one is immune from this phenomenon.

Behavioral and psychological experts note that a large portion of their patients that have some form of depression become affected more during the winter season. They call it seasonal affective disorder or SAD. They have observed and quantified that as the amount of daylight and sunshine decrease some of their patients’ symptoms tend to worsen. People tend to score higher on subjective measurements and tend to need their therapies adjusted accordingly. Objective measurements such as serotonin levels will also change in these conditions.

The scripture chosen from the lectionary for Lent is a wonderful adjunctive therapy for folks that find things a little more than bleak during the long days of winter.

Paul talks about darkness and light in very mild but strong language and offers hope to us when grey skies, cold temperatures, snow, sleet, and rain tend to pull our spirit down. It is time to awake and rise from our winter slumber.

My hope is, that even with the Easter season being a little later than normal, it will be a more appreciated time of awakening for all of our spirits.

God bless,

Mike Bowen

Devotional 3-28-11

2011-03-28T15:02:00.000-05:00

March 28, 2011

1 Sam 16:6-7 (KJV)

And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him. But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

An Open Letter From God.

Children as you are in the mist of your lives,

I know you grasp you resources tightly.

I understand you are selfish.

I know you have replaced me with consumerism.

I see that you have crushed your creativeness, while you live vicarious lives in the form of entertainment or other worldly pursuits.

I know that all too often you do not participate in your own salvation, choosing to ignore intimacy with me.

I also understand that you ignore my son, the one who stood in the gap to pay the price of your reconciliation.

I know you don't pay attention to the sweet urgings of the Holy Spirit.

Even so, I want you to know that you can run to me.

I want to lavish you with blessings of hope, peace and love.

I want to cover you with grace.

Run to me.

I want to protect you from the foils of the world.

Run to me.

I want to open the ears of your heart so you may heed my call.

Run to me.

I love you so.

Judith Wilburn

Devotional 3-27-11

2011-03-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

WITNESS

John 4: 5 - 42

We are all familiar with this passage wherein Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and explains to her the difference between the water of this world, which quenches physical thirst but has to be replenished, and water for the soul which leads to eternal life. You will recall that this woman was at the well in the middle of the day when no one else was around. While Jesus is talking to her, it becomes apparent why she is there all alone. Jesus tells her he knows about her five husbands and that she is currently living with a man who is not her husband. Sermons I have heard about this passage indicate that the woman would have been an outcast in her society because of her past and that she would have timed activities such as going to the well to avoid the other women who perhaps gossiped about her or just generally looked down upon her. Needless to say, she would not have been considered the most credible person to witness to such an extraordinary encounter as that she experienced this day at the well.

While conversing further, Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah. The scripture indicates that the disciples, who had gone into the city to buy food, returned right after this revelation, and the woman then departed to go back to the city. She left her water jar behind, however. Was she flustered, ashamed or intimidated by the arrival of the disciples who she felt might judge her, or was she in a hurry because she was overjoyed and anxious to tell others about her conversation? The description of what happens next reveals that, while it may have been both, it was probably more the latter.

Despite the shame and rejection she has historically felt from her fellow citizens, which likely has made her timid, the scripture implies that this woman, not unlike the shepherds at Bethlehem, boldly tells everyone she sees what she just experienced. She even goes so far as to suggest that this man she met at the well might actually be the Messiah. As shocking as her seemingly unabashed witness is the reaction of those she meets. Instead of disregarding her remarks because of their source, their content or both, the fellow Samaritans are moved to leave the city to seek Jesus and at least find out what in the world this woman had seen. John 4:39-42 relates that "many" Samaritans came to believe in Jesus because of the disgraced woman's witness, and the Samaritans actually requested that Jesus stay with them. During the two days he remained, "many more" came to independently believe because of what Jesus told them. One woman's brave testimony opened the door for the conversion of many. This is just another example of God using an unlikely source to spread his word.

Witnessing is a crucial task for us Christians and one that the Bible is clear we are all called to perform. Many of us find it difficult for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is discomfort speaking about our faith, particularly outside the church setting. The lesson I take from this passage, however, is that if the Samaritan woman can do it, then so can I. She was open to God's leading, and she didn't let herself be held back by obsessing over whether she would be believed, how her testimony would make her look to the other townspeople, or whether she was overreacting to what she had just heard. She put her personal obstacles aside and simply acted, and God did the rest. I think that is what He wants from all of us. During Lent, let us resolve to speak and act for God, trusting that he will equip us and will be standing by to take up where we leave off.

Prayer: Dear God, in light of the innumerable blessings you have bestowed upon us and the wondrous ways you have worked in our lives, your request that we tell others about you with our voices and our actions, seems like such a small thing to ask. Please help us to be open to your leading and to trust that you will be there to support us in every way. Amen.

Mary Taylor

Devotional 3-26-11

2011-03-26T21:05:00.000-05:00

I Wait for the Lord
Psalm 130

I resonate with the fifth and sixth verses of this Psalm. I have found myself waiting. Many times I am impatient in my waiting. I pray and then wait. My prayer becomes the proverbial computer screen and God the computer. I have pressed the button and wait for the computer to come alive and allow me to get on with my work. Seconds seems like years. I wonder just how long it will take this computer to get active. If the reader is like me you may realize that we have become a nation in search of instant gratification. We stand in the checkout line at the grocery store wondering just how long it is going to take the cashier to finish with the person in front of us. We move to the self check out and suddenly the screen tells us that we need to call for the supervisor. Impatience is our middle name. Patience is a foreign language. I know you are now asking yourself if I am ever going to get to the point.

But the words of the psalmist flow over us as the ocean flows unto the shore line. We feel the warmth and security of the words:

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
And in his word I hope;
My soul waits for the LORD
more than those who watch for the morning
more than those who watch for the morning.”

There have been several times in my life that I have watched for the morning. Some have been fun such as when I was a teen and wanted to tell everyone that I had stayed up all night. Some have been work related such as the youth lock-in I was responsible for when I was a pastor. Some have been difficult as when I sat with a sick child. But none compare to those times when I was troubled and could not sleep. The anxiety and uncertainly of what was forefront in my thoughts kept me from being able to sleep. I truly watched for the morning. I wondered when the dawn would crack the dark sky. As I lay in the bed or sat at the table with a glass of milk I would pray, ask, plead for relief. Can you join me in those experiences?

I have come to realize that God’s time is not my time. There are times that God acts in an instant and other it is generations. Lent gives us an opportunity to wait. As we wait, we experience our humanity and our need for the transcendent one. A chance to realize once again we are not God and therefore we wait………………………………….

Rev. David C. Johnson

Devotional 3-25-11

2011-03-25T22:59:00.002-05:00

While we were yet sinners!

Romans 5:6-11

I admit I prefer not like to think of myself as a sinner and I believe I am part of a sizeable company in feeling this way. However, I am also very aware of being uncomfortable in those rare instances when someone has said in response to some action of mine, that I am a saint. So, who am I, and what kind of individual do I long to become?

The apostle Paul in writing to the church at Rome and indirectly through them to us is talking about the hope we have within us. In the opening verses of the Fifth chapter Paul calls on us to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And why are we to rejoice in this hope? We rejoice because we have been justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ and through him we have gained access by faith into the grace (Christ’s grace) in which we now stand. Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to stand firm in the midst of sufferings and trials and yes, even through our failures including those where we try to do things on our own.

Lent is a time of reflection and renewal. A time for us to remember who we are and whose we are. It is not that we are to forget who we are the rest of the year but in this time leading up to the joyful celebration of Easter and the Resurrection that we pause and recommit ourselves to becoming the people, the individuals in Christ Jesus we were created to become.

It is true, Jesus continues to loves us even though we are not perfect and often far from it. We on the other hand all know people and likely are among those who have said at one time or another, ‘if you love me you will do so and so.’ And often we try to live up to their request, especially if we value them as being important to us. Bit look at how differently Paul describes God’s love. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Now I know that as long as God gives me breath there will be times when I fail to be the person of faith God calls me to be, I also know that “having been reconciled, we shall be saved through his (Christ’s) life.” What remains is for us to seek to live and to love as Christ Jesus has shown us the way.

Prayer: Gracious Lord, thank you for your love, a love that knows no bounds. Thank you for loving us even while we are yet sinners. Help us Lord to seek to follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Enable us to draw closer to you this day and in the days to come that we may grow into your likeness. Amen.

Rev. Thomas Malcolm

Devotional 3-24-11

2011-03-24T21:42:00.000-05:00

Scripture: Luke 15:11-16

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

Part I: The Problem

Once upon a time there was a man who was wrestling with very deep issues in his life. He decided that he needed to go to church. The first church he went to was too hot (as in fire and brimstone, not temperature). The pastor’s sermon was about sin and focused on drinking, smoking, and taking drugs. The man was very thankful, because he did not do any of the three. Nonetheless, he was still wrestling with very deep issues. The second church he went to was too cold (as in unfriendly, not temperature). The pastor’s sermon was about sin and focused on anger, jealousy, and greed. Once again the man was very thankful, because he was slow to anger and was always content with what he had. Nonetheless, he was still wrestling with very deep issues. The third church he went to was (as in all Goldilocks type stories) just right. The pastor’s sermon was about Sin and focused on separation/estrangement from God.

The man soon realized that all of his life he had thought that sin was the bad things that he did (such as the laundry list that the first two pastors preached about: drinking, smoking, taking drugs, anger, jealousy, greed, etc.). Now he had come to believe that Sin is more about our disconnectedness from God and that the bad things we do are merely a result of our disconnectedness. All this time, he had been focused on the symptoms and not the problem!

He had been working on his actions, trying to do the right thing (and such effort is never a bad thing); however, he had not been working on his relationship with God. In fact, the harder he tried to do the right thing, the more he depended upon himself. The more he depended upon himself, the less he needed God. Now he knew that his problem was not so much sin (bad actions) as it was Sin (estrangement from God).

The prodigal’s problem was not that he did bad things (such as squandering the property in “dissolute living”). The prodigal’s real problem was that he was out of relationship with his father (good relationships do not begin with . . . “I know you are not dead yet, but can I get my inheritance anyway”).

The man realized that his relationship with God needed work (as all good relationships do). Now he knew what the problem was. So he asked himself, how do I make the relationship better? Immediately he realized that he had a real problem, because he was once again focused on HIS own ACTIONS (the very thing he had been working on to begin with and which created the problem). How could he treat the problem and not the symptoms?

. . . TO BE CONTINUED ON APRIL 17, 2011 (Remember that patience is a virtue).

Prayer

Almighty God,

We try really hard to be good,
sometimes we even succeed;
and yet we know that our effort is not enough.
Help us, we pray:
to conquer Sin (our estrangement)
and not just sin (our actions).
Help us to love:
you,
our families,
our children,
our neighbors,
strangers,
and even our enemies;
until we are all defined by your love!
In the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

David A. Stackpole, M.Div., J.D.

To leave a comment for the author, go to http://jmlent.blogspot.com

Devotional 3-23-11

2011-03-23T14:53:00.000-05:00

John 4:37 'For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'"

Sowing in the gospel sense of the word is a frustrating work for the modern mind. We are willing to invest ourselves in the work of the gospel, but very often we expect and even demand to reap the harvest as well. It is akin to doing acts of kindness for someone and then pressuring them to come to church with you. It is not uncommon as I work in the hospital to hear of patients who need to be listened to or comforted getting preached to and evangelized instead. We can be so eager for a return on our investments these days that we forget that reaping and harvesting are seasons apart. Indeed some preach that we ought to be eager. But we can imagine that harvesting impatiently does violence to the crop itself.

It may not seem the best way to grow your church by next week, but that is not the purpose of sowing or reaping. To sow is to place in the heart of an individual by some act or word of compassion or dignity that meets their hunger (whether of body or spirit) in a way that conflicts with the expectation of coldness and hate that is easy to develop about the world. If we would busy ourselves with generous sowing and stop wringing our hands waiting for the harvest, I can imagine that the people of the world would begin to accumulate enough experiences of love and lift that they would in their spirits begin to suspect that the core message of the gospel is true – That Jesus is Lord, that the world and its darkness do not overcome his love. That sort of understanding and experience must be given time to grow. We cannot reap and sow in the same season.

Do you realize that I and my family did not arrive at Johnson Memorial by any seed that a member had sown? Rather a friendship older than my knowing between Jack and my grandmother has led us all to be together in service to God. Jack did not say, years ago, “this friendship with this woman will add a family to my congregation in a few decades.” He could not have anticipated it anymore than a group of Jewish disciple anticipated a flock of Samaritans coming to see their teacher!

It is natural, when we labor at anything, to want to see the fruits of that labor. But I am reminded of the illustration of the barges that travel our fine river. I have always loved to watch the waves they create and to hear them lap the shore. But these waves do not reach the shore until the barge has passed on by. The ducks play upon them and the boats bob about. But the barge captain never gets to see this. If he were to try to stop his progress in order to watch for the waves, the barge would never create them and he would never arrive at his destination. Often we must sow our acts of loving kindness and respect and pass on. At times we have the chance to sow into a given life multiple times. But be resolved to do your part and carry on. It does not belong to us to demand a harvest or to demand it at the time we desire. But God must be given time to nurture that seed in the field of that heart. The Holy Spirit shall make of it what she desires. And don’t worry, at just the right time, one of your fellows will be there to harvest whatever God may cause to grow. With this in mind we must sow liberally, even radically, and seek no more than this. And should we ever reap, we dare not be so careless as to imagine that we have won anyone to Christ on our own.

Joe Hill

Devotional 3-22-11

2011-03-22T14:39:00.000-05:00

Read Psalm 95 and Romans 5:1-11

Psalm 95 is an invitation to worship God.
A hardened heart is like a hard lump of clay.
There is nothing you can do to restore it.
Do not lose your faith in God; don't be so stubborn and set in your way that you cannot return to God.
This doesn't happen overnight; it is a result of several choices to disregard God's will.
What is keeping you from God's ultimate blessing?
Do you have an ungrateful heart?
Are you worshiping or submitting to Him?
Are you testing God because of stubborn doubts?
During this Lenten season remember that God sent Jesus Christ to die for us not because we were good enough, but because He Loves us. Whenever you feel uncertain about God's love for you, remember that He loved you even before you turned to Him, Christ took our sin upon himself and took our punishment by dying on the cross.

Dear Lord,
Be with us during this season of Lent,
to lead us in the direction to follow you.
Come into our heart to prepare us to follow your direction
to do your work and to welcome You in, and to keep
our faith alive.
Amen,

Melanie Herr

To leave a comment for the author, go to http://jmlent.blogspot.com

2011-03-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

Why Am I Crying?

We were singing a hymn. That’s all. We were singing a hymn when my eyes welled up and mascara tears that could rival Tammy Faye Baker’s streamed down my face. I thought to myself, “Why am I crying?”

Okay. I’ll admit that I was a little drowsy from a restless night with my grandchildren and due to “springing forward” to Daylight Savings Time. But I had gone without sleep many times in my many years without bursting into uncontrollable sobs. So why was I crying?

And who wouldn’t be moved by the beautiful lyrics and melodies of “Amazing Love!” by Charles Wesley and “A Rose in the Valley” by Joseph Martin? One haunting line after another had played in my mind for weeks! But I’d sung a multitude of melodies which had moved me to introspection but rarely to sniffles. So why was I crying?

Of course, being a geography teacher, I was acutely aware of the turmoil and grief that had taken over the lives of men, women, and children in Japan, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Bahrain. They were living nightmares that I could only imagine in my safe haven of Huntington, West Virginia. But I had seen misery and pain before. So why was I crying?

Was I upset by the tanking economy brought on by greed, selfishness, arrogance, and naiveté? It had toppled those at the top of the pyramid and trickled down to those who made a living in serving those at the top. But I hadn’t lost a job, I hadn’t missed a meal, and what I had lost, I didn’t need. So why was I crying?

Finally, as I looked out at the congregation, I knew. I was crying because the hymn and my heart, for the first time in a long time, listened to each other. I don’t know how to explain it other than to say that it came from a primitive instinct rather than a conscious “knowing”. I felt a love for everyone in the congregation, the church building, the spirit of the church, all those who had gone before, and all who would come after. And I felt a deep gratitude to the Father and the Son who had brought me to that place, at that time, with those people.

The hymn we sang was “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry”. Even if you don’t know the tune, please read the words. Take your time. Read slowly. Remember your baptism if you can. Remember the patience of your youth leaders and Sunday school teachers. Remember how your parents nagged you to go to church. Remember how your choir directors taught you more than singing the right notes. Remember sitting in true fellowship with your teenage friends in the balcony. Remember standing at the altar with the love of your life. Remember saying goodbye to those who now know what the great surprise really is.

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell."

When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun.

In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.
When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

Now remember that your heavenly Father and his Lamb were with you all the time. That’s something to cry about – but only tears of joy! Amen

Becky Warren

Devotional 3-20-11

2011-03-20T15:12:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed how we are exposed to certain words over and over again. I don’t remember using the word “redemption” very often. Maybe as a child we redeemed the green stamps for something; I am not sure for what!! My thoughts have focused on this word. Why is it used so much? The movie REDEMPTION has been very popular. What is redemption and what does it mean? The dictionary says it means to release from sin, to buy back, to deliver from sin.

Then there is another word that people toss around a lot. DELIVERANCE (another movie) meaning to set free, rescue, release.

What do these words mean in our lives? We are released from sin, we are set free by the love and forgiveness of God. What does it mean to us? It is our gift from God. We should celebrate it. The words of this hymn make it more clear.

This is a day of new beginnings, time to remember and move on, time to believe
what love is bring, laying to rest the pain that’s gone

For by the life and death of Jesus, God’s mighty Spirit, now as then, can make for us
a world of difference, as faith and hope are born again.

Then let us with the Spirit’s daring, step from the past, and leave behind our
disappointment .guilt, and grieving, seeking new paths, and sure to find.

Christ is alive, and goes before us to show and share what love can do .This is a day
of new beginnings, our God is making all things new.
As we go thru this Lenten season, we relive the story of Christ’s torture, his death, and his resurrection. Do you wonder why he went thru all that he endured? He did it all for us. He showed us that we can have redemption, and we can be delivered from our sins and set free. That’s why we can believe that this is a day of new beginnings. May our humble prayers be in thanks for a father who wants us to live in his love forever.

Marilyn Holleron

Devotional 3-19-11

2011-03-19T23:08:00.002-05:00

Flash back 50 years. I am 17 years old. I have been at Johnson Memorial for about 5 years, and I have attended Sunday School, Worship Service, and MFY as it was called then. At MYF we ate hot dogs made by Smitty Hart and John Paul Childers, and Bud Krippene did their best to ride herd over our rambunctiousness. I sang in choir and made good friends, some of which I still have today. I had managed to buy a 1954 De Soto -- a bathtub, cast iron, gray and black bomb of a car that I bought for $500. Gasoline cost 50 cents a gallon. On one Good Friday I drove down from the east end, and I stopped at a red light at 10th Street and 6th Avenue, and I looked over at our church. It dawned on me that it was Good Friday. In the time that I sat there waiting for the light to change it came over me: "Why in the world could this be called Good Friday.?" How could this be? Jesus went through all this pain and suffering -- what could possibly be good about that? The light turned green, and I drove on toward my house. The sky did not turn suddenly dark that day, but it was my first realization of what a great thing our Lord did for us. Where were you when you realized what he did for us? Have you tried to make a difference because of it?

Jean Ramsey

Devotional 3-18-11

2011-03-18T15:10:00.000-05:00

LIGHT, LOVE, POWER, PRESENCE.

Four of the many gifts bestowed upon us by our loving Heavenly Father are contained in this little verse:

The LIGHT of God surrounds me,
The LOVE of God enfolds me,
The POWER of God protects me,
The PRESENCE of God watches over me,

Wherever I am, God is.

GOD'S LIGHT SURROUNDS US

Buzz, bzzz, bzzz. It's 6:15AM and the alarm clock is doing what it is supposed to do.....get me out of bed. Reluctantly I throw off the covers and start the morning routine. At this time of year it is still dark outside, but the first of God's gifts for the day is knowing that soon it will be light. Maybe sunny, maybe not, but light.

GOD'S LOVE ENFOLDS US
Whatever happens on this new day I know that God's love will be with me. Even if my plans go awry and nothing works out the way I want it to, the warmth of His love is there to guide and comfort. His love comes to me physically as I adjust the thermostat and the house fills with warmth. How many people don't have this blessing and are shivering and cold?

GOD'S POWER PROTECTS US
We live in a dangerous world but remember how many times in your life God has protected you from harm, from the time you were small and didn't fall out of the tree you should not have climbed into until your adult years when you didn't see the STOP sign until you had run it but the driver of the car that could have collided with you saw you and stopped in time.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD WATCHES OVER US
What more can we ask than that his presence is with us guiding, guarding, loving us each second, each minute, each hour of the day? What a comfort to know that through Jesus we are in touch with God always, and He is watching over us 24/7

WHEREVER WE ARE, GOD IS.

Thank you, God!

"This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoice in it. Ps.118 v.24"

Jean Dean

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Devotional 3-17-11

2011-03-17T22:17:00.000-05:00

And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for such belongs to the kingdom of God."--Mark 10: 13-14

Do you sometimes feel that God is trying to tell you something because you keep bumping into the same person/subject/issue? Here is what I've been bombarded with recently:

(1) A couple of months ago a 19-year-old "man" was arrested for murder. I have a 19-year-old off at college and wondered if their paths had crossed. My son said they had indeed been in high school together. He wrote, "I didn't really know him but he seemed like a nice kid. You just knew the cards were stacked against him." What a sad statement. I thought, why didn't someone restack those cards?

(2) Last week I read in Child Fund International's newsletter that they are helping more children than ever in the USA. Formerly Christian Children's Fund, they are known for sponsoring children in Third-World countries, but so many children in America are living in poverty that they are involved in more and more programs right here at home.

(3) Sunday, a young lady from our congregation told my Sunday School class about her work at a local shelter for teenagers run by the Children's Home Society of West Virginia. We were touched and horrified by her stories of children grateful to be in a shelter where a step-father couldn't beat them up, where they had food to eat and someone to get them to school.

(4) That same Sunday evening, I turned on 60 Minutes and there was a story about homeless children in Florida. These were not the kids of drug addicts, but those of families who have lost homes in the foreclosure debacle and have lost jobs due to the recession. Many small motels not far from Disney World are full not of tourists, but of families. Imagine trying to keep up your schoolwork when your family is living in one room at the Red Roof Inn, or worse yet, living in a car.

At this point in a devotion, I should be pointing out a remedy for these situations, but, alas, all I can say is my heart breaks for these children, which does them no good at all. We can pray, of course, but this is one time we must put hands and feet to our prayers. In 1 Corinthians 3:9, we are told that we are God's fellow workers.

During this Lenten season, I challenge you to do something for a child. There are dozens of agencies that would welcome your help. There might be a child you come into contact with regularly who needs some encouragement or a safe harbor. Reach out.

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. ~Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1941, Bengali poet, novelist, musician, painter and playwright

If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all. ~Pearl S. Buck, 1897-1973, West Virginia born award-winning writer who spent most of her time until 1934 in China.

Anita Gardner Farrell

Devotional 3-16-11

2011-03-16T12:51:00.000-05:00

John 3: 1-17 Are You Born Again?

I find this scripture reading to be quite a challenge. Over the years, I have discussed/debated/argued its meaning to Nicodemus and Christians today with family and friends. Like Nicodemus, many of us want to read the Bible with a literal interpretation. Jesus reminds us in this passage of the importance of the Spirit!

As we enter the Lenten Season many Christians follow a tradition of “giving up” something for Lent. This can include such items as coffee, candy, pop or other items the individual enjoys. The idea being that to deny yourself something you enjoy will serve as a reminder of the price Jesus paid on the cross. This can be very effective.

However, there is a movement under way where Christians “add” something to their day rather than experience denial. I challenge you to assess your spiritual health! What can you add to your daily walk that will aid your spiritual development? Daily prayer, daily Bible study, meditation, fellowship……..the list of possibilities is endless.

In my work place, safety is a big topic and emphasis is placed on it constantly! We have a program where 3 safe work habits are observed and recorded daily. If there are no violations after 6 weeks then 3 new safety actions are chosen. It seems if we do the same thing every work day successfully it becomes a “acquired” habit.

How about you? What can you add to your day to improve your spiritual health? Lent offers each of us the perfect opportunity to get our daily Spiritual food.

Prayer: Father thank you for the gift of eternal life-give me the strength and discipline to feed my Spirit so I may better serve you! Amen

Marv Jones

Devotional 3-15-11

2011-03-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

God of grace, mercy and unspeakable power, draw close to your creation and hear the cry of your people. Surround the people of Japan with your grace during this time of crisis.

Rescue those who are trapped in buildings or on rooftops. Bring them to safety.

Comfort those who have lost family members and friends.

Listen to those who are crying in distress and sadness. Settle the touch of hope on them so that they can see light in the future.

Feed those who are hungry, quench the thirst of those who ache for water. Surround the homeless with the knowledge of your presence.

Heal those who have been injured, those whose spirits are aching, those who wounds are deeper than we can imagine.

Protect them from harm as aftershocks rock their homes, provide relief from fear for them.

Motivate us, dear God, to follow in your footsteps. Enable of to rescue, to comfort, to listen, to feed, to heal and to protect. We place ourselves in your service.

Kim Matthews

To give to United Methodist Committee on Relief, click on the link.

Devotional 3-14-11

2011-03-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

THE FINAL INSPECTION...

The soldier stood and faced GOD.
Which may always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
just as brightly as his brass.
Step forward now, soldier.
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To my church have you been true?
The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
No LORD, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays,
and at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
because the world is awfully rough.
But I never took a penny
that wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
when the bills got just too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help,
though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, GOD, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
except to calm their fears.
If you a place for me here, LORD,
it needn't be so grand--
I never expected or had too much,
but if you don't - I'll understand.
There was a silence all around the throne,
where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly
for the judgement of his GOD.
Step forward now, you soldier -
you've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on heaven's streets,
you have done your time in hell.

If we ever forget that "we are one nation under GOD", then we will be a Nation gone under.

IN GOD WE TRUST..........GOD BLESS AMERICA....

SFC(ret) PAUL S. RIGGS

Devotional 3-13-11

2011-03-13T15:09:00.000-05:00

Happiness is…

Please read Psalm 32

Happiness is…

A warm blanket.
Finding a Pencil.
Learning to Whistle.
Tying your shoe for the very first time.
Playing the drum in your church’s praise band.
Two kinds of ice cream.
Knowing a secret.
Catching a butterfly; and setting him free.
Having a sister.
Sharing a sandwich.

You can probably identify with one or more of the preceding definitions of happiness, and you can think of many other ways to fill in the blank. These particular examples were shared by the late Charles Schultz’s Peanuts characters. Just like Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and Schroeder, happiness is high on our list of priorities. Our longing for happiness drives much of our lives. I imagine that if each of us surveyed our lives, we would see that we pursue careers, choose hobbies, wear clothes, buy homes and even enter into lasting relationships on the basis of what brings us happiness.

John Lennon, the Beatle, said, “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

Our entire lives are lived, to a certain extent, in such a way as to answer the question, “what will make me happy?”

Today’s Psalm provides insight into true happiness. It doesn’t come from achieving fame and fortune. It doesn’t come from wearing the sharpest clothes, having the latest, fastest, most advanced phone/mp3/computer reader device. It doesn’t come from finally getting the dream home or the sports car.

No, true happiness comes from consistently hitting a golf ball 275 yards straight down the middle of the fairway. Just kidding. Even that kind of happiness is fleeting and momentary.

The psalmist instructs that being happy is a matter of being righteous. At first, that sounds daunting. After all, who among us is righteous? Don’t be discouraged. Righteousness, according to the psalmist, is not about being sinless, but about acknowledging sin and accepting God’s forgiveness. Put another way, happiness is…being forgiven.

In many ways, Lent is a time when we can practice walking a journey from grief and despair to confessing our sin and accepting forgiveness, and into the joy and happiness of new life that is the promise of Easter.

They say money cannot buy happiness. So true. It’s already been purchased for you.

Jeff Taylor

Devotional 3-12-11

2011-03-12T23:09:00.000-05:00

HOPE

1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Please read these words from Kathy Troccoli, Women of Faith Devotional Bible.

Jesus established hope on the Cross and forever wrote it into history. How do we know hope is alive? Because Christ is alive.

I know of no other topic that I have spent more analysis on than the issue of hope. Without our hope, without our dreams, we wither and die. I have come to fully believe it is the number one reason so many walk around as depressed believers. We have consciously and subconsciously put our hope in things of this world. All of those things eventually die---each and every one.

When they die we feel the loss.

Hope in Christ is, however, fully alive. It will never die. Think about that....a hope that can never be silenced. It's an eternal flame that will never be extinguished. It's living now, and the inheritance it establishes is reserved in the heavenly realms. Look skyward and hope again. Watch Him move on your behalf.

Let's pray: Our Heavenly father, I am ever grateful for the hope You have given me through Your Son, Jesus Christ. I need this hope to sustain me through my everyday. Where there is hope, there is peace in my life. Guide me to use this hope for Your world. Amen

Kay Lewis

Devotional 3-11-11

2011-03-11T15:46:00.000-05:00

Journey to Jerusalem
Matthew 4:1-11

The temptations of Jesus are always the beginning scripture lessons for the Lenten Season. These scriptures introduce what could have been a challenging journey for Jesus, following a forty-day fast in a wilderness place.

Satan, the tempter, provides several carefully contrived challenges in the form of suggestions, geared to what he perceives to be probable weaknesses in anyone who has undergone forty wilderness days, even this man called Jesus.

Jesus is armed with the words “It is written” and does not cave to temptation but proceeds on his journey to a higher place, Jerusalem . The way to Jerusalem is always up. (Even today, one must fly into the Tel Aviv Airport , for there is no airport in Jerusalem .)

During this Lenten Season, from March 9 through April 24, we are called to accept the challenge to journey upward, to Jerusalem , in our minds, bodies, and souls. We, too, may be tempted--in completely different ways--but our responses can be just as steadfast, if we remember, “It is written.”

On this journey to Jerusalem , let us stop by Tiberius to see the Church of St. Peter ; let us visit the Baptismal site at the Jordan River and remember our baptism. (I had the privilege in 1992 of being a part of a devotional led by Bishop William B. Grove on the Sea of Galilee, the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes, and to partake of food on the Mount of the Beatitudes.)

Let us stop by Cana to see the setting of the first miracle that Jesus performed and the church that stands as a memorial before moving on to Jericho , the city of Palms . Here we see the sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus before visiting the Spring of Elisha and browsing through the wonderful glass factory for souvenirs--reminders of this special time and place.

We travel on to Bethlehem to see the Shepherd’s Field, the Basilica of Nativity, and the Star of Bethlehem.

But when we reach Jerusalem, we know we have come to a higher place--the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Garden Tomb, the Western Wall, and the Stations of the Cross. Jesus knew when he reached Jerusalem, the journey prepared him to better understand that if there was no cross, there would be no crown.

May our Lenten Season be filled with intermittent times of reflection, growth, and good works as we pray to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who came that we might know the Way, even the way of the cross. Amen.

Rev. Jeremiah Jasper

Devotional 3-10-11

2011-03-10T10:40:00.000-05:00

Flying Backwards

I talk to my dad just about every night. The conversations are not complicated and most often revolve around daily activities. His three “usual” questions are: Where did you go today? Where are you going tomorrow? Did you sell anything? One evening in late 2010 our conversation landed on travel – namely air travel. He asked the question, “Have you ever flown backwards?” I was sure I heard the question correctly, yet could not get it to compute. “Well,” I said, “I have returned by air when I had traveled somewhere by air in the first place.” “No, have you ever FLOWN BACKWARDS?” He began to tell a story that took place when I was elementary school age and he was stationed with the US Army in Korea. He boarded a de Havilland Otter aircraft, and, although not a pilot himself, was slotted into the co-pilot’s seat. The plane taxied, and took off from its runway just south of the DMZ. As they began to climb to a height above the mountains, they encountered strong winds. Winds so strong that even under the trained hand of the pilot urging the throttle ‘full speed ahead,’ the plane was unable to overpower the headwind confronting them. Rather than make a drastic correction, such as pitching forward or rolling the wings one way or the other to get away (both actions could have had terrible results), he simply backed off of the power a little bit, let the strong wind guide them backwards until a lower altitude could be secured and an alternate route chosen.

I wonder if Jesus ever felt like he was flying backwards. His disciples handpicked; his mission clear. They witness healing and miracles. They are closer than any. So strong is their faith. One on them can even walk on water. Walk on water – now that’s something. But doubt creeps in and sinking begins. Understanding seems so deep, and yet it goes from “I’ll never leave you Lord” to “I never heard of the guy.” Against the strong wind He let them fly. He never made a drastic correction, and we know from written account that they, after flying backwards, found their route and went on to proclaim the greatness of God.

I wonder if Jesus feels like he is flying backwards on a 21st century planet earth. In a 21st century Huntington, WV, I know that I fly headlong into forces that I alone cannot control. But I try. My corrections find me tumbled in heap. In today’s technology-filled world where you have to download a 100 page instruction manual in order to make the clock not blink 12:00, could there be any easier instruction; love God, love your neighbor? Well, I love God - from my lips to His ears -- but do I feed, provide drink, invite in, clothe, comfort or visit someone in need? Nah! Not like He is talking about. And that neighbor thing, how many houses away can I count before I reach someone who isn’t actually my neighbor? One comes to mind who has me flying into a gale force wind. Look out Steve, a tip of the wing and you are in for it.

I am grateful everyday that He is slow to anger and quick to forgive. He lets me (us) fly and soar and always offers to be the pilot for the journey. But when we take the controls and encounter an obstacle that we simply can’t get around, over or through, He holds us, lets us move back to where we should be and goes with us along the new path.

Gracious and loving God. Thank you for loving us – no matter what. Thank you for your patience when we think we have control. Grant us wisdom that will allow you to direct our route. Amen

Steve Matthews

Devotional 3-9-11

2011-03-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

Lectionary Readings: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51: 1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6 and 16-21.

I think I was in “junior high” when I first became fully aware of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. We lived in Gary, WV (McDowell County), and I had many friends who attended the local Catholic Church. (I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but religious diversity in Gary was limited to the Catholic or the Methodist churches.) My Catholic friends would attend school on Ash Wed. with many constantly pointing out to them that there was some dirt on their foreheads. Some got frustrated with the teasing, but most of them just ignored us. Then on Friday, the cafeteria served macaroni and cheese as the entrée. In our family macaroni and cheese had been a side dish, not the “main event”. I finally got one of my good friends to explain what was going on, and she gave me the “No Meat on Fridays” spiel. She also explained that they had to “give something up” for Lent like coke, chocolate or cookies for the purpose of daily remembering the suffering of Christ. It was more than I could comprehend at the time. I was kind of glad I wasn’t Catholic and wasn’t required to participate in their traditions.

But now, as I read the familiar texts in the lectionary readings, I realize that God is asking me to return to the time honored traditions of Lent in order to reflect on the true meaning of the season. Prayer and self denial are practices meant to prepare me for a greater understanding of the passion and last days of Christ. God is also asking me to “clean house” so that I might be truly ready to worship the resurrected Lord—the morning star. I ask you to join me in attempting to fast, pray and study in an effort to renew a “right” relationship with God. The self-denial cannot be just an exercise to prove that we have will-power. Somehow what we choose to do during Lent should bring us closer to God. Reflection and prayer can be powerful if the outcome is a change in our perspective or a greater focus on what God wants us to do with our lives. Fasting should also provide us with new insights of God’s directions for our future. We cannot control our lives with the force of our will. Only the surrender of our lives to God’s path will bring us to the life He intends for us.

The prophet Joel asks us to change our lives: “Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping; sorry for your sins! Change your life, not just your clothes, Come back to God, your God.” (Joel 2:12-13.)

Isaiah is even more emphatic: “Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout! Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives; face my family Jacob with their sins! They’re busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me. To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—law abiding, God-honoring (even though they have forsaken God’s commandments)……This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. (Isaiah 58:1-2, 6-8)

Dear Loving and Forgiving God: Help us to pray and submit to you as David in his entreaty in Psalm 51: Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry, I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down. You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise. Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls. Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large, Including all the bulls they can heave onto your altar! Amen.

Scripture passages from the Message, The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene Peterson, 2002.

Chyrl Budd

Weekly Devotionals

2010-04-03T23:30:00.000-05:00

Thank you for joining our church on our Lenten Journey.

Our devotional ministry is actually a year-round effort. To read our weekly devotionals, go to http://www.jmdevotional.blogspot.com/.

Be blessed by the song.

Devotional 4-4-10

2010-04-03T22:30:00.000-05:00

John 20:1-18

Usually, it seems, our older family members are the reliable sources for family history and tradition. As details get mixed up or forgotten, “Grandpa” or “Grandma” could help get the story straight. My maternal grandmother was wonderful in many regards, including the telling of family stories. However, she had a propensity to embellish. My sister and I observed that the older she got, the more ornaments she hung on a family story.

The four writers of the Gospels of Jesus Christ have varying accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. Mark, the oldest gospel, has the briefest account with the fewest details. John, the latest gospel, has more detail and broader stories.

Matthew says there was an earthquake, not recorded in the other three gospels. Matthew says there was an angel at the tomb who greeted two Marys when they arrived. Mark says a young man greeted three women who went to the tomb. Luke says two men in dazzling apparel greeted three or four women, depending on how the Greek text is understood. John says Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and was greeted by two angels inside the tomb, later seeing Jesus whom she supposed was the gardener. Luke says that after the women returned and told the disciples what they had seen, Peter went to the tomb. John says Peter and John both ran to the tomb. There are other varying details and different post-resurrection stories.

The cynic who discounts the resurrection as fable might find a “gold mine” of argument in these conflicting recollections that raise understandable suspicion about the evidences of Jesus’ resurrection. Can’t these writers get their stories straight? This is a classic ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’ example of blindness to a basic truth because some of the information or unimportant details do not align.

While the evidences recorded by gospel writers between 40 and 90 years after the time of Christ are different, they offer the same truth, pointing to the same risen Christ. Frankly, does it really matter that the stories are not in precise agreement? I believe there is a much greater, stronger, and more important evidence that Jesus lives, and that evidence is within our lives.

When others see you where you live, work, learn, worship, or play, what evidence do they see? In the conduct of your life, do others find no evidence of a living Christ in you – that it appears you believe Jesus is dead and his teachings irrelevant? Or do they see evidence of a living Christ?

Please pray with me. Loving and gracious God: on this joyous day of celebration, may I look to the risen Christ with a new eye toward evaluating whether my life contributes to the evidence that Jesus is alive in our world. Let my life reflect sacrificial living for the cause of Christ and the joyous living of his teachings. In the name of the risen Christ, Amen.

Rev. Jack Lipphardt

Devotional 4-3-10

2010-04-02T20:43:00.002-05:00

Read: Lamentations 3: 1-9, 19-24

The events of this wonderful and horrible week have come to a screeching halt. The holy deeds have been offered. The Last Supper shared. The pathway to Golgotha walked. The crucifixion was real. The body of Jesus has been taken from the cross and buried. The stone has been placed to close the tomb. The followers of Jesus had to be in shock. It all seems to be over—all the hopes and dreams; all the expectations of promise seem gone when Jesus breathed his last breath. It is a day of disappointment; a day of despair; a day of darkness.

The writer of Lamentations told us about the feeling: “He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago.” (3: 4-5)

We have known the darkness. It has come to us in many forms: the death of one we love; the breaking of a relationship; the darkness of illness; the battle of depression; the weight of hopelessness.

On this quiet, Holy Saturday, the church takes a break. The altar stays bare. The church is “dark” (no weddings, no services, no Holy Communion). Even though we know what tomorrow brings, we pause on this day to join with those early followers of Christ and feel the darkness.

Dan Schutte is a Roman Catholic hymn writer. (He wrote a favorite of many, “Here I Am, Lord”—No. 593 in the United Methodist Hymnal.) He offers another hymn inspired by St. John of the Cross who wrote the book, The Dark Night of the Soul.

Holy Darkness

Holy darkness, blessed night,
heaven’s answer hidden from our sight.
As we await you, O God of silence,
we embrace your holy night.

I have tried you in fires of affliction;
I have taught your soul to grieve.
In the barren soil of your loneliness,
there I will plant my seed.
I have taught you the price of compassion;
you have stood before the grave.
Though my love can seem like a raging storm,
this is the love that saves.
Were you there when I raised up the mountains?
Can you guide the morning star?
Does the hawk take flight when you give command?
Why do you doubt my pow’r?
In your deepest hour of darkness
I will give you wealth untold.
When the silence stills your spirit,
will my riches fill your soul.
As the watchman waits for morning,
and the bride awaits her groom,
so we wait to hear your footsteps
as we rest beneath your moon.

Holy darkness, blessed night,
heaven’s answer hidden from our sight.
As we await you, O God of silence,
we embrace your holy night.

The darkness does not get the last word. Even the writer of Lamentations knew this long before Christ came among us. “The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it, and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” (3: 19-24) May this be a day of holy darkness.

On this day, O God, you, too, knew the power of darkness. We bring before you our dark days. Walk with us through them. Assure us again of your presence, we pray, so that we might feel you with us even when life feels hopeless. Help us to see the promise of your tomorrow. Amen.

Rev. Mark Conner
Western District Superintendent

Devotional 4-2-10

2010-04-01T20:54:00.001-05:00

Please Read John 18:1-27

I’ve never been too critical of Peter for denying Christ. It’s easy to point an accusatory finger at him for denying any knowledge of Christ not once, not twice, but three times. But he had several excellent excuses. He was needed to be a leader of the Christian movement after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Had he confessed to knowing Jesus, it is likely he might have been crucified alongside him.

When, during the Last Supper, Jesus foretold of Peter’s denial, Peter was understandably horrified. None of us wants to admit that in a moment of weakness, we will let our friends down. Peter, ever bold, exclaimed, “Not me! I’ll be with you until death!”

Perhaps the lesson for Peter and us is to not make promises we cannot keep. I know, like Peter, in moments of spiritual joy, I have promised God that I will never abandon my new ways. Then, like Peter, in moments of weakness, I too deny Christ.

If I really think about it, and if I’m really honest, I find there are many ways I deny Christ daily—not in so many words, but by my actions.

When I react out of anger instead of responding out of love…am I denying my relationship with Christ? When I walk past the beggar, averting my gaze…what am I saying about my life of grace? When I read an article about a CEO going down, and I think, with glee, that “he got his” instead of feeling compassion, am I responding as Christ would have me respond? When I speed through the store to get ahead of a mother with a load of groceries and children, what does that say about my Christian walk? The hymnist Johann Heermann captured that feeling in Ah, Holy Jesus. (UMH # 289).

Who was the guilty?
Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee!
‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.

Peter meant well, but words are easy. Living up to them is the hard part. Fortunately, there is hope for Peter, and there is even hope for the likes of me. Thankfully, God is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Dear God, this Good Friday, we pray for grace to love you more, and to love others more. Amen.

Jeff Taylor

Devotional 4-1-10

2010-03-31T22:14:00.001-05:00

Maundy Thursday

Lectionary Readings: Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31-35.

“What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions, the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.” 1 Corinthians 11:26 (The Message)

Today is Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. Congregations everywhere will be gathering to share in a communion meal as a remembrance of the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples. The meal in Jesus’ day was a Passover meal which the Jewish community continue to share to commemorate the “passing over of the angel of death” and the escape of the Jewish community from the bondage of the Egyptian pharaoh. The Exodus lectionary reading for today relates part of that story. All who participate in the traditional Passover celebration use the same, centuries old, sequence of words and actions to commemorate an act of God’s grace.

Many of the words used in communion services today will also be the same ones we’ve heard over and over. Sometimes we say them without really considering their meaning. We can become so superficial with our worship that our senses are dulled and our minds wander. But Paul in his writing to the church at Corinth urges us to participate as if it was a first-time, special occasion. That will be a challenge for those of us who have “grown-up” in the church with communion a frequent event. Perhaps, looking at the communion service with a new emphasis on the meaning of the words that are spoken will allow us to focus on the depth of Christ’s love for us and the magnificent sacrifice that is commemorated.

During the Passover meal, Jesus told the disciples that the bread was his broken body and the wine—his blood shed for our sins. Jesus also asked the disciples to consider a radical behavior change: to love one another. The words are deceptively simple, but the actions required are definitely radical and life changing. We have the benefit of knowing the actual events that take place between this day and Easter morning. The disciples had no way of deciphering what Jesus meant at their Passover meal. They could understand the words of the commandment “Love one another”, but probably not the depth of effort that it takes to live by these words. The ultimate act of God’s grace in the sacrificial death of Jesus for our sins makes it possible for us to begin to understand that God is Love and the best way to be thankful for the love that God lavishes on us is to love one another.

“What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!”

Dear Lord, As we receive communion today, help us participate as if it were a new and very special occasion. Clear our minds so that we can pay close attention to the words and the messages that the words convey. As we pray, may we be empty vessels that await the sustenance of a life-giving meal. May we give our attention to the spiritual and everlasting rather than the earthly and fleeting. Help us to love as you first loved us. Amen.

Chyrl Budd

Devotional 3-31-10

2010-03-30T14:53:00.001-05:00

Alignment
I have a cross in the windowsill above the kitchen sink. It was made by one of our daughters with 2 sticks held together by a pipecleaner, but it is beautiful in its simplicity. I like having it there to remind me of the most important event that has ever occurred but confess to not often taking time to really look at it. Last night, while washing dishes, I noticed the cross was unbalanced because the pipecleaner had become loose. Repositioning the cross so that it looks "right" is not difficult; however, unless the thing that holds the vertical and horizontal pieces together is tightened, they remain in a rather precarious balance, and it is easy for them to end up out of alignment again. Shoring up the pipecleaner sounds like an easy job, but I don't bother with it because I am too eager to rush off to the next thing, and I worry that if I take it apart I won't be able to put it back together the same way again.

It occurred to me that my spiritual life is like this cross. Without the shoring up that I get from prayer, worship, Bible study, and time spent with others who are also on the Christian journey, it is far too easy for me to get out of balance and find myself becoming too cynical, too judgmental, too caught up with my needs and concerns and less empathetic about the plight of others. I struggle with the thought of turning the misaligned cross of my life over to the one who can bind it back together properly because it means slowing down enough to really communicate with God as well as giving up control to allow him to work in me. It also involves the probability that God, in rebinding me, will shape my life into something that is unfamiliar, putting me in situations and taking me places where I am not comfortable. That takes faith and trust that I do not always seem to possess. During Lent, we are called to honest introspection about our relationship with God and each other and the way we view and respond to our world. If we let him, God will take the off-centeredness in our lives and bring us back into balance; He will help make the vertical way we live align better with the horizontal Christians we proclaim to be. I pray that we all will have the faith and trust to take advantage of this amazing gift.

Prayer: Dear God, forgive our lack of trust and our unbelief. Please help us in this journey to Easter to understand more fully the gift that you gave us by sending your son into the world and the tremendous sacrifice that his life and death entailed, all to prove how much you love us and that our lives can be so much richer if we will just allow you to take control and align us to your will. Amen.

Mary Taylor

Devotional 3-30-10

2010-03-29T22:28:00.000-05:00

Jesus answered, “The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness wil not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Believe in the light, then, while you have it, so that you will be the people of the light.” [John 12: 35-36]

What if every year’s spring equinox brought a sudden change in weather and temperature? We would know on exactly which day to pack away heavy clothes and break out the short sleeves. In the last days of winter, we would be jittery with childlike anticipation. Possibly because there is no way to predict with complete certainty our last day with that winter coat, we often trudge through as pessimists. Whether or not diagnosed, many of us have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder. With the lack of sunlight, our moods and energy levels deteriorate.

The seemingly most Godly people in my life have faces that I am always happy to see. Even when I know they are carrying heavy emotional burdens, they continue to endure with a faith-filled glow about them. They truly are people of the light. Especially around Easter, sermons encourage us to live every day as though Jesus Christ will arrive tomorrow. If we knew that were the case, might our expectant faces be nearly luminescent?

We might think of the second coming as that first bright and warm day of spring. Without a tangible date, though, we easily fall into a spiritual sort of Seasonal Affective Disorder. From today’s scripture, “The one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going” reminds us that we often forget about our true North. Not only do we take for granted all of the beauty of winter, but we also disregard the fact that spring is truly on its way. My prayer for us all is that we savor every moment of the now while anxiously awaiting what is to come. As we expect tomorrow’s sky to be the brightest ever seen, I hope that our faces shine with Christ’s light.

Natalie Wray

Devotional 3-29-10

2010-03-29T10:23:00.000-05:00

Please read Matthew 25:14-30

I grew up in a family that was critical. My parents saw criticism as a way to make sure their children did not become braggarts. While not truly cruel or unkind, I felt that no matter want I did or did not do, there was always room for improvement. What I did just wasn’t quite right. I was afraid to try new things. I was certain I would make a mistake. The parable of the ungrateful steward suited me to a tee. People told me I was intelligent, and creative, but I was still afraid to use my gifts.

One summer, my husband Tim and I had a bumper crop of tomatoes. They were beautiful, round and red. I prepared them in every way I knew how. I didn’t want to waste any. I got out a cookbook and found a recipe for tomato casserole. It looked complicated but sounded good. Tim is the gardener in the family, but he was gone. I was afraid. I love to cook, but I had never prepared fresh tomatoes before because I knew that cooking them was a lengthy process. What if I made a mistake? What if it didn’t turn out right? Drawing a deep breath and praying a prayer for courage, I picked the tomatoes from the vines and took them into my kitchen. (I much prefer to stay inside my house, so even this was a bit new for me.) Then I boiled water to remove the peels, squeezed out the seeds, cut the tomatoes up and layered them in a casserole dish with cheese, onions and breadcrumbs. It was a messy job and by the time I was through there was tomato juice all over the kitchen!

I thought of the many times I sensed God calling me to do something new, but I was afraid. This small act of getting out of my comfort zone felt freeing. I tried something I had always been afraid to try. The casserole turned out well and tasted so good that my husband told his parishioners about it. He insisted I make it again and take it to church for Wednesday night snack supper. People called me for the recipe.

Now when I am afraid of a new direction that God is calling me in, I remember the day I tried something new, something that I had been afraid to try and how it turned out well. It may seem small, but it wasn't to me. I am learning to trust my gifts and talents, and not hold back in fear. God wants that for each of His children.

Rev. Dorcas Conrad

Devotional 3-28-10

2010-03-28T20:46:00.000-05:00

John 12:1-8

In this chapter of John, Jesus is in Bethany visiting Lazarus, Martha and Mary. A dinner is given in Jesus’ honor with his disciples in attendance, as it is 6 days before Passover and the betrayal! The Bible tells us that Lazarus is reclining at the table with the others while Martha serves them. But what about Mary?

I am sure Martha is stressed that Mary is not helping with the meal. However, it is here that Mary does something unusual. She brings out a pint of pure nard (an expensive perfume) and pours it on Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair. Even today, we can hear those in attendance complain about the lack of help for Martha, the waste of the expensive perfume that could be sold for top dollar, the lost opportunity to cash in the nard and give to the poor. All of these objections are true, but I think they miss the point.

Jesus reminds them the nard is for his burial and that we will always have the poor, but we will not always have him. Therefore, the challenge is to identify what is precious to each one of us and then be willing to use it to glorify God’s work. Ah- but that can be most difficult! It can be easy to “mouth” conviction but it can be much harder to put words into action. If you had a great amount of money or time for Christ how would you use it?

Is it reflected in your budget and your priorities?

I am ashamed to admit I still have my jar of nard.

Marvin Jones

Devotional 3-28-10

2010-03-27T20:57:00.000-05:00

Gracious and loving God,

It’s the weekend, and wow, are we tired. We plop in our easy chairs as we turn our faces towards the fridge and the next basketball upset. You have had a hard week and you drop to your knees and pray as you turn your face towards Jerusalem. In the garden you asked the Father, “Let this cup pass from me,” but in the end said, “Not my will but Yours.” His will was that we should see grace beyond comprehension. And you entered the city. May we this week not take the bypass around the city and end up at Easter Sunday, but follow in the wake of the lowly donkey -- the lowly donkey that was called into service because the Lord needed it. May we be so needed by you. As we follow, we hear the cheers HOSANNA, HOSANNA, crucify him, crucify him, HOSANNA, crucify… This is going to be a tough week for you. It will get darkest just before the light.
“It’s Friday but Sunday’s comin.”
“We know the rest of the story.”
“We are Easter people.”
All true, but let us not get there so fast. Let us walk the road with you and know and understand that your sacrifice was great and your gift immeasurable.
We pray these things in your name. Amen

Steve Matthews

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Devotional 3-27-10

2010-03-26T20:44:00.001-05:00

What It Means to Know Christ
Phillipians 3:4-14

How precious is the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise; it is holy beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree isnot death but life, not darkness but life. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.

This was the tree on which Christ, like a King on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the lord of death and freed the human race from sin. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brace warror wounded in hands, feet, and side healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, cut way the shoots of wickedness.

The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed is the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God's command, to escape the destruction of the blood together with his sons, his wife, his son's wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh's magicians, divided the Red Sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God's own people? Aaron's rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross; and did not Abramham foreshadow the when he bound his son Iassc and placed him on the pile of wood?

By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of the apostles, the crown of martys, the sancitication of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven. --by Theodore of Studios

Submitted by Rev. Jeremiah Jasper

Devotional 3-26-10

2010-03-25T21:43:00.000-05:00

The Lord Needs It

Luke 19:28-40

His footsteps were slow
As he walked his final path to Jerusalem.
The disciples had been told,
but the refused to hear.
Was he walking alone?
Isolated in their denial?
Or did he find some comfort
In the nearness of friends?

Closer, just a few miles to go.
How often had he walked this path in his mind?
The journey had been long,
And the end was just beginning.

He sent two friends ahead.
"Go, and as you enter the village,
you will find a young colt,
never ridden,
tied to a post and waiting for you."
As he said it, did he think of the future?
Tied to a post and waiting?
Nailed to a cross, barely breathing?
"Untie it, and bring him here.
If you are asked, say
'The Lord needs it.'"

They did as he said,
And found what he said.
The owners asked what they were doing.
"The Lord needs it."
So they gave it to him.
No questions; no hesitations.
Do we always answer the same?

They laid their cloaks on the back of the animal,
and then his friends lifted Jesus up to ride him.
Friends, lifting up their friend.
Face to face, heart to heart.
Would they remember this moment, later?
When he broke the bread,
or washed their feet?
When they lifted him down,
face to face, heart to quiet heart,
off the cross?

The donkey plodded along,
carrying a king,
stepping, not in the mud,
but on clothing, thrown on the ground.
Gifts.
Jesus entered Jerusalem,
as his forefather Solomon had entered Gihon,
riding his father's donkey.
Was he riding on a donkey,
Provided by his Father?

The crowd shouted praise,
"Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
As he rode, did he hear the echo
of the angels' praise
on the night that he was born?

As the crowd shouted,
the Pharisees complained.
"Teacher! Make them stop!"
These Pharisees were the ones who should have known.
Who should have recognized the son of the God they loved.
And yet they were blind to the man in front of them.

Jesus told them,
"If these are quiet,
the very stones on this ground
will cry out!"
God is changing the world,
And if you cannot see it,
If you cannot sing His praise,
The void will be filled
By those who will.

The song will not be stopped.
The Lord has need of it.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 3-25-10

2010-03-24T21:10:00.001-05:00

“Reveling in Jesus”
John 12:1-8
A short time before his death Jesus was being honored at the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair. Judas objected saying that the perfume should have been sold and the money (a years wages) should have been used to help the poor. I have to tell you, when I read that I was agreeing with Judas. Perfume worth a years wages???! I can’t imagine spending a day's wages on perfume, much less a year's on perfume, so I’m probably not a very good judge, but it certainly seemed wasteful. I thought of Haiti and what a year's wages could do to alleviate suffering there. Now the verses go on to say that Judas had ulterior motives, as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was in it. Jesus rebuked Judas (and me) saying, “It was intended that she should save the perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” (NIV Bible)

My study Bible says that Jesus was making the point that money should not be the main focus of our lives. I think there is another lesson that we can take from this passage. To me, Mary was celebrating Jesus, the man. The washing of feet was a common occurrence in those days, but Mary took it a few steps further. She washed them herself with expensive perfume and dried them with her own hair. Mary wasn’t just washing his feet, she was reveling in having Jesus in her home, reveling in having him with her.

I think Jesus was telling us that there are times when we need to set aside all of our duties, our to do lists, even our good deeds and take time to celebrate the man Jesus. A man who got hungry and thirsty, a man who laughed and cried real tears, a man who enjoyed celebrations (even turning water to wine for one wedding), a man who got tired and dirty and needed his feet washed. But, a man who loved with a greater love than we can understand - loved enough to accept the humiliation and extreme pain of crucifixion. He endured this, not just to save those he knew and loved on earth at that time, but all that were then, and all of us who were yet to be.

Jesus felt pain as we feel pain, hurt as we hurt, yet He loved with a greater love than we can comprehend. Take time to revel in the man, Jesus!

Margaret Williams

Devotional 3-24-10

2010-03-23T23:41:00.000-05:00

…in the breaking of the bread

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him … He had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. That is near the end of the 24th chapter of Luke. The story is from a subsection in the chapter entitled the Walk to Emmaus. The story begins with two travelers; we assume they are not disciples based on the fact that upon their eventual return to Jerusalem they meet up with ‘the eleven’. The travelers are headed to Emmaus. Jesus suddenly joins them but they do not recognize him. He asks what they are discussing as they walk. They respond by asking him if he is the only one who doesn’t know about the things that have happened in the past three days. I find the irony quite delicious considering the actions of the chief priests and rulers, the betrayal by Judas, the scattering of the disciples from the garden and, last but not least, Peter’s denial. He is indeed the only one who DOES know what has happened in the past three days. It’s not until they have persuaded Jesus to stay and share a meal that they are given the opportunity to know who he is.

My dad enjoys meal time with family and friends; holidays, birthdays, special occasions and the like. When the event is closing in he will say, “Are we going to be able to break bread together…?” Now, he isn’t asking if we are going to have communion together, he is talking about dinner. But in that dinner time we do commune. We sit and talk, we listen, we share, we laugh, we care, we offer advice, we take advice, we recognize, a little bit more clearly, the person at the table.

I, along with several friends, just returned from a three day journey, interestingly enough called The Walk to Emmaus. During those three days we enjoyed many meals including communion. Throughout the Walk, each step was an introduction to someone new. As we would break bread together we would recognize each other a little more clearly. Due to the spiritual construction of the weekend ,we did indeed recognize Christ more clearly and to perhaps a small degree, we got a clearer picture of ourselves.

My prayer this Holy season is that eyes will recognize, our hearts will be opened and our hands and feet will be those of our risen Christ.

Steve Matthews

Devotional 3-23-10

2010-03-22T21:13:00.001-05:00

The Prayer shawl ministry is one of the ministry of J.M. that is dear to my heart. Since we started the ministry I have made a few shawls, although not as many as my aunt Isabelle Marino who has made over 300 plus. When I start a shawl, I pray for the person, that I don't know, for God to bring comfort, healing, support or joy, which ever is needed by the person to whom the shawl will go to.

Sometime when I am making a shawl I have difficulty staying on task without making a mistake, like dropping a stitch or staying in pattern. When this happens I put it down and come back to it later. It seems like I will get nudge to get it out and finish it. It is like God is telling me, "I have someone who needs comfort from your shawl, FINISH IT!" So I finish it!

A few weeks ago I finished a purple shawl and took it to church and laid it on the altar rail for blessing. Well, there is a co worker of mine who may have a tumor or cyst on the base of brain and spinal cord or could be M.S. Another co-worker was telling us about what was going on and passing a card for us to sign to send to her. Well, I knew where that purple prayer shawl was going. I didn't know that her favorite color was purple; God Knew all along. God works in mysterious ways. He knew where it was going all along, and He lead me to finish it.

What a wonderful ministry to be a part of. You are praying and asking for God to bless the recipient of your finished shawl and you receive a blessing as well.

I saw her when she was at the hospital for tests. She was so thankful for the shawl that she kept around her most of the time. I can only hope that, whatever the tests show, the the shawl will give her all the comfort, support and blessing in a way only God can do.

I would like to invite anyone who would like to get involved in this ministry contact me and you can do His work too!

Dear Lord,

Thank you for being there to guide us when we started this prayer shawl ministry. Thank you for keeping us to the task of finishing shawls when you know someone needs comfort. Thank you for everyone who is involved in this ministry. Lord, reach out to those who might be interested and give them a little push, saying "You can do it" "Don't be afraid. I'll be there with you!"

Let them know they will also be blessed by being a part of a wonderful ministry. You never know who will be the next recipient.
Only God Knows!
In Jesus Name,
Amen

Melanie Herr

Devotional 3-22-10

2010-03-21T20:39:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 43:16-21

When torrents of rain beat the desert, it changes the landscape from brown to blue. Rushing streams press nutrients to dormant life sleeping just below the desert floor. New life rushes to bloom. Now in season are colors of pink and blue. They spring up in the desert making everything look fresh and new.

We resist change. No matter if it’s in the form of discipline or growth. The whole of our beings scream no. Our nature is to go along with the status quo. It’s scary to face the unknown.

Only God knows our future, he fills our unknown. Our father soaks up our fears and causes something new to grow. God is with us as we pass through the seasons of our lives. No matter what we face, he is the constant in our lives. As we press into him he presses back giving us hope and joy. God is alive and active in all the seasons of our lives. No matter what we face. No matter how loudly we scream no.

Father God, your breath alone causes new life to bloom. You fill us with your vast love. Your mercy and grace surround us. No matter what was before. We honor and praise you. In Jesus name, thank you.

Amen

Judith Wilburn

Devotional 3-21-10

2010-03-20T22:39:00.001-05:00

Read Philippians 3:4b-14

…yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus

As I read this passage, I once again think about the amount of time I spend worrying and complaining about not having enough time. When I am finally alone, I realize that all of the worry and emotion is very misplaced. Many times I am overly concerned with the things I have, or think I need.

The value of knowing Christ as a King and Savior surpasses all of the “things” we have. Working to have a close personal relationship with Christ helps us to not only be better Christians, but just better people.

The relationships I share with friends and family are my most prized possession. Having a relationship with Christ is the most important of all. I believe that as I attend the Walk to Emmaus this weekend, I will take a step closer in my journey with Christ.

Lord, help us to realize that everything we have is through your grace. Help us to place our energies into loving others and serving in your name. Each day, as we meet with others, help us to see others as if they are at their best, even when they look and feel at their worst.

In your holy name
Amen

Hulse Budd

Devotional 3-20-10

2010-03-19T22:11:00.002-05:00

Choices
Lectionary Reading: Phillippians 3:7-14

“What are you giving up for Lent?” a friend asked me a few years ago. I was stumped. I had not thought of giving up anything for Lent (and why would I do that anyway?)Then while reading a few articles about sacrificing a little to represent the greatest sacrifice that Jesus gave I began to understand why it was done.

So what was I going to give up for Lent? People have given up sweets or pizza, movies or tv, video games or the computer. All of those seemed a little self-centered to me. It also seemed to me to be the opposite of what Jesus has told us to do while he was living. He said feed to poor, make disciples, care for the sick, etc. An article in the latest Guidepost magazine talks about five things to take up rather than give up this Lenten season. The author says “Lent doesn’t always mean forbidding ourselves some pleasure. It can be an opportunity to seek the pleasure of God’s presence.”

Although the author says things like get outdoors, spend time with others, and pray for the little things, I decided that I could do something a little different. I wanted to do something positive, something for which I am thankful. So each day of Lent I sent a thank you note to someone who had touched my life in some way. I thought of people who had done something for me or someone who has done things for others without being thanked. The teacher who befriended me when I was a new teacher at my first school got one. The lady in one of the churches where my father was the pastor who called me up every time she made beans and cornbread received a note. The choir director who let me continue to be in the choir even though my voice is not the greatest. I found that I had more people to thank than the forty days of Lent. It was an eye opening experience to think of the people throughout my life who did little (and BIG) things for me that led me to where I am today.

Our biblical study at School of Christian Mission last year was Food and Faith taught by Rev. Richard Work. The study itself was about how faith is nurtured, strengthened, and enhanced by food. It explored the ways food creates community, offers hospitality to strangers and expands one’s concept of “neighbor.” But, again, Rev. Work stressed positive works that can be done during Lent rather than giving something up – do something for the good.

This has been a wonderful exercise for me to do. I never seem run out of people to thank. God has been with me as I write the hard ones – the ones that ask for forgiveness - and the ones that thanked people for things they have done without being asked (even if they are not my favorite person). The blessings I have received when those that I thanked come to me later to thank me for remembering them.

I challenge you to think of something you can do this Lenten Season. Do something for yourself that will bless you throughout the whole year.

Prayer:

Lord, you are so wonderful to me and I cannot thank you enough for giving me this life that I am living. Guide me to do Your will and show me the way that You want me to follow. May my practices during Lent help make me a new person in You. I praise your name and give you the glory. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Ruth Ellen Fise

Devotional 3-19-10

2010-03-18T21:57:00.003-05:00

Judas the Disingenuous
Lectionary Reading: John 12 1-8

These passages discuss the anointment of Jesus at Bethany by Mary. She anointed His feet with an expensive perfume made from pure nard and dried them with her hair. Judas Iscariot complained about her using the expensive perfume. He said that it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. We learn two lessons here.

Jesus acknowledges the he knows that He is to die. He tells Judas to leave Mary alone. The poor will always be present but He will not.
Judas does not care for the poor. He was in charge of the disciples’ funds but often used the money for his personal use.

Jesus lets them know that he will be leaving them but Judas, who will eventually betray Him causing His death, shows his true side—he says one thing but believes in another. He pretends to care for the poor but uses disciples’ funds for himself. We see this many times in today’s society. We were warned to be careful in donating money to the people in Haiti because many of the groups collecting funds were not to be trusted.

We see the same in people who pretend to be devoted to Jesus but are not. Many so-called Christians seek riches in material things in the name of God. There are still many Judas’ among us.

Let us pray: Dear God, help us to keep the goal of becoming closer to you in this time of Lent. Let us not be influenced by the material achievements but by Your love. Amen

Carolee Brown

Devotional 3-18-10

2010-03-17T20:51:00.001-05:00

Lectionary Reading – John 12:1-8

I continue to be amazed at the stories in the Bible. When reading them, it is such a comfort to see how they relate to my life today. John 12 1-8 is no different.

Six days before Passover, in the town of Bethany, Jesus arrived at the home of Lazarus, to attend a banquet in his honor. This family loved Jesus, and it was their way of thanking him for bringing Lazarus back from the dead.

Martha prepared the meal. I, too, have prepared many meals for special guests. I know the pressure that Martha must have been feeling. She loved Jesus and wanted everything to be perfect. I have been ‘hostess’ Martha, many times in my life.

Lazarus, understandably, sat proudly beside Jesus, and was eternally thankful for his new life. I, too, have sat beside someone I love, and was so happy to have them with me. I have been ‘thankful’ Lazarus, many times in my life.

Mary purchased an expensive perfume to wash the feet of Jesus. I, too, have shopped and gone beyond my means for a “special gift”; to give to someone I love. I have been ‘extravagant’ Mary, many times in my life.

Judas quickly found fault with Mary’s extravagance. She should have sold the perfume and given the money to the poor. Judas, no doubt, had his own plans for the money, since he was the one who held the purse. I, too, have found myself judgmental of others actions, without taking the time to really look inward at my own motives. I have been ‘judgmental’ Judas, many times in my life.

And then, there was Jesus, with his response to Judas. Jesus makes it clear that Mary’s gift was given in love, and in preparation for his death. What a comfort for Mary, to hear the words of Jesus. Her gift was one of love, and it was received with love. And yes, I even hope I have shown the understanding that Jesus showed Mary in accepting gifts, many times in my life.

This scripture speaks to me through all the people involved, but most of all through our Savior and his gracious acceptance of Mary’s actions.

Lent is a time of preparation for receiving the greatest gift from God, the promise of eternal “Life” through his son. I don’t have to be hostess, I don’t have to purchase anything pricey, I don’t have to question the motive, and I don’t have to just sit proudly beside. Instead, I can choose to be prepared to receive the gift of “Eternal Life”; given in Love from God through his dear and loving Son, our Savior. And that is exactly, what I have chosen to do, many times in my life.

Let us all be thankful for a Loving God.

Glenna B. Allison

Devotional 3-17-10

2010-03-16T20:31:00.000-05:00

Please read Psalm 126

"How we laughed and sang for joy and the other nations said,"What amazing things the Lord has done for them".

During the season of Lent is is a little difficult to think of singing for joy. It has also been a little difficult to find joy in our daily lives given the headlines we see in the papers daily. It seems there is anger, fear, death and distruction everywhere we look. About now you're wondering if you want to continue to read this. I don't blame you.

This Psalm is one of the "songs of ascent". The pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem for feast days sang these songs to make their journeys pass easier. Now you and I are probabaly not going to walk through Wal-Mart singing for joy or sing our way through the mall. People would take a wide berth around us.

What we can do is to let the joy show in our faces. It is so hard to be miserable if you have a smile on your face. Likewise, it is difficult to be in a bad mood if the person you are facing is smiling at you. During this season of Lent could I suggest that instead of giving something up, you take something up. Why don't we try to smile every day. I know that sounds too simple but maybe it isn't. It's easy to smile when everything is going your way but how about when it doesn't?

Why don't we let the "son-shine" show in our faces everyday. We have received a wonderful gift. A price has been paid to make our lives worth living. Why don't we show others that we are thankful for the amazing things the Lord has done for us.

Smile !!

Debbie McGinnis

Devotional 3-16-10

2010-03-15T20:53:00.002-05:00

The Power of a Praying Parent
Psalm 9:10: Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

When getting together with friends both at church and outside of church, we always end up talking about our concerns for children. As parents, we are always worried about whether our children are doing well or are struggling, are in trouble or are a work in progress. Recently, an invitation on Facebook to join the Power of a Praying Parent web site made me aware that there are thousands of parents like me who are praying daily for their sons and daughters. This group began when Moms got together to collectively pray for their children. Their devotions were then chronicled in the book entitled “The Power of a Praying Parent” by Stormie Omartian and on the web site by the same name. There are prayers for healing, prayers for loneliness, prayers asking for strength to make difficult decisions, prayers asking God’s help for addictions, prayers for intercession, prayers for young men in trouble, and prayers for newlyweds, to name a few. I was struck by the number of mothers’ prayers that were answered. These Moms thought it was time that children and young adults be lifted to the Lord in prayer as they grow and face the challenges of life. I was humbled when I read their stories and realized more than ever how important it is to tell our children, grandchildren, and young adults about our Lord Jesus Christ and to have faith in God because when alone He is the only one they can turn to. I realized how important it is to strengthen ones faith in these times when our Faith is being attacked at all levels in our secular world. Nothing sums it up better than the song “Above All Else,“ written by Ms. Omartian and sung by Debbie Boone:

So much to say and just a lifetime left to say it.
How quickly time passes.
If I had my way, I’d keep you safe within my arms
While the storm of life crashes.
I won’t always be with you, my child, but words I can give.
When the winds of hope are dying down, these words will live
Above all else, know God’s the One who’ll never leave you.
Look to Him above all else.
He is love you can depend upon, a heart set to care
If in the darkest night you should be lost, He will be there.
He’s the Everlasting Father
In His hands you’ll never fall.
He’s the One who holds it all,
Above all else.
He’s the Keeper of our tears,
He’s the One who you must fear
Above all else.
He’s the Giver of the kingdom
Bought for you right from the start,
And He’ll ask you for your heart
Above all else.
So much to say
And not enough time left to say it.
Just love the Lord
Above all else.

Let us get together in churches and in groups and keep praying for those we love the most.

Gisela E. Kemper

Devotional 3-14-10

2010-03-14T21:21:00.001-05:00

Morning Thankfulness

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings every morning,
thank you, Lord, that I can hear.
Many are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes tightly closed against the morning light as long as possible,
thank you, Lord, that I can see.
Many are blind.

Even thought I huddle in my bed and put off getting up,
thank you, Lord, that I have strength to rise.
Many are bedfast.

Even though the first hour of the day is hectic – socks are lost, toast is burned, tempers are short-
thank you, Lord, for my family.
Many are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like those in the women’s magazines and the menu is sometimes unbalanced,
thank you, Lord, for the food we have.
Many are hungry.

Even though my house feels too small and its outdated furniture is showing wear,
thank you, Lord, for its warmth and protection.
Many are homeless.

Even though my job is often monotonous,
thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work.
Many are unemployed.

Even though I grumble from morning to morning and wish my circumstances were different,
thank you, Lord, for your gift of life.

The first time that I read “Morning Thankfulness”, it was printed in the Johnson Memorial UMC May 16, 1993, bulletin at a time when Betsy and Anna were preteens, my parents were battling devastating illnesses which would eventually take their lives, and I was suffering from teacher burn-out. None of this was good for a marriage besieged by money woes and a serious case of “I do more than you”.

As I read each line, I was ashamed that I had not been more grateful for all of the blessings God had given me. When I arrived home that afternoon, I cut the poem from the bulletin and posted it on the refrigerator, where for seventeen years it served as a constant reminder of God’s love for me.

I hope it will do the same for you.

Becky Warren

To leave a comment for the author, go to http://jmlent.blogspot.com

Devotional 3-14-10

2010-03-13T23:00:00.001-05:00

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (II Corinthians 5:16-21) NRSV

When you read this scripture, who comes to mind? Whose lives speak the language of this “new creation” in Christ? How did their fire start? What draws you to their warmth? Why do you just want to be in their presence and learn why they look at life differently?

Our congregation is blessed with many whose lives speak to the rest of us about their relationships with God through Christ – about their being “new creations.” I’m sure every life’s story is different. Some have held on by their fingernails and faith. Some have met Christ, and simply blossomed. Some can identify their transformation and reconciliation as falling somewhere between these two extremes. But the blessing they all offer us as a result of their love and faith is the reality of kingdom of God – here – now – being lived out in front of us!

They’re holding the door open for us to come in from the cold; to hear their stories and feel the warmth of God’s love, to experience the freedom found in the Good News of Jesus Christ. Don’t you want to go in? I know I do – and I’m sure we will all be welcomed as beloved members of His family.

Father, we offer thanks for those whose hearts speak Your love to our hearts. May we learn to share as they have shared. May we be willing to serve as they have served. And may we see You in the faces we encounter each day, knowing You love us all simply, ferociously, unconditionally. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Linda Summers

Devotional 3-14-10

2010-03-12T23:13:00.000-05:00

Luke 15:11-32, but what happened next?

He watched his father return to the house
And he threw his staff across the yard
In disgust.
How could his father be so gullible?
How could he believe his younger son,
That he had changed?
That he was repentent?
That was nonsense.
And why was it,
when he had worked so very hard,
That his father never rewarded him
Never celebrated his return after a long day
In the fields.
Why?

It is grace,
The likes of which
We have never seen before.
It is grace,
And there is nothing
That compares to it.
It is unfair.
It is undeserved.
It is love.
And it is available for all.
Even for the younger son.
Even for the older son.
Even for you.
Even for me.

The older son
Remembering the joy on his father's face,
Decided to go into the house,
There he found his brother,
A look of astonished wonder in his eyes.
Shining through tears.
The younger son looked at the older, and said,
"How can this be?
I would eat what we feed the pigs,
I deserve nothing else,
And yet look what he has done for me.
How can this be?"

It is grace.
The likes of which
We have never seen before.
It is extravagant
It is prodigal.
It is life changing.
How can anyone stand,
Drenched in the rain of God's love,
And not notice the wetness?

It is grace,
And it will soak through our hardest layers,
And will change everything
If we let it.
The older son stood amazed at the change
in the younger one.
Where was the arrogant brother who used to be?
Where was the one who was so hard to love?
Changed.
Altered.
Never to be the same.
It is grace,
And is it available for even the older brother.

The father came into the room.
He saw the amazement on the face of his younger son,
And he saw the confusion on the face of his older son.
Walking up to the older one,
He said, "I am glad you are here, son,
The party wouldn't have been the same without you.*
I love you, my child,
More than you can imagine.
More than you can fathom.**
At that moment,
Grace went to work,
Melting the heart of the lost son.
And his brother.
Their lives were never the same
Because they were loved.

It is grace.
The likes of which
We have never seen before.
It is grace
And there is nothing that compares to it.
It is unfathomable.
It is never ending
He offers it to all of us,
And we stand amazed in the heat of its presence.
We stand changed in its fire.
We stand before the father
And nothing about us is ever the same.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 3-12-10

2010-03-11T22:01:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 64:8 – “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter.”

Think about the image inherent in this verse from Isaiah. God is the potter, and we are the lump of clay that takes shape in His hands. Visualize a potter’s wheel on which lies a shapeless lump that has just the right consistency to be molded. The potter makes the wheel spin; she slowly, carefully begins to shape the clay according to a design that she carries in her mind. She alone decides what the design and purpose of her project will be. As the design takes shape, the potter needs to do some reshaping as the design fails to take the intended shape.

Isaiah says that we are the shapeless lump of clay and the design for the purpose of our lives is in the mind of God, the potter. What might that purpose be? Perhaps it is teaching, preaching, caring for children, serving the poor, tithing, leading, following, making policies, following the policies made by others; the possibilities are endless. However, all too often we reject God’s plan because the devil convinces us that we have a better one. God may need to do some reshaping as he calls us back to our true purpose.

I heard Jim McCune, recent pastor at the Campus Christian Center, preach a sermon at a United Methodist Conference regarding our need to “return to the potter’s shed.” He indicated that people have drifted away from God’s plan and that we need to return to the potter’s shed to be reshaped. Jeremiah 18:3-4 speaks to this. “So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.”

Have we become spoiled by drifting away from God’s purpose for us? What would God, the Potter need to do to reshape our lives? What new directions would we need to take to put us in line with God’s purpose for us, to be God’s hands and feet in the world?

When we pick up the newspaper, we see greed instead of generosity, violence instead of peace, injustice instead of justice, and hate instead of love. Shouldn’t we love as God has loved us, seek justice, share our resources with others, join in the work of God’s kingdom, and put ourselves in God’s hands to constantly allow ourselves to be reshaped so He can use us here in this place at this time? We need to develop reliance on God to show us the way, to point to the things He needs for us to do, which are many.

Maudie Karickhoff

Devotional 3-11-10

2010-03-10T20:51:00.004-05:00

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Psalm 32:1

The theme throughout this week’s scripture readings from the Book of Joshua to the parable of the prodigal son from the passages in Luke deals with the blessings bestowed on the man who admits or confesses his sin and is forgiven.

Psalm 32 contains a list of the blessings that are bestowed on a righteous man who confesses his sin:

His sins are covered or atoned for (Verse 1)
He shall receive blessings from God (Verse 2)
His transgressions are forgiven (Verse 5)
Deliverance from great waters (Verse 6)
God is a hiding place (Verse 7)
Preservation from trouble (Verse 7)
Compassed with songs of deliverance (Verse 7)
Instruction from God (Verse 8)
Guidance from God (Verse 8)
Compassed with mercy (Verse 10)

The words of the classic hymn “Grace Greater Than Our Sin,” written almost one hundred years ago summarize the words from these passages eloquently.

Grace Greater Than Our Sin

Verse 1

Marvelous grace of our living Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and guilt,
Yonder on Calvery’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the lamb was spilt.

Refrain

Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and
cleanse within, grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin.

Lee Oxley

Devotional 3-10-10

2010-03-09T16:38:00.001-05:00

The mission of Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church is to bring others to Christ, embrace them with love, nurture everyone in faith, worship God joyfully, and reach out in service to the world.

The vision of Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church is to be a covenant community transformed by God's grace to share the love of Christ with the world.

Please read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

God makes his appeal through men who are ambassadors for Christ! Paul is proclaiming the way of reconciliation and the imperative need that man accept the ways which God has provided; he underscroes the urgency of immediate acceptance of God's grace.

What is reconciliation? Renewal of friendship, the act whereby barriers of any kind between parties are removed and their relationship is placed on a firm basis of love and friendship.

Man, to be on a basis of love with God must remove barriers in his heart again man (Matt 5:23-24), to the end that God may give him the glory Christ promised (John 17:22).

Since man often places barriers between God and himself, God has planned the way of reconciliation and gives us a redeemer to remove those barriers (2 Cor 5:19-20).

On our part, the reconciliatin is by faith, through Jesus Christ, for we are not our own (1 Cor 6:19, 20; 7:23) and we become what we are through grace (1 Cor 15:10).

Reconciliation brings life (Rom 11:15) and being justified and reconciled, we do not again face condemnation (Rom 8:1). It is a gift of God (Eph 2:8) and we become his workmanship (Eph 2:10).

The initial step is reconciliation: "Repent" for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt 4:17). If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (John 1:9).

Reconciled through Christ -- All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was in Christ, reconciling the world until himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliaton.

(Cor 5:14-21) These verses bring us to the heart of Paul's gospel ... by indentifying with our life, death and even sinfulness, God in Christ has tranformed the whole human situation; Jesus' resurrection inaugurated a "new creation." (Cor 5:17)

This is more than the transformation of individuals, although it includes that. From this good news, inspired by Christ's love for all (Cor 5:14), springs the Christian mission -- really God's mission (Cor 5:20).

The Ministry of Reconcilation (Cor 5:17) In Wesley's own translation, he adheres to the original Greek text. "If anyone be in Christ, there is a new creation." He adds -- "Only the power that makes a world can make a Christian." By the power of God's love communicated to us throgh Christ, we are re-created, our dulled spiritual senses are reawakened. For then "God, men, the whole creation, heaven, earth and all therein appears in a new light."

Now we konw what Paul meant when he said, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." We can't keep this good news to ourselves, according to John Wesley, but must become ambassadors for Christ to the whole world, God making his appeal through us.

Prayer
We ask forgiveness, Our Father, for all the wasted opportunities in our lives to serve others, for the words we might have spoken, for the deeds we might have done to bring others to Christ. Forgive us that when we should have listened to your voice we turned a deaf ear. Forgive us when we might have seen great needs, we looked the other way. Give us other opportunities and help us to heed them.

Help us, O Lord, in the ministry of reconciliation to recognize ourselves as your instruments. Work through us in this the world's greatest mission. We ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Sources:

The Wesley Study Bible, NRSV, Abingdon Press 2009.
The Goodwill Bible, National Publishing Company, 1943.
The Interpreter's Commentary on the Bible, Abingdon Press, 1971.
Mysteries of the Bible, Readers Digest, 1988

Frank Hanshaw

Devotional 3-9-10

2010-03-09T11:57:00.001-05:00

Lectionary Reading: Luke 15 1-3, 11-32; Luke 15:29

So he answered and said to his father,'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.' New King James Version

Those words were spoken by the "faithful' son upon the return and 'party' for the son that went away with his 'goods that falls to me' and 'wasted his possessions with prodigal living'.

I am lucky to have 3 sisters. I can see myself as the 'faithful' son, when I was much, much younger. Why should I celebrate them or with them when I don't think they deserve it? It is not right that I spent my time and energy and then one of them gets the glory. I was the one that stuck around because I was expected to do the work. Then no real thanks comes to me. HUMPF!

I did have those feelings from time to time growing up in our home with my three sisters, but I was also the one that felt they gave in to mother and daddy, when I wanted to stand up for our 'rights'. They 'always' gave in to them. HUMPF again!

It must have been hard living with me. In fact, I think at times, I had a hard time living. Am I ever glad I grew up. Or at least I think I have.

My sisters and I get along now, very well. Oh, we have our moments, but we get over them quickly and in the end we are always there to support each other.

To me the story of the lost son in Luke, conveys forgiveness, and isn't that what Easter is about? God loves us so much that he gave his only son to forgive us!

Through God's love,
Kay Lewis

Devotional 3-8-10

2010-03-07T21:47:00.001-05:00

A New Perspective

Lectionary Readings: Joshua 5: 9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32.

My nursing students participated in an exercise earlier this year, where the patient was an electronic mannequin who could be programmed to respond to their assessments and also change based on the sequence of treatments the students chose. We gave the mannequin the name “Bill” for this exercise and told the students that he was aged 44, African American and homeless. We simulated a foul odor on his clothes and made him look dirty and disheveled. As each student group approached “Bill” they all made some assumptions about how and why he was so smelly and why he acted and spoke in a disoriented manner. They jumped to the conclusion that “Bill” was inebriated and had been brought to the hospital because he was being a public nuisance.

After completing an initial assessment, they were to ask a person playing the role of a physician for treatment orders. The “physician” ordered some laboratory tests and came to the bedside to also perform an assessment. When the laboratory tests were completed, the results told the physician and the nursing students that “Bill” was suffering from an elevated blood glucose (sugar) level and that this was the cause of his disorientation and confusion. The nursing students changed their approach to “Bill” within seconds and began further assessments and treatments that would assist “Bill” to resolve his health problems.

As I re-read the story of the “Lost Son” (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32) as part of this week’s lectionary readings, I was reminded of my assessment failures and my incorrect assumptions about people. Had I met the lost son at any point in the story, I would have made an incorrect assumption. I would have considered him a playboy with flashy extravagant ways had I met him when he had money. If I had met him while he was caring for the pigs, I would have just ignored him with indifference. If I had met him on his way back to his father, I would have avoided talking to him and assumed that he might be a hoodlum or a tramp. I would have been on the side of the other brother with his “righteous indignation” and anger. I would have gotten the situation “all wrong” just like my students did in the beginning of their assessment of “Bill”.

The parables Jesus told during his ministry help us to see our fellow humans in a different light: God’s light. The old is passed away and all things are new. Because of Jesus, we are given a clean slate, a new chance to improve, a fresh start. God forgives and then forgets our failures.

God can change us through our mistakes. First He shows us that our assumptions and wrong conclusions will be forgiven. Then He guides us with practice and through a mighty and transforming love to learn to change behaviors. Even though I continue to repeat my wrong conclusions about people by only looking at or smelling their outside, God continues to call me to seek the light He has placed within each of us. God never gives up His quest to guide us to that closer walk with Him. We are His, even when we are too stubborn to believe it. Thank you God!

Dear God, we are humbled by your continued pursuit of our souls. We are not worthy and yet you seek us and have sacrificed everything for us. Pour out your love on us once again this day as we ask for your forgiveness and mercy for our human frailties. Amen.

Chyrl Budd

Devotional 3-7-10

2010-03-06T22:16:00.002-05:00

Luke 13:6-9
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Devotion
Fred Craddock tells a story about a man who decided to open a grocery store. He was worried that it might not succeed and he would be out a lot of money.

First, he had to choose where to locate. He could lease a building in the main part of town, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he leased a building in a back alley of a rundown part of town.

Next, he had to hire employees. He could hire some people from the area to ensure that he would have enough help to keep the store open from morning until night, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he decided to run the store himself, closing the store at 5:00 p.m. so that he could be home in time for dinner.

Then, he had to decide where to get the groceries to put in the store. He could order from the wholesalers who had fast shipping to ensure the best produce, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he ordered from a place that had slow shipping so that the produce was past its prime when it arrived.

Finally, he had to decide how to advertise. He could buy advertising on the local television station, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he put up a couple of posters on some telephone poles instead.

The day of the grand opening arrived. Only a few people wondered in. He made a few sales, but many people left after seeing the quality of the food. One person tried to come at 5:00 p.m., but had to leave because it was closing time. Eventually, no one came at all.

After a few days, the owner of the store gathered his family around him and said to them, “I am a very smart man. I have to close the store. If I had paid for a lease in the main part of town, if I had hired employees, if I had ordered produce from the fast shippers, and if I had paid for ads on t.v., then I would be out a lot of money right now. Instead, I invested little and so I am out very little.”

Luke tells the story about a man who planted a fig tree and within three years had given up on it. All he did was plant a tree, but he expected a large fig harvest. The gardener did not just convince the man to give it another year. He offered to care for it. The gardener knew that you only get out of something what you are willing to invest in it. If you invest little, you will reap little.

Lent is a time for self-reflection; a time to look at ourselves and see what we are invested in. Have we really invested ourselves into our families, into caring for our neighbors, into helping the poor, into welcoming the stranger, into caring for the children and the youth and the infirmed in our community, and have we really invested ourselves into our church. Maybe we have planted the seed and that is a good thing, but have we REALLY invested ourselves? I know I haven’t always invested myself. Too often I have invested little because I was afraid of failure. Too often I have expected a harvest, without any effort.

Prayer
Loving God, you are the one who created us and you care for us daily. We don’t always bear good fruit, but you do not abandon us. Instead you care for us all the more. You are invested in us. Help us to invest ourselves in you and into the care of your creation. Help us to act, not for reward, but because it is what is right. Help us to be courageous in the face of the fear of failure, knowing that we only really fail when we refuse to try. Most of all, marinate us with your love in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

David Stackpole

Devotional 3-6-10

2010-03-05T23:21:00.002-05:00

Soul Injury
I Corinthians 10: 1 – 13
This past Friday I attended a seminar that focused on the Chaplains work with returning veterans through the VA. Many of these veterans suffer from Post Trauma Stress Disorder. The chaplains who were leading the seminar had coined the phrase “Moral Injury” to describe theologically what was happening to these returning veterans. Their theory basically states that these individual had broken a moral code and were suffering because of it. Much of their work was based on Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning that is based on Frankl’s experience of surviving the German concentration camps during WWII.

I returned home from the seminar where my wife asked me if I had seen or heard Tiger Woods’ apology. She had saved it on my DVR and I was able to view his apology. I was struck at the tenor, tone, and theology of his apology. Much has been made about his religious history and upbringing. In his apology he admitted he had strayed from his Buddhist roots and that he had followed his “cravings”. As I listened to him I reflected that he was suffering from a “Soul Injury”. I was saddened by his apology and hope that his soul could recover as well as the relationships with his marriage and family life.

In verse 13 of today’s scripture we are told by Paul that, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to humanity. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” This says to me that: The devil did not make us do it. Our human cravings did. Lent is our way out.

Many of us have “Soul Injury”. We have done those things that we ought not to have done and not done those things we ought to have done. God understands that process. God understands our human nature and realizes that we will be tempted on a daily basis. It may be a gross temptation such as Bernie Madoff or Tiger Woods participated in over a period of time. It maybe societal temptation such as racism, sexism, classism, etc that stains us within. It may be that we slighted our husband, wife or child by giving into our immaturity. Whatever our Soul Injury is, God promises that it will not crush us because God’s forgiveness is greater than any sin.

Lent is that time that we take what AA calls a “moral inventory” and we may term a “soul inventory”. Good Luck! At least you will not have to face the cameras. You will only have to face God and God knows already.

David Johnson

Devotional 3-5-10

2010-03-04T20:06:00.000-05:00

WHO? WHAT? WHERE?

Do you ever question who you are, where you are, what you do? Sometimes upon hearing of something brave or self-sacrificing that another person has done, do you wonder if you are where God wants you to be, doing what He wants you to do?

This morning in the Herald-Dispatch I read of a fourth year medical student at the Marshall University School of Medicine who, upon learning of the earthquake in Haiti, took a month away from his family and his studies to go to the island and do whatever he could to alleviate the physical suffering and distress. How wonderful, I thought, to be able to do that, to have the skills to help in this way.

Then I read in the Upper Room Devotional Guide of a man, an accountant in Illinois, who wrote, "Often I am overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty.....what should I be doing for the Lord? When? Where? How?" Upon reflecting and reading from Jeremiah 29:4-7 he realized that God had put him where he is, to do what he is doing, to be a faithful witness, and to cease wasting time in needless worry and concern.

God has placed us where we are; we must do the very best we can for His glory and to further His kingdom in whatever way we can however ordinary it may seem. He has a purpose for each one of us. How blessed we are!

Jean Dean

Devotional 3-4-10

2010-03-03T22:35:00.000-05:00

God is Calling, do not put on Hold!!!
Please Read Isaiah 55:1-9, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9 NIV

In the passage from Isaiah God is calling all to come to him. You don’t need to bring anything with you! God will provide all you need to seek him. Listen for God to speak to you. We often are praying to God about our needs, concerns or whatever, but do we really take time to listen to him? Although it may not be in an audible voice, God may speak to us through an occurrence or through something we view that we do not expect to see. Or just quietly sitting without thought, maybe, as the snow is falling, on our porch during a spring or summer rain shower. How about while taking a walk in the park or the forest?

Is 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God is calling not only the righteous but the unrighteous as well, Is 55:7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Jesus was not sent to live among the righteous. He walked among all and that is what we all are called to do as well. Reach out to those in need, whatever the need is, show them they are loved. Help them see that God does love them and that by turning to him he will pardon them. Is 55:7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

But God can only wait so long for if we/they do not come to him before our/their last breath we/they will perish.

Luke 13:5 ..do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Read Luke 13:6-8 Parable of the fig tree

Parable of the barren fig-tree. (Commentary) *
This parable of the barren fig-tree is intended to enforce the warning given just before: the barren tree, except it brings forth fruit, will be cut down. This parable in the first place refers to the nation and people of the Jews. Yet it is, without doubt, for awakening all that enjoy the means of grace, and the privileges of the visible church. When God has borne long, we may hope that he will bear with us yet a little longer, but we cannot expect that he will bear always.

So don’t put God on Hold too long!!

Please read Psalm 63:1-8 as a closing prayer.

A confession and testimony; I really struggled to write this devotional. For when I first read all of the Lectionary readings I could not quite put them together. But one night during my prayer I asked God to help me write this devotion. So as I sat here this evening, in the quiet of the room, God began to speak to me as I typed this devotion. For these are not my words but God’s. I could not have written it without his guiding hand.

Peace and Grace to all though our Risen Lord and Savior
*Commentary from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Fred Herr

Devotional 3-3-10

2010-03-02T20:58:00.002-05:00

Loving us in our Imperfection
Romans 8:39: neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As many of you know I now live in Charlotte having moved for a new professional position in June of last year. What many of you do not know is that part of the plan for the move was that my parents would move from Waycross, GA to Charlotte also. The difficult part of the search for a new home in Charlotte was finding one that would have an area/apartment in which my parents could live. We found one that had an “in-law” suite. It consisted of a large bedroom, walk-in closet and bath with a much smaller sitting room. (Why not a small bedroom and larger sitting room is what I have been asking myself?)

Last week my parents spent the week with me in our new home and in their new “digs”. I spent a lot of time talking with my father about his early life, family members and end of life issues. As my mother slides further into her dementia, and my father grows frailer with his congestive heart failure and macular degeneration our conversations have grown more serious. When my friends ask me why I am bringing my father into my home, I have no real answer except, “it is the thing to do.” I think I am just as surprised as others that I would bring my parents to live with me.

The Sunday before Ash Wednesday was Valentine’s Day. The minister at the church I was visiting that Sunday made the topic of love her focus in her sermon. She tied the holiday with the holy day. It was an interesting joining of cultural, religious, and theological meaning. The sermon set me to thinking about my parents and this journey we are beginning. As my father told stories about his father, I realized that my grandfather was not a very loving person. I am well aware and have documented the reality that the sternness of my father has created distance between him and his four sons. I reflected on the relationship I have with my two children and the stories they tell about me. Their view of me is certainly a different perspective than the one I hold of myself.

I realized that I am inviting my parents into my home because I love them. My wife is allowing them into her home because she loves me. She is well aware how just how fallible my parents can be and are. I reflected on the reality that I am a finite and limited human being. I am full of my own insecurities and inadequacies and yet I know I am loved by my wife of thirty-eight years and my 35 and 33 year old children. I am also loved by my grandchildren who still think that Papa can do anything.

Lent is a time of getting in touch with the finite, limited, sinful part of ourselves that we would like to keep hidden. We are to stare at it eyeball to eyeball and see that part of ourselves we hope no one else knows. We are ashamed of it and like Adam and Eve want to keep it hidden. Yet with all the limitations I have, if I can love my father as mean and ornery as he has been and sometimes is, and with the humanness of their personhood, if my wife and children can love me as mean and ornery as I am sometime, how can God not love, accept, and forgive me.

Maybe that is what Paul had in mind in Romans 8:39. Maybe he realized just how mean and ornery he was and realized that the people that surrounded him loved him in spite of himself. Maybe that made him realizes that the power of love is not just a human thing to be celebrated on Valentine’s Day but that it is a divine thing that comes into focus during Lent and celebrated on Easter Sunday and every Sunday. Maybe that is what made him realize that nothing can separate us from the love of God

Rev. David C. Johnson

Devotional 3-2-10

2010-03-01T22:49:00.001-05:00

We raised our daughters in Lexington, and like the youth here at JM, they had a wonderful youth group. It amazed me from time to time when I, the parent, had my duties usurped by a teen within the group. They were truly family and kept one another “in line.” It was a real gift to us that we had good daughters and friends that cared and were strong. I have felt that we were sent to Lexington so that our daughters could be in that particular group. “ MANNA,” the name the youth group used when singing, traveled to many places singing for other churches. MANNA was a good name for the group as they were forced into a deeper understanding of what ‘manna” was to them. They realized that they were also “manna” to others as they sang in praise of their Lord. One of the songs they sang at every concert was a catchy and lively song called “Let it Rain.” It might have been a theme song of sorts. I watched them sing with all the happiness and joy of knowing that they were enjoying what they were doing, and also making others happy.

LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN, LET IT POUR,
LET TROUBLES KEEP KNOCKING AT MY DOOR

I felt my heart tug and feel heavy as I knew that it would rain on all their lives, and that sometimes things would be hard for them. I occasionally hear from members of that group, and I know that they are being tested, and I have suffered as I have watched my own daughters feel the pain of the storms around them.

We are all tested, but as we are told in the Bible, God is faithful, and he told us he will not let us be tested beyond our strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that we may be able to endure. These are reassuring words and I have found myself reminding myself and other family members of these Bible verses many times.
As church family we too must always know that God is with us. We do have times that are hard to endure, when the rain comes and the storms are all around. We must remember that God is with us to sustain us and give us peace.

We are reminded during this season of Lent of what Jesus had to endure, we know that he went through his pain for each of us, and his suffering is one of Gods gift for each of us. We must remember and be thankful.

Dear God, be with us in all of life’s journey. May we have the faith of MANNA that with God we can endure all things, and in all things be thankful. Praise to our father who has made us in his image, and to his son who has shown us how to live in his image. Thanks also for the Manna in our lives.

Amen Amen

Marilyn Holleron

Devotional 3-1-10

2010-02-28T23:28:00.002-05:00

It seems to me that a lot of the lectionary readings for this week have to do with being thirsty. But it just isn’t quenching your thirst -- it’s finding the right thing to quench your thirst.

We are presented and inundated with countless advertisements and endorsements for anything liquid. It is would boggle the mind to think of the money that are spent by soft drink industry to satisfy those ravenous cravings for something to satisfy those parched throats.

I am pretty sure that if you talk with most athletic and physical trainers they still say the best drink for the most serious thirst is still water. It is what God created and they may want to sell it for $1.05 for a 16 ounce bottle but it still the best thing for us.

The scriptures from Isaiah, Psalms, and Luke all speak of cautioning of what you use to quench your spiritual thirsts. During this Lenten season perhaps we should examine the labels of popular notions and return to some basics in our own spiritual lives. Daily prayer, scripture readings, meditation or service could satisfy that parched spiritual discomfort.

Mike Bowen

Devotional 2-28-10

2010-02-27T17:21:00.002-05:00

Almost
It’s been just a little over two years since our dear friend Jim Ray passed away. We see signs of Jim’s presence all over town and especially within the walls of Johnson Memorial. I dare say not a Sunday goes by that we don’t say to ourselves, or perhaps out loud to someone else, “I remember when Jim did this” or, “I remember when Jim was a part of this.” Jim made a lasting impression – whether he knew it or not.

I had the privilege of being part of the Ashland Area Emmaus Community with Jim. A word that comes up a lot during Emmaus events is agapé. We recognize that as one of the Greek words for love. Jim would occasionally slip up and say the word as ‘Agrippa’ when he meant agapé. We (the other JM members of the AAEC) would giggle and keep on going. He may have never realized what he had said or recognized Agrippa as being King, the last of the Herods. Hardly interchangeable with love. Frederick Buechner in his book, Beyond Words, tells a brief story of Paul’s self defense argument while on trial in front of Agrippa. Paul, never at a loss for words, puts forth a strong case. When finished, Acts 26:28 records Agrippa’s comment; “Almost thou persuadest me to become a Christian.” (KJV) Almost!!

Jim was active all around the city of Huntington. He worked with the food and clothing pantry, helped at the Mission, took meals to friends and church members that could not get out and would carry after church luncheon leftovers to the staff and drivers at the TTA. He had gum for the kids and a smile for everyone. I wonder how many people he won to Christ through his words and actions and how many he felt “almost” came to Christ. Acts doesn’t give us Paul Harvey’s the Rest of the Story, so we don’t know for sure that Agrippa did not turn towards Jesus at some point. I had the honor to attend Jim’s funeral. I heard people that I did not know – and did not know Jim knew – speak from the heart about how Jim had touched their lives. No doubt the Almost column was not as long as Jim thought and the Persuadest column greater than he could have imagined.

As we go about our days we will have our ‘almost’ moments. God will take our almosts and make grace. Let’s remember Jim, tell his story, do his work and have faith.

Steve Matthews

Devotional 2-27-10

2010-02-26T19:44:00.001-05:00

Matthew 18:21-22

Matthew asks Jesus a very important question and one that comes to mind for most of us from time to time. The question of course is how many times do we need to forgive? I recall some years ago being asked by a member of the church I was serving: Pastor, what is the unpardonable sin? I replied to her. You are probably seeing suicide and/or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as the unpardonable sins for that seems to be spelled out in the Bible but my response to you is this. I believe the unpardonable sin is the one for which we will not ask forgiveness. The lady went on into the sanctuary to sit down and never mentioned the subject with me again.

I also recall a wonderful book I read some time ago titled: "The Gospel According to Judas." I don't recall who wrote the book at the moment. I do recall though alot of what the author talked about in the book. He reminded us that all of the disciples betrayed Jesus. Not one of them could claim their innocence anymore than we can. The difference the author says is that the others asked for forgiveness and received it. The book also points out the human tendency we all have to paint ourselves in a better picture than we picture others.

Consider how many times as the disciples are named in the Gospels that when it comes to naming Judas Iscariot it states after his name "the one who would betray him." That one phrase leads to the subtitle of this book: "Come home, all is forgiven."

Prayer: Thank you God for your abounding love and forgiveness revealed and made whole in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Rev. Thomas Malcolm

Devotional 2-26-10

2010-02-25T16:25:00.002-05:00

Philipians 3:20: But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christian theologian and writer Justo Gonzalez gives an enlightening illustration about living according to one's expectations. Justo is always telling people that one day he hopes to retire to a quiet cabin in the woods where he will do nothing but fish all day.

People are doubtful that Justo will ever do this. He spends all of his free time outfitting hot rods - and loves the ones that have no muffler! He spends all of his time in the city and isn't much on reading wilderness magazines. He owns no fishing pole or tackle. Nothing that anyone sees in Justo's life suggests that he either expects what he claims to expect or that he would either enjoy or be any good at living the life he claims to expect and hope for. Others that know Justo, who also spend all their time in the city, find no clue in Justo's life to help them understand or imagine what the life he expects could possibly be like.

As we travel through our Lenten journeys, let us ask ourselves…are we living a life that prepares us for the life we expect to live when Christ returns? Do we have to declare our citizenship with bumper stickers and logos or is it obvious by the customs and accent of our ways and speech? Would anyone we meet during the day get a glimpse of the kingdom of Heaven from their encounter with us?

Let us consider whether the lives we are living now are preparing us for the life to come.

Let us consider the message of our living, whether it says to others what it might.

And let us repent, change direction, where we ought.

And let us carry on in the gladness of the grace of God. For, ultimately, we can live with expectation of what the future holds and also live with joy for what may presently be.

For if one lives as if expecting the Savior, the more real and more manifest that Savior becomes in the present, both with us and through us. Let us then live life as though the Kingdom of Heaven is indeed at hand, and we will then find that it is indeed among us.

Joe Hill

Devotional 2-25-10

2010-02-24T20:30:00.001-05:00

I was listening to NPR the other morning as we drove to work. One of the announcers was talking about a cone shaped nebula in an obscure constellation near Orion. The nebula is 2,500 light years away. The light astronomers see coming from the nebula today left its source 500 years before Christ was born. The huge size of the universe is unimaginable. Psalm 8 echoes through our minds as we try to grasp the grace and love of God: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” How is it possible that God loves me? As of February 24, 2010, the estimated world population is 6,804,600,000. How is it possible that God even knows I exist?

In one of the lectionary readings for this week, (Luke 13:34), Jesus laments, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Rev’d Monty Brown, pastor of St. Marks United Methodist Church is known for his odd sermon titles. This week’s title is El Loco Pollo – the crazy chicken. I wondered what he meant until I read this week’s passage from Luke, and then found this quote from Barbara Brown Taylor on the web:

"If you have ever loved someone you could not protect, then you understand the depth of Jesus' lament….This is the most vulnerable posture in the world --wings spread, breast exposed --but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand. … Jesus won't be king of the jungle in this or any other story. What he will be is a mother hen, who stands between the chicks and those who mean to do them harm. She has no fangs, no claws, no rippling muscles. All she has is her willingness to shield her babies with her own body. If the fox wants them, he will have to kill her first; which he does, as it turns out. He slides up on her one night in the yard while all the babies are asleep. When her cry wakens them, they scatter.

She dies the next day where both foxes and chickens can see her -- wings spread, breast exposed -- without a single chick beneath her feathers. It breaks her heart . . . but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand."

God loves you. He loves me. He loves each of us with an infinite, unimaginable love. He loves us, so this is how he stands, protecting us by becoming vulnerable, arms outspread as he died.

Our God is the God of amazing grace. Our God is the God who cares for the lilies of the field, who searches for a single lost sheep even when 99 sheep have been found. Our God not only knows our names and can count the number of hairs on our heads, but he created each of us in his own image. We should never doubt the infinite nature of his love. He means what he says, and he demonstrates it to us by how he stands.

Consider today what it means to your life that you are a beloved child of God.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-24-10

2010-02-23T21:32:00.001-05:00

Keeping up with the Dittenhafers
My grandmother, whose maiden name was Dittenhafer, is always frugal and practical. I know that she has used her reel (motor-less) lawn mower in the last decade, which is proof that she still tries to save money. If you ask her about her childhood, I doubt there would ever be a tale of splurging on a pair of unneccessary shoes or gourmet coffee. Though I don’t think any of the Dittenhafers ever really spent much on anything frivolous, my grandmother is happy with what she has. Grandma worked hard to take care of her family, and she has wisely managed her finances. I imagine you’ve heard that “Happiness isn’t having what you want; it’s wanting what you have.” How true it is!

During my childhood, possibly like yours, I heard plenty of tales echoing the old “walking seven miles up the hill through snow to get to school” tune. Though my brother and I were quick to roll our eyes at the time, something that really can’t be pushed aside is that our parents and grandparents worked and sacrificed to give us a good life… and we do have more than we really need. Still, I often think, “We could really use the money for” this or that. Why have we as a society developed a constant feeling of want? In this day of instant gratification, we are reluctant to engage in anything that requires diligence or the ‘s’-word: sacrifice. Maybe that is why we are ungrateful for the things we already have.

We all know that true wealth lies in love and not in possessions, but it is a concept difficult to realize. During Lent, the season of sacrifice, I pray that we all gain that sense of happiness without material things. Rather than keeping up with the Joneses (or the cable-famed Kardashians), shouldn’t we all try to “keep up” with people like the Dittenhafers? We should be mindful of those who choose to live with simplicity and are often more fulfilled for it. What more perfect time of year is there for us to grow closer to God through simple living? I think that, instead of the first day of January, Ash Wednesday should be the day on which we make resolutions. Yes, we could simply give up candy or something we’ll just allow ourselves to have again on Easter. However, maybe it would be more meaningful to do something that would truly better oneself for the long term. To really be ‘resolute’ (thus the word ‘resolution’) in that sacrifice could create in us a better appreciation for the greatest sacrifice of all.

Natalie Wray

Devotional 2-23-10

2010-02-22T21:44:00.001-05:00

A Legacy of Faithfulness

Please read Genesis 15:1-12; 17-18

“…the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates....’”

In these days of instant gratification and materialism, it is difficult to imagine one acting in faith as Abram did. Abram gave up the comfort of his familiar surroundings and set out to a strange land in response to God’s call, not so that he could gain personally, but so that his descendents could have the land that God promised. As the writer of Hebrews said, Abram (Abraham) “died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them.” Hebrews 11:13.

I see examples of that kind of faithfulness in my work at the United Methodist Foundation. I often help individuals who have a desire to act in faith to make a planned gift, that is, a gift from their accumulated resources. It is like they are planting trees the fruit from which they will never personally enjoy. They act generously and in faith, with a vision that goes beyond their own lifetimes. Often, the motivation for a planned gift is to not only provide future financial resources, but also to set an example of faith.

For instance, I met a gentleman during the terrible economic climate of the last half of 2008, who decided it was the right time to create an endowment fund (anonymously) for his church in rural West Virginia. His inspiration was that he wanted to be a witness of faithfulness and generosity in tough times for future generations.

By contrast, we are all paying a price for the actions of some individuals and corporations who act not out of generosity and faith, but out greed without regard for anyone else.

We are examples of for future generations. Will you leave a legacy of faithfulness?

Jeff Taylor

Devotional 2-22-10

2010-02-22T14:30:00.003-05:00

Devotional -- Written on a Snow Day

"For he directs the snow, the showers, and storm to fall upon the earth. Man's work stops at such a time, so that all men everywhere may recognize his power." --Job 37:6

It's February, it's Lent, but a Christmas hymn is running through my brain: In the Bleak Midwinter. You recall the words from the first verse:

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow............

It's only midwinter, but I'm sure sick of it. I decided to check out the word "snow" in my Bible thesaurus and found the scripture quoted above as well as this one from Psalm 147: 16-18:

"He sends the snow in all its lovely whiteness, and scatters the frost upon the ground, and hurls the hail upon the earth. Who can stand before his freezing cold? But then he calls for warmer weather, and the spring winds blow and all the river ice is broken."

I also looked up some information on the British poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) who wrote In the Bleak Midwinter. Here's another inspirational poem of hers:

Lord, Purge Our Eyes to See
Lord, purge our eyes to see
Within the seed
a tree,
Within the glowing egg,
a bird,
Within the shroud,
a butterfly.
Till, taught by such we see,
Beyond all creatures,
Thee.

The snow won't last forever. While inconvenient, it has a certain lovely quality. Spring will come. We know it will.

This prayer was written by Christina Rossetti:O Lord Jesus Christ, who is like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, you see your weak creatures weary of labor, weary of pleasure, weary of hope deferred, weary of self. In your abundant compassion and fellow feeling with us, and with your unspeakable tenderness, bring us, we pray, to your rest. Amen.

Anita Gardner Farrell

Devotional 2-21-10

2010-02-21T22:12:00.002-05:00

TO FOLLOW CHRIST

Here, O Christ, our sins we see, Learn Thy love while gazing thus;
Sin, which laid the cross on Thee, Love, which bore the cross for us.
Here we learn to serve and give, And rejoicing, self deny;
Here we gather love to live, Here we gather faith to die.” --Elizabeth Charles

　

When I read these words from an old Methodist hymnal recently, I felt that it expressed what I am thinking about during these days of Lent: to look at Christ and his purity and his sacrifice, to see my sins, my lack of love, to learn of Him and to seek and follow Him more closely as long as I live.

Lent is a time to reexamine our lives, to seek to follow in Christ’s steps. However, we need others to encourage us and to hold us in love. May all of us who read these Lenten devotions, open our hearts, seek God’s presence, think about Jesus, and share his love in all the ways we can.

Please think on these verses:

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but is we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9

“Jesus said, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34

Martha Casey

Devotional 2-20-10

2010-02-20T22:14:00.001-05:00

A Lenten Prayer　
　
Our Father, we come before you tonight thinking of Jesus on the Cross. We are reminded of the utter cruelties and tragedies of life that are cause by sin.

Help us to recognize that we, too, have attitudes like those of the characters in the drama of Calvary.

Forgive us:

For envying people who are more popular than we are;
For allowing ourselves to be manipulated by cruel and selfish leaders;
For trying to wash our hands of responsibility for our actions;
For betraying our friends and turning our backs on the people who love us;
For taking advantage of the misfortunes of the innocent victims of injustice;
For being blind and insensitive to your will for our lives;

Look down upon us, Lord; and, out of your mercy, bring us to the day when we shall love you with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

Rev. Joseph Casey

Devotional 2-19-10

2010-02-19T23:46:00.001-05:00

Thoughts on our creator

As a believer who has a background in the biological sciences, I am dismayed and mystified by some, so called, scientists who declare that God is disproved by science – they believe that, if man evolved from lower animals, if creation came about with a big bang, if we have quantum physics, etc, etc, then we don’t need God!

Conversely, believers who insist that the ancient teachings in the Bible are to be taken literally, reject many scientific discoveries as sacrilegious or blasphemous.

Personally, I have wondered about these apparent conflicts since junior high school. As an adult, I have finally melded my religion and my scientific education into a faith that takes both into account. It goes something like this:

Science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. Religion can tell us about God, but cannot actually prove God’s existence. In the final analysis, our knowledge that God is must come from within ourselves – by our own experience and feelings.

For me, God is a given, a constant. Therefore, whatever a scientist undertakes is simply another examination or exploration into God’s creation. God created the earth, the universe, the atom and the proton. Whatever exists was created by God. So, if we are delving into DNA and the human genome or studying the planets, stars or black holes, it matters not – all things are God’s works. Should we perceive patterns in the fossils of ancient creatures or in the actions of heavenly bodies then there may be clues into God’s elegant system of creation.

On the other hand, should the findings of modern science be perceived as clashing with some of our treasured writings of old, then try asking yourself something along this line: If God had spoken to His people about evolution, quarks, bacteria, black holes or DNA, could those people of 2000 BC have absorbed any of that knowledge? Were they ready?

Or, conversely, was it better for God to let His people develop on their own? Let then go, like a child on his first bike ride, to achieve by their own efforts, to learn from their mistakes with, maybe a little guidance along the way?

After all, we as a people, as a population, as a species, do appear to be progressing. True, our progress is uneven, stumbling, bumbling going from crisis to crisis. But, if we stand back and look at ourselves, can’t we say that after each crisis, God’s people rise a little higher? I believe we can.

Charlie Lewis

Devotional 2-18-10

2010-02-18T23:58:00.001-05:00

Jesus Loves Me

Karl Barth was a famous philosopher who spent many years studying the Scriptures. He was once asked, "What is the greatest theological discovery you ever made? "He thought and said simply, " Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Can you remember where you were the first time you heard those words? I can't, because, quite honestly, I don't remember not knowing it. The words are sung by children literally all over the world, and frankly, I do not know a message more needed by every child, and adult, than those simple words with a life changing message, Jesus Loves Me This I Know For The Bible Tells Me So.

Jesus Himself said " This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:12-13)

Can you imagine that? Jesus loves me!

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26)

Anne Dobbins

Devotional 2-17-10

2010-02-17T21:18:00.000-05:00

A Poem by Robert Herrick

To keep a True Lent

Is this Fast, to keep
And Larder lean?
And clean
From fat of Veal and Sheep?

Is it to quit dish
Of Flesh, yet still
To Fill
The platter high with Fish?

Is it to fast an hour
Or rag'd to go,
Or show
A downcast look and sour?

No, tis a Fast, to dole
Thy sheaf of wheat
And meat
Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife,
From old debate
And hate;
To circumcise thy life.

To show a heart grief-rent;
To strave thy sin;
Not Bin;
And that's to keep thy Lent Holy.

Submitted by Rev. Jeremiah Jasper

Gratitude

2009-04-12T15:24:00.000-05:00

If you have been following the Lenten Journey of Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church through this blog, we invite you to continue with us through the rest of the year.

We will be posting weekly devotionals on the blog: www.jmdevotional.blogspot.com. During Advent, we post daily devotionals at www.jmadvent.blogspot.com.

Thank you for sharing our journey with us.

Devotional 4-12-09

2009-04-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

Read John 20: 1-18

John shares his eye-witness account of the first Easter morning. Mary Magdalene had gone before dawn to the tomb. We know from other accounts that there were other women with her, and they had gone to prepare the body. When they arrived, found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, they ran to tell Peter and John—two of Jesus’ most trusted disciples.

Along with James, Peter and John made up the inner circle—they were Jesus’ closest disciples and had witnessed more than the others, including the transfiguration of Jesus some weeks earlier. Jesus must have seen in them a spiritual maturity; perhaps they were ready to see who Jesus really is.

John includes an interesting detail in his telling of what happened on Easter morning. In the race to the tomb after they learned from Mary that it was empty, John got there first. It was apparently important to John, who always refers to himself as “the one Jesus loved,” to arrive ahead of Peter. As a man, I get that…everything’s a competition. I imagine that the impulsive Peter, upon hearing the news of the empty tomb, sprinted furiously and became exhausted. John paced himself.

This Easter morning, some of us will race to be the first to witness the risen Christ—we’ll be gathering for a sunrise service in the prayer garden. It’s not a competition, though. Whenever we rise, Christ has risen. Alleluia!

There’s something else, though, about this gospel that jumps out at me. Imagine, if you can, the emotional highs and lows of the last few weeks from the disciples’ perspective. After following Jesus and witnessing miraculous healings and feedings and casting out of demons, the disciples have accompanied Jesus in a triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, shared a Passover meal with Jesus that would forever be labeled “The Last Supper,” then saw Jesus arrested, tried in a kangaroo court, and crucified.

But THIS morning, they finally see, and believe, what Jesus had been trying to explain to them. He would die and be resurrected on the third day. It was true. So what is their response? The answer is in verse 10.

Then the disciples returned to their homes.

What? Their response seems anticlimactic, that they would witness the resurrection…and then just return to their homes. Shouldn’t such a witness prompt some other action or emotion? But then…I guess you could ask me the same question.

How will this Easter affect you? Will your experience of the resurrection of Jesus Christ change you? Will you live life differently because you have seen and believe? Will you love more radically? Will you give more generously?

Or will you just return to your home and to your normal routine?

Dear God, may the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ transform each of us, so that we might be the ones who do Your will and bring about Your kingdom on earth. Amen.

Jeff Taylor

Mission Prayer Focus and response:
As Lent ends and Easter begins, don't forget the new life that we celebrate as Christians. And don't forget to share that new life with others. The mission projects give us many opportunities to put "feet" to our prayers, and to be the visible body of Christ working in the world.

Devotional 4-11-09

2009-04-10T22:16:00.001-05:00

Psalm 31: 1-4

“In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed;
In Your righteousness deliver me.
Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be to me a rock of strength,
A stronghold to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me.
You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength. ”

My older brother and I were mowing a yard when a storm came upon us. We mowed until the water drowned our mowers and they would no longer run. At that point we crawled into the carport to get out of the rain. The storm intensified and we moved into a little passageway between the house and the laundry room. This gave us protection on three sides as the lightening flashed and thunder rolled. Suddenly the lightening was not in the distance but rather it was on top of us. There would be a strike of lightening followed by a clap of thunder. I came to the end of the courage that a nine year old could muster and began to cry. My brother, two years older, calmly said “David, it will be ok.” That was all he said, but that is what I need to here and I calmed down.

“In thee, O Lord, do I seek refuge let me never be ashamed.” It is all we need. The world swirls around us. At times it seems out of control and at times it is. The world is unfixable. Like the electrical storm I found myself encased in, as a soaking wet nine year old, we find ourselves attached to a world that is limited and at times evil. God is our refuge. In God we find our security and safety. During this time of Lent we become focused on the gift that God gave us to not only define our existence and security in this world but to define our existence and security for eternity.

Rev. David Johnson

Mission Prayer Focus and response:
April 11; United Methodist Ministries, Gary; Judy Matheny, Church and Community Worker
Working with two parishes, as well as UM Ministries, Judy provides persons having little or no income with assistance concerning utility bills, food and other special needs. She also distributes baby items and cleaning supplies by working closely with case workers from other agencies.
We pray today for United Methodist Ministries in Gary. They need baby and household items. If you're thankful your house is clean, at least mostly, give a quarter for every bottle of bleach you have.

Devotional 4-10-09

2009-04-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

John18:1 – 19:42

The reading for Good Friday is John’s account of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas, the trials before the temple leaders and the Roman authorities, Peter’s denial that he knew Jesus, the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.

John’s account differs from the other Gospels in several respects. Notably in John, Jesus is in total control of every event. Written later than the others, John reflects the times of heavy oppression of the early Church by Rome, pointing the blame for Jesus’ crucifixion on the Jews. Pilate, in reality a cruel and murderous governor who was removed from office by Rome because of his brutality, is portrayed as a hapless dupe, running outside to the crowd, back inside to Jesus, back to the crowd, back inside repeatedly, trying to avoid a death penalty for Jesus. For Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the crucifixion is a terrible thing that happened to the victim Jesus. For John, however, the crucifixion IS Jesus’ glorification and is the climax of the Gospel. In all four accounts of Jesus’ passion, the writers provide compelling attractions to the story.

Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy, an Anglican priest, wrote a poem in the early 20th century titled “Indifference”. In his poem, he reflects on the crucifixion and wonders whether his contemporaries in Birmingham, England, would pay any attention to Jesus if he showed up. I wonder if Jesus came to the contemporary church with a message that is radically different from the ways we have become acculturated to the society around us, would we throw him out or wish him dead? Kennedy suggests an even more distressing reaction to Jesus – that of indifference. In the second stanza, substitute “Huntington” or the name of your city or town.

“When Jesus came to Golgotha, they hanged Him on a tree,
They drove great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.

“When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed Him by,
They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.

“Still Jesus cried, ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
And still it rained the wintry rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.”

Are we compelled by the passion of Jesus to follow him, or are we indifferent? Does our faith make a difference for us? Do our lives make a difference in the world around us? Of course Jesus desires our fervent (hot) relationship with him. Kennedy suggests that Jesus might prefer a cold lack of relationship to a lukewarm indifference. What’s your temperature?

Dear God, thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus to the world and to me. Help me to remember the depths of his love, and enable me to be a strong and faithful follower. Amen.

Rev. Jack Lipphardt

Mission Prayer Focus and response:
April 10; Richwood-Craigsville-Webster Cooperative Parish, Webster Springs; Anita Tracy, Church and Community Worker
The newest ministry of the W. Va. Conference Church and Community Workers is located in the Greenbrier District. It provides lay leadership for the churches of the parish. It enjoys a strong outreach ministry including Webster County Hope (Helping Other People Eat) and Women's Aid in Crisis
We pray for the Webster Parish who supports HOPE and Women's aid in Crisis. Give a quarter for every female who lives in your home. (Yes, animals, too!)