Reformation and New Life

Earlier this week, I was at Home Depot picking up a few supplies.  While I was there, I wound up discussing an outdoor irrigation project with one of the people on staff.  She helped me find the part I needed, and that could have been the end of our interaction.  However, we got to talking about our families.  My wife and I just started fostering a little girl, and this employee had fostered kids in California for years.  She shared a tragic story of some of the very serious difficulties that her kids faced, but she also spoke of the life changing power of love.  We wound up spending a fair amount of time listening to each other and acknowledging each other’s story.  I realized I had walked into that store a little overwhelmed, but I walked away feeling refreshed and inspired.  I love hearing of the power we all have to change lives. 

This Sunday we will be celebrating the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation.  This is a day to remember the people who stood up to corruption and greed within the church.   However, this day should be more than just a history lesson.  Our God is constantly working to bring renewal, hope, and reformation every day.  Whenever a person is freed from abuse, hatred, or violence, I believe God’s Sprit is active.  Whenever someone realizes new life is available, God’s Spirit is there.  I hope we never discount the change that God’s Grace can bring.

Blessings!

PB

What do you want?

“What do you want?”

That is a question we could dwell on our entire lives.  It is also the first question Jesus asks in the Gospel of John.  Jesus wants us to think about our desires.  What’s driving us?  What’s in our hearts?  Personally, I have found that I can be driven by some incredibly petty things.  I want a new phone.  I want to avoid waiting in lines.  I want my two year old child to find his shoes and get out the door… We all have desires, but Jesus wants us to think about our priorities.  When we look at our lives, should we be searching for something greater?

In today’s scripture passage, Jesus essentially asks some of the religious and political leaders of the time what was driving them.  These individuals had traded valuable gifts of leadership for mundane concerns.  Today I hope you can believe your life has value.  God believes you are capable of great things.  Do you believe this?  What would it mean to desire righteousness and justice instead of the latest gossip?  I hope we can believe God, and I hope we can live for something that really matters.

Blessings!

PB

Searching for Joy...

There is going to be joy and there is going to
be stress every day... What do you choose to
see?

When you think of weddings, what comes to mind?  Personally, I have officiated at all kinds of different ceremonies.  Some people spend years preparing for their special day.  Other people are married in the blink of an eye.  Some people crave tradition, and others want to travel to exotic locations or dress up like Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  A few people want nothing more than to get married in their mom’s living room.  In the end, I have discovered that any wedding can be beautiful.  In fact, my wife and I were married outside in the rain, but that turned out to be perfect for us!  However, weddings can also be stressful.  I have seen people turn a joyous day into a day of anger and bitterness.  It can become a day where expectations fall short, and blame gets thrown around.  I think it comes down to a choice.  Do we want to see the joy and excitement, or the stress and anxiety? 

Today in our scripture passage, Jesus tells us a parable of a wedding feast.  In the story, every single person is invited, and God is said to delight in each person there.  However, most of the guests choose to ignore the joy that is right in front of them.  This is our choice every day.  Will we accept the bounty of creation, or will we become fixated on the anxieties of life.  I pray we choose to see the blessings!

Peace!

Brian

Hope...

It has been quite the week in Las Vegas.  Although no one in my family was present at the shooting, I know so many people were affected in different ways.  It is staggering to see those I know dealing with the tragic circumstances of these events. 

In Romans 8 we read:

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As tragic as these days have been, it is also amazing to see people coming in from all over the nation to help.  Doctors, nurses, counselors, and so many others are here to offer their services.  There are people waiting all day to give blood, and others are donating their money and other resources. 

It is true that one person has the power to bring so much evil.  However, I believe Christ is still with us.  I believe human beings are coming together to offer a love that even more powerful than the chaos.  Today, we pray for all those affected by the violence and hatred, and we lift up those who are offering love in the face of evil.

Blessings!

Brian

The space in between...

Earlier this week, I found myself stuck in traffic on my way home, and the waiting frustrated me.  It was my day off, and I felt like I had spent my whole day waiting in lines, waiting in traffic…just waiting, waiting, waiting… Now I really didn’t have anything to complain about.  In fact, I made it home earlier than I expected.  However, even a small amount of waiting can frustrate me.  It seems like such a waist!

In this week’s scripture passage, we are told of the virtues of patience.  Very few people get exactly what they want, and even fewer get that right when they want it.  This can be pretty annoying. However, the Bible says that God uses the space in between.  The Israelites had to wait 40 years in the wilderness before they had the wisdom to become a nation.  In the New Testament, a Pharisee named Saul was blinded, and he has to wait 3 days before his heart opened enough to hear the words of forgiveness and healing that he so desperately needed.  Even Jesus spent 40 days in the desert waiting, listening, and praying for God.  In each of these cases, the individuals couldn’t just jump to the happily ever after… They had to wait, listen, and grow in the silence.

Today I wonder what would happen if we opened our hearts and listened for God.  What if we stopped focusing on the end goal, and we opened our hearts in the moments of waiting? Perhaps these are the moments God is using to help us grow and live to the best of our abilities…

Blessings!

Brian

The spirit that dwells in you...

Today I invite you to ask what kind of spirit lives inside of you.  Do you have a restless spirit?  Do you have a spirit of contentment, thankfulness, or anger…?  What lives inside of you?  Today our scripture passage contains a very powerful verse:

“God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”

-James 4:5

People have speculated over the meaning of this verse for centuries.  However, it seems to say that God has made us who we are.  Whether we are restless, energetic, content, or overbearing… God gave us our spirit, and it is something we can embrace.  We are all different for a reason, and we don’t have to change that.  However, if we want to find fulfillment, we are going to have to offer our spirit back to God.  This is the only way we can truly embrace our gifts and who we truly are. 

I remember being in college and knowing I had gifts.  However as I reflect back on those times, I realize that I was using my gifts for selfish purposes.  I wanted them to make me successful.  This all changed one summer when I worked at a Lutheran camp in Colorado.  This job was one of the most exhausting things I had ever done.  I was waking up early, going to bed late, and helping kids work though all kinds of issues.  Each day brought new challenges, but it also allowed me to grow in ways I never thought possible.  Looking back, I realize that there was so much more fulfillment in offering my spirit to God than anywhere else.  Today, I hope you believe you have a spirit inside you, and I hope you can excel to new levels by giving that spirit back to God…

Blessings!

PB 

Judgement or Blessing

How often do you judge people?  As a pastor, I feel like it is my responsibility to stand against any kind of racism or discrimination.  Unfortunately, I know there are times when my unconscious biases get the best of me. 

A few months ago, a woman came to visit me in the office.  She was wearing worn out clothes, and I assumed she was living on the streets.  As she was coming in, I was on my way out.  I had a few errands that I needed run, and I wanted to get home to my family.  Nevertheless, I decided to stop and talk to her.  I thought it was important to listen to her, but I admit that I also judged her.  She resembled too many other people who only wanted money, and I assumed I would not be able to help her.  However, this particular woman was simply looking for prayer.  She had real concerns for the people in her life, and she was looking for the church to support her in prayer.  After we prayed and I went on my way, I was taken aback by how powerful that moment had been.  This woman had been thoughtful, compassionate, and caring, and I was saddened by my own lack of faith in her. 

 

Today I wonder what conscious or unconscious judgments we are making.  Jesus calls us to live each day by faith.  We are called to trust in who God is, but we are also called to believe in all of God’s people.  The Bible tells us each person is called.  Will we choose to believe in this promise?  Or, will we believe we already have the world figured out?

Let’s believe God is here… in the midst of each person we meet!

Blessings!

Brian