Happy Ash Wednesday!

Today was an exciting day in my house.  When my two year old son woke up this morning he was ready to tell us, “It’s Valentine’s Day!”  He was going to be celebrating at daycare, and my wife was going to take him to a celebration at the school she works at.  The previous evening we had spent time getting all his Valentines together, and today was a day of excitement, energy, and lots of candy… What is better than that?

However, the question came up about what I would be doing this Valentine’s Day.  It was a good question, because I would not be around much.  I was celebrating Ash Wednesday at the church. (Normally, my whole family attends these events, but the services took place after he had gone to bed…) Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, and I’ve discovered it is much harder to explain than Valentine’s Day!  In some ways, it seems like Valentine’s and Ash Wednesday are two totally different events that shouldn’t really collide.  Pink hearts don’t mix with ashes do they? 

 

However, the more I thought about it, Ash Wednesday is really about Love.  It is a day that marks the beginning of Christ’s journey to the cross for us.  In fact, I think this is the perfect day to remember how deeply we are loved.  We remember that God came to this world to die for us.  If we really believe in that kind of love, then we should share it with all the people around us.

I hope in this Lenten season we are not swallowed by despair… Instead, I hope you remember this is season all about Love.  We didn’t do anything to deserve it, but God gave everything for us.  I hope you can also take a little time to show your love to others!

Blessings!

Brian

Love the Lord

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

-Deuteronomy 6:5

What does it mean to love…?

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to speak to woman suffering from a very aggressive form of cancer.  Looking at her, I could see so many things that she could have been upset about.  I certainly would not blame her if she felt angry or resentful in her current condition.  However, when I walked into her home, I was met with a smile.  This woman was grateful for the communion I brought to her and the time to worship and pray.  She had love, and she offered love… and that was all she needed to have joy.  The only question she had related to why so many healthy people in this world seemed so distressed.  Sometimes, when we are surrounded by blessings, it is easy to forget what really matters.

I hope we can take a little time today to count our blessings.  Opening our eyes to God’s Love reminds us of what truly matters.  We are loved, and we can love.  Knowing this and offering what we have is the definition of a fulfilled life…

Blessings!

Brian

Facing the Fire...

Do you remember what it is like to show up at a new job for the first time?  There is usually some confusion, waiting, and a lot of mistakes.  Personally, I’ve had a few jobs that started me off slowly and cautiously, and there have been other jobs where I was thrown straight into the fire.

Our scripture passage this week tells the story of Jesus’ first public appearance as a rabbi.  It is a moment of being thrown in the fire! When Jesus entered his local synagogue, he was confronted by a man that the Bible says was possessed by a demon.   From his very first day, Jesus was confronted by evil, and he had to find a way forward.

Out of all the jobs I’ve had, I will say that I have learned the most by the ones that threw me into the fire.  I learned what I was capable of and what I wasn’t.  I’ve learned how to succeed and how to fail.  Both of which were important.  I think we all face moments of testing in our lives, and we have to be able to acknowledge our weaknesses.  We will face troubles in this world, and we can’t back away from the fire forever.  Today I hope we can all take one step to stand up for God even when the world pushes back. 

Blessings!

PB

Awakening to New Life

Several years ago, I heard a story about a boy who was shot and killed over a pair of shoes.  The boy was shot right outside the house of a girl who was a part of the youth group I was leading.  The death shook the community, and it struck me because it was so senseless.  How could something so dreadful happen for such an irrational purpose?  Unfortunately, I realize that most of the terrible acts that are committed are done for rather absurd reasons.  Very few criminals are part of organized crime rings, or have spent any time thinking ahead at all.  Instead a person makes a choice that seems to feel right in the moment…

Teens learning new was of looking at the world!

I thought of this story when I read an article entitled Therapy Helps Troubled Teens Rethink Crime, by Shankar Vedantam.  Affected teens in this study were simply shown how powerful their words could be.  For most of these kids, violence was the only way they had ever solved problems.  By opening the eyes of these teens to new tools and ways of looking at the world, researchers found they were 44% less likely to commit a crime.  However, if they didn’t continue to receive therapy or continued guidance they reverted back to their old habits within a year. 

This month we are looking at Epiphanies, or moments of awakening in the church.  I think we all need to believe there are skills and tools available to help us grow.  Today I wonder what you can do to sharpen your skills and open your eyes?  Perhaps we can take a little extra time for reflection, or maybe we can talk with a friend or counselor.  Growth is important for us all.  I hope we can all take time to grow this season!

Blessings!

Brian

Come and See

It has been a while since I’ve written anything for this blog.  Between the busy atmosphere around Christmas, cold and flu season, and a trip with the youth group to Mexico, I haven’t had much extra time.  However, today I was drawn to three little words from our scripture reading from the Gospel of John:

Come and See

-1 John 1:46

These are the words that welcome the first followers of Jesus.  There is something about Christ that the people needed to experience, even if they did not have the words to verbalize exactly what was going on.  I wonder if there is anything that has ever made you so excited that you had to run to share the news…

I have been blessed with a number of wonderful experiences in my life.  However, there are times I can feel like I have lost some of my child like enthusiasm.  Christmas will come… then it will pass.  Seasons come and seasons go.  If we are not careful, life can begin to feel a little tired and worn out.  These are the moments we are invited to Come and See.  Jesus showed his first disciples the joy of God’s presence, and I believe we still need to remind ourselves of this.  A couple days ago, I was in a hurry to put my two year old child to bed.  However, he was in no rush.  Instead, he wanted to share a special song and dance he made up about the joy of pancakes…  I had to stop and laugh in the moment, because God was there in the beauty of our time together.  However, we all have a choice to see either daily frustration or God’s presence every day…

Today, I pray that you might be able to awaken a childlike curiosity inside of you.  I pray that we would also be able to share the joy we find with those around us.

Blessings!

Brian 

Do you have hope?

It is not hard to see the divisions that exist in our world today.  Our nation is divided… Our world is divided, and it is painful for me to see so much hatred and animosity.  However, last week I was reflecting on Pearl Harbor Day.  If we think things are bad today, we have to remember that seventy six years ago the world seemed to be torn apart.  No one knew what was going to happen or if things would ever be put back together.  It is amazing the people of that generation decided to take the steps needed to restore unity.   They believed they could make a better world with hope.

We live in a world of uncertainty, and that can be pretty terrifying.  However, people have faced incredible evils in the past and they have found ways to believe in hope.  That is also exactly what the Bible teaches this Christmas season.  Even when we have found ourselves in a land of deep darkness, we can believe in light.  Jesus brings good news for all people.  When Jesus came to this world, God’s people were totally lost, but Jesus came to show them what grace was all about.  Today, I pray we could open our eyes to God’s Love.  May we live a life filled with Hope!

Peace!

Brian

The waiting of Advent

When I was a child, my family had this Advent and Christmas calendar.  Every day through the month of December we could open a window and look at a scripture passage for the day.  We also took time each week to lite candles on our Advent wreath.  As a child, I loved these traditions!  They were pretty simple, but they meant so much to me. 

Today I feel like the months fly by so much faster than they used to.  It used to feel like Christmas would never arrive.  Today, I feel like I’m lucky if the Christmas tree goes up before the 25^th.  There is just so much going on.  However, I hope we can all take a breath today.  Advent is a season of preparing our hearts.  The Bible promises that God is coming to this world, not just 2000 year ago, but every day of our lives.  If we don’t take time to prepare ourselves, we may be too busy to notice the smile of a friend, the help of a stranger, or of a humble baby being born…  Today, I hope we can each take a little time to notice God’s presence.  I hope we can start up an old tradition that we may have lost sight of.  I hope we can believe that God is always breaking into this world to show us Love!

Blessings!

PB