Back to School – A Fresh Start

It’s been years since I boarded a school bus or had to shop for school supplies. But this last month, I became a part of these end of summer rituals because my oldest daughter started kindergarten. She stepped onto the school bus and waved goodbye! Not just to me.. but also her pre-school years.
As she eagerly anticipated the first day of school, I remembered fondly the back-to-school excitement. Each school year began a clean, blank notebook, several shiny folders and sharpened pencils. It was as if my even my school supplies were alert and ready to get started. My mother took the annual “First Day of School Photo” and a new year began.
Walking through my neighborhood one evening before school was in session, I passed a group of kids sitting alongside the sidewalk, in the grass, with their skateboards talking. Not intending to eavesdrop, I plainly heard one boy remark, “This year, I’m in a whole new school. All those rumors from last year? I can leave them behind.” Ah, yes. A new school year offers the hope of a fresh start socially, as well.
My less pleasant “back-to-school memories” are the ones matched with the “low feeling” that would set in by mid-fall. My school supplies were worn out or missing. The 3-ring binder no longer snapped shut perfectly. The coursework was actually work. By Thanksgiving, any fresh start I thought I had was certainly over.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he writes “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” This lovely line is usually found on inspirational posters and matched beautifully with a photo of a butterfly or a rainbow. As inspiring as that appears, the words are lifeless for anyone who is “in Christ” but feels discouraged with old, reoccurring struggles. If we don’t see the effects of the “new creation in Christ” does that mean we are not fully in Christ? No. Paul says don’t regard each other (or situations) from a “worldly point of view”. The work of Christ in our lives is sometimes hidden, but it is always there.
In education, the best teachers are those who find the hidden potential of a student and call it forth. That is why teaching takes patience and fortitude. At the turn of twentieth century in Boston, there was a child named “Little Annie” whom doctors had determined was beyond hope. They placed her in an asylum where she became so violent that she was given solitary confinement.
One Christian teacher took notice of Little Annie and reached out. Each day, she would read to the child, talk to her, and offer her a cookie. The child never responded. The teacher didn’t give up hope and kept extending God’s grace to her. After two years, the girl was transformed! Little Annie was told she could leave the asylum. However, she chose to stay. Little Annie stayed and worked with patients who were suffering, believing in people when no one else cared. She extended the love as it had been extended to her.
Today, you know “Little Annie” better as Annie Sullivan who worked hard to teach (and reach) a deaf and blind girl named Helen Keller. As an adult, Helen Keller attributed her success in overcoming her handicap to tenacious love of Annie Sullivan, a teacher who could see beyond outward appearances*.
Outward appearances can be deceiving. As Christians, God loved us when we were far from perfect. We are to pass on that grace to others and look beyond appearances.
A fresh start can come at the beginning of a new year – it can come as the calendar rolls over a new page. But the real fresh start is what God gives us through Jesus - and we give each other in His name.

Thanks be to God!

*Story of Annie Sullivan taken from the book Victory Over the Darkness by Neil Anderson.

We are the Clay

Each Sunday before Easter, we will begin our time of worship by singing "Change my Heart O God".
The song, based on Isaiah 64, invites us to consider ourselves as formless clay in the hands of the Divine Potter.
Have you ever watched a potter work at a spinning wheel? It is quite a process. First, the clay is pounded, softened.. only then is it ready to take the form that the potter has envisioned. The potters hands plunge deep into the center of the clay and draw forth a beautiful shape. The result? A unique piece of pottery with the handprints of the potter all across it!
The season of Lent is a time for you and I to be reshaped by God. Consider that you are clay in the hands of God's grace. You can't spin yourself into shape. You need the hands of the Potter to draw forth your beauty.The process of becoming who you are is not self determined - although we would prefer to think we are in charge of our lives!

This Lenten season, ponder each day that God’s hands are holding you. Give yourself over to these Hands - surrender to the One who first formed you in your mothers womb, who sees you this day and loves you even more.

Sticks out like a sore thumb

This Sunday, our scripture is from Luke chapter 9, titled The Transfiguration. This scripture is always placed before us on our church calendar so that we read and examine it on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the Sunday before we begin the season of Lent. Consequently, the sermon is often about mountaintop experiences, the children's sermon is about Jesus' dazzling clothes.. and if you are like me, you dread the whole thing.. thinking, "Oh, not that crazy scene from scripture again." And we hold our breath until next week, when we can finally get on to the more realistic, "meatier" business of Lent.
It is unfortunate that Transfiguration Sunday sticks out on the church calendar like an odd iridescent, glowing, thumb... It really ought to be respected for what it truly is: An important stepping stone for us as we head into the next 40 days of Lent.
(FYI on Lent: Lent is the season before Easter when, in 40 days, we come to terms with whatever it is in our spirits that is keeping us from Loving God and neighbor. It is a time when we turn our hearts toward God. When we ask God to get rid of the sin within us. Sometimes we give up a bad habit or secret pleasure during Lent, as a way not just to break the habit, but to force our whole self into reality that we don’t belong to ourselves, we belong to God.)
So, this strange scripture that we read ever year at this time, right before Lent, is actually full of meaning for us heading into a season of repentance, a season of Lent.
Why? Well, because when Jesus headed up the mountain to pray, it wasn’t for just his regular prayer time.. if Jesus ever HAD plain old regular prayer time like the rest of us, this prayer time was different. Because he was praying about what lay ahead of him. A painful death by crucifixion.
Reminds me of that question sometimes people ask, What would you do if you knew you had only two months left to live? And people say things like, I’d skydive. What did Jesus do? He gathered with friends and prayed for strength, for guidance, for fortitude.
What is different about Jesus knowing he only has a couple months left to live.. and that pretend scenario, is that if the scenario is to be asked the way that Jesus was being presented with it, the question for you and I would be..
What would you do if you knew you had only two months left?
And that you would die in a torture chamber, beaten, mocked and then killed the most slow painful death??
Posed that way, we don’t really think so much about skydiving, huh?
Only when we think about it this way, do we begin to understand why he went up that mountain.. and only then do we get a glimpse, not just of the radiating face of Jesus - but the dazzling prescence of God who gives strength, guidance, fortitude to the Christ who will suffer for us.

When Cats Fall From the Sky

A Pastor discovered a kitten had climbed up the tree outside his parsonage. Having a heart for all of God’s creatures, the pastor took it upon himself to get the little kitty out of the tree. He tried calling and coaxing her down by holding out tuna. But she wouldn’t stop crying and was too scared to move. Seeing that the tree wasn’t sturdy enough for the him to climb, he figured would need to lower the branch in order to grab the kitten. Pondering it more, he constructed a plan to tie a rope to the branch and then to the bumper of his car. If he could drive slowly away, the tree branch might bend enough to allow him to stop the car, jump out and rescue the kitten.
He got a rope, tied it to the tree and his vehicle and then slowly pulled the car forward, frequently checking his progress in the mirror. But just as he moved a bit further forward... the rope snapped. The tree limb went "boing!" and the kitten sailed through the air - out of sight.
The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a stray little kitten. Nobody had. Giving up, he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping," and went on about his business.
Oddly, a few days later while shopping at the grocery store, he happened run into one of the church members. He noticed that in her shopping cart she had cat food. Now the Pastor knew this woman didn’t like pets, so he asked her, "Why are you buying cat food? You didn’t get a cat, did you?” She replied, "You won't believe this," and proceeded to tell him her story. Evidently, her daughter had been begging for a cat, but Mom kept refusing. She kept begging until finally, the exasperated Mom told her little girl, "Well, if the Lord gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it."
The lady ended her story to the pastor, "Would you believe, I watched my child go out in the backyard, get on her knees, and ask Lord for a cat. And really, Pastor, it sounds crazy, but a kitten dropped out of the clear blue sky, with its paws spread out, and landed right in front her!"
Isn’t this somehow the way things work? We try our best to solve a problem, to make a difference and yet we bumble things up miserably? Or we resist and insist that something doesn’t occur (like our daughter getting a cat) only to find that the power of prayer trumps our human logic? Thankfully, God is in charge to cover our mistakes and ensure that every lost kitten gets into the hands of the one who truly loves it. No matter what.
In the last ten years, many of you have felt like the outlook for Olivet was dismal. Our worship attendance and membership was in decline, our financial situation was stessful ... and to pray for a reversal seemed as crazy as praying for a cat to fall from the sky.
I am delighted to report that Cats Are Falling From The Sky for us at Olivet. Incredible growth has occurred. We reached the end of the decade in strong financial and numerical standing. Overall, we weathered a decade where it felt, at times, for many of us that our prayers could never be answered. As we go into a new year, we go with a sense of God's faithfulness and steadfast prescence.
Every Pastor prays to someday serve a church during it's season of growth. I am humbled to be a part of Olivet in these days!
The February Newsletter that comes out next week will include an end of year, end of decade, report on our church. I invite you to read it over and notice God has blessed us. The vital ministry of Olivet is an expression of the faith of each of you and your confidence in God's provision.

Considering Some Scenarios

This came in through the e-mail - so who knows if it is true or not, but it got me thinking. So I wanted to share it with you.

You are asked 2 scenarios, which you should read and respond to yourself, before scrolling down.

Scenario #1: If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis; would you recommend that she have an abortion?
Think about it.

Now, read the next before scrolling down.

Scenario # 2: Pretend that it is time to elect your next leader. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates: Pick one.


Candidate A
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks quite a few martinis a day.


Candidate B
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a great deal of whisky every evening.


Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any extramarital affairs.


Which of these candidates would be your choice? Decide first.
No peeking!!!
Then, scroll down for the answer.



















Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt
Candidate B is Winston Churchill
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler


and by the way, the answer to the abortion question—if you said yes, you just killed Beethoven.

-----

Well I "fell" into this one. Did you?

Christmas Cards All Year Round

The Christmas Cards have begun to arrive and there are so many beautiful ones. Funny ones, retro ones, quirky ones, and ones with photos I haven't seen since their last Christmas card. I love getting reconnected this time of year. As a kid, when cards arrived, we hung them around the door frame to enjoy the pictures. But when it comes time to taking these Christmas Cards down, along with the tree and other decorations, it never feels right to just toss them, does it?

I heard of a great solution to this dillema. Someone told me that they keep the Christmas Cards "out" all year round. They display them at Christmas and then when the season is over, they place them in a bowl (or a basket or something) on their kitchen table. Each morning, for the rest of the year, this bowl of Christmas Cards becomes the centerpiece of their morning devotions. They randomly pull out a card, read the message, and pray for that particular family.

I thought that was the coolest idea I have heard of - and just wanted to share it with you.

Note: i can't remember who told me about this, so if it is you - please share more about how this tradition got started. I love it and may have to start it at my house! Also, the photo is from a designer named Chris Tyre. check out Chris Tyre's creativity.

What Business are we in?

Olivet will hold our annual Charge Conference on November 7 which is kind of like a church business meeting.. which had me wondering about a question posed by author Kirk Hadoway, who wrote, Behold, I Do a New Thing, Transforming Communities of Faith. He suggests that churches should ask themselves, “What business are we in?”
Unfortunately, the term “business” brings to mind an exchange of money for goods or services, which doesn’t fit the nature of the church. But if we widen our understanding of business as more than an economic system, we might see our business as discipleship, mission or ministry to the community.
As your pastor, when I ponder what kind of business Olivet Church is in, my hope is that Olivet Church is in a business of grace. We are in the business of offering God’s free grace to all. We don’t exist for ourselves – we exist for others.
This stands in contrast to the world which is “in the business” of celebrating the self and the success of rising to the top. Popular reality television shows are in the business of placing conflict on center stage. But the church is in the business of celebrating the One who emptied himself in peace and humility.
A member of Olivet appreciatively remarked on how Olivet is a place of grace. He said, it was the “one place in my life where all the other stuff (job success, family success, keeping up with the Jones’) doesn’t matter.” To be in the business of grace means loving people where they are.
A business of grace doesn’t take pride in itself because the work of the church is about glorifying Christ.
We work together in ministry in order to be the Body of Christ for others. Not to make a name for ourselves. In this sense, a church is very different from any other business. To be a business of grace means that, at the center of all we do is not personal ego… but the Living Christ glorified. This last year, we met some challenges, conflicts and times of tough problem-solving. What brought us through these moments was the humility that our work is not our own. Grace met us in those times and supplied us with creative solutions and new avenues.
Letting go of the trappings of ego and surrendering to the movement of God who continually makes all things new is the challenge of being committed Christians. Whenever we forget that Olivet’s work is about relying on God’s grace, we get caught up in snares.
Grace is what “equips the called” which is opposite of what we usually assume, namely that grace “calls the equipped.” Ordinary folk working together in the name of Christ is what transforms lives and communities.
This last year, I witnessed persons trust the grace of God as they step forward to lend a hand, start a new ministry, join a small group or further their education. I saw God’s grace at work, when we collaborated with St. Paul’s, Eastern and St. Johns and other area churches in putting together the Youth Worship Nights and the outdoor drama of The Passion. Every venture was a step out of our comfort zone, with a certain trust that God would strengthen us.
In November, area churches will partner in ministry to transform the lives of persons in our county. The second week of November, we are participating in the Safe Nights program at Middleham Chapel. On Nov. 15th at 5pm, Olivet and Solomons UMC are co-sponsoring a Christmas Concert by the Community Chorus which raises funds and awareness for Hospice. Also for Hospice, I encourage you to attend the Festival of the Trees on Saturday, November 28 at Huntingtown High School to see all the trees including the one that Olivet has crafted featuring handmade ornaments. (see page 2)
At Olivet, my hope is that we continue to be in the business of grace – both for personal transformation and the transformation of our world. At the end of our worship services, we receive the benediction of grace to remind us that as we leave, we are not alone. We go in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and we are sent out to a world that challenges us to model Jesus’ love and service to neighbors, family or coworkers.
Yet, as we scatter off into our daily lives, we never face it alone. We have each other and we have God’s grace to meet every moment