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<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< THE PATHS ALONG THE WAY <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
A compilation of photos taken during a hike on Fish Hook Trail this week, with comments about the different paths we encounter in life.
The comfort & serenity of a wide, flat, smooth and shaded path. If life would only stay like this.
Sometimes the path may look bleak, dusty & dry, but it’s all good when there is sunlight up ahead.
The path can get treacherous, dangerous and very narrow … but the Kingdom lies just beyond.
Life is good! The way is clear and the path is paved with gold! Happy trails!
But it never fails. Just when one path seems clear and bright, you look up and there are so many paths in front of you, begging for your attention.
But no matter what the journey may bring, and no matter what paths you take along the way, it’s always good to be home, wherever home may be!
Peace & Joy Along Your Path Today …
Pastor Bob <><
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“When things get back to normal…” By Jackson Silvanik
It’s the refrain that we’ve heard from everyone, everywhere, for the entire past year – the qualifier preceding every hypothetical situation as events get cancelled, postponed and endlessly re-scheduled. At this point, what do we even mean? Normal has come and gone, and quite a while ago, too.
The scenes of the summer thus far have been pretty familiar; crowds of angry citizens shouting at each other, charts and graphs with arrows and red zones of all sorts, cell phone videos of service workers on the front lines of angry customers upset at just about everything, countless instances of mistrust and bickering over science and medicine – things we thought were settled a while ago.
At this point, the unrest is here to stay. As the pandemic eventually, someday, starts to taper down, the arguments over masks and vaccines will continue. The year(s?) of pent-up negativity seems to have been unleashed all over the country, and truth be told, it’s going to be very, very hard to get back out in front of it. It almost seems as if, in many cases, people just sort of like to fight with each other.
And there’s plenty to fight about. Among the many rippling effects of the pandemic, we also seem to have laid bare many of the uglier wounds that the country has tried to paper over for the last century or so. It’s not really that unusual; in fact, it’s kind of what makes us American.
History consists largely of constant periods of upheaval, unrest and recovery. “Smooth sailing” is an unfamiliar concept when it comes to our civic nature. The important driving factor as we work through these tense periods is simple: what did we learn along the way?
Usually, it’s not much – or it’s lessons that are quickly and easily forgotten. The human lifetime, as it plays out, is just long enough to touch different eras of progress, but precisely short enough that we mostly compartmentalize our experience, leaving the “big issues” for other people to solve in their own time – if we can’t fix it quickly and easily, someone else will figure it out at some point.
The past couple of years, though, cannot be time wasted – but it looks like we’re already on that path anyways. The virus numbers are surging again, and they likely will sometime in the future, too. The ebb and flow of at least a partially unvaccinated society mean we’ll see variants and mutations no matter what other precautions we take. As the same headlines about overflowing hospital units start to run once more, it’s worth considering what we spent the last year doing.
Did we press our manufacturing infrastructure into producing more ventilators and life-saving ICU equipment? Did we settle into some simple, targeted messaging about how to eventually squash the pandemic? Did we perfect our remote learning and work technology? Did we make any progress in terms of helping disadvantaged communities catch up in terms of online education, access to healthier food and resources, and basic medical necessities?
It mostly seems like we hunkered down, waited for things to clear up, and pent up some serious anger and frustration. You’d think after a year of limited socializing, missing out on pivotal life moments and skipping simple pleasures, like concerts and movies, we might come out of things with a little empathy – is it really worth your time and energy to berate the clerk at the grocery because they don’t have the toilet paper you like to use? Public-facing workers are saints for what they have to put up with in order to keep things functioning, and if they don’t want to work for pennies as servers at your favorite restaurant, you’re going to have to accept that.
We tend to compartmentalize history into decades-long swaths of facts and trivia. Real life unfolds at a stranger, more disjointed pace. The wheels of progress stop and start and shudder and jerk left and right. It may feel like we’ve hit some potholes over the last few years, but those potholes leave scars for historians to pore over and learn from.
We’re in a historical moment, even now. A century from now, this little stretch may be glossed over as something like “the pandemic years” or the “covid plague”, and they’ll mean it to cover like, 2018-2030. Maybe by then, we’ll have made some progress on the climate, the economy will be booming, wages will be more fair and equitable, and we’ll handle these bumps in the road a little differently.
It can feel like the pandemic has already lasted forever, though in the larger scheme of things it’s really just begun. The story of Covid-19 is far from over, and the impact that it’s really had is quite a ways from being determined.
But what have we learned? It’s too early to tell in the big picture, but we can start by having a little more respect and love for everyone that makes the wheels of society grind forwards, bit by bit, and especially the people that make everything you appreciate about our day-to-day life possible.
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<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< WHY JESUS? <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
In 10 simple steps through my life, I explain how and why I came to give my life to Christ.
1) When I was small and just a boy, I dreamed that God would know how to save me from myself. That God already had the plan and that it was up to me to “find” it. I somehow knew that God loved me so much that God would take care of me somehow. I guess my mom had first taught me that by her words and deeds.
2) As I grew, I began to come to know God through my experience in the world. Words of unconditional love from folks around me. The sites of beauty and wonder all around me. The inner joy that fills one’s soul that seems to have no direct cause except from above. Clearly, God was alive and present in this world.
3) And then the time came to “grow up,” and, like most, I decided, not intentionally, but by my other decisions, to defer my relationship with God until some later, more convenient, date. It was good to know God was really there, but as for right now, I’ll take control. Then, I will let you know if I need you, God!
4) Eventually, the time of true desperation came. Not just some little inconvenience or great regret. I was desperate! Which means, I finally came to terms with the truth — that I was not capable of “saving” myself. Rather, I needed God’s help. Indeed, God was the only one who could help me. Hey … remember that dream I had when I was little about God already having a plan to save me from myself?
5) In my most desperate time, I bargained with God. I took a chance that maybe all this was real. That God did have a plan to save me, and that plan was already being implemented and just waiting for me to accept it. Since my faith was new and infantile, I really didn’t know how it worked. Grace? Forgiveness? Mercy? I really didn’t know about those things. I believed I had to prove to God that I was willing to make a sacrifice for God’s love. So … I offered God my life! (That’s desperate!) God didn’t need to bargain with me – but I guess I needed to bargain with God. So, I gave God my life, or at least what was left of it. And Jesus moved in to my heart. And my conversion began.
6) That’s when I began to know the real Jesus. Not the made-up religious Jesus who loves us so much that He doesn’t want us to change. That’s not the real Jesus. Jesus wants us to change every day, to stay in harmony with God’s daily revelation in the world. Unlike most people, I was glad Jesus called me to change. I needed change. I was glad Jesus could transform me. I needed transforming. I fell in love with this Jesus who embraced this physically diminished and socially and financially bankrupt loser who was looking for a way to stop digging! It was then that I knew Jesus was “saving” me from myself and creating something new.
7) It was all Jesus’s idea for me to go to seminary. He set the whole thing up. I thought I was going to register for a Ph.D. program in Political Science at the University of Kentucky, and God took my feet, and led me across the commons, then across the street, to the Lexington Seminary (a building I had never been in before) and by the end of the day, I was filling out my application and trying to figure out how to tell my wife! Oh my God … I was going to “God School!”
8) It was in seminary, more than church or anywhere else, that I came to know Jesus as my friend first, then as my Lord and savior. That’s when I could tell Jesus could do for me what I couldn’t do for myself. Not just the addiction recovery. But simple things like doing homework or reading 250 pages in a night, or writing a 10-page essay on the Book of Philemon at 4am for a class at 9am! No way I could that. Alone. But I wasn’t alone anymore. Seminary was also where I learned to pray and meditate. I was becoming a spiritual person living an earthly life. The answer had been found!
9) It didn’t take long for me to realize that of all the religions in the world, all the churches and denominations, all the spiritual options and gurus, Jesus was all I needed. It was that simple. I needed a savior! Not a judge! He showed me what He could do if I was willing to turn everything over to Him. And that was the hard part! Turning it all over to Jesus. Have you ever tried that? I found that until you give EVERYTHING to God, you never really reap the full benefits of what God has to offer. For me, that was, and is, the hard part. To know what to do was easy. To actually be willing to do it, and then do it, was the hardest thing in the world for me. Still is.
10) Where are you on the path to turning it all over to God? How has God been working in your life lately? Where do you see God on a regular basis? What is the deepest longing of your heart today? What is your greatest fear? Your greatest desire? These are the kind of questions Jesus and I talk about all the time. And we also talk about you. And our church. And what Jesus is trying to do here. With me. With us. With you. And, in all that I do, I try to heed His word and do His will. And because of that effort, I am alive today, I am here with you, and I am living and loving this new life in Christ.
How about you?
In His name, as his mangy dirty sheepdog, I am …
Pastor Bob <><
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JUST ANOTHER ORDINARY DAY … IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
You’ve heard the old cliché many times. Usually it goes like this: first person says to second person – “Hey friend, how’d your day go today? Then, every so often – but enough to make it a cliché – second person proclaims with a smirk on their face – “Oh, just another ordinary day!” And always said with a good dose of sarcasm.
The sarcasm is there because second person has just finished a day that was anything but ordinary. It could be any number of things about second person’s day that made it anything but ordinary … but I thank God for the “anything but ordinary” things that happen in our lives. Especially when those “anything but ordinary” things are people!
There’s a rule I try to live by when meeting a new person, a stranger. It’s from Hebrews 13:2, and it refers to a story in the Old Testament about Abraham and Sara entertaining strangers at their tent, latter to discover that it was God visiting them in 3 angels. I wonder if God is constantly sending us angels and we end up missing many of them. We fear strangers. We’re uncomfortable around them. They’re unknown. It’s not safe.
That’s why this little rule is so important when trying to be Christ-like.
Hebrews 13:2 – Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Hanging out around the church office, this little rule has come in handy at least weekly for me (and for our trusty “associate minister” office manager, Beth Jones. And sometimes these frequent “visits by strangers” can get a bit dicey. But almost always, the interaction with our new visitor ends up being completely ‘not’ normal.
That’s when my little rule kicks in, and I ask myself the question: What is normal in the Kingdom of God? And God answers, as God tends to do: “What’s normal in the Kingdom of God is love … divine unconditional love.” That’s not normal in “Burger Kingdom.”
God continues: “And forgiveness … absolute unequivocal forgiveness.” That’s not normal in “Burger Kingdom.”
Then God finishes: “And finally, a holy peace of mind and soul is normal in the Kingdom of God.” The world doesn’t understand this peace, because it comes directly as a result of the divine love and absolute forgiveness that God enables us to share with others … even strangers! Again, NOT normal in the world we inhabit.
Last week, a stranger stopped by the church … twice. Day 1 was Bruce’s turn. His new friend, whose name we learned is Chris, asked Bruce for some help. Bruce gave Chris a hose! Imagine, on this otherwise ordinary day, an unknown man named Chris from Idaho as we later found out, was watering the beautiful garden that surrounds Vine Street Christian Church in Arthur, Illinois.
Now, compared to Instagram, that may not seem like such a big deal. But hold on. Stop. Re-read that paragraph. No need to comment or judge. Just read it for the story. I can’t read that without seeing God all over it! Do you allow yourself the freedom from the normal and ordinary so you can see God at work around you?
Chris’s visit with us continued. On Day 1, Chris from Idaho watered plants and helped landscape God’s house on the corner of Park and Vine. Rest assured that Chris also received a generous gift, not because of the work he did (that was work for the strengthening of his soul!), but because he seemed like he could be an angel sent by God.
Next, early in the morning of Day 2, Beth Jones calls me to let me know that an unknown man is at church today and wants to see the pastor. Not unusual. I asked Beth a couple questions. Beth began to tell me some of his story, and it soon became clear that this man was not a stranger. He had been with us before. Like yesterday! And anyway, the sign says that you’re only a stranger once in Arthur. Thus … clearly, not a stranger!
By the time I got to church, Beth had already had a good conversation with Chris, uncovering much of the useful “intelligence” about his life and circumstances. This helps us get right to the heart of the matter quickly, instead of listening to our new friend who wants to tell you his life story in the next 6 hours, and then asks us for a pair of socks! Praise God that Beth is able to do this!
So it was, Chris had returned to the scene of the previous day’s hosing, and was in need of a little more help. First, Chris told Beth and I about yesterday at the church (Day 1) and the “angel” he met who extended his helping hand and heart.
As Beth and I sat in my office and listened to Chris talk about his life and his situation, it started to happen all over again to me. You see, each time I apply my little rule of treating strangers as angels, then love, in its God-enabled sneaky way, fills my heart for my newly discovered brother-in-Christ. I love that feeling! And now, I love Chris!
We gave Chris a little more help, and he refused more. He explained to us that he just needed enough to get to tomorrow, when his brother was coming to pick him up from Idaho and take him and the two children he was caring for, back home. The white van he was driving was staying.
Not just one day, but two days this time, with someone we most likely will never see again. It happens. George a couple weeks ago. Travis a couple years ago. And many in-between. In some ways, those new friends that were once strangers may be a big part of the reason we are here. Seed planters.
And often just a day or two to prepare the soil, toss the seed, and cover it up. Rapid Response Seed Sowing! Praying that one day, that one good seed helps to grow a garden of salvation and freedom in the heart of she or he that received it. But knowing all along that “seeds” are God’s business, and trusting that God’s will be done. Can’t you feel the peace?
Life will never be easy for Chris, at least in terms of what we would call easy. And at least not in this world. But he will be ok. He’s part of the family. We’re kin.
Chris has a spirit within him that is always healing and making whole. It reminds me that the very same Spirit does the very same thing for me. Always healing and making whole, for I too am a sinful person who is not capable on my own of doing anything great for God.
But then, neither is Chris capable, on his own, of doing great things for God. Nobody is. That’s how I know Chris was an angel. He did something great for me. He enabled me to feel and practice divine love. He showed me what my emotions can be like when forgiveness fills my heart. So, just as I know that Chris will be ok, I also know, because of him, that I will be too. And, yes, so will you. All of us together in the Kingdom of God!
“The Kingdom of God. Not normal. Not ordinary. Not ever. Praise God!”
Pastor Bob <><
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Cherryl’s Story
Philippians 4:6 & 7
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to Thank Him for His answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”
Many of you have heard my story, but there is a recent event I will add.
Throughout my life I knew how to turn my concerns over to God, but often I would continue to think about those concerns as if I thought I could fix the problem myself. When I was diagnosed with a rare aggressive lymphoma two years ago, I told God I did not know how to do cancer and surrendered my care to His hands. The cancer was so aggressive I did not have time to think about the what if’s. I let go and let God handle my illness. I had no fear and felt His peace throughout the journey.
The treatments were tough, but I did not ask for healing or anything specific. I felt secure in His care and the peace only God can give washed over me. I felt a calm I had never felt before.
Every step of this journey I thanked God for the doctor’s, my nurses, my family and my friends for all they did to assist with my care. I felt when someone was praying for me even though I did not know who it was at that time.
Right before the pandemic, my friend Therese called and told me about her friend Kendra who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She asked if she could put the two of us in touch with each other since we were both women of Faith. As much as Therese and her friends had tried to help Kendra, none had been through cancer and she thought Kendra and I would be good support for each other. Of course I said “Yes!”
We communicated through private message for a year, but had never met. We were a great support for each other. We had two different types of cancer with some differences in treatment. She was in her mid-thirties with three young children and I was seventy-three.
A few weeks ago Kendra and I met face to face for the first time. We greeted each other with open arms. We spent three hours together and will continue supporting each other. The main focus of our conversation was that we had both turned our health issues over to God and could describe the peace we had that was beyond our human understanding. We gave thanks for many of the same things. We both had experienced nurses gathering around us in prayer. We thanked God for putting us together through Therese. We are both now in remission. Although we have disabilities due to our cancers they are manageable. What we learned through our journeys is that now when someone we love is going through a life challenge, we are able to turn them over to His care and ask that He give them peace.
Since this time I have known of other’s struggles both emotional and physical. There is no right or wrong way to pray. I have put each of them in God’s loving arms. I have paid attention to their situations and watched God work in their lives.
Kendra has written a book about her experience and it is going through the publishing process. I am anxious to read it.
After I made my latest trip to Barnes a friend said to me that she knows those appointments give me peace of mind. I say I am grateful for a good report, but God has already given me peace of mind.
My hope by sharing Kendra’s and my journey is that it may help someone with events that come their way. It does not need to be a life changing event like mine. Sometimes I am slow to learn what God has been telling me all these years.
Peace be with you,
Cherryl Conlin
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PLEASE! JUST TELL US HOW WE SHOULD LIVE IN THIS WORLD!
You asked for it; and Paul delivers!
A bunch of us are listening our way through the Book of Romans on a daily basis, and we have stumbled across the answers to these nagging and persistent questions that go something like this: Look Pastor Bob, I get it about the church going and the Bible reading and all that other stuff; but I just can’t make it work with my schedule – but, instead, can we just grab a cup of coffee and you can tell me exactly how Jesus wants us to live?
Actually, I love those kinds of questions. So, keep them coming! But way before my time, the Apostle Paul, who was also in the preaching business, developed a perfect answer to these kinds of questions. It’s called Chapter 12 of his Letter to the Romans. It’s Paul’s own sermon about placing your life before God; what that consists of and what that looks like.
Even better is the “The Message” version of Paul’s letters. Eugene Peterson was a master at the craft of turning the language of the Bible into language that we could hear any day in our life today. So, with all that going for it, let’s get to Paul’s sermon, with the answers
we’ve all been looking for! This is like finding GOLD, people! Treat it well, and it will treat you back.
Pause; Take a little “me” time; and absorb these words into your own heart; and that’s where God will meet you. Enjoy!
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We are like the various parts of a human body. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So, since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
⮚ If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else;
⮚ if you help, just help, don’t take over;
⮚ if you teach, stick to your teaching;
⮚ if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; ⮚ if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate;
⮚ if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond;
⮚ if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them.
⮚ Keep a smile on your face.
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FIVE SPIRITUAL HABITS YOU CAN START TODAY!
- Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. II. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
III. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
- Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”
- Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
I hope you enjoyed these words from an ancient follower of Jesus Christ and a master at teaching “The Way” and how to live it. Have a blessed week, and hope to see you on Sunday – either in-person or online. <><
Peace, Pastor Bob
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