God is Good

God has been so good to us over the years. It is amazing to me how as humans we easily remember the negatives in our lives and forget the positives. I dare say it is part of our bent. Just watch the evening news. I wonder sometimes if we don't derive some perverse enjoyment from bad news. As this year comes to a close, I want to encourage you to look for the good.

I am reminded of the blessing it is to serve God, and to be a bi-vocational minister. God has made me priest of a great parish, with a bright future. It is my business that enables me to serve these wonderful people. It is God's gifting, that has made me good at what I do. In spite of the difficulties, the rewards far exceed the cost. Underlying it all is the assurance that God has had his hand in my life at every turn. He knows what is best, and the work he does in our lives will far exceed our best ideas and dreams. Sure, there are times when we have misstepped and found ourselves in a dilemma of our own making. But even these, when we humbly repent and bring our fiasco to him, He is able to mend and renew, and bring good into our lives. More often as followers of Jesus, we find ourselves just "kicking against the goads." The Apostle Paul learned the secret of contentment. We can too. Contentment does not come with trying harder to be content, but in surrender to God, and letting him be sovereign over our lives. He doesn't make mistakes. We do. He is able to change anything in our lives that he wants. We are not able. He loves us, and wants for us what is best. Often, we don't even know what is best for ourselves, let alone how to achieve it. What better King could we have? I want to encourage you in this coming year to find joy and be content in the work that God has given you to do. Let it be an offering, given to God for his glory and honor. Trust that He will be at work in all things for the good of those who love him. Relax. Let God handle it. Its gonna be alright.

More Dust

When I think back over the years I have served the Lord as a "bi-vocational" minister, I would have to admit that the greatest challenge that I have faced, I am still facing: There is never enough time. Time is always at a premium. There is never enough time to do all that could be done or should be done. My life seems to always get boiled down to doing just what needs to be done. It can be discouraging at times, and I find myself envious of those fortunate men who are able to serve full time parishes. However this kind of thinking is not very productive, and ends up stealing more time. I have discovered another way to look at the situation.

Our God is beyond the scope of time, He lives in the present, with perfect knowledge of both past and future. He knows all of our going out and our coming in. He holds time in his hand. That said, we can be assured that he has granted us enough time to do his will. The trick is simple although not necessarily easy. We must make it our purpose to let God order our time. In practical terms, it means praying with our to do list in hand. Seeking God's leading with prioritizing what we plan to do. I have found God faithful time and again, and when I find myself stressing over obligations, He gently reminds me that He is still God, and holds time and my life in his hands.

Ironically, it is this challenge that I face daily, that also serves to help me understand the plight of so many men and women today. I am not the only one too busy. You probably are too. You may be sitting there reading this blog, thinking to yourself, "I don't have time for this..." Here is the beauty though. The way that I am learning to order my days will work for you! What I find myself forced to do, is really not more than the Christian faith, practical Christianity. Do yourself a favor. Admit that you are too busy, and let Christ order your day. You will find him to be a much more gracious master than you are. You will drive yourself. You will push the limits of your own humanity, and then be frustrated when you cannot achieve what you set out to do. As followers of Jesus we must let it go. His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Dare I say it? Yours is not. But, you too can find rest in Jesus.

Working Vacation

Last week we got to enjoy one of the fringe benefits of being a business owner. Yes, you could call it a vacation. I avoid using the word because I actually planned this trip around some work that I had at Hilton Head Island. So while we were there enjoying the sights, I was also working several days building a custom range hood for an elite house there on the Island. Here is the proof, taken by a friendly stranger who just happened to be walking by as we were putting all the Lemmons together. The next picture is our first morning there, just before sunrise taken from the balcony of the house where we were staying. A new day is dawning.
It is funny how seeing a sunrise, has a way of reminding us of the potential each day holds, un- marred with mistakes or short words. It is fresh and new. We don't see sunrises at our home in Kentucky. We live between two steep ridges and to the east of us is another ridge, so by the time the sun shines in our "holler" it is mid morning. It was refreshing to see the sun crest over the ocean. The very day we were enjoying this sight our Bishop, Frederick Fick, was participating in the meeting of the Federation of Anglican Churches. A new day has dawned in that realm as well. The day is full of potential, for a unified Anglican province in America. The stage is set, the dawn is breaking. The day is fresh and new. How will the bishops of the several continuing Anglican jurisdictions, and the conservative Episcopalians meet this challenge? Will they be able to work together? Will they find the middle ground where orthodox Anglicans of every tradition, will be able to stand? Time will tell. For now, the day is still fresh, new, exciting and full of potential. May it be our continual prayer that a unified Anglican province would become a reality in our time.

Stirring up Dust

Its not always easy. Check that. It is never easy, it just varies on degree of how hard it is. We call it "bi-vocational ministry," which is in fact (at least in my case) a misnomer. I will explain later. This past two weeks has been challenging to say the least. My work load in the cabinet shop had been pretty steady, then someone throws in a "deadline" and things get crazy. Last week was one of those times, when I woke up each morning and prayed, "Now tell me again Lord, Why am I doing this?" By Saturday, all the lofty idealism about "tent making" fades into shades of gray, and becomes just work. Then comes Sunday. The word of life and the bread of heaven. I am rich again and full. Strong enough to head back into the fray. Once again, I give my life to this gracious and loving Savior Jesus, who gave his life for me. I realize that I am the servant that has, "only done what is my duty." His truth shatters my self-pitiful delusions, and His peace quiets my soul.

It's really not bi-vocational at all. I only have one "vocation." Cabinet making is only a part of this singular calling to be a minister of His gospel. I realize that this is not always the case. Some who are "bi-vocational" were called to His ministry later in life, sometimes after many years in another vocation. These truly are "bi-vocational" ministers, but only in the sense that they are in there second vocation chronologically. In my case, I have known what is my calling, my vocation since I was sixteen years old. It is who I am. Oh, I have done a lot of other things. I have worked in a cemetery, on a Christmas tree farm, as a corrections officer in a prison, and since 1997 a cabinet maker. But these other jobs were aimed at one thing, answering the call of God to his service as a priest and pastor of his people. The minister is a lot like a musician or an artist. There are those artists who are in such a place financially as to be able to devote their time entirely to doing art. However, many perhaps most cannot. That does not stop them from painting or sculpting. They cannot stop. It's who they are. They paint. They sculpt. They create at their own expense. Such is the case of a man called to the ministry of the Gospel. The "bi-vocational" just pays for the privilege of serving. When I think about it, it really is a small price to pay. No complaints. No regrets. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Remaining Anonymous

Honestly, I do not know who said it first but it was a mission statement that has stayed with me for years now: To make Jesus famous while remaining anonymous. Perhaps it was John the Baptist who first said it when he said of Jesus, "He must increase, I must decrease." So much of our culture, even church culture, revolves around the great personalities like Billy Graham, or Rick Warren. Not trying to take anything away from the great work that they do and have done, but the vast majority of ministry still takes place in small corners of the world by virtually unknown pastors, pouring themselves out for the sake of the gospel. These men of God, will not write best sellers, or pastor mega churches. They may never get the chance to proclaim the good news to a stadium full of people. Nevertheless, the work they do is real, and their position worthy. "No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven." It is not given that there be more than one Billy Graham in the world.
When I was in college, I have to admit I was smitten at times by the temptation to desire a name for myself, to find a position in a large church or teaching in a college, where I could be well paid, respected, and highly esteemed. Aspiring to greatness is not a bad thing. Jesus did not criticize his disciples for wanting to be great, but for their ideas of what greatness was. He said instead that he who would be great, must be a servant. The one who would be first must be a slave of all. God forbid that we would twist Jesus' instruction to justify complacency or mediocrity. Instead we see it as a royal incentive to strive for excellency at what ever task we are set to, big or small. It was this ideal that set me on a course to be a "missionary" in rural Kentucky. I initially chose to serve in this area, not because it was a career move that would get me somewhere else, but because I perceived a great need for the gospel, and for trained ministers to serve here. No regrets. Its not about me, its about Jesus. If, in the few years that I am granted on this earth I can faithfully proclaim his good news, love and care for the souls he has placed in my charge; if I can give my very best to whoever, wherever he sends me, I will be satisfied making Jesus famous while remaining anonymous.

Are They all yours?

I cannot begin to tell you how often we get asked that question. It began when our fourth was born, and has not stopped. Sometimes this question was followed up with, " are you done yet?" As time goes on we have come across some creative answers for these questions, but have never become comfortable with the deeper meaning underlying them. These questions reveal a prevailing attitude that haunts the western world. Having children is an option, a luxury, an inconvenience. This attitude is reaping its effects in Europe where some nations are in population decline. It is the reflection of a culture that is increasingly self absorbed. Not only have we forgotten history, we have dismissed the future. We are wrapped up in our own little world, our own pleasure, our own careers, getting our own slice of the pie. But in so doing we have missed out on one of the greatest joys and purposes a married couple can enjoy--children. They are a gift and a joy. They do not cost us they enrich us. Our children add more to our lives than words can describe. They are ripples in the pond of the human race that will reach ever widening circles, increasing exponentially the meaning and purpose of our own lives. Our children will carry our legacy, each one adding his or her own story and passing it on to their children, impacting further reaches of the world. It is a legacy of faith- faith that does not cut itself off from the world, sending it away to "hell in a hand basket." Rather, it is faith that embraces life, this good earth that God has created and the people of this world whom God so loved that he sent his only Son, Jesus, to die for. God has not abandoned this world, he has embraced it, investing himself in it as a tiny seed, two thousand years ago, in Palestine. That seed has grown, and spread much like the little yeast that works through the whole dough. He himself has been present in his disciples, bringing hope and a future to the lives of all those who accept his gift of salvation.
This is the faith, the hope, the mission that we pass on to our children. Is eight children enough? Are we done yet? What would you say?

Most evangelical Christians have heard of John Wesley and his brother Charles. Even if you do not know much about them, you certainly are familiar with some of Charles' great hymns. At Christmas time we sing “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” or “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”. Easter Sunday morning we sing, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” These and many others are scattered through out hymn books of churches of many traditions. Yet, John and Charles Wesley's' influence on modern Evangelicalism goes much deeper than their music. John Wesley is considered by many historians to be one of the most influential personalities of the Evangelical Revival in England. Today, many evangelical denominations claim at least some Wesleyan connection. Ironically, John Wesley himself, is not the founder of any of them. (the original Methodists under John Wesley's oversight were not a church but a society or fellowship of devoted Anglicans.) So what is it that he contributed to these evangelical groups?

What many consider to be the hallmark of Wesley's influence is the subjective experience of conversion, sometimes referred to as heart religion. In 1738, at a society meeting on Aldersgate street, while someone was reading Luther's preface to the Romans, Wesley relates, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” (Works of Wesley, Journals Vol 1, p. 103.) This experience has been interpreted in many and diverse ways in the years since then. At its heart though, is a subjective religious experience, and the assurance of faith. This heart felt religion became a kind of icon of Evangelicalism,-- A person can have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and assurance of faith. Some have pushed this interpretation so far as to say that without such an experience, one is not properly “saved.” Yet this interpretation of the event, removes it from its context and places more weight on it than it is able to bear.

When I was a college student, steeped in the “Wesleyan” tradition, I simply could not comprehend why Wesley insisted on staying in a stuffy liturgical church, as opposed to starting a new denomination of vibrant experiential Christianity. I did not understand until I began to study Wesley's life and thought more closely. First, for John Wesley the Anglican Church, the sacraments, the liturgy were not obstacles to heart religion. On the contrary, the Church was the very context into which his experiential faith was born. His Aldersgate experience, and teaching of heart religion in no wise contradicted his Anglican heritage. Secondly, although not secondary, was Wesley's theology of the church. He was truly a “high churchman” who believed in one holy, catholic and apostolic church. The Church of England, was simply that, The Church of England. Both John and Charles Wesley, proponents of heart felt, experiential Christian faith, key figures in the Evangelical revival of the 18^th century, and major influences of modern evangelicalism, remained faithful Anglicans throughout their lives.

The historic (orthodox) Anglican tradition does not hinder the ongoing dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in the world. On the contrary, many of us have found in the Anglican tradition a stable and enduring context through which Jesus Christ continues to transform our lives.

Finding the Bread

Bread and Sawdust is about life. In everyones life, there is much that we might consider sawdust- wasted material. Yet sawdust is the necessary by product of something of worth and value- creativity. I should know. I spend most of my days standing in it, creating it, (sometimes by the wheel barrow full) all in the process of building something of value that will enrich some ones life.
I could spend my time ruminating over all the wood that is wasted, or I can look beyond the accumulation of dust, and see the end, the goal. Understanding this connection is an important part of our lives. We all must learn to see the goal, the end, the purpose for all the dust we are making.
As a bi-vocational minister it is easy for me to get bogged down in the dust of life. My calling, my true vocation seems to be supplanted at times, by the business of making cabinets. Nevertheless, I remind myself that it is cabinetmaking, that makes possible the missionary effort, much like the Apostle Paul and his tent making. I am reminded how much cabinet making brings to the ministry. Not only does it provide an adequate living for me and my family, but it provides time for thought, prayer and service. It gives me an avenue for meeting people, blessing them, and honoring God with the work of my hands. While it was never in my plans, when I was in college or seminary to be a carpenter, it has become a valuable part of who I am, and who I am becoming. This is the bread, this is the product for which all the dust is only a by product. I take heart and encouragement knowing that the Great High Priest himself, was also a carpenter.