Huck enjoying a piece of bread before the "main course," and his first fishing trip with Daddy.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

 

      There are times when we have “long term” thoughts about certain topics. For days and weeks, our minds may refuse to let go of those topics and ideas even as we go through the routines of daily living. For example, recently I was totally immersed in the “Jewishness” of Jesus. I was enthralled with how Jesus’ Jewish traditions affected the content and method of his teachings, and the way he expressed himself. For weeks, I searched for and read several books that fed my curiosity, and kept my interest alive. Although, I still have an interest in the subject, the intensity level has diminished.

      On the other hand, we all have experienced “short term” interest in “passing” thoughts and topics. These subjects hold our attention for a brief time before we move on in our thinking to another topic. These “short term” subjects may be of equal interest as the “long term” topics, but for some reason fail to hold our attention for a long period of time. 

      Sometimes, “short term” thoughts point us to “long term” thoughts. For many months, I have had foremost in my thoughts the idea of Jesus’ disciples being “sent” people and how that applies to the church today, and specifically to me. As I watched the last year’s bird nest being remodeled outside my window, eggs laid and hatched, and the young birds flying away, I was reminded of our “sentness.” Just as the little birds discovered their God-given purpose, we must discern ours. As they would certainly fail in their life’s purpose if they stayed in the nest, so will we.

      We may explore other examples of indirectly related random thoughts. Questions can be asked such as, “Is there a theological, or practical, difference between “loving” and “liking” in our relationships with each other?” Recently our senior pastor, Chuck Wilson, posted this statement on his blog.

      "God does not love us without liking us ..." From Dallas Willard:

"We must understand that God does not 'love' us without liking us - through gritted teeth - as 'Christian' love is sometimes thought to do. Rather, out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it. The fondness, the endearment, the unstintingly affectionate regard of God toward all his creatures is the natural outflow of what he is to the core - which we vainly try to capture with our tired but indispensable old word 'love'." The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God

      In my thinking about relationships with others, I have this distinction between “loving” and “liking.” I feel that God does put in our hearts the ability to love one another as we love ourselves. This is the mark of a true disciple. What a challenge for me!! But there remains the possibility (maybe) of loving one with Christ-like love and still not “like” the person in a “fellowshipping, buddy-buddy” way. Or, is that just a selfish way of not loving completely in the first place? Or, is my dislike really aimed toward that person’s actions, reactions, habits, etc. instead of the person her/himself? I will continue to think and pray about this. My goal is to be like Jesus and to reflect the love he has toward us all. However, were there times he disliked his disciples? How about toward us? Just thinking… another random thought.

      If sin had not entered the human heart, would God still have sent Jesus? As the early church leaders discussed the incarnation, they asked this question. Some concluded that the incarnation of Jesus would have still taken place because God wants to be as close as he can to us, even becoming one of us. I, also, tend to lean that way in my thinking.

      However, these are just a few indirectly related random thoughts. They may, or may not, hold our interest for very long, but still, they may prove meaningful.

Rev Tim McConnell  Long’s Chapel UMC  May 26, 2013

PLANS AND PROMISES

      In a recent wedding ceremony, I was once again reminded of the seriousness and the strength found within those vows the bride and groom spoke to each other. We know those vows well, “I take you to be my husband/wife…to have and to hold…for better or worse…for richer or poorer …. till death us do part…I pledge you my faith.” These are sacred promises.

      From these thoughts about promises, I remember some of the many promises made by God to us his people. The one promise that Jesus makes that I experience the most, the one I keep in front of me at all times, is when he said, “I will not leave you alone. I will go with you to work and school, I will be with you in the darkest night when you are so worried that you can’t sleep, I will be with you in sickness and when you celebrate good times, I will never leave you.” When I reach out for that promise, and then feel his presence surround me, I realize that Jesus is keeping his promise. Whatever God promises, he is able to carry out. Our faith increases as we see one promise after the other being kept. Those promises carried out in our daily lives.

      I recently reread the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent to the exiles in the city of Babylon. It is really a letter from God dictated by Jeremiah telling the Jewish nation that they will spend seventy years in captivity as punishment for the rebellion and sin against God’s law. That is the promise with the bad news. In 29:10-14, we find the good news. Here God promises to restore and renew the lives of his people if they repent and seek his will. Those ancient Jews had lost their homes, temple, families, way of life, and hope for tomorrow. All they had left was God’s promise of restoration. Perhaps, this letter could be our letter from God, his words to our situations.

      God might be saying in our letter of promise, “I have plans for you, as individuals and as a church. These plans are good, they will give you an earthly and eternal future with me, they will give you hope in this world for any situation, and assurance of your salvation. The plans that I have for you will restore your spiritual fortunes and bring blessings upon you in the face of opposition. But you must pray to me, you must make sure that I am at the center of all your activities and thinking, and you must stay close to me.”

      Several years ago, God revealed to the leaders of our church that he had plans for us. These plans reflected the vision of an outreach into the Asheville area. After much planning, within the next few weeks we will launch God’s plan and his mission as we claim John 20:21 as our theme. “As the Father has sent me, I send you.” We go not only with God’s plans, but also with God’s promises ringing in our ears. Promises like, “I will never leave you.” “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” “Go into all the world with the good news and I will send my Spirit to be your guide and comforter.” In me, you can have peace. You will have troubles, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world.” We will hold to these and many other promises in the days ahead. We serve a God who not only makes promises, but also keeps his promises. We come before him with the desire to start a new life and a new faith community. We make our covenant with him, and we believe his promises. We launch forth in faith, faith in God’s promises.

      May we live life as people who are standing on the daily promises, promises that we believe, and promises that are the foundation of our faith. 

Rev. Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC May 12, 2013  

IMITATORS OF GOD

      For many years, I have been very cautious about any attempt for me, or anyone, to be “like God.” My thinking was that since God is absolute purity, holiness, power, and knowledge, how could I ever be like that? How could I be any of those things that make God, God? Besides, there is that verse in Genesis 3:5 where Satan is encouraging Eve to eat the fruit by saying, “you will be like God.” I have never liked that phrase coming from one so evil.

      Yet, over the course of recent years, I have realized more strongly that Jesus Christ came as our example. Through Jesus, we see God revealed to us as the way we should live in our humanity. We are to imitate Jesus, and as we do, we imitate God. 

      The passage from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1 tells us, “So you should be imitators of God, like dear children.” It is amazing how quickly young children learn by imitation of what they hear and see. Our newest grandchild, John Howard, has to see an action, or hear a word or sound, only a few times before he is able to imitate. Paul says we should be imitators of God the same way.

      Dr. Dennis Kinlaw in his book, “This Day With the Master,” says if we stop at the first verse of Ephesians 5, we will find ourselves frustrated with the impossibility of imitating God. “First of all, he is the omnipotent One. A few in history have tried to be all-powerful, but ended up as fools. Second, God is the omniscient One. But when I am in the process of finding an answer to a question, I discover that I have ten more questions. So, my experience is one of exploding ignorance, not knowledge…Third, he is the omnipresent One. But I am confined to one moment in time and one point in space. How can I imitate God?”

      We find the answer to that question when we read the second verse of Ephesians 5. “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us, and offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.” Kinlaw continues, “God wants us to imitate his lifestyle, not his attributes. …to imitate the life of love that flows from self-sacrifice modeled by Jesus. …to model the God we see on the Cross, the God who cares more for others than he cares for himself.

Paul believed that God can put his own love within us, if we want it and seek it. Then we can live as he lived because he will be living through us.”

      Our passage from Ephesians 5 is surrounded by Paul’s mandates on how we are to live, what we are to do and not do. The fulfillment of these mandates cannot be accomplished without heart change and divine transformation. I am reminded here of Thomas a Kempis’ classic book, “The Imitation of Christ.” a Kempis focuses upon the change that must take place within a person’s heart, mind, and soul as his/her lifestyle begins to model and imitate God.

      Can we fulfill the mandate to imitate God? I believe we can, but we must first begin with Jesus, the beginning and the finishing of our faith in a God who transforms.

Rev. Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, May 5, 2013

LIVING AS A WITNESS

 

      Did you hear about the little girl who returned home after her first Sunday school class? Her mother asked, “Who was your teacher?” and the little girl answered, “I don’t remember her name, but she must have been Jesus’ grandmother because she didn’t talk about anyone else.”

      This story does not suggest that every word of every conversation be about Jesus, but it does raise some meaningful questions for self-examination. Does our conversation reflect our love of Jesus? Do our words mirror the kind of relationship we have with him? Are we serious about sharing our story with others? Other words, what kind of witness are we when it comes to telling others about Jesus?

      Now in Acts 1:8, we find Jesus giving his disciples and us his final instructions. He said, “When you have received the power of my Holy Spirit, you will become my witnesses, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” A witness is a person who tells what they have seen. Jesus said that we are to become his witnesses of what has happened to us, how our lives have changed, and how others can be changed as well.

      I find it interesting that the risen Christ tells his followers that they shall be “witnesses” – not disciples, not pupils, not preachers, not followers, although we can fill those roles also, but witnesses. Presumably, they were to have been witnesses to the resurrection, a new life, a new beginning. A witness testifies to what has been personally seen and heard. A witness is not expected to come up with new information, but rather faithfully to testify to something that has been seen, heard, and is being experienced. Christians are called to be witnesses, beginning in our churches, our homes, and families, and then moving out to the ends of the earth.

      A witness simply states clearly, and without embellishment, “Here’s what happened to me.” Maybe we need to get back to the simplistic approach which we find in the healing of the blind man by Jesus in John 9. After being healed, the man was asked how it had happened, and he simply said, “I once was blind, but now I see.” That was his story, that was his witness.

      You and I can witness effectively by a simple statement. “I once was miserable, unhappy, critical of others, selfish, but God opened my eyes to how I was, and showed me how he could change me. God is showing me how he can use me to change things around me. I still have a long way to go, but my sins are forgiven and God has changed me from the inside out. He can do the same for you and anyone who asks.”

      When we witness we are not forcing someone into seeing things as we see things; we are simply saying, “This is how it is for me. This is what I’ve seen and heard. Does any of this relate to what you have seen and heard? Does anything I’ve said to you make you want to change the way you think about yourself, others, and Jesus?”

      Our work as a witness is to humbly, accurately tell others about the hope that we now have because we know Jesus personally. You and I are not Christian because we are intellegent, or because we are morally better than the other people around us and out in the world. We are  Christian because of an undeserved, unearned, unmerited gift that we have  heard about and have accepted. We are Christian because we have been given a better hope than all the hopes by which the world tries to live.

      Let’s examine the  demand Jesus has placed on our lives if we are to call ourselves Christians. Are we the witnesses he intends for us to be? Are we faithfully telling and living our story?

Rev Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, April 28, 2013
 

LETTING GO AND REACHING OUT

 

      We have a tendency to read the first few chapters of the book of Acts with the feeling that the early church had smooth sailing in matters of unity and relationships with each other. But as we continue reading, we see that differences in opinion and struggles with who would be included within the new church soon became apparent. Many of the apostolic leaders, including Peter, insisted that those outside the Jewish tradition must first convert to Judaism with all of its laws and dietary restrictions before “joining” the Christian church.

      God changed Peter’s thinking and the direction of the church with an intriguing vision given to Peter in Acts, the first eighteen verses of the eleventh chapter. I encourage you to read past the symbolism of the animals in the story in order to realize what God is telling each of us.

      Earlier this evening, I sat in a community forum made up of concerned citizens, law enforcement agencies, court officials, and health care providers. We listened to the shocking statistics of how prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in our county and in our part of North Carolina. As I tried to grasp the enormity of the problem, my mind kept coming back to the story of Peter’s vision. So, I asked myself, “What is the connection between this early church vision and the social problems like drug abuse that we face today? And where is today’s church in this story? Where am I?”

      Peter had placed a wall between the gospel and those who needed to hear. So God sent to Peter a vision. It took away boundaries that had prevented him from being completely surrendered to God’s work of spreading the gospel to all people. Peter began to preach to any and all who would listen regardless of race, customs, economic or social status. And when Peter told the church back in Jerusalem about the vision and how it had changed his thinking, the mission of the church was completely re-thought.

      It becomes clear that Peter’s vision is not actually about different animals, clean or unclean. It is about people, about gathering people into Jesus’ presence, and about not making a difference. I think this story is a kind of parable for each of us, as well as, for God’s church. Whenever boundaries are broken, walls torn down, whenever “the other person” is embraced by believers within the church, then that is a “God thing.” Someone has obeyed the vision.

      Back at the drug awareness forum, I became acutely conscious of the need for Jesus’ church to be found in the center of this story. This kind of abuse is not just a problem for law enforcement, health providers, school official, and parents, but this is a “church” problem. Maybe it is time for us to let go of the comfortable places we have made in our churches, and reach out across our county and the region asking the question, “What can I do?”

      The exciting thing about all this is that we as God’s church, as the body of Christ have a mission. And that mission is revealed to us by a vision; a vision to become witnesses of Jesus in order to make disciples whoever they are and wherever they can be found. God tells us the same thing he told Peter, “Whoever I have cleaned up and accepted, no one has the right to call dirty and unacceptable.”

      Despite all the negative circumstances and problems in our world and even in our lives today, it is a great time to be a disciple of Jesus. There are so many people who are waiting for us to talk to them, to share with them, and to love them. Relationships come when the barriers and boundaries are taken down, then we watch God work miracles in our lives and in our churches. Let’s let go and reach out.

 

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC April 21, 2013

 Just some pictures from a
proud Granddaddy!!

John Howard, "Huck", visits his Great Grandmother Sarah, his first birthday party, climbing stairs, first fishing trip with Daddy, and working in the garden. What a boy!! He is growing so fast.