How Christ can set you free ...

Humans are creatures of habit, and habits are not always easily changed. The habit I most recently changed is in the area of time management after a number of experiences. Such were a combination of Marcus Buckingham's work on strength-based planning; in both reading and teaching from books by Steven Covey such as The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; and my EQ-360 evaluation survey completed by family, friends, supervisors, peers, and local church staff. Such is continuing to reshape my self-understanding and moving from that to life application. This gradual change process is now two years in the undertaking, and my experience is that although Jesus Christ can instantly set us free from what can limit us, it is usually a gradual process.

How is Jesus Christ setting me free?

• He lives as an example of freedom which is a life in which he is less governed by human interpretations of love and more concerned with God's self-giving interpretation;
• Christ was willing to be so self-giving he would give up his life for all creation to set me free;
• Christ was raised from death as a visible demonstration of the power of God that can even change the world ... change each of us ... change me;
• Christ sends his Spirit to live among us empowering us to center our lives on loving God, neighbor, enemy and self ... such is true for me as well;
• Christ gave us a message to live by and to tell of ... "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life".

Thoughts on freedom ...Christ can set you free if you just let him ...

Christian thoughts on freedom have been shaped by the history of God's people such as the story of Exodus, the second book of the Old Testament Hebrew Bible, that was about 1300 years old by the time of Jesus' birth.

The Exodus story told of how God worked through people like Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to set the people of Israel free from their enslavement to Egypt. That story helped to shape the way the early church explained what Jesus did. That is, just as God set the people of Israel free from their enslavement to Egypt; so Jesus, the Son of God, will either instantly or gradually, set people free from their tendencies to do what is wrong in the eyes of God. Such tendency is called "sin". And being set right with God is called "being saved" -- that is, set free from sin.

Here is the way that is put in the letter to Titus 3:4-8a:

But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure.

The letter of Titus stresses that we were set free from sin by Christ according to his mercy.

How Christ can set you free will be briefly stated in the morning ...

Seek good ...

Seek good and not evil, that you may live;

and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,

just as you have said.

Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate;

it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,

will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

(Amos 5:14-15)

See you tomorrow at Arlington UMC.

arlingtonum.org

1360 Murfreesboro Road.

Nashville, TN 37217

Worship at 10:00 AM

For this gospel

Christ died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again ...

For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher ... I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
(1 Timothy 1:11-14, ed.)

I sure wish ...

On Monday afternoon at 1:52 PM I received a phonecall from my wife. One of my children's cars was broken down. I was told that my wife had attempted to jump it off with battery cables but that it wasn't starting. At 3:00 PM I left the office to look at it. We attempted to jump it off again leaving the battery cables connecting the cars for about 15 minutes while turning my engine around 2,000 rpm. I tried but it still did not start. So I was suspicious that one of the cells in that battery was bad so we took it to the place of purchase for testing. They tested it twice on two different pieces of equipment and the battery tested good both times.

So we returned to the scene and the problem was discovered. One of the battery cables had a bolt that was stripped so that cable was not being held tight enough for good connection. Sometimes solutions are so simple. I sure wish I would have discovered that simple solution earlier.

So "good works are conspicuous...", part of 1 Timothy 5:25, but at times they just take a while.

Rich

Growing up I thought of "rich" as having so much you didn't know what to do with it, as extravagant dwelling places, as having more land than you could walk through it in one day. But when I have been in the Caribbean islands I have seen that "middle class" in my U.S. eyes are "rich" in the Caribbean life. And that "poor" in U.S. eyes are "middle class" in their eyes. So that there the "poor" are those who live in homes made of what is found in the heaps of trash.

Such has given me an observed experience of the biblical definition of "rich" which is "having enough for just today ... just today". Jesus acknowledges this understanding of "rich" when in a prayer he prayed are these words: "give us this day our daily bread ". In other words, "LORD, make us rich by giving us just enough for today!"

I kept Jesus definition of rich in mind when I read the following:

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching ...

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching;

continue in these things,

for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

(1 Timothy 4:16)

These words are a the conclusion to 1 Timothy 4. Here is how Paul builds up to them:

• Have nothing to do with profane myths;
• Train yourself in godliness;
• Set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity;
• Give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching; and,
• Do not neglect the gift that is in you.

Here, Paul's basic message is for Christian believers to work fully at living out our ethical standards of godliness that are shaped by these words of Jesus: love God, neighbor, enemy, and self.

To do such I must certainly pay close attention to myself to see that I am seeking to do so.

I advise you to make it your task today to do so as well.

Joseph's Father ...

So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. And they told him, ‘Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ He was stunned; he could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, ‘Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.’

(Genesis 45: 25-28)

Today's sermon text.

Worship is at 10:00 AM

under Jesus advice ...

For there is one God;

there is also one mediator between God and humankind,

Christ Jesus, himself human,

who gave himself a ransom for all

—this was attested at the right time.

1 Timothy 2:5-6

A man named John Wesley pictured the mediator Jesus as one who was, in our defense, taking on the punishment that we deserved from God when he was executed for the sins of the world. Others have seen this as his giving himself as a ransom to buy us from the evil one. These indeed are a part of the picture for me.

Another part of the picture of the mediation of Jesus is in the sense of advising us through the Spirit of God's work to come into agreement with God about what is good and right. This is to advise us into what we are to be doing.

I will seek today to be under the advise of Jesus.

Hope for the future.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’ He responded, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.’ As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
(2 Kings 2:9-12)

Again, I am reminded of our Annual Conference that met Sunday through Tuesday for on the first night was the service that celebrated new pastors coming into special ministries such as new local pastors, deacons, and elders. At the service a retiring pastor will stand in the place of Elijah, and a new pastor will kneel in the place of Elisha while a cloth 'mantel' is placed by a retiring pastor on one of the new ones. Irregardless of how long one will last the loving acts of God will continue to be made through people.

Just old salt ...

Conduct yourselves wisely towards outsiders,

making the most of the time.

Let your speech always be gracious,

seasoned with salt,

so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.

(Colossians 4:5-6)

When I first read "seasoned with salt", and wondered what it meant, I looked into biblical references about salt written before Colossians. Honestly, I used Oremus Bible Browser on the internet and these are the biblical references to salt that I believe relates to its meaning in Colossians:

• "... make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy" (Exodus 30.35);
• "... with all your offerings you shall offer salt" (Leviticus 2.13);
• "All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well" (Numbers 18.19);
• "Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome ...’" (2 Kings 2.21:);
• "Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel for ever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?" (2 Chronicles 13.5).

So salt is biblically associated with sacrifices given to the Lord, with covenant agreements made with the Lord, and with wholesome living.

So, for me, to see to it that my speech is seasoned with salt is to see that my words are an appropriate, agreeable, and wholesome sacrifice to God. I will strive to do so.

just reflections on today's scripture reading ...

As a part of my being sent into the world by Christ Jesus and the Church an umbrella over living out my call is as follows:

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-17)

This morning, LORD, I give you thanks for once again being appointed by our bishop and cabinet that you just may pull off a miracle by working through me. Such still makes my eyebrows rise in a disbelieving gratitude that you can work through the human family even while we get too caught up in ourselves. Especially for your determination I give you praise. Amen.

Pray for me ...

Annual Conference completed our session today. An Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church is a legislative body that is 50% laity and 50% clergy over a geograhical area of our denomination. Our function is to review or hear reports and make decisions on how we will be jointly presenting the good news of God's love in Jesus Christ by word and deed.

In the last worship hour of our conference time together I experienced the presence of God once again. This time it was in these words said by our bishop as a blessing on us called to serve in specialized ministries:

"...you stand together in connectional community, bound by your commitment to serve Jesus Christ, and by the love you have for one another. You have committed yourself to meet the needs of the hurting world through service, pursuit of justice, loving mercy, proclamation of the Word, and celebration of God's self-giving through the Holy Sacraments. May you be sensitive to the needs of those with whom you work, of the communities in which you serve, and of the world in which you live. May the good news of Jesus Christ be clearly visible in your words and action, and may your faith be sustained and your deeds empowered by the Holy Spirit".

Will you please pray that I will live up to my commitment to Jesus Christ?

Who knows fully what that will mean but Jesus himself?!

according to their druthers ...

In talking to one of my mentors that person suggested that I read The Art of Connecting: How to Overcome Differences, Build Rapport, and Communicate Effectively with Anyone. Claire Raines and Lara Ewing are the authors and it was published in 2006.

They chose leaders to open up with including Terry Gross, Richard and Michelle Steckel, and Hector Orci, who from their perspective, have lived out 'the Titanium Rule':

Do unto others according to their druthers.

The most helpful part of this book for me was pressing me to, as much as possible, be the 'third-person' observer in my relationships that looks at them from a third more neutral angle. As they write, "Step into the third person, or observer, perspective by imagining how you would see yourself from a distance..." (127). This was a challenging work that has pushed me to new angles of understanding more of myself giving me more insight at self-evaluation.

For those who want to manage and train themselves more this is worth the reading. Included in this work are exercises for small groups to use in learning this process.

After all, exceptional leaders excellently lead themselves.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:7-11

Such is life!

"For to me living is Christ and dying is gain"

Philippians 1:21

When I read this passage what immediately comes to my mind is that living an exceptional life is seeking to be like Jesus Christ each day. Jesus, who:

• fed the hungry,
• listened, understood well by looking beneath the surface of what was said or done and responded with a challenging love,
• healed body, mind, soul, spirit and relationship--all of life;
• proclaimed the rule of God in word and deed;
• loved God, neighbor, enemy and self.

Well, such is life!

You are invited to be our guest during the worship hour at Arlington UMC.

Sunday, 10:00 AM

1360 Murfreesboro Road

(between Briley Parkway and Donelson Pike)

arlingtonum.org

through that book

The writer of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes quite openly wrestles with life. After he does so he keeps saying , in my own words, 'whoop-tee-dooo'. We all have times when at the end of a day we throw up our hands and say 'whoop-tee-dooo'.

In spite of all of life's challenges, some hopeful words peek through that book. Here are a few of them ...

"God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy"

"With all wisdom and insight he (God) has made known to us his will ..."

"...whatever God does endures..."

"...it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil"

"Consider the work of God ..."

"God made human beings straightforward ..."

Ecclesiastes is worth the reading just to mull over.

Our owner ...

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.

If we live, we live to the Lord,

and if we die, we die to the Lord;

so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

For to this end Christ died and lived again,

so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Romans 14:7-9

Today, I will keep in mind that I belong to the LORD. May you do so as well.

Failing forward ...

In May of 2007 I read a book by John C. Maxwell entitled Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success. He is a very popular writer on the topic of leadership, and I have been reviewing Failing Forward.

One of the areas that Maxwell stresses is the necessity to learn from failure. Such is taking responsibility, learning from mistakes, realizing that failure is a part of progress, maintaining a positive attitude, challenging outdated assumptions, taking new risks, believing something didn't work (rather than believing 'I am a failure'), and persevering (8).

It is worth the reading.

Being good friends ...

Last Sunday we had a visiting United Methodist preacher from Wisconsin. She, and her husband, were just off and visiting while away from home. I asked her feedback on her experience in Arlington. And she commented on how we are friendly and open to visitors. Such is so good to hear for we have been focusing upon such. My experience is having visiting preachers to come to your church just to give feedback on a congregation's friendliness is so helpful in letting one know where a local congregation needs to expand friendliness.

Thanks to the people at Arlington who goes out of their way to treat our guest as if they are our best friends.

The ball game ...

I watched one of my grandchildren's baseball game last night. He is eight years old and, in Pop's (my) eyes, he has exceeding talent on the ball field. His gifts for the field are first concentration and determination. And as I watched his games I have seen again that he has a good pitching control and distance for his age. And, when it comes to outfield, in one of the games he made a diving catch on the run in left center field. At that point even the coach on the opposing team was telling our coach how exceptional that was to see at his age. And when he is playing the catching position he has learned to take off his mask and go to catch the popped up ball. At that age each team member will play around three positions in each game, and he has usually gone to catch, be defensively beside the pitcher's mound (as an adult pitches for that age group), and in an outfield position.

This morning there is a smile on my face as I am thinking of and praying for all four of my grandchildren.

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous.

Praise befits the upright.

Praise the LORD with the lyre;

make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.

Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

(Psalm 33:1-3)

Advice

Scripture is our primary source of God speaking. So to be as familiar as possible with Scripture is to important to recognizing God's voice in daily life.

Early this week I was further detailing the sermon plans for this summer when our secretary mentioned a book she had read on leadership that used the biblical character of Joseph as a model of leadership. With Joseph as the biblical character in this Summer's sermons that comment helped. So the book has been checked out for me and I have skimmed it. It is entitled Leading from the Second Chair: Serving Your Church, Fulfilling Your Role, and Realizing Your Dreams by Mike Bonem and Roger Patterson. It was very helpful in understanding where Joseph was as a second chair leader under the Pharaoh in Egypt. And it has given me some further insight as a second chair leader with our bishop as the primary one.

Special thanks to our secretary for her advice.

Taking advice ...

In the experiences that I have had as a pastor one truth that I have found for quality leadership is to be a good listener. The presidents that have been wise take the time to listen to both sides of the picture before making decisions. A couple of presidents known for that were FDR and Reagan.

I would imagine that the writer or Proverbs 15:22 had such in mind when he wrote,

"Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed".

a question ...

At our last staff-parish relations committee in May, 2009, I raised a question in my self-evaluation that they wanted me to focus upon in coming sermons. That question was:

How can our faltering economy be a means of grace
(a way God can give mercy to us)?

During our vacation time I combined my early morning devotionals with considering this question. And one biblical story kept coming to mind: the story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50). He was sold into slavery by his brothers, and ended up being the official economic leader in Egypt before a famine. His leadership over Egypt continued for the rest of his life long after the famine ended. He became another means of grace.

Pray for me as I reread this story of Joseph again and change this Summer's sermon plans as we will learn from the Joseph story how our faltering economy can indeed be a means of grace.