Category: First Steps

Last week, I shared part of my experience at a B.R.I.D.G.E. Graduation Ceremony.  BRIDGE is an acronym for a non-profit organization in Columbus, Georgia (Building Responsible Individuals through Discipline, Guidance, and Education).  One of the speakers shared his experience of graduating with his GED thanks to BRIDGE in 2021.  He shared that until he was introduced to BRIDGE, the last class he attended was in 5th Grade.  Frankly, he had given up on his life.  Thankfully, he entered their GED program and graduated.  As the 2021 BRIDGE’S outstanding student, he was awarded a small scholarship for college, and with the help of an educational counselor, he decided to take the next step to enter a local junior college with his awarded scholarship and Georgia’s HOPE scholarship.    Fast forward to the recent 2023 BRIDGE Graduation Ceremony where he was asked to speak, and he was introduced as the 2021 Outstanding Student.  When he got to the podium, he told the audience, “My introduction needs to be updated for I’m not just an outstanding student, I’m a college graduate.”  As he shared his story, he reminded everyone there to take the next step. He is now taking the next step to enter Columbus State University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer science.   As he shared his story, I fixated on the phrase just take the next step.  Living a life of faith is simply taking the next step.  As we take one step, another step appears, and then we take that step, and so on.  Anxiety is born out of worry and control of tomorrow.  Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34).    Therefore, take the next step. Take it to be more of a disciple.  Take it to begin a better prayer life.  Take it to be more faithful in worship.  There will always be the “what ifs” of tomorrow.  Don’t bring them forward, allow them to stay in tomorrow—focus on what is before you now.  Focus on today and take the next step.      This Week’s Readings: *Monday – Acts 17 *Tuesday – Acts 18 *Wednesday – Acts 19 *Thursday – Acts 20 *Friday – Acts 21 Prayer Requests: – Children, Leaders, and Counselors at Summer Camp. -Families traveling throughout the summer. _Our unwillingly absent members. -Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. -Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. -Wisdom for our leaders as they navigate through uncertain times.  -Guidance for those seeking to find their way. -Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

Recently I had the pleasure of attending a B.R.I.D.G.E. Graduation.  BRIDGE is an acronym (Building Responsible Individuals through Discipline, Guidance, and Education).  This non-profit organization helps individuals obtain their GED so that their graduates can better their future (lives) through education and employment.  At the graduation service, I watched 10 individuals receive their GED.  I was honored to be there to witness their accomplishment.  Some were asked to share their stories consisting of one obstacle after another.  At different points in their lives, each graduate thought a brighter future was impossible and beyond their grasp.   I wonder how many people don’t think tomorrow will be better.  For some, it might be a marriage that tetters on the brink for so long, it becomes very difficult to think things can be different.  For another, one bad decision led to another bad decision until finally, one looks in the mirror only to realize he or she has drifted so far with no hope of recovery.  Still for another, there is the constant emotional or physical berating to the point one can’t fathom anything different.  I’m sure there are multiple reasons for every obstacle.   One graduate told her story of the importance of faith in God and how knowing God was for her helped her believe she could be something different.  She said, “If God believed in me and cares about my future, then surely I could believe in my future as well.”  My grandmother, who was a great saint of the church, told me often, “Shane, sometimes you don’t realize Jesus is all you need until you realize Jesus is all you got.”  Perhaps this graduate knew my grandmother—I don’t think so, but maybe she had a grandmother who taught her the same lesson.    Here is my point and I borrow the words of that BRIDGE graduate – if God believes in you and cares for your future, then surely you can believe in your future as well.  The story of your life is not complete.  Obstacles can be overcome.  Paul reminded the Romans of this when he said there is nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ (Romans 8).  I love that chapter because we are quick to see and list the obstacles of how things won’t work; yet, God has a better future, trust in him.     This Week’s Readings: *Monday – Acts 12 *Tuesday – Acts 13 *Wednesday – Acts 14 *Thursday – Acts 15 *Friday – Acts 16 Prayer Requests: – Families traveling throughout the summer. _Our unwillingly absent members. -Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. -Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. -Wisdom for our leaders as they navigate through uncertain times.  -Guidance for those seeking to find their way. -Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

I’ve always been one that likes explanations.  I want to know how things work and are accomplished.  I think that is why I didn’t come to faith easily.  Early in my life, accepting things I can’t explain was difficult.  I use “was” because I’ve become more comfortable with mystery throughout the years.  As I’ve gotten older, and more mature, I attribute the growth to faith.   For instance, Jesus’ death was a real death, a historical fact.  It has been well documented.  Death and burial.  His heart stopped.  His brain activity stopped.  He was dead.  The grand mystery is that he became alive again.  Unfathomable to behold especially since I wasn’t in the tomb watching him come back to life.  However, there is enough evidence for one living 2000 years after the fact to believe his resurrection was a real event.  Frankly, the leaders of the day only had to produce his dead body which would have ended any debate.  At the same time, the disciples sealed their testimonies with martyrdom.  They went from “running for the door” when Jesus died to ardent believers after the resurrection.  They received no financial gain for being a follower of Christ.  Something happened that produced a change.  Well, it stands to reason with a high degree of probability that Jesus was resurrected.  What a mystery.   As mysterious as it is and as unexplainable as it is, it shapes my life.  Not just my life, but billions of lives before me.  Paul in 1 Corinthians said it this way, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”     This Week’s Readings: *Monday – Acts 7 *Tuesday – Acts 8 *Wednesday – Acts 9 *Thursday – Acts 10 *Friday – Acts 11 Prayer Requests: – Families traveling throughout the summer. _Our unwillingly absent members. -Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. -Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. -Wisdom for our leaders as they navigate through uncertain times.  -Guidance for those seeking to find their way. -Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

Someone once said, “Prayer accomplishes within us, within our spirits, deep within our souls, what is later lived out in the circumstances and conditions of our obedience.”  I like the quote.  It reminds me that I can’t outlive my prayer life.  It also reminds me of the connection between what many call the inward self and the outward self.   Prayer goes beneath the surface and superficial to breach one’s heart (identity).  Its purpose is to explore and cultivate the heart.  God, in His infinite wisdom, uses prayer as a conduit so that His spirit is infused with the heart of the one praying.  The inward self is being changed and transformed by God’s spirit.  This inward work of God has a purpose, for it becomes the power by which one is obedient.    A person can do numerous good things even magnificent things without prayer.  But a prayerless life will result in gaping holes.  Sooner or later, in the depth and complexity of relationships where submission and commitment are required, the inward self will be exposed.  A prayerless life will always struggle with the pulls and demands of a selfish heart; therefore, pray so that the inward self is continually renewed.  It will later be lived out in obedience.     This Week’s Readings: *Monday – Acts 2 *Tuesday – Acts 3 *Wednesday – Acts 4 *Thursday – Acts 5 *Friday – Acts 6 Prayer Requests: – Families traveling throughout the summer. _Our unwillingly absent members. -Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. -Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. -Wisdom for our leaders as they navigate through uncertain times.  -Guidance for those seeking to find their way. -Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

Lately, I’ve been reading and pondering the different prayers of Jesus.  Thankfully the different gospels record a few.  They mention Jesus praying multiple times but every now and then they give us the actual words prayed.  I love that about the gospels because when I pray those same prayers I feel a kinship with the originator—Jesus.  His most famous prayer was a response to the disciples’ ask of “Teach us to pray.”  Of course, we know his response as The Lord’s Prayer.    In that prayer, the first few lines are successive imperatives: “Hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.”  The prayer gathers energy and increases in intensity only to explode outwardly— “on earth as it is in heaven.”    What is equally significant is how Jesus modeled what he prayed.  If one were to fast forward to the end of each gospel, one finds Jesus living out that prayer in his betrayal, arrest, trial, and death.  In his life, he illustrated obedience.  He illustrated the glorification of God.  He illustrated submission to God’s will.  He understood his life and purpose as a means to fulfill God’s Kingdom.    On one level, we see this as something only Jesus can do.  Granted there is a great deal of truth in that thought.  The uniqueness of Christ was confirmed in his resurrection.  Yes, there were and are some things only Jesus did and can do.  Yet, as followers of Christ, we are to walk his path.  We are expected, even commanded, to live as he lived.  We embrace those imperatives of Hallowed be your name, Your Kingdom come, and Your will be done so that they explode with the newness of life for all those around us to see.   The Lord’s Prayer is not something simply to be prayed, it is something to be lived.      This Week’s Readings: *Monday – Luke 21 *Tuesday – Luke 22 *Wednesday – Luke 23 *Thursday – Luke 24 *Friday – Acts 1 Prayer Requests: -Our unwillingly absent members. -Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. -Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. -Wisdom for our leaders as they navigate through uncertain times.  -Guidance for those seeking to find their way. -Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the concept of unity and how it is achieved and maintained.  To guide my prayers, I’ve reread John 17, which focuses on Jesus’ prayer for unity.  Verses 9-12 are important:    I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.  All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.  I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.     Jesus prays for us to be one.   Eugene Peterson wrote profound ideas about John 17 and the concept of unity.  He says Holy Baptism is the sacrament that preaches the enactment of the Trinity, the ultimate form of unity.  This Trinitarian foundation is basic to all existence.  We are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We become our true selves by entering the waters of baptism.  Our particular identity is affirmed and clarified in a personal name and in an intimate relationship with all the ways in which God is God.  We are not autonomous.  We are not ourselves by ourselves.     A sin is an isolating act.  It separates us relationally from God, from God’s creation, and from God’s community.  Reestablishing the complexity of relationships cannot be accomplished by decree.  Personal, relational intimacy cannot be achieved impersonally.  There cannot be forced intimacy because that is often violent and degrading.  God can’t work in ways that are not in tune with Himself.  God is personal and free.  Therefore, whatever takes place in prayer is personal, freely given, and freely received.  Prayer is not a supernatural technique for coercion.  Prayer does not lump sinners and saints into separated piles of anonymities-–one pile assigned to damnation, and one assigned to salvation. In prayer, each person and thing is treated with absolute seriousness while freedom is preserved.  We can’t become one with one another or with God apart from freedom.   In the scripture passage, this is why it takes so long for these people (and us) to become ‘one, as we are one.”  Unity can’t be forced or rushed.  No matter how many are shaped by Jesus’ prayers into this Trinitarian unity, it is always a process. There are no shortcuts or no assembly-line efficiencies permitted.  Automobiles can be made that way, but not saints.  The work of sanctification (and unity) is never a finished product that any single congregation can test drive and, if satisfied, sign up for.  True Unity is not a model to be copied; it is a Trinitarian relationship—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—of reciprocity to be entered.               Trinity is comprehensive and intricate, fusing the One and the Many.  To understand and participate in all the operations of the Trinitarian God requires a lifetime of sacrificial adoration and patient submission to Jesus’ patient prayers that all shall be one.  The church, which provides visibility through the lives of particular men and women in particular places at particular times, is not an idea nor is it ideal.  It is a historical reality existing in time.  It is constantly in formation.  Like a piece of music, it takes time for the church to become what it is.  All the notes must be played by all the instruments assigned to play them before it is what it is.  If we willfully refuse to be part of the orchestra, if we insist on everyone playing the same note over and over, or if we find a single melody or chord of the music that we particularly like and play that, the results are not likely to be anything imagined by the composer or the conductor.  Neither are they likely to be satisfied with the music. Being a church is intricately complex and demanding, but no more difficult than anything else that is worthwhile.  The church is the large, healthy, Trinitarian gathering ground where we let God be the way He wills to be God.  We let Jesus pray us into participation in the dynamic unity revealed between Father, Son, and Spirit that is, precisely, glory.  The church is the primary arena in which we learn that glory does not consist in what we do for God but in what God does for us.  It is the pruning field where we submit ourselves to death and dying–that is, Jesus, dying on the cross and our daily dying. I’ll add, it doesn’t happen by force but by a willingness to live sacrificially.     This Week’s Readings: *Monday – Luke 16 *Tuesday – Luke 17 *Wednesday – Luke 18 *Thursday – Luke 19 *Friday – Luke 20 Prayer Requests: -Our unwillingly absent members. -Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not. -Comfort those who are grieving and in distress. -Wisdom for our leaders as they navigate through uncertain times.  -Guidance for those seeking to find their way. -Continued Growth Inside and Outside the Walls of St. Paul UMC.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6