This is my last blog for a few days. Arlean and I are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary today, June 1st. I fell in love with this marvelous girl while in High School. I never looked back I just knew we would walk this life together.

She has supported our family financially in her years as a nurse she has followed wherever God led. She has taught Sunday school, played the piano for worship and raised three beautiful girls to be strong women. She holds the hands of our grandchildren and her husband too.

At first I didn’t understand why this quote came to mind but after a little time made sense. Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder wrote, “The work of God is the calling of a people, whether in the Old Covenant or the New. The church is then not simply the bearer of the message of reconciliation, in the way a newspaper or a telephone company can bear any message, as an alumni association is the product of a school or the crowds in a theater are the product of the reputation of the film. That men and women are called together to a new social wholeness is itself the work of God, which gives meaning to history.”

God called and two people responded Danny and his gorgeous, talented, inventive, caring and loving wife. Thank You Savior for watching over me and providing the companion that keeps me going, that prays with me, that holds me when depressed, when I cry and when shouting with joy. God bless her and may you give us more years to serve, to share to celebrate!

“Father, I stretch my hand to you: no other help I know.”

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My day started talking with men who are serving within the inner city and how we can best help them grow. We gave out probably fifteen bicycles to help with their academic challenge and life skills ministry. You work hard, you serve your Savior, you take care of business we will stand with you.

Then I met with two professional men interested in our Matthew 25 outreach. They wanted to know if I would help them build a ministry in southwest Fresno. To use my cross cultural experience, church starting skills and history to grow church based ministries to specific neighborhood’s. I was just so humbled by their willingness to serve no matter what obstacles might lie in their way. I knew for a fact the Holy Spirit is with them and lives will be changed, neighborhoods transformed because of their answering God’s call..

Later I met with two of our medical leaders and heard about the fantastic work God is planning for us in Myanmar and Thailand. To learn that its not just a dream but we will actually be able to partner with others to build self-sustaining clinics in areas that receive little or no medical relief. (I have to admit later I laughed out loud. Who would ever think a small ministry such as ours could have a global outreach to go where governments, denominations, and social programs have not been able to go. God is good!)

This evening a missionary that is going to Lebanon to teach the many Syrian refugee children flowing into that country came and spoke to our church. What a joy to listen, to hear her enthusiasm for our Savior. To know that God is working in the Middle East. That lives are being changed today for Christ in the midst of so much pain and we can have a small part in that healing for Christ.

That was my day. I am exhausted! I am humbled! What a miracle of a day I had!

Stay on the path. God has some miracles ahead for you!

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I sometimes teach a class in cane defense. Part of the “American Cane System” to assist older individuals to have an item of defense in their hands. Not only is it practical but also builds emotional strength. In other words, teaches you not to be a victim. Plus now that I’m an older Tae Kwon Do master it helps me too!

Okay preacher that’s interesting but what does that have to do with us walking the path with our Savior? Well James Forbes in his Living with Apocalypse writes this, “The gospel calls us to count up the cost of our witness. Part of this process is the assessing of our power as well. In God’s grace the Church discovers that its members are not helpless victims of alien powers but bearers of gifts, competencies, and influence for effecting change. Just as Moses was told to use the rod in his hand ad the disciples were bidden to feed the multitude with the lunch they had, so we are expected to use what we have…What a powerful witness we could be if the parts of the body came to a new awareness of the power that is at work within and around us!”

Okay so question: What is in your hand? Have you decided you don’t have enough resources, you are too old, or not old enough? You are too weak or too busy? What gifts have God blessed you with and you are just hobbling along and not allowing yourself to be used for and by God? It’s time! Get up and get out there and make a difference for our Savior. You can do this Jesus said so.

My Lord, my Lord, help me to hear and respond to Your call-to live as to be numbered among the few who enter into the fullness of your love. Let me turn my cane(s) into a tool for You. Hear my cry as I walk Your path. Amen!

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We have a ministry within our church, we label as Matthew 25. We pick up donated pastries, bread, eggs, soup an even bicycles to give to 9 ministries struggling to bring light to the very dark places within our city. As a result of this outreach we have actually witnessed the sweetness of our Savior brought to communities that have felt abandoned. We have seen Bible studies and worship started where there was no church. We have seen smiles on faces where frowns were more prevalent.  How? By bringing not only the rolls, cakes, and staples but the Word of Life as well.

I’ll be honest with you. This small ministry shakes me to the core of my spiritual life? Why? Because it is so simple but so incredibly rich in teaching us about spirituality. Carlo Carretto wrote these words, “How can you live in the same house with someone (forever!) without the same likes and dislikes? How can you sit at table together with different plans-or worse, opposing ones?

‘I died on the cross for you and you don’t move a finger for me.’ Jesus would have the right to say to me, And: ‘I’m faithful, I’ve never betrayed you. And you? Betray me in all you do. I love poverty. What about you? What do you love? I consented to be humiliated, ridiculed, defeated, while you are afraid of what others will think of you.’

Isn’t this so? The journey is long and its name is exodus. The exodus is the journey made by human beings to learn God’s tastes by experience. It is God’s school, the apprenticeship of the kingdom, the child’s growing up to become like the parent.”

So there it is. I am continually being taught by my Savior a very real and simple lesson. Danny, it really is about the bread about the sweetness of the Lord. Not about budgets, or buildings, or staffing it’s about learning to stand with another. It’s about the simplicity of giving, of sharing and taking the time to listen. To what? To another’s  pain, loss, their anger of where they are at that moment in life. Then to say, “I will be here with you because the Lord says this is the right thing to do. Because how can I live in the house of the Lord and not do these things?”

Where are you on the path today?

We have these folding barriers we use in the gym to help split the room up into classrooms. They give a sense of space, of ownership. Truth is they don’t stop anything it’s all an illusion.

Sometimes we have real life experiences in our lives that can become barriers to our walk with Christ. Recently many of the members of our church family have and are experiencing some difficult times and decisions. Hospice care, car accidents, operations and relationship difficulties. I have heard some people explain, “Why is God allowing this to happen? There seems to be so much going wrong in our church.” There it is…barrier(s).

But these are only part of living in a sin filled world. Macrina Wiederkehr wrote this, “What I am suggesting here is that everything in your life is a stepping-stone to holiness if only you recognize that you do have within you the grace to be present to each moment. Your presence is an energy that you can choose to give or not give. Every experience, every thought, every word, every person in your life is part of a larger picture of your growth… Let everything energize you. Let everything bless you. Even your limping can bless you.”

You see there are other things going on as well within our family. A wedding this week, new babies, and growth spiritually within our fellowship. Let us allow God to send us out to prepare the way for others, that they too may gladly accept the coming of Jesus Christ into their life situations. Let us not only “limp” but jump with joy as we help others to knock down the barriers that try to separate us from the Kingdom of God. Amen!

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Last weekend we had a memorial service. The family asked if they could leave the flowers brought to honor their loved one for our worship service the next day. So, on Sunday morning they were placed in the sanctuary, we had decided to not put out the arrangements on stands just didn’t feel right. But, someone went ahead and placed them by the front door anyway. While headed to my office one of our parishioners saw the flowers stopped me and asked, “Are we having a funeral at the church today?”

Without thinking I replied, “I know we are 131 years old but we aren’t dead yet! I believe God still has work for us to do.” Then I saw the reason for the question at which point I moved the flowers.

But there was some truth to the question. At the very center of Christianity is this reality of death and a future life with God. Edward J. Farrell wrote, “The heart of Christianity is a cross, the sign of a love unto death, and beyond into resurrection. I am beginning to understand that there is no way of following Jesus except by undergoing what he underwent. Unless I die, I can never bear fruit.

No one in the world can escape suffering, but not all suffering is the cross. Suffering cannot be avoided, but one can escape the cross. The cross must be a choice, a free decision, or it is not the sign of Jesus’ love. The cross is an invitation; each person must say yes. No one becomes a disciple without saying yes to Jesus taking us, blessing us open, and passing us around.”

So the church is not dead, there will be no funeral for our worship service today. But you and I? We must make our own choices as how to serve. Will we follow our Jesus? Will we take up the cross knowing there is discomfort, there is pain, there are things I must let go of so I can experience resurrection?

Dear God, give us the words to pray this day. Load upon our hearts the shared sorrows of others and the joy of the morning. Give us the opportunity today to share your love. Amen.

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This last Sunday I led a workshop on contemplative prayer for our shepherding team. I was very pleased with their willingness to listen, to consider and even try something that was new to most of them. Yet, I believe the hardest thing for these dedicated individuals to grasp was the concept of “silence.” The opportunity to just wait for the Lord. Not to speak, inquire or request merely relax in silence and be with our Savior.

Isaac the Syrian said, “Be at peace with your own soul; then heaven and earth will be at peace with you. Enter eagerly into the treasure house that is within you, and so you will see the things that are in heaven; for there is but one single entry to them both. The ladder that leads to the kingdom is hidden within your soul. Flee from sin, dive into yourself, and in your soul you will discover the stairs by which to ascend.”

Here we are dear God, waiting. Please find us in your love, O Lord: and lead us in your path.”

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Several weeks ago I mentioned the Chotki I had received from a reader in Rumania. How our Orthodox brothers and sisters use this as a meditative tool when reciting the “Jesus Prayer.” I have been wearing it to not only keep Jesus in the forefront of mind and heart but also as a reminder of the brother who sent me the gift.

Every week I go pick up my granddaughter at school when she has early release. Her parents work so I help out. Actually I cherish the time. Why? Well when she gets in the car I hear about her day, the ups, the downs, the thrills of learning something new. A real treat for a grandpa.

I always stand in the same place under the shade of a tree. This time I noticed an elderly man staring at me. Obviously he was there for the same reason as me so I smiled and nodded. He immediately came over.

With a slight accent he said, “You are wearing a Chotki.” I started to tell him the story of why but he didn’t even stop for a breath. He quickly said, “Oh Father would you pray for me and our family?”

Now he had made some assumptions about this similar older man, with a white beard and wearing an obvious orthodox braid. He had jumped to a conclusion about who and what I was and am. Several thoughts went through my protestant head but I put them aside to pause and acknowledge his request.

So right there in front of the school. To the shock of some and the obvious discomfort of others I placed one hand on his bowed head and the other on his shoulder and we prayed. I prayed for him personally, I asked for our Savior’s blessings on his family, for the little ones he had in his care.

That was a precious moment in my life. As two older men, fathers, grandfathers stood humbly together in a public place and asked for God’s love, care ad protection not only for our families but all the children in that school in that neighborhood. I thanked him, we hugged and walked with our little ones back to our cars.

John Wesley cried out, “We must act as each is fully persuaded in his own mind. Hold fast that which you believe is most acceptable to God, and I will do the same…It appears to me that forms of prayer are of excellent use, particularly in the great congregation. if you judge extemporary prayer to be of more use, act suitable to your own judgment…If thou love God and all (humanity), I ask no more. ‘Give me thine hand.’”

Dear Savior, in these moments I have heard your call to serve, to share and pause with another. O glorious call that awakens us to precious moments in our walk on this path. I am yours and yours alone. Amen.

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I have this cactus from Chile that rarely blooms. The temperature has to be just right, there must be the correct amount of moisture in the air. (Apparently in its homeland this succulent gets most of its water from the mist and the fog.) So you can imagine my excitement to walk out today and find these two gorgeous blooms.

I know this sounds strange but when I looked on these delicate gifts of nature I flashed on Mary at the tomb. How she expected to find a dry, dark and empty place of pain and sorrow. Instead she finds a Savior. How she runs to her brothers in Christ and cries out with surprise and joy, “I have seen the Lord!”

Mother Teresa prayed, “Dear Jesus, Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you. None of it will be ours. It will be you shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by shining on those around us…Amen.”

Today I encourage you to let our Savior shine through you. Surprise another with His beauty, His love. I know many of you today are facing some tough decisions in your relationships. While others have to wait for a doctor’s diagnosis. Some of you are on the verge of surgery. You may feel lonely, lost and to be honest afraid. But the reality and the surprising truth is…you are not alone! Today you can shine, you can bloom, you can take courage because you have the Risen Lord in your life and brothers and sisters in Christ to stand with you on this path!

And now dear God send me to my labor and my duty with the confidence and grace to transform this day into something which is pleasing to you. Amen.

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We have this gorgeous garden in the front of our sanctuary. We put it in ten years ago and has now grown to maturity and is a very peaceful and restful addition to our worship facility. Problem…very few people use it.

Oh on Sundays a few stop and look at the water fall. Some actually read their Bibles and others take the opportunity to pray. But…most of the time I spend hours monitoring the school children heading home and trying to keep them from chucking rocks in the garden pool.

The other day a repair man was here to look at our gutters and what needed to be done to maintain them. He said, “What a beautiful garden.” I replied “yes, and too bad more people didn’t TAKE the opportunity to stop and enjoy it.”

He laughed and said, “Just like the gutters.” He saw my confusion and went on to say, “No one notices the gutters until they start to leak. No one ever looks up.”

Chief Seattle was born along the Puget Sound and worked for peace for his people and those coming to settle in the area during the 1830s. He labored to integrate faith within his culture and traditions. He said this, “Humankind did not weave the web of life. We are but one strand within it. Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves.”

I guess what I’m trying to say that as you travel this path God has for you. STOP and look around at the beauty, at the opportunities God has woven into your life. This is your chance. You may not have another.

“O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.”

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