Silver Lining....

Had my flight from Dayton to Philly delayed twice so far... which meant that I had to book a different flight (the last one for the day) from Philly to Salisbury.  That is really frustrating!   Means that I won't get in to Salisbury until 11:38 p.m.

But the silver lining for me was that while I am here at the airport, I had the opportunity to reconnect with some special pastor friends of mine who have been out of the country for about 15 years.  It was wonderful to have 2.5 hours or so to visit and catch up!  They are now here in the Dayton area pastoring two churches as interim... on an anglo church and one a hispanic church.  Cool to be with them.

Looking forward to being home sometime tonight!

What a Relief!

Part of our time here at Quaker Hill Retreat Center has been focused on self-care and as part of that they brought in a massage therapist.  Last night he focused on my right side of the face and today it was free-er!  I can almost whistle. And all day it was tingling and twitching which the last time that happened, was indication that it was releasing more!  So, tonight one of the persons who was scheduled to have a massage canceled so, I got to have a second session.  The therapist was happy to hear that it was helpful!  It felt so wonderful!

WONDERFUL!

Just had the gift of a massage!  What a gift!  Had him work on my facial muscles and wow that felt good.  Hoping to see a acupuncturist this week too!  Maybe I will be able to whistle soon.  And can finally put this paralysis from Bells Palsy behind me!

Very much enjoying my time here in Indiana with my new Advance Foundations of Church Leadership Cohort!  Two more days!

5th Neighborhood Pork Roast Is History!

Yesterday was Community of Joy's 5th Neighborhood Pork Roast and Fun Fest!  What a good day it was!  The weather held off and was cooler than we thought it would be.  The friends came and enjoyed.  The congregation stepped up to the plate and served our guests and each other and as always the Pork was Fabulous!

Lots of great connections happened yesterday!  And that is what the day is about... creating an environment where our neighbors and friends can come to enjoy a good time and connect with each other.

Thanks to all who worked so hard to pull off such a great event!  It is impressive!  And it makes me so proud to be one of the Pastors of Community of Joy!  Couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with!

Headed to Seminary again...

Decided to take part in an Pastors Cohort around the topic of Church Leadership and I am heading to Bethany Seminary.  I graduated from Bethany in 1990 but since then it has moved to Richmond, Indianna from Chicago. 

Looking forward to the time away and the learnings that will come!  Excited to see the new seminary and some of my former classmates who now work there!  

The next four days should be filled with learning opportunities!

Joy Comes From Obedience...

Spent some time this morning with a gentleman who has recently started participating in Community of Joy... and listened as he shared story after story of how God has transformed his life and now works in and through him in amazing ways!

This gentleman came from nothing and even dipped lower than that when God got his attention and turned it all around.  What a testimony! 

Over and over for the better part of an hour my brother shared story after story of ways God was working through him to bless others and through others to bless him.  He laughed and smiled and was truly honored to be part of God's work! 

Two things struck me in our time together... He was filled with Joy and that Joy came from his obedience to God's leading in his life!  

Want Joy?   Obey God's leading in your life... and it will be yours beyond measure!

Growing and Growing....

Bible Study continues to grow.... last night there were 17 of us.  And besides the numbers... we are growing in our faith and in our relationship with Jesus!  It has been a great journey as we began the gospel of Mark in the begining of the year and we are still in Chapter 14.  Not sure where we will go next might just be Matthew or maybe John.  But it will be one of the gospels as we continue our year long (lifelong) theme of Taking Jesus Seriously!

It is so neat to see how people are growing and growing!  What a blessing it is to our lives to be able to gather in a circle around the Bible and allow God to speak to us!

Pushing past how...

Just started reading Rick McKinley's new book called "A Kingdom Called Desire: Confronted by the Love of a Risen King," and found this quote to be provokative.

"We have traded in a great spiritual lifelong adventure with Jesus for religious chores that we can check off our list.  The deeper questions that deal with the mystery of following Jesus - the parables that leave us puzzled, the art of being in Christ in a world of doing things for Christ, the dilemmas of pain and suffering - these questions get thrown out because we are too busy checking off our boxes, proving we are Christians.  In throwing out the deepr questions we trade in the deeper desires for the cheaper ones."

Chew on that a while...

A Beautiful Day...despite the weather.

Yesterday, Sharon officiated a wedding for a co-worker and it was absolutely lovely!  The weather was cool, cloudy, and windy, but that didn't detract from the beauty and elegance of the wedding.  It was held at Baywood Golf Course in Longneck, DE and what a beautiful setting and a great place to have a wedding.  The food was superb too!

It was fun to be part of this special day... as the bride and groom seemed to be enjoying and savoring every moment!  So neat to see!

I sat near the front and took pictures with my new nikon professional camera... just to get some practice.  These are unedited.

Pork Roast coming fast....

Sunday will be our annual Neighborhood Pork Roast and Fun Fest.  It is our major neighborhood outreach.  Everything is FREE! 

Good Food... and opportunity to meet new people... Cornhole .... face painting.... big bounce... live music....pleasant weather... what more could you ask for?

This year we are delighted to have invited the staff and faculty as well as the 4th and 5th graders and their families for Pinehurst Elementary School... we are their faith based partners.  We hope this will allow us an opportunity to further deepen our connection with the school.  We have enjoyed all our opportunites to bless the school this past year.

The weather forcast for Sunday looks phenominal!  Hope it holds!  And if you are in the area... join us!

Judas

Last night at our Bible Study, we looked at Mark 14:1-11.  In that is the begining of Judas' jounrey toward betraying Jesus.  Someone asked the question last night... Since Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, why did Jesus allow Judas to be one of his followers?

Good question!

Have you ever wondered that?

I hadn't.

But what a powerful warning it is to all of us.  Jesus welcomes everyone to follow him!  But like Judas, we have a choice.   Will we follow or will we turn another direction.  It is our decision.  Jesus does not manipulate us!  God has given us free will and allows us to live in the consequences of our decisions.

Judas could not handle his decision to betray Jesus.  He couldn't bring himself to return to Jesus to seek forgiveness, so he took his own life.  When we find ourselves on a road that is not following Jesus, we also have a choice... we can repent and seek Jesus' forgiveness or we can keep going on that road.  Continuing to follow that road leads us to destruction as well!  But repenting and seeking forgiveness brings on a whole new day!

Still Happening....

Yesterday marked the 7th month that I have had effects from the Bells Palsy.  Still can't whistle but can now spit.  Not using eye drops as much now either.... so there is some improvement but not 100 % yet.    Getting closer all the time... I can actually feel the muscles loosening and giving me more mobility in my mouth and cheek.

What a journey!

Lots

Lots of thoughts swimming in my head!  Especially after crossing the 10th anniversary of 9-11.  I grieve for all the loss of life that has happened from that day forward.  There are families in lots of countries that are mourning now due to the senseless killings of their loved ones.

Also mourning with my community on the senseless death of a beloved english teacher. 

Praying for the families all over the world that are mourning tonight!

Keeping Company....

I am about to embark on a journey... not sure it is what I was hoping it would be... but time will tell.  It is a 2 year journey of conversations on Leadership through a grant at Bethany Seminary called Advance Foundations of Church Leadership.  I will share this journey with several other pastors.

As part of the first gathering in September, we are to read two books (just got them last week) and yesterday I found out we also have to write a 15-20 page paper in the next 17 days!

Anyways... in one of the books, "Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us." by Adele Calhoun, she talks about Spiritual diciplines helping us to "keep company with Jesus".  I really like that image.

What if all of us who call ourselves Christian spent our days "keeping company with Jesus"?  Not only our lives but our world would be transformed!

You don't get...

You don't get a second chance to make a first impression!  So true!

After hearing lots of good things about the bakery at a new Coffee Shop in town... Sharon and I went there this morning for breakfast.  Which means I went hungry until 9 a.m. when she finally was up and ready.... the anticipation was huge on my part.

LOVED the location and the ambiance!  Was so looking forward to sitting on the deck by the pond and enjoying a great baked good and some coffee.

Imagine my shock when the bakery cabinet was nearly empty.  The owners must have read my mind and both gave an excuse at the same time... one said, "we didn't expect to be open today." and the other said that their baker was moving today.  That absolutely stunk!

So, having gone there for the baked goods and not having any there... we turned around and walked out the door!

On my way out... I thought... you never get a second chance to make a first impression!