There is 'Goodness and Light'

I learned this year that one of my favorite Christmas songs was written during a very uncertain time in our country and world’s history. Noel Regney wrote the lyrics and Gloria Shayne composed the music. The pair was married at the time, and wrote “Do You Hear What I Hear?” in October 1962 as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney was inspired to write the lyrics, “Said the night wind to the little lamb, ‘Do you see what I see?’” and “Pray for peace, people everywhere,” after watching babies being pushed in strollers on the sidewalks of New York City. Shayne stated in an interview years later that neither could personally perform the entire song at the time they wrote it because of the emotions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. “Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of nuclear war at the time.”

The song describes how the word of the birth of the baby Jesus is relayed to higher upon ever higher authority. The message originates with the night wind, which whispers to the little lamb. The lamb reports the message to the shepherd, who in turn conveys the news to the king. The king eventually spreads the message to “people everywhere.”

Bing Crosby made the song into a hit when he recorded his own version of it on October 21, 1963 - approximately one month before John F. Kennedy was assassinated,

Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassination of a president; the unspeakable massacre of 20 children and 7 adults in Newtown, Connecticut - sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it? And yet none of these tragic events could discontinue God’s love and erase the hope that is eternally present because of God’s presence in the world - Emmanuel, God with us!

The free will of human beings is a gift given but when abused becomes an unspeakable evil. My mentor and teacher, Dr. Fred Craddock, said it best when he defined sin as “good out of place.” “Free will” out of place becomes the death of a president in 1963 and a massacre of precious children and their teachers/leaders in 2012. “Free will” in its proper place became a nuclear war averted and peace in 1962.

“Pray for Peace, people everywhere. Listen to what I say. The child, the child, sleeping in the night; He will bring us goodness and light. He will bring us goodness and light.”

Merry Christmas! I love you all - Dr. Terry Walton, senior pastor, GFUMC

Finding Yourself in the Scriptures

The Gospels are among the most familiar texts of the Bible and the easiest to over-read. We have a tendency when the readings are comfortable to breeze through them and not to read as intentionally as we do when we encounter less familiar Scripture. Did you notice the similarities and the differences among the stories and sermons of Jesus? Just how many people did he feed with loaves and fish; was it 4,000 or 5,000? Or was it more like 10,000 if you consider the women and children present? And did Jesus deliver his sermon on the plain or the mount, or both?

I find that if I stop and read intentionally, a familiar text can challenge me in new and deeper ways. How is it that the same story I heard as a child, then as a young adult, is just as relevant in my life today as it was in years prior. What is it about a simple story of two brothers that has the ability to inspire, convict, challenge, and encourage me all at the same time? How is that one time in my life I identified with the younger brother coming home to the undeserved love of a father; and now, far too often, find myself in the role of the older brother who is keeping score and ungrateful for blessings and a love that knows no limits?

How and where are you finding yourself in the Scriptures? Are you sitting at the feet of Jesus listening or are you rushing around trying to get everything done? Are you hanging on for dear life in the midst of the storm? Or has God challenged you to step out into the storm and trust that as long as you keep your eyes on Him all will be well? Or, are you meeting with Jesus at night like Nicodemus striving to understand just how God can bring new life from within you?

Just as the men walking the road to Emmaus encountered the risen Lord, may each of us find ourselves in the company of the One who loves us best so we never have to journey through this life alone. - Rev. Kathy Lamon, Pastor of Congregational Care, Older Adults and Outreach

We Made It!

It has been a long haul, hasn’t it? When we embarked on this journey through the Bible last January how many of us really thought about the length of time it would take us to read through the Old Testament? I know I didn’t. And I never dreamed how challenging some of the reading would be. Honestly, I think it will take some time to digest several of these stories of our faith and find an appropriate place for them in my faith story. I think that’s a good thing. God created us as thinking, questioning and creative creatures. I hope to honor that legacy by working hard at understanding who God is and what God is trying to teach me when I encounter a redeeming Creator who seems neither redemptive nor creative.

But that is for the days and months to come. Now we have arrived. We are into the New Testament. We are counting on the familiar, the predictable, the comfortable – for names we can pronounce and stories we remember and want to retell. Who among us can’t wait to read the wonderful stories of Jesus’ birth and ministry, or the wildly unlikely and successful ministry of the disciples as they began the early church? Paul has words of advice and caution to offer new disciples and growing churches. James keeps us grounded in a life of active faith, while John helps us to see the possibilities, challenges, and promises of God’s redemptive work coming to final fulfillment in the New Jerusalem.

We are going to enjoy reading this! No more confusing visions or un-Godlike demands. Don’t be too sure or get too comfortable. I caution us to keep thinking and questioning. God has a way of surprising us when we least expect it. I wonder what new insights we will gain on our way through the New Testament? I suspect that we will uncover an important truth along the way - That God is the same in Canaan as in Corinth, in Edom as in Ephesus, in Goshen as in Galilee. I hope I am ready to encounter anew God’s living Word.

Keep reading! - Rev. Debby Fox, Pastor of Christian Education and Discipleship

Somewhere 'Out There'

Those of you who know me well know that I’m a (small-time) collector of folk pottery and folk art. Folk art is, I suppose, an acquired taste. It’s pretty “out there” in terms of color, mediums, and subject matter. Those of you who know folk art know that folk artists are generally untrained, and can sometimes be pretty “out there” themselves. Those who are really “out there” are known as Outsider Artists. Their art is described as art created outside the boundaries of official culture. Often, outsider art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasies or visions.


I’ve met two of those outsider artists. I met the late Howard Finster when I served churches in Chattooga County. Finster was born at Valley Head, Alabama, and lived on the family farm as one of 13 children. He attended school from age six into the sixth grade, and became a Baptist preacher at the age of 16. He had his first vision at age three, when he saw his recently deceased sister Abbie Rose walking down out of the sky wearing a white gown. She told him, "Howard, you're gonna be a man of visions." He was. And he expressed those visions in art. His art laid bare the exquisite pain he felt for a world turning its back on God.

Missionary Mary Proctor is a hoot! I met her in Atlanta, and talked (listened) to her at an art show. Mary was a self-described "Junk Dealer" for years, until a tragedy struck her family. Her grandmother, aunt and uncle were all killed in a house fire. Shortly after this, a grief-stricken Mary was given a vision. A voice told her to paint one of the many old doors in her junkyard. Mary listened to the voice and soon found herself painting everything she could find. Her art is filled with visions of angels, peace, and hope. She is a self-proclaimed missionary for God through art.

Both artists were deeply affected by tragedy, and both found faith-filled ways to respond to that pain.

Reading Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel, evokes in me those folk-art raw responses. Lamentations gives the Jewish people a form and a vocabulary for dealing with the loss and pain that came with the devastation of Jerusalem and exile to Babylon. Ezekiel saw in wild and unforgettable images what the Jewish people couldn’t or wouldn’t see - God at work in a catastrophic era. In a time when the circumstances gave no reason to obey or trust God, Daniel’s stories and visions supplied what society did not. Daniel shot adrenaline into the veins of God-obedience.

Sometimes conventional perception is not sufficient to convey the message. - Dr. Steve Winter, Executive Pastor

God Offers A New Beginning

“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”  Isaiah 55:6 

Dear Friends,

 

I am sorry to report that I am once again behind in my reading! I could provide you with some very good excuses and reasons why this is the case – but I won’t bore you with those! Just wanted you to know, if you are behind, you are not alone!! 

 

Join me – in either carving out some time to catch up or just jump ahead to where we are today and start again! God rejoices when we ask for help in starting over – in fact, God is an expert at offering grace and second chances! 

 

Which is exactly what we find ourselves reading about in this month’s reading of the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. The life of a prophet was not an easy one, they were chosen by God to proclaim God’s Word – to God’s people. As you read through the prophets (we are about to embark on several weeks of prophets) you will see a pattern that repeats itself over and over – it goes something like this:

 

- God loves the people and makes a covenant to be with them always.

- The people rebel, turn away from God and sin.

- God sends a prophet to call them to repentance; to turn from their sin and back to God.

- The people repent. 

- God forgives and renews his covenant.

Sound familiar? It is the same pattern I find myself in not only with my attempts at reading the Bible through the year but with my daily living. God reaches out to me with love and I am grateful and eager to follow Jesus. But then sin gets in the way and I turn away from God and try to do things my own way. Thankfully, God pursues me and seeks me out – even in my sin - and invites me back into right relationship. I ask for forgiveness and God forgives me and we start again. 

And I find myself often whispering a prayer of thanksgiving: “Thank you God for your gift of your mercy and forgiveness.”  I am so grateful for the hope we have in knowing that no matter how far we may stray, no matter how rebellious we may become – God continues to seek us out, to love us, and to offer us a fresh start and a new beginning.

Keep on keeping on – God has not given up on us!!! - Rev. Wendy Cordova, Pastor of Evangelism and Lay Ministry 

On a Faith Journey

It was in the summer of 2000 and the tunnel that I was walking through was so black I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed…

Earlier that day we decided to join with a small group from our tour group. This was our free day to explore some of the ancient sites around Jerusalem on our own. Although we wore our sturdy walking shoes, we were not told that we also needed to bring a flashlight for the final stop of our day. The last stop was an ancient water passage, Hezekiah’s Tunnel. It was mentioned in our readings of Isaiah in chapters 7 and 8, and also mentioned in II Kings 20 and in II Chronicles 32.

In Isaiah, this tunnel is referred to as Shiloah. It is a little aqueduct that carries water from the Spring of Gihon to a pool inside the city wall of Jerusalem filling the Pool of Siloam. The tunnel was built as a means of providing a safe supply of drinking water inside the city walls. According to an inscription in ancient Hebrew script found in the tunnel, in 700 BC, two teams began at opposite ends, dug toward each other in the bedrock and met.

This very aqueduct we were about to walk (sometimes in water up to our thighs) was the one King Ahaz was probably examining as Isaiah challenged the lack of faith of Israel in 700 BC, almost 3,000 years before in the book of Isaiah!

That dark walk was about a third of a mile through the bedrock. I am told that IF you have a flashlight you can still see the tool marks on the walls. However we had none. Our friends had gone ahead and the gatekeepers that let us into the tunnel to walk had locked us in and disappeared. We had only one choice, forward. My sister had injured her knee, tearing her ACL just before we left for Israel. Determined to go with us, she had the doctor fit her with a knee brace to steady her knee and had been in quite a lot of pain throughout the trip. We had no choice but to begin the walk, so she placed one hand on my shoulder and one against the wall to steady herself and together we began our journey down the passage. All we could “see” as we crept forward was what we could feel through our fingers as we felt our way along the walls, the tilt of the ground underneath our feet as we carefully chose our steps and our hair as it brushed against the ceiling in places…..it was truly a faith walk.

As we began the descent we didn't know the length of the tunnel or what we would find. We also had to fight an increasing sense of panic in the darkness. To combat that feeling we began to sing, mostly hymns, as we carefully made our way through the tunnel. Often I would have to give directions to my sister to help her navigate each step, "OK, there's a small ledge and you'll step down." We sang and encouraged each other every step of the journey which seemed to us to last for hours until finally we began to see the faith glow of sunlight ahead. As we emerged from the darkness, I can still recall the picture of children playing in the water, laughing and splashing each other and the relief we felt as we walked into the sunlight.

Isn't that just like our journey of life? There are many times we may find ourselves moving into places that are unknown and often we feel ill-equipped for the journey. Yet when we trust in God he can lead and coach us through those dark and anxious times to a place of light and wonder.

The gentle stream of Shiloh was to Isaiah a symbol of quiet and confident faith in Yahweh, whose kingdom is more powerful and everlasting than the mightiest empires. (Isaiah 8:6) - Rev. Kathy Lamon, Pastor of Congregational Care and Older Adults

Feeling 'Called'

Author Ann H. Smith writes, "The Bible is full of people who protested when God called them. While some like Isaiah say, "Here am I; send me," many give God excuses for why he has made a poor selection. Jeremiah's excuse is his age. Although God tells him that before Jeremiah was born, he was set apart as a prophet, Jeremiah balks at his call.

Pastor of North Point Church, Andy Stanley says, "I never really felt called to ministry as much as my friends did. They would go down front after a worship service and tell my dad, 'I feel called to ministry.' ...And I used to think, 'I'm not feeling that.' I can remember trying to feel called to ministry - whatever that meant. Almost jealous of these guys who had such certainty about what God wanted them to do. I just didn't. And I think I was afraid.

"So one day - I was probably a sophomore or junior in college - riding with my dad somewhere in our Grand Safari station wagon, I said, 'Dad, do you have to feel called to ministry? Or can you volunteer?' He turned to me and said, 'I think you can volunteer.' I said, 'Well, I'd like to volunteer. I don't know if I'm called or not.' That was it. That was my big moment. No angels. No voices."

Whether we feel called to a "God idea" or we are simply willing to volunteer, this book of the Prophet Jeremiah helps us. It helps us because "God's ideas" are most always bigger ideas than "human ideas." And that means they are full of challenge and spiritual sweating. God's ideas pull us away from our "comfort zones" into God's "blessing zones." If I will (and maybe you, too) just be willing to go and do what the Lord leads us to do, then we will find blessing.

Jeremiah's task is difficult. He has to speak some hard words to a people as they move into and through a period of captivity. It is hard to speak of "God's ideas" when all is falling around you. It is also hard to listen for God's word when life is caving.

God bless the "Jeremiahs" whether they feel called or whether they simply volunteer.

Read on my friends. Good news is coming! - Dr. Terry Walton, Senior Pastor