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Three Prayers and the Stirring at Asbury

February 22, 2023/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen
I am not sure where my “creative juices” have gone lately, but I read this post this morning and knew it needed a wider audience.  I echo what Eric has to say  and it a message I am hearing with more and more frequency.  I invite you to join me, and others in joining to pray for God to do a new work in our land.  As we all know, it is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God that this world will be changed.
Feb 20 

Written By Alliance of Reformed Churches

Many of us have been captivated by the stirrings of the Spirit that are happening at Asbury University.  Apparently after an ordinary Wednesday chapel, some students felt led to linger, simply wanting to remain in prayer and worship.  More and more students started to join in, others who were thirsty for more of the Lord, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Now, hundreds of people are going to Kentucky to join in, thousands are watching from around the world.  What in the world is happening?  What does this mean for the Church?

I am certainly no expert on movements of the Spirit, but I personally see what is happening at Asbury as the beginning of God answering the prayers of His people.  Many have been praying for a movement of the Spirit at this crucial time in history.  Following are three prayers that the Lord has laid on my heart and I invite you to pray them with me.

Prayer #1: RENEWAL by the PRESENCE of God:

This prayer has been focused on the leaders of the Church.  Pastoring was demanding enough prior to the Pandemic, but post-Covid it has felt particularly difficult.  Many churches that shut down are not reopening.  Many pastors have simply left the ministry; studies indicate an unprecedented number are considering leaving.  God’s people, especially leaders, desperately need to be renewed.

I believe what is taking place at Asbury University is a renewal movement for his leaders, particularly for this younger generation that is preparing for leadership in His Church.  In one of my favorite passages of scripture, Paul teaches us that the ministry of the Spirit isn’t just rebirth, which happens at the beginning of our new lives, but that His ongoing ministry is renewal:

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our savior… Titus 3:4-6 (NIV)

This is one of the key ministries of the Holy Spirit. This difficult world has been pressing in on us in some pretty overwhelming ways and we desperately need His touch and blessing. The Lord wants to be our good shepherd and he invites us, just like he did David, to times of refreshment and renewal.  David confessed, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul…” (Psalm 23:1-3a NKJV).

As I have watched and worshiped along with Asbury, I have noticed it is not formulaic, there are no formulas to these things, but what one could call a “sacred rhythm.”  They are walking through a rhythm of confession (including testimony), celebration (adoration and praise) and commissioning (a sending out). This is something that you can pray along with Asbury or in your living room.  Your green pasture can be anywhere, by yourself or with others.

As we seek the sweet presence of the Lord, he will renew our weary souls.  As Peter preached in those early days, so the Lord invites us now: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you – even Jesus” (Acts 3:19-20).

Prayer #2: REFORMATION by the WORD of God:

A renewal movement like that of Asbury will change things.  As my friend who is a pastor in a Methodist denomination said, “Whatever else happens from this movement of the Spirit, these students will be ruined for the things of the world.”  How exciting!

The Church has a rich history of the Lord calling His bride back to the truth.  The Reformation as well as the Civil Rights movement in our own country had leaders that were filled with the Spirit, calling the Church back to the scriptures and the revelation of the Word.

This prayer is for His Church in particular.  In my view, there are several pockets of the Church that have lost, or are losing, the authority of the Word in their lives.  Whole denominations are changing not just their practices but their statements of belief.  They are not reforming to the Word but are reforming to the culture around us.

This Asbury renewal is going to change these students, but it could transform His Church around the world.  He is calling us back to the Word as the final authority in our lives.  This movement could bring these wayward churches and denominations back from the brink of their lampstands being removed.  Just as Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, so he is saying to us, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).

So how do we pray in response to this?  We study, meditate upon and pray the scriptures.  Again, Paul exhorts us here: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

Prayer #3:  REVIVAL by the POWER of GOD: 

This prayer is for our broken world.  When the worldwide pandemic happened, many people asked if this was the beginning of end times and the return of Christ. I know that I wasn’t the only one to preach through the book of Revelation since 2020.  I don’t have a definitive answer to this question, but I do know that I started to have the sense that God was preparing his people, His Church and His World for another great awakening.

Our nation in particular has a history of some incredible revivals and awakenings, where the power of the Spirit seemed to move in the same ways that the early church experienced.  Our world is in desperate need for the Spirit of Christ to bring healing to the nations at every level: physical, emotional and spiritual.

There are two important invitations from the scriptures that relate to the power of the Spirit.  The first was an invitation from Paul to Christians: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit…” (Ephesians 5:18).            Again, this was an invitation to Christians.  We are baptized once in the Spirit, but we can be filled again and again.  For we have all “been given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13).  So let’s drink of His Spirit by asking for His fresh infilling – we get to ask for His empowerment for life and ministry.

And secondly, we get to ask for His gifts for life and ministry.  Again from Paul: “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Much of the Church doesn’t do this, either from an incomplete understanding of the Holy Spirit or a theology that lacks good biblical foundations.

Yes, the Spirit is going to do what He wills to do, but we are invited to ask, seek and knock.  We get to posture ourselves for whichever way He wants to work – whether it is to bring renewal, reformation or revival.

-Eric Carpenter

Sanctified Subversion

August 5, 2022/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

It has been a while since I posted here.  Been a little crazy with the pandemic and trying to know how to serve in the midst of chaos.  I was looking through old files today and found this blog I had written some time ago.  However, it still rings true with me and who I am, so I trust that God will enable this to help you move forward in your leadership and discipleship.

First a little self disclosure.  I am really a closet Hippie!  I grew up a bit too late to hang out on Haight Ashbury neighborhood, although in full disclosure I have driven past it.  I also have to say, I have been to Berkley, (although I was in High School, and it was a marching band competition).  Despite all that my “Hippie” credentials include growing my hair longer than allowed by the school dress code (major infraction in 1971.)  But most impressive, I spent time with the original Hippies who started the Church in the Park to which our current Christian music scene owes some allegiance.  So I am not a real hippie, as someone put it if you remember the 60s you were either too young or too old.  I was too young.  However, because I am a native Californian, and there is something in the atmosphere that tends to generate some unusual ideas, this concept of sanctified subversion strikes me.  The goal of the Hippie generation was to drop out, not to change the world directly, but indirectly, hence they were subversive in ways that the mainline culture didn’t know, or really appreciate, and the current set of Christian musicians came from this “subversive” stock.

 

What do I mean by that term “subversive”?  We all know what subversives are, but we picture people in remote places with computer terminals trying to hack into our computer and steal our banking information.  No one really imagined it might be those were the kids hanging out on the street corners, driving psychedelic Volkswagen Vans.  No one really cared for the ones who had love beads and roach clips around their necks, and many of the older generation would tell them to go out and get a job, because there was something unsettling about a person who did not follow the traditional system of the day. But, this attitude, this behavior has subtly changed the world we know today in ways that we may not even know.  However, subversion is really not an attribute we generally associate with Christianity, but maybe we need to think about that again.

 

For you see this is not the 1950s anymore.  The culture does not revolve around the schedule of Sunday morning and Wednesday night.  When was the last time the schools let students go early from school to attend a religious activity sponsored by a church?  (Before you think I am throwing schools under the bus, not this guy, they at least respect a Wednesday night, Sunday mornings religious effort)  But with the increase separation of church and state, no release time religious activities, like I did as a child in the 60s even in secular California.  No the times they have changed, and so the church of Jesus Christ, if it is to survive, must change as well, and this is where my call to sanctified subversion comes from.

 

Let me put a definition in place:  “Thus it is misleading and finally counterproductive for us to fixate on the dramatic act, the quick fix, the heroic stand.  Church as a way of life is incremental obedience, passion subdued but sustained over years.  It is discipleship for the long haul over a road that is inevitably bumpy and includes detours, switchbacks and delays… Church is a way of life lived not with the expectation that Christians can through managerial arts or sudden heroism, make the world right.  It is instead a way of life lived in the confidence that God has, in the kingdom of Christ, begun to set the world right, and that someday Christ will bring his kingdom to fulfillment …  Accordingly, worship and the spiritual disciplines of  prayer, fasting and Bible study are ways we gracefully fail to absorb the distorted ethic of the world system…” What we can hope to do, most often and over the long haul, is survive it and subvert it to its own good.  What we are about might then be called sanctified subversion.”   Now that comment comes from a book published in the 1990s.  If that statement about no quick fix was appropriate then, how much more now!  You see I have stated for years that the Church cannot win the day with the right Supreme Court Candidates, or by electing the right person to the White House.  We will never promote the cause of Christ via political action.  You see Jesus did not send his disciples out to run for Emperor of the Roman Empire, not even to candidate to become part of the Senate.  He said go into all the world and make disciples!  He sent them out to subvert the common order of life.  He sent men and women out to make a difference, by being different.

 

What does this look like?  First of all church is a way of life.  So ask yourself, if you identify with someone who is a member of a local church, what is there that sets my life apart from the rest of the world.  Now I am not suggesting that this means a distinctive dress code, or some prescribed lifestyle.  But what is there in your life that sets you apart?  Or is there something that sets my life apart from those who are outside of the church?  I believe that if we are part of the body of Christ, a self identified member of the Church that there will be times when we cannot do what others are doing.  There are going to be times when we cannot afford to pay what others pay for things.  Why?  Because of our commitment first to Jesus Christ.  Again that doesn’t mean you have to wear specific clothing or subscribe to a particular doctrine.  But ask yourself, what is there that sets my life apart?

 

Second where do you place your confidence?  What are you confident about?  I read a book a while back or should I admit I read parts of it, it has a rather long title: The True and Only Heaven, Progress and Its Critics.  It is an interesting book as the author critiques the idea that the world is getting progressively better and better.  That the more educated we become, the more we learn, the better the world gets is a simplified version of what he is challenging.  However, remember Dr. Martin Luther King?  Toward the end of his life, he made a shift in his thinking: “Near the end of his life, King told his old Montgomery congregation that that he was no longer an optimist, although he still had hope… He had seen too much suffering to embrace the dogma of progress, even though he was always careful to explain that he objected only to theories of ‘automatic’ or ‘inevitable’ progress and to ‘false’, superficial optimism”.  I have pondered that comment for some time since I first read it.  He was no longer optimistic, but he had hope.  He was not optimistic that he could/would end racism in his time, not have we done much better.  But he had hope that the God he served, would set things right.  Where is your confidence?  If your confidence in the idea that if you do the right things, say the right words, or attend the right events that life will be alright?  Or do you live each day in the hope that the God who called you is faithful and he is working out his plan in your life and in the world around you?  Maybe your hope is that if you do the right things, say the right things and believe the right way, life will be easy, and God will bless you?  Maybe, but is that optimism or hope?  Maybe God isn’t really all that interested in his people being happy and content?  Maybe when we get happy and content we get lazy?  Could it be that God is most interested in our depending on him?  Could it be that God is most excited when we have nothing left but hope in Him?  What would happen to our culture if we as the body of Christ actually lived that way?

 

The final part of this subversive plan is how do you nurture your spiritual life through worship and the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and Bible study?  Before you think I am going to put you on a guilt trip and want to know if you are in worship on a given weekend, think again.  You see I am subversive, and if you went down that road, maybe you need to listen to that prompt, but know it is not from me.  But what you are doing?  You see in congregation I served there was a recognition of an increasingly mobile congregation and difficulty in doing regular Christian education.  Did we give up? No, we have adopted some more mobile approaches to teaching.  Some people would criticize that because we are not engaging in “Christian Education” as we didn’t have a Sunday School program.  Let me ask you this when did discipleship become education?  When did the learning and modeling Christ like behaviors and attitudes become acquainted with knowing and repeating some set of doctrine to a group of leaders in a church?  If you want subversive, ask yourself is my church life, is my dedication to prayer, worship, fasting and Bible Study leading me to become a wholly devoted follower of Jesus Christ or not?  Maybe as you read that, you start to realize that you have not been faithful in worship of any sort, be it an organized church or a small group/home church worship environment.  You might begin to consider that it has been a long time since I opened that Bible I have in my house to ask what God might have to say to me today.  You see this is not some mysterious book that holds hidden secrets.  God somehow has decided to use this record of his interaction with his people to speak to people like you and I thousands of years after they were first recorded.  Now, do I need to go into fasting and prayer?

 

You see if we want to change the world, if we want to follow the direction of the Rend Collective song and change the atmosphere of the world, it will not be done by lobbying congress, or the South Dakota legislature.  However, if we are willing to be a bit subversive, and follow the way the church has changed the world in days gone by, then maybe, just maybe we can make a difference.  If we do that, it won’t matter if we ever visit Haight Ashbury or not, I can tell you I have been there and it is really not that great.  However, I am confident that if the Church would go back to its strengths of worship, prayer, study and fasting that some great things could take place.  But I am not a bit optimistic that this will happen, but I have hope, and that hope is in God and Him alone.  Because of that I remain forever a subversive!  It is my prayer that I will remain a sanctified subversive.

HOW THE VIRUS STOLE EASTER

March 30, 2021/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

It isn’t often that I post things like this, but I saw this when I opened my email this morning and realized what we need more than another sermon or blog on holding firm is a reason to celebrate!  Enjoy this little poem, but I hope that more than enjoyment you will begin to think about what does Easter really mean for us as the Body of Christ and men and women called to lead others to celebrate the resurrection.

HOW THE VIRUS STOLE EASTER

By Kristi Bothur

With a nod to Dr. Seuss

From: https://www.thissideofheavenblog.com/blog/

 

Twas late in ’19 when the virus began,
Bringing chaos and fear to all people, each land.

People were sick, hospitals full,
Doctors overwhelmed, no one in school.

As winter gave way to the promise of spring, The virus raged on, touching peasant and king.

People hid in their homes from the enemy unseen.
They YouTubed and Zoomed, social-distanced, and cleaned.

April approached and churches were closed.
“There won’t be an Easter,” the world supposed.

“There won’t be church services, and egg hunts are out.
No reason for new dresses when we can’t go about.”

Holy Week started, as bleak as the rest.
The world was focused on masks and on tests.

“Easter can’t happen this year,” they proclaimed.
“Online and at home, it just won’t be the same.”

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the days came and went.
The virus pressed on; it just would not relent.

The world woke Sunday and nothing had changed.
The virus still menaced, the people, estranged.

“Pooh pooh to the saints,” the world was grumbling.
“They’re finding out now that no Easter is coming.

“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!
Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, And then all the saints will all cry boo-hoo.

“That noise,” said the world, “would be something to hear.”
So it paused and the world put a hand to its ear.

And it did hear a sound coming through all the skies.
It started down low, then it started to rise.

But the sound wasn’t depressed.
Why, this sound was triumphant!

It couldn’t be so!
But it grew with abundance!

The world stared around, popping its eyes.
Then it shook! What it saw was a shocking surprise!

Each saint in each nation, the tall and the small, Was celebrating Jesus in spite of it all!

It hadn’t stopped Easter from coming! It came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the world with its life quite stuck in quarantine Stood puzzling and puzzling.
“Just how can it be?”

“It came without bonnets, it came without bunnies, It came without egg hunts, cantatas, or money.”

Then the world thought of something it hadn’t before.
“Maybe Easter,” it thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Easter, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

And what happened then?
Well….the story’s not done.

What will YOU do?
Will you share with that one

Or two or more people needing hope in this night?
Will you share of the source of your life in this fight?

The churches are empty – but so is the tomb, And Jesus is Victor over death, doom, and gloom.

So this year at Easter, let this be our prayer, As the virus still rages all around, everywhere.

May the world see hope when it looks at God’s people.
May the world see the Church is not a building or steeple.

May the world find Faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, May the world find Joy in a time of dejection.
May 2020 be known as the year of survival, But not only that – Let it start a revival.

————–

Copyright 2020 Kristi Bothur, This Side of Heaven Blog. Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.

Not By Might, nor by Power….

February 23, 2021/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

I was reading an article in “Psychology Today”, May/June 2020 issue.  (I know I am behind in my reading).  The article was about burnout among the medical profession.  The author documented how health care practices over the recent past have changed the way the doctors address our medical needs.   What used to be a simple doctor-patient relationship, where the doc listened sympathetically to our complaints and then worked to find the appropriate support has changed, and not for the good.  With the advent of more and more hospital systems owning the clinics.  Insurance companies dictating how much time and how much effort a doctor can put into a patient.  Increased workloads, etc., the profession, despite its pay scale is leading more and more physicians to suicide every year.  All this was happening before Covid made life even more difficult and life and death decisions more imperative.

 

By now you are wondering what I am about here.  Am I going to work to make a case for sympathy for the docs and the medical profession?  I could and it would be appropriate, but not here.  What I took away from this article was not just the pressure, and the problems, but the resistance to self-care that is endemic to the medical world.  Doctors are among the worst when it comes to caring for themselves.  Despite all their training about the body and its functions, when it comes to taking time to focus on their own health it is often not on the radar.  Does this mean that they are ignoring symptoms?  That they just do not care.  Not at all, for doctors to seek help for health problems, particular mental health issues puts their ability to practice at risk!  Not only that, but in order to keep up with the demands of the job, they have little time to be with their families, or exercise or even eat healthy meals.  While for others, the long hours means sacrificing sleep!  I wonder if you are beginning to see some parallels to your life.  The demands of a church family seem to be never ending.  There is always one more call to make, another sermon to write, a Bible Study to prepare for.  Then there is your spouse who wonders who you are married to.  Exercise?  Who has time?  Eating right, with potlucks (pre-Covid), night meetings, and late night hospital calls…   What about time away? Even if we are fortunate, enough to have vacation time in our call or contract, real time off and away is a rarity. (I realize now I had an ideal situation.  There were, at least on paper, four weeks of vacation a year and a week of study leave.) However, most of my pastoral ministry that time away was also not entirely away.  Without a secretary to manage the day-to-day stuff, there were regular calls back to check an answering machine.  Now with cell phones, unless you turn it off, and do not listen to messages, you cannot get away!  However, for many of you, that idea of five weeks paid leave is only a distant hope.  The reality is for most pastors; even scheduled vacation time is shortened due to emergencies back home, which often are never compensated, or recognized.  After a few vacations cut short due to emergencies and the board never mentions another time away, bitterness and anger can begin to build.

 

What is a pastor to do?  First, recognize that the calling, which is what ministry is, depends not on our own ingenuity or resources.  We need to take some time to meditate on the meaning of Zechariah 4:6, “…Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”  Think about Zechariah, he is facing the incredible task of rebuilding the temple.  What does God say?  You cannot do this alone; you cannot do this at all.  It requires Me!  I think that for too many of us we have become dependent on our skills, our training and our sheer will power to accomplish the task of leading the body of Christ.  Then there is the sheer volume of work expected.  I have talked to pastors who congregations expected them to work the same hours they did.  Up early and to bed late.  Keep in mind this was a farming community, but what was never factored into this load was the winter months when there were lots of flex hours, but not for the pastor!  Somewhere along the way, we have substituted hard work for prayer and meditation.  We have decided that might and power compensate for the Spirit of the Lord.  Then add to this the idea that we are “hired” by the church…  You get the idea, the “Hired hand” is supposed to work hard and be glad to get the work.  The reality is that over time, the vision of service begins to look a lot like servitude.  Most of it comes down to forgetting who it is that has called us and empowers us to do ministry.  When this happens, burn out, compassion fatigue and for some moral failure is just around the corner.

 

Lest you think that this idea of God’s empowering is strictly Old Testament ideal, listen to Paul, in Colossians 1 where we find this prayer. “…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” (Colossians 1:10, 11)  You see Paul knows we cannot serve Christ on our own power or in our own strength.  We cannot be faithful over the long haul or a ministry that should last up to and sometimes beyond 40 years without depending on the strength of the God who has called us!  Yet all too often, I know this from experience, we neglect the focus on God to do the “work” of ministry.  Neglecting to nourish the spiritual well that is our only true source of sustenance!

 

What did the docs do in my article?  Some chose to get off the corporate treadmill trading in a secure payday for a place where they could do the kind of work they saw before med school.  Others implemented tools that other docs could access anonymously to assess themselves for suicide, and then seek help, maybe in a neighboring city!  Just for the record on this website, you will find tools to help you assess your own potential for burn out.  The bottom line is that some of them, at least recognized that they could not keep doing what they had been doing and made substantial changes.  That is what you and I need to do as well.  Recognize that what we have been doing is not sustainable.  As this Covid era begins to wind down, it is time to reconnect with the one who promised to be with us always, and who promised that in his might and power we can do what he has called us to do.  However, this begins with self-care.  Taking time to get away, unplug and disconnect from the demands of ministry.  If you are not able to get out here, find a cabin or a remote campsite where you can be alone with the One who has called you.  Whatever you do, don’t think a little extra effort on your part will ever make up for time spent with the Master! Be at least as wise as our physician friends who understood that something needed to change.  What we have that many docs don’t is an understanding and empowering from the Holy Spirit.

Resources, Websites & Tools for Managing Your Health & Fitness at Home

January 6, 2021/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

Photo Credit: Pexels

 

Today I have an opportunity to welcome a guest to my Blog.  Stephanie Haywood, was gracious enough to write up some information on staying fit during this Pandemic.  If you would like to contact her directly here is here email. shaywood@mylifeboost.com

Resources, Websites & Tools for Managing Your Health & Fitness at Home

 

Yoga studios and gyms are incredible resources for staying healthy and reducing stress, but when you can’t attend in person for whatever reason, it’s time to improvise. Luckily, getting those same mental and physical health benefits from the comfort of your home can be pretty simple. You just need to know which websites and online tools to use to keep yourself healthy. To help maintain your fitness routine and protect your mental health from stress, New Trails Ministry offers some essential quarantine resources that will help.

 

Staying Active

While attending yoga or pilates classes in the studio or the gym for a regular practice or workout is ideal, sometimes you have to find new ways to be active from home. Check out these suggestions on how:

Must Have Yoga Gear for a Home Practice

How to Buy Home Pilates Gear
Cardio Workouts to Do At Home

Easy Exercises Seniors Can Do Indoors

 

Look for Ways to Stick to Healthy Eating

Stress is rampant for everyone, and it’s to revert to unhealthy eating habits when our stress levels rise. So set yourself up for nutritional success with these resources:

 

Healthy Eating for Older Adults

16 Healthiest Groceries to Buy From Costco
The Best Meal Delivery Services Near Me

Healthy & Easy Smoothies for Breakfast

Essential Supplies for Meal Prepping

 

Reduce Feelings of Stress & Tension at Home

If you’re feeling stressed right now, know that this is normal, but there are some helpful ways you can diffuse some of that tension:

 

Managing Stress with Prayer

A Checklist for Clearing Bad Energy from Your Home

Relaxation Techniques for Stress & Tension

Using Art to Relieve Stress

 

Protecting Your Sleep Quality

It’s pretty common to have sleep issues during times of extreme stress, but you need quality sleep in order to stay healthy and strong. So use these resources to get more rest:

 

How Sleep Boosts Your Immune System

How to De-Stress for Deeper Sleep

Best Essential Oils for Insomnia

Top Sleep Apps for Android & iOS

 

When you can’t get to your favorite yoga studio or gym, it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all of the health perks you get from taking care of yourself. Especially when there are so many resources online that can keep you active and keep yourself healthy.

 

 

If your ability to serve others continues to feel eclipsed by stress, depression, anger and other heady emotions, it may be time for a wilderness sabbatical through New Trails Ministry. Call or text today to see if New Trails Ministry can help.

What if Nothing Changes in 2021?

December 4, 2020/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

I wonder if we should not dub 2020 the year of the virus.  I know if is simplistic and maybe overworked.  It might also be a way to dodge the problems that many of us face.  I wonder, if we could just face up to the reality that things have changed in ways we never anticipated back in 2019, or even January 2020.  What changes if we admit this is an intractable problem that just will not go away?  What happens if we face the reality that the many of the changes that have occurred will not “reset” once we have a vaccine?  Wow, that is not what you wanted to hear from a guy who is focused on helping you become renewed and revitalized is it?  What we expect is a sense of we can get through this.  Kind of like the old disaster movies of the 70’s.  If you are old enough to remember the movie The Poseidon Adventure”,  it was a story about a cruise ship that capsizes in a tsunami. Then you follow a small group of survivors attempting to escape this disaster.  What stands out for me is the song, “The Morning After”, by  Maureen McGovern . “There’s got to be a morning after, If we can hold on through the night. We have a chance to find the sunshine, Let’s keep on looking for the light.”  If you are old enough to remember these movies, there was also one called “Towering Inferno”, “Airport”, and few others.  The theme was always about holding on through incredible odds, and at the end, everything would turn out fine.

 

I am a bit of a skeptic, but I must admit I did go to the theater to watch some of these, but what strikes me now in life is that each film held out an idea that human ingenuity and determination would always win out.  Of course, the back-story was always some other human ignored some safety standard, which puts everyone else at risk.  At the end of the movie, some unlikely hero carries the day and people return to normal.  Hence Maureen McGovern’s song about holding on through the night.  Unless I miss my guess that is what a lot of us have been doing.  If we can just hold on, everything will be all right.  However, look at the subtext of the 70’s.  Nothing was going exceptionally well.  We had the oil embargo, the Cold War was in full swing, and life was filled with anxiety.  Therefore, we turned to the movies to see disasters turn into feel good moments.  If it were not for the virus, Hollywood would probably be churning out blockbusters to distract us from the reality of life around us.  But alas, with the virus we cannot gather to worship much less pack theatres!

 

What happens when we realize life has fundamentally changed.  What is different if we know we are not going back to pre-Covid 19 reality, any time soon if at all?  Some would encourage you to focus on self-care and resilience. I for one am a strong proponent of that.  However, an article in “Psychology Today” makes me wonder if there is more at work than meets the eye.  The article that appeared in the May/June 2020 edition is “The Healers are Hurting” and details the way the medical professionals are experiencing this season.  While there is a lot of good information in the article, what caught my attention was the experience of one physician, who noted he was approaching burn out.  So he hired a coach, started yoga, changed his diet.  All the things we encourage people to do.  Here is his comment: “I felt great at the beach.  But coming back to work on Monday morning, I felt exactly the way I did before; the environment was eating away at me.” (PT, May/June, 2020) I wonder if that is not where the church is.  After all, we can practice our own personal resilience and self-care.  However, if the environment has become toxic and inflexible what can the pastor do?  I want to throw a disclaimer in here; I am not blaming anyone, or any particular situation.  The rate of change required by the virus has far exceeded our ability to adapt.  When that happens the system becomes anxious and leaders are susceptible to not just fatigue and burn out, but total loss of self.  At this point, hoping for a vaccine or some miracle is not enough.  Adapting to this is the recognition by pastors and church leaders that the system is not going to suddenly spring back to pre-Covid levels once a vaccine distributed and we achieve the fabled “Herd Immunity”.   I am of the mind that what has happened since the beginning of this year signals a shift in the world as we know it and now is the time to consider what this means for us as pastors.

 

What I am suggesting here begins with self-care and resilience.  That begins with facing the reality that none of were trained to deal with the situation we find ourselves in.  Like the early church facing persecution, the time for pointing fingers is past, the time for what is God doing and how do we join him in that is at hand.  The time for business as usual is past, the time for adaptation and innovation is at hand.  This is not something you will find in a bookstore or a pod cast. Now is the time for each congregation to begin the hard work of innovation based on our own context.  This is the time, to paraphrase an old saying, “For all good Christians to come to the aid of their communities.”  This will mean different things for different groups.  It may mean the end of silos of ministry in communities.  This may mean that large congregations will cease to exist.  Then again, I could be wrong.  My point us, as long as we attempt to maintain what was, we will find the environment stifling and restrictive.  However, if we are willing to innovate, the step outside the box, we just might find God has some exciting things for us to do, and ministry will no longer be a “burn out” position, but a life giving and invigorating place to be. I also want to add a caution in this; once again, the adjustment rate may exceed the ability of the community we serve to adapt to this change.  What that means for leaders is once again we have to put our trust in the God who called us not the place that is paying our salary.  However, if the body of Christ is to overcome the challenges it will be adaptive change, similar to the Israelites when they left Egypt. We cannot long to go back there, regardless of how difficult the journey may be.

 

At the end of the day, I may be completely missing the boat here.  You can dismiss my ramblings as that of a “has been”, washed up pastor who could not cut it, so he wandered off into the woods.  You could, and you might be right.  However, I want you to consider that God is always at work and the world has shifted dramatically since the 1950’s.  What this year might reveal is an inherent weakness in the way the church has operated and God may have given us a good swift boot to move us in a new direction.  At the end of the day, it will be history that will record the good the bad and the ugly.  It is my prayer for you that you will find the strength and resilience to continue to serve wherever God is leading.

The Church Leader’s Stress Tetrahedron

July 19, 2020/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

I don’t know about your part of the world, but out here in the Dakota’s it seems that the only news these days is “Bad News”.  The Corona Virus we figured would dissipate with the morning mist with the heat of summer seems to have rebounded with a vengeance.  Just about the time many were making plans to resume in person worship in a significant way, we find Governors banning singing in church or limiting the number of people in our building.   I wonder how many of us are anxious about what this all means for our congregations going forward.

 

What prompts my rambling today is an article I just read from the Fire Service/Emergency Responder perspective.  As some of you know, my avocation is as a Fire Chaplain, something that has been part of my life now for nearly 40 years. (Wow, it doesn’t seem that long ago when I first picked up a fire hose)  Over the years, teaching about stress in Emergency Services focused on three aspects, Life Stress, Job Stress and Critical Incident Stress.  Life stress, we all know what that is, the car breaks down, the kids get sick, you are laid off from your job, or you have a baby, or get a promotion!  Life stress, or as I like to think about it, life happens!  Then there is job stress, again you have conflict with a co-worker, unexpected overtime, pressure to conform, a promotion or demotion, or again you lose your job. Job Stress is common to the human experience.  However, in the world of a first responder, Critical Incident Stress is a completely different experience.  For those who have never ridden a fire truck or ambulance, every call looks like it would cause Critical Incident Stress.  However or the past years I have described responses as 90% fun and games, and 10% sheer terror.  It is that ten percent of the calls that rate as Critical Incident Stress, that 10% of the calls that haunt me today.  However, that is not the end of the story.  Knowing that some calls will have more of an impact, the Emergency Responders and Mental Health people have developed tools to help manage and cope with those.  I think Pastors and other caregivers would do well to pay attention to this process as well.  But that is another blog for another time.

 

What one man suggested on the Fire Service side is the addition of something he called Imminent stress.  Now instead of a simple triangle, you have a “Stress Tetrahedron”.  In describing or attempting to define imminent stress, the author Mark Goodman, states that there are a number of definitions to the word “imminent” but he settles on this description: “Of particular interest is the archaic definition and sense of the word imminent, which is “overhanging”. This especially captures the essence of “imminent stress” as a threat/stressor that is continually overhanging an individual. To initially define the term, I would propose: “Imminent stress is the stress associated with a threat that may or may not happen, but that threat is real and ever-present and generally spans an extended period of time.” I realize that “extended period of time” is subjective, and may require further definition.”  I like Mark’s suggestion of an extended period of time, due to the fact that what is facing pastors and church leaders alike is an extended period of time without any clear boundaries.

 

Before I go much further, I would propose a “Stress Tetrahedron” for church leadership different from fire service.  Common to both, are life stress, job stress and imminent stress.  What is unique for Christian leadership is “Liminal stress”.  Again, let me define the term. Liminal refers to a place or time, in between times.  One man has compared it to a doorframe, and when you stand in that place you are neither inside the room nor out of the room, you are in a liminal place.  For the past 15-20 years, give or take a year or three, the Church has been in a liminal place.  We are no longer the dominant force in culture, pastors are seen a less honest than use car salespersons, and yet Christianity has not yet been pushed completely to the sidelines.  As a result, some congregations act like it is 1955 and all is well with the world.  Others respond as if organized Church is irrelevant and we need to move into this Post-Christian world in a stance that recognizes the church has lost power.  However, the great majority of leaders are wondering how to best serve in a world that no longer resembles the training they were given.  Hence, the new reality of “Liminal Stress” that is now combined with imminent stress of not knowing exactly what the Covid Virus means for in person worship.

 

What do we do with this new stress image?  One would be to say that I don’t know what I am talking about and go about life as you have lived it.  Second, would be to admit that maybe I am onto something but there is nothing you can do about so you pray that this will pass quickly like the seasonal flu and we can get on with life.  A third option would be to admit that this is a real situation facing the body of Christ today and it is not going away anytime soon.  To admit that this will require some adaptation on the part of the leadership and how we serve as church leaders.  If this is the case, it is time for a new leadership style to emerge.  One that can ask the tough questions and challenge the way it we have always done “church.”  It will require some humility to admit that as the leaders we don’t have all the answers.  Or as I learned a few years ago while looking for the trail in a wilderness area in Wyoming, when God calls us to follow Him, he never hands out a map!  He just invites us to come follow Him.

 

The other tool to use in this time of complex stress is self-care.  All too often as church leaders, everyone else, everything else comes before ourselves and our families.  Now is not the time to adopt that motto of better to burn out than rust out.  This is a marathon, not a sprint, so we need to respond accordingly.  The means taking time for prayer and Bible reading that is not sermon or lesson related.  It is time to listen to the still small voice of God.  Second, it is imperative that as leaders we get physical exercise.  I have to admit I was close to 50 when this became a reality to me.  I am in better physical shape today than I was in my 40s (Let’s just say my age puts me on the verge of being high risk in this Covid era).  Then you need to take time to get away!  Get outside, leave those screens behind, remember your phone does have an off button, and yes, you can do that!

 

I wish I had the magic bullet to take this all away.  As I said to a young pastor the other day, “I wish I had a 50 cent formula to fix things.”  His response?  “I would pay $500 for such a formula”.  However, $.50 or $500, I have no formula other than listen to what the Spirit is saying to his church (a very loose translation of Revelation 2:7).  To do that, we need to set aside the time to listen. To stop the treadmill of “American Pastoral Anxiety” (my own terms) and listen, listen closely.  It is not by might nor by American ingenuity or the latest book, but by my Spirit says the Lord, that we will find a way through this current situation. (The RDV adaptation of Zechariah 4:6)  So maybe I have found the “formula”, but then again I know that God is not in the business of mass production, and the solution for you will probably not be what God is prescribing for everyone.

It is my prayer that during this season of challenges and changes that each of you will be sustained by the presence of the Living and Resurrected Christ, who is seated with the Father, always praying for you!  By the way, speaking of the Resurrected Christ, keep your eye out for a book that is in development, SENSATIONAL JESUS Why You Need The Life He Now Lives. By

Peter J. Grant.  Why do I mention this?  Because I spent, a week with Peter and his wife Becky, and I know Peter is onto something here.

 

Until the next time.  May God richly bless you each and every day!

Taking Time for Wondering

June 8, 2020/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

I wonder if as the world, rushes back to the task of commerce and we all attempt to find our footing again in a world that is turned upside down, if we will miss some important lessons God desires to teach us.  I use the word wonder, as I have no word from God, I am not a prophet, with a new word from God, as I said in an email last week I am just a “Crusty Old Retired Guy” with more time on my hands that might be useful.  However, as I think back to my days studying philosophy in the glory days of the 1970’s in the hallowed halls of Northwestern College, it was the philosophers who had time on their hands that tended to guide the culture.  I wonder, once again if it is not time for a bit of reflection before we allow the technocrats to tell us how to live into this new future.

 

Over the past couple of days, the phrase, “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10) has come to mind more than once.  This morning as I was looking for that Psalm, I also found Psalm 37 has similar language, “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” (Psalm 37:7)  In this day of instant everything, when was the last time you waited for something?  Since we moved out here to Custer, I have not had a regular enough routine in the morning that I could set my coffee maker to come on before I wake up.  Now I have to wait for that first cup of coffee in the morning.  I am not sure it is the wait, or the anticipation, but there is something about waiting for what we desire that adds value to that experience.  Then I have to take our location, high in the Black Hills.  This means, as my neighbor reminds us that it snows 8 months out of the year.  Up here, we wait with anticipation for the first signs of spring, only to see them covered in snow once again.  Deb and I are learning the virtues of waiting.  In the evenings, we wait for the deer to return to our meadow, in the morning we look out to see if they are back.  At night, we wait for the stars (when it is not snowing).  Waiting has become part of our lifestyle.  While I occasionally get in a rush, I find myself slowing down a bit more to watch the world go by.

 

What about being still?  I grew up with sound.  My mother loved to listen to music, and our house was “wired” to the old phonograph player (this predated MP3 by the way).  So wired in fact, we could load up the phonograph player with multiple records and head outside and still hear the music.  Then someone introduced me to a transistor radio, and I learned I could listen to music wherever I went. (I even remember trying to sneak a transistor into school so we could listen to the World Series)  Since that time, we have all gotten the smart phone with a variety of music apps, we have Pod Casts, and other ways to fill our ears with sound so it is increasingly difficult to be still and know what God is saying.  Even out here, Deb and I have noticed an increase in traffic, an increasing level of noise, so we retreat the wilderness areas to hear silence again.

 

Back to being still?  I still did not get to that did I?  What if this virus time was part of God’s plan to invite his people to notice some things we have been rushing by?  What if during this quarantine time, we were supposed to learn something about who God is and how He works?  What if this was a time to be still and see God exalted and instead we rushed to figure out how to keep things the way they used to be.  You see if we back up a bit in Psalm 37, we read “Commit you way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn and you the justice of your cause like the noon day sun…” (Psalm 37:5-6)  Maybe God is trying to teach the church today, and you and I, that all our plans and efforts to control our life and destiny are just as worthless as all our plans prior to the this pandemic.  A former president just critiqued the current response saying no one seems to know what to do.  Right wrong or indifferent, I am not sure that former president or our current president or presidential contender would have done things differently.  When faced with unprecedented challenges, and seemingly insurmountable difficulties, it is easy to second-guess those in charge.  I too find myself in that same position, so I am not going to tell those of you who are responsible for making difficult choices what to do.  What I will do is invite you to consider, what might God be saying in this time that we need to hear?  Where do we need to be still and know that He is God!  I heard one pastor comment that many believers are running about acting like there is no God!  I read on Twitter about Christian’s promoting conspiracy theories.  Why?  Why are we not spending time being still and listening to that still small voice of God?

 

Maybe you are still in the midst of the chaos and confusion.  Maybe you are still not clear what God would have you doing.  Then may I suggest that you look to a place like New Trails where you can get away from the news, stop listening to the latest pod cast, and come and find quietness and stillness where you might be able to listen to the voice of God?  Maybe our past president is right, maybe the people who are supposed to be in charge don’t know what to do.  However, I know that the God whom we worship does know. I am also convinced that if we as the body of Christ would take the time to pray for those who are in authority over us (Romans 13) then maybe, just maybe we can find ourselves emerging from this time in a place closer to where God would have us to be.

 

Then again I am just a “Crusty Old Retired Guy” with too much time on his hands.  Then again, maybe that is what I am supposed to do, now that I have time to be still, and notice what God is up to.  Either that or the isolation and quietness are getting to me.  That is for you to decide.  At the end of the day remember Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Lets Not Waste a Perfectly Good Crisis!

May 4, 2020/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

Back in the day, I remember Elvis singing the song “Only Fools Rush In”.  The opening line is this “wise men say; only fools rush in…”  Then the song continues about the singer’s inability to resist falling in love.  I would like to use those lyrics in this “Corona Virus” season and to suggest it would be foolish to “rush in” in an attempt to get “back to normal”. What is prompting this thinking was reading part of a sermon entitled “Orientation, Disorientation, Reorientation”.  The pastor based his message on the well-known Gospel account of Jesus raising Lazarus.  “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11: 25-26)  We read that passage and we shout a hearty Amen.  However, do you realize that when Jesus raises Lazarus, he did not restore things to normal?  He disrupted and changed everything.  No more could you look at a body and believe that dead is the end.  The resurrection of Lazarus, and later Jesus own resurrection, changes everything.  I have to ask you do you think God would allow a virus and the crisis we have been living through to go to waste.  Don’t you believe the God who created the heavens and the earth, who brought order out of chaos in the beginning of time can do something incredible now?

 

Let’s back up a little in this account, for Jesus is told that Lazarus is sick.  What does he do, rush off to the house on a “rescue mission”?  No he waits two days, there is no panic, no anxiety, no “I wonder what I will do next”.  Jesus has a plan and he sticks to it.  Look back to the account of Jesus and the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee in a storm (Luke 8).  The disciples are panicked, where is Jesus?  Asleep.  Then he wakes and with a word changes the environment.  The first guideline in dealing with this crisis is to remember the sky is not falling.  Jesus himself has not forgotten us, and the same calmness that stilled the storm many years ago is still waiting for us to see him at work.

 

Back to the Lazarus account.  Notice that when Jesus arrives, he does not announce that everything is going to be fine, he is here, so stop you worrying and crying.  No the first thing he does is enter into the situation.  The shortest verse in the Bible is found here, “Jesus wept.”  Why did he weep, because of the hopelessness of the situation?  Of course, not, he was going to raise this man.  He enters the situation with empathy and compassion for the people there and feels the pain and so he weeps.

 

Now we see the divinity of Jesus, for after weeping, he asks where Lazarus is and then speaks the word of resurrection, “Lazarus, come forth.”  Did you ever stop and wonder why he called Lazarus by name?  I think because if he had not, the entire cemetery would have emptied.  When Lazarus comes out, this changes everything!

 

I like the pastor’s words at this point: “This is what Jesus does in our day. When our otherwise up-to-this-point-oriented lives give way to disorientation, when we’re not sure which way is up, or when the ground shakes underfoot, Jesus enters the chaos and He speaks words of life. They don’t return us to our previous state of being, but they reorient us to a new way, a deeper and more profound way of being in this world.” (Eric E. Peterson)  Read that again. When Jesus steps into this life-altering situation, he is not looking to return us to “normal”, he did not come to make “normal” men and women, he came to change the world!  He came to reorient us to his way of life and being.

 

I agree completely with Eric that there is a pile of evidence to suggest that as the body of Christ we have gotten off track.  We have focused too much on ourselves and our own comfort.  We argue over who has the best pastor or Bible Teacher.  We have engaged in the intramural warfare of which doctrine is most true to the Bible.  All the while people around us wonder where is the love that Jesus said would characterize his disciples, after all didn’t Jesus say, “By this, all men will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” (John 13:35)  Might it be that this virus season is God asking us to reorient our lives around his agenda rather than ours?  Now if you are waiting for me to spell that out, remember that Jesus has already done that in Matthew 28 when he told his disciples and by extension us today to go and make disciples of all nations!  Frankly, I don’t think we need anything else said or done.  I am also convinced that prior to this crisis a lot of time and effort was spent on distractions from accomplishing that task.

 

Also keep in mind that reorientation takes time!  I am reminded of a lesson I learned a few years ago that about every 500 years God has a rummage sale.  The last one involved things like the telescope, the printing press and the mechanical clock. You might also find that time to be about the era of Martin Luther and what we Protestants call the Reformation.  Now we are in the era of television, the internet and smartphones.  What will shake out, I am not certain, but I am certain of this, God is shaking up his church and the reorientation will be as radical today as it was the last time this happened.

 

Once again let me borrow Pastor Eric’s own words: “God does some of His very best work in the midst of chaos. From the beginning until now, God is the author of life, speaking with renewed, re-creative energies. Jesus is God’s Word in the flesh, and He is still speaking words that rattle the powers of darkness and that startle the world with resurrection. When the valley is full of dry bones, when the stinking body has been in the tomb four days—in other words, when it looks altogether bleak and dire to our eyes—Jesus can’t even muster a modicum of panic.”  IF Jesus is not panicked, if God is not worried, why are we?

 

But here is the end of Pastor Eric’s message that catches me even in the 4th or 5th reading, Jesus words to Mary and Martha:  “Do you believe this?”  Do you believe it when we hear Jesus say he is the resurrection and the life?  Do we believe that with God all things are possible?  Do we believe that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose?  If you believe that, then it is time to start living it!

Reflections When Times are Uncertain

April 22, 2020/in General /by Rod Veldhuizen

I wonder when the last time you opened your Bible to read Psalm 75.  OK, let me be honest this Psalm is not on my top ten list of passages to read either.  Today, this passage came up in my morning devotions this morning so allow me to repeat part the part that caught my attention this morning: “We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.  You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly. When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. Selah (Psalm 75:1–3) IF you wonder what Selah means roughly translated it is praise God!  Now add Psalm 57:7 alongside that, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.”  For me at least it is a solid reminder that regardless of what is happening around me, despite the dire forecasts God in still in control!

 

What about tomorrow?  At the risk of just citing Bible verses, remember what Jesus said when comes to worry: Matthew 6:25, 27, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  With all the dire prognostications about what can or might happen it is easy to lose focus and begin to wonder what will happen next, or what we will do next.  I would invite you to listen to the words of the Bible first before the morning news and see what difference that makes in the way your day goes.

 

What about the future?  I have a few thoughts, and thoughts are all I have because no one has a crystal ball to see the future, and God is not giving me any special insight as to what might be.  What I can say is that we will not be returning to “normal”.  Remember, normal is only a setting on your dryer.  What we have been accustomed to, what we expect to see is probably going to be radically different in the days and even years to come.  If you are old enough, you remember when politicians rode in open limos to be seen by everyone.  Now show me an important figure who does not have an armored limo escorting them wherever they go.  Why?  One name, John Fitzgerald Kennedy who was assassinated when I was in Elementary school.  When was the last time you flew on an airplane without a passing a metal detector?  Why?  Hijacking!  However, how long did it take before these procedures were accepted as the way things are done, the “new normal”.  Now we are seeing people wearing masks in public, Plexiglas dividers between us and our checkout clerks at stores.  How long will be before this is all seen as part of the culture?  I don’t know, and I for one am not anxious to see it become that “new normal”, but I know it could easily be the way things are done!

 

What about Christianity?  Much of what we associate with the practice or our faith is quite simply part of what we grew up with.  Think about what most of us call “Christian Education” or Sunday School.  The reality is that this is something that took place following the Industrial Revolution.  Sunday was the only day when Children were not required to work in factories and so churches began “Sunday Schools”.  What did we do before that? I wish I could be definitive, but it would seem that the practice of passing along our faith in Jesus Christ and passing along the passion to be wholly devoted followers of Jesus Christ was dependent on the parents, not a slick mass-produced curriculum.  What will happen if we cannot go back to what we were accustomed to?  What if discipleship once again became dependent on each of us to pass along our faith and practice to the next generation?  The mid-week prayer service, Catechism or as it was known when I was growing up, Family Night?  That too is a modern invention, not something organic to Christianity.  You see I am not sure what the future holds, but I like the title of Todd Bolsinger’s book, Canoeing the Mountains.  Bolsinger is referencing the belief of the Lewis and Clark expedition that once they crossed the Rockies they would find the Northwest Passage and simply canoe down a river to the Pacific Ocean.  In light of that belief, they carried their canoes into the Rockies until it became apparent that horses were the more appropriate means of travel.  In similar fashion, might we as the body of Christ be carrying on outmoded models believing that once we pass this rough patch life will return to what we have always done?  What will you do if you cannot return to the way you always did things?  What will happen if dispersed worship becomes the new practice? What will happen if Zoom and phone calls replace many in person meetings? Once again, keep in mind when the pillars of the earth shake, it is God who holds things firm.  That not one of us can add a single moment to our lives by worrying.  We cannot change the clock back by wishing it so.  What we can do is seek to be faithful, to listen to the God who has never left himself without a witness in this world.  We can follow the one who told us that all authority in heaven and on earth is given to him and we are to go and make disciples of all nations.  I want to remind you Jesus did not say that to ordained ministers, but to a rag tag group of men and women who had committed all to follow him.  My point in addressing clergy specifically is that every believer has a responsibility to make this change, to address the challenges we are encountering and work to move forward.

 

Today, I have no significant insights, no earth shattering pronouncements, only the calm assurance that God is in control and he will see you through this time and every time.  Let me close with the passage that brought me to this place today: “We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.  You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly. When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. Selah (Psalm 75:1–3)

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New Trails Ministry

11455 Elliot Road
Custer, SD  57730
Phone: 605-760-3633
Email: info@newtrailsministry.org
New Trails offers three, five or ten day sabbaticals that are customized to your needs, are designed to help you reconnect with God who has called you to service and can assist you in recovering that joy. As a long term ministry couple, we know firsthand the joys and challenges of full time service, and combined with our wilderness locations we provide the place, space and direction to assist you in creating the space to recover your passion for ministry.
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