Tag: Mission

Hope for Today
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Encouragement, Faith, Sermon

Hope for Today

This past week, it seems like our current situation and the health crisis we are experiencing has become more real. We have experienced a lot of changes over these last few weeks, but for some reason, this week, it has sunk in that we are in for a long battle and not a short-term halt to daily life.

We’ve seen confirmed cases, based upon testing, of the coronavirus top the triple digits in West Virginia. We’ve heard of the first confirmed case in Cabell County. We’ve heard stories of nursing homes in Morgantown with multiple cases. We’ve heard of hospitals in our region running short on necessary supplies. We’ve seen orders for non-essential businesses to close for an unknown period of time. We’ve seen school closures extended. We’ve seen phrases like “stay in place” and “social distancing” become part of our common vernacular.

Life does not seem normal. When we travel out and about, we witness an eerie quiet that is symbolic of where we are today. Walking to the store becomes a challenge of trying to stay six feet apart. We’ve seen our lives changed and we’re not sure when any semblance of normal will return. We’re looking for a day, perhaps even a particular day to return, yet deep down we’ve come to realize life is going to be altered for longer than we had expected as we seek to provide care to the most vulnerable among us. Continue reading “Hope for Today”

One Week of Upsetting the Norms
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Encouragement, Faith, Life, Sermon

One Week of Upsetting the Norms

The events of Jesus’ passion are the most significant moments in not just the history of our faith, but all of human history. We position these events, traditionally, in a week-long celebration known as “Holy Week” or “Passion Week.” No matter how the week is named, the purpose is the same and that is to celebrate and commemorate the moments that lead up to Jesus’ arrest, death, and resurrection.

When we come to Holy Week, however, we mostly focus on just a few moments within that week, especially towards its end. We focus on Jesus procession into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We dine with Jesus and the disciples in the Upper Room and pray with them at the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday. We mourn at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. Those are, traditionally, the moments we focus on, yet there is vastness of experiences throughout the week that we rarely talk about.

Among those moments we rarely talk about, how can they lead us to a deeper faith? What within those moments that don’t get the attention can help us to understand how Jesus went from a heralded king on Sunday to being treated as a traitor and blasphemer by Thursday? Those two questions, and others, are what we are going to use to center ourselves throughout Lent. We will examine these events that transpire early in Holy Week and contemplate upon how they advance the narrative of the conflict between Jesus and the religious elites. As well, we will see how they enable us to experience what Jesus was doing in the world and our lives today.

Our journey with Jesus through Holy Week begins with one of the most intense moments in the Gospels. It was a moment initiated by Jesus in response to something he saw when he entered the Temple. Yes, we are talking about the time Jesus flipped the tables and cleaned house in the Temple. It is one of the places that challenges our idea that Jesus was always mild-mannered. (That is what we desire of Jesus, by the way.) What took place and why should it matter to us today? Continue reading “One Week of Upsetting the Norms”

One Year Later …
Christianity, Life

One Year Later …

One year later …

Roughly one year ago, I picked up my son from his therapy center in Paducah, Ky., and began a six-hour journey across Kentucky in a small snowstorm. I was exhausted, jet lagged from having just recently returned from an international trip, and dealing with a bad case of asthma. Yet, go we went. 

It would take us a night’s rest and a few extra hours to arrive in Huntington, W.Va., and Beverly Hills UMC to meet the people and visit the church where we would be appointed for the first time. That moment marked a new period in my family’s life, leaving what we had known to go into the unknown of a familiar state with a desire to help share the love of Christ. Continue reading “One Year Later …”

A Light of Hope
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Faith, Sermon

A Light of Hope

Have you ever seen an eternal flame?

They are often a beautiful memorial signifying an event and are meant to cause the person seeing the flame to reflect upon what took place. There are several examples of eternal flames throughout the world. One of the most famous sits adjacent to the tomb of President John F. Kennedy as a way to symbolize his vision for the nation. Among the most powerful exists at the Holocaust museum in Washington and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Both call the person viewing the flame to remember the atrocity of the Holocaust and how we are called to be a light of God’s love so that it never happens again.

These flames – natural gas that is lit to produce fire – are to remain lit, so that these memories, and their values, become a constant reminder of hope in the midst of darkness. It is to never be extinguished, so that the light continually shines for all to see in such a way that it calls the person to remember and reflect. Continue reading “A Light of Hope”

A New Beginning
Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Encouragement, Faith, Life, Sermon

A New Beginning

It is hard to believe that in a few short weeks we will be greeted by the year 2020. Many of us are already thinking about the coming year and, perhaps, who should greet us into the year. I recently saw a photo shared on social media advocating for Barbara Walters to host the celebrations in Times Square. Why? So that she can announce at 12:01 a.m., “I’m Barbara Walters, and this is 2020.”

When I think of 2020, though, my mind goes to visionary concepts that focused on 2020 being the ideal year to set a long-term goal. I can remember hearing leaders talk, especially on infrastructure needs, about projects that needed to be in place by 2020. Now, at least in my hometown in Beckley, we are seeing some of those long-term visions lived out, as the city has opened up its long-desired bypass around the original bypass.

Today, though, is a good day to talk about vision – the picture that God paints for us of a near or distant future – and purpose – of how we live that out. We do so, though, realizing that preparing for the coming year may have us a little on edge. That is because we might feel some anxiety going into 2020. We will participate in an election, both on the state and federal level, that has the potential to further our partisan divisions, which is already tearing us apart from one another. As the United Methodist Church, we will approach General Conference in 2020 knowing that there will be major decisions made about the future of our denomination. There are other anxieties, as well, which we will all face. Continue reading “A New Beginning”