People will faint from fear and apprehension
because of the things that are to come on the inhabited world,
because the powers of heaven will be shaken.
Luke 21:26 (N.I.V.)

I have often wondered what the total sum of fear really is in this country. If, for example, we were to assess the cost of the damages to our collective physical and mental health from fear based stress alone, the number would be large indeed. Now what if we were to add that sum to the total costs of all that we create in our need to defend ourselves from bad things? Or what if we factored in all the good things that have never happened simply because fear got in the way of accomplishing them? In the midst of all these questions the most important one still needs to be asked. What are you afraid of?
In this day of chaotic events and rapid change there are many things that seem frightening to us. It’s sometimes hard to keep our footing when everything is being shaken. But in spite of these conditions help is available for us.
I want to take this opportunity to invite you and the guests I know you will bring to share in the light of the Epiphany for the next few Sundays. We will explore the way in which God has already delivered us from the very root of all that we fear. Hope to see you this Sunday!

Sometimes I grow weary of trying to come up with yet another “true meaning of Christmas” essay. To be honest, I don’t want you to read something this time of year that wears you out as well. As we near the end of the “zero plus (insert number here)” decade, maybe a report of one of the many ways Menominee First UMC has chosen to live the message of Luke 6:38 is in order. After all, this has been a very tough decade. If your feelings are similar to mine this year, you want to see faith and hope in action – not just hear about how we need more of both. To that end, I want to share the following letter from someone who was raised in this church, our own Jeremy Peters.
          

Dearly beloved church family,

Greetings from Fenton, MI! As a son of Menominee 1st UMC, I am writing to give thanks to God and to you for your generous support of the H2O Project.

As you know, the H2O Project began when a group of Detroit Conference youth decided to do something about the fact that so many people in this world lack access to clean, safe, drinking water. The lack of clean water is the number one cause of death in the world today, and most of the people killed are children – one child dies from water-related illness every fifteen seconds. One of the most effective ways to provide people with clean, safe drinking water is by drilling wells. A single well can give new life and hope to an entire community. The youth at Fenton UMC, the church where I currently serve as an associate pastor, decided to challenge our congregation to fund the drilling of a well through the work of The African Well Fund at an estimated cost of $4,500. Little did they know that when they issued their challenge, my mother, Laurie Tousley, would be visiting from the U.P.! She asked if she could pass on the challenge to Menominee 1st, and I started to get the feeling that God was about to do something amazing. Was I ever right!

When my mother informed me you had responded enthusiastically – to the tune of $588 – I was reminded of all the reasons why Menominee 1st was such a wonderful place to begin my walk with God. I have known you as a congregation of people who respond quickly and decisively to help out those in need, and I am pleased to see that even as you have made so many additions and alterations to the church premises, your compassion for the least, the last, and the lost has remained steadfast. I couldn’t be prouder of my church!

Please know that your gift will not only provide new life for a community in Africa; the youth of our church will also be energized and encouraged by your generous gift! They dared to dream a God-sized dream in the hopes that God would multiply their efforts, and you have proved that they were right to put their trust in the Lord. Fenton UMC will continue collecting for the H2O Project through Christmas; at the start of the new year, we will count up all the money that has been raised, and I will send you an update so that you can share in our rejoicing. Expect miracles!

Your grateful son in Christ, Rev. Jeremy Peters

The World’s First Interactive Library
…So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 (KJV)
Most of us have heard the terms ‘interactive library’, or ‘interactive computer game’. The idea is that our personal computer will allow us to participate in learning and reading by interacting with us. Through the wonders of electronics, these amazing machines let us learn and play in ways we could have only dreamed of just a few years ago. But are computers truly the first interactive phenomenon to be encountered by humans?
In this high-tech world in which we live, I think we often get the idea that all of our modern innovations are here for the first time. As we continue to quest for the ‘new and improved’, we often overlook the tried and true. Our own Bibles are the very first truly interactive source of learning, and they are far superior to the false magic that comes from those sophisticated adding machines we call computers. The sacred library of books known as the Holy Bible can become for us a living word in a life-giving format when we take the promises of God and the teaching of the Church seriously.
The Church has always taught that sacred scripture came to us in the first place through a process of interaction with human beings. We believe that through the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, the original stories and writings that became the Bible were brought into being. Furthermore, it is by the same process of inspiration and interaction that we are empowered to understand and draw spiritual nourishment from God’s Word. As we read or hear the words of the scriptures, we grow in faith and cultivate the very presence of God in our lives.
I remember seeing several well worn Bibles by the reading chairs of my grandparents on both sides of the family over the years... often with a copy of the Upper Room kept nearby. I also remember that their faith was strong, especially in the way that faith was lived out in service to others in the little farming community where they were born, lived, and died. Grandma Tousley used to tell Bible stories from memory, referring to the characters and each unfolding scene as if she had seen it all with her own eyes. And her faith was a thing of strength and beauty.
These are trying times to say the least, and our faith is apt to be tried and tested in the process of living through a time of instability. It is good to remember our forbearers, who lived through wars and rumors of wars, crashes, panics, depressions and recessions. Their faith was tried, tested, and found to be true. Their worn out Bibles provided them with faith in the blessed hope of a future in a kingdom where nothing is subject to decay. How is your faith holding up these days? New life, hope, and deep empowerment are only as far away as your Bible. Amen.

“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I Cor. 1:18 NRSV

One of my favorite TV shows from the 90’s was Northern Exposure. The basic premise of the program was that a young intern from New York City had to fulfill a scholarship commitment to serve as the only doctor in a rural Alaskan community. One episode I think of often had a very memorable scene. The town was preparing for a funeral and one of the characters had a dream about being in a night club called The Last Supper Club. Sometimes I think that would be a great name for a church! I even picture a blue neon sign that might look something like this:
The Last Supper Club. …and then I come to my senses.

Maybe people might be intrigued by a sign like that on a church, they might even come inside. But I’m not sure that trading the signs and wonders of the coming of the Kingdom for neon signs and better church marketing practices is true to the preaching of the Cross. If we are merely competing for market shares in the religion enterprise, we have lost what could be the most important message the gospel has to offer. The preaching of the cross is ‘foolishness’…so why do we spend so much time trying to make it sensible? The preaching of the cross is a scandal to a world with values that run contrary to God’s revelation in Christ Jesus. We are called to be ambassadors of a world that is, but is also not yet. We no longer offer a mere endorsement to the larger culture, but an alternative to it.

So how does all of this affect us here at First UMC? First, I believe we are called to make the best possible analysis of this strange new world we find ourselves in. We can no longer rely on the old methods for finding new church members. We are called to proclaim the gospel in the new understanding that the folk we are hoping to reach may well have no church background at all. Secondly, I feel it is important to make sure that all our efforts at evangelism are not driven by a market mentality. We live in a world of consumers, and we in the church often compromise the gospel by offering it and the church which houses it as a product. Finally, I believe that, as we recover the teaching of the apostles through scripture and tradition, we will find the true message we need to share. In the early days of the church, the believers knew their mission. “Each day, with one heart, they regularly went to the temple but met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously; they praised God and were looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their community those destined to be saved.” (Acts 2:46-47 NJB)

God has done a mighty work among us and through us during this construction phase. We have been given a beautiful facility. So where do we go from here? I want to personally invite you to take part in a learning experience that will help us answer this question. We have been invited to participate in a 5- week study during Lent at Marinette First UMC. Details of this study can be found on the first page of this newsletter. In the weeks following Easter Sunday, we will host a study at our newly-remodeled church! Watch for more information on this at a later date! God has called us as Christians to lift up the name of Jesus by word, deed and sign in the communities in which we live. There is great pressure on the church to market itself instead of sharing the good news about Jesus. After all, scripture clearly states that Christ is the head of the church. If we keep our focus on Jesus and become the salt and light in this world that He is calling us to be, God will add to our number…even if we don’t have a neon sign.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone …
1 Peter 2:5-7 ESV

“The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.” UM Hymnal #558


I can't remember if it was raining that day or not, but since I was living in Juneau, Alaska, at the time it probably was. It was very early in Ronald Reagan's first term and 1980 had just been declared ''the Year of the Bible'. I was living at the Lighthouse Christian Community and just beginning my thirty year friendship with Mick Ewing.

Many of you have come to know Mick through our 'Mick at Nite' tent meetings, so it won’t be hard to imagine a lively conversation between him and me. Back in days when Mick and I were working together in Juneau and we were both in our twenties, we had many a late night conversation about almost every topic known to humanity. I don't remember very many theological gems of wisdom from those coffee laden encounters, but some I will never forget.

One such nugget of truth was mined from a sermon illustration Mick was sharing with me as we were discussing the nature of denominations, buildings, and bureaucracies in the Church. Since we were young Baby-boomers living almost communally in the early 1980’s, I’m sure you can imagine the anti-institutional tone of our conversation. Even though I have changed some of my views since those days, Mick said something then that I have never forgotten. The gist of what he said was this:

‘Denominations and buildings are the scaffolding that we stand on as we work on the real building, which is the Body of Christ. Our problem is that we are always getting the scaffolding and the building confused with one another.’

Of course he said this long before I ever sang the words of the hymn quoted above.

The things God has done among us concerning our building project is nothing short of amazing! We have been provided with a very user friendly platform from which to do the work of the Church … making disciples of Jesus Christ. I can’t wait to see all the ways the ‘real building’ is going to take shape as we finish a set of ‘scaffolds’ that will carry us into the next 100 years of building up the Body of Christ. Amen.

Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
Things I would ask him to tell me if he were here;
Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
-taken from the U.M.C. Hymnal

You get bigger as you go. No one told me, I just know.         
          - Bruce Cockburn

My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right and true. –Hosea 4:6a (MSG )

Have you ever noticed that certain words can turn things off or on? No, I’m not talking about ‘the clapper’, or voice activated computers. I’m talking about the power of words to conjure up visions and ideas in our heads. After all, that’s what words do. Some words have more power than others to turn our interest in what is being said ‘off’ or ‘on’.

For example, consider the word ‘theology’ for a moment. For some the hearing of that word might provide present memories of good conversations about life, God, and other important subjects. Others may nervously glance at their watches at the mere mention of the ‘T’ word. Still others find themselves somewhere between the two aforementioned examples. No matter what happens (or doesn’t happen) in our minds when we consider the subject of theology, it’s still an extremely important word.

The word theology comes to us from the Greek (yet another word preachers shouldn’t throw around lightly) word for God, theos, and when hitched up to the ‘ology’ wagon simply means the study of God. One could think of theology as ideas about God. Everybody has ideas about God, even atheists, if you’ve been paying attention to the latest dust-ups about nativity scenes. It seems to me that we ought to give the word more consideration---since the quality of our lives is so deeply affected by our understanding of who God is, especially as that relates to who we are.

Many people face life without hope, or place their faith and love in all the wrong places because of lack of understanding. History is also full of examples of Christians behaving badly because of extremely bad theology. As we begin the year of our Lord 2008, let’s commit to one another that we will learn to be more open to discussing our thoughts and feelings about God.

There are many opportunities to learn and grow in the knowledge of God. Please consider joining one of our classes on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings as we study and grow together.

Oh, and have a happy and blessed new year!!

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10b, E. S. V.

Maybe we’ll see it on T. V. or hear it on the radio. Or maybe we’ll get confronted by an adolescent child with the bad news. Sooner or later someone is going to try to convince us that the Christian faith is a “life-denying” religion. Perhaps you’ve already experienced that sentiment in one form or another, or, if you’re like me, you used to spout such nonsense before coming to faith. All too often the church is portrayed as a powerful coalition of warlike moralists whose sole purpose is to stop people from having fun.

Sometimes the church has earned that reputation. Let’s be honest; we do have an unfortunate tendency to miss the point of Jesus’ teachings, and the historic record is full of real and imagined reports about Christians behaving badly. It seems to be the case that we often bounce back and forth between the extremes when it comes to the subject of morality, and sometimes we at least appear to be involved in a religion based on “do not’s” rather than “do’s” But is that what Jesus taught us while he was here? Is that what he is teaching us now?

Maybe it’s time for us to take a closer look at what Jesus and his apostles actually said about what it means to be fully alive. How awesome it is to finally realize that Jesus’ life and teaching is all about saying YES to abundant, eternal life. How comforting it is to know in the depths of our being that the only thing Jesus wants us to deny are those things that lead to death.

There are many worthy programs that are designed to help people “say no” to destructive behaviors. But I also remember that most of my attempts to say no to destruction were not very successful until I said yes to God through Jesus Christ…and life truly is abundant!

There are abundant spiritual resources in my life that just weren’t there before I accepted Christ. There continues to be an abundance of love, support, and friendship that life in the far countries of prodigals can never match. Sometimes there are breathtaking fall horseback rides with good friends in Christ…and there can even be brownies at Wayne & Shirley Thoune’s camp at the end of the trail. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.
AMEN! 
Pastor Phil

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22

There were certain times during the summers of my childhood that I would be sent off to stay with my grandparents. One of the things I remember very clearly about those visits was helping in the garden, especially during canning time. To tell the you the truth, it surprises me that there are any green beans at all in the garden of my adulthood since I developed such a dislike of them back then. I suppose that there must have been other things I would have rather been doing than sitting inside the hot old farmhouse helping process the mountains of beans that were always there. For one thing, my other set of grandparents was just three miles up the road, which is where all the horses and cattle lived. I just couldn’t wait to get done with my chores and go hang out with the horses, and, to be honest, things haven’t gotten much better in that department with the passing of time. Maybe that’s why Grandpa Tousley used to look me in the eye from time to time and say, ‘my boy, patience is a gem that begets godliness’. 

It has become clear to me over the years that grandpa was right. Many of the mistakes I have made in the past have to do with the lack of patience; as a matter of fact, I can’t think of one thing I wouldn’t be better at if I had more of it. Grandpa was also right about patience literally begetting godliness. When we are patient, the space between a stressful event and a display of anger on our part gets longer and longer, and that makes room for the love of God to grow in us and work through us. So can we become more patient simply by waiting for patience to come? 

The answer to that question is yes … if we are waiting in the right way. We are called to ‘wait upon the Lord’, and when we pray, read our Bible, sing hymns, or share in communion together, that’s exactly what we are doing. In other words, when we avail ourselves of these and other means of God’s grace, we are inviting the presence of God into our lives. Patience is not a commodity that comes to us from someplace else … it’s one of the many good consequences of spending time with God. Are you waiting for patience? Spend some time waiting upon the Lord.
You might just find that it was there all along … Amen.   
          Pastor Phil