"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me”.
John 17: 20-21 (E.S.V.)
Did you know that Jesus of Nazareth offered God the Father a very powerful prayer on your behalf some 2000 years ago? That’s right … if you are a believer in Christ Jesus, then you have become such because of the work of the apostles, who heard this prayer as they were gathered for what many have called ‘the last supper’. If you are a believer then you know the rest of the story about the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus and the birth of the Church on the great day of Pentecost. But do you also know that you are part of the story?
The building project that we are involved in this summer continues to be an amazing experience as God’s purposes for us are being revealed and God’s story is told right here on the corner of 6th and 10th. The people of Menominee First UMC have shown forth the raw power that oneness of purpose can bring about.
Together we have wrestled with difficult decisions, limited finances, and a somewhat intimidating demolition project. Even though we have wrestled with these things, we have not wrestled much with each other. Building projects can become arenas of great conflict, and I continue to praise God that such has not happened here. In fact, we are seeing the opposite of that experience as new ministry teams are being forged in the dust and rubble of this project, some of which was carried out a bucket at a time!
We will continue to encounter challenges along the way, and sometimes we will even be afraid. But I am convinced we will not give our fears and frustrations the power to damage our relationship to God and one another. I am convinced that we will continue to become the kind of church that Jesus empowered his apostles to establish upon the earth, and I remain totally persuaded that we will continue to be one answer among many to the prayer for the church that Jesus uttered so long ago. Praise God!
Keep up the good work as we show forth the Good News! Blessings … Pastor Phil
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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
Well, I’m off to Camp Michigamme for a week…this time without my horses!
Jenifer Brady (with the help of her family, Jeremy and Adarae) has completed her pre-camp deaning job of finding responsible counselors for our elementary camp and training them to be ready for whatever needs the campers may bring with them. Dean Milt Wirth (Jen’s dad) has the campers and the counselors assigned to cabins and day groups, has planned special evening events, and is ready to handle the day-to-day running of the camp program. As the spiritual director for the week, I have my lessons prepared around our theme of “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus, and, with the assistance of Philip Nichols (who is also volunteering as a counselor), I will be teaching about some of the parables of Jesus through a combination of scripture, stories, and songs. What an incredible week is ahead of us all!
Thank you all for continuing to support Camp Michigamme with your prayers!
There is still time for you to get involved in Camp Michigamme this season: Family Camp runs from August 3-9th and is open to everyone; Scrapbooking Camp will be August 22-24th; Fall Youth Retreat will be held the weekend of October 10-12th and is for youth in grades 7-12 and new high school graduates. If you are interested in any of these camps, talk to Jen Brady, our camp contact, or check out the Camp Michigamme website at campmichigamme.org.
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We don’t know everything, and our prophecies are not complete. But what is perfect will someday appear, and what isn't perfect will then disappear. When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do. But when we grew up, we quit our childish ways. Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him face to face. We don't know everything, but then we will, just as God completely understands us. For now there are faith, hope, and love. But of these three, the greatest is love. I Corinth. 13:9 – 13:13 (CEV)
You get bigger as you go. No one told me, I just know.
- Bruce Cockburn
This has been one of the more difficult late winters I have ever experienced. As the deep cold of winter continues to hold us in its icy grip, we have been called upon to say goodbye to many friends and loved ones. It is also true that many of our number are suffering with illnesses of many kinds. It has been and continues to be a difficult winter as we feel the pain that comes from the loss of significant relationships.
And now I must tell you something you may be surprised to hear from me; if I could somehow find powerful words or magic elixirs that would take your grief away, I wouldn’t give them to you. I know how bad the pain of losing someone can be, and I wish there was some way to make things the way they were before we got the worst news of our life. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but things will never be the same, for such are the ways of this world.
In a recent experience with an impending loss, I believe that I came to learn something important about these things. I learned that the pain and grief we experience in any significant loss is the gift of God; it is a testimony to the love with which we were blessed, and a way of honoring the memories with which we have been gifted. In other words, the gift of grief is part and parcel of the greatest of all gifts … love.
We see a picture of Christ on the cross as the whole fallen creation moans and quakes in agony. And the most insistent of all loves cries out, ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do’. The whole creation waits through the holiest of all Sabbaths to hear the voice of the one who is calling us into wholeness. Death will not have the final word! Christ is Alive…Life itself has defeated the powers of darkness and doom, and because He lives, so shall we.
So we continue to love, knowing that temporary goodbyes are part of the bargain. And when the winter comes we wrap ourselves in the cloak of our faith and warm ourselves by the fires of hope. As the winds of despair howl out false messages of finality, our brothers and sisters in Christ hold us close and encourage us with the news that winters don’t last forever, for on some bright morning Spring will come.
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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!!
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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
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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
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