Holy Spirit

Refreshed, renewed and rested

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I had a great time at the Desiring God 2012 Conference for Pastors.  There were about 2000 pastors there:
singing
worshiping
and engaging in fellowship.

We were:
encouraged
refreshed
and energized to be better pastors and leaders.

I attended with 3 other colleagues/friends.  It was so edifying to be able to process with these Christian men about what we were taking away from this event.  I also came home with a lot of resources; a stack of books of which I only bought 4.  Not too bad 🙂

Much of what I learned I am still processing.  The fear I have with these conferences, though, is that I come home so fired up and energized; thinking I am going to change the world RIGHT NOW, but often times I cool off.  So my prayer is that the Holy Spirit keeps this fire burning.  My hope is that the more I process and talk about this event the better.  Last night I shared with my Worship/Music Team an idea and we are already at work trying to implement that idea (more about this will be coming soon I am sure).

I am so thankful for my wife, Salem and Belmont Lutheran Churches for giving me these opportunities to get away and grow in so many ways.  Now…it’s time to return to life and see what the Holy Spirit does through me.

Dear God, please keep fanning the flames that were ignited in me these past few days.  Help me to not forget.  Help me to be a better pastor, husband, leader, friend, son, brother, etc.  May you be praised in all that I do; that all may see your loves in my words and actions.  May my life be a reflection of you.  Amen.

edh -|—

Feed your sheep

/ The Pastor

Loving God – because your sheep NEED to be fed, grant me strength.

Grant me the words to say this morning as we mourn the death of Gene.

Open the hearts of those who have not heard of you that they may hear the Good News.

Comfort the hearts of those who have heard with the hope of the resurrection.

Strengthen us as we go through these days, weeks and months that lay ahead with the promise that in Christ there are no “good byes”.

May our time together this morning bring you praise, honor and glory as we are FED with the awesome story of Jesus Christ crucified and risen FOR US.

Thank you, God, for your faithfulness.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Amen.

edh -|—

My “gift”

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Something weird happened to me when I was at my synod council meeting this past Saturday.

One of the synod ministers was talking about networking; trying to connect people’s gifts and talents with others.  It is a very good idea and am glad we have someone on the synod staff whose job is to do that.

But that’s not the weird thing.

As she was showing us the list of people she has in the data base I was scanning for people I knew and what was listed as their “talent”. For the most part I was not surprised with what I saw.

Then my name came up. (by the way…this is where the “weird thing” begins)

After my name I saw “writing”.  I have never considering “writing” a talent or gift.  Sure…I have been blogging for 5 1/2 years or so but that doesn’t mean I am a gifted writer.  But don’t get me wrong…I wasn’t upset with what I saw, I was just surprised. (This is not the “weird thing” yet…that was just the beginning of the “weird thing” story)

The weird thing that happened was that after I saw “writing”by my name I got inspired.  You see…I hadn’t written a blog post since Dec. 12.  With the Christmas season and an increased emphasis in communicating through Facebook and Twitter, I just kind of drifted away from blogging, but on Sunday I wrote.

And today I wrote…

…and now I feel inspired to write some more. (But don’t worry ramble on and on here)

It is funny/weird how the Holy Spirit works.  And it WAS the Holy Spirit at work that day; kicking me in the butt.  I guess there is more ministry to do done through my so-called “gift” of writing.  Weird…huh?

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

A poor sinner

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

I had issues this morning.

I have been a pastor now for just over 7 years.  I have presided over communion for just over 7 years.  I have known the Words of Institution for just over 7 years (even longer than that because I knew well before seminary).  But today it was like I have never said those words before.

I was standing up front at Belmont this morning leading worship.  I had just received the offering and the congregation was standing.  I turned around holding the chalice and began the Words of Institution.  The problem is that we start with the bread and then go to the wine (at least that is what I normally do).  I found myself lost as I realized that I had the wrong element…so I had to wing it…trying to make it look as if I meant to start with the wine.

I failed.

I stuttered and stumbled through the Words of Institution like I didn’t know what I was doing.  I was totally frazzled and my rhythm was totally gone.  I even saw someone out there smile at his wife as he knew I was struggling.  I think part of the problem was that I have become so accustomed to the Words of Institution that I found myself relying of the words themselves and not on the proclamation.

That is going to have to change.

My hope and prayer is that people still heard words of promise regardless of my failure.  My guess is that they did hear words of promise ~ thanks to the Holy Spirit.  I trust that God still used me in some way ~ for you see ~ when I preach and lead worship it is not about what I do but it is about the Holy Spirit working through me.  One reason why I am certain of this is because if it were about me; if it were about my speaking ability; if it were about my so-call talents;  I would have been fired long ago.  But as it is God can use a poor sinner like me to proclaim the Good News.

Praise be to God!

The other explanation of what happened this morning could be that I need a vacation ~ something that will be happening very soon 🙂

-edh-

Really?

/ The Pastor

I recently read a little blurb in the March issue of The Lutheran.  Check this out:

A British university study suggests that people of strong faith can spread
religion through a “believers’ gene” that is part of their DNA.
The Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a prestigious journal
of Britain’s Royal Society of scientists, theorizes a “predisposition
toward religion.” Author Robert Rowthorn suggests that people with
strong religious beliefs tend to have more children and this, combined
with a genetic predisposition to believe, can explain the expansion of religion.

Wow…I think someone needs to tell these people that they have too much time on their hands but more importantly about the work of the Holy Spirit.  Then again…maybe they have figured out how the Holy Spirit “really” works.  Who knew that God programs us at the DNA level to believe.  The next thing you know is that on CSI, while they are doing a DNA profile, you will hear them say, “Hey look…we have a Christian.”

But seriously…this is just another sad example of how people just can not leave some mysteries up to God.  There is this insatiable desire to try to figure God out.  We can’t just leave things up to faith.  I mean…there are some things we can not fully explain.  I think this is just another attempt to remove God from the picture and become gods ourselves.  Surprise, surprise.

For me…the wonder of creation is that I don’t totally understand it.  I love being surprised.  If everything was calculated, figured out and predetermined ahead of time life would be incredibly boring.

“Believers’ gene”…nope.  It’s just good ole fashioned parenting.  No mystery there.

-edh-