Vol 2 No 14 - The Perfect Church?

It was a pure joy to spend Monday-Wednesday of this week at our Conference Center in Woodworth with all clergy under appointment in Louisiana. I was reminded once again of the importance of our connectional system in the United Methodist church, catching up with friends and colleagues from across the state, and hearing about the many wonderful things God is doing in so many congregations. Too often, I don't know that we are aware of just how much ministry the people called Methodist are doing in this great state of ours; instead we get so caught up in what is going on in our local setting.

I was also reminded that every church has its difficulties, its church politics, and other struggles - and that we have an obligation to lift one another up in prayer, not just individuals we know, not just the congregation of which we are a part, but other congregations, pastors, and laity, as well as our bishop and other conference leaders.

There is no such thing as the perfect church, perfect denomination, or perfect congregation. However, we can do our part to make sure that they can always say of us that we are a prayerful people. May it be so.

See you Sunday!
Lamar

Vol 2 No 13 - Lenten Objective

Thank God Lent has finally arrived! I cannot wait for our Ash Wednesday service this evening, for Ash Wednesday, as our Book of Worship reminds us, "...[E]mphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our own mortality and confess our sin before God within the community of faith. In a world where is is ALL about us (and if you don't believe me, then simply observe the way people behave over simple beads and trinkets being thrown from a Mardi Gras float), Lent puts squarely in our face that indeed, this is NOT AT ALL about us, but is about God.

Be sure to join us tonight @ 6:00 PM for Ash Wednesday! Our complete Lenten Calendar will be posted on our website later this afternoon.

See you Sunday!
Lamar

Vol 2 No 12 - Absolutely Stuffed

999. It's a number that hit me square in the face this (Tuesday) afternoon as my thoughts turned towards this message. 999 messages sitting in my in-box. That doesn't include the ones which are automatically filed into various folders when they arrive. There are 999 unsorted e-mails sitting in my in-box as I write this. I like to think of myself as one who stays on top of things and is well-organized.* However, as 999 unsorted e-mails shows, I still have a great deal to clean up. Truth be told, at least 900 of them probably belong in File 13. How does it get to be such a disorganized conglomeration of stuff? Simple. I do not take the time to deal with making sure that it's all in order, filing what is important and pitching the rest. I could take an hour or less and have it down to 0 if I really wanted. The reason? It's not important enough to me yet. And it probably won't be until it's gets to the point I can't handle it anymore. Then it will be too late, and I will wind up wasting more time doing it than if I'd kept it right to begin with.

Now, what in the world does the disorganization of my in-box have to do with anything, especially what is supposed to be a weekly devotional note from the pastor? Well...

Too many times our lives are like my in-box. Stuffed with way too much stuff that doesn't belong, with no sense of organization or purpose. Fortunately, we are given the chance to take time to put our lives in the proper perspective and in the right order - 40 days, in fact to do this. Next week, we will begin our Lenten observance with Ash Wednesday worship @ 6:00 PM. Please take advantage of this wonderful gift of time to sort out what is important and what is not in your life. Tale these 40 days and use them as they were intended - a time of sacrifice and repentance as we prepare for the glorious days of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.


See you Sunday!
Lamar

*- I respectfully ask that you not share this with Erin, as she has to regularly help me search for my keys/wallet/watch/etc.

Vol 2 No 11 - What Do You Profess?

Monday afternoon saw one of the most important packages that I will receive all year arrive at the church office - the box containing the confirmation class curriculum that I will be using to teach our confirmands about the the faith that they will profess publicly for themselves on Confirmation Sunday (June 3, 2007). As I look through the books each year in preparation for our class, I am reminded again and again how much we allow ourselves to get away from the basics of the faith. In our time together as a class, we will be learning about God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the church, worship, the Christian life, the Scriptures, and many other things that are foundational in our Christian journey. As a part of the confirmation process, the class members may also approach some of you to find out where you are on some of these basic questions of the faith - I hope and pray that you will be open to sharing what your beliefs are, and open to learning from the class about what they are learning.

Confirmation is the continuation of the process begun long before we were born, when, as we are reminded in Jeremiah, God knew us before we were formed in the womb. Confirmation Sunday is a great day where young people publicly proclaim to the world that they belong to Christ, and Christ alone. My prayer is that we all, no matter where we are, are able to say with courage and conviction the same thing.


See you Sunday!
Lamar