Gleanings…

Have you had enough, yet?  As I watch the campaign ads for one candidate and then the other in this year’s political election frenzy, I am cut to the core by the amount of abuse they heap upon each other.  While I am aware that political campaigning has, seemingly always, used a considerable amount of invective and inuendo to differentiate one from one’s opponent, this year’s level of attack has set a new high (or low).  And I thought it was bad two years ago.

That being said, I am glad that we will soon enter the season of Advent.  It always fills me with hope that we can learn how to live peacefully with all of God’s creation.  The one born in Bethlehem, the only begotten Son of God, Jesus the Messiah (Christ) came to help us rightly connect with the Creator.  His life and teachings remind us that the way to peace and joy in our lives does not come from having the “right” people in elected positions.  Instead, we experience peace and joy when we follow Jesus’ example of extending love and mercy to all.

I love the song, Let There be Peace on Earth.  It reminds me that if I want something bad enough, I must make it a priority for how I live.  In order to experience peace and joy in my life, I must treat others as though it is a priority for them, too.  Taking that to the next step, if I am inconsistent in how I treat others, I cannot expect others to act in a consistent manner with me.

And, so, I move into the last part of 2018 hoping and praying for a season of peace and joy and struggling to make it a priority for how I live with others.  I know that nothing gets better just by our wanting it to change.  Instead, it takes consistent and persistent effort on our parts to be the change we desire.  Therefore, it is my invitation to you to join with me in extending the love and mercy that we want to receive from others.  May the lives we lead be the witnesses to the love of God that others are seeking.

Peace,

Pastor Braxton ><>

Gleanings…

Is it just me or do you feel this, too?  I feel that one of the greatest challenges we must deal with as followers of Jesus is the need to walk with Jesus each and every day.  So often we are challenged to turn aside, sit down, or just, plain quit.  Yet, those are not the directions we were given when we first answered his call.

What causes us to want to modify the relationship?  Could it be that we get a little bit discouraged when things don’t suddenly change for the better?  Could it be that we don’t feel we are making any progress?  Could it be that we get tired of following the same routine day after day when we cannot see that it is making any difference?  The answer to these, and many more, is probably “Yes.”

I am not aware of anyone who is particularly fond of doing the same thing repeatedly when the results do not appear to change.  We all like to feel that we are helping to make a difference.  We like to feel that our efforts are helping to improve our, or someone else’s, life.  I expect that we also want to know that someone is paying attention to our efforts.  A “thank you” every now and then never hurts.

Our time with Jesus, though, can seem to be a lot of effort with little to show for it.  People still have hard times, get sick, face adversities, struggle with self-worth, and die long before we feel they should.  In many ways, our lives as followers of Jesus do not seem to be much different from those who do not follow him except that, maybe, they have better parties.  (Hmm.  No, that’s not true.)

So, what is the answer?  What should we do?  I am always touched by the story of Peter’s redemption after he had denied knowing Jesus three times.  There by the sea following Jesus’ resurrection, Peter is reminded that the call to discipleship is fairly simple.  First, feed Jesus’ lambs.  We are to feed the newborns in the faith so that they learn the love of God and to love God.  Second, we are to tend and feed Jesus’ sheep.  Watching over one another, binding up wounds, ensuring good nutrition, and deflecting the attacks of “wolves” is essential for maintaining the flock.

Last of all, Jesus told Peter, “Follow me.”  This can be the most difficult part when we do not know what lies ahead.  When life presents us with tough times or calls for tough choices, though, we can know that we need not worry for the one who has called us will always be there to carry us through.

Eugene Peterson wrote a book exploring the gift of the Psalms for our lives.  The title, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”, says it all.  I invite you to look for a copy if you would like to explore the life of discipleship further.  In the meantime, remember that all journeys are best shared with a friend.  Find a sister or brother in Christ with whom you can safely journey, and may you know peace.

Blessings,

Pastor Braxton ><>

Gleanings…

I have a guitar sitting on a stand in my living room and most nights that is all that can be said for it.  It looks nice, but it does little to add any joy to either Lyndie’s or my life.  I guess just having it sit there is pleasing to the eye, but that is not the gift of its construction.  It is made to be played.  It is meant to produce sound.  When played with skilled hands, it can be very pleasing to the ear and that makes for a peaceful heart.

The fact that I do not play my guitar regularly means that it cannot fulfill the purpose for its creation.  No one else who can play a guitar has access to it, so it gathers a bit of dust and waits for me to pick it up, adjust the tuning, and play one of the songs that I have learned over the years.  When I do, I am pleased at being able to use the gift of music-making God gave me.  Playing and singing makes me smile and my heartrate and blood pressure improve.  There are many gifts connected with that guitar, but they remain unrealized when I do not play it.

Seeing the guitar sitting there on its stand reminds me that there are many gifts that largely go under-used.  Being a bit of an introvert, I am naturally hesitant to reach out to people.  I have learned to override my hesitancy, but when I am alone I can easily justify my silence.

Does the fact that I feel introverted mean that I should not reach out to others?  I don’t believe that is true.  I believe that we are meant to be connected beings.  We each have gifts that can benefit the lives of others.  When we use our gifts to help others, we use our community/relationships for the purpose for which they were created.  Living in community, caring for one another, and sharing our gifts enables us to make beautiful music together.  That, in turn, lowers our anxiety, our blood pressure, and our heartrate.  It is truly a win/win for all.

I expect that you are like me in some ways.  I expect that you also have gifts lying around that don’t get used enough.  What would it take to get you to take the step of picking one up, adjusting the tuning, and making beautiful music?  No, I am not talking about you taking up playing a guitar, just using a gift or talent that gathers more dust than it gets used.  Our communities and relationships thrive when we practice using our gifts.  When they thrive, we reap the benefits.  Burdens are shared, sorrows are consoled, joys are celebrated, and our lives are freed from feelings of separation.

At the same time, we bless and benefit those in our communities with whom we do not have strong relationships.  When they see how we benefit from using our gifts to bless all, they are drawn to explore just what it is that drives our caring.  At that point, they can experience the love of God for themselves, and that is why we are here—to share God’s love in all that we say and do.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Braxton ><>

Saturday, August 25, — 5:00 p.m.

Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Homemade Ice Cream and lots of goodies.  Games, Fellowship, and Fun!  Bring your instruments and enjoy a casual Jam session together!

Community Invited!  Come Join the Fun!

3901 Hamill Rd, Hixson, TN 37343

Gleanings…

Based solely upon observation and without statistical research and reports to bolster my claim, I believe that the one thing most people want to do before they die is to leave behind something that will cause them to be remembered.  While some work to accomplish a specific goal and others go about it haphazardly, in the end their hope is that people will remember them even if for just one thing.  How about you?

Great tales of heroic adventures, biographies and autobiographies, and even superhero comic books (to name but a few) feed the imaginations of young and old alike.  Every tale of great courage, the overcoming of tremendous odds, or tireless efforts in pursuit of a goal leaves us holding on to the possibility that the story could be about us one day.

As followers of Christ Jesus, though, we are presented with a different set of values and goals.  While the Bible is filled with tales of great heroics there are as many, if not more, stories of failure.  For every person of strong faith there are people who get it wrong.  What is the message here?  As we read the teachings presented throughout the Bible, we see so many guidelines that seemingly conflict that it’s no wonder so many treat it as little more than a story book.

There is, of course, more to the Bible than stories.  Woven into every book is the witness of a love so great that it will not give up or let go.  Modeled in every act of restoration and displayed in every gift of renewal is love.  Love is behind the account of creation and the ending account of re-creation.  Love tempered with justice and mercy is the single most identifying characteristic of God.  That is why we have the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.  That is why we have the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us in our everyday lives.  That is why Jesus—God’s gift of love—identified love of God and our neighbor as the greatest teaching.

Why do I talk about love so much and stress the need to be loving toward all? One reason is that all of us, me included, can do better at loving God and my neighbor.  It is sooo easy to fall into the trap of believing that we have that part of our lives down pat.  And yet, how often are we surprised with a wakeup call when we come face-to-face with the evidence that we have acted without love?

The second reason is that if we are truly serious about leaving behind something that will cause people to remember us, we could do no better than to have them share the stories of how we loved others.  Love is never out of style.  It is, instead, the greatest hallmark of a life well lived.  No one ever confesses a wish to have worked more, accumulated more possessions, or achieved greater standing over others as they lie on their death bed.

So, I ask you today to look around you.  Who are the people that need to experience the love of God through you?  Who have you found difficult to love?  How might God be calling you to expand your witness of love?  And finally, what is it that you truly want people to remember you for?

Grace and peace,

Braxton ><>

Gleanings…

Have you ever been afraid to do something new?  While it may seem like a crazy question, the truth is that we are presented with opportunities to do something new every day.  What is not new is how often we fail to see the opportunities that are right in front of us.

What am I talking about?  Well, look around you.  Who do you see?  Now, if you say “same old, same old” then, in truth, you missed it again.  Sure, we’re surrounded by items and people that we have looked at more times than we can count, but it is the very things that we see every day that give us the chance to do something new.

Now, I am not talking about trading in the old for something new especially when we are talking about a member of the family.  And I am certainly not talking about taking on debt to “refresh” the old.  No, I am talking about using what you have always had in a new way.  What am I talking about?  Your eyes.

Yes, your eyes are the key to doing something new every day.  What you see, physically or spiritually, calls for a response.  That response can be a patterned reaction that has always gotten you by.  But, when we fall back on old patterns of response, we close ourselves off to the possibility that there just might be a better way to respond to what we see.  This can be especially true with people.

Have you ever thought about how much you change every day?  While your physical self may look essentially the same, what you have learned from reexamination or another way of thinking about something/someone can make significant changes in you.  That is an on-going process.  What needs to happen at that point is to make a conscious decision to not treat anyone or anything the same old way.

What will this do for you?  It will fill you with expectancy.  What new understanding will I have today?  What new responses can I have to the same people, places, and things that are a regular part of my life?  When these questions arise regularly and naturally, our attitudes can change and we begin to live in the present again.

When God created all that is, God did not say that there will never be any deviations from the original.  This tells me that we must always be open to changes in ourselves and others.  Every person and every thing is always being acted upon by other people and things.  The only constant in creation is that everything changes.

Here is the invitation: Join me in deciding to look for what has changed in the people we see every day.  Join me in expecting that God has had an impact on every person’s life and that they are no longer who they were.  Join me in allowing God to show us new ways of relating and responding that works for peace among us.  And join me in showing God’s love through everything we do.

Grace and peace,

Braxton ><>

We had a wonderful Freedom program celebrating our rights as Americans to pray, worship, read God’s word, and witness to others according to our beliefs.

Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated!

We collected 80 home kit buckets for our Hands on Mission Project this year. This will go to aid people in Zimbabwe.

Fairview UMC is having a special evening program  and  ice cream social to celebrate our American religious freedoms. Our “Free to Worship” short program will be held on Sunday, July 1 at 6 p.m at Fairview United Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome to come enjoy an evening of songs, celebrating our rights as Americans to pray, worship, read God’s word, and witness to others according to our beliefs. Afterward, there will be a homemade ice cream social in the fellowship hall. 

3901 Hamill Rd, Hixson, TN 37343