The Shalom of ADVANCE

I recently went to a "pastor's retreat" in order to recharge my engines as a pastor.  In my church, with the economy the way it has been, and with recent staff "transitions" I have been feeling very overwhelmed by life in general.  So, my thought was that I would RETREAT to a pastor's retreat, and there I would find God's peace.

The problem was that once I got to the retreat, the challenges that I was facing back at home were on my mind the whole time.  In addition, I was with other pastor's who were bragging about how well things were going at their churches, and the leaders of the conference were giving solutions which weren't helpful for me.  Soon realized that I would need to RETREAT from the RETREAT if I was going to find God's peace.

I went and spend time by myself, in the forest with my Bible and in prayer.  Nobody was around.  It was just me.  And yet, I was not at peace.  Even there, in the midst of nowhere, I felt this unrelenting sense of my burdens at home.  Then, in a non-audible voice, but still a strong presence, I felt God telling me; "Graham, the shalom (peace) you are looking for will not be found in RETREAT, but in ADVANCE.  Go back and face some small part of your challenges at home, and then you will feel my PEACE."  

I returned home and the first thing I did was organize a meeting with the person that I least wanted to connect with.  I talked to one of the people that I had been RETREATING from.  After the meeting, sure enough, I found what God was promising me - PEACE.  

So often, the peace that we are looking for, the peace that God wants us to have, does not come from RETREATING but ADVANCING.  The peace that God offers comes not in withdrawing but in connecting, advancing, going forward, making small steps towards the future.

Moses did not want to advance towards the Egyptian government and confront Pharaoh; "O Lord, Please send someone else to do it" (Exodus 4:13).  He thought that peace would be best attained by withdrawing from life and living in the wilderness.  However, it was there in the wilderness, in Moses' retreat, that he heard God's voice to GO, move forward, push ahead.

God wants you to have SHALOM (peace).  Often Shalom comes from RETREATING, but more often SHALOM can be found by stepping forward into what God wants to show us and provide for us, even in the midst of difficult challenges.

All for Now,

GB

Loving Your Gift

This past Sunday, I was sitting in my usual chair at the front of the worship center, waiting for the final worship service to begin.  At Highlands we do three services (8:30, 9:45, 11:00...we used to do four but most of the staff almost died from hyperventilation....).  So, it was 10:55, and I can honestly say that I was sort of dreading to have to do another worship service.  It had been a hard previous week administratively, our church is struggling financially, and I was tired.  I didn't want to preach again.

But then, I heard this voice in my ear (not audible, but noticeable), say to me, "Do you Love your gift...Do you love your gift...Do you like the art of preaching...Do you enjoy the activity that God gave you an ability to do?"  The answer in my mind was, of course, yes, but I wasn't acting like it.

God gives all of us gifts.  To some people He gives the gift of organization, to others the gift of personality, to others the gift of music, dance, video, cooking, gardening, caring, listening, nurturing.  God gives us all gifts.  However, it isn't enough to just have a gift from God, we are also called to love that gift.

In the book of James it says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above; coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights...".  Our job as Christ followers is to not only accept the gifts that God bis us, but to love them,, and to live into them.  When we do this, we actually make God's gift in our life even richer and fuller.

Love your gift...even when you have one more sermon to preach on a long Sunday morning...

All for now,

GB

Easter - Surprise!

One of the most important things that marked the very first Easter Celebration in history was Surprise.  It was a surprise that Jesus chose Passover to make a big theological statement during Passover (most of his contemporaries thought Jesus would do something big during Roshashan - Atonement).  It was a surprise that Jesus actually was killed on a cross (his followers thought he was bluffing or mistaken, right up until the very end).  It was certainly a surprise that Jesus came back from the dead after three days, as he said he would.

This year, Highlands Church is trying recapture some of the surprise that represented that first Easter. To this end, we are trying two new ideas.  First, we are having a Maundy Wednesday worship service instead of a Maundy Thursday service.  For practical reasons this works better for us, because we already have a well attended Wednesday night service.  Also, Maundy Wednesday sticks in the mind a little more easily (it's out of the box).  We are also introducing an Easter Sunset Service (instead of an Easter Sunrise Service) on the Saturday night before Easter.  Again, other churches are doing Easter Sunrise, we are focussed on Surprise and newness.

When modern day Christ followers get too locked into tradition, ritual and thoughtless ceremony, we lose a sense of surprise.  God wants us to remain surprised about life, the things of God, the resurrection.  Surprise leads to joy and joy leads to newness and faithfulness.

How has God surprised you lately?

All for now,

GB

The End of Camelot

This past week I received some heartbreaking news.  A friend of mine, Rev. Jamie Evans, a fellow pastor in ministry, and colleague in faith, took his own life.  As with all suicides, there have come the usual flurry of questions, unresolved answers, personal remembrances and the looming three letter word which presents itself like an angry sentry at a castle gate - Why? When a death like this happens we are faced with an unresolved question mark, never to be followed by a period.   

There is a larger story here, though, which we shouldn't overlook.  Jamie's death also marks the end of Camelot.  In the 1930's and 40's, Jamie's grandfather, Louis Evans Sr. was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood.  Louis Sr. was pastor during a time of great growth in the Presbyterian Church - "the golden age".  Louis' son, Louis Jr. was also a great pastor, as was Louis' wife, Colleen - Coky.  Coky graced the cover of Time magazine with a beautiful profile of grace and faith.  Both of them strode upon the national Presbyterian pastoral scene with panache and regal gallantry.  

When Jamie went into the ministry, most people felt that it was yet another piece of the dynastic legacy of pastors.  And it was.  Jamie was an incredible preacher, teacher, leader.  He seemed to have it "all together".  He looked like Tony Robbins!  

When John F. Kennedy Jr. (President Kennedy's son) was killed in a plane crash a few years ago, it was popular to muse about "The End of Camelot".  When Jamie died this past Thursday, a similar Camelot came to an end.  A seasons end, a curtain fell on four generations of great Presbyterian ministers, and legends of the faith. 

Ecclesiastes reminds us that, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."  This will be a season of closure for the Presbyterian church. 

But a new season will begin...

All for now,

GB

Graham "Jacob" Baird

Two weeks ago, I joined an online personality survey, spiritual development program called Monvee (by the way, I really, really recommend Monvee, www.monveebeta.com). The Monvee computer based program works by having you input personal information about your life and your walk with God into a computer program. Then it processes that information by allowing that information to be synthesized by expert psychologists and pastors, and then it gives you a spiritual diagnostic for you life. Among other helpful tools, it matches you up with a Biblical character that is most similar to your own character.

The character that the Monvee computer program matched me up with is Jacob. And I've got to say, I've really been wrestling with this one...

Jacob was the son of Isaac, who stole his father's inheritance from his brother, who ran away from home, who got lost in the wilderness, who met with God on the banks of the river Jabok (play on words), who wrestled with an angel - "until the angel was overcome" - (Thank you Bono). Jacob was conniving, he was deceptive, he strove for much, and stood for little. Jacob wanted to make alliances in order to further his own selfish ambitions, and when those alliances went south, he continually turned to his own charms and winsomeness to carry him through...

Ugh...is that me??????

Of course, Jacob ("the grasper") would also later became Israel ("the one who strives"). Israel became a great blessing to a nation, and a hope for lost souls. Israel was God's chosen path for a nation of people. But it was only after Jacob acquiesced his own goals, ambitions, dreams and desires, and gave them to God, that he became who God wanted him to be.

I'm still wrestling with this one, but I suppose that is in my nature,

All for now,

GB

Ashes on the Inside

Highlands Church is hosting it's first Ash Wednesday service tonight at 6:30PM.  Being a fourth generation Presbyterian minister, I have never actually attended an Ash Wednesday service, let alone led one.  At the ripe old age of seven I remember asking my father about why my Catholic friends had, "ashes on their foreheads...have they done something wrong?"  "They have done something wrong, so have we all, and Presbyterians wear their ashes on the inside..."  For weeks afterward, I couldn't erase graphic images of ashes, soot, and old logs, floating around in my stomach.

I actually believe that Ash Wednesday is one of those holidays (holy days) which Evangelical Christ followers should take more seriously.  After the Reformation, our side of Christianity jettisoned many of the unhealthy vestiges of Catholicity and sanctimoniousness Thankfully, this is why I don't own a papal hood, or a cardinals frock.  The down side of this proverbial theological bathwater drainage, has been that many of the healthy outward signs and symbols of faith (anointing, ashes, incense) have been lost.  As a result, people in my own congregation constantly ask, "Why can't I be baptized again...for the fourth time?"  What they want deep down is not baptism, but something tangible to hang their faith on.

Whether we actually put ashes on our foreheads or not, all Christ followers should view Ash Wednesday, and consequently Lent as a time to do four basic things:

1.   We should try to have Lent be a time of getting closure on some of life's painful and hard experiences.  Ashes symbolize this pain; "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job. 42:6)

2.  We should have Lent be a time to allow God to work on our ongoing areas of sin.

3.  We should have Lent be a time of being released from the treadmill of perfection.  God told Adam, and he tells us, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food, then you will return to the ground, since you were taken from it; from dust you were made, and to dust you will return." (Gen. 3:19)  As John Ortberg more recently put it, "At the end of the monopoly game, it all goes back in the box."

4.  Finally, Lent should be a time of preparation for Easter.

All for now....GB