"Spring Forward"

“If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation.”  II Corinthians 5:17

 

Don’t you just love Spring?  My dad got his fishing equipment out this last week, started to clean it, and got it ready for the first outing of the year.  My son took his first jog in the country.  My youngest daughter got a new pair of cleats for fast-pitch and the other, laid out the other afternoon working on her tan base for prom (for real).  My wife got some Easter colored Hershey Kisses for our candy dish.  And I worked on getting our kayaks licensed for their inaugural trip down the river.  We chunked up the snow drift in front of the house so it could melt faster.  Birdseed is now in the feeder.  We grilled out the first batch of chicken and got the blades on the mower sharpened.  My dog wants to go outside more.  I got a new pair of tennis shoes.  How have you gotten ready for this new season of life that God wants to bring?

 

The following are just some of the more recent God-Stories from throughout our District where new life is getting ready to bust out because people made preparations for Spring.

 

You too can email me yours if you’d like to share.

 

1. Prayers and best wishes are extended to Aldersgate UMC as they partner together with Rev. J.D. Grigsby to launch a new AME Church in Huber Heights called New Visions.  Launch service is scheduled for Sunday, March 28^th 4:00pm at the Wayne High School Auditorium.

 

2. Nation Chapel took a new step of faith and hired a youth pastor, Matt Yoder, who recently started his candidacy process here in the Miami Valley. 

 

3. Vandalia UMC held an anniversary celebration for the incorporation of their city and invited the whole town.  What a great blockbuster type of event to demonstrate a new level of commitment to one’s community.

 

4. Grace UMC of Dayton held a vision and strategic planning seminar for their church to help launch a new season of fruitfulness.

 

5. Several of the ethnic churches in Dayton have been working with a consultant and trusting God as they reach into the future.

 

6. Springfield Faith (the merger of LaGonda, Story Hypes, and Central) is in its first full year of existence laying the ground work in new staff, leadership structure and ministry for a new legacy in Christ and their community.

 

7. Pemberton UMC started a new monthly men’s ministry entitled F.I.R.S.T., after the first Saturday.  The acronym stands for Faith, Integrity, Responsibility, Strength, and Trust.

 

What is your latest God Story of new life?

 

 

 

"Our Unique Call"

Dear Ones, praying for you to experience a glorious, God-filled day.  One of the things that helps me get through my schedule is an e-devotional put out by the Henri Nouwen Society using many of his original writings.  Their material is a good balance for my driven pace and personality.  You too could sign up if you wish at their website...http://www.henrinouwen.org/.
 
The following came to my inbox yesterday.  It always comes at a good time, gives me a fresh perspective, and reminds me of the simple things that I often forget.  I am not the Savior of the world.  I don’t have to be.  Never had to try.  Can’t be.  Would be no good at it on the best of my days.  Jesus already took care of that job.  He did it real well.  Looked bad at first, but turned it all around on the third day.  He will take care of your job too when we stay committed to the work.  Enjoy and thrive, Chris    
 
“Our Unique Call”
 
So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyse us and depress us.

Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time.

"Make 'Em Jealous"

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples…But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  John 20, NIV

 

Standing at the fish counter at Meijer’s in Troy, I was privileged to meet a sweet-little-old, Italian woman; her sweet- little-old Italian brother; and his wife.  They were examining the salmon.  In their native Italian, it sounded like a family fight.  Speaking a language I don’t often hear around these parts, I asked where they were from.  While one ended up being a neighbor of mine in Sidney, the others still lived in Italy, but had just come back from attending the Olympics in Vancouver.  I remarked how beautiful the scenes were on TV, especially in HD.  Weren’t they awesome?  They, though, said it didn’t even compare to being there.  I believed them.  You should have seen the glow in their eyes.  They were still beaming like little kids…uh, little Italian kids.  Made me all the more wish I had been there.

 

Make them jealous.  Does your faith in Christ make people want more?  The disciples of old didn’t just fill positions.  They weren’t the local institutional reps of a dying denomination.  They were fellow travelers with Jesus and had actually been there...with Him, in all of the glorious detail.  They not only witnessed it, but had experienced it and were still feasting off the joy. 

 

May your faith illicit the same passionate resolve in others.  If it doesn’t, maybe it’s time to go somewhere in YOUR journey that brings a child’s excitement to your soul all over again.

 

Thriving in Christ with you,

 

Chris