Praise to God, gratitude to many others.

As he would have even if the answer from Franklin has been "no", God deserves my praise.  Job knew that the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; in my years of waiting the same lesson has been learned.  Not that my situation compares in any way to the suffering of Job.  I've had two jobs during this waiting period and a loving, if weary of waiting, wife at my side (instead of Job's less than helpful grief stricken wife).  In the end, God deserves praise because the will of the Lord is that we prosper and grow in our spiritual transformation process of becoming Christ-like.  For some, God blesses them to cause growth, for others, he sends trials and tribulations, and for a few, he simply tells them to wait.
Now that our prayers for direction have been answered (and a new avenue of prayer for this new ministry begins), Nicole and I have a mountain of thanks to spread out to our supporters that begins with our families, extends to our friends and my former church family at Galilee, and ends with my church family at Palo.  All have been what we needed from time to time.  Some have offered regular prayer, even on days that I found it hard to pray.  Some have offered words of encouragement, even on days when I felt stuck in a rut. 
From the beginning, the wonderful people at Palo have been understanding of my search process.  I came to them out of the blue, as it were, five years ago and grew to love the people, the old stone building, and the chance to preach God's Word each week.  I'll take with me my fond memories of Sunday school with Marjorie, Joy, Linda, and Jimmie; I'll chuckle at memories of Tony telling me whether or not a new iworship song was a keeper, and Wilma interrupting the service anytime she needed to let everyone know about the news from Camp Lake Louise.  I'll remember the quiet way in which Bruce was the board chairman, and the diligent way in which Sue kept the bulletin and newsletter in shape.  I'll miss Marion telling me thank you for helping her up off of the chair lift, and Sue's infectious enthusiasm for the school at Palo.  That's the tip of the iceberg.
Lastly, I need to thank my wife.  I promised her before we were married ten and a half years ago that I would support her and ease the burden she was lifting when I was able to secure a full-time job.  I imagined as a worse case scenario that it would take two years.  When I began teaching at Portland I thought it would only add a year to her wait, it ended up being nine.  There were plenty of times that all the words I had to offer her rang hollow, times that all I could do was hold her as she wept and express my regret.  What can a husband say when he sees his wife's health deteriorate through over-work and he is powerless to work more because the job offers aren't coming?  The one thing that I could say, the same thing I've told her every day of our marriage, I love you Nicole; always and forever.
Thank you Lord for answering our prayers, thank you all for helping lift them up to his throne, thank you Nicole for believing in me.

A long distance call from Franklin.

"They're singing now, what does that mean?"  Nicole and I were wondering that same thing as we waited in the hallway outside of the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Franklin yesterday.  About ten minutes earlier the church had begun a business meeting to vote upon my candidacy; a simple yes/no vote (in which 70% was needed) to determine if the search committee's recommendation would be adopted by the congregation as a whole.  How long would it take?  We had no idea, these things can be over quickly or they can go on for a long time if there is much debate before the vote.
And now they were singing; the song was "Joy to the World", but that didn't really tell us anything; afterall, it's only three weeks until Christmas.  A few moments later the search committee chairperson came out into the hall to tell us that the vote was over; the church was officially calling me (and because of our marriage bond, my wife Nicole) to become their next pastor.
After dealing with searches and looking at job postings for the past couple of years, the news was a relief.  For the first time, I will be able to focus full-time on ministry.  No longer will other interests compete for my time and energy.  I was asked on Saturday what a bi-vocational pastor was (as that is what I've been the past five years); my answer was that a bi-vocational pastor is someone whose life is divided.  The time/energy required of the M-F job are always at war with the job God has called you to.  At last, I can move past that tug of war.
There will be exciting new ministry opportunities, a new town and new people to get to know, and a chance for Nicole to decide what she wants to do instead of what she has to do.  There will also be some tears as we say goodbye to the only home we've lived in as man and wife, to the town that I grew up in, to friends I've hung out with since I was a kid, and to family that I've always lived close to.  There will also be an end to my ministry at Palo; a church that has allowed me to be their minister for five years where I've added experience to the knowledge I've had before, and built some friendships that will last far beyond the present.  For that opportunity, they will always have a piece of me, as will this my hometown, family, and friends. 

"They never stop to ask if they should do something"

Those are the words of Michael Crichton expressed through the character of Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park.  Malcolm is explaining his objection to the creation of dinosaurs by Hammond's scientists by insisting that the only type of questions science can answer are whether or not something is possible; never whether or not something is right.  One of the themes throughout Michael Crichton's writings is that science is a tool like any other.  When put in the hands of people with evil intention, it can cause grave consequences.  In this he is most correct.  The same could be said of politics, economics, psychology, and a host of other disciplines.  The thing that sets science apart is that in the modern world it can clearly lead humanity down paths that endanger us all without 99% of the world even knowing it.  Our latent fear of science, as evidenced in countless science fiction novels, comics, and movies comes to life more and more as new breakthroughs are announced on a regular basis.
I wrote recently that we need both faith and science.  The complete lack of morality within the scientific process is another reason why.  The Christian needs to utilize both science and faith, and the scientist certainly needs to let faith enlighten his/her decisions as well.  Faith certainly can enlighten science on issues related to the sanctity of life; not only life between conception and birth, but also quality of life issues and end of life issues.  There have been recent articles explaining that a "reliable" test to determine if a child will likely have Down Syndrome is now available.  Can science really be expected to see the value in the life of that child and not simply encourage frightened parents to abort? 
Added to the mix of moral ambiguity surrounding science is the pressure that many researchers are under to make their efforts pay off financially.  Science cannot possibly make moral choices when dollar signs are the determining factor.  It may seem naive to try to contain the influence of money in the realm of scientific research, especially when other less scrupulous countries would do research that scientists of conscience balk at, but if we give up and don't even try to instill a Christian morality in the research lab and medical facility, what will prevent us from walking down the paths that the late Michael Crichton's fiction spoke of?

The shocking story of Christmas

Do you sometimes wish that you could re-read your favorite book, or watch your favorite movie, over again for the first time?  After a while, even with our favorites, we tend to lose the sense of suspense and wonder.  After all, we know how the story ends.  Christmas can be the same way for Christians.  We've heard the story since we were children, most of use could recreate the Gospel accounts from memory (if not word for word, at least in substance).  This is a story that we know.
And yet, wouldn't it be helpful to look at the Gospel account through the eyes of the first century readers who are hearing the account of Jesus' birth for the first time?  How would their reaction to the events surrounding his birth differ from our own?  One way which we can be relatively certain that our reactions would differ is in the area of how shocking the story would have seemed then, versus how tame it seems now.
We aren't surprised at all that angels spoke to Mary and Joseph (although I bet Mary and Joseph were surprised!), that our Lord was born in a manger, and that his first visitors were lowly shepherds.  We've grown accustomed to the story of a humble king born in this way because we're familiar with the servant attitude that Jesus champions.  In contrast to our comfortable feeling, the Gospel accounts are actually full of surprising twists and turns (not just in the birth narrative) that would have been far more stunning to those who were hearing them for the first time than they are for us today.
We have the benefit, and it certainly is one, of two thousand years of Christian culture and history to draw help frame our experiences and deepen our understanding of God's Word.  And yet, that same background can insulate us from seeing and feeling the Gospel from a fresh perspective.
This Christmas, when you're hearing about the old familiar story of the birth of Jesus, take a moment to look for the scandal and try to see the sudden twists and turns.  Ask God to give you a fresh understanding of his Word so that you too can read about the birth of Christ for the first time.

Sermon Video "O Come, O Come Immanuel!" - Isaiah 7:14, 9:2,6-8

How long would you wait for something you wanted? The prophet Isaiah tells the people of Israel, God's covenant people, that the promises to Abraham and David will be fulfilled. Little did they know that they would have to wait 700 years for the virgin Isaiah spoke of, Mary, to hear from the angel announcing the coming of the Messiah. In addition, Isaiah tells us that the one to come will be a light in our darkness, will institute a government of justice and righteousness, will establish the throne of David, and will save all of us from our sins.


To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video