From the Vineyard Newsletter on 11/11: Count Your Many Blessings

The holiday season is upon us; today is Veterans Day (be sure to thank our veterans for their service and sacrifice), and in two weeks it will be Thanksgiving, followed by Advent and Christmas. From here to the end of the year it can be a real mad-dash to New Year.  So before you get ramped up with holiday traditions and general busyness, let me invite you to join me in one of my favorite November traditions, “Count Your Many Blessings!”

From here to Thanksgiving I want to invite you to focus on how God has blessed your life: friends, family, work, home, transportation, you name it. Maybe you have been able to travel, or you have your grandchildren living nearby? (I know I wish mine did!)  I am grateful for this church body, not just as a job, but for genuine friendships, the attitude of service, worship, and many other blessings. I love central Florida for the great weather, the beauty and greenery, and the easy access to fun attractions and fresh vegetables all year long.  

Let me invite you to stir up an attitude of gratitude in our church and community, among our friends, family, and neighbors. Will you join me? Starting today (with thanking our veterans) and then every day for the rest of this month, let’s make a real effort to post on social media one thing each day that we are grateful for. You can do more if you like, but let’s give God the glory and credit for the goodness in our lives. Then let’s take a step further; let’s be sure to write notes to our family and friends. You can text, mail, or email it; you can scribble a note in their lunch bag, draw on their mirror, or hide a sticky-note in one of their books. But let’s make a real effort to appreciate what we have, who we have, and give thanks to God and to the people around us. 

One more thing: would you be willing to bless a stranger? Let me invite you to pick up the tab for a stranger. It could be a coffee, or fast-food, or something else. It does not have to be big, but sometime this month bless a stranger.  If they ask you why, tell them God loves them, no strings attached. Then do this: walk away without preaching--no strings--just make sure they know God loves them. 

This is how we do life together in Christ. We love God, we love people, and we pass it on. We connect with people, we grow in Christ, we give generously, we serve God and man, and we live ordinary lives by the extraordinary power of the spirit at work within us.  

Grace and peace,

Hal

A GRATEFUL HEART

It's been awhile since I wrote my last post. That post on was on July 2; a few days later, on July 9, my world was rocked hard by the death of my son, Joel. As I have emerged from the shadows of the valley of death, I have seen God walk me through my fears, through the evil surrounding me, and prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies (Psalm 23).  Here now, as we come upon the feast of Thanksgiving, I am reminded of how much I have to be grateful for, in spite of this year’s losses.

In the past year I have lost my father-in-law, who I loved very much. Then I lost two dear friends in January, one to cancer and the other to suicide. Then just as the year seemed to take an upswing--crash--my son committed suicide. We were very close.  Our family was tightly knit, so then how did I not see it coming? Why didn't he talk to us? I will never be able to answer those questions . . . and so goes more loss.

Yet, this I know, I still have an amazing family. I love my children! I love my mom, step-dad, mother-in-law, brothers-in-law, etc. They are the best of family. Just weeks before Joel died my oldest daughter got married to a great guy. I really love him. He takes good care of her, and he loves our family. His family is also a great blessing, and they have been very supportive. Also we have another grandchild on the way.  But above all else, I have a loving wife who I get to share this life with.

I also have many, many friends who have stood by me in the most devastating moment of my life. They did not run away, but instead, ran to my side. Some of them came from great distances to uplift  and care for us. Some of them live here in town, and they are still helping me day-by-day. They listen. They don't try to solve my hurt (they cannot); they don't try to say something meaningful (neither should you); they just sit and listen, and then they pray for me. They invite us to dinner. They do little things to remind us  we are loved.

I have enjoyed some very special times with my friends and family. I have enjoyed the pleasant weather of Florida. I have been to the mountains of North Carolina  and twice driven from coast to coast this year. I have been to my hometown, El Paso, Texas, to eat tacos and hug friends. I have been on a sailboat in the Pacific Ocean and fished quiet lakes in Florida.  I turned 50 this year, and I am in good health, enough to run a few 5k races. I have a beautiful home; I enjoy exotic foods, and I can even afford to buy some. I have transportation, AC, and I can go on, and on, and on.

This Sunday I am beginning a series of messages on  A Grateful Heart. Just writing about this makes my heart lighter. I’m excited.  Just sharing these thoughts breaks through the cloud of darkness and ushers in the light of hope. I am grateful!

The best part of it all? God has never let me down. Some are surprised that I can say that. They are thinking about my son's suicide. Joel was an amazing young man. I loved his sense of humor; I miss his hugs. I enjoyed some very special times with him. I also lived through a few of his bad decisions, and he lived through some of mine. When I made them, and he suffered, I asked him for forgiveness.  He gave it to me. Likewise, I had to forgive my son many times over. I always taught my kids  they have to own their “stuff,” their decisions and actions It's not someone else's fault when they do wrong, and, it is not God's fault.  It certainly wasn’t God’s fault that Joel made a bad decision that cost him his life. I cannot be disappointed with God over Joel's decision. So I say again, God has never let me down, not even in my second darkest hour. (My darkest hour was when I was lost in sin and without hope.)

Every day, I am so grateful God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to rescue me in my darkest hour, and that he comforts me in every dark hour since.

Happy Thanksgiving!

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

A few weeks ago (in March) I had a dream about the urgency of prayer in our church, followed by several confirming words, dreams and visions from others in the body. It was a real wake-up call to make sure that prayer had its proper place in the church, drawing us not to religious practice, but deeply into intimacy with Jesus.

The problem was busyness! We all get busy, we all have too much to do, but the truth is that we don't stop and pray because we have time, we pray because we need the power of the Hoy Sprit for living. We pray because we need direction from our heavenly Father. We pray because we need the mercy of Jesus. We do not pray because we must (as in law) we pray because we must (as in our deepest need to be whole).

Here we are now, about one month out form that first urgent call to pray. Since that time I have certainly changed my prayer routine, made more room in my schedule throughout lent and I have committed to keep that space for the Lord. I have heard from several people that they needed that call to action as well, and who have reoriented their lives to be more intentional in relationship with God. We have also seen a renewed interest in our prayer meeting, which we moved to Tuesdays at noon.

At the same time, I also see that the dire warning has passed and there is a tendency to let the urgent fade into the background of normalcy. It is easy to let complacency creep back in and for us to begin doing everything in our own strength. It is all too easy to let our stomach decide that we need to eat now before we pray. To let urgency demand we skip prayer meeting to spend time catching up on work. To let TV take the place of intimacy not only with God but also with those whom we live.

Most of us have expressed some level of concern for our nation in recent months both during the election and afterwards. Some have taken to political posting, arguing, and letting fear control their view of life. Others have buried their heads in the sand or on pinterest posts to avoid the ugliness of political debate. Yet the truth is that what we are talking about when we speak of the civility of a society, its manners, it social decorum, its moral underpinnings, and the issues of justice in a society is that the real need is for revival. For people to be transformed. We cannot transform a society except one heart at a time being transformed by the love of God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The need in our land is less about making America great again, and making America good again, as in good like God is good, as in intentionally becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.

So one month later my real reason for writing is wondering, what will it take to bring us to our knees in prayer? What will convince us that our deepest need is for God? Politics do not change the world, they only reflect the condition of the hearts of those who vote and those who lead. Laws do not change people, God proved that on day one when Adam and Eve chose rebellion over relationship with God and broke his laws bring about sin and death. The Law of the Old Testament did not save us, that was Jesus who died on the cross because we were guilty of violating the Law. More laws will not make our society better or more free, or more moral. Putting the ten commandments on court house lawns will not change our society unless we first write them on our hearts.

Our deepest need is not for social transformation but personal transformation. Pray without ceasing is not a rule, but a way of life that takes me into the presence of God to know his heart, to know his will, and to empower me to do his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

The Feast of Giving Thanks

As we head into this week of thanksgiving, we often think about being thankful for the things we have. The emphasis is on the material, and then we are surprised that people go out the next day and act so materialistic. Ha! Well, I propose something different. The original intent of thanksgiving. It was not at all about being grateful for stuff. It was a day to say thanks to God for what he had done in their lives. The original thanksgiving was not celebrated in the Americas as a result of surviving the winter. It was a feast in the Old Testament, a time to reflect on the goodness of God, and have fellowship with God. This biblical feast included a time of dining with God in the tabernacle (or temple) grounds. The animal was presented to God as an offering of thanksgiving, then they would have a feast with God is his honor. They literally sat down to eat at God’s table, as God’s guest, and the entire meal was eaten in the presence of God, on his terms, and everything about the meal was holy, and all the attention was on God. Notice I did not say it was formal, or rigid, or stuffy, like a bad religious experience. I said it was holy, meaning set apart from other meals, and God was understood to be present, that they were at his table, enjoying fellowship with him.  It could be done at any time of year, and some did it more than once a year. It included lots of wine and joyful celebration. The people stayed and ate until everything was gone. Sometimes it took several days. Sounds like fun doesn’t it? 

As you head into this thanksgiving, its good to be thankful for our blessings, all of our stuff, but the focus really is not what we have, but who has us. Who do we belong too? Who has given us life? Who invites us into his care? Who is worthy of all our attention? Its called thanksgiving not because of the stuff or the stuffing. Its thanksgiving because it is all about God and the great things he has done. 

Remember & Observe

As we rush toward the holidays, I am reminded that the essence of holiday is holy days. Time and seasons that we set apart from the rest of the calendar to observe and remember. These two elements are key to making these days holy. I often hear people lament the loss of Christmas to commercialism, but I don’t share that concern because I know that my faith and my choices are not controlled by outside forces. My personal experience of these holy days are set and controlled by me. Years ago, Dawn and I made the conscience decision to remember and to observe. A  decision that met lots of resistance from our extended family.  So what do I mean by remember and observe?

By remember I mean to remember what God had done for us through Christ, to remember our heritage of faith handed down to us over the generations of faithful Christ followers in our family, and to remember the price paid by Christians in every generation so that the message of Christ could be transmitted to us. There is a lot to remember. We do this through specific traditions, and stories that we share with one another, and over the years we have handed-off the opportunity to our children to tell those stories back to us. No amount of commercialism has stopped us from doing that. 

By observance I mean that we have put into practice times of reading the Scripture, prayer, and song into our observance of these holy days. We have made sure that no matter how many people come, and no matter what agenda anyone else brings, at our home we observe these practices, and we do not go to anyone else’s home until we have observed our time with God.   

This past week my children thanked me again for our decision not to let what everyone else did determine our holiday celebrations. Turns out they didn't miss the commercialism either. Maybe being like everyone else isn't what it is cracked up to be?