Not too cold here to go fishing!

     What a great January this has been in Boone NC! We were anticipating 10 below and lots of wind and rain and snow and fog. I am so glad to report the weather has been milder than usual. Everyday here in January where you can actually see the grass is like having another day added to Christmas. It feels like a real gift. We do anticipate the winter to still arrive, but we have enjoyed the warm days. It is a blessing to be able to share the good news that the work that we are doing to teach the children of our church about the good news of Christ on Monday afternoons continues to prosper. It is such a joy to set aside the cares of pastoral care with the grown ups I serve which can be serious and heavy some days, to laugh, spin the hula hoop, and teach the kids about how much Jesus loves them. Some how I believe in the life of the church and the pastor, we are supposed to care both for the elderly and for our members, and yet look for ways to tell the story of Christ to those who do not yet know the story, or know the Savior personally.
     This past Sunday we studied from the lectionary text in Mark where Jesus calls his first disciples. They were real fisherman. Jesus talked them out of doing that for a living with their dad and to drop what they were doing to come and follow him. In exchange for doing that, Jesus promised to teach them how to fish for people. No matter what the weather may be, fishing for Jesus Christ is always in season. I have reminded our flock to look for ways to tell the story of how much Christ loves them to the people they meet day by day. You are an expert on your witness. No one knows better than you all that Christ has done for you. So, we are a blessed people, yet afraid of offending or pushing people away, so we fail to speak up for Christ all through the day. We pray for God to give us open doors to the hearts of the people we meet, and for God to put people in our path who are spiritually hungry. We are trusting in His grace to give us the courage to speak up, and by the Spirit, we know God will give us the words to say to help get one more fish in his net day by day. Fishing is holy business. It is a ton of fun to work for Christ and the joy of knowing that another fish is securely in the net of Christ is the most rewarding work I can imagine. Sunday I gave the church an invitation to follow the example of the first disciples and I pass it on to you as well, "Go fish!" In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

What a wonderful regular Monday!

     Yesterday during worship, I celebrated with the children that it was a regular Sunday at Deerfield UMC. No big deal to them. But when I told them I was really excited because that meant tomorrow is a regular Monday and what does that mean for the children at Deerfield? They quickly replied, "Marvelous Magical Mondays!" So today at 3:30pm, we were back on our regular schedule for our children's ministry that meets weekly to teach them scripture through songs, stories, and puppets. It was a wonderful day to share hula hoops with the kids, and to teach them the story of Noah's Ark and what the promise is that comes everytime we see a rainbow in the sky. So next week, even though it's a holiday, and a very special one, we will be striving to keep our kids in their normal routine by staying with our instruction time at 3:30pm on Mondays. It has been a ton of fun! We have about as many grown ups that stay and help us each week as we do children and that is also wonderful. God is using the children of our church to put a smile on my face each week, and I know the other grown ups helping organize and teach each week feel the same way. Regular Mondays for us are awesome, and we praise God for each child who comes through the door of our church. We want to love them and share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. Next week, we will be starting to teach the kids all the books of the Bible and I know this will be a challenge, but the kids rise to the challenge and work hard. Thanks again to Connie Goff and Katie Grady for such great leadership to pull together our children's Christmas program. We made cd's of the kids singing and now the kids are playing their cd's over and over again, continuing to sing the songs like "God is always with you." Praise God that on a regular Monday, we have something exciting, life-giving being breathed into us that is just too good to keep to ourselves, so we want to share some of the joy from the kids of Deerfield UMC with you. Come join us. God is up to something musical and marvelous every regular Monday. For this, we give the Lord praise.