For everything there is a season

Dear faithful onfire servants of Jesus Christ, It is with sadness mixed with joy that I write to you today. I have shared several personal stories of faith about my father over the last two years. His battle with Altzheimers came to an end on October1 when my dad died in the same home where he was born, 87 years ago. He was a life long member of Efland Presbyterian Church where he attended as long as he was able. He leaves behind a legacy of five children who really loved him. It was our honor to care for him at home with the help of Hospice. Last Monday morning, I got a call from Efland that he was not doing well, and made the trip home. Our family kept vigil with him until he died on Friday. I thank the Lord for the care of his pastor, Rev. Dawn Stoker and for my brother in law from Cullowhee UMC, Rev. David Reeves, for his care and help officiating at my dad's funeral service yesterday.
     In my line of work as a pastor, I have spent the last 18 years living on call to go be by the side of a family in a time spiritual crisis. This past week, when our family was really going through a hard time, we could feel your prayers and we did know that God was present with us. What a great gift of the church to us!  All the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren had their time to spend with my father.  For my family members who have made huge sacrifices to take care of my dad at home, I honor them and respect them so much. My part in caring for my dad was really a small part compared to their labors for him. I feel so blessed to have a family that loved my father so much that they were willing to do all they could to honor his wish to live out his days at home.
     If you have wondered why my articles have not been regular like clock work, it has been because since I was appointed to Deerfield here in Boone, my life has not been regular like clockwork. I made the trip home to see my dad when I could, and each time I could see his decline. I grieved over how I would get to be with him more as he was getting worse. Now, that grief is no more. God already had a plan.
    Life on the farm goes on. My brother Howard is expecting 40,000 strawberry plants today that will need to go in the ground as soon as he can get them planted. That has been our way of life as long as I can remember. A time to reap and a time to sow. A time to laugh and a time to cry. For everything there is a season. My dad was the hardest working man I have ever met. He was a strong man in his heart with integrity, respect, honor and love, constantly at his command. He was strong but gentle, kind and humble. His faith was solid. I never doubted that my daddy trusted God with everything, the farm, his family, even his future when life was uncertain.
   Today remember, God is taking care of you. He will carry you through until you can be strong again on the other side of that valley. I said the 23rd Psalm over and over again in my heart as I sat by my dad's bed last week. As I looked out his bedroom window, he was surrounded by green pastures. The Lord gave him a chance to lie down in green pastures that we could actually see and be reminded that God was there to hold him, comfort him, and fill his cup to over flowing. Praise be to God for the hope we have in Christ. No matter how hard your day may be today, lift up your hearts because God is holding each of us in the palm of his hand. I feel his presence and from all of our family, we thank you for your prayers. God has been our constant supply of strength and comfort and for this, we as a family are so blessed. I am so glad that now, my daddy finally gets to rest from all of his work. To my dad, job well done.

Homecoming after 50 years at Deerfield UMC

Wow! What a treat to share the pulpit with our founding pastor this past Sunday on Sept. 19. 2010 for the 50th anniversary of Deerfield UMC being founded. Rev. Joe McMurry was here to preach, and what a great day of events we had. Lots of music, lots of food, lots of stories. I cried when I got to stand in the pupit with Rev. McMurry and I cried from laughing so hard at another previous pastor, Rev. A. B. Weaver. He was a true character. The day turned out so well. You would have never known that on Thursday just before our homecoming event, our water service was cut off because a huge leak had shown up on the system. Our guys worked with the Town of Boone, and our plumber to dig out the line and get it fixed all in the same day. We prayed that the leak was not under the pavement right in front of the driveway. I could picture a row of port a johns lined up on the outside of the parking lot for Homecoming if we could not get the water cut back on. Well, it all worked out. Two million gallons of water leaked about 6 inches on our side of the meter, sprayed back into a huge cement box which had a deep layer of rock underneath it. The extra water seems to have made it's way directly to the creek, only a few feet away from the leak, all underground. No soft spots for us to detect. It was a crazy day, but God saw us through, and the Homecoming was wonderful. The event went on with a blaze of glory! Thanks so much to our folks who worked so hard to make that happen!
   Our next big project is getting ready for charge conference in one months time. What a challenge that will be. Boone is a great place to live. It is only about 80 degrees here today. Life here is good. Praise be to God for the opportunity to live a little closer to heaven.

Hospitality gone wild!

At Deerfield, the adult Sunday school classes have been studying for several weeks how to become a more welcoming church. That is some good food for thought for the church to consider. This past Friday at ASU, freshmen move in day, I saw some amazing hospitality in action. At one point Friday afternoon, I counted 52 volunteers who were standing ready to unload each car as it arrived with a new freshmen on board, moving into Gardener Hall. My job was to be a greeter for the students as they arrived. So of course, I would say welcome to Boone when they got out of the car, with a lot of energy. Then the students standing behind me would start clapping and yelling like it was a big deal, a celebration. Then you would see the students face light up like this is the moment they have been waiting for. The parents were in shock. It was tremendous hospitality as the students who were volunteering unloaded the car and carried the items to the new dorm room for the new freshman. The weather was great, about 75 degrees and sunny. We saw lots of hugs of parents and kids, and sometimes students who came alone. We were especially nice to them. What courage it would take to make this step on your own!
    Yesterday at Deerfield I told the congregation that these young people at ASU have so much to offer. I could see that they really want to serve. We need to find a way to help them be apart of something spiritually significant while they are here in school. We did have some volunteers from Deerfield who worked the move in day on Friday, and took some goodies for the students with them. It was great for all of us.  Wow! I am thrilled to think about the possibilities of helping young people connect with Christ in a way that will change their lives. Deerfield UMC, the task is before us with a ton of new possibilities. As with every United Methodist Church, are we thinking and praying everyday about how we are making disciples for Jesus Christ? Lord Jesus Christ be our guide. We are walking by faith. Amen.

Hey, we have some excitement going on here!

OK, this is the 4th time I have written this article and it keeps disappearing mysteriously. That must mean it is really good and must go out, so I am going to keep writing it over again until I can get it to you.
We are actively seeking out ASU students to become part of our life at Deerfield UMC in Boone NC. We have prepared 300 welcome packs for the Wesley Foundation to hand out this coming weekend. Our young people are so in tune with electronics, our webmaster is one of our youth, only 14 years old. That's right. We are going high tech and you can reach us under construction at deerfieldonline.org or reachasu4X.org. The times, they have change, but the church, she has not changed much. If we don't find a way to connect with our young people in the life of the church, we are really going to be participating in a long funeral for the life of our church, because without the next generation, the church dies. We do not want that to happen. We want to make disciples for Jesus Christ. I have seen evidence of the hand of God when local nursing home residents helped us stuff and assemble the 300 welcome packs for the incoming college students. It's a God thing to want to help young people make a connection to Christ. Young people, we want you! We may not have arrived at how we are going to get the young people and keep them, but at least God is growing that desire for them in our hearts and we want what God wants.
  We pray God will lead us to have a passion like his for lost people. To give us wisdom and patience to reach kids, youth, and college aged young adults, and to press on into the future with courage. God, come and lead the charge! So from Deerfield UMC, welcome ASU students, welcome to the new Watauga High School students and to all the children who will come through our doors. We want to make a place for you in the life of our church.

Is tithing a good deal?

Dear On Fire Servants for Jesus Christ, it is good to be in a place to be able to write an encouraging word to you today. I am getting settled in a new assignment to Deerfield UMC in Boone NC. The people here have been so helpful in getting starting in this new ministry. They have worked tirelessly on a huge parsonage renovation project and the work is really nice. We look forward to a new school year beginning as the Appalachian Students head our way. It is my hope that Deerfield UMC will be a place they can call home while they study here.  The church is in a great location only 2 miles from the campus. I have learned that living in the clouds literally means that when driving, visibility may go away at just about any time. I have also been able to apply the old saying may the road rise up to meet you and may the wind always be at your back. On some of the roads, it does seem like the road disappears as it takes a sharp turn or drops off more than you can see.  For now, praise the Lord for the 64 degree night here last night. I am loving the break from the heat.
     For worship yesterday, the message was on the Luke lectionary passage from Luke 12 about our connection to our possessions. We strive so hard to get more stuff we have to figure out what to do with it. We can always use a bigger barn.  Do you own your possessions or do they own you? The point of this passage is to be in a right relationship to our possessions, and not let them have dominion over our lives. It was a good time to teach about tithing and showing God that we sincerely want to make every effort to be in a right relationship with all that He has given us by thanking him with our tithe first. In explaining to the kids during the children's time what a tithe was by using 10 dimes, I showed them that one dime would be God's and the rest would be ours to spend however we wanted to spend them. Then I asked them it they thought that was a good deal. They all agreed it was a really good deal. Then I asked them what they thought would be a better deal, so one of the children said to give God 5 dimes and keep 5 dimes. I hope that when I grow up, I can be just like them. They really preached the sermon yesterday. Praise the Lord for the children.  Lift up your hearts.