Have you taken your MEDSS?

Good Morning Trinity Tribe,

I hope you are well! It is dreary outside, but I am feeling pretty chipper here inside the office. Sometimes when you go to a class that is required, you come away slightly disgruntled at how your time was wasted. Yesterday, I felt the opposite of that as I left the Clergy Ethics Seminar. I was educated. I was challenged. And I was a bit saddened about how stress impacts people to make poor choices that affect our proclamation of the gospel.

I learned a tool that will be helping me to stay balanced and healthy. I offer it to you as well.

Something we can ask ourselves every day is, "Have you taken your MEDSS?" Meaning:

Meditation (Devotional reading, meditation, and prayer)
Exercise (At least 30 minutes three times a week)
Diet (A balanced and healthy diet with at least 9 servings of fruits and veggies)
Sleep (At least 7 but adults need 8-11 hours a day)
Support (holy friends who keep you accountable and who are able to tell you things you don't want to hear)

Most of the acronyms are pretty self explanatory. However, I would like to talk about holy friendships a moment. We need to be in relationship with people that help us see the holy and see the sin in our own lives. To quote Greg Jones, former Dean of the Divinity School at Duke, "Holy friends are people who, over time, get to know us well enough that they can challenge the sins we have come to love, affirm gifts we are afraid to claim, and dream dreams about how we can bear witness to God's Kingdom that we would otherwise would not have dreamed."

I am blessed that I have a few friends that fit this bill. I need people to call me out when I am clinging to that sin that I like so much. I need people to push me to embrace God's preferred future for me, even when it is hard. I invite you to reflect on who your holy friends are. If you don't feel like you have anyone to whom you are accountable spiritually, emotionally, etc, how can we make that happen?

If you have been on a Walk to Emmaus, they encourage you to become part of a reunion group. If you haven't gone on a Walk to Emmaus, that doesn't mean you can't have holy friends to be accountable to. Let me know if you would like to join a group. Perhaps we can get one or two or more together here at Trinity.

Here are some good questions to start with:

Where am I growing? .
Where am I stuck? .
What step can I trust God with next?

I have also been in prayer about other small groups that might be helpful to our spiritual lives and personal lives. Let me know if you are interested in one of these or one that meets your personal needs. They might be for mutual support…sharing ideas about services in the area…bouncing ideas off…prayer…

Hebrews 10 says: 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

*Parenting children
*Parenting teens
*Caring for parents
*Caring for a spouse who is sick

Taking away time

Good afternoon everyone,

Sorry for the delay in today's email. I have been up to my ears in statistics that are due to the NC Annual Conference on January 31st. Thank you to all the people who have submitted information to help me get these numbers together!!!

The last several days I have had all sorts of strange phone calls to my cell phone and the office phone. One frightened me enough that I called the police (at the advice of the phone company). The police were here lickity split! I appreciate them! I have gotten prank calls in Spanish late at night. I have gotten telemarketing spam calls in Spanish. People send junk faxes trying to get us to sign up for a fake phone book at $30/a month. The list seems endless of ways people try to get money for nothing and take away time from me.

Interestingly, the God who created the world and each of us ask for nothing in return but faith. God gives us grace freely. We sin and God is still offering forgiveness to us. All we have to do in response is accept grace and believe. That is something that we get for nothing. Pretty cool!

In Paul's letter to the Ephesians chapter 1 we find this: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Have a great afternoon!

I will be out of the office tomorrow at a Sexual Ethics seminar. Every four years every pastor in the United Methodist Church is required to be trained on how to keep proper boundaries, how we can best care for people who have been abused, and other topics in that vein. You can be proud that the United Methodist Church takes these sorts of issues seriously.

sleeping

Good evening Trinity Tribe,

I hope you have had a restful night! Kenna and I are spending the night in the Sleep Center at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center so that she can have a sleep study done. She has a terrible time staying asleep. So, the doctor wanted to know what is going on with her sleep patterns. She is hooked up to several machines with electrodes coming off all parts of her body and head. She looks somewhat like a science fair project gone bad. However, this will let the doctor know how deeply she is sleeping and if she suffers from sleep apnea or another medical condition.

Don't you wish we could do a spiritual study and could know exactly how our soul is at this very moment? Hymn number 377 in our hymnal says this:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

How can we know how our soul is doing? John Wesley took copious notes in his diary about when he sinned. He constantly assessed the state of his soul. As much as I respect and revere Mr. Wesley, I wonder if he spent too much time beating himself up. Because of God's abundant and never-ending grace, we can always turn back to God and repent of our sins. If we confess our sins, claim Jesus Christ as our Savior and turn towards God, we can be confident that it is well with our souls. We don't need to list our sins. We don't need to be hooked up to a sin monitor.
In 1 John 1:7, we find these words, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." We must walk in the life, have fellowship with one another, and share in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Let's begin the day by confessing our sins and turning back towards God. In that way we can be confident in the state of our souls.

Patience and blessing

Good morning Trinity Tribe,

On one of our last full days of vacation, we went to the lighthouse at Ponce Inlet near Daytona Beach. It was a very nicely kept lighthouse and museum. Kayla was a real trouper and climbed 203 steps up and most of them down. After we left the lighthouse we went over to the state park nearby. It was really neat as well. We went out on the pier and saw all the fishermen. It was cold, but the surf was beautiful! There were jellyfish everywhere! We left the beach and walked into the maritime forest area. Kenna and Hanna found a trail and we followed it. And followed it. And followed it In one bend of the trail we found a piece of a sunken ship. It wasn't very old since it had metal screws holding the porthole on, but it was still pretty cool. By this time, I was cold and had had about enough nature for one day. However, the girls still wanted to explore. They hadn't gotten to the end of the trail yet. I sighed and kept following the pirates on their quest for treasure. That is when we found the real treasure. We came out on the inlet into a cove area. Then we saw the first fin…and then another…and then another! There was a pod of wild dolphins in the bay! There were just yards away from us! They were BEAUTIFUL! And so fun to watch. They would dive…we were so close we could hear the air escape their blow holes! Then they would dive again! We watched them until they disappeared into the open ocean! What a beautiful sight! I will never forget it! I was blessed by the beauty of God's creation because of perseverance. I Corinthians 13:4 says, Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant." And James 5:8 says, You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

When times are tough…you are tired….you are cold…you are "done" with whatever the task is…sometimes it is best to persevere. In the perseverance we can be blessed immeasurably.


Be on the lookout for God's little blessings today!

The Universe

Good morning Trinity Tribe!

We had a wonderful vacation, but it sure is nice to be home! I have lots of things to tell you, but I will start here…

One of my favorite things we did on our vacation was go to Kennedy Space Center. Mark had been there years ago, but none of the rest of us had. It was a neat experience! They have created a nice way to be educated about how our country is pushing the envelope into space exploration, rocketry, and pure human ingenuity.

Often people that are scientists do not believe in God. And I understand and respect that people who are very analytical need to see proof that God exists. However, I think that the images of beauty that we saw that had come out of the Hubble telescope prove nothing but the existence of God. I cannot believe that the sheer brilliant beauty of the birth of a star that occurred millions of years ago that I am just now seeing because of the speed of light, could be explained by sheer coincidence.

Next time you are up late, bundle up, go outside and marvel at the heavens. They are a magnificent creation of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 8
1 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[

Funerals and prayers

Good morning Trinity Tribe!

I hope you are well on this rainy morning! I have signed up for the NC Conference walking program this morning. They will be mailing me a pedometer that you hook up to your computer. They will be tracking the miles walked by NCC pastors. I think we are competing against the other districts. So, if you see me, ask me how much I have walked! ;-)

The other day the girls were playing outside. They were in the field next to the parsonage playing softball. They stumbled across a carrot, several pieces of coal and some buttons. They found the remnants of our snowman. In the way that children do, they decided to have a funeral for Frosty. They prepared the grave…got a flower from inside the house…made a grave marker…and planned a funeral. They invited me and Kenya outside and we began our service. We had a solemn procession while singing "Frosty the Snowman" in a solemn and sad fashion (think funeral dirge). We then buried the remnants of our friend, Frosty.

That is the way that worship should be for us…part of everyday life. Worship isn't supposed to be separate from our lives, it is to be part of our lives, every part of our lives. I took a class on Jewish prayer during seminary. I was impacted by how worship is inlaid within the normal and every day. There is a prayer that a devout Jew will say after waking up…after putting his/her feet on the floor…before eating…after eating…even after things like burping. Prayer and thanksgiving is a part of everyday life.

Here is a prayer for washing hands before a meal:

Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al netilat yadayim.
Blessed are You L-rd our G-d King of the universe Who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us on the washing of the hands.

And one for eating food that is not bread:

Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei minei mezonot.

Blessed are you L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe, Who creates various kinds of sustenance.

[From http://www.chabad.org/library/howto/wizard_cdo/aid/278543/jewish/4-Mezonot.htm ]

Where can we add a sense of worship to our lives? We may pray before eating and perhaps as we crawl into our beds. Where else can we pray? Where can we weave a spirit of worship into our everyday lives? Can we pray before we drive to work? Can we pray when we arrive there safely? Can we pray as we type? Can we pray in all that we do?

Prayerfully yours,
Mary Frances

Nature vs. Nurture

Good Morning Trinity Tribe,

I have been thinking about Nature vs. Nurture today. Which is it? Which influence has the greatest effect upon us? Is it our nature…our DNA…what is down deep inside? Or does what happens to us in the world affect us more? As a person adopted into a family as an infant, I have my own opinions about the matter. I would love to hear what you have to say on the topic!

In Ephesians 1, Paul writes this about how we are adopted by God:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

So, are we more like the sinful nature of our DNA? Or do we try hard to emulate our heavenly father, God, and our brother, Jesus? How hard is that for us?

The Trinity Tribe needs your input! Please go to the following link and let us hear your voice! We need a new web address! We need ideas for our Trinity Tribe Trips! We need some ideas for activities for young and old! Be counted! Let us know what you think! Feel free to pass the link around to others that are not on this list!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DX25FDG

New Year!

Good morning everyone,

It was lovely to have so many people stop by the parsonage yesterday. If you didn't have a chance to come by, we have lots of cookies left so stop by another time. ;-)

When I took Kayla to Peterson this morning, it was neat to see her greet her friends. They hadn't seen each other in two weeks and were thrilled to be together again. Ms. McNeil had all the kids line up and do the "New Shoe Dance" since almost everyone got new shoes for Christmas! It was hilarious to see the Kindergarten dance moves! Kayla has good rhythmn, but some of the other kids just don't. They were all just adorable, though.

The kindergarteners greeting one another reminds me of how God greets us. No matter if we prayed 5 minutes ago or 5 years ago, God is thrilled to hear from us. We can whine to God. We can scream at God. We can tell God thank you. No matter the emotion, God wants to hear from us.

Let's all spend some time with God today sharing what is REALLY on our hearts. We don't have to be ashamed or afraid. God wants to hear what we have to say.

Blessings to you all!

Counting Down the Days

Good morning Trinity Tribe!

I hope you are all well this morning! I went to the fitness center, so I am tired already! ;-)

I used to be a huge news junkie. Now there is so much bad news, I don't pay as much attention to the news as I used to. However, I do flip through the paper and read some news online. In yesterday's Fayetteville Observer, there was an article that caught my attention.

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/01/03/1059995?sac=

There is a gentleman in California, Harold Camping, who has studied the Bible and predicted that the end of the world will occur on May 21, 2011. He says the 2012 movie and the end of the Mayan calendar have nothing to do with it. Instead, he has studied the scriptures and determined through a mathematical equations, that May 21 will be when the rapture will begin. The young woman interviewed for the article in the Fayetteville Observer has this date and a website posted on her car. She will not get married since the rapture is so close. People in Campings organization pass out flyers and are spreading the word via media, billboards, missionaries and plain old door-to-door means.

Here is how Camping explains the date the Rapture will occur as found in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

By Camping's understanding, the Bible was dictated by God and every word and number carries a spiritual significance. He noticed that particular numbers appeared in the Bible at the same time particular themes are discussed.

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The number 5, Camping concluded, equals "atonement." Ten is "completeness." Seventeen means "heaven." Camping patiently explained how he reached his conclusion for May 21, 2011.

"Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D.," he began. "Now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years."

Camping then multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days - the number of days in each solar year, not to be confused with a calendar year.

Next, Camping noted that April 1 to May 21 encompasses 51 days. Add 51 to the sum of previous multiplication total, and it equals 722,500.

Camping realized that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500.

Or put into words: (Atonement x Completeness x Heaven), squared.

"Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said. "It's the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you're completely saved.

"I tell ya, I just about fell off my chair when I realized that," Camping said.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/31/BA8V1AV589.DTL&ao=2#ixzz1A4snc0GW

Here is what I read in my Bible about the end of time:

First from Matthew 24:
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

And Mark chapter 13:
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert[e]! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

It upsets me that people get press coverage because they believe something that someone thought up when wonderful things that the church does like say Feeding Jesus or the Walk to Emmaus or feeding all the hungry people in Red Springs Thanksgiving dinner gets little or no coverage. However, you must admire this groups gumption. They are buying billboard space…advertising on park benches…putting advertisement on their personal vehicles….telling everyone they know and people they don't know about how the world will end and that they better be saved and ready for May 21st.

So, are we willing to spend money on billboards to tell people about hope in Christ? Are we willing to wrap our cars with a message about how Jesus came to save the lost and if you feel lost this is what you do? Are we willing to head to concerts and pass out information about how much Jesus loves people? Are we willing to tell everyone we know and people we don't about how we have found family at Trinity?

If we are not willing to radically reach out to others who don't know about the mysterious powerful love of Jesus, how can we find the willingness to that? Who are we praying for to meet Christ? Who are we reaching out to? Let's not leave all the information sharing about Jesus to the radical fringe groups. Let's share the gospel of our lives with others today and everyday.