FRESH BEGINNINGS

 Revelation 21:5  (ESV)

“And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

Out of His limitless grace and mercy, God gives us a multitude of fresh starts:

• 12 new months every year! 
• 52 new weeks every year!
• 365 new days every year!
• a birthday once a year. 
• New Year’s Day every January 1st!  

We could break it down further, but you get the picture...

God understands our continual need for fresh starts!  He knows that we periodically need to have our slate cleaned. 

The Bible gives us a multitude of examples of this. 

• Moses murdered a man, but then was cleaned up by God - by spending forty years shepherding sheep.  Then God called him to lead His sheep (people) out of Egyptian bondage. 
• Jonah rebelled against God’s will - don’t we all? But after spending three days in the belly of a whale, he obeyed God’s Call to be an evangelist to ungodly Nineveh!  The result:  120,000 converts!
• The Apostle Paul persecuted the NewTestament Church severely - even overseeing the deaths of many Christians!  But God intervened in his life and turned him into the greatest church planter of all time. 
• Peter denied his Lord in His hour of greatest trial!  Yet, Jesus restored him over breakfast on the shore of Galilee. He became the cornerstone of the fledgling new movement!  
• Augustine was a spoiled rich young man who lived life in the fast lane.  Even when he acknowledged Christ, he prayed, “Lord make me pure, but not yet.”  His writings of faith have encouraged generations. 

In Jeremiah 18, God sent him to watch a potter work with his clay on the potter’s wheel. Jeremiah noticed that when the clay became an imperfect vessel, the potter wetted his hands, pushed the clay down and produced a beautiful piece of work. The message was clear to the prophet:  God does not discard wasted lives;  He remakes them for His service. 

FRESH BEGINNINGS!  For young and old, for people of any nation or race, for those in and outside of the church, for those who are pretty good and those who are very bad!  He does not discriminate!  

English evangelical preacher and martyr, John Bradford (circa 1510–1555) is said to have uttered the expression - "There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford", when seeing criminals being led to the scaffold. He recognized that it was only by God’s grace and mercy that he had achieved any degree of faithfulness. 

I’m thankful on this New Year’s Day for fresh beginnings!  So thankful!  God never wearies forgiving me!  He is FULL of mercy!  God repeatedly wipes my slate clean!  He removes my shame. He forgives my indiscretions. He gives me unlimited fresh starts!

And He’ll do the same for you!  For anyone!  

II Peter 3:9  (ESV)

The Lord...is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Kind and Gracious God,

Thank You for this New Year's Day!

You know how desperately we needed it.

We want to draw a line between our past and our future!

You make it possible for us to do that.

We want to honor you with our lives.

We want to do better!

Allow Your Holy Spirit to enter us so fully that we will turn from destructive patterns 

and seek to follow You with all our hearts, minds and strength!

May this new year be a year of stellar obedience and greater works for Your Kingdom.

And may You receive ALL the praise!

For Jesus' sake.  Amen!

A QUICK LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER

Have you ever driven a car without a rear-view mirror?  If you do, you will find yourself continually looking toward that spot but feeling frustration that the ability to see behind you is not available!  We tend to minimize the importance of seeing where we've been.  We attribute the phrase, "the unexamined life is not worth living", to Socrates.  Have you ever paused long enough to think about his suggestion?

You can choose any time to review and evaluate your life. However, for whatever reasons, most of us rarely exercise this practice. The ending of a year seems a natural time for me to take a look over my shoulder.

2017 was a year that frequently popped up on my life-screen over the decades. When I began my work-life, it was predetermined to be the year of my retirement.  I often joked about this because all through the years, it was also predicted to be the first year that the Social Security Department would not have appropriate funding to meet the needs of all the retiring baby-boomers.  I haven't really heard how that's working out, but so far my checks have been deposited on time...

Actually, retirement was never a goal for me.  I know that some look forward to it and plan for it with great enthusiasm;  I just wasn't one of those people. But, as 2017 drew near, I had a sense that the time for me to step aside was arriving.  I've discussed that process before and won't go into it again here.

Anyway, I stepped out of the flow of active ministry at the end of May.  That sets 2017 apart in a significant way.  Needless to say, life has changed in many ways as a result.

My life and thoughts are no longer oriented toward the development of church leaders and church life.  I have literally spent the summer and fall working around our new home:

• landscaping
• putting a yard in
• finishing a garage
• sorting through boxes that haven't been unpacked since leaving for China in 2012
• and sorting through my personal library

We've had the freedom to make more frequent trips to Connecticut to see our grandchildren.  We spent a relaxing week in Banner Elk, North Carolina.  But, by-and-large, we've spent the vast majority of our time at home - working. Debbie continues to cooperate with her siblings in the care of her mother;  as a result, I'm left to my own devices (for 24-hour periods) with a certain degree of predictability.  

Our greatest challenge has been adjusting to and learning to live within the boundaries of our new financial picture!  

Some reading this might think:  "Wow!  Hal's got it made!  He must be really happy now!"  However, that is not necessarily true.  2017 has not been what I would describe as a banner year.  For those who have stayed with me this far, let me try to explain why.

First, (please don't groan when you read this) our loss of Travis (two years ago) effects us globally!  Although we don't talk about it every day, the loss of our son is a drag on our emotions and has dulled us in many ways.  I won't be-labor this point;  I will simply say that any family that has lost a child has had their lives indelibly changed!

Second, I have lost a sense of purpose that kept me focused and hopeful.  I am a driven person!  I have lived with great expectations.  I work hard to achieve goals.  I love to motivate people and move them collectively toward a new future!  This has captivated me for four decades!  Now, it is gone.

I am not surprised by this reality.  I had read a number of books to prepare myself for retirement.  I did not make this major move with a blindfold on.  I knew that working around our new home would become my new focus through the fall.  I also knew that preparing to hike the Appalachian Trail (in 2018) would give me a winter focal point.  Yet still, something is different - or missing...

Those who are wiser than me may quickly discern what it is.  It's taking me some time to decipher.  Here's what I'm coming up with:

I have moved from a ministry-centered life to a self-centered life!  My contact with people and my investment in others has shriveled over the last seven months!  I've moved from impacting people and directing the dreams of a congregation to moving dirt, planting shrubs and tinkering in my garage or barn.  And next, I'm about to embark on a self-absorbed backpacking trip that will consume (if I'm able to do it) half of 2018.

The world's thinking is that self-absorption should produce great satisfaction and pleasure - right?  Wrong!  When we withdraw to "do our own thing", the key word is WITHDRAW!  Our lives have the greatest value and satisfaction when we integrate with others and engage with our world!  I knew this.  I know this.

We stand at the outset of a new year.  We are free people and live in a free nation.  We can choose how we will deploy ourselves in 2018.

I still plan on fulfilling my dream and putting my feet on the AT in early March!  Keep in mind that nearly 4,000 began this attempt in 2017;  just over 600 actually completed it.  It's a VERY social trail!  All parts of the trail are populated with section hikers and day hikers as well as thru hikers!  I will not be alone during this trek!

But this still leaves some questions:

• Will I be purposeful in my AT adventure?
• How will I regain a sense of purpose and direction upon my return?
• How can I fulfill my role as a servant of Christ in this new phase of life?
• How will I use my influence to impact the lives of others?  
• How will I avoid the perils of self-absorbtion?  

When I was a teenager, our youth director suggested that I sing my first solo one Sunday night.  Martha Smeltzer worked patiently with me, helping me to prepare my musical gift.  I sang these words:

Only one life to offer 

Jesus my Lord and King 

Only one tongue to praise Thee 

And of Thy mercy sing (forever) 

Only one heart's devotion 

Savior,  O may it be consecrated 

Alone to Thy matchless glory 

Yielded fully to Thee

Only one life to offer 

Take it dear Lord I pray 

Nothing from Thee withholding 

Thy will I now obey (my Jesus) 

Thou who hast freely given 

Thine all in all for me 

Claim this life for Thine own to be used 

My Savior ev'ry moment for Thee

Fifty years later, I still want it to be the cry of my heart!  How about you?

New Year's Resolutions

I was listening to KDKA radio as I drove to Kittanning this morning.  The hosts interviewed a psychologist from the University of Pittsburgh about why people make  new year's resolutions.  I found the discussion fascinating.  

The specialist spoke of people grasping the new year as a time for self evaluation.  He indicated that it is a time for people to compare 'who they are' to their ideal for 'who they would like to be'.  

The doctor went on to explain that this desire for self improvement serves as a catalyst for people to make a list of desirable changes they would like to make with the hope that it will transform them into their ideal self!  

Seems reasonable.

Then he reported that only ten percent of the people who make resolutions, follow up on them!  That makes for a lot of disappointed people.  

The thought has pursued me throughout the morning.  Is it true that the majority of people in our culture find a huge disparity between who they currently are and who they wanted to be or expected to be?  How sad!  

If he's right - and I think he is - could it be that we've confused what we want with what God wants?  

Consider Psalm 100:3 - "It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."

When pastor, Rick Warren, published The Purpose Driven Life in 2002, it sold 30 million copies by 2007, and topped the New York Times Best Seller List for over 90 weeks!  I think he struck a nerve!  

We want to believe that God has a purpose for our lives.  

It troubles me that young people today are mapping out their futures by pursuing vocations that promise them substantial sources of income.  Even parents encourage this kind of planning in their children.  But where is the concern for what God might want from a young, committed life?  

Frederick Buechner wrote:  "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."  Who believes that anymore?  

But, could it be true?  

A rich, young man came to Jesus full of hope and self-satisfaction.  He was a good man who had observed the Law through his young life.  He seems to have come with a sincere desire.  Jesus instructed him to sell everything he had and give to the poor.  The price was too high;  he went away sorrowful and still unfulfilled.  The question remains:  Would he have found true joy and purpose if he had done what Jesus asked?  What do you think?

Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He was a religious professional.  He made his living teaching others how to please God.  He was a Pharisee;  highly respected by the people;  looked up to - admired.  Yet, when he heard Jesus teaching about being born again, he realized that something was missing from his life.  He had never been born again - he didn't even know what this meant.  So, he went to question Jesus about the meaning of this phrase. Jesus was patient with Nicodemus, although obviously disappointed with his lack of understanding.  Unlike the rich, young man, Nicodemus must have been willing to make adjustments in his life.  We find him, at the end of Jesus' life, bringing 100 pounds of myrrh to anoint the body of Jesus for burial.  Something tells me that he had begun to get it.

How about Judas?  He wanted life-change perhaps more than anyone else in scripture.  He was a radical, a revolutionary, a zealot.  He desperately wanted to overthrow the Roman oppressors.  He was anxious to see it happen by force - even violence.  His bias was that violoence would be required.  We don't know Judas' background.  Why was he so angry with the Romans?  Had they killed his loved ones?  Had they confiscated his property?  Had they deprived him of freedoms that he held as valuable?  We don't know.  All we know is that he and another apostle named Simon (not Simon Peter) were zealots who lived to see Israel be a free and independent nation again.  Interesting that Jesus would include these two in His group of Twelve!  Judas was disappointed.  Yet, divine providence brought him face-to-face with the Son of God.  Yet he missed it.  His bitterness was so big and his demand for justice so preoccupying that he missed the opportunity of a lifetime! His disappointment eventually became so overwhelming that he took his own life in despair and a sense of having missed the moment.  

The bottom line seems to be that our sense of disappointment comes from our failure to be the person God had in mind when He created us!  

I agree with the nineteenth century writer, George Eliot, who wrote:  "It's never too late to be who you might have been." 

Never!

How do you get the life you’ve always wanted?  Or better yet – how do you get to the life that God has always wanted for you? 

The fact is that most of us don’t or won’t change until we get to a place of desperation.  We have to run out of options – come to the end of our rope.  Then MAYBE, we’ll try God. 

Try God.  What a novel idea.  Try the One who made us in the beginning.  Try the One who knows us better than we know ourselves.  Try the One who’s observed our life every moment of every day;  He even watched us being formed in our mother’s womb. 

Why is it so hard to believe that God created us for His purposes?  Why is it so hard for us to yield to Him and His way? 

Is it true that God wants to give us the desires of our hearts?

Is it true that God wants us to have life and have it more abundantly?

Is it true that God wants to use us to accomplish His purposes?

Yes, to all of the above!

You can have the life you’ve always wanted. 

One of the great works of art in the Western world is Michelangelo’s Pieta, a marble statue of an anguished Mary holding the crucified Christ.  Some years ago a fanatic nationalist rushed the masterpiece and began smashing it with a sledgehammer.  Although the damage was significant, Vatican artists were able to restore the statue to near-perfect condition. 

You were created to be a masterpiece of God.  Paul writes, “For we are God’s poiema – a word that can mean God’s “workmanship,” or even God’s “work of art.”  God made you to know oneness with Him and with other human beings.  God made you to be co-regent with Him – to “fill the earth and subdue it,”  to “have dominion” over creation under His reign and with his help.  It is the goodness of God’s work in creating us that makes our fallenness so tragic. 

But God is determined to overcome the defacing of His image in us.  His plan is not simply to repair most of our brokenness.  He wants to make us new creatures.  So the story of the human race is not just one of universal disappointment, but one of inextinguishable hope.  

What does this all depend on?

It turns on our willingness to give attention to God.

One day when the human race had not heard a word of hope for a long time, a man named Moses walked past a shrub.  He had seen it before, perhaps a hundred times.  Only this time it was different.  This time the bush is on fire with the presence of God.

And Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”  Everything turned on Moses’ being willing to “turn aside” – to interrupt his daily routine to pay attention to the presence of God.  He didn’t have to.  He could have looked the other way.  If he had looked the other way, he would have missed the Exodus, the people of Israel, his calling, and the reason for his existence!  He would have missed knowing God! 

Don't let it happen to you!  God is desperately trying to get your attention!  Don't you look the other way!  Don't miss capturing the very purpose for which He formed you!  

Happy Old Year?

What are the lessons learned during 2016?

I mean, really, shouldn't we take at least a few minutes to reflect on a whole year of life  before we embark on another?

365 days is a long time!  A person has a plethora of experiences over a period of twelve months.

To be honest, I'm not even sure I can remember what happened back in January!  About the only part of me that seems to be getting better these days is my 'forgetter'.  This is often embarrassing to me.  For instance, just the other day, I forgot to shut the car off; it ran all night long!  Lucky for me no one came along and drove it away!

But still, faulty though I am, I want to try to distill the things I've learned during this year.

I think my greatest self-revelation is that I have no close friends. Now, of course, there's Deb; she's always been my best friend (and always will be). And, of course, many who read this blog are friends, too. In that sense, Debbie and I literally have friends from all around the world!  I'm humbled and amazed to realize that my blog is read by people from many different countries.

And yet, I have no close friends. Close friendships have stabilized me through the years! They've added color to my life!  They've helped me to fill the spaces. We've worked together and played together.  I've shared my fears, dreams and secrets with them. They've done the same with me.

But today, there's a poverty in this area, and in many ways I suffer as a result. To a large extent, I believe going to China helped create this dearth.  The end result is a unique and lonely sense of isolation. It's sort of like a solitary confinement of the soul.

I cry out to my God as the new year dawns:  "Oh God, help me to find a man (or a few men) with whom I can share life!"

Another significant observation is that I have begun to lose my sense of purpose. (Like you, I can see the connection between this and my first observation.)

I have been strongly driven by my passion for God throughout my life!  But changes have evolved.  Being a pastor has challenged me for four decades.  In spite of the lethargy and carnality I've faced, God has helped me to keep my face forward and my faith strong.

But, I find I'm growing weary.  Not weary of walking with God, but weary of leading the church. I know there's a toll we pay in this role. Pastors tend to isolate themselves. I've been fortunate (partly by intention) to have maintained meaningful relationships within the churches I've served and among fellow pastors.  But, again, this has not been so over the past two years (since our return from China).

I'm still working to diagnose this dilemma.  Some would counsel: "It's time to retire, Hal."   But I'm not so sure that's the answer. I've never been a pursuer of retirement. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have dreams and goals!  I could relish awakening every day with a clean slate. But is a free schedule really the answer to a diminishing sense of purpose?  I don't think so...

I'm aware that my purpose derives from my Creator!  I also believe that as long as He leaves me here, He intends to use me. So, as another year ends, I find myself at His feet - listening and waiting.

This fact alone raises my sense of anticipation!  Even though I'm not the man I used to be.  Even though my memory doesn't respond as quickly as it once did. Even though my energy level has abated.  Even though I make more mistakes than before (some of them publicly).   I'm willing to offer Him what I am and what I have!

How about you?

Could you benefit from a ruthless assessment such as you've just read? Are you courageous enough to explore your soul?  Would an honest evaluation launch you into 2017 with a greater sense of direction.

For the record, I recommend it!  😀