I remember sitting quietly at my desk meticulously working on the project that had been assigned to my second-grade classroom. I also recall having an intense headache accompanied by an aching stomach. I got up from my seat and walked to the front of the classroom to ask for a visit to the nurse’s office. I believe I got to Mrs. Winder’s desk and uttered the words, “I’m not feeling…” and spewed everything I had for breakfast all over her desk! All the day’s assignments, the papers to be graded, her family pictures and personal knickknacks that decorated her desk all littered with vomit.  I felt awful. But physically, I felt much better. And I got a free ticket home for the rest of the day. Perhaps it was payback for all those times Mrs. Winders had popped the back of my hand with the plastic ruler she carried with her as she paced around the classroom teaching?!

Mrs. Winders is at the top of a list of my all-time favorite teachers. Who else let’s a kid throw up all over their desk and still loves them? That list is a long one which includes all my elementary school teachers including Mrs. Coker Mrs. Burress, and Mrs. Anderson. Mr. and Mrs. Jones gave me a math education in junior high and high school like none other. I could have taught my college chemistry class thanks to my high school science teacher. College was complete with great professors. I will forever be grateful for my experience in Physical Therapy School including Human Gross Anatomy taught by Dr. Bernell Dalley. And seminary was such a formidable time in my life. I would pay to retake “Sacramental Theology” with Dr. Bob Stamps in a heartbeat. I am truly grateful for these great teachers that have made such a difference in my life.

And there are so many others who have “taught” me through the years. Where would I be without all that my parents have instilled in me? And all the coaches I’ve had who did so much more than coach a kid without much talent but taught me about life. There are numerous mentors including pastors, youth pastors, colleagues, friends and so many more.

May 9, 2017 was designated National Teacher Day. It is observed on the Tuesday of the first full week of May each year. It’s a day set aside to honor teachers and recognize the lasting contributions they make on our lives. It’s really a shame that we reserve it for only one day of the year. I encourage you to take some time today to think of all the remarkable teachers you have had in your lifetime. Write a note, send a card, give out a shout on social media, make a phone call and say, “Thank you!”

Mrs. Winders, I’m so sorry I threw up all over your desk that day. I’m not sure I ever apologized for that. Thank you for still loving me and for the investment you had in my life. I’m sure I deserved every one of those pops from your plastic ruler (and even more)!

Thank you to all of those who have been such great teachers in my life. I’m certain I haven’t always been the perfect student. I’m sure I’ve probably been a little stubborn, undoubtedly talked more than I’ve listened, and have even been a little disturbing at times. But I am so grateful for you and the difference you have made in my life!

Always learning,

Ryan

Sitting in the uncompromising chair staring into the dimly lit abyss to the illuminated wall across the room, I heard, “Read the smallest line you can see.” The optometrist was asking me to read the Snellen Eye Chart. You know, the visual we have all gazed at from time to time since we were children in elementary school. The one that defines if we will soon be wearing the new nickname “four eyes” or learning how to gently place a sphere-shaped plastic disc smack dab on the top of our eyeballs.

I’ve been wearing contact lenses since I was a teenager. It was determined then that I couldn’t see from 20 feet what average people can see from that distance. Unfortunately, I need to move in much closer than 20 feet. So, in response to the optometrist asking me to read the smallest line I could see without my contacts, I meekly replied, “E!” And here’s the sad part. I couldn’t even read the E from where I was sitting in that uncompromising chair, I just know the E is there!

Isn’t that exactly how we often feel with God? We can’t see God but we know He’s there. Those periods when we can’t see or feel the evidence of His work in our lives, but we know He’s present. Those times when God doesn’t seem to be moving the obstacle out of the way as we think He should but we know He’s trustworthy. Those hushed spells when we need an answer but can’t hear anything. He’s still there! Just as the E is a constant at the top of the Snellen Chart, God is faithful in our lives.

Where is it today that even though you can’t “see” God, you need to know without a doubt He is there?

 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see…

Hebrews 11:1 (The Message)

Life is about position. Think about it. If you want to get wet while taking a shower, you must position yourself under the water. If you want to rebound the basketball, you must place yourself between the goal and your opponent. If you want to climb the career ladder, you must situate yourself in places to do so. Hearing God comes when we position ourselves is such a way to hear from Him.

There’s a famous story in the Bible of God speaking to the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:9-18). Elijah is waiting to hear from God and a strong wind blasts the mountain where he was standing but God didn’t speak through the wind. Then there was an earthquake that juddered the mountain, but God didn’t speak in the earthquake. Then came fire, but God didn’t speak in the fire. Then came a still whisper and God spoke to Elijah.

In this story, we often focus on God speaking in a small, still voice. His words don’t necessarily have to come to us in dramatic revelations and manifestations but can come to us in the most tranquil moments. But think about this: Why was Elijah standing on the mountain in the first place?  Because he was told to do so in order that he might hear from God. “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord” (1 Kings 19:11). Elijah positioned himself to hear from God.

If we want to hear from God, we must position ourselves to hear from Him. There are lots of different ways we can do that:

• Read the Bible

Scripture is always the voice of God in the sense that God inspired the words of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). And God can also speak specifically to us through the Bible by drawing a particular segment to our attention because the Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). But we must open the Bible for God to speak to us.

• Worship

God often speaks the loudest and clearest through worship – when our hearts and minds are focused on Him. Coming together with others on a regular basis to worship is a must (Hebrews 10:25). But worship is not reserved for Sunday mornings. There are countless ways we can worship Him. But we must seize the opportunities when they are presented to us.

• Wise Counsel

When we seek Godly counsel, we can hear the voice of God. But these relationships don’t just necessarily waltz into our lives. We must seek out those who can be a sounding board of Godly counsel (Proverbs 11:14).

What are you doing to position yourself to hear from God?

 

It’s a question I get asked a lot. “I’m just not sure what I should do?” “Should I go to this school or that one?” “Should I take this new job?” “Is he the one that’s right for me?” “Which direction do I turn?” “What decision do I make?” “If only I could hear God’s voice!” “The lady in my life group is always telling us what God said to her.” “How can I hear God?”

We all long to hear God’s voice. The good news is that God is speaking. God has always been a speaking God:

• God spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-4)
• Balaam heard through the mouth of a donkey (Numbers 22:1-35)
• God spoke to Gideon through a fleece (Judges 6:37-40)
• It was in a still, small whisper that Elijah heard God’s voice (1 Kings 9:12)
• Paul was blinded by a light while walking down a road (Acts 9:1-5)
• God showed up to Peter in a dream (Acts 10:9-16)

Some insist that God has stopped speaking like He did in these instances in the Bible. That God does not communicate in the same way as when He spoke creation into existence or when He instructed his disciples on the hillside. Maybe you agree because you have never had the experience of a loud booming voice, blinding lights or shrubberies bursting into flame yet not burning up. Or then again, maybe you have?

The truth is, God is speaking. And He wants to talk to you! In Matthew 4:4, Jesus, when being tempted by the devil, quotes Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Did you catch that? We are to live on the words that come out of God’s mouth. That means He must be speaking! This may come as a surprise to you, but God is more than likely speaking to you right now.

God is speaking. Are you listening?

 

Join us at Aldersgate (aldersgatelive.org) this Sunday as we begin a new sermon series, “How Can I Hear God?”

 

Here I am yet again. Tilted back in the formal supine posture. The concentrated light from above blinding my eyes. Thinking to myself there are oodles of places I would rather be first thing on this Monday morning. Instead, I find myself trying to engage in small talk while my tongue is simultaneously being wrestled out of action allowing the metal scaler to debride away the caked-on gunk. You know, the incessant scraping that is accompanied with that eerie feeling like fingernails coursing down a chalkboard. And then the polishing – the incisors and molars and everything in between are buffed like a finishing phase of a drive through car wash.

If there’s a bright side to my semi-annual visit to the dentist’s office it’s that it allows ample time to think. It really is impossible to banter with the hygienist while my mouth is pried wide open. And so, it occurs to me while I’m lying there, churches around the world will be jam-packed this Sunday with scores of people who only frequent the doors once or twice a year. And I have witnessed first-hand that often our occasional guests are greeted with a good measure of scorn and contempt. But that’s never how my dentist greets me even though I only darken his doors once or twice a year.  His office is always thrilled to see me. Don’t get me wrong. My dentist would absolutely love to see me more than twice a year because that typically means some deeper work is occurring – action that involves shots, drills, and root canals. But even so, he’s delighted with the predictable semi-annual choppers cleaning.

What if the church conducted itself like the dentist’s office this Easter Sunday?

The word “church” is typed into search engines more this week than it is any other time of the year. Masses of people are looking for a place to land for their semi-annual visit to a place of worship. Instead of our typical judgment of their need for the deeper cleaning, can we just invite someone to come with us? It’s the easiest time of the year to ask! And instead of being put out that our precious parking spot isn’t available or that the seat we believe has our name written on it is occupied by someone else, can we be excited that our worship space is overflowing? Can we be like a dentist who relishes seeing her patrons once or twice a year?

How about it church? Can we be like the dentist’s office this week?

Finally. Opening Day. America’s pastime is officially back!

Whether you root for a team with big hopes for this season or one that is years away from contention or even if you have no interest in major league baseball, there’s just something about that first game of the new year. The pageantry. The fanfare. The newness. The chance to forget the past season. Rebirth. All 30 teams and millions of baseball fans start with a blank slate.

Opening Day is the first of 162 baseball games. The major-league baseball season is grueling. There are victories and there are defeats. Good days and bad days. The highest of highs and lowest of lows. And while only a few games hold the same ballyhoo Opening Day does there are certainly some that do. Undoubtedly, a challenge for Major League Baseball players is to keep the same anticipation, energy, and gusto for the other 161 games of the taxing season. And often they are criticized for that.

What about us? You know, those of us who have average, run-of-the-mill jobs that we go to 260 or so days a year. Those of us who root for our favorite team from our living rooms, the grill and bar, and occasionally a seat in the stadium? Do we approach our days as if every one of them were Opening Day? Should we be critiqued for that?

What if we woke up each morning ready to embrace the opportunities in front of us with the same expectancy, oomph and passion as Opening Day? What if we approached our normal, everyday duties at our workplaces with the same anticipation we had on our very first day of the job? What if we leaned into our everyday responsibilities with the same the zeal we had the first day we were presented with the obligations. Even on the dreaded days. The good and the bad days. Even in the worst of times and the most tragic of circumstances. What if?

What if we lived everyday as if it were Opening Day?

 

 

Disclaimer: This is the second blog I’ve written about my family’s time at New Life Children’s Home in Villa Nueva, Guatemala during Spring Break 2017…and it probably won’t be the last.

The New Life Children’s Home (NLCH) is filled with 56 orphaned, abandoned and abused children. Every one of them has a name, every name has a story and every story matters to God. I couldn’t help but be intrigued by their stories and wanted to know every one of their narratives. What was their life like before arriving at NLCH? Were they neglected? Or victims of trauma? Were they targets of human trafficking? What tragedies and misfortunes had these young, blameless children braved in their short time on this earth?

And I learned many of their histories. Like the story of 10-year-old Alexys. Several years before arriving at NLCH, Alexys’ jaw was broken when he was hit by a car. It didn’t heal correctly, leaving him where he could barely open his mouth. On Tuesday of the week we were there, Alexys underwent a very delicate, corrective surgery that allowed him full use of his mouth. He was a tad swollen and had some pain, but the boy who could barely open his mouth on Monday when we first met him, had surgery on Tuesday and ate a hot dog on Wednesday evening!

I could go on and on about the reports of the children living at NLCH. But there was something I discovered. The children are a bit tentative when it comes to sharing their stories and a bit hesitant to have their past retold. It’s not that they are necessarily ashamed of their stories. Rather it’s that they prefer to focus on who they are not on who they were. It’s about where they are headed and not where they’ve been. They are finding healing from their past and choose to focus on the hope they see in their future.

What a tremendous lesson for us all. Our past is past. While it is important, we are not our past. While our past influences us, it does not define us. What matters today is not our past. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done, who we did it with, or how long we did it. What matters is what direction we are headed today.  If we want to grow, we must stop focusing on our past and focus instead on our future. We must stop focusing on what happened and instead on what we want to happen.

Yes, everyone has a name, every name has a story and every story matters to God. And God is not finished with your story.

…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal… Philippians 3:13-14

No alarm clock is necessary. One is awakened by the clamor of enthusiastic schoolchildren gathering outside the window. The vivacious commotion commences about the same time the first rays of sunshine begin to peer through that same window. It’s early. But not much thought is given to that. The world seems to move at a different pace here. Oh, there’s many tasks to be accomplished and lots of work to be done during the day. Then again it seems things are more laid-back in this place. Activities scheduled at a specified time may or may not happen at that time. But don’t worry, everything that needs to be completed will get done. Rest is built into the rhythm of the day and one certainly doesn’t go hungry with the methodic positioning of meal times. There’s oodles of room for play. In fact, play is a priority and it’s almost as if it’s intentionally programmed into the day. And then the day seems to end as the last flickers of the sun’s rays peer through that same window. It’s almost as if no clock is necessary here at all.

They call in mañana land. And I like it!

My family had the privilege of spending this past week in mañana land. It’s otherwise known as New Life Children’s Home in Villa Nueva, Guatemala (nlai.org). For over thirty years now orphaned, abandoned and abused children have found a refuge and safe haven at New Life Children’s Home. It is truly a home where the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children are addressed. And it is there in manana land where I had an awakening to my own physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

They call it mañana land. And it means “later.”

Yes, mañana is used in the Spanish language to mean “morning” or “tomorrow”. But often it refers to “later” indicating not a specific time but some moment in the blurred future. It’s not about procrastinating and putting off something indefinitely but it’s all about living at a different pace. In manana land we got up with the sun each morning. We worked every day. An apartment got painted, trees were trimmed, the kid’s height and weight got recorded, medical files were updated, errands were run and plenty of other tasks were accomplished. Work was politely interrupted by rhythms of eating and resting. And we played. Each afternoon, after the homework has been put away and the work and chores are suspended, everyone gathers outside (it’s also the land of eternal spring) and plays. It is a time for simple games of tag, competitive soccer contests and robust wrestling matches. It’s a time that’s good for the soul. It’s a land that’s good for the soul.

They call it mañana land. And I brought a peace (spelling intended) of it home.

 

 

So, we lost an hour of sleep this weekend. They call it Daylight Savings Time – advancing clocks one hour forward so that daylight lasts an hour longer during the summer months. Some call it summer time. While others are just looking for their lost hour of sleep.

It’s change nonetheless. And change can be difficult. One of my favorite quotes about change is from Robin Sharma: “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.”

Think about the time change. At first, it’s just hard. Let’s be honest – losing an hour of sleep is tough. I’m noticing the older I get the more difficult it gets.

And then it gets messy. It’s different. It’s not normal. It interrupts our schedule and our routine. It’s inconvenient. It’s just plain messy.

But in the end, it’s gorgeous. Who doesn’t love the warm summer nights where it doesn’t get dark till late allowing for a full slate of summertime activities?

And any change is the same way. It’s hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.

Where are you experiencing change in your life right now (besides the time change)? At home? At work? In your relationships? In your church? It might be hard. Or maybe it’s messy. But it can eventually be gorgeous!

Game Changer (noun): a newly introduced element or factor that

changes an existing situation or activity in a significant way.

You’ve seen it many times in your favorite sporting event. Everything is moving in one direction and one team has all the momentum. But then one play or a strategic move turns everything in a completely different direction and gives the other team all the momentum. And you’ve probably seen it in many other places – a relationship, a circumstance you are involved in, or a precarious situation you are occupied with.

Prayer is a game changer. It’s the element introduced into an existing situation, event or activity that changes it in a significant way. Richard Foster wrote, “To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us…to pray is to change.”

As you study the life of Jesus, you’ll notice that before Jesus ever did anything significant, He prayed. Prayer was the “game changing moment” in every encounter. Everywhere you turn, He was praying for the Father’s agenda (“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done”). He prayed before choosing the twelve disciples (Luke 6:12-13). He prayed before he fed over 5000 people with a few loaves of bread and some fish (John 6:11). He prayed before he raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41-42). His prayers continued up to His death on the cross.  In Luke 23:34, you see that even as the spikes were being driven into His hand He was praying for them. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

The disciples saw what a game changer prayer was for Jesus. And on one occasion they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. In that exchange, Jesus gave them (and us) what is called “The Lord’s Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4).

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Amen.

It was a real game changer for the disciples. And it can be for you too! I challenge you to prayer the Lord’s Prayer every day. I’m praying it at noon every day. Aldersgate Church is praying it at noon every day. And churches around the nation are praying it at noon every day. Will you join us? It’s a real game changer!