I've Been Thinking

I am thinking about Jesus and the disciples in the gospels. What a motley bunch! They were men with different personalities, skills, and ideas, just like any group of folks who would be thrown together today. I am sure from time to time, they got weary of one another, which led to tension and disagreement; that is just community, right? Yet they all had one thing in common; they were called to follow Jesus. At times, following Jesus was more than likely the only shared purpose they had. Only Jesus and His calling could have kept such a group together. Following Jesus was their common purpose.

Now allow me to segue with that same thought to our current community. As we come together in this new FUMC community, many think we will be more homogenous in belief. Well, let me go ahead and burst the bubble; we will still disagree on the interpretation of scripture, social issues, and have personality conflicts. I have never been in a group or community of folks who did not have differences. We are not alike, we are all different, and from time to time, those differences will strain our community. Now, if we choose to focus on those differences, it will shatter our fellowship. Going forward, we must agree on our common purpose, which is one thing, and only one thing - to follow Jesus! Our hope is found in absolutely agreeing on this one thing; we are here for Jesus! We are here to worship Him, to grow in Him, to serve Him, and to share Him! We come together to be and to make disciples, period. We are not social activists, political scientists, cultural analysts, or any other kind of “ist.” We are all believers in the One who has called us to follow Him.

As we move forward, let us remember we have received the same calling as the disciples did 2000 years ago “follow Me...” Matthew 4:19. It is the imperative through which our new community must see itself, just as the disciples did 2000 years ago. It is that which binds us together. It is our identity, our core, our heart, our soul, our purpose, and our reason for existing, to follow Jesus! May those who view and experience our community encounter a people who are not only called by His name but follow Him without reservation.

Peace and Grace,
Brother Chip

Lent, 2022

Lent is the forty-day period, not counting Sundays, between Ash Wednesday and Easter. The standard text associated with Lent is Matthew 4: 1 - 11. In the text, Jesus is led into the wilderness alone for 40 days and then tempted by the Devil at His weakest moment. This is the season of loneliness and sacrifice Jesus goes through right before He is baptized and enters ministry. During this time, there is searching, tempting, persevering, and coming out the other side into what God has planned. Notice the order of events?

That is why Lent is so important. So often, we find ourselves wanting all the good God has for us without the soul-shaping moments of the desert. We want Easter Morning without Good Friday. The last thing we want to do is spend time in the desert. But here is something worth remembering, some of God’s best work is done in the desert. That is why Lent is so meaningful; it is our time in the desert. 

During Lent, we take time to wait, although we are tempted to rush forward. We set aside time to contemplate our humanity amidst our business. We reflect on our broken and sinful nature. We see our deficiencies; we confess our sins; we fast, pray, and let God work on our souls.

As our time in the desert passes, God does His timely work, and we come to understand we are nothing without Him. We are dust, and without His breath, we would still only be dust. So as we journey through Lent, moving toward Good Friday, be sure to give God time to work each day. We should never forget we are the reason for what is to come. We are but a hopeless people, stuck in the desert of our sin, and we definitely need a savior! 

Brother Chip

Woe Is Me

“Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” These words are spoken by Isaiah as he experiences the pure holiness of God and is called as God’s prophet. It is an awesome and humbling encounter convicting Isaiah with a sense of guilt and unworthiness and causing him to feel reluctant and hesitant. This captures, in a true sense, what many have felt as they answered God’s call to be witnesses and teachers. I believe some observable attributes have always characterized the lives of the saints in our history. Following are some thoughts:

1. The authentic call of God is evidenced by unconditional love and compassion for all people in all places and all times. “For God so loved the world… God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17).”

2. Saints have a hesitancy to judge others usually brought on through a deep and contrite awareness of their own sin. “How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye (Matthew 7:4)?

3. Saints are truth-telling, neighbor-loving, humble-walking witnesses who engage others in prayerful, inclusive, loving dialogue and understand, clearly, that our passion to defend our own personal beliefs often blinds us to God’s call to love.

As I pray this morning and reflect on the above, I feel my heart moved and I understand, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” And, for me,…. It’s back on the Potter’s wheel over and over again…….. “How is it with your soul?”

Brother Mike

A Follower's Thought

I was sitting here this morning thinking about what I could write down to encourage people today. I was reading over an old devotion that I shared a few years ago with our staff. It came from James 3:1-12. It says, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistake in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships, though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also, the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is set on fire by hell. Every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue. A restless evil full of deadly poison. With it, we bless the Lord and Father, and with it, we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine yield figs? No more can salt water yield fresh."

Wow! That was a mouthful! A wise person once said, as you go through life, you are going to have many opportunities to keep your mouth shut. Take advantage of all of them. You know, it would be nice in our walk with Jesus, if that walk came with a total makeover of the mouth. I believe that makeover is possible, but it can be a huge battle for us as Christians. You see, we are in a constant battle between our flesh and our spirit. The tongue is one of those major battles. I believe that the hurtful and unkindly comments that we sometimes can say is really a heart problem. Our tongue and mouth is just a vent from our heart. If I can change my heart first, my tongue will respond with kinder words to build up someone, not tear them down. How can I change my heart? By renewing my mind in Christ, Jesus daily. How do I do that? By reading God's word every single day. By praying to God to guide me every single day. And lastly, by fearing God. You see, we are all going to be held accountable by God for what we say. In Mathew 12:36-37, Jesus said, "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned." Those words right there, motivate me to try and bridle my tongue each day. Does that always work? No, but I wake up each day reading God's word and praying to him to help me fight my flesh. I'm not perfect. None of us are. We must rise each day, knowing through faith that the blood of Christ washes our imperfections away. I want to close by saying these words that I read somewhere in a book. It goes like this. "On a windswept hill in an English country churchyard stands a drab, gray slate tombstone. The stone bears an epitaph not easily seen unless you stoop over and look closely. The faint etchings read: 'Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, lies Arabella Young, Who on the twenty-fourth of May, began to hold her tongue.' That is all that will happen to us someday when we die. It will just be a lump of clay. And on that day, we will hold our tongue."

Let's hope that we learn what that woman never did, to tame our tongue.

God Bless.

Correll Pritchard