Good Friday

A gift of love that no words could express, given to a world that never deserved it. A sacrifice that we cannot understand made by a God that we cannot comprehend. 

This is the meaning of Good Friday.

But it's only Friday.

And Sunday is coming...

It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

Springfield Youth in Action

OK, so maybe it wasn't today- that just made for a much catchier title! But 20 years ago this week Marilyn and I made a move that changed our lives. It's been 20 years since we packed up the big truck and moved ourselves from High Point, NC to Kissimmee, FL. It was one of the hardest things we have ever done. We loved Springfield Friends Meeting, and by moving after 8 years there we knew we were "messing with happy"  - something my Grandpa Jones warned me never to do. Our family and friends were in NC. We were leaving behind an amazing youth ministry that we had basically built from the ground up. There were so many reasons to stay. But God was calling us to the First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee. So we went. And as usual, God had some special things in mind...for us and for Springfield.

FUMC-K at the Betsy B

We went on to spend 6 years at FUMC-K and build relationships with so many great people who are still a huge part of our lives today. The youth ministry there grew and thrived, and we were able to witness God do some incredible things. I do not for one second regret the move to Kissimmee. Will was born there. we got to travel to Spanish Wells, as well as work with John Willis, Andrew Lewis and many other amazing staff members. And some of those "youth" I am now proud to count among my very best friends. My time there ended in a bit of a mess with a new pastor, but those things happen and then it was time to move on. Those years were a blessing to myself and my family.

Andrew and I singing- probably Amazing Grace to the tune of
Gilligan's Island! I miss that man!

And things turned out pretty well for Springfield as well. After taking some time to search for my replacement, they hired my old friend Ray Luther. That was in 1995, Ray never left. He is currently the Senior Pastor at Springfield. God's timing was perfect. As always.


So this Throwback Thursday, some 20 years in the making, seemed like the perfect to time to praise God for the people of SFM and FUMC-K and the miraculous difference they made in our lives. And for so many, for the blessings they continue to bring us today. A year ago this Sunday we had a fantastic reunion of Kissimmee friends. Springfield, your time is coming. I love you all!

Because of Jesus,

If I Ruled the UMC...

I started writing this post back in November, but today just felt like the day to share it. Wednesdays seem to be my days for getting in trouble here...

Even though deep in my heart I am still a Quaker, once upon a time I worked for several United Methodist churches (UMC). My family still attends a UM church. There are dozens of UMC youth pastors, church members and clergy on Twitter that keep me up-to-date with what is going on the wider body of the UMC. In 2012 I attended some General Conference (world wide gathering of UMC leaders) sessions here in Tampa. And all of this connection to the the UMC has left me with one distinct, overwhelming feeling. The UMC is in a mess. The battles are many and the solutions seem few at this point. There is a great schism coming unless something is done to change the way things are done and the way United Methodists respond to one another. An old friend (and former UMC staffer) suggests that the hole is so deep that they wouldn't even know how to split if they wanted to, and that perhaps the only thing holding them together these days are pension plans and an inability to divest. So today I offer some modest suggestions as to how I would change things if were the new John Wesley. Or perhaps better said, if I were the Pope of the UMC for a day! These ideas will ruffle feathers, get hardcore Wesleyans to yell at me, and maybe- just maybe- offer some insight into issues from an outsider who has been on the inside. Here are a few things I would do if I ruled the UMC world for just one day...

1. Change the hierarchy and structure of the denomination. All UMC churches are connected under one umbrella, and that should be a good thing. It allows us pull pool money for missions, disaster relief, camping programs and clergy support. It also means we spend an inordinate amount of money on administration. The gigantic, expensive GC I attended accomplished next to nothing because everything is lobbied for and voted on like it's the first Continental Congress. People vote in "blocks" with like-minded constituents and nothing passes that offers any real change or progress. Our business procedures need to be less democratic and more spiritual. Business should be a form of worship. Prayerful consensus for where God is leading should pave the way- not "I wonder how the African delegates will vote?" There are other issues as well. We have hundreds of  highly paid District Superintendents who are nothing more than glorified supervisors and administrators. Even worse, many of them were at one time some of our best pastors. Now they are wasted in impotent positions that offer little opportunity to minister in the community. And think of all the resources that could be pumped into MINISTRY if we rid ourselves of those positions and cut back on trying to administrate churches from afar. I am afraid that the UMC has lost sight of the fact that the farther leaders are from the people (such as DS and Bishop positions) the less they understand what the laity cares about. That's just one example of how the system needs an overhaul. And here's another...
2. Give more autonomy to the local congregation. Let them hire their own pastor and establish their own structures. Many of the most prominent UMC congregations are already doing this as conferences look the other way. Check out the websites of the 25 fastest growing UMC congregations and you will often find no mention that they are a United Methodist congregation. There is no way on heaven or earth their pastors will be moved by an annual conference decision. Why not make it official and even the playing field for everyone? Every time the traditional itinerant system randomly relocates a pastor, it sets the entire church back a step- at least! My career featured two such pastoral changes, and both of them were disastrous for the churches I served and for me personally. Let each church determine the ministries and issues that matter to them and then seek the pastor they choose to lead them forward. We keep proceeding as if we expect all of our churches to think the same way and have the same goals. Trying to make a church in Backwater, Florida and a church in downtown NYC agree on much of anything besides "Jesus is LORD" is a complicated endeavor that takes energy and resources away from what should be our primary goal- connecting people to Jesus Christ and serving them in his name. There will still be a Bishop to oversee and maintain a certain "quality control" and provide direction for pastors (remember. we already ditched the DS position!) but we need to quit trying to be homogeneous. We aren't. And that leaves pastors in an often impossible situation, dealing with difficult situations- and feeling all of the responsibility while being given none of the power. And that's just asking for dissension and trouble. Some of my very favorite people are UMC clergy, and they deserve better. Pastors are entrusted with the spiritual care of their flocks. We need to trust them to KNOW their own congregations.
3. And speaking of pastors...we assert that we believe in the priesthood of all believers. We also state that the clergy are called by God to lead our congregations. And yet our actual practices and standards show that we believe that clergy are created through education. Being gifted by God is a wonderful thing in the UMC. A cemetery seminary degree from Duke, Emory or Asbury is apparently even better. It's the age old debate of credentials verses calling. We have a shortage of pastors, with many aging into retirement everyday, yet we continue to make it more and more difficult to receive ordination. I have a good friend who came from another mainstream denomination where he was ordained and had worked for many years. He had served a UMC congregation for several years as an Associate Pastor and tried to get his credentials transferred. It would have been easier and less time consuming to become a lawyer. He eventually just gave up and remained an associate, hired by the local church- where he has been a rock as pastors have come and gone (moved by the itinerant system) for many years now. He is TREASURED by that church- but deemed unworthy by the system. The late Mike Yaconelli founded Youth Specialties, wrote best selling books, pastored a small church for 20 years and preached all over the planet, but he would have been deemed unworthy to be a UMC pastor because he was kicked out of bible college and never went back. That's just wrong. We need to allow that the primary factors in successful clergy are calling and gifts from God, and find ways to allow "under educated" people to serve our churches with greater freedom. Education is very important for sure. But ask yourself this question- do we believe ordination is from God through the Holy Spirit, or from a committee of humans who judge by advanced degrees and psychological testing? Too simplistic I know- but still legitimate to ask.
4. When I was coming of age as a Quaker in the 1970's, one of the issues facing that group was that all of the things that had been traditional benchmarks of the denomination were being done better by other people. The Amish did simplicity better, Catholic monasteries did silence better and the UMC had a stronger peace testimony. What are our Methodist churches known for today? Fights over gay marriage? Splits over worship styles and how we do baptisms? Pet blessings? Our churches- each and every one of them- need to decide what they stand for right now. Not traditionally, not according to the Book of Discipline. not according to John Wesley- right now! And the answer had better include being the love of God whose name is Jesus to a hurting and needy world, or we are in deep doo-doo my friends. If our bottom line is not HIS bottom line (The Great Commandment) and our mission is not HIS mission (The Great Commission) then all other changes are just whistling in the wind. 

That seems like enough for my first day on the job. Please understand, I am not expecting any of my suggestions to come to fruition. Most of them are probably not even good ideas. But what I do hope for...what I do PRAY for...is that more folks will be willing to "rattle the cage" so that this denomination that is near and dear to my heart will begin to move past their past and dream of a bigger, more inclusive tomorrow and bold new ways to get there. I see far too many UMC leaders who are dreaming of returning to the past and the way the church used to be. It's time to go forward and face the future, remembering that our goal is not to save the Methodists. Our goal is to follow Jesus. May God lead each of us, individually and corporately, down that path.

Because of Jesus,

#DangerDays: Forward Motion

We all know the feeling I'm talking about today. The rock you get in the pit of your stomach when something you have looked forward to for so long has come to pass and you are left with that awful "So what do I do now?" feeling. After 7 years of waiting, a dream has come true. I am free. It's time to face some new #DangerDays. And like most normal humans, I am not an action hero. I am not likely to go sprinting into the flames in search of a chance to be heroic...or dead. But the time to take a first step into a bold new future is here, and it feels very dangerous to me. I suppose that is why it feels so much safer to keep looking backwards...

The band Relient K once sang the lyrics, "I struggle with forward motion, we all struggle with forward motion...'cause forward motion is harder than it sounds..." I find this to be true in my own life, and especially right now. I want to use my new freedom to revisit my past, to reconnect with old friends and travel to comfortable and familiar places. And those are good things. However...to be satisfied with those things is to admit that I have already accomplished everything God has in mind for me. To stay where I am or to dwell in the past is to forget that we care called to "keep pressing on towards the prize that is Christ Jesus." Asking if God is finished with me is a moot question- I'm still breathing, so I'm not done yet. So the real question becomes where do I go from here?

I'm still praying about the answers to that question, but God has laid a few things on my heart already. I spent nearly 30 years working in churches teaching about the love and grace of Jesus. I have spent the past 5 years trying to share stories of relationships and God's overwhelming love on this blog. But it is clear to me that I have now experienced grace, forgiveness and redemption in a public and concrete way that very few have experienced- and God wants me to keep telling that story. God wants me to deliver the age old message that we can all be forgiven and free through relationship with Jesus. My first dangerous step into what could be a whole new era of #DangerDays is to make myself available. I want to preach again. I want to share my story with small groups and retreats. I want to help church leaders remember that relationships and love are the basis of what we are called to do, not condemnation and judgement. I have many years of experience speaking to churches, national conferences and youth groups, so the speaking does not feel dangerous to me. But telling my story to strangers certainly does. Forward Motion requires that I make myself available and trust that God will us me as God sees fit. And my prayer is to be used.

I also completely understand that putting myself out there is scary. There will be people and groups who would never consider having a person with my past as a guest speaker or spiritual leader. I get that. But I also can't help but think that people who are so quick to pass judgement might be the very ones who could benefit from the stories I have to tell. It's important for me to risk some rejection so that God can get me to the places I am needed. That's part of being bold- it's part of the danger!

Sooooooo...  If you or someone you know would be interested in having me come talk about the love of God whose name is Jesus for your church or group, write for your publication or just come talk about the night I watched The Lion King with Michael Keaton, I'm available. And cheap. Just get me there and feed me and I'm yours. My email is youthguy07@aol.com and my phone is 813-919-3755. It comes down to this for me. I love my past and the many blessings God has given me. But it's time to focus on Forward Motion. Please keep me in your prayers as I think about taking new steps into the #DangerDays.

Because of Jesus.

The Next-to-the-Last Supper

The scriptures are full of amazing stories from what has come to be known as Holy Week in the Christian church. Here's a different take on one of those stories that I love to share every year at this time...

Mark 14:1-9 (The Message)

In only two days the eight-day Festival of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way they could seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. "We don't want the crowds up in arms," they said.

Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. "That's criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year's wages and handed out to the poor." They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly."

My old friend Curt Cloninger, the amazing actor and interpreter of scripture, calls the meal Jesus is eating in the scripture above "the next to the last supper." In Curt's brilliant one-man play entitled Witnesses, he plays a fictional character (Abe the Banana Man) who was present at this meal. He used to be unable to speak, he tells us. In fact, he points out, almost everyone there (in Curt's version) was a "used to be." Simon (their host) used to be a leper. Bart used to be blind. Lazurus used to be dead! Curt points out that Jesus most likely ended the party during his speech praising the woman who had anointed his feet with perfume, because he once again announced that he would soon be dead. Now THAT would end a party. The whole evening must have been indicative of the highs and lows of that last week.

We all used to be something else before Jesus got hold of our hearts. Some of us still are people that we would rather not be. Holy Week is a wonderful time to let Jesus make you a "used to be" all over again. He will- if you seek sanctuary in the grace he offers you. Honor him this week (and every week) with your very life.

Because of Jesus,

"Ain't No Rock Gonna' Cry In My Place"

Luke 19:29-40 gives us a glimpse into Palm Sunday. If you have ever been exposed to a traditional Palm Sunday service (especially in a liturgical church) then you have a feel for the pomp and circumstance of that day in the life of Jesus. He arrived in Jerusalem to cheering crowds who spread out their cloaks along the road to honor him. They waved the palm branches, just like the children do in our modern day celebrations.  The shouted "Hosanna!"  They worshiped him.  And for one of the only times in his life on earth, Jesus let them. He soaked it all in.  It felt like a coronation- a party for a King.  But there was so much more going on...
I have always wondered about the first part of our scripture. Why did Jesus decide to come to town on a borrowed stolen donkey that no one else has ever ridden?  There is no explanation given, but clearly this was his chosen form of transportation. He sent the disciples to get it. It's one of those questions I'm saving for heaven.

I love that as the party starts to get loud, the Pharisees decide to squash it. They want Jesus to tell the party-goers to hold it down. Instead, Jesus informs the would-be party poopers that if his followers get quiet that even the rocks will shout. If you're a Pharisee, how do you respond to that one? You don't. And if you are part of the crowd, doesn't that just fire you up even more? If it's me, I'm singing- "Ain't no rock gonna' cry in my place..." 

Of course, let's not give that crowd too much credit. Many of them were there because they, like Judas, thought Jesus was riding into Jerusalem to overthrow the Roman government. He was there to proclaim a new Kingdom, but not the one his Jewish followers were expecting- because they had not been listening to what he said the past three years. And those expectations would lead to a huge swing in his popularity with that crowd by the end of the coming week...

If you watch the scene from the movie Jesus Christ, Superstar in which we see Jesus arrive to a Mardi Gras style parade. I'm surprised they aren't throwing beads at Jesus and the disciples! It's a fascinating look at this story and the crowd expectations, which seem to be changing with each passing moment. Check it out.

And finally, in Luke 19:41-42, we hear Jesus lament what is about to happen. He weeps over Jerusalem and says, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace- but now it is hidden from your eyes." His arrival on a donkey to the screams of adoring crowds would not last long- and he knew it. They were not cheering for him. They were cheering for who they hoped he was. The end was coming.

So today, even as we celebrate Palm Sunday, we have to know that Good Friday is starring us in the face. There is no escaping what Jesus would do- what he had to do- for us. He was going to die for us and bridge the sin gap that separates us from God. He was going to rise again and demonstrate his power over death. With the advantage of hindsight, we know that we cannot turn our backs on Jesus. As we move through the drama of Holy Week, we must stand strong and lift high the name of Jesus, or even the rocks will shout. And like I said before, "Ain't no rock gonna' cry in my place- as long as I'm alive I'll glorify His holy name!"

Because of Jesus,

Saturday Shout Outs!

Welcome to another edition of my Saturday Shout Outs!- although today it could just as easily be called Random Ramblings! There are quotes that moved me, prayer requests, news updates and other random tidbits, so jump in and hang on. I should also issue a warning. Teresa Reep Tysinger and her family are on vacation right now and may well be going to eat at Calabash at some point in the next few says. If she taunts me too much with everything she and Eric get to eat I may not be able to guarantee her safety! But I digress. Let's get on with the rambling...

• Palm Sunday is tomorrow. Holy Week is upon us. Remember...
• Please keep all of the teachers you know in your prayers. With around 7 weeks of school still to go it seems Spring Fever has hit in full force. Or maybe we should pray for the kids. Pray that the teachers don't just do them in- right, Lisa Jewett?
• Many of you have been asking where all I have been traveling with my new-found freedom. Well...not so fast, my friends! While the court in Georgia has set me free, it seems that Florida and Georgia lack the ability to communicate. I still await official word to reach the Sunshine State so that I can be free to cross the bride to Clearwater! It makes me a bit nervous to know that GA officials had no idea where I was living for the past 7 years. For the time being, I'm singing the #RedTapeBlues.
• Baseball season is in full swing. Life is good.
• My friend and hero Ashley Goad (Springfield Friends Meeting) is getting ready to do some more globetrotting in the name of Jesus. Please keep Ashley and her ministry in your prayers.
• I LOVE this---> "The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. He took his woes to God. 'They won't let me in LORD because I am a sinner.' God replied, 'What are you complaining about? They won't let me in either!'  -Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
• Cyndi Reep Browning (FUMC-Kissimmee) and her family are in the very stressful process of buying a home in Alabama. Please keep Cyndi, Josh and Grayson in your prayers.
• Colleen Martin Hooks (FUMC-K) sent me a link this week featuring an article by Heide Priebe that contained this quote: "If How I Met Your Mother has taught us anything it's that if we want to see something legendary happen, we're going to have to wait for it." This is not only a brilliant summation of a TV show, but a pretty decent piece of theology. Life happens all in God's time, my friends. All in God's time.
• And speaking of which...as soon as I can travel freely one of the things I hope to do is get a chance to preach and to speak to church groups about my experiences and in particular about the grace and forgiveness that needs to be at the center of the Christian faith. I'd also love to do consultations with churches about student ministry. Or I can just come sing and tell stories. I'm easy! :) If you need me, I'll come for free. Just give me some travel money and feed me! More on this is coming Tuesday on a new #DangerDays post.
• I confessed on Twitter a few nights ago that I do not care for Peeps. I was met with both support and disdain. Where do you stand on those creepy little Easter candies?
• Planning on coming to Walt Disney World this summer? Let us know- we'd love to see you!

And finally, one more thing I tweeted this week that I absolutely love! So many of you do this for me on a regular basis, but it is a reminder for us all. Love you guys. Have a blessed Saturday!

Because of Jesus,