NEW BLOG

Ok. Apology over. Visit my new blog! After a long period of reflection on the "focus" of my blog, I have created "Practicing Presence":
http://jonathanbhart.wordpress.com/

Apology

To those who read this with any kind of consistency whatsoever, I have been failing in my own consistency lately with blogging. I find in my own following of blogs that hiatuses of this length of time cause me to question whether the blog is even active anymore, or at the very least, I'm challenged to go back to following so closely. So, I apologize to you if I have caused that kind of reaction. Our life has been tumultuous (yes, that's a good word) over the past month. I have completed two or three drafts of posts that went unfinished and unpublished. I'll try to get back on the horse and do better. Thanks for staying with me.

Grace and peace,
Jonathan

Indwelling and On-dwelling

One of the most powerful realities of the Christian faith is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. How amazing is it that God doesn't just forgive and redeem us through Jesus Christ, accepting us as we are, but He also sends His Holy Spirit, the very Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, to dwell within us?! (See one of my favorite verses, Romans 8:11) It is more than just wearing a wedding ring representing our marriage to God. Rather, the very God who has saved us from sin's guilt and power is inside us and transforming us every day. Wow.

I reflect on this because I was thinking earlier today about "dwelling." I have heard this word many times in my life, mostly because I have a tendency to dwell on things. Growing up I was the one who worried, over-analyzed, and got preoccupied by things. I would verbalize something to my dad and he would say, "Why are you dwelling on that?" I got a message in that repeated question that I misinterpreted. My misinterpretation was "Dwelling is bad." I shouldn't dwell just like I shouldn't worry. After all, when a parent or mentor figure asks you why you are doing something, often the implication is that you should not be or that you could be doing something better. But dwelling is not bad. Dwelling is something we humans do. In fact, dwelling can be good! I believe dwelling is even a spiritual discipline. Paul in his letters talks a lot about "dwelling in" (God in us). But there is one verse where he focuses on "dwelling on." Philippians 4:8 says:

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." (New Living Translation)

Something strikes me about this "on-dwelling." Our indwelling and our on-dwelling are directly related. Who dwells within us should affect what we dwell on. This is convicting. To be confessional for a moment, I dwell on many things frequently each day that do not line up with Paul's exhortation. I dwell on what I would like to buy that may or may not enrich my life. I dwell on failures that God is trying to free me from but that I have trouble letting go of. I dwell on things people have said that they have long forgotten and I would do well to at least forgive if not forget, too. And I dwell far too much on the trivial instead of the things of God that are significant and eternal. Dwelling is a struggle.

So I am asking myself, and I invite you to ask yourself, what am I dwelling on? Yes, perhaps in this moment but more so on a daily basis. If I think about what I dwell on I can begin to be more proactive in pursuing Paul's suggestion - to discipline myself to dwell on things that reflect the One who dwells within. May our on-dwelling reflect our Indwelling. After all, the very Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us so that we may have new life as well!

Children and the Holy Land

Two weeks ago today, we brought home our second child. I've never been to the Holy Land, but I think having a child might be a little like that experience. You can almost feel the palpable emotion in one telling of the first time. It is a life-changer. There is no way to fully prepare. One can't know the emotions to expect until going through it firsthand. And that first experience is always a unique like-none-other experience. Thus, it's strange to go through an event like that more than once. Maybe I'm peculiar in feeling that way. But one goes through a birth - this big, scary, traumatic, amazing, life-altering event - where on the other side is this unique child you wouldn't take anything for. It's almost bizarre to get to go through that again. It seems like such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Though going back means reliving some of the awe I thought I'd never be able to forget from going through the first time! And yet, it's not a repeat of the first time. This is a paradox: a familiar once-in-a-lifetime experience. And from what I gather, it never stops being that way no matter how many times one gets to have this adventure.

The World Will Never Be the Same

Eden Cynthia Hart born 5/24/12 at 10:13p, 20" long, 7 lbs 5 oz.

East of Eden

If the sun’s path can be a metaphor of life then we are always traveling westward toward its setting. Thus, every event we have yet to encounter is west and we are heading toward it from the east. Liz and I are closer than ever, but still “east of Eden.” We named our daughter for that Paradise where we once walked blamelessly and blissfully with our Maker (Gen.2:8-9) and for the hope of returning to another Garden yet to come where we will do the same forevermore (Rev. 22:1-5). However, the arrival of this Eden will not be the return to Paradise, but rather like the chaos on which God eventually imposed order. It will be traumatic.

It will be traumatic for Eden, because whether we realize it or not birth is the first traumatic event every human experiences. Our birth is our introduction to trauma. It will be traumatic for Liz as this alien who has invaded her body and lived as a parasitic host for 9 months is about to be…delivered. And while I only use on verb for gentle propriety, I am sure you can add other verbs and a host of adjectives to confirm the event as one of trauma. This even will be traumatic for Noah. Before reaching age 2, his home, family, life, and the world as he knows it will be invaded beyond his control and changed forever. And finally, as a spectator and active participant in the entire aforementioned trauma, this event would be traumatic enough for me if I had no trauma of my own. But I will.

I have now preached my 35^th sermon here at Shalimar. I’ve done my first few weddings and my first handful of funerals. I feel as if we are finally getting to know one another. But you have not yet watched me go through an event of this magnitude. I make a special apology in advance for the first sermon I preach after Eden’s arrival. If it is coherent at all I am certain it will contain things for which I will need to apologize and at the very least an untrustworthy level of content. I also apologize for all one-on-one conversations I will have the first days or even weeks into her arrival. If you walk away thinking, “Was it just me?” rest assured it was really me. While I am here to serve you and you owe me nothing, I ask openly and unashamedly for your understanding, love, support, encouragement, and most importantly, for your prayers. For, only God Himself can get families through this! We’ll see you on the west side.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jonathan

Questions

Tonight I realized a truth that has proven itself over and over to me as I received a revelation about a question I've been asking silently for months.

If you ask a question long enough you'll receive one of two things: an answer or a better question to ask. Either way the asking was fruitful.

So, I encourage you. Ask questions. And keep asking.

"My Pawp"

The day before yesterday, I read this to the family and friends gathered to grieve the loss and celebrate the life of A. B. Manley. For the rest of my life I will miss him.

I wish I could stand here today on behalf of the family and capture every detail of the man we are here to remember and celebrate. But I know I have neither time nor composure to do all of their respects and memories justice. So instead, I’d like to capture a bit of my own personal experience from my borrowed time with the man I knew as “Pawp.”

For those of you who don’t know me, I am Jonathan Hart, one of Al Manley’s grandchildren. He had been my only living grandfather since 3^rd grade, and we were closer than most people I know are to their grandfather. For that gift alone I will be eternally grateful.

I’ll just go ahead and admit that I was raised an only child and received the usual spoiling thereof. But while the family made occasional comments and warnings about this, no one seemed to feel strongly enough to do anything about it. At Christmas and birthdays it was mainly the fault of my mother and grandmother, but other family pitched in. Usually not Pawp. His name would be signed on all cards and tags next to my grandmother’s and I would be quite doubtless that he had no part in picking out the exact model Bat mobile with all its various components. But as the family knows, Pawp never feared a spoiled loved one…nor a spoiled dog, for that matter, evidenced by the continual giving of table scraps along with the pretend scolding to follow. Pawp did not investigate all 55 items on my Christmas list and expend the energy to meet every wish.

INSTEAD, virtually every one of the countless times I would go over to spend the weekend, I would wait for it. It might not be within the first hour or two, nor perhaps even the first day. But at some point, Pawp would pull on his Members Only jacket over his tucked in plaid shirt and slacks…and jingle the familiar keys. I would look up pretending to be confused through his bifocals into those age-softened Choctaw Indian eyes and wait for the words. “Son, I need to go to Walmarts. You woanna go wi’me?” I would quickly stop sword fighting my invisible opponent with my grand-mother’s wooden spoon or halt work on my cardboard space shuttle to hit the road with Pawp. While he could find a reason to go to Walmart or Lowes pretty much any day of the week, he would make up some special excuse to go when I was there.

He would pretend not to know where his one needed item was or he would pretend to have several things to look at knowing that I would love nothing more than a solid 15-20 minutes in the aisle of action figures. He would always eventually come moseying in from one side of the aisle taking his time to get to me, smiling and peering at the package in my hand and say, “Did you find the right one?” As I would nod beaming he would scrutinize it as if he was actually comprehending what in the world it was and confirm, “So this is it, huh? Well, we better get it and go.” Each trip he would make a five-dollar investment into what my Uncle Michael estimates was my $5000 collection of action figures. And this kind of investment for all those he loved was absolutely characteristic of my Pawp.

I’ll never forget the day Pawp pulled over the white extended cab automatic 96 Chevy S-10 pickup on Cottage Hill Rd and said, “Alright, it’s your turn. Take us home.” At that moment I realized that Pawp entrusted his life into my hands. He taught many of the family members to drive, and I believe he would have given his life for us to learn how to drive because he almost did…several times.

I honestly think he was the most patient man I’ve ever met. He was also kind and saw the best in people. He never had a bad thing to say about anybody unless it was a joke, and then he felt guilty over it for days. And likewise we don’t know of one bad thing anyone’s ever said about him. Family came first, and he never ever ever passed up a chance to say or express in some way how much he loved each and every one of us.

And we’ve been saying goodbye for as long as I can remember. Because Pawp treated each parting as if it might be the last, standing in the driveway waving and shouting things at the car window blowing kisses only to go inside once the car was out of sight. He leaves a legacy of love, kindness, patience, gentleness, compassion, joy, discipline, and commitment.

Oh Lord, make us thankful for all these and many other blessings for your sake and in your name. Amen.


(The prayer in bold at the end is how I chose to close, a prayer Pawp said before every single meal at such a speed few could distinguish the words. He would always chuckle and reply, "He knows what I'm sayin'.")

Martin Luther’s Daily Prayers

LUTHER’S MORNING PRAYER

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

LUTHER’S EVENING PRAYER

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Post Easter Beacon article

Greetings Saints!

HE IS RISEN!! I hope you had a terrific Easter and that you were able to know the power of Jesus’ Resurrection (Phil. 3:10). I write to you on Monday, the day after Easter. And we have cause as a church for celebration. In the Beacon two weeks ago, Pastor David posed an exciting challenge to us – to invite people to our Easter services, pray for people to come, and to “think about what the SUMC Campus would look like with 2,000 people.” Yesterday was Easter, and we had 1,836 people here to worship the Risen Lord! I don’t share this to boast in numbers, but to praise God for leading people here to encounter Him.

The power of our God is that in Him life springs from dead things. We celebrated yesterday God’s greatest example of bringing eternal life for all humanity out of an empty tomb in victory, conquering for us sin and death. And this has always been the essence of Christian faith. This is why in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, even Old Testament figures like Abraham are lifted up as examples of Christian faith. Long before Christ, Abraham had faith that the one true God could bring life out of the empty tomb of Sarai’s womb. And He believed God for what He said He would do enough to follow Him anywhere. May God burst forth life from our empty tombs!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jonathan

Easter Sermon

Bedtime Prayer

In today's sermon we looked at how Jesus' final words from the cross in Luke taken from Psalm 31 are thought to be a bedtime prayer Jewish mothers would teach their children - "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit." I want to offer a modified expanded version of a contemporary equivalent we say with Noah each night before bed.

Now I lay me

Down to sleep

I pray the Lord

My soul to keep

If I should die

Before I wake

I pray the Lord

My soul to take

But if I should live

Another day

I pray the Lord

To guide my way

Thank you Jesus

Savior Friend

And now at last

We say, Amen.

Record Reached

I just want to point out (mainly to myself as a way to celebrate victory) that with this post I have officially achieved the number of posts by the end of March 2012 that I had the entire year of 2011. Wahoo! Perhaps I deleted some from last year. That's likely. But as they say, a win's a win! Next year we'll move our focus from numbers to content ;).

Insights for Sermons by Ellsworth Kalas

Hey preaching friends! Here's a worthwhile read published today by Dr. Ellsworth Kalas.

Insights for Sermons by J. Ellsworth Kalas

A challenging but very edifying word to press on in the worthy nature of the call and to avoid the other methods of a different nature.

Seminarian

Is God the Author of Evil?

Perhaps the question of whether or not God “created” evil is akin to the question of whether God created the chair. Of course, we easily dismiss the notion that God created the chair while understanding that nothing exists outside of God’s creation. Our explanation is that God created wood and God created humans with intelligence. With our intelligence and the gift of reflecting God’s creative energy, man created the chair while not doing so outside of or with elements beyond what God created. With evil, God created angels (good) and He apparently gave them free will (good) which He also gave to humans. Angels (namely, Lucifer) and humans (Adam and Eve first) used their life and free will (gifts within God’s good creation) to do evil, to turn from God in a rebellious fashion and do that which is against His character, nature, and desire, thus accomplishing evil. However, it would be different to say that God is the “author” of evil. God simply provided the resources and the freedom for His creation to accomplish evil. And the saddest irony: it was all out of love that He did so.

Top 10 Texts

Saturday, 10:35a.m. As I prepare mentally and spiritually to proclaim the good news at church in the morning, I receive the following text from a church member:

"You should see our Lord at work at my home. God is so good."

I can't think of many texts I would wish to receive more as a pastor! Then I got to thinking. In our age of typographical communication, what texts would I love to receive as a pastor? Or as a son of God, follower of Christ, husband, father? Below are some in no particular order that I've come up with for my eventual Top 10. This is a working list off the top of my head and heart. As a devotional exercise I found it spiritually enriching. It took way more time to think than type.

I would love to hear some of yours! Given the roles you play in life and the things that help form your identity, what are some text messages that would be on your Top 10 list?

• "JESUS IS BACK!!! GET OUT HERE!"
• "I love you. -Liz"
• "God told me to tell you He's proud of you...and He called you son."
• "You should see our Lord at work at my home. God is so good."
• "Revival happening. Come."
• "Prayer answered."
• "Noah's doing that thing you do again."

The Artist

A definition of "artist" occurred to me tonight: someone who sees something which is "so obviously there" but which others will spend their whole lives trying to discover. Or perhaps once they discover...appreciate. In this light, the artist can be found in many contexts, trades, careers, and roles. When considered in spiritual terms, this seems quite parallel to discernment and faith. Perhaps that is why some of the most powerful crossroads in the human experience are where spirituality is expressed through art and the two merge in an explosion of worship through the senses. I would love to know if you have ever been surprised at finding yourself fitting the description of "artist," and also how you have experienced the divine through artistic expression. I can give an example from tonight that led me to my definition. I was listening to Jon Foreman on earbuds while folding laundry as my wife fell asleep. His lyrics led me to see something otherwise unapparent to me. And I worshipped God.

How Did Jesus Plug In?

As a new pastor, I already struggle with how to feel like my ministry is “100%” in terms of faithfulness and fruitfulness. Perhaps if you are in a ministry career, or even just a disciple of Christ trying to fulfill His commission, you do too. I feel the need to plug into the power source of God because, after all, it's His ministry. I just can't seem to access the divine power plant. Then, I remember something the Holy Spirit spoke to me once. Jesus’ ministry was not 100% because He was “plugged in” to the divine power of God. It was because He “only did what He saw the Father doing” (John 5:19). This was the guarantee for success! All the sudden, ministry and mission seem not limited to just the objective power of God, but the very heart and will of God that we are to abide in. Jesus did not say we have to understand why the Father is doing a certain thing, just that our goal must be to discern what the Father is doing and then commit to that end. Imagine how the power of God’s Holy Spirit would be unleashed upon this world if only the Church, a minority of the global population, did that - focused all our spiritual energy only on looking for what the Father is doing and then joining that work, following that voice. This is how the Kingdom is breaking in and how it will be "on earth as it is in heaven."

Shane and Shane on the Fiery Furnace

I've had a song stuck in my head that I've known for a few years but am reminded of the profundity of its message. Below are an excerpt and two videos. The excerpt is part of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The first video below it is of Shane Barnard and Shane Everett explaining their fresh encounter with this old story. The second video is the song itself with lyrics. It is renewing to my personal faith experience to be reminded that even these biblical heroes were able to claim God's power boldly in the face of certain death but also to say, "But even if He does not..." our faith in Him is not changed. Enjoy.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

Beacon Article on Covenant

Greetings church family,

As the new year is well underway, I am experiencing anew that life’s pace is rarely a respecter of the calendar. There are a few times a year society’s pace slows or quickens, but circumstances have not given us a celebratory break to acknowledge the successful completion of 2011. In ministry this takes shape in the form of weddings, funerals, crises, births, jubilant praises and desperate cries for divine help. The needs of our community and our own needs for spiritual sustenance continue in full force. But as I experience these things as a still relatively new pastor, I’m reminded of something else that is unaffected by circumstances.

This past week in our Disciple I Bible Study class, our theme was COVENANT. We read 35 chapters of scripture that all had the common thread of God’s covenant with humanity. We learned that covenants are not like contracts, which often have loopholes or an escape clause. Ancient near eastern covenants were made with blood and sacrifices. And they typically required at least one person’s life for restitution if broken. All through the Bible we see God as a Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper. In April we will celebrate the ultimate expression of covenant faithfulness as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, whose life was given in order to fulfill the covenant between God and humanity that we have been breaking repeatedly since our first days.

I encourage you this week as you prepare to enter Lent (which begins on Wednesday, Feb. 22) to open your Bible and pray – read about, praise, give thanks, and cry out to the only One who has never broken covenant and never will. And know that because of His faithfulness, our unpredictable circumstances and ever-changing lives have an infinitely reliable and constant opponent. And He wins.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jonathan

Below are the lyrics to a song we sometimes sing in our contemporary services called “Your Grace Is Enough” by Matt Maher. He writes about God’s covenant and that God’s grace is sufficient for us because He keeps His covenant. Feel free to read it this week (or sing it!) as a reminder of who God is and why we praise Him.

Your Grace Is Enough

Great is Your faithfulness O God

You wrestle with the sinner’s restless heart

You lead us by still waters into mercy

And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people

Remember Your children

Remember Your promise O God

Your grace is enough

Your grace is enough

Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God of Jacob

You use the weak to lead the strong

You lead us in the song of Your salvation

And all Your people sing along

Yeah Your grace is enough

Heaven reaches out to us

Your grace is enough for me

God I sing Your grace is enough

I’m covered in Your love

Your grace is enough for me for me

CCLI Song No. 4477026

© 2003 spiritandsong.com | Thankyou Music | (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Matt Maher

For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI License No. 975213

Divine Metaphors

As I begin the new year I look back over my first full teaching experience as a pastor - an Advent study on Adam Hamilton's book, The Journey. One thing that sticks out as I reflect back on this study as a whole is this: our Lord had no shortage of divine metaphors in His story upon which to draw.


Jesus was born in Bethlehem but raised in Nazareth. Both of these are tied to prophecy. Isaiah 11:1 talks about a "shoot" or "branch" coming out of the defeated stump of Jesse, the line of King David. This word for "shoot" or "branch" is the Hebrew word netzer, which traditionally is where Nazareth gets its name. So Jesus' hometown was a place of no seeming worth, but a place named for the hope of the Messiah! Bethlehem was a small town, too, but one of great significance. Jews of the time were quite aware of the prophecy of Micah 5:2 which tells of a messianic ruler coming out of Bethlehem. But that's not where the significance stops. Bethlehem in Hebrew means "House of Bread." Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem, a feeding trough where the creatures of God feed. He would later call Himself the "Bread of Life" in John 6:35 and then would refer to a loaf of Passover bread as His body, given and broken for the sins of the world (Luke 22:19).


Our Lord certainly had no shortage of divine metaphors upon which to draw as He pointed from His life to the very essence and activity of God the Father. This makes me wonder what divine metaphors in my own life or the lives of those around me I might be missing, metaphors pointing to the presence and movement of God like giant billboards though I remain unaware.