Excuse Me!

Have you had those moments when you run into someone out of nowhere, and you know them but have forgotten their name?  It has happened to all of us at one time or another.  Pastor Alan is brilliant at remembering people's names, that is a gift I do not have.  Years ago, my son was about 6 or 7 and I was in line at K-mart when a female schoolmate of mine came up and said, “Mike, it is so good to see you.”  I could not remember her name to save my soul.  As hard as I was trying to remember I couldn’t, and my son was grabbing my belt and saying way too loudly “Who is this?” There just comes a point in time you must come clean and tell the person, “I am sorry, but I have forgotten your name."

We will not always be at our best and the times we are not, we need to make sure we are handling ourselves appropriately. 

Years ago, I witnessed a gentleman at the counter in the airport getting loud with a lady from the airline. His flight was canceled, and you would have sworn he knew this lady had canceled the flight just to spite him.  Of course, she had no control and was just the messenger.

In contrast, one time in Memphis we were running late to a connecting flight back to Orlando and as we got there, they were just shutting the door. I asked the lady if we could please get on our flight. At first, she said, "No,” but then she said, "Just a second." I did not realize the plane had just pulled away from the terminal and it had come back to pick us up.  I can tell you all eyes were on us when we boarded.  It was uncomfortable, but she did something very nice for us!

In this pandemic world, we are living in now, it is certainly different than two years ago.  We need to be more patient than ever. I have seen businesses trying to find employees who want to work.  Often, those who show up to work are doing the work of two or three people and they are tired.  Businesses are shorthanded.

We used to go to Joe Patty's seafood in Pensacola and if there were thirty people in front of us it would take about ten minutes... now because of the shortage of workers, it is more like forty-five minutes.

I read my devotional this week and it says, “Trust me enough to face problems as they come, rather than trying to anticipate them."

We all know the negative Nelly’s out there. Regardless of what kind of good news you have, there is always something devastating to bring it down.  I can tell you there is nothing that will pull the rug out from under your good mood than a negative Nelly!  In my life, I have tried to stay away from them.  In my eyes, my glass is always half full.  

Regardless of the negativity, we should face each day and its set of issues with faith.  Faith that Jesus is your constant companion.  Scripture says, “Fix your eyes on me.”

Be nice to people! I will close with this. There was a lady with two kids who were screaming and crying in the checkout line at Publix. The lady behind me looked at the screaming kids and said, “Can’t you control your children?” The mom with the kids looked at her and said, “I am doing the best I can with the hand I have been dealt today.”  This was the best response I have ever heard.  

We are all trying to do our best and should give grace to those who have not been dealt their best hand!

God Bless,

Mike

Perfectly Imperfect

The 12 disciples. 12 men chosen by Jesus himself to follow him and listen to his teachings. But what made these men special. What made Jesus look at these men and say “Follow Me”? In short, absolutely nothing. They weren’t particularly religious, didn’t devote all their time to helping others. They didn’t hold positions of power or authority, but still, Jesus saw something in them and called them out by name. When he did, they dropped what they were doing and obeyed. 

Many times, God calls us the same way. We are called to ministry areas, to jobs, too many things big and small, and God asks the same thing of us now that he did of the disciples back then, to obey. Now notice that when we are called, like the disciples, we do not always have everything for our journey upfront. God doesn’t call on us and give us our full itinerary, a stocked bag with everything we will need, and send us skipping off on our merry way. There is an element of faith involved.  When God met Simon Peter and Andrew on the Sea of Galilee, they were fishing (Matthew 4:18-20). Something they had always done, something their fathers had done, and those long before. It was familiar to them. Now I imagine when Jesus told them to leave it all behind and follow him, they must have been a little confused. How were they to feed their families? Make money? This was the only life they had known. However, they didn’t hesitate! It says they dropped their nets and IMMEDIATELY followed him. 

I thank God often that he calls us to the unfamiliar places, to the unknown, and uses us perfectly imperfect people to do his work. He doesn’t wait for us to fill the mold or have our lives in complete order before we can be used for his service. He can call us right out of whatever mess we are in to a life of service, leading those around us to him. He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. So when you feel God calling you, embrace being perfectly imperfect and answer the call!    

Kellie Jones joined the NUMC Staff in the summer of 2021 as our Nursery Coordinator. Her energy and cheerfulness is contagious to everyone who works and volunteers with her. She loves Jesus, her family, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Cards of Life

When you’re growing up you have an idea of how life is going to play out in your head. Then life, and sometimes God, has a way of saying, “Oh yeah? Watch this.”

I never imagined that I would be a divorced single parent. That wasn’t in the cards for me. I was going to have a strong marriage. I was going to be an excellent dad. I wasn’t going to be a part of a growing statistic. Then life, in its mysterious and unpredictable ways, hits you hard. You wake up one day as a single parent wondering what in the world happened. I thought I did everything right, I thought I tried to give it my best shot. But it didn’t work out. We can’t always control what the other person will do, or how they will feel. It is very much a situation that you don’t actually have control over. But despite that truth, I would lie to you if I didn’t feel like a complete failure. I couldn’t stop telling myself that this wasn’t supposed to happen.

But it did. Now I am a part of that “statistic.” But a number or percentage does not have to define a person. How we respond to our circumstances and the effort we put into learning from our experiences are what define us more. And ultimately, above all else, how we are viewed by a loving, compassionate, and merciful God truly defines who we are. This is a tough lesson I’ve had to learn over the past couple of years.

The ultimate Creator of our universe wants us to call Him Father. He tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That doesn’t mean He’s blind to our faults, nor does it mean that He doesn’t want us to strive for the kind of life He desires for us. In fact, He is so aware of our faults, our scars, our wounds that He decided to love us anyway and send His only Son to die for us. Mending our brokenness so we can have that relationship with Him.

It is that truth that has continued to help me and bring me out of the darkness I create in my head and into His marvelous light. In that truth and light, I have been able to persevere. It’s not an easy road, and there are times when I needed to be carried. But God heals. God carries. God watches over us.

So, in that comfort and truth I’ve decided to step out in faith again. I have been dating a wonderful woman for the past year that has been my biggest fan and my biggest friend. Some of you have met Katie from her visits to church on Sundays. I’m glad to announce that you will be seeing a lot more of her in the future. That’s right, your crazy Youth/Children’s Director is engaged! I am looking forward to our church getting to know her better in the near future. And I’m super excited to be gaining a best friend and life partner. Life doesn’t always happen the way you expect, but we can have faith that in that “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Perfect Can Be The Enemy Of Good

There’s an old saying, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.“ The perfectionist in me wants to latch on to that saying, however, it should probably be coupled with “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” I have to admit, just saying that feels like sandpaper on my skin. The truth is, neither of these statements by themselves paint a complete picture, but together they can help to form a philosophy for our spiritual life. 

Have you ever heard someone spout off an impromptu, elegant, beautiful prayer and thought to yourself “I wish I could pray like that”? I hope it goes without saying, but prayer is one of these spiritual disciplines that we should all be engaging in. I would also hope that anyone who prayers will try to prayer well. But here’s where doing things poorly comes into play. Too many times we will look at the person who can pray beautifully and compare that to our own ability to pray. When we think that we aren’t doing it right we might just stop doing it. After all, anything worth doing is worth doing right. Do you see it yet? Sometimes we get so caught up in having to do things right or perfect that we abandon all attempts because we won’t measure up to our own standards. 

Which one do you think pleases God more? Not praying at all because you think you aren’t good at it or fumbling your way through some words that you’re not even sure qualify as a prayer? While I never want to presume to know God’s feelings, I think in this case it’s safe to say that he would much rather us have any form of communication rather than no attempt at communication. Intellectually, it seems a little ridiculous to think that anything we say when we talk to God is somehow going to impress him or be ranked on some scale. Sometimes we feel like our prayers are compared, but I can almost assure you that God doesn’t care how eloquent your prayer is, but rather cares about your heart in the prayer. 

If that doesn’t encourage you, perhaps this verse will:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26

We’re not alone. We have the Spirit who intercedes for us, which is a mind blowing idea when you think about it. 

Prayer isn’t the only thing worth doing “poorly”. There’s giving, where it’s much better to give 1% of your income to God rather than nothing. It’s better to read just a verse a day that never read your Bible at all. Now before you yell at me, let me clarify one thing. This isn’t the goal. Tithing, praying, reading your Bible, serving, all of these things are worth doing. And because they are worth doing, yes sometimes they are worth doing poorly. BUT, hanging out in the mediocrity of them isn’t something we should strive for. These things are worth doing, and they are worth doing well. But if you feel like you just can’t do them well, for whatever reason, start the journey of doing what you can. Then push yourself to do better. Be intentional about not settling. To use another corny saying, “Sometimes you have to walk before you can run.”

Friends

I have had the privilege of being on a Ministry committee of a worship conference called The Experience Conference for the past 10 years. This group consists of 50 worship leaders from around the country who gather once a year in January at a ranch in Texas to discuss the conference and to plan together. 

The group gathers again during September in Orlando for the Experience Conference. 1,500 ministry leaders from all around the country come together for 4 days to worship and refuel. This group of 50 has become some of my most trusted friends whom I could call on anytime.

When I see these friends, it's like we pick up where we left off. This group of men and women have been faithful friends and have represented themselves as the church should.

For instance, on the second day of meetings in January, we met at 6:30 pm in the church on the ranch’s property. We put the piano in the middle of the church and 50 of us gathered around it to worship and sing. The last time we met, my friend Jerry started to sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," when he got to the last note, he couldn’t sing it and just broke down. Two men came and stood next to Jerry and sang the chorus again with him. In the end, the two men stepped back and let him finish the last notes on his own. This is a great example of what the church is. Whatever place we are in, we come into church looking for answers. We stand alongside each other, and hold one another up, allowing everyone to "finish their song." 

Regardless of where you are in your life, you must value your trusted friends. These are the friends who you can call on at any hour and say, "I need your help," and they will be there. These friends will go to lunch with you and not just talk about the weather. They will do life with you. Keep in mind, my 50 friends from the conference do not live close by, but they are as close as a phone call or a message of encouragement.

So, when the world seems to be closing in on you, look around and see who your real friends are and make sure they know they are loved by you.

The one true friend you will always have is Jesus. Look no further than Jeremiah 29:11-13

“For I know the plans I have for you, “declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”.

I have been blessed to have friends who have been there in my darkest of days. Friends who want to see me flourish. 

This church has been such a blessing to me. I will always remember when my mother passed away. Vicki and I were meeting people who were coming into the service, and I was ok until I saw Pastor Alan and Robert Trigg walk into the Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. They drove 12 hours to come to the service and support my family and me on some of the most difficult days. That time and effort they put in for us will always be treasured and I am so grateful for them.

Always pour yourself into the friends who want to see you flourish because it is a two-way street. Reach out to those people and know that in the end, the time, effort, and respect you both put into the relationship is what will be remembered.  

It is a new year and a new beginning. Make yourself a better person and a better friend.

Blessings to you,

Mike