Rebooting Hope
Wow, here we are again! It's that time of year when young and old, parents and children, teachers and students, everyone focuses on heading "back to school"! As a retired educator, I fondly remember participating in 33 of these seasons. I easily recall the mixture of anticipation and excitement as well as anxiety and fear most of us have this time of year. One aspect that always excited me about this season was everyone having the sense of starting a new year fresh with a blank slate regardless of previous years. In short, we always kick off a new school year with a fresh supply of HOPE.
According to Google, the Bible mentions the word HOPE about 129 times. It is one of the essential virtues of being a Christian, alongside faith and love. There are multiple references to hope throughout the Psalms, like in Psalm 62:5: Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him; and Psalm 147:11: the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
A huge blessing of walking closely with our Lord and Savior is He can always provide HOPE regardless of circumstances or challenges. Isaiah 40:31 makes a case for having hope when the prophet shares: but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.
I trust this will be a season of renewing hope for you. This Sunday, Pastor Alan and Matt Gregory will bring back a wonderful tradition of having a blessing of backpacks during the service, where the entire church family joins in praying for every student, teacher, administrator, staff member, and parent as we head back to school.
Speaking of renewing hope, our church is starting a new ministry this fall called REBOOT Recovery. This 12-week, faith-based, peer-led course helps combat veterans, first-responders, and their families heal from service-related trauma. This group will meet on Monday evenings beginning Sept. 12. If you are interested in learning more about this effort, please contact Steve Walsh or Pastor Alan. They will be sharing more information about this effort in the coming weeks.
We are also celebrating the resumption and expansion of the food pack back support program for needy students, thanks to Kay and Mark Munday and an incredible group of volunteers. They will resume meeting on Thursday afternoons beginning Sept. 15 to pack bags of food and snacks for needy students to take home for the weekend. If you are interested in learning more about this project, don't hesitate to contact the church office by CLICKING HERE.
As you enter this exciting and hopeful time of back to school and the coming fall - I conclude with the following from Paul as shared in Romans 15:13: May the GOD of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Robert Trigg joined the NUMC staff in the fall of 2017 where he serves as our Administrative Support person in the church office. He is also a long-term member of our Worship Team where he plays bass and is caught smiling on a regular basis. Robert and his wife, Martha, are retired educators and have been members of NUMC since 1994.
Courage to Stand
Well, the time has come. I dropped my oldest son off at the high school and watched him walk in. I began to think to myself how different this was from his first day of kindergarten when I had to walk him all the way to class and then promise him some fruit snacks when I picked him up.
It has always been my biggest goal to set my children on the right path from a young age. We go to church, read the bible, and pray daily. It is such an important thing for them to see my husband and I do also, both individually and as a couple. Proverbs 22:6 encourages us to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” When we look into our sweet baby’s eyes and make this promise, we begin a journey.
But I think the scariest thing about this journey is knowing that when they begin to grow up, especially in those influential years, we can’t always be there. Children nowadays are exposed to so many things and at such a younger age than we were as children. Technology, social media, and non-Christian influences are constant, both in the home and at school. Because of this, we as parents have an even greater responsibility to prepare our children to walk into those situations with a solid foundation and enough determination to stand out against the world. To be tried and tested through societal standards and still have the courage to stand in their faith.
As we begin this next school year, I encourage you to begin to pray over the many choices our children will face this year. As parents, teachers, and even students ourselves we know all too well the many times the enemy has challenged us. Pray for strength and clarity in our children’s minds to see through the lies. Calmness to know that when they stand up for their faith they are not standing alone. Bravery to stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. And most importantly, courage to bring those bad days and those questions to us as parents, guardians, pastors and mentors without fear of judgement.
We stand on the road with these children and they are looking to us to show them that our faith remains steadfast in Jesus, no matter our surroundings. So therefore, we must teach them to have the courage to stand.
Kellie Jones
Be Gracious To Me
There’s a line somewhere between macabre and pragmatic and it varies for each person. We often don’t even realize we have that line until someone else crosses it for us. Today I’m tip toeing right around that line, not because I want to upset anyone, but because death is an inevitable part of life.
First of all, I want to extend my sincere appreciation for everyone who has been praying for Hannah and her mother Sue. Last year Sue wasn’t feeling well and went to the doctor. After a few different visits they finally did a scan and she “lit up like a Christmas tree”. It was a widespread lymphoma. However, after chemo her body responded wonderfully and she went into remission in January. About a month later, she went back to the doctor for some stomach pain and they did a scan just to be on the safe side. This time, they found a mass on her pancreas. Treatments have not worked and they have caused havoc on her body as the cancer has continued to spread.
Somewhere along the line the focus of my prayers went from asking for healing to asking for comfort. Even just typing that out feels like betrayal or that I’m not praying for a big enough miracle. Is this one of those moments where Jesus would say “Oh you of little faith”?
I’m reminded of when King David he lost his son.
The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 The elders of his house stood beside him, urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, ‘While the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us; how then can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.’ 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, he perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, ‘Is the child dead?’ They said, ‘He is dead.’
20 Then David rose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord, and worshipped; he then went to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, ‘What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive; but when the child died, you rose and ate food.’ 22 He said, ‘While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, “Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.” 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.’
David was known as a man after God’s own heart. He fasted and prayed so much that his own servants were afraid to tell him what had happened. And yet the child still died. I don’t think that if I would just pray a little more things would change. Not only does that place too much importance on my ability to pray but it at the same time implies that anyone who lost a loved one just didn’t pray enough. This leaves us in an awkward spot though. We believe in prayer, but often we don’t get the results we want. We believe God can heal, but we also go to doctors. I won’t pretend to understand how or why it all works this way. All I know is that essentially when we pray “[God’s] will be done on earth” we are admitting that it’s out of our control. We pray anyway, and like David we do it because “Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and [they] may live.”
In The Seat
2 years ago, the world shut down, when COVID hit, a lot of places were told to close their doors. People were mandated to social distance and were told not to go out and with that a lot of businesses and churches started to go online as best they could. It has been amazing to see the growth of Navarre United Methodist Church online service throughout these past couple years and, although it has been very enjoyable to sit out on my back porch poolside drinking my morning coffee while watching and listening to service, there’s just something about being in person at church on a Sunday morning. The online service has given the opportunity to reach so many more than just our community and has been an asset to help grow our congregation. I enjoy watching when people type in the comments “Good Morning from…….” And see how far we are. Did you know that we have had people watching as far as Germany! How awesome is that! It has also allowed our daughter who has grown up in NUMC the opportunity to attend when she is away at college in a different state and not miss a beat!
Attending on Sundays and singing along with the band and listening to the word of God, it is an indescribable feeling and connection when inside a great church environment. I’ve always believed that Jesus is with you wherever you go, not just when you’re in church, but he’s with you at home and in your car sitting in traffic, or even at the store while dealing with the crowds. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you have to have perfect church attendance every Sunday, but when you are able to be in person and present, the people connection doesn’t compare to the computer connection. There has come a lot of success with church online and I, for one, am excited that our church has that as an option because if I am out of town on vacation or sick at home, I can still attend my church on Sunday morning and not miss a thing. On Sundays I’ve sat regularly at home for church online for a long time, I am back in person and am looking forward to continuing to grow alongside my congregation.
Just A Drop In The Bucket List
There are many for whom a bucket list is a place where great hopes are kept alive - a compilation of adventures that, once experienced, would bring meaning and fulfillment to our finite lives. For some, however, they turn out to be the butt cans of life where the embers of our dreams go to be slowly extinguished. For most of my life, I have never consciously considered keeping a bucket list - even after seeing the movie - until I got very close to retirement. I just never felt the need for it.
During the course of my very privileged life, I have seen many dreams come true. I found Christ and redemption at the tender age age of 15, married my high school sweetheart at 19; served my country as an Air Force enlisted man, officer, and government contractor for forty-five years; rose to the top of the corporate ranks; set foot on most of the civilized world; and found my forever home on Florida’s Emerald Coast. Whatever dreams might have been fodder for a bucket list, I had already been living out every day. “Living the dream” could be the title of my biography, and yet there was always that one wish that would not stop bouncing around in the back of mind – learning to fly.
I have been a student of general aviation since I was 27 years old, when I enrolled in my first flight school at the Eglin AFB Aero Club in 1985. I took my first solo flight at Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview that same year, but soon after I put flying on the back burner, as my wife, Susan - a new mom - put her foot down about this “dangerous” expensive hobby.
During the course of the next 37 years, I intermittently trained at three different flight schools, but the rigors of my jobs, business travel, and the expense of flying always seemed to keep me on the ground. As an Air Force officer, I applied for pilot training four times, but was never accepted because of childhood allergies I have long-regretted disclosing. When I left the Air Force to become a government contractor, the dream of flying went with me and I logged more than one and a half million miles on Delta Airlines, unfortunately, none of them from the cockpit.
Then I retired, and I wondered if I might finally be able to pull this off. I started checking out flight schools in our area, but never found anyone who seemed to take seriously the idea of some 61-year old fool learning to fly. It was a little discouraging, until I remembered that episode of the Andy Griffith Show where Aunt Bea took flying lessons. I figured if she could do it, so could I. So, I trudged ahead and discovered AMS Flight School at Peter Prince Airport in Milton, Florida, where they took me very seriously and connected me with two great instructors who would ultimately lead me through the two courses of study for my Private Pilot Certificate and my Instrument Rating.
The requirements to become a pilot aren’t really all that daunting. You must be at least seventeen years old. Check. You must be proficient in English. I am from Alabama, but still, check. You must take a ground school course and fly forty or more hours, most with an instructor but some solo, some at night and some cross country. Check. You must pass a physical given by an FAA-licensed medical examiner. Hmm, I was really close on this one. Just needed to lose weight, get my blood pressure under control, lower my blood sugar, change my allergy medicines, buy new glasses and replace one knee. Add in the interruptions of Covid and hurricane Sally and it took about a year and a half and a hundred flying hours to obtain my coveted license - about twice as many as the average student – but I got it.
So, bucket list empty, right? After all, when I started this adventure, the one drop in my bucket list was simply to fulfill the lifelong dream of becoming a pilot. By the time I did, however, I found many new droplets had formed. So, I am back at AMS working on my Commercial Pilot’s Certificate, and I hope to spend my retirement years teaching people to fly. I have a long way to go and so much more to learn but, in my opinion, that’s one of the greatest benefits of flying.
If there is one consistent lesson I have learned about flying it is this - you never stop being a student. It’s what I love most about it. If you are like me, you will find the most frightening prospect of taking up the rocking chair is the lost challenge of learning new skills and forging new trails. When we stop learning, we stop living. As the unknown philosopher reminds us, “Adventure may hurt you, but monotony will kill you.”
That very same tag line can be applied to our Christian life. Despite its prominence on my bucket list, I did not retire so I could learn to fly. I retired so I could devote my full attention to our church, and God has allowed me to do just that for the past three and a half years. As I have grown older, I find my bucket list items are much less focused on me experiencing the world, and much more focused on me helping the world experience Christ. As I have grown in this direction, God has given me a new dream to pursue – one so large as to fill the entire bucket with a single drop. Acts 2:17 says, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” Well, this old man’s dream is to see the Church earn back the right to be the first place where people seek answers to their problems.
Where will I start to pursue this dream? I think I’ll start in my own heart. Like many of you, I find elements of our culture very difficult to stomach and, like many of you, I don’t always respond to it in the most effective ways. That’s true - from my perspective - of the Church, as well. Andy Crouch, Author and Praxis Labs Partner for Theology, identifies four responses to the culture that have not only failed to bring about change, but have damaged the Church’s credentials to be the purveyor of Christ’s love and grace in the world.
The first is to condemn the culture. He calls this an “amazingly inert” option because condemnation never compels anyone to change. The second is to critique it – respond with ideas about how Christians should, and mostly should not, engage in the culture (don’t drink, don’t smoke, etc.). The problem is that critique is often based on analysis that is not universally accepted, so it is often ignored. The third is to copy it – wait for the world to do something and then come along and add a Jesus layer to it. The best example is probably Christian music, which is not a bad thing, but copying usually leaves the Church woefully behind the culture and always on the edge of irrelevance. The last and most pervasive response today is simply to consume it – accommodate the culture for our own pleasure and satisfaction, which only entrenches it further.
I am determined to put these responses behind me – to stop screaming at the TV when sin is celebrated in my face, to stop telling others how they should live, to stop appropriating the world’s methods and standards in an attempt to be relevant, and stop consuming the very things I want to see disappear in the world. Instead, I want to make a greater effort to mirror Jesus, bless people, renew the culture, and die to self. It seems to me the best first step toward changing the culture and restoring the Church to its intended place among humanity is for me as an individual to exercise the power God has given each of us through our creation in His likeness to create new elements of culture that will promote His purposes and to cultivate those that already do.
So, I guess it’s true after all - revival starts in me. God didn’t just give me a pilot’s certificate. He gave me the desire for it, along with the determination and strength to change and do my part to earn it. In that same way and by His grace, I have, as Elvis Presley once said, “lived every dream I have ever had a hundred times.” I expect the same will be true for this dream. It's a big dream I know, but I have a big bucket and an even bigger God.
Cal Vandivier is the head of our finance committee, a lay delegate to our Annual Conference, and a licensed pilot.