Hello family,

 In my devotional time recently I have been using a workbook called, The Workbook of Living Prayer by Maxie Dunnam. It is part of the ACTS ACADEMY class and we use it to help us learn more about prayer. The book has been helpful and as I reflected on the material in the book it has encouraged me to continue to grow in my own prayer life.

 Recently I was involved in a conversation with several people when one person asked, “Do you believe in prayer, that it really works?” My first reaction was an immediate “Yes!”, and the conversation then somehow was turned away from the topic of prayer to another topic. It has been several days since that conversation, but I am constantly being drawn back to the question, “Do I believe in prayer?” The answer is still the same, but I am asking myself why do I believe in prayer? In Dunnam’s book he writes on page 18, “Things happen when we pray that do not happen when we don’t pray.” I believe that is true. I have seen many examples of what I believe are answers to pray. I do not have the time or the paper or the memory to recount all of the answers to prayer that I have witnessed in my life. Someone might say, “But those things could have happened anyway, even if you didn’t pray.” My friends, I believe in a God who hears us when we pray. I believe He also is a God who answers us. He does not always answer my prayers in the way I would like for Him to answer, or in the time I would like for them to be answered, but He does answer.

 I was reminded of this again on Sunday. It was United Methodist Women’s Sunday and I was not preaching. I had the rare privilege of sitting with my wife in the worship service. As the service concluded I turned to leave and coming down the outside aisle of the church was Stephanie Peteritis. My mind immediately raced back to a December night at the ICU unit at Hillcrest Hospital. As Chris Peteritis and I were preparing to leave the hospital a nurse stopped us to talk about Stephanie. She wanted us to understand how sick Stephanie really was. She told Chris that he might want to consider bringing Stephanie’s children in to see her because she might not make it through the night.

 Several weeks and months later, and following thousands of prayers being prayed by many different people, Stephanie is here and continuing on the path of recovery. Do I believe in prayer? Oh yes, I believe in the God who heard us and is still answering our prayers, and I saw another powerful reason why I believe on Sunday. Praise God.

 Keep on praying, God is not finished yet.

Your Pastor,

Don

Dear Family,

I have been thinking lately about the question, “How does one know the will of God?” As a church we are embarking on a major decision about leasing the McKinley Elementary School and starting the McKinley Community Outreach Center. How do we know this is God’s will? How can we be sure this is something we really should be doing now when finances are tight and the future is still somewhat uncertain?

As I have looked at the scriptures I have concluded that we can know the will of God about some things. We know according to scripture that God wants all people to be saved, or to know Him personally. (I Timothy 2:3,4; II Peter 3:9). We also know that we are to make disciples of all nations, this is the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus commands us to feed the hungry and to care for the poor among us.

So we can agree that there are some things we know for sure that we as a church are called to do in order to accomplish the will of God. We as a church have made a bold statement that we believe God’s will for the Willoughby United Methodist Church is to love and serve God, make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of lives. That is why we exist, that is our mission. So will McKinley help us to do what we believe is the will of God? I think we can agree that it will.

But should it be McKinley and should it be now? How can we know if it is God’s will for us to take this bold step of faith? As the leaders of the church who have been elected to serve you and to serve God, we have prayed and we have been in conversation about this decision. We have asked God to lead us and to give us wisdom as we have presented ourselves to Him to hear His word and to speak to us. After much time and much prayer we believe God is leading us as a church to take this bold step. Will it stretch us? Oh yes it will. Will it be easy? No, it will not be easy, but we have not been called to take the easy way. Will God be with us? We have no doubt about God’s presence being with us always. So we go forward, walking through the doors that God will open for us.

I believe this is God’s will for us as a church. I am not God, I do not claim that I have special knowledge or that I know more about God’s will than anyone else. I am only trying to be faithful to what I believe God is calling me as your pastor to do. This is a decision we have come to as the Administrative Board of women and men who are seeking to follow God. Pray for us, and pray for God’s will to be done.

Your Pastor,

Don

Hello family,

I had an interesting experience not very long ago. In December I was invited to visit the Enrichment class of our Preschool here at the church. I was given the wonderful opportunity to share the Christmas Story. As I spoke with the children some of them were already familiar with the story of Mary and Joseph and angels and shepherds and the manger in Bethlehem. But, some of the children did not know the Christmas story. Some of the children looked at me as if I were telling them another make believe story from Disney or Aesop’s Fables. They had no concept of who God is and why He came to earth as a baby.

I still remember how I felt as I left those classes in December. I felt upset, angry, confused and a little frustrated. I found myself asking, “How am I going to relate the Christian story of my faith to three and four year olds”? If I can’t communicate the story to three and four year olds how do I expect to communicate to adults? Have you ever felt that way? Have you tried to share your faith with someone only to walk away feeling really inadequate?

I started thinking about how Jesus told people about God, His Father. Here is what I thought of, He showed them God’s love, and then He told them of God’s love for them. In many of the scenes from the gospels we read of Jesus doing acts of mercy and kindness. When people would ask Him why He was doing these acts, He then would teach them about His Father.

I wonder if there is a lesson here for us. Someone once said more things that are learned are caught than taught. We are taking a bold step of faith as a church to be more intentional about sharing the love of God. We have made the decision to lease from the Willoughby/Eastlake School District the former McKinley Elementary School. The reason for this decision is so we can be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community and to continue the ministry of demonstrating the love of God to as many people as we can. There will be much more information to come about this exciting new outreach ministry in the future. But for now let’s get out there in the world and show the people around us how much God loves them. “For God demonstrated His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

See you in church,

Pastor Don

Dear Family,

A story is told of a father and his son who loved to talk about different places around the world. One year for Christmas the boy received a globe as a gift from his father. From extended use the axis on the globe was loose and as the young boy was sleeping one night his father came in to get the globe so he could repair it. As he was leaving the bedroom the young boy woke up and asked, “Daddy what are you doing with my world?” The father quickly replied, “I’m taking it so I can fix it, then I will give it back to you.”

I am writing this article two days after the tragedy at Newtown, Connecticut. As I think about those small children who unfortunately were witnesses to something no child should see, I am wondering if some of our children might be asking that question of us, “What are you doing with my world?”

We live in a time when the directional shift of the culture seems to be moving to eliminate any mention of God in the public setting. We have removed prayer from schools. There are several law suits filed that seek to remove any religious scene from government buildings or properties. Regularly I hear of legal action taken against school boards, administrations and students to ensure that prayer is not offered at graduation or any school function. And I wonder where these decisions are leading us?

Are we capable of fixing the world and giving it to our children and grandchildren? Are the actions we are taking and the direction we seem to be heading in making the world a better place, a safer place?

I would like to try and address some of these questions in a sermon series I plan on preaching in January 2013. I invite you to come and think with me on the theme, “Hope For A Broken World”.  Maybe the Bible, a book that is very old, has some new answers for us living in the 21^st century.

See you in church,

Pastor Don

Dear Family,

Recently I found myself thinking about pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. The thought that came to mind was, “What does it take to make a jack-o-lantern?” One must be willing to take a perfectly good pumpkin and take out the perfectly good stuff that is inside of it. That means you must be willing to make a mess and to do the hard work that is necessary to create something brand new and different out of something that seemed to be just fine the way it was. And then you put a candle inside of the empty shell so that it can provide light so others can find their way.

As I was thinking about jack-o-lanterns, here is the thought that came to mind: is that what God does to us? When I turned to God, He took me as I was.  Too many people, what they saw when they looked at me from the outside was perfectly good. But then God patiently began to do the messy work of carving out all the old stuff that was inside of me and very painfully removing what I had grown accustomed to. He was taking away my pride and my selfishness that always caused me to put myself before others. He started to take away my desires and wants that had me thinking and working to get the things that pleased me.

I must admit that this is still an ongoing work of the Lord, and yes, it is painful. But in place of what was once inside of me now is an empty space. What was God going to put in this empty space in my life? What He did was put Himself in there. With all the old stuff inside of me before, there was no room for God. He had to re-move the old stuff so that my life would have the necessary room for Him.

I John 1:5 says, “God is light; in Him there is no darkness.” When God came into my heart, He brought light into my life. And just like a good jack-o-lantern, I want my life to shine so that others can find their way to God.

Shining for Jesus,

Pastor Don

Hello family,

Have you ever had one of those days when you knew God was really paying attention to your prayers? Yes I know that God hears us when we pray, and I also know that God answers our prayers. But every once in a while He does something that just knocks my socks off. Let me ex-plain.

Recently during one of my quiet times, I was praying. Many times in my prayers I have a list of concerns; prayers for the church, prayers for others, praying for families and maybe prayers for myself. But on this morning I was just talking with the Lord. I said “Lord, would you let me serve you by serving other people today? Maybe those people will be at the church, in my own home, or wherever you can use me.” And I started my day.

When I arrived at the church, I no sooner made it to my desk when someone needing help was asking to talk to a pastor. Listening to her story I soon recognized her immediate need. Her need was something we were able to help her with and thus to serve her. As I was walking out the door I encountered a group of students who come to the church once a week to help us with our bulletins. These students have special needs and this busy morning what they needed was to introduce themselves to the pastor and talk for a few moments. As I shook hands with each of them I thought who is serving who? They needed a little of my time, but they are so eager to serve us and yet very few people even know that they are serving us.

Sometimes we serve others and sometimes others serve us. Sometimes the service will be easy and sometimes the service required will be beyond what you can do and you might have to ask for help. Sometimes you might be recognized for your service and sometimes you might have to serve in private.

God answered my prayer that morning and I am so glad He did.

See you in church,

Pastor Don 

Hello family,

Do you ever get discouraged? There is a line in an old hymn, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus,” that says we should never be discouraged. I am afraid that is a hard command for me to keep. Let me share a recent story.

A little while ago I was on one of my morning exercise routines. I was jogging and most times when I jog I am praying or thinking about the next “big” thing on my schedule. Well on this day I was jogging and talking to myself. The conversation I was having with myself was over what in the world was I doing out here early in the morning, when it was so hot and humid, and was this exercise really doing me any good any way?

 It was one of those conversations that I have regularly with myself to talk myself into doing what I know I ought to be doing. (Does that sound familiar, do you do that?) I had stopped running and now I was walking as I rounded Grove Ave. onto Second Street. I started to jog again when I saw him, the man pushing a walker, wearing his Texas Longhorns tee shirt and turning from McKinney Ave. right into my path on Second Street. I ran up behind him and walked with him for a few steps and extended my hand and said, “Hello Terry, how are you doing today?” He turned to me and said, “Oh, hi Reverend.” Yes, it was Terry Daniels out for his morning walk around the block.

Needless to say, I did not have to talk to myself the rest of the way home. Terry became for me exactly what I needed, a word of encouragement, and he did not have to say a word, his actions spoke volumes.

That experience caused me to think:

¨ Do you have people in your life who serve as encouragers? Does their life speak to you without saying a word? I would love to hear your story.

¨ Are you allowing your life to be an encouragement to someone else?

The Bible says we are not to grow weary in doing what is right. My brothers and sisters, some of you are tired and you may be talking to yourselves about why you are doing what you are doing. Don’t give up! Look for those signs of encouragement, you might be surprised at who you may see.

See you in church, or out for a walk,

Pastor Don

Hello Family,

Do you need help? That is what the sign said. I saw it the other day as I was out for my morning walk. This sign was stapled to a telephone pole. Most signs are at eye level, but not this one, it was at knee level. I was curious, so I stopped to look closer. It was from someone who wanted to help other people. Here is what I found:

Do you need… Dog Walking, Light Yard Work, Someone to bring in your trash cans, newspaper or mail while you are on vacation? 8 (almost nine) year-old boy available.

I love that sign! When I saw it I thought of the church (it is an occupational habit). Many people have different opinions of why the church exists. For some they see the church as a museum for the saints, for some it is the club you join to enjoy the perks (no pun intended). There are some people who see the church as a building you go to, and there are some that see the church as a religious organization that exists to promote a certain agenda.

But what if we were like that little entrepreneur who posted his sign on the telephone pole? What if we saw ourselves as people who had the gifts and abilities to help other people? What if we saw ourselves as a hospital for hurting people? What if we actually believed we existed for the purpose of being the hands and arms of Jesus Christ placed in this community? Could we make a difference? Would Willoughby and the surrounding communities be different because a group of people who claim to be the body of Jesus Christ really had a burden and a desire to help people? Do you need help? Do you know someone who does? Do you think we might be able to help?

I was just wondering,

Pastor Don

Hello family,

Recently I found myself in a reflective state of mind. I saw an award presentation where the person who had won an award was now giving recognition to all the people who helped them achieve this honor. The list of names went on and on until their allotted time was up and they were led off the stage. You have probably seen similar instances.

What struck me about this particular event were the people being named. They thanked their producer and director, writers and fellow band members and crew and then a list of people that nobody in the audience would recognize upon hearing their names. The honoree thanked their mom and dad, fellow siblings and several friends who gave them encouragement and friendly advice along the way.

People that nobody knew made a difference in one person’s life so that this one person could become somebody that was worthy of honor or notoriety.  That is an awesome reality and I love the fact that this happens over and over again.

As I reflected on that thought, I made some initial observations. You and I are persons of honor…in God’s sight anyway. I, like many of you, will never be on a stage and identified as a famous person (and I am more than okay with that). But I began to ask myself who am I helping to become a person worthy of honor; and who are those people in my life that I need to be thanking now, without waiting for some special occasion?

During the next several weeks we will be looking at biographies of famous people found in the Old Testament. As I look at these stories of great men and women of the faith I will also be looking for the people that nobody else will recognize when their name is said or read. All of these people matter to God, and by the way, so do you!

See you in church,

Pastor Don

Hello Family,

Recently I found some time to get away to pray and think about the upcoming sermon series after Easter. As I was thinking about those services, I had a very difficult time trying to move past Easter.

For us who identify ourselves as Christians, Easter is the highlight of the year. It is our New Year’s Eve in Times Square, our Super Bowl, World Series, Final Four, and Daytona 500 all wrapped up into one. Easter is the coronation and the foundation of our faith, but for some reason I think most of us miss its real significance.

The early church understood the significance of Easter and so they set aside every Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from the dead, as a “little Easter.” The Apostle Paul writes that if Jesus were not raised from the dead, then our faith is in vain. He also writes that the gospel is: Jesus who lived, Jesus who died and Jesus who has been raised from the dead.

I was reminded of the significance of Easter as I stood before a grieving family and had the privilege of proclaiming the wonderful good news of our faith. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, you and I have the hope and the promise that someday we too shall be raised with Him to eternal life.

We are called to live as Easter people. I think that means we are to live a life that gives witness to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has shown His love for us in the giving of His very own Son, and He has demonstrated His power in raising Him from the dead. If we believe that this is true, then Easter should impact every day of our lives, not just one Sunday out of the year. We are called to be people of hope in a God who is able to do the impossible because He has done that over and over again.

I am so looking forward to gathering with the people of God who believe in the Christ who was raised from the dead and want to see that power demonstrated in their lives every day. I hope you will come to worship looking for that to happen, believing for that to happen and waiting for that to happen in your life.

See you in church,

Pastor Don