Two Words

Some of you know I have been involved in a year-long training "huddle" of six preachers from Global Methodist Churches in the southeast.  It has been a great time of sharing ministry, concerns, gifts, stories, work, and life.  I am the oldest, and my friend, Sam, from Freeport, is the youngest.  There has been a lot of work associated with this collaborative training, and all of us have learned from one another.  In one of the sessions, we had the chance to come up with two words that we felt described our calling as Christians and as ministers.  This was hard, though we were aided by 4 (yes, 4!) personality tests.  Later in the process, we were again asked to share two words (again, after several focusing exercises) that would describe how we would call our friends, colleagues, ministry partners, and connections to become disciples of Jesus that worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.  This was hard ... very hard!

Words are important.  And they tell a story.  In the early 1900's, someone was asked to shorten a news story (several paragraphs) into six words that summarized the story.  They said, "FOR SALE, BABY SHOES, NEVER WORN").  This story, often attributed to Hemingway, amplifies that much can be said in a few words.

Sunday is Father's Day.  A Biblical father, Jacob (Genesis 46:28-34), travels to Egypt with all he has, so that his family can weather a famine.  His son, Joseph, tells him specific words to say when Pharaoh greets Jacob and Joseph's family.  "We, your servants, have raised livestock all our lives, as our ancestors have always done.’ When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the region of Goshen, for the Egyptians despise shepherds."  Joseph, always clever and calculating, knew the right words to say so that his (and also God's) purpose would be realized.  Words are important.

This Sunday, let's merge the themes "words are important," "Father's Day," and "Two Words."  What do you think your Two Words would be, if you were asked, "what are the Two Words that flow out of your life that would describe how God calls you to make disciples?"  Or, maybe, "What Two Words would God (our heavenly Father) us to describe how you are making disciples (I like that 2nd one)."

For Joseph, the words might be Providential Preservationist.  Joseph protects His family (the family that will ultimately become the great nation that saves/blesses the world), preserves God's promise, and perpetuates God's plan.  God's promise is preserved because Joseph is available, obedient, and accessible to God's perfect plan.

Ok ... now for some self-disclosure.  My Two Words (they seem to evolve a bit over time) might be, Discover and Become (I didn't count the 'and').  I want each of you to Discover who God is, His beauty, His promises, and His purpose.  I want each of you to Become the person God created you to be ... people who live out Jesus in your circles and create a place where blessing, beauty, and discipleship happen organically.

What are your Two Words?  And, for our fathers, do your Two Words fit with God's purpose to bring everyone to Himself?  Words are important, aren't they?

Fog and Opportunity

There is something beautiful about pushing a boat out into the fog on the Choctawhatchee Bay. The shoreline disappears, familiar landmarks vanish, and all you can see is a gray curtain hanging over the water. Yet there is peace in knowing the bay well enough to trust where you are headed, even when you cannot see the destination.

Life with God often feels the same way.

In Genesis 37, Joseph made what was probably a youthful mistake. God gave him dreams, but Joseph shared those self-exalting visions with his brothers, whose hearts were already growing jealous. Perhaps those dreams should have remained hidden in the fog a little longer. Instead, his brothers filled in the blanks, assuming Joseph desired to rule over them, and their jealousy set in motion years of hardship.

Dreams are funny things. Sometimes they appear through a foggy haze, much like looking through cataracts (something I understand better after recently having cataract surgery). When our vision is clouded, we often supply our own explanations, assumptions, and fears. We imagine what God must mean instead of patiently waiting for Him to reveal His purpose.

Yet some dreams are more than imagination. Some dreams are God-given visions—glimpses of a future reality that He is preparing. They are less about our own greatness and more about His unfolding plan. They become destinations toward which God gently steers us.

Several months ago, our church had such a dream: to invite children into an encounter with God through art and music. That vision formed around the beautiful prayer of Psalm 90:17:

"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands."

Last week, our planning team gathered to discuss the overwhelming logistics for our July 13–17 Sacred Arts Camp. There were schedules, volunteers, supplies, classrooms, music, and countless details that could easily make the dream seem impossible.

But something wonderful happened. The fog began to lift. The cataracts are being removed.

What once seemed confusing is beginning to come into focus as a "thin place"—a place where the distractions of this world fade, and God's reality becomes beautifully clear.

Joseph's dreams led him through opposition, obstacles, and oppression before they led him to God's purpose. Our own dreams often travel the same road. Yet if they are truly born of God, they will eventually lead us exactly where He intends.

I love that the word opportunity may be traced to the Latin expression ob portu, referring to favorable conditions for bringing a ship safely into harbor. The tide comes in, the winds align, and the captain knows it is time to make port. There is work to be done!

Perhaps that is where we are today. By following God's leading and allowing His beauty to establish the work of our hands, He is guiding us into the harbor He has prepared—a place filled with art, music, drama, goodness, grace, and children discovering the beauty of Christ.

The fog is clearing. The cataracts are being removed. And the beauty of God's dream is finally coming into focus.

Wrestling With God

I believe we have all done it!  Wrestling with God.  And it IS Biblical.  Read Genesis 32.  

This part of the Bible is not just read ... it is navigated.  There are strange stories that would make a soap opera blush.  There are Hebrew customs, traditions, and symbols that are woven through the thread of the stories.  In this combination of poetic narrative and Hebrew narrative, we find the character Jacob.  Jacob (the name) means supplanter or heel-grabber.  Jacob struggles with life from birth, grabbing Esau's heel as he is born.  His life is filled with conflict, scheming, and a constant pursuit of something I don't think Jacob even knows ... until Peniel.  There, Jacob encounters God, and there is a wrestling match.  Jacob emerges from the encounter injured, changed, and renamed. What can we learn from all this?  I'll try to unpack this a bit.

First, Jacob sends his family and everything he owns ahead, across the Jabbok River.  I am guessing Jacob had some idea that fate had caught up with him, and he might be facing his brother Esau, whom Jacob had cheated out of his birthright.  God had other plans.  The old song, "You Gotta Walk That Lonesome Valley," comes to mind as Jacob awaits what is coming.  "We gotta walk that lonesome valley ... we gotta walk it by ourselves, nobody here gonna walk it for you, we gotta walk it by ourselves."  

Second, Jacob (I think) does what he normally does.  He doesn't let go.  I say this as I experience a modern-day world of people who rationalize their way into quitting things.  We are part of a team, but quit participating because someone hurts our feelings or doesn't value us as much as we would like.  This happens on sports teams, in workplaces, and in churches.  I want to tell people, "Put on your big boy/girl pants," and reflect on what would happen if God treated us this way!  I come from a generation that looked at quitting as unacceptable social behavior.  They learned to work with and through difficult people.  Jacob hangs on to God for dear life, and if he dies, his cold, dead corpse will still be hanging on!

Third, Jacob's encounter with God causes seismic changes in his life.  He is physically injured and changed (now with an out-of-joint hip).  He names the place where this happened Peniel, which means "face of God," I believe, to remember this encounter forever.  His name is changed to Israel, now a nation known for tenacity and unwavering commitment to a mission. But more than his name, things start happening that change Jacob's life.  In the next few verses, Jacob reconciles with his brother Esau.  He is no longer running away.  He honors God with an altar to El-Elohe (The Mighty God). He follows God's instructions to live in Bethel (meaning the house of God).  

How has your encounter with God changed you?  Are you a city on a hill, doing good so that your Father in heaven is glorified?  Or are you building a tower for yourself that will reach the stars?  Jacob finally started listening to God.  How goes it with you?

Today Was Payday!

I heard a story about a Navy ship that intercepted a boat from Southeast Asia.  The boat was overloaded with almost 100 people fleeing poverty, persecution, and plight in their home country.  The people were dehydrated, starving, and desperate.  In a few more days, they would have started dying, one by one.  The sailors took the people on board, fed them,  gave them medical assistance, and saved them from almost certain death.  After the work of intake and rescue, a tired sailor said, "Today was payday!"

I know this story is being read by people who see the world with varied eyes.  Some are happy that we were being what Ronald Reagan called "a city on a hill."  Some are upset that America used military money and assets for this purpose.  Some might think this is a "feel-good" story, and they don't like this kind of story.  How do you see it?

In Genesis 12:1-3, God speaks to Abraham.  “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you."  The Old Testament clearly calls God's people (a nation Abraham founded right here in Genesis) distinct, peculiar, and different from the surrounding nations.  This passage captures a foundational part of that distinctness.  

Here are a few thoughts:

1. There is a formula for becoming a "great" nation here.  God made the Hebrews a great nation.  His presence and hand are the touch that creates that greatness.  God is the foundation here.

2. There is a transitive way of blessing here.  God is the giver/creator of blessing.  That blessing passes to the people from God.  And THAT blessing passes from God's people to "all the families on the earth."  There it is!!! Another purpose passage.  Blessing is God's plan, and we are the conduit of that blessing.  It was Abraham's calling, and it is OUR calling.

How are we doing?  Are we Reagan's (and Matthew 5:14's) city on a hill?  Are we the nation that gives light to all the houses of the world?

Two of my members came to me to offer a gift of help to someone in our community.  They want no credit ... they just want to help.  I think they know Genesis 12:1-3.  I think they have read Matthew 5:14.  And when this gift is a done deal, I think they will say ... "Today was payday!"

The Rainbow is Most Beautiful When ...

When is a rainbow the most beautiful?  After a huge storm?  When you are journeying through difficult times?  When all the colors are clear?  When a subtle rainbow shows up out of nowhere?  When the rainbow appears while it is still raining?  Maybe all of these!

In Genesis 9:12-13, God says, "Then God said, 'I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.'"  While we have made the rainbow the sign of political movements, Skittles, and that coconut rainbow candy that came out 'back in the day,' God meant the rainbow as something else.  From the song, My Deliverer, Rich Mullins said it this way ... "I will never doubt His promise, He has written it across the sky!"  For people of God, the rainbow should always remind us that God makes, and keeps, His promises!  Always!

For those of us who remember our fallen heroes this week, we can hang our hats on God's promise sent through the words of Paul ... "O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?  For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.  But thank God!  He gives victory over sin and death through our Lord, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)!"  God makes and keeps His promises!  Always!

For all who remember that Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, we are reminded of the promise Jesus gave the Church.  "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate who will never leave you (John 14:16)."  "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before.  John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5)!"  God makes and keeps His promises!  Always!  

The rainbow, for Christians, is God's expression of His constant movement from what was and is to what will certainly be.  He is in the persistent, unstoppable, and beautiful business of bringing us "to Himself (Exodus 19:4).  God will do this through majestic acts (Acts 2, Pentecost) that birth new things.  God will do this through His presence, through and past our human losses.  God will do this as we, while dealing with life, come to the realization that our rainbow ... our promise ... is there, behind the mist, in the storm, even in the night, just waiting for a little light to shine and reveal that God will never break His promise, He has written it across the sky!  

A Different Butterfly Effect

You have probably heard of "The Butterfly Effect."  The law, also known as "the law of sensitive dependence on initial conditions," is part of what is known as "chaos theory."  To sum it up, the law basically holds that small, even minute, changes or happenings can have major effects on other things.  Let me say ... I believe in this principle ... because I have seen it happen!

In 2022, I was less than patient with the pace of our application to become a part of the Global Methodist Church.  There were only a few hundred churches formed at that time. Then, as is usually the case when I am impatient, I decided I needed to approach things differently.  So I asked a very dangerous question ... "If ya'll are having difficulty moving applications along, is there any way I can help?"  Eight other people and I said essentially the same thing, and we were tasked with processing applications from around the world ... yes, the entire world!  What happened has resulted in (in 2026) about 7500 churches (including many new church starts) on many continents, all over the world.  It was chaotic, exhausting, and one of the best things I have done for Jesus in my life.  A small group of people flapped their collective wings in America, and a whirlwind of churches, stories, testimonies, and new believers happened.  NOT because of us ... but because God's Spirit was in this movement!

A man named Norman Borlaug was involved in developing wheat varieties that could grow in arid climates.  You probably haven't heard of him, but his work is credited with saving 2 billion people from starvation ... you read that right, 2 billion!  One man working with a small group of scientists!  The Butterfly Effect!

Our staff here, working on the Abbeville Sacred Arts Initiative, started with 3 people, praying, dreaming, and "flapping our artistic wings."  Just a writer and two musicians.  Over the last three months, we have had Christian artists, performers, and community leaders come together in ways we could have never dreamed.  We seem to get phone calls, inquiries, and interested people every day.  We have received a CREO Arts Grant and are actively pursuing another grant.  The River Youth and Children's Center is well underway (help if you can!).  But I know that if anything good happens from all of this, it is due to the powerful movement of the Holy Spirit and the foundation of Jesus.  The Butterfly Effect!

It shouldn't surprise us.  2000 years ago (give or take) an uneducated fisherman preached a sermon before a hostile crowd.  All he had was a testimony, a relationship with Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit.  You can read his message in Acts 2.  When he finished, bewildered Jews "cut to the heart" asked, "Brothers, what shall we do?"  Peter answered, "Repent and be baptized!"  3000 people responded!  Small beginnings, a few disciples filled with God's Spirit, and a huge outpouring.  The Butterfly Effect!

Not chaos. Not turning the world upside down. But bringing things "round right" (Shaker Song).  Maybe the Lord of the butterflies knows a thing or two that we should grasp!  To God be the glory, great things He has done!  AMEN?  AMEN!

Shoot The Oxen

There is a strange story in 1 Kings 19 (actually, there are a number of strange stories in both 1st and 2nd Kings).  So ... here it is.  First,  there is the famous story of Elijah in the cave .. the one where God appears to him in a whisper.  Then, Elijah passes his mantle of prophecy to Elisha.  He just appears at the field where Elisha is plowing.  Elijah places his mantle on Elisha, and Elisha does 3 things ... he kisses his mom and dad ... he kills the oxen ... he cooks the oxen and feeds the town.  Let's unpack this:

1. Ok, it's Mother's Day.  Gotta take care of something obvious.  Never leave on an important mission without telling Mama and giving her your assurance that she is on your mind.  Share love, plans, and dreams with your mama.  Whether she agrees or not, this is important. Honor your father and mother ... not a suggestion, a commandment!

2. Shoot the oxen.  Did you ever wonder about the reason(s) Cain's offering was rejected and Abel's offering was accepted?  I wonder if the main reason was that Cain offered produce, which could be regrown by doing the same thing again.  Abel offered the whole and the first of his flock ... he had to start over with that particular sheep!  Why do our offerings, our worship, our words seem to not be accepted?  Maybe we are only offering what we can easily reproduce.  Maybe God wants us to kill the oxen ... start over ... get rid of the sacred cows ... stop going to church and start BEING the Church!  About 20 Abbeville people went to Annual Conference this week.  About 1/3 of these stayed to be trained in disciple-making (you know, that little MISSION thing we say ... Make Disciples of Jesus that worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly?).  We are jumping all in to this, and some oxen need to be killed.  Maybe we even need to name them ... time, resources, programs, empty things we do that aren't mission-focused?  What do you think? And, by the way, your little church might have had the most attendees at Annual Conference of every church except the host church!!!! Y'all truly rock!

3. Let's admit it.  We are Methodists.  And as good Methodists, we have something we really do well!  We eat!  After we kill those oxen, we celebrate our history and dream about our future.  Monday night we celebrated 10 ordinands that are either Deacons or Elders, going out to serve God.  I think they kissed mama.  I think they shot some oxen, or they wouldn't be there.  And after it all, we had a little party ... before we were all sent out!

Process this story.  What does it mean to you?  Are you ready to take on the mission?  Are you willing to do every necessary thing to become a disciple-making congregation?  This means YOU might need to shoot some oxen.  And YOU WILL need to both be and make disciples  ... all of you.  Why? Because it is what we have been told to do by Jesus!  That's good enough for me!