I Am Methodist And I Approve This Message!

 Hello Church,

Warning!  Taking the pastor too seriously could end in hurt feelings.  You could end up offended, put off, and even disgusted.  Now.... on with the show....

Methodists eat better!  Baptists think they do and the Presbys claim the same.  However, Methodists have spent years perfecting the carry-in.  One only needs to harken back to John Wesley's quote:

“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.” ― John Wesley

If this doesn't prove our dishes to be better, then what does?  The time, effort, faith and passion put into every casserole; every home-baked muffin; every microwaved hotdog; every water-downed, styrofoam cup of lemonade.... Methodist eat better and eat more!

What do Baptists have?  They spend endless hours filling the tubs in their sanctuaries while we Methodists work our wonder in the kitchen!  Presbyterians?  They are predestined to be who they are, with no room to grow in their baking skills.  

And don't even get me started on Lutherans.  The cost of producing their books which they call bulletins robs them of the funds needed for baking powder, sugar and those 7 layers for the salad that heads up the line of tables filled with nourishing food.  

Methodists!  We are for healthy churches.  We are for fellowship halls stacked with tables and chairs!  Children (and a few senior citizens) gather around slobbering over the dessert table.  We have even been known to eat a cookie before grace.  This proves the endless goodness of our food and the zest we have to eat it.

Catholics?  They settle for only plastic wafers and a swallow of juice.  Episcopalians?  I don't even know if they have carry-ins.  

.....and then you have these non-denominational wanna-bees!  They try to mimic the long, strong tradition of Methodism, but their pasta is soggy; their burgers are dry; and the corn is from a can!  Embarrassing!

Do you want a church that cares about you?  Do you want a church that invests its heart, soul and oven into filling your needs?  Vote for the Methodist.  Join us on Sundays right after worship.  We won't let you down....

....well.. once Covid is over... gotta wait for the end of the pandemic...  It might be a while yet...

...but once Covid is over, you will see!  Methodists are the best!!!

I am Methodist and I approve this message.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

The Picture In God's Office

 Hello Church,

'This is the most important election that we have ever had' .... hmmmmmm.....

The older I get the more I realize that it is the big picture that really matters.  I have been especially reminded of this during this election season.  I have heard many extreme statements regarding this presidential election.....

'We will never survive another 4 years of Trump'

'Biden will turn us into a socialist country'

'We will lose our freedoms', 'Candidate X will ruin our lives', 'He will run our country into the ground'

There are perhaps others that you have heard.  Personally, anytime I hear absolute statements (statements that involve the words 'never', 'always', 'completely', 'destroy', etc) that involve any political candidates, but especially the President, I start tuning it all out.  Why?  A couple of reasons: 

1) I hear these extreme statements every four years.  After experiencing 10+ Presidential elections, I'm learning these extreme statements never come true and make people look foolish; 

2) We overestimate the power of the President mostly because candidates make promises they would have no power to fulfill if elected.  Thus, their potential to ruin your life is much less than you think.

So what is God thinking?

I think God is laughing at us.  He has to laugh or cry.  Laughing is usually preferable.  Think about all the governments He has watched change, live and die.  Now compare that perspective to those of us who think this election will bring us to the brink of our existence.  My cynicism has kicked into high gear.  Personally, I think we need to chill out a little bit... maybe a lot.  

This isn't to say that this election isn't important.  I do have my strong political opinions (no, you won't hear me preach those to you) and we all need to go vote.  It is very important, but let's keep perspective.  Four years from now we will go through all of this again, hopefully without masks.  I will have to navigate the rhetoric and over-aggressive behavior of the political spectrum; listen to the panic in both the extreme liberal and the ultra conservative; hang on to the middle ground for dear life; and try my best to not lose my cool while reading Facebook posts that promise the end of the world as we know it.

Our security is not in our political process.  Thank God!  Our security is in a Faith that says, as governments change, live and die, God is still God and we will carry on until He says otherwise.

So for anyone who might think I am minimizing this election, consider that some of us might be overstating the importance of any one moment in the realm of human existence.  I know.  You think your life may drastically change if candidate X is elected President.  I doubt it.  But if it does, it will be okay.  In 4 years it might drastically change again.....

.... and it will likely have nothing to do with who is President....

Hang on to the big picture.  It's the one God has hanging in His office.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

The Power Of Planning

 Hello Church,

Here is one of my pet peeves about running any organization, including churches.  And maybe it is one of yours too...

The lack of planning....

Over my 25 years of ministry I have painfully learned the value of planning ahead.  It has been painful because in my early years I was a dreadful planner.  Procrastination was my in my wheelhouse.  I learned how to perform under pressure constantly because... well...I was constantly under pressure to get things done now.  I very rarely put effort into getting things done ahead of time.  And God knows I never thought about planning something before it had to get done.  As a result, my ministry suffered.

Once I saw the value of planning ahead on a personal level, I had a spurt of 'aha' moments and ministry, in general, improved and became more effective. So I pushed the church to became better planners. Then I realized that most churches don't plan ahead nearly as far in advanced as they could or should.  More to the point, churches don't always want to plan further ahead.  Once I became more of a planner, the lack of planning began to annoy me, frustrate me, irritate me.  Since then, I have gone back and forth between being a good planner and a poor planner.  

I say all of this because I think we should especially be planning ahead starting now.  It's not like we don't have time.  The pandemic has given us all kinds of time.  The pandemic will also be ending some day, maybe sooner or maybe later.  Why not plan on how to tackle the new world after the pandemic is over?  

This isn't just a church thing.  It is a personal thing.  Some of us have become content to wallow in our pandemic muck; stay at home in our pajama pants; and cope with our 'now' without any thought of our 'tomorrow'.  Truth is, some of us have become too depressed (depressed people make very poor planners).

So what does God want you to do in the future?  What do you want your life, your job, your family, your church to look like when we no longer have to stay away from each other anymore.  Some day will be a brand new day and we should be ready for it.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Two Mice and Some Humble Pie

 Hello Church,

What are you going to do today?

One of my favorite cartoons was about 2 mice.  One was a doltz called Pinky.  The other was an ego maniac called Brain.  It was a classic combination similar to Abbott and Costello, but animated and .... well... with mice....

Every Pinky And The Brain episode started the same way.  Pinky would ask the Brain, 'What are you going to do today?'  The Brain would respond.... 'what we do every day, Pinky.  Try and take over the world.'

Of course mice can't take over the world.  We know that.  They didn't.  It was why it was funny.  At the end of every episode, the Brain's true nature would show.  We would find out again that he was only a mouse.  This leads me to a thought-provoking question:  Does God laugh at us?

We are not mice.  Compared to God, however, we are just as small and maybe smaller.  We may also seem just as naive and over-ambitious.  At our worst, we are hungry for power and control and dominance.

What are you going to do today?  

In this current climate of opinions and criticisms and sought-after power and control, be a little humble.  Stay within yourself.  And give thanks to our sovereign God that we don't have to make the world our place.  We just have to find our place in God's world.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe