Our class has participated in two forty day studies this year — each of them designed to engage and “transform” us.  Actually, that has to happen off the page.  While helpful, no book can substitute for living a transformed (or purpose driven) life.

It takes work, it takes patience, it takes persistence.  God’s grace is sufficient to save us, but we have to return to his grace daily if we’re to mature as Christians.  Some may be better at “going it alone”, but in the end we all have to rely on the outside support of God to accomplish his purpose in each of our lives.  Ask for his help and guidance daily — to pray, to be “present”, to reach out, to bear witness, to serve, to give, to work.

And so . . . we’ll move on as a class to new study, to new sharing, to renewed commitment . . . toward perfection.

In Dr. Mathison’s words, “Worshiping God means living to please him in everything we do, honoring him with our words and actions.  It means trusting him and believing what he promises us in the Bible.  It’s having a passion to see his will accomplished and to bring other people to him.”  And Romans 12:1 says, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”  This verse immediately precedes the one about not being conformed to the world but being transformed, as in the title of the book we have been studying.

I am coming to realize that this giving up of ourselves is very much an act of faith, whether it comes to money or time given in service.  We don’t really know what the outcome will be when we give.  Will we have enough left for the things we want to do for ourselves or our family?  But somehow I think when we give, that is when God is able to work a transformation in our lives.  Either He multiplies our time or money so that we have more to give, or He changes our perspective so that we are content to live with less money or activity than we once thought we needed.  We find our contentment in a closer, more meaningful relationship with Him and the satisfaction that we are helping bring His kingdom on earth.

I sort of recoiled at the idea expressed earlier in the book that when we gave to God in faith, we got more in return than we had before.  I thought that this encouraged the wrong motivation for giving.  But just yesterday, I came across another story that followed the same lines.  A builder in

Bur he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.   II Corinthians 12: 9 

Jesus was our model for excellence and perfection.  As John Ed stated, some Christians think they are supposed to be perfect, but we know that here on earth we can never reach perfection.  We must rely on God’s grace to help us in our weaknesses as we go on our spiritual journey.  Anna Quindlen’s quote was great. “The thing that is really hard and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”  Isn’t it wonderful to know that God meets us exactly where we are! 

As we aim for excellence, our spending daily quality time with the Lord in prayer is vital.  Our time in scriptures and prayer molds us, guides us, and helps transform us.  Our time with the Lord helps us to trust him with every area of our life—our children and family, our job, our BIG struggles, our “knotty” problems (my Granddaddy Bourland always used that word), our finances—–absolutely everything no matter how small or how big.  The Lord will guide us if we will trust him and allow him room in our hearts. 

As we approach the time to make our commitments to love, celebrate and serve with our financial commitment, it is so important that we remember God’s promise to us in Philippians 4:13:  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  So, remember, God’s grace is sufficient.  And as the song says, “Trust and obey, for there is no other way…..” 

So I am asking, what commitments are we willing to make?

Dale 

PS…I thought I posted this early this morning, but it is not showing up, so I will try again.

We, as Christians must not just keep our faith to ourselves but must share it with others in order to expand God’s kingdom. We must ”walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk” when it comes to Christianity and our faith. In this manner we are demonstrating our faith so that others may see it and join it.

To be successful with sharing our faith we should be aware of and be sure to include the following attributes when we are fishing for new Christians:

- CONFIDENCE so we do not fail.

- COMPANIONSHIP to demonstrate the we know that God is with us.

- CREDIBILITY by walking the walk and not just talking.

- CONVICTION in our actions to please God and not be focused on pleasing others.

- COMMUNICATION in easy, clear, direct terms that other people, our “fishes”, can understand.

It is very easy to get wrapped up in the church activities and what support we can provide and demonstrate by signing up to assist a group, function or commitee. Let’ s not forget that our real mission in earthly life is to expand God’s kingdom by sharing our faith with other believers and non-believers in a confident, compasionite, credible manner so that others will join us.

Do you remember this year’s advertising for “Let’s go walkin’, Mississippi”….well how about I borrow that and rephrase it to “Let’s go fishin’ Mary Virginia Thomas class….Let’s go fishin’. “ 

See ya Sunday, Gary

We will instead move ahead with our topic for today — spiritual maturity — and perhaps even discuss how we Methodists can become better servants by incorporating prayer into our daily lives. But first things first.

A couple of weeks ago we cyber-discussed John Wesley’s mantra of “going on to perfection” and how the definition of “perfection” in his day was perhaps different than ours — that it meant maturing in one’s faith. This process of spiritual maturation that we Methodists are to embrace certainly includes an active life of prayer and service, but it must also include a degree of below-the-surface study of what it means to be a Christian.

It is certainly helpful to read works by Warren and Mathiston, but there is so much more that can take us so much deeper. It is impossible to delve into Merton, Lewis, Buechner, Chesterson, or contemporary writers such as Yancey, Price, Gomes, Dunham or Willimon, to name but a few, and not become more spiritually mature.

Or read Semmie Wicker’s thoughts on Day 36: “Where You’re Headed.” What wonderful, clear, concise writing. She used an equestrian analogy more intellectual than any Mathiston has offered in the book, and by doing so accomplished at least two things: 1) offered a glimpse of her spiritual maturity; 2) helped us mature spiritually.

This journey towards spiritual maturity is not, as even Mathiston points out, a short trip nor is it one that can be traveled haphazardly. It is a long haul and, as he writes, we must be devoted and disciplined if we are to endure. There will be obstacles and challenges, but by overcoming these obstacles and meeting these challenges, including intellectual challenges, head-on we do indeed become more spiritually mature. When our hearts are warmed it is our intellect that will help us understand why it might have seemed strange.

We are called to pray; we are called to serve. And we are called to study. We’re Methodists. That’s what we do. Even us old lobsters.

– Danny

Anyway, as I read chapter 36 several of the key points reminded me of competing in a trail class.   The really successful riders; the ones who make it look easy are the ones who you can bet do the following:

1. They know exactly where they want to go and they keep their eyes looking ahead.  They are always looking several strides ahead of where they currently are on course.   They are already planning the next transition or approach to the next obstacle.   And when the rider looks where she is going, then the horse feels it and it helps guide him there too.  This sounds so simple, but it is something that so many riders forget to do.  And when you stop looking ahead you can find yourself in the worst spots really fast.  Magic? No… 
2. They practice often, usually daily. Horse and rider spend so much time practicing at home and are so in tune to one another that over time, they become one.  You can almost just “think” about your next move and the horse picks up on the most subtle body language from you.  When you see this kind of communication between a horse and rider, you know they have spent a lot of time together. This kind of oneness does not happen over night. It takes a lot of work, but once it does occur then the rider is able to…
3. Trust, sit back and enjoy the ride.  This is the ultimate ride, what everyone strives for.  It’s what motivates you to keep on trying and it only comes from keeping your eyes on the goal and practicing often.  Once that relationship or oneness occurs then the horse trusts that the rider won’t put him in a bad spot and the rider can look ahead, and trust that her horse is going to take her through the course safely.  She can sit back, show some confidence and style and hopefully “plus” the obstacle. 

 To me, the above scenario can be compared to the message in Chapter 36.    

Mathison talks about determining your destination.  Deciding where you want to go.  I think it is so important for me to ask and answer that question for myself.  Personally, I pray that through my life, somehow others will see God.  I don’t have to know about it, but I hope God is able to use my life to touch others.  But in order to give God a chance to work through my life, I need to:

1. Know exactly where I want to go and keep my eyes and heart focused ahead, towards God.  If I do this, then hopefully I will stay on course and learn to navigate through some of the day to day obstacles that will inevitably occur.   By keeping my eyes on God, hopefully I’ll stay on course and make myself more available to God to be used for his purposes.
2. Practice often. Translates into pray daily (and read).  This is one of the hardest things for me personally, to make myself stop and take the time to strengthen my relationship w/ God.  To put my ‘self’ aside and to give some of each day to God.   
3. Finally, I need to Trust and have confidence  that when I do look ahead, God will take me through safely – fulfill and give my life more meaning than I could ever begin to realize on my own. 

There is one more thing that is an absolute requirement for both the trail scenario and for my own personal relationship with God to be a success. 

Forward motion.  Unless I ask for that horse to move forward, we will never even begin.  He’s there, waiting on me to ask him, but unless I ask, it’s not happening.    The same is true with God.  He is always there.  He wants me to be with him, but unless I make the choice each day to begin, not much is going to happen. ~Semmie

John Ed Mathison sums up this week by reviewing each of the week’s previous chapters.  We should imitate Christ in offering ourselves in service:  humbly and with a motivation born of gratitude and love for God and empathy and love for our fellow beings.  We should also volunteer ourselves with the sure knowledge that we have received and will receive blessings for sharing those talents and skills with which God has entrusted us.  We should realize that we don’t work best alone, but as  a member of the Church, the Body of Christ.  In other words, our greatest potential is realized through service in community with others and in reliance on God’s power.

Finally, our motivation to serve should be that of a servant, as Christ taught us.  And all of these things we should do in the knowledge that they are pleasing to God — the ultimate source of all good things.  Bottom-line:  service is what Christians should be about.

What more can you do?

As we enter the last week of Treasures of the Transformed Life, that becomes the real question.  As you consider your commitment card, ask God what it is that you should be doing to further the work of the Kingdom.  Ask.  Don’t wait to be asked.  Volunteer.  Don’t wait for someone to “twist your arm”.  Persist.  If you don’t get an immediate response, remember that others are juggling their share of plates in the air.  Your service is wanted and will be appreciated, but remember the point is to serve God and others with a “servant’s heart”.

And now . . . ”off the card”.  We talked in class this morning about areas that aren’t specifically listed on the card.  Some of the ideas that we tossed around included:

• After school tutoring
• Outreach to the community surrounding FUMC
• Reaching out as a church and in partnership with others to promote and achieve racial harmony
• Supplementing programs like the Salvation Army’s lunch program by sponsoring a soup kitchen or some similar program
• Doing more to help those in need with groceries, utilities and transportation
• Mentoring programs
• Helping working folks with child and elder care
• And . . . instituting a Parking Attendant Program!

Most of what we discussed points up the fact that the church (that’s us) has a mission that includes service — both to those in the church, and to our neighbors and our community.  Let’s keep this discussion going as we take care of those 262 items that need “checking off” on our commitment cards.

“You know these things — now do them!”

I wonder how many pastors have wanted to shout that verse from the pulpit and then sit back down.  Yet God not only exercises infinite patience in sending us the same simple message over and over again; he gives us countless opportunities to finally hear and get it right.  And to top it off, he takes the weight of all our mistakes and willful disobedience and absolves us!

We’ve talked in class from time to time about what was necessary for God to do this.  After all, couldn’t he have simply “made it so”?  Leaving that discussion for another day, what he did was to show us the way — to demonstrate in the starkest, most irrevocable terms possible, what matters.

There’s no way that any mortal can say to his Redeemer,

“Easy for you to say . . .”

In wiping out the accounting for our sins, God also did away with any excuse we might offer for not taking on the spirit of a servant’s heart.

It is when we realize this — incorporate this truth into our very being — that our motivation for service becomes perfected.  Whatever you are considering as “your bit for the Kingdom”, make this a part of your decision making process:  that Christ was born, lived, taught, served and died for me, to show me the way it’s supposed to be done.  Then you realize that whatever you offer comes from the Source and is given back to the Source.

You know these things — now do them!

It’s a great piece on TEAM SPIRIT, which I am a huge fan of. Few places rival the opportunity where we want those around us to succeed as much as when they are on OUR team. Because, when the team wins, we all win – and – not just those on the team can share in the victory.

Athletic teams know this most of all. When they win, the team wins, the fans win, the supporters win . . . well, you get the picture.

Team mates learn first hand the need to learn to serve others. Not everyone will score a goal, but all those on the team can play a role. And, supporting, or serving, one another enthusiastically, can do much to make everyone successful.

Well, team mates, we have a chance to be on God’s team every day. And, we can actively (and enthusiastically) recruit others to be on our team as well.

This chapter makes me feel, well, just great, to be a part of 2 winning teams – the Mary Virginia Thomas Sunday School Class and Tupelo’s First United Methodist Church!

We help each other, recognizing at times that some of our congregation may have more talent (or skill) in certain areas than we do. Like, asking John and Tom to lead us in our class for instance. (Stop laughing.)

Both of them have a zeal for teaching and strive to “do their best” to offer us a quality lesson. I am happy to suit up in my United Methodist Church uniform and show up for practice and “game day”.

I hope you’re satisfied with the FUMC experience as well, knowing that your support, gifts, and presence (at practice and on game day) are needed and appreciated. Besides, all good team mates know that, with winning teams, it’s not all about themselves anyway. It’s about OUR team, God’s team.

And, hey, if there are times that you’re mad at the Coach, remember this from Chapter 32 – “winning team members fully understand that the coach has their best interests at heart” – so listen up! God is the ULTIMATE COACH.

Hmmm, maybe some of that applies to the Class President too. HA!

Suit up class mates. God needs us to be ready to serve him, our team members, our church and our community. It doesn’t matter what position you play (or even if you’re a starter). What does matter is that you’re an active and enthusiastic member of the team. And we need you! — Brian S.