Tag: church

Posted in Different Scriptures, Different Thoughts

a humbling season

Posted on by Wick

With new “political seasons” starting pretty much weekly at this point, it’s always a good reminder for us to take a deep, slow breath. Unplug from the barrage of posts telling us what we should think about who. Locally, our church has been reminded recently that disciples of Jesus (especially in our political contexts) should be regularly growing in both hope and humility. As Paul left Ephesus in Acts 18:21, he obviously had hope in God using Priscilla & Aquila for the ministry there, but also had humility enough to know it didn’t depend on him staying to sustain the work.

Yes, we want to be those who engage the world with hope. Yes, we want to participate in justice coming, love transforming, and healing wounds both personal and systemic. But we are limited beings. At the end of our abilities, the moments where we have to leave, turn off the lights, or go to bed – we purposefully lay it at the feet of God – who has it all in His hands already. Some of us, without realizing it, believe that we cannot do what we see Paul doing here. News feeds tell us we have to stay plugged in for updates at any moment. Our push notifications draw us constantly out of being physically present with others in order to discover new details about something not in the room with us. We feel like unplugging from all these things might convey that we don’t care enough. We’ve been told to turn away from anything we care about, even for rest, is a betrayal. We feel like – if we don’t make a public statement, or send an email about every topic we care about – the important thing that should happen or be known might not happen or be known.

Here’s an important thing to tell yourself: I am not God. (say that with me)
You know what that means? We can unplug, and probably should often. We don’t have to comment on everything, to show others we know it all. You know what knowing it all is called? “Omniscient.” You know who is omniscient? God. We don’t have to have a presence on all the different apps – you know what that’s called? Omnipresence. You know who is omnipresent? God. You are not God. (say it again if needed) The more we feel like we need to know all things and be in all places, the more we are trying to be God.

Now this doesn’t mean we don’t care. We’re not stoics, who believe all things are predetermined and so we just do the best we can. We’re also not hippies that sing “If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be.” (Sorry not sorry, Bebe.) Just like Paul, we dedicate ourselves to the task. We vote and get involved however we’re able to live out the prayers we offer. We sacrificially offer the resources available to us. We empower and trust others to do their part of the work that is much bigger than us.

Paul does end up coming back to Ephesus, by the way. You know how he gets there? It’s not by a magical tornado labeled “Will of God”. He chooses to travel there, and as we can read (Acts 19), he stays quite a while. Because he actually desires to be there. He leaves Ephesus in Acts 18:21 not saying “whatever happens, happens”. Saying “if God wills it” confesses that even in his deepest desires, he is still a limited being. Saying “if God wills it” does not abdicate our response-ability, but humbly confesses our limited nature. We do what we can, but we daily lay all things in the hands of our God who is working to accomplish His will.

There is peace found in this practice, worth incorporating such “laying things down” into our daily lives. But we may have to stop consuming new things long enough to do so…

ps. If you’re willing, make plans to join us & and entire Free Methodist Church USA as we pursue a month of Prayer and Fasting throughout September 2024. Check out their website to learn more!

Posted in Different Thoughts

important Free Methodist updates…

Posted on by Wick

I’d recently shared these with others, and this seems like a great place to post some updates the Free Methodist Church has made to it’s most recent “Book of Discipline“. These give us important guidance on topics of capital punishment, the criminal justice system, and creation care. A few other updates were made, but I wanted to share these three specifically. (The links for each will direct you to the full text of the resolution, giving the background/Biblical foundations for each.) I’m thankful to be part of a global movement that continues to seek a faithful response as we pursue the arrival/revealing of Jesus’ Kingdom here and now by the power of His Spirit…

“The Free Methodist Church is deeply grieved when any life is taken by murder. We believe that persons who commit these or other horrendous crimes should be justly punished by just laws. Nevertheless, we believe that all human life is sacred, created by God, and therefore we must see all human life as significant and valuable. When governments implement the death penalty (capital punishment), then the life of the convicted person is devalued and all possibility of change in that person’s life ends. In well documented studies innocent people have become condemned and executed, in which cases a sentence meant to bring justice becomes an additional and irreversible form of injustice. For these reasons, the FMC deems the death penalty as currently applied to be inconsistent with our commitments to the sanctity of life.” (Pp. 3222 D)

“A criminal justice system plays an important role in securing peace and order for a society, protecting innocent people from harm, punishing wrongdoers, and delivering some semblance of justice for victims. Such systems, however, do not always perform these tasks justly. While victims of crimes ought to receive special moral attention, victimizers should receive fair treatment, and the opportunity to repent and be rehabilitated.
Although Free Methodists submit to the justice systems of their time and place, we do not unwittingly affirm their understanding of or approach to justice. Such systems should be in a continual process of review and revision toward achieving justice that is equitable and seeks the common good. We especially lament the ways in which such systems incarcerate, target, and treat particular demographics disproportionately. Free Methodists oppose any system that demeans, abuses, depersonalizes, or enslaves human beings, treating them as less than human. We are accordingly committed to justice systems that protect and defend victims of harm without violating the dignity of those punished. God is our Redeemer. It is not the job of the state to redeem those who commit crimes, but the state’s criminal justice system must conscientiously preserve space, time, and humane conditions for the restoration of all to human community. The church, including the Free Methodist Church, plays a central role in this restorative aspect of justice through our chaplains, local church ministries, and similarly focused ministries. Remembering that all people are created in the image of God and for fellowship with God, Free Methodists will actively pursue criminal justice system reforms that recognize and protect the dignity of all persons.” (Pp. 3221 D)

“The Lord God brings salvation to earth through a series of revealed covenants, culminating in the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. The first of these covenants, God’s covenant with the earth (Gen 9), is instituted following humanity’s fall into sin and after the flood. The rainbow is the visible sign of this covenant. God thus has an everlasting covenant with the earth (Gen 9:8-17), as well as His saving covenant with people. As God’s stewards on earth, called to “cultivate and care for it” (Gen. 2:15, NABRE), we affirm that God’s covenant with the earth constitutes our stewardship commission.
Therefore:
A. We affirm the goodness of God’s creation, the value—physical, emotional, social, and spiritual—of engagement with it, and our responsibility to care for it as an integral part of our Christian discipleship and God’s Creation mandate (Gen 2:15).
B. We lament the ways in which humanity has failed to fulfill these responsibilities, polluting our environment, damaging ecosystems, and harming other species. The consequences of such failures are borne the most by the poor and marginalized.
C. We affirm and seek to support effective ministries of creation care such as reducing our consumption, tree-planting and reforestation, sustainable agriculture and energy production, drought prevention and relief, environmentally sustainable transportation, appropriate recycling, and the minimization of waste.
D. We commit ourselves to be faithful stewards of God’s creation, engaging in practices that reflect God’s covenant with the earth and our commission to care for it, especially in our preaching, teaching, and spiritual practices; the sustainable stewardship of our church buildings and properties; global and local missions work and ministry; and civic efforts to care for our environment.
E. We, along with the whole of Creation, groan in anticipation of the time when “the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). We eagerly look forward to the renewal of the whole of creation when God through the work of Jesus Christ finally “reconcile[s] to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by
making peace through His blood, shed on the cross” (Col 1:20).” (Pp. 3232)

Amen. 🙂

Posted in Different Scriptures, Different Thoughts

Ash Wednesday/Lent 2024

Posted on by Wick

(The following “daily devotional” is part of a collaborative effort between several churches in the Wabash Conference of the Free Methodist Church to create a 40-day “Lent” Devotional that highlights traditional Spiritual Disciplines. Download the entire booklet here!)

I still remember the first time I prepared the ashes for “Ash Wednesday” as a pastor in 2010. I’d been in ministry about 7 years, and finally felt confident enough to invite the people I loved to participate in such a moment. I’d heard of “Ash Wednesday”, but it had always been something “those churches” do. Yet the more I studied, and regarded the benefits of such a practice, the more I recognized this was something all followers of Jesus could be blessed by.

So I saved the palm branches from Palm Sunday, and waited as they dried until the following February. I wanted to document the moment, so I set up my camera to record. I had a small metal coffee can and a handheld lighter. I collapsed the
dried palm branches into the can, and slowly lowered the flame into the can. It didn’t take long for the fire to start, and flames easily climbed over the edge of the can. In the video, you can see me looking up. Not looking into the sky, and not in a moment of inspired prayer. I was panicking, because I’d started this moment indoors, completely forgetting I wasn’t lighting candles on cake – I was starting a small bonfire.
I quickly moved my procedure outside where it was safe (and wouldn’t make the church smell like marijuana). It was a humbling moment, and I was reminded of the fragile nature of all things flammable. I was also reminded of my own short-
sightedness, even when my heart is in the right place.

All of this became a great reminder for Ash Wednesday itself. As a practice, it didn’t officially begin until the 11th century or so. But God’s people throughout scripture have associated repentance with ashes. It brings a tangible expression to our
confession of helplessness. We are unable to save ourselves. We are unable to even earn the salvation available. We come to Jesus, fully depending on His Love, His Lordship over death itself, and His Grace. As Lent is a season of preparation to fully
celebrate His resurrection, it makes sense to begin it all by marking ourselves with a reminder: We are dust, and to dust we shall return. Or as some also declare: Repent, and believe the good news of Jesus.

Our world offers us a never-ending buffet of things to be proud of. We digitally curate our daily experiences for others to observe. We collect followers, titles, bank accounts or accomplishments. Yet as Christians, we hear the response of Paul in Philippians 3:8, “More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I
regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

Today we remember prayerfully – all these things (including us) are passing away. Only what is in Jesus remains.

Questions for Reflection:
1. What title or accomplishment are you most tempted to be proud of in an unhealthy way?
2. If you died tonight, what of you would remain tomorrow?


Lord, I turn away from attempting to be my own source. I confess I am nothing, not even living, without you. Bring me Your Life of the New Creation today. In the resurrected Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Click here to read/listen to a “spoken word” I wrote on Ash Wednesday years ago…