Baptism

We had an inspiring and emotional baptism service yesterday.  More than ten people were baptized in the Sunday service.  This was truly moving, a time more impacting than I would have expected.  It was a great way to follow the Easter service of two weeks ago.  The baptisms revealed the sincere beliefs of these people; it represented a commitment and acceptance of the mercy and grace offered by Jesus Christ. 

I extend these thoughts not because I want to enter into a discussion about the meaning and history of baptism.  Obviously, the act is important--foundational--since there was a John the Baptist who baptized Jesus before his public ministry.  The effect for me yesterday regarded the individual's willingness to be immersed publicly, emerging soaked and chilled, and desiring to move ahead spiritually with God.  It is, simply, obedience.  And it is trust.  There was a singular focus on doing what God directed them to do.

Each person has a unique story.  There was a range in ages and life experiences.  The commonality was the arrival at a point of acknowledgment.  It is a public act.  It is mostly done among those who love and support them, yet it is such an individual moment.  I really enjoyed seeing these baptisms, but I was mostly caught by the power of God in this unique symbolic act.   

Fellowship and Accountability

Last night I had a meeting with some guys I have gotten to know quite well over the last couple years.  We had worked through an in-depth study about an aspect of Christian living for about 18-20 months.  This required a commitment and honesty for this process to really impact my life.  Recently, our study ended and our regular meetings ceased.  It had been a few months, and we made a plan to get together and chat.  After that time, I realized how much the fellowship time encouraged me and strengthened me.

I had missed this fellowship time, but I had especially missed the discussion and the spiritual fine tuning.  A few weeks ago, there was a men's meeting at church.  The meeting was informal with the agenda being open discussion and prayer.  Once again, I really enjoyed being around these other people who had a desire to fellowship, grow spiritually, and share a little of life with each other.  One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 27:17.  "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."  This applies to men and women, although interactions will vary according to personality, the matter at hand, emotions, seriousness (and honesty), and motive.  In other words, there has to be a purpose for improvement.

The bottom line is that focused fellowship and accountability definitely help lead to encouragement and progress in areas of weakness in our lives.  The question I revisited last evening was this:  How serious am I about this matter?  This can apply to a myriad of things.  Yet even the mere act of being in the presence of people who are positive, encouraging, and caring is helpful.  When a focused intention is added and deliberate attention is given to the matters of the heart, such fellowship is an environment for breakthrough or advancement.

Birthday Reflections -- An Occasion for Worship

As I am always blessed by birthday greetings and some gifts on my birthday, I am grateful for great family and friends.  As I age, though, my birthday is not the occasion for excitement it once was. This year, I thought of my birthday in a different way.  I have been given an existence, and I am fortunate enough to have a life of much abundance.  I was so glad and thankful for having the opportunity to be an influence, to try to glorify God, and to behold all He has done.

I realize I am more fortunate than so many people, and I hope I do not take that for granted.  I should be appreciative of who I am, since God had something important in mind allowing me to be.  Rather than this being a time of selfishly getting "mileage" out of it, a birthday can be a time of being thankful for oneself.  Each life has the potential to be a brilliant reflection of Christ. Further, each birthday is a marked occasion to praise God for the opportunity we have to know God and be in His presence.

Keeping Focus at Christmas

Each year, at my favorite time of year, I think of trying to really honor the reason for this time of celebration.  I see and know that busyness, materialism, and the desirable obligation of visiting with family can obstruct my simple meditation and focus about Christmas.  Now as the holiday season wanes, I ponder how I honored God and His expression of love through Christ.  I guess I did about what I usually do, and I am not happy about that.

We fret about how much money we are spending, and this discomfort and struggle epitomizes a mistake some of us have made with this occasion.  Then, busyness enhanced by various obligatory gatherings leaves us wanting for that careful, personal contemplation of this wonderful celebration.  I really get sad thinking about it.  I love the great hope of Christmas.  It is the great great truth and meaning in my life.  Finally, my celebration is a mix of traditional, secular ideas about Christmas and a sincere honoring of the birth and life of Jesus.  Personally, I find this a bit disappointing.

While I do not think I have dishonored God, I see it as representative of my casualness at times about my faith.  I have too often allowed the importance of this Christmas season to be diminished to the level of other human expressions of the holiday.  Despite these concerns, God's grace and compassion are as great as ever.  His mercy abounds.  The love and peace of the season still transcends all distractions.  This precious and powerful truth makes me long for (already) the wonderful anticipation of Christmas that begins to grow soon after Thanksgiving.

May God bless you in this new year, and I hope the truth and Spirit of Christmas abides with and captures your heart throughout the year!  God is good and His grace is amazing.

Conflict in the Church

Conflict in the local church.  It happens.  I was reminded of this today.  I am employed by a local church, working in a Christian school.  I work in a very effective school, a ministry of a very successful, influential church.  I work with great people, and that includes dedicated, professional teachers and caring pastors who value children's ministry.  It is in this setting that conflict and controversy can very readily arise.  How could it be?

Well, simply put, there are two problems.  Imperfect people and Satan.  God's work is vehemently opposed in the spiritual realm.  In his ministry, Jesus cast out demons from people.  Those agents of Satan did not just disappear.  Just look at some of the terrible news stories each week.  Meanwhile, well-intentioned people fail, and people get hurt from others' imperfections.  Hey, that is just truth.  We have all been wounded, and we have all done the wounding.

I once was fired from my job at a church.  I can honestly say my position was eliminated or, at least, reduced.  However, the way I was dismissed was hurtful to me.  I was told, "The Lord told me to give you 30 days."  This is not the usual explanation for one's loss of a job.  Now I knew the Lord was with me and working in the situation.  God spoke to me during this time to assure me things would work out.  I forgave my pastor (Whether he was wrong or not, I needed to do that.) and trust I do not have a grudge.  I realize there may have been some small things I did or did not do to contribute to the breakdown.  This experience, though, really hurt, and it hindered me from being very involved in ministry for some time.  I did not want to open myself up to the possibility of this hurt and disappointment.  And this is part of the enemy's strategy. 

John 10:10 is very clear.  There is opposition to the church, and Satan is the accuser who wants to thwart all God is doing.  Yet our own shortcomings also can be the trigger or the impetus to cause strife or division.  Also, we just aren't good at following Matthew 18:15; most people hope and pray their problems with other people will somehow go away without a personal confrontation.  This is unlikely.  We must be willing to see our flaws, and we need to have amazing grace for the imperfections of others.  We are subject to disappointment by anyone in our lives.  How we handle these delicate situations will be evident in the fruit of our ministry and in our testimony.  With God's grace, may there be a positive result.

Divisions in the church do not happen by accident.  There are problems even in the best ministries.  This is not by chance.  Conflicts result from the volatile combination of evil and human imperfection.  The sinister intent is to reduce or diminish our effectiveness as Christians.  When we recognize this, we can see things a bit differently.  We then can have a desire to pray, reconcile, and move on toward growth and maturity as believers.  Life is hard and it does get messy.  But God knows about it all, and He was aware these trials would arrive.  I think of Proverbs 14:4.  I like this poignant verse.  I hate my imperfections and selfish tendencies, but I love that God has given me the abilities and opportunities to serve Him.  I pray I may do it well and better, and I hope God will correct me even when it hurts.  Song of Solomon 2:15 mentions the "little foxes."  As God knows all the details of our lives and the intricacies of our hearts, he also will give us the wisdom and strength to deal with the "little foxes" in our lives.

Alaska Reflections - Part Two

I hadn't laughed so much in a long time.  Sure, maybe I have laughed harder a few times, but this team was good for consistent fun.  Really, we had a great team in Alaska.  Many of us had known each other for several years, but there were a few people I did not know well.  These people really added a lot of skill and hard work to the team.  The benefits of teamwork and being "pre-prayered" really showed on this trip.  We accomplished a lot.  Max had to get another load of drywall, and we installed all of it.

Meanwhile, our free day was Tuesday.  A few went fishing and returned with a modest catch of approximately 100 pounds of fish, including several halibut.  After processed, they flew home about 50 pounds of fish.  Fortunately for the rest of us, a gentleman in the church named Todd, followed through on a pledge to send a box of salmon back with us to share.  I have since had some of that salmon, and it is awesome.  The rest of us went on a half-day cruise into Resurrection Bay with Kenai Fjords Tours, one of the national park vendors for Kenai Fjords National Park.  We could not have asked for a better day. 

According to the captain, we were very fortunate.  We saw a humpback whale, several orcas ("killer whales"), sea lions, a relaxing sea otter in the middle of the bay, bald eagles, and many birds, including puffins.  To add to that, we had an amazing lunch at Fox Island.  This was a very good tour, and if the weather is decent, I highly recommend it.  We all were tired after the fun day, and we wondered how productive we would be on Wednesday.  Nonetheless, our progress continued at a great pace.

We met great people in the community, and our friends at Seward City Church were amazing hosts and a joy to be around and serve.  Also, Rod really served us and made our visit seem like a visit with a friend--which I realize really is the case.  Look at other projects and the ministry of North of Hope on Facebook.  Our last day was Friday, June 14, and several of us went and worked as long as we could to finish up the drywall and make a little bit more progress.  The whole team really worked together well to accomplish much.  Spiritually, I know we felt like we are connected to Seward City Church.  We are excited about the future of the church. 

Through Rod's stories and other stories, we learned life is not easy in Alaska.  We enjoyed the beauty of the place and terrific weather.  We did not see the harsh winter and its effects.  We did not experience darkness around the clock and people struggling to get by.  My hope and prayer is that Seward City Church will flourish more and be a place of encouragement and strengthening for that community.  I was glad and thankful to have the opportunity to do some of the physical work that will lead to greater spiritual fruit before long. 

Note:  I also will add an entry on my educational blog mrbartley.wordpress.com to detail Kenai Fjords National Park.

Alaska Reflections - Part One

As we flew in toward Anchorage, I could begin to see the snow-covered mountains and glaciers.  I was excited and looking forward to the end of a long plane ride.  Soon, we all would reunite after a long travel day which split our group, sending four of us through Phoenix.  Our layover there had been long enough to leave the airport, feel the 110 degree heat, and see a little bit of Scottsdale.  Now, we were on a ride from Anchorage to Seward.  It was 2:00 a.m. local time, and it was not dark.  By the time we all lay down to sleep, it was after 4:00 a.m.  The next day, we started work late but did hang our first sheets of drywall.

We had a good day Saturday.  Sunday, we had a great service at the Seward City Church, held at the Seward Middle School, the site of our accommodations for the week, as well.  It was great to see the people of this congregation.  We met many of them.  Several of them provided lunches for us throughout the week.  The food we had was plentiful and delicious.  Our host and leader of North of Hope, Rod Koop, prepared some fine meals including a halibut dish I will remember for some time.  Anyway, back to the mission.  We did some work on Sunday afternoon.  Monday, it seemed to take a while to get into a groove, but we continually made good progress.  Tuesday would be our fun day with no work, and it would represent a midpoint of our effort in Seward.

Seward is located in a beautiful spot on the Kenai Peninsula.  At the beginning of Resurrection Bay, Seward is referred to as a gateway to Alaska.  Some mornings, a cruise ship was docked there, and hundreds if not thousands of tourists would wander around town.  We spent time in downtown Seward a few times, being wandering tourists ourselves and looking for the right souvenir.  We learned about Alaskans coming into town to camp on the weekend to fish.  Salmon runs peak in late spring and/or early summer, and many people depend upon this natural resource to make it through the long winter.  Overall, we really enjoyed Seward and met some great people.  We were blessed with amazing weather; it was great enough the locals were talking about it.  It was sunny and warm most of the time.  To me, this could be a metaphor for God's blessing upon our team and our work.