The Power of Words

As Iowa prepares for the first in the nation test on the road to the White House, I am reminded of the power of words.

For several months the candidates have been blanketing our state with a myriad of words to express why they should be president. In fact, the presidency itself along with our whole form of government is a creation of words. I previously won five elections as a small town City Council member. Before I could take office, I had to speak words that made a commitment to uphold and defend two groups of words called the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Iowa. These two documents are a testament to the power of words.

It is my belief that our ability to use words is one of the ways in which people are created in the image of God.

God used words to create and so can we. When the Bible describes how God created the heavens and the earth, it was with the use of words. God spoke and said, “Let there be light” and it became so. (Genesis 1:1-5) We also have thoughts and feelings that can be transformed into words and symbols that allow those thoughts and ideas to become a physical reality.

God used words to connect by defining relationships and so can we. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, a voice from God expressed these words, “this is my son, the beloved. With you I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)  When we call someone a friend or label them as an enemy, we define the relationship as either life giving or destructive. This happens every time we use a word to fill in the blank of this sentence: “I ______ you.”

Stained Glass window in the Chapel at
Genesis Hospital in Davenport

God used the words of prophets to inspire and so can we. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah used words to describe a coming time when predator and prey would lie down together in peace. (Isaiah 65:25) The image of the lion and the lamb has become a timeless icon of a future peace on earth. We can also use our words to inspire people with a vision of peace.

God used the words of Jesus and his followers to encourage and so can we. The risen Jesus gave Peter and the other disciples a mission to carry on his work. He also gave them a vote of confidence by assuring them that could do it. (Acts 1:8) The first letter of Peter encouraged more followers of Jesus to keep going and persevere through times of hardship and suffering. (1 Peter 5:10-12) When we tell someone else that they can do it, it gives them confidence that enables them to do more than they could on their own.

As we head into the Iowa Caucuses and continue in the electoral process, my prayer is that the candidates will use their words to create, connect, inspire and encourage. It is time to end the use of words to demean, damage and dehumanize others.

That’s what I am challenged to do each day as well. The importance of the power of our words cannot be overstated. Here is what Jesus said: I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”  (Matthew 12:36-37)

You are created in the image of God and that means that you can use the power of words to create, connect, inspire and encourage the people around you.

How will you use the power of your words?

Still Hopeful

After months of pain and a recent MRI, the doctor asked me, “What did you do to get such a bad back?” My mind floated briefly back to the times in my life that that were fun but stressful on my body. (Click here for an example.)

He told me that my 60 year old body was young on the outside, but my back was old on the inside. Not the kind of thing you want to hear. I’m now two weeks out from back surgery and under strict orders not to lift anything over 5 pounds. (That’s less than a gallon of milk.) Looking ahead to my future, I will be required to make some lifestyle changes in order to stay healthy.

It's also been a year and a half since I wrote my last blog post at the conclusion of my time as a district superintendent in the United Methodist Church. Since then I have been immersed in serving as a pastor for the Asbury United Methodist Church in Bettendorf, Iowa and loving it.

Asbury, like most churches, is also in the midst of making some lifestyle changes in order to stay healthy. We also know that the United Methodist Church in 2020 will surely experience major changes. The future is uncertain. My last blog as a superintendent was about hope and that is still on my heart today.

I’ve appreciated the Advent sermon series that my colleague in ministry, Rev. Heather Dorr has been preaching during my recovery. She has been using Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol” as a backdrop. You know the story of how Ebeneezer Scrooge encounters the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. It has reminded me of a personal experience.  

Before leaving the hospital after my surgery, I stopped in the chapel for a moment of prayer. In my mind I went back 19 years into the past when I had been in that same chapel. At that time our seven year old daughter had just come out of surgery after a major accident. I remember praying through tears, “Thank you, God,” because she had survived. But with multiple broken bones the future was uncertain. Now looking back, I have the perspective of knowing that she would heal and grow up to be a fine young wife, mother and servant of Jesus.

I was praying about my own future and imagined myself being in that same chapel several years from now. I could see myself looking back and knowing how God had helped me through it all. What gives me hope is being able to see how God was with us in the past, feeling God’s Spirit in the present and trusting in God’s grace for the future.

Yes, we will all have to face challenging times of lifestyle changes. Some by choice, and some by necessity. Our church will have to change to adapt to a new world. We all must change in order to preserve our planet. But while the future may seem uncertain, there is hope because God has come to us in the form of a human baby named Jesus.    

The hope that God offers in Jesus gives us the energy to persevere, face the challenging times and make the lifestyle changes that will bring health and healing to ourselves, our neighborhoods and our world. I was hopeful then, and I’m still hopeful now because of Jesus.

Merry Christmas.

Hopeful Signs from a Departing District Superintendent

For my last post as a superintendent of the United Methodist Church in Northwest Iowa, I want share a story of hope. A while back I went to Sunday worship at the Rock Rapids United Methodist Church. As I was parking my car I noticed an older woman walking on the sidewalk in front of me. Just then a minivan parked next to me and a young woman got out and opened the sliding side door. Out jumped a little girl who was about 5 or 6 years old. She ran to the older woman calling out her name and greeting her with a big hug. I asked the young woman if that was the little girl’s grandmother and she said no, it was just a friend from the church. It was a simple but powerful example of a relationship that has the potential to change a child’s life forever.

It is in relationships such as this one that people can get a taste of the love of God in Jesus Christ. If we can earn people’s trust by showing that we care, then we will have the potential to cast a vision of God’s preferred future and help them get there.

I also recently learned of some hopeful demographic signs. The generation known as the Millennials has become the largest generation in American history, surpassing the Baby Boomers. While Millennials tend to be indifferent to the church, early indicators show that the following generation (born after 2000) is actually more receptive and interested in matters of faith and religion that their predecessors. Called by some as “Generation Z,” we have the potential to connect them with Jesus if we are willing to spend time with them, listen to them and learn their culture so that we can speak to them in a language that they can understand. That is what I saw in the relationship between that little girl and the older woman in Rock Rapids.

I am hopeful for the future because we can do that as a church. We can help each other to see Jesus and become more like him. I am also hopeful because of the people who will carry on after I am gone. Judi Calhoon and Ryan Christenson will continue to serve the churches of northwest Iowa and we have an Operational Team in place that will help to coordinate our collective ministries together. I am especially hopeful because of the relationship and friendship that I have developed with Ron Carlson who is coming to serve as the next District Superintendent for Northwest Iowa. I have found him to be a man of deep faith and a down to earth personality that will get things done in a compassionate way. And most of all, I am hopeful because of the people that I have come to know in the churches of northwest Iowa. Many of them are stepping up into leadership roles including answering a call to pastoral ministry.

A parting gift from
the Northwest District

I look forward to continuing our work together now in a different relationship as colleagues, friends and co-workers for God’s kingdom. There is hope because our relationship with Jesus can bring peace and joy to the relationships with the people around us. The younger generations are not interested in institutional maintenance, but they will come running to authentic relationships that are making a difference in the world. That is what Jesus can offer through us. Relationships are everything. May your relationship with Jesus give you hope and the power to transform the world around you.

Imagine There's No Heaven?

I recently enjoyed watching the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics. It inspires me to see people from the nations of the world come together for a peaceful competition that promotes understanding through a common language of sports.

But one part of the pageantry made me wonder. That was when four Korean singers offered a rendition of John Lennon’s song, “Imagine.” You’ve heard that song and know that it begins with the words, “Imagine there’s no heaven.” While I love the image of people living together in peace, I am very skeptical of the path that the song describes as a way to get there.  

For instance, one line lifts up a vision where people have “…nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too.” I get the part about not giving people a reason to kill other people. I agree that beliefs about an other worldly heaven and hell can be used to manipulate or control people and that does lead to divisions and wars. But that is a result of human nature and not what I think Jesus intended. The Bible is clear that God so loved this world that he sent Jesus to save it. Jesus tried to give us a clear image of heaven so that we could make it a reality in our lives today. He taught his followers to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Any beliefs about what happens to people after they die should give more importance to this life and not less.

A healthier aspect of beliefs about heaven and hell is the truth that there are consequences to our actions. The wages of sin is death. We cannot escape that fact. The wrath of God is simply the truth. By only living in the moment without a view of the bigger picture that a relationship with God can give us, we can make choices for pleasure now that will lead to harm and a lack of life later. Instead of a way to control people, beliefs about heaven and hell can bring about an evaluation of our behaviors that can help to save life. (Our care for the environment is a prime example. There is hell to pay for our actions if we damage our world.) Hell is real when people are living for themselves and tormented by their own self-centeredness and isolation.   

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the best examples of a person who not only imagined a brotherhood of man, but also worked to make it happen. His vision and motivation came from his relationship with God through Jesus. In 1963 he said this: “There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

I’m not interested in religion. I am interested in relationships. I believe that it is my relationship with Jesus that empowers me to love my neighbor as myself and to even to love my enemy. That kind of self sacrificing love doesn’t come to us naturally. We have to receive that love in order to share it. That is the story behind the season of Lent, Good Friday and Easter. Through the life, death, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, God offers us a taste of heaven in a relationship that can bring peace to relationships with the people around us. There will be safety in those relationships because of the truth and love that comes from God and we can offer to others.  

Are there divisions between you and the people around you? What can we do to live together in peace? To follow the example of Jesus I will seek to listen and understand their perspective so that I can earn their trust. When they feel safe with me we can find a way forward together.

By imagining my relationship with God in heaven I can bring a taste of heaven and a life of peace to the relationships in the world where I live. What about you? 

Transformational Relationships

As I enter the final months of my term as a superintendent for the United Methodist Church in northwest Iowa I want to stay focused on relationships as the most important aspect of my work.

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world is the way United Methodists express the mission given to us by Jesus. Transformation is more than just some kind of outer change. A transformation involves a deeper inner evolution into something new. The best illustration from nature is when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.

A transformation of the world begins with the transformation of people. Having a relationship with Jesus means confessing our sins, accepting God’s love, and putting our trust in God. Then we can be transformed from a self centered way of existence to a God centered way of living that seeks to love and care for others. Jesus taught that it is in loving and giving of ourselves for others that we find true life and meaning. It may feel like taking up a cross, but ultimately it will be the way to our greatest joy and fulfillment.  

The ongoing challenge is how to live this out. Every day we are faced with decisions. Even as a follower of Jesus, I am still prone to seek my own will instead of God’s will. I think Jesus understood this struggle. One sentence demonstrates how he overcame it: “not my will but Thine be done.” That is the prayer Jesus offered in the Garden of Gethsemane near the end of his ministry. It also describes the struggle that he faced at the beginning of his ministry when he spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. Because Jesus put his trust in God, he could then overcome the temptation to do things his own way and instead seek to do God’s will.

That’s a goal for our transformation as well. That we can trust in God and seek God’s will above our own. But since we’re not Jesus, we need relationships with other people to help us sort out our will from God’s will. That is the idea behind our district vision of helping each other to see Jesus and become more like him. That’s also the point behind the “Another Set of Eyes” relationship strengthening tool used by our Pastors and Staff Parish Relations Committees. That is why the one most important question that church leaders are asked at their annual charge conference is, “What is God asking of us now?”

What would a transformed world look like? It will be when people care for one another and seek the wellbeing of the whole and not just themselves. It will be when our relationship with God enables us to love our neighbor as ourselves and even to love our enemies. When people feel loved, they can then love others (1 John 4:18). Trusting that we will ultimately be safe with God enables us to set aside our will for God’s will to be done. But we need relationships to make it happen.

Developing those kind of relationships is the most important thing I can do in the time that I have. 

Numbering Our Days

A Bible verse that has spoken to me many times in my life is Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” There are three ways in which I am experiencing this admonition to “number our days.”.

The first is in the start of the new year. We number our years, we number our months and we number our days. This allows us to live with others and coordinate schedules so that we can be at the at the same place at the same time. The passing to a new year also gives us an opportunity to mark the distance that we've travelled and to reflect back on where we've been.

Another way in which we number our days is in the stages of life. We number the years since our birth, we number the grades we are in at school and we number the amount of time we’ve lived in various places. This is my 6^th year as a District Superintendent of the United Methodist Church living in Storm Lake. My term will be completed next June and I will be returning to a local church to serve again as a pastor. Knowing that I have a limited number of days before I complete this assignment helps me to focus on what is most important in the time I have left.

One of the things I've learned as a superintendent is the importance of being clear about our purpose. Jesus gave his followers the mission of making disciples for the transformation of the world. In order to fulfill that mission, I have come to believe that we must first be a disciple, and then we must raise up disciples who can carry on when we are gone. We should be able to name the people who are discipling us and also be able to name the people that we hope will carry on when we are gone. I have said this to my pastor colleagues and it applies to me as well. That is what I will focus on in the time that I have left. This means leaders who can earn trust, cast a vision of God’s preferred future and then disciple others to help them get there. It will look like people who are helping each other to see Jesus and become more like him.

A third way that I am numbering my days is in thinking about my whole life. One of my best friends from high school passed away suddenly in December. Craig Light and I shared a locker and played football next to each other on the offensive line. We remained friends after high school and connected at reunions and over Facebook. On my birthday last year, Craig posted a prayer for me which included the following:

At the 40th anniversary of our
 HS football state championship

“Let him feel confident and ready for the year ahead knowing that You have an order to his steps and a purpose for his life. Help him to find joy in every circumstance in life, knowing that You work all things out for good.” 

Craig’s passing has helped me to reflect on his life as well as my own. He was always offering words of encouragement and gratitude. Now that he is gone, I hope to better follow his example and carry on his legacy of encouragement.

I invite you to join me in the prayer that God would “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” If we remember that our greatest task is to raise up disciples of Jesus Christ who can carry on when we are gone, then we can be focused on that during the time that we have. That is how we can allow God to make the most of the days we will have in the new year, our current assignment and our entire lives. 

Overcoming Evil with God

Like you I was shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific mass murder shooting in Las Vegas. How could there be such evil in the world? What can we do about it?

A short time after the shooting I heard a radio interview with a teenage daughter of one of the victims. The girl described her mother as a caring and wonderful person. She said that her goal in life now is to become the best person she can be so that her mother would be proud of her.

I believe that this is an example of the most faithful response that a person can make to acts of evil. It can be described in two words:

Use it.

Sometimes in life there is necessary pain that we must experience in order to get to a better place. For example, physical exercise can be painful but it is actually beneficial and can make a person healthier and stronger. The Bible tells the story of the Israelites traveling in the wilderness for forty years. It was a painful experience but necessary in order to get to the promised land. I believe this describes the pain being experienced in the United Methodist Church as the Commission on a Way Forward is working to discern a future for the church. It is painful but necessary in order to get to a better place. And we will get to a better place.

There are also times when people experience unnecessary pain that serves no purpose whatsoever and only brings harm and destruction. The shooter in Las Vegas is an example of this kind of unnecessary pain. Other examples include the recent earthquakes in Mexico and hurricanes in the Caribbean along with other illnesses and accidents.

While unnecessary, the truth is we all must live with such pain at times. It happens.

Jesus’ death on the cross is an example of an evil and unnecessary pain from a human perspective. Jesus’ crucifixion happened on a day that Christians call, “Good Friday.” But there was nothing good about an innocent man being brutally tortured and murdered by his fellow man. However, that is where God stepped in. The resurrection of Jesus is our hope. While humans intended Jesus’ death for evil and self serving purposes, God was able to use it for good. The cross became the ultimate symbol of how much God loves and forgives humanity and wants to take us to a better place. The resurrection is our hope for God being with us and using pain to bring about something good.

This hope and power begins in each individual heart with a relationship with the living God. Jesus is our connection to God and a relationship of both truth and love that can be the pattern of our relationships with other people. To help each other see Jesus and become more like him is our vision.

When evil strikes, we can look for Jesus and know God can use it for good. Then we will join with Jesus in God’s plan to save the world one life at time. We can’t do it on our own, but with Jesus, we can overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).