Wednesday

A couple of thoughts for today. The first is preparing for the transition between Springfield and Ainsworth. I have been not only trying to continue to bring order out of chaos but also to prepare for my first services. I will be focusing on New beginnings which comes from scripture readings in Isaiah 48:18-25 and Romans 12:1-8. The prophet speaks of God doing a new thing for the people of Israel. That transitions and change can effect large numbers of people. What makes a difference is how we respond to the changes. Paul speaks to the changes that occur within ourselves and ways that effects the body of Christ. I will be writing more on that in the future.

Also from Scott Serving Strong I wanted to share what he had to say.PowerMail (by Serving Strong)
A minute just for you because you help others
Issue #192


Self Sufficient


We admire it.
We teach it to our children.
We write books about how to obtain it.
It makes us marketable.
It produces good credit.
It feeds our self esteem

What is it? Self Sufficiency

Self sufficiency is only half good. We all need sufficiency. But its the self part that's the problem. Self is not always able to deliver. The moment we try to become self sufficient is the moment we climb the throne and knock out Christ as central command of our existence. We may think we can take on the world and its problems. But in the end we will be disappointed. Being in ministry only adds to the problem. Working with people is messy. Dealing in the eternal good and evil requires a kind of sufficiency that is impossible to manufacture on our own.

Lasting strength comes from a posture of brokenness and dependency on our Creator. That's because lasting sufficiency is a gift from outside of us, not a strength within us. So I challenge you with two assignments this week:

FIRST: Take 5 minutes to examine the level of self sufficiency you have allowed to permeate your life and ministry. Recommit yourself back to Christ as your sole source of sufficiency

SECOND: Read this blog post for more insight, which includes some scripture: "Stop Right Now"


If you wish to receive his weekly emails here is the address:Scott Couchenour (coach@servingstrong.ccsend.com) on behalf of Scott Couchenour (coach@progressmax.com)

Monday

As we continue to make order out of chaos, I am reminded about how important it is to be able to organize one's life. We continue to have a relatively few boxes yet to unpack and yet it was only yesterday that we found our silverware. One thing that this can do is make one creative in how we are able to handle things ie. like eating oatmeal out of mixing bowls with plastic spoons.

My office is now my priority. We have the bedrooms set up, our living room mostly together, our family room with many paths, kitchen and bathrooms done. I am also working to prepare for my sermon this Sunday. I did find out that the radio station KBRB streams the service on air and on the computer starting at 11.

As I prepare and finish up the last few boxes, I have contemplated the scripture from Isaiah regarding doing a new thing. For truly this is a new time, with a new church, that happens on July 4th a time that we celebrate the birth of a new nation. This is also the 50th year from the first time an USA flag was flown over Philadelphia with 50 stars. A series of new times and places we remember. The important part of this is that we do not become complacent and not continue to see the new possibilities that God provides for us. So celebrate the remembrances but also prepare for the new the springs forth before us.

new start

Just wanted to let people know that Nancy and I are safely in Ainsworth. Tuesday night we ran into a severe storm with winds over 60 mph, rain, hail, lightening. Had to pull over and the car was a rocking. Saw a tree limb fly over our car. No damage thank God. Since then the weather has been warm but no further storms as of yet.

The boxes are slowly but surely being unloaded. Sort like Christmas as each one seems to have a surprize. People have been welcoming, several gifts of certificates to eat out, flowers, and just stopping in to say hello. Just got the internet set up and running. This weekend is alumni weekend and each year has a float in a parade. Tonight is a car show and the Eagles hamburger flies. Sunday evening a meal at the park, Christian music, and fireworks. July 6-8 is the Mid Of Nowhere carnival with a variety of activities. Later this month is a cowboy celebration. Arts in the Park is in August. So if you don't have anything to do come on up. If we haven't completed unloading boxes we might put you to work.

Nancy and I want to thank all of the people who were so helpful with our packing and the variety of gifts as we left. We hope to see you again.

Take care
Pastor Eldon

Tuesday morning

I had time to think about what I was going to preach about and decided to look at what I did 3 years ago. Can you believe that I preached on the same scriptures and used some of the same call to worship and prayers. Needless to say I revamped what I was thinking. I still wanted to preach on Wisdom and particularly focusing on leadership. I have been preaching on what it means to be church and spent time Sunday talking about Pentecost and how that can inform us about what church might mean for us. I thought Wisdom would be a great follow up to that. So instead of Proverbs 8, I am going to use scripture from the Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-25.

If you are wondering where in the Bible is the Wisdom of Solomon, you will have to have either a bible with the Apocrypha or a Roman Catholic bible. The book was not written by Solomon and appears to have been written close to the time that Jesus was born in the 1st century BCE. There is a great deal of Greek influence in the writing that differs from most of the Hebrew Testament. If you have the time, the entire book is interesting as is Sirach another book in the Apocrypha that speaks of Wisdom.

I have been reading Walter Bruegemann's newest book about Journey to the Common Good. He presents Solomon not as a person who truly desired Wisdom for the common good but rather desired wealth and power by exploiting workers to build the temple. Often conscripting forced labor much like the Pharaoh did to the Israelites in Egypt. So to speak of Wisdom and Leadership King Solomon would not be the example that we would want to follow.

Monday

Here it is Monday once again and the cycle of life continues. I start each Monday with reading scripture and a prayer as I begin to process what next Sunday will bring and what the rest of the week looks like. I currently am in the between times. I will be moving at the end of June to Ainsworth which is about 205 miles from Omaha in the North Central part of Nebraska not far from the South Dakota border. As a result I am living in the chaos of boxes. Nancy and I are trying to sort through all of the things that we have accumulated. We have decided to try to eliminate, share, or sell what we have not used or even looked at in the last 4-6 years. We have taken a number of boxes of books to the half price book store to sell. The problem is that I have a hard time going to a book store and leaving empty handed. The good thing is that even if I purchase a book, I still leave with fewer than what I came in with.

This Sunday as I prepare for the worship service, there a number of ways that I could reflect on. The first is that this Sunday is Memorial weekend. There is a time that we need to remember those who gave of their lives for our freedom. It is also a time that we need to remember the One who gave his life for our life eternal. It is also Trinity Sunday and Peace with Justice Sunday.

The scripture is Proverbs 8, Psalm 8, Romans 5:1-5, and John 16:12-15. During seminary I did a video of a sermon on Proverbs 8 and I found that passage to be insightful for me. Though I will not preach the same sermon today, I am going to preach from Proverbs 8. The lection is Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31. I am going to use the entire chapter. I would suggest that readers look it up and particularly from The Message.

The question is how are we to live wisely? To what do we depend on? I sometimes think I focus on similar topics so often but it is amazing that Scripture continues in its entirety to point to a way of living our lives in a way that is simpler and less anxious. We seem to go out of our way to make it more difficult. So how would you answer the question. let me know.

Tuesday morning

Every week I get an email from Scott called serving strong. It is aimed at those who work with others. I have not commented on his newsletter for awhile but this week's struck me especially as I am busy packing and trying to work on the bulletin and sermon and visits and and and. So read it and see if it might help in your life to develop these four habits.

Four Habits

Many of you are new to the Serving Strong PowerMail service. And those of you who have been subscribers for a while may also benefit from this week's issue.

If you hang around Serving Strong very long, you will hear about the "Four Habits". These are habits adopted by people who desire to be effective and to finish strong in their chosen "people-focused" field.

I will briefly describe the four habits in this issue and go into more depth throughout future issues. Here we go.

SPIN. You spin plates in your life. Plates include marriage, finances, spiritual life, parenting, relationships, personal order, etc. It's easy to get so focused on one plate, the others suffer. It's also easy to commit to too many plates at once. Good spin = maintaining appropriate plates with appropriate attention.

SWING. You were born into a world full of rhythm. The sun rises. The sun sets. You wake up. You go to sleep. Everywhere you look, rhythm is a part of your world. Similarly, you are more effective when you go in rhythm from rest to work, like on a pendulum swing, back and forth. Good swing = going full out in your work AND taking time to go full in for rest..

ALIGN. God created you like no other person. When you honor your uniqueness in your life and work you spend the right amount of energy. This leaves you exhausted in a good way. However, when you are working outside your uniqueness you spend more energy than necessary, leaving you fatigued in a bad way. Good alignment = spending 80 percent of your waking hours engaged in what honors your passion, personality, and proficiency (skills).

CENTER. This is the most pivotal habit of the four. It is the habit that puts the other three in perspective. It gives wisdom in selecting which plates to spin, when to swing, and when to stay with (or step outside) our alignment. Centering is the act of submission to God and His mysterious will. We do not have all the answers. So, good centering = a perpetual posture of brokenness and dependency on God.

How is your Spin? Your Swing? Your Align? And your Center? This week, evaluate your life based on the bold statements above.

Monday musings

Here I am once again at my blog. Nancy and I were just interviewed by a reporter from the Papillion Times to be included in the Springfield News. As we were talking, it did give me a time to reflect on our church and some of the activities that have happened since we arrived. And not just the church but also the work at the library and in the community. There has been some great times and activities and people that we will miss as we begin our new journey in Ainsworth. It is a time of mixed feelings. The sadness of moving and leaving behind family and friends. There is also the anticipation of new challenges and work that God has set before us.

I am reminded of the vows that I took as an Elder in the church. I agreed to be willing to itinerate. So that means that I agree to go where the bishop sends me. Every time that I have moved I have found that God's ministry is present. Last Sunday I preached about trusting and having faith in Christ. It is in that we have our salvation. I humorously suggested that talk shows like Oprah or Dr. Phil will not provide the path of salvation. But neither does membership in a church, status as an elder, or any other position in the local church or general church. It is through what Jesus has done that salvation comes about. And that is extended to all of God's creation whether believed or not.

This Sunday is Pentecost. 50 days following the Passover. Often this is celebrated as the birth of the church. Actually it is the coming of the Holy Spirit that directs the disciples to leave their upper room and to go out into the world as Jesus commissioned them to do. So as we celebrate the coming of the Spirit, I would pray that we would remember that church is more than a building but is a people who have a task to do.