Cleaning Your Gutters (Friday Devotional)

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.

- Colossians 3:5-8

This past weekend, I did a chore I hadn’t had to worry about since I was a teenager: cleaning the gutters. With my trusty 3-year old assistant at my side, I propped my ladder against all sides of the house to see how much junk had accumulated over the fall and winter. Having never done this as a homeowner, I prepared myself for the worst.

But to my delight, I found that most of them were spotless—our front lawn doesn’t have a tree to shed leaves into the gutters, the pecan tree in the backyard is far enough away from the house to keep them clean, and the side of the house doesn’t have gutters at all. But when I got to the corner of the front yard, I finally found one 5-foot stretch where dirt, leaves, and sticks had built up over the preceding months. So handful by handful, I reached in and removed all the muck that was clogging them up. It wasn’t enough to have most of the gutters clean—one dirty stretch was one stretch too many.

Most believers’ spiritual lives are like those gutters—we could proudly stand before Christ himself and say that we’re guiltless of murder and theft, that adultery and bigotry and blasphemy aren’t things we struggle with. Most of our gutters, we’d say, are spotless. But there’s almost certainly one area of your life where temptation is an ever-present companion, one sin that beckons to you constantly. Like my gutters, one stretch of your life probably needs cleaning.

Scripture reminds us that Christ doesn’t just seek to sanctify most of our life, but all of it—salvation is not something we can compartmentalize or apply only to certain sections of ourselves. In Christ we are an entirely new creation, conformed to the image of God instead of to our passions and desires. So as you reflect upon your walk with Christ, take a look at your gutters—what areas need to be cleaned up?

Say It or Shout It? (Friday Devotional)

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

- Galatians 5:22-25

Once upon a time, Andrew would let us know he was awake with a cry from his crib. Eventually, when he moved into his big boy bed, that was replaced by the sight of him groggily walking out of his room. But ever since we set a strict limit on when he can get up—no earlier than 7:00—there’s been a new way he lets us know he’s awake. He shouts.

“Daddy!”

“Daddy!”

“DADDY!!!”

On my best days, I walk calmly into his room and greet him. But if I’m trying to finish what I’m doing, or I’m on the other side of the house, or I just want his volume button turned down a little bit, sometimes I’ll shout right back: “ANDREW, STOP YELLING! I’LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE!!!” I’ll let you guess which is a better way to start the morning together.

As best I can tell, this is the week the shouting started in this season of pandemic. Protesters took to the streets decrying “tyranny” and demanding an immediate return to normalcy. Social media, filled with hopefulness and humor these last few weeks, returned to its pre-COVID-19 status quo with a flurry of memes, shared articles, and misinformation designed to make you angry. Even in my phone conversations with church members, I could hear a growing frustration where I’d once heard notes of perseverance.

It is a difficult time for everyone—a time of worry, confusion, and loneliness. Some are worried about their finances, others about their kids’ educations, and all about getting sick. It’s tough to know what you’re supposed to say and do right now, what the right reaction is to this strange limbo we’re all living in.

Especially as tempers start to flare and social bonds start to fray, this is a good time to remember that the Bible points us toward a response that looks so different from the world’s that it can only be described as Spirit-led. When you are guided by the Spirit, you opt for peace when your flesh pulls you toward bitterness. When you are guided by the Spirit, you are moved to show generosity when your flesh is consumed by selfishness. When you are guided by the Spirit, you love when your flesh would rather lash out.

The world is full of people trying to get your attention, and just like a toddler, sometimes they’ll do it by shouting. Whether you shout back is up to you.

30 Minutes of Thankfulness

I’m thankful for Lindsey. Always.

I’m thankful that my local coffee shop is still selling coffee beans for curbside pickup.

I’m thankful for my morning 2-mile run around the neighborhood.

I’m thankful for my stack of unread books.

I’m thankful for my parents and my in-laws.

I’m thankful for Facebook Live and Zoom.

I’m thankful that my son will barely remember this pandemic and my daughter won’t remember it at all.

I’m thankful for encouraging e-mails and Facebook comments.

I’m thankful for Netflix and Hulu.

I’m thankful for my paycheck.

I’m thankful I live in a 4-bedroom 3-bathroom house instead of the 2-bedroom 2-bathroom house I lived in at this time last year.

I’m thankful for Cheez-Itz and jelly beans.

I’m thankful for medical professionals.

I’m thankful for family-owned restaurants that are still taking takeout orders.

I’m thankful for my iTunes library of 7,000+ songs.

I’m thankful for my magazine subscriptions to the New Yorker and Texas Monthly.

I’m thankful for my church.

I’m thankful for comic books.

I’m thankful for friends and mentors who are helping me think through ministry in this strange new context.

I’m thankful for family walks around the neighborhood.

I’m thankful for podcasts.

I’m thankful for reporters who get us the news for little money and less respect.

I’m thankful for the time I spend reading picture books with my son before bed every night.

I’m thankful we have a washing machine and dryer in our home.

I’m thankful for more time to think, write, and pray.

I’m thankful for good advice.

I’m thankful for my daughter’s crinkled-nose smile.

I’m thankful for air conditioning.

I’m thankful for lessened expenses the last 2 months.

I’m thankful for a church staff, deacon body, and volunteer base that love the Lord and serve Him gladly.

I’m thankful we don’t have a TV hooked up in the house.

I’m thankful for Family Day every Thursday.

I’m thankful for the hope of resurrection.

COVID-19 Adjustments we need to make

Greeters

·        Doors should be propped open instead of opened by greeters.

·        Greeters should direct entrants to bulletin, but not hand bulletins to them.

·        Greeters essentially should do what Wal-Mart greeters do: give entrants a smile, wave, and greeting, but not come in close contact with entrants.

·        In conjunction with the Sheep Dogs, greeters must make sure social distancing is being maintained in the foyer, hallways, and sanctuary entrance.

Sunday School

·        TBD depending on gathering restrictions

·        Classes will likely need to be combined, with teachers rotating week to week.

·        Instead of meeting in classrooms, classes will meet in our larger gathering spaces (Wall Hall, Davis Hall, sanctuary, and outdoors.)

Sunday morning worship

·        Social distancing must be observed by both the congregation and those onstage. Potentially have pews blocked in such a way that social distancing is enforced.

·        Depending on what limits are in place for gatherings (50 people or less? 100 or less?), we may need to add services, assign people to specific services, and/or ask those who are willing to continue watching the livestream instead of attending in person.

Meeting spaces

·        Classrooms are going to be virtually useless to us for the foreseeable future because of how few people you put in those rooms while maintaining social distancing.

·        For the foreseeable future, our most valuable real estate is the sanctuary, David Hall, Wall Hall, the parking lot, and the outdoor fields.

·        Committee meetings, Bible studies, etc. will need to be held in spaces big enough to accommodate social distancing measures.

Wednesday Night Meal

·        Options:

o   Cancel for summer

o   Continue, but all nights are Fast Food Night.

o   Continue with allowances for social distancing.

Summer activities

·        MDO’s summer session is cancelled.

·        SMAK will be cancelled.

·        Youth camp and preteen camp will presumably be cancelled. If so, we need to figure out some kind of replacement activity we can do for our kids and students.

·        VBS will be reconfigured—instead of one week for all ages of children, various age groups will get “their own” VBS. I.e. one week we’ll have VBS for 1^st-2^nd graders, the next weeks we’ll have VBS for 3^rd-4^th graders, etc.

Increased focus on hygiene/sanitation

·        Cleaning “touch points” (door handles) will be added to the weekly cleaning list.

·        Hand sanitizer needs to be widely accessible and visible.

·        Make masks available? If not, encourage people to bring theirs from home and wear them.

Sheep Dogs (i.e. security team)

·        Added duty should be crowd control, i.e. making sure social distancing is maintained, especially in normally high-traffic areas like the foyer.

Giving

·        We need to continue to encourage online giving and/or mailing their tithe.

·        Passing the plate will be eliminated and replaced by a collection basket/box in the back of the sanctuary.

Music Ministry

·        We won’t be able to have a full choir onstage until further notice.

·        The praise team will need to be pared down so that social distancing is possible onstage.

·        Handbells will either need to be eliminated or make social distancing accommodations.

Children’s Ministry

·        The nursery and preschool ministry will be suspended until further notice.

·        All children’s activities will need to be in line with social distancing guidelines.

Youth Ministry

·        All youth activities will need to be in line with social distancing guidelines.

·        The plan is still to call a new youth minister when the church can gather together and vote to do so (bylaws specifically forbid online voting). Michael C. and I have remained in contact with him the last 6 weeks.

An Open Letter to Students, Teachers, and Administrators

Beloved teachers, administrators, and students,

Well, it’s official. What we all suspected, predicted and dreaded is now state policy: nobody’s going back to their classrooms in the 2019-2020 school year. Lessons will only take place online and learning will only happen long distance. Senior pictures, prom, and graduation are all on hold indefinitely or cancelled outright. In a sense, it’s over.

For those of us on the outside looking in—those who love our public schools but don’t spend every day walking their hallways—we can only imagine your disappointment, frustration, and grief. However necessary for safety’s sake, this is hard news to swallow.

But in your sadness, I hope you’ll take some solace from what all of us outside the school system have seen from you these last few weeks. Because what we have seen from you has inspired us all.

We’ve seen administrators learning new technology on the fly and leading with both humility and grace. We’ve seen principals leading like servants, dropping treats on teachers’ doorsteps and calling students personally to make sure they’re safe. We’ve seen your love for your schools, and we have been moved.

We’ve watched teachers, perennially underappreciated, continue to rise to the latest challenge thrown their way. Whether for dozens of students at a time or a small handful, we’ve seen you instructing your students online with a level of patience that puts the rest of us Zoom novices to shame. We’ve seen you innovate your teaching styles in what felt like a heartbeat, not because you wanted to but because your students needed you to. We’ve seen how much you care about the kids in your charge, and we have been moved.

And we’ve watched students, from kindergartners up through graduating seniors, shrug their shoulders at a pandemic that has adults pulling their hair out; it hasn’t stopped them from learning. We’ve watched you “go to school” online, watched you keep up with your friends on Snapchat and Twitch, watched you roll with every punch thrown your way. We’ve seen how you’ve balanced honesty—about your disappointment and anxiety, your fears and concerns—with hope for what comes next. We’ve seen how much we have to learn from you, and we have been moved.

For those of us outside the school system, it can be easy—too easy—to forget how instrumental our schools are to so many. But I hope you’ll believe me when I tell you that none of us are forgetting you right now. You have shown us too much for that, moved us too much, and yes, taught us too much.

So in this season when everything has been turned on its head, when it feels like none of the old rules apply and normal is a distant memory, let me add to your vertigo by saying something you don’t hear enough from folks outside the school system: thank you. We love you, we appreciate you, and we have been moved by you. Thank you for continuing to learn, and thank you for continuing to teach.

Crying for Company (Friday Devotional)

The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.

- Psalm 145:18

Sometimes Lindsey and I hear her at 2:00 am, sometimes at 2:30. Sometimes she makes it until 3:00 or 3:30. But eventually, inevitably, we hear Katherine talking in her crib and one of us has to climb out of bed and check on her.

The strange thing is that, more often than not, she doesn’t really need anything. Her diaper is dry, she’s not hungry, and she hasn’t rolled over. All that’s happened is she’s woken up for a moment and realized she’s by herself. Her cries are not cries for help so much as for company—all she needs is for one of us to come and sit with her for a few minutes until she goes back to sleep.

Sometimes prayers are a lot like Katherine’s early morning cries—you don’t have a specific request to bring to God, but you need to know He’s with you. You’re not looking for a spiritual handout so much as for your Father to sit next to you and help you rest in Him. Especially in this time of social distancing and self-quarantine, we want God’s presence even more than His provision.

Thankfully, the Bible affirms this desire, reminding us that “the Lord is near to all who call on Him.” When you pray to God in truth, He doesn’t leave you alone in your struggles. The ministry of Jesus, from the cradle to the cross, is proof of God’s incarnational love for us—he doesn’t comfort His children from a distance, but up close and personal. The Father is there for you—all you have to do is cry out.

Responding to the Unexpected (Friday Devotional)

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

- James 1:3

I never expect car trouble. It’s an inevitability of vehicle ownership, sure, but anytime a warning light comes on or the engine won’t start or a tire blows out, it always comes as an unwelcome surprise. Every incident of car trouble begins with the mixture of frustration and self-pity best summed up by the questions, “Why me? Why now?” But eventually, whether after a few seconds or a few minutes, I have to move from moaning about the problem to responding to it. I never see car trouble coming, but when it does, I have no choice but to eventually do something about it.

Similarly, the week of Jesus’s death and resurrection was, for those around him, an exercise in responding to the unexpected. Despite repeated warnings from the Lord, it seems that no one saw the cross coming; everyone was ready for his glory, but none for his suffering. But when the crucifixion came, it demanded a response, and Scripture records three very different kinds from three different groups of people.

The first response comes from the denizens of Jerusalem. Some may have been at the city gates on Sunday to greet Jesus with palm branches; they may have shouted “Hosanna!” and welcomed him as a liberator. But by Friday, they had been persuaded that Jesus was a false prophet, a blasphemer, and, perhaps most egregiously, a disappointment—if Jesus was not going to be the Messiah they’d expected, then their response was to him was rejection.

The second response comes from the twelve disciples, those who knew Jesus best. At the critical moment, theirs was a parade of failures: Judas betrayed Jesus, Peter denied him, none stayed awake to pray for him in the garden, and all fled into the night when the Lord’s enemies came to arrest him. When the crucifixion came, they were not at Golgotha, but in hiding. Their response to the cross was fear.

But from a third group we get a different kind response. An assortment of women from Galilee had been with Jesus nearly as long as the twelve disciples, supporting his work behind the scenes. When the Lord went to the cross, they stayed with him, weeping as he took his dying breaths. When he was buried, they followed him to the tomb to pay their respects. And when Sunday morning came, it was these women who bore witness to the empty tomb and were the first to proclaim that Christ is risen. Whatever their fears or doubts, their response to the cross was faith.

This Holy Week we find ourselves, like the crowd and the disciples and the Galilean women, having to respond to an unexpected reality. There will be no community Easter egg hunts this year, no feasts with extended family, no packed sanctuary on Sunday morning. Instead, a virus has confined us to our homes and turned life upside down. Every day we are confronted with new fears, new frustrations, and new failures. Living through a pandemic is not a reality any of us expected—or wanted—to face.

In the face of this unexpected reality, some will respond like the crowd, angrily rejecting a God who would allow COVID-19 to take so many lives and upend the world. Others will respond like the twelve, paralyzed by fear and uncertainty, unsure who to trust. But my prayer for you this Holy Week is that your response will mimic that of the steadfast women whose devotion to Jesus did not waver even as he suffered and died. I hope that you will remain in the Lord even when your expectations are tested. Some will opt for fear and anger this Easter—may you instead choose faith.

Climbing Uphill (Friday Devotional)

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 8:38-39

Ever since terms like “social distancing,” self-quarantine,” and “shelter in place” became a part of our everyday vocabulary, walks around the block have become a part of my family’s daily routine. Weather permitting, the four of us get out the front door as much as three times a day to enjoy the fresh air and escape the confines of the house.

But I use the term “walk” loosely, because both of the kids make their way around the neighborhood on wheels. Katherine, of course, rides in her stroller. Andrew, on the other hand, likes to get around on his white Little Tikes-style Mercedes Benz (the only Mercedes he’s going to own for a very long time, as we’ve repeatedly warned him.) While Lindsey and I trudge behind with the stroller, he zooms ahead as fast as his legs can push the car.

His favorite part, as you might imagine, are the downhill stretches, where he can lift his feet up and go at top speed. But when you’re making a loop, everything that goes down must eventually go back up, and that’s where things get a little more difficult. By the end of every walk, he’s pleading with us to carry him and his car: “I’m tiiiired. Please carry me!” Our response is always the same—he’ll have to work his way up the hill, but we’ll stay with him the whole way.

Life has a way of functioning like one of those jaunts around our neighborhood. Sometimes you’re zooming downhill without a care in the world; things are free and easy and the last thing you want is anybody to get in your way. But eventually you come to an uphill climb, a time when every day feels like a challenge and you can barely muster the energy to go on.

It’s on those uphill climbs that we tend to cry out to God for deliverance, begging Him to lift us out of our struggles and put us on an easier path. Sometimes, as Scripture shows us, God does just that, miraculously rescuing His people from lions’ dens and flaming furnaces. But more often, the Father’s response in troubled times is not to take away His children’s problems, but promise His presence in the midst of them. God doesn’t guarantee He’ll pick us up when things get difficult—but He does promise to stay with us the whole way.

Especially in this time of physical distancing, there is renewed value in knowing that God never leaves us nor forsakes us. As we long for connection, we are reminded that the Lord is with us even to the end of the age. Separated though we are from the places and pursuits and people we love, nothing separates us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. Life is an uphill battle right now, but take comfort in this: it is not a climb you are undertaking alone.