Absence Does Make the Heart Grow Fonder

It's been awhile since Jenn has left home on her own. August 2001, Jennifer went on a weekend trip to be with her mom in NYC. It's been 15 years since Jenn went away by herself. Much has changed.

We are now a family of 5 strong. We go in many different directions daily and there are many moving parts. I am grateful for the Calendar on my iPhone! It keeps us all in check!

Jennifer left on Thursday morning at 3 a.m. to go to the airport and will be back late tonight. Since she has been gone, I've had to get everyone to school, I've had meetings, pastoral visits, softball practice, four softball games, dance rehearsal, kayaking Fresh Expression with over 30 people, planned a cookout for it, sermon, worship services, three graduations, laundry, caring for the five pets, and oh, yes, making sure everyone had food! To say I've missed her is an understatement!

I am so glad Jenn used up her rewards miles before they expired. She got to spend some quality time with family. Our family in PA is so precious to us and we miss them more than words can explain, but we are so grateful for the blessings of good health and happiness here in Florida.

Jennifer, I can't wait to see you tonight. Your family misses you babe. Love you so much. Safe travels home. I couldn't imagine life without you.

Tommy and Logan being themselves with Aunt Jenn 

My precious nieces Katie and McKenzie, we sure miss you! 

My dear Mother-in-Law Cheryl and Brother in Law, Eric 

Mom and Sister Jenny. Sure miss you all. 

Aunt Jenn with the kids on Sunday in PA

Silly Face time! I love this! This is what we do when we FaceTime each other! 

My bride is getting ready to come home. :)

New Set of Shoes Soon

I'm going to need a new set of shoes if I keep this pace up. Today, the rubber on my soles made contact with quite a bit of concrete.

Mondays I work from County Road 210 in St. Johns County. Since today was Monday, I began my day shortly after 9 a.m. (This week, I am focusing on Stonehurst Plantation, just off CR 210. It's a beautiful development, with a large number of homes.)

I began my day in my dress shoes, my golf pants and a golf shirt. I thought this would be appropriate attire to go door to door. About 15 minutes into my walk, I noticed that my feet were already getting sore. I continued on my way, talking to residents and putting postcards in the doors of those I did not speak to. My feet were aching.

By the time I got back to where I was parked (Thanks Andrea and Rich for the parking spot!) my feet felt quite tender. I drove home and got a much more comfortable pair of shoes. Had some lunch and came back out to go door to door. It was a great afternoon of walking door to door. I met some new people and invited them to the Easter Egg Hunt this weekend at their amenity center. One little girl was so excited to hear, that she began to tell her daddy all her favorite candies in the Easter egg.

I made it back to my van after almost six hours of walking. Just as I came upon my van I reached in my pocket to get my van key and it was gone! There was no way I was going to go back and trace my steps! I just put in 20,000+ steps! Thankfully Jennifer was off today and she came by and dropped off another key.

Faith Sharing on CR 210 or faith sharing anywhere involves wearing our shoes out so we can engage people where they are at. The older I am becoming in the Post-Christendom culture opens my eyes to the need now more than ever to meet people where they are at and share the love of Christ with my community.

Just a month ago, I sat at the bar and met a really nice guy by the name of Robert. (See previous post) He shared his story with me and I shared mine. We have emailed back and forth and this man now is worshipping with his wife at her church and I was inspired by Robert's story of cutting carbs out of his diet. Since then I have shed 25 pounds just by cutting carbs and being inspired by Robert.

Faith sharing is incarnational, which means that we can hide behind a screen or sit at the church and wait for someone to show up. It does not work that way anymore. Faith sharing is in the flesh. Faith sharing involves meeting people and it involves the process of developing relationships.

I am reminded of this as I read the story of Jesus encountering the Samaritan woman at the well. She had been married 5 times and was living with another man. Jesus encounters her at the well and begins a conversation with her. (Jews and Samaritans didn't associate with each other). This woman sees Jesus for who He truly is and proclaims to all in the town that day that Jesus is the Lord.

This would not have happened if Jesus would have followed cultural norms for the day (of not speaking to people "not like us.") However, Jesus met this woman where she was at, her life was transformed and she lived a life of hope and new meaning!

Wouldn't it be great if we could practice this type of living? It can and does bring life change to self and others! I write this to say that although I walked 11 miles today and feel exhausted from walking 5 of those miles in dress shoes (I don't recommend doing long walking in dress shoes), I wouldn't change it for anything. I'm having a great time meeting new people at the "well" and listening to their stories and bringing the hope of Christ to their lives.

This is where transformation begins...meeting people where they are at in life with the incarnational love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I now know. Wear comfortable shoes.

A United Methodist Pastor Walks Up To The Bar...

No really...I did. There's a story behind it!

It was a long day, I had gone 9 hours without eating, on my way home from the funeral home across town and I asked Jenn on my way home if there was dinner at home. There was not (Alayna had a softball game and the family was there).

I was craving Chinese take out the whole way home until I got to the light on CR 210 where the Chinese Take Out restaurant is. All of a sudden I thought, "No, I don't want Chinese, it's too much food and I will be sick if I eat it all."

I passed the Chinese restaurant and drove past McDonalds (didn't want that either) and came across a local Mexican restaurant. I got out of my car, and thought, "Oh, I will just order at the hostess station and then go sit back in the car until my dinner is ready."

I get to the hostess station and said, "I would like to order take out." The hostess replied, "You can order takeout at the bar and wait there." I said, "Ok, thanks." As I am walking up to the bar, I thought, "Oh great, the pastor is sitting at the bar and as people come in that may know me, they may think something is really wrong with me, that I'm depressed, I'm a loner, that I just want to be left alone."

I sit down anyway. Open seat. Great. No one on either side of me. All of a sudden, I feel a tap. It's a man I don't know. He says, "Don't think I'm getting all snuggly with you. This is my stuff. (Pointing to his keys and drink) I replied, "Oh, I'm sorry sir, I'm just ordering take-out. He then told me what the specials were.

I order my food (take-out of course :)) and a sweet tea.

He begins telling me about the bartender and how she wants to travel the world and that he had traveled to many places too. I thought this guy was pretty interesting. He told me he had gone to law school worked for a university up north. I then asked him what he did and he told me that he was in the healthcare business. He explained alittle bit of what he did and then he came around to asking me the QUESTION...

"WHAT DO YOU DO?"

What's a United Methodist Pastor to say at the bar? Lol! I was honest and said, "I'm a pastor." His eyes got as big as saucers and said, "Here I am telling you about the specials!" We laughed. The next words out of his mouth were this, "I think that tonight is meant to be."

We began to talk faith and life. He has an interesting life, a great story! He asked me where I was a pastor. I said, "Mandarin United Methodist Church." His eyes got big again! He told me his child plays basketball for Upward and he is on our campus each weekend. The next words out of his mouth were, "I am coming Sunday. This is great!"

He asked for my card and I just ran out of cards so I told him to hold on and I ran out to the car to get a card. I brought it in and he was so appreciative. I was grateful too. Why? Because, I was led to not eat Chinese, pass McDonalds and stop at the Mexican Restaurant. I was grateful because the hostess told me to go to the bar to order. I was grateful because I sat down at the bar and had a sweet tea and decided to wait there. I was grateful because I got to meet Robert.

God's grace is at work. As Methodists, Prevenient Grace is a hallmark of our United Methodist faith. This grace of God comes into our life when we are least expectant of it. This grace moves us and convicts us. I am thankful the sanctifying grace of our Lord Jesus that continues to move us forward in holiness. I was tired, I was hungry. I didn't want to meet and greet. God had other plans for me to get me out of my cocoon.

This Sunday I am preaching on Luke 9:28-36, The Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus doesn't want us stuck on the mountain taking in His glory only for our own edification, Jesus wants us to get out off the mountain and share that glory for others to see.

I truly believe God desires for Longleaf @ 210 to come to fruition, because God continues to put people into my life daily along this stretch of road that want to talk faith. I love it!

I am glad I stopped by and was told by the hostess to go sit at the bar. I met a new friend. Hope to see you this Sunday or another Sunday,  Robert, if not, that's ok, at least God brought us together to have a good chat on faith.

Meeting Others Where They Are At

Yesterday was a long day coming. After nearly a year of studying our area's demographics, planning and praying, acting and implementing, the day finally arrived.

This was an opportunity for the Strategic Initiative: CR 210 to breathe life into its existence. We hosted our first Community Invitational Event for Longleaf @ 210, A Branch of Mandarin United Methodist Church.

We arrived at 2:00 p.m. and unloaded our materials for the days events. Volunteers began to arrive to work their areas, the food trucks were arriving and music checks were being done. The weather was perfect, approximately 70 degrees and overcast with no wind.

At 3:15, all of our volunteers gathered for a time of prayer and we hoped for people to arrive! Arrive they did! We had people from the church as well as people from the community come, children were playing, youth were hanging out, people were singing, and community was being strengthened.

Our ministry booths were all set with information on our new Fresh Expressions. I was working the "Kayaking With Jeff" booth, Nick and Mary were working the "Sports and Faith" Booth, Pastor Will was working the "Brewery Booth" and my mother-in-law, Cheryl was at the T-Shirt table. Kathy was doing her incredible work with face painting with great help from Renee, Bill was leading the musicians, Andrea was welcoming people, John and Gerri were thanking people for attending, Chad was playing games with our older children and Jennifer was leading the little ones in games! It was so exciting!

We met many young families over the two hours at the Johns Creek Amenity Center. These families shared with us their desire to see more ministry opportunities along CR 210 as it just seems too far to drive to Mandarin multiple times each week. We had some share with us that they are so excited to come to church on Sunday to check us out. I had a discussions with a mother who wanted to know more about what it means to be "Methodist."

I felt like a pioneer in a new land yesterday as we journeyed out of the walls of the church into a new frontier! It's great to be in a place where everything is SO new! There is an excitement here and a movement of God's Holy Spirit in this place. It is my prayer that we can continue to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in ways that will continue to bring people into a deeper relationship with Christ and each other.

Looking forward to what God will continue to do!

Longleaf @ 210

Calvin Reed, a prominent resident in the 1800's, named the land we worship on Mandarin. It was named after the Mandarin Orange. In its earliest beginnings, the little village of Mandarin had no churches, and then shortly after its beginning in 1874, Methodism began to spread in the Mandarin area. We are the recipients of faith sharing that occurred 142 years ago! 

Interestingly, 142 years later, we see new life beginning in a new area called County Road 210 and faith sharing with United Methodist roots is beginning to branch out among a new group of people.

Throughout the last year, after studying MissionInsite demographic information, leadership at Mandarin UMC identified County Road 210 as an area of exponential growth. Over the next decade, estimates of 42,000 homes will be built in Northern St. Johns County, making it the third fastest growing counties in The United States.

Part of our call as followers of Jesus Christ here at Mandarin is to share our faith in new ways. Longleaf @ 210 is a movement of the Holy Spirit by the people of Mandarin UMC to share our faith in Jesus Christ in new and exciting ways. Longleaf @ 210 is a branch of Mandarin United Methodist Church. A "branch" identifies this ministry as an extension of our church, or a link to the ministries of this church. "Branch" does not mean an actual physical structure, but instead ministries that are extensions of our church family to the greater community. A plan was introduced to Church Council in November 2015 laying out ministry in the next three years along the County Road 210 Corridor.

Our hope in 2016 is to begin 10-15 Discipleship Groups and 5 Fresh Expressions. A Discipleship Group is very similar to a small group at church where people will meet in homes, restaurants, amenity centers to study God's Word in different ways. A Fresh Expression is a form of church in our ever-changing culture. Fresh Expressions go to where the people are at. 

For example, there are many kayaking advertisements related to kayaking in St. Johns County. God laid it on my heart to begin a Fresh Expression of Kayaking for the CR 210 community. On January 9, 2016, we launched our first Kayaking Fresh Expression. This journey included both people from church as well as people who do not go to what we think of as church. On the kayak trip, there was prayer, there was Scripture reading, there was a brief message and their was discussion, and thus, a new community of faith developed. 

Fresh Expressions are a way to reach people in new ways. Kayaking Trip Video (Click to watch)

This along with other fresh expressions being offered in the CR 210 area will be on display THIS Sunday, January 31, at Johns Creek Amenity Center II from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

We invite you to come out this Sunday, January 31. The address to Johns Creek Amenity Center is 251 Huffner Hill Circle, St. Augustine, FL 32092.  We invite you to be part of our first community invitational event and be sure to invite your neighbors and friends to join you!

We invite you to join us in prayer as God leads us in new ways of sharing our faith along the County Road 210 area in the coming years.

I Spent the Night At Starbucks

The day was going great! Woke up at 4:15 a.m. to run in the Florida Conference 5K for Imagine No Malaria!

I had lunch with some new colleagues. This afternoon, I had the opportunity to share the plenary stage as we presented for Imagine No Malaria. I was so looking forward to this evening at Conference to hear Rev. Adam Hamilton preach and to listen to Bethune Cookman Concert Chorale. It was going to be great! I left early to get a good seat and then...

Because I was so tired from getting up at 4:15, I needed a good cup of high-test caffeine coffee! So I headed to Starbucks to go through the drive through and get my cup of joe. As I was getting ready to pull into Starbucks, I hit a hole and instantly my tire blew. It instantly flattened.

I barely got off the street and pulled to the side, however, I was slightly blocking some traffic, making it an inconvenience for others to pull in. The stares came! They thought I was just trying to claim that spot as my own.

Finally I pulled into a spot in the Starbucks parking lot in downtown Daytona Beach. I got out my jack,  and lowered the spare tire. I got out my wrench to take off the lug nuts. It wasn't budging. Meanwhile...I am in my suit still! This woman stood there for a second and said, do you need help? I said, "No, I'll be fine." She replied, "At least drink some water, you will dehydrate! I'm going inside Starbucks to get you a cup of cold water." She came out and got me a cup that tasted SO good!

I then called tow assistance and she disappeared. Once the agent told me it would be an hour before assistance would arrive, I went inside to get my coffee since I wasn't going to Annual Conference now to hear Adam Hamilton or the Concert Chorale.

This woman was sitting there with her son. She invited me to sit with them and I did. We shared a cup of coffee and began to talk. Mary Ann and her son Nate are new to Florida. They lived in New York City and she was a high school science teacher that got laid off a few years ago. She was still trying to find work, but finds it difficult as she has seizures on a regular basis for an accident years ago. She had such a passion for teaching as she told me story after story of her classrooms.

I asked about her family. She only has the son, Nate, who is 17 and will be a Senior. She lost her mom to cancer two years ago. She began to cry and we talked through her grief and the loneliness and somewhat hopelessness she is going through now.

An hour and some minutes passed conversing with this woman I just met, who came to my aid when I needed a cup of cold water to drink after paining myself to get the tire off. It was so nice to spend this time at Starbucks; it was random, not on the "Schedule," and it was a God moment, because God saw fit for me to be able to minister to Mary Ann and for Mary Ann to minister to me.

I wish I had more of these random Starbucks moments in everyday life, an opportunity to bless and be blessed. Mary Ann, I pray that you find hope in the near future. Thanks for the cup of water, it initiated much more that just a kind gesture to me, I am grateful. Amen.

Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Stuck in the Garage

I am on a “stay-cation” this week as I write this. It has been such a busy spring and with busyness, comes projects that are put on the “back-burner.” Yesterday, I laid river rock down and landscaped, today I am installing a ceiling fan and my messy job today is cleaning out the garage. 

I took a break to come in and write this letter. We have been here in Florida for two years now. Unfortunately for us, we no longer have a basement and an attic. (They were so nice to store things!) Every item we don’t use on a regular basis goes into the garage. In two years time, we have accumulated so much “stuff!” Old softball bats, helmets, and other things the kids have outgrown have just sat around collecting dust. 

When it comes time for spring cleaning each year, I am always amazed at the stuff we don’t use and do not need anymore. It often becomes just a relic of the past.

I am so thankful our faith in Christ Jesus is not a relic or something we store in the garage only to use it when needed. Our faith is living, active, breathing, constant and growing. Our faith is to be deepened, shaped, and formed daily. Our faith is not meant to be stagnant, but vibrant and active! 

This summer, I encourage you to not put your faith in the “garage,” but to keep it out - active and alive so that you will continue to grow and at the same time, let others experience it too!

Matthew 6:19-21  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Well, back to cleaning out the garage!