and we're back!

To say things have been busy would be an understatement, but the new wife and I have finally returned and are now beginning the process of returning to "normal"/"usual". There is good and bad about this. The bad part is we were having a wonderful honeymoon and really wouldn't have minded a couple of extra days. The good part, though, is that we're returning to meaningful callings, things that are worth all of our lives and effort. 

And one of those callings is this blog. I've appreciated all of the comments left here while we were gone. Please keep them coming! It helps to know who I'm writing to. 


One thing that I wanted to share this week was an amazing experience my wife and I had this past Sunday. Besides all of the really great and fun things we were able to do (mountain biking, horseback riding, sunrise watching, etc), one that really stuck out to both of us was getting to worship with one of the local churches. When I was first scheduling our honeymoon, I made it a point to plan one Sunday away from my home church so that we'd be able to check out a Hawaiian church. Although I love my church and I really don't like missing the one day a week where we all gather together in one place to worship, I also cherish those few times (once or twice a year max when you're a pastor) when God shows me what's happening with the rest of the family, especially one so far away from home. It's one of the best ways to be reminded of just how big and amazing God is. 


The church had three services, so we expected it to be pretty huge. When we showed up at the elementary school that they worshiped in, however, there were about as many people on the praise team as there were in the seats. I was pretty surprised, though also pretty comfortable. United Life is actually about the same when our worship starts. We generally fill in after the first fifteen minutes or so, and this church was no different. By the time the sermon was about to start, the seats were generally occupied. 


What happened next was pretty amazing. The pastor, who was an "intentional interim" (more about this title later), began to speak on stewardship. Generally stewardship sermons are focused on the long term members, and are very specific to the goals of the church. This pastor, however, spoke directly to my wife and I. Although we've both been trying really hard to be faithful to God with our budget and finances, that's just the problem: we've been treating it like our money and our resources when really it's all from God, it all belongs to God, and it's all going back to God. None of this is ours, it's just put into our hands to be responsible over. 


Here's one story that the pastor told: 'A man with a small income had been faithfully tithing his whole life when suddenly he was promoted and began earning a lot more money. The pastor noticed that his giving didn't likewise increase, and so he approached the man and asked him why he wasn't giving ten percent any more. The man replied, "Pastor, when 10% of my income meant so little, it was easy to give. Now that 10% of my income can actually go a long way, it's really, really hard for me to give it up. I hope you understand." The pastor replied, "I see and I do understand. I will pray that God reduces your income back to where it was before."' 

The fact is, whether God has given us six or seven digit incomes, or whether we're making minimum wage, we've got to remember that we are like the servants that the master has given talents to (Matthew 25). These talents were always and will always be the Master's. Likewise, we've got to fight the belief that the money in our bank accounts and retirement funds belongs to us. It is a tool, a resource to be used, not a belonging to define us or bring us peace of mind and soul. 


A final word on the pastor's title: "intentional interim." I've known a lot of interim pastors, and my impression was always that they're called to make sure that a sermon is preached every Sunday, and not to go too much deeper than that. This pastor, however, made it a point to be deeply involved in the life of the church, even though he was there on a temporary basis. I thought that was really awesome, and really faithful to God's calling. Whether we're pastors or not, whether we're somewhere for life, for a few years, or even just a few weeks, God gives us the opportunity to serve Him with our whole beings, and this pastor exemplified that. I pray that we may all do the same.