Tag: COVID

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Jesus

Easter: The Hope of an Empty Tomb

I was recently asked by our local newspaper, The Meridian Star, to write a brief article about Jesus’ empty tomb. And as we are entering Spring and approaching Easter, I thought I would share it with you. Here it is:

It is hard to believe that we are now two years into the COVID experience. We’ve been discussing hopes of a “new normal” this entire time, and yet, we continue to find ourselves in a season of uncertainty, looking forward to a more stable future.artwork of a girl losing her balloon

But when we stop to think about it, even without COVID our lives are filled with unknowns and uncertainties every day. Unexpected difficulties, illnesses, tragedies, accidents – each day we hear about another friend, co-worker, neighbor, or family member who encounters unexpected tough news. The loss of jobs, the loss of relationships, the loss of health, the loss of loved ones. In the face of these difficulties, added to our two-year ongoing pandemic, we wonder where we can possibly turn to find the hope that we desperately need?

Where is the hope? This is a question that never seems to go away. Fortunately, we are reminded of the answer to this question every Spring. Every year, new buds emerge on the tips of what looked like dead branches, and brown, empty flowerbeds begin to come alive with new growth and new blooms, and the silence of winter is overtaken by the sights, sounds, and songs of new birds and butterflies and other animals arriving on the scene. By all of these signs, we are reminded through His creation that God has power over death. The message of new life in spring is a message of hope!

And the empty tomb of Jesus is the ultimate message of hope that all these other signs of Spring point us toward.photo of blooming tulips and daffodils - springtime equals hope

Jesus walked on this earth for around thirty years, and His ministry from His baptism to His death lasted about three years. As Jesus approached Jerusalem knowing that He was about to die to pay the price of all the sins of the world, He knew His disciples were going to struggle with His death. He also knew that in the future they would struggle with the suffering they would endure in this life. And so Jesus told His disciples before He went to the cross – “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. But be courageous! Because I have overcome the world.”

Jesus did not promise us a “rosy” life. He did not tell us that if we trust in Him we won’t have any more problems. Instead, He told us that this life will be filled with trials and difficulties. He said that we would suffer in this world. And we know this He spoke truth, because these past two years have definitely been a time of trial and difficulty and suffering for all of us.

But the story of Jesus promises us a magnificent ending – that after He died on the cross promising to pay the penalty for all of our sinful thoughts, words, and actions, Jesus rose from the dead to prove that He is the Savior and Messiah of this world. The disciples came to the tomb on Easter morning, and they were told by an angel – “He is not here. He is risen!”

And so, when we get discouraged and wonder where hope can possibly be found, whether we are asking the question in the midst of this 2-year pandemic, or if we are asking it in the midst of some other crisis in our lives, we can look to the Empty Tomb of Jesus. Remember that God has the power to make all things new. He even raises the dead to life. And Jesus rose from the dead to prove that He is the Promised Savior. Jesus rose from the dead to bring you hope.

Look to the Empty Tomb of Jesus this year and be changed!photo of an empty tomb in Israel

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Categories
Relationships

Our neighbors keep showing us love during the COVID crisis

What a change we have encountered these past few weeks. A loss of gathering together due to COVID-19. And though we can’t gather, our neighbors have continued to show us love and care through this crisis.

The “art of neighboring” seems to be a lost art in so many areas, but in our little community of Newton, some still know how it’s done. I was recently asked to write something about how church members should care for their communities during this time, and as I came up with my ideas, they were all obtained from how my neighbors have cared for Paige and me these past two months.a picket fence and a neighbor's house to think about how to interact with our neighbors

Jesus calls all of His followers to be salt and light to those who live around us. We should take that command seriously. But how can we do this effectively right now in the midst of quarantines and “sheltering in place”?

First, you need to love your community. Pastor John Knox prayed in the 1500s, “Give me Scotland or I die!” I believe that same type of prayer should be the your heart’s cry for your community. God has placed you in your neighborhood “for such a time as this,” and here are some ideas of how our neighbors have been salt and light to us (and how we should now be salt and light to others):

1. Pray for your neighbors.
Even before I found out I had lost my job, we had neighbors who were praying for us. And since learning of my new situation, those prayers have been increased. The most important action you can do for your neighbors is to pray for them – to lift up their names and their needs to the Father. I am so thankful that my neighbors continue telling me how they are praying for us. Of course, for you to pray for your neighbors by name, you will first need to know their names. If you have not yet met your neighbors, then start praying that God will give you an opportunity to meet them! One of our neighbors continues finding ways to meet the people who live around us and she tries to bless them in many different ways. (Thank you, Apryl!)

2. Look for opportunities to interact face-to-face.
I read of one person who made sure to go to her mailbox everyday at the same time as her neighbor, just so she could begin a conversation. That’s a great plan, but one which requires intentionality. Like a neighborhood missionary, look for when your neighbors are outside, and make it a point to go out at that time to strike up a conversation. People are hungry for relationships right now! For example, another one of our neighbors has used this time to build an outdoor seating area where she has invited several of us over to sit and visit while “socially distancing”! (Thank you, Amy!) And when another one of my neighbors recently got a drone stuck in the tree, we all stood around and visited together while some other friends got it down. (Fun times with Zach, Amy, Lewis, and Brian!) And when Paige and I were visiting with a friend outside, several other adults who saw us visiting, walked over to join in the conversation. (It ended up being us, Georgia, Jan, Abby, Carl, Seane [and bulldogs Rudy and Bella!] – as we were watching Ellie, Mabry, and Aimee ride bikes!) We had a great time visiting. And if you don’t know about your neighbor’s relationship with God, then just start simple and work toward gospel conversations, such as asking how you could pray for them.

3. Serve your neighbors.
For example, my across the street neighbor who we love to eat steaks with recently called me one morning. He said, “I am going to the store. Do you need me to pick up anything for you while I’m out?” That was so simple, yet it meant so much during the time of quarantine. (Thank you, Carl!) But why stop serving one another just because we stop “sheltering-in-place”? Call your neighbors to ask if they need anything. And if you don’t have their phone number, then when you intentionally meet them at the mailbox, tell them you’d like to get their number so you can check on them!

4. Show your neighbors that you are “For” them.
Bless your neighbors in unlooked-for ways. For example, if you go purchase some plants for the garden, purchase a few extras, and share them with your neighbors. Or hand-write a brief note of how you appreciate them and how you are praying for them. I had a friend do this for me just the other day after learning of my loss of a job. (Thank you, Gary!) We all still love getting hand-written notes – though this is also a dying art! Or make a little extra when you prepare a meal in order to take some food to them (we have neighbors that do this for us – and it is fantastic! Thank you Carl, Seane, and Amy!). These are all small gestures that have a huge impact.

I agree with Rosaria Butterfield who says, “God never gets the address wrong.” God has placed you at your address to be salt and light to your neighbors. He didn’t get your address wrong. God wants you to meet and minister to the people He has placed around you so that you can impact your neighbors with His light and love. I’m so glad my neighbors have been salt and light to Paige and me!

Let’s get out of the saltshaker!

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Categories
Relationships

The Need for Community in the midst of COVID and the Loss of a Job

Well, it’s been almost a year-and-a-half since I have posted on my website. For the first three years of my site (2014-16), I was faithful to post multiple times each week. Then my postings became less consistent during the next two years. And in 2019 I took a break from posting on this site, as our church began a Bible reading plan together. During that time, I chose to shift from posting here to posting to our Church Bible reading Facebook group. I planned to get back to posting here in January 2020 after we completed our Bible reading, but then I took on a new job with LifeWay in late 2019. I went through training, “hit the road” with the new work in January, and felt I was just about ready to resume posting, as I felt that I had gotten into a routine.
But then COVID hit.
And routine went out the window.

Fast-forward several weeks… into the “shelter-at-home” work routine, as we have all been struggling to figure out. And just about the time I thought I had a handle on it… on April 29th, our LifeWay Church Partner team was told that our department was being eliminated due to the economic downturn. Ummm…. wait, what?

Wow… talk about an announcement that turns your world upside-down! But of course, this just puts me in a situation like many other people. I can certainly now relate to that feeling you get when you are “let go” from a job.one person in an empty parking lot - pointing out our need for community

So I spent the past week-and-a-half getting my resume together, answering phone calls and emails about the loss of the job (and having such amazing support from everyone!), and praying about what God’s next assignment will be for us. And now that I am through with the 2019 Churchwide Bible reading plan, my late 2019 training for LifeWay, my early 2020 new work routine, my recent job loss announcement, and this last week of resume preparation… What should I do with my time? Well, I think it is time to use some time to get back into posting on the website.

So here goes…
Let me start with something I recently shared with my team that I read from Andrew Peterson’s book, Adorning The Dark, about the need for community with others. Peterson is a song-writer, and these excerpts from his book are about his own “loss of a job” when he got the call that his contract was not being renewed by his recording label.

…I got the fated phone call that I was being dropped.

Oh, how I wished Rich Mullins were still alive, just to have someone to talk to. I didn’t want to be worried about money. I wanted to be a barefoot vagabond musician who laughed his way through trouble and sang about Jesus to whomever would listen. But when you have a wife and three babies, you can’t just not think about money. I needed to pay the mortgage. I needed to pay for diapers, formula, shoes, electricity. And at the same time there was this calling, this vocation, which as far as I could tell hadn’t changed.

…in the moment I was devastated. …I can still remember the brick-in-the-gut feeling I had when the call was over, the eerie, foreboding sense that something significant had just happened which would alter the shape of my life. …I hung up the phone, took a deep breath, wiped a tear from my eye, and walked back into the studio. The guys were probably laughing at something and didn’t notice at first that my face was pale.

“I just got dropped from my label,” I told them. They stopped laughing and offered their condolences. Then after a few moments of silence someone said, “So about this guitar part. Do you want it to come in at the top of the chorus?”
And we were off and running.

…there was no time to wallow in self-pity, but I was surrounded by friends, by community, by people who told me implicitly by their involvement in my life and work that this was still worth doing, label or no label. It felt so good to walk back into that basement, roll up my sleeves, and try to craft an album about Jesus.

That’s community. They look you in the eye and remind you who you are in Christ. They reiterate your calling when you forget what it is. They step into the garden and help you weed it, help you to grow something beautiful.

…[We chose to] stay the course and keep writing the kinds of songs we believed in…. And the only way we could see [this] option working was to lock arms with one another in community. …Suddenly, label or no label, radio or no radio, we belonged to something, and that something was each other. We were no longer alone. Perhaps most important, it meant that whenever I was discouraged, I had friends who gave me courage. If I wanted to quit, someone was there to look me in the eye and tell me my songs mattered….

We all need community. I have it with the team members who are on the same journey with me now that our team has been eliminated. I have it with a group of pastors who have been my co-laborers and friends. I have it with a church family that has grown me over the past 10.5 years and has been so supportive of me now that I have lost this recent job. Who do you have community with? (If you don’t feel connected to community like Peterson talks about, I would me encourage you to connect with a local church family who will hold out both love and truth to you at the same time. They are who have provided me the most consistent community throughout my life.)

Paige and I are so very grateful for so many of you who God has placed in our lives to “lock arms” with and travel this journey called life together. Thank you for reminding us who we are in Christ, for giving us courage and support when we are discouraged, and for looking us in the eyes to remind us that our calling from the Lord matters.

Thank you for being a part of my community during this time!
Much love my friends,
Brian