Category: Spiritual Director

Bishop Webb, Bishop of the Upper New York Annual Conference for the United Methodist Church, had a powerful question at the beginning of his Thanksgiving Letter to the people known as Methodists. “What would be there if you woke up tomorrow and all that was left were things that you thanked God for?”

Thanksgiving is more than just being thankful for a large meal. I know that many in the Native American culture see Thanksgiving as a day of mourning; I hope you can put that feeling aside and look at the origins of the feast. If you study both sides of the story, after all every story has at least two perspectives, you can get closer to a true understanding of the story. I admit that I am going to pick out positive details here and not give the whole story. The purpose is to get you to think about being thankful regardless of what you believe about the things that happened in the Plymouth area in regards to Thanksgiving.

What I know is that the Native Americans and the Pilgrims co-existed, even to the point of agreeing to protect each other. I dare say that the Pilgrims would not have survived if it were not for the love of Christ that the Native American community extended to the Pilgrims during the first year here in this land. Originally the Native American community was not invited; they heard gun shots, intended to be celebratory, and came to help defend the Pilgrim community from what ever they were fighting, they were honoring the covenant they had made. When they came, they were invited to stay. A three-day feast began. Deer were harvested for the meal and the two communities began the work of forging a deeper relationship.

Scripture informs us that we should go to God with everything and that anything worth doing should begin with prayer. Too often prayer is our last resort not our first line of response. Too often we regress into human nature and only go to God when we need something. Too often we forget to say Thank You. When was the last time you said Thank You to Christ for the gift of life? What about the roof over your head, the clothes on your back, the ‘piece of crap” car that you have that still gets you from point A to point B or the privilege to go and be in the crowd at the supermarket? Did you thank God today for the grumpy neighbor that helps you grow in patience and compassion? Or the man that knocks frequently on the parsonage door because he needs money to rescue his son, daughter, father or friend who has this or such calamity in their life and your “gift” of a tank full of gas or the monetary equivalent would be welcome to help them out? That person helps you discern where God is calling you, your church and your pastor to be at work in your community. How about the non-believer who will celebrate Christmas? Did you thank God for pointing this person out to you so you can introduce them to the God they do not want to recognize?

We need to be more thankful. My hope, my prayer is that we will be reminded by Thanksgiving to be thankful people; that is people full of thanks. People who go to God and consistently thank God for the blessings in our lives, even when blessings come in disguise.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian

Declores!
So, I’m fairly fresh from returning from the bishops retreat that the UNYAC of the UMC. I want to reflect with you upon some of my gleanings from the conference. Mike Slaughter from Ginghamsburg UMC near Tipp City OH was our speaker. The Ginghamsburg church is recognized by many groups for the work they do. He talked about his perspective of caring for us, the theology behind church growth and, the strategy of church growth.
Closer Walk is a movement. That tells me that it has focus, purpose and direction. As the commercial says, an object in motion tends to stay in motion. My life experience teaches me that things that are in motion require energy to get them to stop. In the case of a spiritual movement, lack of energy will cause the movement to stop. When we stop doing the things we should be doing, the things we were taught to do on our walk, our spiritual momentum in a positive direction will stop.
Mike says if he leaves his discipline of spiritual practice for just one day he can feel himself falling away from God. What about you? What is the pulse of your relationship with Jesus? Have you lost your momentum? Are you like me, been a long time since you went to Ultraya? When was the last time you grouped? What have you done to support those you sponsored on a walk? Have you forgotten the commitment you made to assist them in their journey of faith?
One of Mike’s messages was that all leadership begins with self-leadership. We can’t take people to places we have not already been or are not willing to go. As I see it, if we are going to keep the momentum going, we must remember not just what we are trying to do but also how we are going to go about it. Our life of faith begins with devotion to Christ. We have to live out that faith moment by moment through the day and we have to live it out day after day after day. If we don’t practice our devotion we will loose momentum.
The good news is God desires relationship with us. We can find our momentum again. Make an effort today to wrestle with God through a scripture. Make sure you are praying; remember that praying is listening and talking. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason; we should listen twice as much as we talk! Most importantly, walk beside someone. A threefold cord is not easily broken; you, another person and God will strengthen each other and powerfully meet the storms of life.

Blessings,
Pastor Brian

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ! I am Pastor David Pritchard from Living Word Free Methodist Church in Cortland, NY. I made Chrysalis #28 in beautiful downtown Canandaigua back in 1996 (I think?), sat at table #2, Mark’s table, and have been dubbed as a “Beautiful Bountiful Boy.” I have been a pastor for two years, served on a total of 6 Koinonia / Yak’s, and 1 Closer Walk weekend. This is a movement that I very much believe in, and one of my hopes and aspirations is that we can begin to really move out of whatever “walls” we’ve been hampered with in the past and move out further into the world. God is doing a great work with us, and as long as we are faithful to His blessings through Instruction of His Eternal, unwavering, unchanging, unconfined, life in flesh Word He will continue to do so!
As Assistant Spiritual Director I will do what I can to help us continue to focus on God’s Word and remain steadfast, faithful, constant, hopeful, and encouraged. I pray the same for all of you for at times I may face some discouragement. We are a family with God as our Father and Christ our brother, let’s continue to bring others home! I look forward to knowing all of you throughout the years.

Blessings

P Dave