Last words always seem to be important.

In our relationships, last words are one of those “for better or worse” things. They will always be important. We experience grief at its worst when our last words are cause for regret. On the other hand, the right last words can be a source of rich blessings. When we hear Jesus’ last words to his disciples they are inexpressibly powerful in bringing meaning to life.

The gospel lesson this week includes: “ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:33-35

Jesus spoke these words in the Upper Room just after Judas left to betray him.

Years ago I was a chaplain at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Our household was incredibly busy. Elizabeth was a preschooler and Jan was commuting from Conway to Little Rock working full time at Temple Bnai Israel. I was serving as a full time pastor in Conway and doing clinical training at Children’s which even as part time resident required more than 40 hours per week in the hospital.

The chaplains’ supervisor asked me what I did when I got home exhausted. I replied that I pretty much collapsed in front of the TV. The supervisor suggested that if I was not attentive to my wife and daughter, then I had no claim to valid ministry in the hospital. That really got my attention. You see, if one “talks the talk” one must also “walk the walk.” One’s care for one’s family validates what one does in ministry.

There is no such thing as someone who loves God and neglects to love God’s children. Loving God and loving God’s people cannot be separated. One love validates the other.

Jesus tells the disciples they cannot come where he is going, but they can be faithful to a new commandment that he gives them. Notice that is a new commandment and not a suggestion. As Jesus has loved us we should also love one another. The significance of this new commandment cannot be exaggerated. This is the way they will be known as Jesus’ disciples, “if (emphasis mine) you have love for one another.”

“If.” That we will be known as Jesus’ disciples is up to us. It doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by decision. This love is not just a warm fuzzy. This is love as Jesus has loved his disciples. That love would be Agape. Human beings are not capable of Agape love on our own. Human beings, though, have been designed with a capacity to be filled. If we are willing to allow the indwelling presence of Christ in our hearts, in that capacity to be filled, then the love we express will be more than our own.

Will you join me this week in reaffirming your desire to invite and allow Christ to dwell within your heart, to reaffirm your commitment to follow him as his disciple and trust in him alone for your salvation?

With apologies to the good reverend, then, here is a (very late) history of St. Patrick. Enjoy!

Don’t you just cringe at the commercialization of St. Patrick’s Day? Probably not. Though a reasonable person <wink> might have the same complaint about St. Patrick celebrations as are held about Christmas!

Patrick was born in Britain in the year 387 and even though his grandfather was a priest, Patrick by the age of 16 was still resisting the faith. He was captured by Irish raiders and forced to work as a herdsman for Milchu, an Irish clan chief. Through this hardship Patrick started to recall the lessons of his childhood and faith became vital for his life. He became a deeply spiritual lover of God familiar with mystical experience.

Patrick fled his master after six years being told in a dream that he would return home soon and that his ship was ready for him. Patrick traveled two hundred miles to a port and found the ship waiting just as had been foretold. After some adventures he returned home to Britain.

Prompted by a vision Patrick returned to Ireland at the age of 40. Now being intimately familiar with the Irish clan and social structure he knew that chiefs, once converted, would bring strong influence to bear on their nobles and subjects. In fact, his former master, Milchu was the first chief converted.

Patrick was not the only missionary in Ireland, but he was immensely successful. Though he is the patron Saint of Ireland, he never became a saint with a capital “S” never being canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. There is substantial direct evidence of his ministry as two of his letters have survived. Also Milchu wrote a “Life of Patrick” in which he shared a Druid prophecy concerning Patrick. The Druids, of course, saw Patrick as hostile to their religion and wrote this description of Holy Communion:

Across the sea will come Adze-head crazed in the head,
his cloak with hole for the head, his stick bent in the head.
He will chant impieties from a table in the front of his house;
all his people will answer: “so be it, so be it.”

As for driving the snakes out of Ireland for which Patrick is given credit, it’s not too likely that there were any snakes in Ireland to start out with. For the sake of a really good story, if Patrick didn’t drive the snakes out of Ireland, he should have!

The poem won the honorable mention last year in the Sybil Nash Abrams Award presented by the Poet’s Roundtable of Arkansas. So, congratulations, Don! As for me, I’d like to thank Don for sending this poem my way so it can be shared with those of you who visit this blog.

So, click the “read more” link below and enjoy!

Peaceful Nights in Arkansas

Sometimes at night in Arkansas
One hears a whippoorwill
And feels the presence of the Lord
Who whispers, “Peace be still.”

From Calv’ry’s Hill to Arkansas
The Gospel message spread
About the man named Jesus who
Had risen from the dead.

But more than that, the truth He taught
Had stirred hearts to rejoice.
Because God’s love surrounded them,
And those who heard his voice

Became new creatures filled with hope
And destined to receive
Eternal life through God’s own Son
For those who would believe.

Therefore, as pioneers moved west
The Methodist were sure
To follow them and build the Church
Whereby they might endure.

For hardships of the rough terrain
And perils of frontiers
Were overcome by men of faith
As Christ would calm their fears.

“Be still my soul,”  they told each one,
“The Lord is on thy side.“
Therefore, He’ll always care for you
And be your faithful guide.

The Methodists of Tennessee
Addressed the needs they’d seen
And formed Spring River Circuit in
The year Eighteen Fifteen

Four rivers set the circuit’s bounds
In which the riders go:
Where Spring and White and Little Red
And Strawberry Rivers flow.

The Reverend William Stevenson
Was named the first to ride
That range in Northeast Arkansas
Where he was to provide

Pastoral aid to everyone;
And whosoever came
Would hear the message, “Saved by Grace”
Believing in Christ’s name.

“Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.”
Bill Stevenson went out to set
The sin-sick sinners free.

He rode the rough and rugged trails,
Slept in another’s bed,
And faced the hardships of his day
To go where God had led.

“He leadeth me O blessed thought”
In answering God’s call,
He rode through many storms of life
When he surrendered all.

But sometimes smashing, crashing sounds
Had caused men to restrain
Since both the Methodists and bears
Came breaking through their cane.

Soon Reverend Stevenson found help
As populations grew
For in Flat Creek a church began
As many of them do

By meeting in a private home
Until a site was found
That would be suitable to build
Their church on Holy ground.

The Reverend Eli Lindsey was
The first man to become
Ordained to serve a local church
In Arkansas where some

Received the Holy Spirit and
By Grace born from above.
And though both whites and Blacks were there,
They all had found God’s love.

Then like a mighty army God
Sent marching as to war
The Methodists had taught God’s Word
In places near and far.

And that log church in Washington
Is proving what God’s done
For they’ve been singing praises there
Since Eighteen Twenty-One.

That’s why at night in Arkansas
One hears a whippoorwill
And knows the inner peace he feels
Has come from Cal’vry’s Hill.

Back when I was a student at Hendrix College, I wound up taking a lot of religion classes. Through those I was fortune enough to come in contact with Dr. Francis Christie, a former dean of the college, religion/philosophy professor and all around good guy. He introduced a concept back than that has stuck with me for the past couple of decades. Dr. Christie observed that the Bible can be viewed as a mirror that reflects back on itself. In Genesis, man is unified with God and, at the end of Revelation, man and God are again unified.

The Bible, then, can be viewed as the story of us striving for that unification that we had in the beginning. We lost that togetherness in the Garden of Eden and, since then, have wanted it back. That’s a powerful notion and, in fact, helps define the Jewish concept of hell as merely the complete separation of us from God. If we examine that concept further, then we can easily say that a good deal of the evil in this world is the direct result of that separation. Furthermore, that concept gives rise to the notion that Heaven can, in fact, be established here on earth if that unification takes hold.

And, yes, we pray for that unification just about every Sunday. The Lord’s Prayer, found in Luke 6:9-13 is proof enough of that. When we get to the part in the Lord’s Prayer where we say “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” that’s exactly what we’re asking for – a reunification between God. It is our hope – our prayer – that a relationship with God is established that is so strong that we all benefit.

So, here we are on Easter contemplating the Resurrection and what that means to us as Christians. Jesus is the pivotal figure in our reunification story. A good portion of Jesus’ efforts went to gathering disciples and spreading God’s word in a blatant attempt to sow the seeds for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Jesus spoke of achieving peace, harmony and justice through observance of God’s laws and obedience to His will. He gathered people around him – and gathers them still – in an attempt to spread the Kingdom of God throughout the world. Why? That unification – the observance of God’s laws and obedience to His will – results in a situation in which we are in harmony with God, evil is defeated and we live together in a world where love, harmony, peace and justice are the norm.

That attempt to establish such a unification started with Jesus’ ministry on earth, continued in earnest after the Resurrection and is still pursued today. Without the Resurrection, that process would have been stopped in its tracks. Christ’s influence may well have been limited in that he would have been viewed in some circles as merely a man with some great ideas. The miracle of Resurrection, then, sealed the deal – Christ’s triumph over death stands as absolute proof that he is the Son of God. Furthermore, the miracle of the Resurrection offers hope to us all – those of us who follow Christ will also triumph over death and dwell in our Father’s house forever.

Through our lives and after our deaths, then, reunification with God remains the goal. We can seek that reunification in this life, of course, but are assured of getting that closeness to God that is so important to us as Christians after death.

And that, folks, is very good news.

Dear Friends,

Is it any surprise that Easter is the most important day in the Christian year? Interesting enough the Jewish festival of Passover likewise is the most important day observed by Jews.

We will remember that Passover remembers the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt. Throughout the Old Testament we see over and over the phrase, “the God who led you out Egypt.” Without Passover and the Exodus that followed, the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have been lost, bogged down in slavery in Egypt.

It was in the observance of Passover that Jesus and the disciples came to be in the Upper Room the night Jesus was arrested. In this time, Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion in the supper he shared with the disciples. It likely that the very hour of Jesus death was the hour of the Passover sacrifice in the Temple. That’s a powerful thought, but this is about Easter, right?

Easter is the way God kept God’s own promises to humanity. As Passover freed Israel to be a light to the nations. At Easter, for all time, light and life are brought to the nations and all humanity. If not for Easter, all the things we love about Christmas, the life and teachings of Jesus, all God’s promises that went before would have been lost.

At Easter we celebrate the victory of life over death, once and for all. Of course, it is not just that Jesus was raised from the dead with life forever. We are offered this same life as well. And the Good News is that Eternal Life is not just what happens to us after death. By living in this covenant relationship, following the Lord Jesus as his disciple, we begin eternal life in the here and now! That is awesome good news.

Do you think you are to ornery for God to change your life? There are a few folks who like to think this. Consider though, that the power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that power that brought the Creation into existence out of nothing. Now, do you think your power to be ornery exceeds God’s power to make you into a New Creation? That’s hard to imagine, no?

Blessings to you this Easter. My prayer for you and me is that we will receive this Easter power in our lives in every way.

Shalom y’all.

Brother Dee

In our church we have a number of musicians who arrange their worship selections to complement the scripture lesson for the day. Others have been contemplating the scripture during the week. The most interesting thing this week was the number of persons who mentioned that they were anticipating The Prodigal Son (TPS), but not in a positive way.

Upon reflection, there are a couple of thoughts which might shed some light here. It could be that TPS is just old hat. It’s been repeated so many times it’s been emptied of meaning. The other thing, and I think this is more likely, is that they’ve heard TPS a lot and the preachers have generally fussed at the congregation for their own prodigal unfaithfulness.

That really is too bad since, in my hopes, TPS offers a truck load of Good News. Stay with me now, even if TPS has a bit of “cringe factor” for you. Because, it is my job to share the Good News and if you ever hear a sermon and don’t hear Good News please let me know. I covet your feedback and consider it a compliment that you would offer such to help me. It is my prayer that God will give us ears to hear the Good News this morning.

Now, first I want to ask if anyone here has ever fed pigs? I see, some have. I guess the rest of you are city folk? For those among you who have fed pigs, have you ever looked at the pigs’ food and wished you could get your face down there in the trough to eat with them? Of course you haven’t. This offers a glimpse into the level of absolute poverty and powerlessness to which TPS has fallen. He’s hit bottom. Hitting bottom is what it takes for some folks to come to their senses. There are all manner of ways to hit bottom and our own experience or the experience of those we know may well be a different manner. People hitting bottom may well happen to more folks than you can imagine.

The Good News here is that this thought prompted the young man to “come to his senses.” That is the exact opposite of being “beside himself.” He has come together and is able to reason through his grim situation and see a path to recovery. It’s a modest plan. He will return to his father and apologize. He will ask to be treated as one of the hired servants, not as a son of the father.

Now for the really Good News: do you suppose the son came up this plan on his own? Most certainly he had to make his decision. In the bigger picture we can imagine that long before the son came to his senses it was the father’s prayer to do precisely that and come home. The love that “goes before” is what we call “prevenient grace.” That is the grace that goes before. We believe that before a human being ever consciously knows God’s Grace the Holy Spirit is already at work in our hearts, inviting, nudging, tugging and working gently to prompt one to come home.

We always experience Prevenient Grace after the fact. For example, in the truest sense, we cannot “establish” or initiate a relationship with God. That would be like a child trying to establish a relationship with her parents. The truth is that the child’s parents have chosen to be in relationship with the child for some years before the child ever has any awareness or memory of the relationship. In the same way, God has chosen and loved you before you were born. In truth, we can only “respond” to relationship with God. It is simply not possible that we can initiate the relationship. Hear the good news: We reach out to God only to discover that God has been reaching out to us all along.

This is the lens through which we begin to see the astonishing generosity of God. In the parable, the younger son asks the father for his inheritance. In the father’s extraordinary generosity the request is granted. How many human fathers would do that? I’m sure the number would be small. Indeed most fathers’ concern for the well being of the son or daughter would prevent answering that request. In almost any situation we can imagine, giving a young person their entire inheritance in advance would not be a wise thing. Most anyone would not be able to manage that successfully.

So are we to say that God is generous but unwise? No, not at all. You see, for better or worse, God has given all of humanity this freedom to make decisions. The father does no coerce the son to stay home. Neither does God demand that we stay in relationship with him. We are free to leave anytime. You see, it wouldn’t mean anything to be in relationship to God if we are forced into the relationship. The same is true with those we love. If we were to somehow coerce another into relationship, it would not be love. The relationship would just be a consequence of our power over another.

It is clear to us that the younger son’s first chosen path will lead to disaster. Fortunately he discovers that his true life and inheritance is with the father. We may or may not be surprised to learn that the older brother resents the prodigal’s return and acceptance by the father. It’s just as if he had never left. The father’s astonishing generosity is seen again. He doesn’t even let the son finish his apology speech.

What we see in the father’s pleading for the older son to come inside and join the celebration is more of his generosity. The older son’s resentment is deep and angry. He hasn’t come to understand that his own inheritance is not threatened. In the father’s pleading we hear him say, “I have always been with you” and “all I have is yours.” The older brother has the blessing of all the father has, but sadly doesn’t see that. The older brother’s feeling may even be so close to our own that it makes us uncomfortable.

Do you hear the Good News here? Just as we can see the father’s generosity with both of these sons, God’s generosity is the same with us. The father desires for both of his sons to have everything he has and has always been with them and always will be with them. That is the father’s highest priority.

We don’t know how the story might continue. We hope that both sons would realize that their inheritance is with the father, in relationship with the father. We hope that the younger son discovers that though he is free to leave the father, doesn’t mean he should. We hope he discovers that there is no hope for life outside relationship with the father. We hope the elder son discovers that likewise his inheritance is not his possession but a gift he can only receive in grace. He thinks he has earned his inheritance, but it has always been his. This is not for what he has done, but for who he is as the father’s son.

This is wonderful Good News. Receive this news my friends. You are more valuable to God than you can imagine. In fact, God has paid an extraordinarily high price to give you life. It’s so important to God that you are given the freedom to say yes or no. How will you answer? There is no such thing as a Christian by accident. There are only Christians by decision.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Rev. Robert Wilkins, a Delta blues musician and ordained pastor, was inspired enough by the story of the Prodigal Son to write an outstanding song about the parable. Click here to give it a listen. Enjoy!

“Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength.” ~

Patience is a multipurpose thread sewn into the fabric of our lives. It makes us strong— and yet soft. It holds us together and gives us the ability to cover others.

The weaving of patience is intricate and sometimes difficult. The needle pricks and stings. But in the end we will enjoy the masterpiece it has made of our lives.

Patience with Circumstances

I once had an heirloom fig sprout that came from my grandmother’s tree. I planted it in my yard and babied it until it actually had a few leaves. In a way, it kept my grandmother close.

Our yard was large and Neal bought a riding lawn mower. I don’t know what happens to a man’s psyche when gas fumes and wheels get together, but he mowed that yard like he was in NASSCAR. I heard him fire up the engine and my first thought was, fig tree!

I ran outside and frantically waved my hands but his focus was on that first lap not on me or on my tree. It was gone. Cut off in the sprig of life. Everything screamed its over and I believed it.

But nature is patient and determined. What I didn’t know is that life continued where I couldn’t see, hidden in the darkness of earth. My fig’s roots continued to grow strong and one day, barely visible in the grass were two tiny fig leaves!

My tree survived and grew. Not only was it like having my grandmother close by but it also reminded me that things are not always as they appear.

Patience has to be exercised

I’ve been strength training. It’s hard. I can think of a lot more fun things I’d rather be doing! But after a few weeks lifting weights gets easier, that is until five more pounds are added to the barbell. I grunt, sweat, grit my teeth (hey, we are talking about ten pounds here!) and want to just drop those stupid weights and quit. Sometimes I do, for a little while. But the truth is, I can’t quit. And the end result makes me stronger.

Patience is a lot like that. I’ve been grappling with one circumstance for twenty years. It is one of those “one step forward, two steps back” kind of things. And over the years the waltz has continually danced backward. I want to quit and sometimes I do. But not for long. I can’t.

I cry out, “How long will this take?” The answer? “As long as it takes.” I have a choice. Will I exercise patience and let it make me stronger? Or will I quit? Either way, just like the fig tree, it will eventually work out. The question is what will I become in the process? Will I allow my life to be darkened or deepened?

Patience is an active practice that flies in the face of circumstances. It gives us the upper hand, the victory within our souls. And remember, that is where life resides— not in our circumstances.

See more of Linda’s inspirational writing:

http://www.lindacapple.com

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=274145092655&ref=ts

If you’re in Benton (or not far away), come on by and see us at 514 North Border and join the fun. The revival started on March 7 but continues on March 8-9 at 6:30 p.m. every night.

John Miles, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Jonesboro, is preaching at the Spring Revivial.

We hope to see you there.

Contentment with gratitude is the recipe for peace, and strong relationships. I’m not saying that it is wrong to be ambitious or to seek success, however, if that “reach” into the future is robbing you and those you love of today, of the present, then it becomes a problem.

Erma Bombeck quipped once about the ladies who were concerned about their figures and turned down desert their last night on the Titanic. No one knew, nor did they imagine it possible, that the majority of the passengers aboard would drown that night.

We only have the guarantee of the second we are living in. And when we are gone, those most important to us will only have memories of the time we spent with them. Were you “being” with them in mind as well as in body? Or were you striving for the future? We tell ourselves we are doing it for them, but if death comes knocking at our door, then we have actually robbed them of precious moments with us.

I used to be discontent with my home when my children were small. All my friends were in nice new homes. I’m sure my self-pity and envy hung heavy on my family. However, one day I read about contentment with gratitude and it rang true to me. From that day on my children didn’t hear me sigh or complain. I made it our “nest.” A few years later we did build a new home. In fact, we have built several. But now, when our children and their families all gather in our home some forty years later, the only home they reminisce about is the old house in Sonora.

Are you discontent with your stuff? With your job? With life? I encourage you to make a list of all the things you are discontent with and then beside them write something you should be grateful about. For instance, if “job” is on your discontent side, write beside it, “at least I have one.”

Contentment with gratitude is the best gift you can give your family, friends, and yourself.

Visit Linda Lowe Apple on the Internet by clicking here or on Facebook by clicking here.

Exciting, no? For those keeping score at home, the Parkview United Methodist Church blog is almost two weeks old and we’re adding functionality (how’s that for a buzzword?) and what-not as we go. The Facebook integration is just the latest things, but look for more updates (improvements?) in the future.

More to come…