Busyness is not a sign of success, effectiveness, or importance, yet many live their lives as if it is. Busyness is a sign that our schedules are too full, and we are missing the opportunity to be fully present in the moment, focused on our true priorities. Of course, there are times, maybe even seasons, where circumstances require us to live with heavy agendas, but this is not meant to be a way of life. Even Jesus, a man with a tremendous mission, made time to be alone; to step away from the activity of ministry to be renewed.

When I first entered the process toward ministry, my uncle (who is also a pastor) gave me a profound piece of advice, “Remember, the pastor who is always available, usually isn’t any good when he or she is available.” I remind myself of this often, as many around me judge down time as a sign of ineffectiveness. I’ve seen it in meetings of clergy and lay people, whose calendars are filled with appointments. They pass the same judgement on themselves as they do others, believing that more items in their agenda, and on their “to do” lists, is a sign that they are doing more effective work for God. This approach often leads to little time to soak in the word, enjoy God’s presence, and listen to the voice of the Lord.

I remember being confronted by a person who had something they believed I should add to my schedule. The church I was serving at the time required a lot from me in the mornings, and the evenings were often filled with meetings and classes. This left a little time in the afternoon to get away with my wife, enjoy the company of friends, and spend some quiet time with God. When it became clear that I was not going to add this request to my agenda, her reply was, “Well, if you have time for coffee in the afternoon, you have time to do this for me.”

I could have chosen to allow this to offend me, but actually, it made me sad. Sure, there was little respect shown for the commitments I already had, but her comment represented the way she lived her life. It was no wonder she was stressed, and no wonder many of us are for the same reason.

We can talk about going deeper in our walk with God, pressing into our relationship with Jesus, and soaking in the scripture, but if we do not slow down and make time in our schedules, we will only give lip service to these ideals. Being good stewards of our lives and of our faith development requires us to be attentive to how we allocate our time. Time spent with God is an investment in all that we do in Jesus’ name, and it comes with great reward.

Here is where it can get a little sticky. There are things we need to do, and there are demands on our schedule we should attend to, but drawing the line between those activities and the countless nonessential requests can be difficult. Our view of ourselves, our desire to be needed and respected, and our fear of judgement can keep us from making healthy decisions about our time.

Not long ago, I was sharing with a colleague my struggle with what people expected from me. Between ministry and family, I was finding little time for nourishing my spirit and developing my creativity. Many of the things I wanted to do were being put off, or lost all together. His response was exactly what I needed to hear, “Who sets your schedule?”

We all like to claim the people in our lives are responsible for our busyness, but the truth is, the choice is ours to make. While there may be consequences from not taking on a task or appointment, the decision to include them in our agenda is ours to make. I needed that reminder. Maybe, you do too.

Developing our spiritual life requires an investment of time. If it is a priority, we will make time for the things that will grow our faith and relationship with God. In my own life, there are times when I will cancel my time with God to attend to other matters. I console myself with the knowledge that God understands, but if the appointment was with my Bishop, my Superintendent, or numerous other people, I would never cancel the appointment for those reasons. It is a difficult truth to accept, but I find it too easy to ignore what is most important.

This is why I need to be reminded of how Jesus ordered his life. One specific story always stands out for me. Jesus is on retreat with his disciples when someone finds him to tell him his beloved friend Lazarus is extremely ill. Jesus’ response to this news is to remain on retreat for two more days! When he finally arrives, Martha is quick to remind him that he arrived too late. If only he came sooner, Lazarus would be alive. Of course, the story concludes with Jesus raising him from the dead, but the message of his actions is clear, it was more important to stay apart with God, than to rush back, in spite of the expectations and opinions of others.

Experiencing a deep life of faith will require sacrifices. It will mean that we must prioritize our lives, and live out of those priorities. We will need to slow down and make room for God to have our attention for more than a few moments, or while we are rushing on to our next appointment. These decisions will not be easy, or popular, but they will be right, and as is often the case, the best results will come from doing the hard thing.

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“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” – Matthew 11:28

“Don’t be selfish,” we hear, “being a Christian means putting God and others first.” The call to self-sacrifice seems ever-present in such comments, as we are reminded that Jesus poured out his life for us, and we should do the same for him. Clearly, the Christian life involves sacrifice, but is there no room for us to think of ourselves?

One of the best bits of advice I received as I entered ministry was to remember that, “the pastor who is always available, usually isn’t any good when he, or she, is available.” The life of pastoral ministry is marked by sacrifice. It is a calling that comes with significant demands, but faithfully living out that calling requires caring for yourself, so that you have something of substance to share with the people God calls you to serve.

It is no different for any Christian. All of us are responding to the call of God, and all of us must make good choices about caring for ourselves and our families, as we do. The Bible clearly says that we are to humbly consider the needs of others, and think of others as better than ourselves. This is a call to avoid selfishness and to remain humbles. It is not a demand to neglect our wellbeing, or miss out on the beauty of life.

I once had a church member come to my office to ask me to take on a task that she felt should be my top priority. When I explained that I did not believe God was asking me to do that, and that I would be willing to help equip her to accomplish her passion, she became somewhat indignant and said, “If you have time to get coffee with your friends in the afternoon, you have time to do what I am asking!”

Of course, she was right. I had time to do what she wanted, but did not believe God was asking me to do it, and I did not sense that it was the best choice for our shared ministry. I knew how full my schedule was, and I knew I needed time to decompress over some coffee with friends if I was going to be effective at all of the other things I was doing to pour myself out in service to Jesus.

We all experience this at times. It is easy to hear the words of others, or the words in our head, and believe we should neglect things that matter to us in order to do more for the kingdom. This leads to becoming what the Bible calls, “weary in well-doing.” We are not the Savior, that role belongs to Jesus alone. We cannot do everything, and we must choose what God calls us to do, and be at peace with that.

Thankfully, Jesus himself gives us some very good news. In the second half of John 10:10, Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly!” Notice, Jesus does not say, “I have come so that they can have more to do, be exhausted, and grow weary.” He makes it clear that a core part of his mission was for us to have life, to experience life, to enjoy life. When we walk with Jesus, we are invited to participate in the wonder of what it means to truly live!

A vital part of a healthy Christian life is savoring the beauty of life, and we need to make time to experience it. It is difficult, if not impossible, to experience such life if we over-fill our schedules and wallow in guilt. We must make time to enjoy life. In fact, enjoying life is a form of praise and a statement of our faith in Jesus. We are declaring, along with God in the first chapter of Genesis, that God’s creation is good, and that Jesus gives us life!

So, here is permission to take a walk, take some pictures, listen to music, enjoy a little art, smell the flowers, spend time with friends and family, play in the sand, jump into piles of fall leaves, and a thousand other blessings that come with being alive in the wonder of Jesus! God excels in beauty and life, and liberally shares it with us. Live your life in a way that bears witness to that!

I would love to hear how you celebrate the abundant life Jesus gives. Next Monday, our focus will be on Making Time for Others. As for me, I am going to enjoy another cup of coffee, and then go photograph something beautiful! May you be blessed as well, today!

The post Making Time (Part 2) – Making Time for Yourself appeared first on Thinking Faith Cafe.

“My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways” – Psalm 23:26

It is hard to give your heart to someone you rarely spend time with. Not only is it difficult to a relationship without the investment, but all of the other distractions will seem so much more attractive. It takes time to share your heart, but time is a precious, often scarce, commodity.

Intimacy with God is important, for from that intimacy flows our spiritual authority. The more we come to know the heart of God, the more we can act in union with God’s justice, grace, and compassion. We become better representatives of the kingdom as we become better friends with God.

Since this relationship is so significant, making time to grow, and remain strong, in it should be a priority. Form many, it is, but making time is the challenge. We live over-committed lives that squeeze out our available time and energy. So, when someone says, “You need to make God  a priority in your life,” we think, “I know, but I don’t know how.” Too often, this is where the guilt begins and we feel like we are failing the Christian life.

I know this struggle all too well. I am sure it would seem to many that making time for God  should be easy for a pastor, but like everyone else, my life is full of time-consuming responsibilities and energy-draining commitments. Without some very intentional actions, my time with God can get diminished or lost.

So, here are some things that help me make quality time for God:

1.  Choose a Time That Works for Your Personality – We are often told that our time with God should be the first thing we do each day. While it may be a good idea to have a centering time before you begin the day’s activities, it is more important that our quality time with God come when we are alert and can be the most attentive. I find that mornings are difficult for me, so I typically take some time for prayer and a short Scripture reading to focus my day on God, then later in the evening, when I am more awake, I set aside a larger block of time to be with God. Choose what will be the most effective.
2. Choose a Time You Will Keep – It is most helpful to select a time when we can make a regular commitment. If you are rushing to get somewhere or finish quickly, the deeper value of the time could be lost. It is important to choose a time that will allow you to return every day, without being lost to interruptions, and that is least likely to feel like a duty.
3. Show Up – This my seem obvious, but it is not. We are too easily led by our feelings, which quickly leads to thoughts of, “I don’t feel like making the time today,” and, “I’m not getting anything out of this right now. I think I will go do something else.” We need to overcome those thoughts a be present. Nothing may happen in our time with God on a particular day, even for a season. We want to be present, however, when it does. Treat your time with God like any other significant appointment in your schedule.
4. Make Use of Your Daily Schedule – If you cannot make your appointment with God, make the effort to make time in other parts of the day. You can reschedule your appointment for a different time, You can exchange your typical time for a series of smaller meetings throughout the day. There are numerous options, but be cautious about neglecting the appointment all together. Your habit of making time for God can slip away quickly.
5. Be Intentional and Avoid Guilt – Important things rarely happen by accident. If we wait to give God our time when we have it, we will probably never make the time. On the other hand, be cautious not to become legalistic about your commitment. This can lead to feelings of guilt which will undermine the time you have and make you feel like giving up along the way. God loves you, and looks forward to spending time with you. Making time for God is about planing quality time with someone we love, not fulfilling an obligation.

I pray these suggestions help you along your journey. I would love to hear the things that help you make time for God. Please share them in the comments so we all can learn together.

The post Making Time (Part 1) – Making Time for God appeared first on Thinking Faith Cafe.

Life is full of unexpected blessings which we can savor if we are willing to open our spiritual eyes and be attentive to what is happening within us as well as around us. Even in challenging circumstances, there are windows of beauty and reasons for thanksgiving. Jesus told his disciples that he would be with them always, even to the end of the world. Such knowledge is itself, an unexpected blessing.

These blessings are all around us, but they require attentiveness to see them. Certainly, some blessings are so large, so obvious, that we cannot help but perceive them. The majority, however, do not shout for our attention. They enter our lives unannounced and often pass by with no acknowledgement, leaving us unable to rejoice in thanksgiving for another divine gift.

So, how do we position ourselves to taken more of these blessings? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Slow down – everything around us in our culture, encourages us to live at a frenetic pace that makes it difficult to take in much of anything. Over-full schedules leave little room for anything else. Slowing down, even a little, gives our minds and spirits room to breathe in the goodness of God.

2. Make time to reflect – Along with a slower pace, scheduling time to pause and reflect, allows us to examine our lives for hidden blessings. Making this choice may be a hidden blessing in itself and will certainly give us intentional moments to appreciate things we would otherwise miss.

3. Live in the present – This is my favorite, and I believe the most beneficial. Too often our minds are on thing in our past, or concerns for our future. Our thoughts and attention is focused on another time than the time we are living. This kind of distraction is amazingly stressful and nearly prevents us from seeing the blessings that are happening all around us. The past is just that, past, and the future will be there when we get there, but this moment is where we are and we will never have it again. If we live in the moment we are in, there will be so much more to appreciate, and we will be more free to do just that.

Here’s to the awesome gift of hidden blessings waiting to be discovered. May God grant us the grace to find more and more.

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These words many of us sing around this time each year, are from the hymn, “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.” They are also the words from Matthew 4:28. A clear reference to the agricultural process, they are certainly appropriate when we begin to think of Thanksgiving and the harvest season. As we celebrate the blessings of our lives, we can also give thanks for the process that brought us here.

One of the things that I hear in these words is: “process.” In a culture that seeks immediate results, often with little effort, it is important to remember that the order of creation demonstrates the process required to receive those results. The harvest does not just happen, not even when we wish for it very much. The harvest comes after seeds are lovingly planted, nurtured and watered. The results come after seasons of patient waiting for the crops to mature and faithful protection of those crops against a variety of natural dangers.

What makes this agrarian image such a valuable teaching is how closely it parallels the harvest of faith and righteousness in our lives. Our path toward perfection and holiness is a process. Our journey in faith is a process. Our maturity in all aspects of our lives comes as the result of a process. All that is growing in our lives requires patience, perseverance, and persistence. There is no real shortcut, and we should be thankful for this truth, for much of what really matters on our journey is the journey itself.

Many people love to travel and experience new places, but some of the best travel memories they share involve the travel time itself. Simply “getting there” is not the real goal. It is the experience of getting there, being there and coming home that holds the real value.

Education echoes the same themes. It is important to achieve key steps in the process, and moments like graduation are deeply meaningful and significant. However, much of the real leaning, along with the most valuable lessons, happen outside the classroom, and are not found directly in the curriculum. It is the places we struggle with discipline that make us stronger. It is conversations outside of class that help us to learn more than was expected. The relationships we make along the way can be a source of joy and strength for life. The process is as important, if not more important than the product.

Ultimately, it is our faith journey that can benefit most from our attention to the process. Too often we are so busy trying to “get there,” wherever there happens to be, that we miss what God is doing in and with us on the way. Frequently, when I talk with pastors who are in the process toward ordination, I hear them say things that imply that they cannot wait to be ordained so that they will be able to minister. I understand and remember those feelings, but the truth is, we all have the opportunity to minister every day, not just when we achieve a particular goal. We are all ministers of the Gospel.

Likewise, we would all like to come to the place where we have fully matured in our faith, but honestly, it will not happen, for we will always be maturing. With each new accomplishment, there will be at least one new opportunity calling us forward.

As we celebrate the harvest this year, let’s not lose sight of what it took to bring that harvest to fruition, and while we are sharing thanksgiving for all we have, let’s remember to be thankful for the process that brought us here. Then, when we look toward the future, we can celebrate our goals, but we can also celebrate the process that will take us to them, and then we can enjoy the journey as we go.

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The experience did raise an important question, “How do we make time for study and spiritual growth while living busy, sometimes over-full lives?” There are many tools to help strengthen our study, but if we lack time, how can we put them into practice?

Too often, the responses to this concern are guilt-laden comments about our priorities and commitment; suggesting that if we were only a little more serious and willing to work a little harder, we would not be facing any struggle. The truth is, we can be seriously committed and yet remain challenged in our attempts to achieve what God put on our hearts to do.

Journeying through these past weeks, dreaming of making time for everything, I realized that many things were suffering from my frustration over my inability to fit it all in. Greatest among these were my own peace and the peace of my family. I became aware that I was increasingly defining my life by what I was accomplishing, or not accomplishing. Not only did this increase my frustration, but it is no way to steward the gift of life God gives.

As I sought God in prayer, in the moments I could carve out, the words of John 10:10 kept coming to mind, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” What powerful words from Jesus. He came to give life, not consume it. It was clear that I was sacrificing his gift of being able to fully live to instead, be bound by the trappings of doing things. Instead of celebrating the beauty and wonder of each day, I was buried in my extended list of things to do.

It is true that we all have things that must be done. It is also true that there will be seasons when much will be asked of us and our schedules will be overfull. However, even in these moments, maybe especially in these moments, we must not lose sight of what it means to really live the abundant life of Christ. We may not be able to commit the time we would like to our study, but that is precisely when the study we did in other seasons can bear us up, strengthening and empowering us to find life in our lists of obligations. We will have to make choices, sometimes very difficult ones, about how we use our time, but trading the joy of life for a few tasks completed will never be the right one. Maybe, we simply need to give ourselves a break and trust God.

Wherever you are today, remember you are not alone. God is with you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You have purpose and destiny and more ability than you know. You may not have the time for study and action you originally hoped for, but you have the Holy Spirit who will, as Jesus said, “remind you of all that I [Jesus] said to you and teach you everything,” and who will give you all the power you need.

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It is not that I cannot live without my technology, though I do have a bit of withdrawal when I step away for a while. The real issue is the ability to connect with people I know and love. I am accustomed to hearing the news of their lives on Facebook and Twitter. Interacting with friends and colleagues by email is commonplace, and the ubiquitous cell phone makes instant connection a daily reality. I even have Skype connections with friends in several other countries, allowing me to video chat with them whenever I like.

This is not only my life, it is the way many, if not most of us keep and maintain relationships. We are part of a very connected world and those connections continue to grow. We understand the need for those connections yet, we can all too easily miss the value of real, deep relationships. We can be so busy with all of our activities, that we neglect the most valuable connections in our lives.

Not long ago, I watched two high school students visit the coffee shop I frequent. They purchased their drinks, sat at a nearby table, then pulled out their cell phones and proceeded to text for the next hour. They rarely spoke to each other. They were so busy with their connectedness, they missed the relationship that was literally right in front of them.

It is easy to sacrifice our most significant relationships, with the busyness of life, even the parts that seem to bring us closer together. We can be so involved that we neglect our relationship with good friends, with family, and even with God. Slowly, we step away from being together and before long we moved further than we ever expected, and sometimes, we don’t even know we moved.

The writer of Hebrews remembered the value of staying connected. In the tenth chapter, we find these important words, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (10:25) There is something powerfully important about meeting together, about building real, meaningful relationships. We need God, and we need each other.

We’ve probably all heard the guilt-laden arguments for being in Church and for taking more time with God, as if the litmus test of a healthy spirituality is how busy we are with religious activity. Such thoughts are a real shame, because they hide the deeper reason for making time for these relationships. It is not for duty’s sake that we gather, nor are we trying to avoid guilt. Instead, we make time for God and one another because it is good for us to do so. It is good for our personal wellbeing, it is good for the community of faith, and it is good for the world. When we are properly grounded in the relationships that matter, we can be our best for ourselves and others we meet along the way.

Like so many other choices we make to live healthy lives, taking time to stay spiritually connected is important. I encourage you to prayerfully consider whether or not your choices truly nourish your soul, and in turn, the lives of others. I know I need to do this on a regular basis to be sure that I do not substitute what is good for what is best. Make time for the people and things that really matter, and may we all be blessed as we celebrate our connection with one another.

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I remember when there was no instant messaging, texting, or email. It was a time when a letter could arrive on my desk, sit for a day or two before a read it, be mailed by the end of the week and I was considered prompt. Now, I occasionally get phone calls in the early afternoon wondering why I did not respond to the email sent to me at 11:00 a.m. that morning. People with crises message me on Facebook and are shocked that I am not constantly aware of what is happening there. It is a different world.

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology. We live in an exciting time full of possibilities others could only dream of. My productivity is greatly enhanced by the ease and accessibility of my iPad and computers and I find great pleasure in reading ebooks on my reader. I just recognize that there are times it is good to unplug.

As the effects of a busy Easter season, vacation, and a myriad of work and family obligations made there impact on my life, it became obvious that I needed time, time away from busyness to refresh and offer my best to my family and the ministry. I chose to unplug and seek some renewal. I thank all you, my followers, for your patience during this season. My family and church thank you too. As a result of the time away, I feel more energized in my relationships, my ministry and my writing. I look forward to sharing this experience with you.

As I return to my regular posts, let me encourage you to be attentive to you time and the rhythms of your life as well. don’t be afraid to step away from the computer, turn off the cell phone, or even leave your email in the inbox for a bit while you enjoy time with family, friends and God. Technology blesses our lives, but it does not own them and sometimes an electronic fast can do you good.

The post It’s About Time appeared first on Thinking Faith Cafe.

The real challenge is keeping that focus. Every day, I try to put those three things first in my thoughts and then in my actions, but there are often so many distractions that it is easy to lose focus. The denomination has paperwork it wants. There are meetings to attend, calls to make, and emails to write. Occasionally, there are small fires to put out, and there is the reality that other people think they know your job description better than you do. It the midst of it all, it is hard to attend to what is truly most important.

At one point, early in our ministry, my wife gave me a small cartoon of a man (clearly a pastor) sitting in his chair looking quite frazzled as his wife smiles at him and says, “Always remember dear, Jesus loves you and everyone else has a wonderful plan for your life.” It made me smile, but there was truth in the humor.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do and these are just the challenges that come to cloud the more significant responsibilities of ministry, and more importantly, what happens to me, happens to you too. Every calling from pastor to parent, evangelist to engineer, has it’s core foci and its distractions. Each of us must take responsibility for our calling and see that we do not lose our true focus in the midst of a pile of daily details.

Here are some of the tools I use to keep my focus:

1. Put first things first. Make a plan that schedules time for what is most important. There will always be a litany of urgent requests crying out for your attention, but the loudest voice is not always the one to be listening to.

2. Set times each day to check your course. Just like navagaing a trip, it is important to check your position and the path you are taking.

3. Never stop taking direction from God. It is easy to trust in our own management skills to get us though, but God’s way is not always our way, and while we may “get through” on our own, we may miss the greater blessing God has in store if we follow his path.

4. Learn to say, “no.” All of us want others to like us and we can give in to unnecessary, and sometimes unrealistic, expectations in order to make others happy. It is good to care about other people, but only we can take responsibility for our calling. We must do what we were called to do and that may mean not doing some things others think we should do.

5. Learn from mistakes and practice grace. At the end of the day, if you realize that you lost focus on your way, discover what pulled you away and prayerfully discern how to bolster that part of your life and ministry to protect it from another occurance in the future. Don’t give up or give in to frustration. Accept that you are human, trust in the love of God and look to the Holy Spirit to guide you forward.

My grandfather used to say, “Charlie, what gets your attention, gets you.” Since I want God to have me in his hand, I want to give my attention to God. I trust you do too. That is what makes the effort worthwhile.

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The truth is, everything takes time and sometimes it takes quite a lot of it. All of us receive the same 24 hours and we are charged with the responsibility of choosing how we will spend those precious moments.

This week, I returned from a post-Christmas vacation. Our family enjoyed a relatively quiet week together. We ate, watched movies, played video games, and spent our minutes on building family family and celebrating life. We treasured the time, but it passed very quickly.

I returned from vacation to face the death of a man in our church family. He was a precious saint who loved God, loved his family and loved life. As I prepared for the memorial service, the words, “seize the day,” kept coming to mind. Those three words described his life and the were a witness to the legacy he left to his friends and family.

The Christian musical artist, Carolyn Arends performed a song with those words as its title and focus. In the song she sings:

“Seize the day, seize whatever you can
‘Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand
Seize the day, pray for grace from God’s hand
and nothing will stand in your way, Seize the day.”
Seize the Day Video

As I led the service on Friday, I was reminded of the supreme importance of living the life we are given. So often, we are busy trying to get somewhere else, dreaming of something else and wishing we were someone else that we miss the beauty and blessing of being who God made us to be, doing what we were made to do in the place God created for us to be.

Looking back, our vacation was a blessing, but God met me at a funeral to remind me how precious the time we are given is, and how important it is to live life with passion, seizing the day and savoring every moment.

Today is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice! Be glad in it, and seize the day!

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