It's the Little Things...

Mother Teresa has often been quoted for saying that God doesn't desire us to do great things, but to do little things with great love. How true this is. For the third year in a row I have held my annual Chicago Street Milton Food Pantry Drive and have again met great success with it. Let me preface this all by saying - I am not writing this article to say hey! look at me and what I'm doing! But rather I want to show that the little things we do can make a significant change in someone's life. It's the little things we do with great love that are important.

Each year the day after Thanksgiving I go around our block (the Chicago Street Block) and place a letter attached to a grocery bag (I get bags donated directly from Piggly Wiggly) at each home. Now, each year I've expanded the houses I include to neighboring streets, so technically I'm going beyond the Chicago Street block, but nevertheless...

The letter invites the household to fill the bag with non-perishable items, canned foods, toiletries... all which will be donated and delivered to our Milton Food Pantry. I try to be as unobtrusive and un-impossing as possible. So, I drop the letter and bag off in the evening by placing it on the household door step. In the letter I indicate my pickup date and time (usually a week later and between 8:00am-9:00am). The family can place the products on the doorsteps and never see me. Thus, I try to respect their privacy and not impose upon the people by having them answer the door or "have to" talk to me.

This year I've collected 21 bags of food items, canned goods, toiletries, and some treats for our Food Pantry. Over the course of three years I believe we collected around 60-80 bags of items. After each drive I deliver a handwritten thank you note to the home for their generosity.

In these difficult economic times and especially over the holidays, every little bit we can do helps a family in need. Perhaps this posting might spark your own idea of where you can do a little bit of something with a great deal of love.

God bless you all and may you be kept safe during this Holy Day season.

Peace out,

Patrick

Christmas Ghosts...

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am doing a series utilizing the framework of a classic story, the Christmas Carol, to undergird the scriptural message of Advent. Dickens', A Christmas Carol, helps to put into perspective how our lives are shaped by "Christmas Past" to "Christmas Present" and for the "Christmas Future".

This evening I was completing a funeral sermon for tomorrow. The service is for a lady I met last year when I did her son's funeral. Her son was 47 and born with Downs Syndrome. Both mother and son thoroughly enjoyed Christmas and I wonder how the challenges of raising a son with Down's helped shape her? She had 12 children altogether and their coming home for the holiday's was a high point in her daily life. She loved having everyone together - children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, spouses... So - some of my sermon for her funeral is centered around Christmas and the true meaning of Christmas.

Gathering family together at Christmas (or anytime really) is important, but not everyone can do that. What about family that serves in the military and is across seas, or lives out of state and can't travel, or .... Presents at Christmas time is a wonderful way to show one another we love each other. Yet, many families I know are living on the edge of poverty because of our economy. Not everyone can afford Christmas gifts. Wonderfully cooked ham or turkey meals with all the fixings - great, but again not everyone can do this (for a variety of reasons).

So... when it gets right down to it the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus Christ. Christ is the one we should celebrate at Christmas time. All the rest - a trimmed out tree, multi-hued gifts wrapped under the tree, a table ladened with good fixin's, even family members gathered together are wonderful and should be celebrated - but is icing on the cake, and not the cake itself. [hmmmm ... sacrilegious to compare Jesus to cake? My seminary professor's might say so]

What we need to celebrate is Christ. We can do so through reading the Christmas story - the birth of Christ - in scripture together. We can sing some of the hymns telling of the coming of Christ and the promise fulfilled through his birth. We can attend worship service together. We can even offer to help at worship service on Christmas eve. There are many ways to celebrate the birth of Christ. Let us remember the real reason we gather December 24-25th. Jesus Christ and the salvation offered through his birth, life, ministry and mission, death and resurrection. But... it begins with his birth! Let's celebrate!

peace out friends,
Patrick

Advent Begins!

Advent season is already upon us and quite likely sooner than we expected! It kind of snuck up on us. Our first Sunday of Advent is November 28th. Advent is the time of expectation, anticipation, and coming - which means we anticipate, expect and celebrate the coming of the birth of Jesus Christ.

This Advent I want to look at three seasons or times which should receive our attention.

The first season is the prophetic promise from the Old Testament that a king from the household of David would come and reign over Israel forever. During the Babylonian exile of the Jews, the promise of a coming king was especially important. The Jews, in their oppression as slaves, hoped their time of exile would end and Judah would be restored. Many were looking for a saviour or messiah - the “consolation of Israel” to save them from exile. Advent is a time in which we remember the prophetic promises and longing of ancient Israel for the coming of this king. The longing and expectation of a coming Lord is captured in the wonderful hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Listen to these words: "O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the son of God appear."

The second season surrounds the birth of Jesus – his first coming. We see the announcement from the angel to Mary that a child will be born – a savior. And we see a parallel story of Elizabeth who gives birth to John the Baptist – the one who goes before Jesus to prepare a way. Traditional hymns such as “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” by Charles Wesley share these words of fulfillment: “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free…”. We sing the Christmas carols and we ready our hearts for the birth of Jesus Christ – our Savior and Lord.

The third season is the second coming of Christ and the day Christ comes for us in our death. This is the final emphasis of Advent. We turn our attention to the unfulfilled prophesies Christ’s own promises that He will return and usher in a new kingdom – a new heaven and new earth.
Hymns like “Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending” capture this theme. In the words of this song we hear the promise of what is to be: “Lo, he comes with clouds descending, once for favored sinners slain; thousand, thousand saints attending swell the triumph of his train. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God appears on earth to reign.” We ready our hearts and lives for the return of Jesus Christ.

In considering the past, present and future themes of Advent I am using a classic story by Charles Dickens to help lay the framework in conjunction with the scripture for the next three Sundays of Advent - A Christmas Carol. Pastor Adam Hamilton [of Church of Resurrection] did a similar sermon series in 2002 which I have reprised.

I invite you to join with us beginning November 28th as we begin Advent and explore the true meaning of Christmas – past, present and future – and what it means for us today. Please invite a friend to worship with us as we look at:
November 28th – the Ghost of Christmas Past – Isaiah 61:1-3
December 5th – The Ghost of Christmas Present – Luke 1:46-53
December 12th – the Ghost of Christmas Future – Isaiah 53:1, 4-6
December 19th – The Christmas Story – Luke 2:1-20

I would also like to encourage you to invite a friend to one of our Christmas Eve services – 4:00, 6:30 or 10:00pm, to hear a special message from one of the Wise Men, so they too may come to know the grace and love of our God through the Son, Jesus Christ.

If you can't make it to church on Sunday, please take some time to hear the messages via our website: www.miltonumc.org. Check out the Sermon Message Archive Menu option (on the left).

Peace out friends (as my 3 year old says),

Patrick

Black Friday

It has been such a while since posting, that I thought I would start with this one - Black Friday shopping. The apprehension and anxiety leading to trepidation is always highest just before Friday - around 4:00am. News articles, blogs, websites... all talk about the crowds and difficulty in shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

This year I thought I would give it a try - see what the hype is all about. Although, I did not venture out at 4:00am. It was around 11:30am when I hit the roads for the several stores I had in mind. Building Blocks - looking for a pre-school spanish program or books to work with my 3-year old on learning spanish. Kohl's - finding a certain pair of boots my wife said she was interested in for a Christmas gift. Best Buy - seeking a Garmin so I would quit getting lost on those road trips I take several times a year. And... I thought about Wal-Mart, but opted against going there.

What I found most interesting were the people. I knew what I wanted at each store so I did not spend a lot of time actually shopping, but spent more time people watching. And believe it or not I found many of the people upbeat and friendly. Only a few here and there seemed harried and out of sorts.

I watched one lady at Kohl's juggling 6-8 packages, drop a couple of them, step on one of her children's toys, set everything down on a table and try to regroup. It was obvious to me that she had too many things in her hands. I was in the check out line with only two items in my cart, so I offered her the cart. She accepted it - but I can't remember if she said thank you or not. Most likely she did.

At all the places I stopped, the employees were gracious, helpful and smiling - a feat I would not have accomplished had it been me.

All in all - a good Black Friday experience. I'd love to see that many people rushing into church on Sunday morning though. It's the pastor side of me, I know. But really - shouldn't saving souls be more important than saving a few dollars on good deals for Christmas?

peace out (as my three year old says to me).

Patrick

Excellent!

Last night as I drove home, pulling into my driveway, I saw a man walking his dog down our street. Seeing him brought back memories to me. I stopped at the head of my drive way and got out of the car - retrieving the empty garbage cans on the corner of my front lawn. As the man came abreast of my house I said to him - "a beautiful night for a walk". He looked at me and said, "Excellent night. Thank you, sir." His emphasis was on the word excellent. Here's what caught my attention with him.

His hair was cut short in what is known as a high-and-tight; meaning he was shaved up the sides and the very top was a short, buzz cut. He had on a Marine Corp t-shirt and shorts. He was fit and walking briskly and looked to be about 10 years younger than I. On the calf of his leg was a Marine Corp emblem tatoo. He was a Marine and rightfully so, proud of it.

I too was in the Marines, many - many years ago. And often times seeing a fellow Marine brings the memories of those days to the surface. His emphatic response, "Excellent" reminded me of how Marines exemplify excellence and exhuberance in all they do. A mumbled response, a hanging head, a lackadaisical, "yeah" is the response I've come to expect in most cases when I say something to a passerby. Occasionally I will receive something a bit more spirited. However, rarely do I get the - Excellent! response.

I'm not surprized this man responded so. It's easy to see that he takes great pride in being a Marine. He takes pride in what the Marines stand for - integrity, honesty, honor, and yes - pride ... and is willing to share that with those around him.

I was blessed by his single word in a way that has stayed with me even into the next day. It is a reminder to me that when I respond to someone I have the opportunity to bless them with my own form of exhurberant "excellent" with the intent of lifting spirits and bringing a smile to the face. Or I can mumble and hang my head and respond lackadaisically. I choose the former.

From one Marine to another, from a Marine to all those reading this post, from a pastor who strives to bless those around him - Have an Excellent! day and may God bless you always.

Pastor Patrick

Keeping Drugs Off Our Streets

Recently our Milton Police department installed a brilliant red drop off box in front of the police station labeled, Drug Drop-Off. I had the pleasure of watching as they installed the box and then spoke with the police department about the box. The Milton Police department is the first agency in Rock County to offer this permanent, 24-hour, prescription drug drop-off. It is a mailbox-style drop box for unused prescription drugs.

My feeling on this is – this is a wonderful thing. This is a place where you can get rid of unused prescription drugs anonymously (if so desired). This certainly would have come in handy earlier this month as I and my siblings were trying to get rid of my mother’s unused prescription drugs following her untimely death July 5th. In Sheboygan County there is no drop box for drugs. Subsequently we struggled to find a good solution.

During a recent conversation I had with one of my staff members I learned that kids now days have what is called a “pharm” party. Kids raid their parent’s cabinets for unused prescription drugs; bring them to a party; place the drugs (unmarked – no bottles…) in a big bowl; stir the bowl and then grab a handful for consumption. I shudder to think of our youth involved in something like this and the detriment to their health, their minds and possibly their lives. God help them!

One concern shared with me was the security of this drop off box. Is it secure? Could someone break in and take the contents? In my conversation with the department they said, it’s as secure as it can be. The box is bolted to the ground and has been designed for this specific purpose (dropping off drugs). There is a camera trained on the box 24/7. The cost of the box, sans the bright red paint job and logos, was $650.00. Thought, function, security… have been well invested in this box. And the community is using it! Over 70lbs of prescription drugs were taken from the drop box the very first time the police department emptied it.

The proper disposal of the drugs is quite involved – much more than just flushing the pills down the toilet! The drugs are collected via the drop box. The local pharmacist volunteers his time to separate the collected drugs. Then they are boxed and shipped out (or flown out) to a drug disposal center.

If you, your family, your parents or grandparents have old, unused drugs in your bathroom cabinet and you don’t know what to do with them. Bring them in to the Milton Police Department. Let them help you to dispose of them appropriately.

All in all, way to go Milton Police Department! I like what you are doing in our community for the safety and concern of the people. God bless you and keep you.

Pastor Patrick

Keep the Faith

If you’ve followed the Christian news at all recently, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Anne Rice’s declaration to stop following Christianity, while still being a follower of Christ. Anne is the best selling author of the Vampire Chronicles and recently wrote the book, Of Love and Evil. Ten years ago Anne made headlines in declaring her return to her Catholic heritage and moving from atheist to believer. Today you will find on Anne’s Facebook a posting that states, “Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out… In the name of Christ I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-science. In the name of Christ I quit Christianity and quit being Christian. Amen.” (posted July 28th)

The issues Anne talks about, which cause confusion, discomfort, even anger, are many of the issues we all deal with. I had a conversation with a young lady of my community several months ago where she said she was against organized religion – for many of the same reasons Anne has cited. We are no strangers to these controversies, are we? I have spoken with people in my community (some from my church) who have left the church because of arguments on homosexuality, or politics, or feminism (should a woman be allowed in the pulpit or be ordained as a pastor…). Some have left the church because someone said something to them to which they took great offense.

The truth is we find many things within the religious organization that are discomforting, off-setting, and seemingly at odds with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Gandhi once said that he has no problem with Jesus – in fact he is in agreement with the teachings of Jesus. His problem is with the Church. Our Church is fallible. Our Church is made up of people who are sinful and imperfect and often times at odds with one another. There are issues I struggle with in the Church. I’ve been a pastor for 6 years and involved in ministry for about 10 years. There are things I will probably always disagree with, struggle with, and try to understand (perhaps with success, perhaps not). Perhaps you’ve experienced this too?

Yet, this doesn’t negate the fact that we strive to follow the teachings of Jesus and to be the Christians Christ calls us to be. Our best chance of doing this is as a community – a Body of Christ. Don’t turn your back on Christianity because of the weak, fallible areas of our “organized religion”. As Adam Hamilton wrote in his recent Washington Post article in response to a man who said he was leaving the church, “Please, don't let this man define what it means to be a Christian. We desperately need to show the world that there is another way to be Christian!”

I would echo this. Please don’t leave the church. We need you to help lead us to be a better Church. Our issues cannot be resolved if we quit the game. Persevere. Hang tough. Help us to see the other side of the picture. And think about it this way. Perhaps there are some tensions that are not meant to be resolved (Andy Stanley’s words at the recent Willow Creek Leadership Summit). The tension is important for the health of the church.

Keep the faith and at times you’ll have to help us keep the faith too.

p.s. two great books to read to learn how those outside the Church view the Church:
UnChristian by David Kinnamen; They Like Jesus But Not the Church by Dan Kimball.

Our Sabbath Day

Of all the Ten Commandments, God committed the most words to the 5th. In the KJV, it reads like this: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

Imagine chiseling all of that into a stone tablet. He could’ve just said “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” and left it at that. He did so few words for some of the other commandments…. Did He think there might be some confusion as to how “keeping the Sabbath holy” should be interpreted?

Well, He was right, of course. There seems to be a lot of confusion as to how it should be interpreted, especially in our US culture today; or, should I say, it is a commandment that is regularly not remembered nor honored by choice. It’s a choice for parents to allow their children to take to the soccer field at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, who do their “WalMart-ing” and grocery shopping every Sunday, who seem to think that Sunday is the day to catch up on paperwork. And, to the chagrin of all those craft-oriented people in the world, Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday. The nerve!

God includes in His commandment the fact that He followed it too, when creating the world. If God can rest one day of the week, and actually needs it, then don’t we?

Pastors may have to make their Sabbath, or day of rest, a different day than Sunday. Nurses and doctors may have to work on Sunday, but each has to choose another day of that week to rest: rest their body, and their soul. “Thou shalt not do any work.” In years past, this would even include not saddling up the horse, or not cooking (I’m fine with the latter ;) It might include not mowing the grass on Sunday, (or one’s chosen Sabbath, if necessary). But, instead of focusing on what we shouldn’t do on this day of rest; let’s focus on what we should and can do.

Rest. Worship. Pray. Plan a picnic of food prepared on Saturday and enjoy nature with the family; nature that God created. When do any of us just take time to listen to the birds sing, the frogs croak, feast our eyes on the colors of the sky and field? God created our bodies and our souls to need rest, worship, prayer, and all the benefits of the natural world He created, yet we ignore it regularly and we wonder why we feel so stressed all the time? Or, some of us have felt so stressed for so long that we don’t even realize we feel stressed and consider it normal to feel tense, to not sleep well, and be exhausted by Friday evening and stare at the television until we fall asleep to it.

“But the kids will feel left out. I don’t have time on the other days. My boss expects me to get these done and doesn’t care when it happens. I’ll lose this event and won’t get that gold medal.”

Yes, I’m talking about Olympian Eric Liddel. His best Olympic event was run on a Sunday, so he chose to train for the 400 m instead, an event that was definitely not his best. An American masseur slipped a piece of paper into Liddell's hand as he ran the 400m with a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30, "Those who honor me I will honor." And he set a record. Does anyone remember the name of the winner in the 100 m, his best event, the one he chose not to run? Does anyone remember the names of the other runners of the 400 m?

God did honor him. And He will honor each of us if we choose to make it a priority to treat the Sabbath as holy, a gift from God, to be used for rest, not to catch up on work, not to shout from the sidelines of a playing field. Try it and see.

Blessings to all,

Brenda Schultz (wife of Patrick)

The Body Of Christ - A New Sermon Series

The contemporary music group, Casting Crowns, wrote a hit song a number of years ago that asks some powerful, poignant questions. If We Are The Body contains such questions as: “… if we are the body, why aren’t his arms reaching? Why aren’t his hands healing? Why aren’t his words teaching? And if we are the body, why aren’t his feet going? Why is his love not showing them there is a way?”

The song assumes we understand what it means to be the Body of Christ. Beginning May 23rd we will launch a new five-week sermon series entitled The Body of Christ. During this time we will explore what it means to be the Body of Christ; how we are reaching out and sharing the Jesus’ message; how we understand what that message is; and even where we are falling short.

The Milton Methodist Church invites you to join us for this series!
May 23rd The Mind of Christ – So heavenly bound that we are no earthly good!
May 30th The Eyes of Christ – How we see the people around us.
June 6th The Heart of Christ – How we love the people around us.
June 13th The Hands of Christ – How we serve the people around us.
June 20th The Feet of Christ – How we go to the people around us.

Please, come and join us for this sermon series. Our church is located at 241 Northside Drive, Milton WI. Our website address is: www.MiltonUMC.org. Our website lists directions and service times. If you are unable to stop by, please visit us at our website where you can also listen to our sermon messages on-line.

Blessings to you!

Pastor Patrick

Giving Around The World

Today I wanted to share one of the ways Brenda and I give outside our local community. I felt prompted to do so when I was standing at the refrigerator the other morning, looking at the many faces children gazing back at me. When you look at our refrigerator you will see faces of cousins, nieces, nephews, friends (mostly young and some older). There is no real order to the pictures – they are a wild, fun, hodge-podge – some hanging straight by magnets, some crooked, and some barely hanging on at all!

There is one picture of a young girl who bears no resemblance to anyone in our family. She is six years old and her name is Cheyla Andrea. We have never formerly met Cheyla, although we have written back and forth. We know her favorite food is French fries (they are up there on my list of favs too!); her favorite color is purple and pink; and she loves to play with her dolls. She lives in the coastal region of Columbia in a small town of 6,000 called Nueva Colonia (New Colony).

We know her through Compassion International. Compassion International is a Christian organization that exists as an advocacy ministry for spiritually and physically poverty stricken children. CI was founded by Rev. Everett Swanson in 1952. It began by providing Korean War orphans with food, shelter, education and health care as well as Christian training. Today, Compassion helps more than 1 million children in 25 countries.

One of the things that drew us to Compassion International was their Christian foundation. Compassion’s mission statement reads:
In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.

The people of Nueva Colonia experience tremendous hardships and poverty. Most adults work on plantations and earn an average of $125 per month. And the community as a whole is in need of more schools, teachers, doctors, employment opportunities…

Our support for Cheyla costs us $38.00 per month. This monthly amount is part of our tithe and is one small way we can make an impact on child outside our community. Our meager amount provides Cheyla with medical checkups, health education, Bible teachings, vocational programs and tutoring. It is amazing to think how much good a few of our dollars do in another country. Brenda and I have gone out to a dinner and a movie for more than $38.00 numerous times. Yet, this small amount will provide Cheyla with much of the support she needs to live and grow healthy.

One of the other reasons I like Compassion International is their focus on developing and transforming the lives of children through collaborative effort with the local church. The children are helped to discover their own worth to God and they are disciple in the Word through the local church. This is not an advertisement for Compassion (although it may sound like it  ) It is however, a recognition of the work they are doing in Christ’s name.

In addition to the dollars and letters, we support Cheyla through our prayers. Each night Gracie and I say our bed time prayers and we include Cheyla. Prayer is one of the most powerful ways we can support her. And by praying over her with Gracie, Gracie learns the value of keeping others in her prayer life.

Perhaps you are already supporting someone through a foundation similar to this. Perhaps you have someone else in your life that you support in some way. If you do not, I would ask you to give prayerful consideration to checking out Compassion International. Your decision to do so, and your few dollars every month, may very well change the life of some young child half way around the world! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to live out the Great Commission?

Blessings to you,

Patrick