Lynn's Coming!

Lynn will finally be joining me here next week! Yeah! She'll be assuming the majority of the house-hunting responsibilities. Pray for safe travel and God's guidance as we look for our new home.

Panic

You'd think I'd learn that procrastination is a bad thing. My gas tank was nearing empty last night as I drove home, but I was tired and thought, "eh...I'll do it tomorrow." I thought about doing it on my lunch hour today, but was in a hurry and thought, "eh...I'll do it on my way home."

About 4:30 we got word that panic was sweeping through the city. A major pipeline serving our area and up the east coast had gone out of operation. That along with the devastation of the gulf coast combined to create a nightmare fuel scenario here. Gas stations were running out of fuel as people rushed to fill up before it hits $5.00 a gallon tomorrow like their saying will happen. I made my way toward home with the "empty fuel" light on in my truck. The stations that were open were packed, cars backed up all the way out into the street. Traffic jams, people running out of gas in the road, people yelling at each other and losing their tempers as they jockey for position at the pump, gas stations running out and closing down...it's kind of scary right now in this city of 200,000. I finally managed to get into a station and fill my tank for $55. The picture above is from a convenience store here earlier this afternoon. It's certainly nowhere near as scary as it is on the gulf coast, but I was glad to get back to the apartment. Just now, as I finish this, I see on the news that gas has now hit $6.00 per gallon in Atlanta.

"But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves." ~Psalm 49:12,13

Why "Odyssey?"

You may wonder why I chose "Odyssey" as the name for my blog. Thought I would share with you the manuscript of a sermon I preached at New Prairie over the summer. This post is a little lengthy, so if you don't have time, come back another time.

Message from Pastor Bill Huffhine given at New Prairie Community of Faith on July 3, 2005.

The Odyssey We're On

Nearly three thousand years ago an epic was written that is still considered some of the great classical literature of all time. The story, written by a man simply known as “Homer” follows the fictional adventures of a warrior named Odysseus. In the story, Odysseus is a hero of the Trojan War who after the war has ended is trying desperately to get back to his Kingdom in Ithaca, Greece where his wife Penelope isn’t sure if he is even still alive. The entire story is about the journey that he is on as Odysseus tries to make his way home. It’s a story of twists and turns with the natural world, of which Odysseus is a part, visibly and inseparably intertwined with the supernatural world of the Greek gods and goddesses. Odysseus finds himself as the center of attention as Zeus, Athena, and Poseidon battle amongst themselves to determine his fate.

On the one side is the god of the sea, Poseidon who is seeking revenge upon Odysseus because in an earlier battle, Odysseus had blinded Poseidon’s son, the Cyclops. On the other side is the Greek goddess Athena, who is Odysseus’ greatest supporter. And then there is the god of all Greek gods, Zeus who mediates the disputes among the lesser gods and determines the fate of men. Throughout the journey, Odysseus encounters many different characters and has many different experiences that shape him as a man while Poseidon seeks to destroy him and Athena persuades Zeus to help him. The two main themes of the story deal with the power of wisdom over strength, and the pitfalls of temptation.

For the last several months I’ve found myself drawn to this ancient story as God is taking both Lynn and me to a new place in our relationship with Him. To some degree, throughout my life I’ve had a tendency to look at life as simply a series of days strung together in chronological order. I’ve always understood that, to a degree, the actions of today have an impact on the outcome of tomorrow. And it’s common sense that our future is shaped in big ways by the big decisions that we make today. But even so, for the most part I’ve tended to look at life one day at a time.

There are advantages to this, and there are disadvantages. On the one hand, the good thing about staying focused on the moment, living for today, seeing life one day at a time is that it’s much easier to keep from worrying about the future. Think about it. The world of worry concerns tomorrow...right? As of this moment, we’re all safe, we all have clothing on...thank God. We’ll all probably eat today. None of us is in danger right now. But if I ask you to stop and think about what worries you, your mind will probably go to something a few hours from now, or tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Jesus himself told us not to worry about the things of tomorrow because each day has enough trouble of it’s own. So in this sense, seeing life one day at a time has an advantage.

But I believe that there is a disadvantage as well. When we simply view life one day at a time, we miss the bigger picture of what God is really doing in us and through us. God has been shifting my way of thinking about life. I’m beginning to view life not as a series of days linked in chronological order, but as a journey; as an Odyssey. It’s a journey in which the natural world and the supernatural world are inseparably intertwined. There is the very real visible world that we continually experience. But there is also the very real invisible world, and whether we realize it or not, we are continually experiencing that world as well. And it’s a journey through which the one and only God is deeply, passionately interested in the man that I am becoming as he orchestrates events and relationships for me to experience. Unlike the story of Odysseus, there is only one God, and He is forever, eternally, on the side of those who love Him and He knows the plans He has for me; plans to prosper me and not harm me - plans to give me hope and a future.

When we view life one day at a time, it’s easier to become discouraged with the difficulty of the moment because we aren’t able to see how this present difficulty is a necessary ingredient for tomorrow’s victory and glory. When we view life as simply a series of days chronologically linked we tend to feel like the events of life are random events and on some days we’re lucky and on some days we’re not. What we experience is simply the outcome of a cosmic roll of the dice. It’s in this smallness of living only in today that we wrestle with thoughts like: “I’m too insignificant to matter.” “My sin is too big to forgive.” “My hurt is too big to forget.”

No, your life, my life is one journey in which all of the yesterdays (both good and bad) and all of the tomorrows (both good and bad) are carefully watched over and shepherded by a God who is concerned with only two things: Your eternal good, and His eternal glory. His desire is that this journey of your life will be an epic that brings Him glory. And His desire is that you will spend all of eternity enjoying the pleasures of His kingdom.

John Eldredge, in his book, EPIC speaks of life this way: “Life, you’ll notice, is a story. Life doesn’t come to us like a math problem. It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. You wake up. What will happen next? You don’t get to know - you have to enter in, take the journey as it comes. The sun might be shining. There might be a tornado outside. Your friends might call and invite you to go sailing. You might lose your job. Life unfolds like a drama. Doesn’t it? Each day has a beginning and an end. There are all sorts of characters, all sorts of settings. A year goes by like a chapter from a novel. Sometimes it seems like a tragedy. Sometimes like a comedy. Most of it feels like a soap opera.”

Though God doesn’t want us to be weighed down by the mistakes of yesterday, or worry about the cares of tomorrow, He does want us to see our years on this planet as a smaller journey that is intertwined with the larger journey of humanity, that is inseparable from the never-ending journey of eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that “God has planted eternity in the hearts of men.”

If you look in the Old Testament at the numerous times that God shows up on the scene with Israel and speaks to them through a prophet, you’ll notice three things. You’ll notice that He does speak about their current condition of the moment which was usually a condition of sin and rebellion. But usually, He also does two other things: He invites them to look backward in history at their forefathers and how He interacted with them. And then He takes them forward by giving them a glimpse of the future; a future that will be shaped by how they respond today, as they remember what happened yesterday. You see...it’s one journey...one story.

Graham Cook says that we are the most powerful against the enemy when we are the most at rest. When we are at rest, we are at peace. When we are at peace, we have disarmed the enemy of his ability to steal, kill, and destroy. The days of victory far outnumber the days of defeat when we live life spiritually at rest and in peace. And there is incredible rest and incredible peace when we are able to view life as a journey in which all of the events (both good and bad) and all of the relationships (both good and bad) are carefully shepherded by a God who is fully invested in our ultimate good.

So how can we make this mental shift from living life as just a series of days to seeing and experiencing life as a journey?

· First, begin thinking in terms of eternity. (string illustration)
~ We tend to think that our journey began when we were conceived. That may be when

the journey began for you. But from God’s perspective, your personal journey began

before creation. Before “In the Beginning” he knew of your life and already had a plan in

place to bring you into relationship with Himself, if you would accept the offer.

~ When you’re tempted to think that your sin is too big to be forgiven, look at this line of

eternity and think about all of the sin God sees both past and present and remind

yourself that Jesus died for all of it. Though we don’t want to minimize the reality of sin’s

ugliness, think about how the sin that seems so overwhelming in your life is such a tiny,

tiny fraction of what Christ died to forgive.

~ When you’re tempted to think that the pain in your life is too big to overcome, remind

yourself of the pain and rejection that the human Christ endured as He paid the price for

all of the sin found along this line. Yet he is the personification of forgiveness, healing, and

wholeness.

· Next, recognize how intimately God is interested in your life. Let me read to you a Psalm

that God has been speaking to me through. (Psalm 8).

~ When you’re tempted to think that you are too insignificant to matter, remind yourself

that as great and transcendent and powerful as God is, as vast as this universe is, and as

long as eternity is, you and I are His obsession; the focal point of his interest and passion.

The amazing thing to me is that though our lives take up such a small space on this line

of eternity, we are God’s focal point.

~ God knows your life from beginning to end. Psalm 139 speaks of how God knit us

together in our mother’s womb and all of our days were recorded before they even

began.

· Finally, remember that every day with all of it’s good and all of it’s bad is designed for you

as a necessary leg of the journey toward the final destination. And this is that destination:

Read Philippians 3:10 - 21.

Don’t grow weary in your journey by the events and the relationships you’ll experience. Remain at rest. Remain at peace. When the good happens, your question should be, “How can I make sure that God receives glory for the good that has happened to me?” When the bad happens, your questions should be, “How can I make sure that God receives glory through the bad that has happened to me?” “How can I allow this bad to prepare me for the final destination of my journey?”

Our journey is a journey of love. As I look back over the years of my life, I'm becoming more able to see how my capacity for loving God has been shaped and intensified by the different experiences of the journey. I have passed through seasons delight and I've passed through seasons of difficulty and sorrow. The one constant through every experience, every relationship, and every season has been the love of God toward me, freeing me to love Him more intimately.

Sand or Stone

Now that I'm back in the newspaper industry for a time I'm once again in an environment where we are constantly monitoring the news. As you can imagine, computer monitors all throughout the building were filled with images from weather.com as we all waited to see if Huricane Katrina was going to be as devastating as was predicted. The warnings were really scary, saying that this could be a catastrophic event for New Orleans that would leave the city forever changed and have ripple effects throughout the country. I heard predictions of 10's of thousands of deaths, nearly every building toppled, and the entire city submerged in a toxic soup for weeks.

By mid morning everyone was breathing a little easier. The storm had shifted slightly to the east and the Biloxi area would bear the brunt of the storm instead of New Orleans. Why was this a better scenario? Because New Orleans is far more vulnerable than other places along the coast. It's below sea level, surrounded by water on three sides, and is essentially a city built on sand. Though a slight shift to the east was bad news for Biloxi, overall, everyone seemed a bit relieved. It was still a bad storm, but it's fury was unleashed on an area less vulnerable than New Orleans.

There have been a lot of storms in my life. Many of them would be about a category 1; difficult, but not at all devastating. Every so often the big one will hit each of us. A massive, horribly destructive category 5 crisis will roar through our home, our mind, our heart and our soul with the potential of dashing us to pieces. Unlike New Orleans, we have a choice. We can choose now how vulnerable we will be when the big one hits.

All weekend I watched on television as people prepared for Katrina. They boarded up their windows. They tied everything down. They evacuated. Jesus gave us instructions on how to prepare for the big one. He knows we'll all face it sometime. And the degree of our vulnerability when the storm makes landfall is determined by the way we live our life when the sun is shining.

"All who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents, and the floods rise and the storm winds beat against his house, it won't collapse, for it is built on rock. But those who hear my instructions and ignore them are foolish, like a man who builds his house on sand. For when the rains and floods come, and storm winds beat against his house, it will fall with a mighty crash." (Matthew 7:24-27)

The time to prepare for the storms of life is not when they are upon us. The time to prepare for the storms of life is when the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and we can see clearly how to build the "house" of our life upon the rock of God's truth, not the sand of our own self-sufficiency.

Back To What Matters Most

On my next to last Sunday at New Prairie, after Superintendent Krober had spoken, I shared with the congregation how I had allowed ministry to get in the way of my relationship with God. Now I know that may sound strange. But what God had shown me during the critical days when Lynn and I were trying to discern God's will about moving, was that I had allowed the "work" of pastoring a church to get in the way of my love relationship with the Father.

All of my prayer time revolved around, "God, help me to lead this church, help me to grow this church, help me to preach well...etc." all of my time in the scripture and studying other books revolved around preparing for sermons and learning about church growth and pastoring. I wasn't spending time with God just to fall in love with him more. I wasn't spending time in the word to grow in my understanding of who He is and who He made me to be. I sacrificed intimacy with Him for the sake of ministry work.

I'm amazed at how backwards I had allowed things to become. To be an effective pastor, everything I do in that role MUST emerge out of my intimacy with him. If I'm not intimate with him first, I cannot hope to plant, lead, and pastor a church well.

For the next year, I'm limiting my reading to just two books. I usually devour 15 or more books a year. But for the next year I will read the Bible straight through. I will also be reading "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard which is about rediscovering our hidden life in God.

If "doing good work" is taking priority over your intimacy with God, you'll soon find that the "good work" you are doing - regardless of how good it is - is ultimately weak and a bit shallow...which will bring you to a place of terrible frustration.

Really Need To Be In Bed...But

It's 12:19 am eastern time Saturday morning. I am soooo exhausted. It's a combination of things really. Starting a new job is always stressful, although I've not had the cluster headaches I usually have when I change workplaces. Being away from Lynn is stressful. My internal clock refuses to reset to eastern time. And on top of all of this I can't seem to sleep well at night. So...why am I not in bed? I dunno.

I didn't eat dinner last night because I didn't feel like cooking. This evening I finally just put frozen pizza in the oven. I'm not eating well...which is contributing to my fatigue. I get to sleep in tomorrow but I plan to go into the office for a couple of hours to decorate my office so it will reflect "me." My office will be a sanctuary of sorts...not just for me, but others. I want it to feel comfortable, hospitable, a place people will enjoy coming to just to sit and chat a bit. This is how the crucial relationships will begin; hopefully opening doors to share deeper spiritual things with them.

Ann Sattley and I have been chatting a bit this evening online. She has taken over a project I began; an online community called CarbondaleChristians.net. She's done a great job! She's also the webmaster for the New Prairie Community of Faith website. Ann and her husband Matt came into our lives in early 2004 when they visited New Prairie for the first time. Almost from the beginning they have been servants in the truest sense of the word; always thinking of the needs of others above their own. Lynn and I will miss them so much.

What irony! I got an e-mail from a pastor in the Gateway Conference in Illinois (which I belonged to before moving) that he has been selected as the new superintendent over the Georgia Conference of the Free Methodist Church. He and I had a strong connection in Illinois and I had recently asked him to be a coach of sorts to me...but then I moved. But now he's coming here as my superintendent. I'm amazed at how God weaves relationships together!

Ok...it's 12:30 and I'm crashing. I'm outta here. Remember, the only thing worse than a three legged dog is a flamingo without a beak.

Whatever.

Quick! Someone see if Hell has frozen over!

Oh yeah...and I gotta dress like this. Our paper is also the headquarters for the whole company so all of the really important people are here. They're all suit kinda people...so we all gotta be suit kinda people...which means I gotta be a suit kinda person when I'm really a shorts and sandals kinda person. Dear God...pray for me!

Where I Spend My Days

This is a picture I took this morning of the place I work. The brick building and the large black "Wachovia" building make up part of the campus. There are a few other buildings as well that I couldn't get into the frame.

The company I work for is Morris Communications. They own the Augusta Chronicle newspaper along with 32 other newspapers, some radio stations, several magazines, a barrel-horse racing association, and several plantations.

So far I enjoy being here. I see this as a "workplace parish" where I pray God will use me to touch the lives of many, many people. Pray for me; that I will prosper in all I do here but that I won't be distracted from my primary responsibility: "But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere." (Acts 1:8 NLT)

Comment Spammers

I checked the blog a minute ago and was excited to see that there were 9 comments on my last post. Then I looked at the comments. All 9 of them were from spammers. So if you look at the comments, don't click on anything in the comment or it will take you to their website.

To fix this, I've enabled the "word verification" feature. I look forward to your interaction with my posts. You'll need to type in the word verification for your comment to post.

Sleep well.

Settling In

It sure is quiet. After 15 years of marriage, it's so odd to be home alone every evening and wake up alone every morning. I'm hoping these 60 days pass quickly so Lynn and I can begin this life together. That said, my place is pretty nice. It's a furnished corporate apt. in a really nice apartment community. Haven't ventured up to the pool and fitness center yet but I know I need to because I promised Lynn that when she saw me next I would be 30 pounds lighter, tan, and buff.

I thoroughly despise eastern time. It seems like the evenings pass so quickly.

The job is going well. I spent almost all day Monday in orientation. Today I began the process of compiling history. What I mean by that is that I'm spending a lot of time figuring out where my department has been the past year or so in order to figure out how to get where we need to go. My predecessors did not do well at recording history for me.

That's kind of how life is. We can learn so much about how to move forward by looking backward. Reminds me of one of my favorite passages of scripture; a passage that I preached on in one of my first sermons at New Prairie. Jeremiah 6:16 says "Stand at the crossroads and ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."

Anytime we find ourselves at a crossroads in life, not knowing what to do, if we'll look back at how God lead and provided in our past and the past of others we'll get some clues on how to move forward and find rest for our souls.

This too reminds me of the words of an old Steve Green song, "Find Us Faithful." Just as we can look back and see God in the critical moments in the lives of others, it's important that we live our lives in such a way that those who come behind us can find the same guidance.


We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

Chorus:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift though all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.

Dinner With Jim

How wonderful to see a familiar face!!! Jim Lynch, a truck driver from New Prairie, and I finally connected and were able to have dinner together this evening. What a great guy. I am so going to miss Jim, Margie, Makayla, Keira, and Carys. Some of the most beautiful people I know. Tomorrow is the first day on the job. Going to try my best to iron wrinkles out of my clothes, knowing that my propensity is to iron more in.

Day One

It's 12:45 pm eastern time on Sunday, August 21, 2005. I've been planning to start publishing this blog as an outlet for my thoughts, but also as a way for anyone who may care to stay connected with me now that I'm 600+ miles away from everyone I know. I got here Friday night, but thought today would be a poignant time to begin this blog; my first Sunday NOT the pastor of New Prairie Community of Faith in Illinois.

I was planning to sleep in late today and then spend the rest of the morning sitting at Starbucks in Barnes & Noble enjoying a cup of coffee and a quiet time of reading and writing. But God wouldn't let me get away from the need to be among believers. It began last night. I checked into the website of the newspaper that I'm going to work for and found a feature story about a couple of new churches that are beginning in Augusta. Read the article, but still didn't feel compelled to visit one. I woke up this morning thinking about the bizarro dream I had last night about New Prairie. Still...wasn't really planning to be in church. I went to the yellow pages to get the number for Barnes & Noble to see when they opened and I unintentionally cracked the book open to the church section. One church caught my eye, mainly because it's on the same road I'm on, just a couple miles down; Stevens Creek Community Church. I checked out the website; it looked pretty good, so I decided to visit.

The church was okay; not very hospitable. The greeter seemed a bit annoyed that I had interrupted him by walking through the door. Nobody spoke to me....the whole time...except when the guy on stage directed everyone to turn and say hello to someone. I got the obligatory "good morning" from a couple people. The coffee was okay, but I wasn't allowed to take it into the sanctuary. What's up with that? After a really goofy skit the worship music began.

As soon as the music started a chill ran up my spine, the hair on my neck stood on end and I immediately felt a connection with God that I haven't felt in a while. There were no expectations on me to preach a great sermon. My only task this morning was to tune in with God as a worshipper. That felt pretty good. In fact, I got a little insight from God about where I've been and where I need to go in my relationship with him.

For some time now I have been an out-of-tune instrument. No matter how great the rest of the band or orchestra may be, one out-of-tune instrument can be heard and can diminish the power of the music. A piano is tuned by a tuning fork. From what I understand, the fork is struck so that it will vibrate; sounding a pitch. The strings of the piano are then adjusted to vibrate in pitch with the tuning fork. Before anything else, my time in Augusta will be a time of adjusting my heart to once again move in rythmn with the moving of God's heart.

I'm snacking on a couple of peanut butter cup cookies Lynn made for me before I left Friday. Thanks Matt for bringing these into my life a week or so ago. Just before I got home I retrieved a cell phone message from Jim Lynch. He's picking up a load in Augusta today and wants to do lunch. I left a message for him, but haven't heard back. Would love to see him.

This is Day One. Welcome to my Odyssey.