LONDONDERRY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH...AND FAITHFULNESS

For this post the thing that immediately comes to mind is actually a secular love song, but the line is just perfect for the situation. The weather in New Hampshire is cold and green, and in New Mexico it is cold and brown. I needed biking gloves with fingers last week on my way to church! Let me go see if I can find these lyrics.
Till now I always got by on my own
I never really cared until I met you
And now it chills me to the bone

I never had a church home before. I never looked forward to going to church until now. I never cared about the faithfulness of people around me until now, when I see people leaving the family, and changing, and when I heard someone say last week, 'oh, i served in the youth group until the minister changed, and then it wasn't my youth group anymore.' I never cared until I started doing video for a small service held on Sundays among the other three that we usually have, which is a small, close knit congregation in the middle of the larger ones. And I have to keep my eyes forward, especially now that I am home.

SATURDAY WITH THE YOUTH

Here is a picture of the puppet ministry of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Manchester, NH. It's very cold in New Hampshire; I think I heard they had ten inches of snow. Later when I'm not restless I will try to find some information on a youth program in a Methodist church New Hampshire. I am ashamed to look at the date on my last posting, but the semester has flown by. Where are the months of September and October? I need them to work on my papers for this semester, and now it's presentation time. I spent this afternoon hanging out with about six youth from my church and the pastor and his grown son cutting Christmas trees for decoration tomorrow night at youth. I'm now a youth sponsor--and it's funny, because I hated being a youth. I wonder if my experience in the youth group would have been different if my family had had a foundation. My parents are STILL looking for a church, and sort of thanks to the youth of ST. PAUL'S LAS CRUCES I'm home.

CHURCH CONTENTMENT

Here is a picture of First United Methodist Church in Rochester, NH, where there is rain. I just walked home with my father after visiting with him and my mother for a few minutes, a time of trying to stay on safe subjects and get out as soon as I can. I have found a home church, but they have not, and that was the story of my life growing up. Here is a quote from D.Max Whitfield, the bishop of the New Mexico Annual Conference on the subject of contentment.



Contentment appears to be a value that most church members and congregations value above everything else. The Apostle Paul calls us to learn to be content with whatever comes our way in life. We are to be content when we have everything we want in life, and when we fail to have even the basic necessities of life.

I saw many of the United Methodist Christians in the Congo who have taken Paul’s words to heart. They knew their relationship with Jesus Christ was more important than money, housing, food, education, or health. Knowing and serving Jesus was what really mattered. Everything else was of secondary value.

However, here in the United States it appears we have taken contentment as the primary value in the life of the Church. We tolerate injustice, gossip, spiritual mediocrity, congregations slowly dying, conditions of our communities and a lack of respect for other people. We are so content that we are the walking dead. We stand for nothing; we stand up for nothing; we become like the Church at Laodicea that is neither hot nor cold. We refuse to even invite people to attend worship with us for fear of making them uncomfortable or members of the church uncomfortable.

I see creating discontentment as one of my primary roles and responsibilities as a bishop of the Church. Individuals need to become discontent with their relationship with Jesus Christ and strive to become more like him in word and deed. Pastors need to become discontent with the way they are leading congregations. Congregations need to become discontent when they walk among people who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and believe they are doing everything expected of them to see God’s Kingdom come on this earth as it is in heaven. We need a great awakening of dissatisfaction with ourselves and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

A few months ago I wrote about the necessity of treating every person with respect, especially those with whom we do not agree. These persons are still our brothers and sisters. We need to respect their ideas, thoughts, and opinions. I certainly may not agree with them, but Jesus calls me to love my enemies and treat everyone as I would desire and wish to be treated. I was not prepared for the response. I was accused of being political. I needed to focus on spiritual issues and avoid placing the Church in the middle of political debates. I confess that I utilized public instances and public figures to illustrate my point, but some of the responses justified such crude disrespectful behavior and words. Some responses appeared to reflect approval of inappropriate behavior if it was in the political arena. There needs to be a great awakening of dissatisfaction with behavior that does not reflect Jesus Christ.

I told my father tonight that it is strange having a church home and caring about the future of the church. He could not understand, of course, because he still does not have one. Up there Whitfield says that we all need to become dissatisfied with our lives and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is probably true...especially since I love doing video in my church....could I change? My father was my role model for Christianity for a long time, and tonight he told me that someone quit coming to his Bible study because they did not like the way he was teaching. I need to be on fire, but I want ti to be a quiet fire.

NEW CHURCHES IN HONEYMOON PERIODS

New Church Development 2011 General Board of Global Ministries

New churches attract many unchurched persons, including new constituent groups not being reached by existing congregations. Why? Partly because they are often fresh, energetic and distinct in their vision, culture and approach to evangelization and ministry.

In many areas where the denomination is growing, much of that growth is attributed to new congregations. Thus, it is not an either/or situation; but resources, training, and strategic efforts must be utilized for both creating new congregations and renewing existing ones. Moreover, existing churches often reap new ideas, learn new outreach and leadership development techniques, and gain new excitement from innovative and successful new church development efforts.

The Office of New Church Development works with annual and central conferences, district superintendents, and congregational leaders to create strategic plans for church growth, to train leaders in evangelization methods, and to help establish new churches and faith communities. It also assists "fresh start" congregations that are undergoing merger or relocation.


My home church in new Mexico, not one in New Hampshire, sadly, where it is green, started an offshoot church about a year ago for people who are unchurched an would feel strange walking into a church building with stained glass. They meet in a hotel, with a pastor that is energetic and full of life. He was an associate pastor at my church for about three years, and then went to the new church to be its pastor. Now we have people going to the new church saying it is so full of life, and ours is not, anymore, but it is my home. And I discovered that a lot of the principles that apply to a family living together in a home can also apply to a church family.

FORWARD MOVING. . . .

Happy Fourth of July 2011. . . . where New Hampshire is hot and sunny and clear, and I had a nice phone conversation with a family member. It's strange how easy it is to put stuff behind you when you decide to. . .but it is a continuous decision. Forward marching. . .forgiveness is for me, not the person I forgive!!!

Ah...success...summer is my favorite time of year for the library--a time of hanging out and moving six classifications of letters in the LC classification system from one library to the other. . . on book trucks. It's great exercise and great fun watching. I'm not taking part in the project this summer--I'm keeping the shelving under control, but I got a shirt anyway. Here is a pic of some of my friends from work in their new shirts. We are leaving for New Hampshire this week, and going forward. I might have something to say about my new family next week.

TWO FROM GALILEE...THE COOLEST CHRISTMAS MUSICAL EVER

You made the event a symphony
And you didn't say goodbye. I sit afraid in silence, to let my words take shape. How will I deal
with the silence
that no one else sees
after you made the event a symphony?

They hid behind false smiles
and loud music, and accusations.
You opened your arms and welcomed me home.
I wrote these words to honor you,
for you have made me one of your own.

They spoke against you
When you had hidden me there
How could you be anything
but a servant?

you took a bow
and raised your arm
for the symphony to begin
The beautiful music echoed on the walls
You chose the symphony
and you didn't say goodbye.

They made their music a worldly celebration
you made the event a symphony
and you didn't say goodbye
I wrote these words to honor you, for
you've made me one of your own.
But how could I go forward with the
beautiful music singing in the silence?

When we played the symphony
for the last time,
you left the stand in silence.
I cannot accuse you,
for you have wrapped me in safety.
How can I say goodbye?

You made the event a symphony
and you didn't say goodbye
This is not an accusation,
but an honor.


When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we'd first begun.

FELLOWSHIP!!. . .IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME

Here is a picture of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Manchester, NH. Happy Memorial Day Weekend, although I will be glad to get back to work Tuesday. Today at the Memorial Day fellowship, among lots of good food, I was told that it is someone I know in my church that is laughing silently (that's probably just poetic, but I do free verse in my spare time) at the minister who is leaving my church soon, because finances are supposedly not strong enough to keep the minister there. After hearing the minister's side of the story, I asked what I could do.. . . because this IS my church...home. She gave me one word. . . pray. It's good to have a home church...

HOME....AND CHURCH FINANCES

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the date on the last blog post wasn't as bad as I had feared, but here is something that has me baffled...the idea of a church home. Here is a picture of Alexandria United Methodist Church, in Alexandria, NH. I've been told by someone very influential to me that we should not be supporting the church with our money, yet I pledged for the first time last year in my Methodist church in Las Cruces, New Mexico. MY church. Not the one my parents chose, which by the way were many over the years, but MY church. Here is a statement from a pastor in New Hampshire, where the weather is green and lovely!!
* New Hampshire ranked 11th in the nation in 1996 in its average statewide income.
* New Hampshire residents also appear to have accumulated significant assets, judging by the fact that New Hampshire ranked 9th in terms of the average amount of dividends and capital gains reported on tax returns in 1996.
* In 1992, New Hampshire had a concentration of individuals worth at least $1 million that was higher than the national median, unlike Maine and Vermont which were both below the national median.
* In 1997, 64% of New Hampshire residents reported volunteer activity, up from 61% in 1995, and much higher than the national average of 41%. Kudos for doing well.
* In 1996, and this is my point of concern, New Hampshire ranked 49th (remember there are 50 states) in the nation in itemized charitable contributions from federal tax returns. This low ranking has been consistent in the 1990's. Since 1991, New Hampshire has ranked between 47th and 50th.
* In 1996, New Hampshire residents reported $283 million in charitable giving on their tax returns. An additional $147 million would have gone to charity if they had given the national average.
* Individuals with estates worth at least $600,000 left bequests that represented about 10% of New Hampshire's total giving in the 1990's. Nationally about 7% of all giving to charities come from charitable bequests. In four out of the six years between 1991 and 1996, these New Hampshire residents left a higher percentage of their total assets to charity than did people with estates of a similar size in the nation as a whole. In 1996, 11.5% of these estate assets went to charity, placing New Hampshire in fourth rank nationally.. . . The Bible has quite a bit to say about money. The Bible has 500 verses on prayer, and less than 500 verses on faith. There are more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. One out of every 10 verses in the Gospels deals directly with money, as do a full one-sixth of Jesus' own words. Only the kingdom of God is mentioned more than money and possessions by Jesus. Sixteen out of 38 parables are about how to handle money and possessions. Trust me, if you hear just one or two sermons a year about money, you're getting off easy.


I thought this very interesting, considering how far my church is in debt for their new building, and considering how my parents had the tendency to leave a church quickly when they did not agree with something, how could I be any better if I did the same thing, especially now that I am....Home???? Now...let me see if I get this citation correct.
Robertson, Anne. "Spiritual Disciplines: Tithing." Anne Robertson 2000 Web. www.annerobertson.com/CBSD/Tithing.htm 22 May 2011

CHURCH BUDGETS

I don't even want to look at the date on the last post for my blog, and I'm sincerely sorry. I have found home at a Methodist church here in New Mexico, but since this blog is about New Hampshire, I will post of picture of a New Hampshire church. I pledged in the church's budget for the first time last year, and am honored to support the church, and it hurts me that some do not do their best. A few weeks ago we found out that our associate minister is not returning because of budget concerns. Some people have even told me that we should not be supporting the church with our money...but I do.

VIEWS ON THE TOTAL TRANSFORMATION....AND TRUTH

http://www.almightydad.com/behavior/kid-acting-badly-try-the-total-transformation-scam

Check out this lady here and her positive indoor paradise playground for kids in Merrimack, NH. If I get in trouble putting a link to someone else's site on my blog, I will apologize, but I latched on to it right away. As I posted in my post about the Senate election in New Hampshire, there is a selling element to the total transformation program touted by James Lehman, who died last year, so consumers must sift through to find the truth. Is it really a magic solution? I am now an adult, so I am supposed to have theoretically outgrown the bitterness that happens at the teen level, but this commercial makes me angry. Check out this man's web site. I think it's great. There is no way that Lehman's program can turn an angry child into a submissive well-behaved one so quickly...doesn't it take two to make a fight? And though my now grown peers sit in church with their parents and their little ones, I just don't see how someone who never got along with their parents after the age of four could ever be remotely "friends" with them. It is my first instinct to say 'Definitely not through the "Total Transformation" program.' And to think it got only positive reviews.