Pastor Bo's Blog

Mon, 11/23/2009 - 15:51
Karen's Favorite

It’s Thanksgiving week - Karen’s favorite holiday. When I think about why that is, it’s probably because it is kind of hard to commercialize gratitude. Karen’s tastes are simple. She takes pleasure in things that are honest, frugal, and real. In her mind, Christmas has become hyped beyond any semblance of reality. At Valentines, she thinks it wasteful to spend sixty bucks for a dozen roses that will be priced at a third of that the next day. Easter has lost its meaning amongst intense promotion of chocolate bunnies and egg hunts. And she absolutely hates Halloween, with its emphasis on darkness and death.
Thanksgiving though, is different. Sure there is a certain commercialism - like 39 cents a pound turkeys - but sandwiched as it is between the intense promotion of Halloween and Christmas, commercial interests probably don’t have the time to exploit Thanksgiving like they do other holidays. Thus we are left with, at least, one holiday that still has a sense of remaining what it was originally meant to be.
Perhaps Thanksgiving has maintained its meaning because gratitude turns us away from ourselves towards others for whom we are grateful, be that a friend or the Eternal God. There’s a certain humility in saying a heartfelt "Thank you," and financial interests have yet to learn how to exploit humility.
This Thanksgiving, (and every day) I’m grateful for Karen - this woman God gave me with her predilection for things real and honest. Thank you Karen for the gift you have been to me.
Pastor Bo

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 14:28
Where are the "Subs"?

 
In September, I participated as a guest speaker at a Leadership Summit in Kampala, Uganda. The local host of the summit, Bishop Alex Mitala, in his session, used a very familiar scripture found in Matthew 9:37-38, where Jesus puts out a prayer request. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest , therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Bishop Mitala then suggested that when Jesus spoke those words, He was the only worker in the harvest field. However, that is no longer the case. The prayer has been answered. There are now an estimated one billion Christians in the world - a massive labor force by any standard.
The idea that Christ’s prayer for workers had been answered was a new one for me, and I have pondered it often since. With one billion workers, one would think the fulfillment of the Great Commission should be a snap. But that is not what has happened. The reality - certainly in America - is, that too many of those workers are not engaged in the harvest. We faithfully pray the prayer, but don’t often consider that we too are the answer to the prayer.
In one of His parables about the vineyard, Jesus talks about workers lounging in the marketplace. (Matthew 20) The owner of the vineyard asks them, "Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?" Their response is telling. "Because no one has hired us." In other words, there was no one who pointed them in a direction and gave them something to do.
I’m convinced that the greatest need in the Western church is not for more teaching. Rather it is for godly leaders who have the capacity to release God’s people into meaningful ministry. I think there are many in the church who would gladly serve, if they could only discover where their gifts intersect with their faith. May the Lord grant us more "sub-contractors" who know what needs to be done and can put millions of God’s willing people to work.
Pastor Bo Melin

Mon, 10/19/2009 - 13:02
Thank You God for Books!

I spent a few days last week speaking to about sixty pastors in the countryside of Haiti. Following a session in which I spoke to them about personal devotions and sermon preparation, I asked them what resources they had, besides the Bible, to use in their sermon preparation and personal reading. To a man they responded, "None." Incredulously, I asked, "Nothing?" Again, they responded, "Nothing at all."
Now, I’ve been to Haiti many times. I’ve been in some of their country churches. I knew they didn’t have much. But to find they had no other literary material besides their Bibles, was a shock to me.
It’s just another indicator of how rich we are. I have two studies. One at home and one at the church. Both of them are overflowing with books. The laptop computer I’m using to write this blog, has a program containing literally hundreds of reference works, along with numerous versions of the Bible. In addition, when I study, I regularly access the internet, plus every week, magazines fill my inbox. Reading is a huge part of my growth as an individual, as a Christ-follower, and as a preacher.
There is no more important book than the Bible. If I could only have one book, that is, without question, what it would be. But how my life is enriched and enlarged by reading the ideas and discoveries of other men and women. I’m plan to make a modest response to my Haitian brothers by beginning to translate some sermon outlines into Creole. It will be a small seed indeed. But then, seeds do grow.
Pastor Bo

Mon, 10/05/2009 - 14:58
Staying Aloft

My Dad was a carpenter, with very little formal education, but possessing a philosophical bent that could sometimes produce some pretty profound ponderings. We were standing on the beach in Florida one day watching a boy fly a kite. "You know how flying a kite is like life?" he asked me, his preacher son. I was interested. "As long as the kite is connected to the ground by the string, it will fly. Break the string and the kite will fall. As long as our lives stay connected to the Word of God, we will fly. Break the connection to the Word, and we will fall."
 
How many of us try to soar in life without due diligence in our adherence to God's Word? The Psalmist said it well. "Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end." (Ps 119:111-112)

Mon, 09/28/2009 - 11:28
Old Dog, New Tricks

First it was texting. I couldn’t see the point. But it was a teenage daughter that dragged me kicking and grumbling into the world of "lol" and "idk." And who would have thought it? It’s actually become something quite handy to use. LOL!

Now, here I am writing my first blog. I confess that the very idea of blogging made me think of the title of a country song recently referenced by a guest speaker. "It takes a lot of liquor to like her, so pass me another drink." Who reads all those words, I thought to myself? Between email, voice mail, snail mail, texting, and now Facebook - does anyone actually live life anymore? Or do we just write about it. But, I’ve got a church staff that thinks it’s a good idea, so . . . .

Who knows. Maybe in processing my thoughts through a blog, God’s Spirit would actually ignite a spark in someone’s heart - or maybe even in my own. Wouldn’t it be great if somebody actually responded and gave me some sermon material? Now there’s a thought. Somebody pass me another . . . er . . . iced tea??