The Book of Common Prayer

Beginning August 1 of this year, I committed to engage daily The Book of Common prayer. This has been a rich experience!

The Book of Common Prayer is a prayer book that allows readers to greet each day together, remembering significant dates and Christian heroes in church history, as well as important historic dates in the struggle for freedom and justice! There are daily prayers, songs and scripture readings that help us see ourselves as part of a holy people being "set apart" from the world around us to bear witness that a new world is possible!

Today's prayer: Steadfast God, perhaps one of the greatest mysteries is why you continue to entrust the work of your kingdom into our clumsy hands. But we are forever grateful that you do not want to change the world without us.

Takeaways from #GLS16

Global Leadership Summit 2016  Highlights

PASSION

Passion is like PROTEIN for the team! It energizes and sustains! - Hybels

Whose job is it to fill your passion bucket? It is your job! Figure out the things that fill up your passion bucket and do them. The top three ways I fill my passion bucket: 1.  Go to places that stir my soul (The outdoors, Costa Rica, Loma de Luz, working with the underserved and under resourced.) 2.  Mentoring 3.  Reading

LEGACY

What is your legacy? Make sure it is one that honors God and one your children will be proud of! Don't ride the leadership drug to make you feel better about your legacy.  - Hybels

Great Quotes

We do not find love in achievement. - Sheila Niequist

Be present over perfect.  - Sheila Niequist

It's probably not burn-out; it's not being challenged! - Bishop Jakes

Don't go to your phone first thing in the morning - Go to God! - Melinda Gates

Don't let earthly practicalities cause you to lose sight of heavenly possibilities. - Jossy Chacko

Trust what God has put inside you! - Jossy Chacko

Faithfulness is multiplying what you have been given! - Jossy Chacko

Execution doesn't like complexity. - Chris McChesney

Add value to people's lives! - John Maxwell

Start connecting with people instead of correcting them! - John Maxwell

Keep a compelling scoreboard - people play differently when they are keeping score! It helps them see they are winning! - Chris McChesney

The ideal team player is smart, hungry and humble! - Patrick Lencionim

If You have a dream that you can accomplish on your own then your dream is too small! - Bishop Jakes

We must cultivate the discipline of self reflection! - Hybels

Critic or Coach

My last sermon preached at Middletown Christian Church as Associate Minister. Here are some highlights...

Critic or Coach; the last message in a sermon series called "You Asked For It"

Our churches need more coaches and less critics!

A critic is an energy vampire - someone who can just suck the life right out of you.  He's one who likes to give unwanted opinions and desires to get involved in every little detail so that he can offer all of the worse possible outcomes of any situation.  A critic wants to limit potential!

A coach on the other hand is an encourager and an instructor.  John Wooden, UCLA Legendary Basketball Coach, says that a good coach is someone who can give correction without resentment.  A coach on the other hand wants to help you be the best version of yourself and live up to your potential.

One of the best coaches I see in scripture is a guy by the name of Barnabas (Joseph).  His nickname was "Son of Encouragement."  Barnabas played a major role in the early church. His ministry was one that gave birth to others! I believe he was instrumental in helping the Apostle Paul establish his ministry as he accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey. Acts 11 says that Barnabas was a "good man" and full of the Holy Spirit!

I believe that in order to be a great coach - you have to be a great encourager.  Encouragement is not flattery and it is not spouting off motivational quotes. Encouragement means to come alongside.  It is close and intimate. It is not distant.  Encouragement is simply to "put courage in."  It means to be close to someone in their suffering, in their struggles, in their hardships and in their joys. Encouragement in the Biblical sense always points people to God - to his faithfulness - to his goodness - to his loving kindness.

Here are 4 practical ways you can be a good coach/encourager in your homes, your churches and your circles of influence:
1.  Allow people the space to grow!
2.  Affirm the capabilities you see in other people.
3.  Point people toward the "opportunity."
4.  Speak prophetically to one another. (Let people know how God is speaking to you.)
5.  Be committed.

Remember that being Christians doesn't mean "Me and Jesus" - it means "We and Jesus."

Farewell Friday Email

Dearest Middletown Christian Church:

Each time I return from ministry in Costa Rica, I am reminded that we accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work. While on my recent mission trip to Costa Rica, I was profoundly reminded of the importance of sowing seeds of the Gospel and God's love and grace. As I stood in the barrio of La Carpio, I was deeply grateful that God had allowed me to plant a seed of God's love in the heart of Maykol in 2007 - 9 years ago. As Christ followers, we plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing they hold great potential and promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This work of planting seeds allows us to do something and do it very well. It may be incomplete but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We should sow seeds everywhere we go because we all need to know and feel God's love. And, we should sow seeds generously - with hearts full of love, faith and hope!

Thank you, Middletown, for serving alongside me as we have done our very best to sow and scatter seeds with the purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God. We have done our best, like farmers, to sow seeds of God's love in our homes, friendships and marriages. We have done our best to sow seeds of God's love in the hearts and lives of children and youth in our church through weekly ministries, in our community through opportunities like The Learning Center and Buddy Break, and in our world through mission trips to eastern Kentucky, St Louis, Sunset Gap, Chicago, Kansas City, Costa Rica and Honduras. By the grace of God, we have stepped out of our comfort zones to sow seeds of God's love in the lives of refugees, in the lives of the homeless, in the lives of the hungry, in the lives of the addicted, in the lives of those living in poverty, in the lives of those in prison, in the lives of the discouraged and depressed, in the lives of the abused and neglected and in the lives of those who feel forgotten. 

 

What does a farmer do when he has a barren field? He doesn't complain about it. He doesn't even pray about it. He just goes out and starts planting some seed, because nothing is going to happen until he plants the seed. So, keep sowing seeds for the glory of God. Keep scattering the seeds in your homes, in the lives of your children, in your workplaces, in your circles of influence and in places of deep need. 

 

Thank you once again for allowing me to be a part of advancing the Kingdom of God through the scattering of seeds! I am deeply grateful for all of the kind emails, flowers, gifts, hugs, words of encouragement and love that I have received over the past few weeks as I announced my resignation.  For all that has been, all that remains, and all that will be, I pause, praise the Giver of Life, and whisper "thank you" over and over again. 

 

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday as I will be preaching my last sermon as Associate Minister of Middletown Christian Church. 

 

By God's Amazing Grace! Keep Living out the Love of Jesus Christ!

 

Tomara Brown

A Spiritual Feast

For what has been, for what remains, for what will be - I give thanks!

Today, I presided for the last time as Associate Minister over The Lord's Supper at Middletown Christian Church.  When I first began serving at Middletown over 5 years ago, I had not experienced celebrating The Lord's Supper on a weekly basis.  In the Baptist world, I celebrated it once a month and in my younger years - once a quarter. However, I have grown to love and appreciate the important invitation I receive each and every week to remember...

At The Lord's Supper where all are welcome,  I receive the invitation to direct my attention to Jesus' crucifixion - to remember that God sent his one and only son into this world so that whoever believes in him would not perish but would have everlasting life.  For me, The Lord's Supper is an invitation to identify with Christ's death and resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit. And, I have the privilege to come to the table with my brothers and sisters, to have communion with Christ. It is at this table that I am reminded of what Christ has done for me:  he has reconciled me to God.

And, that's worth feasting over every single week.

With my brothers and sisters at the Table of the Lord,

we celebrate with thanksgiving the saving acts, forgiveness and presence of Jesus Christ!
we confess that Jesus is the Christ and proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world!
we accept our mission of witness and service to all people!
we rejoice in God's covenant of love which binds us to God and to one another!
we yield ourselves to God that we may serve the one whose kingdom has no end!

Blessing and Honor and Glory be to God forever and ever! Amen!

I Lift My Eyes Unto the Hills...

John 5:19 - "I can only do what I see my Father doing..."

Open our eyes! Help us to see you at work and to join you in that work!

Pastor Angel Bermeo's Church - Carnival Day & Work Projects!

So....What happened in Costa Rica this summer?

A sense of Global Community was formed in many hearts...

New Friendships with Pastor Didier in Poas - VBS & Work at Feeding Center

Team members cared for those suffering...

Gained respect for the earth and its resources...

Learned the importance of authenticity over appearance...

Developed a passion for community and honest relationships...

Eternal friendships with Ernesto and Hazel

Gained greater insight into the rejection of consumerism...

Lots of smiles and hugs...

Righteous vibes with Lalo...

Skate Church with Lalo

Moved into different and uncomfortable places...

Interrupted by the undeniable presence of Jesus...

Discovered a path we did not know existed...

Shared the Good News of Jesus Christ...

Tasted great Coffee and Empanadas in the afternoon...

Typical Costa Rican Coffee in the afternoon

We were raised up by someone we didn't expect...

Discovered God's love knows no language boundaries or economic boundaries...

Shared the burden of another...

Welcomed with hospitality...

Delicious Rice and Beans made with Love from Maria

Experienced some great devotions by team members...

Churches were empowered...Worked with those in the community - side by side...

Inspired by the tenacity and strength of those living in La Carpio...

So proud of this kid - Maykol - for choosing the narrow path!

GRACIAS A DIOS!

Lose the Selfies on Mission Trips

Costa Rica mission trip coming soon....

I recently read a very challenging article on Mission Trips and Selfies.  One of the take-aways from the article was this...... we should not take selfies on mission trips that make us feel good about ourselves and at the same time make others feel like they have lost their dignity.  While on mission/service trips, we are there to SERVE and not make ourselves feel better.  

So, what will I do differently now as a result of reading this article? Instead of posting selfies on Facebook, I will remember to instead share pictures that tell stories.  Instead of featuring my own efforts to help, I will take photos (with permission) and celebrate LOCAL people  (like Lalo - pictured above) who are faithfully working for change in their own neighborhoods/communities over the long haul.  

We must remember that when we venture on mission/service trips, we are there to learn and communicate stories of transformation rather then portray ourselves as the "savior."  Many of the missionaries and community leaders are there long before a mission team arrives and they will be there long after the mission team leaves.

I personally believe mission trips are beneficial in many ways when done in the right spirit and in partnership.  After every mission trip, I ask two questions - "What are you going to do differently now in your own community as a result of this experience?"  "How can you continue to support this ministry of which you have been a part?"  

Finally, we must remember that developing neighborhoods and developing countries do not need short term heroes - they need long term partners!

May God give us wisdom in our serving!