The year is 2015. Back in 1989, in the movie “Back to the Future II,” the main characters, Doc Brown and Marty McFly, traveled forward in time from the year 1985 to 30 years in the future, 2015. The movie version of 2015 had among other things, hover boards, flying cars, shoes that affixed at the push of a button, and 3-D billboards. In 1989, 2015 seemed like a long way off and yet, here we are.

Most of what the writers and director of the movie envisioned for 2015 hasn’t yet happened but that doesn’t mean that the world hasn’t changed since 1989. We don’t have to look too far to see smart phones and watches, laptop computers and cars filled with technology that we never dreamed of in 1989. But even so, life isn’t really so much different than it was in 1989.

One way I hope that our lives aren’t the same as they were in previous years is in our relationship with Jesus. Jesus never intended for our relationship with Him to be static, stagnant or unchanging. From scripture we see that our faith and relationship with Jesus are to grow, mature and produce fruit for God’s kingdom. What that looks like is different for each one of us, but the one thing that is common for all of us is continued growth in our knowledge of Jesus and in our relationship with Him.

As 2015 unfolds, may we find ourselves growing in  our understanding of who Jesus is, growing in our faith in Him in every area of our lives and growing in the joy we have as we live in the love and power of Jesus. The year 2015 may not be like the movies, but as we grow with Jesus it will be much greater than anyone ever guessed.

                                         God’s Grace and Peace,

                                                      Mark

It has been a blessing to watch as God has moved among us to lead us to the person that He has prepared to be the next pastor of Medford Friends Church. In the days to come, please continue praying for God’s blessing and work in the transition process and for His touch and blessing upon Jesse Davis as he looks forward to moving to Medford to serve as pastor.

Moving toward the completion of this process as I transition into retirement has forced me to get serious about cleaning out my office. Through the last 24 years I’ve given my office a thorough cleaning on several occasions, but it’s been nothing like I need to do now. 

As I’ve gone through drawers and shelves, more than once I’ve found myself scratching my head and saying, “Why did I ever keep that?” I’m amazed at how many garbage bags of “important” stuff I’ve carted off to the dumpster without missing a single thing that I’ve thrown out.

This experience got me to thinking about the “important” stuff we allow to clutter our lives; stuff we allow to hang around, even store, even though it no longer has any use or relevance in our lives.

This can happen in our spiritual lives too. We allow our lives to become cluttered with stuff like sins and regrets from the past, worries in the present and fear of the future. We hold on to old dreams that God has not chosen to fulfill in our lives, anger over past hurts and the pain of past failures. If we aren’t careful we can clutter our lives with so much useless stuff that Jesus has no room to work in us or through us.

This month, take some time to take an inventory of the things that you have been hanging onto in your heart and life. As you examine each thing, invite the Lord to tell you what you can get rid of. As you find stuff that needs to be thrown out, take time to confess, forgive, learn the lessons, make the changes, receive healing and let go. I think that you will find that you are both blessed and relieved as the old clutter is cleaned out, making room for even more of what God wants to do in and through you.

                                  God’s Grace and Peace,

                                                  Mark

Patsy and I really enjoyed our recent trip to Arizona to visit our son Michael and his wife Tiara. The weather was fantastic and each of the various landscapes we encountered was breathtaking.

Shortly after driving out of the Phoenix airport the speed limit on the freeway was 75 miles per hour with the traffic moving even faster. Being one who likes to make good time on the freeway I said to Patsy, “These are my people.” Two days later I was singing a different song as I found that many Arizona drivers view traffic lights as merely a suggestion and they love to lay on their horns when even a simple honk isn’t needed. Upon further evaluation, I recognized that my first impression was both ill-informed and premature, as drivers, they are not my people.

First impressions are not always bad or wrong, in fact a time or two they’ve saved my life. However, most of the time it’s better  to partner our first impressions with prayer, taking the time to seek the Lord’s will, allowing Him to clarify what we are seeing, hearing and sensing.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tell us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

The road of life can take us on some long and winding trips. Isn’t it good to know that as we trust in the Lord He will show us the way. He will lead and guide us as we seek Him through prayer and study. He will keep us from acting on our first impressions alone. He will keep us from making ill-informed decisions and He will lead us to the road that will take us where He has planned for us to go.

Trust in the Lord. Seek His way. Follow Him. Those steps will always protect us from making premature decisions based on first impressions alone and will take us where we are supposed to go and in the way we are supposed to get there.

                                              Thankful to Follow,

                                                     Mark

Recently I had a small tech device that I needed to destroy so I grabbed my small sledge hammer and started hitting it. The first couple of times that I hit it I couldn’t believe that the device wasn’t destroyed, but instead the hammer just bounced off without causing any real damage. I thought to myself, that is one tough device. After several more hits I finally realized that I had grabbed my rubber mallet instead of my small sledge hammer, they have the same size handle and hammer head, but deliver a vastly different wallop. Recognizing my mistake I changed hammers and quickly completed my task.

That experience got me to wondering how many times I’ve grabbed the wrong tool to do the work of God’s kingdom, like:

Grabbing action without thought instead of waiting and seeking God’s will in prayer.

Grabbing worry or fear instead of faith.

Grabbing frustration and irritation instead of love and grace.

Grabbing the first words that come to mind rather than considering the impact of what I say.

Grabbing words that hurt rather words that build up.

Grabbing presumption rather than knowledge.

Grabbing impatience rather than patience.

Grabbing anger instead of joy.

Grabbing conflict and strife instead of peace.

When it comes to the work of God’s kingdom grabbing the right tool the first time really does make a difference, which is why this Sunday, October 5, we’ll begin a series in worship on the Fruit of the Spirit.

I hope you will make it a priority to join us and to allow God to continue developing His character in you so you have all of the right tools to do His work.

                                        God’s Grace and Peace,

                                                    Mark