Changing times

Have you ever noticed how change really bothers some people? Like nothing should ever change, we should live the same life over and over, like a horrible version on "Ground Hog's Day" which was terrible enough by itself. Why are we so afraid of change? We see it every day. Nothing is ever really the same. Even if we tried to make it so, it would be different.
Having a baby really shows you how much change is prevalent in our lives. He is certainly not the same kid he was a year ago and I wouldn't want him to be. Although he was a cute baby and at 6 months old was not mobile, which had its benefits, it would not be wonderful for him to be a year and a half still not moving around. He now uses words I can understand, some I can't, but most that I can. He is becoming his own little human, with thoughts and ideas of his own. Why would we want that to stop changing?
I understand that it is good to have things that are stable in our lives. Living in chaos is not ideal and makes us crazy. However even the things that are stable should also be changing. If those things never changed, be it a relationship with a spouse or friend, it would get stale rather quickly. Think of how many shows you have stopped watching or games you haven't played for a long time or books you only read once because you now know the story. We don't go back to those things because they are boring and they are predictable. There is a difference between reliable and predictable and I for one get rather bored with predictable pretty quickly. They say that the average American now has an attention span of 8 min. So why are we not wanting things like the church to change? What worries us about that change?
The truth is, God's reliability never changes. The way we talk about His unconditional love sometimes changes but the truth of His unconditional love doesn't. It is always there, it is never changing. However our relationship with God is ever changing or at least should be. As humans we make mistakes, we wonder off and we find something new and shiny that grabs our attention and takes us away from our relationship with God. Then we must work on making it better again. God never falters because He is God. He is a perfect being that loves without condition and knows that we will make mistakes and waits for us to return. He is much like a dog, always sad to see us leave and always happy to see us return, no matter what has happened in between. I guess that is one more reason that dog is God spelled backwards.
Life is ever changing, our relationships are ever changing, the church itself should be ever changing, growing, morphing into better disciples for Christ. The church is not the building, it is the people inside. God does not care about your church building, I hate to say, God cares about us. God cares about what we are doing and how we are changing. We should embrace the changes around us, knowing that it means we are growing. It is our job to make sure that we are changing ourselves and the world for the better. How are you changing? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Until next time,
~Michelle

The Main Thing

This last week I was Annual Conference for the Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church. The first morning there our Bishop Scott Jones gave a sermon about keeping the main thing the main thing. The main thing being the Jesus died for all our sins and to love one another. It was a fantastic message and a great way to start the week. Throughout the week as debate and decisions were made, many people kept referring to this thought of "keeping the main thing the main thing."
On Saturday, the last day of conference it all came to a head. We began debating a petition that would be sent to the General Conference(the world gathering) of the United Methodist Church in May. If passed this petition would suggest a change in the wording of the doctrine of the United Methodist Church. It would allow Pastors to marry couples no matter their sexual orientation, it also would allow all people that feel the call to lead in the church to be ordained regardless of gender, age, race or sexual orientation. If this change actually took place it would be a huge change and one that many believe needs to happen.
Back to the story, as we were debating this petition, many that were against brought up this idea that if we pass this petition we are not "keeping the main thing the main thing" any longer. We are letting society tell us what is right and not God. Mostly I was confused about how being an inclusive church is getting us away from the idea that Jesus died for all of us! Are we not all sinners? I know that often times people like to think that the leaders of our church, especially the pastors are perfect, are not sinners and live a righteous life. Let me tell you friends, that is not true. We are all sinners, every last one of us.
The true hope is that those that are leading the church are on the path of following Christ, are working to follow His word and have answered the call to serve God in a leadership position in our churches. They are however not perfect, or sinless. Nobody is.
We all have a duty to follow Christ, it is what makes us Christians. We all have a Calling, we all have special gifts and talents that make us unique and able to answer the Call that God has set before us. And even though our Calls maybe different the goal is still the same, for us to share the word of God with others, to show His unconditional love and show others how amazing it is to live a life with Christ.
Now none of this is easy and because we are humans we will fail time and time again, but it is in the trying that great things will happen. We can accomplish amazing things when we work together, remember we are not perfect and remember to "keep the main thing, the main thing." Jesus died for all of us! Not just the white males in the United States or the Africans in Sudan or the Jews, but ALL OF US! He died so ALL OF OUR sins could be forgiven! I have never found a place in the Bible that says that God loves everyone except this particular group. The Bible says time and time again to repent and you shall be forgiven.
So are you "keeping the main thing, the main thing?" Are you sharing love for all and knowledge that in Christ we are all equal, loved and called to serve? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Until next time,
~Michelle