“What Is Your Wish?”

Decisions, Decisions

If you could be granted one wish for yourself, what would you choose?

Money?

Happiness?

Popularity?

Health?

Success?

Something else?

If your biggest wish could come true, why did you choose this particular wish?

“Who’s Got Your Back?”

A Real Dream

Years later, I still remember the dream.

A noise in the basement woke me. I flipped on the light at the top of the stairs and wiped sleep from my eyes. The old pine boards creaked with every step.

At the bottom I turned and saw a man.

The devil’s nondescript body lacked a red suit, pitchfork, pointy tale, sharp beard, and horns. But the evil oozing forth erased all doubts about his identity.

Satan spoke. I’ve forgotten his words, but I'm sure whatever he said was a lie.

“Wrestling With the Black Dog”

Happy 2015!

A new year brings a fresh sidebar, color, and background. I write this blog for you, so feel free to offer any constructive feedback.

Set Free to Soar seeks to address freedom in Christ. I share some of what God shows me hoping to bless you too. This year my goal is to post at least three times a month.

“Is Your Knot Secure?”

Love At Its Strongest

They literally tied the knot.

On Saturday in Wrightsville Beach, NC, I officiated a wedding for two friends whose families mean a lot to me.

To symbolize the unity of their relationship, the bride and groom could have lit a unity candle or poured together colored sand. Instead, they tied a sailor’s knot.

After Josh and Catherine exchanged rings, their mothers brought up a strand of rope to represent each family. The happy couple tied the two ropes as I read the following:

“The Best Story in History"

A Wordless Story

“Show, not tell” ranks near the top of instructions given to writers. Holy Week is the perfect time to take this advice to heart. The cornerstone of the Christian faith is Jesus' death and resurrection.

If we jump right from Palm Sunday to Easter, we'll miss everything in between. All the action on Thursday and Friday makes Palm Sunday and Easter so special. Those two celebrations are bookends to the best story in history.

Instead of me telling it to you, I'll let the following 10 pictures show you. 

“What Will Be Your Legacy?”

Super Reflections

After Seattle beat Denver 43-8, some fans are questioning Peyton Manning’s legacy. He is a five-time MVP. He set additional NFL records this season. But in the Super Bowl, Peyton is 1-2. Despite elite talent and taking his team to the playoffs annually, #18 has only hoisted the Lombardi trophy once. Younger brother Eli, with less regular season success in his career, has done it twice.

I’m not bashing Manning. He didn’t snap the ball for a safety on his team’s first play. He didn’t give up a kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half or fail to block Seattle’s defensive line all night. The whole team played flat at the worst time of the year. And Seattle is no cupcake. They earned the right to play in the Super Bowl. Sunday night, they merited a decisive win.

What About Us?

In a culture obsessed with winning, where bottom line results are all that count, #18’s track record will be tainted if he fails to win another Super Bowl before he retires. Crazy, isn’t it? Winning one Super Bowl isn’t enough. A quarterback must do it at least twice to forge the proper legacy.

Some talking heads believe this; I don’t. Does his father Archie deserve less respect just because he never played in a Super Bowl? Whether Peyton wins another title or not, his legacy should be secure.

Set free to soar on my journey, I wonder how this not-yet-published writer will be remembered. I don’t possess Peyton Manning’s name recognition. Most of my town couldn’t pick me out of a lineup. But does this mean I’m a failure just because no one gives money to charity every time I holler, “Omaha!”?

In her recent blog post at “The Write Conversation” (01/24/14), Edie Melson wrote, “Publication isn’t the sole definition of writing success. Touching someone’s life through the words I pen, whether it’s on a blog or a book or an article, is way more important than a book contract.”

I like Edie’s quote. I posted her words near my computer as a reminder about genuine success in the writing world. Of course I want to be published someday. But in the end, the sole indicator of success is neither the number of books published nor the number of Super Bowl wins.

  

One popular definition of success is commonly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), though Bessie Stanley may have written it in 1905. The quote ends as follows:

To leave the world a bit better,

Whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Jesus’ definition of success is counter-intuitive. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45, NIV).

The ultimate prize awaits those who obey Jesus. “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21 and 23, NIV).

Servanthood + Faithfulness with what God has given us

= True success in God’s kingdom.

NFL records and book contracts are good. Super Bowl trophies and best-seller awards are better. But the best legacy of all is to hear Jesus say, “Well done!”

David

“Into a Spacious Place”

From Salvation to Spacious

Jesus blessed me with salvation years ago. I’ve experienced God’s power many times since. But the reality is, believers can hold a ticket to heaven in their pocket and still be bound by deceptive falsehood and generational sin.

It happened to me.

For years I served Jesus confined by the (often unreasonable) expectations of others. Inside my cell, the leg-irons of self-imposed super high expectations further hindered my walk with Christ. At midlife I discovered that all along I could access the key to my release. Knowing the truth led me to unlock the shackles, open the door, and walk to freedom.

He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
(Psalm 18:19 and II Samuel 22:20, NIV)

You...have set my feet in a spacious place. (Psalm 31:8, NIV)

I like living in a broad place though I haven’t been on a payroll since June 2012. I don’t know when I’ll earn my next dollar. But in Christ I’ve never been richer or freer.

One Step Up, Three Steps Back

Before I quit church ministry (but not the church or ministry), I suffered chest pains every day for 18 months. Stress tests found nothing wrong with my heart. Yet in December 2011, various professionals at the Davidson Centre warned me I was on the verge of hospitalization.[i] Depression and anxiety pushed me to the edge of burnout. My response to 20 years in the United Methodist Church (UMC) clergy system led my family physician to suggest finding a healthier way to serve God.

In January 2012 I took a 2-month sabbatical (“spiritual and formational growth leave” so I still got paid), during which I decided to leave the pulpit permanently in June. I preached my last sermon on Father’s Day and started an unpaid leave.

A month later, the years of missed Sabbaths and my perfectionist tendencies exacted another toll. The prediction of the Davidson professionals came true. In July 2012 I was admitted to the hospital.

An invisible rope looped around my chest and each end played tug-of-war for 19 hours. “Am I dying?” I wondered at 2 a.m. in my hospital bed. Nitroglycerine in the ER not only failed to ease the tightness, it added a killer headache to my chest pain. The rope let go only after an echocardiogram and a heart catheterization turned out well.

The route to freedom is more like a mountain road than a straight line.

VTP to the Rescue

The UMC’s Voluntary Transition Program began January 1, 2013, to offer clergy a graceful way to change vocations, to exit ordained ministry. Last spring I jumped at the VTP when I learned of it. After 10 months on leave, I became the first United Methodist clergy in the world to sign up.

The VTP helped shift my ministry from the pulpit back to the pew. I lived as a disciple long before the bishop laid hands on me; through baptism, all Christians are commissioned for ministry in the priesthood of all believers. God used VTP benefits to enlarge my spacious place through a severance payment, help with moving expenses, and career counseling.

I turned in my clergy credentials on April 23, 2013. I drove home sad, but free. I was no longer the minister, pastor, preacher, reverend. Yet I remained what matters most: a child of God. 

[i] The Davidson Centre for the Professions offers on-site renewal programs for ministry, medicine, law, and public service. See www.davcp.com.

David

“Lifting Off”

Welcome to the launch!

Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth,

and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

They will run and not grow weary,

They will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Freedom

Freedom. It’s not just a rallying cry on the lips of battlefield heroes like William Wallace. On Good Friday and Easter, Jesus proved freedom is worth dying for so we can be set free to live the life God intends. Jesus came to free us to become the unique person God created us to be.

After years of bondage to generational sin and toxic systems, God has set me free to soar. Over the past couple of years the Father has orchestrated significant change. The Holy Spirit has made major midlife adjustments in how I relate to my family, the church, and myself. Following Jesus is not for wimps, but it sure is worth the adventure to mount up with wings like eagles.

The transition has been intensely personal, often painful, but deeply gratifying.

Now I’m free to live a balanced life. I’m free to focus on using my gifts and passion, not on trying (and failing) to satisfy the demands and expectations of others. I’m free to serve Christ because I can, not because I must.

My life’s not perfect, never will be until heaven. Lingering wounds need more healing. And as a textbook middle child (translation: peacemaker/unifier), I’m a work in progress on being at peace with serving from my strengths instead of striving to please others. Still, the Lord has set me free of those things that for years rendered me barely able to walk and not be faint, much less run and not grow weary.

What Can You Expect?

Your time is valuable, so I plan to post about 500-600 words each Wednesday.

Jesus offers abundant life (John 10:10). May my thoughts and experiences encourage you on your journey. The Lord will help you break free of your chains so you can fly with the rugged power and easy grace of an eagle.  

Next week I'll begin sharing why I left church ministry (but not the church OR ministry) to be faithful to God's call. 

If you’re inspired to comment on something I write, where do you agree? If you disagree, why? (Be kind!) What strikes a chord or a nerve? How can we help one other attain greater freedom in the Lord?

A Prayer for the New Year

May this prayer by Thomas Merton (1915-1968) bless you during 2014.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not know the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,

  and the fact that I think I am following your will

  does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you

  does in fact, please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

  though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore, I will trust you always,

  though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,

  and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

David