Frankly Devoted

A Presbyterian minister and one of my favorite theologians, Frederick Buechner, said “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” In my ministry with Habitat for Humanity, I have found that place. I truly believe that everyone deserves decent shelter, and with that foundation, people can build strength, stability, and self-reliance. Habitat’s mission expresses it well:  “Seeking to put God’s love into action Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.” Each year for over thirty years, President and Mrs. Carter have spent a week of their lives putting their faith into action, building alongside families in need of decent shelter in the U.S. and abroad. Last month I joined them in Edmonton, Canada for this year’s Carter Work Project, helping 150 families throughout Canada build and improve places they can call home.  (And while President Carter was hospitalized on Thursday of ...

  Congregational Hymn – Angel Band Scripture: Proverbs 31:10-31 Congregational Hymn – In the Garden Reading: Crossing the Bar- Alfred, Lord Tennyson Sunset and evening star,        And one clear call for me!  And may there be no moaning of the bar,        When I put out to sea,       But such a tide as moving seems asleep,        Too full for sound and foam,  When that which drew from out the boundless deep        Turns again home.       Twilight and evening bell,        And after that the dark!  And may there be no sadness of farewell,        When I embark;       For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place       ...

Today is the first day of spring. The world is fresh and new and in bloom! Last Sunday, on a not quite spring afternoon, I took this picture of my favorite window at my church, featuring beautiful lilies and the birds of the air. In the Gospel of Matthew, right there in the middle of The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to "Consider the lilies."  He uses lilies as an example for us, a reason to to give up our worries. He says, "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splend...

 

My Lenten Devotional for today, written for Saint Mark United Methodist Church's Lenten Devotional Guide:

Next week, we’ll start the Lenten Season. I received an email from Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity last week, with a devotion for each week of Lent. In the email, he writes: “We hope you will find it meaningful to reflect on what it means to follow Jesus personally and what it means for the ministry of Habitat for each of us to be faithful followers. As we look toward the cross, and ultimately the Resurrection, let us remember that trusting God enough to follow His call enables us to demonstrate the kingdom of God here on earth.” The theme for the Habitat Lenten Devotions this year is “Follow Me.” But what does it mean to follow Jesus? I am reading a book by Jossy Chacko who spoke at Willow Creek Global Summit Leadership Summit last year. His organization Empart desires to “reach the unreached” to truly live out the words of The Great Commission: Matthew 28: 16-20:   The eleven disciples went into Galilee to the hillside to which Jesus had d...

I wrote this devotional for Epiphany, to be included in St. Mark's 2016 Advent Devotional Guide.