Brian's Blog: Tilling the Soul

Standing in the back of the sanctuary someone shared this — “This church has redeemed church for me.  The way you lead has brought me back to Jesus. I find such hope because of this place and you.”

I am continually grateful for what Jesus is up to.  This man also shared how concerned he has been that I’m going to leave the end of June.  There’s that real sense of “how can we go on?” in the middle of loss. It’s true for me too.  There’s a difference ahead and none of us know what it will feel like, look like, or what we will become in the middle of it. 

I think that sometimes in a season of change we can forget that Jesus has this.  That as He has called me on, equally so He is calling all of you on in the future of the church expressed as Westside Journey UMC.  

At our last church council meeting, while listening for what Jesus would speak into our lives, this word came.  I share it here to remind you of the plans Jesus has for you. You too have a life to look forward to into which Jesus is leading.  

Here’s the word: 

“Just you wait children.  I have great plans for you all.  I love the sincerity of your hearts, your tears, your desire to honor and follow Me!  I have plans that I’m unfolding. And these good plans include all of you. Never fear about change.  When you till your gardens, when you pull up one plant to plant others it is not a frightening task but a joyous one.  Don’t you love working the soil and watching new growth come forth? So now. I’m not uprooting plants but I am Moving some plants around.”

“It is a season to till the soul.” (Note:  the word changed here to SOUL and suddenly I knew the metaphor of the garden was of our souls too.).

“ It is a season for me to plant within you and through you and those plantings will bring great movements of my Spirit.  Yes, Brian is moving on but I am yet at work mightily. I have great plans for you and your new pastor and great plans for this upcoming year.”

“So do not fear.  Rejoice. Celebrate.  You’ll see Me bless!”

I hope you can hold onto this and place Hope in the One who has this and has us. He is the One who has made this place a “Safe Haven” which was a phrase that also came through listening at the meeting.  Stay in His love.

Christmas Baskets

Bonnie Becker is once again assembling Christmas Baskets for our friends in need.

Stay tuned for sign-up sheets and details on how you can be involved!

Are You Looking in the Right Direction?

Late one night the opening text from a friend in another state was:  “I am thinking a lot about death. I don’t know who to share with. Any ideas?”  

Reading it I was thinking -- Phew! If that wasn’t a leading opener, I didn’t know what was! I texted back:  “What do you mean you think about it a lot brother??” 

To which he wrote:  “How far does clergy confidentiality go?” 

I called him.  I could hear a victim mindset and could hear defeat, loud and clear. Once on the line, it felt like he was buried under a barrage of lies that had him giving up on life itself.  It took a lot of coaxing but finally we were able to get to the point of doing some good praying, and the more we prayed and rebuked and dealt with the lies the more alive his voice sounded on the other end of the phone.  Crying, Laughing and Grateful, he was out from under hell. Literally. It was a beautiful transformation to hear. That’s the kind of transformation Jesus can and does bring. That’s what can happen as we shift our focus from ourselves, from the circumstances, from the darkness back to Him, to the Light, to Hope.  When our eyes are looking in the right direction, everything improves.  

One thing we get from Elizabeth is that she had her eyes fixed in the correct direction. 

Even when she had not had her prayers for a child answered for decades, she had never become bitter toward God. She had lived forward-focused, and not settled into anger.  This is apparent from how she received the transformation of her life and body. After decades, Elizabeth could have been angry. But instead, we see her enveloped with gratefulness that overflows through her. In contrast, Zechariah, her husband, had given up, seemed nearly defensive towards the angelic announcement that his wife would conceive.  It was too late in his mind and as a result of his unbelief, he was given the silent treatment!  

Trust changes everything.  Indeed, it transforms the heart.  When we fix our eyes on ourselves, our circumstances, our conditions, our illnesses, when we own the things that are wrong, “My knees, my hips, my migraines” our tendency is to give those things more power and lessen the ability of God to impact us. 

When we shift our focus, looking up and out at the greatness of God, seeing the change in colors, the brilliance of the sun, the beauty of the moon, celebrating the little gifts along the way, when we place our trust in who God is, in what God has accomplished, when we let God in through the open door of circumstance, then, everything changes.  We allow God to write straight on the crooked lines of our lives, and that changes everything.  

We notice how Elizabeth speaks of herself and to Mary, her cousin, when she arrives to visit.  Elizabeth has stayed tuned into the goodness of God all through the years and welcomed a late-in-time answer to prayer.  

Check this out in Luke 1:23-25; 1:39-45.

If there were a “trust-o-meter” to which you could hook yourself up and get a reading for how much your own heart is trusting God, what would it read?  Would you discover you are trust “hot” or trust “cool?” Would you find that you place most of your trust in yourself and only minimally trust what God has done, who God is on your behalf?  Or would it show trust like Elizabeth’s?  

Trust God today and for all your tomorrows.  See you Sunday.   

Reminder: Action Assembly this Sunday

Don’t forget to attend our Action Assembly this Sunday from 3:00 - 6:00 pm at Beaverton First UMC, 12555 SW 4th St.

It will be a time of worship, song, and celebration with seven other UMCs in west Portland. Speakers include Erin Martin, our district superintendent; Pastor Jefferson Chao from BFUMC on their ministry with Wake Up Beaverton; and Westside’s own Amy Fiederowicz! (She speaks around 4:30.)

See you there!

Childcare Worker Needed

A paid caregiver is needed for one or two Sundays a month, from 9:45-11:45 am, in the church nursery.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more, please contact Laura Cosgrove at 503-860-7446.

Church Office Closed

The church office will be closed from November 18 through 29. Pastor Brian will be available through his personal email or cell phone.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Join the Journey, 11.10.19

Question: How can you experience God’s Presence in the silence this week?

Answers:

1. Prayer

2. To be still and ask to be filled.

3. I’ll hear him speak to me.

Brian's Blog: Better Together

Coming this Sunday is our “charge conference,” which again this year will be taking place in the format of an Action Assembly. This is a gathering of many congregations from our area, all at Beaverton First UMC.  We will worship, hear from Erin, our District Superintendent, hear faith stories of people living the faith and walking in it -- one from the LGBTQ+ perspective and another, Amy Fiederowicz from outreach ministry.  We will share in 1-1s and small groups. We will discuss the possible change in the UMC after General Conference comes in May 2020. And then we will have time to do the official work of voting on areas of church business.  

The DS has heard some kickback about this format. Last year was the first attempt and some things didn’t go as planned.  There were some responses of confusion to this format.  

Erin wrote this in response: 

“The confusion (about action assemblies) centers around the "Why?" 

Why has the way we do Charge Conferences changed? 

Why do we have to travel to different churches, gather with other people we don't know and do things otherwise not associated with Charge Conference? 

The "why" question is an important one. … Let me try to be abundantly clear: Why Action Assemblies? Because there is greater power in our gathering across congregations. We are stronger together than we are apart. We break down isolation, create bigger community, and understand ourselves as interconnected with each other. Now more than ever, we are not alone. These are important values for us as United Methodists in our District at this time. Each of our contexts uniquely contributes to the greater whole. At Action Assemblies, we get to experience the richness of our varied connection as we gather in larger ways.”

I know that we do not all agree on all things, but I also know we need to be unified in order to move forward.  And unity cannot be around opinions but must be centered in a Person: Jesus. Once we find our unity in Him, we can disagree on many things yet come back to unity around the Savior. The Action Assembly is one opportunity to discover that unity.  Hopefully!  

November 17th, 3-6 pm.  Beaverton First UMC  

What Happens in the Silence?

Zechariah and Elizabeth, who dreamed of having a son, are the proud parents of John the Baptist. Their son baptizes Jesus and prepares the people for His coming. But there was a time when  John’s parents weren’t sure they would have a son after many years of waiting. When an angel delivered the joyous news on their dream, instead of outwardly rejoicing, Zechariah had to wait in silence.

What happens in the waiting? What happens in the silence? How do we handle the spaces of waiting in our own lives? How can we embrace the silence?

Join us this Sunday at 8:15 or 10:00 am and let’s explore this together. Come. Worship.

EPIK Journey

Forced prostitution is happening here and now in our community. Participating in the EPIK Journey means standing in solidarity and saying "enough!"

Join in on November 23rd from 10 to 2, for an immersive experience, guided by anti-trafficking leaders, to raise awareness and funds for EPIK. We'll literally walk a mile (or 2.5) in the shoes of a trafficked person with guided conversation, and lunch at Flying Pie Pizza.

Meet at NE 82nd Ave and NE Sandy, rain or shine. More info can be found on their Facebook page.

Can’t make it? Please consider donating at https://connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/epikproject/Campaign/journey2019

WFWA Holiday Food Drive

It was a tough time for the migrant workers this summer. The cherry harvest in California was lost, due to late rains, so workers arrived here without that paycheck. Volunteers from the Western Farm Workers Association (WFWA) went to the camps and signed up 150 new members and delegates to represent them.

During this summer, about ten thousand homes in the Portland metro area had their electricity shut off. Of these, one-fifth of the homes took longer than one week to reconnect. Half of those families were never able to reconnect. Federal agencies had no funds to help this year.

We continue to support the working poor in our communities. We will be collecting pinto beans, white rice, oil, onions and more for the annual Thanksgiving food drive. WFWA will be distributing the food to 120 families on November 26. For more information, contact Merry Goldthorpe or phone the WFWA office in Hillsboro at 503-681-9399. Thank you!

Join the Journey, 11.3.19

Question: What do you like best or least about the upcoming holiday season?

Answers:

1. Reminder of loss.

2. Best: celebrating the birth of our savior! Least: the busyness.

3. The best is celebrating our Lord’s birth. The worst is not having my family to share it with.

4. Celebrating alone.

5. Love it all.

Brian's Blog: Love or Hate/Add or Release

“I hate this season,” the woman said, “I hate the remembrance of my son’s death.”  

“The lights are glorious around Christmas. I just love this season.”  

“Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!”  

“The loss is so painful, I just wish we didn’t have the meal at all for Thanksgiving.”  

“I wish I could eat pumpkin pie every day, all day long.” 

So many contrasting feelings and emotions surrounding holidays, especially these two that fall within our longer Advent.  Each holiday and the seasons around them carry their own stories in each of your lives. For some of you, it is light and glorious. For others dark and dismal, for the losses, hurts, and pain have marked these events so the holiday comes as an annual reminder of that loss.   

The early church began the practice of fasting during Advent, and began that fast in what is now the month of November.  As we have begun Advent early, take time to reflect on the coming of Jesus and ask this question: How might this miracle impact how I live each day? 

I know, you have already been doing that. But during this season, do it all the more.  Remember the first coming and anticipate the second coming of Jesus.  

During Advent, some of the scriptures you will be asked to reflect upon in Next Steps will focus upon the second coming.  Ponder those and how you relate to the idea that Jesus is coming again?  

Also, during this longer Advent, what do you plan to take up or let go of in order to draw nearer to Jesus?  

How might you follow more closely? 

That’s a similar question that we asked during Lent.  The ancient church, and still practiced in the Orthodox church, fast in this season.  

You and I can choose to cut something out or add something in, during this season, in order to draw closer to Jesus.  

What might that be for you? 

How might you subtract or add something to experience more of Jesus in your heart and life?  

This is like waiting at a certain corner for a bus. If you know the bus is coming, then waiting at the correct corner is all that is needed. So, your ‘fast’ -- the thing you cut or add -- can be that means to wait daily upon God to show up. God will. God loves to meet us! 

Something to release. Something to add. 

Let’s do this for the longer advent and submit ourselves to God all the more.  

Embrace Advent

John 1: 1-18 reads like poetry. It is soft. Beautiful. Lyrical. Powerful. It pulls you in. It astounds you with simplicity and profundity simultaneously. And here in a passage that takes our hearts back to the very first verse of the Bible “In the Beginning God created…” we encounter both John the Baptist sent as a witness and Jesus, the Word, the One with God who came From God, the Word made Flesh. Powerful. Invitational. The word made flesh.

It is the most unique aspect of what occurred some 2000 years ago in Jesus Christ,

...that the One positioned forever at the Father’s Hand,

...that the One who was the Son and yet equal to God,

the One united to God by a love that was so tangible as to be a Person as well, the Holy Spirit,

...that this One, of the Three-One God, singular in purpose and fullness and identity yet triune in Person,

...that this One, this Son would come to earth, in an action so sublime and incredible and take flesh to live a life filled with Grace, be named Jesus by his step dad Joseph, and show us exactly what the character of God is like;

not only this, but that this One, this Jesus would come to live and die in order that we could truly live.

Unfathomable.

Incredible.

Marvelous.

Amazing love indeed.

An old Charles Wesley hymn says “contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man.”

This miracle shook the heavens and the earth. This miracle is our focus this Advent. Certainly the season does encompass not only that Jesus came, but that He comes yet again. But in the midst of that, we can be still, pause, reflect upon what this means for how we face life, the craziness of the holidays, the challenges of loss, the regrets of choices. How did the first characters respond, and how might we?

Don’t miss out by staying away. Don’t be cheated out of a blessing. Don’t stay away; come in, come be in worship, come seek the Savior.

Fall Back!

It’s that time again. Don’t forget to give yourself an extra hour of sleep this Saturday night.

Another Way to Serve

Perhaps you’re unable to volunteer on the 3rd Wednesdays at HomePlate.

Did you know that you can help by donating food and/or cash?

The Westside HomePlate team serves approximately 60 homeless youth each month. Bonnie Becker does a tremendous job of procuring donations for the meals but there are always additional items needed.

Contact Bonnie and see how you can be a regular donor to this tremendous ministry!

Join the Journey, 10.27.19

Question: What fear, habit, belief do you need to release/die to in order to live?

Answers:

1. Super low self esteem. Covering myself in tattoos because I don’t like what I see in the mirror.

2. Being in control.

3. Others control over me.

4. The feeling of being homeless and alone.

5. That I am not loveable.

6. Body image. Overeating. Pain.

7. Die to controlling my every move/step. Letting God fill me and living in the Holy Spirit.

Brian's Blog: Who's On Your Team?

“There’s a transitions team?” The brother said.  “What do they do? Who’s on the team?” 

I was surprised by his questions for it has felt like we’ve been answering them for three months.  But in the slides, verbal announcements, bulletin blurbs, email newsletters with team members listed, and published stories about each meeting, although I’ve felt like we have been communicating, others hadn’t heard nor seen a thing.   

It was a blatant “case in point” that communication is a challenging dance.  The steps are not scripted. Although an announcement is made, that might have been the moment someone said something to you and you didn’t hear it.  Or the blurb in the bulletin didn’t catch your eye. And you hadn’t been reading the church email so missed those as well.  

And that points to this blog here— it might also not be seen! 

And it takes effort to communicate. You’ve noticed that in your life as well.  Next time you are in the building look for the transitions team posters and announcements. 

Have you noticed the weekly prayer request to be praying for our new pastor?  That’s been in the bulletin for months and is from the transitions team. Have you heard the announcements and seen the sign up for “Tables of 8?”  Again, transitions team.  

At our last meeting, October 13, the energy that filled the room was incredible.  Over lunch we broke into smaller discussion groups, each with a different topic. Out of these, a plan for communication, for listening posts, for Christmas events, for skits and community times emerged.  This team, made up of the Gabels, Loayzas, Mark Smith, Jane Williams, Paige Flanagan, Gayellyn Jacobson, Kristin Walters, Francie Stacey, Kari Suppes, Wendy Fedderly, Martha Tunall and Susan Brehmer is intent upon making a transition that helps us say goodbye well and also leaves you with the bandwidth to embrace and welcome the new pastor who will begin Júly 1.  

One of our whole group conversations dealt with the possible changes coming with the 2020 General Conference.  Our Western Jurisdiction (all the states west of Colorado) has said that barring some middle road agreement this might be our (speaking of the Western Jurisdiction) last General Conference with the UMC.  What that will look like no one knows. But that it might happen and might impact us is something to discuss, ponder and hold in prayer. This discussion brought tears to a team member desiring with us all that the UMC might remain united.  

We have two new monthly “tables of 8” groups beginning soon.  One of them is comprised of families with teenagers, which ought to be dynamic.  Do you have a desire to join a Table of 8? Contact Cindy Loayza at 206-779-6208 or cknewell@gmail.com and she can help you form a group.  

A team of people with you all in heart and mind desiring to see us transition successfully is something to give thanks for.  Also, pray for the team and give your input so we can be assured to be hearing your voice too. 

Choosing Providence Over Paltriness

“I’m an atheist,” the woman was blunt.

“Really? Tell me more about how you arrived at that kind of place.” I responded. We were chatting in this echoey room filled with other chatting people. We nearly needed to yell to be heard. To say the least, it was difficult to have this kind of conversation, but we powered forward.

She told me of her childhood, her life and her belief that there was a complete lack of evidence for God, therefore, God didn’t exist. So felt that perhaps having faith was something genetic and she didn’t have the gene, she considered herself atheist.

I countered, “Ah, but actually you do believe. You believe that all this: the creation, the cosmos, trees, animals, birds, seas and rivers, everything visible and invisible to the eye, even you and me, all this came about by chance, and I would say that is a belief system much tougher to prove than my own.” She looked stunned momentarily, then excused herself to find someone else due to be at the event.

“A lack of evidence for God.” Imagine that. Visiting baby Sloane Stacey with her tiny hand grabbing onto my thumb was evidence of a mighty Creator enough for me. It’s a matter of perspective, of choice, and also of being blinded to the Real by spiritual forces. Spiritual life is an awakening, and changes everything. I’m still praying for this woman, and for more opportunities to continue our conversation.

This week we are looking with Bucky Buchstaber preaching at the passage at the end of Mark 8, which is the turning point in the gospel. It is the point at which after the disciples, through Peter’s voice, identify Jesus as the Messiah, that Jesus heads resolutely for the cross. This is why after this declaration, Jesus immediately speaks of his death. The Messiah had to die in order for a new humanity to begin with Him, and in order to defeat the power that death had over humanity. It would be man’s way to not take that path. It would be human desire to avoid suffering and self-sacrifice. But Jesus chose it, even embraced it.

And so he says to those hearing to choose the same way -- die that you may live. Choose the way of self sacrifice, “lose your life for Me and for the Gospel, that you might find it.”

To lose our lives for this reason is to die to all our self-saving tendencies. It is to release our tendency to save face, be afraid of man’s opinion, to worry, be fretful over the future or regret the past. It is to release, lay down, harsh judgments, bitterness, accusations and pride. It is to die to our own tendency to have the last word, the best opinion, the most likes on FB. It is to forgive. Laying down this life is to release anger, hate, unforgiveness, and malice. All these must be sacrificed. It is to say no to these. Peter chose “man’s way,” he chose “Satan’s opinion” by standing against the plan of God for Jesus, the Messiah to die for all people. Still the spirits that speak for this false spirit say Jesus never died in the flesh and rose from the dead.

Jesus and the Gospel he lived show us a new way, and we only live into that way by releasing the hold of the old.

The only way to really release our hold on our finances is to release ourselves first into God’s plan and desire for us. We have to die to the hold money can have on our hearts, we might have to die to our mythical thinking about money, and instead sacrifice by giving first, however much, to God in order that we can really be free to follow Him in the rest of life.

“What can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

The answer is clear.

Let’s choose to follow and live.

Health and Wholeness

You are invited to attend Vermont Hill UMC’s Health and Wholeness service on Sunday, November 10. Beginning at 6:00 pm, it’s an hour of healing mentally, physically, and spiritually, led by Pastor Bo Sanders.

VHUMC is located at 6053 SW 55th Drive in Portland.