Andy's Blog: A Personal Word

May 2010 Archive

May 25, 2010

May. 25, 2010

Zambia…

Back in October, Trinity had an exciting opportunity to help get a new ministry and a new United Methodist Conference started in Zambia, a country in the middle of southern Africa. We helped purchase 11 acres of land which will be used both by SIFAT (Servants in Faith and Technology) and the United Methodist Church. Two weeks ago, I traveled to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, to see the facility being built there.

I was impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of the local churches. Members would walk hours from their homes to the work site to lay concrete blocks for the wall around the property. After a tiring day of work, when we gave them a lift in the back of a 4-wheel drive pickup truck, they sang joyfully all the way back to their neighborhood. Two members stayed at the work site, sleeping in a tent to make sure the construction materials weren’t stolen.

It’s amazing that these tiny United Methodist churches, who have so few resources, are poised to have such a tremendous impact on their community, their country, and their continent simply by their willingness to work and be used by God. As we worshiped on Sunday in a Spartan classroom, clapping and singing, I was humbled. I wondered to myself, “Our church has far more resources and many more people – could we have the same kind of impact on our community?”

We can and we do! Our greatest strength in transforming the world is when we get on board with what God is already doing – with Church of the Reconciler, or Urban Ministry, or BHN or any number of ministries already going on in Birmingham. In this case Trinity is also helping to transform Africa, by partnering with the Methodist churches in Zambia in helping their own communities.  

Look around and ask yourself, “Where is God moving in the world? In Homewood? In my life, my job, my school? How can I join God in God’s mission?” The invitation is always there. You can come with me to Zambia, or you can come with any number of Trinity servants into the mission field in your own back yard.
-- Dave Barnhart

May 18, 2010

May. 18, 2010

In an interview on the occasion of turning 60, a famous actress had this to say:
“As an actress I know how important third acts are. Third acts make sense of the first and second acts. You can have first and second acts that are interesting, but you don’t know what they mean. Then a good third act pulls it all together. And so I thought, for that to happen, I have to know what the first and second acts were about, and I have to know where I want to end up.”

The retirement years are eagerly anticipated by most people. After a lifetime of work, structure and marching to the orders of others – retirement promises leisure and freedom. But for some, the passage into retirement is the most difficult. Leisure turns to boredom. Lack of structure becomes lethargic. No more work means no purpose. There is nothing to get you out of bed in the morning.

And yet for some, this third act of retirement truly represents the Golden Years of fulfillment. The Bible is full of stories about people whose third act was the main act.  Moses was middle-aged when he was set on fire by a burning bush. Abraham was an old man when he left his home for the land that God would show him. The passage into retirement doesn’t have to mean retiring from life! 

The challenge of this passage into retirement is to finish strong. Third acts of plays begin tying the action together and revealing the meanings. Every coach tells his players that games are won and lost in the fourth quarter. 

As we continue the May Sermon series on Passages, this week’s topic will be “Finish Strong.” Join us on Sunday.

May 11, 2010

May. 11, 2010

May means moving on! Graduation and commencement mark an ending and a beginning! They are both happy and sad filled with the joy of accomplishment and the anxiety of “what next?” It’s one of those times in life when people want to give you lots of advice. Here are a few gems: 

• Your families are extremely proud of you. You can’t imagine the sense of relief they are experiencing. This would be a most opportune time to ask for money.  ~Gary Bolding

• All that stands between the graduate and the top of the ladder is the ladder.  ~Author Unknown

• You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.  ~Tom Brokaw

• Your schooling may be over, but remember that your education still continues.  ~Author Unknown

• Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.  ~Wendy Wasserstein

• Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

• Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.  ~Albert Einstein

• There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.  ~Beverly Sills

• What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.  ~Eleanor Powell

• The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.  ~Nelson Henderson

And from the Bible:

• I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.  Psalm 32:8

• The child (Jesus) grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.  Luke 2:39

This Sunday we will honor our graduating Seniors as we look at this passage in life.

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