Yesterday had some powerful moments. As for my musings …

-The whole worship service at my 10:30 church was filled with a sense of God’s presence and it was a powerful experience. People were very engaged and there was a sense that everyone was seeking God. It was exactly what my spirit needed.

-There were several visitors in my 10:30 church. Some of them were attending for the second or third time and a few of them for the first time.

-I was not operating at 100% compacity physically. On Wednesday evening a cold hit me with a vengeance and knocked me down for a couple of days. This was a major drain on my energy and impacted my voice as well. I changed my Sunday morning preparation routine to conserve my voice and energy.

-Yesterday’s message was about living an “Even If …” life. Being a person who follows Christ even if circumstances don’t seem to be going as we had hoped. The Lord was speaking to me, hopefully it spoke to others as well.

-Last week my wife and I got away from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday afternoon. We stayed in a little cabin in the woods that I referenced last week. It was exactly what we were looking for and what we needed. When we parked our van upon arriving, we didn’t drive it again until we headed for home. We read a lot, slept a lot and spent time talking. There was no internet access and no television reception. We will return to one of these cabins in the future. While we were there we scouted the other cabins for future reference.

-I read four books while in the little cabin in the woods. Two of them were fiction, one was a business book that had a lot of crossover for ministry and one was a personal spiritual growth book.

-The attendance at both churches was down a little from our averages.

-In two weeks, I will be partnering with another pastor in our town to teach a class about fatherhood in the prison located just outside our town. This is very exciting.

-With Easter being less than 3 weeks away, a lot of time is being spent putting things together for this very important Sunday. We are changing a few things from what we normally do on Easter in hopes of having a larger, and longer lasting, impact.

-One of my conclusions from my few days away was that I am spinning my wheels much of time. I am spending too much time wondering what to do instead of doing what I already know to do.

-Another conclusion is that I need to eliminate a lot of negative thinking and stop focusing on a few people who are not looking to grow personally and therefore do not want to see the church grow.

Here’s hoping you find some time to reflect and refocus.

Dennis

Yesterday was a very unusual day that had a much-needed finish. As for my musings …

-As I sit here typing I don’t know when I will be able to post this on my blog. I am sitting in the proverbial “little cabin the woods”. (For those who knew me during my youth pastor years “little cabin in the woods” has a whole different meaning, doesn’t it?) This cabin does not have an internet connection and only occasionally is there cell service. I am going to type my musings anyway and I will post them whenever I get the opportunity. It may be Monday sometime, it may be Tuesday and it may not be until Wednesday.

-Sitting in this cabin is the much-needed finish to Sunday that I referred to in the opening line. My wife and I arrived at this cabin late Sunday afternoon. We are simply getting away for a couple of days of rest, refreshing and time together.

-Sunday was unusual because I did not preach at either my 9:00 nor my 10:30 church. Instead I preached at a church where I serve with a wonderful campus pastor. I mentor, advise and lead from a short distance away and the campus pastor is the feet on the ground person. I am much more in tune, aware and involved than it would appear to most people. This however, was the first time that I have been able to preach on a Sunday morning with them. It was an enlightening and fun day for me and my wife.

-It felt very odd to get up and prepare for a Sunday and then not be at either of my other churches.

-Our van was loaded and we were all packed for our brief getaway when we headed out for church. When we finished, and said our goodbyes to everyone we headed toward this cabin. We had never been here before and were taking a chance from what we could discover online. This place is exactly what we were hoping for and what we needed.

-Preaching anywhere other than your regular place(s) is always a bit unnerving. But the people were receptive and responsive and made us feel welcomed and at home.

-Preaching in a different place has some pitfalls and I almost fell in one. I don’t stand still while I preach and being on an unfamiliar platform almost resulted in a big tumble. As I moved around I forgot that I was on unfamiliar footing and two times nearly went flying. I think I covered it well, at least that is what I am telling myself.

-I love that I can be gone on a Sunday morning and not worry about things at home. I have a wonderful Assistant Pastor and some great people who just move right ahead and minister without a hitch.

-I have some much respect for the hard-working people of my church who stepped up and ministered so well in serving a fabulous funeral dinner last week for the 3^rd time in 5 weeks. Let’s hope we don’t have to do this again for a while.

-I am very excited about the plans being made for Easter Sunday. I am especially burdened for all the services around Easter this year. I am always burdened for Easter Sunday, but this year I sense that God wants to do something we haven’t seen in a long time if we will get ourselves ready. I am already praying fervently for Easter.

Here’s hoping that you will find sometime and some way to be refreshed this week.

Dennis