Goin' Mercer…ramblings and rants!

Last Two Days

We have had a rough last two days with Leah’s recovery. There hasn’t been much time to blog or to call, except family. Leah has been experiencing dizziness and so much so that we went back to the doctor yesterday. He assured us that it wasn’t anything major and should go away soon. He gave Leah some medicines that would help. By last night we started to believe him when Leah began to feel better. Please continue to pray for her recovery. Thank you so much!

-Michael

Generosity and Church at its Best!

Leah and I just happen to be the humble recipients of such great generosity and hospitality from church. Leah’s surgery was yesterday and below I will give the latest report. However, since yesterday we have been the recipients of great love and generosity. We have had three meals provided that is each enough food to feed us three or more times. We have soup, chicken spaghetti, fried chicken, and all the sides. Leah and I are both overwhelmed at our church and friends who love us enough to care for us in our time of recovery.

Leah and I went to the doctor today. He took her head wrap off and all she has now are stitches and a cotton ball. This is a much more manageable for Leah. Everything is going well with her recovery. She will go in next Friday to have her stitches taken out and then two more weeks of cotton balls and then we will be finished. Again, thank you for your prayers, cards, calls, food, and more. She continues to rest and heal.

Meanwhile, I am working at home on class, a booklet for the parents, personal study, and two different sermons. I am busy with work and taking care of Leah as well. So far so good. Well, it’s about time for some chocolate pie. Yeah, you guessed it, a gift from one of our church members. She is guaranteed a huge mansion in heaven!

-Michael

Surgery Went Well

Well it has been a tiring day. We were up early and at the hospital by 6:30am. Leah went into surgery for her ear at 7:30am and was out a little after noon. We left recovery and the hospital by around 2:30pm. We have been home a little now and she is sleeping. Everything went well in the surgery and it seems to be successful. We have another appointment tomorrow and will get more debriefing from the surgeon. Thank you for your prayers, calls, cards, food, and more. We are very blessed with great friends and family. Now I will spend some time relaxing and taking care of my sweetheart. Thank you again!

-Michael

A Carnival of Sorts

Yesterday at our church our youth put on a spaghetti luncheon for the entire congregation. We had spaghetti, bread, salad, drinks, and cake. We had several adult helpers who bought and made our food, but the students served around 300 attendants with smiles on their faces. This has been our fifth year to have this fundraiser. However, this year we added two moonwalks (inflatable jumpers), face painting, balloon animals, and a juggler. The students watched over the moonwalks, they are the ones who painted faces, they made the balloon animals, and Lindsey one of our students was the juggler.

It was a great time and much appreciated by our church. We had a lot of fun serving and the church had a lot of fun eating, talking, and playing. It was kinda a carnival, but even more importantly it was church. It was more like the first century where we did everything together. We worshipped, we ate, we talked, we laughed, we communed, we played, and we enjoyed God as one big family.

It was a great time and I am honored that I could be a part of it! It made me think of the apostles gathering after Jesus’ ascension. How the atmosphere must have been time after time when they met. I am sure it was just as joyous and exciting. I wonder if they had balloon animals?

-Michael

A Day of Memories

Today is a day for memories. I spent most of my day with my family in Ganado. The grandkids went through our grandmother’s house. She passed away this past February. This was our day to be together with the rest of the family and go through her things to see if there were any keepsakes we wanted. I have to admit it was harder than I thought. I really didn’t want much of anything and didn’t bring much home. The most important thing I did get and that was her Bibles. I can’t wait for some time to myself when I can really pour through her Bibles to see what notes I find. I took a few other things that will remind me of her and our time together.

Tonight we have our senior banquet. Again there will be plenty of memories. I have been with these students since they were 7th graders. This will be a fun evening of remembering and celebrating. So, today is a day and night of memories.

There is something heart warming about memories! Today is a good day!

-Michael

Holy Spirit 7
The Return of the Lost Presence of God

As I continue to read Fee’s book Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God, I am continually enlightened as well as affirmed in the existence and character of the Holy Spirit. In his book Fee explores the idea of the Holy Spirit being God’s presence and even gives us some clues that the Holy Spirit didn’t just happen after Jesus, but was involved in the Old Testament as well. He also spends significant time on the presence of God. I wanted to give a series of quotes from this chapter and then make my own comments.

“Above everything else, as fulfillment of the new covenant the Spirit marked the return of the lost presence of God.” (10)1.

“The most prominent way God’s presence is experienced in the Old Testament is in the tabernacle and the temple.” (10)

“Central to the prophetic hope was the promised return of God’s presence.” (13)

“It is clear that [Paul] understands the Spirit’s coming as fulfilling three related expectations: 1) the association of the Spirit with the new covenant; 2)the language of “indwelling”; and 3)the association of the Spirit with the imagery of the temple.” (15)

“the Spirit becomes the way God himself is now present on planet earth.” (15)

“For Paul the Spirit is how God presently dwells in his holy temple. Significantly, such dwelling takes place both in the gathered community, as one might expect given the Old Testament background to this usage, and especially in the heart of the individual believer.” (15)

“For Paul, the Spirit is not merely an impersonal force or influence or power. The Spirit is none other than the fulfillment of the promise that God himself would once again be present with his people.” (22)

“The Spirit is God’s own personal presence in our lives and in our midst; he leads us into paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. He “is working all things in all people,” he is grieved when his people do not reflect his character and thus reveal his glory, and he is present in our worship, as we sing “praise and honor and glory and power” to God and the Lamb.” (22)

I know that there are many quotes and I hope not too many. However, as I read this chapter I went highlighter crazy and wanted to share a few with you. As far as my thoughts go I will try to keep them short and sweet.

I realized that I may have teased you too much with my opening paragraph saying that the Holy Spirit or at least alluding to the fact that it was present in the Old Testament. The truth that I see is that God himself was present and knew in his plan that he would return through It. Meaning that the Holy Spirit was present with God. The idea of His lost presence returning through the Holy Spirit just intrigues me. Isn’t the Holy Spirit just suppose to be a out of body experience or gift machine. That is like saying that all Jesus came to do was miracles and healings.

The other piece to this reading is where the Spirit dwells. The more I study scripture the more I realize how we were made to function corporately as a church more so than individually. The Spirit in my realm has always dwelled in me individually. However, it dwells in the corporate church as well. When placing your own theology up against the Old Testament you are either handicapped or dumbfounded. I truly appreciate Fee’s responsible study here and taking us back to the Old Testament where God dwelled. The Holy Spirit being the return of God’s lost presence would not be any different than God and would come to dwell with the people corporately. However as Paul dives into it in his letters there is also a sense of how it works in our individual lives as well.

Through this study I am realizing more each day that the Holy Spirit is not an “it” but a true persona of God. The Holy Spirit is not just a computer program designed so that we can retrieve data, find direction, and be delivered goods. It is God returned to His people. The Holy Spirit is foundational and a true presence.

-Michael

1. The Above quotes all come from Gordon Fee’s book Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God (Peabody: Hendrickson 1996) Pages are in parenthesis after each quote.

The Part of Jesus I Never Wanted

As Jesus stood in the midst of disciples, Pharisees, and an adulterous woman he stooped, wrote in the dirt, and began to teach. As He did with fine eloquence and precise words of sharp grace those holding stones left one by one. After all were gone and he rose again to face the sin he locked eyes with this desperate woman and asked a powerful question, “Where have your accusers gone? Is there no one left to condemn you?”
The response, most fortunate for her life expectancy, “No one sir.” And then once again “Then neither do I condemn you, Go now and leave your life of sin.” This is the part of Jesus I would love to have. Where I could stand in the face of such opposition and use just the right words and imagery to drive anger and entrapment to bay. I would love to be the part of Jesus the hero. I would love to quick wittily singe people’s hearts and mindsets with unpredictable questions. This is the part of Jesus I love.
I have had some chances in life to use the part of Jesus I love and be the hero, but there is another part of Jesus that when I decided to call him my savior I would have never signed on for. There is a part of Jesus I never wanted. The expectations.
When this woman was brought to Him there were expectations of the woman, Pharisees, and disciples. The woman expected punishment, the Pharisees expected stumbling, the disciples expected a powerful oration on the sin of adultery. Jesus gave none of them there expectation and through the stories we see all sides become increasingly frustrated. Jesus was expected bring an earthly Kingdom. He was expected to be royalty. He was expected to make mistakes. He was expected to fight. Hardly if any expected humility and submission to the Father.

The Rest of this Blog is for Youth Ministers (anyone, however is free to read)

Every Parent sees the youth ministry through the eyes of their child. Every Parent, elder, deacon, minister, and other leaders have input and advice on youth ministry. Christianity, the Church, Students, Parents, Youth Ministers, Church leaders, and Youth Minister’s spouses all have expectations of the youth ministry. This is the part of Jesus I never wanted.

I never wanted to be pulled and lobbied in all different directions to meet the varied expectations of the church. I just wanted to serve students and help them to know God and build their life of faith. However, as you know or will find out there are countless expectations. They include but are not limited to what trips to take, how much service to do, how the students should act in church, what subjects to teach, how to get along, and who all should be involved in the ministry. There are also countless expectations of the youth minister themselves. How much time in the office, how much time with students, organization, implementation, how much time with your own family, networking, speaking, leading, and on and on.

Don’t be discouraged by the amount of expectations that are demanded of you. Instead be encouraged that there are so many that love their kids enough and love you enough to put in their “two cents.” Remember Jesus and his struggle with much the same. Communicate your mission in youth ministry and what your expectation is for yourself and your ministry. Live amongst the people, listen to criticism (but not too much), and always serve God first. Know that you can’t meet everyone’s expectations and realize your love for God, Son, Holy Spirit and the people you serve.

Be a follower of Christ first, a loving spouse second, and a minister third. Apologize when necessary, vent carefully, and when you spill something clean it up. Sometimes it’s the parts of Jesus that I never wanted that help me grow to a fuller potential.

-Michael

One Week From Today

Leah’s ear surgery will take place one week from today. I am a little nervous, but not quite as nervous as she is. Please pray for her procedure and recovery. We go today to register with the hospital and another doctor’s appointment.

It will be a busy weekend for me. I am going to Ganado on Saturday during the day. All of the cousins are getting together for lunch and will go through my granny’s things for any keepsakes we would like to have. My dad wanted to make sure I was bringing my truck, but I hate to let him down, there isn’t much room in our house or garage for too much stuff.

That evening we have our senior banquet which I am the emcee for. It will be a fun, but exhausting evening. The theme is all-stars and I am excited about the event. Leah will be helping her sister with wedding plans that day.

On Sunday we are having our youth fund raiser. We are hosting a spaghetti luncheon for our entire church and any guests. The food is free, but we will be accepting donations. We will have two moonwalk inflatables, face painting, balloon animals, a juggler, and of course much food.

It is a busy time this week and next. We will hold it all together though and God will be faithful. Thank you for your prayers!

-Michael

Cheaters Never Win, But They Do Make Better Grades

As many of you may know on Fridays, which is my day off, I will sometimes substitute teach at one of the local school districts. This past Friday I spent my day substituting for a local high school in an English class. I was thrilled when I learned that I had received the department head’s class. This usually means really good students. They are usually more well-behaved and have a desire for learning. I was not disappointed since I had the pre-AP English classes. Which means the smarties. However, my excitement waned when I realized that I would be giving a quiz that day. I don’t mind giving quizzes or tests, it is just that I always seem to have a few who go the cheating route. I had hopes that this set of classes would be different, but then I again realized the pressures that are put on students to excel. The first class I had there was one student who had a more difficult time than others keeping their eyes on their own paper. The second class was by far the worst. I finally just stared at the student until they completed the quiz. I looked at that students quiz and realized even if they were cheating, they failed to cheat well.

The saying goes, “Cheaters never win.” I am not so sure that in the educational model that is always truth. The valedictorian of my high school class cheated often. He won the valedictorian spot, however the phrase caught up with him a little later in life. In the school system (and remember I see it only through my once-a-week at best eyes) cheating is extremely prevalent. Everything whether the teacher intends for it to be or not becomes a “group project.” For the rest of the day I would give a little speech to the classes that cheating was not allowed and gave quite humorous examples. It became funny, but those classes didn’t dare try to peek.

Cheaters never win, but sometimes they make good grades. We don’t live in a fair world and not all play by the rules. Some people work hard their whole education and arrive at their grade without cheating. Some only work hard towards the end and receive the same if not better prize. It reminds me of the parable regarding the vineyard workers. We are never promised when salvation will come, only that is there for us to choose. The workers felt cheated when they realized the prize or money was the same for all-day workers and eleventh-hour workers. I don’t like cheating and it breaks my heart of how prevalent it is in schools. I confess that I have cheated a time or two. But I still hate it. The saying is more true than false, “Cheaters Never Win.” Those who wait to the eleventh hour to accept Jesus will tell you that they wish they didn’t have the memory of the things they have done. All those years they didn’t know what they were missing. Those that stayed on the straight and narrow don’t know what they aren’t missing.

Cheaters Never Win, But they Do Make Good Grades

Cheaters Never Win, But they can go to Heaven

Cheaters Never Win, But…

Whether you get good grades or not is not the issue. Cheating in school is not the issue. Don’t cheat yourself from the promises and blessing of God through the gospel. Because in reality, Cheaters, Never Win!

-Michael

Holy Spirit 6

The Foundational Holy Spirit

There is much to derive from Acts about the Holy Spirit and one day I may go back to it. However, I have been so excited about reading Gordon Fee’s book Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God that I want to just dive into that. It has given me a new direction on my study which hopefully will come through in this post.

The thing I have alluded to already in my other Holy Spirit posts and want to focus on today is the foundation that the Holy Spirit played for the people of God in Paul’s ministry. This is where Fee takes his direction with his book. I have always thought of the Holy Spirit as this extra unknown thing. That would have been a foreign thought for the Christians of the first century. The Holy Spirit was the foundation of their Christian life, just as Jesus had been the foundation of the apostles walk. I am not saying that it was their theological foundation as much as I am saying that it was their life foundation. I believe Fee put it better when he wrote, “Thus the Spirit is foundational to their entire experience and understanding of their present life in Christ.”1.

The Holy Spirit was seen as the promise from God and an essential piece of their future. We in the past have taken the Holy Spirit and like God have put it in a box. We have elected to use the Holy Spirit when we need a gift or guidance or revival. However, God never promised a Holy Spirit that became a Genie, but rather a full-time indweller of your body (church and soul). We have to reprogram our thoughts and our minds into that the Holy Spirit has always, is always, and will always be with us in our Christ-following lives. I think for hardcore conservative Christians who don’t know what to do with the Holy Spirit we can now breathe the sigh of relief. 1) Whatever we have done to this point, the Holy Spirit has been involved whether we realized it or not. 2)We can stop worrying that the Holy Spirit is going to be loosed from its box and stir up Healings, Tongues, and Dancing within our congregations. 3)We can now reorient ourselves and submit ourselves to its leading, guidance, counsel, gifts, and richness.

When we make the Holy Spirit our foundation, or I should say when we come to realize that the Holy Spirit is our foundation our ministry and our discipleship will be enriched and our lives become much more deeply committed to the other two Father and Son. Paul’s ministry and the people he ministered to would never have separated out the Holy Spirit. That is what Fee is getting to in his book. He is challenging those that read his book to read Paul’s letters and the New Testament as a whole in a brand new way. He is urging Christians to read it through the lens that the Holy Spirit is foundational to following Christ.

What changes occur within you after realizing that Holy Spirit is foundational?

What changes will occur in the body of Christ through this realization?

How can the church respond effectively?

-Michael

1. Gordon D.Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God (Peabody: Hendrickson 1996) 3.