Goin' Mercer…ramblings and rants!

I am taking a rare break today to share with you a powerful picture of church. Katrina has devastated New Orleans, much of Mississippi, and parts of Alabama. Many of these Katrina refugees have come to Houston and specifically our area for help. We have opened our limited pantry for help.

I have witnessed today our elders who are retired come to the building today with their wives and take over the effort for our offices to help those in need. They have with great compassion ministered to, prayed over, and served people who have lost everything but their own lives. I have witnessed lay members come and ask to pray with those who have come for help. Everyone is working together to serve those who have need, just like the church in Acts 2.

What has been even greater is the efforts of all denominations to work together to house, feed, clothe, pray, and find jobs for those who have been devastated by this storm. It is beautiful what God does in the midst of tragedy.

I write this in tears, because I have seen the church at its best and Jesus in the face of many. I can hardly help, because I lose it emotionally to see so many helping others.

I have a plea for those who read this blog and may not know how to help. Our church is collecting gift cards, especially from Walmart, to help these victims. We are accepting $20-25 increments. If you read this and you think your church can help please call us at 281-486-9350. It may be months before anyone can return to New Orleans, and some may never return. Thank you for your prayers for these people and any assistance that can be provided. May God bless these in need and the global church.

-Michael

Today a friend of mine traveled to a federal prison to check in for his 39 month stay. It is my opinion that he was falsely accused and convicted of crimes surrounding Enron. I am going to greatly miss him over these next few years. He has been a light and inspiration to our entire church. He has been involved with the youth ministry the past three years. This makes sense because he has three children in the program. I have served alongside of Dan at this church ever since I have been here. He is a great servant and leader. He has been faithful to the very end with this situation. And although we were leveled as a church to hear of his conviction, we are grateful that his faith is still intact and that his sentence is minimal. No doubt I will miss him and his smile and his excitement for ministry. It is a time of mourning for me. Hopefully his sentence will be reduced for good behavior among other things. This way he can come home quicker!

Please pray for his family. His wife struggles with Lupus and as she deals with the stress of the home and kids, she will need God’s strength. Please pray for his oldest son who has his own family. Pray for his faith. Pray for his oldest daughter who is in China with her Husband for his business. Pray for his daughter that is a senior in high school and adopted from Russia. Pray for her faith and well being. Pray for his son that is a sophomore in high school and adopted from the U.S. Pray that he will be able to cope during these years. Pray for his 7th grade daughter adopted from Russia, that she will be a blessing to the family. Pray for his 3rd grade daughter adopted from China that she will not lose her innocence. This family appreciates your prayer. Pray also for his many friends and church members that will miss him and his ministry greatly.

-Michael

We prayed much about Hurricane Katrina in our classes and worship yesterday. I had no idea at the time that she was a level 5 approaching the coast. I knew she was big, but wasn’t aware she was that big. And now she has hit the coast and is inland, however, she did approach as a category 4. Not much relief, though, when she only missed the 5 rating by 10mph. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, not to mention Florida who was hit on her first approach.

Crisis teaches us much about faith. There may be only a season for hurricanes, but crisis never ends in our world. You may choose what you want to blame the different times of crisis on, but make no mistake they come, go, and come again. When there are times of crisis in my life or the life of my church I am reminded about a class I took in my undergrad called, “Ministry of Redemption”. It was one of the best classes I took my whole ACU career, because it challenged my theological view of everything. That included suffering and crisis. Nothing could have prepared me more for what I would come in contact with in ministry here at Clear Lake. In the short six years I have been here we have dealt with broken families, Tropical Storm Allison, the Yates family crisis, Enron’s ordeal, injustice, death of a boy’s mom, unwed pregnancy, and much much more.

Every crisis that comes up is the most important and most devastating crisis to that particular person or family. It is our call from God to minister to those in need and deal with each of their predicament with solid scripture, tender hearts, Holy Spirit direction, and sincere compassionate love. God has used me and my fellow co-workers and co-ministers here at Clear Lake church of Christ to pray, love, minister, and prioritize faith during crisis.

It is no surprise that today a woman from our church came to my office and offered her idea to help those from Katrina’s path. Her idea is simple! Why don’t we offer our building this weekend and the Aggies for Christ that are coming to give their children a place to play outside their hotel for free. I can’t say for sure that it will happen, but given our record I believe we will somehow minister to these in crisis from Louisiana. God is amazing and we continue to confront crisis with bold faith!

Praise the Lord!

-Michael

I have been doing my reading the last two days for my Revelation class and it has been phenomenal. I have been inspired by the words of my professor and some other great authors who have really pinpointed this literary genre of Apocalyptic. I have believed for quite some time that the book of Revelation is not about the end of time. Well, okay there is one chapter and a bit that is, but the other 21 and 3/4 chapters are not. So I have always thought of it as apocalyptic. Somehow the comment John himself makes in the book evaded my comprehension. John calls his writing a prophecy. So what do we make of all this?

Where we are coming to in our class is this. We will hold the view that the book of Revelation is a prophecy written by John that is engulfed with apocalyptic images. I believe that to be true!

I was recently involved in a study of Titus when discussion broke out about the culture of Crete. It was said by one of the members of the study that the culture is irrelevant to how it applies to us today (not an exact quote, but summary of thought). How could that be so? If I am reading a Grisham novel I am well aware of its setting, plot, culture, and genre. I am aware of it because he is an excellent author and stylistically brings that out in his narrative. I am also aware, because I pulled it off the fiction shelf that it is not real. Now had I started reading, let’s say The Street Lawyer, and I only consider my culture and time and I believe it to be a true story it will result in an unintended reading of the story, not to mention an awful outlook on certain lifestyles.

The Bible is no different! We must understand its culture, genre, purpose, time, author, and arguments of the day in order to grasp the meaning it may have for us today. If not I am robbing myself of the true inspired message of the text.

Revelation is a great example! Our professor used the example of Little Red Riding Hood. No one would believe it to be true because of how it begins, “Once upon a time,…” and we will completely miss the point of the writing if we ask the wrong questions. When did this happen? Why didn’t the girl know that the wolf wasn’t her grandmother? These are the wrong questions and miss the point completely.

We must be careful the questions we ask of the texts, especially something like Revelation which is a prophecy filled with apocalyptic images. To ask when is the wrong question. To ask what does this mean for us and God’s ultimate plan will lead us into better defining our faith.

Maybe a string of tangents I was on today, but the key to the blog is this. Know what you are reading and why you are reading it, in order to gain its meaning.

-Michael

I received a syllabus and an invitation today. I am taking two graduate classes this fall. One class is over the semester, but two lecture times on different weekends. That is the class I received my syllabus on. The other class is over the internet. This is the class I received my invitation plus username and password. The weekend class will take place two different weekends. It is on ministering to families in the church. This class will be excellent in helping me understand better how to minister to all kinds of families represented in the church. I may deal with youth, but they are connected to every type of family you can think of. This will not only help me toward my degree, but also help me immediately in my ministry. The other class is Revelation. Most people are in awe of this book and have always wanted to learn its contents. I must admit I like the book and have appreciated prior teachings, but am not always seeking its meaning. I do like where my professor comes out on the book and appreciate very much his finding. I am not sure how this will go with it being an internet class, but I am pumped anyhow.

I am excited about this semester of school. I really like my two choices of classes and feel that they will be a good challenge for me. I hope that they will stretch my thinking and my ministry. I like learning, not studying per se, but learning. This is going to be a busy, yet worthwhile semester.

I am buckled in and ready to launch.

-Michael

Today is our first meeting for our annual Soul Link Youth Conference which happens in the last weekend of February. Every year we have nearly 1,000 participants from all over Texas, especially the gulf coast. It began in 2001 through the vision of two youth ministers in Houston. Since 2002 I have been privileged to be a part of this awesome event for our teens. This will be my third Soul Link to co-chair the committee. I love using my gifts of organization and administration to help this event come together. I also just enjoy working with the other youth ministers here and am at awe of their gifts in ministry that God has given them.

So, today is a two-fold blessing. I am able to begin work on a passion of mine as well as see my friends and hear how their lives are as well. I love youth ministry! I love seeing teens come to an understanding of Jesus Christ. I love walking beside them and helping them further their development of faith. Soul Link is one of those events that helps our students better develop their faith.

The only thing that I am possibly dreading today is the gas bill to go to the meeting. I know it will cost a pretty penny to travel across town to meet. The sacrifice is worth it. The gas prices are blessing and curse. Blessing because some of my family is in the oil and gas business and this keeps them working. The curse however, is the fact that it strains the pocketbook.

I hope that your day goes well! God is so good and gracious, maybe not always seen on earth, but will ultimately be seen in our salvation from this earth to His Kingdom.

-Michael

A Few Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Wyatt and his family and their wedding.

Congratulations to Wyatt and Jenna

Tomorrow night I am traveling to Ganado, TX (a small town between Houston and Victoria) to perform the wedding ceremony for my brother. I love my brother so much, but I hardly ever get the chance to visit him, much less tell him. His wife-to-be we have all known for a while and I can tell loves him very much too. They have two beautiful children, my nieces, whom I can never see enough.

The wedding will be simple, with mostly just family attending. It will be really nice and sweet. I am honored they asked me to do the ceremony. They could have easily chosen the local preacher or the justice of the peace. It makes me smile knowing that my brother thought of me to do his wedding.

It has been a crazy kind of year. This will be only my fourth wedding ceremony to perform, but my second this year alone. Three of the four have been family members. I have performed the ceremony for my step-brother, Todd, my sister-in-law, Analee, and now my brother. The other wedding I performed was for a co-worker of mine from my days at J.C. Penney.

Weddings are a really awesome time to remember your own vows, celebrate someone else’s, and remember your commitment to God. I look forward to tomorrow. It will be a great time to be with family and an honoring time with my brother.

-Michael

My Prayer and Meditation Day

My prayer and meditation day was wonderful yesterday. I began with a devotional about the Glory of God and immediately praying away distractions. I decided to stay home and pray yesterday, because of funds and logistics. I was able to pray out loud, worship, read, and meditate. I had only three distractions and they were very insignificant. It was an amazing time, being with God and listening for his words. The most remarkable time for me came during an audible prayer. I was praying a prayer of confession. I was confessing to God my sins and the guilt I felt from those sins. As I was praying out loud my mind stopped and I became silent. Then a song came to me. The song is from the group Acappella that Keith Lancaster produces. The song, Peace Be Still. It is off their Platinum label. I used it in a sermon some time last year on the story of Jesus calming the storm. It has not left me. I began to sing this song and realizing that God is whispering into my ear to have peace in the grace that He freely offers. Even if my sin is not insurmountable, it still is refreshing to hear God say, “Peace, Be Still”.

The meditation time was very effective. I could let go of all the things on my plate at the time and prioritize my thoughts. I was able to think at great length about my present ministry and what I want for my future in ministry, spiritual life, marriage, and life. I was more convicted of my desire to reach the lost. I know that I get that chance more often than some because of my connection with the youth culture. However, our church is surrounded by a neighborhood that needs to hear the gospel. I am in prayer of my involvement in helping our church to have a bigger heart for this neighborhood.

The meditation also helped me prioritize my life again. I have made a renewed commitment to put God first, family, church, ministry, and me. That has always been my order, but sometimes I get out of synch. This was a great opportunity to recommit.

All in all I feel refreshed and doused in the Spirit. Life is still troubling and will always be, but my focus has been refreshed to see through the negativity and cynicism and look for the Lord in every aspect of life.

That much time with God is always awesome! Thanks for your prayers!

-Michael

Meditation and Prayer Day

Tomorrow I am taking the day to pray and meditate. I have been going non-stop since late May. It is the nature of youth ministry and I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, when school is back in session things slow some. This is a great time for me to take one day to pray and meditate and be slow. This is a good time to be instead of do. I look forward to tomorrow.

I won’t be in the office. I will simply be in a quiet place with few to no distractions in order to pray and meditate. This will help me to reflect and hear from God. Usually when I take times like this I say much at the beginning, but then find myself in a longer period of silence, listening. It is usually in these moments when God says something powerful, yet obvious to me. However, I can’t see what is obvious when I am in my hectic schedule.

Please pray for me tomorrow as I seek the Lord. I look forward to the time of quiet, stillness, worship, meditation, and prayer.

The Lord is working mightily within His Kingdom and I am honored and ecstatic to be a part of this wonderful journey.

-Michael