Being who I am . . .

Since I am the Senior Associate Pastor, I am not the primary preacher here. And that is fine with me. Ken is an outstanding preacher, one of the few I actually enjoy listening to.

So, I get to play the guitar and sing . . . with the children in worship most every Sunday.

This past Sunday, I was approached by a couple in our church, who shared their appreciation for my "unique" approach to ministry. I asked them to define what "unique" meant. There reply was, "you seem to have balanced the irreverent and the holy."

You could have picked me up off the floor.

In last weeks edition of our Annual Conference newspaper (Central Link - UM Reporter) there was an article written by another guitar playing pastor, Will Deuel from the Illinois Great Rivers Conference. You can find Will's blog here.

Man, the name of that Annual Conference would be a great band name . . . Illinois Great River.

It seems that Will often has the chance to entertain at various pastors meetings, etc., and does so in an irreverent and silly way . . . not often singing songs about God, Jesus or the Church . . . but singing funny songs like "Hot Rod Lincoln," "Don't Bury Me," and "One Legged Chicken."

Classics . . . one and all.

Will suggests that pastors are regular guys and gals . . . ordinary people . . . who are called to do extraordinary things.

I call it just being true to myself.

Am I irreverent? Everyone who knows me would laughingly say "Yes." And I agree . . . but as Will writes in his article . . . "But I approach God with reverence and awe, I embrace the holy moments humbly and passionately, and I am utterly convinced of God's Goodness and grace."
I would hope that all who know me would say that I do approach God in reverence, that I embrace the holy moments with a childlike curiosity and wide-eyed wonder.

If not, then I still have more to learn about myself, my beliefs and my values. Everyday I discover something new about me. If it is something good, then I celebrate. If it is something bad, then I start working to change it.

I guess that is why I am trying to approach my needing to get "healthy" from a more spiritual sense.

It's all a part of getting to know myself better . . . being the ordinary guy that God is calling to do an extraordinary thing . . . being true to myself.

I'm better than I deserve! ><>