Pastor Joe McGarry | God Moments. Life Connections

D is for Devotions

pastorjoemc — May 1, 2013 — Leave a comment

To have a devotional life means that you have consistent communication with God in a formal way. I love prayer and I pray all the time! However, to have some time each and every day — to put aside whatever is going on in my life and to read scripture, pray, journal and reflect on my faith is powerful.

God constantly comes to us in different ways. I liken this back to when Peter tries to walk on water to Jesus, he got out of the boat and took a few steps but he was afraid. Instead of letting Peter drown Jesus reaches out to Peter and pulls him back on to the boat to safety. In the same way, like any relationship I think Jesus also wants us to come to Him. Routine is good, it helps us stay consistent but I think the best way to have a deep devotional life we need to have an authentic experience.

No devotional life looks the same but here are ten things that I think strengthen our devotional life.

Make Some Time

This seems to be the hardest thing to do for most people. I know once I am up in the morning my kids are up soon after. Then I am getting them ready for the day and out the door before I even have breakfast! There is no right or wrong time of the day. I like the mornings so I do try and get up early to have some time with God before interruptions start to happen. Whatever time you choose try and keep it consistent.

2. Find a Quiet Place

Finding the right place is key to your success. When I was a kid (okay even in college and seminary) I would “study” in bed. Before I knew it I woke up an hour later and got nothing done! Try and find a place that is comfortable, and distraction free. It works even better if you have your Bible, devotional material and journal there waiting for you so everything is ready to go.

3. Create a Plan

In order to be successful you need to have a plan. I can sit down with my Bible and open it up and start to read, but there needs to be a goal. Think about how much time you need, and what you want to accomplish. Do you want to read through the whole Bible? Do you want to start with the Psalms or the Gospels? How much time do you want to spend everyday? I would suggest to start with 15 -30 min a day. Start with a realistic goal so it is a helpful thing rather than to add stress.

4. Choose a Bible Reading Plan or Bible Study

This summer I hope to embark upon a journey that will take a number of people through a year long Bible reading plan. If this is something you would like to join in on please let me know. But finding something that works for you is important. There are a ton of Bible reading plans that you can choose from, or you can buy a book that will aid you in having a more focuses time of reading and study.

5. Some Time in Prayer

Talking with God is important After reading some scripture I would suggest spending some time in prayer. Ask God what He is trying to say to you in the scripture. Tell God about your struggles and cares and then spend time listening to His voice. Prayer does not only happen during devotional time but it can happen anytime and anywhere. Spend time thinking and praying on what you read and then listen for God’s voice in your life.

6. Worship

Worship can happen in your devotional time. It is important to be able to thank and praise God for all God does for us in our lives. However, more than that I think we need to be fed in a worship community. A number of years ago I was a part of a Christian Rock band. I was employed by a church as a youth director during that time as well. The thing that surprised me the most about being a part of that band is that they did not worship. We would often start our practices with a devotion and a time of prayer, asking for the spirit to be with us in our music and ministry but it would end there. Worship is such a big part of my life that I find myself needing it to strengthen my everyday walk with God.

7. Write in a Journal

I believe that writing in a journal keeps us focused on our devotional life. Sometimes I find myself writing to get thoughts out of my head and down on paper. Writing in a journal helps me process what is going on in my life and to help me think about what I read and how it applies to my life. Sometimes I journal thoughts, prayers and insights that I like to keep between myself and God.

8. Follow Your Plan

I have read that if you continue to do something for 21 days you will form a new habit. I believe if you commit yourself for a devotional life for a month you will never want to go back. Not only will it deepen your faith but you will physically feel better as well. You might not be able to keep it up everyday with no breaks. if you miss a day or two it is okay. Just pick up where you left off the day before! The rewards outweigh any challenges.

9. Be Flexible

I believe that being flexible is the key to life. Whenever you are stuck or feel out of sorts you need to change directions. It is okay if you make changes. If you start a study and don’t like it……find a new one!!! If you get in a rut, start over!! Keep trying something new until find something that is right for you.

10. Help Someone Else

I don’t believe God wants us to be in communication with Him and then not do anything about it. I think that God wants us to spend time in worship, prayer and devotional life to Him and then to help others do the same. Consider sharing with a friend, family member or co-worker what you read in your devotional time earlier that day. Invite your significant other to pray with you in the morning or make devotional time a family activity at the end of each day.

I believe having a devotional life each day is important to the development to our life of faith. I think that it is something that may be hard for us to start but in the end it is very beneficial to us and you will notice that benefit right away.

In Bible Study, God Moments

Posted by pastorjoemc on April 13, 2013 In Blog Series, Photo Meme Easter 3C

Changes

pastorjoemc — April 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

How do we make positive changes in our lives? I have asked myself this question over and over again recently. Like most people there are a number of things I would like to change in my life. I want to read more, spend more time with my family, get more work done, lose weight, have a great looking yard, paint a few rooms in my house….the list could go on and on. However, how things are currently set up in my life I do benefit quite a bit. In order to make changes I need to figure out what the benefits are decide which ones I am going to give up on to let change happen.

So what is the process?

Below there are five things we all can do to start the process of change.

Is my life headed in the right direction? Are you happy with the direction your life is headed? Do you have any idea the direction your life is headed? I think we all need a direction in our lives — even if it is a short route we need to know where we are going. Once we have an idea then we can decided if it is the right direction.
How am I benefiting from the way things currently are? If we did not benefit from the way our life is set up then we would change. However, we do benefit in some way from how our life is structured and we have to name and claim that. Then we can move to number three. Be honest.
Am I willing to make changes? Another way to phrase this is what am I willing to give up? To make changes you have to give something up. Are you ready to do that? You can’t move on until you are. Then once you are ready don’t try to change too much at one time. Change the way you handle your finances, health, relationships, or the church. Whatever you decide you have to commit.
How am I going to make the changes? You need to have a plan. It has to be simple or you are not going to stick with it. Perhaps you need to get up earlier to go walking. Perhaps you need to take some time for yourself each day. Perhaps you need to pack your lunch everyday to save some money. Make a plan and stick with it. W
Find a support network. Find some people (who don’t live with you) to keep you accountable to your changes. Divulge everything with them, be honest with them and hear what they have to say. Don’t blame them if you fail because this falls on you, but empower them to help you make the changes that you need.

It takes times to work through each of these steps. Change can happen but you need to want it to happen and make the choices and sometimes sacrifice that is needed to do it.

In Community, Miscellany

Life was much simpler back then….

Posted by pastorjoemc on April 2, 2013 In God Moments

Failing Lent

pastorjoemc — March 19, 2013 — Leave a comment

The conversations among many Christians throughout the world this time of the year revolves around what one gives up during Lent. The season of Lent usually calls to mind a time of discipline, of sacrifice, of giving up. Most years I have given something that I love up for Lent. Usually it is chocolate, eating out, or soda. Other times I have tried taking something on like exercise, clean eating, or blogging. Actually, my interest in blogging started during as a Lenten discipline.

This year I wanted to get back to the “heart” of Lenten practices, praying, fasting and alms-giving.

I wanted to start a practice of prayer — I was planning on taking some time each day to intentionally pray for the church, my friends and family, and others throughout the world.

I was going to fast. Besides a few youth events over the years I have never really intentionally fasted before. I thought it would be a good thing to try and something that would help me be thankful for all that I do have in the world.

I wanted to intentionally give. I was planning on giving my time, my talents and my treasure in ways I have never done before. I was going to cut back in parts of my life in order to give. Our family has a giving heart and I wanted to expand upon that.

This was my plan.

In terms of my plan Lent never really got off the ground. The week of Ash Wednesday I had a number of unexpected things happen in my life both in and out of the church. The next thing I knew I was a week into Lent and I had not even prepared myself. I wanted blog more, I wanted to pray more, I wanted to eat less and give more.

I. Failed.

Then I thought that it was okay, no one is perfect I will start next week……that was around four weeks ago and no prayer, no fasting, no giving.

Granted other things have come up — I have taken on a new lifestyle practice in terms of eating. I have new ideas to enhance my prayer life and there are possibilities to give more and I am excited about this!!! However, this is not what I was envisioning for Lent.

So I ask myself, what happened? Did I fail Lent? Did I fail God?

I really felt bad about it, and then I realized that I did not fail. In fact, I am thriving more than I was at the beginning of Lent. At the beginning of Lent I had hopes and dreams for myself, I had expectations of what could happen but now I am living a life that is happening NOW. So many times in my life I try and live my plan when in fact I should be living Gods plan. I don’t know what is best for me – I can only guess and when I do I get it right 50% of the time. God gets it right all the time.

So if you have been “failing Lent” like I have — don’t worry about it because God may have a plan that you don’t know about and it could help you in ways that you can’t even imagine right now.

Image from Open Bible

In Faith, Health

C is for catholic church

pastorjoemc — March 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

One of the questions I am asked all the time is about the phrase “catholic Church.” This phrase is found in the Creeds of the church. Many churches throughout the world including the Lutheran Church ascribes to three different creeds, The Apostle’s Creed the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed are used quite often in the church, while the Athanasian Creed may be used on Trinity Sunday (the Sunday after Pentecost Sunday) but rarely any other time.

The Apostles Creed is used the most throughout the year. It was first introduced into the church around the eighth century. This creed does not come from the apostles of Jesus, but it does keep in line with the teachings from the New Testament. It describes a faith in which we are all baptized into and therefore is used as the statement of faith by the gathered assembly at a baptism. It is the creed that is used when there is not a festival of the church happening.

The Nicene Creed was first adopted by church leaders in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea. This creed that is used by most Christian Churches around the world. Historically it has been used when we celebrate festival Sundays.

Finally there is the Athanasian Creed. This creed takes its name from Athanasius, the great theologian of the fourth century who defended Trinitarian teaching. This creed is not commonly used in churches. It is a historical creed that many study and we as a church ascribe to it but we do not use it very much, if at all in worship.

Within the text of the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene creed is a line that talks about the the ‘catholic Church’ which simply refers to the universal Church of believers. The way I like to explain it is that when we pray in the creeds about the “catholic Church” we are praying about the “little c” Church not the “big C” Church.

The word Creed is from the Latin [credo] meaning “I believe”, so the creeds are a statement of Christian beliefs. Some people have the mistaken idea that the word ‘catholic’ belongs to the Roman Catholic Church.

For a long time in our history there was one church that was recognized as the church which everyone belonged. It was the universal church the Catholic Church. However, over time there were a number of people who started to protest the way the Catholic Church carried out the practices of the church which began the Reformation.

Today the landscape of religion and the church looks very different. There are many denominations and faith practices and so we can no longer say that the Catholic Church is the only church in town. Instead we can say that there is only the universal church, not a Roman Catholic Church and a Protestant Church, but one Holy Universal Church.

The true church of God is the universal church, where we all belong and are members no matter what label we try and put upon it. There are many, many churches living out what they feel God is calling them to in this world. We don’t always get along, and there are arguments between the churches and there are arguments between the churches and those who don’t believe in God.

There are also many people (like myself) who spend their lives trying to proclaim the Gospel of love, grace and forgiveness from God to the world. This message is from the church universal.

We could say:

I believe in the Holy Spirit, The Holy Universal Church, The communion of saints…..

Which would help those who are not as familiar with the language of the church not to be as confused. However, if we are using a creed prayer in church we are praying with brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. It is one of the few things in worship which we can agree on and use together across church boarders.

In ABC's of Faith, Blog Series, Faith

B is for Beatitudes

pastorjoemc — February 27, 2013 — Leave a comment

The Beatitudes are central to my faith as a Christian.

They can be found in two Gospels Matthew 5:3–12 and Luke 6:20–22.

Here is the version from Matthew:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Here is the version from Luke

‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

I love the beatitudes because they remind me over and over again that we live in an upside down world. Over and over again we are told that we have to be pretty, strong, smart, successful, rich, funny, and good looking. If you are not these things, some people will tell you that God is punishing you!! Let me be clear, that is not true. What the beatitudes tell us, what God tells us is that we are perfect just the way we are. Sure, we should read books to be more educated, we should work out to be healthy, we should save more money than we spend so we can live a comfortable life. However, if we don’t that does not mean God loves us any less.

In fact, what Jesus is doing in both Matthew and Luke is blessing people. All kinds of people. Jesus does not say “all the rich people come over here, where are all the good looking people at?” In fact not only is Jesus calling out to everyone, but he points out that those who are down-and-out, extremely vulnerable, and at the bottom of the ladder people should be at the front of the line.

Why?

Because God ALWAYS shows us where we least expect to see God, even in blessings. God is with the poor, the sad, the meek, and the peacemakers. This is not where citizens of the ancient world look for God and, quite frankly, it’s not where we first look either. If God shows up here, with the weak and the vulnerable, then God will be everywhere.

I don’t believe we always hear this message. In fact, I don’t believe we always feel blessed by God when we feel weak and vulnerable These are the times that we feel God is furthest away. I want you to know right here and right now…….God loves and adores you, God wants the very best for you, not only is God with you when you feel hurt, lost abandoned or poor, but those are the times God is closest to you.

As you read the words of the Beatitudes also hear the words of blessing. Whenever you feel down and out and in need of prayer, remember these words:

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you,

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face towards you

and give you peace;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

In ABC's of Faith, Blog, Blog Series

Ask the Right Questions

pastorjoemc — February 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

Sometimes my daughter comes up to me and says “Daddy can I have a snack please?” When she asks this I usually look at her with a straight face and say “I don’t know can you?” She hates it when I do that!!

Maybe your father has done this to you, it is one of those things that we are told to do in the Dad’s handbook.

It is tough to know how to ask the right questions. It is tough to know what the questions are that will help you change your life, to change your focus from a negative to a positive.

As some point in our lives we are faced with a difficult situation We may feel down in the dumps with no real direction to fix our problems. Then someone comes along and says “What’s wrong?” There are those times when we clam up because we don’t know what to say. Then there are other times when we may go on for awhile with a list of problem, after problem, after problem. In the end there is no real solution, or even a possibility for a solution.

If you are interested finding solutions to problems rather than becoming bogged down in them, here is a suggestion that will help.

Ask the right questions.

For example, if you ask someone, “What’s wrong?” you will get an answer – often a long one – which will focus on the problem. But if you ask, “What do you want?” or “How would you like to change things?” You have redirected the conversation from the problem to the solution.

When we do have a problem or an issue that we are trying to work thought we do have a desirable outcome. I believe that to achieve this outcome we need to avoid asking the question “why” and instead choose to phrase it in a way where we say “how” or “what” instead.

For example, instead of asking your child why he is failing History, ask him what he needs to help him bring his grade up. Instead of asking your boss why you didn’t get a raise, ask your boss what you need to do in order to justify a salary increase. Instead of asking God why your prayers were not answered, ask yourself why do you think your prayers were not answered and what you think God has planned for you?

I know that it is hard to change the way we ask questions, but if we do — I believe we will get to the answers we need to hear. I will continue to make my daughter think about this when she asks me a question, no matter how many times she rolls her eyes at me.

In Faith, Family, Receptivity of God

Growing Up

pastorjoemc — February 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

I love my kids

Boy do they grow up fast.

Chillin’ together August 2008

In Family

My Little Girl Turns Six

pastorjoemc — February 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

I can’t believe another year has passed and my daughter turns six years old!!! Every day I am amazed at the growth of her personality, confidence and love.

At one you made me worry because you were so little.

At two you captured my heart.

At three you drove me crazy but at the same time you kept me sane.

At four you made my heart melt every time you called me “Daddy”

At five you amazed me with how smart and loving you are.

In Family, God Moments