Freedom to fail

I recently began a project that only a few people know about.  I decided to participate in "NaNoWriMo".  What, you ask, is NaNoWriMo?  It is 'National Novel Writing Month', and it is a challenge to write 50,000 words of fiction in 30 days.  And it takes place in November.  Along with 300,000 other people across the country, I am taking the challenge.

That is crazy, you might say.  And I would pretty much agree with you.  It works out to about 1,670 words per day.  The problem is that you have to do it every day for 30 days straight or face some days with a significantly higher number of words in an effort to make up for lost time.  Crazy, insane, out of my mind....  I have a full-time job, I am a pastor, Thanskgiving is this month, Christmas is coming up.  Crazy.

So, maybe I will fail.  Chances are pretty good, in fact, that I will not succeed.  And the consequences?  Ummmm...try again next year?  No one is going to fire me.  No one is going to put my name in the police column in the newspaper.  No fines, no community service. Nothing dire will happen.  I can say that I tried, which is a lot more than most people have done.

We can extend this to the church, y'know.  (Oh, come on, you knew I was going to get around to this, didn't you?)  So often the church needs innovation, for people to step out and do something they have not done before.  Maybe we need s Sunday School teacher or someone to do children's church.  Maybe we need to start a new ministry.  Maybe something as simple as reading a poem on Sunday morning.  So, give it a try!  What is going to happen if you 'fail'?  Nothing much, really.  We are a family in the church.  We support each other.  There will be no snickering, nothing bad will happen.  If you try and sing a solo and you forget the words, no one is going to fault you for looking at the words on a piece of paper.  At least you tried!

A new ministry?  I know that most ministries will have a learning curve.  And many will fail.   But if we try ten things and nine fail, we will still have tried and we will still have that one success which we wouldn't have otherwise.

And if we do succeed?  It is all to the Glory of God.

So come on and give it a try. 


"Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory..."  Psalm 115:1 (NIV)

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A Sabbath Rest

This is a busy time of year and there are plenty of things to keep me occupied.  It is supposed to be a time of reflection, with the holidays of Thanksgiving and Veterans Day both falling in November.  It is easy to get sidetracked from the 'reflection', though when there is some much to do.  Last Saturday my wife was working and I went to five stores looking for tableclothes for our church Thanksgiving Dinner, to be held on Sunday.  In the afternoon I went down to the hospital to visit one of our people who has been sick for over a week, now.  I was also in the process of finalizing preparations for the service on Sunday.  Where does the 'reflection' go?  This is just a snapshot of MY life, but I would be willing to bet there are many people out there going through the same thing.

God puts some reflection time into our schedule.  It is called 'Sabbath'.  His command is to "remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy".  How many people regard that as just a suggestion, and more so, a suggestion that is impractical in todays world?  In our Western society we put our kids sports games on Sunday, we put family get-togethers on Sunday, yard work on Sunday and so many other activities that we lose count.  No wonder we come to Monday morning asking "...where is my coffee?". 

The Father has given us a Sabbath Day, not for His sake, but for ours.  God does not get tired!  God does not need a Sunday afternoon nap!  He does not need spiritual refreshing.  We do. 


"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God"
Hebrews 4:9 (NIV)