Devotional 6-26-09

My dad, Floyd Taylor, died on May 15. He lived 80 healthy years and suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke a week before his death. Dad was kind, loving, and fair. He knew something about everything. If he didn’t know it, he could fake it pretty convincingly. He was a family man and a servant of God. He loved his church, Cross Lanes United Methodist Church. He was a prolific writer for his church’s newsletter. A humble man, he preferred to challenge his readers from behind the scenes, using the “Anonymous” pseudonym. Often, his writings found their way into these devotionals—anonymously. At the visitation and funeral, I heard from many of Dad’s former co-workers, neighbors, church friends, the yard man and others about how Dad had touched them. Karyn Stagg, a church friend of my parents, shared the following story with me and then wrote the article for the Cross Lanes United Methodist Church newsletter. She gave me permission to include it here.—Jeff Taylor

I wanted to pray over Floyd. He must have prayed over me instead.
No one really had a chance to say goodbye to Floyd Taylor. Not only was he not sick, he seemed as healthy as a horse. It was a devastating loss not only to Floyd’s family, but to our church family. Like everyone, my husband, Alan, and I were also distraught. When the prayer call came, Alan was on his way to Pittsburgh. I called to let him know Floyd was in ICU, and he called three times to get updates. You see, we are ushers and Floyd was the Universal Usher Extraordinaire. Some would call him Head Usher, but he was much more than that. It will be difficult to walk into the church without Floyd’s updates—his smiles—his kindness—his willingness to find substitutes when you forgot it was your ushering month and had planned a vacation! Floyd “covered” for a lot of people. Organizing the ushers wasn’t Floyd’s only church activity: he also oversaw the liturgists and wrote “anonymous” articles for the Newsletter. Most don’t know that he was initially involved in the Prayer Shawl Ministry, an off-shoot of the Prayer Committee, which I serve. Soon after the Prayer Shawl Ministry was started, shawls were sent to Floyd and Gerry’s son-in-law, Michael, and daughter, Janice Kruger. Michael had developed a devastating illness. Floyd wrote a beautiful short verse regarding the shawls; a piece we read when we deliver and before we pray for eh recipients. (Read it below). Now the Prayer Shawl Committee planned to deliver a shawl to him. Our talented knitters make beautiful shawls; it’s a special ministry and it’s a privilege to deliver them. And this was one shawl I absolutely wanted to deliver. But, life doesn’t always work the way we plan. Floyd was faltering and the shawl had to be delivered immediately. As things go, I couldn’t be there. Thankfully, Floyd got the shawl, but I was disappointed I couldn’t pray over him (and Gerry) before he departed to Heaven. As I dressed for Floyd’s wake, I went to my closet to choose a jacket. For some bizarre reason, I chose a wool one I hadn’t worn in a couple of years and really don’t like! It was too heavy for the recent weather and I had better choices. Why wear this? I thought as I put it on. However, when I slipped my hand into the pocket, my reason for choosing it became apparent: there I found Floyd’s handwritten verse carefully folded. I hadn’t seen it since he wrote it and since I had copied it onto my computer to give to our committee. Awed, I read it anew and put it back in my pocket before heading to the funeral home. I had wanted to pray over Floyd, but it appeared he was one step ahead of me. As the tears fell, I could see Floyd standing next to Jesus with a smile on his face! “It’s okay, Karyn. We’ve got you covered.”………….We miss you Floyd.

Karyn Stagg

Floyd’s Verse
Prayer shawls are a ministry of the Cross Lanes United Methodist Church. Each shawl becomes a consecrated enduring gift for a child of God faced with difficult challenges. It is prayerfully handcrafted to a length approximating the length of the outstretched arms of an adult. While the artistry is the work of a few, the gift is from the congregation. When you place it around your shoulders, know that you are being embraced by a host of God’s people who regularly lift you up in prayer.

Devotional 6-19-09

Special Invitation: Please join us as the Africa University Choir presents a concert at Johnson Memorial UMC this Saturday, June 20, at 7:30pm. The church is located on the corner of 5th Avenue and 10th Street in downtown Huntington. We would love to see you there!

If Huntington is too far away, the choir will be at the Clay Center in Charleston tonight (7:30), St Paul's UMC on Friday (Parkersburg, 7:30pm), Lewisburg UMC, 2:30pm and Beckley Temple UMC, 7:30pm on Sunday. For more information, go to http://www.wvumc.org/.

THANKS GOD FOR FATHERS

Lectionary Scriptures: 1Samuel 17: 1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49; Psalm 9: 9-20; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4: 35-41

“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10.

My first job after college was as a house-parent at Burlington Home for Children and Youth. I will never forget the instructions my husband and I received at one of the first training sessions. Rev. Andy Agnew, the administrator, was sharing about some of the attitudes and background we could expect from the children and teens who lived in this community. He related that we should not be too quick to “preach” our beliefs, especially religious ones, as the kids frequently did not have the background or framework to understand. He stressed that we needed to be “living examples” of how to live and relate to others. As a way of giving us examples of what to say or not say he related an exchange he had had with one of the teens. The teen had asked what God was like. Rev. Andy explained that God was like a father who provided and cared for us. The teen responded that if God was like his “ole man”, he didn’t want anything to do with him. Fortunately, Rev. Andy related, he was able to “back-up” and re-form an answer about the nature of God that the teen could eventually accept. Rev. Andy’s life and actions also matched what he said so that the teen was eventually able to accept a relationship with God in his life.

God is made real to us in and through the lives of others—we can find our way on the path by following the light of those who let God’s light shine through them. God can use all his followers to be blessings to others, but we have to sometimes be willing to leave our comfort zones to answer the call.

This Father’s Day weekend, I have been remembering the lessons I have learned from Rev. Andy and some of the other Godly men that I have been privileged to know and love. I hope you will join me in celebrating all the men who serve God so faithfully

Thank God for men who:
- serve Him without regret or embarrassment
- cook and or serve meals for the needy
- assist people to keep their appointments
- wash dishes and clean up after a church meal
- faithfully bring their families to church and stay to worship with them
- open their wallets for the needy and support the church and other worthy projects
- sing with abandon and joy
- pray with us and for us
- teach Sunday School classes
- love their wives and children and nieces and nephews and in-laws, etc. without counting the cost
- freely share smiles, hugs and support when needed
- serve the church as called on committees and other projects
- are not afraid to share their emotions to express what God means to them
- allow God to shine through their lives in any number of ways

I know I could go on and on—but the sentiment is “THANKS!!” for all the large and small ways that each of you serve God. Every time you are faithful, the universe changes for the good. May your lives continue to be led by His Word and may you always know that God holds you in a warm embrace and is thankful for your stewardship. In the same way your friends give thanks for you, God rejoices in you and “calls you by name” and joins me and a host of others in an anthem of thankfulness.

Chyrl Budd

Note: For more information about Burlington United Methodist Family Services, go to: http://www.bumfs.org/.

Devotional 6-12-09

JUDGING
"The Lord doesn’t look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” Samuel 16:7 NIV

The first (of many) lessons I learned when I started working retail was not to judge someone by their appearance. There are many stories around town about lost opportunities because someone didn’t think the customer looked prosperous enough to warrant their time. They judged them by their outward appearance. We all make that mistake. We not only judge how other people look, we judge how they raise their children, how they treat their spouse, how they spend their money, their time, how they live their life. You name it, we judge it. It makes us feel better about ourselves-superior. We know how everyone else should live their life. When we are busy judging others we don’t have time to look very closely at our own life.

But, we don’t have all of the information or the wisdom we would need to judge fairly. We can only judge from the outside. There is so much that affects the way we behave--family background, physical problems, mental problems, chemical imbalances, etc. Medical science has made great strides, but there is still so much that is not known or understood--even by professionals--much less by us looking from the outside in. But God understands. He judges from the inside. He knows us to the depth of our being and judges us from that perspective.

We are not called to judge. In fact, we are warned against criticizing others. In Matthew 7:1-2 NIV, Jesus says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured you.” Now that's scary! Maybe the next time we catch ourselves judging others we need to stop and take a minute to think of reasons why someone is behaving the way they are. Is there something we can do to help? That is what we are called to do, not to judge, but to love.

Margaret Williams

Devotional 6-5-09

A Christian

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, “You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.” Then he thought, “Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet.”

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, “Here, you gave me too much change.”
The driver, with a smile, replied, “Aren't you the new preacher in town?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday.”

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, “Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.”

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember -- you carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself, “Christian.”

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

I'm glad a friend forwarded this to me as a reminder. So, I choose to forward it to you - my friend. God bless you; I hope you are having a wonderful day!

The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not PROTECT you...

Stay FAITHFUL and Be GRATEFUL!

Rev. Jeremiah Jasper