Good Monday morning...

 

… and gratitude to God for this day is my focus, as I consider the communion celebration we enjoyed at church.  Besides the unity experienced by the church family, there is the deep appreciation I have in my soul for the death of Jesus, His broken body and shed blood, that is the only hope I have for salvation.  Believing in Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is how I deal with anything that comes my way.

My faith is something that I hope everyone reading this piece, and everyone who knows me, and everyone who needs to come to faith, will share with me.  Beyond that, I don’t wish my life upon anyone.  It’s not that I have had a bad life, but I’ve been perceived by my closest peers as an enigma.  It means, “mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.”  Not a very flattering description!

When Lisa said, “you’re an enigma,” she was referring to my verbal rage at seemingly everyone who shared the road with us while driving a car.  She asked me if I had ever seen the Disney movie of Goofy, who was Mr. Walker, a mild-mannered man, who turned into a raving lunatic behind the wheel of a car?  That was half a compliment… mild-mannered man that I am.  But she had me on the lunatic behind the wheel.

When Dr. Kok, my CPE supervisor, said, “Mike, you’re an enigma,” I don’t think he was comparing me to Goofy, rather to other ministers of the gospel that he’d worked with over the years.  Success always felt so elusive to me, and I think, in the context of CPE, that became obvious.  He had worked with some of the most successful men in the Reformed Church in America during his tenure at the Crystal Cathedral.

Back to gratitude.  I have concluded that “I am who I am” or as Poppey the Sailor would say, “I yam who I yam.”  Not that I am giving up any ambition for growth, but knowing my faith is solid, and God’s promises are true, I am not persuaded to change who I am, except to become more like Jesus in the way I serve.  For Lisa’s or God’s sake (the only two who really witness the Mr. Walker transformation) I really should chill out behind the wheel.  And, I do want to grow in my role as “pastor,” shepherding God’s people at Oak Springs Community Church with solid teaching and being a living example of Christlikeness, but beyond that… I’m just grateful.

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise His holy name.”  Psalm 103:1.

For His glory,

Pastor Mike