Category: Reflections

Thoughtful Encounters

Pastor’s Column in the June Newsletter

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ – the One who prayed that the church might be one.

This month our early worship celebration will gather in the Fellowship Hall and join other churches around the country in living into Jesus’ prayer that the church might be one. Last year over 2 million people joined in the One Prayer campaign and more are expected join this year. The theme for this year invited preachers from around the world to complete the sentence “GOD IS … .” Below is our schedule of messages … come join us on Sunday morning as we learn more about who God is.

Join us for ONE PRAYER 2009!

May 31 – “GOD IS … Love”
Craig Groeschel @ LifeChurch.tv in Edmund OK

June 7 – “GOD IS … Here and Anything Can Happen”
Dino Rizzo @ Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, LA

June 14 – “GOD IS … Strength”
Francis Chan @ Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA

June 21 – “GOD IS … Incomparable”
Mark Batterson @ National Community Church in Washington, DC

June 28 – “GOD IS …”
Andy Stanley @ North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA

Our children’s space is now nearly renovated and in the coming months we will want to dress up our new adult spaces. In the coming weeks we will be putting together a summer work schedule to include workdays during the work week and on several Saturdays. I encourage you to find a place to commit several hours to helping us paint, clean, and organize our education spaces.

We will also need to keep our eyes focused on our city. As I mentioned this past week we congratulate Agnes Ho (Neuse Regional Library), Herbert and Cathy Lewis (Sweet’s Coffee Shop), Darlene Brown (Brown’s Sweet Treats), and Alison Merritt (Alison and Company)for their awards from the Kinston-Lenoir Chamber of Commerce. Let us continue to seek and pray for the welfare and prosperity of the city where we live.

Grace and Peace, ALLEN

ONE PRAYER Campaign for 2009

This year at Queen Street Church, the early service will feature preachers from several churches as we seek to be in union with churches around the world.  Last year LifeChurch.tv invited other pastors and churches from around the world to share in Jesus’ ONE PRAYER for the church, to share in hearing God’s word, and enter into service to a broken world.  This year’s One Prayer messages emerge from each preacher’s desire to convey a single truth emerging from the phrase “God Is … .”  
  • “God Is … Love” from Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv in Edmund, OK.
  • “God Is …  Here and Anything Can Happen” from Dino Rizzo of Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, LA.
  • “God Is …  in Control” from Greg Surratt of Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, SC.
  • “God Is …  Incomparable” from Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington, DC.
  • “God Is …  Strength” from Francis Chan of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA.  
  • “God Is …  Waiting on You” from Mark Beeson of Granger Community Church in South Bend, IN.
  • “God Is …  ” from Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA.
Last year’s theme was built on each pastor’s simple prayer for the church “Make Us … .”  You may want to check out last year’s messages from several of the the preachers we will be hearing.

I am praying that you will enjoy the coming month as we ponder the mystery of our God.

Books for Your Reading Consideration

In a season of economic uncertainty, you may want to consider these books for your personal and small group study:

  • During difficult economic times, it’s tough not to focus on getting by with less and waiting for the next bit of bad news. But, as Christians, how do we to respond to what’s happening on Wall Street? In Upside Living in a Downside Economy, Mike Slaughter, pastor of Ginghamsburg Church, offers insight into seeking God’s perspective in our daily money concerns. With clarity and a servant’s heart, Slaughter addresses vital topics such as money and marriage, financial and spiritual investments, personal motivation and God’s will, and determining priorities. (There is also a four-session DVD and Leader’s Guide for Upside Living in a Downside Economy that can assist participants in strengthening their spiritual connection while making economic corrections and, most importantly, responding according to God’s plan).
  • Enough is an invitation by Adam Hamilton, pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, to rediscover the Bible’s wisdom when it comes to prudent financial practices. In these pages are found the keys to experiencing contentment, overcoming fear, and discovering joy through simplicity and generosity. This book could change your life, by changing your relationship with money. (Also available is a five session video study with leader guide. Adam Hamilton presents such topics as Introduction: Faith in the Midst of Financial Crisis, When Dreams Become Nightmares, Wisdom and Finance, Cultivating Contentment, Defined By Generosity plus a Bonus video: To Be A Blessing).
  • Finally, Bishop Robert Schnase, offers us a devotion titled The Balancing Act. Our lives are filled to capacity with routines, habits, conversations, surprises, and disappointments. With all that’s going on in life, it’s easy to miss those quiet moments of grace which come more often than we realize. But they are there. A collection of thirty short and insightful devotional readings originally written for his blog, Bishop Robert Schnase invites readers to take a daily look at how to watch for and include God in their lives. The Balancing Act is written to inspire prayer, conversation, questions, and change. Feel free to use it as a personal daily devotional or in small groups.

Pastor’s Column in the May Newsletter

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Greetings in the Name of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I am spending times these days wondering and praying and dreaming and pondering about our life together. I celebrated with God our hospitality as we welcomed the Association of Congregations for Holy Week worship here – I am ready to do that again tomorrow! I marveled at Jacob Mewborn’s creativity as he led his time in preparing worship celebrations for us throughout Lent and Easter. I prayed for Sammy Hudson as he has led us in worship for the past 2 years and now prepares for a full summer of ministry at The Refuge. I keep being surprised by Bridges Baker and our kids … we had 11 children in the nursery the Sunday after Easter! I prayed for the communion of saints as their number was increased by the addition of our brother David Callaway and sister Louise Burkett. I prayed for the continued ministry of our Congregational Care team after we dedicated them for ministry among us last month. I dreamed of our kids at Southeast Elementary School becoming the best of who God intends them to be and live according to God’s purposes for their lives. And I wondered … and I prayed … and I dreamt … and I pondered …

Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street? I am convinced that we are the people to lead this community into God’s preferred future. I am clear that God’s vision for us is to seek the welfare of the city where we live and trust that God will provide for our welfare as part of that broader prosperity. I am committed to seeing that the next steps are taken to lead God’s people forward, even if it is a land filled with giants as well as milk and honey. Yet I come back to that question, “Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street?”

This summer we will need to spend some time reorganizing our lives. When we move back into in our renovated spaces we will need to spend several days together moving equipment from one space to another. We have things scattered about the church that need to be reorganized and stored in new spaces. We have spaces that were formerly children’s spaces that now need to be repainted as adult and/or dual use spaces. For me all of this is a sign that God is also inviting us this summer to relook, rethink, reevaluate, reorganize, and retool ourselves for ministry together on Queen Street. So I come back to the question, “Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street?”

So I ask you to join with me in praying, “Father God, what are you up to on Queen Street?” I know that God is at work on Queen Street and in the midst of the servants I have come to hold so dear in our life together. Our leadership team is working on ways for us to spend this summer in wondering, praying, dreaming and pondering together as we seek to answer this question. My hope for you is that you will join us in this prayerful work and find your place for ministry among the saints and sinners who worship together on Queen Street.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Books for Your Reading Consideration

This month let’s look at several books to brighten our spirits:

Patricia Wilson is a storyteller whose anecdotes point to the good news: God loves you and wants you to enjoy a life abundant in blessings, freedom, and opportunity. In When You Come Unglued Stick Close to GodWilson shows readers how to dump their baggage, resist stress, loosen up, and begin simply to be the unique individuals God created each one to be.

When tragedy strikes, many people desperately search for answers by turning to God. Bestselling author and pastor Max Lucado believes that prayer is the only real answer to tragedy and crisis and helps readers understand how to pray despite their doubt and fear. Check out For These Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing.

Marriages have a better opportunity of thriving when couples spend time together with God. David Stoop and Jan Stoop offer couples a chance to center their lives together in Just Us: Finding Intimacy with God and Each Other. In a few minutes each day, couples will focus on God’s view of marriage, how God blesses marriage, how to grow in love and intimacy, faithfulness, improving communication, resolving conflicts, the roles of husband and wife, building trust, forgiveness, the importance of prayer and how to have an intentional marriage.

Pastor’s Column in the April Newsletter

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Greetings in the Name of the Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord!

In the coming week we will pause to remember the most important week of our Lord’s life, the week of his passion or death. It is easy for us to forget the dizzying effect this week had on Jesus’ first disciples. One moment they were looking out over the holy city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, then they scrambled to find a donkey and led Jesus through the city in a victorious parade and later he shared a special meal with his closest followers that reinterpreted the meaning of the ancient ritual of Passover. Then Jesus was arrested by the Jewish authorities, prosecuted before the Roman governor, and crucified and left for dead outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Some of his closest and bravest followers recovered his body and prepared it for a proper burial. Then the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob intervened in a way never anticipated by his followers – God raised Jesus from the dead!

As you prepare to join Christians around the world in celebrating this Holy Week, I encourage you not to leap to the resurrection without first passing through the joy of the palms, the breaking of the bread, sharing in the cup, and the pain of the nails. To do so misses the experience of Jesus being fully alive in our midst, even in his “obedience unto death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). When we remember his life among and “the baptism of suffering, death and resurrection “we come to realize how much God loves us. This is the hope in which we stand unto this day: “Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, that proves God’s love toward us” (see Romans 5:8).

During Holy Week we are hosting the Association of Congregations of Kinston and Lenoir County worship services during the lunch hour on Monday through Thursday. Each day we will worship from 12:00 to 12:30 PM and then have lunch together from 12:30 to 1:00 PM. I trust you will present to extend hospitality to our community as together we remember the week of Jesus’ passion. As we do this, let us hold fast to these words from the writer of Hebrews:

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 11:23-25).

In the week after Easter our contractor will be making a big push to complete several portions of our renovation project. I know you join me in praying for their continued good work and safety as they work on our behalf to prepare a great space for our children. Thanks for all you do to support the ministry of the people called Methodist on Queen Street.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Moving forward by saying YES (and often saying NO) …

When you are paying attention, answers come from unexpected sources for often unasked questions.  What do I mean.  Often I have been asked about what the churches I have served with did to launch something new.  For example, how did you get together the band for the contemporary service at Nashville UMC (which doubled worship attendance) or grow the missions budget at Pinehurst UMC (which increased twenty-fold)?  In my better moments I answered by saying it was simply a God-thing.

About three months ago I was attending a training event with the Alban Institute which was paying attention to helping organization take the next step forward in the journey.  In the midst of the conversation the title of one of Peter Block's books came up, and the title alone floored me.  I received in a fifteen second blip the insight in what had worked to unleash such creativity in the churches I have served.  The title is The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters!  When we say YES to taking the next step, the hows often take care of themselves, but we have to be willing to take the next step (or is it a leap?).

Listed below are six questions that Block suggests we need to reframe to say YES:

  1. How Question: How do you do it?
    Yes Question: What refusal have I been postponing?
  2. How Question: How long will it take?
    Yes Question: What commitment am I willing to make?
  3. How Question: How much does it cost?
    Yes Question: What is the price I am willing to pay?
  4. How Question: How do you get those people to change?
    Yes Question: What is my contribution to the problem I am concerned with?
  5. How Question: How do we measure it?
    Yes Question: What is the crossroad at which I find myself at this point in my life/work?
  6. How Question: How are others doing it successfully?
    Yes Question: What do we want to create together?
  7. Bonus Question: What is the question that, if you had the answer, would set you free?

I encourage you to consider asking more YES questions?  In my own life, the real adventures began when I made a commitment with God to move forward — especially when I did not have the answers to the how questions that I and others were raising in the moment.

Pastor’s Column in the February Newsletter

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

The new year continues to reveal itself for us at Queen Street Church. This month I invite you to attend the choir’s musical dinner theatre event . This will be a opportunity to enjoy the gifted musicians who lead our worship in a different venue. Bring a loved one or just a good friend for dinner and a show.

This month we will also be focusing on the gift of Christian fellowship. We invite you to join us on Wednesday evenings for a meal and table conversation. Often times we feel rushed to push the plates aside for an evening program, but for this month we just want to enjoy each other’s company. In the coming months we will add opportunities for bible study or small group devotion in addition to the fellowship. If you are ready to join a small group right now, I encourage you to join Jeff and Shannon Nelson in their home on Tuesdays evenings. I am sure that the flame of Christian relationships will burn warmly in their home.

In our youth ministry we are working with Betty Blaine Worthington on Sunday mornings and with our youth team on Sunday evenings on opportunities to grow in our connections with each other and with Jesus. I will begin a confirmation class for the middle school youth on Sunday evenings at 5:00 PM beginning on February 8.

We anticipate seeing signs of construction in February, so begin your urgent prayers for our patience, perseverance, and safety during this time. As always, join me in praying and seeking for the welfare and prosperity of Kinston.

Grace and Peace, Allen

Pastor’s Column in the January Newsletter

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

As I start the new year I am resolved to return to a different rhythm in my life. The melody to this rhythm is found in a hymn written by Joseph Brackett, an eighteenth century elder of the Shaker community in Maine, who penned these words in 1848:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

At some point along the way, the word was that this was a melody to work by, but other historians suggest that this was a dancing tune. This latter theme was picked up when Sidney Carter wrote the words of “The Lord of the Dance” found in our most recent hymnal. Let me suggest that in this melody is the primary work of this new year for Queen Street Church, the work of finding true simplicity.

We love to make life difficult. Have you noticed that we seem to enjoy complexity. When you ask me to do something I come up with a list of why I cannot respond at this time. When I ask you to do something the list is different, but the outcome is the same. Yet Jesus said “let you ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no‘ be ‘no.’” When we look at the calendar for the new year we immediately pencil in everything we did last year and then start adding new events to the schedule. Pretty soon I will have our staff in charge of producing 104 special Sundays a year and wondering why they can only accomplish 52! So let’s stop being complicated and seeking true simplicity this year.

I suggest first that we consider simplifying the way we talk about our faith. I want you to have you personal connection to Jesus Christ, but I want you to understand that following Jesus among the tribe called United Methodists is pretty simple! Bishop Rueben Job suggests that John Wesley’s rules for living together in Christian community can be reduced to three challenges:

  • Do No Harm,
  • Do Good,
  • Stay in Love with God

Is that simple enough for us? I think so. So my pledge to you in the coming year is that I will be asking us to consider all the simple things we can do to further God’s soon-coming kingdom. I will be asking us to uncomplicated our lives and our calendars by throwing out the complicated things that get in the way of true simplicity. And then I want us to dance in God’s simplicity … “’tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free, ‘tis a gift to come down …”

Grace and Peace, Allen

Kings Journey (Matthew 2:1-12)

Angel Announces – Mary Sings – Joseph Prays – Shepherds Come – God with Us – KINGS JOURNEY

I have observed that there are two kinds of people in the world: people who think there are two kinds of people and people who do not.  It is in our very nature to divide between us and them, winners and losers, insiders and outsiders, State and Carolina, ECU and any ACC or instate school, rich and poor, those born below the Mason-Dixon line and those born above the line, etc. (help me out with your divisions of the world).  Just one more observation, if you are worshiping with us on this one of the lowest attendance Sundays of the year, you are the ultimate insider.

(North Point Community Church outside of Atlanta does not have worship celebrations on the last Sunday of the year to give their 1000+ volunteers a break.  When I brought this up with my staff they thought this would be a great model to follow, but others disagreed.  Most of the dyed in the wool Christians I know consider cancelling Sunday worship a heresy, excepting for snow or others “acts of God.”  I mean if its Sunday then we are … playing some football right?)

I bring this to our attention because most the lessons about Jesus’ birth are about establishing his insider status among God’s chosen sons and daughters.  The “Scandal of Particularity” is that God became flesh and blood and moved into the backwater towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth, in the backwater province of Judea on the edge of the mighty Roman empire.  If God were planning to transform the whole world (see John 3:16, “for God so loved the world …), then the plan seems inverted.  Wouldn’t have made sense to have God’s child show up in Rome and born within the emperor’s lineage?  If God is going to transform the world, don’t we need the assistance of those insiders on Wall Street (financiers), Pennsylvania Avenue (politicians), and certainly K Street (lobbyists)?

This was brought back to mind this week, when Leonard Sweet’s text message came across my phone’s screen this week.  Len’s tweet was “Where are the Wise Men? Are they disappearing from Xmas story? Particularity=Jewish Messiah. Magi open us to Universality: Savior of World.” That’s right I thought, without the Magi (and the shepherds) we outsiders do not have a chance at this flesh and blood Savior born among us.

Continue reading “Kings Journey (Matthew 2:1-12)” →