Yesterday is waiting

I love being in Midland. During this transition I have written about the changes my family is walking through and about how all things seem new. This week Pastor Dave ended our Banner Quotes series with the banner "Yes Lord". In the message he said that "yesterday was waiting. No mater how far you've gone from yesterday it's always just a decision and step away". As we follow Jesus we need to be present in the day He has given us - this day. As I look back on yesterday, on great times, on times of great trial, on relationships and circumstances, and on achievement and failure, I need to celebrate some of yesterday and grieve some of yesterday, but more than anything I was reminded this week that I need to be present in today. I want to walk through today with my eyes wide open and not miss anything that God has made for me this day. I'm not trying to figure out tomorrow, I'm just trying to say "yes Lord" today.

Seek God & Live

I shared my first sermon in Midland this past Sunday. Pastor Dave helped me put together a message that ended up being very personal. We are in a series of banner quotes and mine was "Seek God & Live". It seemed like such a simple idea yet through the week it became a strong reminder to me that in seeking, God instead of any number of selfish pursuits, I would find the life God desires for me. The idea that my potential, even if misused, underused or abused is not in conflict with God's dream for me. I do look back and see times when I was seeking my own dream, and my own plans, but today, in new ways, I am seeking God and I am finding that there is a dream that God has for me that fits my life better than my own dream ever could. I love where God is taking me, and I love the dream God is revealing each day. I choose to seek God and Live.


Check out our Podcast to hear the entire Banner Quotes Series.

All Things New

I'm trying to make myself new. I have a new job, new town, new band, new car, new boss, new church, new coffee shop, three new places to sleep in six weeks - my little girl started kindergarten at a new school, new understanding of how much change my wife can take - it's a new day -

Midland

I love being in Midland. Even getting here for my first day of ministry has been exciting. On my way up from Lansing I and my car met a deer while traveling around 70mph. The deer and my car did not survive the encounter. I, however, am doing great, and I praise God for that.

Loosing my car was a curve in life I didn't expect, but what God has done since this accident has been a tremendous blessing. Even in loosing one car, God has provided my family with two cars. A new, far nicer car than I expected to be able to put my girls in, and a great car for me to get around this beautiful town. God is great.

I have been here for two Sunday services and it has been wonderful to worship together. On our first Sunday we shared communion together. It was a powerful way to begin our covenant relationship together in ministry here at Midland. The Midland congregation also blessed our family with a welcome basket. It was actually several welcome baskets, it took four trips to get the baskets into Pastor Dave & Leah's house. We had a great meal together with the Midland staff and then we watched my little girls open gifts for just over an hour. It was like Christmas morning for them. I thank our Midland family for the way they have loved and welcomed my family. It is great to be here. May God fresh anointing to our ministry and our journey together.

Pastor Eric

Dear Central Family

Dear Central Family, June 27, 2008

I have accepted a position with the Midland Free Methodist Church. I will begin serving in Midland on August 1st. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to serve in ministry with Pastor Sue and Pastor Shawn and Pastor Bruce. I am very thankful that Pastor Bruce partnered with me in prayer in this decision and allowed me the freedom to talk with him about anything during the process. I have learned a great deal from Pastor Bruce, in class as my instructor and in staff as my lead pastor. I have enjoyed working with the pastoral team and the support staff at Central, we will continue to serve as friends even as we serve from different locations. I am sad to leave friends, and I am excited to serve God in this new position. The prayerful pursuit for God's guidance in making this decision has been a significant endeavor, often walking Susie and I through times of disappointment and periods of hopeful expectation. God has been faithful, and has lead us in this new direction for our family.

We love the people of Central Free Methodist Church. We have gained the dearest friends that we have ever been blessed with in our adult lives. As God has walked us through this time He has been preparing us for this transition. Leaving friends will be a difficult portion of this decision. Leaving our worship ministry team will be the hardest part of this move. The worship team at Central knows what worship is and what worship is not. I have been blessed again and again as this team of people continues to grow musically, technically and spiritually as they have become wonderful worship leaders. We will miss you, but we are encouraged that friendships will endure even when we are apart.

Susie and I are grateful for all of the friendships and the many blessings the people of Central have showered upon us. We have been leading worship at Central for almost six years. When we came to Central we were in transition from our ministry with World Vision and we immediately found a home and a church family here at Central. We came to Central when our first daughter, Katie, was just two weeks old, and in the next year our second daughter, Jolie, was born. The people of Central have always loved our family and cared for us, blessing us and helping us in times of need, and celebrating God's faithful goodness with us. We are grateful for times when Susie and the girls got rides to church when we needed help with transportation. We are grateful for the times over the past years when individuals fixed cars for us when we were unable to do so. We are grateful for the many times that you blessed our family with food and fellowship, and gifts for the girls during Christmas. We are grateful for the anonymous help we received when we could not pay our water bill and our water was shut off. We are grateful for the tremendous blessing of many who have become moms and dads to us and grandmas and grandpas to our girls. Individuals in the church have blessed us over and over again. I am blessed to play a beautiful guitar that was a gift from an anonymous friend in the church. I have wanted to play on the golf league, and this year I am because of three wonderful friends in the church that have blessed me by buying me clubs, and paying for league fees. I am grateful for the tuition that individuals from Central have paid to allow me to pursue classes toward my ordination. I could go on and on as I recall all of the abundant blessings we have received, I trust God has used us to bless His church during this time, also. As a couple, Susie and I are immeasurably grateful for how much you have loved us and our two little girls.

We have been blessed to share our lives with you over the past years, sharing together times of triumph and times of great struggle. We have worshipped the unchanging God together even through changing times. Though this decision has been hard, I am very excited about Midland. Because of the love and friendship we have with the people of Central, I know you will be happy for us, also. Midland is a great fit for our family, and we are excited about the opportunity to partner with Pastor Dave Kessler. We will remember you in prayer, and will trust that God has great plans for us as well as for all of you at Central. Thank you for the privilege of serving as your worship leader during these past years. We will look forward to times when we are able to worship together again. May God bless us all as we submit to His authority and to the power of His grace.

"Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes. If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone," - Romans 12:9-18

Pastor Eric & Susie Wing
Katie Louise & Jolie Mae

Willow Arts Conference

I am very grateful that Pastor Bruce sent me to the Willow Creek Arts Conference last week, it was a wonderful and challenging event. I was very blessed to be able to attend. The conference was very confirming and encouraging, some of the sessions fit perfectly with the core of our worship sabbatical study. There where other sessions that where much more personal. As I return to work I am struggling to see how to implement some challenging thoughts. I have felt this way before after a great conference, when you come home and the "real" world replaces the conference world. This time I need the "real" world to change a bit, I need to intentionally spend time to create, to wait on God and listen, to look for God in everyone and everything, to do what God has called me to do even in disappointing circumstances. I do not want to let go of this complicated struggle. The friction of wrestling with this conflict of ideas will, I believe, help me become the worship leader, the artist as intercessor, God wants me to be.

Don't Come Empty Handed

Last night was the last night of our worship sabbatical. I have been so blessed by how the team has invested in this time of study. Individuals on the team have stepped up to the idea that on Sunday morning we present the offering we have prepared all week. One on our team has done this. He has put together a rehearsal CD in Garageband that is helping the entire team prepare a song for worship. This is "loaves and Fishes" worship for our team. Taking what we have and giving it back to God, and letting Him multiply it. An offering of time, talent and resources is multiplied in preparing the entire team to present an offering that God will multiply on Sunday morning to feed the multitude. Last week another member of our worship team honored God by the time he gave in preparation of a video of the worship team reading scripture paraphrases from our study. God blessed that offering as we shared the video last week.

This is how we are to worship, preparing an offering Monday through Saturday and on Sunday we do not show up empty handed, we present the offering of worship and the sacrifice of praise that we have prepared all week long. Here is part of the worship team video.

Worship Sabbatical April 22, 2008

The team continues to pursue the heart of worship. I was blessed during this week of study by the depth of discussion and transformation that God is bringing to our worship team. I shared with the team that they can never go back to how things where, now that we have seen how worship could and should be. I believe this worship sabbatical time will bear fruit in this team and for this congregation for years to come.

After our teaching and discussion time we began "mic & monitor night". This focus on how to use the equipment we have, made a dramatic improvement to our monitor mix. The team also took part in producing a video to share with the congregation to help communicate how God has lead each of us during this worship sabbatical.

Worship at Central Free Methodist

Worship Sabbatical wk4

Last night the worship team met for our fourth week of worship sabbatical. It was a great night as all shared from the homework that we have been doing together. I am excited about sharing this study I have put together with our congregation and eventually with other worship teams. This time of spiritual growth and deliberate focus is having a great impact on the worship team, and I believe will have a great impact on how this congregation will worship our Redeemer, Savior and Friend.

Stop Prepare Worship

We are taking a worship sabbatical. This will involve two new activities for our team. One, we will begin to meet as an entire group each Tuesday night. Two, we are going to step away from serving on Sunday morning for an extended period, so that we are able to stop, prepare and worship. As we learn and grow together we will take time to share insights that have been inspired from our personal time in God’s word. The purpose of this sabbatical will be to build a worship ministry that is vibrant, spiritually alert, fervent, and committed to seeing God’s purposes fulfilled through our corporate worship. The worship ministry that finds this kind of momentum will be used by God to impact the community in a powerful way.

God's Love

During my two day retreat at St. Francis retreat center I was very much invested in seeking God's will. But like God often does, He had something different in mind. I sat down at a table prepared for me and began enjoying the meal. As I was reflecting on my pursuit of God's will I suddenly was truly blessed by the pitcher of water on my table! It seems like a very simple idea as I share it, but it is a very powerful idea when I embrace it. God reminded me through a simple pitcher of ice water that His will was that I know how greatly He loves me, cares for me, and provides for me. He is the source of rest, refreshment, and life.
I decided at this meal to buy a water pitcher to have on my family's table at home. I want this water pitcher to be a reminder for my family and I, of God's love, of God's care and of God's providing life to us.

God In Me

Jack Handy writes - “If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”

I was blessed by the love and support of my family and my church staff to be able to invest two days in prayer and study at St. Francis Retreat Center. During my time I had such a renewed sense of how much God loves us. It sounds flat as I write this but spending that time in God's word and having uninterrupted worship and prayer time just kept crushing me with the significance of God's love in my life. I went with a list of questions, I came home with the same set of questions. I came back today from my retreat with a greater thirst for just being with Him. I came home with a renewed desire and urgency to know God better and to have Him fully dwell within me. I guess my questions can wait, they don't seem as urgent as they did a couple of days ago.

Seeking God's Will

In seeking God's will I have asked questions that I would bet are quite popular with anyone who has pursued this goal. "what do you want me to do God?" "Why have you put me in this situation God?" "What in the world are you doing God?"

It's this last question that I believe has brought me the closest to the truth of knowing God's will. I am learning that seeking God's will is not just asking God if we should by this house or that house, or if we should take this job or that job, or if we should marry this person or not, or if I should have raisin bran or corn chex. Seeking God's will is as unimaginable and as simple as seeking God. To know God, to know His ways and His thoughts. God's will is that we would know Him. In knowing Him we can begin to renew our minds and become like Him and discern His ways.

Paul said it pretty well
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

That is exactly what I am after.

Life Giver

This is a copy of an article written by Ron DeBoer. It is basketball season, and this is a story about basketball with a ESPN video. I have been using this story with our worship team to prepare us for Easter. This story reminds me in a powerful way of what God donated so that we could receive life. Read the story, watch the video and enter Easter knowing that a Father watched His Son die so that all of us could live.

Life, Death, Rebirth
by Ron DeBoer
1/4/2008

If you’re a college basketball fan, you know what I mean when I refer to “March Madness.” It’s that time in the spring when the best NCAA Division One men’s basketball teams begin their journey on the Road to the Final Four in an attempt at roundball supremacy. The journey begins with Selection Sunday, which this year occurs on March 16, when the sixty-four teams are chosen and slated into the tournament brackets. It’s an exciting time for everyone associated with a team that makes the tournament—its fans, cheerleaders, marching band, and even the mascot.

This article isn’t about the upsets of top seeds or the buzzer beater in one of the regional finals. This article isn’t about the madness that will begin in a few short weeks at sites all across the country. This article is about last year’s tournament and, particularly, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot and the tremendous impact of the young man who wore that suit in saving the lives of over fifty people.



* The spiritual imagery emanating from this video gives me goosebumps. The organ donation administrator: “The gift that Jason gave—there’s no greater gift.” The reporter’s voice-over: “All the survivors struggle with guilt—someone else had to die so they could live.” And of course the testimony of Emmitt Ray, Jason’s father: “I don’t know how anyone could listen to some of the stories and the timing and everything that has occurred, and not think an architect is doing that—you know, it’s like God designed it.” You get the feeling when you read and hear about Jason Ray that if, before his death, he had been able to meet the people he saved afterwards, he might have chosen to die.

As we approach Easter, I often imagine the crucifixion of Jesus as seen by God’s eyes. I imagine the Father watching his Son being humiliated, tortured, and killed. When Jesus rises from the dead, I imagine God’s great satisfaction and pride in his son. His son—dying not for just fifty people, but for all of humankind then and in the future.

We are asked to be Christ-imitators in all we do, giving of ourselves freely and generously. Jason chose to donate his organs. Many of us may never get an opportunity to save others in that way. But we can save people in other ways by giving of our resources, time, and love. Jason donated himself to others when he was alive, too. God used his death to save others, but before that, God was surely using his life to save others as well.

God wants to use your life, too. In 2 Corinthians 9:7-9, Paul tells the people, “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.’ And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, ‘They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.’”

For me, Jason’s story doesn’t end with his life and death. I first received this video from a friend of mine who does not believe in God. My friend is a basketball fanatic who rejected God years ago when his mother was taken at a young age with cancer. Through his story, Jason is donating parts of his spiritual heart and impacting people like my friend whom he never met.

You and I can do the same today.

Council of Fears

I have been praying Nehemiah 1:5-11, a bold prayer that reminds us that we can be completely confident in God even as we are completely surrendered to Him. As our team has been looking at Nehemiah to appropriate lessons for leading worship, I have been reminded by one of my prayer partners that Nehemiah did not take the council of his fears. He did not fold under very real justified fears. He was not reckless, but instead he was resilient, trusting that he was called by God to do a "great work". How often the church is handicapped by the council of our fears. Even in the seemingly mundane details of the day, fear is often at the helm. I have been asking God to help me to live and pray and walk boldly in full confidence of who He is - the great God.
As I have been considering these ideas, I am reminded of another scripture that contains a bold prayer - 2 Samuel 7:27-29. In boldness we cannot take a posture of demanding anything of God, but maybe too often we pray with more confidence in our fears than confidence in our God. Let's consider who we pray to when we pray, the Sovereign Lord whose words are Trustworthy!

2 Samuel 7:27-29

27 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer. 28 O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29 Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."

In all your ways

Proverbs 3: 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

In all your ways - this phrase has been a point of spiritual growth for me since just before Christmas. Like many, I have been in pursuit of God's will in my life. "Lord show me what You want me to do - where You want me to be". I have been asking God to show me what He wants me to do, what His will is for me, and I believe He has. He has shown me a deeper application to a verse I've known since I was a kid Proverbs 3:5,6. The deeper application comes with the word acknowledge in verse six. To acknowledge is more of a polite gesture for us today, but I feel God's desire in the word acknowledge, is for me to be completely riveted to Him.

This idea is helping me see that seeking God's will for my life has never been His desire - but seeking Him in all of my life is His desire. This all seems a bit simple, but when we consider the way God asks us to have a relationship with Him, we begin to see how simply God wants this relationship to work.

In John 6:40 it says For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life. 1 Peter 5:7 says Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. We believe - we have eternal life, we can dump all our anxiety on Him because He takes care of us. We really struggle with how simple God wants this relationship with Him to work.

Proverbs 3: 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

We have far too much of our own understanding being trusted, followed and acknowledged in our lives as the body of Christ. When in contrast the wisdom of God says lean not on your own understanding we somehow cannot resist building on our own short sightedness and arrogance. I want in myself to become a person who does not lean on myown understanding , but in every single area of my life may I become completely riveted to who God is, and to what He is doing. When we can do this we will see God's will as He makes our paths straight.

for what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees Duet. 10:12.

I want to be riveted to Him in all my ways