If you had told me a year and a half ago that I would take ten kids anywhere let alone somewhere for an entire weekend I would have laughed in your face and shouted, “no way!” It is funny how God works sometimes. It has been a year since God called me to the children’s ministry of our church. Time and time again, He shows me that I am where I should be.

We headed out Friday after school with ten third -fifth graders to Camp Glisson for the Faithology Children’s retreat. The theme was rocks. We attended fun workshops and learned through scripture, science, crafts, songs, games, and worship that JESUS is our rock!

One of our kids on the trip, Banks, has a broken leg. I was a little nervous about him getting around and him having fun on this trip. I know now that his broken leg was part of God’s plan.

Banks had a blast and the best attitude! He did not fuss or whine even when he was pushed physically. He was happy to be there with his friends and was engaged in the activities.

Banks’ broken leg brought our children closer together. I was in awe of our kids. They operated as one. They took care of him and each other. Pushing Banks’ wheelchair and keeping him safe was real team building, they worked together. They scouted safe routes and took turns carrying his crutches. They all crawled up stairs alongside him. When Banks went backwards down a hill in his wheelchair, everyone walked backwards down the hill. We had to make the loud reverse beeping sound while backing up, which was hilarious! The kids not only included Banks, but made sure he was in the middle of everything going on.

These kids were truly the hands and feet of Jesus. They learned lessons to last a lifetime. One that will stick and be passed on is “include everyone.” Rule #16- no friend left behind! We followed that rule because the kids enforced it. We had several other rules, here’s just a few (mostly made by Alton & the kids):  #9 no complaining, # 13 no personal hygiene in the boys’ cabin, (ewe!),  #13 no snitching, #1 no throwing candy (why did I make candy salad? I had that coming!) and #15 do not criticize someone else’s song choice. It is okay to play the song, even if it is annoying, as long as it is appropriate.

Shout out to our awesome chaperones, Jennifer Stewart and Alton Mercer. We could not have done it without them. God placed Jennifer and Alton on this trip, and they were perfect for our crew in so many ways. Thank you for your time and dedication to our kids!

This retreat was awesome. We all came back changed. Watching our kids praise and worship together, seeing them interact with each other and make new friends, showing kindness, and behaving well made me so proud. Being with them in the moment, talking, laughing, playing, and being silly was the best. My heart is full.

With Love,

Jen Zappa

Jen@madisonfumc.com

Lord Help Us
I tried to write some comforting texts this Thursday morning to our students and teachers in the church. Sadly, I’ve done this before and never very well. In my opinion, no one has ever been able to cobble together perfect words to bring comfort in the face of such tragedies. Polished pastors and politicians say words but the raw feeling of loss and loaded statements do not magically take away the pain. Lord, help us.

I said I was praying for them as they go off to school with the heavy weight of what happened at Apalachee on their minds. I reminded them that we love and care about them. I offered a short, inadequate theological statement about “human sin and brokenness being very real”. I ended with words about healing; starting with us, one-on-one, sowing seeds of hope. Jesus wants more peace on earth than meanness toward each other. How are we able to accomplish such a task?

We are more angry with each other today than ever before. People regularly get thrown out of restaurants, hospitals, and airplanes because of bad behavior and rudeness that, I think, leads us to more and more evil actions toward one another. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Men I find to be a sort of being very badly constructed, as they are generally more easily provoked than reconciled, more disposed to do mischief to each other than to make reparation, and much more easily deceived than undeceived.” That was over 200 years ago.

Today I think we are more lonely, alienated, agitated, and easily provoked to violence than ever before. We are “slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to anger” to paraphrase James 1:19. With powerful weapons readily available, we can inflict great harm on more people that ever before. Domestic violence, road rage, and mass shootings are all part of this natural tendency to give into our sinful selves, rather than aspire to more holy virtues. Do you remember holy virtues like patience, forgiveness, kindness, and self-control? Where do we teach these virtues beyond a short sermon on a Sunday morning?

I hate that mass shootings are routine in the news, stirring us up when it’s close by. We begin this tragic cycle with heavy hearts, thoughts, and prayers. Voices will urge us not to be political and others to be more political. Then voices advocate less guns or more guns or fewer types of certain guns in public debates. Some voices will speak of better mental healthcare and spiritual care needs in our communities. Money will be spent on more security. A word about security. I’m grateful for our school leaders who work hard to keep our students safe. I’m thankful for the Sheriff’s department working hard to keep our students safe. I believe the Apalachee High School shooting could have been much worse had there not been smart people thinking proactively about student safety.

How much more can we do? I don’t want everyday at school to look like TSA security lines at the airport. What can we do to work on keeping our children safe? I’ll have to look closer to home for at least part of the solution. As Christians, we can start with our relationship with God. We believe we are all created in the image of God, but know we are broken. The cycle of violence we hit each other with is timeless. We are naturally suspicious of each other, hurtful, and selfish. We call it sin. We believe Jesus can redeem our brokenness by having faith in Him and accepting his Lordship over us. Lordship is more than a slogan; it’s a way of life. “Love God and Love neighbors” shouldn’t just be a nice scripture verse, but instead a daily checklist for our character and virtues. What have we done to show the love of God and neighbor today? When we fail to show that love, what have we done to repent and find our way back to peace?

Let us resolve to be more civil and patient with one another. By our words and example, let us be more kind and loving toward one another—family and strangers alike. Christian virtue is not dead. Let’s strive to do better. Dare I say, our children’s safety and
the safety of everyone in the world depends on it.
Peace,
zack@madisonfumc.com

Oh, Deer—Part Two
Last week, I wrote an inspirational devotional article about a mama deer (doe) who tragically died on the back lawn of the church. (Click Here to Read It) My article described the heart wrenching scene of three fawns who were orphaned that morning. They were understandably confused by what happened as they wandered the neighborhood around the church for hours.

Pastors often have a knack for finding hope in hopeless situations. I was able to end the article on a positive note. A wildlife expert said that sometimes other does will adopt orphaned fawns and care for them. That helped me end the inspirational article in a typically positive devotional style. Humans could learn a lesson from adoptive mama deer. We ought to care for one another in a better way, the way a doe cares for a orphaned fawns. The word of God for the people of God…thanks be to God.

Part One of this story was good! Several people thanked me for my article. I patted myself on my back and slept well over the weekend. I was confident three fawns found another mother. Heck, my deer adoption anecdote was so good that maybe I’ll win a prize or be quoted someday in a sermon. My theological prowess and devotional writing skill may just land me a contract with a big publisher! Unfortunately, this deer story is now what I’ll call part one. I wish real life stayed truer to part one of my inspirational anecdote.

Two days ago, the preschool kids and adults reported smelling something dead near the playground. I hoped it was a rat in the bushes or a possum on the road. Unfortunately, it was one of the fawns in the forest. We found her body was just beyond the playground fence. The fawn kind of looked like she laid down and passed away. The gruesome but beautiful cycle of insects doing their part to return the body to the earth was well underway. Jen Buzbee and I buried her the best we could, not an easy job.

If all devotional articles and inspirational anecdotes had a part two, we might not be very inspired about life and faith in Christ. My orphaned fawn article turned out to be a funeral story. Healing stories we read about are great, but all healed people eventually die. For every close call where we feel God “had our back” there are a hundred more times we get stabbed in the back.  Do not despair, I will continue to writing devotions and inspirational articles. We need Part One devotionals that point to faith in Christ and trust in the Holy Spirit. However, from time to time we ought to reflect on the role inspirational stories play in our faith. Devotional stories are not magic prescriptions that take away all the pain and suffering of life.  Part One devotions peek into the perfection and beauty of eternity. Part Two of the devotions remind us that life is not pretty and sin and brokenness are still present.

The Gospel truth is that the Holy Spirit will be with us no matter how ugly or difficult our lives can be. God promises to be with us. You may remember that Saint Paul wrote about a similar hope and trust he had in God in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Enjoy Part One of the devotions you read, acknowledge there’s a Part Two that’s often not too pretty. Trust that Christ is in all of it.

Peace,
zack@madisonfumc.com

Oh, deer…

I was eating breakfast on Tuesday when I received an early morning text. The saying is true that “good news sleeps till 10”. The text was from Rev. Ball over at Calvary Baptist church. It wasn’t good news. We had a large dead deer on our property behind the Wesley building.

Apparently, a car hit a mama deer, and she stumbled about halfway up the Wesley lawn before succumbing to her injuries. We now had a large, dead animal on our lawn. I wondered what we were going to do about it. Call a neighbor? Phone a friend? Call animal control?

What made this situation more difficult was that there were three fawns wandering around. There’s nothing sadder than babies trying to understand why mama isn’t responding to them. I’m very glad preschool was not in session! As I finished my coffee and cereal, more calls and texts poured in about the dead doe and her wandering fawns. The dead deer dilemma sparked a lot of conversation.

Finally, animal control came out and removed the mama, but the fawns were not cooperative. A couple staff members tried to help but to no avail. I kind of hoped we wouldn’t catch the fawns. What do you do when you catch them? Who would care for them? Is it legal to bring wild animals home with you? I’m not a callous man, but I don’t think we need more deer in the city of Madison. I’d let nature run its course.

Later, I discovered nature’s course is not completely cruel.

A church member told us that she saw those fawns earlier as part of a larger herd or family. I didn’t know it at the time, but deer often adopt the young from other does. Apparently, deer are naturally adoptive. The instinct to care for other fawns, even though they are not from your deer family, is a great gift of our creator. Could we learn something from this?

The apostle Paul uses the idea of adoption to remind us that we are all part of the same family. “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27)

We are called to care for others as if they are part of the family. Teachers are caring for our students even though we are not blood related. Fire fighters rush to the flames even if we come from different family trees. Law enforcement serves and protects the community, no matter your pedigree.

We sometimes forget that we are from the same herd. Remind yourself of the lesson of the deer we found this week.

Peace,

Zack@madisonfumc.com

White Tailed Deer Fawn in Meadow