An Interesting Article

Have you seen this: http://www.covchurch.org/cov/news/item6502?

The only bad thing is that the story does not tell what happened after the celebration weekend was completed. This is one of those pastoral moments that sometimes do not make sense. On Monday I was hoping for a fairly easy day, but it was not to be as I was called to the hospital. On my way home I could not help but think why the joy of the celebration could not last a little longer and why things had to get so serious so fast.

On Tuesday's I am part of a text study group and one of the texts for last week was Elijah's encounter with God on Mount Horeb. Part of Elijah's defense of being on the mountain was that he got rid of a lot of the Baal worshipers and that his zealousness for God played a part in that. Sometimes our zealousness takes over and we forget to rely on God. I was proud of what we celebrated that weekend, but it got in the way of what I am called to do.

As God spoke to Elijah in the silence, God began to speak to me in the silence of the car ride back home on Tuesday and through my preparations. God reminded me of why Bethlehem Covenant has been around for 125 years. Not to have a party, not even to reminisce about the past, but to reach out and to care for those who are a part of our church. God also reminded me of why I was called to ministry and that is to care and to be with those who are in need. While there is a time to celebrate; caring for those in our midst never takes a day off.

And there you have the, "Rest of the Story."