Question: Name a time when one message was the “debbie downer” for a day or week?
Answers:
When lawyer said it could take another year for divorce to come to a reconcilable state.
Add your answer to the comments on Facebook or the website, www.westsidejourney.com
Dear Friends --
Karen, my wife, had written this great article for Canby UMC, and so I asked if I could share it with you over the next two Sundays.
Ponder this here:
“The conversation at our Sunday night family dinner table comes back again and again to the power of the mind, the power of affirmations, the truth that what we say to ourselves and to others often, if not always, comes to pass. There are three simple things to remember about words of affirmation:
• Positive affirmations are always in the present tense. Not “I will” or “I’m going to” but present tense: I am the best dad. I love my body. I am wholehearted.
• Positive affirmations only include positive words. It takes your brain a lot of extra work to get past the negativity of “I can’t” or “I won’t” or “I’ll never be like…” or “I’m exhausted.”
• Positive affirmations are spoken as words of truth. Use words like “I am” or “I do” rather than “might” or “could.” Be sure of what you are affirming.
Our brains are set up to do what we tell them. So we have powerful influence over the flow of our thoughts and the subsequent actions that follow those thoughts.
It seems like the apostle Paul had some insights along these lines (without the proof of brain research, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit ;-). God is always ahead of science by millennia).
He wrote this to the Christians at Philippi,
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil 4:8)
Paul repeated several words that seem almost like the same thing. He must have known what research has revealed. Our brains are creatures of habit and the more we repeat something, the more likely it is to happen or come true.
What about saying things that don’t feel true?
Maybe we want something that isn’t true right now and maybe it feels like it will never be true. That definitely creates a tension and discomfort. Most of our life is spent avoiding discomfort and so these positive words spoken into a hard situation create tension. This is all the more reason to embrace that intention and that affirmation. The truth is we will either change the affirmation so that it feels comfortable (someday I will lose weight) or we will change our behavior and habits so that the affirmation is true: I eat healthy foods, I exercise regularly, and I get plenty of rest.”
That’s the first part of her article. So, what do you think?
How do you speak? What do you say to yourself? How do you narrate life in your own head? How positive or negative is your language?
I know that mine has been so negative in so many seasons! Catching ourselves is key! I’ve been choosing new, positive, clear statements instead!
Years ago Catherine Marshall (author and then wife of the Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall) heard the Lord speak to her heart not to speak anything negative. She agreed thinking it would be no great thing. But found she had to remain silent for three days for she was so in the habit of speaking negatively! She literally could think of no positive thing to say!
Have you ever been warned not to make vows for they are self fulfilling in the opposite direction of the vow? So, if you say: “I’ll never be like my dad.” Your brain won’t process the negative and only records “like dad” and positions you to become what you believe you do not want to be. With brain research, this makes sense.
This week – create some positive affirmations to speak over and into your own life. Can you envision a hope and a future? “Think on these things,” Paul wrote.
Keep walking together into this transitional Journey!
Brian
It’s here! The Sunday that we worship, sing, rejoice, share, and thank God for our baptism.
Join us this Sunday at Hagg Lake at 11:00 am in the Sain Pavilion. There will be a potluck lunch, so please bring something to share.
There will be no 8:15 service this Sunday.
Don’t let anything stop you from attending. Be like Esther and show up.
We have a new family moving into the parsonage at the end of the month. Like any home, it needs a little TLC first. Please join us tomorrow, July 20, from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm (feel free to come and go as you need.)
Tasks include patching, painting, and yard work. All skill levels are welcome!
The parsonage is directly south of the church.
We will be worshipping this Sunday, July 21, at 11:00 am at Hagg Lake. After our music-filled service, we will have baptisms in the lake and a potluck lunch. Please bring a side to share.
There will be no 8:15 am service!
We have an opportunity to raise money for Westside by working the Dairy Maid booth at the Washington County Fair!
We need 10 people to cover the 5:00 pm to closing shift on Sunday, July 28. You may split a shift with someone if you like.
The church will earn 15% of the sales plus all tips! Contact Paige Flanagan if you’re available. Great fun for a great cause!
In case you missed it, here’s a reprint of Pastor Brian’s letter…
Dear Faithful Family!
This congregation was birthed out of a movie and a dream.
The movie was Sister Act for after seeing that, Pastor Dan Pitney had a dream of planting a congregation that would be blessed and enhanced by music and the Gospel. In the movie, the main character transforms an insipid Convent Choir into a jazzy, upbeat, outreaching group of people who change ministry for their area. The music in the convent inspires outside-of-the-church action.
In the fall of 1994 Dan began a Bible Study focused on this new church start, with the first service slated for March 1995, and then we were chartered as Westside UMC in June 1996. Gayellyn Jacobson was at one of the first Bible Studies, and has been here ever since!
From the start, Westside was focused on reaching people outside the doors. We have always been a missionary church, a lighthouse, if you will, to help many discover love, hope and healing.
Back in the same year when Dan saw and was impacted by the movie Sister Act, I too saw it in the San Jacinto Theater in California, and was so caught by the message. Yes, music and the Gospel could change the church and community! I worked in two congregations seeking to help that happen, and then God brought me to this place where music and the Gospel were already doing just that. Jesus did that, brought me here, and we have had such a great ride.
Cool roots filled with vision and passion and hope to see lives healed, freed, and transformed! And over these years, we have seen just that!
In 2019 so far, your generous hearts have made it possible to host Family Promise for two separate weeks, reach out to the Migrant Camp Workers, experience God move in weekly worship(!), in prayer ministry, and in counseling. Bible Basics finished their 7-year trek through the Bible! Seven amazing guys completed confirmation class. And do you know of your Food Tents operated by Amy Fiederowicz help some 200 people a week get food through her and reach countless others through Bonnie Becker who continues to share the wealth? And also, Bonnie is getting food from Kentucky Fried Chicken and taking this along with other foods to Home Plate weekly! Listen – we are life-giving body about ministry and outreach.
So when you give, it’s giving so the Gospel can continue to change lives here and even as far afield as the Dominican Republic with our team of 11 and 1100 pounds of supplies! Thank you for having the vision to give and make such a difference. And thank you for continuing to give to God through Westside Journey UMC. We are changing the world with love.
Love to you all!
Pastor Brian
The latest newsletter from our missionary friends, Tim and Margarita Revett, can be found at http://www.tmrevett.blogspot.com/. Read about their adventures climbing a mountain with three small children!
Dear Faithful Family!
This congregation was birthed out of a movie and a dream.
The movie was Sister Act for after seeing that, Pastor Dan Pitney had a dream of planting a congregation that would be blessed and enhanced by music and the Gospel. In the movie, the main character transforms an insipid Convent Choir into a jazzy, upbeat, outreaching group of people who change ministry for their area. The music in the convent inspires outside-of-the-church action.
In the fall of 1994 Dan began a Bible Study focused on this new church start, with the first service slated for March 1995, and then we were chartered as Westside UMC in June 1996. Gayellyn Jacobson was at one of the first Bible Studies, and has been here ever since!
From the start, Westside was focused on reaching people outside the doors. We have always been a missionary church, a lighthouse, if you will, to help many discover love, hope and healing.
Back in the same year when Dan saw and was impacted by the movie Sister Act, I too saw it in the San Jacinto Theater in California, and was so caught by the message. Yes, music and the Gospel could change the church and community! I worked in two congregations seeking to help that happen, and then God brought me to this place where music and the Gospel were already doing just that. Jesus did that, brought me here, and we have had such a great ride.
Cool roots filled with vision and passion and hope to see lives healed, freed, and transformed! And over these years, we have seen just that!
In 2019 so far, your generous hearts have made it possible to host Family Promise for two separate weeks, reach out to the Migrant Camp Workers, experience God move in weekly worship(!), in prayer ministry, and in counseling. Bible Basics finished their 7-year trek through the Bible! Seven amazing guys completed confirmation class. And do you know of your Food Tents operated by Amy Fiederowicz help some 200 people a week get food through her and reach countless others through Bonnie Becker who continues to share the wealth? And also, Bonnie is getting food from Kentucky Fried Chicken and taking this along with other foods to Home Plate weekly! Listen – we are life-giving body about ministry and outreach.
So when you give, it’s giving so the Gospel can continue to change lives here and even as far afield as the Dominican Republic with our team of 11 and 1100 pounds of supplies! Thank you for having the vision to give and make such a difference. And thank you for continuing to give to God through Westside Journey UMC. We are changing the world with love.
Love to you all!
Pastor Brian
Question: What’s it like to choose hope rather than despair?
Answers:
It shuts down fear.
It is choosing to trust God.
It makes life a brighter experience.
It frees you, and then you are able to see what needs to be done next.
Our annual service at Hagg Lake, at the Sain Pavilion, is this Sunday, July 21. This will be the only service that day. A potluck lunch will follow; please bring a dish to share.
We’re collaborating with Christ UMC for a rousing weekend for preschoolers through 5th grade kids! Enroll your child or grandchild (or consider sponsoring a neighbor’s child!) at cedarmillchristumc.org.
Join us as we earn 15% of sales and all tips, working the Dairy Maid booth! Contact Paige Flanagan to sign up.
An international group which makes small loans to people without access to financial resources. Westside children will choose the projects they want to support. Learn more at www.kiva.org.
Clothing in small sizes is needed. Most requested items for men and women: hooded sweatshirts and windbreakers, long sleeve shirts, hats, rain gear, pants, jeans, and sturdy shoes (men's size 9 or smaller.) Contact Merry Goldthorpe with questions.
Please contact Bonnie Becker if you’re able to help cook, deliver, or serve meals to the migrant workers on Saturday evenings.
I was reading an old journal from last year today, and came across this Word from the Lord given May 19, 2018:
“Sit in Me, Son. Last night you sat in self and listened to the self. Sit in Me. Abide. Don’t seek life apart from Me. Abide. Be planted. Tabernacle in Me. Set up house. Find your hope and reality.
Discover your life in Me. Be, Son. Be. You are so valuable.
Rest. You matter son. You are so gifted. I’m proud of you. Rest. Discover Me. Be still in Me.”
As we walk this year together, and become a people who are listening together for the voice of God into our hearts and lives, we get to learn to sit in Jesus, to rest in Him. I loved the contrast Jesus painted in this word between “sitting in myself” and “sitting in Him.” We can “sit in self” in many ways -- through self reliance, through medicating or avoiding emotion, through pride, through any path of addiction, through tuning in to the monologue of the heart and not tuning into the song of heaven. That night a year ago, it was by tuning into my negative heart narratives.
For us, this next season together, is a season of transition. It is one in which we need to be tuning well into Jesus.
Transitions and changes are challenging, but are great opportunities to process emotion together, to say the things we have not said and need to say to one another, to practice well what it means to say goodbye to a season. Saying goodbye is essential in order to say “hello” to the next season yet coming.
Sometimes we do transitions in life poorly -- we neglect to end one season before entering the new one, in divorce and remarriage that could be called rebounding. At other times we might want to rush past the discomfort of the lostness or emptiness we might feel before the next season starts, because it is hard!
In his book called Transitions William Bridges writes about the challenge of doing transitions well. He gives an assignment to look back and identify places where there was an ending and a new beginning in life. Here’s his question: “At what points could you use the phrase ‘A new chapter in my life opened when…’?”
Some of my list were: Abuse, High school, Switzerland, Bookselling in Iowa, Marriage, Death of parents, Seminary, first pastorate, etc.
If you made that list, what might you notice about how you did those transitions. Did you just jump one thing to the next, or did you allow yourself to experience the change in life?
He writes: “First there is an ending, then a beginning, and an important empty or fallow time in between. That is the order of things in nature. Leaf-fall, winter, then the green emerges again from the dry brown wood. Human affairs flow along similar channels, or they would if we were better able to stay in that current. But endings make us fearful. They break our connection with the setting in which we have come to know ourselves, and they awaken old memories of hurt and shame. Growing frightened, we are likely to try to abort the three-phase process of ending, lostness, and beginning…” (both p 17).
This is a transition year.
We all need to be aware that grief will take process for all of us and will look different in each of us. Remember those stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. They don’t necessarily come in order, and also can repeat. So, the best advice with the emotions of endings is this: When you hit the emotions, feel them.
As a transitional time, it is a time to invest into the community in which God has placed us, sitting with one another and remaining in Jesus to listen as He whispers His grace and direction into our lives: “Sit in Me. Last night you sat in self… Sit in Me.”
The church council has formed a transitions team which will be meeting to plan how we can work together as a community to walk through the process of ending, or saying goodbye, or finishing well, then through some sense of lostness, and then a new beginning, as you get to welcome a new pastor and new season of ministry together with the person God is bringing.
To do this year well, to grow through it means we need to all walk together in this.
I invite you into the real and essential season of transition that we might do well what God is calling us to do together in this season to become the people God desires we become through this season.
At the end of the year, when July 2020 arrives, we all might need to feel more emotions, especially then. There is no leap-frog jump into the new, walk slowly, and through all this let’s remember that line I came back saying from my sabbatical camino: Stay with your feet.
You cannot be anyplace but where your feet are. Unfortunately when we “sit in self” we are anywhere but “with our feet.” So, sit in Jesus, listen for Him to speak and let’s keep walking and feeling together.
Love to you all -- Brian
Evil. We see all kinds of evil in this world, from situations in families, to institutions, to political events, to the treatment of people in many circumstances around the world. There is only one word for it: evil.
How we deal with it can be challenging. I get daily texts from one organization fighting against the evils they perceive in the world. I hear from another organization representing the families who encountered losses in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. They are fighting evil.
There are the border battles. There is evil on all sides in many of these ongoing issues.
I had a conversation a while back with one of our daughters about gun rights. She was overcome with the grief she felt at the impossibility to make a difference!
It can be overwhelming. But what we do have control over is this: how we choose to make a difference. Will we choose to respond with love in every situation? Will we choose to make anything we say no matter how we might disagree express the character and attitude of the God we serve? And how might we love the person God places in front of us well? That’s one thing we have control over. We also have to believe in this life that the choices we make do have consequences. In the true story of the book of Esther, her choices do make a difference for a nation.
FB arguments bother me so hotly, for they are totally avoidable as long as we always treat the comments from others on FB as if from REAL people with hearts and souls and feelings and minds. The minute we dehumanize our audience, we will participate in evil by how we treat them, write at them, and deal with them. This seems to happen all the time on FB but also personally by how we look at those who are from other races.
We can make assumptions based on fear.
For example, were I to write this:
“He met her in a bar and offered to drive her home. He said he knew a shortcut, and got her home in time for her to watch the 10 pm News.”
I imagine you had a different ending in mind, as in, “she was on the 10 pm news…” because of making an assumption out of fear.
The book of Esther is this magnificent account of what happens when someone chooses to act rather than making an assumption out of fear. It is this beautiful tale of how one woman changed the future of her race.
She is facing off with evil, but does so demonstrating an unspoken confidence in God’s goodness. None of us may need to face such evil. But we can choose to act to make a difference in the world in which God has placed us by taking action similar to Esther, we can choose to realize that no matter the evil, that God might just have placed us in our sphere of influence for “such a time as this,” for us to act.
We have a new family moving into the parsonage at the end of the month. Like any home, it needs a little TLC first. Please join us on Saturday, July 20, from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm (feel free to come and go as you need.)
Tasks include patching, painting, and yard work. All skill levels are welcome!
The parsonage is directly south of the church.
Your mid-year giving statements will be available for pick up this Sunday, July 14. Look for them on the round table in the lobby, alphabetized by last name.
And, as always, thank you for giving generously, so that the Gospel can continue to change lives all over the world!
You’re invited to the Shimers’ birthday party! Please RSVP at signups.wumc.me today.
Our annual service at Hagg Lake, at the Sain Pavilion, is July 21. This will be the only service that day. A potluck lunch will follow the service; please bring a dish to share.
We’re collaborating with Christ UMC for a rousing weekend for preschoolers through 5th grade kids! Enroll your child or grandchild (or consider sponsoring a neighbor’s child!) at cedarmillchristumc.org.
Join us as we earn 15% of sales and all tips, working the Dairy Maid booth! Contact Paige Flanagan to sign up.
Clothing in small sizes is needed. Most requested items for men and women: hooded sweatshirts and windbreakers, long sleeve shirts, hats, rain gear, pants, jeans, and sturdy shoes (men's size 9 or smaller.) Contact Merry Goldthorpe with questions.
Please contact Bonnie Becker if you’re able to help cook, deliver, or serve meals to the migrants workers on Saturday evenings.
Pastor Brian will be following God’s path for his life as he leaves Westside in July 2020.
To read more about his journey, please visit https://caminowalk2016.com/2019/07/02/the-next-step/
Question: In a word, how will you face some change in your life?
Answers:
With faith, prayer
Thankfully
Faithfully
With courage
Trusting
Optimistically
Be proactive
There are many things I have loved about the book of Esther over the years. First, the fact that it is in the bible yet God is never mentioned by name. God’s people, the Jews, are named, but not God. I find this incredible. It tells me the significance of the story and the way God is inferred to throughout it. Also, it is a story applicable to our time -- today, still, men and women still struggle with equality, and people still struggle with racism. Third, it is about real people, living at a real time, dealing with real life circumstances that challenged their faith, and they needed to face it. Finally, I love the characters, from Queen Vashti, a true-blue, steel magnolia, and Esther, Mordecai, the wicked Hamen, the king, and especially Harbona. This servant is a great behind the scenes guy who SEES everything and is involved all along the way. So -- let’s dive in.
As we are facing change here -- I know a year off, but still a real change to face, process and feel -- we can use the reminder that God is always behind the scenes, that no one bad is powerful enough to thwart God, and that together we have great ability to come through. It is helpful to have story with us in such times. I love the power of this story to speak on so many levels.
In my own life this has been the most fascinating season I’ve ever lived. Just the other morning, God highlighted a verse in 1 Samuel for me. It was Samuel speaking to Saul, then King, but missing it up royally. Samuel said, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king…” (15:17).
When I read this the Lord spoke to my heart reminding me how frequently it applies to me as well -- thinking less of myself than God does. Naming myself far less then the anointing names me. Believing my thoughts not God’s anointing. I think it impacts us all -- we can live to the level of what we believe in our hearts, or to the measure of what God speaks about us. I would rather do the latter! In this story a young woman, certainly with no thought of qualifying to become queen, becomes queen. No matter what she might have thought of herself in her heart, God raised her up. This is a picture of us, placed in a position of honor, of calling, of anointing, no matter what we might imagine be true of us.
This book tells us to live into what God says of us, not what we believe about ourselves. As Mordecai says to Esther, perhaps “you have come to your royal position, for such a time as this.” We too have been given a royal position, have we accepted it, do we walk in it, do we believe it, for such a time as this?
How much we need this at this time!
Stand. Be. Trust. Be the difference needed.
From July through December, our “small change” offering on Sunday mornings will go to Kiva. Kiva is an international organization, founded in San Francisco in 2005, that envisions a financially inclusive world where all people hold the power to improve their lives.
The premise is simple: the money is crowdfunded and distributed to those without access to banks or other sources of financial opportunity. The premise is simple but the impact is huge: 1.6 million loans (for a total of $1.3 billion) have been funded in 81 countries, for farming, education, starting small businesses, and many other needs.
Here are some stats:
100% goes to funding loans. Operational costs are covered by optional donations
96.9% repayment rate
81% of borrowers are women
Lenders crowdfund an average of $2.5 million per week
So, bring your coins and small bills each Sunday. The children of Westside will get to choose which borrower from which country will receive the money. If you’d like more information, visit www.kiva.org.