35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:  For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Take time to read the above scripture. It reminds me of a very dramatic and painful time in my life. It was not long after I had entered pastoral ministry that something shook me to the core of my being. I proceeded to experience a great depression and yet, thanks be to God, I never lost faith. I did not know where to turn and yet I knew God was faithful. Then one day, while I was on my Walk to Emmaus experience, these words came to me in the verse of song. God spoke to me that day in this way, “Allen, don’t worry anymore, I am in control, and I love you and all people!” It was an epiphany of sorts as I realized there is nothing that can stand in the way of God’s love not even death!

Ever since then, when I hear Christians put conditions on God’s love, I am broken-hearted. God does not put conditions on His love. Instead, people (I believe out of fear) put conditions on God’s love. They say God only loves certain people. They also say God will not love you if you are this way or that. Well, my grandmother used to tell me something when she asked me a question and I answered with, “They said…” She would say, “They are liars!” I have discovered she was right. They are liars who tell you God only loves certain people. They are liars if they tell you God will not love you due to certain things or situations in your life. They are liars if any word spoken from their mouth contradicts God’s unconditional love. If someone lies, they seek to misrepresent what is the truth. The truth is; God loves us all unconditionally and anything else is a lie told by liars.

This month I know many of us will receive Valentine’s from ones we love. I encourage you to seek out, and share the greatest Valentine of all… God’s love! Tell the truth, “For God so loved the world [That’s EVERYONE by the way] that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17)

In the love of Christ,

Pastor Allen Boliek

With the coming of the New Year comes the inevitable rush of ideas of all the things we want to change in our lives (most of the time, these feelings manifest themselves into New Year’s resolutions). As I shared in my New Year’s Day sermon, I resolved last year to make no more resolutions. My planned worked very well. As I review 2011, I see that with the lack of personal and professional goals I accomplished all I set out to accomplish, nothing. That’s not to say I was not effective in my life or ministry, but I definitely have no real guidelines as to what I wanted to accomplish and how successful I was in general in 2011. These results have definitely given me a new perspective on New Year’s resolutions and setting goals in general. So, for 2012, I have decided to make a list of resolutions and do my best to accomplish all I have set to do in 2012.

Most of my goals are personal. I have decided to exercise daily for a minimum of 30 minutes. I have decided I will return to my low-carb diet and healthy eating within the bounds of this diet. I have resolved to finish unpacking all the boxes left from our move. I plan on setting personal financial goals. Finally, I have been developing a bucket list of sorts over the last few years and I hope to accomplish as much this year as possible.

I have some professional goals. I want to finally “set-up-shop” in the churches where I can be more accessible to everyone I serve in the congregations. I am going to work on encouraging attendance in both churches with standard goals of a minimal of 80 worshipers each week at Littlejohn and 70 each week at Baton. I will need all of the congregations help on this goal. Also, with the help of ALL the people of the congregations, another goal I have is to develop a comprehensive small group ministry dedicated to education, Christian education, physical fitness, and new avant-garde ministries that actually reach people who have NEVER considered themselves church goers or religious in general before.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I want to improve the work of our nurture ministries. I intend to do this through regular visits by myself and lay led visitation teams top those who are unable to attend due to health and other life situations. These professional goals will depend a lot on you the congregations that I serve. I need your support, your love and your input given in constructive ways.

I don’t plan on being a “lone wolf” in this New Year’s resolution campaign. Oh no, I am encouraging everyone in the congregations to set your own personal and professional goals for 2012. Just recently, our family sat around the dinner table and shared each of our resolutions and asked each other how we might help make these resolutions into realities. I encourage each congregant to do something similar with family and friends alike.

I also want to remind or share with you how to accomplish your resolutions. Just remember these three P’s: Prayer, Planning, and Putting into action. Prayer begins all things so let it inform your resolutions. This also invites the very presence of God into your goals and expectations. Planning is important because we rarely ever stumble into success. With good planning even the least likely resolutions can become a reality. Putting your prayers and plan into action is the only way to make it all happen. To talk about it day in and day out without action is to have a train bound for somewhere that never leaves the station. Instead do what you have planned and prayed about.

In closing, remember if these resolutions were easy, or if you had already accomplished them, they really aren’t resolutions at all. True resolutions will call for sacrifice and sometimes hardships but will give you better results afterwards. So set your goals high in 2012 and let’s reach them together!

~ Pastor Allen

This year, and some years previously, one song catches my ear and makes me think. It is a song by John Lennon called, “Happy Christmas, War Is Over.” Here are the lyrics:

And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?
Another year over, and a new one just begun.
And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.

So this is Christmas, and what have you done?
Another year over, and a new one just begun.
And so happy Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.
Chorus

Throughout the song there is a children’s choir singing these lyrics, “War is over. If you want it, War is over now.”

As I listen to this song, I think to myself all that Christmas is supposed to mean to us as Christians. We read in the scriptures that Christ will be the Prince of Peace, and as our Lord and Savior, surely we are part of this peaceable kingdom. Unfortunately, the more I listen the more I am convicted that we could always do more for peace, more for caring for others , more to make this a better Christmas for all people. The song makes me think about what more I could do to help the people of the world see Jesus as the Son of God.

The one lyric that really stands out in the song is, “if you want it.” The thought is that if we really wanted war to end, we could make it happen. I believe this can be applied to much more than just peace. If we really wanted anything that would be a God thing, I do believe we could do it. What if we really wanted to make sure all the hungry are fed? What if we wanted to make sure the homeless were housed? What if we really wanted to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Much of what we do we do out of obligation or a feeling that we should do something. What if we turned that around on ourselves and said, “This is something I want to do!” I feel that people would not only see a passion, but also follow that passion until what you want is done.

As Thanksgiving gives way to the Advent season, and we once again prepare for the coming of our Lord at Christmas, let us think about our passions. Let us become passionate about caring for people so that as we hear this song we can know that we have done all that God has called us too. And be ready for another year of what God calls us to be and do in Christ.

In Christ,

Pastor Allen

We have almost an entire month to prepare for thanksgiving and the start of the Advent season.  This is a good thing because we should take this time to stop and reflect on the things we are thankful for as we go through the month.  It is easy to get discouraged if we focus on the things we do not have or the things we want and cannot have.  I find that if I focus on these things I get depressed and discouraged.  On the other hand, if I focus on the things I do have and am thankful for, I feel a charge of happiness and excitement.

Let me tell you some of the things I am thankful for.  First, I am thankful for my family.  The support and love I receive from them gives me reason to go on each day.  I am thankful for my friends.  I have many that encourage me and show me love every day.  I am really thankful for those friends that know and love me for who I am and not just who they want me to be.  These kinds of friends are few and very valuable.  Third, I am thankful for my health.  Yes, it can be shaky at times thanks to my eating and exercise habits, but ultimately I am pretty healthy.  I am thankful to be  serving Baton and Littlejohn United Methodist Churches.  Both congregations have welcomed my family and me into their midst and made us feel like family.  I want to take this moment to say THANK YOU to both congregations for your love and appreciation demonstrated during Pastor Appreciation month.  These are just the “biggies” in my life.  But here is still one other biggie I want to mention.  I am thankful for God in my life!

Actually, I am most thankful for God.  Without God in my life I would be miserable.  God is there each day when all the other things I am thankful for in my life become scarce or hard to find.  God is still there and still loves me in spite of myself.   John tells us that if all the things Jesus did were to be written down the world could not hold such a book (John 21:25).  God brings all good things into our lives and gives us love that cannot be compared to any type of worldly love we may have experienced.  God’s love is holy and pure and provides us with all things.  What more could we ask for when we are looking for things to be thankful for?

In the end, take time this month to “Count your blessings.”  Don’t get overrun by the stores trying to sell you Christmas before it gets here.  Take this month to slow down, relax, and ponder on the things that you are thankful for.  Then as we move into the Advent season, get excited, God’s greatest story and expression of God’s love for us is about to be told again for ALL to hear!

In Christ,

Pastor Allen