Bishop Matthew Thomas's Blog

I have noted to some close to us that life is a serendipitous and precarious.  I visited the hospital on Monday of this week to see our son Mitch while he is still laboring under the process of chemotherapy and awaiting a bone marrow transplant.  Shortly after leaving the hospital, our daughter, Charese, called us from another hospital in town to announce the birth of Eli Joshua Pettis, our fourth grandchild and her first child.  We then skipped off to another hospital.  That is life.  The Lord makes a child in his image, repeated over and over again.  Side by side, is the evidence of living in a broken and fallen world.  Brokenness and healing live side by side.  Hurt and joy are close by. 

But, if we look closely enough, it is not difficult to see God’s grace and mercy and love in all of it.  He has a way of taking things that seem upside down and make them seem like part of a plan.  He, similarly, takes something of great joy and leaves us humbled and filled with a quiet thanks. 

So, now, three days later, Mitch and Eli are both in their respective homes.  The older one has no hair.  The three-day-old has plenty of hair.  Eli will likely stay in his home for a long time.  Mitch will scoot off to the cancer center soon.  But, for now, they are home- in many senses of home.  We are all home as a family.  We are in a good place.  We are close, together, hopeful and privileged.  God gives peace that passes understanding and curious signs of his presence in every situation.  Some situations, we have to look carefully.  Others its more conspicuous.  But, He’s there.  He’s here. 

I am currently at a conference on Multi-Site churches.  It is about extending the church.  I am all in favor extending ourselves.  That is what we do when we do outreach.  We extend ourselves beyond our measure of ease and comfortable relationship.  When we start a new ministry it is an extension of the existing church and its ministries.  Mult-Site ministry is an extension or enlargement of what we are doing to a new community, empowering new leaders, using new methods in a new facility.  This has a two-fold effect.  It helps us get out of thinking that the way we minister is the only or best way to do it.  I am thinking that this multi-venue, expanded ministry gives us a little broader vision than that.  The second effect is to allow people who might not be able to (physical distance, culture, ethos, worship style or other distance issues) really connect with a local church to still connect in a meaningful way.  That makes us expand our contact and culture.  It also stretches us to reach farther than we are usually accustomed to. 

My hope is that Free Methodists learn to stretch, extend our ministry and reach in bigger ways.  We should be doing that as individuals on a daily basis.  Blessings on your stretch. 

I cannot think of a better place to find God than when and where he is needed most.  Contrary to what other might think, God is most apt to make a strong appearance when he is needed and sought out.  People do not seek God much when he is not needed.  I guess that is why the humble or humbled find God better and more frequently than those whose heads are in the clouds.  But, through the years, I have found many people saying just the opposite. 

It seems to me to be a tad immature to hear, "Why is this happening to me?",  followed by, "I cannot believe in a loving God if this will happen to me."  I understand the first question.  David used that kind of line as did some of the prophets.  But, I never see the latter in any of the more mature saints of God.  There might be a complaint, but never a conclusion that God does not exist or that he is somehow a bully through it all.  Impatience, Yes!  Exasperation leading to quitting, No! 

In our family, right now, our son Mitch has been laboring for a second time with a pretty aggressive form of leukemia.  It is looking like a bone marrow transplant is the reasonable, medical solution to the problem.  Of course, we are praying for and welcoming any divine short-cut or hint of the miraculous along the way.  But, in the meantime, we engage in the donor search.  None of us know why Mitch is the one with it.  None of us pretends to have great answers other than this as a great reminder of the fact of our frail humanity.  We never move down the road of fault finding and the silliness of culprit creation.  I’ll leave that to Job’s friends and the disciples of John 9 vintage. 

But, what I do know, is that God has shown up in powerful ways.  Relationships are growing.  We are more poignantly aware of our frailty.  And, we all know that dependence is not such a bad thing.  Our prayer is more focused.  Our contact is more frequent.  Our conversations are a little deeper.  Our hope is more glaring.  Our comfort is strangely active.  Our passion for doing what we out to be about in this life is a little hotter.  These are all quite good.  And, added to it all, God is giving a true peace that passes understanding. 

I find God’s presence in difficulty somewhat like the light being brighter in darkness.  It seems the best place in the world to find light is in a very dark place.  The opposite of what one might think.  When I was a child, we lived near some caves.  We would walk back into the recesses of the mountain and light a candle.  The candle would seem like the sun while we were in the cave.  However, stepping back into the light of midday, it was difficult to distinguish whether or not the candle was even lit. 

So, for those who are praying, "Thank-you."  Keep praying.  For those who think we may be discouraged or mournful at this time, you could not be further from our reality.  We are enjoying God’s daily mercies, while we weep for our hurting son.  In fact, Mitch is enjoying God’s mercies and presence and giving daily reports on the wonder of God’s love. 

God is bringing light in a dark place in a way that makes us just stare at the light in wonder.  Praise His holy Name!