Thursday, April 25, 2013


Happy Wednesday!

Last day of classes for the semester and he even let us out early! Down to two papers to write and began writing on the first one today. I have heard results throughout the day of friends from school who were approved for ordination. These are extraordinary women and men with passion for the church and hearts for ministry. The Church is blessed to have these fine folks standing in places of ministry as set apart for God’s service.

Prayer: Holy, Loving LORD, in a day filled with excitement of the people who have been affirmed for ordination I give you thanks. These are fine people who have worked hard and You have affirmed them for ministry in the name of Jesus through by the authority of the Church. Bless their ministries. Give them strength that only You can provide and the humble conviction to serve You by the gifts and graces You have given. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

“Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Hebrews 11: 1 (from the Amplified Bible)

Each of us who are studying for our Master’s of Divinity and believe ourselves to be called to the ordained ministry of the Church have hopes and dreams of how the calling we have received will be enacted.  Some of my friends have been working in congregations and know how their ministries will look and how they will act within those ministries. Then there are those of us who have been in supervised ministry, participated in a number of ministries during the last year and are still dreaming of what our future ministries will be.

God tells us to practice hoping for those things we cannot see. I am asking God to lead and guide me into the hopes and dreams that are in line with His will. While I have sampled many ministries and been blessed by each, I am praying for only God’s will to be done fully as I get closer to the end of the Brite journey preparing me for the ordained work of the Church . I am praying to keep my focus on God and hope for the longed for outcome of working in the hospital and helping folks get through tough times as a pastoral presence and agent of hope.

As of about 11:00 today I have only 11 hours of class work remaining until graduation.  As Geni says, “I am excited and mildly terrified.”  It has been a long road, but one filled with joy and more learning than I could have imagined. Thank you for remaining with me and patiently persevering with me as I have journeyed these last six years. Keep praying and I will keep working and praying too.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.


I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013


Happy Tuesday! 

Supervised Ministry is officially put to bed!  Our group leader treated us all to dinner by bringing barbecue from Railhead to our last meeting tonight.  So delicious.

Prayer: Holy Lord of healing and sustaining grace I give thanks for Your presence in our lives and in all the situations in which we find ourselves. You have promised strength as we learn to love You more and become more of Your reflected image.  Strengthen the resolve of those who are in need of courage. You have promised in the scriptures that it is through the strengthening of our hearts by Your very presence we can hope in You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD.”

Palm 31: 24

The psalmist reminds us to be of good courage and God will strengthen our hearts.  I have a friend whose husband is battling cancer. They are trying to make the decision as to whether to continue his treatment with him bearing the side effects of the chemo or to discontinue treatment and have quality days for the remainder of his life. These are such hard decisions to make. It is at times like these that the one thing we must remember is that God is sovereign over our lives. Tonight when I did some online pastoral care with them I suggested they follow their hearts and look to the heart of God as they made this decision. 

This is such a painful decision and so difficult, but to consider this decision is not worthless.  The good news is whichever decision they make they will have said yes to life and my prayer is that they are trusting God’s control and acknowledge God’s presence with them in this time of discernment. 

It is at times like this that each of us needs to come to God with a courageous heart. We can go before God with courage even if our hearts are breaking and God will bless this bravery and strengthen our hearts.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with thanksgiving and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.


I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Monday, April 22, 2013


Happy Monday! 

This semester is rapidly coming to a close and this is my last week of classes. Supervised Ministry is complete as the final Theological Reflection Group is meeting tomorrow. My final is finished and in my backpack. Tomorrow is the last chapel until fall and the final community conversation.  Two more class sessions and two more papers and I can put this semester to bed and focus on this wedding coming up here in just a few weeks!

Prayer:  Holy Lord, God of Love and Peace, let us continually remember to come to You when we need more love and when we feel anxious and afraid. Let us then remember to come into Your peaceful presence.  Lord we need to trust You more and remember that You are always with us with unlimited storehouse of love, peace, comfort and understanding compassion. In Jesus’ name, I pray.  Amen

“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying ‘Destroy him!”

Deuteronomy 33: 27

Tonight during dinner there was a television program featuring Elvis Presley and his gospel music.  He sang many of the old gospel songs along with other gospel quartets. When I read this passage of scripture I thought of an old brown Cokesbury hymnal with all of those old gospel songs including “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” 

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms.
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

The more time we spend with God the more we learn about God and our character begins to change to reflect the time spent in the arms of the Savior. A relationship with God is an intentional relationship that hopefully will cause us to be more loving and peaceful in our relationships with others. When others irritate us or act in ways that upset us, we need to try to see God in that person. We have all been created in the image of God and the way for God to best love people is to have that love flow through us. When it is difficult to love other folks we need to ask God to love them for us and for us to find ways to live in peaceful loving ways and then stay close to God.

God will teach and reveal to us ways to love those we label as EGR (extra grace required). The really hard thing about that sort of humorous statement is that it applies not only to those who we encounter who are difficult to love, but ourselves, too, when we are difficult to love.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.


I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Blessed Sunday to you all. 

It has been a busy day. I presided at the Table twice this morning and attended the youth meeting.  Yesterday I attended the visioning conference at church.  It has been a busy weekend in the life of this ministerial intern.

In the aftermath of the week’s events I spent time composing a thoughtful meditation for the Table this morning.  So tonight out of my own exhaustion I thought I would share the meditation from this morning. This is the last week of classes and I have much to do.

When tragic events occur I try to keep myself grounded in God’s Word to help me stay focused on God. Romans 12: 2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Table Meditation

In the days following Jesus crucifixion and resurrection the disciples gathered together in a single place, locked their doors in fear for their lives. They were filled with grief at the loss of their Savior and Lord and they were most likely emotionally exhausted. Then Jesus, in His perfect timing, appears in their midst and, doing what Jesus does best, offers them the words they need to hear, “Peace be with you.”

As the events of this week unfolded, many found themselves behind closed doors out of fear. Filled with grief and suffering from emotional exhaustion—I believe it is for these moments in Kaufman, Boston and West that God came to live in the life of Jesus, that God died our death on the cross and rose to life to remind us of the words of the psalmist, “I will fear no evil for You are with me.”  We have traveled from Friday to Sunday, from despair to hope and out of the Valley of Shadows to God’s Table in God’s own house from death to resurrection so that we can encounter Jesus doing what Jesus does best…speaking the words we need to hear; “Peace be with you.”

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint.  Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude and get some peaceful sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.


I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.