Sailing West

Once upon a time there were two sailing ships. The people on board one ship thought the world was flat. They were afraid to sail far out to sea for fear of falling off the edge of the earth. So they sailed up and down the coast, visiting a few ports, raising and lowering their sails, going out a few miles only to turn back when the sight of land drew dim. They sang little songs like "Ho, Ho, Ho," said "Arggggggg" to each other, and pretended to be tough and brave. The people on the other ship had always been taught the world was flat but that didn't stop them from going far out to sea. Sometimes they had doubts, sometimes they were even afraid. But they continued on. Because they didn't limit themselves to the shoreline, they saw new sights, visited exciting new ports, discovered exotic lands, and met lots of interesting people. They sailed by the motto, "Ships were not designed to stay in the harbor."

There are people who live like the first ship. There are people -- thankfully -- who live like the second ship. And a church is really just a ship full of people. How far into uncharted water will be venture? How brave will we be? What will we accomplish because we didn't stay where it is safe? When Christopher Columbus was sailing the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria from the old world to the new world for the first time he didn't know what to expect. Sometimes the crew was a little surly; Columbus had to keep encouraging them. They experienced all the fears, problems, and doubts that could be imagined. Remember, ol' Chris had never been there either. But his confidence and his progress was demonstrated in his nightly log entry: "today we sailed west."

Well, today we sailed west. I'm not sure how much progress we made. Ellis preached a great message; some people responded. We sang, we prayed, we worshiped. It was good. It was progress. Even if we only had slightly more than half the attendance we had last Sunday. So we sailed west. Maybe not very far; maybe not very fast; but definitely west.

The next pastor will have the privilege of discovering the exotic new places the church can go. He will help the church meet lots of interesting new people. He will keep the ship sailing in the right direction. And... he will be here next Sunday to preach and be interviewed by the Leadership Team. Now I have to confess, this is not a done deal but we are hoping (praying!) "he is the one." If the people like him, if the Conference likes him, if he likes us, and if God wills, it will happen.

Last week we had hot weather in Grants Pass. Today it is raining and 58 degrees in Newport. It is supposed to be nice weather all week and then rain for Memorial Day weekend. Sounds like Oregon doesn't it?

Well that's my world. What's in yours?