Last Friday a judge acquitted three NYPD detectives of all charges in the shooting death of 23-year-old Sean Bell who was killed by 50 bullets fired outside a Queens strip club on what would have been his wedding day in November of 2006. It was a tragedy for all involved. There were no winners in this case.What does it mean for New Life Fellowship Church as we find ourselves in the midst of this crisis? In fact, a father of one of our young adults told me his son actually was the one who introduced Sean Bell to his finance and that he attended the funeral. We have police officers in our church that will probably be guarding the picket lines for the protests this week. We also have members who will be marching in protest. So we have Christians protesting and Christians guarding the protest. Apparently some of the Bell family knew Christ as well as at least one of the police officers.A huge range of emotions are evident both in conversations and the media – anger, hurt, rage, grief, relief, helplessness – to name a few. This is the not the first time in our twenty year history we have found ourselves making public statements on a Sunday worship service about a similar situation. If anything, this crisis once again reinforces the complexity of racism and divisions between races, ethnic groups and social classes.I do not feel qualified to make judgments about the judge, the details of the case, what is the right response is for us as a church or for you as an individual, but I do know that we are dealing with powers and principalities of darkness that are much more powerful than we think (Eph. 6:10-20). The distrust and division between the African- American community and the Police Department is profound, going back generations. Deep institutionalized racism is very much alive in our city and country. Take some time and listen again to those in our community who have been on the receiving end of racism. Imagine the pain, fear and confusion of African American mothers and fathers as they raise their sons to respect authority only to wonder when or if that same respect will be given to their sons should conflict arise. At the same time, being a police officer in the present NYC police department is incredibly difficult. The pressure they are under is great and their training is inadequate. They themselves feel under siege from their bosses who demand results and arrests. They also feel under siege from the mayor’s office (they have been without a contract for over three years), and from the media whom they feel are just waiting to pounce on them at the earliest opportunity. Take some time and listen to the police officers about the injustice they feel coming at them from all sides. Add to that the complexity of the racial divisions within the Police Department itself. It is painful and tragic.Our mission as a church is that, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will bridge racial, economic, social class and gender barriers. Jesus paid an infinite price, the price of his blood, to reconcile us to God and to one another. Our call is to lay our lives down and to do battle against the powers and principalities of hell that tell us it is hopeless and will never change. That is a lie.Jesus is alive. The kingdom of God is here. We are here as His church in the midst of a divided city. We are called to exhibit by our lives together that the gospel truly is the power of God! What appears like a setback may actually be an opportunity for the light of Jesus to shine. May we pray for the Bell family, the police officers, our city government and civic leaders, and for the church of Queens New York as we seek to be agents of reconciliation for His sake and His glory.What do you think should be some ways to respond as a Christian community to the Sean Bell protests and crisis around us?

I am in the middle of working on a draft of a rule of life for our membership and annual meeting on June 1st. Over the past  year we have developed a “Rule” for our elders and pastoral staff which is quite extensive. However, I have been pondering what a devotional  yet focused Rule might look like for New Life, one that would drive people to  seek Christ above all else and articulate our unique calling as a local family. 

It should be interesting! Right now I have about 15 points that I believe get at the unique charism of who we are and am about to begin getting feedback from others. Here is a small portion for your perusal. 

Remember the nature of a Rule:                                                                   

• The purpose of this rule is to keep us faithful to our unique “charism” and unite around it. It affirms who we are.This rule serves as an anchor for us,  functioning as a kind of banister or railing to help us move forward in our journey with and for God. A rule works best when it challenges us. A rule can’t be so easy that we are not stretched. At the same time, it cannot be so demanding that we are overwhelmed and discouraged. Our rule seeks to provide healthy boundaries while leaving plenty of room for flexibility and individuality. It is meant to be a framework for freedom that expresses the longings of your heart for God, not a set of rules that restrict or deny life. 
• To be a lover of God, seeking the love of Christ above all else.
• To recognize the sacred in all I do, be it large or small.
• To befriend silence.
• To integrate ancient practices (e.g. the Daily Office and Sabbath) to follow Christ.
• To listen more than I speak…..

What do you think the church of Jesus Christ needs in terms of a railing, banister and railing to keep us anchored in Christ in the kind of radical way we need in the 21st century culture?

Geri and I have been leading a research and development small group on emotionally healthy skills (or practices) that we have been writing for the past year. So we invited 15 people, singles and marrieds, from a variety of ethnic and age groups to gather in our basement and be our “guinea pigs” Last Sunday we did our 12th practice (triggers that cause us to react immaturely rather than pausing in order to maturely respond).

The power of this small group and transformation continues to both astound me and raise theological/pastoral issues for me.  Every time Geri and I lead one of these experiential skill groups, people truly are changed – deeply. What is it? We also did a pre-conference on emotionally healthy skills at our pastors/leaders conference last week and that too was very impactful for them.

 A former rabbi once told me sermons are like dropping a drop of water from the Empire State Building and hoping it hits somebody on the sidewalk to ease their thirst. In other words, that is what they are like in comparison of giving people an experience like emotionally healthy skills (building a genogram, clean fighting, expectations, faulty thinking, “mind reading”, exploring your iceberg) where they can now truly live a transformed life.

I believe in sermons. I believe in inductive bible study, the power of prayer, contemplative practices, worship, etc. I love the church and small groups. But this skill material takes people to a place is “sacred space” (as Martin Buber used to call it). They have profoundly impacted our marriage and daily life.

We have one final week to go for this round of research. I look forward to a thoughtful evaluation with this group as we continue to refine and sharpen the “practices”, and I continue to wrestle with the theology around what we have been experiencing for the past 12 years and, in particular, in our recent small group.

How has God been genuinely transforming you? What means has He used and is He using today?

The theme for what God is seeking to do in me can be summed up around the work grounded.

I am so easily pulled away, seduced into what is easy and popular — like speaking, new projects, getting overextended, doing the easy (be active) rather than think and do the best.

Today I am headed for 24 hours alone with God (something now in our Rule of Life as pastoral staff at NLF that we are all to do 1x a month) at a nearby retreat center. They have a hermitage that is both simple and lovely.  I have taken it very slow this week, working minimally to compensate for the heavy previous week with the EHS conference. I am feeling refreshed physically and emotionally.

Yet I can feel the weight of demands pressing around me — sermon on Eph. 6:10ff for Sunday to prepare, staff issues, running NLF, and the numbers of people wanting to talk about EHS.  

Living grounded in God is simply hard. The sin of activism truly is, as  Bernard said in the 1200’s, easy to commit than the discipline of being in solitude with God. Preaching about pausing to be with God is easier than living it. I have to remind myself now: “This is hard Pete, because it really is hard. You are not above the struggling human race!”

What keeps you from pausing to be with God in a consistent, rhythmic way each day?

We just completed our pastor, leader and spouse conference here at Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. It was a whirlwind of preparation, people, meetings, and speaking. We added a preconference on the skills Geri and I have been working on since September. People came from South Africa, Eastern Europe, England, Mongolia, Canada as well as from around the USA. It was wonderful and, of course, a great output of energy from us. Between that, our regular two day conference and then preaching on Sunday, I was quite spent and am taking it very slow this week.

            Something major, however, happened in me this weekend.

            I followed Christ and took a next step in my spiritual journey with Him by showing up LATE for church on Sunday. Yes LATE – for the first time in 20.5 years as Senior Pastor at NLF. Like slowing down for silence, Offices and Sabbath can feel like one is coming out of an addiction (I like to call it coming off crack). For me to show up late on Sunday was a major breakthrough.

            To slow down Sunday morning, complete the preparation for my sermon without rushing, drive slowly to church, and relax about showing up at the end of the worship set was a large step of growth. I had to say “no” to the voices telling me I was a bad pastor for showing up late, not having the sermon done weeks in advance, not sitting in that front pew “modeling” the priority of worship, was a big step of growth for me. I am so, so used to pushing beyond my limits in moments like those.

            My spirit filled with life once I made the decision to embrace my humanity Sunday morning. “Pete, you have just finished 3 days of a conference. You are about to preach 2 services on Sunday. Relax. You are not God. Everything is fine without you. God is building his church nicely without you!”

            A wise person once said to me that successful people hear the same negative voices we all hear. They are just able to lower the volume and think clearly. Geri helped by saying, “Who cares? We have had a big weekend!”  A few minutes of silence and it all became clear – the best thing I could do on Sunday morning for NLF and the visiting pastors was to walk out what I was preaching, that is limits, a contemplative life, attentiveness to God.

What might be some negative voices shouting at you today and how might you lower their volume to hear His voice? 

ANOTHER BLOG? YES, BUT UNLIKE AN ARTICLE OR TRAINING LESSON, THESE ENTRIES INVITE YOU INTO MY WORLD, MY EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY JOURNEY.

OFTEN, YOU HEAR THE INSIGHTS OF AUTHORS OR SPEAKERS FROM THEIR BOOKS AND SEMINARS. YOU WONDER, “WHAT REALLY IS GOING ON IN THEIR LIFE AND WALK?” “HOW ARE THEY LIVING OUT THEIR OWN MESSAGE?”

IT IS WITH THESE QUESTIONS IN MIND THAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO DO A BLOG.

My hope for this Blog is to invite you to join with me and participate on this journey into Emotionally Healthy Spirituality that God began in my life over twelve years ago.

It has been an incredible journey that continues to unfold in significant (I am tempted to say “dramatic”, but “surprising” may be best) ways – for my personal life, marriage with Geri and the local church I pastor here in Queens. Since I take Fridays as my day off and Saturday is a Sabbath, I hope to blog four days a week – from Mondays to Thursdays.

This Blog is meant not to be a training tool, but an invitation to join in my EHS journey, and together we will live out this message of health and contemplative living. My desire is to share with you my thoughts / musings / listenings from God and invite you to comment and offer your comments in return. We are in a process / dialog together. My prayer through this conversation is that we will identify the deep roadblocks that keep the church and us unhealthy – both emotionally and spiritually.