Category: From the Pastor

Happy New Year! As strange as that greeting may seem, we are beginning a new year in the life of the Church. We are entering into the season of Advent. This is the season when we prepare for the coming of Christ.

Advent is the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It reminds us that we, as Christians, are living in a state of Already…Not Yet. Here is what I mean by that: Jesus has already been born, ministered, been crucified and resurrected, ascended to the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit. That is our “Already.” And yet, we await Jesus’s return to make all things right, to reign with justice and mercy, and to restore creation. That is our “Not Yet.” We are both Easter and Advent people: celebrating the Already while anticipating the Not Yet.

Because we are stuck in this place of Not Yet—this limbo, this holding pattern of faith, this seemingly endless waiting—it can be easy to forget what is coming. That is, in part, why we choose to focus this season on hope, peace, joy, and love. When we focus on these aspects, remembering the Already of our faith, it makes the Not Yet a little easier to live in.

We hold fast to hope, hope that Jesus is coming back and that he is going to make all things right despite what we see happening all around us. But that is the thing, Biblical “hope is not the anticipation of a positive outcome based on reason; rather, it is the anticipation of a positive outcome based on God’s trustworthiness” (Anna Sieges-Beal). Hope is about us trusting in God’s promises for the Not Yet.

We hold fast to peace. The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom and is best under-stood as wholeness. We have this peace, this Shalom, when we can look around us and imagine “what it would be like if the world around us were whole. If nations, communities, and homes were whole? That is peace in the Hebrew Bible” (Aaron Higashi). This is the peace God will bring to the Not Yet.

We hold fast to joy. In Scripture, “joy is…a profound spiritual state that transcends mere happiness, rooted in a deep relationship with God. Unlike fleeting emotions tied to external circumstances, Biblical joy arises from recognizing God’s presence and work in our lives” (Cynthia Shafer-Elliot). This kind of joy sustains us as we live in the in-between time.

Finally, we hold fast to love. Love is multi-faceted and can mean different things to each of us. But “anyone who’s interested in knowing the God imagined by biblical authors cannot do so without also imagining what love is, because, as 1 John 4:16-20 says, God is love, and we cannot love God without loving human beings” (Aaron Higashi). Even as the world around us seems to forget what it means to love one another, being filled with the love of God gives us the strength to love the people we encounter regardless of our differences.

So, as we enter this season of Already and Not Yet, I pray we will hold tightly to the hope, peace, joy, and love that God has promised us through Jesus, even as we wait for his return.

Grace & Peace y’all
Pastor Blake

From the Pastor

It is finally fall! That should mean cooler weather, shorter days, and changing leaves (of course living in west Texas we know not to get our hopes up too soon for those things). It also means turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie (at least for me). It is a time to gather with our families and friends and celebrate what we are thankful for from the past year.

The act of giving thanks helps us to remember the blessings we have, both seen and unseen. It allows us to recognize the ways that God has looked out for us, has taken care of us, and has shown us grace. It helps to know that even when we are facing difficulty, God has been there with us through it all. That is part of the power of gratitude.

The Apostle Paul went through a great deal of hardships in his life. He was shipwrecked, arrested, imprisoned, beaten, stoned, and faced other threats of violence. He was ultimately arrested, taken to Rome to present his case to the emperor, and eventually put to death. Paul’s life as a missionary, pastor, and church planter was not an easy life. But through all of it Paul gave thanks, even in the face of death.

For Paul, it was all worth it to be serving the Risen Christ. In Philippians 4 he addresses the church, thanking them for the help and support they have given him. He writes of his gratitude for their concern and the help they have given him. He wants them to know that he “was never in need, for he had learned how to be content with whatever he had. He knew how to live on almost nothing or with everything. He had learned the secret of living in almost every situation, whether it was with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For he can do all things through Christ, who gives him strength” (Philippians 4:11-13 NLT with a slight paraphrase).

So, as we move toward the Thanksgiving season and Advent, may we be encouraged in our giving thanks for all that God has done, for the people who have impacted our lives, and for all that God is still planning to do in us and through us as we follow Jesus. “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful” (Colossians 3:15 NLT).

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Blake

Image by Petra Boekhoff from Pixabay.

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is!
I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”

Isaiah 43:18-19 (The Message)

I remember the only touchdown I ever scored. It was a junior varsity game at home in Greenwood. We were facing the Crane Golden Cranes, and I caught a wide-open pass and raced to the end zone. I can remember seeing the defender from Crane trying to close the distance between us; I can feel his fingertips brush the bottom of my cleats as he dove; I can hear the excitement of the fans as I crossed the goal line. In my memory the play went for probably 75 or 80 yards, and I sprinted away from the defense for at least 60 of those yards. As the slogan goes, “The older I get, the better I was.”

It is easy for us to cling to the past. The glory days. Those times in our past that we remember as being the pinnacle. They are memories we can hold onto, memories that help let us recall who we were, memories that help us relive what was, once upon a time. After all, we know what happened, we have already lived it so there isn’t anything for us to be worried about. But always living in the past—especially in our faith—is a detrimental thing for us to do. It can prevent us from moving forward into the new places God is calling us to go.

Don’t misunderstand me on this. It is healthy for us to remember the past, to be able to relate the stories of who we were and where we have come from to those who are coming along behind us. God commanded the Israelites to do the same thing: to remember the stories of their past, the stories of what God had done for them, to pass them from generation to generation. The problem was when they wanted the past to also be their future.

In the passage from Isaiah at the beginning of this article, God is telling the people to forget about what had been—not to wipe it from their minds, but to stop trying to relive it—and to instead begin to look ahead to the new thing God is in the process of doing.

On October 12 we will gather here at St. Mark’s UMC from 9:00 am – 2:30 pm to look toward the future, toward the new things God is in the process of doing. We will learn about what Fresh Expressions of church and of faith God may be calling us to participate in. After all, God is continually creating and renewing, and we are invited to be a part of God’s process. So, I hope you will join us as we look forward to what God is going to do at St. Mark’s and beyond.

Grace and Peace y’all,
Pastor Blake

In the summer of 2001, I took a small group of students to Greely, Colorado, on a mission trip. We had a good week working with Habitat for Humanity and the county food bank. On the last night of the trip, we found ourselves in the dark sanctuary of the church where we were staying. Eventually, one of the students began playing the piano. As we sat there in the dimly lit pews, she began to play one of our main worship songs – “Take Me In.” As she played, I stood to talk to the rest of the students who were there. 20+ years later, I have no memory of what I said to them, but I remember the experience: it was a holy moment, a moment when God showed up and impacted all of us.

That’s what holy moments are. They are those “little, perfect, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments” that often happen in our everyday lives: Moses and the burning bush, Elijah hearing God’s still, small voice on Mt. Sinai, Isaiah seeing the Lord in the temple, the birth of a child, a wedding day, even sharing the final moments on earth with loved one after a life well lived. Holy moments occur when the Living God meets us where we are, in common places, doing normal things, using ordinary elements. 

Holy moments are markers in our spiritual journey, like lights along a path or height marks on a door jamb. They give us strength when we are feeling weak, when our spirit feels dry. They are showers of rain in the desert, springs of water bringing us new life. Holy moments remind us that we are loved, that we are valued by God, and that we are not insignificant to God. 

So, my prayer going forward is that we are aware of those holy moments that happen all around us: in stillness and in chaos, on highest mountaintop and in the deepest valleys, in work and in play.

Grace & Peace,
Blake

Image by nonmisvegliate from Pixabay.

It is hard to believe that another school year is about to start. Soon, kids and parents both will be working to get back into this rhythm of life, establishing their routines to help things run as smoothly as possible when it comes to getting ready for and off to school. Teachers will be met, school clothes will be bought, just the right outfit will be laid out for the first day, school supplies will be purchased, and backpacks will be loaded with fresh supplies. It can be an exciting time, full of anticipation, and adventure.

In the book of Nehemiah, we find God’s people working to rebuild the wall around the city of Jerusalem. They know it is going to take a great deal of effort, but they are willing to do what needs to be done. It was not an easy job, not something that any one of them could undertake alone, but together they were able to accomplish their task.

In many ways this is where we find ourselves right now at St. Mark’s. We are facing the task of rebuilding, of doing a new thing in a familiar place. But it is not something that can be done by any one person, nor is it something that only a handful of people can do. It is the kind of job that that will require us all to work together to share the Gospel of Jesus with those we encounter in the neighborhoods surrounding St. Mark’s UMC.

So now, as the summer passes into fall, as the temperatures begin to drop, God beckons us to come, to worship, and to serve. This is a new season, with new opportunities, here at St. Mark’s UMC. I would invite you to join us or re-join us as we begin this adventure together.

Grace & Peace,
Blake

I am a native of west Texas and grew up in the Midland area. I attended school in the Greenwood school district and graduated from Greenwood High School in 1994. Growing up, my family were members of the Greenwood United Methodist Church. I received my calling to ministry at the high school One Way camp at Ceta Canyon when I was 16.

I served in youth ministry for 20+ years, beginning at the age of 20 at Trinity UMC in Snyder, TX during the summer of 1996. After moving to Canyon to attend West Texas A&M in the fall of 1996, I served at San Jacinto UMC in Amarillo, followed by a stint at FUMC – Stanton. After marrying Veronica (Roni) in 1998, we continued serving various United Methodist churches in the west Texas area in the youth ministry. We served in Abernathy, Colorado City, Sweetwater, and San Angelo. In 2008 we moved to Quitman, TX in east Texas to serve as the youth minister at First UMC. It was during this time that I knew God was calling and moving me toward full-time pastoral ministry.

I was licensed as a local pastor in 2013 and received my first appointment to Higgins UMC in Higgins, TX in the northeast Panhandle. Our family served and lived there for seven years (2013-2020) working and ministering to the people of that small, rural community. In 2020, I was appointed to St. Luke’s UMC in Midland as the associate pastor. We have been back in Midland for four years now.
I am a graduate of the Course of Study program (basic and advanced) through Duke Divinity School and I was ordained as an elder in full connection on May 19, 2024 at the final annual conference of the Northwest Texas Conference. My biggest desire when it comes to ministry is to help people know and experience the love, grace, and forgiveness of God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My hope is to be able to find new ways of sharing the Gospel in our ever-changing world, ways that will help people to know God’s grace and mercy, especially as it is experienced in and through the community of believers we call the church.

– Pastor Blake

Photo taken by Jamie Montgomery of the NWTX Conference of the UMC