TheModernTradesman

I grew up in the Midwest.  The high school I graduated from had over 2,000 students and to be honest, I did not know more than one other Protestant Christian.  Most of my classmates were lapsed Roman-Catholics or completely unreligious.  Once I moved to Texas, I got a completely different experience… while many people belonged to a church, most people I met were from a camp I would call “Self-Designated Christians.”  These were Texans who had made a decision for Christ at some point in their life, often had limited or no ties to an organized church but still called themselves Christians.

I would suggest that both those groups I described above are missing out on the treasure of the church in our world.  In other words, they are not privy to the blessing of organized religion.

Your favorite restaurant is organized.  If it wasn’t, you would never get your food. 

Surely, your gym is organized.  How else do the treadmills get maintained?

When you go to vote in the fall, that process is organized.  How could we elect new leaders every year without organization?

I believe what people are rejecting when they say that they don’t like organized religion is religious people who say they speak for God yet wound them repeatedly.  God is a sensitive subject… it’s personally felt by anyone who talks about Him.  I know this and do my best to be patient, tender and loving when I talk about God.  It’s the least I can do, honestly and it’s embedded in my role as a Christian priest.  I’ve seen people time and time again accept hard things from God when they are experienced gently, alongside the love of God.  When this does not happen, people get hurt.

So why organize our Christian religion?  At Trinity Church, we are part of an organized group of Anglicans because we care about people.  I am not going to live forever and I am not going to be perfect.  But God, in His love, has sent you thousands of clergy around the world who are praying for you, who love you and want to see you be part of what God is doing through the Gospel.  Why would we not want to be a part of that?

I suppose it would be easier to disconnect yourself from the church and guarantee that no one will ever disappoint you.  But you also guarantee that you will never be moved or inspired in a church or around church people.  And as someone who has made Christian friends from all over the world, I can promise you that you are missing out on some of the best relationships you will ever know.

If this interests you, I want to hear from you.  Please send me a message and I’d love to buy you a cup of coffee to talk about it.  May God bless you in your journey.

Fr. Gavin Pate

Photo by Jaime Lopes on Unsplash

As we end the Thanksgiving holiday and look forward to Christmas, many Christians will begin participating in Advent.  You may be from a tradition that does not observe Advent, so you may wonder what it is.  So, what is Advent?

Advent is believed to have begun sometime in the fifth century.  It has always been considered a time of preparation for Christmas.  Some Christians use this time of preparation like a “little Lent,” making it a more penitential season.  Other Christians observe Advent by making sacred space in their lives to celebrate the eternal mystery that is Christ coming to the earth as a humble infant.  Both ways of participating have Christian salvation in focus and both ways are within historic Christian tradition.

There has been a resurgence in religious interest in Advent in much of the United States.  Some have mistaken the season prior to Christmas as the 24 days of Christmas.  This may be a fulfilling practice, but it does not historically accord with Advent.

If your church observes Advent, it will begin on December 3 this year, the first of four Sundays in Advent.  Your church may even have an Advent wreath with specific colored candles to mark the theme of that week.  This can be a beautiful practice that helps us prepare to fully enjoy Christmas each year.

Finally (and this is a brief primer), one of the hidden keys to truly enjoying the Advent season is to fully enjoy the 12 Days of Christmas.  Christmas is much longer than one day.  Imagine observing Advent for almost a month and then truly enjoying your salvation for nearly two weeks!  I encourage you to consider building this practice in with other Christians who want to travel this season with you.

May God bless you in your journey to knowing Him.

Fr. Gavin Pate

Photo by Max Beck on Unsplash

In the United States, institutions and public figures are struggling like never before.  This loss of permanence coupled with a near daily stream of messaging about being better than you are is pushing many people into looking for help.  One of the ways many people look for help is through a counselor, specifically a therapist utilizing talk therapy.  The general premise of talk therapy is that by saying how you feel out loud to a trusted person, you have the potential to improve your situation.  Therapists often give feedback to the client, helping them find peace or happiness when it seems elusive.

So, should Christians use this type of help?

The field of psychology is relatively new and is still ironing out some kinks.  So that question is very difficult to answer in a simple yes or no way.  Generally, I believe it is permissible for Christians to go to counseling and in many cases, very beneficial to someone struggling with past events or experiences. 

That being said, there are times in which it may not be wise to participate in counseling.  I personally have been to non-Christian counselors and at times, have had to end the arrangement due to theological or philosophical differences that made the care provided untenable for me as a follower of Christ.  If you are a Christian and you do work with a non-Christian counselor, be honest with yourself about your ability to discern ungodly counsel from good counsel.  This could be difficult for some Christians and that is OK. 

It is usually a good idea to seek counseling from someone who shares your core convictions.  If you believe that Christ is your Lord and Savior, a counselor who agrees with you will often be working with you in your journey, rather than working against your core convictions.

All in all, counseling can be very beneficial for people, including Christians, wrestling with past events that become a problem for them today.

Fr. Gavin Pate

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

I live in North Texas, a region known for football, fantastic tex-mex…. and hot summers!  It is nearly October and yes, we hit 100 on the thermostat yesterday.  The truth is, this heat is everywhere.  You can’t go for a walk, you can’t play golf, you can’t enjoy a cigar on your patio without encountering this pervasive heat.  If you try to pretend like it doesn’t bother you, you will cave in eventually.  It affects everything you do.

I’d suggest that sin is a lot like that.  In the beginning, God created us, in His image, to live like His Son.  But tragically, Adam disobeyed God (we all would have done the same thing if we were in his place) and sin entered the world, spreading like a virus.  Just like the heat in Texas, it affects everything.

Frustrated by the people at work?  There’s probably some sin behind that issue. 

Feeling empty inside when you lonely weekend starts?  Likely a symptom of sin’s place in our world. 

Having a hard time making things work with your spouse?  Sin’s presence can make this feel like toil on a daily basis.

I’m not suggesting that the reader of this blog is personally sinning to cause all these unhappy events.  I am saying that sin’s presence in our world is destructive and pervasive.

Jesus believed in bringing relief to the people.  He said in Matthew’s Gospel that he “came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  People who pretend that sin is not everywhere cannot be helped by God.  God can only help people who realize the reality of the situation and want it to improve.

At Trinity Church, we are trying to create spaces of relief like that.  That’s why we say Courage Happens in Community.  When you have a community that loves you and is committed to living God’s way, you have a place that feels safe, protected, normal.  The Gospel gives us the power to have spaces not corrupted by sin, but instead marked by new life and creativity.

If you are ready to help create something good and beautiful, join us at Trinity Church.  We believe that God wants all of life to be this way and we are looking for people just like you to help us do that.

Fr. Gavin Pate

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

Last week, I read an article suggesting that we begin calling August “Pre-September” because of all the active planning that happens while summer is still wrapping up.  We look forward to what is ahead, almost compulsively, refusing to live in the present moment.  There is an anxiety to the coming season that virtually all of us feel.  The low bar of summer is passing away and the expectations of the new school year, increased intensity at work or the mania of our current politics all threaten whatever peace we have achieved over the summer.

These are the anxieties of autumn.

Instead of giving in to the fears, could we do something different?  Could we “continue steadfastly in prayer*?”  Not necessarily a prayer of supplication but a prayer that feeds on the life of God Himself.  A prayer that forms a cocoon around us, sheltering us from the anxieties of autumn.  Could we “be watchful in (our prayers) with thanksgiving*?”  Instead of making every man around us our judge and jury, feel the forgiveness that our repentance brings from God Himself, seeing His fingerprints in the changing autumn all around us, loving us every step of the way?  Could we let this changing (and often dying) world go on stressing itself to death while we choose life and the presence of a God who is Love?

I feel it.  You may feel it too.  Autumn can begin an era of anxiety in our lives.  I believe Our God wants to deliver us from this.  I believe He is inviting to live a life of freedom with Him. 

Reach out to The Lord this fall and you will not be disappointed.

*Colossians 4:2

Fr. Gavin Pate

Photo by Erik Witsoe on Unsplash

There is a phrase from antiquity that is making its rounds this month.  It is “make haste slowly” and is often attributed to the Roman Emperor Augustus (who may have borrowed it from someone else).  He disliked rash behavior and favored a patient, focused approach in his subordinates. 

The idea is that what is valued is not reactive, short-term work but diligent, disciplined work that is committed to quality. 

It seems that this phrase is especially popular today, in part, because most of us in the developed world are being bombarded by stimuli that requires a response.  If your iPhone has a notification on the screen, you do have to respond, somehow.  You can swipe it away, take action or put off that choice by ignoring it.  One thing you cannot do is focus.  And that is where “making haste slowly” comes in as an attractional alternative.

Perhaps you have considered beginning a blog. 

Maybe you have always wanted to build a saltwater aquarium in your home. 

Is there a particular author whose books you desire to read? 

Maybe you have always wanted your own garden.

There may be a particular need in your community that you know you can meet if you just make the time. 

All of these things are worthy goals and will probably be worth talking about in the future.  Yet, the bombardment of stimuli makes this a very challenging proposition.  Recovery of focus is essential if you are to accomplish these worthy goals.

I am working on a new podcast.  I have found that it is virtually impossible to build a new podcast by simply making a checklist and then giving that checklist the crumbs of my leftover time.  I have to block off restricted space in my schedule to think, reflect, plan, make mistakes and build the blocks of what I hope will be a successful podcast.  It is slow and I cannot allow discouragement to talk me out of the steps in front of me.  I have to have a long-term view, understanding that it may take longer than I want to accomplish something well worth my time.  I must “make haste slowly.”

The call to “make haste slowly” also has some touchpoints in the Christian Proverbs, King Solomon’s guidance to one of his sons.  In Proverbs 12:1a, it reads “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.”  In Proverbs 28:19a, we see that “whoever works his land will have plenty of bread.”  Of course, the Christian commandment of Sabbath, a day of rest in God and His gifts, epitomizes the concept of “slowly.” It can be easy to believe that it all depends on you.  I know, firsthand, that it doesn’t.  Consider “making haste slowly” the rest of this month and see how it goes.  You may find that you are much happier with the results that you expect.

Fr. Gavin Pate

Photo by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash